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By Lynn Walker, Times Record News The National Weather Service had now included Wichita Falls and a larger portion of North Texas and southwest Oklahoma in a Tornado Watch that will expire at 10 p.m. Counties in the expanded Tornado Watch are Archer and Wichita in North Texas and Caddo, Comanche and Cotton in southwest Oklahoma. At 7 p.m. thunderstorms were moving across North Texas with severe storms moving north across Wilbarger County into southwest Oklahoma and another line entering the southern edges of Throckmorton and Young counties. Most of these storms have severe thunderstorm warnings on them, but no tornadoes had been reported as of 7 p.m. No storms posed an immediate threat to Wichita Falls, although storms extended down to the Texas Big Bend area and were moving in a northeasterly direction. Tokyo Faced with mounting costs from a global recall of air bags, Japanese supplier Takata Corp. has hired the advisory firm Lazard to engineer a restructuring of its finances, likely with the help of some of its biggest customers. Takata air bags can deploy with too much force, spewing shrapnel into the vehicle. They are responsible for at least 11 deaths and more than 100 injuries worldwide. Authorities in Malaysia have begun an investigation into two more recent deaths. Takata recently agreed to recall an additional 40 million air bag inflators in the U.S. Globally, Takata may be forced to recall more than 100 million inflators and analysts estimate the cost of making replacement parts could total tens of billions of dollars. As of March 31, Takata had around $530 million in cash and short-term investments. Scott Upham, CEO of Valient Market Research in Philadelphia, which tracks air bag sales, estimates it will cost $100 per inflator for parts and another $100 for shipping and labor to install them. That means the cost of replacing 100 million inflators will be above $20 billion. "It could get worse than that," he said. Honda, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler are among the biggest customers for Takata inflators. In all, 17 automakers are affected by the recalls. Many automakers have said they will stop using Takata air bag inflators in models under development, and they will be billing Takata for the recall costs. Hideaki Sudo, a lawyer who heads the committee at Takata dealing with the recall fiasco said Lazard will help with restructuring in partnership with its auto customers. "These are highly challenging and complex issues, but the committee strongly believes that it is in the best interests of all Takata stakeholders for Takata and its automotive customers to reach a consensual resolution that addresses the costs of the inflator issues while enabling Takata to remain a viable and valued global supplier," Sudo said in a statement. Tokyo-based Takata, which also makes seat belts, has sunk into red ink for the last two fiscal years over the recalls, racking up a loss of 13 billion yen ($120 million) for the fiscal year that ended in March, largely due to recall-related costs. Because of the sheer numbers involved, it will take years to manufacture all the necessary replacement parts. Upham sees Takata going through a bankruptcy restructuring to shed some recall costs, with investors taking control of the company and changing its management. "Maybe there's time to right the ship," he said. Takata said it is seeking new investment and improving the company's governance and transparency. It has repeatedly said it is trying to determine the root cause of the inflator problems to come up with fixes. The recalls have been ordered because regulators feel the inflators are too dangerous to wait until the exact cause is pinpointed. Another Friday, another Graham Norton Show and another Graham Norton Show with Dwayne Johnson. Doesn't it feel like that fella is always on the show? Probably because he's always got some big blockbuster movies out in fairness. This time around it's Rampage and Dwayne will be joined by his co-star Naomie Harris. Also on the show, Martin Freeman discusses his appearance in horror anthology Ghost Stories and maybe give us some clues about what to expect from the next Avengers movie. Finally, veteran rocker Roger Daltrey chats and performs his new single As Long As I Have You. Catch The Graham Norton Show tonight on BBC One at 10.35pm. Niskayuna High School's Memorial Day ceremony on Friday honored graduates who were killed in Vietnam. Lt. Robert S. Cragin Jr. of the class of 1962, Lt. Vernon F. Hovey III of the class of 1964, and Pfc. Richard W. Starkey of the class of 1965 were remembered with a memorial wreath-laying. Members of the classes of 1962, 1964 and 1965 paid tribute to fallen classmates. The ceremony included the 109th Airlift Wing Base Honor Color Guard from Stratton Air National Guard Base. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Troy A Rensselaer County jury will resume deliberations Friday on homicide charges against a former boyfriend accused of killing Vanessa Milligan in 2014. The jury deliberated for 90 minutes Thursday in the case against Gabriel Vega, 20, of Troy before Judge Andrew Ceresia sent them home for the night. Earlier, jurors asked for Milligan's telephone number as they deliberated. The judge advised the jury that Milligan's telephone number had never been entered into evidence and they could not have it. Trial testimony included calls between Vega and Kim Virola, the mother of his daughter, and how long Vega's cell phone was turned off or not working the night of April 3, 2014 when the pregnant Milligan and her unborn daughter, Alina, were killed. Vega's telephone records were entered as evidence by the prosecution. Milligan was 19 years old and nine months pregnant at the time of her death. Vega faces charges of second-degree murder, second-degree arson, third degree arson and first-degree abortion. At the defense's request, Ceresia included the lesser charges of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter for the jury to weigh as options in place of the second-degree murder count. Vega and Virola had numerous contentious telephone conversations on April 3, 2014 after Virola learned that Vega was the father of Milligan's unborn child, according to testimony. Virola testified Vega told her he killed Milligan and he turned his phone off that night so the police could not track his movements. Earlier, defense attorney Frederick Rench and Assistant District Attorney Andrew Botts delivered their closing arguments strongly challenging each other's cases. Rench attacked the testimony of Corrine Tario and Virola as part of a prosecution and police effort to manipulate the evidence and testimony in the trial, building the atmosphere of a "lynch mob". "I've never seen a case where evidence has been withheld and manipulated like in this case," Rench said. Botts countered that Rench was "smearing me and the hard working police." Rench dug hard into Tario's and Virola's testimony questioning their motives. Tario, who has ties to a Troy detective, claimed to have seen a man matching Vega's description running from 271 Fifth Ave. where Milligan lived. Rench said her testimony was contradicted by other witnesses. Virola, the mother of Vega's daughter, discovered the relationship between Milligan and Vega, which she said led to the confrontation between Milligan and Vega. "Kim Virola is an angry woman, a violent woman. She's vindictive and she's manipulative," Rench said. Botts said Vega doesn't want the jury to believe the two women. The evidence shows Vega is guilty of killing Milligan and setting her apartment building on fire, Botts told the jury. Referring to the bedroom where Milligan was killed and her body set on fire, Botts said, "That room, that bedroom where she lay face down dead, everything in that room was targeted." kcrowe@timesunion.com 518-454-5084 @KennethCrowe Hillary Clinton has declined an invitation to debate Sen. Bernie Sanders before the California primary election next month, but he may have found a willing replacement: Donald Trump. The idea of a debate between the two men came up Wednesday when Trump was appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and Kimmel said that Sanders had passed along an invitation to Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Trump, who opted out of a debate in Iowa in January and decided that he would no longer do primary debates after the Republican field narrowed to three candidates, said he would be open to debating Sanders if the proceeds were donated to charity, although there were conflicting reports about how serious he was. "If I debated him we would have such high ratings and I think we should take that money and give it to some worthy charity," Trump said. "If we paid a nice sum toward a charity, I would love to do that." Sanders, who faces a big delegate deficit against Clinton, was quick to sign on. "Game on," he wrote in a post on Twitter. "I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary." Sanders and Clinton had agreed to doing another debate before California primary, and last week Fox News extended invitations to both candidates to participate in one. While Sanders was eager to debate, Clinton, who is trying to turn her attention toward Trump, declined the offer. An interparty debate between Trump and Sanders, before the Democratic nomination is wrapped up, would create an unusual spectacle and could leave Clinton in the dark as her two rivals soak up the political spotlight. It could also provide Trump with an opportunity to openly shop himself to Sanders' supporters, who he has been hoping will turn to him instead of Clinton in a general election. It is not clear what network would host the debate, but Fox News has expressed interest in getting Trump and Sanders on the stage together before. After being rebuffed by Clinton to debate on the network, Fox in February discussed such a face-off. Trump initially expressed interest at the time but later backed away, citing scheduling reasons. For Sanders, a debate with Trump would provide a burst of publicity ahead of the contest in California, where he is in a tight race with Clinton. Asked if the offer to debate Trump was a serious one, Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders, said it was "real." Albany While shareholders of ExxonMobil world's largest publicly traded oil company rejected calls that it report how ongoing, man-made climate change could affect future business, the measure still got more support than any previous effort. At the company's annual shareholders meeting in Dallas this week, an effort backed by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and others to require Exxon to report annually on climate change impacts received more than 38 percent of votes, the most since climate-related measures aimed at the company were begun by activist shareholders about a decade ago. Exxon tried to stop this vote, arguing the company was already revealing enough, but in March, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission stopped Exxon from dropping the proposal from the ballot presented to shareholders. "A significant number of Exxon shareholders want the company to step up when it comes to climate change," said Pete Grannis, first deputy state comptroller for DiNapoli. "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." Currently, the state pension fund, which is managed by DiNapoli, holds nearly $1 billion in Exxon stock. His office said more than 60 institutional investors in Exxon, representing more than $10 trillion in total assets under management, backed the climate change measure, which would have required Exxon to report potential financial impacts as global warming approaches 2 degrees Celsius. At the international climate summit in Paris last December, world leaders agreed to work toward limiting the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit); that increase is already at 1 degree Celsius and continues to rise. Among the investors supporting the Exxon resolution were the Norwegian government, which controls an $872 billion investment fund fueled primarily by the country's oil and gas wealth. Others included fund managers and pension funds from the Episcopal Church of England, the California pension fund CalPers, Amundi, AXA Investment Management, BNP Paribas, Legal & General Investment Management, Natixis Asset Management, New York City Retirement Fund, and Schroder's. Two major independent proxy advisors, ISS and Glass Lewis, which provide shareholder voting recommendations to their clients, also supported the proposal. Investors concerned with climate change are putting increasing pressure on petroleum companies. So far this year, there have been 85 climate-related shareholder resolutions filed, compared to 68 resolutions in 2015, according to an ISS report. In 2015, two other major petroleum companies Shell and BP agreed to disclose climate change impacts on their business prospects, after being urged to do so by shareholder resolutions. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The Exxon vote came as the company also faces legal pressure from an investigation by a coalition of state attorneys, including state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, into whether the company suppressed internal scientific research in the 1970s that linked greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels to climate change, and instead funded a campaign meant to undercut the international scientific consensus on the issue. That effort is being opposed by a coalition of state attorneys from energy-producing regions, including Texas. At the Dallas meeting, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson said there was "no scientific basis" for the international 2 degree target, according to a report in the Washington Post. He also said the company would continue to fund groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group linked to Kansas-based petrochemical billionaires Charles and David Koch, that has been working to undo renewable-energy requirements at the state level. bnearing@timesunion.com 518-454-5094 @Bnearing10 Albany County's top lawyer says a plan to make it a crime to refuse additional security screenings at Albany International Airport likely violates the Fourth Amendment. In an opinion provided to county legislative leadership this week, County Attorney Daniel Lynch argues that forcing travelers to complete security screenings or face arrest "would almost certainly be unconstitutional." Making it a misdemeanor to halt the screening process once a traveler has entered the security checkpoint, Lynch contends, likely does not meet the extraordinary exceptions established by the courts to the Fourth Amendment's ban on warrantless searches. The opinion, a copy of which was reviewed by Insider, comes at the end of a week in which the plan took a public thumping, with civil libertarians and mental health professionals urging lawmakers to pull the plug. More Information Contact Jordan Carleo-Evangelist at 518-454- 5445 or email jcarleo-evangelist@timesunion.com. On Twitter: @JC Evangelist_TU See More Collapse At a public hearing Tuesday, members of the local Muslim community argued it would only make existing intrusive and discriminatory security measures worse. A day later, the County Legislature's Public Safety Committee tabled the legislation, with some lawmakers saying they want to hear directly from the federal Transportation Security Administration why it's necessary. Sheriff Craig Apple has said he requested the law, which the NYCLU believes may be the first of its kind, at the urging of TSA's upstate airport security director. The concern, Apple has said, is that terrorists testing security by trying to carry weapons through checkpoints can currently walk away if the initial screening detects an "anomaly" effectively providing them intelligence on what to do differently the next time. While it's a violation of TSA's administrative regulations for an individual to refuse additional screening, it is not against the law. The passenger just isn't allowed to fly. No TSA representative appeared at Tuesday's hearing or Wednesday's committee meeting, but a sheriff's captain said this week that the goal is not to arrest people, but to force compliance with security screenings. Lynch said that's part of the problem. He argued the law's stated intent to stop would-be terrorists from probing security weaknesses through trial and error is one of its key flaws. In order to satisfy the "special needs doctrine" exception to the Fourth Amendment, Lynch wrote, the government must show an "immediate purpose objectively distinct from ordinary evidence gathering." One case that passed this test involved random searches of New York City subway passengers' belongings a practice a federal appeals court upheld, Lynch wrote, because there was "an immediate and substantial" need to protect passengers and because riders were allowed to decline searches by leaving the subway. The problem with the airport search law, Lynch wrote, is that its boosters acknowledge its motivation is not to stop an immediate attack but to stymie dry runs for a future plot. In the eyes of the courts, he argues, that's a meaningful difference. "By criminalizing conduct that does not, in and of itself, threaten the security of an airport or its passengers," Lynch wrote, "proposed Local Law E illustrates that its purpose is substantially different from the prevention of terrorist attacks" in the subway case. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Lynch also notes the law's boosters cite no evidence of terrorists probing security and suggests that forcing them to go through security could give them just as much intelligence about its weak points. Lynch's opinion was requested by Legislator Merton Simpson, a Democrat who represents Albany's 2nd district and who, in an email following Tuesday's public hearing, expressed concern that the law would be an "inappropriate overreach." In its own two-page analysis, the NYCLU did not make a Fourth Amendment argument against the law. Rather, the group argued the measure is too vague, would not make airports safer and could lead to confusion and discriminatory enforcement. In a statement, Democratic Majority Leader Frank Commisso, one of the laws co-sponsors, said he received Lynch's opinion just prior to Wednesday's meeting but continues to believe the law "would strengthen security at Albany International Airport." "While I disagree with the assertion that the law is 'likely' unconstitutional, I asked the committee to postpone a vote so we could review the material," Commisso said. "We will fully respond to the legal points made after researching them and seeking other opinions. Republican Minority Leader Frank Mauriello, another co-sponsor, echoed Commisso's call for a second opinion to ensure the legislation is legally "air tight." "I don't want the county to have to pay the cost of defending the law in court," Mauriello said. "If we have to modify the law to make sure it's constitutional, we'll do that." They may have been a hit with Simon Cowell, but unfortunately they didn't receive enough votes from the public to proceed to Saturday's live final of Britain's Got Talent. That doesn't detract from the fact that they did an amazing job last night, and should be exceptionally proud of what they've achieved. They received a standing ovation from all assembled after their stunning rendition of Schubert's Ave Maria. The 60-piece choir finished fourth in last night's semi-final. All is not entirely lost, however, as there's still the judge's 'Wild Card' to consider - but, unfortunately, competition for that golden ticket is rife. But, as the saying goes, "it's not over till the fat lady sings." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Guilderland The man in the "Break Free" T-shirt held a sign protesting fossil fuels as cars drove by. Pete Looker of Glenville had bicycled to Guilderland Town Court for the first court appearance of five activists arrested at a May 14 protest in the Albany County town against oil trains. Marissa Shea and Maeve McBride delayed an oil train coming from North Dakota into the Port of Albany by rappelling off a railroad bridge that crosses the Watervliet Reservoir, a spokeswoman for the Break Free From Fossil Fuels coalition said. They were protesting oil trains they believe are too dangerous to be moving on New York's railways, which is a charge the energy company Global Partners has disputed. Guilderland police charged Shea, 30, of Lowell Mass., and McBride, 40, of Burlington, Vt., along with Rachel Kijewski, 31, of Lake Worth, Fla., Alexander Lundberg, 32, of Minneapolis, Minn., and Jordan Davis, 27, of New Windsor, Orange County, with unlawful interference with a railroad train, conspiracy and criminal trespass. Shea was also charged with reckless endangerment. Around 15 supporters of the defendants were in the courtroom. "The goal is to support them, to show that we are here for them," Susan Weber of Albany said. "We appreciate them, the sacrifice they are making." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. Looker said he had been himself arrested in 2003 for protesting the Iraq War. "When my daughter asks me, 10 years from now on my deathbed, 'You knew we were destroying the ecosystem, what did you do?' I can say, 'I did what I could do,'" Looker said. "I don't know if it's going to work, but I'm going to give it my best shot." The cases against the five activists, who are represented by attorney Mark Mishler, was adjourned until July 7. jlawrence@timesunion.com 518-454-5467 @jplawrence3 ALBANY As part of their push for earlier sales of Bloody Marys and brews with Sunday brunch, restaurant and bar industry groups have turned to what goes under your drink: the coaster. The New York State Restaurant Association and Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association have furnished bars and restaurants around the Capital Region and in Buffalo, Syracuse and New York City with red, white and blue coasters urging patrons to tell their legislators to pass the so-called brunch bill The legislation would allow bars and restaurants to sell alcohol beginning at 8 a.m. on Sundays, four hours earlier than what state law currently allows. On the top side, the coasters feature cartoon images of a mug overflowing with amber beer and a Bloody Mary complete with olives and a stalk of celery clanking together. On the other side is a link to a form that patrons can fill out to tack their names onto a boilerplate email in support of one version of the legislation. The email is then sent to local senators and assembly members. "We decided to go public with this campaign because we thought it was one that the public might actually be interested in and weigh in on," Tavern and Restaurant Association Executive Director Scott Wexler said. Lobbying away from the Capitol is not new. Though uncommon, neither is lobbying by coaster. Restaurant Association Government Affairs Coordinator Jay Holland said he got the idea from the New York Library Association when it put out coasters in 2014 to urge lawmakers to increase library spending after years of receiving dismal state aid. The coasters were the brainchild of Library Association Director of Government Relations Mike Neppl. Both Neppl and others in the Capitol orbit have difficulty recalling any organization putting policy beneath lawmakers' and staffers' drinks before his group did. To a degree, the novel campaign paid off. "The impact they did have was we got press coverage, people started talking about them and the coasters pushed the conversation forward about library funding," he said. "They were successful." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. It's too soon to tell what kind of public support the brunch bill coasters will generate and if they will push lawmakers into the aye column. Still, the brunch bill, in addition to other changes to the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, has at least one high-profile advocate pushing lawmakers to pass it by the time session ends June 16. Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week said lawmakers have no excuse for not passing tweaks recommended last month by a working group he empaneled. The governor has introduced an omnibus bill based on the recommendations that includes the brunch provisions. "It just makes sense," Holland said. "If you can go to a restaurant and order a Bloody Mary on any other day of the week, why not Sunday, too? It's the most popular brunch day. We should be able to order what we want." mhamilton@timesunion.com 518-454-5449 @matt_hamilton10 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany Memo to boaters: Before you enter the water this weekend, make sure your craft is free of "visible plant or animal matter," that could spread invasive species such as the Asian water milfoil, spiny waterflea or the dreaded, havoc-wreaking zebra mussel. That's because a new set of environmental regulations aimed at keeping invasive species out of the state's waterways are now in effect. The best way to think of it is make sure your boat is "cleaned, drained and dry," said Eric Siy, executive director of the Fund for Lake George, which is one of the pioneers in efforts to beat back invasives. The group instituted a program three years ago that has since become permanent. The statewide invasives initiative doesn't include the mandatory inspections found at Lake George, but Siy cheered the new rules. "It's a step in not just the right direction but a necessary direction,'' he said. Invasive species have been entering New York waterways since at least the 19th century when sea lampreys, a variety of eel, were found in Lake Ontario. Invasives hitch rides on vessels coming from overseas, but once they gain a foothold here can be transported from one lake or river to another if they are attached to boats or in the ballast water, if it isn't drained. The non-native plants and animals out-compete their peers and can take over entire swaths of lakes or rivers. The Eurasian milfoil plant for example can quickly choke out competing plants and make areas of a lake difficult to swim or boat in. It has been a problem in Lake George and nearby Lake Champlain. And zebra mussels, first spotted in Lake George in 1999, can clog water intake pipes as well as boat engines and dock pilings. Spiny waterfleas, which are tiny crustaceans, first turned up in Great Sacandaga Lake in 2008 and have already damaged the ecosystem in the Great Lakes where they've crowded out alewife herring, which is a food source for popular game fish like salmon and trout. The regulations require that boat owners, as well as owners of floating docks, take reasonable measures to make sure invasives are not in or on their craft. That involves visual inspections and, when invasives are found, measures like washing with hot water to get rid of the hitchhikers. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. While the statewide regulations, which apply to motorized and non-motorized craft, don't require a visit to an inspection station like they have at Lake George, there are fines of up to $1,000 for repeat offenders. Siy noted that boaters in Lake George haven't complained about mandatory inspections, and when needed, washings, since they realize it's part of an effort to keep invasives away. "Based on the experience at Lake George, there is incredible support for stopping invasives from the waters that people love,'' he said. They are planning to further publicize the effort, with a Northway billboard promoting a website, adkcleanboats.com, to inform people about the issue. New York, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, has 7,600 freshwater lakes, ponds and reservoirs and 70,000 miles of rivers, brooks and streams, making the battle against invasives extra-important. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU Carolyn Kaster When Cynthia Tucker in her column ("America indeed is a better place," May 17) lumped together Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump as telling voters that we "have been betrayed either by a rapacious plutocracy or by some insidious conspiracy of incompetent government and malignant immigrants," she didn't distinguish between how different these arguments are. As Tucker points out, there is no rational basis to bash immigrants, and this is simply bigotry and scapegoating. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Courtesy Westlake police Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Courtesy Westlake police Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Courtesy Westlake police Show More Show Less 5 of 5 Road rage nearly escalated into a "High Noon" showdown in a Cleveland suburb when an angry motorist challenged another man to a draw. William Keener, 67, apparently was so enraged Tuesday that he rammed his car several times into a car driven by a 64-year-old woman, according to police. Her 71-year-old husband was riding in the car. Tom Ryan of Adsmart has been named as Tipperarys Best Young Entrepreneur, and has won an investment of 20,000 as part of the 2million Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur competition. Tom Ryan of Adsmart has been named as Tipperarys Best Young Entrepreneur, and has won an investment of 20,000 as part of the 2million Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur competition. Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur is an integral part of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through the Local Enterprise Offices. The competition was open to individuals aged 30 and under and was judged under three distinct categories of Best new idea, Best start-up business and Best established business with new add-on. At a function held in Thurles on Tuesday last, the winners of Tipperarys Best Start-Up, the Best New idea, and the Best add-on to an Existing Busine ss were announced. The winners will now receive business investment through the Local Enterprise Office as follows: Philip Martin, Blanco Nino won the Best New Idea category and will receive an investment of 10,000 towards developing his corn tortilla business in Clonmel. Chris Shanahan of Chris IT in Thurles won the Best New Start up and will receive an investment of 20,000 towards developing his IT business. Tom Ryan of Adsmart won the best add-on to an existing business with his new Townsmart project and was crowned Tipperarys best young entrepreneur. The three County winners will go through to the Regional Final in Limerick on November 12, where they will compete against Clare, Limerick and Kerry for the right to go through to the National finals and ultimately compete for the title of Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur at a ceremony in Dublin on 7 December. Marking the occasion, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said: Central to our plans for jobs and growth is supporting more businesses to start-up. Two thirds of all new jobs are created by start-ups, so if we are to create the jobs we need we must support more entrepreneurs to start new businesses. That is why we put in place the entrepreneurship forum chaired by Sean OSullivan and that is why we established the Local Enterprise Offices to provide more and better Government supports to businesses in one easily-accessible place at local level. Full story in this weeks Tipperary Star. One of the EUs latest legislative proposals is part of the Brussels efforts to boost e-commerce. The proposal aims to forbid retailers from refusing to send goods and services to people living in other EU countries. The so-called geo-blocking should be outlawed and cross-border shipping and parcel delivery will be made affordable and efficient, which will be coupled with better protection of consumer rights and enforcement. Commissioner for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, commented that All too often people are blocked from accessing the best offers when shopping online or decide not to buy cross-border because the delivery prices are too high or they are worried about how to claim their rights if something goes wrong. We want to solve the problems that are preventing consumers and businesses from fully enjoying the opportunities of buying and selling products and services online. The proposal was welcomed by the European Consumer Organization, whose Director-General, Monique Goyens, said that consumers still face hurdles when they try to take advantage of better offers and deals available from retailers based in other countries. This is wrong and it is right that it is corrected despite the fact that the single market has greatly benefited EU companies. Mrs Goyens added that she was disappointed that consumers were still blocked from buying digital products, like e-books or music, from sellers based in other EU countries. TV series, films and sport events will also stay off-limits, she said and added that It is time the EU puts the final nail in the coffin of geo-blocking. The latest e-commerce package against geo-blocking therefore consists of a proposal to address unjustified geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination on the grounds of nationality, residence or establishment, a proposal on cross-border parcel delivery services to increase the transparency of prices and improve regulatory oversight, and a proposal to strengthen enforcement of consumers rights and guidance to clarify, among others, what qualifies as an unfair commercial practice in the digital world. The proposed legislation would ensure that consumers buying services and products in another EU country are not discriminated against. South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration to Host the 5th International Military Airworthiness Certification Conference South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA (News - Alert), Minister: Chang, Myoung-jin) announced that it will host the "2016 International Military Airworthiness Certification Conference (2016 IMAC)" in The Plaza Hotel in Seoul on May 30, 2016, with 400 international airworthiness experts from government, industries and academia. Airworthiness certification refers to a government system which validates and certifies the flight safety of aircrafts. South Korea became the first Asian country in 2010 to host a military airworthiness conference. The IMAC celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. The theme of this year's IMAC is "Military Aircraft Airworthiness Certification and Fostering International Cooperation." Representatives of seven countries, including South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy will deliver presentations on the development of military airworthiness certification system, case studies and international cooperation, which will lay the platform for productive discussions. Also, aircraft manufacturers will set up exhibit booths to facilitate the export of South Korea's armaments. Chang, Myoung-jin, Minister of Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said "The IMAC will draw international attention to the excellence of South Korea's airworthiness certification system. Building on this global recognition, South Korea will lead the development of airworthiness certification in Asia. We seek to foster continued international cooperation to beef up the global competitiveness of Korea's military aircrafts." Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) plans to hold the conference biennially to expand international collaboration on airworthiness certification with major partner countries. For more details about the schedule of the 2016 International Military Airworthiness Certification Conference, please refer to the IMAC official website at www.dapa-militaryairworthiness.kr. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005165/en/ [May 27, 2016] Veterans Voices Heard During Legion Las Vegas Visit Long wait times, transportation problems and troubles with the Veterans Choice Program were among the issues Las Vegas-area veterans raised at the American Legion System Worth Saving town hall meeting on May 23. American Legion Department of Nevada Adjutant Lionel Motta said he fields numerous phone calls from veterans and their families complaining about travel to the 2012-built VA medical center northeast of the city, difficulty getting timely appointments and similar frustrations with the Choice program, which began in 2014 to allow veterans in rural areas and those who must wait 30 days or longer for appointments to use non-VA providers. "It's my job to be patient and listen. I get these types of calls all the time, but I can't seem to find a solution," said Motta. Motta opened discussion with the testimony of a recent phone call he received from the spouse of a Navy veteran. The concerned spouse cried on the phone as he told Motta of the struggle to get his wife quality VA care. The spouse detailed his wife's mental health issues and how her behavior was negatively impacting their children. The family had been bounced around within VA and was promised a referral for an outside specialist, but never received one, Motta explained, adding that the wait time for veterans seeking VA care is still a huge concern in the Las Vegas area. Attendees also expressed concern with transportation. "Once they get to you, (VA care is) good," Motta said "But it's a matter of getting them there. We need a simpler system." The Legion's Department of Nevada 2nd Vice Commander Yvette Weigold shared a similar story about wait times, but expressed that her true concern is with VA's Choice Program. Weigold said that it "took forever" to set up her first appointment with a non-VA provider in the program. She was instructed to wait for a follow up phone call from a Choice representative. Weigold said she waited five months and then spent three days in a row answering pre-screening questions from the same representative.Each time, the representative informed her that there was no record of the previous call, she said. Once she made it through the repetitive and arduous pre-screening process, she said she was informed that there were no providers available for the treatment that she needed. Weigold had been diagnosed with breast cancer and needed an MRI with contrast. "I know I'm not the first person diagnosed with breast cancer at the VA," she exclaimed at the meeting. "Just send me somewhere." While some veterans voiced concern with the care they have received at the VA, others expressed satisfaction. "The VA saved my life," said Legionnaire Douglas G., explaining that a follow-up colonoscopy appointment at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System revealed an "eraser-sized" lump, and he was diagnosed with Stage 1 colon cancer. He added that VA offers the best services possible for veterans suffering from service-connected issues, including care for war amputees and those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. "There are things that the VA does better than the private practice," Douglas said. "Those are systems worth saving." Past American Legion Department of Nevada Commander Jack Ford (News - Alert) said he believes that the inconsistencies in VA care can be traced to Washington. "The biggest problem with the VA is the bureaucracy, and I blame our legislative system," he said. American Legion leadership, senior staff from the Veterans Affairs Southern Nevada Health Care System (VA Southern Nevada HCS), congressional staff, and local veterans exchanged dialog on concerns and needs for military veterans who are using local VA services during the meeting. Monday's town hall meeting was followed Tuesday by a System Worth Saving visit between American Legion representatives and senior leaderships of the VA Southern Nevada Health Care System to discuss solutions to issues raised by veterans in the Las Vegas area. In Tuesday's meeting, VA leaders detailed many of the challenges facing the system, including staffing shortages. They described higher salaries and benefits packages from private sector medical companies as among the reasons for low employee retention. The southern Nevada officials said most physicians who choose to work at VA facilities are facing up to a 30 percent lower pay than their private-sector counterparts. Additionally, the Nevada VA lost 20 primary care providers in the past year and is one of few systems in the nation not supported by a large medical school affiliation. As a solution, leadership at the VA Nevada HCS has asked the Legion to assist with proposing and supporting legislation for funding that will improve retention of quality health-care professionals. American Legion Department of Nevada Commander Dave Evans responded that the Legion is on board with supporting that request and that he intends to send the message to state and federal officials. The Legion concluded its SWS visit on Wednesday with trips to the Las Vegas Salvation Army homeless shelter and the Las Vegas Vet Center. With a current membership of 2.2 million wartime veterans, The American Legion,www.legion.org, was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through nearly 14,000 posts across the nation. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005648/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 26, 2016] Embracing the Era of Storytelling: Why Indonesian Brands Need to Start Telling A Better Story JAKARTA, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Driven by its vision to help and support Indonesian companies bring their brand stories to global newsrooms, PR Newswire successfully held its inaugural Media Coffee event on May 12 in Jakarta with the theme "How to Tell Your Stories to the World: Challenges of Going Global for Indonesian Communication Professionals". The event was opened by Yujie Chen, Senior Vice President of PR Newswire, Asia Pacific, followed by three esteemed speakers: Nia Niscaya, Director of International Tourism Promotion at the Ministry of Tourism, Government of Indonesia, Prita Laura, News Anchor of Metro TV, and Justin Doebele, Chief Editorial Advisor of Forbes Indonesia and Vice President of Jakarta Foreign Correspondent Club. The keynote speakers shared their insights on how Indonesian brands should strategize their storytelling to connect with global audiences. The archived video of the event is now available upon registration. Partnering with Perhumas, the leading professional association for public relations practitioners, and Bubu Kreasi Perdana, one of the largest digital advertising agencies and web developers in Indonesia, the event brought together more than 80 senior communications professionals from some of the biggest brands in Indonesia to examine the current challenges and opportunities facing the profession. Filling the Communication Gap: It is Never Too Early to Tell Your Brand Stories With its young and tech-savvy demographic, growing middle class, thriving consumer sector, and the Indonesian government's commitment in starting an infrastructure boom, Indonesia is an exciting growth market for foreign investors. Yujie Chen kicked off the event by giving an overview of the optimistic economic outlook in Indonesia and why brands need to start delivering their stories to global audiences. Some of Cen's key highlights in the presentation include: According to the 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer report, trust in business (71%) in Indonesia is the highest among nine APAC countries surveyed. However, Chen stated that there is still a communication gap that brands need to fill in order to build credibility and awareness among international audiences. is the highest among nine APAC countries surveyed. However, Chen stated that there is still a communication gap that brands need to fill in order to build credibility and awareness among international audiences. Marking its 110th anniversary, news releases still remain a powerful tool for communicators and serve as credible sources of information for media professionals and investors. a powerful tool for communicators and serve as credible sources of information for media professionals and investors. Adapting to the rapidly changing media landscape, news releases have evolved from mere text-only company statements to engaging communication tools that allow interaction with consumers and enable lead generation. tools that allow interaction with consumers and enable lead generation. Capitalizing on the fast-growing market opportunities, it is time for Indonesian brands to step up their storytelling game and strategically position their brands as the drivers of growth and leaders of innovation in order to draw more attention from foreign investors and generate international businesses. Big Bet on the Tourism Sector: the Case of "Wonderful Indonesia" Home to beautiful landscapes and a rich cultural heritage, Indonesia is achieving increasing growth in the tourism sector, with more than 10 million foreign visitors in 2015 and a 7.2% annual tourism growth. Nia Niscaya stated that the Ministry of Tourism has set a significant rise in target at 12 million foreign arrivals for 2016. Here are some of her key highlights on how the Tourism Ministry has successfully wooed the world with its award-winning "Wonderful Indonesia" global campaign: Recognizing the positive contribution and impact of the tourism industry on the Indonesian economy, the Tourism Ministry has engaged in a full-scale strategy to run the "Wonderful Indonesia" campaign, allocating 30% of its communication budget for branding. It is critical to share your brand stories and success with external audiences as it gives them confidence to trust your brand and buy your product. The Tourism Ministry is adapting to the global standard in its communications efforts in order to reach a broader audiences. It is essential to forgo the business-as-usual approach and engage your audience in fresher ways. Think like a Journalist: Be Clear, Be Timely and Highlight the Human Interest While the proliferation of media is providing communicators more opportunities to reach and engage their audiences, the amount of noise on the Internet is creating challenges for communications professionals to make their stories stand out. As Prita Laura said in her presentation, "Every media is unique and each outlet has different needs." The job of communicators if they want to get their stories featured is to better understand the journalists' needs. Here are a few tips from Laura: Sending a clear message is essential when it comes to storytelling in business. Every storyteller needs to adapt to journalists' way of thinking as well as mind-mapping. Communicators need to be prepared when journalists call for an interview or do follow-ups. Make sure that your news story has the following key elements: prominence, proximity, timeliness, novelty, impact, conflict, human interest, and usefulness. What Does the International Media Want From Your Communication Outreach? For the attendees who were interested in getting their story featured in the international mainstream press, Justin Doebele divided his presentation into two key parts: "content and access". Here are some of his key highlights: Besides the basic facts and figures, journalists also look for multimedia elements in a news story to help them engage their audiences, such as photos, videos and infographics. At Forbes , journalists tend to look for F.O.B.B - First, Only, Biggest, and Best - in news writing and reporting. Indonesian brands should incorporate those key elements when crafting their news stories and pitching to journalists. , journalists tend to look for F.O.B.B - First, Only, Biggest, and Best - in news writing and reporting. Indonesian brands should incorporate those key elements when crafting their news stories and pitching to journalists. It is important to connect local elements and news to something global so international journalists can quickly grasp the essence of your story. For example, Taman Mini , a popular recreational spot in Jakarta , is the "Disneyland" of Indonesia . , a popular recreational spot in , is the "Disneyland" of . Provide journalists easy access to all the key information they need to write your story. Subscribe to our newsletter to keep informed of upcoming events and related content. About PR Newswire's Media Coffee The goal of Media Coffee is to enable communications professionals to hear from leading media organizations on how their respective companies work, providing insight into their specialist areas, giving advice on achieving coverage and informing them on effective targeting of journalists within their sector and how to build a mutually beneficial relationship. About PR Newswire PR Newswire (www.prnasia.com) is the premier global provider of news release distribution and multimedia platforms that enable marketers, corporate communicators, public relations practitioners and investor relations professionals to leverage content to engage with all their key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry in 1954, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, distribute, target and measure text and multimedia content across traditional, digital, mobile and social channels. Combining the world's largest multi-channel content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world's enterprises to tell their stories to the world. For further information, please contact: PR Newswire's Asia Marketing Team +852 2572 8228 [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160526/8521603408 Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160518/8521603201LOGO [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] MoneyOnMobile, Enfold and Microsoft Join Forces to Provide Digital Lockers to Indian Customers MUMBAI, May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 20, 2016, MoneyOnMobile and Enfold signed an agreement to provide digital lockers for the 170 million individuals that constitute MoneyOnMobile's unique user base. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160526/10147080 ) (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150330/10119359-a ) MoneyOnMobile is a leading provider of financial services via-mobile phone in India. It currently processes over US$ 1 billion through its systems on an annual basis and has delivered services to over 170 million Indians directly and through its 310,000 channel partners and retail outlets across the country. Enfold is a leading provider of white-label digital lockers worldwide, with a particular focus on the telecom, banking and insurance sectors. It is backed by a range of investors, led by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group of Mumbai, India. The digital locker service will be hosted on Microsoft's Azure data centers located in India. The agreement is unprecedented - it covers more than 12% of India's population, and is by far the largest deployment of digital lockers in the world. It provides a very large number of people with the ability to securely store their important personal documents - Aadhaar card, PAN card, various certificates, photos, videos - any digital file they want - including transaction receipts each time they use the MoneOnMobile service. Documents can be added to the lockers via email, ax, upload and via photos taken by smartphone cameras. "This agreement represents a massive expansion of the services we provide to the people of India. Our digital locker is a major convenience for our customers, as it provides them with a secure and very functional single common place to store and manage receipts for not just all the various financial services we provide, but also any other digital file they want to store," said Ranjeet Oak, Co-Founder and President of MoneyOnMobile. "We also intend to apply for empanelment as a National Digital Locker provider as soon as possible to bring millions of our customers into Prime Minister's Digital India mandate," he added. "Enfold is very pleased to provide the technology that underlies this agreement," said K. Digvijay Singh of Enfold India Pvt. Ltd. "We want to thank Microsoft for providing us with the resources to build and test our digital lockers at scales of hundreds of millions, so that we are in a position to provide MoneyOnMobile with the speed, scale and size they need for this type of mega-offering." He also stated that "The current plan is to provide a core of highly functional features in all lockers, with additional features to increase the range of offerings as demand grows." "Enfold's agreement with MoneyOnMobile illustrates the value that Microsoft Cloud is bringing to the Indian market," said Mark Ozur, Partner Architect and General Manager with Microsoft's Azure team. "By adopting Azure as their technology platform Enfold has gained the ability to scale to hundreds of millions of users as their business grows. The sky is the limit as we jointly explore additional capabilities to integrate into the Digital Locker offering." About My Mobile Payments Ltd: My Mobile Payments Limited (MMPL) is one of India's leading mobile payment solutions company, operating through its MoneyOnMobile and MOM wallet brand, a service aimed at bringing quick, simple and efficient mobile payment solutions to everyone. Using the MOM Wallet, consumers can make any kind of payments towards purchase of goods, top-ups, payment of utility bills, DTH recharges and more, just with the click of a button. Through MoneyOnMobile, customers can avail the services through any of the 2,75,000-strong retail network of MMPL. MOM Wallet is India's largest mobile payment platform that places the second mobile revolution of the country into the consumer's hands. MOM provides doorstep services and mobile app services aimed at bringing the ability to make hassle-free payments to every person on the street. My Mobile Payments Ltd is a recipient of several prestigious national and international awards and recognition. This includes being in the "Top 100 Red Herring Global"list in 2015 and "Red Herring Top 100 Asia" lists for two years in a row (2014 and 2015), and also winner of the Emerging Payments "Best Wallet of the Year" award in 2014 and 2015. For more information, visit: http://www.money-on-mobile.com Media Contact : Vipul Bondal [email protected] +91-99203 84555 Veriitte Consulting [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] MBA That Guarantees Success MUMBAI, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The MBA (Banking & Financial Services) program offered by KL University, Vijayawada in collaboration with The Times of India Group recently achieved 100% success on job training/ placements of its first batch of AY 2014-2016. The students have been successfully placed with leading banks, MNCs and financial institutions and were offered prominent designation/posts of Virtual Relationship Managers (VRM) and Customer Care Executives (CSE) to quick start their career. The students at KL University have been recruited by leading companies across various verticals viz. HDFC bank, Axis bank, Standard Chartered bank, Kotak Mahindra bank, Janalaxmi Financial Services & City Union bank. The MBA program, aims at helping young professionals build a promising and progressive career in the burgeoning sectors of 'Banking & Financial Services', 'Finance & Accounting' and 'Business Analytics'. Focusing on the pressing need of job-ready candidates for the industry, graduates from this unique program have complete understanding of business processes. This MBA program is offered by 4 other universities of repute across India in association with The Times of India Group. The program provides the students with on-job training/ placement opportunities after the completion of the 1st year. Over the course of the second year, the learning outcome is derived through engagement in various departments such as sales, marketing, operations and simultaneously the student accomplishes the university requirements for the degree. Karishma Singh, a student of KL University, said, "The course has dissolved my thoughts that education can only be imparted through traditional classroom teaching methods. As a beginner, I have gained knowledge through real-life experiences while working for organizations and learning from industry experts. I have discovered my expertise, potentials and capabilities through the course." Sharing her experience, Mansi Shah said, "The journey from Ahmedabad to Andhra to do the MBA program from TimesPro has been a lifetime experience. The course ot only gave me a chance to meet people from varied cultures but also gave me the confidence of stepping into the corporate world with ease. With thorough knowledge of banking processes, I am all geared up to start my career with a reputed bank. The program has a very practical and student friendly approach, with the modules and teaching methodologies being very comprehensive." Though India produces approximately 3 lakh+ management graduates every year, but only 10-15% of them are employable. The remaining 85% often are considered unemployable by firms due to lack of specific competencies. In order to bridge this gap between the formal/traditional education system and the industry standards, 'Industry Integrated MBA program' provides an adequate platform for participants-facilitators engagement during the learning process at the universities. The engagement-based MBA program incorporates knowledge competencies, self-competencies and service competencies, along with industry immersions/projects at regular interventions. The MBA program is designed to meet the challenges of dynamic corporate India and enables students to work full-time after the completion of the first year of the program. Additional certifications embedded in the course such as NISM, NSFM, DBF, Core-Banking Software and ET FinPro certification, enable students to understand, practice and use business intelligence on a daily basis. By adopting international study materials, the course creates a practical learning approach through group discussions and interactive sessions with industry veterans. Further collaborations with India's leading universities, which are UGC approved that offer the unique MBA program to students with an urge to climb up the corporate ladder and have a promising career include: University City Programs offered Jain University Bangalore 2 year MMS in Banking & Financial Services (B&FS) & Finance & Accounting (F&A) SRM University Chennai 2-year MMS in Banking & Financial Services (B&FS) & Business Analytics (BA) Ajeenkya DY Patil Pune 2-year MBA in Banking & Financial Services (B&FS) University & Business Analytics (BA) KL University Vijayawada 2-year MBA in Banking & Financial Services (B&FS) Business Analytics (BA) Sharda University Greater Noida 2-year MBA in Banking Services (BS) To know more log on to http://www.timespro.com/distributed-mba-courses For any query on the course/admission, kindly contact the toll free number - 1800 102 2326 About TimesPro TimesPro (Times Centre for Learning Ltd.) is a subsidiary of The Times of India group offering a variety of courses in banking, finance and business analytics that allows a student to kick start his or her professional career. Our vision is to ensure that we provide the Indian youth with tailor made and industry vetted educational courses that bridge the gap between the current formal education system and what the Industry requirements are, thereby making our Indian youth employable. TimesPro has 21 state-of-the-art training centres across multiple locations in India providing skill based training to young graduates so as to make them day1 hour1 job ready. TimesPro has been awarded the coveted Brandon Hall Group Bronze Award for excellence in the Best Use of Games and Simulations in Vocational Training and Best Upcoming Education Institute by ASSOCHAM. The company website http://www.timespro.com offers comprehensive details about the courses offered. For any query on the course / admission, kindly contact 1800-102-2326. Media contact: Amruta Ail [email protected] +91-98199 45670 Times Centre for Learning [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] Phoenix New Media Announces New Agreements with Phoenix TV BEIJING, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG), a leading new media company in China ("Phoenix New Media", "ifeng" or the "Company"), today announced that it has entered into a new set of agreements (the "New Agreements") with its parent company, Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited ("Phoenix TV"), to replace their previous cooperation agreements that expired on May 27, 2016 (the "Previous Cooperation Agreements"). Under the New Agreements, Phoenix TV agreed to continue to license its copyrighted content and trademarks to the Company's affiliated consolidated entities subject to certain revisions to the terms contained in the Previous Cooperation Agreements. In particular, Phoenix TV agreed to grant the Company's affiliated consolidated entities the license and priority over any third party to broadcast Phoenix TV's copyrighted video content on ifeng.com (the Company's main Internet channel), i.ifeng.com (a mobile Internet channel of the Company), and ifeng News, ifeng Video and ifeng VIP (three mobile applications of the Company) in China concurrently with Phoenix TV's broadcasting of such content on its own television network and to broadcast such content on the above Internet and mobile channels of the Company thereafter. concurrently with Phoenix TV's broadcasting of such content on its own television network and to broadcast such content on the above Internet and mobile channels of the Company thereafter. Phoenix TV agreed to grant the Company's affiliated consolidated entities a non-exclusive license to use Phoenix TV's copyrighted text and graphics on the same Internet and mobile channels of the Company in China for which Phoenix TV's copyrighted video content license, above, was granted. for which Phoenix TV's copyrighted video content license, above, was granted. The fees payable to Phoenix TV by the Company's affiliated consolidated entities for all content licenses described above will be RMB10 million for the first year of the agreements, which will incrementally increase by 15% for each subsequent year of the agreements. for the first year of the agreements, which will incrementally increase by 15% for each subsequent year of the agreements. As Phoenix TV is in the process of revising its internal trademark licensing policy, it agreed to renew its existing trademark license agreements with the Company's two affiliated consolidated entities on their original terms until two months after Phoenix TV's new internal trademark licensing policy comes into effect or when the parties reach any new trademark license agreements to replace the existing agreements. Each of the New Agreements (except the trademark license agreements as described above) has an initial term of three years and will expire on May 26, 2019 and may be renewed on an annual basis thereafter upon agreement of both parties. Each of the parties also ha the right to terminate the New Agreements before their expiration date by 6-month prior written notice to the other party. "We are very pleased to announce the renewal of the agreements with our parent company, Phoenix TV. We really appreciate their continued enormous support," stated Mr. Ya Li, the President of the Company. "In addition to the precious and highly differentiated content from Phoenix TV, ifeng has been dedicated to creating a rich and comprehensive content library, in order to meet the diverse demands from our large and fast growing user base, as well as promoting the shared brand 'Phoenix' with the 'ifeng' platform across Internet enabled devices in China." About Phoenix New Media Limited Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG) is a leading new media company providing premium content on an integrated platform across Internet, mobile and TV channels in China. Having originated from a leading global Chinese language TV network based in Hong Kong, Phoenix TV, the Company enables consumers to access professional news and other quality information and share user-generated content on the Internet and through their mobile devices. Phoenix New Media's platform includes its ifeng.com channel, consisting of its ifeng.com website and web-based game platform, its video channel, comprised of its dedicated video vertical and mobile video services, and its mobile channel, including its mobile Internet website, mobile applications and mobile value-added services. Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as Phoenix New Media's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Phoenix New Media may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on Forms 20-F and 6-K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Phoenix New Media's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's goals and strategies; the Company's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the online and mobile advertising, online video and mobile paid service markets in China; the Company's reliance on online advertising and MVAS for the majority of its total revenues; the Company's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its services; the Company's expectations regarding the retention and strengthening of its relationships with advertisers, partners and customers; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly operating results; the Company's plans to enhance its user experience, infrastructure and service offerings; the Company's reliance on mobile operators in China to provide most of its MVAS; changes by mobile operators in China to their policies for MVAS; competition in its industry in China; and relevant government policies and regulations relating to the Company. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its registration statement on Form F-1, as amended, and its annual report on Form 20-F. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Phoenix New Media does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. For investor and media inquiries please contact: Phoenix New Media Limited Matthew Zhao Email: [email protected] ICR, Inc. Vera Tang Tel: +1 (646) 277-1215 Email: [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/phoenix-new-media-announces-new-agreements-with-phoenix-tv-300276129.html SOURCE Phoenix New Media Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] IT giants discuss big data cooperation with Guiyang GUIYANG, China, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Guiyang International Big Data Expo 2016, the only exhibition based on big data in the world, is being held in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, from May 26-29. Lots of technology titans from inside and outside of China have gathered in Guiyang to seek cooperation in the field of big data. Qualcomm (China) Holding Co., Ltd. officially settled down in Guiyang-Anshun New Area. It will become the US company's new investment arm in China. The big data platforms will also be established in Guizhou by international technology giants such as Microsoft, Intel nd Dell. Li Yanhong, president and CEO of Baidu, Pony Ma, president and CEO of Tencent, Liu Qiangdong, CEO of JD.com, Cher Wang, president of HTC, Qi Xiangdong, founder and president of Qihoo 360 Technology, Jia Yueting, president and CEO of LeTV, Wang Jian, Chief Technology Officer of Alibaba, and Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of Xiaoju Technology also expressed their hope for future cooperation with Guiyang in their speeches at the opening ceremony. "Baidu is exploring a pilot project of unmanned ground vehicles with Guiyang government," said Li. "Tencent is mulling whether to establish a disaster recovery center of big data in Guizhou," explained Ma. "LeTV, in hopes of cooperating with Guiyang in new industry, will intensify their technological exchanges as well as industrial cooperation," said Jia. "With Guizhou and Guiyang gradually growing into a hub for Internet and big-data industries, Xiaoju Technology will cooperate with them in traffic engines and cloud traffic technology," noted Cheng. As the core overseas PR partner of the Expo 2016, Huanqiu.com went through all reporting works in Guiyang. [May 27, 2016] DRS Technologies And Autonomous Solutions Form Strategic Partnership To Develop Technology To Protect Troops From Roadside Explosives ARLINGTON, Va., May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DRS Technologies Inc., a Leonardo-Finmeccanica Company, announced today that it has signed a strategic teaming agreement with Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI), a leading provider of robotic vehicle technologies, to develop automated solutions for the US military's route-clearance vehicles. This alliance combines ASI's expertise in vehicle automation with DRS engineering production capabilities, market presence and customer awareness. The companies will begin working on the U.S. Army's emerging Route Clearance Interrogation System (RCIS) Type I program, which involves automation of the High Mobility Engineering Excavator (HMEE) platform. "We are very excited to work with ASI to offer our customer automated solutions that increase safety by eliminating the need for soldiers to man systems on the battlefield in route-clearance missions. Leveraging ASI's proven technology will allow DRS to provide rapid, reliable, and cost-effective solutions to the warfighter while continuing our legacy of meeting the challenging needs of our customers," said Joseph Matteoni, vice president and general manager of DRS Sustainment Systems, Inc. The RCIS program is expected to provide the Army with the option to remotely operatethe Army-legacy HMEE Type I vehicle in an unmanned mode. In the unmanned mode, the RCIS Type I will be wirelessly controlled by an operator located in a separate control vehicle. About Autonomous Solutions Autonomous Solutions, Inc. is a world leader in vendor independent vehicle automation systems, serving clients in the mining, agriculture, automotive, government, and manufacturing industries with remote control, tele-operation, and fully automated solutions. ASI's vehicle automation products can be found in companies and government agencies throughout the world, including: Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Ford Motor Company, Luke Air Force Base, and the Los Angeles Police Department. About DRS Technologies DRS Technologies is a leading technology innovator and supplier of integrated products, services and support to military forces, intelligence agencies and prime contractors worldwide. The company specializes in naval and maritime systems, ground combat mission command and network computing, global satellite communications and network infrastructure, aviation support and avionics systems, and intelligence and security solutions. Additionally, DRS builds power systems and electro-optical/infrared systems for a wide range of commercial customers. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, DRS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leonardo-Finmeccanica S.p.A., which employs more than 47,000 people worldwide. See the full range of capabilities at www.drs.com and on Twitter @drstechnologies. For additional information please contact: Michael Mount Senior Director, Public Affairs 571-447-4624 [email protected] Twitter: @drstechnologies To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/drs-technologies-and-autonomous-solutions-form-strategic-partnership-to-develop-technology-to-protect-troops-from-roadside-explosives-300276169.html SOURCE DRS Technologies Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] Holy Land Principles Keeps Pressure on Intel WASHINGTON, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The largest private sector employer in Israel/Palestine continues to be held accountable for its employment practices by shareholders' Resolutions. Since Israel's Occupation of the West Bank in 1967, Intel has invested $10.8 billion in plants and development centers in Israel, and received $1.5 billion in related grants (Reuters, September 22, 2014). Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement "Intel's investment is a strategic asset for Israel's industry. This is the biggest investment by a foreign company ever in Israel" For the second year, on May 19 (in its first "virtually only" meeting) Intel was faced with a Resolution to sign the Holy Land Principles a corporate code of conduct for American companies doing business in Palestine/Israel, based on the very effective Mac Bride Principles for Northern Ireland. The Holy Land Principles are pro-Jewish, pro-Palestinian and pro-company. The Principles do not call for quotas, reverse discrimination, divestment, disinvestment or boycotts. The Principles do not take any position on solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. The Principles do not try to tell the Palestinians or the Israelis what to do. The Holy Land Pinciples only call for fair employment by American companies in Palestine-Israel. The Holy Land Principles resolution received over 100 million votes, 103,321,479, (3%), with 565,180,831 abstentions. At the close of business on May 19, 2016, the share value of Intel was $29.63. So the value of the share votes for HLP represented $3,061,415,422.77. The value of abstentions was $16,746,308,022.50. Therefore, the combined total money not supporting Intel was over $19 billion ($19,807,723,445.27) and, therefore, a total of 668,502,310 votes not supporting Intel. Fr. Mc Manus President of the Capitol Hill-based Holy Land Principles, Inc. and Irish National Caucussaid: "Intel now knows this issue is not going to go away. It is the existential issue for all the 545 American companies doing business in the Holy Land it was incredibly ignored for so many years the elephant in the (board) room. Next year we will file a new Resolution calling on GE at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information to disclose the breakdown of its workforce in Palestine-Israel using the nine job categories which are utilized in the U.S. Department of Labor's EEO -1 Report (Equal Employment Opportunity): 1. Officials and managers; 2. Professionals; 3. Technicians; 4. Sales; 5. Office and clerical; 6. Craft Workers (skilled); 7. Operatives (semiskilled); 8. Laborers (unskilled); 9. Service workers." Fr. Mc Manus concluded: "Asking for such a breakdown is eminently reasonable, makes total sense and is easily done. It's consistent with the Ruggie Principles and ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) issues. What company could possibly object to this? And who in the SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) or faith-based community could oppose it? The Holy Land Principles is an idea whose time (after inexcusable neglect) has come And nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come." Fr. Sean Mc Manus President Holy Land Principles, Inc. P.O. BOX 15128 Capitol Hill Washington, DC 20003-0849 Tel. 202-488-0107 Fax. 202-488-7537 [email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/holy-land-principles-keeps-pressure-on-intel-300276196.html SOURCE Holy Land Principles [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] Canadian Metamaterial Technologies Inc. Eyes Silicon Valley Expansion Through the Acquisition of Rolith's Business HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Metamaterial Technologies Inc. (MTI), a global leader in smart materials and photonics headquartered in Canada announced today, that it has acquired Rolith's business, including its proprietary manufacturing technology, Rolling Mask Lithography (RML) and its NanoWeb products. Rolith is a Silicon Valley based nanofabrication company. The deal includes intellectual property, proprietary tools and state of the art research and development facilities specific to Rolith's large surface area lithography platform as well as the company's key employees. This deal will accelerate MTI's ability to develop large-scale optical metamaterial products for aerospace, defense, healthcare and energy markets. This acquisition is indicative of MTI's commitment to innovation, which centers on making the next generation of smart, multifunctional materials that will change the way we use, interact and benefit from light. "Rolith's existing business line and RML technology will complment MTI's capabilities and extend its market offerings. This acquisition will establish the company as a forerunner in the industry and will enhance the company's future growth and performance," said Maurice Guitton, MTI's board chairman. "This is a strategic acquisition for MTI. One of the biggest challenges in our industry has been the absence of viable manufacturing tools to produce large-scale, high-volume optical metamaterial products. Rolith's patented RML lithographic technology is the first of its kind and will allow us to scale-up our manufacturing to meet the industry demands." said George Palikaras, founder and chief executive officer of MTI. "Rolith has built a solid IP portfolio that will complement MTI's and I am honored and excited to have all three founders and Rolith's team join our new U.S. company." Rolith was founded in 2008 by Dr. Boris Kobrin, Julian Zegelman and Prof. Mark Brongersma from Stanford University. "We are all excited to be joining MTI and its talented team. MTI is now well-positioned to be a leader in the commercialization of metamaterial optical products," said Boris Kobrin, founder and chief executive officer of Rolith. MTI's platform technology is gaining international attention for its ability to manipulate light in unprecedented ways. In 2014, MTI signed a partnership agreement with Airbus to test and tailor its award winning technology Lamda Guard metaAIRTM, as a solution to protect a pilot's vision by blocking and deflecting intense laser strikes. About Metamaterial Technologies Inc. Metamaterial Technologies Inc. ("MTI") is a smart materials and photonics company specializing in metamaterial research, nanofabrication, and computational electromagnetics. The Company has developed a new class of optical smart materials, changing the way we use, interact and benefit from light. MTI is headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia and has offices in London, England and Pleasanton, California. To learn more visit www.metamaterial.com For further information - Metamaterial Technologies Inc., Cindy Roberts, 902-222-3658, [email protected]; Metamaterial Technologies Inc., Angela Steele, 902-222-7120, [email protected] Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160526/8521603411 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Macedonias future in the European Union is getting more and more distant as the country is increasingly unlikely to meet its accession goals amidst the deepening political crisis. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is experiencing a wave of demonstrations that broke out after it had been revealed that the then Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski had spied on the opposition. The first signs of unrest began to escalate at the beginning of last year when Mr Gruevski and other members of the ruling party were accused of corruption. The parliamentary elections were originally planned for 5 June but they were put off indefinitely last week by the parliament. The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), the opposition party, said that it would boycott the poll until the government cleans up the electoral register by removing thousands of inactive voters. The EU supported this condition and said that elections should not take place under the present conditions. Germany is especially concerned about the recent developments. German Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, commented that he is extremely concerned by the unfolding political crisis, adding that the government is currently seeing political leaders acting in a way that is not becoming of a country that wants to join the EU. The United Kingdom has also amplified its pressure on Skopje to end confrontation, when it warned the country that negotiations with the EU and NATO would be put at risk. FYROM applied to become a EU member in 2004 and shortly afterwards, the Stabilization and Association Agreement, which provides a comprehensive contractual framework for EU relations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, took effect. In 2005, the country was granted the candidate country status and in 2009, FYROMs nationals were granted a visa-free travel to the Schengen. [May 27, 2016] BioNitrogen Holdings Corp. Achieves Further Major Milestones MIAMI, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BioNitrogen is pleased to announce a number of milestone events in its proposed path to restructure and reorganize under Chapter 11. On May 24, the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Miami, FL granted BioNitrogen the exclusive right to propose a plan of restructuring for a further 90 days. This agreement was supported by both the company's largest secured creditor and largest unsecured creditor. Also on May 24, BioNitrogen received a letter of proposed partnership (contingent on a successful reorganization) from one of the leading global industrial gas companies. This letter has been made available to all potential financial partners in discussion with BioNitrogen under an NDA. The Industrial Gas Company is willing to discuss its reasons for the partnership and why it supports BioN with any potential investor. Potential investors have also been supplied with complete short term and longer term financial expectations for the project in Taylor County and the company as a whole going forward. BioN believes that it can produce competitively priced Urea in the US, even in the depressed US natural gas market that we face today. These agreements follow the important agreements struck with the City of Perry, FL last month. BioN now has: A place to build its first facility - Taylor County, Florida County and state backing for financing. County backing for land, transportation and utility agreements A "World Class strategic partner with interest in helping with engineering oversight as well as proving equipment, and taking ownership of the carbon dioxide by-product. Graham Copley , Chairman and CEO of BioNitrogen Holdings, said, "This has been another important week for BioNitrogen as we look to align ourselves with the right investor(s) to build the first of these unique and very valuable facilities. Our strategic partner has decades of engineering and design experience and has spent significant time and resource vetting the technology. We have a couple of straightforward design changes to make to the process and then adjust for what will be a new property in Taylor County , but we would expect to be ready to start construction within 6 months from a successful Chapter 11 reorganization. I continue to believe that BioNitrogen represents an investment opportunity with an extraordinarily positive asymmetric risk/reward profile." Brent Williams of Teneo Capital added, "A critical component of BioNitrogen's restructuring plan has been achieved with the court approval of the City of Perry, Florida Settlement. The Settlement provides a specific geographic area for the construction of the Urea Facility, and a mechanism for a bond allocation which would fund upwards of 80% of the cost of construction. This achievement, coupled with the strategic partnership with an international gas company, are key components towards a successful emergence from Chapter 11. We are actively working with potential financial sponsors and encourage any other financial parties with an interest in this endeavor to contact Graham or me." About BioNitrogen Holdings Corp. BioNitrogen Holdings Corp. (OTC PINK: BION) is a cleantech company that utilizes patented technology to build environmentally friendly plants that convert biomass into urea fertilizer. Additional information can be found at www.BioNitrogen.com. Safe Harbor Statement Statements made in this press release that express the Company's or management's intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or predictions of future events, are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "will" and similar expressions are intended to further identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. The Company cannot guarantee future financial results; levels of activity, performance or achievements and investors should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. No information contained in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company's future financial performance, future revenues or its future stock price. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of the Company as of the date of this press release. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150909/265127LOGO Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372995LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bionitrogen-holdings-corp-achieves-further-major-milestones-300276250.html SOURCE BioNitrogen Holdings Corp. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] Inverter Duty Motors Market Worth 4.08 Billion USD by 2021 PUNE, India, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Inverter Duty Motors Market Report by Application, by End-User, by Standards, by Construction Material, and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World) - Global forecasts to 2021" published by MarketsandMarkets, The market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 2.58 Billion in 2016 to USD 4.08 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2016 to 2021. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 73 market data Tables with 52 Figures spread through 156 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Inverter Duty Motors Market Report" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/inverter-duty-motors-market-222093886.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Increasing need for motor efficiency, growing urbanization and infrastructure developments, and high demand for energy density of motors are driving the Inverter Duty Motors Market across the globe. IEEE standards-based inverter duty motors accounted for the largest market share in 2015 Among different types of international standards, i.e., IEEE, NEMA, UL, and others, IEEE standards-based inverter duty motors accounted for the largest market share in 2015. IEEE specifies inverter duty motors standard under IEEE 841-2009 standard. This standard implies that the motors should be built with NEMA MG1 compliance, and also should include typical features and testing of IEEE 841-2009 standard. The additional reliability gained by these tests adds advantage to IEEE-based inverter duty motors over standard NEMA-based inverter duty motors. These motors are mostly used in the North American and European region. Chemicals and oil & gas end-user segment is responsible for the highest demand of inverter duty motors globally Upstream operations of the oil & gas industry, such as drilling, require constant torque and variable speed motor applications. Inverter duty motors are reliable and efficient for such operations. Due to widespread oil & gas operations across the globe, and increasing demand for reliability in operations, inverter duty motors are expected to cater the highest demand from this industry during the forecast period. Metal & mining is another segment contributing to the demand for inverter duty motors. In this segment, inveter duty motors find their utilization in crane & hoists, conveyors, and extruders applications. North America is the dominant market for inverter duty motors In this report, the Inverter Duty Motors Market has been analyzed with respect to four regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World. Rest of the World includes South America, the Middle East, and Africa regions. North America is expected to dominate the global Inverter Duty Motors Market owing to its large unconventional oil & gas industry base, and stringent motor-efficiency regulations in the region. To provide an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes profile of some of the leading players in the Inverter Duty Motors Market namely, ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Nidec Corporation (Japan), Regal Beloit Corporation (U.S.), Rockwell Corporation (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), General Electric (U.S.), WEG SA (Brazil), Crompton Greaves (India), and Havells India Ltd. (India), among others. Dominant players are trying to penetrate developing economies and adopting various methods to grab the market share. Make an Enquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=222093886 Market share analysis by revenue for key companies is included in the report. The scope accordingly aids market participants to identify high-growth markets and help managing key investment decisions. For this report, major players in the Inverter Duty Motors Market have been identified using various primary and secondary sources, which include annual reports of top market players, interviews with key opinion leaders such as CEOs, directors, and marketing people. Based on this research, the market shares have been evaluated and validated. Browse Related Reports: Intelligent Motor Controller Market by Voltage (Low & Medium), by Motor Type, by End User (Oil & Gas, Power & Water, Food, Mining, Chemicals, & Pharmaceutical), by Application (Pump, Fan & Compressor), & by Region - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/intelligent-motor-controller-market-130751591.html Gear Motors Market by Product (Gearbox & Gear Motor), by Gear Type (Helical, Planetary, Helical-Bevel, Worm, & Others), by Rated Power, by Torque (Up to 10,000 Nm, Above 10,000 Nm), by Industry & by Region - Global Trends & Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/gear-motor-market-37526037.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. Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/energy-and-power Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets 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] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [May 27, 2016] Salt Lake Comic Con Takes 50% Stake in Salt Lake Gaming Con Today, Dan Farr Productions, producer of the instantly successful Salt Lake Comic Con (http://saltlakecomiccon.com/), announced that they have acquired a 50 percent ownership stake in Salt Lake Gaming Con. Salt Lake Gaming Con is one of the top 10 gaming conventions in the United States, with its inaugural three-day event drawing more than 15,000 gamers. Salt Lake Gaming Con features video games, board games, gaming tournaments and competitions, and a variety of other activities, making it the perfect fit for gaming fans of all interests. Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg founded Salt Lake Comic Con in 2013 and in just six events have built it into one of the country's largest comic cons. The duo not only produced Salt Lake Comic Con, but also created the marketing strategy that made it the largest first-time comic con in North America, became the most attended convention in Utah, and attracted some of the biggest celebrities in the business, including Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Sebastian Stan and Marvel legend Stan Lee. "We're committed to doing everything we can to provide our fans in the Rocky Mountain area with fun, unique and once-in-a-lifetime events, and Salt Lake Gaming Con meets all of these requirements," said Farr. "It will be exciting to watch gaming fans of all ages interact with and compete against fellow gamers in an environment that encourages them to follow their gaming passions." Farr and Brandenburg's backgrounds make them a perfect fit for Salt Lake Gaming Con. Prior to founding Salt Lake Comic Con, Farr co-founded Daz 3D Inc. in 2000. Daz 3D is the world's foremost experts at developing and publishing 3D digital content and software for over 1 million creative professionals, hobbyists and game developers around the world. Brandenburg started his career as a video game designer and programmer, and co-founded two of the largest independent game development companies in the country, producing titles for Disney, Microsoft (News - Alert) and Hasbro. "I'm thrilled to be able to partner with Dan and Bryan and leverage their expertise in the comic con industry, as well as the gaming and 3D publishing industries," said Jake Williams, founder of Salt Lake Gaming Con. "I know that together we can provide our fans with the types of experiences that will feed their gaming passion, while making us a premier gaming destination in the western Unite States." More than 88 percent of the U.S. population plays games. At Salt Lake Gaming Con there is something for everyone. "We're excited to partner with Salt Lake Gaming Con and confident that our combined expertise will help take the event to new heights," said Brandenburg. "Our comic con events have been a phenomenal success in Utah and the surrounding area. We are confident that we can make Salt Lake Gaming Con a premier gaming destination in the region." Salt Lake Gaming Con 2016 is June 2-4, 2016 at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. In addition to gaming, the event will feature gaming cosplayers, celebrity gamers, game developers and programmers. To buy tickets to the event, visit Salt Lake Gaming Con at GrowTix. Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 is September 1-3, 2016 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information about Salt Lake Comic Con or to buy tickets, visit the Salt Lake Comic Con website. About Salt Lake Comic Con: Salt Lake Comic Con is organized by Dan Farr Productions, in partnership with ABC4/CW30 of the Nexstar Broadcasting Group. Dan Farr Productions is an event and marketing group devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium celebrities and brands in the pop culture arena. Dan Farr Productions is dedicated to producing spectacular celebrations of popular culture that lead the market in providing exceptional and rewarding experiences for our consumers, fans, celebrity guests, vendors and partners. Find out more at: www.SaltLakeComicCon.com, www.abc4.com/. About Salt Lake Gaming Con: Salt Lake Gaming Con is the 6th biggest gaming convention in the country. In the first year there were 15,000 gamers that attended over the three days, making it one of the biggest first year gaming conventions ever! With over 88% of the U.S. population playing games, there is something for everyone at SLGC. Find out more at www.saltlakegamingcon.com. Note to Editors: Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 Tickets http://saltlakecomiccon.com/slcc-2016-tickets/ Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 Master Guest List http://saltlakecomiccon.com/slcc-2016-master-guest-schedule/ Salt Lake Comic Con Xperiences http://saltlakecomiccon.com/fanx-xperiences/ Alumni http://saltlakecomiccon.com/salt-lake-comic-con-alumni/ Comic Con FAQ http://saltlakecomiccon.com/faq-2016/ View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005565/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Powerball numbers for Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 Here are the winning Powerball numbers and results for the lottery jackpot drawing on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Volunteer walks in honor of her husband Thousand Oaks resident Joan Hull will be among those participating in this years Conejo Valley Walk to End Alzheimers at 9 a.m. Sat., Oct. 22 at the Westlake Promenade. Hull... Overpass could get protective fencing A substantial safety upgrade for the areas most notorious overpass is finally getting some Caltrans considerationbut dont expect changes any time soon. At the Sept. 21 Moorpark City Council meeting,... Early detection is the best way to survive breast cancer Every October, we celebrate those men and women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. But what is breast cancer and how can it be diagnosed and managed? There are... Melbourne multi-instrumentalist 808s & Greatest Hits (aka Skube Burnell) is today unleashing his latest effort Nice N Easy the freshest cut from the forthcoming 808s and Greatest Hits EP set for release in August/September 2016 via Melbourne indie label Our Golden Friend. Following on from previous singles, New Bounce and House of Love, Nice N Easy sees Burnell continue his journey deep into the rabbit-hole of woozy psych pop. Burnell explains new new track as literally all about just doing what you want to do, and well, I guess it also talks about the opposite of that. It was my attempt at writing a Beach Boys inspired song and then it didnt end up like that. Enveloping you in its own hazy dream Nice N Easy has some pretty impressive credits to its name, including recent collaborators Stu MacKenzie (King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard) who mixed the track and the iconic Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control) who handled mastering duties. Having released his debut album Featuring A. Fantastic Reprise independently via Bandcamp in 2014, these recent efforts from 808s and Greatest Hits are his most exciting yet. For more info on upcoming shows and releases say locked to the 808s Facebook page. Victoria has once again shown its the best friend Australias music lovers have ever had with the launch of Good Music Neighbours, a new grants program to support local music venues undertake sound management and soundproofing projects. The state is already famous for its Agent of Chance laws, which put the burden of soundproofing a live music venue on any developer looking to move into a neighbourhood with already established venues instead of on the publicans. As part of the governments $22 million Music Works initiative, Good Music Neighbours offers matched funding of up to $25,000 to live music venues across the state, which can go to everything from soundproofing to consulting with acoustics specialists. The program will field application on an annual basis. To be eligible, venues must have a proven commitment to presenting original live music, a need for the works, and will have to match the governments contribution. Even small design changes can make a big difference to how we experience sound. The Good Music Neighbours program will ensure that venues maintain positive relationships with their neighbouring businesses and residents, said Minister for Planning Richard Wynne. Victoria loves live music, added Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley. We host three times more live performances than the national average and Melbourne has more live music venues than any other city in the country making us the undisputed live music capital. Our Music Works package takes a holistic approach to the sector, with programs to support music makers, music industry workers and organisations, and now, venues. Applications for Good Music Neighbours close 5pm Monday, 13th July 2016. Here in Australia, were good in that we do our best to support our homegrown musicians, and many bands and artists acknowledge the rabid nature of Australian music fans. However, there are cases where bands that got their start in Australia actually end up becoming bigger overseas, which isnt to say theyre necessarily chopped liver back home. Theres bands who have considerable fan bases here in Australia, but who are bonafide superstars in the US, the UK, Asia, or Europe. Heres a few weve decided to take a look at. "Mike Shanin interviews Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach about school finance, KS GOP and his political future. Annie Presley, Jim Heeter, Terry Riley and Crosby Kemper III discuss the potential for streetcar expansion in the near future, the controversy surrounding the Lee's Summit school superintendent and the possibility for Libertarians having an impact on this year's presidential race." An important discussion of Sunflower State politics with one of the architects of Trump's proposed border wall and possible Gov. Brownback replacement begins the latest episode of Kansas City'spolitical discussion show.Description:You decide . . . Greece did not exit memorandum in 2014 due to SYRIZAs promises to stay in the Eurozone without proceeding to reforms German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble did not rule out the possibility that Greece might be forced to take additional measures after 2018, when the third Memorandum expires. However, he said that would probably not be necessary. During a press conference, he said that Eurozones finance ministers agreed that if after the completion of the program in 2018 there is still fiscal gap and is necessary, additional measures would be taken. He also reiterated that the measures taken this week were for 2016. The German finance minister also stressed that Greece has made great efforts and admitted that it would not be possible to impose such reforms in Germany. Referring to the previous program, Mr. Schaeuble said Greece could have exited memorandum in 2014, but this didnt happen due to SYRIZAs promises to stay in the Eurozone without proceeding to reforms. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report 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. EnerTech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Technology Enterprises Company (NTEC) of Kuwait, has selected the Waterfund Insight Service to model and prioritise its strategic water technology investments, said an announcement by IBM and Waterfund. NTEC is a subsidiary of Kuwait Investment Authority. IBM developed the Waterfund Insights Service, a Cloud business solution, to provide national and local governments the ability to better understand and forecast the actual costs of water under different hydrological and financial scenarios, creating the financial transparency required to stimulate capital investment in fresh water. Waterfund Insight Service provides data visualisation decision support service delivered on IBM Cloud, enabling water utility managers, corporate water managers and government agencies around the world to make informed, data-driven decisions for effective water management. The cloud-based service provides a better understanding of the impact on local water costs from changing climate conditions, capital spending and business factors with "what-if" scenario analysis and data visualisation, a statement said. "Kuwait is more than 90 percent dependent on desalination to meet the needs of its growing population. Managing our water resources is a critical consideration and it's important to have an understanding of the true cost of water production and to evaluate the efficacy of new water efficient technologies. Together IBM, Waterfund, and Kuwait will develop a customised index to quantify the true cost of water production, transportation and distribution and assess the cost reduction potential of emerging water efficient technologies," said Abdullah Al Mutairi, CEO of EnerTech Holding Company. IBM and Waterfund's Insights Service is based on the Water Cost Index (WCI), an innovative financial benchmark developed by Waterfund. It partnered with IBM Research to calculate the true cost of water production in cities that represent over one-quarter of global GDP. As part of the agreement, Kuwait will be added to the Global Water Cost Index, using the big data platform developed by Waterfund and research scientists from IBM. EnerTech will use the Waterfund Insight Service to analyse, forecast and measure the financial performance of competing new technologies that can benefit Kuwait and the broader Middle East, the statement said. "Our mission is to provide a world-class data and investment platform that helps Kuwait secure its water future with best-in-class technology solutions from around the world," said Scott Rickards, CEO of Waterfund. "The service will eventually be deployed throughout Kuwait so that local water managers will be able to derive realistic cost estimates as they adjust for depreciation, capital expenses, subsidies, operating and non-operating revenue, and total water produced." "The market has demonstrated an undeniable need for the insights on water investment and production that are derived through IBM's work with Waterfund," said Jason Kelley, vice president, Solutions and Design, IBM Global Business Services. "There is no limit to the value in strategic insights amassed from virtually endless data, derived quickly and rendered simply. This new partnership opens up the potential for new innovation based on weather data and cognitive computing capabilities, enabling Kuwait to become a hub for water innovation in the region." - TradeArabia News Service United Kaipara Dairies (UNIKAI), one of the largest fast moving consumer good (FMCG) companies in the UAE, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Qatar Foods & Services, to make available UNIKAI products in the Qatari FMCG. The deal was signed in Doha by Mana Mohammed Saeed Al Mulla, chairman of UNIKAI, and Shamsudheen Olakara, Qatar Foods & Services, in the presence of Neeraj Vohra, CEO of UNIKAI. Qatar Foods & Services shares our standards for delivering high quality fresh products, said Al Mulla. It is our pleasure to expand our presence into the rapidly increasing Qatari market through a strategic agreement with an experienced partner such as Qatar Foods & Services. The food market is a vital sector that is immune to global uncertainties, and this was reflected in outstanding performance for UNIKAI. Our expansion plans across the GCC are going full swing. On his part, Olakara said: It is a matter of pride for us to partner with one of the regions most trusted dairy products providers. We will leverage on our long business experience which includes deals with prestigious companies to ensure continuous flow of UNIKAI products to Qatar. We have also identified the large storage requirements of this particular nature of business and therefore we are establishing a long term partnership with the company. According to a report by Al Masah Capital, the GCC food services market is predicted to grow at Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.8 per cent to reach $24.5 billion in 2018. We have studied the Qatari market closely, because of its vitality and competitiveness. We are extremely confident about this move, and hope to create a loyal client base across Qatar, added Al Mulla. Earlier this year, UNIKAI unveiled excellent results for 2015, and announced major expansion plans across the GCC and beyond. The company signed several deals within the UAE and regionally, including Qatar and Bahrain, to implement this vision. The company is set to expand its footprint covering nearly 200 routes in 2016. - TradeArabia News Service A French vessel carrying specialist probes designed to detect black box pinger signals has arrived to the search area where an EgyptAir jet is believed to have crashed last week, sources on the investigation committee said on Friday. A week after the Airbus A320 crashed with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 from France, investigators have no clear picture of its final moments. Alseamar, a subsidiary of French industrial group Alcen, is providing equipment that includes three of its Detector-6000 systems, designed to pick up black-box pinger signals over long distances up to 5 km (3 miles), according to the company's website. The French company will conduct a deepwater search in "four or five" areas within the 5 km search zone believed to contain the two black boxes, with the possibility of expanding the search zone should no signal be detected, the source said. - Reuters 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. The Inderhavnsbroen bridge cycle and pedestrian bridge in Copenhagen was supposed to open in 2013. Its a long and expensive bridge that has to open to let ships through; I showed it in the slideshow, Riding the new bike and pedestrian bridges of Copenhagen But I didn't get to ride over it; it had just been finished and was still going through testing after long delays. Its construction had not run smoothly; first the financial backer went broke. Then it turned out that the engineers screwed up and they had to almost completely start over. However last August the local paper headlined Copenhagen's 'Kissing Bridge' completed. After the last section was installed they wrote: Anders Mller, one of the City of Copenhagen's project managers, was relieved at that it had gone so well. When you consider all the errors, bankruptcies and problems that we have had, everything went really well and according to plan when the bridge was assembled yesterday Mller told DR. Lloyd Alter/ Inderhavnsbroen/CC BY 2.0 I saw it shortly after that, and photographed it with a crowd of dignitaries standing at the end of one side. It looked like they were celebrating its completion. Not. Bridge plan Feargus OSullivan writes in Citylab that it still isnt open, thanks to yet more engineering screw-ups. As the drawing shows, the bridge has two fingers that roll out and kiss or meet in the middle. (hence the nickname kissing bridge.) Except that they dont. When perfectly aligned, they automatically latch together when protruding tongue-like bolts enter complementary holes in the other span. These bolts arent perfectly aligned, thoughtheyre off by six to eight centimeters, which is enough to prevent them locking correctly. Lloyd Alter/ roller under bridge/CC BY 2.0 The city blames the weather, or actually the sun. It is acting kind of like a bimetal strip,where when the top of the bridge gets warm and the bottom is cold then it begins to curve out of alignment. Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize puts it more colourfully on Facebook, lightly censored for this family friendly website: The latest news is that the "surprising" combination of spring sunshine and cold water have made the bridge twist. Hilarious. And "other possible combinations of weather and temperature haven't been tested yet"... But it's irritating that the ARCHITECT who designed it doesn't get blamed for what must be the stupidest design in the history of bridges that open and close. Centuries of drawbridges and swing bridges and the schmuck Cezary Bednarski, Polish architect, decides to freestyle that xxxx and we're left paying for his lame-xxx fantasy. Centuries of engineers have also known that metals expand when heated, and not always evenly. O'Sullivan suggests that they might file down the pins or adjust the collars a bit. Kevin Bacon nailing the lunar module/Video screen capture I think they should hire Kevin Bacon to run the bridge; he did such a great job of nailing the pin into the slot on Apollo 13. Either that or install some mirrors to cook the bottom of the bridge when the sun shines. For some time I have been complaining about those who attack the "nostalgists and NIMBYs" for preventing development that according to the laws of supply and demand, would reduce the cost of housing. Writing here and in the Guardian, I have called for a Goldilocks Density: There is no question that high urban densities are important, but the question is how high, and in what form. There is what I have called the Goldilocks density: dense enough to support vibrant main streets with retail and services for local needs, but not too high that people can't take the stairs in a pinch. Dense enough to support bike and transit infrastructure, but not so dense to need subways and huge underground parking garages. Dense enough to build a sense of community, but not so dense as to have everyone slip into anonymity. Shard over London/ Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0Now Simon Jenkins describes in the Guardian how Londons empty towers mark a very British form of corruption. He notes that London didn't get more housing, didn't get more density, and in fact got nothing but bank deposits in the sky. Our Correspondent Mohali, May 27 Prem Singh Chandumajra, MP and general secretary of the SAD, said here today that international flights would start from Mohali airport from the next month and Anandpur Sahib would be developed as a religious tourist centre. Chandumajra, who was listing his achievements over the past two years as MP, at a janta ki adalat held at Shivailk Public School in Phase VI, here, said the flights from the airport would initially leave for Singapore and Dubai. A government notification would be issued soon naming the airport after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. A large number of the SAD-BJP councillors, panches and sarpanches, zila parishad and block samiti members and party workers from the Anandpur Sahib constiuency were present. A documentary was shown regarding issues raised by Chandumajra in Parliament. Education Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema was the chief guest. Chandumajra said the MohaliRajpura rail line project had been approved. Besides, train services between Anandpur Sahib and Amritsar would begin soon. Railway stations at Anandpur Sahib and Mohali would be developed and beautified. Efforts were being made to create a corridor between Dera Baba Nanak and Kartarpur. S Nihal Singh AS Britains D-day approaches the June 23 referendum on staying in or leaving the European Union (EU) and partisan rhetoric grows shriller, it has essentially assumed the characteristics of a battle between the head and the heart. The head says stay and the heart says leave. As reputed political scientists have been telling Britain, in an increasingly connected world, it makes no sense to leave the most important European institution since World War II. The United Kingdom benefits in trade and enjoys various other advantages from EU membership. What she gives up is formal sovereignty in a number of fields, particularly in the privileges EU citizens enjoy in the UK. And it is here the heart element comes into play in the increasingly acerbic debate. Because Britain was once a great power, in fact the greatest imperial power of the 19th and early 20th centuries, she, even more than most other nation states, has always maintained a claim to exceptionalism and uniqueness, giving an almost divine air to these qualities. Ironically, she was among the victors of World War II but lost her empire to the winds of change and her influence and standing to the US. For a time, Britain consoled herself with being something of a tutor to the all-powerful US in the arts of exercising influence in many corners of the world. But after the US picked up the threads, the UK became a mere camp follower of Washington, like many other countries, and was left claiming a special relationship with the US and sharing a common language. The European Union Britain joined after initial rebuffs from the French has its own ironies. It is well recognised that Germany the UK, among others, had defeated in the war is the most influential member of the EU and helps set the rules governing certain aspects of laws the UK must follow. In his overblown rhetoric, Mr Boris Johnson, the popular former mayor of London and Conservative member of Parliament and a proponent of the leave camp, likened the EU to Hitlers failed attempt to unify and dominate Europe. The surprise was not in the avalanche of criticism he attracted, but by the number of fellow Conservatives who supported his far-fetched comparison. What has given fillip to the leave campaign, despite claims that it would invite recession and loss of jobs and income, is immigration. Britain, which enjoys an opt-out clause on immigration issues, is not directly affected by the million-plus flow of refugees from war-torn Syria and other countries that have riled the other EU members. Rather, it is troubled by the number of Europeans, particularly from the eastern states, who have used their EU rights to settle in Britain and enjoy the generous benefits of her welfare state. As far as the bulk of the refugees is concerned, Britains Prime Minister David Cameron sat smugly after making a token gesture while other European nations quarrelled and fretted. It might be surprising that the colonial past has come to haunt Britain rather late in the day some purists even lament what Americans have done to English, increasingly the lingua franca of the world in its US variation. The truth is that many British Conservatives, more than one would imagine, never reconciled themselves to losing their empire and playing second fiddle to an upstart, so to speak, risen from the ranks. After all, the US in its earlier incarnation was a British colony. Polls suggest that the question of Britains preference is still wide open, although apparently tipping towards the stay campaign. It is the hope of a large part of the British establishment that in the end people will decide that, despite the allure of a Britain sovereign in all respects, staying in the EU has logical force in the modern world, with the US still the sole superpower while China impatiently seeks similar status. However, it would be foolish of the yes camp to cry victory. In a sense, Mr Johnson, with his cultivated folklorist ways and his upper class upbringing, is the essence of the appeal of the no camp. And this appeal goes to the bottom of the social scale, the groundlings in Shakespearian language. Britons may make fun of the snobs but they secretly admire them. There is even a controversy surrounding the definition of Europeans. A section of Conservatives believes that Europeans of the continental variety are different from those belonging to the sceptered isle they inhabit. As proof, they say Europeans drive on the wrong side of the road and Germans in particular eat too much wurst. Britains exit from the European Union would invite a host of problems. In his own warning, US President Barack Obama says it would take time to agree to a new trade treaty with Washington. On the other hand, the presumptive Republican candidate for US presidency, Mr Donald Trump, has been singing a different tune, seemingly encouraging the UK to go it alone. The problem, of course, is how far to take him seriously. In a sense, we live in a disjointed world. The Trump phenomenon is above all a symbol of the frustration of the poor and middle classes over stagnant incomes while the rich grow richer. And in Europe, the rise of the right and tendency towards nativism in country after country is a sign of troubled tempers. While the world is keeping its fingers crossed in the hope that the US as the sole superpower will get her sums right in the end, a possible Brexit from the EU would also impact the post-World War II architecture. One has only to go back a few centuries to discover the wars and strife that were the rule, rather than the exception, on the continent. This troubled history was, of course, aced by the Hitler phenomenon to plunge the world into World War II. For too long the north-western borders have kept India away from a large landmass with which it had age-old ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modis Iran visit caps an effort of nearly 15 years to gain easy access into Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian countries. India has now leased the Iranian port of Chabahar. It is tempting to view the leasing from the prism of Sino-India strategic rivalry, especially after Pakistan leased out its Gwadar port to China. There is no doubt Pakistan will keep a very anxious eye on the goings-on at Chabahar, a short distance from the troubled Balochistan. But there is more to Chabahar than strategic one-upmanship. Chabahar over time could become an example of a unique trilateral collaboration: Indian expertise using Iranian gas to add value to Afghan minerals. The goodwill for India in the long run, provided the trilateral cooperation keeps going, would be immense. However, Chabahar is not Gwadar when it comes to military use. The Sino-Pakistani friendship is in a very intense phase, Islamabad wont object to China bringing in naval vessels at Gwadar. But the India-Iran ties, though on the upswing, are yet to evolve to that level. India also had to pay a price for the trading foothold. Iran saw New Delhis abiding interest in Chabahar as an opportunity to bring industry to this under-developed region. India will set up smelters and fertiliser plants in Chabahar but the proposed corridor to Afghanistan needs to be linked to busier channels of commerce to make it viable. This cannot be achieved if a route of commerce develops into a contest with China or Pakistan. Afghanistan and Iran may turn lukewarm as they would not like to be dragged into a game of proxy military contests. The US is also anxious and needs to be assured that the development of a transport hub and corridor is primarily meant to sidestep Pakistans outmoded strategy of blocking Indias access to its erstwhile north-western neighbours. A successful implementation of the corridor over time could increase the constituency for easier movement of goods across South Asia, to begin with. M Aamir Khan Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 27 Legislators of the ruling and Opposition parties entered into a war of words as a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governors address began in both Houses of the legislature on the third day of the Budget session here today. The legislators sparred over several issues ranging from the Centres failure to initiate a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan to alleged cold-shouldering of Opposition MLAs during official functions. National Conference legislator Aga Ruhullah hit out at the PDP for handing over J&K to the BJP and alleged that the affairs of the state were being run on the diktats of the RSS and the Shiv Sena. Even as Ruhullah said India was better than Pakistan, he said the PDP had allied with the Hindustani ISI and Taliban, adding that in the present circumstances, it was better to go with Pakistan as the present situation was not conducive for the Muslims. BJP MLA Ravinder Raina and Independent legislator from Langate Engineer Rashid entered into a war of words when Raina said J&K was an integral part of India to which Rashid said J&K was a disputed territory and neither the jugular vein of Pakistan nor an integral part of India. NC legislator Mian Altaf said there had been backward movement vis-a-vis holding of a dialogue with Pakistan and the Centre had failed to take any result-oriented steps in this regard. Referring to Thursdays joint shutdown call of the separatists, he said the wrong policies of the government had united the separatists. Because of you, (JKLF chairman) Yasin Malik is meeting (Hurriyat leaders) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and (Syed Ali) Geelani, Altaf said. The NC leader said the PDP-BJP coalition government was creating confusion over the return of Kashmiri Pandits, resulting in a communal divide. They are only creating noise over their return but no serious measures are being taken on the ground, he added. Congress MLA Abdul Rashid Dar hit out at Education Minister Naeem Akhter for issuing confusing statements on the return of Pandits and other contentious issues. He advised the government that Akhter should either remain a minister or government spokesman. Several Opposition MLAs alleged that they were being ignored during official functions. NC MLA Akbar Lone said the Health Ministry had inaugurated a hospital in his Sonawari constituency and taken credit even as it had been constructed during the NC-Congress regime. Legislators Usman Majeed and Pawan Gupta also created a ruckus, saying that the Opposition MLAs had been turned into showpieces and were being ignored. Later, Deputy Speaker Nazir Gurezi assured the legislators of strict action against ministers in case they ignored the Opposition MLAs. The discussion on the motion of thanks was moved by PDP member Javed Hassan Baig and seconded by Sat Paul Sharma of the BJP in the Legislative Assembly, while in the Legislative Council, it was moved by the Leader of the House, Naeem Akhter. The discussion is scheduled to conclude tomorrow with the Chief Ministers address. Ravi Krishnan Khajuria & Yangchen Dolma Tribune News Service Jammu, May 26 Exhibiting indomitable spirit and grit, four young girls from Ladakh scaled Mount Everest - the highest peak in the world. The four young girls from Leh district in the Ladakh region were part of an NCC cadet girls' contingent of 10 members that scaled the highest peak on May 22. It is the first time in the history of the state that four young girls from the NCC have scaled the summit. They are Stanzin Laskit of Ney, Rigzin Dolker of Nubra, Tsering Angmo of Spithuk and Tashi Laskit of Stok. On March 9, Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh had flagged off the first-ever all girls National Cadet Corps (NCC) Mount Everest expedition from New Delhi. The team was led by Col Gaurav Karki along with 15 service personnel. The girls had the world at their feet and considering dangers involved in scaling the peak, it is no less than a commendable feat by them, said Defence Spokesperson Col SD Goswami. Director General, NCC, Lt Gen A Chakravarty, had proposed the conduct of the first-ever NCC girls expedition to the Mount Everest in 2014. All India trials at 25 selected hubs were carried out and 100 girl cadets were nominated to undergo the customised mountaineering course at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Darjeeling, from January 7 to February 3 last year. Based on their performance, 40 girl cadets were selected for the first pre-Everest expedition. Pre-Everest Expedition to Mount Deo-Tibba at 19,688 feet near Manali in Himachal Pradesh was conducted for 40 cadets in April and May 2015. A total of 15 cadets were selected for the next phase based on their performance. In August 2015, the team set off on the second pre-Everest expedition to the Mount Trishul at 23,360 feet and helped in selecting 10 girl cadets for the final Everest expedition. The culmination of pre-expedition activities was winter training at the Siachen Base Camp from January 11 to 31 this year. The training camps exposed the team to extreme cold conditions and further refined ice craft skills. 40 cadets took part in pre-Everest expedition to Mount Deo-Tibba at 19,688 feet near Manali in 2015. 15 cadets were selected for the next phase based on their performance. 10 cadets were selected for the final Everest expedition. Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 27 Surjya Narayan Datta, Assistant Professor (Fisheries), College of Fisheries, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), attended a three-month international training in the field of Climate change and fisheries: using biomarkers to predict fish growth and fitness in commercial species at Systemic Physiological and Ecotoxicological Research, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Belgium. Under the programme, Dr Datta was expertised to quantify the expression pattern of different genes in fish associated with stress-related physiological changes, induced by climate change. The programme was funded under the scheme, Second push to agricultural development in Punjab- training of scientists abroad by the state government through the Punjab State Farmers Commission,Mohali. Meera D Ansal, head, Department of Fisheries Resource Management, College of Fisheries, GADVASU, said in the fisheries sector, climate change was an additional pressure apart from already imposed pressures to extract more food from the existing aquatic resources and habitat destructing pressures from anthropogenic activities. It was vital not only to assess the impact of climate change on the aquatic resources, but also to work out strategies for building up climate change resilience for conservation, she added. As per Asha Dhawan, dean, College of Fisheries, GADVASU, the present training in the area would help evaluate the impact of climate change on the fisheries sector in the state. It would also help formulate adaptations and mitigation strategies to cope up with the changing climatic conditions, she added. Dhawan said the College of Fisheries had already submitted a project entitled, Adaptation strategies for inland fisheries and fishermen community for climate resilience and livelihood security in Punjab, India to the Punjab State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) for funding from the Green Climate Fund/Adaption Fund through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The major objective of the project is to enhance the resilience of capture and culture sectors to protect the natural and cultural stock against climate change. Beijing, May 27 China has conveyed its willingness to enhance cooperation with India on combating the menace of terrorism, including in the United Nations, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday, winding up a fruitful and productive four-day visit to that country. (No good or bad terrorist, President tells Beijing) Mukherjee, who met the top Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping, on Wednesday, also expressed the hope that China will play a positive and facilitative role in ensuring a predictable environment for India in its pursuit of civil nuclear programme in bridging the huge power deficit the country faces. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) His statement on the two issues in his interaction with the media on board Air India One aircraft on his way back home, assume significance in the context of Chinas recent action in blocking a UN move to designat Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist and Beijings stand that India should sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) for gaining admission to the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group. The Chinese stand is seen as a bid to scuttle Indias mebership of NSG and New Delhi has dismissed the Chinese proposition. Terrorism was an important topic which I covered in my meetings, the President said. During his discussions with the Chinese leadership, he conveyed to them that there was universal concern over growing acts of terrorism. India has been a victim of terrorism for around three and a half decades. There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist. Terrorism respects neither ideology nor geographical boundaries. Wanton destruction is its only aim. Comprehensive cooperation by all countries of the world is essential to tackle this global menace. The inernational community must engage in strong and effective action. As close neighbours, India and China should work together. The Chinese leadership agreed that terrorism was a menace to the entire human race. They conveyed their willingness to enhance cooperation, including in the UN, he said. PTI Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Ludhiana, May 27 Opposing freebies to the agricultural sector, Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today said waiving power bills and farmers loans for votes was a dangerous trend. Punjab Agriculture Minister Tota Singh was present at the function organised at PAU for a feedback on various Central schemes launched for the farm sector. Punjab has been giving free power to farmers since long. A few days back, Jayalalithaa, soon after taking oath as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister for the second time in a row, waived coop loans to the tune of Rs 7,000 crore. Even Akali MP Prem Singh Chandumajra had recently urged the Centre to waive farmers loans across the country to halt farm suicides. The Union Minister said the rural job guarantee scheme had been drastically improved by the Modi government. It is a matter of concern that even after six decades of Independence, the country has to frame schemes such as MGNREGA, he said, an obvious attack on the UPA. As the soil has turned toxic, the Centre has decided to issue soil health cards to the farmers by March 2017, he said. The Minister was late by more than an hour, which made the farmers restive. Explaining the delay, Singh said, Sasuraal nahi gye tha, karyakram mein tha. An agitated farmer from Amritsar, Inderjeet Singh, demanded that he be heard. He was taken away into a corner and asked to write down his query even as the PAU authorities and the Krishi Vigyan Kendra introduced three farmers to the Minister. They showered praise on PAU and the government. There was a commotion as Singh returned without hearing the problems of farmers. Some raised their hands to ask questions, but were ignored. At this, a few entered into an argument with Vice-Chancellor Dr BS Dhillon. This is not the way to interact with a Minister," he said. New Delhi, May 27 An advanced version of Brahmos land-attack supersonic cruise missile system was successfully test fired on Friday at noon in the Western Sector by the Indian Air Force. The unique BrahMos weapon system on numerous occasions has established its supremacy in the World of supersonic cruise missile. The flight, conducted on Friday in one of the firing ranges in western sector has met its mission parameters in a copybook manner. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Meeting all flight parameters, the formidable weapon successfully hit and annihilated the designated target, officials confirmed. I congratulate the Indian Air Force for successfully accomplishing such a complex mission. BrahMos has proved its mettle once again as the best supersonic cruise missile system in the world, Sudhir Mishra, CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace, said. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief S Christopher also congratulated the Indian Air Force, BrahMos team and the DRDO scientists involved in Fridays successful mission. The accuracy in mountain warfare mode was recently re-established in a campaign conducted by the Indian Army in the eastern sector last year and repeated last month. This formidable missile system has empowered all three wings of the armed forces with impeccable anti-ship and land attack capability. This model of JV has yielded results in shortest possible time and has been well recognised by the Indian as well as armed forces of many countries who are interested in acquiring this weapon complex. (ANI) Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 27 President Pranab Mukherjee today arrived in the Capital after a four-day visit to China where the President met the top Chinese leadership. The visit has helped serve the purpose of both Asian giants agreeing to cooperate even as talks continue to resolve many of their outstanding issues. One of the major outcomes of the visit is the Chinese position, which has clarified that India can expect to be granted membership to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) when the summit meeting of the SCO is held in Uzbekistan on June 23. Pakistan, too, will be granted full membership along with India. India had applied for full membership to the SCO in 2014. In 2005, both India and Pakistan were granted observer status. The induction of both countries in the SCO will help India strengthen its economic and political clout in the region. There seems to be a change in the mindset or the attitude of the Chinese who during the Pranabs visit made this clear. While Xinhua blamed the West for creating tensions between India and China, Global Times, a leading Chinese newspaper, today carried an article arguing that the Chabahar port deal between India and Iran was good news for China too. Washington, May 27 Indo-Pak ties can truly scale great heights if Pakistan removes the self-imposed obstacle of terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he asked Islamabad to play its part by putting a complete stop to any kind of support to terrorism whether state or non-state. In my view, our ties can truly scale great heights once Pakistan removes the self-imposed obstacle of terrorism in the path of our relationship. We are ready to take the first step, but the path to peace is a two-way street, Modi told The Wall Street Journal, in comments posted on its website on Friday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) He said he has always maintained that instead of fighting with each other, India and Pakistan should together fight against poverty. Naturally we expect Pakistan to play its part, he said. But, there can be no compromise on terrorism. It can only be stopped if all support to terrorism, whether state or non-state, is completely stopped. Pakistans failure to take effective action in punishing the perpetrators of terror attacks limits the forward progress in our ties, said the Prime Minister. Modi said his governments proactive agenda for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood began from the very first day of his government. I have said that the future that I wish for India is the future that I dream for my neighbours. My visit to Lahore was a clear projection of this belief, he said. Ruling out a change in Indias decades-old policy of non-alignment, Modi said that despite the border dispute, there have been no clashes with China, pointing out the new way in todays interdependent world unlike the last century. There is no reason to change Indias non-alignment policy that is a legacy and has been in place. But this is true that today, unlike before, India is not standing in a corner. It is the worlds largest democracy and fastest growing economy. We are acutely conscious of our responsibilities both in the region and internationally, he said. Modis significant comment on Indias Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which many now also prefer to call as strategic autonomy, came in response to a question on Chinas assertiveness. The US is very keen on India, the rising power that India is, to be part of, if not an alliance, then at least a grouping that can stand up to some extent to China. Where do you see India taking a position on the global stage? he was asked. We dont have any fighting with China today. We have a boundary dispute, but there is no tension or clashes. People-to-people contacts have increased. Trade has increased. Chinese investment in India has gone up. Indias investment in China has grown, Modi said. Despite the border dispute, there havent been any clashes. Not one bullet has been fired in 30 years, he said. So the general impression that exists, thats not the reality, Modi said on Indias ties with China. Modi appeared to be appreciative of Chinas Maritime Silk Road initiative. We feel that the world needs to hear more from China on this initiative, especially its intent and objective, he said. With a 7,500-kilometre-long coastline, India has a natural and immediate interest in the developments in the Indo-Pacific region, he said, adding that India has excellent relationships with the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. India is a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region. We, therefore, watch very carefully any developments that have implications for peace and stability in this region, he noted. Talking about Indias ties with the US, Modi said many of the values between the two countries match. Our friendship has endured, be it a Republican government or a Democratic. It is true that Obama and I have a special friendship, a special wavelength, he said ahead of his travel to the US next month - his fourth visit to the country after becoming the Prime Minister. Beyond our bilateral relationship, whether it is global warming or terrorism, we have similar thoughts, so we work together. But India doesnt make its policies in reference to a third country. Nor should it, Modi said. He said India and the US have enjoyed a warm relationship, regardless of whether America has a Republican or Democratic administration. During the last two years, President Obama and I have led the momentum; we are capturing the true strength and scale of our strategic, political and economic opportunities, and people to people ties. Our ties have gone beyond the Beltway and beyond South Block, he said. Our concerns and threats overlap. We have a growing partnership to address common global challenges viz. terrorism, cyber security and global warming. We also have a robust and growing defence cooperation. Our aim to go beyond a buyer-seller relationship towards a strong investment and manufacturing partnership, he added. Modi said unlike the last century, when the world was divided into two camps, this is not true anymore. Today, the whole world is interdependent. Even if you look at the relationship between China and the US, there are areas where they have substantial differences but there are also areas where they have worked closely. Thats the new way, he said. If we want to ensure the success of this interdependent world, I think countries need to cooperate but at the same time we also need to ensure that there is a respect for international norms and international rules, he said. PTI Washington, May 27 The US has asked Pakistan to co-operate with India in the 26/11 investigations. "We continue to urge the Pakistani government to cooperate with the Indian authorities to fully investigate these attacks," State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Friday. "It (Mumbai terrorist attack) was a terrible tragedy. We want to see justice done and we continue to urge Pakistani cooperation," he said. The US is having an ongoing conversation with the Pakistani authorities that they need to address all groups operating on their soil and their territory including the Taliban groups, he said, (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) "We've urged them to do so in the past. We continue to urge them to do so and have worked with them on addressing the very real threat on their own soil," Toner said. PTI G7 meets developing nations amid China concerns Leaders from the Group of Seven advanced democracies met with representatives of emerging and developing countries in Asia and Africa. The so-called outreach programme involves Chad, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam and Laos Jerusalem, May 27 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today suffered a setback after a second cabinet minister resigned today in a week, accusing him of pushing the country towards extremism. Warning Netanyahu to "wake up before it's too late", Environment Minister Avi Gabbay said that he found it difficult to remain part of a government that undermined the ties with the US, broadened the rift within Israeli society and tried to silence critical voices. The straw that broke the camel's back and finally led him to resign, he said, was the 'dismissal' of Moshe Yaalon as defence minister and his replacement with ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman. Netanyahu signed up Lieberman as the new defence minister in a pact reinforcing his coalition to six parties with control over 66 of parliament's 120 seats, up from a razor-thin majority of 61. Gabbay accused the government of trying to weaken public service and bar officials and military officers from publically expressing their opinion. He cited the dismissal of the Electricity Authority chief, who was critical of the gas deal, and the backlash against Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan's Holocaust Day remarks as examples. PTI Report says China still plays key role in US trade Updated: 2016-05-27 07:50 By CHEN WEIHUA(China Daily) China remains the top market for US exporters and represents huge potential for future opportunities for US businesses, according to a latest report from the US Department of Commerce. The 19 Top Markets Reports, released on Wednesday, showed that China ranked highly among top US export markets in sectors from automotive parts, civil nuclear, building materials, construction equipment to education, financial technology, manufacturing technology and franchising. Stefan Selig, US undersecretary of commerce for international trade, described the report as "helping American business not only compete but win in the global marketplace". An estimated 11.5 million jobs are supported by exports, according to the Commerce Department. The reports are a part of the Top Markets Series, which was launched by the International Trade Commission under the Department of Commerce in July 2015. The 2016 reports provided updated country rankings and analysis reflecting the latest industry, trade policy and global economic developments. In the country analysis for the aircraft industry, the report said China is expected to be the world's largest single-country market for civil aircraft sales over the next 20 years. Boeing Co estimated that China will need to add more than 6,000 aircraft to its commercial fleet to meet traffic demand. China's fleet of business jets, helicopters, training aircraft and other general aviation planes is expanding quickly too, it said. In the building materials sector, the report said that although the Chinese economy is experiencing a slowdown, it is the world's largest construction market and will continue to provide a strong opportunity for US building-products exporters. The report also described civil nuclear sector growth in the next decade in China will ensure commercial opportunities for US civil nuclear exporters. China ranks first in the world for the number of units under construction. In 2015, eight new reactors were connected to the grid. China was the top market for US education. In 2014-15, China sent 304,040 students to the US, up 10.8 percent from 2013-14. Chinese students make up 31 percent of all international students in the US. Steeled for change Updated: 2016-05-27 08:14 By Zhong Nan and Liu Mingtai(China Daily Europe) China is determined to deal with global problem of overcapacity while helping workers affected by the transition China and the European Union have both fallen victim to the global problem of excess steel capacity, which has resulted from years of rapid expansion of global economies. Now, they must use a toolbox of policies to restructure the sector, to improve efficiency and reduce capacity while increasing demand. However, implementing such reforms are easier said than done. The EU, which is facing challenges from terrorism, economic stagnation and immigration, concedes that steel overcapacity is a global issue, yet it largely blames the Chinese government, which it claims has subsidized the nation's state-owned steel companies. This month, the European Commission launched an anti-subsidy investigation into imports of Chinese hot-rolled flat steel, the subject of an anti-dumping probe since February. There are now 10 active trade investigations into steel products, as well as 37 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures already in place, according to a statement from the commission. "Seven of these investigations and 15 of the measures concern steel products originating from China." The latest probe also comes shortly after the European Parliament passed a non-legislative resolution to block China gaining market economy status this year, the 15th anniversary of the nation joining the World Trade Organization. Cecilia Malmstrom, commissioner for trade, says the steel industry accounts for 1.3 percent of the EU's economic output and employs 330,000 highly skilled workers. She claims thousands of jobs in the EU are at risk from a rapid increase of imports, partly caused by Chinese government subsidies. Shen Danyang, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, has countered this accusation, however. He says the country has never used subsidies to boost its steel exports, and instead suggests the export rise has resulted from greater competitiveness. Regardless, China's leadership has insisted it is determined to deal with the global problem of overcapacity. After enjoying boom times in its exports and real estate market over the past two decades, Shen says China will continue to readjust the industrial production structure to help domestic and foreign steelmakers. The price of steel has risen in recent months, which Shen says has been driven by a surge in the global price of iron ore. According to media reports, the price of steel rose from $305 to $365 per metric ton in April on the back of China cutting 150 million to 200 million tons of steel and iron production capacity. The sector has already received a boost from increased activity in infrastructure construction. "The demand for steel increased as the world economy has gradually recovered," the ministry spokesman adds. China aims to reduce crude steel production by between 100 million and 150 million tons over the next five years, and is attempting to encourage steel companies to work with downstream consumers to promote high-quality products in sectors ranging from autos and machinery to power and offshore engineering equipment. Ansteel Group, based in northeastern Liaoning province, has already taken the hint. It opened a new plant in April to make high-end steel products for auto and home appliance manufacturing to offset the weak demand for low-end steel. The facility, constructed in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, is part of a joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co and German multinational ThyssenKrupp. The first phase cost 1.5 billion yuan ($229 million; 204 million euros) and has an annual production capacity of 450,000 tons of steel plate. "The Pearl River Delta (which includes Guangzhou) is an important base for auto and home appliance manufacturing," says Yao Lin, vice-president of Ansteel. "Building a presence there allows us to bring our steel products to many of China's most important buyers. "As many domestic steelmakers are seeking ways to expand their export channels amid weak global demand, we need to focus more closely on market demand and localization strategies in Chinese manufacturing bases." He says the company has invested in a program to train sales specialists at the University of Science and Technology Liaoning for the past three years. "China is a large steel exporter and a big importer of special steel used in shipbuilding, weapons, automobiles and machine manufacturing. Yet import prices are three times the export price on average," says Zhao Ying, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Industrial Economics in Beijing. "The country needs to improve the quality of its steel products and move up the value chain." The nation's crude steel output fell 2.3 percent year-on-year to 803.8 million tons last year, the first decline in more than three decades, as demand dropped due to a slower national economy and flagging global demand. According to the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, almost half of its 96 manufacturing members reported losses last year, with the average selling profit standing at just 0.45 percent. Sun Jin, director of communications for Wuhan Iron and Steel, one of China's largest iron producers by capacity, says even though the company announced two months ago that it would cut up to 50,000 jobs, there have so far been no layoffs or pay cuts. "The company just wants to optimize labor resources, reduce human-resource costs and enhance labor productivity," he says. "We'll give workers a basic salary and social security. They just work somewhere else." During a visit to its headquarters in Wuhan, Hubei province, on May 23, Premier Li Keqiang designated the company as a pilot state-owned company to reduce excess capacity and transfer redundant workers to other posts using financial aid and policy support. "Reform is the fundamental way for SOEs to grow and prosper," Li said. "However, when cutting excess capacity, superfluous workers must be transferred to other jobs instead of being laid off." The central government estimates that 500,000 steelworkers will lose their jobs as part of efforts to cut overcapacity. To ease the blow, 100 billion yuan has been allocated to providing retraining and other support measures. Figures from the China Iron and Steel Industry Association show 77.8 million tons of crude steel capacity has been cut nationally since 2011. Like other steelmakers, Wuhan Iron and Steel also sees diversification as a way to stay afloat. According to company data, its nonsteel businesses - new materials, energy resources, engineering and information technologies, logistics and modern services - now make a vital contribution to its total revenue. And it is not only steel mills that are looking for ways to survive. Shandong Hualian Mining Holdings Co recently invested in the dairy industry as it attempts to move away from iron ore mining and producing fine iron powder. The company, which recorded a 275 million yuan loss in sales revenue last year, is now a major shareholder in Ground Dairy Industry Co, which makes milk, yogurt and cheese in two plants in northeastern Changchun city and runs three dairy farms. "The government this year will speed up efforts to help guide unprofitable companies out of the market," says Zhao Chenxin, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's economic planner. He adds that efforts to cut overcapacity will be implemented as soon as local governments finalize and submit their action plans to the central government. However, professor Lu Feng at Peking University's National School of Development says the efforts won't be fully implemented unless local authorities are willing to stop providing assistance to so-called zombie companies, including steelmakers and coal mines. "Many private enterprises are making energy-efficient steel products, but they may be forced to shut down as some local governments refuse to target unprofitable SOEs," he says. Contact the writers through zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn Fu Jing and Hu Yongqi contributed to this story. Nine has released the key findings of its review into the 60 Minutes debacle. It concluded: Executive Producer did not consult Nine Director of News on commissioning the story. 60 Minutes grossly underestimated key factors that would impact its execution. grossly underestimated key factors that would impact its execution. When Nine lawyer raised concerns about payments producer advised it had been done before. High level of producer autonomy did not have sufficient checks and balance. Independent Review of the 60 Minutes/Sally Faulkner story Key Issues and Findings Sally Faulkner is the Australian mother of two children taken to Lebanon for a holiday by their father, her estranged husband, who subsequently declined to return the children to Australia. Ms Faulkner contracted a child recovery agent (CARI) to take the children from their fathers custody, on a public street in Beirut. A team from 60 Minutes was there to record the event. In agreeing to pay Ms Faulkner for exclusive rights to the story and in the course of producing the story, none of these critically relevant questions was ever raised by the executive producer who approved it, the senior producer who proposed it or the reporting team that volunteered to participate in it: Would entering a contract with Ms Faulkner under which Nine was obliged to pay funds directly to the child recovery agency be seen as encouraging her to commit some unlawful act in Lebanon? Could such an arrangement exacerbate the potential consequences for Nine of being linked to the child recovery agencys activities? Were any of the staff of Nine participating in an unlawful activity in Lebanon? If found to have done so, what were the possible penalties? What were the other possible consequences for the 60 Minutes team, if the plan for the retrieval of Ms Faulkners children was unsuccessful or resulted in injury to any of the people involved (including the 60 Minutes team)? What was the likely impact on the reputation of Nine and 60 Minutes, in those circumstances? Would it be prudent to seek an opinion from Nines Director of News & Current Affairs or an external adviser to fully understand the risks which are being taken? Does the interest in telling Ms Faulkners story sufficiently outweigh the risks which are involved in producing the story? Was the story worth the risk? 60 Minutes has always been known for its distinctive style of showing the human face behind significant issues. Using that technique, it has pursued and delivered high-risk stories from wars and plagues to exposure of high-level corruption. Sally Faulkners sad plight certainly warranted coverage. It points to the sometimes insurmountable hurdles confronted by this multi-cultural country in dealing with the inevitable tug-of-love conflicts between estranged spouses who wish to live in different countries. That story could have been told in a number of ways that did not expose Nine to formidable risks. The question of payment for Ms Faulkners story has raised the broader, long debated question of whether payment for stories is ever appropriate. While in a perfect world, it would not occur, the practical realities of telling stories of high public interest mean that payment for stories is unavoidable. Where the person the subject of the story is in necessitous circumstances (such as needing expensive medical treatment), the benefit of making payment for a story cannot be denied. In this situation, much attention has been focussed on the decision to make a direct payment to CARI, rather than paying Ms Faulkner. There was little practical difference in paying that company directly, and paying Ms Faulkner, when Nine well knew what all of the funds would be used for, and this exacerbated the risks faced by Nine. Its quite possible that after 37 years, 60 Minutes had begun to blur the line between stories of genuine public interest and those catering to public curiosity. Coverage of a war zone directly affecting this countrys security is clearly in keeping with the highest standards of journalism, and is worth pursuing despite the risks involved. It would be rare for a human interest story to justify such risks no matter what its potential ratings might be. The panel interviewed the Channel Nine staff members who were involved in the planning and execution of the Faulkner story, as well as a number of other 60 Minutes staff wanting to contribute their views. Those directly involved had no hesitation in agreeing that there had been a series of inexcusable failures. Each person was asked for their views on whether there is any story not worth doing because of the risk or how the risks involved in Ms Faulkners story could be justified. There was an acknowledgement that 60 Minutes presents stories that others may not be prepared to do, if it will be sufficiently compelling or newsworthy. The attitude among some of the 60 Minutes team was that there would be little that could not be done because of risk. The reporting team had formed a genuine emotional attachment to Ms Faulkner and as they saw it, the justice of her cause. Worthy as that might sound, such commitment has its obvious pitfalls in coverage of a custody dispute between parents of different nationalities. In this case, it led to 60 Minutes grossly underestimating a number of factors, not least being the power or willingness of a foreign government to enforce its laws. That type of misjudgement is not to be expected of seasoned journalists and is bound to tarnish the programs world-wide reputation for credible reportage. Role of Management In its earliest years, 60 Minutes was directly answerable to senior management by a clearly defined set of guidelines, governing far more than authorised expenditure levels. The guidelines specifically applied to any story likely to pose potential legal risk such as defamation or breach of the law. While it was understood the program would on occasion pursue stories posing risk of injury or death, it was expected to seek an objective opinion on the wisdom of doing so and how such risks could be minimised. The mistaken judgements in the Sally Faulkner episode are admitted by those directly involved. The review panel believes the erosion of clear and appropriate referral guidelines must also be taken into consideration as a failure at the management level of Nine. The degree of autonomy granted to 60 Minutes was so great that the Executive Producer saw no need to consult with the Director of News & Current Affairs on the wisdom of commissioning this story. The query raised by one of Nines internal lawyers about making a payment directly to CARI was discounted by the producer (on the basis that payments to third parties had been done before) and so the issue was not escalated to senior management for a review of the producers proposal. The high level of autonomy given to producers, and the reluctance of team members to voice concerns indicates a culture which supports risk taking, without appropriate checks and balances to identify excessive levels of risk. Conclusions Analysis of the process that was followed for approval, planning and implementation of the story shows a number of points at which there was a lack of process within Nine, a lack of judgement or an error of judgment, each of which may have contributed to the outcome which occurred. The review panel considers that the unintended and damaging consequences which flowed from involvement in the story relating to Ms Faulkner and her children were the result of a combination of: poor judgement, which manifested in a number of respects (such as the extent of the due diligence on the expertise of CARI, payment of funds direct to CARI, lack of consideration given to alternative exit strategies from Lebanon, failure to raise concerns about the proposed story with 60 Minutes management and failure to notify 60 Minutes management when it appeared that the plan for implementation would not operate as intended); failure to adhere to Nines usual procedures relating to consideration of security risks, safety assessments and approval of contractual arrangements; a significant level of autonomy for producers, without adequate oversight by management on issues that raised significant risks to Nine; and trust in the deep experience and capabilities of the team members who went to Beirut and a strong culture of team loyalty and unity, which did not encourage team members to press concerns. If Nines usual procedures had been adhered to, the errors of judgement may have been identified earlier, with the result that the story would not have been undertaken at all, or at least not in the way in which it was implemented. For example, it could have been executed with the 60 Minutes crew maintaining a more appropriate distance from the events occurring in Beirut. This would have protected the crew from the risk of imprisonment in Beirut and may also have lessened the impact on Nines reputation, although that is still tarnished by Nine paying CARI directly, knowing the nature of CARIs operations. Those directly involved in the story maintain they felt a genuine desire to support an Australian mother trying to bring her two children back to Australia. In more measured consideration, they might have seen the issue from an entirely different perspective. In her desperation to be reunited with her two children, was it possible her judgment was simply too clouded to realise the many dangers involved in the plan she was seeking to implement? Wouldnt they have been helping her best by urging her not to proceed? Recommendations The review panel does not recommend that any staff member should be singled out for dismissal given the degree of autonomy accorded to 60 Minutes. However, it recommends that management censure, in the strongest terms, those most directly involved in the events. The staff of 60 Minutes has been thoroughly traumatised by the circumstances which confronted four of the team in Beirut, and by the steady barrage of hostile comment. They are now fully aware how much damage they have caused to the reputation of Nine. The Chief Executive Officer and Director of News & Current Affairs must ensure that all members of the 60 Minutes team are ready and eager to learn from that lesson. However, there are a number of steps which the review panel recommends be taken, to improve the risk assessment and risk management procedures by which 60 Minutes operates. 1. Approval of stories a. The Executive Producer of 60 Minutes should approve all stories on the basis of a precise, written briefing on the nature of the 60 Minutes teams proposed activities and the extent of reliance on third parties, to implement the story, before any contract is signed relating to the story or any material steps are taken to commission the story. b. The Director of News & Current Affairs should approve any story requiring overseas travel or any stories which are rated as high risk (see below). c. The Executive Producer of 60 Minutes should be given a precise, written briefing on any material changes which occur to the proposed scope of activities of the 60 Minutes team or the reliance on third parties over the course of developing and producing a story. d. The Executive Producer of 60 Minutes needs express authority to cancel a story at any time (even during filming) if it is considered that the risks of proceeding with the story outweigh the benefits of proceeding. 2. Risk assessment a. An objective framework for assessing risk relating to stories needs to be developed, based on Nines existing safe work procedures. The risks to be considered include location, security, proposed activities of the 60 Minutes team (eg risk of injury), possible effects on the reputation of Nine, financial cost, risk of legal or regulatory action, and public interest in the story. b. That framework must be applied to any stories which 60 Minutes is proposing, to identify whether further risk assessment and risk management is required. c. Nine should obtain appropriate external risk assessment advice on any proposed activities: i. which are rated as high risk by reference to the risk assessment framework; ii. which involve travel to countries which are rated as exercise a high degree of caution or above by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Travel; iii. which involve countries that are rated below average against an objective corruption index (eg the Transparency International Corruptions Perceptions Index: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2015/#results-table) d. Nine should ensure that its training plan includes risk assessment techniques to assist producers and other relevant team members in identifying the red flags which should be investigated further, before proceeding with a story. 3. Approval of contracts a. Nines Delegation of Authority Policy should be reviewed and, if considered appropriate, amended, to clearly specify the appropriate dollar value thresholds that apply to the Director of News & Current Affairs and Executive Producers. b. Nine should educate all relevant staff on the level of delegated authority which is held by different categories of staff members, and who is authorised to sign particular types of contracts. c. Any payments to third parties (ie not the party to the contract) should be approved by the Executive Producer and the Director of News & Current Affairs, after consultation with the legal team. The producer must provide details of the 60 Minutes teams planned activities, to allow others to make an informed decision on this issue. 4. Cultural issues a. Nine needs to consider further the steps required to ensure that all staff at 60 Minutes feel empowered to express their concerns (eg to safety or reputation) about participating in a story or about 60 Minutes producing a story. b. Nine needs to encourage open communication across the whole 60 Minutes team about the stories which are being planned and risks which should be considered, so that there is a better culture of risk consciousness and risk management. Gerald Stone David Hurley Rachel Launders 18 May 2016 ABC has now confirmed a Leaders Debate between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten for Sunday night. ABC Political Editor Chris Uhlmann will moderate the debate Live from the National Press Club in Canberra. This will air locally on ABC at 7:30pm and is Live to all states on ABC News 24 and iview The panel comprises Laura Tingle (Australian Financial Review), Andrew Probyn (The West Australian) and Ellen Whinnett (Herald Sun). I will update with other ABC scheduling as a result of this late change shortly. (*On ABC the 7.30pm broadcast is Live in eastern states, delayed in SA & NT (airing after the 7pm ABC News bulletin). In WA the broadcast is Live at 5.30pm on ABC). On Sunday the Australian Directors Guild Awards will have their very first television broadcast, airing on the Aurora Channel. The awards were held in Melbourne earlier this month, hosted by Nazeem Hussain. Phyllisse Stanton, CEO of Aurora says: Aurora is honoured to partner with the ADG to broadcast these prestigious awards. Often overlooked, Directors are the heart and soul of a production; the creative furnaces forging screen endeavours. This is an opportunity to showcase their work and celebrate some of Australias brightest behind-the-scenes stars. 8pm Sunday 29 May on Aurora. Moody UK gangster drama Peaky Blinders has been renewed for not one, but two new seasons. Steven Knights 1920s Birmingham-based series stars Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson and Helen McCrory. In Britain BBC Drama shows are pulling stellar ratings. Call The Midwife was this years most-watched drama episode in the UK, with overnight figures of 9.2 million on BBC One, and Line Of Duty series three was the highest-rating BBC Two drama series ever (since current measuring system began in 2002), with a series consolidated average of 5.1m. Meanwhile Season 3 of Peaky Blinders screens in Australia from June 30 on BBC First. Three University of Delaware students and an alumna have received word this spring that they will travel abroad as part of the newest class of Fulbright Student Program award winners beginning in the fall. The students are Rebecca Jaeger, Shane Sanders and Will Lescas, and the alumna is Brighid Scanlon, who received a masters degree in 2012. For Jaeger, a senior biology, history and Spanish major and this years Emalea Pusey Warner Award recipient, the good news came unexpectedly after an exam. I will forever remember the moment I checked my email, she said. I was shaking. I read the email, and I must have looked crazy walking from Gore through Mentors Circle. I was like, Im going to Spain! Jaeger will spend the next year in Spain as a Fulbright English teaching assistant (ETA), conducting English instruction at the university level. According to Jaeger, while her interest in the Spanish language dates back to her first classes in elementary school, it was a study abroad experience to Granada during her sophomore year that convinced her to apply for a Fulbright award. When I was abroad I taught English one day a week to seventh through ninth graders, and it was very much on my own. They threw me in with a different group of five students each day, coming up with different activities to get them to talk about themselves, she said. I think that was one of the more impactful experiences that I had while in Spain, seeing that while these students live in a completely different culture and speak a completely different language, really their interests are the same, that certain things span oceans and continents. Jaeger plans to attend law school and work in the criminal justice system once she returns to the United States in 2017. Any time you are working with other people and are put in an environment that pushes you outside of your comfort zone, it is going to be a great experience, she said, adding that she also hopes that by becoming fluent in Spanish she will be able to work with non-native English speakers. Scanlon, who graduated from UD in 2012 with a masters degree in foreign language pedagogy, will also embark on an ETA. As long as I can remember, Ive dreamed of living in Brazil, she said. Scanlon studied Portuguese during her undergraduate studies at UD, and now teaches courses in that language, among others, at Eagle Rock School in Colorado. For the veteran teacher, a Fulbright is the next logical step. It seems to me like sort of a natural progression to apply the skills that Ive learned from my masters program and in the classroom to start my career in teaching English, Scanlon said. I am hoping this takes me in that direction and to teach English in the future as well. Of the Brazilian culture and people, Scanlon is looking forward to knowing and becoming part of a widely diverse community. I think it is really fascinating how ethnically and racially diverse Brazil is, and how the country has integrated the histories of each individual ethnic group. Sanders, who will graduate from the same masters program during the May 28 Commencement, will arrive in Senegal this September to begin her own English Teaching Assistantship. While Sanders has lived and taught English in France, Italy and China, this will be her first time on the African continent. During her residency, she will teach English to university students in Dakar or Saint-Louis. Each Fulbright English teaching assistant must complete an add-on service project in addition to their 20-30 hours in the classroom each week. Sanders hopes to volunteer with Bridge Kids International, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping youth unleash their social entrepreneurial skills, or at an equestrian center, teaching local children English vocabulary related to their passion for horses. This will be the first time I am living in a predominantly Muslim culture, she said, adding that it will be very interesting to see how that culture reflects in daily and academic life. While in Senegal, Sanders also hopes to learn Wolof, a local language, from her new community. Lescas, a senior Honors Program student and international relations major, has been awarded a Fulbright for graduate study at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. There, he will take on a masters in political science, concentrating on the integration of Denmark into the European Union. Of the unique perspective his Fulbright will allow him, Lescas said, Its all about context. When you are there, you start to see patterns that you wouldnt see just from literature. After reading books and being removed from the world, Im going to be taking classes with the authors. It is so cool. Ive read what they have spent years of their life doing and now I actually get to sit down and talk with them regularly. Its the real deal. Lescas was first introduced to Denmark through an education abroad program with the University of Delaware and the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. DIS was the program I wanted, but not necessarily the location. All of that changed. I have a host family that I still keep in close contact with, and I went back to Denmark for my senior thesis work over the winter. That kind of was the start of it, realizing it was this wonderful place. According to Jaeger, applying for and receiving a Fulbright award is not a solo journey. It really was the experiences I had here and the people I worked with here that empowered me both to apply and be selected. For those planning to apply for a Fulbright Student Program award in September, Jaeger advised to put forth a quality application and look to mentors for encouragement. No matter what, keep looking at it and ask for help. If you are stuck, there is a network of support that is going to be able to help you move forward in a direction where you are proud of the work you are submitting. Lescas said that students should not allow the prestige of the award to stop them from applying. The program is accessible to those who have a good plan and a passion, he added. The students will Join Allison Karpyn, associate director of the Center for Education Research and Social Policy (CRESP) and associate professor of education and behavioral health and nutrition, as the newest members of the UD Fulbright Society, established to honor members of the University community who have won the award. In addition to the newest Fulbrighters, two students were chosen as alternates and will learn later this summer whether they will begin a global journey of their own. About the Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program annually provides 8,000 grants for research or teaching in one of over 140 countries throughout the world. Established by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1946, the program seeks to foster international partnership and cultural exchange by funding research and teaching opportunities worldwide. More than 150 members of the University of Delaware community have received Fulbright Awards. In addition, the University welcomes Fulbrighters from around the world for research and graduate study, with students hailing from Afghanistan, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Mexico, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. This summer, the University will welcome students from around the world for a week-long Fulbright Gateway Orientation administered by the Institute for Global Studies. For more details on Fulbright at the University of Delaware, visit the Institute for Global Studies website or contact Lisa Chieffo, associate director for study abroad and UDs Fulbright Program adviser. Luxury cars going west in China Updated: 2016-05-27 08:17 By Du Juan(China Daily Europe) Cao Weida almost lost his voice in early May. Cao, a sales assistant for Sunfonda Group Holdings, the second-largest dealer in luxury and ultra-luxury cars in northwestern China, says he was constantly talking to prospective car buyers and visitors at the seven-day auto show in Xi'an. He was manning the Mercedes-Benz stand. "People have a growing enthusiasm for luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW," he says. Luxury cars are driven drove through Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province. [Photo Provided to China Daily] The high level of purchasing power of some consumers in China's western provinces is giving hope to makers of luxury cars who have been experiencing low sales growth and obstacles to their "go-west" strategy. Cao says many luxury brands have launched more models with lower prices, ranging from 250,000 to 350,000 yuan ($38,000 to $53,000; 34,000 to 48,000 euros). A growing number of young people are considering buying a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW or an Audi as their first car. "Thanks to the special discounts during the auto show, you could have bought an Audi A1 for around 150,000 yuan, which is far from luxury as per our definition, but it is happening," Cao says. According to the expo organizers, the seven-day Xi'an auto show attracted 418,000 visitors and helped sell 14,219 cars for more than 4 billion yuan, 1 billion yuan more than the sales revenue from a similar exhibition in July. The location of Xi'an also helped attract visitors from neighboring provinces and autonomous regions such as Sichuan, Shanxi and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Record sales at Xi'an came in spite of another auto show being held at the same time in the northwestern city of Yinchuan in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. According to the organizers of the four-day Yinchuan show, there were 220,000 visitors, and 2,309 vehicles were sold for 345 million yuan. Liu Jiazhen, marketing director at Ningxia Jinrunbao Auto Sales Service Co, a major local BMW dealer, says the auto industry still sees good potential in western China. The company will likely invest in more sales centers in the region. She says a new BMW sales store will open in Yinchuan this year. In addition to popular Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi models, Lincoln Motor Co, a traditional luxury brand from the United States, is doing well. It re-entered China in 2014, seeing the country's booming demand for luxury cars. After setting up stores in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Lincoln opened a new store in Xi'an, the first one in western China, in January. Tian Jing, executive deputy general manager of Xi'an Haolin Lincoln Store, says the company has confidence that car buyers in the western region will bring in more revenue for Lincoln. "In the past, people had an impression that luxury car owners in western China are rich but have no taste. It's not true. As long as we provide high-end services for them, they can be influenced," she says. Cao, the sales assistant, says he thinks only brands such as Aston Martin can be called luxury brands now. Stated differently, he does not regard BMW and Audi as luxury car brands anymore. For some, many luxury car brands are less and less of a luxury because they are launching models targeted at young and middle-class consumers. The ultra-luxury car segment in western China has gone cold, savaged by the commodities' price drop, which has severely affected incomes of the rich in the region. Prospective buyers of luxury cars in the region are those who have built their fortunes on soaring demand for mining resources like coal, oil and natural gas. But their wealth has shrunk in recent years because of coal mine bankruptcies due to falling prices and weak demand. Guo Shaoyu in Yinchuan contributed to this story. dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn The situation in ATO area in eastern Ukraine escalated again. The militants launched a total of 30 attacks on Ukrainian troops in last day. This is reported by the ATO Headquarters press center. In particular, the terrorists actively shelled our positions near Avdiyivka (18km north of Donetsk), using heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, 82mm and 120mm mortars. Ukrainian soldiers near Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk) came under small arm, grenade launcher fire. In Mariupol direction, the militants used 82mm mortars to shell ATO troops near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol). In Luhansk direction, the terrorists used heavy machine guns and grenade launchers to fire at Ukrainian positions near Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk). ol The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said Italy supports the extension of sanctions against Russia and doesnt recognize the results of the 2014 referendum in Crimea, according to the Italian Embassy in Ukraine. Due to the Regional Council of Venetos resolution, which calls for the government of Italy to recognize the results of the referendum on Crimeas independence from Ukraine and abolish restrictive measures against the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation reiterates its firm position and shares it with the European Union, NATO and G7 countries, regarding the non-recognition of referendum results on Crimeas independence as of March 16, 2014 and its subsequent accession to the Russian Federation, which was carried out in violation of the principles and norms of international law that prohibits the unilateral change of state borders, the statement reads. iy Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who was freed recently from Russian captivity, says she is ready for political activity and political struggle, if Ukraine needs this. "Ukrainians, if you need me to become the President, well, I will become the President," Savchenko said at a press conference being held in Kyiv today. She noted she was ready for political work, though she loves flying most of all. ol Ukrainian radio station UR-1 resumed broadcasting to Crimea on May 26, the official website of the Kherson Regional State Administration reports. "For the first time in the two years since the annexation of Crimea, locals heard Ukrainian words and voice of their homeland. From now on it will resound in Crimea with confidence. We have just resumed Ukrainian national broadcasting to the territory of temporarily-occupied Crimea. The Ukrainian FM radio station can be heard in the Crimean peninsula,"Kherson Regional State Administration Governor Andriy Hordeiev said. Ukrainian radio can be found on the 101.4 FM frequency in the temporarily occupied peninsula. The radio station bears the name "Glory to Ukraine!" on receivers. tl China 'resolutely opposes' US steel probe Updated: 2016-05-27 17:23 (Xinhua) BEIJING - China "resolutely opposes" a probe by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) into complaints of price fixing by Chinese steel companies, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Friday. The ministry said the country was "strongly dissatisfied" with the US decision and would encourage its firms to legally defend their interests. Trade remedy measures recently taken by the United States were protectionism, and would disrupt trade rather than solve US steel industry problems, according to a statement on the ministry's website. It said current steel industry woes were global challenges that required coordinated efforts to solve. The USITC said on Thursday it would investigate a complaint by US Steel Corporation of Pittsburgh, which alleged that Chinese steelmakers and distributors conspired to fix prices, stole trade secrets and misrepresented the origin of their exports to the United States. In its complaint under section 337 of the main US tariff law, US Steel Corp is seeking to bar nearly all imports from China's largest steelmakers. The investigation would involve 40 Chinese steel producers and distribution subsidiaries, including Baosteel, Hebei Iron and Steel Group, Wuhan Iron and Steel Co Ltd and Anshan Iron and Steel Group. Say goodbye to deliverymen and hello to robots Updated: 2016-05-27 17:26 By Meng Jing(chinadaily.com.cn) Caoniao, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's logistics offshoot, is working on developing robots that can deliver the goods purchased by China's 400 million online shoppers. Zhejiang Cainiao Supply Chain Management Co, as it is formally known, said on Friday that it is developing China's first crew of robot deliverymen, which are expected to put into use within this year. According to the company, the robots are suited to help delivery parcels in residential communities, industrial parks and offices buildings. They can come up with the best routes to deliver packages into the hands of customers after picking up the goods at a nearby distribution center. The robots are designed to be able to take elevators by themselves, avoid barriers, and navigate themselves inside buildings. The robots are developed by E.T Logistic Lab. The lab, which was founded by Cainiao at the end of 2015, aims to develop cutting-edge products that can meet the demand of logistic industry in the future. Apart from robot deliverymen, the lab is also working on robots that can help sorting parcels in warehouses and drones that can delivery parcels in rural areas. Founded by Alibaba and a consortium of logistics companies, Cainiao is different in that it operates a proprietary logistics information platform that links a network of providers, warehouses and distribution centers a technology that offers better efficiency and cost savings. Caoniao said that it facilities the delivery of more than 15 billion parcels a year. Revised pollution law praised Updated: 2016-05-27 08:15 By Zheng Jinran(China Daily Europe) China's revised Environmental Protection Law has done a good job reducing pollution since taking effect on Jan 1, 2015, by providing new enforcement tools, including higher fines and other legal sanctions, according to an assessment released on May 23. The revised law, regarded as the strongest ever in China, allows environmental authorities to levy fines on polluters on a daily basis with no cap, which has brought swift corrective action, the assessment says. At least 85 percent of the companies surveyed after being fined said they had stopped their excessive emissions. In some regions, 95 percent said they had. Last year, environmental authorities fined 715 companies a total of 569 million yuan ($86.8 million), the Ministry of Environmental Protection says. The assessment was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Environmental and Resource Law at China University of Political Science and Law, environmental groups and experts at other law schools. More than 2,600 complaints of excessive discharges were made in 2014 against the 100 companies surveyed. That number dropped dramatically to 205 complaints in 2015 after the revised law took effect, the assessment said. Experts conducted a series of surveys looking at 100 major companies that were being closely monitored by state or provincial environmental watchdogs from December to March, says Wang Canfa, the team leader and a professor at the institute. "The survey found that the majority of respondents, especially the state-owned companies, have increased their awareness of pollution reduction, and have installed special equipment," says Tong Guangfa, a participant and professor of law at Beijing University of Agriculture. In addition to the daily fines, the revised law also gives stronger tools to the authorities - for example, tougher legal sanctions under which polluting companies' managers can be detained and prosecuted quickly, and the forced suspension of production. These were "the big achievements in the implementation", the assessment said. "However, the revised Environmental Protection Law still faces difficulties, especially at the grassroots level, because of limited funds and other resources," says Zhang Shijun, a professor at Shandong University Law School, who was in charge of drafting the chapter on problems in implementation. Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining says he, too, has seen weak implementation at the grassroots level because of such things as a lack of vehicles for investigators in some areas. The ministry will take measures to resolve such issues and continue to push forward the implementation, he says. zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn 'Unwise' for EU to deny China Updated: 2016-05-27 08:15 By Yan Dongjie(China Daily Europe) Zhao Qizheng, former director of China's State Council Information Office, questions the European Parliament's resolution not to grant China market economy status. Yan Dongjie / China Daily Chinese see vote on market status as unreasonable, and companies are ready to shelve investment plans, former official says The European Parliament's decision to deny China market economy status is an unwise decision that goes against the interests of both sides, especially those of European countries, former director of China's State Council Information Office Zhao Qizheng said last week. "The European Parliament should read the World Trade Organization articles thoroughly and carefully, according to which they can only deny the market economy status of certain companies but not China as a country," said Zhao. The nonbinding resolution passed on May 12 by the European Parliament urged the European Union not to grant China market economy status, citing China's failure to fulfill five EU criteria. Zhao questioned the resolution at the Beijing launch ceremony for Silk Road Ark, a transnational think tank focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative, where he discussed the problem with Massimo D'Alema, former prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Italy. "Will you be so kind as to talk to the European Parliament about the concern as you have more say back in Europe?" asked Zhao, joking and pushing for a response from the European side. In a speech, D'Alema noted the significance of the Belt and Road Initiative, a development strategy and framework proposed by President Xi Jinping in September 2013. The initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and uses trade and infrastructure projects to link Asia, Europe, Africa and other areas. The Belt and Road Initiative "has created more opportunities for a joint development of China and European countries", said D'Alema, adding that trade between the two sides has grown dramatically in the past 40 years, now reaching 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) a day. In response to Zhao's thoughts, D'Alema said he hoped that Europe and China would solve the problem in the near future, and that European countries and China should respect each other; deepen their partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization; and promote communication and cooperation in various fields. "It's the European Union that benefits most from the ambitious initiative," said D'Alema, adding that he looked forward to the difference that the Belt and Road Initiative would make among Eurasian countries. "The wrong decision has had a bad influence in China, as Chinese see it unreasonable and Chinese companies are stopping investing in or funding Europe," Zhao said. Long Yongtu, China's former chief negotiator for World Trade Organization entry, expressed points similar to Zhao's after the resolution passed. "It goes against globalization and signals the heavy presence of trade protectionism across the world. ... A country does not need anyone else to recognize whether it is a market economy or not," said Long, adding that China's entry into the WTO has given people in many countries access to both inexpensive and fine-quality Chinese products. A resolution passed by the European Parliament is nonbinding, while the later decision of the European Commission would have the force of law, according to Zhao. In 2005, Zhao said, the investment in Europe from China totaled $7.2 billion, about 10 percent more than Europe's investment in China, which marked a close trading relationship between the two sides. Zhao predicted that the European Commission will perceive the negative influence on the European economy, and reverse the European Parliament's stance. "Just as D'Alema said, if they went on with the resolution, European countries, especially the big economies, would suffer. A good horse should turn around to graze on good pasture," Zhao said. yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn Lake Shasta in Northern California became the partying grounds for a fraternity and sorority trip last weekend which left the area in a state of total chaos. According to Fox News, the alleged perpetrators were said to be from the University of Oregon owing to the blatant indications left at the Slaughterhouse Island scene which composed of items with the university's emblem along with tampons, ice chests, condoms, sleeping bags and more than 90 tents - some of which were still left standing. Human wastes were also left alongside the yards and yards of trash. The University of Oregon mentioned that they have begun their inquiry of the unsanctioned yet traditional merry-making pursuit of one of their student bodies. University Vice President for Student Life Robin Holmes was in disbelief of the aftermath as he said that the act was highly scandalous as the national fraternity of Zeta Omicron Zeta had also issued a sanction to postpone all of the activities from its chapters while waiting for the issue to be fully resolved. Another national fraternity with a local chapter at the University of Oregon, the Lambda Chi Alpha already made a public apology on their Facebook page, as one of the coolers left behind was emblazoned with their Greek letters alongside the words, "Do you wanna do some blow man?" Their statement ended saying that despite still having no recognized perpetrators as of the moment, the fraternity has come across this blatant action against the environment intolerable. A group of fraternities from the university have extended their hand to the United States Forest Service to help in the clean-up of Slaughterhouse Island. However, the local authorities have turned down the gesture as the Shasta Lake clutter is dealing with too much biohazard for the students to pitch in, according to Oregon Live. Rescue vessel eyed for the Nansha Islands Updated: 2016-05-27 08:14 By Li Xiaokun and Liu Xiaoli(China Daily Europe) China is considering deploying an advanced rescue ship that could carry drones and underwater robots to the Nansha Islands this year to help ships in trouble, including foreign vessels. Chen Xingguang, military officer of the ship Nanhaijiu 118, part of a fleet controlled by the Ministry of Transport's South China Sea Rescue Bureau, told China Daily of the plans. "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 says, without specifying which island the ship will be based at. Crew members of the Nanhaijiu 118 conduct a rescue drill on May 11. [Photo by Liu Xiaoli / China Daily] Wang Wensong, captain of the Nanhaijiu 118, says the ship proposed for the mission might be bigger than his 3,700-metric-ton vessel and will be equipped with advanced rescue facilities. "It might carry drones and underwater robots," he says. The bureau was involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared more than two years ago on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Wang says it was decided after this mission to develop underwater search capabilities. He says the bureau has 31 ships and four helicopters to cover rescue work in the South China Sea. Other forces, such as the military, may join rescue efforts. "The international shipping routes near the Nansha Islands are very busy. Such a big area means quite a number of ships could get into trouble," the captain says. The South China Sea boasts one of the world's busiest shipping routes, with about 40 percent of global cargoes shipped annually passing through these waters. It also attracts many fishermen, who can be vulnerable in frequent typhoons. Zhang Zengxiang, deputy director of shipping at the maritime affairs bureau in Sansha, Hainan province, says the proposed base station will help with rescue work in the southern South China Sea. "The main difficulty in rescue work around the Nansha Islands is the long distances," he says, adding that the Nanhaijiu 118, built last year, has to sail for nearly two days to reach the Nansha Islands from the Xisha Islands. He adds that he distance is too great for helicopters, the most efficient way to save lives at sea. The main way to handle accidents in the area at present is to arrange for vessels passing by to help. Boat captain Wang says: "We will try our best to save any vessel sending distress signals in waters under our jurisdiction, no matter what country a vessel is from - even it is from a country that has territorial disputes with China, or a country without diplomatic relations with us. These are not problems." Beijing has promised to develop its search and rescue capabilities in the South China Sea to "provide necessary assistance" to both Chinese and foreign vessels. In 2006, Wang, then first officer of the Nanhaijiu 111, worked with other Chinese rescuers to search a vast area after a typhoon. They located 22 Vietnamese fishing ships at Hanoi's request and rescued 330 Vietnamese fishermen. Wang says the growing number of rescue forces in the South China Sea will help with China's Belt and Road Initiative and business worldwide. "Shipping is the major way to send cargo, and a guaranteed international route is good news for all countries." Contact the writer at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn A Canadian study found that depression makes up of about 55 percent of antidepressant prescription by doctors in a 10-year study. That's because doctors have been prescribing the drugs to those with anxiety, chronic pain, insomnia, migraine, OCD and other conditions. Prescribing Antidepressants for Conditions Other than Depression The researchers from Montreal's McGill University looked into how much antidepressants are prescribed to patients with actual depression. Their findings show that in two out of every antidepressant prescription, patients do not have depression and or just have conditions that are barely linked to it, CBS News reported. While patients with panic disorders and anxiety orders are prescribed with antidepressants, doctors also used it for off-label indications. This means that conditions including ADHD, migraine, menopausal symptoms were also prescribed with the drug, Los Angeles Times wrote. The results of the study were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Going off-label: 50% of antidepressant prescriptions aren't for depression https://t.co/hVQIM8xo0u via @TIMEHealth Siobhan O'Connor (@siobhannyc) May 24, 2016 Is it Safe or Dangerous? The study authors wrote that they found the prescription of antidepressants for conditions other than depression as a concern, Science Daily noted. They believe that further study and investigation are needed to determine how safe and effective the drug is used for off-label indications. Dr. Norman Sussman of the NYU Langone Medical Center said that antidepressants can be used for conditions other than depression. He told CBS News that certain antidepressants are more effective at treating insomnia as other drugs can be addictive. As for specific cases of pain management, antidepressants have been used to treat these. Dr. Sussman explained that getting indications for antidepressants can be expensive so that is why most drugs do not have the FDA's approval. However, he also agrees that more research should be conducted to determine side effects of using antidepressants for off-label uses. Do you think antidepressants should be used for conditions other than depression? Let us know what you think in the comments below. Nathan Myhrvold, CEO of Washington-based Intellectual Ventures Bellevue has made available online a 110 pages long review which has not yet been through a study examined by experts unassociated with the research before it was published. Last May 22, ex-Microsoft Exec Myhrvold fired question at the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a 2009 model space telescope and its follow-on mission, NEOWISE in a paper posted at arXiv.org e-print repository. Myhrvold claimed that the WISE and NEOWISE team findings are puzzled with statistical blunders. In Astrophysical Journal, WISE and NEOWISE teams claim to found out the diameter of asteroids with a better than 10 percent accuracy. But Myhrvold plead that they made errors by disregarding the margin of error when estimating an entire population from a small sample size. The scientists have also neglected to comprise Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation in their thermal asteroid prototypes. Myhrvold said that errors in the asteroid diameters based on WISE data should be 30 percent based on his own models. However, the size errors grew to as large as 300 percent, he said in journal Icarus. But WISE and NEOWISE teams are taking stand by their results and state that Myhrvold's censure must be dismissed. The Principal Investigator for WISE at the University of California, Los Angeles Ned Wright, explained that WISE's statistics go very well with other two infrared telescopes, AKARI and IRAS. According to Science Mag report, to test the accuracy of those infrared data in determining the size of an asteroid, scientists must calibrate them with radar annotations. Wright noted that by doing so, WISE's size inaccuracy end up at roughly 15 percent. Amy Mainzer, the chief investigator for NEOWISE at the Pasadena Jet Propulsion Laboratory, pointed out various specific misinterpretations in Myhrvold's claims. For one, he confounded diameter for radius, Science Mag cited. But Myhrvold snapped that his errors are being fixed, which are cosmetic and do not modify the point of his criticism. He then accused the NEOWISE scientists as defensive because many are caught up in a proposal for a futuristic asteroid-hunting telescope, NEOCam. For Wright, his team does not have Myhrvold's computer codes, "so we don't know why he's screwing up." Then Wright cunningly noted that Myhrvold previously worked at Microsoft, therefore "is responsible in part for a lot of bad software." Looks like a good news for those prepping to attend a community college in the fall, as they'd not only be in good, but also famous company. These notable figures enrolled in community colleges, however not all of them earned the graduation degree from the two-year institutions they attended - some transferred, while other left school to go after acting gigs. George Lucas Filmmaker, entrepreneur who created hit franchises such as "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones," went to Modesto Junior College. Still in high school in 2010, Lucas was not quite interested in going to school, but wanted to work on cars instead. Lucas was involved in a bad car accident just before his graduation. While spending that summer in the hospital, Lucas made a decision to take education more seriously and go to community college. Walt Disney Probably world's most popular animator, voice actor, entrepreneur and film producer who is is best known as the creator of the much-adored character, Mickey Mouse (1928). Disney went to Metropolitan Junior College in Missouri. Disney along with his team earned seven Emmys and 48 Academy Awards throughout his lifetime. Jim Wright Wright, a Texas-based Democratic U.S. Congressman who went to Weatherford Community College just for a year before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, but never graduated. The former speaker of the house (1987 to 1989), was born in Fort Worth, Texas. In December 1941, Wright joined the U.S. Army Air Force. Before he was found guilty of various loans and savings scandals, Wright served as the Mayor of Weatherford for four years (1950 - 1954), according to reports on Business Insider. Arnold Schwarzenegger One of the most popular bodybuilders who made quite an impression as an actor, and later as the 38th Governor of California (2003 - 2011). The "Predator" star opened-up during a commercial speech held at Santa Monica College a few years ago, and noted that he has taken English as a second language course. He had a lot of fun in English class as the teachers were really helpful. This inspired the 69-year-old former governor of California also noted that community college can actually be a good choice for international students who want to develop their English skills, according to reports on US News. Tom Hanks The "Forrest Gump" actor attended Chabot College. Hanks attributed his achievements to Chabot College, Hayward where he studied theater before transferring to California State University, Sacramento. Affordability was one of the key factors that compelled Hanks to attend community college. There are several other popular distinguished people who have spent time on community college campuses. After getting graduated from a community college, several students transfer either to liberal arts college or university for about two or three years in order to conclude their bachelor's degree. Union Pacific Plans to Invest $37.5 Million in its Iowa Rail Infrastructure Union Pacific plans to invest $37.5 million in 2016 to improve Iowa'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: $30.7 million to maintain railroad track and $6.7 million to maintain bridges in the state. Key projects planned this year include: A $5 million investment between Nevada and Boone to undercutting 30 miles of track. In this process, an undercutter machine cleans rock ballast to remove mud and debris and facilitate proper drainage. A $5 million investment in the rail line between Mechanicsville and Blairstown through south Cedar Rapids to replace nearly 38,000 railroad ties. A $4.1 million investment in the rail line between Ogden and Carroll to replace more than 22,000 railroad ties. This year's planned $37.5 million capital expenditure in Iowa is part of an ongoing investment strategy. From 2011 to 2015 Union Pacific invested more than $184 million strengthening Iowa'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 Donna Kush, Union Pacific vice president - Public Affairs, Northern Region. "Continuing to aggressively invest in our infrastructure is an important element in Union Pacific's unwavering safety commitment." Union Pacific plans to spend $3.675 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. To avoid persecution, the family of a Song Dynasty general took refuge on a mountain - and the village they created can now be enjoyed by tourists Thirty-three families have lived in relative seclusion in Yuejiazhai village in northern China for hundreds of years. "We're descendants of Yue Lin, the third son of Yue Fei. I'm a 35th generation descendant," says Yue Xianlai, the village Party chief. Top and above: Villagers of Yuejiazhai, descendants of Southern Song Dynasty hero Yue Fei, have lived reclusive lives for hundreds of years on the Thaihang mountain ridge in Pingshun, Shanxi province. Photos by Yue Feng / For China Daily Yue Fei was a general who led the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) forces against the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) from northeastern China. He was put to death along with his eldest son, Yue Yun, in 1142 by the Song ruler after being accused of plotting a rebellion. However, 27 years later, he was being portrayed as a national hero for his loyalty. Yue Fei's death was a turning point for his wife and other four sons, however. Fearing further persecution, they fled. The villagers say Yue Lin took 33 families with him, mostly relatives, servants and guards. During their journey, they camped under a big tree in the remote Thaihang mountains in what is now Pingshun, Shanxi province. That night, Yue Lin had a dream, in which the tree told him to settle under it and promised to protect his people. The next morning, he decided to follow the instruction and the group began to build stone houses there. They also created terraced fields on the mountain slope and began to cultivate crops. Not far from the tree was a spring, the only water source. The tree and the spring are still there today. The tree is worshipped as the guardian angel of the village, and the spring is still a vital resource. Most of the stone houses are hundreds of years old. "Life is quiet and natural here," says Zhang Haigen, the village head, who is in his late 30s. The number of families has not changed much over 800 years; plus, they still eat what they plant and hunt, they wear what they make and find, and they speak Chinese in a dialect that can be traced to the Song Dynasty. The only thing they source from outside is salt. "To outsiders, we look like savages," says Zhang, who left the village for the first time at the age of 16, using a road only completed in the late 1990s. "I suppose the outside world fears us as much as we fear it. "We're very disciplined and literate 'savages'. We're familiar with all of Yue Fei's legends. They teach us to be responsible and loyal to family, beliefs and our motherland." For more than 800 years, the village has operated its own school, clinic, temple and committees. It had family law and village law, originating from the Yue family during the Song. The local government started building a 20-kilometer mountain path connecting the village to the closest town in 1996, and the road, which includes a 50-meter tunnel, was completed several years later. "It took about a day to walk to the town before the road was completed. This was because there was a cliff on the way, so if we wanted to go to the town we had to go past the cliff," Yue Xianlai says. His father died when he fell off the cliff during one such journey. Speaking of the original plan to settle in the remote area, Zhang says, "Yue Lin made the right decision, as the village is like an island protected by formidable mountains." Even the Mongolians, Manchurians, and Japanese - the three main invaders and occupiers in northern China after the 12th century - did not manage to get to the village. If their ancestors had learned about Yue Fei's rehabilitation 27 years after they settled there and left the area, many families would have become victims of the later wars, the villagers say. "Before the road was built, we just did not want to go outside the village, fearing that people outside would bully us," says Zhang Jianlu, the 76-year-old father of Zhang Haigen. His son adds: "We started learning about what had happened over the past 800 years only in the late 1990s. But our earlier education gave us a good foundation to adapt to modern life." When the first visitors came to the village about 15 years ago, they were interested in learning about the village, and vice versa. "The villagers did not even understand the concept of buying and selling at that time," says Zhang Haigen. But together with the road came electricity and travelers. Now, most young people go to work in cities, leaving only the elderly in the village. Contact the writers through liyang@chinadaily.com.cn 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. Interpreting China for royalty Updated: 2016-05-27 08:16 By Fu Jing(China Daily Europe) Sinologist who advises Britain's Prince Philip says he is in talks about making a TV series tied to Silk Road As environmental adviser to Britain's Prince Philip, 62-year-old Martin Palmer notes that Queen Elizabeth, who has just celebrated her 90th birthday, has reigned longer than he has been alive. It's that longevity that has allowed Palmer, who also is a Sinologist, to help interpret the richness of Chinese cultures for the royal family for three decades. Martin Palmer has been working with the Taoists of China for years, and says Prince Philip and the Queen Elizabeth have both shown enormous interest in Taoism. [Photo by Song Wei / China Daily] Palmer meets with Philip, who is 94, three or four times a year and talks with the queen once every two or three years. Taoism, Confucianism, and the introduction of Chinese values in dealing with challenges of environmental protection and global warming are among their talking points. "I think the interesting thing about the royal family and in particular about the queen is primarily longevity, a prime Chinese value," says Palmer, secretary-general of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, a UK-based environmental organization founded by Prince Philip. Palmer says Taoists spent hundreds of years trying to work out magic formulas with herbs and other elements to achieve longevity, but Palmer says: "Our queen seems to have done it by her own free will." For the queen's 90th birthday, celebrated twice this year, he links longevity to Chinese values. He credits, first, "a tremendous sense of duty, which in her case is very much founded upon filial duty - a great Confucian virtue". In Chinese tradition, everybody must honor their parents, and she "absolutely adored her father and he was her hero". Palmer has been working with the Taoists of China for years, and Prince Philip and the Queen Elizabeth have both shown enormous interest in Taoism, Palmer says, ever since he took Taoist masters to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. "They have always wanted to know more," he says. The royal couple have asked how the religion shapes China, and what are the traditions of meditation and the core philosophical concepts of heaven, earth and humanity. Palmer recalls the queen also asked why there were no wars between religions, intrigued as to how the different traditions of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism work side by side in China. Palmer once took a senior Taoist master, the 65th direct descendant of Zhang Daoling - a venerated Taoist - to meet the queen and Prince Philip, who were fascinated to know someone who could trace their family back even further than she could. The queen's roots date back to around AD 700 while Zhang's go back to the second century. In 1985, Palmer met the royal family for the first time when he was invited to talk to Prince Philip, who at that time was the international president of the World Wildlife Fund. Palmer had written a book for the WWF, looking at how different religions view the natural world, depending on what they believed about its origins. Palmer was following the same cultural path as President Xi Jinping did in his speech to UNESCO in March 2014, when he was visiting France. He called Xi's speech one of the most interesting speeches by a Chinese president in recent years. According to Palmer, Xi spoke powerfully about China's cultures, traditions and civilizations, which should be part of a recipe to bring China out of the dilemmas it faces. "China is at that tipping point, I mean you have got some of the polluted cities, but now you know it and you are also saying 'Well, it is not just a problem for us, it is a problem for the planet'," Palmer says. "And I think you are stepping up to the mark, it is taking responsibility as we had to take responsibility." Palmer says "the ecological civilization", a phrase often used in Chinese policy, is a fascinating expression that he first came across in 2006 when he was working with the Taoists in China on protecting their sacred mountains and on their moral and spiritual influence on China, which he has been doing since 1995. This is a concept, he says, which reflects the notion that the Chinese have begun to care not just for themselves, but also for people who are less fortunate than themselves, and for the forests, the rivers and the fish, after the rapid development of the past three decades. "These had been shown in the Chinese classics for thousands of years and this is a rediscovery of Chinese civilization because it could shape how we live," he says. "And so I've watched over what is now 10 years, this rediscovery, reevaluation of the best of cultural tradition." The old Confucian phrase of benevolence, or renli, is rooted in what it is to be a good human being, he says. "So when ecological civilization came along, for me, I could trace its history." Palmer says the idea of having phases of ecological civilization - which has become one of the overriding developmental components of the Communist Party of China since 2012 - should be given global recognition. Now one of the problems is that the West has so devalued its own notion of civilization that it doesn't quite get it when a country says it wants civilization, Palmer says. "This is China's great gift, that we can have an ecological civilization, which will come into being. So I think that the significance of ecological civilization is that it is a profound challenge to a Western, materialistic world," says Palmer. For years, he has translated Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian texts into English. "I'm translating at the moment the Sanguo, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the wisdom that is embedded in those texts and stories, that's what I understand by civilization," he says. Palmer says he is in talks with different organizations in China, including the Party's cultural and communication units, about making a six-part TV series tied to the Silk Road. It would look at the way ideas, stories, beliefs, religions and philosophies traveled back and forth along the Silk Road and shaped the great religions of the world. "The China side is very excited by this. I suppose they don't meet many Westerners who know as many stories from Chinese history as I do," he says. For years, as a Christian, Palmer has led a simple life, and also has benefited from Chinese wisdom, which is about enjoying what one can legitimately enjoy, as written in the ancient Chinese classics. "For me, it is about enjoying the good things in this life," Palmer says. "But making sure that that is not at the cost of anyone else or at the cost of creation." fujing@chinadaily.com.cn Favoring sons over daughters must end now Updated: 2016-05-27 08:15 By Zhang Zhouxiang(China Daily Europe) How deeply embedded is the old evil of favoring a son over a daughter in some people's minds? The recent popular TV drama, Ode of Joy, tells of such a mindset. The heroine, 30-year-old Fan Shengmei, who works in Shanghai, spends half her salary supporting her parents and her brother's family. Under pressure from her parents, she pays for an apartment for her brother, even though she doesn't have one of her own and shares a rented apartment with two girlfriends. When her brother beats somebody up and has to pay compensation to his victim, she is the one that has to fork over cash. She is an excellent employee in the human resources department at her company and gets a good salary. Yet her exploitation by her family means she would not be able to survive without the help of her friends. The show has been a huge success, with viewers nationwide discussing how they would help her. The actress, Jiang Xin, even jokingly said on her microblog that she received extra income this month because so many people were trying to send her gift money to help the character she played. People can relate to the drama because there are so many similar incidents in reality. Fan is one of the millions of girls exploited by their blood relatives, who mobilize all kinds of resources for their sons. Search "favoring sons over daughters" online and you find as many as 10,000 cases like Fan's. On Zhihu, an online community where people discuss their daily lives, there is a special forum that has collected 600 real-life stories about women being exploited in such a way by their families. The topics "how to help Fan" and "families like Fan's" have been among the hottest topics discussed on social media recently. During this year's Spring Festival, reporters from China Central Television conducted a survey in Northwest China's Shaanxi province and found that most parents ask for gift money of over 100,000 yuan ($15,260; 13,610 euros) from those who wish to marry their daughters. "It is almost like selling the daughter," one netizen commented. Yet the parents continue the practice because they want to support their sons with the money. Worse are those who sell their daughter openly. A woman surnamed Wang from Chongqing in Southwest China was sentenced to four years in prison for selling two of her babies on the day they were born. Both were girls. And sad to say, the girls that are exploited by their parents belong to a "luckier" group, because they at least survived gender selection. It remains a rampant practice in some underdeveloped regions to find out the gender of the embryo and abort if it is female. As a result, the gender ratio of males to females among newborns was as high as 1.21-to-1 from 2004 to 2008. Though the gap in the gender ratio has fallen a little in the past several years, the ratio remains 1.13-to-1, which is much higher than the natural ratio would be. Behind this figure are millions of girls who were deprived of the opportunity of life because of their gender. Even today, when the high male-female ratio becomes a serious social problem, media outlets and officials ask: "What should we do when so many men cannot find wives?" They might not realize it, but they worry about the lack of females while some do not care for females at all. That's rather ironic and shows how deeply the male-over-female mindset is rooted in society. It is time for this mindset to change. The author is a writer with China Daily. Contact the writer at zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn Following Charlotte's successful title defense against Natalya with the help of Dana Brooke, the Women's Champion decided to send Ric Flair packing, telling him to get out of her ring and claiming she wants nothing to do with him anymore. With the father/daughter partnership seemingly being brought to an end fans have been left wondering what the future is for Ric Flair? Under contract Despite his current run as Charlotte's manager coming to an end, the two-time Hall of Famer is still under contract with the company, which leaves the door open for a return at any point. Whether he returns to help his daughter again in the future or if he becomes a valet for a different wrestler to go against Charlotte remains to be seen. Flair has been by his daughter's side since she won the belt. Photo- SkySports.com Flair will still be used by the company in other roles such as his recent voice work on Camp WWE. The WWE often use legends for their Network projects and the Nature Boy has been involved in a lot of them to this point which will carry on. Storyline purposes Flair's removal from his daughter's storyline hasn't been done due to anything he did and Flair doesn't have any heat on him backstage and he is not in trouble despite recent reports regarding an airport incident. He has been taken out of the story simply for creative purposes to further the storyline that the WWE are telling with Charlotte and it has been used as an effective way of gaining heel heat and she will now have Dana Brooke by her side. Flair's initial role was simply portraying a proud father when Charlotte first won the belt, but after her babyface character was struggling to make an impact on the main roster the WWE made the decision to turn her heel. Flair played a crucial role in helping to form her character with his actions at ringside allowing Charlotte to gain cheap victories and now the Women's Champion will be looking to continue her development without her father at ringside. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOs Art by Ed Cristal is on display at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum in Oxnard. SHARE The work of artist Ed Cristal is the focus of a retrospective. "A Golden Path," by Ed Cristal, can be seen in a retrospective of the artist's work. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO "Channel Islands," by Ed Cristal, is part of a retrospective of the artist's work. By Staff Reports A retrospective of artist Ed Cristal will be on display at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum in Oxnard. The life and work of the artist are being explored in the exhibit, which will continue through June 20. The exhibit features paintings and ceramics by Cristal, who created the whale sculptures that flank the entrance of the museum. He also sculpted the sundial on the museum's south side. Cristal's work reflects new discoveries and evolution in media. While living in Mexico, Cristal primarily used pencil and watercolor to create art. Later, his silk screens, ceramics, oil paintings and sculptures were showcased and sold for many years through galleries he owned in Pasadena. Cristal has volunteered for many years as a docent and served as a judge at juried exhibits, and he donated the sculptures that adorn the facade of the museum. The reception will be free. Food will be provided, and drinks will be available for purchase. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Permanent exhibits include maritime paintings dating back to the 1600s and more than 60 models of historic ships. Museum entry is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2 for children 6-17 years old and free for members and children younger than 6. CONTRIBUTED A simulated image of how NRG Energy's Puente power plant on Harbor Boulevard in Oxnard will look. Two of three existing Mandalay generating station units at the site will be demolished. SHARE By Gretchen Wenner of the Ventura County Star A new beachside power plant in Oxnard received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco on Thursday, although a decision from the regulatory agency with ultimate authority over the project won't come until next year. The plant is opposed by the city and environmental groups hoping to halt industrial uses of Oxnard's coastline. They say Oxnard is overburdened by three existing oceanfront power plants and argued that rising sea levels and environmental justice issues make the proposed new facility a poor fit. NRG Energy Inc. plans to build the 262-megawatt Puente Power Project next to its existing 560-megawatt Mandalay Generating Station on Harbor Boulevard near Mandalay State Beach. "We appreciate the unanimous vote of confidence" by the commission, NRG spokesman David Knox said in a statement. The plant will provide a "reliable, fast-ramping, flexible" source of energy that meets regional needs, he said. NRG plans to stop operating two of Mandalay's three units as well as its 1,516-megawatt Ormond Beach station in 2020 when new restrictions kick in for plants that use seawater for cooling. Matt Vespa, senior attorney for the Sierra Club, said California needs more clean resources. "The CPUC is required to prioritize investments that reduce greenhouse gases and build climate preparedness," Vespa said in a statement, "but went ahead and did just the opposite by approving a new gas plant on a coastal site vulnerable to sea level rise and flooding." The California Energy Commission, the agency with the ultimate authority to approve sites for large power plants like Puente, is going through its own review process. The commission's current schedule lists February 2017 as the expected date for its final decision on the project. SHARE By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star More than 100 people turned out for hearings this week on regulation of medical marijuana in the unincorporated county, with dozens expressing concerns about their inability to get the substance for various illnesses. The residents' concerns focused on the lack of access and the desire to quickly change that, said a county official who conducted the hearings in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks. "The meetings were productive," Resource Management Director Chris Stephens said Friday. "For the most part the community was happy we were addressing the issue and working on resolving what they think is a problem." The Ventura County Board of Supervisors is seeking the public's views as part of its study of regulations on medical marijuana. Limited personal cultivation is allowed in unincorporated territory for a documented medical need, but not commercial cultivation, Stephens said. He expects to report back to the board in December on proposed regulations. Supervisors delayed the discussion until then so they will know whether California voters legalize recreational marijuana in the November general election. In January, the board blocked commercial marijuana enterprises including cultivation, dispensaries and manufacturing. They did so hurriedly because a state law had been passed that required counties to adopt regulations on commercial cultivation by March 1 or the state would become the licensing authority. The deadline was later rescinded, but the Ventura County action stands. The board said it was prohibiting the commercial enterprises as a placeholder pending a full study of the matter. The new regulations would mainly cover land use, but could also affect taxes, agricultural policies and the issuance of identification cards for patients using medical marijuana, Stephens said. Chinese industry and the EU's illness Updated: 2016-05-27 08:15 By Luigi Gambardella(China Daily Europe) Debate over granting of MES to China goes beyond trade policy and is mostly about Europe's lack of competitiveness In a nonbinding resolution passed by 546 votes to 28, with 77 abstentions, the European Parliament on May 12 called on the European Commission not to grant market economy status in the World Trade Organization context to China until a level playing field could be established for EU industry and jobs. The overwhelming majority of the lawmakers reflect the fears at the grassroots level caused by the fast deindustrialization of the EU and unbearable unemployment in certain areas caused by the closure of major plants, in which successive generations of workers used to be employed. The vote of the parliament was not a vote about China, even less a vote for or against China. The vote was about EU employment policy. How can the European Commission guarantee to European citizens that their children will have employment opportunities similar to those of previous generations? Trade defense instruments to make imports more costly is not the solution - at least if the EU continues to support economic globalization and trade liberalization. Today, the EU's exports to China support over 4 million jobs across the European Union. In 2014, on average, each additional 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion) in exports supported 15,000 additional jobs across the EU. With the EU's exports to China growing 4 percent last year, around 100,000 new jobs have been added to the job market. In a globalized economy, imports will replace local production, but at the same time, exports are creating other, new jobs. We should never forget that. The EU problem is structural. The debate over China's market economy status in the European Parliament is manifesting Europe's economic illness, in the same way as fever manifests the presence of malicious viruses in our bodies. Behind the discussions on trade defiance, the real issue is that Europe's economy is no longer competitive in the global market. The causes are structural, including: European countries have adopted the most stringent environmental policies in the world, such as prohibiting the exploitation of shale gas, closing nuclear plants before alternative energy sources were available, imposing quotas on renewables, and introducing the toughest emissions norms; the highest tax rates in the world apply in Europe, while existing tax incentives are progressively phased out, in the framework of the fight against tax havens; the labor and social security laws have continuously been extended, multiplying gross cost of employment in the EU; competition law focuses on consumer prices only, without regard to employment, promoting cheaper imports at the expense of national production; strict enforcement of patent law stifles innovation, though innovation has been the key to Europe's economic growth in the past century. Entrepreneurs who launch new products are always at risk of patent claims by other companies because of hundreds of patents that were filed for elements with some similarities to the new product. Instead of embarking on trade disputes, which will cost jobs both in the EU and China, it is time to start a dialogue between Chinese business leaders interested in investing in Europe and EU policymakers. Chinese foreign direct investment in the EU exceeds $54.2 billion. China has invested in and set up more than 2,000 companies that directly employ more than 74,000 European workers. Chinese investment in European firms also saves jobs, such as Geely Group's acquisition of Volvo saving 15,000 jobs. But if the EU embarked on structural reforms, Chinese investments could be multiplied. It is urgent that Chinese business conveys with a single voice and in operational terms the structural reforms they expect in order to commit to more substantial investments in the EU and to create the new jobs that the European Parliament is asking for. The ChinaEU association has been set up as a channel to coordinate the position of Chinese industry and bring the demands to the appropriate EU decision-makers. History has demonstrated that dialogue and cooperation, not conflict, are able to overcome misunderstandings and reduce distances. China and Europe should work together more closely in the future, and on the future. The author is president of ChinaEU, a business-led association that aims to strengthen joint research and business collaboration and investment in internet, telecommunications and high-tech between China and Europe. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily. Star file photo Republican presidential candidates greet the crowd and media before their debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in September 2015. SHARE Star file photo Former President Bill Clinton greets the crowd after speaking at a Get Out the Vote rally in the Oxnard College gym in 2014. STAR FILE PHOTO George W. Bush gives a campaign speech in Oxnard in August 2000. Behind him are Congressman Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, Jackie Rodgers and first lady Laura Bush. Star file photo Michelle Bachmann appears at the Reagan Library for a Republican presidential debate in 2011. Star file photo (From left) Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michelle Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Herman Cain and Jon Huntsman Jr. arrive for the Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley in 2011. By Staff Reports Bernie Sander's visit to Ventura this week got us wondering about other presidential candidates who have made stops in the county. Turns out, more than a dozen have come here over the past several years, thanks in large part to the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, which hosted Republican presidential debates in 2011 and 2015. They've included Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Jeb Bush and Michelle Bachmann. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee this year, was on stage during the debate at the library in September. We've also had visits from a former president and at least two sitting presidents. Former President Bill Clinton came to Oxnard College in 2014 to support Democratic candidates for Congress. President George W. Bush was at the Reagan Library for the dedication of Air Force One in 2005 when he was in his second term. (He also dropped in during his campaign in 2000). And, though many people probably don't remember, President John F. Kennedy stopped at Point Mugu in 1962. SHARE JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders shakes hands Thursday after his speech at Ventura College's West Field. KAREN QUINCY LOBERG/THE STAR Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democratic presidential candidate, holds a rally at Ventura College Thursday to an audience of about 9,800, pointing out societal changes he would like to make if elected. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks Thursday to an audience of about 9,800 people at Ventura College's West Field. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders arrives Thursday to speak to about 9,800 people at Ventura College's West Field. Related Coverage Bernie Sanders rallies in Ventura By Arlene Martinez, amartinez@vcstar.com Calling California the "most important primary in the whole nominating process," Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders asked voters to turn out on June 7 and help him secure the state's 475 delegates and use that momentum to clinch his party's nomination. "When voter turnout is high...we win," he said. Sanders spoke Thursday at Ventura College, one of several Southern California stops the Vermont senator is making this week as he seeks to upset frontrunner Hillary Clinton. College officials said 9,856 people turned out to see Sanders, many of them lining up several hours before his midday appearance. But before he got into the meat of the speech, Sanders made an announcement about Republican candidate Donald Trump, who secured the delegates he needed this week. "It appears that Donald Trump is prepared to debate," Sanders said, to wild approval. In a post-rally interview with The Star, Sanders said his priorities included affordable housing, an issue of particular significance in a coastal community where sky-high rents and low vacancy rates make finding low-income and moderately priced housing difficult. Sanders said it was a matter of changing national priorities and putting federal dollars into building low-income and affordable housing. "People are paying 40, 50, 60 percent of their limited incomes for housing," he said. "People have a right to have a roof over their heads without spending half of their income to pay for that." Sanders said he also supported putting money back into programs including Community Development Block Grants, which have sharply decreased each of the past several years. Cities use those funds to help disadvantaged communities fix blight, create recreational opportunities and spur economic development. During the speech, Sanders repeatedly mentioned the need to pass a federal minimum wage of $15. He told The Star he applauded California and New York for doing so; California's minimum wage will reach $15 in 2022. When asked about the disadvantage for farmers and others who compete against states paying lower wages, Sanders said that's why it was so important to get a $15 minimum wage passed nationally. "I want fair competition. I don't want people who are paying cheap wages, low wages to have an unfair advantage," he said. But it won't happen overnight, he said, adding that the increase would be phased in. Sanders' speech also included the need to pass immigration reform. He told The Star he had seen firsthand in Florida's tomato fields what happens to some immigrants who are in the country illegally. "Undocumented workers are being exploited terribly, and they need legal protection," he said. "That is why I believe we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship and provide legal rights to people as soon as possible." Not surprisingly, Sanders drew some of the greatest applause when he mentioned his belief in the importance of making higher education free. Nearly half of those in the crowd raised their hand when he asked how many had student debt. "Why on Earth's name are we punishing people for getting an education?" he asked. Sanders spoke of the need to reduce the prison population and end the "so-called war on drugs." He said that while blacks and whites used marijuana equally that drew cheers blacks are four times more likely to be arrested for doing so. That drew boos. Sanders told The Star no date had been set on the debate with Trump but hoped it would be as soon as possible and definitely before California's primary. "I think a Trump presidency would be a disaster for this country for many, many reasons, and I will make those reasons as crystal clear as I can during a debate," he said. The Associated Press contributed to this story. STAR FILE PHOTO This is a view of Ormond Beach. SHARE By Kathleen Wilson Kathleen.Wilson@Vcstar.Com 805-437-0271 A state panel decided Thursday to spend up to $350,000 for planning expertise to protect the wetlands at Ormond Beach in Oxnard. Meeting in Sacramento, the board of the California State Coastal Conservancy approved the funding for consultants to prepare a plan for wetlands restoration and public access along with technical studies. "That's great news," said Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long, who is among the local residents and public officials who have worked for decades to protect the property. Planners are focusing on a 645-acre complex of wetlands, dunes and beach owned by the conservancy, the city of Oxnard and The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit organization. Many experts feel Ormond Beach presents the most important opportunity for wetlands restoration in Southern California, officials said. Large areas of wetlands on the coast have been filled and degraded over the past century, but this one can be more easily restored because of the largely agricultural surroundings, according to a report on the board's meeting agenda. The property is unusually large and could be extended beyond 645 acres with additional purchases, officials said. Oxnard Councilwoman Carmen Ramirez said the board's decision was expected. "The city supported it and the county supported it," she said. "We were told it had a very good and certain chance." The plan is expected to address not just restoration, but how the public can enjoy the area while preserving and protecting it, she said. The restoration would also buffer inland areas against a rise in sea levels and the effects of climate change, the report stated. Others supporting the funding included state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, Assemblyman Das Williams, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and environmental and social justice groups. Long, who along with other county supervisors endorsed the funding in April, said it's hard to say what the project will cost. It could be as simple as building a boardwalk and public observation point or as involved as opening an academic center for research on wetlands, she said. "We're not limiting the dream at this point," she said. SHARE I was appalled to see a mailer that suggested Henry Stern traveled to Peru at the taxpayers expense. The truth is Henry was in Peru to represent California in talks with other forestry nation-states before the U.N. climate summit in Paris last year. There were no llamas or limos, and he was not on the taxpayers dime. Henry is under attack from super PACs and Realtors because hes going to carry on state Sen. Fran Pavleys legacy of defending the environment, clean air and water, and open space. These PACs funding Janice Kamenir-Reznik are a desperate measure in support of a desperate candidate who lacks the experience that Henry Stern has in Sacramento. Henry is being supported by the Sierra Club, the California League of Conservation Voters and the Humane Society. I am supporting Henry Stern because I have met with him many times in the past 18 months regarding education legislation and funding. He is knowledgeable about all issues that face Californians, and those of us in Senate District 27. Vote for Henry Stern on June 7 and help preserve the wonderful legacy Fran Pavley has achieved. Bette Empol, Oak Park On May 27th, the show, Popovich Comedy Pet Theater, will celebrate ten years in Las Vegas with its official re-launch at the V Theater (Photo credit: Popovich Comedy Pet Theater). Featuring amazing circus performers, exciting variety acts and a lineup of dogs, cats, mice, geese and even a mini horse, this heartwarming production has entertained Las Vegas audiences since its opening on the Strip. All of the pets seen on stage have been rescued from animal shelters from around the country, earning the show the nickname of The Second Chance Show. Gregory Popovich, who happens to be considered the greatest juggler in the world, has had an incredible list of accomplishments throughout his history as a performer, including: finalist on Americas Got Talent, voted Performer of the Year by the American Circus Association, author of two books How to Train Your Cat and Doggy Gone Good and appearances on The Tonight Show and Late Night with David Letterman. We are so proud of Gregory and the cast of Popovich Comedy Pet Theater for all that they have accomplished over the past ten years. Rescuing so many animals and giving them the option and the opportunity to have fun on stage is truly amazing. Heres to ten more! David Saxe To commemorate the grand opening, there will be a $10 special on tickets for all Nevada locals, lasting from May 27-June 30, using the promo code Vegas10. By: Oscar Mussons, Associate International Business Advisory at Dezan Shira & Associates Editor: George Llewellyn-Jones Visiting to bolster economic ties, President Barack Obamas visit gives prominence to the achievements being made in the Vietnamese economy. In his own words, We see Vietnams progress in the skyscrapers and high-rises of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. As Vietnam has reformed, so has trade between the two countries, totalling US $45 billion in 2015. The trip is part of Obamas efforts to promote the U.S.s pivot to Asia in the form of the TPP, with Vietnam being a linchpin to the Asia rebalance. Vietnam has developed drastically since the oi Moi reforms introduced in the mid-1980s. Its image has changed from one of a war-torn nation to one of modernization and prosperity, boasting a growth rate of 6.68 percent. With accession into the WTO in 2007, Vietnam has committed itself to international standards of trade. Higher quality checks, labour reforms, environment sustainability and intellectual property protection are all part of its integration into the global economy. Since 2015, enterprises in a number of industries can now, for the first time, be 100 percent foreign owned. Corruption however, remains rife and top leaders have openly recognized it as a key obstacle in popularizing Vietnam as an attractive investment destination worldwide. Improving the quality of public services and reducing corruption have both been earmarked on the national agenda in recent years but there is still some way to go. Unfettered by these challenges, foreign investment is pouring in as investors are picking Vietnam over its East Asian neighbours for the lucrative opportunities available in the country. High quality FDI inflows are being targeted by the government, with a focus on projects that use advanced and environmentally friendly technologies. Progress has been made with Vietnams internal technological innovation. Attracted by a young, well-educated labour force and generous tax incentives, Samsung, Intel, LG and Microsoft have all set up research and manufacturing plants within the past few years. The Vietnam-China Nexus Vietnam has the capabilities to produce high end products and its emerging middle class is ready to consume them. The middle class is expected to burgeon to 44 million by 2020 and expand to 95 million by 2030, according to estimates by U.S. research company Nielsen. Additionally, exports are being buoyed up by the booming textile and manufacturing industries which are finding their niche in global markets due to the regional advantages Vietnam has in areas such as lower wages and tax incentives. The performance has in large part has come from the downturn in China and rising operational costs that are holding China back from remaining competitive with emerging ASEAN economies such as Vietnam. China however, is still Vietnams largest trading partner and whilst barking from both sides over territorial disputes has heightened tensions, there is an incentive to keep outspoken politicians from both communist parties in check. Vietnam is learning the art of diplomacy fast, with a courting from President Obamas TPP deal in an attempt to wrestle Vietnam away from the lures of China. At the same time, it is vital for the Vietnamese economy to show good face and ensure bilateral cooperation and trade with its norther neighbor. TPP and the Future of Vietnamese US Relations The Trans Pacific Partnership will bring many benefits to Vietnam, not least in its unrestricted access to American markets but also to the rest of the 800 million consumers within the TPP bloc which accounts for 41 percent of global trade. Vietnam is poised to be a winner during the implementation of the TPP which also furthers its advantageous position over China. The TPP will either abolish or drastically reduce tariffs on the vast majority Vietnamese exports to the twelve TPP members including the Japan and the United States. President Obamas visit reassures both Vietnam and foreign investors on his intentions to get the TPP ratified before he leaves office. Vietnam already has nine free trade agreements in place most notably the ASEAN-FTA, the ASEAN-China FTA and the ASEAN-India FTA with seven more in the negotiating stage including the EU-Vietnam FTA and the TPP. The TPP agreement could increase Vietnams GDP by 8.1 percent by 2030, making the nation one of the deals biggest winners. Vietnam has reinforced the gains of the TPP by reducing it corporate income tax to 20 percent till 2020, which stands at 5 points lower than Chinas. Vietnam will have to buckle down and abide by stricter IP protection standards in addition to other administrative trade protocols required by the U.S. to sell to the American market. If successful, this could make Vietnam the preferred destination for U.S. investors. Obamas visit serves as a kind reminder for Vietnam to meet its commitments in order to reap the benefits from the TPP. Vietnam is expected to become a vital economic and security partner in the U.S.s shift to the Asia-Pacific region. Obama commented on the new generation of Vietnamese who are ready to make their mark on the world. Demographically speaking, Vietnam is at a major advantage with a young and dynamic populace, full of entrepreneurial spirit. Investors are not holding back for the next generation to come to fruition, Vietnam is ready for investment now with foreign direct investment pledges growing to more than 119 percent year-on-year to over US$ 4 billion in the first quarter, figures from the Foreign Investment Agency showed. 60 percent of its population are of working age, 45 percent of which are under 35 years old. The populace are disciplined, hard-working and, are developing into a more qualified workforce. Geographically, Vietnam is at a strategic advantage, being located in the heart of Asia, it a multitude of access to major shipping lanes along its 3,444-kilometre-long coastline. 90 percent of Vietnamese goods are transported by sea and the government is encouraging private investment to develop its ports and other public infrastructure through a growing number of Public Private Partnership (PPP) project opportunities. The Importance of Continued Investment Vietnam will require US $160 billion in infrastructure investments by 2020 to sustain growth. Recognizing this, the government has recently circulated a new decree that will make the tendering process for PPP projects more streamlined and open to foreign bidding. Urbanization rates have put a strain on public services including roads, rail, and subways. Contractual arrangements have been updated for the commercialisation of PPP projects which can now be signed in the form of BTO, BT, BOT, BOO and BTL. Many sectors previously restricted from offering PPP projects can now be accessed including the healthcare, education, sports, culture and science and technology industries among others. The Vietnamese government is aware of the importance of institutional reforms to improve the business climate. As well as the new law on enterprises, the new law on investments liberalizes regulation on business conditions and mergers and acquisitions. Many blue-chip companies are already expanding not only in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City but across Vietnam. 40 years on from the fall of Saigon, Vietnams commercial heart is a far cry from its war days. Today, Vietnam and the U.S. are partners as affirmed by Obama. Closer ties will be beneficial to both countries and foreign investors alike as Obamas expressed vote of confidence could be a catalyst for a splurge in foreign investment with results already showing. Boeing have announced the sale of 100 737 jets to VietJet in a US$ 11.3 billion dollar deal while General Electric have also finalized deals to develop renewable wind energy with the government during the trip. With a robustly developing economic environment, Vietnam has a lot to offer and a lot to gain. We will see how the newly elected Politburo plays its card in the coming months. 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 vietnam@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight. Annual Audit and Compliance in Vietnam 2016 In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we address pressing changes to audit procedures in 2016, and provide guidance on how to ensure that compliance tasks are completed in an efficient and effective manner. We highlight the continued convergence of VAS with IFRS, discuss the emergence of e-filing, and provide step-by-step instructions on audit and compliance procedures for Foreign Owned Enterprises (FOEs) as well as Representative Offices (ROs). Navigating the Vietnam Supply Chain In this edition of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the advantages of the Vietnamese market over its regional competition and highlight where and how to implement successful investment projects. We examine tariff reduction schedules within the ACFTA and TPP, highlight considerations with regard to rules of origin, and outline the benefits of investing in Vietnams growing economic zones. Finally, we provide expert insight into the issues surrounding the creation of 100 percent Foreign Owned Enterprise in Vietnam. Tax, Accounting and Audit in Vietnam 2016 (2nd Edition) This edition of Tax, Accounting, and Audit in Vietnam, updated for 2016, offers a comprehensive overview of the major taxes foreign investors are likely to encounter when establishing or operating a business in Vietnam, as well as other tax-relevant obligations. This concise, detailed, yet pragmatic guide is ideal for CFOs, compliance officers and heads of accounting who must navigate Vietnams complex tax and accounting landscape in order to effectively manage and strategically plan their Vietnam operations. A farmer on their shrimp breeding farm. Oxfam and the International Collaborating Centre for Aquaculture and Fisheries Sustainability launched a project for sustainable and equitable shrimp production and value chain development in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.- Photo Tran Viet The project, worth 2.5 million euros (US$2.8 million) and funded by the EU, promotes sustainable economic prosperity and poverty reduction in the provinces of Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau. Small- and medium-sized processors, shrimp producers and local residents will benefit from the project, which will end in February 2020. Alejandro Montalban, Minister Counsellor of the Delegation of the European Union to Viet Nam, said the project would contribute to efficient use of resources, responsible production supply chains and practices, improved social and environmental conditions, and reduced waste. Besides technical support, the project will work with stakeholders to help small-scale shrimp breeders and small- and medium-sized shrimp processors access adequate financing. The aim is to give shrimp farmers and processors a stronger voice when negotiating with other participants in the value chain. Speaking at a seminar held in Can Tho on Wednesday, Nguyen Le Hoa, deputy country director of Oxfam in Viet Nam, said about one million Vietnamese earn a living from shrimp production, and 80 per cent of them are small-scale farmers. Shrimp production nationwide provides three million jobs in shrimp processing plants, she said. However, the boom in growth of unzoned shrimp cultivation in recent years has caused pollution of fresh water resources, destruction of submerged forests and depletion of fisheries resources. Shrimp breeders had suffered losses because of disease outbreaks, and unguaranteed quality of shrimp fries and feed, she said. Many shrimp breeders said the quality of shrimp fries and medicine for treating shrimp diseases had not been strictly managed. They said that shrimp fry sellers were not responsible for shrimp fry deaths or illness as the responsible agencies had not issued sanctions. Ngo Cong Luan, director of the October 14 Agriculture and Fisheries Co-operative in Soc Trang Province, said his co-operative members had suffered losses even though they breed shrimp under Vietnamese Good Agriculture Practices (VietGAP). Though the cost of breeding shrimp under VietGap is higher, shrimp processors buy the co-operative's shrimp at a price equal to shrimp bred by traditional methods. Tran Quoc Tuan, chairman of the April 30 Co-operative Team in Bac Lieu Province, said that shrimp breeders need a large amount of capital for their business. In years when they suffer losses, they cannot pay back bank loans or borrow new loans to breed shrimp for the next crop, he said. Pham Xuan Hoa, deputy head of the State Bank of Viet Nam's Banking Strategy Institute, said the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should organise the shrimp sector into chains. Banks could then provide loans, he said. Huynh Kim Tuoc, director of the HCM City Energy Saving Centre, said the centre had surveyed 100 seafood companies across the country and found that productivity was lower than companies in the region. Of the surveyed companies, 70 used low- or mid-tier technologies, so costs were double of those of Thai seafood companies. Vietnamese companies had not paid sufficient attention to building brand names and marketing strategies, and had created few products with added value, he said. US President Barack Obama speaks during the G7 summit meetings in Ise Shima, on May 26, 2016. (Photo: AFP/Jim Watson) ISE-SHIMA, Japan: Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima will underline the dangers of warfare and the need to work towards peace, the US president said on the sidelines of the G7 in Japan, on Thursday (May 26). Obama, who will Friday become the only sitting US president ever to visit Hiroshima - the site of the world's first nuclear bomb - said the Aug 6, 1945 attack was "an inflection point in modern history". "It is something that all of us have had to deal with in one way or another," he told reporters at the summit in Ise-Shima, 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo. The bombing claimed the lives of 140,000 people, some of whom died immediately in a ball of searing heat, while many succumbed to injuries or radiation-related illnesses in the weeks, months and years afterwards. The attack is no longer as present in the modern mind as it was during the decades of the Cold War, said Obama. "But the backdrop of a nuclear event remains something that presses on the back of our imagination. I want to once again underscore the very real risks that are out there and the sense of urgency that we all should have," he told reporters. Obama is expected to lay flowers at the cenotaph in Hiroshima, which sits in the shadow of a domed building, whose skeleton has been left standing in silent testament to the victims of the first ever nuclear attack. He will also speak at the spot, and national broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday he could meet some of the ageing survivors of the blast. Despite some calls from a section of Japanese society, however, he will not offer an apology for the raid, launched by his predecessor Harry Truman at the close of World War II. While some in Japan feel the attack was an abomination because it targeted civilans, many Americans say it hastened the end of a brutal and bloody conflict, and ultimately saved lives. They point to the high human cost of the Pacific campaign and the ferociousness of the Imperial Army's resistance, even in the face of insurmountable odds, and say a ground invasion of the Japanese mainland could have killed thousands of GIs and civilians alike. "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 on Wednesday. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will accompany the US president on the trip, which Obama said would highlight the "extraordinary alliance" forged between Japan and the United States from the ashes of war. Nam O Bridge project in Da Nang city is upgraded with fund from Japan government. Japanese investment flows are expected to flock to Da Nang and central Viet Nam in coming years. - VNS Photos Cong Thanh The city and the country could witness investment in the fields of hi-tech agriculture, hospitality, human resource training and service, as well as environment, information technology, energy and healthcare for the elderly. This was announced by Noboru Kondo, CEO of Brain Works Group, at the 50th Asia Business Conference in Da Nang on May 26, which attracted the participation of over 200 businesses from Japan and Viet Nam. He said Vietnamese and Japanese businesses should develop a mutual understanding of their lifestyles, cultures and customs to boost co-operation. "Local businesses should take advantage of the know-how of their Japanese partners to produce popular products in Japanese styles, instead of importing them from Japan. However, Da Nang was not yet as known to Japanese investors as HCM City and Ha Noi, so the central city has drawn only modest investment projects from Japan," Kondo said. "Viet Nam and Japan should cooperate in agriculture and its supportive industries a deficient sector to boost the industrialisation process in the country. Viet Nam is perceived by Japanese investors as a friendly destination and a gateway to the Mekong region," Kondo added. Da Nang's Tien Sa Port plays a key role in the East-West Economic Corridor. Good infrastructure is an attraction to investors in Da Nang. Kondo, who has been doing business in Viet Nam for the past 20 years, suggested Da Nang advertise more and build Japanese townships to attract Japanese investors and tourists. He said Japanese investors would find potential industries in Da Nang in fisheries, retail, hi-tech farming, hospitality and the restaurant business. The vice chairman of the central city, Phung Tan Viet, stressed the city would accord top priority and ensure smooth conditions for Japanese investors by providing good infrastructure. "We have considerably developed traffic infrastructure, such as deep sea ports and airports. Some big brand names from Japan, including Mabuchi Motors, Foster Electric, Keiki and Tokai, have invested in the city," Viet said. He said the city, which is situated in central Viet Nam and at the end of East-West Economic Corridors linking Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam, would help boost exports and trade between local manufacturers and regional markets, as well as industrial centres in Binh Dinh, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai. He said the city should also set up a one-stop shop and a Japanese desk to support Japanese investors in Da Nang. Fishery industry is a potential investment in Da Nang. Japan could co-operate with Da Nang in developing seafood and fishery industry. The city organised an investment promotion week for members of the Japanese Business Association, also called Keidanren, and 120 businesses in Japan last year. According to the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), Japanese companies started 176 new projects, of which 40 per cent were in the field of industrial manufacturing, last year. Da Nang has launched a direct flight to Narita, Japan, with seven flights per week, and plans to open a new direct route to Osaka this August. Mai Dang Hieu, vice director of Da Nang's Foreign Affairs Department, said the city has opened a liaison office in Tokyo and Yokohama to provide up-to-date investment and tourism information to Japanese businesses. He said the city also hosted the annual Viet Nam-Japan Cultural Exchange every summer to boost tourism and exchange among Vietnamese and Japanese partners. A survey by JETRO pointed out that 66 per cent of the 458 Japanese firms based in Viet Nam plan to expand their businesses during the next one or two years. Staffs of a sushi restaurant introduce their Japanese style cuisine at annual Viet Nam-Japan Cultural Exchange Festival in Da Nang. Shoko Chukin Bank from Japan revealed that 40.7 per cent of the 3,750 respondents from various businesses in Japan said they would invest in Viet Nam. According to the latest report, Da Nang has attracted 305 foreign investment projects worth $3.37 billion. Japan ranks fourth among the top investors in Da Nang with over 90 projects worth $500 million, of which 55 projects involve manufacturing, creating 30,000 jobs for the local people. Exports from Japanese enterprises accounted for 37 per cent of the city's total imports, while 30 per cent of the city's industrial production value comes from Japanese FDI projects. Route Inn Group from Japan will develop a coastal resort in Da Nang, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, with total investment of US$18 million. FPT Software Da Nang began its 10,000-Bridge Software Engineer (BrSE) programme in co-operation with Japanese partners. In 2014, Da Nang also included Japanese language education in its curriculum at some high schools and colleges. Customers at a transaction office in Ha Noi. A draft decree on debt trading, issued by the State Bank of Viet Nam is expected ensure a level playground for domestic and foreign participants.- Photo Tran Viet At a meeting in Ha Noi on Wednesday, Hue directed relevant authorities to compile a draft decree on debt trading. Deputy governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Phuoc Thanh, concurring with Hue, said that the debt trading decree must ensure a level playground for all individuals and institutions. Admitting that the compilation of the decree is difficult, as Viet Nam does not have the experience in debt trading and investment, Hue required the drafting board to scrutinise the concepts related to the business as well as the conditions and responsibilities businesses must show to be eligible to provide the services. The decree must obey the Constitution as well as ensuring the freedom of business and be compliant with the regulations of the Investment Law and the Enterprise Law, he said. "All businesses, including both the Viet Nam Asset Management Company and the Debt and Asset Trading Corporation, must comply with the regulations as they participate in the debt trading market," Hue said. He also instructed the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to amend another decree on handling administrative violation cases in doing business, including debt trading. Debt trading and investment is among industries that require business conditions under the amended Investment Law, but the Government has not so far announced the conditions for the business yet. Therefore, a legal framework for the business is indispensable when the Government has to announce business conditions for all industries from July 1 this year. Besides, experts said that there is no debt trading market in Viet Nam which is professional and large enough for businesses to trade in. Debts have been either lying still, thus causing big losses to involved parties, or have been transferred around. Online newspaper Vietnamnet quoted Nguyen Van Hung, finance director of AASC, a finance service and auditing firm, as saying that debt trading would be a large market. In developed markets, the debts would be securitised in the form of a bond and transacted on the stock market. According to the drafting board, the debt trading decree aims to develop a legal framework for the launch of debt trading services, including the foundation of debt trading floors where debt trading, consultancy and brokerage take place. To qualify for the participation, the businesses which want to trade debts must have minimum legal capital of VND100 billion (US$4.44 million), while the businesses which run trading floors must have VND1 trillion at least. The required minimum legal capital for businesses providing other services is VND10 billion. The drafting board is expected to complete the draft decree soon to be able to submit to the Government at its meeting in May. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc Regarding prospects of the G7 Summit and main issues to be discussed with the Japanese counterpart, PM Phuc said he expected that nations joining the Summit will contribute their voices and actions to consolidate the sustainable and peaceful environment as well as address global issues such as sustainable development goals, infrastructure, natural calamity prevention, response to climate change, anti-terrorism, food security, water resources, maritime and aviation. He said the two PMs will exchange specific measures to enhance the two nations cooperation in all areas, including political trust, economics, trade, investment, official development assistance (ODA), auxiliary industry, agriculture, natural calamity prevention, response to climate change, health, education, science and technology. Viet Nam pursues a consistent diplomatic policy with Japan, he said, expressing his hope that the the visit will create impetus to upgrade the Viet Nam-Japan relations in a more extensive and effective manner for the sake of the two peoples and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. Major orientations for developing Viet Nam-Japan relations When asked about his assessment of Viet Nam-Japan relations and orientations for the relationship in the future, PM Phuc highlighted breakthrough developments in the two nations relations over the recent 43 years, including the two-way trade turnover reaching US$28 billion in 2015, Japans total investment of US$39 billion in more than 3,000 projects in Viet Nam and nearly 700,000 Japanese visitors doing Viet Nam in 2015. He stressed five orientations in the Viet Nam-Japan Extensive Strategic Partnership relations as followings: Firstly, both sides will work together to deploy action plans of six industry sectors in the Viet Nam Industrialization Strategy within the Viet Nam-Japan cooperation framework till 2020, with a vision to 2030. Viet Nam hopes Japan to actively help promote the auxiliary industry. Secondly, economic connections will be enhanced through cooperation in trade and investment to double the two-way trade value by 2020 as announced in the Joint Declaration in 2014 and the Viet Nam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA). The establishment of the ASEAN Community in 2015, the two nations participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will pave the way for both sides businesses to boost cooperation and investment. Thirdly, Viet Nam expects Japan to maintain the high rate of the ODA, especially that for infrastructure, human resource development, natural calamity prevention, response to climate change, environmental issues, management capacity enhancement, effective implementation of large-scaled projects, economic restructuring and sustainable growth. Viet Nam applauds Japans implementation of the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure in Asia, which is initiated by Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, hoping that it will become a prioritized partner of Japan in the program. Fourthly, cooperation in agriculture, science and technology will be promoted to facilitate technology transfer and high-quality human resource training for sustainable development. Fifthly, cooperation in responding to natural calamity and climate change will be strengthened as Viet Nam has been seriously suffered from consequences of climate change such as droughts and sea-water intrusion in the Southern Central region, Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta. The Vietnamese Government and people are making efforts to build a nation of friendship, peace, stability, and a dynamic economy with strong commitments to improving the business and investment environment and competitiveness. Despite difficulties and challenges in the future, Viet Nam will enhance renovation works in the context of intensive international integration as well as uphold its advantages to successfully establish a country of rich people, strong nation, democracy, equality and civilization. The Government and the PM will renew and increase the leadership and management methods and effectiveness, complete the institutions and policies, ensure civilization and transparency, strengthen anti-corruption and anti-waste, accelerate administrative procedure reform, improve the business and investment environment and create favorable conditions for peoples and businesses, he stressed. Sustainable development based on effective international and regional integration is Viet Nam's development strategy and orientations, said PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the expanded G7 Summit in Mie Prefecture, Japan, May 27, 2016 - Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu The PM welcomed prioritized issues discussed at the Summits agenda, which are crucial and urgent to peace, stability and sustainable development of the Asian-Pacific region in particular and the world in general. He said that sustainable development based on effective international and regional integration is Viet Nams development strategy and orientations, adding that infrastructure is one of the three breakthroughs of the nations socio-economic plan in the future. Viet Nam hailed Japans implementation of the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure in Asia and the Mekong-Japan Connectivity Initiative as well as the support from other nations in the G7, including the U.S. and the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) for the sustainable development of the Lower Mekong and the new initiative on the Sustainable Infrastructure Program (SIP). Viet Nam will join hands in realizing the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, he said. He expected that the G7 nations and other multi-lateral organizations will provide more assistance for Viet Nam and other nations in the Mekong River to enhance water management and protection, improve its capacity to respond to climate change, prevent droughts and sea-water intrusions in the Mekong Delta and the Lower Mekong. The Vietnamese PM applauded Japans initiatives in crucial areas, including peace and stability guaranty in the Middle East, health care, gender equality and Japans efforts in assisting Africa. He noted that unilateral activities against the international regulations and regional agreements such as the large-scale construction of artificial islands, changing the status quo and scaling up militarization are seriously threatening the regional peace and stability. The situation requires relevant sides to restrain and address disputes with peaceful measures in accordance with international regulations, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards formulating a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), he added. Viet Nam welcomes nations in the G7 to raise their voices and support efforts in ensuring maritime and overflight security and freedom, treating with disputes with peaceful measures and based on international regulations, he said. Viet Nam expects that the G7 and the international community will make responsible contributions to consolidating a peaceful and sustainable environment in the Asian-Pacific region and in the world, PM Phuc said. The expanded G7 Summit includes two sessions, focusing on high-quality infrastructure, regional security, women's rights, health affairs, the implementation of 203 Agenda and cooperation with Africa. The expanded G7 summit opened on May 27 with the participation of G7 members and invited guests, including Viet Nam, Indonesia, Laos, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Chad and other international organizations including the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. Son Doong Cave After talking about American tourists who came to Vietnam to visit the Hanoi Old Quarter, shops in Hoi An, and the former royal capital Hue, Obama referred to the famous natural landscapes of Vietnam such as Ha Long Bay and Son Doong Cave. "Natural wonders like Ha Long Bay and Son Doong Cave have to be preserved for our children and our grandchildren," Obama said in a speech broadcast live on the national television of Vietnam (VTV). The US President also stressed the need for sustainable development in order to protect human health, and preserve the beautiful planet before the global challenges. Obama also said he would like to have more time to return to Vietnam again with his wife and children to learn more about this beautiful country. Son Doong, the worlds largest cave, is one of outstanding natural landscapes of Vietnam, which is attracting the attention of foreign tourists. After a recent tour to the cave, US Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski expressed his admiration for the surreal beauty of Son Doong and saiditshould be preserved. It was among the most memorable experiences of my life, he wrote. It lies in a hidden valley, which we could only be access by passing through another cave. Around every corner, we encountered images that seemed to be taken from abstract art or the illustrations to a fantasy story, not like anything we ever expected to encounter in the real world. But Son Doong is not only beautiful it is also very fragile. It took nature millions of years to sculpt it, one drop of water and one grain of sand at a time. It would take human beings an instant to destroy it, if we chose to exploit it in the wrong way, he said. I hope that my children and grandchildren will be able to see this great treasure of Vietnam just as I did, he added. State President Tran Dai Quang The State President highlighted developments in Viet Nam-Russia relationship over the past 65 years, especially when the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) -Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement comes into effect, saying these will create forces for enhancing economics and trade between the two sides. He noted that cooperation in energy, oil and gas maintains a pillar in the two nations economic cooperation. State President Tran Dai Quang spoke of the outcomes of 20 years of the ASEAN Russia dialogue partnership, saying Viet Nam highly values Russias role in building a sustainable regional structure. He hopes that Russia will continue be a responsible world power through ASEAN Russia cooperation mechanisms. The East European nation should continue supporting ASEAN to increase its stronger role in regional issues, improve the effectiveness of dialogue mechanisms, and help resolve security challenges in the region. As an ASEAN member and a comprehensive strategic partner of Russia, Viet Nam remains a bridge between ASEAN and Russia. The growth of the ASEAN Russia partnership will raise the role of Viet Nam and Russia in Southeast Asia as well as Asia Pacific, contributing to peace, stability and development around the globe. He stressed the two nations cooperation in national defense, suggesting the two sides enhance cooperation in national defense and military technology as well as maintain regular and effective activities of the Viet Nam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Military Technical Cooperation and delegation exchanges. In term of tourism, he referred to the number of Russian tourists to Viet Nam increasing from 100,000 ones to 400,000 ones in the 2011-2015 phase. Viet Nam is renewing and improving its tourism service quality, he said, expressing his hope that the development in tourism between the two sides will become a connection to strengthen mutual understanding and consolidate the two nations relations. Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) speaks during the opening ceremony of the Bonn Climate Change Conference in Bonn, western Germany, on May 16, 2016. (AFP/Patrik Stollarz) BONN: Climate diplomats wrapped up technical talks on Thursday (May 26) saying they were on the right track but still far from delivering on the promise of the historic pact forged in December. Negotiators from 196 countries worked along three parallel tracks to put flesh on the bone of the Paris Agreement, the fruit of two decades of often contentious wrangling between wealthy and developing nations. The accord - which could enter into force later this year, far sooner than expected - sets ambitious goals for capping global warming and funnelling trillions of dollars to poor countries facing an onslaught of climate damage. The 10-day session in the German city of Bonn focused mainly on elaborating a "rule book" for implementation, and laying the groundwork for a high-level meeting in November in Marrakesh, Morocco. "It has been a very constructive session," said Elina Bardram, top negotiator for the European Union, expressing a view echoed by other diplomats and observers. "We are moving well beyond the disagreements that characterised the negotiations for so many years." Christiana Figueres, the outgoing UN climate chief, also saw a "new willingness" to work collectively, but warned that time was running out. "My concern is whether the transformation is going to happen fast enough to avert the worst impacts," she told AFP, referring to the global shift from fossil fuels to green energy. It is a race against the clock." The most urgent question on the agenda remains how to ramp up national plans for slashing greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris pact calls for capping global warming at well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and 1.5 C (2.7 F) if possible. But voluntary national pledges to cut carbon pollution would still see Earth's surface heat up by three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to the pre-Industrial Era benchmark, a scenario scientists describe as catastrophic. Much discussion in Bonn centred on how to plug this "emissions gap", and what efforts can be made before 2020, when these national carbon-cutting plans go into effect. Barely 1 C of global warming so far has already fuelled a crescendo of devastating impacts. Droughts in Africa and Asia are threatening food supplies, and rising seas could force millions to seeking higher ground. US$100 BILLION PROMISE 2015 was by far the hottest year on record, and scientists predict that 2016 could be even worse. In Bonn, developing countries pushed for hard numbers and a timetable for financial aid to make the switch from dirty to clean energy, to adapt to future climate change and to repair damage done. "Adaptation has been short-changed," said Armelle Le Comte of Oxfam France. "Developed countries must present a roadmap to show how they will deliver on their promise to deliver US$100 billion (90 billion) a year" starting in 2020. Morocco has billed the November high-level meeting they will host as the "action COP," or Conference of the Parties. Mohamed Adow, senior climate advisory for Christian Aid, said the focus should be on the rapid transition to clean energy. "Marrakesh needs to be seen as the Renewables COP," he said. The unexpected speed with which the Paris deal is moving towards ratification shows strong political momentum, but creates other problems that will have to be sorted out, diplomats said. The European Union - which fought hard to set the Paris deadline for a deal - could find itself in the awkward position of its member states not being among the ratifiers of the agreement when it goes into effect. "If there is an early entry into force, we may not be part of that," said Ivo de Zwaan of the Netherlands, speaking for the EU. Negotiators also grappled with issues including transparency in reporting of emissions reductions and financial transfers; how science should inform the negotiating process; and the best way for governments to interface with the business and financial sectors. The Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co.Ltd (Formosa) has been asked to pay back more than VND1.55 trillion (US$69.2 million) in tax refunds it had wrongly claimed, plus VND5.5 billion ($245.54 million) in back taxes. Such a systematic violation of the tax rules has prompted tax authorities to keep a close watch on the company. The steelmaker declared wrong HS codes for several material and equipment imports between 2010 and 2015 to avoid import duties and value-added taxes. The avoidance has been detected and Formosa eventually had to pay VND5.5 billion in tax arrears, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. In late February, tax authorities also discovered that Formosa had used 19,470 inappropriate receipts to claim tax refunds. The company then had to return the VND1.55 trillion it had been refunded. With Formosa having made many false tax refund declarations prior to the latest violation in February, tax authorities will apply a stricter rule on the company, a tax official told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. Tax authorities will inspect refund declarations before giving money to Formosa, reversing the procedure the steelmaker used to enjoy, he said. In the meantime, Formosa is also suspected of engaging in transfer pricing activities by manipulating the prices of its imported machinery and equipment. The company has imported certain machinery and equipment to be used as fixed assets for its steelmaking complex in Ha Tinh, but declared incorrect prices for the shipments, Pham Tien Thanh, a top official from the Ha Tinh tax department, said. The steelmaker would declare the imports cost much higher than the real prices to enjoy bigger tax deduction for property depreciation, Thanh said. For instance, in October 2014, Formosa had a local forwarder, SAS Vung Ang Co. Ltd., import a batch of machinery from a foreign contractor. While the forwarder stated in the receipt that the shipment cost US$348.65 million, the bill from the foreign supplier says the products were worth US$1.42 million. This is a sign of transfer pricing, as the false import price would result in higher input cost, from which Formosa can report losses while the company actually operates with a gain, Thanh explained. The Ha Tinh unit of Formosa was licensed in 2008 with a registered capital of US$2.7 billion. However, in eight years, the company has asked to have its business license amended 14 times, with the capital increased gradually. The company asked to raise its capital to US$7.8 billion in 2012, and $10.5 billion following the latest adjustment in June 2015. According to tax inspectors, the repeated capital adjustments suggest that the firm had declared false values for its machinery and equipment imports via foreign contractors. (From L) David Cameron, Francois Hollande, Justin Trudeau, Jean-Claude Juncker, Shinzo Abe, Donald Tusk, Matteo Renzi, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel participate in a G7 working session in Shima AFP/Carolyn Kaster ISE-SHIMA, Japan: Pumping up the world economy is an "urgent priority" G7 leaders said Friday (May 27), but left the door open for a go-your-own-way approach in a sign of lingering divisions over how to boost growth. Wrapping up their meeting in rural Japan, the leaders of the Group of Seven endorsed a pick-and-mix approach to dealing with the malaise that has lingered since the global financial crisis struck in 2008. "Global growth is our urgent priority," the G7 said in a final statement. "Taking into account country-specific circumstances, we commit to strengthening our economic policy responses in a cooperative manner and to employing a more forceful and balanced policy mix, in order to swiftly achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth pattern." The strained consensus reflects behind-the-scenes clashes that erupted on Thursday, with disputes over just how bad things actually are. In a plenary session Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe argued that the global economy faced a risk of falling into a "crisis", and drew comparisons with the mood when Japan last hosted a G7, in 2008, just months ahead of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. "To that, one leader questioned whether the degree of the current situation was negative enough to use the term 'crisis'," a senior Japanese official said. That leader was Angela Merkel, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Friday. The German chancellor has repeatedly pushed back against the notion that the world's big industrial democracies need to spend their way out of the current slowdown, advocating instead a paying down of debt. Leaders were, however, unequivocal on their attitude to one of the headwinds facing the global economy, and came out firmly against so-called "Brexit". "A UK exit form the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth," they said in a declaration after two-days of talks. The grouping - the United States, Germany, Japan, Britain, Italy, France and Canada - found easy common ground on the hot-button issue of refugees, and agreed it was a worldwide problem. "The G7 recognises the ongoing large scale movements of migrants and refugees as a global challenge which requires a global response," the leaders said in a statement. GLOBAL ASSISTANCE FOR REFUGEES 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. "We commit to increase global assistance to meet immediate and long-term needs of refugees and other displaced persons as well as their host communities, they said. "The G7 encourages international financial institutions and bilateral donors to bolster their financial and technical assistance." Merkel told reporters the G7 had decided to dedicate its attention this year "especially to Iraq" - one of the chief sources of the tide of migrants fleeing conflict and seeking refuge in Europe. She said the grouping would provide 3.6 billion euros. "We are convinced that Iraq needs to be stabilised. We want to support the efforts of Prime Minister (Haider) al-Abadi," she told a press conference. China - which is not a member of the G7 and was not at the two-day summit in Ise Shima, 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo - made its expected cameo appearance in the final statement. Although it was not mentioned by name, there was no room for doubt that Beijing was in the cross hairs when leaders expressed unanimous disquiet about tensions in the Asia-Pacific. "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes," they said. Tensions have risen over competing claims in the South China Sea, a strategic body of water that encompasses key global shipping lanes and which is claimed in nearly its entirety by China. Beijing's claims and ongoing militarisation of islets and outcrops there has angered some of its Southeast Asian neighbours, including the Philippines and Vietnam. China is also locked in a dispute with G7 host Japan over rocky outcroppings in the East China Sea, stoking broader concerns about the country's growing regional might and threats to back up its claims with force, if necessary. G7 leaders said disputes should be settled peaceably and "freedom of navigation and overflight" should be respected. The leaders also said that claims should be made based on international law and countries should refrain from "unilateral actions which could increase tensions" while also avoiding "force or coercion in trying to drive their claims". 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. Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman waves the Mexican flag while driving past the Albuquerque Convention Center after a rally by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Albuquerque, N.M., on May 24. 4. It is probably a very little known fact that an aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has lived in the United States for the past 18 years. The Washington Post reported Friday that Ko Yong Suk, 60, has been living an anonymous life in the U.S. with her husband, Ri Gang, and their three children, since defecting from North Korea in 1998. Ko and Ri, once members of North Koreas ruling family, asked The Post not to publish the names they use or to reveal where they live in the U.S., mainly to protect their grown children, who lead normal professional lives. Breaking their silence in the United States, Ko and Ri spent almost 20 hours talking to two Post reporters in New York City and then at their home, several hours away by car. Ko and Ri, who run a dry cleaning business, told the newspaper that their children went to great schools and were successful. I think we have achieved the American Dream, Ri told the Post. Ko said that their children have no interest in Korea, North or South, she said. Their oldest son is a mathematician, their second son helps out in the business, and their daughter works in computer science. Ko, a sister of Ko Yong Hui, who was one of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Ils wives and the mother of Kim Jong Un, reportedly had a close relationship with Un because she took care of him while he attended school in Switzerland. In 1998, when Un was 14 and his brother 17, Ko and Ri decided to defect after Kos sister was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer and died six years later in 2004. They told the Post that since the boys were getting older, they would not be needed by the regime much longer and fled, concerned about losing their privileged status. A producer at Australias Nine Network was fired Friday after he and the rest of his television crew were arrested for trying to carry out a mother's plan to snatch her two children off a Lebanon street last month, according to a statement from the network. Stephen Rice, the producer for Australias 60 Minutes program, paid a so-called child recovery service to abduct the children from their estranged father after their mother said he took the children on vacation last year and never returned them. Gerald Stone, the shows creator, called the incident the gravest misadventure in the programs history, following the release of an internal review condemning the actions of the journalists in Lebanon. Its clear from our findings that inexcusable errors were made, he said in a statement. Sally Faulkner, the mother of the children, and the four-person television crew were arrested in April, along with two agents from the British Child Abduction Recovery International company and two Lebanese nationals as they attempted to film Faulkner retrieving the children. Ali al-Amin, the father of the children, agreed to drop kidnapping charges against Faulkner and the journalists as long as Faulkner surrendered any claims of custody over the children. At the time, he said he dropped the charges because he didnt want the kids to think I was keeping their mother in jail. The four members of the child recovery unit remain jailed in Lebanon on kidnapping charges. According to the statement from Channel Nine, Rice will leave his post with the company immediately, and the other staff involved in the attempted kidnapping received formal warnings. The review called into question Rices judgement in paying the child recovery agency, saying it directly violated company policy. The report also said the news team failed to raise critical questions regarding whether they were breaking the law. Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova said Friday that she had no intention of forgiving her government for "jailing me wrongfully for a year and a half" and that she had already resumed working after the Supreme Court this week ordered her release. Ismayilova told VOA's Azerbaijan service, "I will start where I left off" and become "even more active in the coming days." She said if the government's purpose was to demoralize her to ensure that her work stopped, "it completely failed in this regard. I worked hard to make sure that it failed in its intentions." Ismayilova is an award-winning investigative reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, also the parent organization of Voice of America. She was sentenced in 2015 to seven years in prison on charges of tax evasion and abuse of power after publishing findings on the vast assets of the family of President Ilham Aliyev, in what many said were politically motivated charges. On Wednesday, the country's Supreme Court cut her sentence in half. She will be allowed to serve the 3 years at home. In her interview with VOA, Ismayilova said she would not stop her legal defense until she had been fully acquitted of the charges. She said she intended to appeal her case to the European Court of Human Rights. WATCH: Video of Ismayilova discussing her case International pressure Ismayilova thanked the international community for its support of her, saying that without it, "I would have likely remained in prison for a very long time." The journalist's release from prison followed immense international pressure and criticism. Officials around the world welcomed her release Wednesday. U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner 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." John Lansing, CEO and director of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, called Ismayilova's release 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." Rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also called for her sentence to be dismissed altogether. Earlier this week, U.S. Senator John McCain 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," the Arizona Republican said in an interview with VOA. More to be done Ismayilova said the international community's demands have not been fully met because the charges against her have not been dropped and because numerous political prisoners in the country are still in jail. "In my view, work in this direction must continue," she said. She also said that her work of reporting corruption must continue. "As crimes globalize, so must the struggle against these crimes," she said. "These crimes are not local in nature. The money stolen in Azerbaijan gets legalized in offshore accounts, in other countries. Corruption is not a domestic affair of one country." Customers who want to sweeten their coffee may be out of luck at Kum Jeanette's restaurant in Yaounde. Sugar is in short supply these days in Cameroon, as the government cracks down on illegal imports to protect and promote local industry. "For several weeks now, I have been going round looking for sugar, Kum said. It is scarce in town and, when you see it, the price is high. We used to buy for 700 [CFA, or $1.20] but now that we do not even see it, when you manage to see it you buy for 1,000 francs [$1.71] per packet." Cameroon produces less than 120,000 tons of sugar each year. Local demand stands at 200,000 tons. Cameroonian producers are also exporting some of their supply, illegally, to neighboring countries. But the government is cracking down on that trade. Authorities have also been seizing large shipments of sugar imported from the European Union. Sugar like many foreign goods sold in Cameroonian markets is contraband, says Valentin Mbarga Bihina of Cameroon's Ministry of Trade. It is imported by smugglers under unhealthy conditions and without respect for packaging and conservation norms, he says, adding that Cameroonians should consume locally made goods because it is safer. Valentin says Cameroon's lone sugar company employs 8,000 people who could lose their jobs if the industry is not protected. The government took similar action on vegetable oil last year. It stopped the importation of cooking oil from Indonesia and Malaysia after four local companies closed. The government said 50,000 jobs were at stake, but critics say the ban has only driven more smuggling. Plus, locally made goods are often more expensive. University of Yaounde economist Ariel Ngnitedem says such protectionist strategies can backfire. "It is economically unwise for a country to close its market when its production is not even sufficient for its population, Ngnitedem said. If other countries also react by closing their markets, where will Cameroon get the goods it does not produce? Where will it sell the ones it produces to export? I think these protectionist measures are more harmful." Cameroon is not alone in pursuing this strategy. Countries in East Africa, for example, have been considering a ban on used clothing and vehicles to spur industry there. Proponents say improvements will not happen overnight, but it is a question of short-term pain for long-term gain. A slap from China at new Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wens status as a single woman exposes a divide in how two ethnic Chinese societies, which are already at odds politically, see gender and leadership amid different development pressures. People in mainland China often believe that women, while acceptable in the workforce, should strive foremost for marriage and make family prosperity their top goal. Confucian values dating back 2,500 years enshrine those ideas, which have reemerged since around 2000 with the waning of Chinas old Communist revolutionary fervor that advocated gender equality. On the mainland today, single women over the age of 30 are often referred to as leftover women. In Taiwan, which is 98 percent ethnic Chinese, marriage remains an ideal, but women increasingly shun it to pursue careers, income and freedom from family obligations that may include taking care of a husbands parents plus their own children. China already dislikes Tsai for rejecting its call for dialogue, on the condition both see themselves as part of China. Taiwan and China have been political rivals since the 1940s. The two Asian neighbors are self-ruled, but China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and insists that it be brought under its control as a conclusion to the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. Surveys show that most Taiwanese prefer todays degree of autonomy. Chinas official Xinhua News Agency ran a commentary on Tuesday saying, as a single female politician, [Tsai] lacks the emotional encumbrance of love, the constraints of family or the worries of children. Wang Weixing, an analyst with the People's Liberation Army and a board member of the semiofficial body in charge of dialogue with Taiwan, wrote the piece. Tsai focuses too much on details and short-term goals, not broader strategic matters, the Xinhua piece added. Her style and strategy in pursuing politics constantly skew toward the emotional, personal and extreme, it said. Xinhua has removed the article, but other Chinese media were carrying it later in the week. But few Taiwanese remarked publicly on the 59-year-old law scholars gender or marital status as she campaigned last year for president against two men. She won by a landslide in January and took office May 20 as Taiwans first female president. The people of China need to understand that this is now the 21st Century, said Raymond Wu, managing director of the political risk consultancy e-telligence in Taipei. Some of these things do not carry any weight let alone credibility with the people of Taiwan. Something like this is counterproductive to the stability of cross-Strait relations and this is almost personal. Joanna Lei, a female former legislator and chief executive officer of the Chunghua 21st Century think tank in Taiwan, calls the piece a personal attack that reveals gender bias in Beijing. This is a backhanded way to launch a personal challenge to Tsai Ing-wen, Lei said. However, it is very clear that when male politicians are not subject to the same of criticism, female politicians should be subject to such criticism either. I simply think that Taiwan has a high level of female participation in politics, so there might be a difference in terms of experience for the standards applied to female versus male politicians, she said. For China, she added, I think as the country gradually moved into its current political arena, the old sort of Chinese heritage and baggage came into play. Childbirth in Taiwan declined to less than one baby per woman in 2011, alarming the island government about long-term labor productivity. But women in other relatively affluent parts of Asia, such as ethnic Chinese Hong Kong and Singapore, are also passing up childbirth to build careers. By contrast, in China 46 percent of people lived in rural areas as of 2014, according to World Bank data. Those often lived on farms and near the poverty line. Those conditions enforce traditional gender roles as men focus on hard agricultural labor and women run households. Taiwanese prize women who balance family and career, including politics, said Chen Ying, a female ruling party legislator of eight years. Just about all women, due to their work, find it hard to pay attention to both, so voters will feel sympathy on this matter because we invest a lot of time in our work, Chen said. Some voters even prefer female politicians because of the perception they understand better than men the issues faced by families, she added. Few women get top jobs in Chinas ruling Communist Party. A modern-day standard bearer of female politicians was Wu Yi, a Politburo member popularly dubbed the iron lady for her negotiation skills. But she retired in 2008. The presidential office in Taiwan declined comment Friday on the Xinhua commentary. But her government responded quickly to a rash of stern political remarks from China over the past week. Beijings government has warned against any push in Taiwan for legal independence and questioned whether Tsai wants talks with Beijing. Tsai rejects the one-China dialogue precondition, which underscored overall upbeat talks between Beijing and her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou since 2008. She has voiced support for talks under Taiwanese laws, if the islands public approves. Within days of the start of the monsoon rains, the dangerous conditions and lack of safety measures at Myanmars jade mines were highlighted when a dozen miners were killed while scavenging in a mining pit. The area in Hpakant Township, in northern Myanmars Kachin State, is a vast wasteland of deep pits and huge rubble heaps produced by mining companies using heavy machinery and dynamite. Heavy rains often increase instability in the area, and on Monday a pit wall collapsed on scores of workers, said Khin Maung Myint, a National League for Democracy (NLD) Upper House parliamentarian from Hpakant. They found 12 bodies so far and sent 50 to the hospital, he said, adding he believed up to 100 men could still be under the rubble. There is heavy raining so they had to stop searching, He added that the men had illegally entered a company pit where work was suspended. Deadly accidents are common in the Hpakant mines, where poor migrants from across Myanmar scavenge mining waste and pits for jade stones. On May 8, 13 people reportedly died in a landslide. Several accidents with a lower death toll occurred in December and January. In one of the worst accident in recent memory, 114 men sleeping in a mining camp died when they were crushed by a collapsing waste mound last November. 300,000 miners, no safety measures In 2015, an estimated 300,000 itinerant miners were scavenging for jade in Hpakant, a recent state media article said. It noted there had been a sharp rise in workers in the past few years, along with an increase in large-scale mining and waste dumping. Naw Lown, secretary of the Kachin National Development Foundation, said the hazardous conditions were created by powerful, licensed companies that dumped waste with no regard for safety regulations or environmental rules. They dont take responsibility, they care only for their benefits. They dont explore according to the rules and regulations, and they dont dump waste in a systematic way, he said. Authorities have thus far struggled to enforce safety laws, or to control the masses of itinerant miners, a situation that the new NLD government urgently wants to change. It has announced plans to improve mine safety during its first 100 days in office and will issue no new mining license until new rules and environmental safeguards are in place. We will make arrangements for systematic mining there, Win Htein, director-general of the Mining Department, told state media on May 19. Measures such as moving at-risk camps of miners, creating safe zones and enforcing tighter rules on dumping are being planned. Khin Maung Myint said there were around 150 firms extracting jade, adding that NLD officials want to stop all mining during the rainy season because its dangerous, but thats very difficult because there are interests (of companies) owned by the military. Dreams, drugs and danger Living conditions in the remote, mountainous area are tough and most workers share simple shacks set up in dirty camps. Addiction to drugs such as heroin and opium, which are cheap and produced in northern Myanmar, is common. Yet income levels are good by Myanmar standards as workers can earn $300 per month or more. This attracts migrants who are willing to take great risks. Khin Maung Myint said many are driven by the hope of finding a large jade stone. They dream they can find a golden pot at the end of the rainbow, he said, adding that most migrants come from impoverished, crisis-affected Rakhine State Reverend Sai Naw of the Baptist Church in Hpakant said many laborers simply work to feed their drug addiction. The main danger for miners is the landslide, but we estimate that 60 percent of the migrant miners use drugs, though there is no detailed or correct data, he said, adding that the recent opening of a NGO health clinic providing free clean needles would help reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. While countless poor men toil in dangerous conditions and scores die, the owners of mining companies are reaping huge profits. The jade sector is believed to be Myanmars most valuable industry, with an estimated worth of as much as $31 billion annually, according to an investigation by the London-based natural resource watchdog Global Witness. It found most mining firms had military connections and hid their ownership and license contracts. Jade is highly prized in China and most is exported as unregistered raw blocks across the nearby border, from where it goes to Hong Kong for processing. The United Nations refugee agency was delivering relief supplies Friday to some 800 people who have managed to escape the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah over the past few days. The U.N. refugee agency reports conditions in Fallujah are worsening as the Iraqi government continues its military offensive to re-take the city, which was captured by Islamic State militants in January 2014. While several hundred people have managed to escape the besieged city, the UNHCR says some 50,000 civilians remain trapped inside. It says IS militants are preventing them from leaving and heavy bombardment by Iraqi forces is increasing the danger. The agency is appealing to the government to open safe corridors so civilians can safely leave and receive life-saving assistance. UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says people who managed to escape have described harrowing tales of their journey. They tell us that they have to travel on foot for hours at night, moving across fields and hiding in disused irrigation pipes ," said Fleming. " And, also people have lost their lives trying to leave the city, including women and children. They have been killed trying to escape. Fleming says reports from inside Fallujah indicate people have little choice but to leave. She says there has been a dramatic increase in the number of executions of men and older boys who have refused to fight for IS. She says a number of people who have tried to leave have been executed or whipped. At the same time, she notes many civilians reportedly have been killed or buried alive under the rubble of their homes in ongoing military operations. In a related development, she says the UNHCR is mounting the first of five emergency airlifts on Friday for thousands of Iraqis who have fled fighting from IS or IS-controlled Mosul into war-torn Syria. So, we have seen actually a spike in the numbers of Iraqi refugees who are risking the dangerous crossing into Syria in a desperate bid - and just picture this," said Fleming. "We have refugees fleeing to Syria. So, it must be extremely desperate. So, it is a desperate bid to escape ISIL-held Mosul. The UNHCR reports nearly 4,300 refugees have arrived from the Iraqi border in Syrias northeastern Hasakah Governorate this month. It says it is airlifting emergency items, such as tents and blankets, into the area in anticipation of further arrivals in the coming weeks. A federal civil rights complaint against a Wisconsin manufacturing company that allegedly fired 15 Muslim workers for religious reasons is one of four such cases pending with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and one of 68 the agency has resolved over the last 10 years. Since 2006, the EEOC has heard Muslims' allegations of religious discrimination against companies of various sizes and in different sectors, including corporate giants such as McDonald's, Merrill Lynch, Rite-Aid Pharmacy, UPS and Wal-Mart. A national survey has indicated religious discrimination is increasing in American workplaces. The Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding found there was an 87 percent increase in the number of religious discrimination complaints filed with the EEOC between 2004 and 2014. "Workplace discrimination against Muslims can be seen as an extension of the bias that Muslims face in society in general," said Rabiah Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a civil rights organization. A bias against a person's race, gender, religion, age or disability "could affect the way he or she is treated or judged by others in a workplace setting." Prayer time The latest complaint was submitted to the EEOC on Wednesday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based Muslim American civil rights group. The grievance was filed on behalf of 15 Muslims who were fired from a Wisconsin manufacturing company after the company stopped allowing the Muslims to take unscheduled breaks for prayer. The complaint alleged Ariens Company, an outdoor power equipment manufacturer based in Brillion, Wisconsin, fired 15 Somali Muslims after the company stopped allowing them to take unscheduled breaks for prayer, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of religion, sex, race, color and national origin. Ariens had allowed some Muslim workers to take brief, preapproved prayer breaks but started enforcing a policy in January that allowed only two 10-minute prescheduled breaks, the complaint said. Because observant Muslims are required to pray five times daily at specific times, some Muslim employees asked the company for flexibility, according to the complaint. It added that the company refused to consider the request and ultimately fired the employees. "The dispute results from Ariens' complete refusal to engage in discussion regarding its religious accommodation policies," said CAIR attorney Maha Sayed. In a statement, Ariens said 27 Muslims are currently employed at the company, which "continues to accommodate them in prayer rooms. We respect their faith and we respect the work they do." Muslim numbers The EEOC, along with the National Labor Relations Board, will investigate the complaint. If the EEOC chooses not to litigate, it could give the employees the option to file a lawsuit, according to Sayed. Meanwhile, the size of the Muslim population in the U.S. has undergone "steady growth," according to the Pew Research Center, which began estimating the U.S. Muslim population in 2007. In 2015, there were about 3.3 million Muslims living in the U.S., or about 1 percent of the country's total population. By 2050, Pew projects the Muslim population will reach 8.1 million, or 2.1 percent of the total population. As the Muslim population grows and American workplaces become more diverse, "employers must be aware of [employees'] rights and obligations with respect to providing religious accommodation," wrote attorneys Robert Hutton and J. Gregory Grisham, co-authors of Religious Accommodation in the Workplace: Current Trends Under Title VII. "Doing so upholds the values of our nation and also makes for healthy work environments that promote respect and understanding, said Ahmed of the MPAC. A nightmare scenario long feared by U.S. public health officials has now occurred and good intentions may have contributed to it. Infectious-disease specialists are scrambling to identify the source of a bacterial infection in a Pennsylvania woman that does not respond to an antibiotic of last resort. Thomas Frieden, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the development meant that "the medicine cabinet is empty for some patients. It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently." The Pennsylvania woman, 49, sought treatment last month at a military clinic for a urinary tract infection, and she was found to be harboring a strain of the bacterium E. coli that didn't respond to colistin, an antibiotic considered a drug of last resort against treatment-resistant superbugs. Colistin is often the only drug that can treat a family of pathogens known as CRE, which officials call nightmare bacteria because they can kill up to 50 percent of people they infect. The news was reported Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The E. coli strain in the Pennsylvania woman carried the dreaded resistance gene mcr-1, which circulates with ease among disease-causing microbes, also making them drug-resistant. Microbes can mutate into forms that are less sensitive to highly specific antibiotics, avoiding destruction, if the drugs designed to kill them are misprescribed or taken incorrectly. Possible sources As U.S. officials try to hunt down the source of the womans drug-resistant infection, an expert in antibiotic resistance said it could have originated from a number of places. Hermann Goossens, a professor of medical microbiology at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, said raw pork and pork products have been found to harbor bacteria with the mcr-1 mutation, so eating them can cause infection. Although the woman reportedly didnt travel, people in Southeast Asia and China have been found to be infected with the colistin-resistant gene. Goossens also said antibiotic prescribing practices, his specialty, should be reviewed. He said doctors who are trying to be helpful often prescribe antibiotics incorrectly or unnecessarily, encouraging bacterial mutations. We dont have good diagnostic tests to detect the bacteria," he said, "so doctors just give antibiotics a cocktail, if they are not sure what it is and thats all wrong. This has to change. Goossens said the case of the Pennsylvania woman, while serious, should not be cause for too much public alarm at least not yet. It shouldnt worry the public to such an extent that this is the end of, lets say, the antibiotic era, that people are going to die now of infections, that they are going to die massively," he said. "This is a very rare event. Its extremely rare; its not likely to spread very quickly and it is something that we see in other countries. Goossens said bacteria do not mutate rapidly and people can recover from infections without the use of antibiotics. He said that could be the case with the Pennsylvania woman, and U.S. officials said her infection was still treatable with other antibiotics. Whether or not the nation's first colistin-resistant infection signals the end of the antibiotic era, doctors and public health officials are still concerned that the most powerful antibiotic in the drug arsenal may no longer be up to the challenge of superbugs. A group of west Houston residents filed a lawsuit May 25 against the city over commercial development projects they allege were approved without requiring measures to deal with storm water. Their complaint goes to the heart of the question about what constitutes a natural disaster and what constitutes a disaster resulting from failure to plan and prepare for natural occurrences. Around the world, many cities are located on seashores, lake fronts or on the banks of rivers for commercial transportation purposes. But as sea levels rise and storms grow more intense, crowded urban areas will be vulnerable to disasters. The more than $70-billion cost of Hurricane Sandy, which struck the northeastern U.S. coast in October, 2012, came from damage to homes, buildings and the infrastructure that serves the regions dense population. Houston is one of the least-dense cities in the world, but U.S. Census figures show the city and its surrounding area is the fastest-growing urban center in the United States. While that provides an economic boost, it also brings more roadways and buildings near rivers and creeks that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. Samuel Brody, a professor at Texas A&M University, says this contributes to the flood risk. We tracked, over a 15-year period, a 25-percent increase in impervious surface coverage, pavement, in the Houston region. And that translates into more people and structures in harms way, and less opportunity for rain water to infiltrate into the soil, and then it runs off, potentially into peoples homes, said Brody. Greater risk Because of its rapid growth, Houston is becoming a bigger target, but its location has always made it vulnerable, according to Francisco Sanchez of the Houston Office of Emergency Management. One of the challenges is where we chose to build Houston, which is essentially on a swamp and it is also close to the gulf coast, he said. Sanchez noted, however, that many parts of the city and surrounding areas did not suffer much damage in last months storms. He said lower areas hit with unusually strong downpours were those that sustained the most damage. The flood plain is an indicator that you could be susceptible to flooding, but what we have seen over the past few flooding incidents is that anytime you get a significant amount of rain in a condensed period of time over a very specific geographic area, that is where we are going to see some flooding, said Sanchez. Protective action Coastal drainage experts like Texas A&Ms Brody say government officials on all levels need to start considering future risks related to climate change. Climate studies show an increased likelihood of strong storms, as well as a rise in sea levels that will put populated coastal areas at risk. Numerous scientific research studies project that in low-lying, heavily populated coastal areas in Asia, Africa and South America, storms and large waves could threaten millions of lives in coming decades, though even better off and better protected cities also could face expensive disruptions. Hurricane Sandys cost to the U.S. economy was largely due to widespread power outages and the closing of tunnels leading into New York City, where the financial district went dark. In 2008, Hurricane Ike caused traffic jams and power outages over a large part of southeast Texas, interrupting the operations of some oil and gas companies for several days. People in Houston spent hours lined up at any gas station that had fuel to offer, and supermarkets and stores lost millions of dollars in sales because shipments were not arriving, and there was no electricity to operate lights, computers and other essential parts of the modern retail system. But the more immediate problem in cities like Houston is the vulnerability of houses built in areas that could flood more often than previous studies had indicated. Many homes are built in what is called a 100-year flood plain, which basically means the likelihood of flooding is about one percent every year. Some of those areas flooded last year and again this year, however, leaving home owners less confident in their protection from water damage. Brody favors a long-range plan to take many houses out of such areas and to protect others by building them higher. We are going to have to think about elevating existing structures or new structures or building adaptively where we can abandon lower floors and add upper floors, which is being done in other countries, Brody said. We need to be more adaptive and flexible to changing environmental conditions. The Executive Director of the Harris County Flood Control District, Mike Talbot, says such suggestions are nothing new. That has actually been the criteria for the past three decades, that homes are built above the 100-year flood level, he said. The Flood Control District and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) have acquired more than 3,000 homes that are hopelessly deep in the flood plain and relocated people to higher ground and now that is open space. Crucial planning Another problem facing officials in this large, sprawling urban area is the large number of jurisdictions. In addition to the city of Houston, there are more than 30 separate municipalities, along with hundreds of subdivisions, many of which have their own rules. Talbot emphasizes the Flood Control District works with all of them. I think one of the good things we have is an agency like ours, the Flood Control District, that overlays the entire county, he said. So, we work closely with all the municipalities. There is really a harmony between our design criteria that works together very well. Despite all these efforts, however, experts say lives will still be at risk if ordinary citizens fail to understand flood risks. They say people buying homes need to inform themselves about flood risks, buy the proper insurance and plan ahead for emergencies. Additionally, Talbot says the public needs to appreciate the danger posed by rapidly rising water. He notes that none of the people who died in the recent floods were at home; they all died because they were out in the storm and, in some cases, drove right into flooded streets and underpasses. Should British voters choose to exit the European Union in next months referendum vote, it could have disastrous effects on the global economy, G-7 leaders said Friday during a summit in Japan. "A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth," the group of world leaders said in a final declaration following the two-day event. The issue wasnt on the formal agenda for the event, but British officials said they thought it would be a topic of conversation among the leaders of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain, who make up the Group of Seven countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed that sentiment after the meeting. "This summit is sending the signal that all of us hope that Great Britain remains a member of the European Union," she said. "But of course the decision has to be made by the British voters," she added. The declaration highlights the concerns of international leaders who have condemned Britains potential exit from the 28-country alliance and the ramifications they say it would have on world markets. In an op-ed published last month to coincide with his diplomatic trip to Britain, U.S. President Barack Obama urged British citizens to stay in the union, arguing that The European Union doesnt moderate British influence it magnifies it. A strong Europe is not a threat to Britains global leadership; it enhances Britains global leadership, he wrote. Supporters of the so-called Brexit movement were quick to condemn what they see as Obamas meddling in British affairs. Then-London mayor Boris Johnson penned a response to the Obama op-ed calling the president a hypocrite and saying the United States would never agree to join a group like the EU. "It is incoherent. It is inconsistent, and yes it is downright hypocritical," he wrote. "The Americans would never contemplate anything like the EU, for themselves or for their neighbors in their own hemisphere. Why should they think it right for us?" The most recent opinion polls indicates the out camp holds a slim one-point lead over the in camp, with 45 percent supporting Britains exit while 44 percent want to stay in the union. Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthiest economies called global growth their "urgent priority" and expressed concern about North Korea, Russia and maritime disputes as their summit in Japan came to a close Friday. A final statement of the meeting addressed broad issues facing the global economy while glossing over a difference of opinions among G-7 leaders over fiscal stimulus. "Weak demand and unaddressed structural problems are the key factors weighing on actual and potential growth," the 32-page declaration said. "We remain committed to ensuring that growth is inclusive and job-rich, benefiting all segments of our societies." Countries agreed against "competitive devaluation" of their currencies, compromising to achieve "a more forceful and balanced policy mix" to "achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth pattern," taking into account the individual needs of each country. While U.S. President Barack Obama spoke optimistically of sustaining "the momentum of the recovery that's taking place in the United States," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe presented a grimmer view of the global economy, comparing current economic conditions with those of 2008 when the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered a global economic recession. Many observers believe Abe was making those comparisons to give him cover for delaying a planned increase in Japan's consumption tax - a move unsupported by leaders such as Germany's Angela Merkel, who is wary of public spending to boost growth. G-7 leaders also called on North Korea to comply with U.N. regulations and cease all testing of nuclear weapons, missile launches and other "provocative actions." The group condemned Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, deeming it illegal. The G-7 leaders warned of "further restrictive measures" to raise the cost on Moscow, but added that sanctions could be lifted should Russia meet certain criteria, such as fully respecting Ukraine's sovereignty. Without explicitly mentioning China, the final declaration promised its aid in settling heated territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where China has aggressively built up islands despite claims of neighboring countries. Leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States convened over two days in central Japan for the annual G-7 summit. Australia votes in a federal election in July, and immigration will be a key issue. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has stoked controversy by saying illiterate and innumerate refugees would take Australian jobs. Critics say his comments were racist. But immigration played a key part in the election of the center-right coalition in 2013. Opinion polls have both major parties neck-and-neck as campaigning continues ahead of Australias federal election. While the economy is the critical issue facing most Australians, immigration is another key battleground in the fight for votes. Previous elections have shown that tough talk on asylum seekers and border controls do appeal to large numbers of voters. Speaking on Australian radio, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he was opposed to resettling more unskilled migrants. Well for many people, they will not be, you know, numerate or literate in their own language, let alone English, and these people would be taking Australian jobs, there is no question about that. And 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 there is no sense in sugar-coating. That is the scenario, said Dutton. Australia offers resettlement to just under 14,000 refugees under official humanitarian programs each year. The Australian Greens, who would expect to attract about 10 percent of the vote, want to increase the annual intake to 50,000. Its leader, Richard Di Natale, said the immigration ministers comments about refugees were indefensible. This smacks of racism. It smacks of bigotry. We launched our policy with a young Hazara Afghan refugee, a tiler, who four days after he was out of detention was employed doing work in the construction industry. Within a year, this young man was employing 30 people in the tiling business. They're the sort of people that Peter Dutton doesn't want in this country. Well, we want them, said Di Natale. Modern Australia has been built by successive waves of migrants. Chinese miners were a feature of the gold rush days in the 1800s, while more recently large numbers of settlers from Britain, New Zealand, Greece and Italy have arrived. There is also increasing migration from India and China. About a quarter of the Australian population was born overseas, but election analyst Antony Green said that despite its diversity, much of the country is wary of immigration, especially when it involves unauthorized asylum seekers arriving by boat. Within the Australian population there is a significant proportion that do not like immigration anyway, and those people get particularly motivated about boat arrivals. Boat arrivals is seen as losing control of the borders and the previous Labor government was savaged for being unable to stop the boats. John Howard stopped the boats after 2001, the current government has stopped boat arrivals. There is all sorts of consequences from that with people locked up on Manus Island and Nauru, but in general the public does not want boats arriving and they are quite happy to ignore the whole issue as long as no more boats arrive, said Green. Australia has been sending asylum seekers who arrive by boat to camps in the South Pacific. Others are towed out of Australian waters by border patrols. The government says the policy stops migrants risking their lives at sea and secures Australias territory. The uncompromising measures have the broad support of the opposition Labor party, despite some internal dissent. Both major parties know that backing away from the policy would cost them votes. But Bill Crews, a Uniting Church minister in Sydney, said the shameful treatment of asylum seekers in offshore camps should be subject to a judicial inquiry. I think it is going to head further downwards. There will be more scandals where people like has been the rapes in the centers and the murders, so there will be more people affected like that, and we will turn our backs on them. But in the future these things will build up and up until there will be a royal commission to look at what really happened, said Crews. Australians go to the polls on July 2. An Iranian diplomat has rejected allegations Tehran had close ties and had been covertly working with Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansoor, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike. The fatal attack against Mansoor took place in southwestern Pakistan May 21 while he was returning from Iran. U.S. officials say the Taliban leader freely undertook journeys to Iran, where his family lives. Tehrans ambassador to Islamabad, Mehdi Honardoost, while delivering a public talk at the Institute of Strategic Studies, said cooperation with a terrorist group like the Taliban is out of the question for the Iranian government. He [Mansoor] was the head of the Taliban in Afghanistan, said the Iranian envoy. "You know, 16 years back we were exposed to the fight with the Taliban because they attacked our consul-general and they killed all of our diplomats." He was referring to the execution of eight Iranian diplomats in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif that brought Shiite Iran to the brink of an all out war with Afghanistan in 1998 when the Sunni-based Islamist Taliban was in control of most of the war-hit country. Iran funded and armed Afghanistans Northern Alliance in its fight against the ruling Taliban before the U.S.-led military invasion of the country that ousted the Islamist group in 2001. How can we [come with] good terms with these guys? According to the information that I have, Iran never, and never supported these guys, said Honardoost. A Pakistani passport that slain Taliban leader Mansoor was allegedly carrying under a pseudonym, Wali Mohammad, had a valid Iranian visa and his travel history showed he undertook at least two trips in recent months to Iran, including the one that led to his killing. When asked whether Tehran knew about Mansoors presence in his country, the Iranian ambassador said maybe, everything is possible. He noted that Iran shares long borders and territories with both Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is widely perceived that the rise of the Syrian-based Islamic State terrorist group in Afghanistan has become a major worry for Iran and compelled it to win cooperation from its longtime adversary, the Taliban, to secure border areas. According to media reports, Tehran is also providing the Taliban with funds and weapons in its bid to keep Islamic State out of Afghan areas bordering Iran. Thousands of anti-government protesters, many carrying flowers and olive branches, walked for kilometers Friday to converge on the Iraqi capital's Tahrir Square to call for political change. "They are coming like ants," said a police officer who declined to give his name. "They are coming from Najaf, Karbala and Baghdad." Najaf and Karbala are two Shi'ite cities south of the capital. Iraqi forces were out in force in the blistering heat it was over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Baghdad and concrete barriers and razor wire blocked many streets leading toward the square. Small buses inside the security cordon ferried protesters to the square's entrance. A little while later, ambulances were screaming down the same road in the opposite direction, carrying injured demonstrators. By late afternoon, clouds of tear gas were drifting out of Tahrir Square. Shots were fired into the air as demonstrators pushed past the security forces; the crowd tried to pull down concrete walls blocking a bridge from the square to Baghdad's International Zone, home to key government buildings and foreign embassies. A similar protest one week ago dissolved into a riot that left four people dead after protesters forced their way into the zone and stormed the prime minister's offices. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had called for Friday's march to be canceled to ease the pressure on Iraqi security forces, who already are taking part in an offensive against Islamic State extremists in Fallujah. But few protesters were listening. "We want our rights," demanded a group of women carrying olive branches. "We give them olive branches, they give us bombs," one veiled woman added. Many protesters said they were angry about a recent wave of bombings in Baghdad attacks that killed more than 100 people and what they feel is the government's inability to protect them. On Sunday night, the embattled prime minister announced the start of the fight to retake Fallujah, a Sunni stronghold that has been under IS control for more than two years. Iraqi soldiers, Sunni militants and Shia militias, supported by U.S. coalition airstrikes, are attacking the city from different directions. Humanitarian agencies are warning that thousands of civilians are trapped in the city and are being used as human shields by the extremists. The commander of the Islamic State group's forces in Fallujah has been killed in an airstrike, a spokesman for the international coalition battling IS fighters in Iraq and Syria said Friday. Col. Steve Warren, speaking via teleconference from Baghdad, said the coalition strike targeting Maher al-Bilawi in Fallujah happened two days ago. He said the coalition had gathered information on the militants headquarters and on Bilawis whereabouts in the city. "This is some intelligence we had developed locally. We worked it very rapidly and we took an effective strike," Warren said. Warren said the coalition has conducted 20 airstrikes at Fallujah in the last four days, killing more than 70 enemy fighters. Coalition forces at al-Taqqaddum Air Base, about 25 kilometers away, are also providing some artillery fire to help Iraqis battling to retake the city. Thousands of forces, including members of the Iraqi army, police, Sunni tribal fighters and the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) are battling an estimated 1,000 Islamic State fighters who have extensively fortified the city with trenches and minefields. Shiite militia groups are also involved in the fight but have said they will remain outside the city. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford, the top U.S. general, told VOA and two other reporters last week that the Iraqis are trying to mitigate the risk of attacks from Fallujah into Baghdad, which is less than 70 kilometers away. "Theres clearly a threat given the proximity, Dunford said, and so what the Iraqis are doing is taking appropriate action to disrupt that threat and to isolate the enemy that's inside of Fallujah. Up to 50,000 civilians remain in Fallujah, Warren said, adding that protecting these citizens is Iraqi governments priority. U.S. officials are warning of Islamic States ability to inspire violent deeds around the world, including in the United States, without commanding or having any direct contact with terrorists. We are in a new phase of the global terrorist threat, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told a U.S. Senate panel Thursday. We have moved from a world of terrorist-directed attacks to a world that increasingly includes the threat of terrorist-inspired attacks, one in which the attacker may never have come face to face with a member of a terrorist organization, but instead is inspired by the messages and propaganda of ISIL," Mayorkas said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. By their nature, such inspired attacks are harder for intelligence and law enforcement to detect, and could occur with little or no notice, he added. Battling 'twisted message' The top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee agreed with the assessment, noting last year's terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 people dead. We could shut down all travel and immigration to this country and still not be safe from terrorist threats, said Senator Tom Carper of Delaware. Unfortunately, ISIS [another Islamic State acronym] knows all too well the best way to attack America is to have Americans do it [for them]. Thats why ISIS has put an emphasis on using social media and the Internet to radicalize Americans at home. We have to make sure that when ISIS makes its recruitment pitch to Americans, their twisted message falls on deaf ears. The hearing was held one week after the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 into the Mediterranean, the cause of which remains a mystery. Whether or not terrorism was involved, lawmakers expressed deep concern about Islamic States reach around the globe. 'Very effective opponent' I think theres not a sense of urgency here, Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio complained. I think its hard for us to sit here and say that ISIS is, in fact, being contained. We are facing a very effective opponent online. They have a very slick narrative. They are reaching out to alienated youth in the West and elsewhere. While the challenges are daunting, the picture is not entirely bleak, according to Justin Siberell, the State Department's acting coordinator of counterterrorism. I think their [Islamic States] message has been blunted, Siberell said. That message of victory they relied upon so successfully in their early period, in the 2014-2015 era there have been significant losses that ISIL has suffered." Furthermore, he said, "they are not delivering effectively on governance [in Syria and Iraq]. Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire sought assurances that terrorists in Europe would be prevented from reaching the United States. Those that were involved in the Paris attacks or the Brussels attacks, were any of those individuals not on our terror watch list or our no-fly list or our other databases? Ayotte asked. If they are nowhere [on U.S. lists], its a lot less likely that we are going to discover them. Stronger protocols Mayorkas said he did not know offhand whether all perpetrators of the Paris and Brussels attacks were on lists that would have prevented their travel to the United States. But he stressed the systems in place have been strengthened and are designed to flag potential evildoers. We vet every single application of a visa waiver traveler, every single one, he said. The ease with which an individual might travel from one European country to another is very different from the difficulty with which someone might travel from a European country to the United States. Our security protocols at last-point-of-departure airports are extraordinarily robust. Senators of both parties said they expected a long battle against violent extremism. This tragedy [EgyptAir] reminds us that securing our homeland is likely to remain an ongoing challenge for some time to come, and our efforts must adapt as groups like ISIS evolve their tactics, Carper said. The solutions are very, very difficult. And they are going to take some time to finally, in the end, defeat Islamic terror, said the committees chairman, Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican. Several activists who had been scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama during his recent visit to Vietnam say they were prevented from doing so, adding to similar reports from earlier in the week that underscore Hanoi's ongoing human rights violations. The White House had requested a meeting with 10 leaders from both government-backed and independent civil society organizations, but all representatives of the independent groups now say they were blocked, including land rights activist Mai Phuong Thao and prominent blogger Pham Doan Trang. Nguyen Quang A, an intellectual and open critic of Hanoi's policies, along with well-known human rights lawyer Ha Huy Son, were also among the activists who were restricted from meeting Obama despite White House invitations. In a roundtable discussion with Vietnam-based Youth Magazine, Thao said Hanoi's actions Tuesday only supported their arguments that Obama still needs to press Hanoi on legal and political reforms, points they had intended to relay in person. "The Vietnamese government tends to trade prisoners of conscience for economic gains, ignoring the demands for a comprehensive legal reform," Trang told VOA. "This has to stop. ... Mr. Obama, please don't just call for the release of individual cases, but urge for fundamental reforms so that there will be no more prisoners of conscience in Vietnam." Added Thao: "Independent civil society organizations in Vietnam need more support from the U.S. in our fight for human rights and freedom here. We hope Washington would closely monitor Vietnam's rights and tightly bind this condition into every single step of arms and trade relations with Hanoi as promised by President Obama." Neither activist commented on Obama's historic decision to lift the more than 50-year ban on weapon sales to Vietnam, which was his latest move to highlight a foreign policy rooted in diplomacy and engagement. Some U.S. legislators and the head of New York-based Human Rights Watch criticized Obama's decision to scrap the long-established arms embargo, saying the White House has now lost its ability to leverage the Southeast Asian country's human rights record. A Nigerian student was assaulted with an iron rod in Southern India Thursday, barely a week after a Congolese student was beaten to death in New Delhi. Kazeem, a 23-year-old student of Nizam College whose last name has not been released, was beaten by a neighbor in Hyderbad after the two reportedly had a heated argument regarding a parking space. Though local police have ruled out racism as a motive, citing the parking disagreement instead, crime against Africans has been a persistent issue in India. The incident follows the killing of Masunda Kitada Oliver, a 23-year-old Congolese graduate student who had lived in New Delhi for six years. He was hailing a rickshaw last 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 11:55 p.m. 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. In February, a Tanzanian woman was attacked, stripped, and set ablaze by a mob in Bangalore. Discrimination These cases have brought national attention to an issue of discrimination and violence facing the small population of Africans on the subcontinent. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj has commented on the two cases this month, demanding an investigation into the beating of Kazeem early Thursday. Swaraj, however, like many Indians, would like to treat such cases of seemingly prejudice-motivated violence as isolated incidents instead of a larger problem. "I would like to assure African students in India that this [is] an unfortunate and painful incident involving local goons," Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj tweeted Wednesday. The Group of African Heads of Mission released a statement insisting that this is a continuous problem, 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." Boycott The group of diplomats stated it would boycott an annual Africa Day event, but has since reversed its decision. Still, the initial boycott sent a clear message to India that Africans are concerned with what they perceive as systematic racial violence. I think [the] boycott serves a point in the sense that it registers strongly African concern, Dr. Ajay Dubey, head of the African Student Association at JNU in Delhi, told VOA. "There is a growing engagement of India with Africa, and Africans are also moving to India and in that context they want some of the prejudices that exist in Indian society to be addressed by taking concrete steps...the government must address the issue and take some visible, concrete steps," he said. Indians and Africans alike are not optimistic about the prospect of these concrete steps. Local reporters and citizens on social media have commented that the government's actions have been limited to tweets which will serve no purpose in raising awareness and protections for Africans. While Dubey acknowledges the rampant racism throughout his country, he sees it directed at dark-skinned people, as opposed to people specifically of African descent. This racism is not exclusive to Africans this racism is part of the color-based discrimination that exists in India since colonial times," he said, citing prejudice and violent crimes against dark-skinned and tribal citizens from the South. He says that Africans do, however, face more of a threat than dark-skinned Indians, but because of their skin-tone, as opposed to their place of origin. But another chairman of an African Students Association, Emmanuel Omurunga of Telangana, told local media that police were not willing to help, indicating that the situation was not only ongoing, but worsening. "The situation in India is no longer safe for us." El Nino-induced drought decimated this years harvests throughout Southern Africa, and Malawis government now says the number of people there who will need food aid has tripled to over eight million. The latest figures are a huge leap from the 2.8 million that the government said needed food aid in April when President Peter Mutharika declared the state of national disaster. Agriculture Minister George Chaponda says the numbers given in April were based on a partial survey but they have now completed surveys of all of the countrys 28 districts. "The production of maize during 2014/15 as compared to 2015/16, there was a shortfall of 12.4 percent. As a result of this, if we dont do any action, there will be 8.4 million people affected," said Chaponda. That is about half of Malawi's population. Chaponda says 1.3 million metric tons of maize are needed. He says the government is currently purchasing maize from local traders as well as other countries like Zambia. Food security activist Tamani Nkhono says the country will need international funds. If you look at the cost of doing that, it should be in the range of 250 and 300 billion Malawi kwacha ," said Nkhono. "So I dont think the government has that kind of money to do the importation. The figure he cites is equivalent to between $360 million and $430 million. So far, the U.S. and Chinese governments have donated money. But U.N. relief agencies warn that without rapid action, food shortages throughout Southern Africa will continue to worsen into early next year. The International Federation of the Red Cross says the number of food insecure people in the region may climb as high as 49 million. Honoring the memory of victims of the atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima seven decades ago, U.S. President Barack Obama said the world has a shared responsibility to prevent the suffering that took place in the Japanese city from happening again. "We stand here in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell," Obama said Friday at Hiroshima's Memorial Peace Park. "We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to silent cry. We remember all the innocents killed across that arc of terrible war and wars that came before and wars that would follow. Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made history simply by walking through the memorial park together. An American warplane dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 during the waning days of World War II, killing tens of thousands and subjecting a generation to radiation sickness. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the city. "We come to mourn the dead," the U.S. leader said after he and Abe each placed a wreath at the Peace Memorial. "We have a shared responsibility to look directly in the eye of history. We must ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again," a solemn Obama said. "We must re-imagine our connection to one another as members of the human race." Obama also called for a moral awakening in regards to nuclear weapons. The world was forever changed here. But today the children of this city will go through their day in peace. What a precious thing that is. It is worth protecting and then extending to every child. That is a future we can choose. A future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not as the dawn of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening, he said. The two leaders stood side by side in front of the arch-shaped Memorial Cenotaph, a symbol of an empty tomb. Carved into the structure are the words: Rest in peace, for the error shall not be repeated. The Japanese peace park does not define the error in question, whether it refers to the U.S. bombings or the Japanese aggression and Second World War that preceded them; stubborn questions that are still answered differently in each country. But as the two leaders laid wreaths at the empty tomb, they made clear their intent was not to litigate the past, but to promote healing, and to issue a strong warning against any use of nuclear weapons in the future. WATCH: President Obama visits Hiroshima Peace Memorial After his remarks, the U.S. leader greeted two Hiroshima survivors attending the ceremony; 91-year-old Sunao Tsuboi, the Chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization; and Shigeaki Mori, who created a memorial for American World War II prisoners of war killed at Hiroshima. No apologies Abe did not seek an apology from Obama for the U.S. decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and he did not get one. Even some of the few remaining Japanese survivors of the bombs said it was enough for them that a sitting U.S. president finally came. Some Japanese journalists told VOA there is a strong sense of victimization in Japan, and that is reflected in many of the exhibits inside the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Museum. The main building exhibits victims' belongings, including a burnt lunch box and a tricycle that a three-year-old boy was riding. A recent poll by one Japanese newspaper found that 89 percent of Japanese citizens surveyed said they strongly support President Obamas visit to Hiroshima, reflecting a strong desire for peace and for nuclear non-proliferation. Ahead of the visit, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, What I think the president does appreciate is that President [Harry] Truman made this decision for the right reason. But Earnest said the United States does have a special responsibility as the only country to have ever used an atomic bomb to work tirelessly for nuclear non-proliferation. Why US bombed Japan It was nearly 71 years ago when a mushroom-shaped cloud lit up the sky over Hiroshima, and three days later over Nagasaki. About 140,000 people in the two cities died within the year, and survivors and their children have faced untold suffering due to radiation poisoning. The U.S. rationale for the decision was to bring years of Japanese aggression to a quick end, potentially saving many more lives than would have been lost in a U.S. invasion. But many Japanese see it differently, saying innocent men, women and children were unnecessarily incinerated and poisoned. How US veterans feel about visit A number of veterans groups and many older Americans opposed Obamas visit to Hiroshima. Reconciliation with former war time enemies seemed to be the common thread of what will likely be Obamas last tour of Asia as president, with visits to Vietnam and Japan. In Vietnam, the president lifted a 50-year-old arms embargo and had an intensely personal exchange with young Vietnamese leaders at a town hall, telling them to pursue their passions. The president is now headed back to Washington. Both the Kremlin and some of its opponents expressed doubt Thursday that the freeing of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko in exchange for two Russian servicemen captured in eastern Ukraine will dramatically improve relations between Russia and Ukraine and its Western allies. "The return of our guys to Moscow and the pardoning of Savchenko and return her to Kyiv can hardly be considered something that can radically change the current atmosphere [in relations between Russia and the West], which, of course, I would like to see more constructive, Russias official TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. Prior to Wednesdays exchange, Savchenko was serving a 22-year sentence in a Russian prison on charges of complicity in the deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. The two Russian servicemen, Captain Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Sergeant Alexander Alexandrov, who were captured in eastern Ukraines Donbas region, were believed to be working for Russian military intelligence. Fighting between Ukraine's military and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,300 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. European Council President Donald Tusk confirmed via Twitter on Thursday that the European Union would not lift economic sanctions against Russia until it had fully implemented the Minsk agreements aimed at establishing a peace process in eastern Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that Savchenkos release, after a long ordeal that included solitary confinement, is an important part of fulfilling Russias commitments under the Minsk agreements and should now provide impetus for their complete implementation. No 'significant' changes Russian critics of President Vladimir Putin interviewed by VOAs Russian service echoed Kremlin spokesman Peskovs skepticism that the prisoner swap would lead to a major improvement in Russia's relations with Ukraine and the West. You cannot seriously count on that, said Sergei Mitrokhin, a member of the political council of the liberal Yabloko party. However, if there are more such steps, then perhaps the situation can gradually return to normal. In general, this should be welcomed, but significant political changes should not be expected. Mitrokhin said the proceedings against Savchenko were extremely dubious from a legal and procedural point of view, and further damaged Russias image in the eyes of the world. Thus, he said, exchanging her for the two Russian servicemen became an attractive option for the Kremlin. "We will monitor developments," Mitrokhin said. If we suddenly see any new steps taken at Moscows initiative toward settling the situation in southeastern Ukraine and other issues, in particular the issue of [Russian] counter-sanctions [against the EU], then it will be possible to talk about significant preconditions for improving the general atmosphere. Domestic concerns noted Likewise, Natalia Pelevina, a member of the opposition Peoples Freedom Party (Parnas), said she didn't think Russias relations with the West would improve until the conflict involving Ukraine and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Russian annexed from Ukraine in 2014, was resolved. The exchange was undertaken because of domestic concerns, she told VOA. Because this whole story of two special forces soldiers being abandoned to their fate in a foreign land was, I think, extremely unpleasant for the Russian military. According to Pelevina, Putin had no desire to lose points with the military, especially with the next presidential election less than two years away. Plus, the Kremlin may have wanted to look a little bit better in the eyes of the world, she said. In about six months, the most diverse American electorate in history will vote for a new president, a demographic shift that analysts say is happening faster than expected. "By the 2016, 22 states in America will be 'majority-minority,'" said Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and one of the authors of "States of Change - Demography and Democracy," a study published earlier this year. The growing ethnic and racial diversity of America has profound implications for the country's politics, and some say it is already reflected in this year's charged presidential campaign season. Republican front-runner business mogul Donald Trump has criticized policies that have allowed millions of undocumented immigrants to live and work in America. This sharp campaign rhetoric is considered by nervous members of the Republican mainstream as a risky political strategy. According to a survey by the Pew Research Center published in February, nearly one-in-three eligible voters on Election Day (31 percent) will be Hispanic, Asian, black or another racial or ethnic minority, up from 29 percent in 2012. Bowman points out the demographic surge of minority populations is "emerging much faster than we expected," based on data reported by the U.S. Census data from the year 2000 to 2010. Non-hispanic whites remain the largest major race and ethnic group, but is growing at the slowest rate of all groups just 1 percent from 2000 to 2010. During that same time, the Hispanic population and the Asian population grew by 43 percent. The speed of these demographic changes has created a cultural identification gap argues Brookings Institute demographer William Frey, author of the 2014 book Diversity Explosion. He puts it this way: The older population, which is largely white, has some trouble dealing with the changing demographics in the country. It is a polite way of saying that many who support Trumps dramatic political rise white with less formal education and hard-hit by the 2008 recession, according to polls have expressed strong resentment about the explosion of minorities. Trumps critics are calling foul, openly accusing him of knowingly stoking anger and dangerous divisions with no concern for the possible consequences. Among them: Charles Badger, a former staffer for Republican Jeb Bush's failed presidential campaign, and author of the article Trumps Secret Plan to Win the Presidency: Pitting Minorities Against One Another. Badger argues that a thoughtful look at history tells us much about Trumps tactics to win the Oval Office. He follows a long line, a long tradition, of demagogues like him who have done exactly what he is doing now because its a tried-and-true model. Add the that, Badger said, the current alignment of the stars economically. These sort of demagogic figures always sort of arrive not just in our country, but any country whenever you have the vast changes in population, argues Badger. The best way that Trump can be understood. This wave of support he is riding is backlash support and its not just immigration its a reaction to changes in the country. The recession may be over per the measuring sticks used by top economists, but that doesnt mean the effects of the 2008 financial crisis have disappeared. Many Americans and, according to pollsters, Trumps supporters are still struggling to make ends meet. They work low-paying jobs with few benefits, they are saddled with debt, lack access to higher education: In short, they are living without a clear path to improve their lot in life. Trumps in-your-face style (not unlike Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders anti-Wall Street message) speaks directly to that segment of the voting population who live the reality of being left out of the so-called American Dream economy. A winning strategy? This openly aggressive pro-white strategy may not be the most effective, according to Frey. Thats because white Americans are aging, and soon will be dying in larger numbers than producing children. In other words, whites need these young minorities because they will soon make up a big chunk of Americas working population. Put more starkly, older white Americans will very soon need the money that Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans will generate as part of the U.S. labor force. As to Trumps undeniably ugly comments about immigrants and other groups, Frey is practical, pointing out that immigration is not, by far, the reason that minority communities are growing by leaps and bounds. Politicians always try to paint pictures that they see will help them get more votes," said Frey, who has some advice for those seeking elected office. Moving forward, votes are going to be with minorities, not with older whites. The United Nations refugee agency says it is upset about the sub-standard conditions in which refugees and migrants are living in northern Greece and is urging the government to move them to better sites. Some 8,000 refugees and migrantsmostly Syrians, Afghans, and Iraqiswere moved this week from a squalid makeshift site at Idomeni, on the Greek border with Macedonia, to several other sites in northern Greece. The U.N. refugee agency agrees conditions in Idomeni were abysmal, but notes the people have been transferred to sites that are also well below minimum standards. UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says some people have been packed into derelict warehouses and factories with insufficient air circulation, low food supplies in these places are poor and supplies of food, water, toilets, showers, and electricity are insufficient. Obviously, this compounds the distress of the refugee and migrant families. And, this is also fueling tensions between the populations and it is also complicating our efforts to provide the required assistance and protection," said Fleming. The UNHCR is calling on the Greek government to immediately identify and establish new sites that are in full compliance with basic humanitarian requirements. On a related issue, Fleming tells VOA the UNHCR has modified its policy regarding thousands of refugees and migrants in detention centers on several Greek islands. They are forced to remain there while waiting to be processed and sent to Turkey as part of a deal with the European Union. The UNHCR opposes mandatory detention and, as a matter of policy, refuses to assist people being held against their will. But, Fleming says her agency is softening this position and has decided to provide aid in these facilities. UNHCR is again present. We are monitoring the situation thereIt is very difficult for us to stand by and see people suffering in poor conditions ," said Fleming. " So we are increasing our assistance inside those facilities. Fleming says the UNHCR is actively working with the authorities on alternative solutions to detention. She says the UNHCR has had some success in getting the authorities to move vulnerable people, such as the sick, women and children, out of places of detention and into open facilities. The World Banks decision this month to resume lending to Cambodia after a five-year moratorium has drawn criticism from development experts. The global development bank's May 19 announcement that it would issue $130 million in new loans to the Southeast Asian nation to fund poverty reduction projects caught some critics of the Phnom Penh government by surprise. The bank placed a freeze on new loans in August 2011 after coming under fire for its support for a land titling scheme for victims of forced eviction from Boeung Kak Lake. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia division, said the banks decision to go ahead with planned loans would be interpreted as a green light by the government to continue its crackdown on dissent. The unfortunate reality is that obviously the World Bank is politically tone deaf when it comes to dealing with human rights, he said. You know that is an unfortunate stance," he added. "I mean, none of the corruption has been handled in Cambodia; none of the human rights issues have been handled. The problems with land and the seizures of land by cronies connected to the government have not been solved. 'Squandering its credibility' David Pred, managing director of NGO Inclusive Development International, said bank officials took a rare stand for human rights and accountability when [they] suspended new loans to Cambodia pending a satisfactory remedy for the Boeung Kak Lake residents. By renewing lending now, without first ensuring assistance is provided to the thousands of people who were forcibly evicted and impoverished, the bank is squandering its credibility, Pred added. The government has often described critics of foreign investment in the country as being anti-development, a characterization Pred called inaccurate. I don't know anyone who wants to block the development of Cambodia," he said. "Those who are protesting this decision simply want to see a different development model one which places the rights and well-being of people above the interests of the ruling elite and foreign investors. New loans include funding for a controversial land concession project that could see villagers in Kampong Thom province forcibly relocated. Chheang Vannarith, head of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies, said the bank is seeking to keep its relevance in the region amid the increasing clout of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. I think that the World Bank has bent along with a political and economic strategy in the region," he said. "I see that the World Bank does not want to lose its role in Southeast Asia, especially Cambodia. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons visit to his native South Korea this week has further fueled speculation that he may seek his countrys top job next year, after his United Nations tenure ends. Im returning back as a Korean on January 1, next year, the U.N. chief told South Korean journalists this week on the sidelines of the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity. What I ought to do as a Korean citizen, I will think about that then, and make a decision and seek advice if necessary, he said. The ambiguous answer amplified media speculation in South Korea that Ban could make a run for the presidency, possibly on the ruling Saenuri Party ticket. The party has been down on its luck since losing its majority in the National Assembly in April, and fielding a respected candidate like Ban could boost its political fortunes. Most U.N. officials have long assumed that Ban is angling for the South Korean presidency, said Richard Gowan, a U.N. expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Ban is very popular at home, where he does consistently well in polls of possible presidential contenders. He used to joke with U.N. reporters that he was the most famous South Korean until his compatriot, Psy, became a global YouTube sensation in 2012 with his Gangnam Style dance video. As the worlds top diplomat and with no shortage of crises on his plate, Bans office has repeatedly dismissed suggestions that he is looking beyond December 31st. The secretarygeneral has made it clear that his focus remains -- and will remain -- on his job as secretarygeneral, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters this week. North Koreas shadow As U.N. chief, he has been very vocal on the issue of relations between the two Koreas, urging a return to dialogue. I welcome all efforts to move forward, and I stand ready as secretary-general of the United Nations, and also personally, to contribute in any way that might be helpful, he said Thursday in Jeju. While in South Korea this week, local media reported that Ban attended a dinner hosted by Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo. Several senior Saenuri party lawmakers reportedly were also present at the dinner. Some Korean analysts have argued in private that Ban might be too old and too conservative to represent their rapidly developing country, but with tensions on the peninsula high, he looks like a force for stability, Gowan said. Stiff competition The U.N. chief will turn 72 next month. South Korean presidents are limited to a single five-year term. The next president will take office in February 2018. Ban could face some stiff competition if he makes a run for the Blue House, the Korean presidential residence, said Charles Armstrong, professor of Korean studies at Columbia University. "There are some strong potential candidates on the opposition side, including longtime candidate Moon Jae-in and former Seoul mayor Park Won-soon - who has not yet declared his intention to run - who might give Ban a tough fight were he to run on the conservative ticket," Armstrong said. "Third-party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo could also be a strong contender, and potentially a spoiler in the presidential race," he added. In general, it is notoriously hard to predict the outcome of Korean presidential elections, Armstrong notes. He also cites Ban's lack of political experience as a potential weakness. Before taking over at the United Nations in 2007, Ban was South Koreas minister of foreign affairs and trade from 2004 to 2006, under President Roh Moo-hyun. As a career diplomat, he spent 37 years in the foreign ministry, with postings in New Delhi, Washington and Vienna. If Ban seeks and wins his countrys presidency, he would be the second former U.N. chief to do so. In 1986, Kurt Waldheim became president of Austria after serving as the world bodys fourth secretary-general. For the first time in a public opinion survey, a majority of U.S. citizens said they now get news via social media. In a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 62 percent of respondents said they use social media sites such as Facebook, Reddit and Twitter to get their news. Thats up sizably from 49 percent from a similar poll Pew conducted four years earlier. Researchers found the most popular social media site for news was Facebook, with 66 percent of registered users nearly two-thirds searching the site for news items posted by friends. Twitter performed nearly as well with 59 percent of users looking for news; LinkedIn, YouTube and Reddit also had sizable news viewership. Of those using social media to find news, the majority at 64 percent only use one site, most often Facebook. Twenty-six percent get their news on two sites, with only 10 percent using three or more social media sources. Researchers also found that the top five social media sites appeal to different demographic groups seeking news. For example, LinkedIn users are more likely than others to have a college degree, while Facebook users are most likely to be female and Instagram users most likely to be an ethnic minority. Report authors Jeffrey Gottfried and Elisa Shearer point out that those using social media for news continue to search for information via more traditional sources, such as local or network television, radio, and print newspapers. Nine social media platforms were included in the study: Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Vine. All nine sites showed growth in news viewership compared to a similar Pew study in 2013. Ever since it was revealed that the Kurdish rebel group PKK used a Russian-made shoulder-launched missile to down a Turkish helicopter, Ankara has been eyeing Moscow suspiciously. Defense analyst Metehan Demir said the sophisticated nature of the missile used suggested Moscows involvement. "You have to train a normal soldier for weeks to use it," he said. "It is very sensitive. ... Under these circumstances, who trained the PKK terrorists? Who made them so professional to be able to hit a Turkish helicopter easily for the first time? This could be given by some Russian sources maybe not officially by Russia, but this could be retaliation by Russia for the downing of the Russian jet." Demir pointed out that the missile used appeared similar to one a Russian naval officer displayed recently on the deck of a warship passing through Istanbul on its way to Syria. The incident was widely interpreted by Ankara as an implicit threat occurring just weeks after Turkish jets shot down a Russian bomber operating from a Syrian air base. Throughout the decades-long conflict between the PKK and Turkish state, Moscow has from time to time been accused by Ankara of supporting the rebels. But retired Turkish Brigadier General Haldun Solmazturk, who is chair of the Ankara-based political research organization 21st Century, is skeptical that Moscow would take such a step. "I personally would not think the Russians would do such a mad thing," he said. "It would not serve their interests. It is possible to find Russian-made MANPAD [man-portable air defense system] missiles anywhere in the world, particularly in the Middle East. If it was supplied [directly] by Russia, then I would be very, very surprised. With relations remaining deeply strained between Ankara and Moscow, Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar of the Carnegie Institute, warned that Ankara was keeping an open mind about Moscow's involvement. "No, they don't rule it out," Ulgen said. Ankara is investigating to try to find out how the PKK obtained such a weapon, he said, and a finding that Moscow was directly responsible would "eliminate whatever hope there is to find a way to mend the relationship." Ankara is nervously waiting to see whether the Kurdish rebels have more MANPAD missiles and other new sophisticated weapons. Analysts warned that such weapons could be a game changer in the conflict with the rebels, especially if Moscow is connected to supplying them. Donald Trump on Thursday pledged to cancel the Paris climate agreement and aggressively pursue U.S. fossil fuel development, during a speech at a petroleum conference in North Dakota. He attacked Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton's positions on energy policy, drawing sharp contrasts between the two on an issue that could be a factor in the general election. Trump delivered his remarks in a state where oil and gas production have rocketed up 10-fold over the last decade, helping make the United States the world's leading fossil fuel producer. According to Trump, the transformation happened "in spite of massive new bureaucratic and political barriers." He said President Barack Obama has "made life much more difficult for North Dakota, as costly regulation makes it harder and harder to turn a profit." And under Clinton, he said, "things will get much worse." In his first 100 days in office, Trump said, he would roll back regulations on drilling, "cancel the Paris climate agreement and stop all payments to U.N. global warming programs." Environmentalists condemned the speech. "He basically said whatever the oil and gas industry folks wanted to hear," while disregarding the impact on air, water and climate, said League of Conservation Voters spokesman Seth Stein. Trump "didn't seem to have any grasp of what is actually in the Paris agreement," said Oren Cass, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and adviser to 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. He supports Trump's focus on domestic energy and reducing regulations, but said Trump shows a worrying failure to grasp "the facts and the way these things actually work." Trump's remarks came on the day he tallied enough delegates to be the GOP presidential nominee. And by focusing on energy policy, Trump emphasized a subject that has not drawn much attention in primary contests but could be important in the general election. "If you think about a Trump vs. Clinton, or certainly a Trump vs. [Democratic contender Bernie] Sanders race, this is going to be a very prominent area of disagreement, both in the policy specifics and the broader world view and approach to governing," he said. "It's a very sensible element in a pivot to the general election." Clinton called the U.N. climate agreement negotiated in Paris last December a "historic step forward" and "a testament to America's ability to lead the world." She has advocated a transition away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources in order to fight climate change. In contrast to Trump, who has described climate change as a "hoax," Clinton has said it is "clearly man-made and man-aggravated." Recent polls show U.S. voters are coming around to Clinton's point of view. "There are majorities that agree that this is something that's happening and this is an issue that they want action on," said Stein. A recent Gallup poll found 64 percent of Americans are worried about climate change, and a record 65 percent say humans are responsible. Conservative Republicans are the least likely to believe climate change is happening, according to a Yale University-George Mason University poll. But even this group is having a change of heart. Believers remain a minority at 47 percent. But that's up 19 percentage points in the last two years. And while climate change is not a top issue on voters' minds, the survey found that opposing climate action did not win votes. Forty-five percent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who strongly opposed measures to reduce global warming. Only 11 percent said said they would be more likely. Voters also are turning against one of the techniques that has made the United States the world's top energy producer: hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Gallup found just over half of respondents opposed the practice, up from 40 percent last year. Environmentalists criticize fracking for causing water pollution, methane leakage and earthquakes. But experts credit the natural gas boom with helping cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas is cleaner than coal. Now it's cheaper as well. When it comes to fracking, Clinton faces criticism from both sides. As secretary of state, she backed natural gas development as a "bridge fuel" between coal and renewable energy. But she has backed away from supporting it in the United States, under fire from Bernie Sanders, who opposes the practice. "The fracking issue is going to be a very interesting one in the general election because Clinton has been pushed pretty far to the left on it by Sanders," Cass said. "She tried to leave herself a lot of wiggle room... But I think the contrasts are going to at least feel very clear." U.S. special forces in Syria who were wearing patches of a Kurdish fighting group have been ordered to remove them because of "political sensitivities," a spokesman for the coalition fighting Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria said Friday. Placing the patches of the Peoples Protection Units, known as the YPG, on U.S. military uniforms was "unauthorized, Colonel Steve Warren told reporters via teleconference from Baghdad. The situation has been corrected, and we have communicated to our allies that such conduct was inappropriate, he added. Photos recently taken by an Agence France-Presse photographer showed some of the U.S. troops wearing the logo of the Kurdish forces they are assisting. Turkey, a NATO ally, considers these Kurdish forces to be terrorists and expressed anger about the photos. The United States does not consider the YPG a terrorist group, but it does designate the closely associated Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, as a foreign terrorist organization. Theres political sensitivities around the organization that patch represents, Warren said. Why were the patches worn? The special forces community has a long and proud history of wearing the patches of the forces whom they're partnering with, Warren explained. Examples of this can be seen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Latin America and other places around the globe as an effort by U.S. forces to connect with those they are training. Although U.S. Army regulations do not authorize the wearing of other forces patches, Warren said it remained among the customs and courtesies that theyve been following for years. In this instance, the spokesman said, the larger strategic context made the tradition inappropriate. A U.S. resident has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to Islamic State, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement Friday. A grand jury indicted Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, 26, of Woodbridge, Virginia, a Washington suburb, late Thursday for aiding and abetting the provision of material support to ISIS and making false statements to the FBI. The statement said that Elhassan unlawfully and knowingly conspired with another individual, Joseph Hassan Farrokh, in assisting him to fly overseas to join ISIS. Farrokh had said that neither he nor Farrokh supported ISIS, or tried to find someone to help them get to ISIS. According to the indictment, Elhassan knowingly, unlawfully and willfully made material false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations to the FBI about Farrokhs travel in a matter involving international terrorism. On January 15, 2016, Elhassan told FBI agents that Farrokh had departed Dulles Airport earlier that day to attend a funeral in California. Some federal agencies are delivering customer service in 140 characters. On Tuesday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services hosted its Twitter office hours to engage customers and answer questions as quickly as they came. The monthly event targeted anyone with questions about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2012 that offers protections to young immigrants, allowing them to work legally for two years. Questions from "Can we have the DACA FAQs in Korean?" to "How can I tell if an employer is discriminating against me because I am a DACA recipient?" were part of the hourlong #AskDACA chat. "USCIS conducts extensive outreach efforts on a variety of topics that are important to our customers. Additionally, uscis.gov provides an extensive amount of material and tools to assist those looking for information on immigration benefits," Steve Blando, public affairs officer at USCIS, told VOA by email. A team of USCIS staff answered 18 questions during Tuesday's Twitter chat office hours. Experts review the submitted questions to determine which ones to answer. One criterion in choosing which question to answer, Blando said, is whether it would be of interest to a large number of stakeholders. "The Twitter office hours are very successful, as evidenced by the consistently excellent, relevant questions we receive. We always get more than we can answer during a session," Blando said. The initiative started in September, and the event was inspired by Free Application for Federal Student Aid's popular Twitter office hours. According to a blog post from USCIS on DigitalGov, prior to any Twitter chat, staff had concerns about customer privacy, defining audience, not getting enough questions, and what content could be tweeted. These concerns were quickly overruled within minutes of the first Twitter office hours event. "One of the biggest takeaways from our first hour on Twitter was that our customers are definitely willing to ask us immigration questions via Twitter," the post said. Great need The questions, however, came as no surprise to Ignacia Rodriguez, an executive action legal fellow for the California-based National Immigration Law Center. "There is always, consistently, a need to give explanations" about what DACA is and what the requirements are, as well as a need "to remind people that the program is still available, Rodriguez said. DACA was an earlier deferred action initiative that applied to people who came to the United States as children, and it had an age limit. Obama said he took executive action because Congress failed to overhaul the immigration system. In 2014, Obama expanded the earlier version of DACA to include people who were brought to the U.S. before age 16 and had attended school here, and the age limit was removed. Obama also signed executive actions deferring deportations for undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. since at least 2010, have a child who is a U.S. citizen or is in the country legally, and do not have a criminal record. The new program was known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans. But a lawsuit, U.S. v. Texas, being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, asks the court to consider whether the president's 2014 executive actions deferring deportations for some undocumented immigrants are within the government's authority to direct immigration policy, or whether the president exceeded his constitutional authority by making new immigration laws. "People get confused with what's going on at the Supreme Court level. Some may think DACA is being challenged. It is not. It's DAPA and expanded DACA," Rodriguez said. Building trust For the legal fellow, there is always a need to raise awareness about the program that is still in place. As of March 31, USCIS officials said 819,512 individuals had applied for initial DACA and 511,119 had renewed their DACA applications before the expiration date. Staff answered 18 immigration questions during the Twitter event, and the agency's Twitter page has approximately 72,000 followers. "The efforts from USCIS are just fantastic. Honestly, meeting people where they are a lot of DACA recipients are young and on social media. It's really a great step in the right direction in building trust and then building transparency," Rodriguez said. Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, which is largely funded by Western-based Evangelical Christians, is facing financial difficulties due to international sanctions against North Korea, according to Dr. Chan-Mo Park, the schools chancellor. The Norths recent nuclear tests and hostilities against the South have further isolated the country, prompting U.N. Security Council resolutions to clampdown on its finances. We want to recruit South Korean professors, but the May 24 measure blocks it, Park, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen, who is a former computer science professor at the University of Maryland, told VOA on Wednesday. Seoul initiated measures against Pyongyang in 2010 after accusing the North of sinking one of its naval vessels, claiming the lives of 46 sailors. Despite ongoing tensions, North Koreas first privately funded university is growing, offering North Korean students rare opportunities to engage with Western-trained scientists, according to Park. We were doing a virtual reality class and some students turned in materials about American hip hop music for their homework, said Park, describing students eager to learn about the outside world. Park also said the North Korean regime allows graduate students limited access to the internet for study, though it's not on par with the online access enjoyed by senior government officials. Critics argue the institution could help the North Korean regime advance nuclear technology, a charge dismissed by Park, who said the schools curriculum complies with U.S. regulations. The university, which opened in 2010, currently hosts some 500 enrolled students and 100 professors, some of whom are U.S. citizens. This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Korean Service. Days after a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, it remains unclear how the slain leaders location was discovered. Mansoor was killed in a remote part of Baluchistan, a province that has been thought off limits for U.S. drones, which operate in the northwestern tribal areas. However, U.S. officials say the strike does not signal a change in American strategy or an expansion of the CIAs decade-long drone campaign targeting terrorists inside Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas. This was a target of opportunity, one U.S. official said who declined to be identified when speaking on background. It does not suggest that we were changing our strategy. Karl Eikenberry, who led U.S. forces in Afghanistan and later served as ambassador to Kabul from 2009 to 2011, said knowing Mansoors location was a breakthrough the U.S. would not have passed up. "Acquiring intelligence on these figures has not been an easy task," Eikenberry said. "If we had anything similar earlier, I'm not certain we'd not have chosen to strike." The strike on Mansoor was the most significant of its kind inside Pakistan since a Navy Seal team killed Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad in 2011 and is the first known drone attack in Baluchistan province, home of the Talibans ruling "Quetta Shura." But killing Mansoor outside of Pakistan's tribal areas raises the prospect of deeper turmoil in already-strained U.S.-Pakistani relations. What did Pakistan know? How much Pakistani officials knew about Mansoors whereabouts and what they shared with the United States remains unknown, but experts say the answer could determine what impact the strike will have on relations between the uneasy allies. "Its hard to say what was known or not, said Jason Campbell, a South Asia analyst at the Rand Corporation. "At this point in time, Id say that short of other similar attacks occurring in the near future, I dont see this individual event really moving the needle either way very significantly in the long term." Pakistans foreign office Thursday again called the strike a violation of Pakistan sovereignty and said "all indications" suggested the slain chief, Mullah Mansoor, was preparing to attend peace talks. That contradicts the U.S., which called Mansoor an obstacle to peace who opposed talks and had blocked other Taliban from attending them. But Alex Vatanka, a senior analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, told VOA's Afghan service that despite Islamabads objections, Pakistans intelligence agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), could have sold Mansoor to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Perhaps Pakistanis thought that Mullah Mansoor was less an asset for them than a liability or perhaps he was moving out of their orbit, Vantaka said. Pakistans powerful army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, who is in charge of the countrys security policy, expressed serious concerns over the attack four days later and only after he met with the U.S. envoy to Islamabad, David Hale. Many observers saw that as a low-key response, suggesting that authorities may have been involved in some way. "The fact that it took three or four days for the Pakistani political elite to really voice any condemnation of the attack and even in a more muted way than in the past, I think certainly opens the possibility that they may have been involved," Rand's Campbell said. Iranian links? Mansoors Pakistani passport was under an alias, but it had a photo of the Taliban leader as well as stamps indicating he had traveled to Iran. That set off speculation that Iranian intelligence might have tipped off the CIA, although there is no evidence indicating any such cooperation. My professional assumption and speculation: U.S. and Irans intelligence collaboration in the targeting and killing of Mullah Mansoor cannot be disregarded since 2002 till today Iran has tried to change Americas thinking about the roots of terrorism, the modality of war against it and the imposition of security and stability in the Middle East and beyond, Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan spy chief, wrote on his Facebook page. Gulbudin Hekmatyar, an Afghan insurgent leader whose name is in the State Departments global terror list, made a similar allegation concerning the attack on Mansoor. Impact on peace talks A group of diplomats from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the U.S., known as the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, met in Islamabad this month to push for direct talks between the Taliban and the government. The group condemned a massive Taliban attack in Kabul and underscored that those who perpetrate such acts of terrorism should be ready to face consequences of their actions. The strike may have been the consequence the group warned about, said Barnett Rubin, an Afghanistan expert at New York University and a former advisor to the State Department. "I have the impression that [the Pakistanis] want the [peace] process to succeed." Rubin says there is reason to doubt that Washington will expand the drone campaign. The U.S. has not designated the Taliban as a terrorist organization and targeting another Taliban leader is likely to prove legally problematic. What is more, there is a body of academic research that indicates that "any strategy based on the elimination of leadership doesnt work," he said. The U.S. may go after other targets of opportunity but it still sees value in its relationship with Pakistan. If we start shooting drones at people in Quetta and Karachi and start deploying special forces in Quetta and Karachi, then we can say goodbye to our relationship with Pakistan, Rubin said. The World Health Assembly has approved reforms that will increase the U.N. health agency's ability to respond rapidly and more effectively to health emergencies. In Geneva, a panel of experts discussed how new measures will help countries tackle emergencies, such as Ebola, Zika, and yellow fever. Piecemeal reforms of the emergency health system have been under way for years; but, it was the unprecedented Ebola epidemic in West Africa that triggered a serious overhaul of the World Health Organization's method of response. While Ebola was declared in Guinea in March 2014, it took the WHO five months and many deaths before it pronounced Ebola an international public health emergency. Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, was an early and vocal critic of the agency's slow response to Ebola a disease that killed more than 11,000 people by the time it was declared over in December. Joanne Liu, president of MSF, said the global fear Ebola generated resulted in a cascade of initiatives for reform. "The creation of the new WHO Health Emergencies Program is a positive step forward; but, we know there is no quick fix," she said. "There is no cheap fix. So, without the 'buy-in' of member states and strong leadership, it will die on paper." The World Health Organization reports 130 million people worldwide need humanitarian assistance and all are in need of health assistance today. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said outbreaks such as Ebola, if not managed early, can get out of hand and become a humanitarian crisis. She said the WHO and its partners are working very hard to manage the Zika outbreak. "The Zika outbreak is now rampaging so many countries and not just in the Americas region, but Zika is at the doorstep of Africa now," she said. " With movement of people ... around the world, this is the kind of thing we should expect. We need to be prepared so that every country has the capability and capacity to prevent, to detect, and to respond to any emergencies." Chan said emergencies have become the new normal. Brazil is the epicenter of the Zika outbreak. The country has confirmed thousands of cases of the Zika virus and hundreds of pregnant women with microcephaly, linked to brain disorders in newborn babies. Brazilian health minister Fonseca Santos said his country has increased its surveillance system and undertaken a vigorous vector control program. He said it is investing $250 million in research. "The most important lesson," he said, "was that we should be prepared all the time, even for a disease that we are used to and we believe sometimes that we know everything about it and it can still surprise us anytime and become an emergency." Yellow fever has spread from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has confirmed 41 imported cases. Bokenge Bosua of the DRC Ministry of Health said his government has drawn up a response plan, which focuses on prevention and preparation. He said a vaccination campaign began Thursday in the capital, Kinshasa, and will last until June 6. "Also, we are focusing on mandatory vaccinations for travelers to Angola," he said. " Anyone who goes to Angola needs to be vaccinated against yellow fever." While most of the experts dwelled upon the reforms in regard to emerging diseases, MSF President Joanne Liu reminded them that the threat to health was not limited to infectious diseases. "From Yemen to Syria, from Central Africa Republic to Niger: health facilities are looted, burned and bombed," she said. "Patients are slaughtered in their beds. Health workers are abducted, assaulted and killed." A new WHO report on attacks on health care in emergencies found more than 60 percent in the last two years were intentional. It said health facilities and health workers are deliberately targeted and the attacks, which deprive thousands of people of essential care, are not stopping. The national secretary of Zambias opposition Movement for Multi-Party Democracy said it had begun talks with President Edgar Lungu and his ruling party about forming an alliance ahead of the August 11 general election. Raphael Nakachinda also denied media reports that a dispute within the MMD, the second-biggest opposition group, could derail any possible alliance with the Patriotic Front. He said the move to confer with the PF resulted from a new constitutional provision requiring majority support to win an election. Previously, a candidate could be declared the winner with less than 50 percent of the vote. President Lungu was not shy to indicate that for that to be attainable, he needed to work with other political parties," Nakachinda said, adding that the MMD was one of the parties Lungu said he could work with. "The prospects are very high. The MMD, Nakachinda said, "could go into an alliance as long as we are able to develop a developmental agenda thats mutually agreed upon." Local media reported an apparent split within the MMD after a faction of the party led by Nevers Mumba, a former presidential candidate, publicly endorsed main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development. New leader This followed the Electoral Commission of Zambia's call for the MMD to resolve its internal problems before it would recognize newly elected party leader Felix Mutati as the presidential candidate in the coming polls. The commission has already recognized Mumba as the MMD candidate because he made a down payment on his nomination fees. But it said it would recognize Mutati after the MMD resolved its internal problems. The MMD's Nakachinda said Mumba was to blame for the confusion. It was literally mischievous of him, because first of all, before going into any election as MMD, it is expected that we go to a convention, seek the mandate of our membership, and then from there, thats when you can begin to engage as a presidential candidate," Nakachinda said. Mumba "disregarded everything and went and paid while we were still resolving issues." Now, however, the MMD has an official standard-bearer, which we will now communicate officially to all stakeholders," Nakachinda said. He called Mumba's backing of Hichilema "a personal endorsement with a clique of a few individuals that he has been working with. Lungu is expected to face stiff competition from Hichilema in the August election. 3 An Iraqi girl drinks juice near al-Sejar village, in Iraq's Anbar province, after fleeing with her family the city of Fallujah during a major operation by Pro-government forces to retake the city of Fallujah, from the Islamic State (IS). The industrial action by some National Railways of Zimbabwe workers is set to continue after a meeting between board chairman Larry Mavima, NRZ management and workers representatives failed to yield positive results. Mavima called for the meeting to try and persuade the striking workers to return to work while the parastatal looks for funds to clear the 15 month pay arrears. Zimbabwe Amalgamated Railways Workers Union president Kamurai Moyo said workers made it clear at the meeting that their members are willing to return to work but they do not have bus fare. He said Mavima tried to explain to them that the parastatal is doing everything it can to raise the money, including transporting maize at a fee, but workers representatives ignored his remarks. Workers want to return to work as early as yesterday, but they are says give us our salaries or even part payment first. The board chairman knows what the NRZ should do, pay the workers, Moyo said. NRZ workers went on strike at the end of last month demanding outstanding salaries backdating to 2015 but the company is struggling to raise the money. Reached for a comment, NRZ spokesperson Fanuel Masikati said he was yet to get a briefing on the outcome of the meeting since he did not attend. 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. We stress the importance of counterterrorism work already done in relevant bilateral, regional, and international fora such as the UN and the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF). However, we also acknowledge that there remain gaps in the existing operational capabilities and international cooperation to fight terrorism. The international community has already developed a large list of actions that need to be taken. Frameworks for information exchange and cooperation already exist. However, not all of these are implemented and utilized to the fullest potential. This is why the G7 decided to focus on specific critical gaps in order to facilitate a more effective counterterrorism response by the international community. As violent extremism is one of the main factors conducive to the spread of terrorist attacks throughout the world, we stress the need to address it. In this context, empowering alternative voices that are capable of challenging the drivers of violent extremism is necessary to help make societies resilient to violent extremism. Therefore, the members of the G7 commit to taking the following concrete actions, in accordance with their domestic laws and international obligations, to help improve the overall capacity of the international community to fight against terrorism and to counter violent extremism. The members of the G7 commit to further work on concrete steps that would facilitate the implementation of the actions identified below and regularly take stock of the progress. Leaders will revert to this issue at their next summit. Action 1: CT Measures Implementation of relevant UNSCRs Emphasize the necessity for all States to fully implement terrorism related UNSCRs, including resolutions 1373(2001), 1540(2004), 2170(2014), 2178(2014), 2199(2015), and 2253(2015) and actively support efforts to help UN Member States implement their obligations in this regard, especially those in the most affected regions, while always respecting human rights and the rule of law. Information Sharing and Cooperation Bolster information sharing among relevant authorities in G7 countries both domestically and internationally through existing mechanisms. Support INTERPOLs information sharing role, especially in the areas of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF), stolen and lost travel documents, fire arms and looted and stolen cultural property such as antiquities, and encourage all states to make full use of and contribute to its existing databases, and to update them systematically. Support INTERPOLs Action Plan by enhancing the connectivity of priority countries National Central Bureaus with their air/land/sea points of entry. Strengthen international legal cooperation and, in particular, call on partners to explore ways to expedite the collection and exchange of electronic evidence in particular for criminal and terrorist related investigations. Border Security Strengthen cooperation among border agencies and support greater use of existing border security programs such as the World Customs Organization (WCO)s Security Programme. Expand the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) and Advance Passenger Information (API) in traveler screening. Aviation Security Call upon all states to duly implement the standards of Annex 17 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention) and consider in view of the 39th session of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly (27 September 7 October 2016) the need for applying security measures, processes and equipment that go beyond the standards and recommended practices in light of the current level of threat. Address jointly without delay the issue of potential vulnerabilities in states aviation security systems, including by coordinating capacity building and technical assistance to them. Act jointly in the framework of ICAO to review and improve standards and recommended practices and its audit system, the Universal Security Audit Programme (USAP). Call on partners to recognize and address the threat to access control and other airport land security related measures covered by Annex 17 to the Chicago Convention. Countering Terrorist Financing Assess jointly current mechanisms of information exchange and explore innovative forms of information exchange and international cooperation on counter-terrorism financing, also analyzing domestic cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units and relevant private sector entities, in view of adopting actions where appropriate. Evaluate jointly whether the current reporting and customer identification and verification thresholds, including as applied to new payment methods such as virtual currency and prepaid cards, are sufficient to protect the international financial system from abuse by terrorists. Explore jointly how to strengthen the use of terrorist asset freezing tools, including by jointly or independently proposing and considering new UN Security Council designations, by using autonomous listings to support UN designations and by responding swiftly to bilateral freezing requests. Share the view that the FATF is the most legitimate and effective body to shape the global effort to tackle terrorist financing worldwide, and support to reinforce the FATF network to address more effectively the worldwide threats which affect the safety and security of our citizens. Trafficking of antiquities Call on all states to enhance efforts to hinder looting and trafficking of cultural property originating from regions under the control of terrorist groups, and also call on relevant organizations such as UNESCO and INTERPOL to assist in such efforts. Call for expansion and systematic and immediate use of the INTERPOL database on Stolen Works of Art and support its improvement through the PSYCHE project (Protection System for Cultural Heritage). Engagement with the private sector Enhance efforts to counter the threat posed by terrorist groups exploiting the Internet and social media for terrorist purposes, in cooperation with a number of stake holders including civil society, and private companies, to ensure law enforcement. Engage with Internet companies including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and administrators of relevant applications to facilitate counterterrorism investigations, including the collection of relevant data, and to address the use of the internet for terrorist purposes to recruit, radicalize, and mobilize followers to violence. Call on the art market and collectors to contribute to disrupting illicit trade in cultural property, including by conducting due diligence with particular regard to the origin and destination of archaeological and ethnological material. Action 2: Empowering Alternative Voices and Tolerance in Society Support endorsement of the UN Secretary Generals Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism (PVE), and call for its rapid implementation, including by sharing expertise and providing relevant assistance to other UN member states as they develop national action plans. Review options for reconfiguring UN leadership on PVE and counterterrorism to drive forward the UNs efforts on these distinct but interrelated agendas, both within the UN system and with external partners, especially with development actors in the field, with a view to more effectively implementing the UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy, as well as the PVE Plan of Action, UN Security Council resolutions, and the universal international legal instruments against terrorism. Promote pluralism, tolerance, and gender equality through cross-cultural and interfaith dialogues and understanding including through education. Empower civil society and local communities, particularly with a focus on the role of women and youth in countering and preventing violent extremism, including through active support to relevant organizations such as the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) and Hedayah, the international Center of Excellence for countering violent extremism (CVE), and promote the exchange of experiences among practitioners from G7 members and with priority countries. Underline the importance of strategic communication as a tool in fighting terrorism and countering ISIL (Daesh)s propaganda. Action 3: Capacity Building Improve donor coordination and, where applicable, support the development of the International CT/CVE Clearinghouse Mechanism (ICCM), a GCTF initiative currently in its pilot phase, and ensure that it becomes an effective coordination mechanism to maximize the impact of CT and CVE assistance. Call upon relevant international, regional, and sub-regional organizations to enhance collaboration to more efficiently and effectively provide CT-related capacity building and technical assistance programs. Increase cooperation and G7 donor coordination in affected regions including Asia, in addition to already existing coordination mechanism in areas such as countering violent extremism, aviation security, border security and cyber-related capacity. Mark Salling. Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images Mark Salling, best known for playing Puck on Foxs Glee, was charged in a two-count federal indictment with receiving and possessing child pornography. Specifically, the indictment alleges that Salling received a still image and a video online that depicted child pornography on December 26, 2015. The second count charges Salling with possessing two videos depicting child pornography on December 29, the night Salling was arrested. At that time, police and Homeland Security Investigations searched his home in Sunland, California, and found thousands of illicit images, including several of young girls. The actor was arrested on state charges, and later released on bail, before investigators turned the case over to federal authorities. Salling faces at least five years in prison the mandatory minimum for the charge of receiving child pornography if convicted. He agreed to surrender to federal authorities on June 3. This is not Sallings first brush with the law. In 2013, he paid $2.7 million to settle a sexual-battery lawsuit from an ex-girlfriend. Those who download and possess child pornography create a market that causes more children to be harmed, United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a press release. Young victims are harmed every time an image is generated, every time it is distributed, and every time it is viewed. Update, May 31: Director Adi Shankar has dropped Salling from his upcoming film Gods and Secrets. After Sallings arrest in December, Shankar said he wouldnt feed our growing pitchfork culture, and would wait so see if allegations were true before taking action. In a statement released today, Shankar promised that he would personally pay for Sallings scenes to be re-shot and donate a portion of the films profits to a charity for abused children. Salling was going to play a villain in Gods and Secrets, which stars Kellan Lutz, Denise Richards, and Jane Seymour. Update, June 4: According to the United States Attorneys Office, Salling was released on a $150,000 bail following his arraignment in downtown Los Angeles yesterday afternoon. He pleaded not-guilty to the federal charges, and a trial was scheduled for July 12. He is going to be wearing an ankle bracelet for monitoring, Thom Mrozek, spokesperson for attorneys office, told reporters outside of the courthouse. He has been ordered to not have any contact with children, the internet, and drugs. The actor was also required to surrender his passport, and will receive occasional check-ins from authorities at his home before the trial begins. Update, June 29: Sallings trial, which was scheduled for July 12, has been delayed indefinitely. The delay was reportedly granted after the court allowed Salling to hire a new lawyer, who will use the given time to familiarize himself with the case. A new trial date is expected to be set during a preliminary hearing on September 19. Uh, dont worry about making a playlist for your BBQ this weekend. Victoria Beckhams unreleased 2003 album, Come Together, has reemerged like those coffins bobbing to the surface of that swimming pool at the end of Poltergeist, and its got all the sweet, sexy, pseudo hip-hop tunes you need. (Warning: Victoria Beckhams unreleased hip-hop album is hip-hop in the way Leslie Carters 2001 single Like Wow! is hip-hop.) According to Huffington Post, Damon Dash produced the 2003 album, which features an appearance from Ol Dirty Bastard, but it was subsequently shelved for reasons that should become immediately clear. The result? Imagine an exhausted Jennifer Lopez recorded an album that for legal reasons could only be played at Claires. Every character Hillary Duff has ever played would have loved it, and so will you. chat room The Patients Linda Emond on Coming to Terms With Mothering a Killer Theres a certain martyrdom for what she went through. Thats how she made sense of it: She saved her son and stood by him. God bless Margot Robbie, but is this really the standard she wants to set for America? Teaching us about actual, important, real-world subjects from the tub like she did in The Big Short? This honestly might be the only way people are able to learn information going forward, in which case, that poor womans skin is going to slough off entirely, her fingers so wrinkly as to be rendered useless. On the other hand, informing people about Red Nose Day is probably worth delivering news from your bathtub for the rest of your life. Red Nose Day is about child poverty which, really, did you know before Margot Robbie told you while bathing? LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte in the original Roots. Photo: Warner Brothers History Channel will air a remake of Roots over four consecutive nights, beginning May 30. Ahead of its premiere, Matt Zoller Seitz revisits the original series. Roots is the most important scripted program in broadcast network history. It aired across eight consecutive nights in January 1977 a go-for-broke gesture by ABC, which made the mini-series out of a sense of social obligation and wanted to burn off the entire run quickly in a mostly dead programming month. The producer was David L. Wolper, who specialized in blockbuster documentaries and mini-series (including 1982s The Thorn Birds). The source was a book by Alex Haley, co-author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X; it was described as nonfiction until the 1990s, when African-American historians and genealogists checked Haleys account of his familys experiences as slaves in North Carolina and Virginia and decided that it was filled with conjecture and historical inaccuracies. The revelations cast a pall over the programs reputation, which is a shame. Nearly 40 years havent dimmed its ability to illuminate one of the grimmest aspects of U.S. history: its 200-year participation in the transatlantic slave trade and the racism that became institutionalized throughout the country up until the 1960s, barely a decade before Roots aired. When you consider Roots timeline proximity to the civil rights marches and riots of the sixties, the intraracial arguments about nonviolent-versus-violent resistance to oppression, and the overall whiteness of popular culture at that time, its very existence seems remarkable. Once you actually watch it, it seems still more remarkable. Haley and James Lees screenplay indicts white viewers in a meticulous, unrelenting way, showing that the entire nation was complicit in this horror, which ripped indigenous people from one continent and transplanted them in another, taking away language and religion and ritual and replacing it with the practices of oppressors, then insisting that they graciously accept servitude as a fact of life, or worse, as the manifestation of an alien Christian gods will. Unknown or underappreciated black actors played slaves and former slaves. Famous, and in some cases beloved, white TV stars played plantation owners, slave traffickers, overseers, and the wives and children and hired hands who benefited from the slave-based economy even though they didnt think of themselves as active participants in it. The face of the production was a young LeVar Burton, who played the Mandinka tribesman Kunta Kinte, the earliest known descendant of the author. In an iconic opening sequence that was later appropriated by Disneys The Lion King, we see the newborn Kunta being held aloft by his father, an image of freedom and possibility that will be ground into dirt when the teenage version of the character is kidnapped by African slavers, carried across the ocean in the hold of a slave ship, and sold into bondage in Maryland, where a fellow slave named Fiddler (Louis Gossett Jr.) teaches him to speak English and advises him to accept his new American name, Toby, give up his Mandinka heritage, and accept his lot in life. Kunta tries to escape anyway the first of several attempts and is savagely whipped by an overseer. As a middle-aged slave (now played by John Amos), he tries to escape again and has part of his foot amputated with an ax as punishment. He was given a choice between that or castration. What kind of man would do that to another man, Fiddler? Kunta asks his friend. Why they dont just kill me? The entire production is dotted with moments of savagery this extreme, including beatings, whippings, lynchings, forced sexual relationships between female slaves and their white bosses or owners, and the separation of families whose members have been sold off to different masters. Every one of these horrific moments is justified, because the intent of Roots is to affirm the shared trauma of generations of blacks and make whites who had never really contemplated the visceral reality of it feel at least some small part of its sting. Viewers who had read Uncle Toms Cabin and were aware of the realities of slavery knew about the brutality, as well as the countless daily degradations, and the overall sense of despair that afflicted people who had been reduced to the status of glorified livestock to be worked, bred, sold, and put down. As in a silent melodrama (a mode that might have inspired parts of Roots), every scene is conceived in very broad strokes, and theres no ambiguity about whats happening or what it means for the characters; but the bedrock of Roots is still a historical vision of considerable sophistication. Its showing us an inverted form of colonialism: Rather than going to another country to superimpose their culture, the mini-series European-descended whites have brought Africans to North America, then systematically beaten and bred their indigenous culture out of them over the course of several generations. The casually doled-out whippings, the almost lordly indifference of the plantation owners, the repeated insistence that the slaves speak English and worship the Christian God, all testify to the mass brainwashing that was necessary to maintain the slave economy. As early as episode two, the sound of fiddle-dependent European folk music, which replaced the Mandinka drums of the opening section, starts to seem psychically oppressive: aural shackles. Roots brought it all into American living rooms, night after night, and dramatized it through well-written characters portrayed by actors with imagination and empathy. For many white viewers, the mini-series amounted to the first prolonged instance of not merely being asked to identify with cultural experiences that were alien to them, but to actually feel them by watching Kunta and his fellow slaves struggle to be free, either physically or emotionally, only to realize that in a country that had institutionalized white supremacy and had no compelling reason to change its ways, it just wasnt possible. The bulk of Roots messages and meanings were transmitted through its black actors: Burton; Gossett; Amos; Cicely Tyson (as Kuntas mother, Binta); Madge Sinclair (as Belle Reynolds, who falls in love with the middle-aged, maimed Kunta); Leslie Uggams (as Kizzy Reynolds, Kunta and Belles daughter, who was secretly taught to read and write); Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (as Kizzys lover Noah, who tries to escape as Kunta did before him); and Ben Vereen (as the future cockfighting impresario Chicken George Moore, Kizzys son by a white slaveholder). Many of the performances are as saddening as they are revelatory: Hilton-Jacobs, who was stuck playing a smooth-talking clown on Welcome Back, Kotter, is heroically righteous as Noah, and Amos and Sinclairs tenderness in love scenes reminds us of how rarely African-American performers were allowed to play romantic, sexual beings on national TV in the 70s. (When Kunta and Belle meet secretly in a barn, she strokes his shoulders and cradles his face, then removes his shirt and caresses the whip scars on his back, and he speaks to her in their native language, home at last.) But the shows casting masterstroke occurred in the white roles. They were filled by actors who had usually played sympathetic, adorable, or noble characters. Ed Asner, best known as the curmudgeonly but honorable Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, played the hired captain of the ship that brought Kunta and other kidnapped Africans to the United States. The moment when hes shown the blueprint of the ship and realizes what those cramped berths and shackles are for, then accepts the job anyway, might be the most damning statement TV had yet made about the white mans ability to compartmentalize revulsion when there was money to be made. The overseer on the voyage who assures the captain that the slaves arent really human is played by Ralph Waite, the crinkly-eyed dad from The Waltons. Chuck Connors, the righteous widowed rancher from The Rifleman, plays Tom Moore, a planter who rapes and impregnates Kizzy. Dr. William Reynolds, portrayed by Robert Reed, the father from The Brady Bunch, at first seems like a fairly benign master, at least compared to some of the openly sadistic characters wed met up until that point; he assures his slaves that he wont splinter blood ties by selling any of them off. But when Noah tries to escape, he changes his mind and sells Noah and Kizzy to separate plantations. Kizzy turns to Missy Anne Reynolds (played by Broadways Peter Pan, Sandy Duncan) for help because theyve always been close; but when Kizzys carted off, screaming, No, no, I dont want to go! Missy Anne watches through an upstairs window, her face a cold mask. The political and emotional reality of Roots drama is still stunning. Nothing happens that would not have happened. There is no hand-holding of white viewers, no dog-whistle assurances that if they were in this situation, they would not have behaved abominably. Time and again, the white characters are faced with a stark choice: Do the morally right thing and set themselves in opposition to slave culture, or maintain the status quo and hold on to their privileges. They always go with the second option. Roots was produced on the cheap, with blandly lit interior scenes, unconvincing old-age makeup, and scrub-dotted California locations standing in for the humid greenness of the former Confederate States, and the physical continuity in the casting is sometimes laughable (in no universe does LeVar Burton grow up to become John Amos). But for all its missteps and faults, and there are many, it is distinguished by its moral and political clarity about what slavery was and what it meant to U.S. history and African and African-American identity. A sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, followed in 1979, and was nearly as good, following the familys story through Reconstruction, the Northern migration, Prohibition, World War II, and the 1960s. It featured Marlon Brando in a cameo as Ku Klux Klan leader George Lincoln Rockwell, and culminated with Alex Haley (James Earl Jones) meeting his first great subject, Malcolm X (Al Freeman Jr.), then returning to his familys ancestral village in Jufureh, the Gambia, Africa. The saga ends with a griot telling Haley the story of a young man named Kunta Kinte. The power of this moment, like so many others in Roots, is overwhelming, and it renders the questions of historical accuracy largely moot. This is not the story of one mans family, but the story of a nations secret history, a tale that hasnt yet been fully engaged with and understood, and that still lacks a satisfying ending. This is not the scene, but we didnt want to spoil you. Photo: Twentieth Century Fox Another big-budget superhero movie is in theaters, and you know what that means: a mysterious post-credits scene! If you saw the ninth (!) movie in the X-Men franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse, and stuck around as the Quebecois visual-effects artists were listed and the Teamsters were thanked, you saw a little sequence that probably confused you. The final shot is a tease about the future of the franchise, but it features a reference that will be lost on 99 percent of the non-comics-reading public. Heres what its all about. Spoilers ahead. Once the dust settles (literally) from the climactic, Cairo-set battle between the X-people and the titular Apocalypse, we return to a secret military outpost that was introduced earlier in the movie. Its where black-ops military man Stryker engages in experiments on mutants. Logan/Wolverine known in the facility as Weapon X was one of them, and the post-credits clip begins with a cleanup crew tending to the trail of dead bodies left in his wake after Jean Grey and company liberated him. The key person in the dialogue-free scene is a bespectacled man in a suit who walks among the corpses with a purposeful gait. He obtains medical records and a vial of blood belonging to Logan, puts the vial in his briefcase, then closes it theatrically. As it closes, the audience sees it has a large, metallic emblem on it that reads ESSEX CORP. This is a reference to an X-Men villain named Mister Sinister, whose civilian name is Nathaniel Essex. In the Marvel Comics from which the X-franchise sprang, Sinister has a significant history, despite the fact that hes not a terribly fascinating bad guy.* But now that Fox has used up Magneto, Apocalypse, and the Sentinels, theyre running out of great X-Men antagonists. Nevertheless, hes a recognizable name for anyone who devoured X-series in the 1980s and 90s. The Sinister one, himself. Photo: Marvel Sinister/Essex is actually very difficult to describe. His basic deal is that hes a master schemer with vaguely defined superpowers and a fantastically goth aesthetic. In comics mythology, he was originally a human scientist in Victorian England, one obsessed with Darwins then-new theory of evolution by natural selection. He had an encounter with Apocalypse, who had been awakened from his centuries-long slumber. The two formed an alliance and Apocalypse granted Essex abilities including superhuman longevity. As such, he stuck around well into the 20th century. Over time he became fixated on the development of the mutant species. After the worlds premier team of mutants, the X-Men, were formed, he popped up periodically to torment them via extremely convoluted plans. For example, he created a clone of Jean Grey named Madelyne Pryor while Jean was dead and sent Madelyne to make Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops) fall in love with her and have a baby that Sinister could use as a mutant weapon. That baby got sent into the future to be raised by Scott and Jeans daughter from an alternate timeline, and then the grown-up baby came back to the present as a grizzled warrior named Cable who was devoted to killing Apocalypse. Got all that? Just to make things more confusing, Sinisters superpowers are very amorphous. Ever since his 1987 debut in the Chris Claremontpenned and Marc Silvestridrawn Uncanny X-Men No. 221, hes variously been depicted as being invulnerable, telepathic, telekinetic, shape-shifting, and able to teleport. He can kinda do whatever the story requires him to do. That said, one thing he is not generally depicted as doing is running a corporation. So it would appear that the film franchise is taking the character in some kind of new direction. But being a mustache-twirling businessman would certainly fit with Sinisters overall deal of being a hyperintelligent manipulator. We can only hope that he has the same look he has in the comics: white skin, black lips, red diamond on his forehead, full black bodysuit, absurdly high red collar, and a cape made out of what looks like midnight-colored measuring tape. Its too bad Alan Rickmans no longer with us, because, damn, he would have been perfect for the role. *This article has been updated to reflect the fact that, though hes boring, Sinister is pretty important in the X-mythos. More than 3 million Texans will travel during the Memorial Day holiday, and many hitting the highways will discover gas prices that have surged an average of 7 cents per gallon statewide, though they remain nearly 50 cents below this time last year, according to AAA Texas and GasBuddy.com. Texans are eagerly awaiting the start of summer and are ready to travel in numbers we havent seen in more than a decade, AAA vice president of branch operations Rhonda Wilson said in a press release. Gas prices lower than a year ago mean the great American road trip is officially back, and Texas motorists are ready for a Memorial Day getaway, Wilson said. AAA estimates that Americans have saved $18 billion on gas this year compared to 2015, and prices remain at the lowest level in 11 years. It says a strong labor market and rising personal income are motivating people to travel during the three-day weekend. According to a recent AAA survey, 55 percent of Americans said they are more likely to take a road trip this year because of lower gas prices. Still, motorists may have suffered mild cases of sticker shock in recent days, as gas prices have surged in conjunction with oil prices flirting with $50 a barrel. Those rising oil prices are good for some folks in Texas, which is a major oil-producing and refining state, GasBuddy.com analyst Patrick DeHaan said. DeHaan scoffed at the notion numbers at the pump are flipping upward simply because a holiday is approaching and oil companies want to gouge travelers. I am aware that some people have a gut feeling that that is the case, but if you look at last year, for example, prices went down ahead of Labor Day and went down ahead of July 4th, he said. They did go up before Memorial Day, as they have this year. But Memorial Day arrives at a pivotal time of the year, when most refineries are just wrapping up their conversion to summer fuels, which means supply may not be at its peak, while driving and demand for gasoline increases. The bottom line is that the old law of supply and demand is kicking in, as it always does, DeHaan said. $2.04 average price The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Waco hit $2.04 on Thursday, but it was available for several pennies less at many locations, DeHaan said. The average may rise slightly in coming weeks, he said, but he predicted it will gradually fall toward the end of summer. For the first time in months, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded has passed $2 in every state in the nation, according to GasBuddy.com. The primary culprit, obviously, is a hike in oil prices, which just crossed above $50 a barrel for the first time since November, the Wall Street Journal reports. The 52-week low for the commodity is $31.61, which puts the price up a breathtaking 60 percent since then. DeHaan thinks the rising crude oil market is temporary. Im surprised it has continued to rise because upward pressure is minimal, DeHaan said. I think the market soon will come to its senses, and prices will go back down. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Texas reached $2.079 this week, an increase of 7 cents from last week but down 44 cents from the same week a year ago. Of the major metropolitan areas, drivers in Dallas are paying the most at $2.15 per gallon, while those in San Antonio are paying the least at $1.99, according to a AAA press release. 3.1 million travelers Nearly 3.1 million Texans will travel by plane, train or automobile between Thursday and Monday, a 1.7 percent increase from last year, according to AAA. Meanwhile, more than 38 million Americans will put home in the rearview to visit family or attractions, a jump of 700,000 from 2015. The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded stands at $2.29, well above Texas norm, and increases have been recorded every day the past two weeks, according to AAA. Those planning a quick trip to California for the holiday can expect to pay nearly $3 a gallon for regular unleaded, the most in the country. Some of the lowest prices nationwide can be found along the Gulf Coast, including in Texas, though some refineries are undergoing unplanned maintenance that could create an uptick, AAA reported. Travelers will encounter challenges in Waco, where the Texas Department of Transportation has blocked Interstate 35 on- and off-ramps at South Fourth and South Fifth streets to accommodate bridge repairs along the interstate near downtown until late August, TxDOT spokeswoman Jodi Wheatley said. These are necessary bridge repairs, and we didnt feel we could wait because its a safety issue, Wheatley said. Susan Morton, tourism manager for the city of Waco, said she is expecting robust crowds to visit the area during the three-day weekend. Tens of thousands likely will use the time to tour Magnolia Market at the Silos and the Dr Pepper Museums new soda shop, exhibition area and gift shop. For years, Morton said, Waco has encouraged travelers to venture off the interstate and explore what Waco has to offer. More are taking that advice, making the city a tourist and shopping destination. She said the tourism office will do whatever it can to soften the blow of the exit closings on I-35. Top 10 Memorial Day travel destinations 1. Orlando, Florida 2. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 3. Washington, D.C. 4. New York 5. Miami 6. San Francisco 7. Boston 8. Honolulu 9. Los Angeles 10. South Padre Island Source: AAA Texas A pack of girlfriends can accumulate a lot of wisdom and advice over several decades, as well as nurture an impish sense of humor at least one impish enough to put a red thong in a book title. The book is Red Thong Strong: Girlfriends Little Secrets To Smoothing Lifes Panty Lines and its authors are eight Bedford girlfriends who distilled three decades of shared life experience to produce the book. One of the girlfriends is Waco native Linda Gilbert Storer, a 1971 Richfield High School grad, who will bring her companions to Waco on Saturday for a book signing from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Spice Village, 213 Mary Ave. Were all connected girlfriends from way back, she said. The connection started with a Sunday school class for young married couples at William C. Martin United Methodist Church in Bedford, where Storer had moved with her husband in 1979, several years after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. The young women met on a regular basis at church and over time found friendships that started largely for socializing grew to become life supports in times of crisis and loss. Storer and Charlotte Garner Hill, the books lead writers, are cancer survivors, and Storer attributes the love and support of her friends as being a major factor in her recovery. Storer admits the the rarity in this day of eight women living more than 30 years in the same general area, much less being friends over time. In fact, it was an encounter with a young salesclerk during a girlfriend getaway in San Diego that spawned the book. The womens exuberant OK, loud friendship in a stores dressing room led the clerk to comment she didnt have as many friends in her life. It struck us about the importance of nurturing friendship in your life, Storer said. We started making notes (for the book) on that trip. Red Thong Strong, aimed at women in their late 20s and older, is a grab bag of advice and experiences, shopping and beauty tips next to dealing with loss or strengthening relationships. Its part memoir, part inspiration and part how-to, she said. Weve found that girlfriends can be the fountain of youth. Which leads back to the lingerie-laden title. To encourage someone facing the big scary birthdays that end in 0, the girlfriends would send the birthday girl a pair of red thong panties, as a reminder that her sexuality, identity, spirit and humor were still intact. Soon, red thongs became the groups signature. Its our symbol and mission now, Storer said. Book signing of Red Thong Strong By Linda Gilbert Storer and seven others When, where: 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday at Spice Village, 213 Mary Ave. Those involved in the prosecution of McLennan Countys first human trafficking trial provided a detailed study of the case Thursday to representatives from 45 agencies who deal with those crimes and related issues. The victim in the case was known by the street name of Summer. But McLennan County Assistant District Attorney Gabrielle Massey, one of three who prosecuted the case, told the group of about 75 gathered at Antioch Community Church that she prefers to call Summer a survivor, not a victim. As she did during the March trial in Wacos 19th State District Court, Massey recounted how the collective system failed the young girl and how the coordinated efforts of many of those in the room helped thwart the girls downward spiral from rejection, sexual abuse, prostitution and drug addiction and end her history of running away from group centers, foster homes and residential treatment centers. Summer, who is 16, is still coping with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but she has kicked drugs after a few relapses, has a job and is working toward her high school equivalency diploma. The meeting was attended by members of Heart of Texas Human Trafficking Coalition, which was formed in January 2015 and brings together members of federal, state and local law enforcement, federal and state prosecutors, school officials, juvenile justice authorities, service providers and a motorcycle group called Bikers Against Child Abuse. Susan Peters, coalition head and executive director of UnBound, which battles human trafficking, told the group that the number of agencies represented and their level of cooperation is beyond compare nationwide. I think the buy-in and cooperation that is happening here in Central Texas is unprecedented, Peters said. The leaders of our community are the ones who are participating because they really care about this issue. So they are doing everything they can to fight it. It is unusual in its scope and it is awesome. Dan Phillips, a chief deputy for the U.S. Marshals Service and head of the office of crisis services, said he has been impressed by what he called the unprecedented level of cooperation among the different agencies represented at the meeting. Phillips said hearing about real cases like Summers increases awareness of human trafficking, which is key to combatting it. Inspiring others While it is hard to imagine given her tragic life, Massey said Summer told her she is almost glad about the chaotic life she has led thus far because she knew she was strong enough to survive it, and her story seems to have inspired people to help others in similar situations. She said, There are thousands of girls like me, Massey said, quoting Summer. If you went to every residential treatment center in the state, there are at least 20 girls just like me. Summer testified during the trial of Andre Renor Evans in March that Evans kept her high on crack cocaine while collecting money from a parade of men who showed up at his Preston Street home to have sex with her. It was like he had a trophy, Summer testified. Like, I have this white girl, and she is young and pretty. On one horrific day, Summer said Evans and a woman gave her numerous injections of heroin and she didnt even bother to get dressed because of the steady stream of men who paid Evans to have sex with her. Waco police Sgt. Jason Lundquist, who worked on Summers case, said her monthlong stay at Evans East Waco home was the talk of Waco because her presence there disrupted the prostitution trade in Waco. She angered the regular prostitutes because she was cutting into their business, and the situation also angered some customers, or johns, because they realized once they saw her that she was just a child being used as Evans sex slave, he said. Evans, 51, a five-time felon with 17 misdemeanors, was sentenced to 12 consecutive life sentences, a term believed to be the longest handed out in McLennan County history. Judge Ralph Strother also stacked the 12 life sentences onto a 20-year term for retaliation, for which Evans was on parole. Massey told the group that state child protective workers removed Summer from her mothers care at age 6. She bounced around between foster families for a time until she was adopted by a family in Pflugerville. She was happy there and felt like she was part of a family for the first time until she reached a certain age and her adoptive father started groping her and looking at her differently. She said she started acting out and cutting herself and was sent to a mental hospital. She ran away and lived with a friend and started using drugs, she said. Police brought her back to the family, but soon, they terminated their parental rights. Felt pretty alone After that, I felt pretty alone, the girl told the jury during the trial. She was placed in several group homes but kept running away. State officials continued to put her in residential placement centers, mental health hospitals and drug treatment centers. She ran away from most of them. During one of those times, she was sexually assaulted by five men in Austin. She got in touch with her father in Louisiana but she realized she couldnt stay there because his parental rights had been terminated and she didnt want him to get in trouble for harboring a runaway. She was sent to a placement facility in Waco. She ran away from there and lived for a time with a boy and his mother. After she left them, she met Evans, who kept her hostage for weeks. After she was rescued from there, she was sent back to juvenile detention in McLennan County, where officials struggled with how best to help the girl. They sent her to a drug rehabilitation center in Florida, after which she grew closer to her father, who had been working with CPS workers to get back into his daughters life. Two months later, her father died by suicide. Summer found his body, Massey told the group. No matter what she has been through, she is still happy, Massey said. She is broken, but she knows it and she is working on that. She is the most inspiring person I know, and her case could not have been tried without the collaboration of many of you in this room. She is our kid. We are responsible for her. The history of Britains tactical air power development during the Second World War has largely neglected the work done by Army Co-operation Command. The Command was influential in developing the theoretical air support system used in the Western Desert, North Africa, and Europe and was responsible for trials conducted in the wake of the Battle of France, 1940. Working closely with the armys School of Artillery, they also developed the Air Observation Post Squadron, used to great effect in several different theaters. In this lecture, Dr Matthew Powell will discuss how the RAF had neglected the development of tactical air power during the inter-war period and how this decision impacted on their ability to provide this support when war broke out. The armys experiences in the Battle of France and the subsequent investigations, which placed the blame firmly on the shoulders of the RAF, forced the hand of the RAF into taking tactical air power development more seriously. As a result, the RAF created the Army Co-operation Command, designed to be as toothless as possible while appearing to be what the Army wanted. The lecture will explore the fast pace of tactical air power development during 1942, which led to discussions on a new formation: the Army Air Support Group (AASG) and the rise of Fighter Command in this field. Disputes between the Air and General Staffs over which command the AASG should be placed into ran for the entire summer and were eventually resolved by Winston Churchill, before the Army Co-operation Command was disbanded in 1943. Its replacement was however, an upgraded Army Co-operation Command with the responsibilities it had been denied during its existence. Dr Ross Mahoney, RAF Museum Aviation Historian said: The RAF Museum is once again delighted to be working in conjunction with our colleagues at the University of Wolverhampton to bring the Trenchard Lectures in Air Power Studies to a wide audience. This lecture highlights the challenges the RAF faced in the realm of the development tactical air power with particular reference to the history of Army Co-Operation Command, a subject much understudied by historians. The Trenchard Lectures in Air Power Studies form part of the RAF Museums Research Programme for 2016. Tactical Air Power Development in Britain, 1940-1943 is the second of three joint lectures taking place at the University of Wolverhampton this year, also in partnership with the Royal Aeronautical Society. Dr Peter Preston-Hough, from the Universitys Department of War Studies, said: Were delighted to be hosting this prestigious series of lectures, which promise to provide an interesting insight into this fascinating area of history. The University has a strong relationship with the RAF Museum and we look forward to continue to work closely with them on this prestigious lecture series. This FREE lecture will be held in the main lecture theatre (MC001) at the University of Wolverhampton at 6.30pm on Thursday 9 June. As spaces are limited, organisers advise visitors to book their tickets in advance via the museums website to avoid disappointment. For further information about the museums research programme or to book your FREE ticket to the lecture, please visit the museum website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford. 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. Telefonica, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company's mobile and related services and products comprise mobile voice, value added, mobile data and Internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone services; local, domestic, and international long-distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; supplementary value-added services; video telephony; intelligent network; and telephony information services, as well as leases and sells handset equipment. The company also provides Internet and broadband multimedia services comprising Internet service provider, portal and network, retail and wholesale broadband access, narrowband switched access, high-speed Internet through fibre to the home, and voice over Internet protocol services. In addition, it offers leased line, virtual private network, fibre optics, web hosting and application, outsourcing and consultancy, desktop, and system integration and professional services. Further, the company offers wholesale services for telecommunication operators, including domestic interconnection and international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators; and local loop leasing services, as well as bit stream services, wholesale line rental accesses, and leased ducts for other operators' fiber deployment. Additionally, it provides video/TV services; smart connectivity and services, and consumer IoT products; financial and other payment, security, cloud computing, advertising, big data, and digital telco experience services; virtual assistants; digital home platforms; and Movistar Home devices. It also offers online telemedicine, home insurance, music streaming, and consumer loan services. The company was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It took the world's largest central banks and 35 of the biggest players in the $US5.3 trillion-a-day global currency market eight months to devise a code of conduct for an industry still reeling from a price-fixing scandal that rocked global finance. Those in the business still say they have work to do. "The foreign exchange industry has suffered from a lack of trust," wrote RBA assistant governor Guy Debelle, who led the central bankers' group steering the formation of the guidelines. Credit:Michel O'Sullivan Some of the code's main takeaways: act honestly, fairly and with integrity in dealings with clients; strive for high professional standards; identify and deal with conflicts of interest. "This is exactly what I tell my seven-year-old -- be honest, be kind and be helpful," said Kevin McPartland, head of research for market structure and technology at Greenwich Associates, a Connecticut-based financial-services consulting firm. "If we're coming to a place where the ground rules were barely existent into a new world -- that is some progress." Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens held off giving politicians both barrels in his Trans-Tasman Business Circle remarks on Tuesday. But it shouldn't be overlooked that he still delivered two sharp slaps: one at the lack of a plan for getting the budget deficit under control, the other at the real estate spruiker antics of the prime minister and his treasurer. With an election campaign underway, it's understandable that Stevens chose his words carefully he always does. But the twin messages were nonetheless there. "The budgetary situation will be OK if nothing else goes wrong," he said. "You can't really assume in life that nothing will go wrong over an extended period. I suspect there are quite some years of hard repair work ahead for whomever is the government over the period ahead." When was the last time anyone voted for anyone? Barack Obama in 2008. Maybe Kevin 07? Other than that, examples are thin on the ground. Australians didn't vote for anyone at all in 2010, voted against Labor (and certainly not for Abbott) in 2013, and have now very quickly fallen out of love with Malcolm Turnbull almost as thoroughly as we dropped Rudd. This year Americans will either vote against Donald Trump and put Hillary Clinton in the White House, or they'll vote against politics altogether and put Trump there. An average of national polls this week put Trump slightly ahead. Yes. Meanwhile, Austria came within a whisker of electing a far-right president. It's largely a ceremonial role, but it's hardly a token result. Norbert Hofer is the kind of character who has now become an utterly familiar part of the political landscape: he has obvious counterparts in Slovakia, in Hungary, in Poland, in Switzerland, in Greece, in Sweden, in the Netherlands, even in France and Britain in the forms of Marine Le Pen and Nigel Farage. Now note the ubiquitous description of these figures: anti-immigrant, anti-EU. It's a surging movement defined overwhelmingly by what it's against. But here's the kicker: Hofer didn't even lose to a usual suspect. He lost to a fellow outlier: a former Green running as an independent, who'd be considered radical by the standards of conventional politics. But that's just it. Convention has been obliterated. Austria's two major parties, even with their votes combined, would have come third in this race. They didn't even get to the second-round runoff election. If the politics of the 20th century was a battle between liberalism and socialism, it's becoming something else entirely in the 21st. The problem is that's all it's becoming: something else. Liberalism and socialism were competing, well-formed social visions. They identified grand aims, and proposed means of achieving them. They ground out theories about the role of government and the rights of the citizen. In short, they asked us to buy something positive, even if they were quite negative about each other. And in turns, they earned the approval of voting majorities. The lead author of a consultants' report hailed by Environment Minister Greg Hunt as supporting the government's climate policies is a current member of the Liberal Party and former candidate for the federal seat of Sydney, prompting questions about its independence. Gordon Weiss is an associate of energy consultancy Energetics and was one of three authors of a report commissioned by the Environment Department exploring how Australia could meet its 2030 carbon emissions targets. The report did not disclose his affiliation. The report drew criticism from groups such as The Climate Institute for its findings, in particular that Australia could achieve the Abbott-Turnbull government's goal of cutting 2005-level emissions 26-28 per cent "under the current policy framework". Mr Hunt, though, praised the Energetics report at last week's debate with Labor counterpart Mark Butler, saying it confirmed the government "could meet and beat" its target "without additional measures", the Guardian reported. Jennifer Aniston's estranged mother Nancy Dow has died, just two weeks after their reported first meeting in five years. Dow passed away aged 79 after suffering from an unknown ailment. The former Friends star confirmed the news on Wednesday in a statement to People magazine. Jennifer Aniston's estranged mother Nancy Dow has died, just two weeks after their reported first meeting in five years. Credit:Getty "It is with great sadness that my brother John and I announce the passing of our Mother Nancy Dow. She was 79 years old and passed peacefully surrounded by family and friends after enduring a long illness. We ask that our family's privacy be respected as we grieve our loss," she said. Less than three months after their wedding anniversary, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's marriage is over. Now, just days after Heard filed for divorce, the rumours about what went wrong are beginning. TMZ initially cited tension between 30-year-old Heard and 52-year-old Depp's family as a problem. Depp's two children from a former marriage, Lily Rose and Jack, along with his two sisters and his mother, Betty Sue Palmer, were rumoured to have openly "hated" his new wife. Patrick Norman Pat Chapman is a 34-year-old, Caucasian male who was last known to be in Piedmont which is near the area of Greenville, Missouri on May 10, 2020. Pat had stayed the night with a friend and his wife at their home. In the early morning when the friend woke to go to work. Pat was gone in his own Burgundy color 1995 Ford Escort. That is the last anyone was known to have seen him. The vehicle was later recovered on May 29, 2020 in Mill Spring, Missouri. In response to a request from the Bahamas Customs and Excise Department (BCED) Comptroller, the WCO conducted a mission to review and assess BCEDs human resources and training development strategies. The mission was conducted the week of 10 to 13 May 2016, during which two WCO advisors met with Bahamas senior management in Nassau and Freeport along with staff in key offices to assess operations and identify resultant training needs. To conduct the assessment, the WCO team reviewed Bahamas existing training plans, website information, previous external reports and the 2006 WCO Diagnostic report. The "WCO People Diagnostic Tool" and "WCO Framework of Principles and Practices for Customs Professionalism" were also key reference tools for the HR component and the identification of HR functions, key HR processes and the competency-based HR approach. The mission concluded with a close-out session with the Comptroller and key management during which the WCO advisors presented their draft findings and summary report of the Scoping Mission. The draft report conveyed the key findings including ccompetencies/training for BCED consideration, a BCED draft Competency Layout, and a 2-year national training plan with proposed courses and timelines. The report will be reviewed by the training teams in Nassau and Freeport and then submitted for review and approval by the Comptroller and senior management. At the invitation of Mr. Thomas Moyne, Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya attended the 21st Governing Council Meeting on 26 and 27 May 2016. The Meeting was hosted by the Lesotho Revenue Authority in the capital Maseru, and was chaired by Chief Officer of SARS Mr. Jed Michaletos. Opening the meeting Mr. Realeboha Mathaba, Acting Commissioner General of the Lesotho Revenue Authority, expressed the view that the challenges facing Customs could be best addressed by cooperation, with an emphasis on strengthened regional cooperation, and the implementation of WCO standards. Furthermore, introduction of the AEO and Post Clearance Audit programmes would complement and support the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, which was expected to bring enormous benefits to the global trading community once fully implemented. Addressing the meeting, Mr. Tsoeu Mokeretla, Minister for Public Works and Transport, acknowledged the broad scope of Customs activity which varies according to each countrys stage of development. He recognised the importance of the implementation of WCO Global standards to work towards the achievement of an optimal Customs administration, striving to protect society, collect revenue, facilitate trade, and implement coordinated border management practices. Digital Customs was an essential component in the achievement of such objectives. Secretary General Mikuriya highlighted the relevance of the Punta Cana Resolution, in particular in the aftermath of recent terrorist events, and the crucial role Customs plays in the fight against international terrorism. In a wide-ranging address the Secretary General updated delegates on many current activities including the outcomes of the recent successful AEO Conference held in Mexico, progress on the security program (API/PNR, programme Global Shield on Improvised Explosive Devices, firearms and terrorist financing), actions to counteract illicit trade in wildlife, Cultural Heritage and the preparation of a Police/Customs Handbook, discussions with OECD (including on illicit money flows) and the IMF (Customs within a Revenue Authority), implementation of the trade facilitation agenda, Capacity Building (referencing the proposal raised at the WCO Finance Committee to create a WCO Customs Cooperation Fund), e-Commerce and Digital Customs. Mr. Mikuriya invited Members to support the upcoming Information Technology Conference to be held in Senegal, and the Knowledge Academy scheduled to take place at WCO Headquarters in July. He thanked Members for their continued support. A range of issues were discussed during the course of the Meeting, including a comprehensive report from the Regional Vice-Chair covering a broad range of topics, in particular the possibility of enhancing the role of the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) and Capacity Building initiatives, and topics arising from the outcomes of the December 2015 Policy Commission. The Governing Council also discussed the budget and strategic plan of the ROCB, Digital Customs, Finance and Audit Committee Reports, Regional Intelligence Liaison Office Report, governance and Performance Measurement. Secretary General Mikuriya joined delegates in expressing his gratitude to the Lesotho Revenue Authority for the warm welcome and gracious hospitality extended to delegates, and the excellent organisation of the Meeting. During his time in Lesotho, Secretary General Mikuriya met with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Trade, and the Acting Minister for Finance of Lesotho and discussed a broad array of Customs-related topics. The Governing Council was preceded by meetings of the Regional Steering Group and the Heads of Regional Training Centres. For the first time in eight years since the leaders summit took place in Toyako, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders convened for the Summit in Asia. Under the Presidency of Japan, the G7 Ise-Shima Summit was held on 26-27 May in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Countering terrorism and violent extremism is one of the major topics highlighted by G7 Ise-Shima Leaders Declaration. In particular, the growing number of terror attacks on the sites which are vulnerable due to their open access and limited security barriers as well as cultural property have been underscored. The exploitation of the internet and social media for terrorist, violent extremist and other criminal purposes is a serious area of concern since it is used for terrorist recruiting, financing, attack planning and coordination. The need to ensure implementation of appropriate and sustainable security measures in order to counter terrorist threats to aviation security was also identified as critical. In the wake of the aforementioned challenges and global threats, G7 leaders developed, adopted and committed to the G7 Action Plan on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism. The Plan contains three concrete actions that include: counter terrorism measures, empowering alternative voices and tolerance in society and capacity building. The WCOs Security Programme is highlighted by the Action Plan as one of the counter terrorism measures aimed at strengthening cooperation among border agencies. The use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) and Advance Passenger Information (API) in traveler screening is recognized in the Action Plan. The WCO has developed a very robust framework through its Security Programme and its related technical assistance and capacity building programme, the WCO Border Security Initiative. In its current framework the WCO Security Programme covers five critical domains that include (1) Passenger Control, supported by the use of API/PNR; (2) Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) through Programme Global Shield; (3) Strategic Trade Controls through its Strategic Trade Controls Programme which combines capacity building and operational activities; (4) Small Arms and Light Weapons; and (5) Terrorist Financing, by combating illicit trade and money laundering (cash couriers and trade-based money laundering). The WCOs Security Programme has been developed in consideration of the latest trends and patterns in the security domain and encompasses a variety of tools and instruments that enable Customs administrations to contribute to this field in a proactive manner. In December 2015, the WCO Policy Commission issued the Punta Cana Resolution on the role and contribution of Customs in the security domain. In particular, it refers to the 2012 WCO Council Recommendation on the use of API/PNR for efficient and effective Customs controls. As the use of API/PNR was also recognised as an efficient tool to tackle the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF), the WCO will continue advocating the use of this tool in order to counter FTF related risks. Moreover, this is one of the domains where the cooperation between Customs and other law enforcement agencies is a critical parameter of success. The G7 Action Plan also brings trafficking of antiquities to the attention of States and relevant organizations. Since 2011 the WCO has issued numerous calls upon its Members to increase vigilance to protect cultural heritage in the countries affected by conflict. During the course of the last year, in close cooperation with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), INTERPOL, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), International Council of Museums (ICOM) and UNIDROIT, the WCO has taken concrete steps to assist its Members in the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions 2199/2015 and 2253/2015. In particular, the WCO held a stakeholder meeting to enhance its secure communication platform ARCHEO which was designed to be used by the law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders for identification of cultural objects and further investigation. The updated platform will be presented and promoted during the Council session in July 2016, where a draft Council Resolution on the role of Customs will also be presented for approval. The WCO continues to work to develop specialised training for Customs officers in the domain of the protection of cultural heritage. This is a very practical step towards enhancing the capability of Customs authorities to deter looting and trafficking of cultural property from the regions controlled by terrorist groups and beyond. The WCO welcomes the G7 Ise-Shima Leaders Declaration and the Action Plan on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism. We will continue working with Customs administrations and other relevant stakeholders in implementing appropriate measures to secure peace and stability, said WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya. In these challenging times there is only one way to counter terrorism and violent extremism effectively and efficiently: by acting together as one, he added. Following an invitation from the National Revenue Authority (NRA) of Sierra Leone, WCO successfully conducted a needs assessment mission in partnership with the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, World Bank Group, from 3 - 12 May 2016. The objective of the needs assessment was to identify the countrys capacity building needs to implement the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA). The WCO mission took place in the framework of the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD TFA Capacity Building Programme with the generous financial support of the Government of the United Kingdom through Her Majestys Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Recognizing the whole-of-government impact of the TFA, group discussions and bilateral meetings with key stakeholders from the NRA, various government Ministries, as well as standards and port authorities helped the joint mission team to understand Sierra Leones current level of compliance with the TFA. In keeping with the principles of partnership with the private sector, the assessment also integrated the inputs and perspectives of private stakeholders, including the Sierra Leone Chamber of Commerce and key port operators. The mission resulted in a comprehensive assessment of Sierra Leones current situation in terms of meeting the provisions of the TFA, which in turn allowed for the identification of short-and long term capacity building needs as well as concrete recommendations for Sierra Leones upcoming WTO notifications. The outcomes of this mission will be used to establish a joint forward plan for capacity building support, including a series of activities to be supported by the HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD TFA Capacity Building Programme under the framework of the tailor-made track of the WCOs Mercator Programme which is designed to assist WCO members to effectively implement the TFA using the WCOs instruments and tools. The WCO looks forward to coordinating Mercator Programme support with activities supported by the World Banks Trade Facilitation Support Programme in a manner that meets Sierra Leones needs. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 26, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 26, 2016 | 06:26 PM | PADUCAH, KY A LaCenter woman is facing prescription fraud charges. The Paducah Police Department says a local pharmacy notified detectives that 31-year-old Jennifer Williams had picked up a Clonazepam prescription for her boyfriend after he allegedly called to approve it. Police later discovered that the boyfriend was incarcerated at the time, and was not the one who had called the pharmacy. Detectives said they contacted Williams, who confirmed that the pharmacy had called and said the prescription was ready to be picked up. She reportedly told police that she had another man impersonate her boyfriend and call the pharmacy, then she picked up the prescription. She said she flushed the medication a short time after arriving home with it. Williams was indicted by a McCracken County grand jury on a charge of attempting to or obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, false statement or forgery. She turned herself in Wednesday evening and was booked into McCracken County Regional Jail. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 27, 2016 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 27, 2016 | 01:34 PM | PADUCAH, KY A man was jailed Thursday after police say they found drugs and stolen items in his possession. McCracken County Sheriffs Deputies were dispatched on May 17 to a report of a suspicious person in the 4700 block of Benton Road. Deputies said they found a pair of pants and boots which contained meth and drug paraphernalia inside a storage shed behind the home, along with a photo I.D. belonging to Davin Todd. Deputies learned that Todd had left in a vehicle, and they were able to get the plate number, which came back to an address in the 400 block of Ward Street. Deputies went to the home on Ward Street, and Todd reportedly answered the door in his underwear, and admitted that he had lost his pants, boots, keys, and wallet. Todd also told deputies he was missing his Meth and Meth pipe. He was arrested at that time for Possession Of Methamphetamine and Drug Paraphernalia. A search of Todd's vehicle reportedly revealed various tools that were suspected to be stolen from a Paducah home. Deputies said a serial number on a chainsaw found in the vehicle matched the serial number of a stolen saw that had been pawned at a local pawnshop on May 16. The owner of the vehicle Todd had been driving reported that a cordless drill had been stolen from her home, and deputies said they discovered that Todd had pawned it on May 12. Todd was additionally charged with with receiving stolen property over $500.00 on Thursday. Deputies say their investigation is on-going, and additional arrests are possible. 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. 27, 2016 | 05:04 AM | FRANKFORT, KY Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles is launching an initiative to combat hunger. The state Department of Agriculture says the effort will include farmers, businesses and charitable and faith groups. Quarles is scheduled to introduce members of a Hunger Task Force on June 2 at Gallrein Farms near Shelbyville. The group will have its first meeting that same day. An annual study by Feeding America showed that 17 percent of Kentucky's population is struggling to avoid hunger, or nearly three-quarters of a million people. Quarles says it's unacceptable to have such a dire hunger problem in a state with a rich agricultural history. He says the goal is to make nutritious foods accessible to more Kentuckians. By The Associated Press May. 26, 2016 | 04:15 PM | WASHINGTON, DC Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says his campaign accepts the primary results in Kentucky, handing front-runner Hillary Clinton another victory and an additional pledged delegate. A review of election results Thursday yielded no change in the outcome of Kentucky's May 17 primary. Both candidates had earned 27 delegates, with one outstanding in the 6th congressional district. Because Clinton currently leads Sanders by about 500 votes in that district, she will receive the remaining delegate. Sanders sent a letter requesting a recanvassing of the results on Tuesday. He could have asked a judge to order a recount, but he would have to pay for it himself. Clinton now leads Sanders by a margin of 272 pledged delegates from primaries and caucuses. But Sanders has vowed to stay in the race. Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world Loading... With The Forbidden Zone, director Katie Mitchell and writer Duncan Macmillan have created an upsetting, compelling story of war without ever setting foot on the front line. Created to commemorate the First World War, the piece reminds us of the many barbarous ways soldiers were killed in their droves. But it also looks at how wartime moves people to sacrifice their morality: the perception of what is inhumane quickly shifts as the drive to win takes over. One of the most arresting things about the piece is its true story. You probably won't have come across scientist Clara Immerwahr, but her tale, and that of three decades of her family, is remarkable. Immerwahr was a brilliant scientist at the turn of the century - unusual for a woman - and in 1901 she married fellow scientist Fritz Harber who would later be awarded the Nobel Prize. Harber's work in the field of chemical warfare, (he was also largely responsible for the success of modern fertiliser), unsettled his wife. While Harber continued with his research during wartime, seeing it as necessary for the war effort, Immerwahr became increasingly against it. Eventually in 1915, after her husband enabled the first devastating use of chlorine gas on the front line in Germany, she shot herself at their home. There is debate about exactly why, but evidence points towards her inability to reconcile her husband's work with her sense of right and wrong. The piece focuses both on this tragedy and on the way Immerwahr and Harber's actions echo through the generations. Their granddaughter, also a scientist but this time in 1949, is continuously appalled by the way her grandfather's invention mutilates and murders. Her end is not dissimilar to her grandmother's. Mitchell uses onstage cameras to weave together the different strands of The Forbidden Zone, which features poetic text written by Virginia Woolf, Mary Borden, Simone de Beauvoir and others. Essentially we watch the action play out on a huge screen at the top of the stage, while the scenes are shot live from the set below it. Cameramen scurry around quickly and quietly as they zoom in on the actors. The set is astonishingly intricate and detailed. Much of the play happens on an American train from the '40s which feels real on both the big screen and on the stage itself. Right from the unforgiving lighting, to the dirty windows, it has been lovingly and meticulously constructed. The train moves - it opens, shuts and breaks in two to reveal scenes at the back of the stage which are also filmed. From the audience, you can't see them close up: only catch glimpses. The action is played out in full, larger than life, on the screen overhead. To begin with, this distancing from the action is awkward: why stage a live play simultaneously live onscreen? But as The Forbidden Zone progresses, watching both mediums together brings much to the atmosphere and intensity of the piece. It is a unique experience - not quite theatre and not quite film. The Forbidden Zone is a remarkable achievement of timing and cues: a balancing act performed by not just actors but by cameramen too. And it's intriguing just for that. But the piece is also a quietly overwhelming look at the heavy destruction of conflict, and the ease with which humans shrug off their humanity. The Forbidden Zone runs at the Barbican until May 29. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. WINNIPEG The federal government considered referring its proposed assisted dying law to the Supreme Court to see if its constitutional, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould disclosed Friday. But she said that option was ultimately rejected because the court had indicated its up to parliamentarians to come up with a legislative response to its landmark ruling last year, which struck down the ban on medical assistance in dying. Wilson-Raybould suggested that the court would have bounced the matter right back to Parliament. To be very honest we considered it, but how I feel is that weve been asked by the Supreme Court of Canada to do our job, Wilson-Raybould told delegates at the Liberal partys first convention since taking power last fall. If I was to put a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada, I fundamentally believe that our honourable justices would say, Do your job. Wilson-Raybould and Health Minister Jane Philpott were called on to defend the proposed law at the convention, where some delegates have been pushing for a more permissive approach to assisted dying. Wendy Robbins, the policy chair of the Liberal womens commission, spear-headed an effort to have the convention debate an emergency resolution calling on the government to drop its insistence that people must be near death to qualify for medical assistance to end their lives. That provision has been widely panned by civil liberties and legal experts who believe the proposed law does not comply with the Supreme Courts ruling or with the charter of rights. But the partys national policy committee rejected the resolution late Thursday. Is there a mood to prevent this from being discussed? A hundred per cent sure, Robbins said Friday. Its like opening a can of worms. Noting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised a new era of openness and transparency and bottom-up decision-making, Robbins asked: Why not let people at a forum on policy talk about the most important policy of our generation? But Liberal delegates themselves showed little inclination to rock the boat. A couple of hundred showed up for a panel on social justice issues, which offered an opportunity to grill Wilson-Raybould and Philpott. Only Robbins and one other delegate asked about assisted dying. By contrast, several thousand delegates showed up for a celebratory speech by Katie Telford, national campaign director and now Trudeaus chief of staff, in which she recounted how the Liberals won the last election. At the panel, Robbins asked Wilson-Raybould to disclose the legal opinion on which she bases her assertion that the assisted dying bill is constitutional. And she urged the minister to refer it to the top court to test its constitutionality, sparing the families of grievously ill and dying individuals the agony and expense of launching a court challenge themselves. The justice minister acknowledged many people believe the legislation doesnt go far enough or that it goes too far. She maintained it strikes the right balance between personal autonomy and ensuring that we protect the vulnerable. Im confident that this approach is justifiable, its responsible given the time frame that we have in order to respond to the Supreme Court decision, she said. Bill C-14 would make assisted death available only for clearly consenting adults in an advanced stage of irreversible decline from a serious and incurable disease, illness or disability and for whom natural death is reasonably foreseeable. Thats considerably more restrictive than the criteria set out by the Supreme Court, which ruled that consenting adults with grievous and irremediable medical conditions who are enduring suffering that is intolerable to them have the right to seek medical help to end their lives. Wilson-Raybould and Philpott both insisted there are significant risks if the proposed law is not enacted by June 6, the date on which the ban on assisted dying will be formally lifted, in accordance with the court ruling. They warned therell be no significant safeguards to protect the vulnerable and that doctors will refuse to provide the service in the midst of legal uncertainty. Neither minister acknowledged that medical regulators in every province have issued guidelines instructing doctors how to proceed with assisted dying. Most include requirements for more than one doctor to agree on eligibility and for witnesses to verify requests for assisted dying; some have imposed conditions more stringent than those proposed by the federal government. In any event, it seems virtually impossible that the bill will be enacted by June 6, although Dominic LeBlanc, the government House leader, said he hasnt given up hope yet. He said the bill will be put to a vote at report stage in the House of Commons on Monday and is scheduled for a final vote on Tuesday. It will then be sent to the Senate, leaving just two sitting days for senators to put the bill through all its legislative stages by June 6. Few senators have shown any inclination to rush the bill and the government has no levers to control the agenda in the more independent upper house. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. TORONTO A Canadian class-action lawsuit has been filed against Johnson & Johnson over an alleged link between its baby powder products and ovarian cancer in adult women who used the product for long periods of time. The suits plaintiffs include seven women and family members living in Ontario and Quebec, and the estate of a Montreal woman who died of ovarian cancer in March at age 66. Toronto law firms Rochon Genova LLP and Will Davidson LLP are handling the class-action against the Canadian subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The suit alleges Johnson & Johnson was negligent in the development, testing, design, manufacturing, licensing, distribution, marketing and sale of Johnsons Baby Powder. The accusations in the class-action statement of claim have not been proven in court. Johnson & Johnson Canada said that it sympathized with the women and their families, but defended its baby powder. The talc in our baby powder has a long history of safe and gentle use, the company said in an emailed statement. After 30 years of studies by medical experts around the world, science, research and clinical evidence continues to support the safety of cosmetic talc . We continue to believe in the safety of Johsons baby powder containing talc. Johnson & Johnson also faces litigation in the United States. The class-action suit follows a jury decision in Missouri that awarded US$72 million to the family of a woman who died of ovarian cancer after using Johnson & Johnson feminine hygiene products for years that contained its talcum powder. Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson was ordered by another U.S. jury to pay US$55 million in damages to a woman who claimed her ovarian cancer was caused by long-term use of Johnsons baby powder. The Canadian plaintiffs allege that Johnsons baby powder is defective and inherently dangerous in that it causes, materially contributes to, and materially increases the risks of ovarian cancer in females who apply it (or who have it applied) to their perineal area. The class-action suit also alleges that Johnson & Johnson knew about the dangers of its baby powder but failed to disclose these defects and the resulting risks to the health and life of the plaintiffs and failed to recall the product in Canada. The lawsuit says requests for monetary compensation will come later. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. BRAMPTON, Ont. Loblaw Co. says its taking steps to sell its network of 212 gasoline filling stations. In a statement from its head office in Brampton, Ont., Loblaw (TSX:L) said the gas bars continue to deliver strong, stable cash flows. But the company best known for its grocery business said it believes the right strategic partner would elevate the fuel business. The company says it will engage potential buyers, but didnt provide an estimated price tag for the business or other details of its plan. Loblaw said about 20 per cent of stores under its various banners, including No Frills, Your Independent Grocer and Real Canadian Superstore, have a gas bar adjacent to them. They are located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Yukon. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/05/2016 (2343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. EDMONTON Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne came to Alberta to talk environment but instead found herself publicly ridiculed on the floor of the legislature as the leader of a failed, debt-ridden enterprise. As Wynne looked on from the Speakers gallery during question period Thursday, the opposition Wildrose party demanded to know why Wynne, a Liberal, was invited while right-centrist and next-door-neighbour Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was not. Invite Premier Wall here! Invite Premier Wall, Wildrose finance critic Derek Fildebrandt shouted at Premier Rachel Notley as she tried to answer a question. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, left, and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, right, hold a media availability to discuss an energy innovation partnership between Alberta and Ontario at the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton on Thursday, May 26, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Codie McLachlan At one point government house leader Brian Mason looked across the aisle at Fildebrandt and said matter-of-factly, you are so tacky. Fildebrandt held up Ontario as an example of what not to do in government given that Alberta is now moving to rack up high debt loads to pay for capital and operating spending. Currently Ontario has the largest subnational sovereign debt on the planet, Fildebrandt told the house. Theyre now even receiving equalization payments. Its an example of what happens when a government fails to get its spending under control. Fildebrandt labelled Ontarios greenhouse gas emissions plan a failure and demanded to know if Notley supported it. For power consumers its meant skyrocketing power bills, massive subsidies to unprofitable initiatives, and auditor general reports into billions of wasted tax dollars, he said. Fildebrandts comments had NDP members visibly seething on their side of the house. Wynne, for the most part, sat expressionless, save for the occasional wry smile. Notley eventually had enough. In the past, when Alberta has actually been able to play a leadership role in the country, they have done so by being grown ups, she said. Just today we have had demonstrated to all Albertans very clearly why these folks over there (the Wildrose) are simply not ready to govern. Wynne also sat through a stirring tribute to former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, delivered by Wildrose member Jason Nixon. Stephen Harper is a man of integrity and history will remember that, Nixon told the house, throwing occasional glances up to Wynne. Prime Minister Harper has dedicated his life to serving Canadians. I humbly thank prime minister Harper for his service to this great country. Earlier in the question period, when Wynne was introduced to the house, the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives, along with Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark, stood to applaud her. About half the 22-member Wildrose caucus stood to applaud as well. The rest, including Leader Brian Jean, chose to sit and pound on their desks to express their welcome. Progressive Conservative Leader Ric McIver was not in the house. The lone Liberal, David Swann, arrived late and missed Wynnes introduction. Earlier Thursday, Wynne met with Notley and later, to reporters, praised Notleys climate change plan. Wynne said Notleys blueprint to reduce Albertas carbon footprint gives the province more social licence to pitch for more energy infrastructure such as pipelines. Wynne said Albertas actions also benefit the rest of the country as it wrestles with issues surrounding environmentally responsible development. Ontario is soon rolling out its own climate change plan. The premiers also announced a plan to pursue joint initiatives in areas such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ramping up renewable energy use. Notleys government is implementing a climate plan that includes a broad-based carbon tax, a cap on oilsands emissions and the phase out of coal-fired electricity. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/05/2016 (2343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL A former Montreal police officer whose heavy-handed arrest of a citizen while she was still on the force led to an assault charge was given a one-year suspended sentence Thursday. Stefanie Trudeau, 44, was also ordered to do 60 hours of community work as Quebec court Judge Daniel Bedard stated that giving her an absolute discharge would not be in the public interest. Trudeau was found guilty earlier this year of assaulting Serge Lavoie as she arrested him in 2012. She faced a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $5,000 fine. Former Montreal Police officer Stephanie Trudeau, Agent 728, arrives for sentencing at the Montreal Courthouse, Thursday, May 26, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes Asked by Bedard if she had anything to say before hearing her sentence, Trudeau described the case as unfair. Her lawyer, Jean-Pierre Rancourt, said the sentence did not surprise him. Im not surprised because Tuesday when we made our (case) before the judge, he started to argue with me and I knew he (would not) agree with a discharge, conditional or unconditional, he said. During the October 2012 incident, Trudeau chased Lavoie up the stairs of an apartment building after he tried to film her arresting a friend of his. Trudeau held Lavoie in a chokehold on multiple occasions before proceeding to his arrest for obstructing justice. Bedard said Trudeau used excessive force and called her actions brutal and dangerous. He added there was no reason for such conduct as Lavoie was neither armed nor violent. Rancourt said he believes Trudeau was entitled to arrest Lavoie and was not the instigator, as the judge stated multiple times. She had the right to ask this person to identify himself because he was committing an infraction to the municipal code, said Rancourt, who is appealing the verdict and the sentence. Trudeau, who retired from the Montreal force last October, was also suspended by Quebecs police ethics committee on March 1 for an unrelated 2012 incident when she grabbed a mans headphones and threw them on the ground. Although she had already retired from the Montreal police department, the sanction means she cant work as a peace officer until at least June 1. Trudeau first became known during the 2012 student protests after a video circulated on social media showing her pepper-spraying demonstrators. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. MONTREAL Rocco Sollecito, described by Mafia experts as a former leading figure in the notorious Rizzuto crime family, was shot dead in his car near Montreal on Friday. Sollecito, 67, was possibly tied to organized crime and was shot one or more times, said provincial police spokesman Jason Allard. His murder comes after his son, Stefano, was arrested in November in a major drug sweep and accused of being an influential leader of the Montreal Mafia. A white luxury SUV with a broken passenger-side window is shown at the scene in Laval, Que., Friday, May 27, 2016, where alleged mobster Rocco Sollecito was gunned down earlier this morning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes Also arrested that same month was Leonardo Rizzuto, who police say worked with Stefano in a large-scale drug-trafficking operation. Stefano is the son of Vito Rizzuto, the alleged leader of the Rizzuto crime family who died of natural causes in 2013, shortly after his release from a U.S. prison. News reports said Sollecito was gunned down near his home in Laval, not far from a police station. Maria Pacheco said she rushed to the scene to see what had happened. When I got here there were two cars, one white and one red behind it, Pacheco said. I saw the man sitting in the car and the windshield was all broken. Allard said Sollecito was pronounced dead in hospital. A retired Montreal police investigator familiar with the Mafia told The Canadian Press Sollecito was a childhood friend of Vito Rizzuto and became an influential part of his crime syndicate. The retired investigator said Rocco Sollecito was Vito Rizzutos right-hand man and was blamed by some in the Rizzuto clan for not doing enough to protect the family when Vito was in prison. During his incarceration, Vito Rizzutos eldest son, Nicolo Jr., was murdered in Montreal in 2009. About a year later, Vito Rizzutos father, also named Nicolo, was shot dead in his home. Sollecito reportedly had been making money on his own doing side deals, the officer said. He was in the bad books for three or four years now, he said. (Sollecitos) murder was coming. The ex-officer said Sollecito was from Bari, Italy, and would never have taken the reins of the Rizzuto family, which hails from Sicily and promotes its own. Moreover, Sollecitos murder looks like a professional hit, the officer said, because the killer seemed to know the victims habits and whereabouts. This (murder) was likely internal, he said, rejecting the idea that Sollecito was killed by a rival clan. They are just bleeding internally. It was a cleanup. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose is praising the quiet style of her friend Laureen Harper, saying she preferred to stay in the background. She doesnt maintain or want a splashy public persona, Ambrose said in a speech to the Conservative party convention Thursday night as she introduced the wife of former prime minister Stephen Harper. The work that she does for Canada, she does quietly, Ambrose said. Not for the cameras, but for the cause. Former prime minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen wave to the crowd at the Conservative Party of Canada convention in Vancouver, Thursday, May 26, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Ambrose never mentioned Sophie Gregoire Trudeau by name, but her tribute was seen as a thinly veiled critique of the high-profile wife of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is becoming something of a fashion icon and is highly sought after as a speaker in both English and French. Conservatives and New Democrats have been attacking the Liberals in recent weeks after Gregoire Trudeau asked for extra staff to help her manage the high volume of requests she gets for charity work and public appearances. They say her request shows the prime ministers family is out of touch with regular Canadians. Gregoire Trudeau has an assistant, a chef, an official residence and two nannies to help care for the three young children. They also question why taxpayers, instead of the Liberal party, should pick up the tab when the spouse of the prime minister unlike U.S. presidents wife, the so-called first lady has no officially defined role. Political marketing expert Alex Marland said he would respectfully disagree with the characterization that Laureen Harper played only a behind-the-scenes role, as she grew her profile over the decade her husband was in power. My sense was Conservatives marketers realized that she was an asset, that she really would provide a soft edge to the hard edge that her husband had, said Marland, a political science professor at Memorial University in St. Johns. Some of the 24/Seven videos promotional videos produced by Stephen Harpers office which opposition critics characterized as taxpayer-funded propaganda featured Laureen Harper doing things like bringing her husband a birthday cake or taking students on a tour of Parliament Hill. Those 2014 appearances came not long after the Toronto Star reported on a leaked Conservative party presentation on election strategy that included talk of leveraging her popularity. Michele Austin, an Ottawa lobbyist and Conservative commentator, said Ambrose was primarily showcasing the community service and advocacy on everything from fostering kittens to anti-bullying initiatives that Harper devoted herself to while she lived at 24 Sussex. But she also said the audience would have supported the approach Laureen Harper took over the more front-of-stage role embraced by Gregoire Trudeau. Thats not to say Ms. Gregoire Trudeaus work is not as effective, they just certainly have a very different style, Austin said by phone from Vancouver. Conservative commentator Tim Powers, who works with Austin at Ottawa-based lobbying firm Summa Strategies, said the Ambrose speech also reminded delegates at the convention that the party does not have to try to emulate the Trudeaus aura of celebrity to achieve electoral success. You dont have to be flashy to be successful, said Powers, who was also at the convention in Vancouver. He said some Conservatives are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of attention Trudeau and his wife are getting and may think, as the party begins the leadership race to replace Stephen Harper, their best bet is to gravitate to another celebrity such as reality-TV star Kevin OLeary, who has expressed an interest in the job. Power said Ambrose wants to remind people that might not be the best strategy. Be true to who you are and what you offer and you might get on a road to success too, he said. Trudeau spokesman Olivier Duchesneau, who declined to comment on the speech, said the prime ministers office has not yet decided whether Gregoire Trudeau will get a second assistant. Liberal commentator Amanda Alvaro says Ambrose sent the wrong message to girls and women by suggesting the spouse of a prime minister needs to stay out of the spotlight. What does that say? she asked. What does that say to young women? What does that say to any spouse, male or female, about the role that they should take? That you have to live in the background? That you have to have a quieter role? Follow @smithjoanna on Twitter Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. SHIMA, Japan Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will push ahead with efforts to expand Canadas relationship with China, though he might find a cooler reception from the Chinese government following his visit this week to its regional rival, Japan. Trudeau held bilateral talks this week with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, a couple of days before the start of the G7 summit in Shima, Japan. The meeting with Japan was Trudeaus first in Asia since taking office last fall and reflects the priority the new government has placed on expanding Asian ties. It remains to be seen whether China has concerns with Trudeaus decision but Beijing has made no secret about its unhappiness with the G7 meeting in Japan and the groups public worry about rising tensions in the South China Sea. At the end of Trudeaus meeting with Abe on Tuesday, the Japanese leader told reporters that he and Trudeau share serious concern over the ongoing territorial dispute involving China in the South China Sea. Several governments in the region oppose Chinese claims in that area, while Japan rejects the countrys claims in the East China Sea. The competing claims are important because the disputed waters include key shipping lanes. On South China Sea, we share serious concern over unilateral actions which heighten tension, including large-scale reclamation, building of outposts and military usage thereof, Abe said through an interpreter, with Trudeau standing at his side. We agreed to work closely to secure free and safe seas based on the rule of law. Abes remark appeared stronger than what Canada has said on the issue in the past. But following Abes statement, Trudeaus office insisted Canadas position hadnt budged. The topic could become delicate for Canada because, like many countries, it has been trying to expand its relationship with Chinas massive economy through investment and, potentially, free trade. Trudeau was asked Friday whether he thought the Chinese government might feel shunned by Canada for choosing Japan for its first Asian bilateral visit and for holding the event with Abe. He took pains to emphasize the importance of the China-Canada relationship. One of the things that Canadians specifically tasked me to do in electing me prime minister was to re-engage constructively and productively with the world, to create opportunities for the jobs and growth, Trudeau said after the G7 summit. I look forward to strengthening and deepening my relationship with all of Asia, including China. Trudeau also said Canadas ties with China go back 45 years, but that over the last decade relations between the countries were unpredictable due to the former Conservative governments approach. Ive made it very clear that Im looking for a positive, constructive relationship with China where we benefit economically from further ties and speak directly to each other on issues of concern, whether they be human-rights issues or consular cases or security concerns, said Trudeau, who will visit China in September for the G20 summit. China has been sensitive to criticism over its South and East China seas claims, a dispute G7 leaders called a concern Friday in their closing declaration of the summit. David Welch, CIGI chair of global security at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, said Friday that for the first time a G7 communique has fully pushed for international law to be respected in the dispute. Welch noted that the statement says states territorial claims must be based on international law, must refrain from force or coercion in support of the claims and that disputes must be settled peacefully. I think the Canadian position is evolving and I think the prime ministers general approach to this issue is to try to play ball with the other G7 countries, Welch said in an interview in Ise, Japan. Were strong proponents of international law. Now, the challenge is to do this in a way that does not further provoke China and result in a further deterioration of relations with China. Follow @AndyBlatchford on Twitter with files from Associated Press Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. At least one prospective candidate is already probing the possibility of becoming the next leader of the Manitoba Liberals. Ive already been approached by one individual whos interested in running in this case, a business leader, Kildonan-St. Paul MP MaryAnn Mihychuk, the minister of employment, workforce, and labour, said Friday. Theres probably more than one. Im pushing people into it, interim provincial leader Rana Bokhari said in an interview Friday at the federal Liberal convention in Winnipeg. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Liberal interim Leader Rana Bokhari. The Liberals won three seats in the April 19 Manitoba election, but Bokhari lost her bid for election in Fort Rouge. She stepped down three weeks ago, but said she will stay on as interim leader until Manitoba Liberals elect a new leader. Several local Liberals said Friday theyre aware someone is exploring a run at the leadership, but would not name him. Its so much about the leader, said Mihychuk, who helped campaign with two of the three Liberal MLAs, Jon Gerrard (River Heights) and Cindy Lamoureux (Burrows), as well as St. Johns candidate Noel Bernier. I dont think people have turned off the Liberals. Weve had leaders who didnt catch the spirit and imagination of Canadians, said Mihychuk, who didnt want to comment specifically about Bokhari. The provincial Liberals have four years to build a team for the 2020 election, she pointed out. We need someone who has strong organizational skills, we need fresh ideas. We need to spend the next two years planning, and then the next two years executing, said unsuccessful Charleswood candidate Paul Brault. We really need to build up our candidates we need to present a team, and Manitobans will see us as a team, Brault said. Brault said he was taking notes Friday afternoon when Katie Telford, national campaign co-chair in the 2015 federal election campaign, detailed how the Liberals organized their ground game to win a majority. A candidates chief agent is the most important person in the campaign, said Telford they handle the finances and the paperwork, and ensure the candidate complies with all regulations. Telford said there were 8 a.m. sessions long before the election to recruit candidates. The central campaign daily analysed money raised and volunteers recruited, assessed each ridings ground game, and tracked the needs of our local campaigns and how we could help them. How healthy was a riding organization? What patterns could we see? Leader Justin Trudeau didnt go into ridings which had a weak ground game, said Telford, but the LIberals lost only one riding in which he campaigned. The Manitoba provincial Liberals were plagued by a weak central campaign and lack of resources. Problems arose with several candidates whod been inadequately vetted, and five ridings had no candidate after bungling nomination paperwork and regulations. Brault said he handled his own nomination forms without central campaign help. As for applying to the party to be a candidate, I did a very intensive background, he said, even supplying copies of letters to the editor hes written and providing transcripts to prove he had the education he claimed. Federally, Mihychuk said, she was interviewed by Liberal lawyers. Ive never gone through such a screening in my life. They turned over every rock. Mihychuk said that The Trudeau people built a team three years before e-day (election), they were planning every detail. Meanwhile, Im still doing my job, said Bokhari, who said she is in the legislature building two or three times a week, will soon come to the public gallery for question period and will attend media scrums after question period. Her contract expires next month. The Liberals are expected to elect a permanent leader at their annual general meeting a year from now. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/05/2016 (2343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Beyond the ornamental bronze doors lies a Main Street building once considered the most opulent headquarters on Bankers Row, and, perhaps, in all of Western Canada. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press But despite eight massive granite columns that line the front facade, the former Canadian Bank of Commerce (now known as the Millennium Centre) is easy to miss. One look inside, however, and it is impossible to forget from the marble floors and counter tops to oak-panelled offices to a stained-glass dome skylight, the building feels overwhelmingly lush. The former bank, completed in 1912, is often reserved for private events, but free, guided tours are available this weekend as part of Doors Open Winnipeg an annual event organized by Heritage Winnipeg that celebrates the citys history by letting the public explore buildings they seldom enter. When I first walked into the banking hall, my jaw dropped, neck craned and eyes popped, says Anthony Zedda, who earned his masters degree in architecture at the University of Manitoba. Having grown up in Winnipeg, I could not imagine that such a grand and delicately detailed space could exist behind such a solid facade of granite columns. I was overwhelmed with the sense that this was a treasure that others had to experience for themselves. Doors Open is an apt fit for Heritage Winnipegs mandate for the Millennium Centre. The non-profit organization is steadfast on hosting free public events that celebrate the arts, such as a Tuesday afternoon concert series with the WSO that will begin its fourth summer season in a few weeks. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press Cindy Tugwell, Executive Director for Heritage Winnipeg, sits on a leather couch in the 'tapestry room' of the Millennium Centre. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press The 'tapestry room' in the Millennium Centre. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press The Millennium Centre at 389 Main Street is a heritage building located in the Exchange District. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press Cindy Tugwell, Executive Director for Heritage Winnipeg, on the catwalk above the glass dome in the Millennium Centre. By bringing these kinds of events to this building, youre enjoying architecture, which is art, and the beauty of the performing arts, and its a beautiful marriage, says Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg. In 2000, the building was donated to 389 Main Street Heritage Corporation, a non-profit, registered charity, by the MarWest Group of Companies. MarWest had already invested about $1 million in maintenance after the structure was vacated in 1969 when bank employees moved into the more modern Richardson Building. You had a gravitational pull in the late 60s early 70s where everyone wanted modern and these old buildings werent popular anymore, says Tugwell. People thought (the buildings) had outlived their worth, so they moved out of the building and wanted to demolish it for a parking lot. After Heritage Corporation obtained the building, it would take another five years before the space was fit for public use, and since then, its been a slow process to continue refurbishments that will restore the building to its true glory. The Canadian Bank of Commerce was built during Winnipegs golden age. For more about that era, go to: wfp.to/citybeautiful From a purely architectural point of view, the building is unparalleled in Winnipeg. Zedda, who researched the building as part of his U of M thesis work in 1990, calls it remarkable. Everything about its design was meant to convey stability, security, and unabated optimism of the growth potential of Western Canada and Winnipeg as a grain trade and financial centre The architects embodied the banks wealth in the use of high-quality finishes, use of light, scale of the interior banking hall, and use of modern materials, says Zedda, who is a partner at Kobayashi & Zedda Architects in Whitehorse. The former Bank of Commerce building is one of the finest examples of architecture standing in Winnipeg. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press The Millennium Centre at 389 Main Street is a heritage building located in the Exchange District. It is the previous home of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and is now used as an event venue. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Millennium Centre at 389 Main Street is a heritage building located in the Exchange District. It is the previous home of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and is now used as an event venue. The main event room formally the bank lobby with it's glass dome as seen from the second floor of the Millennium Centre. 160510 - Tuesday, May 10, 2016 Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press Cindy Tugwell, Executive Director for Heritage Winnipeg, in the vault in the basement of the Millennium Centre that would have held bank customers safety deposit boxes. The building was granted Grade 1 heritage status by the City of Winnipeg, so none of the character-defining elements, including marble and woodwork, can be damaged during changes. For example, bathrooms added on the main floor are more like inserts that can be removed without damaging the walls, and a new structure to help with sound reverberation is merely clamped onto the marble counter so no screws were drilled. Acoustic challenge If youre heading to the Millennium Centre this weekend for Doors Open Winnipeg, listen for the endless echoes that rattle through the banking hall. Sound-absorbing materials were not initially built into the room so the reverberation of noise is amplified, University of Manitoba professor of architecture Herbert Enns says. When you say something, it hits a stone surface and bounces right back at you, he says. Because the distances are never equidistant from all the walls, those reverberations, those echoes, will come back to you at a slightly different time. And then itll bounce off the back wall and come at you from behind. It just doesnt lose its energy because the surfaces are so hard. The acoustics in there are very dynamic were the architects of the renovation to take that into account, as they begin to calm down that fantastic reverberation, that would really make that space highly desirable. WOW Hospitality, which became caterer for the space in January, understands the potential problems the acoustics can cause, so the company has put a padded panel along one edge of the marble bank tellers desk to cut sound from the nearby kitchen area and has added cloth panels to one wall. The only thing we havent got a handle on yet is the acoustics, bellows WOW Hospitality president Doug Stephen while seated in the banking hall, his words bouncing back clearly as an example of the issue. Somebody said if we do wrapped cones that can pop out and put more panelling up here, we can deaden it a bit more. But when youve got as many hard surfaces as we have in here, it is gonna be what it is gonna be. WOW and Heritage Winnipeg are not letting that stop them from hosting musical and artistic acts having learned which sounds do well in that environment and where to place certain musicians, such as facing away from, or toward, the audience. If you put a 12-piece band in here, it works. When it doesnt work is when you sometimes have a little bit of rumbling and you try to do something from the podium, says Stephen, adding that with the few preventative measures in place, its already better than before. In the late 90s there was a business in Alberta that wanted to turn this into a nightclub which was very typical of a lot of banks on Main Street to be converted into nightclubs, says Tugwell. We felt that it still had a role to play for the public to come and enjoy it as is and to not have it damaged extensively. Heritage Winnipeg has spent recent years doing unexciting-but-important upgrades plumbing, electrical, egress, adding handicap accessible bathrooms and a $100,000 boiler repair. Now that the basics have largely been taken care of, Tugwell and her team are on the main floor working on the tapestry room the bank managers lavish office featuring a fireplace with ornately carved wooden detailing. Up next, she wants to tackle the upper floors of the six-storey building. Wed like to look at who would like to be tenants in this building and slowly redevelop and have this be a fully occupied and functional building because, as I often say at Heritage Winnipeg, you dont truly save a heritage building until its completely occupied, because that is whats going to protect it, says Tugwell. What is not evident from looking at the outside of the building is that the top three floors flank the banking hall dome and contain offices that were used for bank-related purposes. The regional superintendents office on the third floor is the most elaborate 40 feet wide and 22 feet long, with floor-to-ceiling oak panelling and an open fireplace, as well as a secret bathroom, complete with marble toilet and sink. Tugwells goal over the next 10 years is to redo that room, as well as the others on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors and convert them into office spaces, ideally for members of Winnipegs artistic community. Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press The 'tapestry room' in the Millennium Centre. The renovations are partly funded by revenue coming to Heritage Corporation by WOW Hospitality. In January, the company took over the catering duties for onsite private events such as weddings, holiday parties, and annual general meetings. Doors Open Winnipegs most popular stops: Vaughan Street Jail 444 York Ave., open Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Metropolitan Theatre 281 Donald St., open Sunday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Dalnavert Museum 61 Carleton St., open Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Legislative Building 450 Broadway, open Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Bank of Montreal 335 Main St., open Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Millennium Centre 389 Main St., open Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. RRC Paterson Global Foods Institute 504 Main St., open Sunday, 11 a.m.-4p.m. Ralph Connor House 54 West Gate, open Saturda , 11 a.m.-5 p.m. St. Boniface Museum and Cathedrale 180 rue de la Cathedrale, open Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Doors Open Winnipeg runs Saturday and Sunday, but opening and closing times vary depending on location. Several themed walking tours of the Exchange District are also available throughout the weekend. For the full list of venues, tours and times, visit www.doorsopenwinnipeg.ca. We understand that if we can do a job well here, then, ultimately, the Millenniums board will perhaps be able to start doing work on the upper floors. Were trying to do our part, which is to help Cindy and 389 Main pay their operating costs, says Doug Stephen, president of WOW. Stephen and his catering co-ordinator, Paul Haverstock, were both on Heritage Winnipegs board and both have decades of experience in the hospitality industry, so they were a natural choice to take over after Storm Catering left last year. But, as with any new venture, there were still challenges. It was built as a bank, so we dont have a full kitchen and food had to be brought in, says Tugwell. You had issues with trying to run an event with 250 people where you dont have the kind of services you would have at a hotel, for instance, but people love it. Its been an initiative of love that were hoping will turn into an initiative of profitability at some point, adds Stephen. More than just an interesting venue for events, the fact the Millennium Centre is still standing serves a larger purpose it acts as a reminder of the heavyweight city Winnipeg once was, and the vision many held for its prosperous future. Its story is that of the story of Winnipegs boom, bust, and persistence. It is a memorial to our once-proud financial optimism but it also acts as a reference for all of what came thereafter, says Zedda. Without it and the numerous other buildings deemed historically relevant in downtown Winnipeg, we are not able to remember, as a city, what we once were. I feel that certain heritage buildings carry with them a permanence that transcends our time in them, providing the foundation necessary to build upward from what was once an ancient Prairie sea. erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @NireRabel Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Manitoba is one step closer to having its first World Heritage Site designation from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization as an application for the boreal forest on the east side of Lake Winnipeg was recommended for approval Friday. If UNESCO grants the designation in July, it could draw world-wide attention to the area, raising greater possibilities for eco-tourism and economic development for the five First Nations which lie within it. The Pimachiowin Aki is a 33,400-square kilometre largely-undeveloped swath of forest, rivers, lakes and bogs which also encompasses three provincial parks and six protected areas in eastern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. Its name is Ojibwe, and in English means the land that gives life. J.J. ALI / FREE PRESS FILES The Pimachiowin Aki is a 33,400-square kilometre largely-undeveloped swath of forest which encompasses three provincial parks and six protected areas in eastern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario The First Nations and the two provincial governments, along with Canada, have been working on a bid to have the area designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for nearly a decade. The designation, now given to more than 1,000 sites worldwide, is for sites of outstanding universal value that meet one of 10 criteria such as being a masterpiece of human creative genius or bear testimony to a cultural tradition of a civilization. The first Pimachiowin Aki application in 2013 failed because UNESCO advisors felt the advocates hadnt made a strong enough case for the uniqueness of the site. The group was advised to focus more on the relationship of the Indigenous people to the land, including cultural and spiritual connections, and management of it. Gord Jones, the project manager for Pimachiowin Aki Corporation, said that is exactly what they did, producing an application with more First Nations voices as well as more stories and maps and photographs that tell the tale of the region. After a week-long visit by UNESCO evaluators last August, the advisory bodies reviewing applications recommended the site for designation Friday. My first thought is its a really good feeling for the communities who put a lot of effort into this, he said. Former Manitoba Premier Gary Doer was thrilled to hear the news. He was still in the premiers chair when the UNESCO process began in Manitoba, and was a sound advocate for it, hoping it would help protect and preserve the area for generations to come. Its great news for Manitoba, he said Friday. Its great news for our children and our grandchildren. The UNESCO site was one of the reasons cited by the former NDP government in its opposition to building the new Manitoba Hydro transmission line on the east side of the lake. There were concerns a hydro line might disqualify the site from consideration because it would take away from the regions largely undeveloped distinction. New Premier Brian Pallister has committed to reviewing the decision on where to build the new line. His spokeswoman said Friday while the new government is supportive of the UNESCO World Heritage List and the designation being sought for Pimachiowin Aki it has ensured the Parks Canada officials which will present the Pimachiowin Aki case to UNESCO this summer are aware of that in the interests of openness and transparency. Jones said ensuring Parks Canada and the World Heritage Committee have all the relevant information is important but would not speculate on whether he feared the possibility a hydro transmission line might be built in the region could affect whether the site gets approved. The hope is UNESCO status would boost eco and adventure tourism to the region although a consultants report for the project suggested the boost to tourism would be minimal. Manitoba has contributed more than $14.5 million developing the bid since 2007 and Ontario contributed about $850,000. The Pimachiowin Aki also pushed UNESCO to update its evaluations processes, particularly as they pertain to Indigenous applications and those which combine both natural and cultural sites. The final decision will be made at UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Turkey in mid-July. There are 17 proposals for new natural or mixed sites to be decided, including one other Canadian site, the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve in Newfoundland. There are 1,031 world heritage sites around the world, including 17 in Canada. mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca cultural-maps Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg man has been given a 15-year prison term for running a sophisticated escort agency in which young girls were plied with drugs and alcohol and sold for sex. Darrell Ackman, 46, was convicted at a jury trial earlier this year of 14 charges including multiple counts of living off the avails of prostitution, making child pornography and sexual assault. He returned to court Friday to learn his sentence. All of the victims were ripe to be taken advantage of, and Mr. Ackman did this with gusto. His chutzpah was extreme, said Court of Queens Bench Justice Chris Martin. He played fast and loose with these girls lives. Darrell Ackman The Crown had sought up to 20 years, while Ackmans lawyer argued a maximum sentence of 12-and-a-half years should be applied. Martin nearly met them in the middle, imposing one of the longer sentences in recent legal history for a case not involving a homicide. He has not shown any remorse or insight into any of his criminal behaviour, Martin said of Ackman, adding he happily wallowed in the grimy underbelly of the sex trade business. Seven victims came forward to police, with the youngest just 14 at the time. Two of the teens committed suicide since Ackman was arrested in 2012, although Martin was quick to note on Friday theres no evidence their deaths were linked to the accused. Their testimony was presented in the form of videotaped interviews with police conducted prior to their deaths. Jurors were forced to watch extremely graphic videos which showed Ackman sexually abusing some of the victims. Martin referred to this Friday as a horrible display of vanity and self-aggrandizement and a product of Ackmans warped ego and sense of self-importance. A key question for jurors was whether they believed Ackman knew some of the girls were underage, or whether he took steps to verify their ages. Ackman acted as his own lawyer during the trial and claimed he was the true victim of a malicious campaign against him by police and justice officials. Police began focusing on Ackman in summer 2012 after they began seeing many of his self-promotional videos popping up on YouTube, court was told. There were also ads being posted online. Officers with the Winnipeg police vice unit conducted an undercover operation in which one member posted as a potential customer and set up a meeting with Ackman at the Victoria Inn. Ackman showed up with two girls a 14-year-old who was in training and a 17-year-old who would offer sexual services in exchange for $300. He was arrested on the spot. A search warrant was executed at his home and led to the seizure of computer and phone equipment, in which several explicit sexual videos were seized. During sentencing submissions earlier this month, the sister of a victim who committed suicide told court the then-16-year-old might be alive if she hadnt been sexually exploited by Ackman. I will never fully understand why she decided to take her life at such a young age, she said. Maybe the things that Ackman made her do while under the influence affected her way of thinking. Im not sure, but what I am sure of is that no 16-year-old should ever have to think of ending their life. Maybe if this Ackman character didnt make her do these sick things, maybe she would still be here with us today. Ackman has no prior criminal record, grew up in a loving, supportive family and has no addiction issues, court was told. Hes somewhat of an enigma, a puzzle, Martin said Friday. He noted Ackman began immersing himself in the sex trade after moving to Florida more than a decade ago. He began working as a driver for an escort agency, fancied himself as an entrepreneur and began enjoying the business and lifestyle, the judge said. It appears he has some form of personality disorder, said Martin. He noted Ackman acted in stunning fashion during the trial, which included rambling speeches and numerous confrontations with the judge and witnesses. Ackman is now wanted on prostitution-related offences in Miami. A warrant for his arrest in the U.S. remains outstanding. Ackman previously ran as an independent in the September 2012 provincial byelection in Fort Whyte. Brian Pallister won the seat with 2,897 votes. Ackman finished last with 18 votes. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Interim NDP leader Flor Marcelino has been sharing from her legislative office for the past three years a natural medicine which she says has positive benefits for people with cancer. Marcelino shares free of charge through her office the dried leaves of the guyabano fruit plant bringing them back from the Philippines, and asking others to bring back guyabano leaves when they visit the Philippines. But both Health Canada and CancerCare Manitoba say that not only is there no medical evidence that guyabano also known as graviola, soursop, or annona muricata has any effect on cancer, but there are harmful and potentially dangerous side effects in ingesting its leaves. Ottawa requires approvals and permits to bring guyabano leaves into Canada, and approvals and permits to sell or even give it away, and has regulations requiring that it be promoted only for authorized uses. Marcelino had previously contacted a Free Press reporter by email to suggest a possible story on guyabano leaves and her role in promoting and sharing the natural medicines use. She has been too busy with legislature business to grant an interview. I have been sharing guyabano leaves (no charge) to family, friends, acquaintances and even complete strangers after hearing that it has healed several folks I know of cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, Marcelino said. I know of two people now who are still around after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Actually there are many cases in the Philippines that I have heard of being cured by the leaves. One whom I know very well had breast cancer, she wrote. Marcelino included a series of emails from other people who use guyabano leaves, and gave them instructions on how to find her office in the legislature building to pick up guyabano leaves. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES NDP interim leader and MLA for Logan, Flor Marcelino. God is the great healer and He utilizes advancement is (sic) science. Many more people will be diagnosed with cancers, and the knowledge that so many have died from it, alternative treatment and drugs should be looked at, Marcelino wrote by email. I have my thermos bottle with guyabano tea. I drink it everyday whenever I can. Health Canada said from Ottawa that even if a person gives away such natural products for free, it must be done through a federal permit. Bringing it into Canada requires a permit, and federal legislation specifies that a natural product can only be distributed for the purposes for which Health Canada has authorized it in the case of guyabano leaves, only as an antioxidant. CancerCare Manitobas chief medical officer Dr. Piotr Czaykowski warned that, There are numerous safety concerns with the consumption of graviola such as movement disorders and myeloneuropathy, with symptoms similar to Parkinsons disease. There is insufficient reliable evidence to show that graviola should be considered as a treatment for cancer. While some laboratory-based research might suggest that graviola has anti-cancer potential, a clinical trial, which includes any and all phases of clinical research, has never been conducted in humans. As a result, we cannot recommend, prescribe or comment on the risks and benefits of graviola in the context of a cancer treatment. Rheanne Gray of Russell said shes seen the positive effect that guyabano leaves provided free by Marcelino have had on a friend who has cancer. When Marcelino was tourism minister, Gray said, she heard about Grays kids raising money to promote the reunification of Filipino families in Canada. That led to a discussion about Grays friend and her cancer. She (Marcelino) happened to share some information, said Gray. Shes just an exceptional human being. Gray said her friend was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January of 2015: She was given a year to live. Shes still here, and has been drinking tea made from guyabano leaves. Flor said she had friends who take it. That was what stood out most the remarkable positive effect on people who have a cancer diagnosis. Gray said she picks up the guyabano leaves from Marcelinos office when shes in Winnipeg, and other people in the Russell area also bring the leaves back from overseas. We all drink the tea we do it for prevention, Gray said. It doesnt surprise me that Flor wants to do this she has this spirit of generosity. Speaker Myrna Driedgers staff said Friday she has jurisdiction for the chamber and committee rooms, but the finance minister has responsibility for what happens in the rest of the building, including MLAs offices. Finance Minister Cameron Friesen was working on Tuesdays budget and unavailable to comment. The Internet has numerous websites on which individuals say that guyabano has been used successfully to treat cancer. However, organizations such as the National Cancer Institute in the U.S. and the Mayo Clinic make no reference to it. There is no evidence of graviolas efficacy in humans, and there are concerns about its safety, thus we do not support or promote its use as a treatment for cancer, said Czaykowski. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/05/2016 (2343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. An indigenous leader and residential school survivor says Canadians have never been more open to reconciliation, although many injustices remain in Canadian society. British Columbia hereditary Chief Robert Joseph brought a message of hope and optimism Thursday evening as the Liberal Party of Canada kicked off its biennial convention at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg. DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chief Robert Joseph delivers his keynote speech during the opening of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention at RBC Convention Centre Thursday, speaking about the importance of reconciliation. Joseph, who spent 11 years in residential schools where he suffered extreme loss and cruelty, told delegates the reconciliation process, if carried out properly, will define the lasting legacy of the Liberal party. The Liberals, under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have taken several positive steps towards reconciliation, and the vast majority of Canadians are on board, he said. We stand in an unparallelled moment of hope and promise. We find ourselves in an era of immeasurable optimism, said Joseph, former executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. Agreeing to implement all 94 recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, announcing Canadas full endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and launching a national inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women and girls are among the positive steps the government has taken, he said. Also important was recognition by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal of the funding inequities experienced by child welfare agencies on reserves. No other government has ever embraced the idea of reconciliation so vigorously, Joseph said. Yet, many stubborn issues remain, he said. Half of all First Nations kids live in poverty. High school graduation rates for First Nation students are well below national levels. Suicide rates are five to seven times higher than for other Canadians, and life expectancy five to seven years lower. Some 130,000 First Nations people need new homes, and 4,300 indigenous persons remain displaced by flooding in Canada. These issues need to be addressed for true reconciliation to occur, he said. This is the first time in 36 years that the Liberal party has held its national convention in Winnipeg.The event concludes on Saturday. Trudeau will address the meeting that day at noon. DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Liberal representative for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, Rebecca Chartrand, speaks during the opening of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention at RBC Convention Centre Thursday. Local Liberal MP MaryAnn Mihychuk (Kildonan-St. Paul) said holding the convention in Winnipeg provides an opportunity for the party to solidify and improve its standing in the West. In last Octobers national election, the Liberals boosted their seat total in Manitoba to seven from just one (of a possible 14). Im hoping that Winnipeggers and Manitobans can say that this is a party that is revamped. Its a new Liberal party, a Liberal party that can represent the West, Mihychuk said. A new constitution to be voted upon on Saturday would represent a fundamental shift for the party, she said. Amendments would make it much easier for Canadians to join the party and participate in its decision-making. Membership would be free. I think that the new constitution is a fundamental shift. It goes from this idea of being slotted in a political party and and all of the consequences of having to pay to be a member, into being a movement where people can join a trend of social change, Mihychuk said. Earlier in the day, Winnipeg Centre MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette urged young Liberals to leave the convention bubble and meet real citizens while visiting the city. Virtually every federal cabinet minister will be here during the three-day convention, as will most of the 184-member Liberal caucus. This is an opportunity for the politicians on the provincial side, on the municipal side to actually start selling larger scale ideas to our federal counterparts because you have them all here at the same time, Ouellette said. Outside the convention centre Thursday afternoon, Kevin Rebeck, president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour, was taking that advice. As delegates headed to the registration desk, Rebeck was handing out pamphlets pushing for Canada Post to become the hub of our next economy. The policy, pushed by activists and unions, would see post offices as hubs for postal banking, providing small towns with financial services, as well as centres for green innovation, connecting local businesses with customers. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The audience applauds during the opening of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention at RBC Convention Centre Thursday. DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, speaks during the opening of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention at RBC Convention Centre Thursday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/05/2016 (2343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Thousands of refugees who have found a safe haven in Winnipeg have Tom Denton to thank. On Thursday night, some got a chance to do just that when Dentons lifelong service and commitment to securing sanctuary for refugees from around the world was honoured. The 81-year-old executive director of Hospitality House Refugee Ministry has been involved in roughly 8,000 refugee sponsorship applications in the last 40 years. With an average of 2.3 people per sponsorship, that works out to Denton helping 18,400 refugees get to Canada. Counting their children and grandchildren born here, tens of thousands of people have Denton to thank for growing up in a safe country. CAROL SANDERS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tom Denton with some of the 10 Somali orphans he helped rescued from Saudi Arabia in January. Most of the 10 at-risk Somali orphans whom Denton helped rescue from Saudi Arabia in January were there to see Denton receive the Ihsan Award from the Islamic Social Services Association at the Winnipeg Central Mosque. The elaborate and complex mission to get them out safely and resettled in Winnipeg was Dentons finest caper, he said at the time. Thursdays event was to thank volunteers and donors who support refugees coming to Manitoba especially Denton, said ISSA president Shahina Siddiqui. Tom has for years been working selflessly not only advocating for refugees but also getting involved in removing barriers by speaking up, bringing them in and giving them sanctuary, Siddiqui said. So many refugees talk about their experience with Tom the way he raises their confidence. He shows the true face of Canada to newcomers the compassionate face. Dentons first experience with sponsoring refugees was in 1979 with the Rotary Club of Selkirk and helping a family of five from Vietnam resettle. In Winnipeg, he was involved in sponsorships with the First Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in Canada, along with the Citizenship Council of Manitoba that became the International Centre where Denton became executive director. The International Centre in its day was the big resettlement agency in Manitoba for government-assisted refugees. Now it is Welcome Place. More than 11,000 government-assisted refugees were received and settled while Denton was there. They opened his eyes to the echo effect of government-assisted refugees who get here and want to bring their friends and relatives, too. Private sponsorship was the only way they could hope to join them here, said Denton. He managed to get the centre its own refugee-sponsorship agreement with the federal government. When he joined Hospitality House Refugee Ministry, he was able to help with the sponsorship of even more refugees. He helped set up the Winnipeg Private Refugee Sponsorship Assurance Program in 2002. Dentons program is an insurance scheme that transferred the risk from Winnipeg sponsors to the city. That enabled more people to privately sponsor refugees, and the city assumed little risk, with an estimated one per cent of family-linked sponsors running into financial trouble. Families have been reunified, and Manitobas population, economy and diversity have grown thanks in part to refugee resettlement. The assurance program set to expire at the end of 2016 is in the process of being renewed, said Denton who, in 2014 received the Order of Manitoba. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. At age 28, Destinee Stranger has spent almost half of her young life incarcerated. From the time I was 14 until I was 27, I was in and out of the justice system, Stranger said. On Monday, the parolee, who has a knack for carpentry and some training under her belt, starts her first job thats legit. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Portraits of Destinee Stranger at BUILD Inc. on Main Street a parolee who committed armed robbery and learned carpentry and a work ethic at the Social Enterprise Centres BUILD program. She starts work at Manitoba Green Retrofit PCL site and sees herself getting her red seal in carpentry five years instead of ending up back in the slammer. May 25, , 2016 Im excited, but at the same time Im nervous, said Stranger. Its an actual job. Shes going to work for a social enterprise called Manitoba Green Retrofit at a PCL Construction project thats building Manitoba Housing units on Austin Street. It pays $13.50 an hour to start and is a step toward the aboriginal womans goal of earning her red seal in carpentry and getting a share of Manitobas economic prosperity. A report called Creating Pride through Decent Work: Social Enterprises in Manitoba, released Wednesday, says social enterprises are giving people like Stranger an opportunity to earn a decent living. Manitoba has the largest number of aboriginal children in poverty in the country, said the report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Manitoba office. In Winnipeg, areas such as Central Park and William Whyte have poverty rates in excess of 50 per cent some of the highest poverty levels in the country, it said. Racism and colonization have led to barriers to employment, it said. For many growing up in poverty, the lack of economic success stories among peers and relatives has dulled their own hopes for their future, the report said. Children are poor because families are poor, said the report. Families are poor because parents dont have a decent job that pays properly and has good working conditions. Social enterprises were set up to create a path into the workforce for people such as Stranger who face barriers such as a lack of education and work experience, racism and histories of involvement with gangs or the justice system. When Stranger was 12, her mom moved the family from Winnipeg to her First Nation in Saskatchewan for two years. When the family returned to Winnipeg, 14-year-old Stranger became rebellious. I spent much of my youth in the Manitoba Youth Centre. As an adult, she battled addiction and was sentenced to three years for armed robbery. She got an early release and was accepted by the BUILD (Building Urban Industries for Local Development) Inc. program at the Social Enterprise Centre on Main Street. There she learned carpentry, cabinetry, painting and life skills and developed a work ethic. Without it, to be honest, I think I would be back in the pen, said Stranger who is staying at a halfway house. Ive seen women come and go they have nothing to do with their time, she said. Its hard for any parolee or any person involved with the justice system to get a job, she said. Few employers are willing to give them a chance. People do change their lives, said Stranger, who believes she didnt really grow up until she was 27. Personally, for me, Ive learned responsibility, she said. Ive learned a good work ethic and how to be living a normal life as an a adult, she said. In the past, I didnt have to be up at 6 a.m. for work to pay my bills and to own up to my stuff and be an adult. Training someone to get a good job and stay out of the prison system is a good investment for society, said Molly McCracken, one of the Creating Pride reports authors. It looked at seven social enterprises with 194 participants and interviewed 51 of them for the the first qualitative study of social enterprises in Manitoba. We have a tremendously underutilized pool of young workers, said McCracken. Social enterprises are a springboard that can help grow the Manitoba economy, she said. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Veteran justice officials dont recall the last time five jury trials were set to begin in Winnipeg on the same day. The rare occurrence earlier this spring is likely a sign of things to come. A growing number of accused criminals are choosing to be tried by their peers rather than roll the dice before a trained, experienced judge. A Free Press analysis reveals there have been 109 criminal court jury trials scheduled in the city since 2011. That includes 26 in the past fiscal year, compared with 18 last year, and 20 in the year before that. John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press files Room 210 Court of Queens Bench at the Law Courts Monday August 27, 2012. (There were also six non-criminal jury trials during this period five involving civil battles and one for a faint hope application.) The increase may be attributed to increasing confidence in the jury system; the fact that in murder trials the Criminal Code mandates jury trials and the feeling among some persons charged that if they testify, a jury of their peers will believe them, defence lawyer Martin Glazer said. More than 1,300 Winnipeggers have been selected for jury duty over this period. Of course, for every panel of 12 jurors selected to hear a case, a much bigger number of citizens receives random jury notices in the mail. Typically, 1,000 summons go out monthly, regardless of how many trials are set. Several interesting conclusions can be drawn from jury data. Here are five notable findings: 1) Not everyone wants to fulfil their civic duty: No doubt some were ecstatic to find out theyd won the legal lottery and get a crash course on the inner workings of the justice system, while others grudgingly took part. There are also folks unable to participate for a variety of reasons health, child care and employment concerns are the biggest reasons. Then there are those who snub their nose at the system and chose not to show up at court. They typically learn a hard lesson by way of an arrest warrant and appearance before a judge. A few have even spent a couple of nights behind bars. A jury summons is not a request; its a court order. It is not an invitation; it is a command, Court of Queens Bench Justice Chris Martin told a defiant Winnipeg man who invited jury officials to come get me earlier this year when he refused to show up. He spent several hours in custody, was convicted under the Jury Act and fined $150. Ive realized the provincial government places a high priority on civil duty, the man later conceded in court. 2) Things often dont go as planned: There have been 109 criminal jury trials scheduled, which includes proceeding through the jury-selection process. However, only 77 of these cases made it all the way to the end. The other 32 broke down for various reasons. Nine ended when guilty pleas were entered, either on the first day of the trial or in some cases several days into the hearing. Maybe it took staring down their victim in court, or realizing the Crown wasnt messing around, to have the reality of their situation sink in. Perhaps their lawyer was able to talk the Crown into a last-minute plea bargain. Whatever the reason, its not unheard of for a surprise resolution to the case. Nine others crumbled with the Crown entering a stay of proceedings. This is typically due to the fact a key witness, or sometimes multiple witnesses, either dont show up and cant be found, or change their story at the last minute. Another nine cases had to be adjourned and re-scheduled, again for a variety of reasons that could include illness, disclosure issues, scheduling conflicts or missing witnesses. The remaining five cases started but came to a screeching halt because of a mistrial. Typical reasons include the jury hearing something they shouldnt have. A jury trial is like a train that left the station. It just goes and goes and goes until it stops, said Crown attorney Brian Bell, who has prosecuted more jury trials than any of his colleagues in the past decade. Glazer said even the process of selecting a fair, impartial jury can be a challenge. A jury trial can be challenging where the accused is unpopular and or the crime is despicable. Also where an avalanche of media attention has occurred, it is difficult to select a jury not influenced as a result of negative coverage, he said. 3) Its not as tough to get 12 people to agree on a verdict as you might think: Take 12 strangers, stick them in a room and tell them they cant leave until they reach a unanimous decision as they grapple with the intricacies of criminal law combined with complex, conflicting evidence and someones future hangs in the balance. A pretty heavy burden, dont you think? Yet of the 77 jury trials that concluded, there has only been one case that ended with jurors unable to agree on a verdict. That case ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. There is no such thing as majority rules in the criminal jury system, but that doesnt appear to be a hindrance in getting a verdict 99 per cent of the time. Bell said one of the greatest challenges doing a jury trial is not being able to have a dialogue with them, as lawyers often do with judges. I can force-feed a judge the law. In a jury trial, you cant do that, he said. Jurors are also prohibited from discussing what goes on in the jury room even with their own families. That means no feedback on what worked and what didnt. Frankly, Id probably be terrified to find out, Bell said. 4) An accused is more likely to be found guilty than innocent: The 76 jury trials that ended with a verdict involved 89 accused. (Some cases had multiple co-accused on trial at the same time.) Of those 89 accused, 64 were found guilty, representing 72 per cent. Twenty-five were found not guilty, representing 28 per cent. Theres no available data to compare these jury cases with judge-alone cases, so its difficult to draw conclusions suggesting accused persons have a better chance of success with one type of trial over another. But Glazer believes many accused would rather roll the dice with a jury. I believe there have been studies in the United States that indicate that the conviction rate is lower in jury trials than in non-jury trials, but I am not aware of any such studies in Canada, he said. Juries do make mistakes, but history has shown that despite wrongful convictions, juries usually get it right. 5) The majority of all acquittals involve rape cases: Of the 25 people who were found not guilty by a jury, 15 of them were charged with sexual assault. Anecdotally, lawyers have said an accused rapist has a better chance of being found not guilty by a jury, rather than a judge, because the Crown has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I think there is a perception that an accused has a better chance with a jury based on a few factors, including the fact that 12 people have to be unanimous. A jury is composed of laypersons who are not directly connected to the justice system and therefore may be able to identify with the plight of an accused. (Also) as wrongful conviction cases become more known, juries become educated about those cases and will be reluctant to convict unless the evidence is overwhelming, Glazer said. He also cited the CSI factor in which many citizens believe there must be DNA to convict, just like they often see on television. That can be a steep uphill climb, especially in cases that mainly boil down to one persons word against another. My client was relieved and grateful for the jury verdict. The jury listened carefully to the evidence and clearly had a reasonable doubt, defence lawyer Wendy Martin White told the Free Press about a case earlier this year in which her client was cleared of sexually abusing his stepson. During the trial, she suggested the boy had created a bogus tale of abuse something jurors agreed with. The key piece of evidence in support of the accused ended up being a doctor who testified the man was uncircumcised, which contradicted evidence from the alleged victim. *** If you havent yet been selected for jury duty, your time may be coming. The number of trials appears likely to continue its upward swing if the upcoming fall season is any indication. There are eight jury trials set for November, which may be a record if all go ahead. It could also pose a logistical nightmare at the Law Courts Building, considering there are only five courtrooms designed to handle a jury panel in terms of seating and spacing. In my opinion, the jury system is a vital component of our democracy and is designed to ensure that an accused receives a fair trial before 12 impartial judges regardless of the charge, Glazer said this week. For centuries the jury system has been relied upon, and so far there does not appear to have been any evidence of a better system available in the world. www.mikeoncrime.com Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 27/05/2016 (2342 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips was going about her daily work Wednesday when yet another threatening and abusive tweet flashed into her life. My boot would look lovely on @sphillipsABs face, several times in fact, was posted to a Twitter account under the name Les Howarth, shortly before 8 a.m. May 25. The account has been deleted, although a quick glance at the cached version shows abusive, misogynist, racist tweets were par for the course. Sadly, though that account may have been silenced, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of others of its ilk. JASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Alberta's Minister of Environment Shannon Phillips has endured online harassment. Several female politicians are fighting back, shedding light on the abuse and forcing the offenders to account for their actions. Phillips has become used to the attacks, but she is not immune to it, nor is she quiet about it. I have no idea why women might think twice about entering politics, she wrote as she quoted the Howarth tweet. That, then, is the rub. It is 2016, and still only one in four MPs federally is a woman. In only two provincial legislatures are women breaking the one-in-three mark. In four of them, they number fewer than one in five. Politicians and lobby groups have been trying to solve the gender-inequality problem for years. The House of Commons is working on more family-friendly work hours in part to make being an MP more attractive to women with young children. NDP MP Kennedy Stewart is pushing legislation that would penalize political parties by reducing election-expense rebates unless at least 45 per cent of the partys candidates are women. Kennedys thinking is if more women are on the ballot, it will lead to more women being elected. He says when a similar provision was introduced in Ireland, it led to a 90 per cent increase in the number of women running and a 40 per cent increase in the number of women elected. He calls it the politics of inclusion and believes the abuse heaped on female politicians will lessen once women are an equal part of the show. There is skepticism that forcing parties to run more female candidates would automatically lead to more women being elected since parties all run write-in candidates in unwinnable ridings just to ensure they have someone on the ballot. If parties can simply meet the quota by using more women in those roles, nothing will change. But the Irish numbers sound promising. However, there are lots of reasons women dont want to run for office. Balancing a family life with the demands of politics is not easy. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister told me he found it far easier to recruit women to run after the legislature agreed to fixed sitting schedules. But he also said there were many women who said no to him because they didnt like what politics had to offer. The conflict. The anger. The tone. Pallister worried in saying so he might be accused of being sexist. But hes not wrong. Maybe its taught to women in the decades of being told how girls are supposed to behave. When boys roughhouse, theyre just boys being boys, while girls are told its not ladylike. So should we be all that surprised more women than men shy away from conflict? Couple that with the fact women are on the receiving end of a level of abuse on social media most men never even get a glimpse of, and Phillips is right. It is not rocket science why few women want to be part of it. There are lots of women behind the scenes. All three main national parties had women running the show during the 2015 election, but none had a woman running for the job of prime minister. You get a lot less abuse when youre on the sidelines rather than in the ring. The abuse of women in public has grown from mostly anonymous comments to people such as Les Howarth. And whats worse is before the account was deleted, 57 people liked the post. Fifty-seven people agreed or thought it was funny to suggest Phillips deserved to be kicked in the face. How do we end this? Do not tolerate it. If you see it, shut it down. Name them and shame them. Dont like these posts. Dont re-tweet these posts for fun. If you know about it and say nothing, you are part of the problem and may as well have written the abusive posts yourself. Mia Rabson is the Free Press parliamentary bureau chief mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca@mrabson Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 26/05/2016 (2343 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. There are exactly two places I can get a (weak) cell signal in my River Heights bungalow. I can either stand directly under the light fixture in my dining room, or I can stand in the hallway outside the bathroom, with my body slightly angled into the living room. Want to send a text from my house? LOL, K. Hope its nothing urgent! I didnt know MTS was proposing to erect a cell tower near my house until this week, when residents of my neighbourhood were complaining about it. Evidently, I was not one of the 19 households notified about this proposal. But had I got the letter, which says that MTS wants to install a tower on the existing River Heights Telephone Exchange Building at 419 Niagara St. so that my home and others like it could be less like bomb shelters, my response would have been one of support. Especially after learning that there are no plans to tear down the existing building, which was designed in 1929 and is a charming little piece of River Heights character. Ive always loved that building, with its Spanish-style roof. Now, its perfectly understandable why some people might be upset by the idea of an 18-metre-high cellphone tower plunked in the middle of a residential area particularly in a residential area that is decidedly not cool with large, unsightly building projects that rob the neighbourhood of its character. Whats less understandable are the reasons given for the pushback. At a town hall meeting held at the Rady Centre on Wednesday night, a few residents expressed concerns about the tower, including and Im paraphrasing Im not allowed to build an unnecessarily tall fence; why does MTS get to do whatever it wants? and Wont somebody please think of the children? DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The proposed cell tower at the corner of Niagara Street and Grosvenor Avenue is currently an MTS switching station that looks like a residential property. Lets unpack the latter worry, since health concerns associated with cellphones have been around for as long as there have been cellphones and cellular towers. Most of these concerns surround radio frequency fields which is how your cellphone transmits information and whether or not they cause cancer. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified radiofrequency fields as a class 2B carcinogen, which means they possibly cause cancer. Other class 2B carcinogens include coffee and gasoline. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, a few small studies have shown a link between radio frequency fields and cancer, but most research has not. So, its possible that radio frequency fields cause cancer. You know what else is possible? Anything. Only one chemical, caprolactam, is designated as class 4, or probably not carcinogenic to humans. Everything else will probably, possibly or definitely give you cancer. If it can even be classified, that is. According to Health Canada, cellphones and cellphone towers in Canada must meet regulatory requirements that limit human exposure to radio frequency energy. As well, unlike the radiation found in, say, X-rays, the radiation given off by cellular towers is non-ionizing and therefore cant break chemical bonds in your body. Besides, its very unlikely it would reach your body. Towers aside, we come into contact with radio frequency fields every day, all day long. Whenever we use our cellphones, watch TV, nuke yesterdays leftovers in the office microwave, or enter a Starbucks in which 20 people are using Wi-Fi to check email, were exposed to radio frequency. Your house probably has Wi-Fi. How many of us fall asleep scrolling through Facebook and Twitter, and then put our phone which is probably doubling as an alarm clock right beside our heads? How many kids play on their parents iPhones? SUPPLIED MTS cell tower illustration of the proposed site of a cell tower in River Heights at Niagara and Grosvenor. Trying to get away from radio frequency fields is a lot like trying to find a cell signal in my house: you can try, but youre not going to have much success. So, it seems to me the health concerns are a red herring for the real reason people dont want a cellphone tower in the neighbourhood: cellphone towers are objectively ugly. But the monstrosity River Heights residents are doubtlessly imagining is likely much worse than the proposed Niagara tower, which actually just looks like a weirdly tall chimney. Its fine. Personally, I was relieved when I saw it. I was envisioning a space station. I know Im not the only River Heights resident who wants to be able to use a cellphone without it having to be 2 p.m. on a clear day with a gentle breeze coming out of the east or whatever. And cellphones require cellphone towers. MTS will be holding an open house on June 1 at 6 p.m. at the Corydon Community Centre (River Heights location). By all means, go oppose the tower if you feel strongly about it but dont rely on click-bait science to do so. jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @JenZoratti SUPPLIED MTS cell tower diagram of the proposed site of cell tower in River Heights at Niagara Street and Grosvenor Avenue. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Local girl scouts Julie and Emily Benke of Troops #143214 and #47929 have been collecting money to send Girl Scout cookies to the troops who will deploy to Egypt in July. The Minnesota National Guard will deploy 400 soldiers to Egypt in July, for a nine-month long mission to the Sinai Peninsula. It is part of an effort to enforce the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, supporting the Multi-National Force and Observers. The man accused of killing a Lewiston woman earlier this month is not likely to get out of jail soon. At a Thursday afternoon hearing, Winona District Court Judge Jeffrey Thompson denied a motion to reduce Kyle Benjamin Allers $1 million unconditional bail. Allers, 23, is charged with a single count of second-degree murder, accused of bludgeoning and strangling Tasha Lynn Hanson to death May 12 and disposing of her body in a remote wooded area east of Lewiston. He and Hanson had been in a long-term relationship and had two children together. Allers public defender argued that bail for his client should be reduced to $100,000 with conditions, including wearing a GPS ankle bracelet to allow his wherabouts to be tracked remotely. He said his client was not a flight risk, as evidenced, he said, by his concern for his two young children and his efforts to arrange custody for them while he is in custody. Allers, he said, is also suffering from infected teeth and will be in pain and on antibiotics until they can be surgically removed, a process that would be easier were he not in jail. Furthermore, he said, since being taken into custody, Allers had turned himself in on all other outstanding warrants, and had heard that some of his belongings had been stolen and he wanted to be able to secure his property. Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman objected strenuously to the request for reduced bail. She said that given the charges and circumstances, the $1 million bail set by Thompson at Allers first hearing was reasonable. Allers dental problems could be treated while he remains in jail, Sonneman noted, because he could be escorted to a dentist for necessary treatments while in custody. As far as child custody issues, Sonneman said she was incredulous, given that it was Allers own accused action that resulted in the need to place the children in custodial care with family members. Allers remains a flight risk and a public safety risk, Sonneman said, reminding the court that he had failed to appear on warrants in Wabasha and Houston counties in incidents that involved him and the deceased victim, and that the request for reduced bail was based on his own personal needs and for his own selfish reasons. While granting that Allers had genuine concerns regarding the custody and well-being of his children, Thompson took note of other concerns regarding Allers potential conduct if released, including a previous threat to kill himself, and denied the motion. Allers was returned to custody in lieu of $1 million bail. His next court appearance, a default omnibus hearing, was set for July 13. A two-car broadside crash just east of the intersection of Mankato Avenue and Hwy. 61 Thursday morning injured two people. A Jeep driven by John Bernadot, 71, of West Salem, Wis., in the westbound lanes of Hwy. 61 crossed over the grass median into the eastbound lane about 9:15 a.m. and broadsided a BMW driven by Nicole Civettini, 37, of Winona. Civettini was transported by ambulance to Winona Health with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, the Patrol said. Bernadot was also transported to Winona Health with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. The crash caused significant front-end damage to the Jeep, with the Jeep pushing the BMW into a ditch on the southwest side of the intersection, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. The Winona Fire Department and Winona Police Department assisted at the scene. The debate over access to public restrooms has provided an opportunity for us to think carefully about the need for truly accessible bathrooms for all. My own experience in this area does not mirror those advocating for transgender rights, but bathroom access is nonetheless central to my familys daily life. My daughter is 12 years old, weighs 77 pounds, and is nearly as tall as me. She also wears diapers. You may think that a public bathroom is accessible because there is a handicapped stall, but I assure you that is not the case for many, many people. Im not alone in seeing the restroom controversy in this light. Parents like me are increasingly vocal about the need for larger, height-adjustable tables for changing older children and adults. Without tables, the only option is to get down on the never-sanitary bathroom floor to change. Other advocates protest similarly difficult barriers. Some people may be able to use the toilet, but are unable to manage without the assistance of a caregiver (not always of the same gender), or simply need a mechanical lift to help them access the toilet. Its no coincidence that movements for greater inclusiveness center on (or around) the bathroom. Legal analyst Daniella A. Schmidt reminds us that bathroom restrictions have been, and are, acts of exclusion, oppression and power. The mid-20th century civil rights movement is famously remembered for dismantling segregated lunch counters, but we forget that protesters also staged integration actions in bathrooms. Under Jim Crow, if there was no bathroom for you, you either did not go, or faced the choice between personal humiliation or arrest. In 1961, the Chicago Defender reported a story about an African-American woman in Atlanta who was refused entry to the white ladies room at the insurance company where she was doing business. Only when she embarrassed herself by losing control of her bladder was she finally led to a toilet. Even then she was forced to use the white mens room (reminding us that the idea of forcing people into bathrooms where they dont feel they belong has a history in America). Jim Crow segregation of this kind eventually came to an end thanks to searing citizens protest, the power of U.S. Supreme Court decisions and determined enforcement efforts of the federal government. It seems that the latest controversy will be subject to similar action. Earlier this month, the federal Justice Department first sued the state of North Carolina to challenge its legislation insisting that sex at birth determined ones legal access to a bathroom, then asserted that it will use the provisions of Title IX to ensure that public schools allow children to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. In theory, people with disabilities should have the same recourse thanks to the Americans With Disabilities Act. But as scholar David Serlin has argued, the ADA has never approached meeting this need because policymakers carved out a space within the able-bodied restroom, heedless of the requirements of people they did not consult, or whose needs they could not imagine. Once set in bricks and mortar, the accommodation is supposedly complete, and no one gets or deserves any further privilege or consideration. We need the ADA to do more. Indignity and humiliation are forced upon people when they are not accorded appropriate, private spaces to do what we all must do. Just as the Justice Department has done in the case of Title IX and transgender peoples rights, public policy makers must grapple honestly with the realities of bodily functions for many people with significant disabilities. They need to overcome the ignorance, shame and revulsion that has plagued discussions of what happens in the bathroom, and what it means to be dependent upon significant supports or the help of others to go to the toilet. It is a great privilege not to have to make decisions about if, and where, to use the bathroom, to not have to run through a series of calculations about risks and benefits, some of which are nearly untenable. For this reason, paying what it will cost to make room for all people will demand more than monetary sacrifice. Being a society that ensures dignity for all will mean coming to terms with all of our vulnerabilities to misfortune. It will mean facing what we fear or dont understand. It will mean relinquishing the freedom of not having to think about these realities, and of not having to see much less overcome these barriers. Imagine, for a moment, that this is you. And ask yourself, what would you do? Today 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. The Village Booksmith will hold a quiz night at 7:30 p.m. at 526 Oak St., Baraboo. Bring a team of four or come as a free agent and collaborate with others. 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 The New Life Community Church will hold its biannual rummage and bake sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1919 Elizabeth St., in Baraboo. Many of the items for sale are only 25 cents with bargains in furniture, kitchen items, small appliances, lighting, toys, tools, books, current and vintage magazines, holiday decor, linens, office items, clothing and much more. Workers are available to help you load your car. 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. The Heavenly Smoked Roasters and Friends of the Baraboo Zoo will hold a cookout from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the intersection of Connie Road and Eighth Street, in Baraboo. The menu includes, pulled pork sandwiches, Chicago style hot dogs, chips , soda or water. Proceeds will benefit the new otter display at Ochsner Park Zoo. 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. Wednesday, June 1 The Boys & Girls Clubs of West-Central Wisconsin, Baraboo/Sauk County will host a Kitchen Shower and Open House for its newly remodeled kitchen from 3-6 p.m. at 124 Second St., Baraboo. The club remodeled its existing kitchen to better suit its needs as the club prepares to officially launch its Kids Cafe meal program. The Kids Cafe program is a program that will feed the clubs members regular, hot, healthy meals at no cost to them. 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. 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. Devils Lake State park will host Learn to Kayak from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This program is an introduction to kayaking. Learn some basic strokes, how to get in and out of the kayak safely and what to do if you capsize. Bring a kayak or rent one from the Chateau. The rental fee is $25 for a single kayak. Single kayaks only are allowed in this program and is limited to 10 participants. This program is best for adults and kids ages 8 and older. Meet at the Chateau. To register, call the Nature Center at (608) 356-8301 ext. 140. Thursday, June 2 Maplewood will host the AARP Safe Driver class from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 245 Sycamore St. in Sauk City. Cost is $15 for AARP members, $20 for non-members payable the day of the class. Registration is not required, but preferred. Contact Maplewood at 643-3383 to reserve a spot. The family of Logan Heiser will host a blood drive in his memory from 1-6 p.m. at River Hills Community Church, 1111 Sycamore St. in Sauk City. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit www.redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Devils Lake State park will host Kayak Tour from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This program will take participants on a guided tour observing wildlife and learning about the parks geology and history. Preregistration and prepay is required prior to the event. Bring a kayak or rent one from the Chateau. The rental fee is $25 for a single kayak and $45 for a double. Meet at the Chateau. To register and to reserve a kayak, call the Nature Center at (608) 356-8301 ext. 140. The Baraboo District Ambulance Service will not provide continued coverage to Adams County after a state agency suspended the license of an ambulance service there. BDAS Chief Dana Sechler said Thursday the Adams County Ambulance Commission had opted to contract with Waushara County EMS for coverage. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services suspended the Adams County Emergency Services ambulance license last week after an unannounced inspection uncovered safety violations, coverage gaps and certification issues. At the request of DHS, the Baraboo ambulance agency agreed to step in to provide coverage through today. BDAS has set up a make-shift station near a Friendship hospital. The Baraboo District Ambulance Commission met Wednesday night to consider offering extended coverage to Adams County until the situation is resolved. The commission approved an offer in which BDAS would have provided one ambulance and two personnel, with at least one paramedic at all times. BDAS offered to provide coverage for $900 per day through June 10. Sechler said he submitted the offer to the Adams County Ambulance Commission on Thursday morning. An attorney for the Adams County ambulance service said earlier this week that the agency has corrected problems with its ambulances, and has straightened out issues regarding mutual aid agreements. State officials also said the agency had operated without proper certification from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. But the ACES attorney said the certification belonged to the ambulance services medical doctor who did not properly list it in paperwork. It remains unclear when, or if, the Adams County agency might be back up and running. Well help with a smooth transition between (BDAS and Waushara County EMS), but as close to 5 p.m. well be packing up our things and heading back to Baraboo, Sechler said. Were glad to have served and we wish them the best of luck. FOX LAKE A company based in Europe celebrates its 10th anniversary of founding a U.S.-based subsidiary this year. Anita Monti, president of Autoflex-Knott, and operations manager Shaun Johnston spoke about the companys history in Fox Lake, the recent completion of a warehouse that doubled its building size, and the companys plans for future growth. Hungarian-German company Autoflex-Knott manufactures axles and trailer parts for customers worldwide. The company originated in Hungary in 1982 as Autoflex, and became a member of the German-based Knott group of companies in 1994. Both family-built businesses, H. Szabo Sandor owns the Hungarian half, while Valentin Knott owns the German half. With sales approaching $72 million, the company maintains 14 subsidiaries with a presence in Europe, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and North and South America. We supply some of the biggest trailer manufacturers in the world with all of our products, Johnston said. The company does its stamping work in Slovakia, casting in Serbia, and manufactures tubing, steel, rubber torsion components and plastic parts in Hungary. It manufactures brake axles and metal mud fenders in Serbia and couplers in Slovakia, with other subsidiaries in Finland, Romania, Russia, Spain, China and Ukraine. We know where everything comes from, Monti said. The company founded its first U.S. subsidiary on Nov. 30, 2006, in Indiana. It soon began to work with Karavan Trailers in Fox Lake and opted to relocate there in 2008. Autoflex-Knott first rented warehouse space, and eventually bought a 12,000-square-foot building on a nearly 6-acre lot in Fox Lakes business park. AutoflexKnott currently employees seven people in Fox Lake. Monti said the company has about 1,000 employees worldwide. While the companys main manufacturing is in Hungary, the Fox Lake location handles small assembly production. We have our own design team in Hungary, Monti said. Research and development as well. Monti said she lived in Fox Lake for a few years, and now visits every other month. In the future, we will set up a production line here, Monti said. Hopefully, we can become more independent here, Johnston said. Fox Lake city administrator Gary Rogers said you dont think of a company with Autoflex-Knotts depth having a presence in a community like Fox Lake. We owe a lot of that to Karavan Trailers, Rogers said. They compliment each other. Autoflex-Knott applied for funds through Fox Lakes economic development incentive program. Rogers said the application was approved unanimously by the citys Redevelopment Authority. The company used the funds to help expand its warehouse, working with Horizon Construction. The new warehouse space added 13,000 square feet to Autoflex-Knott. We doubled the size of the facility, Johnston said. Johnston said the city was helpful. Mayor Tom Bednarek said Autoflex-Knott recently contributed to the citys summer recreation program, along with other businesses. Theyre a tremendous asset to the community, Bednarek said. Anniversary celebrations in September will include a visit from upper executives from around the world. To learn more, visit www.autoflex-knott.com. Disorderly conduct Thursday at 9:51 a.m., someone reported that a student was making inappropriate comments to female students at Beaver Dam High School, 500 Gould St. Misc. Thursday at 11:01 a.m., a 74-year-old woman at Walgreens, 607 Park Ave., told police that she was upset about an IRS scam. Accident Thursday at 1 p.m., a 62-year-old woman was involved in a vehicle accident in the 900 block of Madison Street. Drugs Thursday at 2:04 p.m., a 17-year-old girl reported marijuana smoke coming from the down stairs apartment in the 100 block of East Mill Street. Retail theft Thursday at 2:45 p.m., a 35-year-old woman at Shopko, 822 Park Ave., was cited with retail theft. Hit and run Thursday at 5:05 p.m., a 56-year-old woman reported that her vehicle was struck in the 1600 block of North Spring Street. Fight Thursday at 9:38 p.m., an employee at Taco Bell, 1739 N. Spring St., reported a fight in the parking lot with a bat involved. Police cited both men involved in the fight with battery. Misc. Thursday at 10:36 p.m., a woman reported 12 children on skateboards and bikes were in Smythe Park. The Beaver Dam Fire Department would like to say thank you to LaGrange Salvage for donating vehicles again this year that were used at the Citizens Police and Fire Academy. Because of your generosity, students who attended this years Academy benefited from the opportunity to learn more about extinguishing a vehicle fire. It is encouraging to have a local business help us make this a successful event each year. The City of Mauston plans to review its liquor sales display ordinance, which could allow stores to have more freedom promoting liquor and beer sales. On Tuesday, the citys ordinance, licenses and permits committee heard from local businesses about concerns with display limitations that are in the current ordinance. The meeting was held prior to the common council meeting at city hall. Im willing to sit down with local store owners and discuss having the ordinance be more liberal to allow them to have more displays, said Mauston Mayor Brian McGuire. Festival Foods Manager Kim Goodwin said having a more liberal ordinance could help Mauston stores promote large sales, especially during busy holiday weekends. When we have a Fourth of July or Memorial Day special, its nice to put out a display advertising a brat sale with a cheese and wine set up, things like that, Goodwin said. Maustons liquor sales display ordinance is meant to help curb underage drinking. However, Mauston Police Chief Michael Zilisch believes the responsibility of keeping liquor out of underage hands lies on the store clerk and an ordinance does little to sway a person from purchasing alcohol with a fake I.D. or stealing it. If youre going to want to get it, you will, unless the liquor is completely locked up, Zilisch said. Committee and common council member Steve Leavitt believes the ordinance should be redrafted to allow businesses to display liquor where they wish. I dont think we should tell stores how to run their business, Leavitt said. Goodwin said Wisconsin Dells has a display ordinance that is easy to follow and Mauston could use it as an example if they decide to re-draft its ordinance. Ultimately, it falls on the clerk to make sure that theyre not selling to minors, said City Administrator Nathan Thiel. Shrader addresses council Art Shrader, who is running for a seat in the State Assembly, addressed council members on Tuesday. Shrader is hoping to unseat incumbent Ed Brooks in the 50th District. Shrader, a Democrat, talked about three of the biggest issues he believes are affecting residents in the 50th District: sluggish population growth, economic development, and weakening infrastructure. Shrader, a community banker from Reedsburg, is making his first foray into politics. As a community banker, Ive worked with small businesses, municipalities, industries and farmers to help them grow and develop access to capital; show positive growth and increase the viability of the areas we live in, Shrader said. I intend to take that knowledge Ive gained over the years in private industry to the capitol in Madison. In recent years, Shrader has seen state politics become too polarized between the top two parties: Democrats and Republicans. To me, whether youre a Republican or a Democrat, it should be secondary to being a Wisconsite, Shrader said. My first, second and only priority is to work for whats best in the 50th Assembly District. Shrader believes manufacturing in rural Wisconsin needs a fresh overhaul. He talked about placemaking, an idea to work with other counties, along with state and federal agencies to grow business in rural areas. Education is one of the most important things when youre looking at growing the economy, Shrader said. Ive talked to administrators in the district and asked them how theyre doing, they tell me Well, were getting by, but with any more cuts, we dont know what were going to do. What that ends up doing is shortchanging kids, but its also shortchanging (adults). We dont want just the best education system in the U.S., we want the best education in the world. Shrader said that improvements in education funding could help boost the economy. In turn, a better rural economy could prompt young people to either move to the area or return to the district after completing college or vocational training. Mauston PD gets funding for cameras In the police chiefs report, Zilisch said the department received a $3,000 donation for body cameras. That was really fantastic, Zilisch said. That will really help since we just ordered some (cameras). Zilisch said the department has steadily increased the number of traffic citations it has issued since 2012, which should help Mauston PD earn more Wisconsin Department of Transportation grant money to purchase equipment. After just six weeks on the job, a former campaign manager for Gov. Scott Walker has been fired from presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps campaign. Rick Wiley, who also headed the short-lived presidential campaign of Walker, was fired this week from Trumps campaign, according to Politico, after being hired as the campaigns national political director in April. Wiley was the first high-profile hire by the campaign, according to Politico, but Wiley and Trumps top adviser, Paul Manafort, found themselves butting heads with Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. In a statement announcing Wileys departure, Trump called him a short-term hire. After Walkers campaign ended, Wiley was criticized by Walker supporters for telling news reporters that Walkers campaign had a fundraising problem, not a spending problem. In 2014, Wiley also worked as the National Republican Senatorial Committees lead consultant and advised the Republican Governors Association. Wiley is also a former executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party. Ron Johnson to hold hearing on Tomah VA U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson will hold an oversight hearing in Tomah on Tuesday to review allegations of overprescribing medications to patients, patient deaths and a hostile working environment occurring at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Two top officials of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs will testify. Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also will release findings from an investigation into the allegations, according to Johnsons office. The situation led to the departures of center director Mario DeSanctis and chief of staff David Houlihan. Johnson is in the middle of a tough campaign to keep his seat in the U.S. Senate from being taken by former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold. The Tomah VA scandal has been prominent in the campaign. Both Feingold and Johnson have faced questions about what they knew about staffing issues and the overprescribing of medications at the facility. Starting last year, Johnson conducted an investigation of Tomah through his congressional office and the Senate Homeland Security committee. The investigation included a field hearing in Tomah in March 2015. Johnson also has introduced Senate bills he said will increase transparency in the VA system and protect whistleblowers who speak out about problems. The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. at Cranberry Country Lodge in Tomah. Sloan Gibson, deputy secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Michael Missal, Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, will testify. Yoshie Shreeve Yoshie Shreeve, 60, lost her battle to lung cancer on May 23, 2016, at her home in Pardeeville, surrounded by loving family members. Yoshie was born in Okinawa, Japan, on May 11, 1956. She immigrated to the United States in 1980, and made her home in Phoenix, Arizona until 2004, when she and her husband, David Matteson, moved to Wisconsin. There she found a great opportunity with American Girl and met all of her beloved friends. They are known as her second family. When they were together, there was always cinematic laughter and Yoshies voice could always be heard. Amazingly, with each passing year, Yoshie got younger. She was youthfully aging, a timeless beauty. Yoshie had a determined spirit. She never let the fear of lung cancer overtake her. She was strong, brave and courageous. Yoshie fought cancer as hard as she loved. The amount she loved others could neither be quantified nor contained. People gravitated to Yoshie be it her infectious laughter, the warmth in her smile, it didnt matter one look at Yoshie and you saw genuine, all-encompassing love without conditions. Just knowing Yoshie or meeting her by chance left a permanent warm sentiment on your heart. The warmth will never fade. Her spirit lives in each life she has touched. For all the individuals that were by Yoshies side, thank you for comforting and supporting her! She is survived by her husband of 22 years, David Matteson, formerly of Madison. Yoshie will be watching over David and making sure he doesnt collect too much stuff. Yoshie is survived by her two children, Andy Shreeve of Alexandria, Virginia (Valerie Toth) and Mariko Hamilton of Batavia, Illinois. She is also survived by her grandchildren, the newest member that shares her birthday, May 11, Oriana Yoshie Shreeve, whom she fortunately met. Others are Caitlin Hamilton, Makayla Hamilton and Caleb Hamilton. Yoshie is also survived by her sisters, Katsue Higa, Kiyomi Adaniya, Mayumi Yogi and her brother Sadao Tobaru. She is survived by her mother, Michiko Tobaru. Yoshie has many wonderful nieces and nephews, led by the Number 1 leader, Shizuka Takara. A wake to celebrate Yoshies life will be held next month. Further details regarding the arrangements will be forthcoming shortly. Grasse Funeral Service of Pardeeville is serving the family (www.grassefs.com). Heres a warning for anyone who plans to drive this Memorial Day weekend: Dont become another name on this list. And please note: Theyre not all repeat drunken drivers. The Oregon man whose passenger died after a rollover crash Wednesday is facing his first OWI offense. Sadly, the last week of arrests, prison sentences, injury and death wasnt that unusual. Wisconsins drunken-driving scourge goes on and on. More penalties and prevention are needed. Last Friday, Leland Mellum, 59, of Richland Center, was accused of driving drunk for the fifth time after crashing his vehicle in Richland County and injuring a passenger. On Sunday, Joshua Perkie, 32, of Muscoda, was arrested in Richland Center for what could be his seventh OWI offense. On Monday, John Przybyla, 76, of Friendship who blamed a beer-battered fish fry after being pulled over for his 10th conviction of drunken driving was sentenced to seven years in prison. Also Monday, Ross Cotter-Brown, 30, of Edgerton, was in court on charges he drove drunk for the fourth time in five years, running his truck into and seriously injuring two girls walking home from school in Middleton. On Wednesday, Mark La Veen, 53, of Janesville, was sentenced to four years in prison for his 10th OWI conviction, which occurred in Fitchburg. Also Wednesday, a passenger died after Brett Leutenegger, 21, of Oregon crashed his truck while allegedly driving drunk in the town of Albany. Also Wednesday, a New Glarus man was cited for being intoxicated after crashing his vehicle through a wall into a barn, the Green County Sheriffs Department reported. Today is the start of the holiday weekend and the unofficial start of summer. More than 755,000 Wisconsin residents are expected to travel, according to AAA. Thats a 2.2 percent increase over last year, with lower gas prices fueling heavier traffic. Be safe. Dont drink and drive. Dont become or cause the next horrific crash on our highways. Wisconsin has long ranked as one of the worst states in the nation for OWI. Our states latest embarrassment was having 12 communities listed among the 20 drunkest cities in America. Appleton was the worst. Madison was No. 4. Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature have been slow to crack down on drunken driving, and theyve failed to aggressively pursue prevention. Promising technology that tests the blood or fingernails of chronic offenders to enforce sobriety should expand. And every drunken driver should have easy access to treatment for alcohol abuse. Walker just signed a law requiring all fourth offenses to be felonies. Yet Wisconsin remains the only state that treats a first offense as a traffic ticket. First-offenders should have to spend a night in jail, appear in court and face a misdemeanor charge. Alcohol-related crashes in Wisconsin killed 162 people and injured almost 2,700 in 2014. Just as startling, some 25,000 drunken-driving convictions are expected to occur in Wisconsin this year. Dont add to that number this weekend or ever. You never realize how many relatives you have until you attend a family reunion. While the Woodruff clan holds its usual summer shindig every year, my mother and uncle continue another kind of family tradition. Prior to their deaths, my maternal grandparents, Ralph Woodruff and Leona (Janechek) Woodruff, visited cemeteries across the area to place flowers on family graves. They are both deceased now but two of their children, my mother, Teresa (Woodruff) Stanek, and uncle, Richard Woodruff, do the annual cemetery run every year around Memorial Day. For the first time in my life I went with them. Not only did I discover how far my roots reach around Sauk and Richland counties, I also found out why its so important to keep notes on the family tree. Like many people from this region, my ancestors emigrated from Europe, mostly what is now the Czech Republic. Several of my relatives rest in Czechs National Cemetery in Yuba, where numerous old gravestones are entirely in Czech. Its times like this I wish the language had been passed down. I picked up a few words with help from Google. Several graves bore the word matka, or mother. Otec means, you guessed it, father. Czech months are a bit tougher. Through translation websites I found out that one of my ancestors, Marie Rott, was born in November (Listopad in Czech) and died in July (Cervenec). After seeing family graves at the Lloyd Cemetery, I checked out the old stomping grounds of Ralph Woodruff. He lived on a farm on the border Richland and Sauk counties and attended a tiny school near Lloyd. The schoolhouse still is standing, though it has caved in on one side. My grandfathers grave is noteworthy. Ralph was a veteran of World War II and Korea so we added a patriotic flair to his arrangement. My last memory associated with Ralph is from his funeral, when military personnel presented my grandmother with a flag in honor of his service. I always remembered Grandma Leona as a tiny but tough lady but her face showed only the deepest sadness that day. After bidding farewell to Ralph and Leona, its on to Lime Ridge, a tiny community I have visited a handful of times since joining the Times-Press. There rest even more of Ralphs relatives: Delbert H. Woodruff and Edna Abbs and Rex D. and Bernice Woodruff. Although they survived into my childhood, I confess I cant remember them. I wish I could. By far the most difficult stop is Big Hollow Cemetery near Spring Green. There rests my aunt Sue (Anderson) Woodruff, who died from childbirth complications. Hers is a face and voice I do remember. She married my uncle Richard in April 1995 and we lost her later that year. She wasnt even 30 years old. Richard used to live in Reedsburg and told me he visited her grave every month for 11 years. I can only imagine his grief. As I think about Sue I have to wonder: How did my grandparents feel when they visited graves? Did they still have fresh emotions or were the deceased an increasingly distant memory? I also question if anyone will remember the names long after the faces have faded. I hear it everywhere I go: People are forgetting their heritage. The farther we move for jobs, school or marriage the more we lose from our past. And heres a scary thought: Finding out ones history isnt always as easy as signing up for a website or digging through records. Through family stories I have learned that immigration staff changed most of our names, especially on my fathers side. It was common practice in those days; Czech names were long and complicated so it was easier to shorten them. Nobody alive remembers the original Stanek name so it would be almost impossible for me to find out much about my ancestry on that side. Theres nothing wrong with technology; its easier than ever to search historical records and uncover familial connections. But there is something special about seeing your ancestors actual grave, even if its in a language you can barely understand. So, on this Memorial Day holiday, I have vowed to chronicle all I can about my family before those who still know the stories are long gone. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Bethany Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Dells, with the Rev. Craig Wolfgram officiating. Burial will be at Spring Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Picha Funeral Home in Wisconsin Dells and from 9:30 a.m. until the time of services at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the church. Paul was born March 6, 1922, in the town of Germantown, Juneau County, the son of Henry and Laura (Wermouth) Grefe. He attended a one-room school house in the town of Germantown and worked on the family farm. He and his brother Gaylord worked for the Civilian Conservation Corp planting trees and cutting pulpwood as young men. Later he went to Milwaukee and worked in several factories and a lumberyard. In his 20s, he worked on ships sailing the Great Lakes transporting vehicles. Then his interest led him to the Merchant Marines during war times. He traveled several time around the world hauling freight, ore and food products. In the fall of 1949, he bought the farm in Wisconsin Dells with the help of his dad and the money he saved while sailing. Then he married Savilla Westerfeldt on Nov. 28, 1953, in Reedsburg. Paul was on numerous boards: Kilbourn Co-op Exchange, Wisconsin Dairies, town chairman, fire warden for 26 years, and Adams County Board of Adjustments. In his spare time he enjoyed fishing, hunting and telling stories about his excursions. Paul and Savilla retired from farming in 1983, and started fishing, traveling, enjoying life, church and family. 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 Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. First two AP1000s move closer to commissioning 26 May 2016 Share The integrated head package has been installed on top of the AP1000 reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 of the Haiyang nuclear power plant in China's Shandong province. Meanwhile, hydraulic testing has been completed of the primary circuit of Sanmen 1, expected to be the first Westinghouse AP1000 to begin operating. The integrated head package is placed upon the reactor vessel of Haiyang 1 (Image: SNPTC) The integrated head package combines several separate components in one assembly and aims to allow the rapid removal of the reactor vessel head during a refueling outage. It includes a lifting rig, seismic restraints for control rod drive mechanisms, support for reactor head vent piping, power cables, cables and a conduit for in-core instrumentation, cable supports and the cooling shroud assembly. Mounted directly on the reactor vessel head, the system helps to minimize the time, manpower and radiation exposure associated with head removal and replacement during refueling. Sanmen 1 hydraulic tests SNPTC announced that hydraulic testing had been completed of the three-loop primary circuit of the Sanmen 1 AP1000. The tests involved filling the reactor's primary circuit with water, which is circulated by the reactor coolant pumps to verify that the welds, joints, pipes and components of the reactor coolant system and associated high-pressure systems meet regulatory standards. The pressure within the circuit was raised to a maximum of 21.6 MPa, while the water in the circuit was heated to 60C. Sanmen 1 will now undergo a series of three thermals tests before being loaded with fuel and started up later this year. The 215-tonne integrated head package for Haiyang 1 was installed on the reactor vessel yesterday, plant constructor State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) announced. In September 2007, Westinghouse and its partners the Shaw Group received authorization to construct four AP1000 units in China: two at Sanmen in Zhejiang province and two more at Haiyang in Shandong province. Sanmen unit 1 is expected to be the first AP1000 to begin operating, in September, while Haiyang 1 is expected to start up by the end of the year. Containment tests have already been successfully conducted at both units. All four Chinese AP1000s are scheduled to be in operation by the end of 2017. Four AP1000 reactors are being built in the USA - two each at Vogtle and Summer - while three AP1000s are also proposed for the Moorside site in the UK. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Susan Whiting (center) Steven Beards and Julie Beards By: Tanya Malhotra A couple of the United Kingdom, was jailed for luring a woman to their home before brutally raping and killing her. The couple befriended the woman, who has learning disabilities, and they invited her to their home numerous time before that fateful day. 20-year-old Susan Whiting lived in an apartment that belonged to the Brighter Futures charity, when the couple befriended her. The victims mother said that Steven Beards, 34, and his wife, Julie Beards, 36, made her daughter feel comfortable and safe at their home. However, when she did not return to her home after a sleepover, her mother called police. Whitingas body was found wrapped in a shower curtain under the coupleas bed. Police said that the couple drugged the victim, raped her and beat her with a hammer and cracked her skull. Steven Beards, whom the judge described as a sexually motivated violent killer,a was sentenced to life in prison. His wife Julie, was convicted of manslaughter. She will be sentenced at a later date. On their website, the Brighter Futures charity wrote that they ahelp individuals with autism thrive as they achieve remarkable and lasting success, and they help individuals with autism become self-supporting and contributing members of their communities.a Sadly, the couple took that away from Whiting. Basil Ammori with his daughter By: Wayne Morin A famous doctor of the United Kingdom, is accused of punching his daughter across the face during an argument over his much younger wife. 53-year-old Professor Basil Ammori of Manchester, is known as the surgeon who appears on the show Embarrassing Bodies. He is also a top NHS surgeon who works at the Salford Royal Hospital, where he operates on obese people. The 53-year-old doctor left his wife of 26 years, Dr. Almira Al-Abadi, and married a 21-year-old woman, who is younger than his own daughter. The doctor allegedly confronted his daughter about the behavior of her motheras family after they have been posting negative things about his new wife. They allegedly also posted her phone number as someone looking for sex and random men began calling the young woman. The daughter, 22-year-old Huda Ammori, did not hold back her feelings over her fatheras new wife, who reportedly has two children from a previous relationship, and called her a awild whore.a That is when Basil Ammori allegedly grabbed his daughter by the neck and punched her in the face. The daughter went to the hospital after developing problems with her eyesight and feared that she had a detached retina. Police were called and they arrested Basil Ammori, but he was released without charges. The condom By: Chan Yuan A woman underwent surgery after she had severe stomach pain and nausea. The 26-year-old woman came to a hospital in Cameroon, complaining of pain in the right side of the pelvis. She was unable to eat and she was suffering from a fever. An X-ray revealed that her abdomen was swollen from fluid. Doctors concluded that she had appendicitis. The woman was rushed to emergency surgery to remove the infected organ before it burst. When they cut it out, doctors found something unusual. aWe found an incomplete piece of rubbery material, which was consistent with a condom,a doctors wrote in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. When the patient awoke after the procedure, she explained that two weeks earlier, she accidentally swallowed a condom. She said that while being intimate with her boyfriend, the condom came loose and accidentally slid down her throat. The woman told doctors that she found pieces of the condoms in her feces five days later. Doctors believe that the condom broke into pieces as it traveled through the gastrointestinal tract with part of it becoming lodged in the appendix. Emily Wilson By: Chan Yuan (Scroll down for video) A school teacher who was wearing a astop domestic violencea t-shirt was arrested on a charge of domestic violence after allegedly shooting a bullet on her and her husbandas bed during an argument, according to police in Maine. Sangerville police said that they have arrested 38-year-old Emily Wilson, after being accused of firing a weapon in her home while accusing her husband of having an affair. Wilson has been charged with one count of domestic violence reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and one count of domestic violence assault. She was booked into jail, and her bail was set at $200. According to the police investigation, Wilson confronted her husband Kyle, because she suspected that he was having sex with another woman behind her back. During the argument, Wilson pulled a gun, waved it around and fired a shot in the couples bed. Kyle called police to report his wife, and she was arrested. Renewed Appeal For North Wales Man Missing For Two Months This article is old - Published: Friday, May 27th, 2016 A renewed appeal for a North Wales man who has been missing almost two months, has today been issued. Michael Bryn Jones went missing from the Gwynedd / Conwy areas and Police are continuing to appeal to the public for information in relation to his disappearance. Michael had visited Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor at around 1am on the morning of April 3rd and the last sighting of him was on the A55 near Junction 11 (One Stop) at around 5.45am. Michael, who originates from Llandudno, was wearing blue jeans, an electric blue coloured fleece with dark blue sleeves and a white bobble hat with 3 horizontal stripes. Chief Inspector Mark Armstrong, who is leading the search for Michael said: It is now nearly two months since Michael was last seen. During this time, there has been no contact or any sightings of him that have enabled us to locate him or track his movements beyond this area of the A55. Extensive searches carried out by the British International Search and Rescue Dogs (BIRD), the RAF, Coastguard and the Police helicopter have failed to provide any leads or information about Michaels movements and whereabouts since this time. I am in regular contact with Michaels family, and they simply want their son, brother and friend home. CI Armstrong added: I appeal to anyone with information that may assist us in locating Michael, and returning him home to his family, to make contact with the Police on 101 or the Missing Persons charity, and provide any information they may have. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Japan earlier this week for a bilateral meeting with his counterpart Shinzo Abe ahead of the G7 summit. The main issue in Trudeaus meeting with Abe Tuesday was the reaffirmation of both countries agreement on an anti-Chinese position in the conflicts in the South and East China seas. They also discussed improving trade relations, a major part of which is the implementation of the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The TPP is the economic arm of Washingtons anti-China pivot to Asia, which is aimed at economically and militarily isolating and encircling Beijing. At a joint press conference with Trudeau after their meeting, Abe stated, As for the South China Sea, we share serious concerns over unilateral actions that raise tensions, such as large-scale reclamation, the building of facilities and militarization. He went on to declare that it was significant the two countries had agreed to cooperate to secure rule-based, free, safe seas. There could be no mistaking the fact that Abes statements were explicitly aimed at China, which has been the target of a series of US-led provocations over recent months challenging its territorial claims in the South China Sea. Washington has flown nuclear-capable bombers through the region, making clear that it is fully prepared to wage war against China to defend its dominance in the Asia-Pacific. Canada is fully integrated into this US strategy, which has included support for Japans remilitarization. In 2013, the Conservative government signed a secret cooperation agreement with the US military for operations in the Asia-Pacific region. Canada is pushing for advanced bases to be established in South Korea and Singapore, which could be activated in a crisis. The Trudeau government indicated its increased focus on the Asia-Pacific region by choosing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last November as the occasion for the first meeting between President Obama and Trudeau. The Liberal government is determined to deepen its strategic partnership with Washington as part of its drive to project Canadian imperialist interests more aggressively around the globe. Tokyo is a close US ally in the anti-Chinese drive. While it does not have territorial claims in the South China Sea, it has been involved in a long-running dispute with Beijing over the ownership of islets in the East China Sea. Moreover, Japan is increasingly concerned about the impact on large amounts of its seaborne trade that passes through the South China Sea. The Liberal government is determined to develop its relations with Japan. A senior Canadian foreign ministry official described recent developments as a new age in Japan-Canada relations, and noted that Abe and Trudeau have met three times since the Liberals came to power seven months ago. The Canadian government firmly endorses the increasingly aggressive military role Japan is preparing to play in the region. At a meeting in Ottawa in February, foreign minister Stephane Dion issued a joint statement with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in which he declared that he welcomed (Japan) playing a more proactive role in support of global peace, stability and prosperityincluding legislation for peace and security. The reference was to legislation forced through the Japanese parliament last year amid widespread public protest to enable the countrys military to fight in military interventions abroad for the first time since World War II. Kishida was even more explicit at a joint press conference with Dion, stating that Japan will be playing more of a proactive role based upon the enacted legislation. That is something welcomed by Canada. Less than two months later, on April 9, Dion was in Japan for a G7 foreign ministers meeting and met with Kishida on the sidelines to agree to establish a two-plus-two conference between the Canadian and Japanese vice foreign ministers and defence ministers with a view to strengthening security cooperation. The first meeting reportedly took place in Tokyo April 19. The Canadian media made much of Trudeaus avoidance of the South China Sea issue in his remarks Tuesday. Instead, the Liberal Prime Minister concentrated his comments on expanding trade relations between Canada and Japan. He pointed to the presence of international trade minister Chrystia Freeland and her discussions with Japanese business leaders. Canadas desire to strengthen its economic position in the region, like that of the United States, is inseparable from the military build-up against China. A section of big business is keen to take advantage of Japans need for reliable energy imports, particularly as the sea-lanes running through the South China Sea become less secure. At their meeting earlier this year, Dion and Kishida pledged to move forward on energy cooperation, with the main goal being the completion of a major liquefied natural gas facility in British Columbia which has been repeatedly held up due to regulatory procedures and opposition from First Nations. Japan is the worlds largest importer of LNG, second largest importer of coal and third largest consumer of oil. A dominant faction of Canadas ruling elite views the TPP as essential to maintaining the United States hegemonic position, upon which Canadian imperialism has relied to realize its global interests since World War II. In an article published in March, National Post columnist Michael Den Tandt urged the Liberal government to be more explicit about its support for the TPP, writing, At immediate issue is the furtherance of commerce between North America and the countries girdling the Pacific. The iceberg below the waterline is the survival of the post-war Pax Americana itself, on which global security and prosperity have rested for the past 70 years. Den Tandt proceeded to draw the connection between the TPP and the American pivot, which aimed to check the rise of China and the resurgence of a territorially aggressive Russia. However, with the emergence of Republican Donald Trump in the US presidential campaign and his embrace of nationalist and protectionist positions, together with Democrat Hillary Clintons attempt to distance herself from the TPP, Den Tandt penned a piece entitled Rise of Trumpism one reason why Japan should aim for bilateral trade pact with Canada to coincide with Trudeaus Japan trip. The Japanese are, for quite valid reasons, badly rattled at the moment, Den Tandt argued. Theyre deeply worried about Chinas territorial ambitions and encroachments in the South and East China seas. And theyre petrified of renegade isolationist, xenophobe and presidential aspirant Donald Trump. This also has serious implications for Canada. How comfortable can we be with 75 per cent of exports U.S.-bound, as Trump surges, or of resting most hopes of future growth on Europe? Not very, I would argue, he wrote in his comment in March. Den Tandts latest piece cites the remarks of Derek Burney, a retired senior diplomat who served in Japan and as Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroneys Chief of Staff, who told a meeting of the Japan-Canada Chambers Council in March, Now that the prospect of TPP ratification by the US Congress is shaky at best, I think it would be timely for Canada and Japan to re-ignite bilateral negotiations in order to salvage what has already been agreed between us. Just think, if Donald Trump, or even Hillary Clinton, becomes president in November, Japan may welcome a more certain foothold in Canada. David Mulroney, who served in several high-profile diplomatic positions in Asia, including Canadian ambassador to China, also urged Ottawa to take a more prominent role in the region and made clear this would be bound up with a military presence. Noting the previous governments inconsistency, he called on Canada to intervene in the South China Sea conflict. Employing the usual humanitarian rhetoric in which Canadian imperialism cloaks its interests, Mulroney advocated sending Royal Canadian Navy ships to the Western Pacific more frequently, not for war-mongering or as part of an anti-China coalition but to wave the flag, provide humanitarian assistance and do some training. On the other hand, the Canadian ruling elite does not want to antagonize China too openly. Although the United States accounts for over 70 percent of Canadian exports, China is its second largest trading partner. Strong voices have been raised within ruling circles about the desirability of a free trade deal with China, in particular to boost Chinese investment in Canadas tar sands companies. This was largely the reason behind Trudeaus reluctance to publicly state his governments position on the South China Sea Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of people participated in demonstrations throughout France Thursday against the El Khomri labor reforms implemented earlier this month. The law allows companies to demand increased working hours, gives them greater freedom to cut wages, and makes it easier to fire workers. The WSWS spoke to workers at the demonstrations in Paris on Thursday. French video As strikes spread in France and Belgium, hundreds of thousands of people participated in demonstrations Thursday in the eighth nationwide protest against the El Khomri labor reforms implemented earlier this month. The protests took place just two days after 60,000 people marched in Brussels to protest a similar anti-worker reform law. The demonstrations are part of a growing international struggle by the working class against mass layoffs, austerity and war. The El Khomri law is the French version of the infamous Hartz IV laws carried out by the Social Democratic-Green coalition in Germany over ten years ago. It represents a massive attack on wages and labor rights and aims to boost French competitiveness against its European and international rivals. Under the new law firms can negotiate with local trade unions on up to 46 work hours per week, and are given greater freedom to cut wages. The law also makes it easier to fire workers. While the widely hated government of Socialist President Francois Hollande is using the state of emergency introduced shortly after the Paris terror attacks last November to crack down on opposition, popular anger is erupting. According to polls more than 70 percent of the population want the law to be withdrawn. With 153,000 people protesting according to police and 300,000 according to the Stalinist General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union, the participation in the demonstration was larger than the previous week. Though police crossed picket lines at 14 oil installations across France to try to break blockades and restart production, fuel shortages are spreading, despite the release of strategic oil reserves by the state and oil companies. As of Thursday evening, 5,000 of Frances 12,000 gas stations were missing at least one type of fuel. A CGT member on a picket line at an oil installation at Fos-sur-Mer was run over by a driver and had to be evacuated by helicopter. Two strikers blockading an industrial zone near Vitrolles were wounded when a truck tried to drive through the blockade. As port workers, oil workers and truckers continued to take strike action in France, the countrys 19 nuclear plants went on strike, as well as the DCNS nuclear submarine works in Cherbourg, which were blockaded by employees protesting the labor law. Power cuts were reported across northern and western France, as production fell by a total of 5,000 megawatts. In Belgium, a rail strike against the pro-austerity governments labor reform virtually shut down public transport in Brussels and French-speaking regions to the south, while only one train was running in the Flemish areas. As protest marches passed through cities across France, reporters for the WSWS intervened to cover protests and interview the marchers in Paris and Marseille, and distribute the statement, Mobilize European workers to defend French strikers! At Bastille Square in Paris, the WSWS spoke to Samuel, a public sector worker strongly opposed to the El Khomri law and Frances Socialist Party (PS) government. He explained, We cant let this El Khomri law pass; it is a step back for workers rights. The PS government of Francois Hollande and Manuel Valls says it is left-wing, but it isnt. Samuel expressed his international solidarity for strikers in Belgium. He added, There is a right to strike, it is inscribed in the constitution. It may be the only right we can still use in order to have an impact and push things in the right direction. He said that he considered that the PS government was in the service of a dictatorial financial oligarchy, declaring, The people must rise up and struggle for a true democracy. Currently, we do not have democracy; we have small groups of people who work among themselves for the very wealthy. The WSWS also spoke to Donovan, a service worker in Paris, who expressed his concerns about the El Khomri law: I know this law will impact many companies, there will be abuses. A law that makes such actions so easy for employers, and takes away rights from employees, workers or any social class is bad, in my view. He indicated his suspicion that the state of emergency imposed after the November 13 attacks in Paris was in fact largely aimed at suppressing domestic opposition: They pile on the tension under the pretext of the state of emergency; they can use the state of emergency for their own purposes and adapt it to different situations. Donovan also stressed his support for workers taking strike action against the law, stating, Were in a context where if you speak out and say something, the authorities do not listen at all, absolutely not. Striking becomes almost a duty. After the march started from Place de la Bastille and swelled, clashes broke out when unidentified masked provocateurs appeared and launched clashes with the security forces near Chaligny Street. Again, youth protesters were placed in the front of the march, and were cut off from the main trade union delegations as they entered Nation Square, where they were violently attacked. At least one young protester was seriously wounded by a grenade fragment. Throughout the country the security presence was massive. According to reports, the Paris police confirmed they have put 19,000 officers on the streets to confront the protestors. Reportedly at least 77 people have been arrested. Also in other cities across France the protests turned violent with thousands of angry demonstrators confronting heavily armed antiriot police. In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, about 100 people attacked a police station and damaged a police car. In Nantes protesters smashed bank windows while security forces responded with tear gas. In the port city of Le Havre at least 10,000 dockworkers and other protesters gathered. According to media reports, the mood in front of the city hall was heated. Protesters set off smoke bombs and shot fireworks into the air as the square reverberated with explosions. Posters at the scene bore a blood-red tombstone representing the labor bill reading: Not amendable, not negotiable: Withdraw the El Khomri Law. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls insisted in an interview on BFM television that the heart of the bill should remain. Withdrawing the bill is not possible, he declared. There could be improvements and modifications in the bill, he said. Valls didnt elaborate on what might be changed but provocatively declared that the bill was good for workers and accused the CGT of being irresponsible. Despite its militant posturing, many workers know that the CGTwhich supported Hollande in the 2012 presidential electionis not a political opponent of the PS and is not representing the interests of the workers. Earlier this week the WSWS explained: 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. WSWS reporters in Marseille spoke to two youths, Mohamed and his friend, about the struggle against the labor law. Mohamed said he thought international solidarity in the struggle against austerity is very important, saying: I think what is happening is good, despite the differences between people: even though we do not have the same laws, we are together. I think we had lost that for many years and now we are finding it again. Even though we have to sacrifice to block the economy, what is happening is beautiful. Commenting on the CGTs participation in last weeks pro-police demonstrations by forces close to the neo-fascist National Front, Mohameds friend declared, I do not think the CGT will unify the masses. The CGT has betrayed us, the CGT is losing credibility. It is not thanks to the CGT that we will block the passage of the law. He sharply condemned the PS governments use of the security forces to smash factory and workplace occupations: I think it will sicken people, it will wake them up and they will realize that we must not adopt this law. One can see that things could very rapidly develop into a civil war, things could create enormous conflict between the population and the political establishment. This essay was originally published on August 6-8, 2005 on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs by the US on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today, Barack Obama will be visiting Hiroshima, the first sitting US president to do so since the horrific events of August 1945. The White House has made clear that Obama will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb, nor will any apology be forthcoming. Rather, as the WSWS noted in a Perspective published earlier this month, Obama will go to Hiroshima not to apologize for past crimes, but to prepare new ones. This essay was written during the Bush administration. The passage of a decade and the transition from Bush to Obama have not lessened the warnings that it makes. On the contrary, global geopolitical tensionsfueled above all by the actions of American imperialismhave vastly intensified the danger of a new world war, waged with nuclear weapons. Part one: Prompt and utter destruction The atomic bomb exploding over Nagasaki In the early morning hours of August 6, 1945, an American B-29 warplane, named the Enola Gay, rolled down the runway of an American airbase on the Pacific island of Tinian. It flew for almost six hours, encountering no resistance from the ground. At 8:15 a.m. local time, the plane dropped its payload over the clear skies of Hiroshima, a Japanese city with an estimated population of 255,000. The atomic bomb that the plane was carrying, Little Boy, detonated some 600 meters above the city center, killing 80,000 people30 percent of the populationimmediately or within hours of the explosion. Hiroshima in the aftermath of the bombing Three days later, on August 9, a similar plane carrying a more powerful weapon left Tinian but had more difficulty reaching its intended destination. After encountering fire from the ground, and finding its target city Kokura covered in clouds, it flew on to its second target, Nagasaki, a heavily industrialized city of about 270,000. Due to the specific topological features of Nagasaki, and to the fact that the bomb missed the city center, the effects were slightly less devastating. An estimated 40,000 people were killed outright. Over the next several months, tens of thousands more died from their injuries, including radiation sickness caused by the nuclear devices. While exact figures involving such magnitudes are inherently difficult to come by, estimates of the total number of men, women and children killed within four months of the two blasts range from 200,000 to 350,000. Never before had such devastation been wrought so quickly. The bombs, combined with a Soviet invasion of Japanese-controlled Manchuria on August 8, led quickly to the end of the war in the Pacific. On September 2, the government of Japan signed a treaty with the allied powers that essentially ceded complete control of the country to the American military. Japans surrender, coming four months after the surrender of Germany, brought the Second World War to an end. At the same time, it marked a new stage in the increasingly antagonistic relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, which had been military allies in the war. Within four years, the Soviet Union acquired its own nuclear weapon, initiating a nuclear arms race that continued for four decades. The official rationale given by the US government for its use of nuclear weapons in the war has always been that it was necessary to save American lives by avoiding an invasion of Japan. After the war, government officials, facing criticism for their decision to use the bomb, suggested that between 500,000 and 1 million Americans, and several million Japanese, were saved by dropping the bombs that completely destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This rationale has always been highly suspect, and in subsequent years much evidence emerged demonstrating that not only were the estimated casualty figures from an invasion highly exaggerated, but that the war could have been quickly ended even without an invasion. While the reasons for the use of the bombs are complex, they center around two interrelated geopolitical aims of the American ruling elite at the end of the war: (1) the desire to limit the influence of the Soviet Union in East Asia by bringing the war to an end before the Soviet forces advanced far into China toward Japan, and (2) the wish to have a physical demonstration of the unrivaled power of the American military, and its willingness to use this power to advance its interests. A new type of bomb The Potsdam declaration, issued by the Allied powers on July 26, 1945, pledged the prompt and utter destruction of Japan if it did not agree to unconditional surrender. For the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, this is certainly what the atomic bombs brought. By the time of the bombing of Hiroshima, many of Japans large cities had been attacked severely by American air power. After the US military had gained control of Japanese airspace, the Air Force began to systematically bomb metropolitan areas, including the devastating firebombing of Tokyo earlier in the year, which killed an estimated 87,000 people. The fact that Hiroshima had so far not been targeted was considered something of an anomaly by its residents, since, in addition to civilian production facilities, the city housed an important military headquarters. Nevertheless, the bomb caught the people of Hiroshima unprepared. A weather-scouting plane had triggered sirens earlier in the morning, but an all-clear signal had been given once it departed. The Enola Gay and two planes that were accompanying it were assumed to be more scouting planes, and therefore the alarms were not sounded when they flew over the city. The blast of the uranium bomb dropped on Hiroshima had the explosive equivalent of about 13,000 tons of TNT. The nuclear reaction in the bomb generated temperatures of several million degrees Centigrade. At the hypocenter, the point on the ground 600 meters below the explosion, temperatures reached 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Centigrade, two times the melting point of iron. The intense flash of heat and light, which incinerated everything within a kilometer-and-a-half of the hypocenter, was followed by an enormous shock wave that destroyed most buildings within two kilometers. The Hiroshima bomb was targeted at the Aioi Bridge, which it missed by about 250 meters. According to one account, the bomb exploded instead directly above a hospital headed by a Dr. Shima: The Shima hospital and all its patients were vaporized.... Eighty-eight percent of the people within a radius of 1,500 feet died instantly or later on that day. Most others within the circle perished in the following weeks or months. [1] Those close to the hypocenter were instantly incinerated without leaving behind a trace, except for perhaps a shadow on a wall or street where their bodies had partially protected the surface from the initial flash of heat. One author notes that those closest to the blast passed from being to nothingness faster than any human physiology can register. [2] Those slightly farther from the center of the explosion did not die immediately, but suffered from severe third-degree burns all over their bodies, in particular to any areas that were exposed directly to the heat. They suffered a period of intense pain before dying of their injuries. Those who witnessed the explosion and survived invariably describe these victims in the most horrific terms. A doctor who had been on the outskirts of the city when the explosion occurred wrote about what he saw as he rushed in to help the victims. He explained how, as he approached the city center, a strange figure came up to me little by little, unsteady on its feet. It surely seemed like the form of a man but it was completely naked, bloody and covered with mud. The body was completely swollen. Rags hung from its bare breast and waist. The hands were held before the breasts with palms turned down. Water dripped from the rags. Indeed, what I took to be rags were in fact pieces of human skin and the water drops were human blood.... I looked at the road before me. Denuded, burnt and bloody, numberless survivors stood in my path. They were massed together, some crawling on their knees or on all fours, some stood with difficulty or leaned on anothers shoulder. [3] The description of disfigured people with skin hanging down like rags is common among those who survived to tell what they saw. Many saw people roaming the streets, in intense pain, often blind from the burns or deaf from the explosion, with their arms stretched out in front of them, with forearms and hands dangling ... to prevent the painful friction of raw surfaces rubbing together, [4] some staggering like sleepwalkers. [5] Perhaps thousands died in this way. A doctor named Tabuchi described how, all through the night, hundreds of injured people went past our house, but this morning [August 7] they had stopped. I found them lying on both sides of the road so thick that it was impossible to pass without stepping on them. [6] One survivor wrote how he witnessed Hundreds of those still alive ... wandering around vacantly. Some were half-dead, writhing in their misery.... They were no more than living corpses. [7] Many of those who did not die immediately sought to find their way to the rivers or reservoirs to seek relief from the burning pain. A survivor describes how he saw that the long bank of the river at Choju-En was filled with a large number of burned human beings. They occupied the bank as far as the eye could see. The greatest number lay in the water rolling slowly at the mercy of the waves, having drowned or died at the banks edge. [8] Another doctor, Hanoka, described how he saw fire reservoirs filled to the brim with dead people who looked as though they had been boiled alive. [9] Much of the city within several kilometers of the blasts center was completely destroyed. Buildings that were not flattened by the explosion itself were consumed in the ensuing fire that engulfed the largely wooden homes. Many who were trapped when their homes collapsed over them died in this fire. Dr. Hachiya writes, Hiroshima was no longer a city, but a burnt-over prairie. To the east and to the west everything was flattened. The distant mountains seemed nearer than I could ever remember. The hills of Ushita and the woods of Nigitsu loomed out of the haze and smoke like the nose and eyes of a face. How small Hiroshima was with its houses gone. [10] Within a week of the explosions in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most of those who had been severely injured had either died or were beginning to recover. However, it was at this point that thousands of patients unexpectedly began to experience sudden attacks of high fever which had risen above forty degrees Celsius.... And then they began to bleed from their mucous membranes and soon spat up quantities of blood.... It was also at this time that an uncanny form of depilation, or hair loss, began among the survivors. When patients raised their hands to their heads while struggling with pain, their hair would fall out with a mere touch of the fingers. [11] This was radiation disease caused by the nuclear reaction, which emitted enormous quantities of gamma rays. At the time, however, doctors in the city had not yet learned about the peculiar nature of the bomb dropped over the city, and speculated that the population was suffering from a wave of dysentery, or perhaps chemical poisoning from something released by the bomb. A British medical report explained that the radiation released from the explosion did not destroy the cells in the bloodstream, but attacked the primitive cells in the bone marrow, from which most of the different types of cells in the blood are formed. Therefore serious effects begin to appear only as the fully-formed cells already in the blood die off gradually and are not replaced as they would normally by new cells formed in the bone marrow.... As red cell formation ceased, the patient began to suffer from progressive anemia. As platelet formation ceased, the thin blood seeped in small and large hemorrhages into the skin and the retina of the eye, and sometimes into the intestines and the kidneys. The fall in the number of white cells ... in severe cases lowered resistance, so that the patient inevitably fell prey to some infection, usually spreading from the mouth and accompanied by gangrene of the lips, the tongue, and sometimes the throat.... Deaths probably began in about a week after the explosion, reached a peak in about three weeks and had for the most part ceased after six to eight weeks. [12] The radiation disease affected those nearest the blast most severely. However, it left profound psychological scars on many of those who survived, constantly tormented by the thought that, though healthy today, they too could succumb tomorrow. The above description is derived primarily from testimony of survivors of the Hiroshima bomb. However, the effects in Nagasaki were similar. The Nagasaki bomb was dropped before the full devastation of the Hiroshima bomb had become widely known. The day of the bombing was pushed up to August 9 from August 11, because of poor weather forecasts for the latter date. Nagasaki had long been a principal port and one of the most beautiful cities on the Japanese island of Kyushu. Its main industry was shipbuilding, which made it a target for the second bomb. The bomb exploded over the suburb of Urakami, home to what was then the largest cathedral in East Asia. While there were many atrocities committed during the Second World War, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were undoubtedly two of the greatest single acts of wanton destruction, in which the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, mainly civilians, were wiped out. They are events that should not be allowed to slip from the memory of working people around the worlda testament to the ruthlessness and destructive capacity of American militarism. Part two: American imperialism and the atom bomb The destruction wreaked upon the populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has long been justified by the American government on the grounds that it was necessary to save American lives. This rationale has not ceased to be the officially sanctioned historical truth even though it has been thoroughly debunked by evidence that has come out over the past sixty years. To cite one example, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal wrote on August 5, 2005 that the bombs averted an invasion of the Japanese mainland, for which the Truman Administration anticipated casualties of between 200,000 and one million. Moreover, a mainland invasion could have resulted in millions of Japanese deaths. According to this calculus, the hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens, mainly civilians, who suffered an inexpressible agony and death from the atom bomb were sacrificed in the interest of preserving as many lives as possible. Even if one were to accept the premises of this argument, it would not mitigate the fundamental criminalitylegal and moralinvolved in the annihilation of these urban centers. However, the premises are entirely mythical. Not only have the estimated casualty figures been exaggerated [13], but the main reasons for the US governments decision to drop the bombs had nothing to do with avoiding an American invasion of Japan. As with any great historical question, there were a number of different factors that went into the decision to drop the bomb, and it will be impossible to deal with all of them here. We will confine ourselves to touching on some of the basic issues and documents. It is first of all necessary to note that the dropping of the atomic bombs on largely defenseless citieswhich, while they held military headquarters or military-related industries, were predominantly civilian in characterhad a certain continuity with the manner in which the United States was carrying out the war in the Pacific. Once it had gained control of Japanese airspace, the American military increasingly turned to what can only be described as terrorist methodsindiscriminate attacks on civilian populations for the purpose of spreading fear and panic. Before Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the most devastating example of these methods was the firebombing of Tokyo on March 9, 1945, which killed some 87,000 people. [14] This followed by less than a month the infamous firebombing of the German city of Dresden, on February 13-14, 1945. Despite its humanitarian pretenses, the American military was demonstrating in these actions that it was capable of acting just as brutally as Germany or Japan in the conduct of war. There was an interesting exchange, during a discussion between President Harry Truman and Secretary of War Henry Stimson on June 6,1945 that gives a sense of the manner in which the American government considered the question of the mass annihilation of Japanese civilians. Stimson records in a memorandum that he raised certain pragmatic concerns with the area bombing of Japanese cities being carried out by the US Air Force: I told [Truman] I was anxious about this feature of the war for two reasons: first, because I did not want to have the United States get the reputation of outdoing Hitler in atrocities; and second, I was a little fearful that before we could get ready the Air Force might have Japan so thoroughly bombed out that the new weapon [the atom bomb] would not have a fair background to show its strength. He laughed and said he understood. [15] Stimson was concerned that the wanton destruction of Japanese cities would disrupt plans for the use of the atom bomb because there would be no fair background, that is, a suitably populated and intact urban center. The conversation also demonstrates that at this point the United States completely dominated Japan militarily, able to destroy its cities virtually at will. The use of the bomb as a terrorist weaponthat is, as a means of instilling mass terror among the Japanese populationwas underscored in a meeting of the Interim Committee on May 31, 1945. The Interim Committee consisted of those directly involved in the Manhattan Project, such as Robert Oppenheimer and other scientists, as well as Truman administration officials, including Secretary of State James Byrnes and Secretary of War Stimson. It was set up to discuss the use of the atomic bomb, propose targets and consider related issues. According to a transcript of that meeting, After much discussion concerning various types of targets and the effects to be produced, the Secretary [of War Stimson] expressed the conclusion, on which there was general agreement, that we could not give the Japanese any warning; that we could not concentrate on a civilian area; but that we should seek to make a profound psychological impression on as many of the inhabitants as possible. At the suggestion of Dr. [James] Conant, the Secretary agreed that the most desirable target would be a vital war plant employing a large number of workers and closely surrounded by workers houses. (emphasis added) [16] Despite the reference to not concentrating on a civilian area, the committee explicitly rejected the use of the bomb first on a purely military or uninhabited region, as some of the scientists who had worked with the panel recommended. [17] Many of the scientists who worked or supported the Manhattan Project did so because of their intense hatred of Hitler and the Nazi regime. The project was originally justified on the grounds that if Hitler were to acquire the bomb first the consequences would be absolutely devastating. But by the time the United States had perfected the technology, Germany had been defeated. Nevertheless, the Truman administration not only decided to use the bomb, but did so with evident glee. Truman famously declared that he did not lose a nights sleep over the decision. According to one account, when he heard the news about Hiroshima while crossing the Atlantic, he declared, This is the greatest thing in history, and then raced about the ship to spread the news, insisting that he had never made a happier announcement. We have won the gamble, he told the assembled and cheering crew. [18] Commenting on this phenomenon, the historian Gabriel Jackson remarked, In the specific circumstances of August 1945, the use of the atom bomb showed that a psychologically very normal and democratically elected chief executive could use the weapon just as the Nazi dictator would have used it. In this way, the United Statesfor anyone concerned with moral distinctions in the different types of governmentblurred the difference between fascism and democracy. [19] The atomic bomb and the drive for American hegemony Prior to World War II, it would have been taken for granted that any civilized society could use a weapon such as the atomic bomb only under the most desperate conditions. The idea that such a weapon could be used against a civilian population would have been considered incomprehensible unless done by a society thoroughly debased and morally corrupted. And yet the United States has the singular distinction of being the only country ever to use an atomic bomb. Moreover, it used it not out of military necessity, but for political and strategic reasons, above all, as a tool in its conflict with the Soviet Union. To understand the broader interests involved, it is necessary to place the events of August 6 and August 9, 1945 in their historical context. By early 1945, the war in Europe, begun in 1939, was coming to an end, though Germanys final surrender did not take place until May. The turning point of the war had been the German defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad in February 1943, followed by the American-British invasion of Europe in the spring of 1944. While the Soviet Union was allied with the United States and Britain, there were enormous divisions within the Allied camp. In spite of the Stalinist degeneration of the USSR, the Soviet bureaucracy still based itself on the property relations established in the October revolution of 1917. And in spite of Stalins best efforts to accommodate the imperialist powers, neither the British nor the American ruling elite ever reconciled themselves to the existence of these property relations. But at the time, the United States and Britain required the help of the Soviet Union in the war against both Germany and Japan. The leading role of the Red Army in defeating Germany meant that the other powers were forced to grant it concessions, particularly in Eastern Europe. At the conference at Yalta in February 1945, the Big Three essentially agreed to the division of Europe between them, including the joint control of Germany. Moreover, the administration of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt felt that it was critical to gain Soviet participation in the war against Japan in order to bring it to a quick conclusion. Since 1941, the Soviet Union and Japan had maintained what has been called a strange neutrality: while the Soviet Union was at war with Japans ally Germany and Japan was at war with the Soviet Unions ally the United States, the two countries had agreed to a neutrality pact in 1941, which stipulated that they not engage in war with each other. At Yalta, in return for an agreement that the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan in two or three months after Germanys surrender, Roosevelt and Churchill accepted several territorial and commercial concessions, including Soviet control of much of Mongolia and several islands and ports near Japan that were considered crucial to Soviet interests. By the spring of 1945, the Truman administrationRoosevelt died on April 12was looking to the possession of the atomic bomb as a way to alter the equation and shift the balance of forces toward the US. In his diary of May 14, 1945, Secretary of War Stimson reported a conversation with General George Marshall, the Presidents chief of staff, in which Stimson warned against getting in a confrontation with the Soviet Union before possession of the atom bomb was certain. Stimson writes that he told Marshall that my own opinion was that the time now and the method now to deal with Russia was to keep our mouths shut and let our actions speak for words...It is a case where we have got to regain the lead and perhaps do it in a pretty rough and realistic way. They have rather taken it away from us because we have talked too much and have been too lavish with our beneficences to them. I told him this was a place where we really held all the cards. I called it a royal straight flush and we mustnt be a fool about the way we play it. They cant get along without our help and industries and we have coming into action a weapon which will be unique. [20] The next day, Stimson expressed concerns that an upcoming meeting between Truman, Stalin and Churchill at Potsdam would take place before the first atomic test. It may be necessary, Stimson wrote, to have it out with Russia on her relations to Manchuria and Port Arthur and various other parts of North China, and also the relations of China to us. Over any such tangled wave of problems the S-1 [code name for atomic bomb] secret would be dominant and yet we will not know until after that time probably, until after that meeting, whether this is a weapon in our hands or not. We think it will be shortly afterwards, but it seems a terrible thing to gamble with such big stakes in diplomacy without having your master card in your hand. [21] In the end, Truman had the Potsdam conference postponed for several weeks in order to give the Manhattan Project more time. On May 21, Joseph Davies, the former ambassador to the Soviet Union, reported on a meeting with Truman in which Truman said he did not want to meet [at Potsdam] until July. He had his budget (*) on his hands. The test was set for June, but had been postponed until July. At the bottom of the page, Davies added later an explanation of what he meant by budget: Footnote (*): the atomic bomb. He told me then of the atomic bomb experiment in Nevada. Charged me with the utmost secrecy. [22] Thus officials in the Truman administration quite consciously saw the atomic bomb as the master card in its dealings with the Soviet Union. Because of uncertainty that the test would succeed, Truman went to Potsdam with his Secretary of State James Byrnes with the aim of again gaining a promise from the Soviet Union that it would enter the war against Japan. Truman wrote in his diary, If the test [of the atomic bomb] should fail, then it would be even more important to us to bring about a surrender [through a Soviet invasion] before we had to make a physical conquest of Japan. [23] The successful test of the atom bomb on July 16, shortly before the formal opening of the Potsdam Conference, gave Truman what he later called a hammer on those boys. [24] Trumans demeanor at Potsdam completely changed, and he became much more aggressive and arrogant in negotiations with Stalin. During the initial days of the Potsdam Conference, Truman was still seeking to get assurance from the Soviet Union that it would join the war with Japan. However over the next several weeks, it is clear that administration officials hoped that use of the bomb would bring a quick end to the war before the Soviet invasion progressed very far and before Japan made a separate deal with Stalin. This was certainly the position of Secretary of State Byrnes. Responding to a statement by Secretary of Navy James Forrestal that Truman had said his principal objective at Potsdam would be to get Russia in the war, Byrnes declared that it was most probable that the Presidents views changed; certainly that was not my view. [25] Truman and Byrnes became worried that Japan would try to reach a deal with the Soviet Union and sue for peace through the Soviet Union rather than through a neutral power or through the United States. These concerns were amplified by communications from Japan that were intercepted by the Americans. For example, the diplomatic summary of one intercepted Japanese message notes, On 11 July [Japanese] Foreign Minister Togo sent the following extremely urgent message to Ambassador [to the Soviet Union] Sato: We are now secretly giving consideration to the termination of the war because of the pressing situation which confronts Japan both at home and abroad. Therefore, when you have your interview with [Soviet Foreign Minister] Molotov in accordance with previous instructions you should not confine yourself to the objective of a rapprochement between Russia and Japan but should also sound him out on the extent to which it is possible to make use of Russia in ending the war. The message went on to indicate that Japan was willing to give large concessions to Russia in order to prevent a Russian invasion. [26] At this point Japan still hoped that it could forestall a Soviet invasion. A significant July 24 diary entry of Walter Brown, assistant to Secretary of State James Byrnes, records that, JFB [Byrnes] still hoping for time, believing after atomic bomb Japan will surrender and Russia will not get in so much on the kill, thereby being in a position to press for claims against China. [27] Later, on August 3, three days before Hiroshima, Brown writes, Aboard Agusta/President, Leahy, JFB [Byrnes] agrred [sic] Japas [sic] looking for peace...President afraid they will sue for peace through Russia instead of some country like Sweden. [28] What these and other documents make clear is that not only were American leaders concerned that the war would end in a way favorable to the Soviet Union, but also that they knew Japan was very close to suing for peace. In his book The Decision to Use the Atom Bomb, Gar Alperovitz makes a convincing case for a two-step theory of Japanese surrender. According to Alperovitz, the combination of the Soviet invasion, which eventually took place on August 8, and a guarantee to the Japanese state that the position of the emperor would not be threatened, would have put an end to the war without an invasion and without the use of the atom bomb. This indeed was the conclusion of a Joint Intelligence Committee report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on April 29, 1945: The increasing effects of air-sea blockade, the progressive and cumulative devastation wrought by strategic bombing, and the collapse of Germany (with its implications regarding redeployment) should make this realization [that absolute defeat is inevitable] widespread within the year...The entry of the USSR into the war, would, together with the foregoing factors, convince most Japanese at once of the inevitability of complete defeat...If...the Japanese people, as well as their leaders, were persuaded both that absolute defeat was inevitable and that unconditional surrender did not imply national annihilation [that is, the removal of the emperor], surrender might follow fairly quickly. [29] Under the direction of Byrnes, the Potsdam Proclamationan ultimatum to Japan demanding unconditional surrenderwas worded in such a way that the guarantee to the emperor was not given. Moreover the US and Britain decided not to invite the Soviet Union to sign the proclamation. On the one hand, this made it clear that the US and Britain were taking their own route to a Japanese surrender. On the other hand, it made the threat of a Soviet invasion ambiguous, thus sustaining Japanese hopes of an eventual Soviet mediation. This made Japanese rejection of the proclamation a certainty, opening the way for the use of the bomb. [30] Furthermore, the invasion of Japan by American troops was scheduled for November. If the American government used the bomb primarily to avoid the necessity of an invasion, it is impossible to explain why Truman did not wait longer before making the decision, particularly given the mountain of intelligence indicating the desperate position of Japan at the time. Another question that emerges is why the second bomb was dropped so quickly, before the Japanese had a chance to understand what had happened in Hiroshima and to respond. Again, the question of the Soviet invasion is central. The bombing of Nagasaki occurred one day after this invasion began. Moreover, Alperovitz notes, Truman declared that Rumania, Bulgaria, and Hungary were not to be spheres of influence of any one power on August 9the day of the Nagasaki bombing. [31] Bound up with the immediate interests of the United States in curtailing Soviet influence in Eastern Europe and East Asia was the general aim of the Truman administration to establish Americas hegemonic position following the end of the war. Historian Thomas McCormick summed it up well when he wrote, In two blinding glaresa horrible end to a war waged horribly by all partiesthe United States finally found the combination that would unlock the door to American hegemony. To achieve this hegemonic aim, it was necessary to sacrifice the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. McCormick notes, A prearranged demonstration of the atomic bomb on a noninhabited target, as some scientists had recommended, would not do. That could demonstrate the power of the bomb, but it could not demonstrate the American will to use the awful power. One reason, therefore, for American unwillingness to pursue Japanese peace feelers in mid-summer 1945 was that the United States did not want the war to end before it had had a chance to use the atomic bomb. [32] There is a certain naivete on the part of the American people with regard to the utter ruthlessness of the American ruling class, particularly in relation to the Second World War. That war has long been presented by the American media and political establishment as a great war for democracy, against fascism and tyranny. In fact, the principal reason that the United States entered the warand the underlying motivation behind all its actions in prosecuting the warwas to establish itself as the dominant and unchallenged world power. In pursuit of this aim the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese were of little consequence. Part three: American militarism and the nuclear threat today The decision by the administration of President Harry Truman to use atomic weapons against Japan was motivated by political and strategic considerations. Above all, the use of the bomb was meant to establish the undisputed hegemonic position of the United States in the post-war period. These motivations were also the basic driving force behind the American intervention in the war itself. The Second World War has long been presented to the American people as a Good War, a war for democracy against fascism and tyranny. While it was no doubt true that millions of Americans saw the war in terms of a fight against Hitlerite fascism and Japanese militarism, the aims of those who led them to war were altogether different. The American ruling class entered the Second World War in order to secure its global interests. While the political character of the bourgeois democratic regime in the United States was vastly different than that of its fascist adversaries, the nature of the war aims of the United States were no less imperialistic. In the final analysis, the utter ruthlessness with which the United States sought to secure its objectivesincluding the use of the atomic bombflowed from this essential fact. The American government hoped that by using the bomb it would shift the balance of forces in its growing conflict with the Soviet Union. However, the American monopoly of the bomb was short-lived. The Soviet Union responded to the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by rapidly increasing the amount of resources devoted to its own atomic bomb project. In 1949, the Soviet Union carried out its first atomic weapon test. Sections of the US ruling elite and military establishment still hoped that they might be able to use the bomb in actual military situations. In 1950, Truman threatened to use nuclear weapons against the Chinese during the Korean War, and General Douglas McArthur urged the government to authorize the military to drop a number of bombs along the Korean border with Manchuria. These proposals were eventually rejected for fear that the use of the bomb might provoke a nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union. With the development of the much more powerful hydrogen bomb, first tested in late 1952, the US hoped to renew its nuclear advantage. The Republican Eisenhower administration came into office in 1953 pledging a more aggressive policy against the Soviet Union, including the rollback of Soviet control over Eastern Europe. In January 1954, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles gave a speech in which he stated that the US would deter aggression by depending primarily upon a great capacity to retaliate, instantly, by means and at places of our own choosing. This pledge of massive retaliation was generally interpreted as a threat to use nuclear weapons in response to a local war such as the Korean War or the war that later developed in Vietnam. However, this nuclear advantage was again eliminated in August 1953, when the USSR tested its first hydrogen bomb. The two countries rapidly developed a capacity that created conditions of mutually assured destruction in the event of a nuclear war. Throughout this period and the following decades, a battle raged within the political establishment over policy in relation to the Soviet Union and the atom bomb. Even with the threat of nuclear war, there continued to exist a substantial section of the American ruling class that was unwilling to tolerate any constraints on American military power. The option of engaging in nuclear war was never off the table for any post-Hiroshima/Nagasaki administration, Democratic or Republican. What Trumans Secretary of War Henry Stimson called the master card was always there in the background ready to be pulled out if need be. In 1962, the Kennedy administration nearly initiated a nuclear war with the Soviet Union over the Cuban missile crisis. As the economic situation deteriorated in the 1970s, those who advocated a more aggressive orientation toward the Soviet Union began to gain in prominence. This started under the Democratic Party administration of Jimmy Carter and received a boost during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Reagan oversaw a renewed arms buildup and also sought to gain an offensive nuclear superiority by developing a defensive missile shield (the so-called Star Wars program), something that the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 had been designed to prevent. A successful defensive shield would allow the US to strike with nuclear weapons first, since it could shoot down any retaliatory action. Since the self-destruction of the Soviet Union in 1991, the American ruling class has reached a new consensus based upon preemptive war and the unilateral assertion of American interests through military force. Fewer treaties, more bombs The post-Soviet eruption of American militarism has assumed an especially malignant form during the presidency of George W. Bush. Since coming into power, the Bush administration has developed a two-pronged strategy to expand American military capacity. On the one hand, it has rejected or undermined any international agreement or treaty that places boundaries on what the United States can or cannot do militarily. On the other hand, it has taken steps to develop its military technology, including its nuclear technology, to prepare the way for the use of this technology in future wars. In 1999, the Republican-dominated US Senate went out of its way to reject the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which had previously been signed by the Clinton administration. In 2001, Bush announced that he would not seek Senate approval again, and instead would look for a way to bury the treaty. The treaty would ban the testing of new nuclear weapons, which the Bush administration opposes because it is planning on developing new nuclear weapons that it will need to test. In December 2001, Bush announced that the US would unilaterally withdraw from the ABM Treaty in order to allow it to renew the Star Wars project, now called National Missile Defense. The development of a NMD system is still a priority of the administration, and is part of its drive to achieve military domination of space. Like the Reagan administration program, a missile defense system would open up the way for offensive nuclear strikes against countries such as China or Russia. During an international review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) earlier this year, the Bush administration announced a position that was aimed at undermining the foundation of the agreement. In exchange for a promise not to acquire nuclear weapons, the treaty guarantees non-nuclear powers the right to develop non-military nuclear technology. The treaty also includes a pledge from the nuclear powers to gradually eliminate their nuclear stockpiles. The new Bush administration position, however, is to deny states that the US determines to be rogue states, such as Iran, the right to develop nuclear energy programs. At the same time, far from eliminating its own nuclear stockpiles, the US has taken steps to modernize its existing weapons and develop new weapons for offensive use. Indeed, in the run-up to the conference, which ended without an agreement, the Bush administration explicitly insisted on its right to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear power. Over the past decade, the US government has developed a policy of offensive nuclear weapon use, rejecting the Cold War conception that nuclear weapons would be intended primarily as a deterrent. A Nuclear Posture Review in 1997 during the Clinton administration reportedly took the first steps toward targeting countries such as North Korea, China and Iran. This policy was made explicit in another review, leaked to the press in 2002, in which the Pentagon announced that the old process [of nuclear arms control] is incompatible with the flexibility US planning and forces now require. It explicitly threatened a host of countries by targeting them for potential nuclear attack. It also provided very general guidelines for the future use of nuclear weapons, declaring that these weapons may be used against targets able to withstand nonnuclear attack or in the event of surprising military developments. Last summer, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld issued an Interim Global Strike Order that reportedly includes a first strike nuclear option against a country such as Iran or North Korea. There were also nuclear weapons options in the planning guidelines for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration has taken steps toward the development of new bunker-busting nuclear weapons specifically designed for use in combat situations. Existing stockpiles have been modernized, and according to a New York Times article from February 7, 2005, American scientists have begun designing a new generation of nuclear arms meant to be sturdier and more reliable and to have longer lives than the old weapon stockpiles. The US repeatedly issues threats against countries over their alleged development of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The most recent target has been Iran, which the US has threatened with military attack if it does not abandon its nuclear energy program. All these threats are meant to justify future US invasions, in which the use of nuclear weapons by the United States is by no means excluded. Through the policy of preemptive war, the US has arrogated for itself the right to attack any country that it deems to be a threat, or declares might be a threat sometime in the future. There is no part of the world in which the United States does not have an interest. It has sought to progressively expand its influence in Central Asia and the former Soviet Union through the war in Afghanistan and political intervention in countries such as Ukraine. It is seeking to dominate the Middle East through the war in Iraq and the threat of war in Iran. It is expanding its activities in Africa and has made repeated threats against North Korea and China as part of its efforts to secure its influence in East Asia. Under these conditions, there are innumerable potential scenarios in which a war will erupt leading to the use of nuclear weapons. This includes not only invasions of countries such as Iran; an American war against a smaller power could easily spark a broader conflictwith China, Russia or even the powers of Europe, all of which have nuclear weapons themselves. The catastrophe that befell Hiroshima and Nagasaki will never be forgotten. Their fate will stand forever as testimony to the bestiality of imperialism. Against the backdrop of the renewed eruption of American militarism, the events of August 1945 remind us of the alternatives that confront mankindworld revolution or world war, socialism or barbarism. Notes: [1] Wyden, Peter. Day One:Before Hiroshima and After, Simon and Schuster: New York, 1984, p. 253. [back] [2] Frank, Richard. Downfall: The End of Imperial Japanese Empire, Random House: New York, p. 265. [back [3] Hida Shuntaro. The Day Hiroshima Disappeared, in Hiroshimas Shadows, edited by Kai Bird and Lawrence Lifschultz, The Pamphleteers Press, Stony Creek, Connecticut: 1998, p. 419. [back] [4] Hachiya, Michihiko. Hiroshima Diary, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill: 1955. p. 4. [back] [5] Frank, p. 266. [back] [6] Hachia, p. 14. [back] [7] Okabe, Kosaku. Hiroshima Flash, in Hibakusha: Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Kosei Publishing Co., Tokyo: 1986. p. 35. [back] [8] Shuntaro, p. 419. [back] [9] Hachiya, p.14. [back] [10] Ibid., p. 8. [back] [11] Shuntaro, p. 428. [back] [12] Frank, p. 468. [back] [13] Figures given after the war about the number of American lives that would have been lost in an invasion were entirely mythical, and were conjured up largely post facto to justify the use of the bombs. This question will not be dealt with in this article, however an analysis can be found in Barton Bernsteins essay A Postwar myth: 500,000 US lives saved in Hiroshimas Shadow, edited by Kai Bird and Lawrence Lifschultz, The Pamphleteers Press, Stony Creek, Connecticut: 1998. [back] [14] One historian described the firebombing of Tokyo as follows: The first planes that reached the Japanese capital dropped incendiaries designed to start fires that would serve as markers in the target area for the bombers that followed. The target zone included industrial and commercial sites and densely populated residential districts with flimsy and highly flammable housing. Once the area was clearly delineated by flames, waves of B-29s dropped hundreds of tons of firebombs. They created a conflagration of monumental proportions, which was intensified by the winds that swept Tokyo that night. The fires consumed an area of about sixteen square miles, created so much turbulence that they tossed low-flying planes around in the air, and killed so many Japanese that the stench of burning flesh sickened crews in the B-29s. (Walker, J. Samuel, Prompt & Utter Destruction: Truman and the use of Atomic bombs against Japan, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill: 2004. p. 27.) [back] [15] Stimson, Henry. Henry Stimson Papers, Sterling Library, Yale University. Available at the National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/15.pdf. [back] [16] Notes of the Interim Committee Meeting Thursday, 31 May 1945, 10:00 A.M. to 1:15 P.M.2:15 P.M. to 4:15 P.M. p. 13-14. Available at the National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/12.pdf. [back] [17] Among these scientists was the great Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, who while helping to develop the bomb came to have strong doubts about using it. In one passage of the minutes to the same meeting of the Interim Committee quoted above, General Leslie Groves, the general in charge of the Manhattan Project, warns of certain undesirable scientists...of doubtful discretion and uncertain loyalty, no doubt referring primarily to those concerned about the use of the bomb (Ibid. p. 14). The Interim Committee also rejected the idea that the nuclear technology should be shared with the international community in order to avoid a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, another position held by many of the scientists working on the project. [back] [18] Offner, Arnold. Another Such Victory: President Truman and the Cold War, 1945-1953, Stanford University Press, Stanford: 2002. p. 92. [back] [19] Jackson, Gabriel. Civilization & Barbarity in 20th-Century Europe, Humanity Books, Amherst, New York: 1999. p. 176-77. Szilard noted pointedly in 1960: If the Germans had dropped atomic bombs on cities instead of us, we would have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg and hanged them. (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki.) [back] [20] Stimson, Henry. Henry Stimson Diary. May 14, 1945. p. 2 Available at the National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/7.pdf. [back] [21] Ibid., May 15, 1945. p. 1. [back] [22] Davies, Joseph. Diary entry for May 21, 1945 Available at the National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/8.pdf. [back] [23] Quoted from Alperovitz, Gar. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, Vintage Books, New York: 1995. p. 124. [back] [24] Truman interview with Jonathan Daniels, November 12, 1949. Quoted from Alperovitz, p 239. [back] [25] Quoted from Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi. Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman and the Surrender of Japan, Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 2005. p. 158. [back] [26] MagicDiplomatic Summary, War Department, Office of Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, No. 1204July 12, 1945, Top Secret Ultra. Available at the National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/29.pdf. [back] [27] Quoted from Alperovitz, p. 268. [back] [28] Quoted from Alperovitz, p. 415. [back] [29] Quoted from Alperovitz, p. 113-114. [back] [30] In his diary Truman wrote that he was sure that Japan will not accept the Potsdam Proclamation, but we will have given them the chance. That is, the proclamation was a pro forma statement meant to give some sort of justification for a decision that had already been made: the use of the atomic bomb. For a partial transcript of Trumans diary see, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB162/38.pdf. [back] [31] Alperovitz, p. 429-30. [back] [32] McCormick, Thomas J. Americas Half-Century: United States Foreign Policy in the Cold War and After, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore: 1995. p. 44 -45. [back] Every day in the Australian election campaign, editorials and finance chiefs are demanding that the parties of the political establishment must convince, or compel, the public to accept they are living beyond their means. Relentlessly, the message is being hammered out: social spending must be slashed. According to these pronouncements, there is no alternative to the supposed reality that the country can no longer afford even the existing health, education and social services, and the current levels of workers wages and conditions, let alone any improvements in the living standards of working class people. The Australian insisted on May 25: At some stage reality must set in. We are witnessing a political contest that seems divorced from the central challenge facing this countryour deep structural budget deficit. In last weeks official Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO), the heads of the Treasury and Finance departments declared that unless government spending was reduced and so-called structural reform pursued with renewed vigour, the international financial markets would strip Australia of its AAA credit rating. Regardless of who wins the election, the PEFO insisted that the next government must break through the political impasse caused by the widespread public opposition that has stalled key austerity measures since the last federal ballot in 2013. Such is the utter contempt of the ruling class for democracy. This is a global offensive. All around the world, from Greece and France to the US and throughout Asia, governments are seeking to dismantle even the most crucial social programswelfare entitlements, minimum wages, retirement pensions, and access to education and healthcarebecause of the worsening breakdown of world capitalism that erupted with the 2008 financial crash. Resource export countries like Australia, which originally avoided the worst of the meltdown because of Chinas debt-fuelled growth, have been drawn into the maelstrom of falling prices and slump. This has intensified the demands of the money markets for a full-scale assault on public services. In Australia, three decades of pro-business restructuring, starting with the Labor governments of Hawke and Keating in the 1980s and 1990s, already have left millions of households struggling to make ends meet. Essential serviceshospitals, schools, social facilities and public infrastructureare chronically under-funded and over-stretched. Social inequality has widened to obscene levels. Alongside devastating job losses, mass youth unemployment, soaring housing costs, homelessness, poverty and suicides, the 200 richest individuals have accumulated collective personal wealth of $197.3 billion, more than trebling their fortunes since 2000. But now, say the representatives of finance capital, there must be an even more brutal offensive against working-class people. There is no money to meet the most basic social needs. Labor Party leader Bill Shorten faithfully echoed this message yesterday. Labor, he said, would abandon its pledges to reverse three major welfare cuts by the Liberal-National government. Shorten claimed that a very tough financial situation had tied the partys hands, because our AAA credit rating is under threat. Taken together, the abolition of schoolkids bonus payments to families, the harsher assets tests for retirement pensions and the cuts to aged care services, will strip an estimated $8.1 billion from the young and the elderly over the next four years. Labor previously called these cuts huge and unfair because they would hurt so many struggling families. In effect, Labors populist campaign sloganWell put people firsthas been ditched. Shorten issued a new rock solid commitment: The only policies that we will support are policies that we can fund. Why is it that decent living standards cannot be afforded? Is it simply a lack of natural and financial resources? Is there no alternative? The truth is that all the resources exist to provide for the needs of everyone, not just in Australia but worldwide. In fact, vast developments in science, technology, medicine and communications have made it possible for humanity to overcome want and ensure a high quality of life for all. But these resources flow only into the coffers of a tiny super-rich layer of society, siphoned off by way of billion-dollar profits, underpinned by ever-lower tax rates for corporations and high-income recipients, and outright fraud and tax evasion. This insatiable drive for private profit blocks any resolution to the social crisis. Such is the anarchy and insanity of the capitalist market that there is now a global over supply of dairy products and an over-capacity of steel production. Over supply and over-capacity for whom? There is not too much milk or steel in the worldthe needs of masses of people have never been greater. How many of the worlds poor could be nourished and how many homes, rail lines, bridges and other basic infrastructure could be built? But for the capitalist system, nothing can be produced unless it can be sold for a high enough profit margin. As the global economic crisis intensifies, fuelling bitter currency wars and financial conflicts, billions of dollars are also being splurged on a military arms race, and on boosting repressive police and spy forces domestically. There is no lack of money when it comes to fighting for control over the planets resources and markets, and to suppressing the growing social discontent. In Australia, the Liberal-National government and the Labor Party are unanimous on spending half a trillion dollars over the next decade to acquire advanced weapons of warsubmarines, naval ships, warplanesand boost the armed forces. Hundreds of schools and scores of hospitals could be built with these funds alone. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls defence industry plan, a centrepiece of his election platform, underscores the bipartisan commitment to Washingtons military buildup and establishment of alliances across the Asia-Pacific to confront and prepare for war against China. The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is advancing the only alternativethe complete reorganisation of society along genuinely socialist lines in order to secure the fundamental social rights of all, which include well-paying jobs, free, high-quality public education and health care, affordable housing and decent retirement incomes. None of these essential requirements of modern society can be secured without ending the domination of the financial aristocracy over economic life. Social need must replace corporate profit as the guiding principle. All the large corporationsthe major banks, mining and energy conglomerates, retail chains, pharmaceutical corporations and communications giantsmust be taken out of the grip of the billionaires and placed under public ownership and the democratic control of the working class, the vast majority of the population. This socialist program requires building the SEP as the mass party of the working class. For the future of humanity, we urge you to support the Socialist Equality Party 2016 election campaign and take up the fight for international socialism. Authorised by James Cogan, Shop 6, 212 South Terrace, Bankstown Plaza, Bankstown, NSW 2200 On May 12, Louisiana Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards signed Act 91 into law, making privately-owned charter schools a permanent feature of public education in the state. New Orleans has been in the national spotlight for the privatization of education since 2005, when the hurricane-devastated city initiated the first all-charter district in the United States. The mechanism utilized to destroy the public schools was the state-run Recovery School District (RSD) formed in 2003 by Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Blanco folded the public school system into the state-controlled RSD. This playbook was developed nationally by the Broad Foundation and was largely implemented in Louisiana by Paul Pastorek, now a co-executive director of the Foundation's education work. Pastorek is presently working with Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder in similar efforts to charterize the Detroit Public Schools. In the media, both local and nationally, Act 91 is being trumpeted as a successful return of RSD schools to "local control." In the sense of local democratic control or public education, it is nothing of the sort. Across the US, local control of schools has become a code word for bringing unions and local businessmen on board the national privatization program and providing them a lucrative niche in the billion-dollar education industry. The new law means that 54 New Orleans charter schools will gradually move back to the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), with similar provisions affecting 9 charters in Baton Rouge and 1 in Caddo Parish. Not only will they remain as charter schools, their operators have been handed control over almost every aspect of education indefinitely by state law. This control includes "school programing, curriculum, instruction, materials and texts, yearly school calendars and daily schedules, hiring and firing of personnel, employee performance management and evaluation, terms and conditions of employment, teacher or administrator certification, salaries and benefits, retirement, collective bargaining, budgeting, purchasing, procurement, and contracting for services other than capital repairs and facilities construction." School boards will retain the right to determine when new schools will be opened or closed. However, the new law stipulates that charters will be given the right to petition to become a local education agency (LEA) should they want to assume these rights as well. In charge of this transition is a 13-member board, eight members of which are CEOs of charter school companies. The board also includes the superintendents of both the RSD and the OPSB. The function of the board is to assure that the ability of the charters to profit off of public education is not impeded in the transition. The OPSB, itself fully committed to the charterization of public schools in New Orleans, praised the bill. Speaking for those cashing-in with charter operations and other edubusinesses, OPSB superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. (a founder of an Algiers district charter school) told the media, The legislation that has passed is an incredible opportunity for all of us in New Orleans to build an excellent school system. The legislation puts all responsibility for our schools into the hands of the local community, while preserving the accountability and autonomy that have led to such great success over the past several years, John White, the state superintendent of schools and longtime charter advocate, told the New York Times The mission was to recover the schools, not to maintain a group of white bureaucrats not from New Orleans, using identity politics as a cover for his support for the institutionalization of charter schools and the profiteering of local businessmen. White is another significant national figure in the efforts to open public education to the for-profit business sector; he entered public education through Teach for America, and led charter school expansion in New York City under the notorious privatizer Joel Klein. From the beginning of this assault on public education, the unions, led by the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO), have blocked the resistance of teachers. After Katrina, OPSB fired 7,500 teachers and pushed out another 1,200. The UTNO confined itself to filing a lawsuit which took a decade to pass through the courts before finally being rejected. Subsequently it has sought, with some limited success, to unionize the charters, effectively endorsing the privatization of education in exchange for the expansion of its dues paying membership. While the RSD is the only completely charterized school district in the country, the Orleans Parish School District is not far behind. Fourteen of the twenty schools it operates are privatized, making it the nations second most charterized district. Overall there are only 82 schools left in New Orleans, down 35 percent since Hurricane Katrina. Originally schools were to be automatically returned to local control after no longer being deemed to be failing. The law was changed in 2010 to allow schools to choose for themselves if they wanted to remain in the recovery district or not. This created a situation where every year the notoriously dysfunctional OPSB competed with the RSD for the right to administer the charters. Louisiana has played a major role in pioneering the system which has been utilized around the country to privatize education. While figures like Pastorek of Broad played a significant role, the systematic assault has been implemented in a bipartisan way by both Democrats and Republicans. The political playbook is now clear. There are national cuts to Title I and other school funding sources (by George W. Bush and now under Barack Obama). Then, business and financial interests in the state legislatures de-fund the schools. High stakes testing is used to categorize a segment of schools as failing which are hived off into state-run districts. Schools are given letter grades. A OneApp is used to market charter schools on an equal basis with traditional public schools to parents. Unions are brought on board. This process has been blessed not only by the Broad Foundation and the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council, but by the Obama administrations Race to the Top. This is precisely what happened to New Orleans and is developing around the US. Democrats and Republican political operatives, on behalf of business interests, are deliberately impoverishing public school systems. In 2014 RSD trimmed its staff by 85 percent, from 562 to 94. Its budget was also steadily reduced, to $20 million by 2014. This essentially left the operations of the schools entirely in the hands of the charter industry. Of the total OPSB budget for the 2014-2015 school year, $345 million, $138 million went directly to the RSD schools, $92 million went to the districts own charters and an additional $30 million went to paying debt service. The passage of Act 91 is part of an overall austerity drive in Louisiana and comes amidst the largest budget crisis in state history. Public services across the board have been cut or face cuts in the near future. In March the state legislature met in an emergency session to attempt to address the budget crisis. The lawmakers were scarcely able to arrive at a temporary agreement, which included a sales tax hike. When they reconvene later this year, public universities, hospitals, and even the state public defenders office face steep cuts. The states coffers have been depleted in recent years by a combination of declining oil revenues and a series of tax cuts and corporate tax breaks passed by the previous administration of Republican Governor Bobby Jindal. More than 100 refugees were feared dead Thursday after a pair of sinkings of overcrowded boats attempting to make the dangerous crossing from Libya to Italy. In what was apparently the worst of these tragedies, a leaking fishing boat carrying some 650 people capsized in the open sea when passengers rushed to one side of the vessel in hopes of being rescued by an approaching Italian navy ship. Video shot from the Italian ship captured the horrifying moment in which the ship rolled over, pitching hundreds of refugees into the water. While aid officials initially reported that 550 people had been rescued and 5 bodies recovered, survivors of the disaster later told members of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that 650 passengers were on board the vessel, and an estimated 100 missing people had been trapped in its hull. The captain of the Italian naval ship that came to rescue the refugees told the BBC: I never saw myself in a situation of this magnitude. When something like that happens, it touches you inside. You would like to save everybody, to magically push them out of the water at once. Then you crash with reality. In a second sinking in as many days, dozens of refugees are believed to have died Thursday when the boat they were traveling in sank about three miles off the coast of Libya. Italian officials acknowledged that the death toll of 20 to 30 was only an estimate, and the real number of those who lost their lives could be considerably higher. In the second shipwreck, the Guardian newspaper quoted members of Alarm Phone, a group of activists that have set up a hotline for refugees in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, who said that they had received a call from the vessel from a Syrian national. They said he told them that most of the people onboard were Syrians and Iraqis. This news strongly suggests that the European Unions (EUs) sealing off of the so-called Balkan route through its filthy deal reached in March with the authoritarian regime in Turkey has begun to shift the flow of refugees from the war-ravaged Middle East back to the far more dangerous route through Libya and across the Mediterranean. The IOM reported on Monday that an estimated 191,134 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2016 through 21 May, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain. It placed the number of deaths of those attempting to reach Europe by sea during the same period at 1,370, which it said was 24 percent lower than last years toll of 1,792. The report declared it notable that only 13 refugees had lost their lives during the first three weeks of May. The latest sinkings, however, bring the rate of fatalities for the month back up to what they were a year ago. These latest disasters befalling refugees in the Mediterranean came as weather conditions improved, prompting an uptick in sailings by smugglers. More than 6,000 refugees have been reported rescued on boats en route to Italy just since Monday, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. It takes at least three days from Libya to Italy and many more from Egypt, Barbara Molinario of the Italian branch of UNHCR told Al Jazeera. These are very dangerous routes and accidents are just waiting to happen. She added: Our position is that people who are forced to flee and cannot return home need to be given a safe means to get to Europe and ask for protection. If they are forced to risk their lives and turn to smugglers, then this is whats going to happen. There is no indication that the imperialist powers, whose decades of war and oppression in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia are principally responsible for the refugee crisis, have any intention of pursuing any such a policy. Indeed, the mass deaths in the Mediterranean are factored into their anti-refugee campaign as a valuable deterrent. The prospect of mass deaths at sea was understood in striking the reactionary deal between the EU and Turkey to halt the flow of refugees northward through the Balkans. When it was signed in March, German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere commented: Even if we have to endure some hard images for a few weeks, our basic approach is right. With the gut-wrenching video of hundreds of refugees being dumped into the Mediterranean to fight for their lives, his prediction of hard images has been confirmed. The EU is attempting to further contract out its campaign against refugees to some of the most repressive regimes in Africa. The German magazine Der Spiegel reported earlier this month that a secret meeting of the ambassadors of the 28 EU member states discussed plans to work together with dictatorships around the Horn of Africa in order to stop the refugee flows to Europeunder Germanys leadership. Under the plan, some $45 million is to be paid to eight African governments to aid in curtailing refugee flows. One of the principal beneficiaries of the plan is to be the government of Sudans president, Omar al-Bashir, who is charged by the International Criminal Court with war crimes and whose security forces have been accused of torture. The Guardian newspaper pointed to Facebook postings that suggest smugglers are encouraging Syrians to make their way to Libya via Sudan. It cited one posting, an Announcement to all Syrians and Sudanese, that declared, The SudanLibya desert route is back to business, costing US$1,200 from Khartoum to Tripoli. The announcement indicated that traveling on to Italy would cost another $1,000. Sudan is also a major route for refugees fleeing Eritrea, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, all attempting to reach the Libyan coast. The aid that the EU is preparing to provide to the Sudanese regime would include cameras, scanners and servers for registering refugees, according to Der Spiegel, in addition to training for Sudanese security forces and the construction of two detention camps. The magazine quoted a general in Sudans interior ministry as saying the security aid would be used to control not just migrants, but the Sudanese people themselves. The EU, according to the Der Spiegel report, warned its member states that under no circumstances should the public be informed of these plans, adding that Europes reputation could be at stake. On Sunday evening, a hundred-strong force of the Berlin police conducted a brutal raid on Roma families protesting against their threatened deportation at the citys memorial to the Sinti and Roma murdered by the Nazis. The initiative All stay, in which several Roma and Sinti groups are cooperating nationwide, demanded in its call for the rally a revision of the restriction of the right to asylum, unconditional right to remain in Germany and right to participate in society. The historic promise to integrate Sinti and Roma must become reality 70 years after 500,000 members of these minorities were murdered, said Stefan Asanovski of the Romano Jekipe Ano Hamburg association. Approximately 80 Roma from northern Germany, including many women and children, occupied the grounds of the monument opposite the Reichstag building to draw attention to the increased deportation of Roma to their supposedly safe countries of origin in the Balkans. Many of them had received a letter confirming their deportation in recent weeks. However, around midnight, the police, following consultations with Bundestag President Lammert (CDU) and Uwe Neumarker, the director of the Holocaust memorial, cleared the memorial grounds. They deployed batons and there were arrests. As justification, it was stated that a protest at the memorial, only opened in 2012, could not be tolerated because it disturbed a holy place for the dead. This was an absurd argument, according to the Roma families. They had deliberately chosen to protest there in order to honour their dead relatives and draw attention to the fact that today they are still impoverished, isolated, excluded and targeted for arbitrary state repression and persecution. During World War II, the Nazis murdered 500,000 members of the Sinti and Roma population across Europe, around 90 percent of the total. The timing of the protest was to coincide with the Roma uprising in the Auschwitz concentration camp from May 16 to 23, 1944. Thousands of inmates of the gypsy camp fought SS guards with stones and work tools. WSWS reporters spoke on Monday to two participants in the protests, who requested we keep their names anonymous due to the threatened deportations. They were still agitated over the night-time police operation. We respect our murdered people We were ordered to leave the memorial grounds, said S., who has lived in Germany for some time. It was a holy place for the dead, and we ought to show respect to the dead. We fully respect our murdered people! Half a million were murdered in a bestial manner. In addition, the days May 16 to 23 are holidays for us, and I am very sad that I could see no flowers on the monument. If this location is so holy, then they should do something. No flowersno attention, thats how I see it! His friend K. was disappointed by the behaviour of official representatives in the Berlin State Senate and the Bundestag, including the opposition parties. The Green Party politician Volker Beck and Left Party spokesman for interior affairs in the Berlin Senate, Hakan Tas, had merely pressed for the Roma to end their action. This included the chairman of the central council of Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, and Roman Franz from the state association NRW, who tried to persuade them by telephone. All of those present from the administration and parties wanted to convince us to leave. And in the end, they watched it being cleared. There was no party or initiative backing us and saying: Well stay with you here. Only the volunteers stood with us who belonged to no organisation. During the afternoon, access to the monument was blocked and the toilets were sealed off. Only thanks to some supporters did the Roma receive food and water. There was something odd about the situation, S. said. We actually thought that a humanitarian understanding had won out and that we would be able to spend the night here and calmly deal with everything in the morning. But the situation suddenly changed and the clearing of the grounds began at midnight. They tried above all to separate the men from each other. They struck my brother, on his kidneys. He is still in pain and has an injured foot. My niece had her wrist and hand brutally twisted by a young police officer. My 14-year-old nephew was arrested and confined to a police car. He was charged with resisting state power. The children cried and screamed in the commotion. A woman suffered an epileptic fit. She and her husband threw themselves in desperation into the monuments well. They see no way out; theyve already received the deportation order. Our people have never had good experiences with the police, and that was shown once again yesterday, summarised S. We Roma are stateless. We are sometimes tolerated for a time but then deported everywhere. We are foreigners everywhere. In the Balkans, our children go on the rubbish dump instead of to school S. described the terrible situation confronting refugees from the Balkans, the vast majority of whom are part of the Roma minority: In the 50s, the German government promised to recognise Sinti and Roma as citizens in Germany and give us a permanent right to reside and a perspective for life. In this way, the injustice of the Nazis to our people was to be recognised. But the governments promise has never been fulfilled to this day. Since the Balkan route was completely closed, hardly any Roma are coming to Germany. They are confined in special camps in Eastern European countries for two or three weeks until their asylum applications are rejected and then immediately sent back. The families now being deported from Germany have sometimes lived here for more than 20 years and have raised their children here, S. said. The children learnt German and attend school. They cannot speak the Roma language. If they are deported, education is over for them. And a people without education is not a people. In the Balkans, the Roma are isolated and have no prospect of sending their children to school. Ninety percent of adults cannot read or write, are forced to struggle for survival and even the children have to work. A child is hardly old enough to pick up a scrap of paper and the child has to work. They go to the rubbish dumps instead of to school, he added. That is one of the most important reasons for this demonstration; we are trying to give our children a better future. Just last month, on April 8, a commemorative day for the murdered Sinti and Roma took place at the Berlin monument. German President Joachim Gauck, Bundestag vice presidents Petra Pau (Left Party) and Claudia Roth (Greens) and Neumarker from the memorial association along with other prominent politicians proclaimed their solidarity with Sinti and Roma. The policy of deportations and the deployment of police against a peaceful Roma protest at the same location demonstrate how hollow such words are. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a two-day stop in San Diego last weekend, including a rally on the 21st in National City on the US-Mexico border. National City is an overwhelmingly working class and immigrant community, and some 10,000 came to see Sanders speak. Sanders made repeated denunciations of social inequality and the top 1 percent of the population, which got a strong response from the crowd. Next to nothing was said about Obamas foreign policy, which Sanders unambiguously supports, and the expanding wars of American imperialism that are leading to a new world war. While Sanders is seeking to direct opposition behind the Democratic Party and the capitalist system, many of those supporting his campaign are looking for a way to oppose social inequality and war. The WSWS spoke to students and workers at the rally about the political issues surrounding the 2016 election and the fight for socialism. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron was forced into a compromise with sections of the euro-sceptic wing of his own party and the opposition Labour Party, in order to avoid a defeat over his governments entire legislation programme for the year ahead. Last week the Tories outlined their agenda in the Queens Speech. But such are tensions within the Tory party over the question of the European Union, with a large section of the parliamentary party and an even wider section of the partys base opposed to Camerons support for remaining in the EU, that they threatened not to support the Queens speech without an amendment. Put forward by the right-wing former cabinet minister Peter Lilley, and signed by 25 Tory backbenchers, the amendment expressed regret that the government did not include a bill in the Queens Speech that would protect the National Health Service from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership currently being negotiated by the EU and the United States. The amendment was supported by prominent figures of the Leave campaign Iain Duncan Smith, Liam Fox and Steve Baker. Co-authoring the amendment with Lilley was the Labour backbencher Paula Sherriff. It was also personally backed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who pledged his partys support, the Scottish National Party and the sole Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas. By backing the amendment Labour, the SNP and Greens allowed Camerons opponents in the Leave campaign to pose as defenders of the NHS. As Cameron only has a parliamentary majority of 17, the amendment, had it been selected for a parliamentary vote, would have the same impact as calling a vote of no confidence, threatening a government that only came to power a year ago. A vote on the Queen Speech programme was scheduled for Wednesday but prior to this the governments representatives in the House of Commons and House of Lords accepted the amendment. Tory euro-sceptics have previously used the occasion of the Queens Speech in order to further their cause. In 2013, 130 Tories backed an amendment to that years speech, regretting the absence of an EU referendum bill. No government has failed to pass a Queens Speech since 1924, when the Labour Party successfully tabled a motion of no confidence in Stanley Baldwins Conservative government. Following this, Baldwin resigned as prime minister, with Ramsay MacDonald forming the first Labour government. TTIP, along with the EUs completed free trade agreement with Canada (CETA), are reactionary treaties. Under the pretext of dismantling trade barriers, they aim to clear aside all obstacles which stand in the way of the unbridled accumulation of profitsocial and democratic rights, environmental standards and social services. Under its terms corporations can profit not only by buying and selling commodities, but also education, health and social infrastructure. TTIP is set to include the Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, protecting investors against unfair treatment or discrimination on grounds of nationality. This would allow governments to be sued by companies on the basis that their economic interests are being impeded. According to legal advice commissioned by the Unite trade union, from Michael Bowsher QC, TTIP poses a real and serious risk to the NHS. Putting forward the amendment, Lilley struck a nationalist tone. I support free trade, he said. But TTIP introduces special courts which are not necessary for free trade, will give American multinationals the right to sue our government (but not vice versa) and could put our NHS at risk. Lilley, a former deputy leader of the Tories is an arch Thatcherite. During his time as a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatchers hated government, Lilley was notorious as an avowed proponent of welfare budget cuts. Accepting the amendment, a spokesman from Camerons office said, Weve said all along, there is no threat to the NHS from TTIP. So if this amendment is selected, well accept it. Camerons pose as a defender of the NHS is as obscene as that of Lilley. Over the last six years the governments he has led have accelerated the break-up and privatisation of the NHS that was initiated by the previous Labour government. During the last parliament (2010-2015), the NHS, supposedly ring fenced from cuts, was forced to carry out 20 billion in efficiency savings. A similar scale of devastating savings is slated for the current parliament. The Tories and their then coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats, passed the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the largest single piece of legislation aimed at privatising the NHS. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is seeking to push through an inferior contract on Junior Doctors. This week, a government commissioned report from the Nuffield Health think-tank proposed that all the one-million-plus NHS workers be employed on contracts enforcing flexible work. Under such contracts, they could be asked to carry out any task normally assigned to another employee. The right-wing forces comprising the Remain and Leave campaigns are seeking to exploit well-founded fears over the future of the NHS. Last month Vote Leave, the official campaign in favour of Britain leaving the EU, unveiled its first billboard poster. Lets give our NHS the 350 million the EU takes every week, it declared. The Tories in the Leave camp are allied with the xenophobic UK Independence Party, led by Nigel Farage. In 2012 Farage said, Were going to have to move to an insurance based system of health care in the UK. So open was this attack on the principle of the taxpayer-funded NHS that even Cameron was able to declare in Parliament, That is the Ukip policy, to privatise the NHS. This month, Aaron Banksa millionaire who leads the Leave.EU group and backs UKIPtold the Cato Institute in Washington, If it were up to me, Id privatise the NHS. The episode demonstrates yet again that Corbyn will do nothing to seriously jeopardise a Tory government, hell bent on accelerating its austerity offensive against the working class. He even refuses to oppose those within his own party who are declared defenders of TTIP. These include the Blairite former Labour minister Rachel Reeves, who said, Those who want Britain to leave the EU need to stop preying on British peoples love for the NHS by cynically pretending that TTIP poses a threat. It does not. With the Conservatives deeply split, Labours ability to deliver its nine million voters is considered essential for a victorious Remain vote. This has become even more essential, given the bitterness and rancour of the Tory faction fight and its nakedly reactionary character. Hundreds of Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) workers walked off the job in San Diego, California, on Wednesday, following a rejection of the last, best and final contract offer from their employer, First Transit. The MTS workers employed by First Transit have been without a contract since July 2015. They rejected it, so as of 3 a.m. this morning they are on strike, Teamsters local 542 representative Phil Farias told San Diegos KPBS. On Wednesday morning, two hours into their picket, a motorcyclist struck two MTS workers as he sped through the picket line. No details of charges have been released. The MTS system uses a network of private companies to contract drivers. First Transit workers drive 18 of the 95 bus routes, as well as the paratransit system of door-to-door bus service. A major concern of transit workers is the fact that the contract proposal does not include a pension, only a 401(k). It also allows only 40 hours a year off work, including vacations and sick time. Workers also face very high health care costs. According to the salary data collections site carreertrends.com, San Diego Public Transit Bus drivers in San Diego make an average of $28,580 per year ($13.74 per hour), with an average starting pay of $21,640. Relative to past years salaries in San Diego, the average pay for this job has decreased by $604 (2.11%) from a year ago, and decreased by $16,268 (36.72%) from five years ago, the site reports. The MTS strike follows a four-day walkout by 1,700 San Diego AT&T telecommunications workers. A day before transit workers walked off the job, the AT&T strike was shut down by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, further isolating the strike by 39,000 Verizon telecommunications workers on the East Coast. The strike was supposedly called to demand that the employer hand over call and procedure logs that have been used to justify the reprimanding, suspension, and firing of workers at the telecommunications giant. Only a perfunctory statement that the grievance was settled and a demand to return to work was issued to workers. As with all AT&T West workers, those in San Diego still do not have a contract. AT&T workers expressed anger that they had been cynically called out of work one day and sent back to work on another day without any information or a contract. I am frustrated I didnt get the details until this morning, and I still dont know anything, one worker told WSWS reporters. A shroud of secrecy hangs over the talks being held in Washington, DC between executives from Verizon and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) after ten days of supposed negotiations overseen by the US Department of Labor. The CWA and IBEW are actively colluding in the information blackout demanded by the Obama administration. No organization that genuinely represented workers would agree to conceal vital information in the midst of a nearly two-month battle against the giant telecom. If they are doing so it is only because Verizon is refusing to budge from its last, best and final offer and the whole charade in Washington, DC is nothing more than the prelude for another miserable sellout. The union and its apologists in various pseudo-left groups like the International Socialist Organization and the publication Jacobin continue to repeat the empty slogan One day longer, one day stronger even as the continued isolation of the strike has left workers vulnerable to provocations by company strikebreakers, the courts and state and local officials. In the latest attack, a judge in Wilmington, Delaware Thursday threatened to hold representatives from CWA Locals 13100 and 13101 in contempt for allegedly allowing workers to harass and yell obscenities at strikebreakers. Under the threat of heavy fines, union officials have been instructed to silence workers under the pretext that they are engaged in hate speech. Until you know someones situation, it is not really fair to call someone a scab or a scumbag or assume they are involved in a job because of some antiunion position, Delaware Chancery Court Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster said. Laster banned strikers from following scab vehicles at distances closer than 30 yards and from shouting supposed racial or gender slurs. After the betrayal of the 2011 strike, the CWA accepted a back-to-work agreement that sanctioned the firing of workers for hate speech and picket line misconduct. It is well known that strikebreakers under the direction of management provoke such incidents, which are then videotaped and used to dismiss militant workers. Now exercising free speech to oppose strikebreakers could result in potential fines and even jail. The Delaware ruling is part of a consistent assault on Verizon workers by ever level of government, from the Obama administration on down. Following the running down of a Verizon worker by a New York City cop, driving a vanload of scabs, on May 9, Obamas National Labor Relations Board intervened on behalf of the company, filing and receiving an injunction banning the picketing of hotels that house scabs. The CWA and IBEW are allied with the Obama administration and the Democrats, and along with the AFL-CIO and Change to Win federations, are doing everything to prevent the Verizon strike from sparking a broader movement among millions of other workers who have suffered declining real wages and an attack on their health care and pension benefits. On Wednesday, the CWA ordered 1,700 striking AT&T West workers in San Diego, California back to work less than a week after calling the walkout. Terrified by the prospect of a united struggle of telecom workers on both the East and West Coasts, the CWA has kept 16,000 AT&T West workers in California and Nevada on the job since their contracts expired in early April. Facing growing anger from rank-and-file workers, the CWA called a limited strike, not over the lack of a contract but a grievance concerning the monitoring of customer service representatives, which they said was limited to San Diego. The CWA Local 9509 quickly shut down the strike, claiming with a glib statement on its web site that the grievance had been settled. Calls by the World Socialist Web Site to the local seeking information on the supposed settlement were not returned. An AT&T worker in California told the WSWS Verizon Strike Newsletter that the company had yet to even provide the requested call records. Were being told the most ridiculous things, the worker said. The union had refused to go back to work until they had been given the records they asked for, now theyre saying they will have them in a few days. People are furious. The CWA doesnt want to walk out. We were told that if AT&T workers walked it would take away attention from the Verizon workers strike. What attention? If anything, us striking would draw more attention to it and show that were facing the same conditions. In fact, ours are a little worse. The telecoms and the government have long taken the measure of the corporate syndicates that call themselves unions and know that the CWA and IBEW are about to accept a concession-laden deal that will set the precedent for a further attack on all workers. In a memo to investors on Monday, Barry Sine, a telecom analyst for the brokerage firm Drexel, Hamilton and Co., stated that he anticipates the strike [will] end relatively soon, most likely in June. If Verizon workers are to prevent another defeat it is up to rank-and-file workers to take the initiative themselves. The sickly defeatism of the CWA must be rejected, along with its worthless appeals to corporate shareholders and Democratic Party politicians that are helping Verizon break the strike. Instead, workers should form rank-and-file strike committees, free of the control of the pro-company unions and the big-business politicians, which will appeal for the broadest support for their struggle, including a national strike by all telecom workers. As the strike has already shown, workers are fighting not just Verizon but they are in a political struggle against a whole class of capitalist owners, which controls every lever of government. The WSWS spoke to striking workers in New York City and Virginia. Frank, who has worked as a field technician for more than 50 years, said, They want to freeze the pension and then get rid of it next time around. Last contract, they had us pay for the medical and now they want to double what we pay. The current CEO makes $18 million a year plus he has another $20 million when he retires. He has a private company plane and a limousine. The place he lives in New Jersey looks like a fort. It has gyms and restaurants. It is almost all occupied by Verizon managers like VPs. Continuing, he said, The CEO doesnt care about landline, only wireless. They sold wireline (telephone, Internet and cable television) in California, Texas, and Florida to Frontier for $5 billion because they want to get out of wireline altogether. Right now, there are 300,000 wireless and 39,000 wireline workers. He [CEO Lowell McAdam] has a new program called QAR (Quality Assurance Review), which is a fast track to suspension. For example, if youre in the field and take a lunch fifteen minutes late and return fifteen minutes late without calling them, then they will write you up. You have to call them when you go to the bathroom; you have to call them for everything. You have to tell them where you are all the time. Speaking about the conduct of the CWA, Frank said, The AFL-CIO has 17.8 million members, but the leadership is silent about the strike. The front page of the website states that the organization doesnt get involved in labor disputes. So what is the point of being a member? The guys here will not allow what happened in 2011 to happen again, when they brought us back to work without a contract. The company was able to get concessions in health benefits. It was a bad contract. Its not happening again and the union knows it. We are about to get, next week, unemployment benefits and get health benefits that the company cut off. I am for a general strike, he concluded. Referring to the union, a worker in Virginia said, God protect me from my friends. Since I started working, Ive seen people leave voluntarily because they were tired. When we go back to work, the company will force us to work whenever it decides, 12-hour shifts, six days a week. They do it because they want workers to get tired and leave rather than get benefits. The new contract will make that possible. Another worker stated, We cant just strike in one sector. The civil rights movement worked because we did everything necessary to get heard. In 20 years, there will be no middle class, only the poor and the rich. They will have imported the model from the third world. I think our first goal should be to completely deconstruct the union and replace it with something that represents everyone, he stated. Socialist Equality Party presidential candidate Jerry White and vice presidential candidate Niles Niemuth campaigned among autoworkers at the Fiat Chrysler Warren Truck Plant outside Detroit Thursday, receiving a warm response. SEP campaigners distributed the latest edition of the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter. The Newsletter carried a lead article on the explosion of class struggles internationally, including strikes in France opposing the elimination of job protections for workers. It also carried reports on the development of workers struggles in the United States, including at Honeywell and Verizon. Last year workers at Fiat Chrysler were at the center of a rebellion against the United Auto Workers, voting down the first of two sellout contracts brought back by the union. Since then Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has stated that the Dodge Ram, currently built at Warren Truck, will be sent to the nearby Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, putting a cloud of uncertainty over the future of one of FCAs older plants. Many Warren Truck workers expressed anger over the announcement Wednesday by United Auto Workers President Dennis Williams that the union is endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a spokesman for the banks and a leading proponent of imperialist war. The comments of one worker were typical. I think the government needs a complete overhaul to fix all the things that are wrong with this country. Another added, Its all a setup for disaster. A worker with 20 years in the auto plants stopped to talk with White. The UAW doesnt speak for workers, he said. Its been like that for a long time. I dont care for any of them, he said referring to Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump. White explained, The UAW endorsement of Clinton shows the union does not represent the interests of workers. Clinton is a stooge for Wall Street. We say all the candidates speak for the billionaires and are prepared to send the young generation off to war for the profits of the giant corporations. The SEP is running in the elections to provide a socialist alternative for working people to the two parties representing the corporations, Pentagon and the police-military intelligence apparatus. No matter who the November election, the next administration will be the most violent and repressive in history. When asked about the UAW endorsement of Clinton, an older Warren Truck worker said, Its BS. If it wasnt for Bernie Sanders I wouldnt be voting at all. White replied, Sanders has tapped into the immense anger of workers and youth, but he is channeling it back behind Clinton, a candidate of the ruling class. While he calls himself a socialist, he defends economic nationalism and supports the scapegoating of Mexican and Chinese workers for taking jobs. We say the working class is an international class and must unite its great power across national boundaries to take on the multinational corporations. You should support my campaign to back a genuine socialist alternative. A veteran worker put a donation in the collection bucket saying, I agree with you. You know I am so frustrated that I dont really even pay attention any more. I think things need to be changed, but I am not sure how. Juanita, a young Warren Truck worker stopped to speak to the socialist candidate. I feel like this, a lot of people keep passing the buck, She said. At the end of the day all these politicians need to stand behind what they told us. I would go with Clinton, because she is the lesser of two evils, but they are both evils. She added, It is a dictatorship. They are going to make us vote for the people they want, who will do what they say. At the end of the day it is all lipstick and rouge. There is nothing there for us. White explained, The working class needs a political party of its own. We are the overwhelming majority of society, yet political power is in the hands of the billionaires. Workers should not be forced to vote for the lesser of two evils but have a positive alternative that genuinely represents their interests. That is why Niles and I are running in the elections, to advance an independent program for the working class. I like him, she said after listening to Jerry White. We need a party that is just for us. Crystal, her friend who has worked at Warren Truck for three years, added, I dont like any of the candidates. None of them possess the qualities of good candidates. They all have their own agendas, and I dont trust any of them. They are all controlled by the lobbyists. It is all a money thing. Another worker stopped to speak to White and Niemuth. She said, I think if either of them get into office it is going to be bad. Clinton doesnt even know what she is doing. At first I said, Yeah, maybe a woman would be good, but they get into office they do nothing. I dont think Obama did a lot either. She added, I dont even want to live in the United States. Jerry White said, They same thing is happening all over the world. In France there are massive strikes, with workers battling the police and corporations. They want to make it easier for the companies to fire workers, work longer hours. It is a global question. It is the same fight for workers all over the world. We are saying we have to unite rather than competing with one another. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say two people are dead after a car crashed into a charter bus full of students returning home from a field trip. Local news outlets report the crash happened late Thursday night near Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale. The students were returning from a trip to Tallahassee when the crash occurred. Authorities say both people inside the car died. Their names haven't been released. Fort Lauderdale Det. Kevin Dupree tells WPLG (http://bit.ly/20JPnii ) there were about 37 people on the bus when the crash occurred. He says they included students and chaperones from various Broward County schools. Dupree says one student and one adult on the bus were treated for minor injuries. No further details were immediately available. Looking for something to do this Memorial Day weekend? Here is a list of events you and the family can enjoy in the area. Click on the event name for a link to more information. The Tallahassee WWII Historical Society - Gatherings of WWII Veterans and Friends May 28, 2016 from 10:00am - 11:00am Lakeview Baptist Church Fellowship Hall 222 West 7th Avenue, Tallahasssee, FL 32303 Join the WWII Historical Society for their presentation on the life of Lt. Col. Abe Schestopol of the U.S. Air Force as he discusses events of WWI, the Great Depression, and WWII. Cambridge Memorial Day Parade & Firemens Breakfast May 28, 2016 from 6:00am - 11:30am Memorial Day breakfast 6 am to 11:30 am at the Cambridge Fire House, 271 W. Main Parade starts at 10:30 at the Nikolay Middle school, 211 South St. and heads down Main St. Cambridge will be hosting an all-you-can-eat breakfast at the Fire Station, followed by a parade down Main Street, and a Memorial Service downtown at Veteran's Park. Annual Memorial Celebration and Commemoration Program May 30, 2016 at 11:00am Gazebo in the Four Freedoms Park in downtown Madison Join community leaders and veterans in their Annual Memorial Celebration Program sponsored by the Madison County Veterans' Service Office and American Legion Posts 195 of Madison & 224 of Cherry Lake. Memorial Day Celebration Concert in Tallahassee, FL May 30th,2016 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm 2415 North Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL The Pavilion at the Centre of Tallahassee will be hosting a FREE community event their Brickyard featuring music by local band The Brown Goose. VFW Memorial Day Services May 30th, 2016 at 11:00 am VFW Post 3308 Cemetery on Fox Rd. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3308 will host a Memorial Day service at the Fox Road cemetery followed by a gathering at the Post which will include hamburgers and hot dogs. Memorial Day BBQ & Free Concert in Valdosta, GA May 30th, 2016 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm 4038 N Valdosta Rd, Valdosta, GA Tanner and Jen will be playing in the Party Barn at Woodstack BBQ Tavern where they will be serving an authentic BBQ menu featuring drink specials. Allen & Allen's Memorial Day Service May 30th, 2016 at 11:00am Sunset Memorial Gardens, Thomasville, GA Allen & Allen Funeral Home along with The Veteran Affiars will be hosting their 10th annual memorial service in honor of our fallen soldiers. BROOKS COUNTY, Ga. (WTXL)--A Brooks County man survives for more than a week in ditch, pinned underneath his motorcycle. On Wednesday around 4:30 p.m., Brooks County authorities responded to a private driveway on Elliot Lane and found 63-year-old Roland Howard Goff's right leg pinned under the bike. The Georgia State Patrol arrived shortly thereafter. His friend, William Shultz, estimated he had been there for five days. Shultz noticed he wasn't active on social media and decided to check on him. Troopers say no one knew he was there because he doesn't have a cellphone or a mailbox, and his road dead ends. Goff told them he was headed home on May 17 when he rode the Honda cruiser off his driveway. Goff said it rained so he was able to drink water. Doctors at South Georgia Medical Center told GSP Corporal Chris Kelch it's possible to survive eight days trapped in a ditch. Kelch says he was severely dehydrated. Kelch says Goff had sores and injuries to his right leg, but he's expected to be okay. We check with SGMC. Goff is in fair condition. Recent figures have shown that the Chinese economy has generally seen stable growth with deepening supply-side structural reforms, an official from the National Bureau of Statistics said in an article published Monday in People's Daily. Former Gov. Christine Gregoire laughs while being introduced during a Downtown Rotary luncheon at the Yakima Convention Center in Yakima, Wash., Thursday, May 26, 2016. (SOFIA JARAMILLO/Yakima Herald-Republic) Even people with dementia can still remember the mudslinging between the Israeli political system's Max and Moritz, who called a press conference this week and, in a remarkable act of cynicism declared that their alliance had been renewed. Incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman thanked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his ability to overcome past differences, as if the events in question took place 30 years ago, as opposed to two weeks. The man whose opinions of the PM caused many to shiver, blamed his short fuse. It's not you, he told his old/new partner. Netanyahu didn't disappoint either, saying that unfortunate things were said during the heat of the moment. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter What moment, what heat, what short fuse? These two exchange nearly zero words in the past year, and when they did mention each other it was to spew poison at their then-bitter rival. You needed to be completely disconnected to miss the hatred, loathing, and contempt these two have for each other. "Past differences?" "A short fuse?" these could, at most, be considered part of a brainstorming session to name the next conflict in Gaza. Because they certainly don't work as excuses for the rockiness of the pair's relationship. PM Netanyahu and incoming Def. Min. Lieberman. (Photo: Gil Yohanan) The tensions didn't begin with Lieberman going to the opposition, but much earlier. While Operation Protective Edge was going on, the differences between Lieberman and Netanyahu were clear to anyone who took part in cabinet meetings. Netanyahu, who despises direct conflict, was being driven crazy by the criticism Lieberman was leveling against him, and his frustration eventually burst out. "Which cabinet meetings are you complaining about?" the PM asked the then-foreign minister, "You don't even spend more than 20 minutes in any meeting anyway." Lieberman responded by snorting contemptuously and leaving the room once more. Lieberman is convincedreally, a million percent certainthat Netanyahu caused the police to investigate the fairly-recent Yisrael Beytenu corruption affair (also known as the Faina Kirschenbaum affair). Shortly before a national election, the police seemed to have nothing better to do than spread the story to the media, because indictments were to be presented shortly. More than a year has passed since, and the investigation seems comatose. No arrests, no indictment, barely anyone is being called in for questioning. Under these circumstances, just try to convince Lieberman that this wasn't politically prescribed by the man from Balfour Street. (Balfour St. in Jerusalem is the location of the Prime Minister's Residence ed.) The two had a hard time faking their body language during the press conference. They barely looked each other in the eye. But what wasn't expressed by their movements was stated with their words: A little bit of humor, a lame apology, and poofit's all behind them. That's how it is when two people share a dominant trait called cynicism. The ability to overcome principle in order to advance their own personal interests. Lieberman, we must admit, does it with much more style: He actually manages to fool you. His word is solid. He won't enter into a government that won't budge from its path. He won't set foot in the coalition before the issues his constituents find so importantequality of burden, civil marriage, the death penalty for terroristsare addressed, as is the destruction of Hamas. No way: Until Yisrael Beytenu's demands are fulfilled, he stays outside. After all, his word is his bond. The ultra-Ortodox parties need not worry. (Photo: Gil Yohanan) Well, one week after he signaled the prime minister, indicating that he was open to talk about matters, agreements were already reached. How planned was all of this? Probably not at all. Last week, all of Lieberman's associates swear, no one dreamed of this happening. It's a classic case of political process: Everyone makes completely illogical moves, everybody lies to everybody else, the result is totally unexpected, and in the end Ze'ev Elkin (the minister of immigrant absorption and Jerusalem affairs) comes along and takes credit for planning everything. An insurance policy for the ultra-Orthodox Out of all of the principles Lieberman named, all of his conditions for entering the governmentnot much was left. Matters regarding the separation of religion and state were thrown out. The ultra-Orthodox parties (both of which are members of the coalition government) can sleep soundly: Lieberman's entering the coalition doesn't pose a threat to their achievements in this government. On the contrary: It insures their advancement. Everything Lieberman managed to achieve in the last government alongside his friend Lapid (chairman of Yesh Atid) will be kept outside the halls of the Knesset this time. In addition, Lieberman has promised to stay away from the prime minister's delicate soul when it comes to media matter, and even gave up the former dealbreaker condition of a death penalty for terrorists. Lieberman's claim of handling the matter of pensions is, at best, inaccurate. In fact, NIS 1.3 billion has been allocated for old-age pensions ever since Lapid's days at the Finance Ministry. So either Kahlon (the current finance minister) re-sold Lieberman expired goods, or Lieberman sold the Russian-Israeli public a bag of goods in order to justify his entry into the Ministry of Defense. Either way, the NIS 1.3 billion in question won't all be handed out this year, but will be spread over four years, and aimed at all of the elderly people who are living off subsidized incomes (about 220,000 people, half of whom are not of Russian decent), in fairly thin slices. Seniors will receive just a few dozen shekels the first year. Not a sum that's going to save anyone from starvation. Minister Bennett. His principles anti-Lieberman stance is expected to soften quickly. (Photo: Gil Yohanan) Oh, wait, we still have the issue of destroying Hamas. Well, we'll see about that. Somehow, it doesn't seem like Ismail Haniyeh should be running scared. Lieberman is expected to be sworn in as defense minister next week. As of this writing, Education Minister (and head of the Bayit Yehudi party) Naftali Bennett is sticking to his guns on this matter, saying his party will vote against the appointment. Don't hold your breath, though: A solution will be found by the time of the government's vote on the matter, and Bennett's principles will probably end up where all politicians' principles do. Israel's most right-wing government ever is nearly underway. How long will it hold? Tough to tell. Lieberman will be most obedient and loyal in the coming months. He knows how to pull that off. He has a long adjustment period in front of himmuch longer than those Security Cabinet meetings he'd leave after one third of an hour. But every honeymoon has its end, and at some point Lieberman will have to separate himself if he wants to contend for leadership status. Someone gave me a wonderful metaphor for this government: It's a firing squad, standing in a circle. A French naval vessel was en route to the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday to join the hunt for black boxes from a crashed EgyptAir jet, equipped with three specialist probes from a French company recruited to accelerate the search. France's BEA air crash investigation agency said French naval survey vessel Laplace had left Corsica earlier on Thursday and was heading toward the search zone north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria, where it would begin operations within days. A week after the Airbus A320 crashed with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 from France, investigators have no clear picture of its final moments. Minister of Environmental Protection Avi Gabay (Kulanu) announced on Friday that he was resigning from the government in protest to Avigdor Lieberman's joining it. He reportedly admitted that the appointment of the Yisrael Beytenu chairman as minister of defense was "a step that he couldn't live with." He held a press conference on Friday morning. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "After much deliberation the chairman of Kulanu movement and the minister of finance, Moshe Kahlon, that I have decided to resign from my position as minister of environmental protection," Gabay announced. "Despite the great importance that I see in the ministry and the significant actions that we are promoting to reduce air pollution and in many other areas, the recent political maneuvers and replacement of the minister of defense are, in my eyes, a grave act that ignores what is important to the security of the sate and will cause further radicalizing rifts in the nation. Gabay at press conference (Photo: Motti Kimchi) "This is a policy that I cannot be partner to, and it is too essential a matter for me to continue as a member of the government." "I would like to thank the chairman of Kulanu for his support, his faith and his help, and I have no doubt that the Kulanu movement will continue to leave its mark on important goals that we set on establishing (the party)," he summarized. Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, Kahlon stated, "I couldn't come to terms with Ya'alon's ouster." He spoke on the relationship with the United States: "It wasn't easy for me to be a part of the government, a government that completely disrupted our relationship with the strongest power in the world." Addressing his resignation, he said, "This week, a year after I entered the position, came something that I just couldn't stomach: Lieberman's appointment to minister of defense, which is in my opinion irregular even in the cynical world of politics. The minister of defense is the most important minister." "I urge the prime minister to pull himself together and remember that the security is security, and he is relying on people and leadership, not only on tanks and planes." Gabay ended by saying, "I'm sorry, but I promised myself and my family that I would never be a cynical politician, but rather a leader and public servant. In light of my comprehension of the recent political maneuvering, continuing with the current government would not be in keeping with my promise." Moshe Ya'alon, who resigned as minister of defense, said on Gabay's resignation, "In our political system, insisting on principles became subject to ridicule, while zigzagging and deceit are considered 'sophisticated.' A full assessment of Avi Gabay proves that another way is possible. We must not give up." Kahlon wrote on his Facebook timeline, "Yesterday, the Minister of Environmental Protection Avi Gabay informed me of his intention to resign from the government. I updated the prime minister on the subject and informed him that I intended to continue holding the environmental protection portfolio. Over the past year, we laid important and material groundwork at the Ministry of Environmental Protection for the quality of life for all citizens of Israel. The national plan for reducing pollutants in the Haifa Bay will continue alongside other important initiatives that the ministry led under Gabay." The outgoing minister was prominent in his opposition to the gas deal. "The state must listen and understand the companies' claims and demands and then utilize its authority and sovereignty on this matter in order to arrive at the plan that is best for the citizens of Israel," he said at the time. At the press conference, Gabay stated, "In my eyes, there is a clear line that connects the gas deal to the attack on the chief of staff and the IDF." Avi Gabai (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg) Recently, Gabay expressed his support for IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, who received criticism for drawing comparisons between current Israeli sentiment and that of Europe in the 1930s, which led to the Holocaust. Said Gabay, "Maj. Gen. Golan has sufficient rights and viewpoints so that we should listen to his words without attacking him. The fervor around Golan is misguided. We need to encourage senior officials to speak their truth and not vice versa." Gabay added, "I don't believe that he was talking about the Second World War and the Holocaust. There's nothing similar to what is happening here to the Holocaust, but there are definitely here violent fervors and signs of racism that are similar at times to the fervor in Germany of the 20s and 30s. Gabay , 49, was previously the CEO of Bezeq for six years, where he managed to increase its profits during a particularly competitive time in the telephone market. He did so while maintaining good relations with the employees and regulators. After leaving that position, he worked in the public sector. In one position, he headed the committee to examine the crisis in Hadassah Hospital. Gabay was the first to publicly join Kahlon in establishing Kulanu and was the chief of staff before the election, though he did not himself figure on the list of candidates. He was appointed minister by Kahlon's insistence. Martina Anderson, an Irish member of the European Parliament, said Israeli lobbyists were all over this place like a rash during a parliament meeting on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Anderson was moderating a discussion dedicated to health issues and sanitation in Gaza and the West Bank when she compared the lobbying efforts of Israeli and Jewish groups to the efforts by Palestinian groups. We know that the Palestinians do not have the same capacity or personnel as the Israelis do, said Anderson. The Israelis are all over this place like a rash they are lobbying to no end. European Parliament (Photo: Michael Zeff/TPS) Over a billion Muslims, 22 Arab states and one great Arab nation, which the Palestinians see themselves as part of, will surely disagree with the MEP for doubting their power and political capabilities, Amir Ohana, a member of Knesset with the Likud party told Tazpit Press Service (TPS). As for the rash part, I can only express my impression with the creative associations that these new anti-Semites have, added Ohana. Anderson is a representative of Northern Ireland in the European Parliament for the Sinn Fein party, known for its anti-Israeli and pro-BDS stances. The event was organized by the European parliamentary group GUE/NGL, representing several of the Europes far-left wing and Green parties such as Andersons own Sinn Fein. Martina Anderson is a former convicted terrorist with the IRA, dubbed the beauty queen bomber. She served part of a life sentence after being convicted in taking part in a bombing of a hotel in Brighton, England in 1984 and planning mass bombing attacks on 12 English resort towns. She loves hiding behind slogans such as Human Rights protection, welfare and justice. However in her entire tenure as a member of European Parliament she has dealt with no issue and focused on no other goal than to attack Israel, Gilad Segal, a former diplomat with the Israeli Embassy in Brussels told TPS. As a convicted terrorist who still has ties and relations that go beyond the PLO to Hamas nowadays, she is in no position to preach, added Segal. If Israelis managed to anger someone like her, then were doing a good job, an official with the Israeli foreign ministry told TPS. At this time however, the ministry has not decided whether or not this outburst warrants an official response. Newly-appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has recently met with several reserve major generals, sending the soothing message to the IDF leadership that he will be a stately, responsible minister. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Security officials, however, are waiting to see if he will indeed keep his promises and are saying "time will tell". Lieberman, who will take office next Tuesday, needs to quickly put together a professional team and appoint an office chief of staff and a spokesperson. Incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Photo: EPA) Next week, after he officially takes on the position, he will begin a series of meetings with senior IDF members, among them the chief of staff, senior generals and the new Director General of the Defense Ministry Maj. Gen. (res.) Udi Adam, who replaced Maj. Gen. (res.) Dan Harel last Thursday. Most of those who met with Lieberman told him that Adam was the right man for the job and that the new minister would do well to keep him in the role, and not make a personal or politically-motivated appointment.. Adam, 58, returned to the security establishment ten years after the Second Lebanon War, after which he resigned as head of the Israeli Northern Command. The short ceremony held at the Tel Aviv IDF headquarters took place for the first time without the presence of a defense ministera position which will be left unmanned until Lieberman takes on the position next week. Among those present at the ceremony there was a sense of disappointment as many wondered why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the acting defense minister, did not come to greet Adam and bid farewell to Harel. During the ceremony, Adam acknowledged Harel's great contribution to Israel's security and promised, "we will take up the baton and get the job done in the most professional manner possible, our main mission being to support the IDF's needs." Israel is forming civil defense units throughout northern Israel to assist in any future conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Col. Eren Makov, the Northern Regional Commander of the Homefront Command recently stated. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter There is a big change in the Arab population in Israel in that they are much more willing to cooperate with us, Makov said in an interview. We give them training in what to do and they see it as a contribution. Makov said that more than half of the residents of northern Israel are Arab citizens of Israel, and are under the same missile threat from Hezbollah as Jewish citizens of Israel. While the vast majority of Arab citizens of Israel do not serve in the Israeli army, he said these civil defense units are not part of the army but of the Home Front Command and, for example, volunteers do not wear uniforms. IDF's Home Front Command defense drill (Photo: Menahem Kahana, AFP, Getty Images) The idea is to train them in both disaster relief and working with the population. After earthquakes, Makov said, 25 percent of those saved are rescued in the first hour, often by their neighbors. A similar situation would probably be in force if Hezbollah, which is believed to have more than 100,000 rockets aimed at Israel, scored direct hits on buildings in residential areas. Israel is not on the verge of a war with Hezbollah, Israeli analysts and military officials say. Hezbollah is bogged down in the civil war in Syria and has lost thousands of fighters defending Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebel groups and Islamic State. On one hand, it means that Hezbollah is not looking for another conflict in the near future. In fact, after senior Hezbollah official Mustafa Baddredine was assassinated recently, officials quickly moved to say they do not believe Israel is responsible. At the same time, Hezbollah is developing new fighting skills that could be used against Israel. When you count the rockets they have, they are as strong as they were before the eruption of civil war in Syria. (But) when you speak about morale, its not very high theyve suffered many casualties, said Eyal Zisser, a professor at Tel Aviv University and an expert on Hezbollah. Added to this is the financial burden the organization is shouldering, the professor explained. Israel is also carefully watching the Golan Heights, which Israel acquired in 1967 and later annexed, along the border with Syria. So far, military officials say, the fighting has not spilled over in any significant way. But that could easily change. The Golan Heights is very sensitive and unstable, a senior military said. There are a lot of actors involved in the conflict there (Syria). We believe they understand that they will pay a big price if they get involved with Israel. Deterrence is one way to lessen the chances of a conflict along Israels northern border. Another is preparation, he said. In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war that left at least 1200 Lebanese and 165 Israelis dead. An estimated one million Lebanese and up to 500,000 Israelis fled the area of the conflict, and Israel inflicted heavy damage on south Lebanon. In any new conflict, the senior military official says, it is the Home Front Command that will decide whether Israelis should stay or be evacuated. For the past 25 years, any new homes build in Israel must have a reinforced room that can withstand a missile attack. Older buildings are supposed to have communal shelters, although some are in disrepair. Military officials do not rule out evacuating part of the population if needed. We are not afraid to evacuate the population especially close to the border, the official said. But we will decide who should leave. Our main message is that anyone who doesnt get an order to evacuate should stay and understand that his home is the safest place for him. Article written by Linda Gradstein. On Friday, Islamic State fighters captured territory from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border, as they inch ever closer to a town on a supply route for foreign-backed insurgents fighting the jihadists. The United States has identified the area north of Syria's former commercial hub Aleppo as a priority in the fight against the Islamic State movement. In April, Islamic State militants seized another strategic town near the Turkish border from rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army. Aleppo's northern countryside is the theater of several separate battles between multiple warring sides in the five-year Syrian conflict, which has drawn in military involvement of regional and world powers that back different groups. A day after the chilling testimonies of surgical interns recounting 36-hour shifts that cost the lives of patients , Minister of Health Yakov Litzman came out in support of them on Thursday. "The medical interns are right," he said, and stated the responsible party for rectifying the situation is the Israel Medical Association (IMA). Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "I read the medical interns' testimonies, and I understand their difficulties. I am ready to meet and speak with them," Litzman said, following the revelations in Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynet's sister publication. As early as 2011, Litzman supported the agreement that limited the interns' shift lengths to no more than 18 hours. Medical interns. Protesting dangerously long shifts. (Photo: Dana Kopel) "I think that they're right, but I can't change the situation because of an existing agreement signed by the Israel Medical Association, which is the doctors' representative body to the treasury, and it cannot be modified until 2020." Litzman expressed that he would like to do more: "If it were up to me, I would change it today. I demanded this in the past, and I still think this today. Nobody can say that working 26 hours a day is normal. I'm the first that thought that there needs to be a change." The IMA, on the other, claim that it is they who really support the interns' struggle. "We believe that everything must be done to ease the shift burden and improve the interns' quality of life, first and foremost without damaging their professional training, quality of treatment and their salaries, said IMA Chairperson, Dr. Leonid Eidelman. The collective agreement determined a pilot path that must be implemented, and for that we need to provide openings, and not harm the interns salaries. Minister of Health Yakov Litzman. Took the interns' side. (Photo: Motti Kimchi) In contrast to Minister Litzmans statements, the IMA believes that there is no connection between shortening shift times and reengaging in discussions about the 2011 agreement reached after that years doctor strike . The association claims that the solution is to provide more openings for hiring new staff, as opposed to merely shortening shift times, which could cause wages to go down. Litzmans associates reject this idea, saying, there will be no situation in which the doctors wages will be harmed. Theres a possibility of reaching a solution if the IMA is convinced that the shifts must be shortened. The protesting medical interns, who are in agreement with the Health Ministry, also blame the IMA for dealing in techniques of agreements and legal proceedings, thus risking human lives. The Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for allocating budgets for Healthcare system openings, chose to remain silent on the matter. For the pollsters information: I did indeed give up a (government) seat, but Im still a dues-paying member of the Likud, wrote former Minister Gideon Saar on social media platform Twitter Friday. Saar was responding to a poll by Israels Reshet Bet radio station, according to which a party lead by him, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, and resigning Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon would receive the highest amount of votes in a hypothetical election. Islamic State fighters captured territory from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border on Friday and inched closer to a town on a supply route for foreign-backed insurgents fighting the jihadists, a monitoring group said. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The hardline group has been fighting against rebels in the area for several months. The rebels, who are supplied via Turkey, last month staged a major push against Islamic State, but the group counter-attacked and beat them back. The battle-hit city of Aleppo, Syria. (Photo: Reuters) The United States has identified the area north of Syria's former commercial hub Aleppo as a priority in the fight against the Islamic State group (ISIS). The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday's advance was the biggest by IS in Aleppo province for two years. It brought the jihadists to within 5 km (3 miles) of Azaz, a town near the border with Turkey through which insurgents have been supplied. Islamic State said in a statement it had captured several villages near Azaz. International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said it evacuated patients and staff from a hospital in the area as the fighting got closer, and that tens of thousands of people were trapped between the frontlines and Turkish border. A Syrian NGO operating in the area said the latest assault by IS had displaced 20,000 more people toward Turkey. The advance also cut rebel supply lines from Azaz to the town of Marea farther southeast, isolating the latter from other rebel-held areas, the Observatory said. The Observatory said the fighting had killed 30 rebel fighters and 11 members of Islamic State. In April, Islamic State militants seized another strategic town near the Turkish border from rebel factions fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army. The IS advances on Friday encroach on a corridor of rebel-held territory that leads from the Turkish border down toward Aleppo city, which is divided between insurgent and government control. Aleppo's northern countryside is the theater of several separate battles between multiple warring sides in the five-year-old conflict, which has drawn in military involvement of regional and world powers that back different groups. Rebels supplied through Turkey have been fighting Islamic State and separately battling Kurdish forces in other areas. Ankara, a major sponsor of groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, is concerned by Kurdish advances along its border, where the Kurdish YPG militia already controls an uninterrupted 400 km (250 mile) stretch. Turkey has shelled Kurdish positions inside Syria. The United States supports the YPG and allied fighters in its battle against Islamic State farther east, including in Hasaka and Raqqa provinces. Islamic State's foothold at the Turkish border was significantly loosened last year when YPG fighters gained territory from the group. Islamic State has declared a cross-border Islamic caliphate in Syria and neighboring Iraq. Syrian government and allied forces are also fighting rebels north of Aleppo. The Observatory said more than 20 people including children died on Friday in air strikes on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city and areas to its northwest. Israel transferred on Friday the body of Abd Fatah al-Sharif, the terrorist who was killed by Israeli soldier Elor Azaria after he was already neutralized in Hebron. His funeral is set to take place Saturday in the city. Following Education Minister Naftali Bennetts severe criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , as well as his demand that a military secretary for the Security Cabinet be appointed so that its members may be better updated on the governments actions on matters of defense, the PM has announced the establishment of a team that will explore ways of better briefing Cabinet members. Bennetts party, Bayit Yehudi, quickly issued an official statement on the matter, calling Netanyahus statement meaningless and saying that no spin will save human lives. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Mnister Bennett and PM Netanyahu. (Photo: Alex Kolmoisky, Yair Sagi) PM Netanyahu announced Friday that he has established a committee that will recommend ways of keeping Cabinet members up-to-date while preserving information security. It is expected to submit its conclusions in about three weeks. The Bayit Yehudi party, however, has rejected the Prime Ministers one-sided and meaningless announcement. The partys statement called the PMs move, the establishment of a meaningless committee. You should ask Yohanan Locker where the committee report he worked on for a year is located, how many times it was discussed in the Cabinet, and what parts of it have been implemented so far. The Locker Committee issued a report regarding the Israeli defense budget in mid-2015, recommending it be frozen for a five-year period. The statement continued, We recommend that instead of dealing in smalltime politics and all-day briefings opposing the Bayit Yehudi (party), the Prime Minister simply open the Protective Edge report, where he will find the blood-written conclusions, which cry out for implementation. Bayit Yehudi officials claim that if the partys demands are not met, Bennett will vote against MK Liebermans appointment as Defense Minister. It appears that Beth Hamidrash Hagadol Synagogue (BHHS) has wisely decided to retract its offer to allow MP Naz Shah to address the Leeds Jewish community on its premises. It is quite plausible that the talk will, afterall, proceed as planned in the BHHS and that the ambiguity surrounding the new venue is merely a ploy to avert criticism. Time will tell. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Nevertheless, the organizers of the event - the Leeds Jewish Representative Council (LJRC) - remain determined that Shah be granted the opportunity to repair the irreparable on Jewish turf, wherever it may be. According to a number of reliable sources the new venue slated to host the event is the Sinai synagogue in Leeds. With the BHHS apparently having backed down on the issue thereby implicitly offering a mea culpa (perhaps to the credit of its congregants and the community who expressed their disapproval), the objective has only been half completed. Naz Shahs right to address any community on any premises is unquestionable. So too is it the right of any organization to host her. The issue at hand however, is one of right and wrong, of taking a stand or not. Should Shah be given a second or a third chance given that she posted two comments calling for the deportation of some 6 million Jews from Israel and stated that Hitlers actions were legal? Writing from here in Israel, some people in the Leeds community posit that the views expounded by the author in a previous article on the matter are divisive and that they only constitute interference in the affairs of a community so many thousands of miles away. This point is an important one and it must be addressed. Approximately half of the Jewish population reside overseas with around 269,000 in the UK alone. All Jews there exercise their right to freedom of speech and they hold a healthy variety of opinions which span across the political spectrum. Indeed, particularly when it comes to matters relating to Israel - a land thousands of miles away - British Jewry expresses its opinions on the most delicate of subjects which have a direct and immediate impact on her people. British MP Naz Shah. No British Jew ever shied away from opining on the merits or demerits of one Israeli leader or another. No good British Jew concealed his or her views vis-a-vis land disputes, the appropriate way of handling terror and other subjects intimately affecting Israeli citizens. While the vast majority of these people have never served in the IDF and will ultimately not have to live with, or mop up, the fallout of their gambling of Israels security from afar, they have no compunction in expressing their support for - or opposition to - Israel. Furthermore, they pay little attention to the divisive consequences in Israel which force her to constantly attempt to reconcile national security with foreign Jewish support. The negative or positive consequences of any policy affect, first and foremost, the Israelis - not the British Jewish community. Yet the latter reserves the right to pass comment on a country thousands of miles away. Thus when Naz Shah called for the deportation of Israels Jews to the US, she was referring to me, to my siblings, to my kind Israeli friends, to my hard-working colleagues, to the new-born babies, to the elderly, to the children I see playing in the street who qualify for Shahs deportation program solely because they are Jewish. Importantly, Shahs comments constituted an assault on the diasporas right of return to Israel. She has advocated for the Jewish people, in a land thousands of miles away, to be deported to a land many more thousands of miles away. Therefore, when any Jewish community, organization or individual gives such a woman - who countenanced the legitimacy of Hitlers actions - the chance to jump into bed with them and offer a perfunctory apology, they must be told forthrightly by the local and international Jewish community as a whole that they are taking a stand and that they utterly reject this farce. Taking action should not be avoided. A simple phone call to the events coordinators and the venue at which it is said to be taking place can be the difference between cosying up to an anti-Semite and keeping her at bay. The community must not allow itself to be misled by a small number of leaders who must be informed of its unwillingness to talk to anti-Semites. Shah is merely employing an adroit political strategy to salvage her political career and she is exploiting the goodwill of the Jewish community to that end. Members of that community must not be deceived by this or become collaborators in this political slime. Contrary to what some people may believe, entering a synagogue or addressing a Jewish community hardly makes Shah an intrepid individual. Indeed, it is doubtful that any credible security risk is posed against her by the Jewish community. She would be far more deserving of credit if she entered Islamic houses of worship in her own Bradford West constituency and told her listeners that she not only believes in Israels right to exist but that Jewish sovereignty over that land is non-negotiable. But of course, we know she would never do that for we know that she does not believe this. With that in mind, British Jewry has an obligation to immediately register its objections to hosting Naz Shah at any Jewish forum whatsoever. It is in their hands to put a stop to this. The LJRC can be reached on (0113) 2697520 or via email at presidentljrc@mail.com or info@ljrc.org USSOCOM sees a 'Ghost' Gen. Raymond Thomas III, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, and Maj. Gen. Richard Haddad, vice commander of the Air Force Reserve Command, unveiled the latest painting by award- winning artist Maj. Warren Neary in a ceremony May 23. Haddad described "The Ghost Over the Highway" painting as an "exquisite piece of artwork that symbolizes the partnership between the Air Force Reserve and the special operations community." "For the crew, this represents the opportunity to go into combat and come out safely while destroying so many targets on the Highway of Death," he said. "More importantly, it signifies the bond the Air Force Reserve has had with special operations for 45 years now." The relationship began in 1971 with the 919th Tactical Airlift Group at Duke Field, Florida, and "evolved into the AC-130 gunships followed by the MC-130s, and now the C-145s and C-146s as well as our [remotely piloted aircraft] and formal training unit that do so much work for Air Force Special Operations Command," Haddad said. The painting marks the 25th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm and was unveiled during the Retired Special Operations Senior Leader Conference here. "We've been involved in numerous operations since Just Cause as well as countless exercises along the way," Haddad said. "But as we all know, history tends to repeat itself. We look forward to continuing that bond between the Air Force Reserve and the special operations community." The historical piece highlights an AC-130 combat mission flown on Feb. 26, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm in which Haddad and his crew used perseverance and teamwork to overcome numerous obstacles in successfully employing their weapons over a road connecting Kuwait City to Baghdad. The lead aircraft did not have enough fuel to successfully execute the mission, forcing Haddad to accelerate and adjust the mission in flight. While doing so, his crew members had to manually control their aircraft's ailerons due to a faulty autopilot while employing defensive countermeasures to avoid Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery as they were leaving the "killbox." Also in attendance for the unveiling was Col. Randal Bright, Haddad's co-pilot for the mission and now the commander of the 927th Air refueling Wing here; retired Col. Jose Davison, who served as the navigator; and retired Master Sgt. Larry Ridge, flight engineer on the legendary mission. All were members of the Reserve's 711th Special Operations Squadron, a subordinate unit of the 919th Special Operations Wing, Duke Field, Florida, during Desert Storm. "This painting represents the core members of a gunship crew -- the gunners," Davison said. "Without them, the rest of the crew would not have been capable of completing our assigned mission. The painting brought back great memories of the pride that we felt after arriving at our home base. We felt very proud that after so many years of training we were able to make a small contribution in the successful resolution of the Gulf War. We were proud reservists who [helped create a culture where everyone knows the Reserve is] capable of doing the mission. We were pioneers of the total force concept. ... we brought a tremendous amount of pride to the Air Force Reserve." That pride and experience was echoed by other crew members on the mission. "The Reserve was part of the total force -- we were there to do that mission," Ridge said. "We have a lot of experience, and we bring that to the table. That experience was quite helpful -- it gave me a high level of confidence we were going to be successful that night. General Haddad and Colonel Bright were very experienced. I would have flown anywhere with them." Ridge retired in 2006 with 36 years of service and 8,000 flying hours in AC-130A Spectre and MC-130E Combat Talon aircraft. While the exact number remains unknown, the attack destroyed an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 vehicles. The crew also destroyed at least 20 enemy trucks and four armored personnel carriers. All crew members were awarded the Air Medal for their actions that night. Neary, a Citizen Airman assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command's history office, has been recognized for contributing several paintings to the Air Force Art Program. The original "Ghost Over the Highway" painting will be displayed in the Pentagon, while USSOCOM, Air Force Special Operations Command, AFRC and the 919th SOW will receive canvas clones of the artwork. 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 As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More News New York - The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the proud citizens of New York helped usher in Fleet Week New York (FWNY) 2016 with the Parade of Ships. Four Navy ships, two Coast Guard cutters, four U.S. Naval Academy Yard Patrol Boats, and three Royal Canadian ships participated in the parade which has been held nearly every year since 1984. "When I see the ships parade through the harbor, I feel a real sense of pride," said Lt. Jeff Scherer, New York Fire Department, who welcomed the ships into the city at Historic Fort Hamilton. "I think it's great that the service members get to come out and experience how much we appreciate them here in New York." The Parade of Ships is the official start of the weeklong celebration. Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen are scheduled to participate in community relations projects, local parades, reenlistments, and visit area schools while also educating the general public about military careers, and the ships and services they represent. During school visits, students will be introduced to a wide variety of military assets which demonstrate how science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills integrate into military careers, further emphasizing what students are learning in the classrooms across the country. General public ship tours will be conducted daily throughout the week in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. All ships will be open for tours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the exception of the Intrepid Pier, which opens at 10 a.m. The tours will showcase the latest capabilities and technology of today's maritime sea services. Visitors will learn about job specialties, firefighting techniques, environmental safety, energy awareness, and the importance of damage control aboard ships, as well as see and interact with aviation static displays. "I think Fleet Week New York is a really important event to recognize those who have served our country," said Annette Malloy, teacher at Channel View Research School. "It is very exhilarating and exciting to be able to watch a fleet parade by and for us to pay our respects." Arizona News Phoenix, Arizona - On May 17, 2016, Arizona voters approved a landmark education-funding package to infuse $3.5 billion dollars into the K-12 education system over the next 10 years, without raising taxes. On May 26, the election results were certified and Proposition 123 was signed into law. Proposition 123 was referred to the ballot after Governor Doug Ducey called a special legislative session last October. The goal was clear: to permanently establish certainty for K-12 funding and resolve an ongoing lawsuit over education funding. It was time to stop paying lawyers, and start paying teachers. So How Does The Increase In Funding Work? When Arizona became a state, the federal government granted our founders nearly 11 million acres of state land. Every time we sell a piece of that land, proceeds go into the Land Trust, where the money is invested and earns interest. Although this trust exists specifically to benefit education, under former Arizona law, education received just 2.5 percent annually from the value of the trust. Proposition 123 maximizes the State Land Trust by increasing the distribution to 6.9% for 10 years, giving Arizona schools nearly half a billion dollars in the next 13 months, and $3.5 billion over the next decade. This plan ensures we are managing the trust responsibly while putting more of this money toward its intended purpose: funding our schools. That means providing teachers the resources theyve been asking for, without raising taxes on hardworking Arizonans. Where Will The Money Go? Soon, additional money will start flowing directly into our schools, teachers will get much-deserved pay raises, and students will benefit from the increase of dollars in the classroom. With the passage of Proposition 123, Arizona has taken a historic first step to provide schools with the necessary resources to continue providing Arizona students with a quality education. Latest News Washington, DC - Anyone whos ever covered a wall with sticky notes to clearly map all of the steps in a process knows how valuable that exercise can be. It can streamline workflow, increase efficiency and improve the overall quality of the end result. Now, a public-private team led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created a new international standard that can map the critically important environmental aspects of manufacturing processes, leading to significant improvements in sustainability while keeping a products life cycle low cost and efficient. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, manufacturing accounts for one-fifth of the annual energy consumption in the United Statesapproximately 21 quintillion joules (20 quadrillion BTU) or equivalent to 3.6 billion barrels of crude oil. To reduce this staggering amount and improve sustainability, manufacturers need to accurately measure and evaluate consumption of energy and materials, as well as environmental impacts, at each step in the life cycles of their products. However, making these assessments can be difficult, costly and time consuming, as many manufactured items are created in multiple and/or complex processes, and the environmental impacts of these processes can vary widely depending on how and where the manufacturing occurs. Additionally, the data collected are often unreliable, frequently not derived through scientific methods, and do not compare well with those from other types of manufacturing processes or from processes at different locations. These issues are beginning to be addressed through a recently approved ASTM International standard for characterizing the environmental aspects of manufacturing processes (ASTM E3012-16). The guide provides manufacturers with a science-based, systematic approach to capture and describe information about the environmental aspects for any production process or group of processes, and then use that data to make informed decisions on improvements. The standard is easily individualized for a companys specific needs. Its similar to using personal finance software at home where you have to gather income and expenditure data, run the numbers and then use the results to make smart process changessavings, cutbacks, streamlining, etc.that will optimize your monthly budget, said NIST systems engineer Kevin Lyons, who chaired the ASTM committee that developed the manufacturing sustainability standard. We designed ASTM E3012-16 to let manufacturers virtually characterize their production processes as computer models, and then, using a standardized method, plug and play the environmental data for each process step to visualize impacts and identify areas for improving overall sustainability of the system. For their next step, Lyons and his colleagues on the ASTM sustainability committee plan to define key performance indicators (KPIs)metrics of successfor manufacturing sustainability that can be fed back into the E3012-16 standard to make it even more effective. In the long term, wed also like to establish a repository of process models and case studies from different manufacturing sectors so that users of the standard can compare and contrast against their production methods, Lyons said. Through a collaboration with Oregon State University, NIST held regional industry roundtables in Boston, Chicago and Seattle to learn how best to introduce the benefits of the sustainability standard to U.S. manufacturers, especially small- and medium-size firms. A report about those meetings will be published later this year. The E3012-16 standard may be found on the ASTM website. More information on the standard, including its history, use and future development, is available by contacting NISTs K.C. Morris at (301) 975-8286. A chance to remember On Thursday, May 26, more than 100 volunteers family members, USAFA graduates, permanent party members, area veterans, local Scouts and others helped place almost 1,200 American flags on the graves of military members buried at the USAFA Cemetery. In preparation for Memorial Day, the flag-placement event provided an opportunity for former classmates and family members to remember those who have passed away. Randy Percy '69 was among the USAFA graduates on hand. He had a chance to place a flag on the grave of his former roommate and also on the graves of several other classmates. William Wood '68, Paul Henry '67, David Kugler '83 and Victor Andrews '66 were among the other graduates on hand to remember deceased classmates and former Academy leaders. Young and old alike took part in the somber activity, fanning out throughout the cemetery to complete their task. A number of families brought enthusiastic children along to help out. Several of those in attendance paused for a short prayer in front of each grave marker prior to placing flags on the graves. With so many volunteers on hand, flags were in place within about a half hour. Nearly 1,500 graduates, USAFA staff members, Air Force leaders, military heroes and spouses are buried in the cemetery, which opened in 1958. Kokrajhar: The former members of the Bodo Liberation Tigers force (BLT) have hailed the Modi government for including Bodo-Kacharis living in Assam's Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts in the Scheduled Tribe list, which was one of the long-standing demands of the Bodo community. President of ex-BLT Welfare Society Jana Mohan Mashahary also thanked the new coalition government in Assam for promptly announcing to implement the Centre's decision. This was one of the key point mentioned in the BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council) Accord signed by the erstwhile BLT, the Assam government and the Centre on February 10, 2003, the Assam Tribune quoted Mashahary as saying. On May 25, the Union Cabinet had cleared the grant of ST status to Bodo-Kacharis living in the two hill districts of Assam. Mashahary has appealed to all insurgent groups in Assam to come forward for negotiations in order to find an amicable solution to their problems. Gaya: A Special Judicial Magistrate Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of Teni Yadav, who is named in the FIR of the Aditya Sachdeva murder case. Teni, who is a cousin of Rocky the main accused, surrendered before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-IV Om Sagar who remanded him to 14 days judicial custody last week. Teni was allegedly travelling in the SUV with Rocky and bodyguard Rajesh Kumar, when Aditya was shot dead near police lines under Rampur police station area after Rocky`s vehicle was overtaken by the car in which Aditya and his friends were sitting. Earlier, a local court Gaya rejected the bail petition of Bindeshwari Yadav, alias, Bindi Yadav, father of Rocky Yadav, who is the main accused in the teenager Aditya Sachdeva murder case. 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. In a separate development, suspended JD(U) MLC Manorama Devi`s bail plea was rejected yet again by the District Judge in Gaya today. Devi, who is accused of violating prohibition law, was last week sent to 14-day judicial custody. Earlier, Manorama`s bail petition was rejected by the additional chief judicial magistrate. Devi is the mother of Rocky Yadav, the main accused in the sensational road rage killing of a Class 12 student on May 7. Gaya: In big trouble for suspended JDU MLC Manorama Devi, who is accused of defying liquor ban imposed by the Bihar government, a Gaya local court on Friday rejected her bail plea. The Gaya sessions court had earlier postponed hearing on her bail application and posted the matter for today. The Gaya sessions court had also asked for case diary and local case report from the police. Dev, who is accused of violating prohibition law, was last week sent to 14-day judicial custody. She, however, blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for falsely implicating her under political conspiracy. Devi is the mother of Rocky Yadav, the main accused in the sensational road rage killing of a Class 12 student on May 7. She had been evading arrest after an arrest warrant was issued against her. The district administration had declared her a proclaimed offender, after she went underground following institution of case against her under the new Excise Act. A few bottles of Indian-made foreign liquor had been seized during raids at her residence to nab her son. Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: The United Nation (UN) stripped every single reference of Australia from its of report on climate change's impact on World Heritage site after Australian government concerns that it could harm tourism, according to The Guardian reports. The report is published jointly by UNESCO, the Union of Concerned Scientists and United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP). Initially, the draft report mentioned three Australian sites in their in-danger list- a complete chapter on coral bleaching in the Great Barrier reef and two short sections on devastating forest fires of Kakadu and Tasmania. But after the objections by the Australian Department of Environment, UN dropped all the references in its final version of the report. A departmental spokesperson told the Guardian that negative commentary about the status of world heritage properties impacted on tourism and they were concerned the framing of the report confused two issues the world heritage status of the sites and risks arising from climate change and tourism. The Great Barrier Reef is Australia's crucial tourism attraction and helps in generating a significant amount of revenue for the country. (With inputs from The Guardian) Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday received kudos from BJP patriarch LK Advani who hailed the NDA dispensation led by his once protege for "honesty" even as he accused Congress of attempting to malign the government's image through baseless allegations. "India has received an honest government at Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government is determined to fulfil all its promises and it is moving in the right direction to do so," he said. Advani, a member of the BJP's 'Margadarshak Mandal', is in Ahmedabad to participate in the party's 'Vikas Parv' (development festival). The BJP veteran's remarks have come at a time when the Congress has launched stinging attacks on the government, saying it had nothing to show but "empty promises and gimmicks" and that people fell for Modi's "web of deceit". The 'Vikas Parv' is being organised by the state party unit to celebrate the second anniversary of Modi government as well as the Gujarat government under Chief Minister Anandiben Patel. Advani said he will put forward various works undertaken by both these governments before people. "I am here as part of my duty to inform people about various pro-people works done by both these BJP governments during these two years," the Gandhinagar MP said. He said the Congress is deliberately trying to malign the image of NDA government through baseless allegations, which have no grounds. "People of India are still with BJP and NDA government," the BJP veteran said. He later participated in "Vikas Gaurav Yatra" in the city. Advani is scheduled to address party workers and citizens at a grand function on Sabarmati riverfront on Friday evening. Ahmedabad: Three persons were injured in a clash between people of two different communities in Panchmahals district over an 'objectionable' song played at a marriage procession while it was passing through a locality dominated by a particular community, police said today. Over 12 people belonging to a community entered into an altercation with people from another community residing at Sheikh Falia locality in Eral village under Kalol taluka, when they objected to a song being played repeatedly during a marriage procession late last night, Vejalpur police inspector Sahdevsinh Padheriya said. "While nobody was hurt, cross FIRs were filed by both the aggrieved parties under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (guilty for committing offence in unlawful assembly) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC," Padheriya said. Around 15 police personnel were deployed in the village to ensure that the situation does not worsen, he said, adding that in cross FIRs, 22 people from both the communities were named and investigation was on. Notably, Eral, which has a population of around 5,000, had seen one of the worst post-Godhra riots in which eight persons from a Muslim family were killed and two women of the same family gangraped, after which eight were served life imprisonment by a local court. Following the riots, Muslims from the village had fled, but subsequently came back to stay and work on their fields. New York: While much thought is put into how to house and feed and clothe people who are displaced from their homes due to conflict, persecution or human rights violations, the world's estimated 60 million refugees may also need at least 2.78 million surgeries a year, researchers say. "We are facing the largest forced migration crisis since World War II," said study leader Adam Kushner from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. "And while surgery is a critical component of health care, it is often neglected in times of crisis, Kushner noted. Without access to timely and safe surgery, many people will become disabled and many will die -- outcomes that could have been prevented, Kushner pointed out. The researchers said that the findings, published online in the World Journal of Surgery, shed light on something that few governments and humanitarian aid organisations plan for when preparing for a large influx of displaced persons who are far from home and often in countries where there are already great unmet needs for surgical procedures. "When planning to take care of refugees, much thought is put into how to house and feed and clothe people who are far from home for circumstances often beyond their control," Kushner said. "But surgery is a basic need and nobody talks about this," Kushner noted. The types of necessary surgeries run the gamut, from the repair of hernias and broken limbs, to C-sections and cleft lips and gallbladder removals, even stitches and burn care - any type of procedure that would be needed in any other population. For their study, the researchers collected data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East on the number of refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers around the world and on their demographics. To estimate the number of procedures needed per year, they used a previously published minimum of 4,669 annual procedures per 100,000 population. While many refugees live in camp settlements, more than half live in established communities, yet they are typically precluded from accessing essential surgery due to a lack of proper documentation, high costs or weak surgical infrastructure in their host country, the study said. Washington DC: The United States has called on the Pakistan government to cooperate with the Indian authorities to fully investigate the deadly 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. "We continue to urge the Pakistani Government to cooperate with the Indian authorities to fully investigate these attacks. It was a terrible tragedy. We want to see justice done and we continue to urge Pakistani cooperation," US State Department official spokesperson Mark Toner said in a press briefing. Asserting that the US is continuing the process of having talks with Pakistan to address all terror outfits operating on their soil, Toner added that Islamabad must take cognizance of the matter. "They (Pakistan) need to address all groups operating on their soil - Taliban groups that are operating on their soil and their territory. We`ve urged them to do so in the past. We continue to urge them to do so and have worked with them on addressing the very real threat on their own soil," Toner said. Earlier, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan has ruled to press abetment to murder charges against Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi and six others on each of the 166 people killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorist entered Mumbai from the Arabian sea front and went on a carnage killing and injuring a total of 466 people. New Delhi: The Indian Airforce successfully test-fired an advanced version of BrahMos land-attack supersonic cruise missile on Friday. As per reports, the supersonic cruise missile was test-fired at 1200 hrs at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district. The flight conducted today met its mission parameters in a copybook manner and the weapon hit and annihilated the designated target, officials confirmed. BrahMos is the worlds fastest anti-ship cruise missile developed jointly by India and Russia. BrahMos is a short-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. The missile has a range of 290 km, has a maximum velocity of 2.8 Mach and cruises at altitudes varying from 10 metres to 15 km, claims BrahMos. The land-attack version of BrahMos is fitted on an mobile autonomous launcher. The mobile land-based configuration of has achieved several advancements over the years in the form of Block I, Block II and Block III variants. It is also capable of being launched from submarine from a depth of 40-50 metres. In 2013, it was successfully launched from a submerged platform. Meanwhile, BrahMos air-launched version is getting ready to be soon be test-flown from the Su-30MKI fighter of the IAF. BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, Indian Air Force, India, Russia Beijing: China on Friday said it will expand cooperation with India to combat terrorism at the UN and other international fora, a day after President Pranab Mukherjee raised the issue of Beijing blocking New Delhi's move to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar blacklisted by the UN. Describing Mukherjee's four-day state visit as "very successful and fruitful", Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, the two sides have "agreed to carry forward our fine traditions, deepen practical cooperation?and elevate bilateral relations." "The two sides will expand bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism. Terrorism is our common enemy. We will continue to enhance our counter-terrorism efforts under the UN, the BRICS and other frameworks to jointly maintain regional peace and stability," Hua said when asked about the outcome of Mukherjee's visit and whether China supports India's move in the UN to ban JeM chief Azhar. During his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday, Mukherjee sought China's cooperation in international fora like the UN in the fight against terrorism stating that there was "no good or bad terrorists". "As for specific outcomes, the two sides agreed to maintain high-level exchanges to better top level design and put in place improved mechanisms," Hua said. Hua also said both sides will "properly manage and control our disputes, so that these disputes will?not stand in the way of our practical cooperation". "We?will continue to make full use of the special representatives meeting on border question to maintain border peace and tranquility," she said. India and China held 19th round of Special Representatives talks last month to resolve the disputes over 3488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet and India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during 1962 war. Hua said China and India will support each other on regional and international occasions by joining their voices together on the international stage. She spoke of more "balanced" bilateral trade as India has expressed serious concerns over USD 48 billion deficit in about USD 70 billion annual trade in China's favour. India is seeking big ticket investments from China in India to generate more trade to offset the trade deficit. "In practical cooperation we will enhance our cooperation in industrial zones, construction and build more sister cities. The two sides will also enhance cooperation in investment, tourism and more. We will try to move forward our two way trade in more balanced way through cooperation," she said. Earlier, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying in his meeting with Mukherjee that?"the two sides should appropriately address our differences" and consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communications between the top leaders. New Delhi: Listing the achievements of the Modi government, BJP president Amit Shah, Friday, said that after two years of Modi rule - the world has also accepted that the 21st century belongs to India. Our Ministers have left no stone unturned in providing people friendly and corruption free Government, that will take India to newer heights, Shah said. We have been successful on every front, and much more work will be done in the next three years, he said, adding, The previous governments had constantly been involved in baseless arguments and tiffs, Modi government has put an end to that. The BJP president also stressed that the opposition has not been able to raise even a single corruption charge against the Modi government. Shah said the party will celebrate the next 15 days 'Vikas Parv'. 30 teams have been formed to ensure that citizens are informed of the work done so far by the government. New Delhi: Downplaying a controversy over the Bajrang Dal's "self-defence training camps" in Uttar Pradesh, BJP president Amit Shah on Friday said his party's focus in next year's state assembly polls would be on development and the activities of such Hindu outfits could not be equated with the BJP. "Listen to the government, what it is saying. Everything will be right," Shah said at a press conference here in reply to a question that while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were focusing on development, right-wing outfits like the Bajrang Dal were playing "divisive" politics. The BJP president also wondered on what basis the opposition was accusing the BJP of playing the communal card ahead of the assembly elections in the state. "I don't know on what basis they are saying this... Bajrang Dal is not BJP," he said. On the Bajrang Dal's self-defence training camps in Uttar Pradesh, Shah said the state government should take action against it if there is anything unlawful. Shah also responded to questions related to its core issues like construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, common civil code and Article 370. "These issues are mentioned in our manifesto and it is also mentioned there that how we intend to work on these issues," he said. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has been constantly raising the issue of construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya. On assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh next year, Shah claimed the BJP will form the next government in the state. "The party will take a call whether to declare a chief ministerial candidate or not," he said, adding that "UP ka Ram kaun hoga ye waha ki janata tay kar legi (the people will decide who UP's Ram will be)." The question on who would be the party's 'Ram' in Uttar Pradesh came in the wake of an appeal made by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Saharanpur to elect the BJP. "Fourteen years of our exile from UP are coming to an end. I appeal to the people of the state to end our exile and help us form our government. Even Lord Rama's exile had ended after 14 years," Rajnath had said. Shah also said the BJP is considering alliances with smaller parties and that the ruling Samajwadi Party will be its main rival in Uttar Pradesh. New Delhi: The missing files and documents related to the alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan have not been traced, Additional Secretary BK Prasad, who has got four days left to submit his report on the mysterious disappearance of the documents, on Friday told the Union Home Ministry. Prasad, who is due to retire on May 31, is understood to have been given a two-month extension but has been asked to give his report by the month-end so that the Home Ministry could decide on future course of action including registering an FIR. Prasad had met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi earlier today during which he expressed his inability to trace the files related to alleged fake encounter of Ishrat Jahan, official sources said. The one-member panel was constituted after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing. Following an uproar in Parliament, the Ministry had asked Prasad to inquire into the circumstances in which the files related to the case of Ishrat Jahan, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004, went missing. The papers which disappeared from the Home Ministry include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the then Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG on which changes were made. 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. Prasad, a Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, is embroiled in a controversy after an Under Secretary serving in the Home Ministry's Foreigners Division accused him of pressuring him (the junior officer) of giving clean chit to Ford Foundation, which allegedly violated provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Prasad has denied the allegation. The record room of the ministry was being searched as of now which may be followed by seeking an examination of four Joint Secretaries of the Ministry who had dealt with the file during their tenures, 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-Toiba activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials 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 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 affidavit. 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. The Gujarat Police had then said those killed in the encounters were LeT terrorists and had landed in Gujarat to assassinate the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. New Delhi: As nation pays tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru on his 52nd death anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday remembered the nation's first prime minister. "Remembering our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his death anniversary," Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet. The Indian National Congress also paid tribute to the nation's first prime minister on the micro-blogging site Twitter. "We pay tribute to India's first & longest serving Prime Minister, Pt Nehru on his Death Anniversary," the party said in a tweet. "Pt Nehru, was a man of vision, who taught a young & independent India to be self confident & self-reliant," it added. Pandit Nehru was born on November 14, 1889, in Allahabad, India. In 1919, he joined the Indian National Congress and joined Mahatma Gandhi in the independence movement. Pt. Nehru became the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in September 1923. On August 29, 1928 he attended the All-Party Congress and was one of the signatories to the Nehru Report on Indian Constitutional Reform, named after his father Shri Motilal Nehru. The same year, he also founded the 'Independence for India League', which advocated complete severance of the British connection with India, and became its General Secretary. In 1929, Pt. Nehru was elected President of the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress, where complete independence for the country was adopted as the goal. He was imprisoned several times during 1930-35 in connection with the Salt Satyagraha and other movements launched by the Congress. Nehru, whose birthday on November 14 is also celebrated as Children's Day, was sworn-in on August 15, 1947 as the first prime minister of India when the nation gained independence from the British empire. Serving until his death till May 27, 1964, Nehru remains India's longest-serving prime minister. Washington: Indo-Pak ties can "truly scale great heights" if Pakistan removes the "self-imposed" obstacle of terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he asked Islamabad to play its part by putting a complete stop to any kind of support to terrorism - "whether state or non-state". "In my view, our ties can truly scale great heights once Pakistan removes the self-imposed obstacle of terrorism in the path of our relationship." "We are ready to take the first step, but the path to peace is a two-way street," Modi told The Wall Street Journal, in comments posted on its website today. He said he has always maintained that instead of fighting with each other, India and Pakistan should together fight against poverty. "Naturally we expect Pakistan to play its part," he said. "But, there can be no compromise on terrorism. It can only be stopped if all support to terrorism, whether state or non-state, is completely stopped." "Pakistan's failure to take effective action in punishing the perpetrators of terror attacks limits the forward progress in our ties," said the Prime Minister. Modi said his government's proactive agenda for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood began from the very first day of his government. "I have said that the future that I wish for India is the future that I dream for my neighbours. My visit to Lahore was a clear projection of this belief," he said. Ruling out a change in India's decades-old policy of non-alignment, Modi said that despite the border dispute, there have been no clashes with China, pointing out the "new way" in today's "interdependent world" unlike the last century. "There is no reason to change India's non-alignment policy that is a legacy and has been in place. But this is true that today, unlike before, India is not standing in a corner. It is the world's largest democracy and fastest growing economy." "We are acutely conscious of our responsibilities both in the region and internationally," he said. Modi's significant comment on India's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which many now also prefer to call as strategic autonomy, came in response to a question on China's assertiveness. "The US is very keen on India, the rising power that India is, to be part of, if not an alliance, then at least a grouping that can stand up to some extent to China. Where do you see India taking a position on the global stage?" he was asked. "We don't have any fighting with China today. We have a boundary dispute, but there is no tension or clashes. People-to-people contacts have increased. Trade has increased. Chinese investment in India has gone up. India's investment in China has grown," Modi said. "Despite the border dispute, there haven't been any clashes. Not one bullet has been fired in 30 years," he said. "So the general impression that exists, that's not the reality," Modi said on India's ties with China. Modi appeared to be appreciative of China's Maritime Silk Road initiative. "We feel that the world needs to hear more from China on this initiative, especially its intent and objective," he said. With a 7,500 kilometre-long coastline, India has a natural and immediate interest in the developments in the Indo-Pacific region, he said, adding that India has excellent relationships with the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. "India is a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region. We, therefore, watch very carefully any developments that have implications for peace and stability in this region," he noted. Talking about India's ties with the US, Modi said many of the values between the two countries match. "Our friendship has endured, be it a Republican government or a Democratic. It is true that Obama and I have a special friendship, a special wavelength," he said ahead of his travel to the US next month - his fourth visit to the country after becoming the Prime Minister. "Beyond our bilateral relationship, whether it is global warming or terrorism, we have similar thoughts, so we work together. "But India doesn't make its policies in reference to a third country. Nor should it," Modi said. He said India and the US have enjoyed a warm relationship, regardless of whether America has a Republican or Democratic administration. "During the last two years, President Obama and I have led the momentum; we are capturing the true strength and scale of our strategic, political and economic opportunities, and people to people ties. Our ties have gone beyond the Beltway and beyond South Block," he said. "Our concerns and threats overlap. We have a growing partnership to address common global challenges viz. terrorism, cyber security and global warming. We also have a robust and growing defence cooperation. Our aim to go beyond a buyer-seller relationship towards a strong investment and manufacturing partnership," he added. Modi said unlike the last century, when the world was divided into two camps, this is not true anymore. "Today, the whole world is interdependent. "Even if you look at the relationship between China and the US, there are areas where they have substantial differences but there are also areas where they have worked closely. "That's the new way," he said. "If we want to ensure the success of this interdependent world, I think countries need to cooperate but at the same time we also need to ensure that there is a respect for international norms and international rules," he said. Delhi: Narendra Modi government is going all out to tutor its ministers in the 'efficient' use of social media, as per a media report. According to Mail Today report, in order to maximise citizen engagement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is personally monitoring the social media activity of each minister. On the other hand, - MyGov (government's interface with the people) - has taken ministers and ministries under its tutelage. This is in order to teach them how to put social media platforms to better use and engage more effectively with people. Interestingly, a workshop for the ministers had been organised earlier in this respect. Another one was held on May 16 at the same venue at India Habitat Centre (IHC), as per the report. Last month, India Today had reported that Bharatiya Janata Party's digital cell had tracked social media profiles of all its MPs on instructions from PM Modi. It was reported that both Twitter and Facebook was taken into account and a six-page report was circulated among all BJP MPs. The report had apparently listed follower counts of all MPs and the status of their profiles. As per the report, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had topped the list of star performers with 5 million Twitter followers. The comment she got was - "ideal activity, worth following". On the other hand, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari with more than eight lakh Twitter followers had received the following comment - "he is an example of how to run social media, though he can be more interactive." VK Singh, Kalraj Mishra, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Dr Mahesh Sharma had also been reportedly praised for their Twitter and Facebook activity. However, most of the other ministers and MPs were found to be lagging behind. Ministers like Maneka Gandhi, Santosh Gangwar, Dr Ram Shankar Katheria, Sanjeev Balyan, Niranjan Jyoti, Nihalchand, Haribhai Chaudhary and Hansraj Ahir were found to be not so active on social media. BJP's digital cell report had also highlighted the fact that most of the MPs did not highlight 'government's achievements' online. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the NEET ordinance exempting Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab for this year from the ambit of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for medical colleges. The apex court added that its validity on the ground it violated Article 14 of the Constitution could be challenged when the court opened after the summer break. An apex court vacation bench of Justice Prafulla C Pant and Justice DY Chandrachud, while declining to pass any interim order, said that anything at this stage would create further confusion. "It will create further confusion," the bench said. The court was hearing a public interest suit by one Anand Rai contending that the May 24 ordinance was brought to upset the April 28 judgement of the top court laying down a 'one nation one test' for admission to undergraduate medical courses across the country. Opposing the plea for staying the ordinance, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that it was promulgated to accommodate states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, who have already held there state-level entrance examinations for admitting students in government medical colleges and filled the quota of government seats in private medical colleges. The NEET ordinance permitted these seven states to enrol students in undergraduate medical courses on basis of exams they conduct, after the apex court on May 9 refused to modify its April 28 order making NEET mandatory for admission to such courses across the country for academic year 2016-2017. Meanwhile, Gujarat-based student Jugal Nikhil Shah filed a caveat seeking to be heard in the event of any challenge to the NEET ordinance. The Supreme Court had earlier ruled that admission to MBBS/BDS courses would be done only through National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and scrapped the entrance tests conducted by the state governments and private medical colleges. The court had revived NEET after recalling its 2013 order by which the common entrance test was declared unconstitutional. (With IANS inputs) New Delhi: Several union ministers including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Health Minister JP Nadda, Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani will be visiting various cities of Uttar Pradesh from Friday as part of the outreach programme by the Narendra Modi-led government. Through these visits there will be an effort to make a direct contact with people and to communicate them the pro public welfare measures being taken by the Narendra Modi government. Union ministers and senior BJP leaders will participate in the 'Vikas Parv', the celebratory programmes being organised at various places in UP on completion of two years of NDA government at the Centre. Jaitley will come to Lucknow today whereas health and family welfare minister JP Nadda will go to the Prime Minister's constituency Varanasi, while Irani will be visiting Gorakhpur. In the coming days ministers like Suresh Prabhu, Ravishankar Prasad, Narendra Tomar, DV Sadanand Gowda and various others are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh, the state which is going to polls next year. Delhi: Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Friday that previous home ministry (during Congress-led UPA government) had worked in tandem with Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to cover-up the 'truth' in the Ishrat Jahan case. In an interview to India Today, Rijiju said, "I had said this earlier also, we don't feel that P Chidambaram (former HM) was alone in giving a clean chit to Ishrat Jahan. It must have been very calculated and calibrated effort from the some of the top Congress leaders. If you see the Malegaon blast, Samjhauta blast and Ishrat Jahan case, you can see how things have turned around." He further told the TV channel, "In Ishrat Jahan case, the Lashkar declared Ishrat as a martyr soon after the encounter. And the day a top official was appointed to probe the case, the Lashkar changed their statement, saying they had made a mistake and Ishrat was not part of their module. This show that they were working in tandem, it is such a disastrous thing to happen in such a great country like India." Meanwhile, the missing files and documents related to the alleged fake encounter of Ishrat have not been traced, Additional Secretary BK Prasad, who has got four days left to submit his report on the mysterious disappearance of the documents, today told the Union Home Ministry. Prasad, who is due to retire on May 31, is understood to have been given a two-month extension but has been asked to give his report by the month-end so that the Home Ministry could decide on future course of action including registering an FIR. Prasad had met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi earlier today during which he expressed his inability to trace the files related to alleged fake encounter of Ishrat, official sources said, as per PTI. The one-member panel was constituted after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had disclosed in Parliament on March 10 that the files were missing. Following an uproar in Parliament, the ministry had asked Prasad to inquire into the circumstances in which the files related to the case of Ishrat, who was killed in an alleged fake encounter in Gujarat in 2004, went missing. The papers which disappeared from the Home Ministry include the copy of an affidavit vetted by the then Attorney General and submitted in the Gujarat High Court in 2009 and the draft of the second affidavit vetted by the AG on which changes were made. Two letters written by the then Home Secretary GK Pillai to the then Attorney General late GE Vahanvati and the copy of the draft affidavit have so far been untraceable. Prasad, a Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, is embroiled in a controversy after an Under Secretary serving in the Home Ministry's Foreigners Division accused him of pressuring him (the junior officer) of giving clean chit to Ford Foundation, which allegedly violated provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Prasad has denied the allegation. The record room of the ministry was being searched as of now which may be followed by seeking an examination of four joint secretaries of the ministry who had dealt with the file during their tenures, 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 LeT activist but it was ignored in the second affidavit, Home Ministry officials said. The second affidavit, claimed to have been drafted by the then Home Minister Chidambaram, said there was no conclusive evidence to prove that Ishrat was a terrorist, the officials said. Pillai had claimed that as HM, 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 the 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 assassinate the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi. (With Agency inputs) Srinagar: Two soldiers were on Friday injured in an encounter between militants and security forces in Tangmarg area of Kashmir's Baramulla district. The gunbattle broke out after security forces launched a search operation in Kanchipora village of Tangmarg, 35 kms from here, following information about presence of two militants in the area, a police official said. Two security personnel were injured in the encounter which began at 6.30 am, he said, adding the gunbattle was on when reports last came in. Srinagar: Six militants and an army soldier were killed and another soldier was injured on Friday in two separate gunfights in north Kashmir`s Baramulla and Kupwara districts. Police said two militants hiding in a house in Konchipora village of Tangmarg area in Baramulla were killed on Friday in a gun battle with the security forces. Police said one army soldier was injured in the Konchipora gunfight. Security forces had surrounded the house in Konchipora village in the morning following information about two Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants hiding in it. In the afternoon, the security forces used explosives to demolish the house. The bodies of the two HM guerrillas were recovered from the debris. The identity of the slain militants is being established, police said. In the other incident, four militants and a soldier were killed in a two-day long gunfight in Toot Maar Ghali (TMG) in Nowgam sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district. The soldier killed in the TMG area has been identified as Havaldar Hangpang Dada of Borduria village (Khonsa), in Tir ap district of Arunachal Pradesh. The 36-year-old soldier had served the army for 19 years. He is survived by his wife, an 11-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son, defence sources told IANS. While the gunfight has ended, the operation against the guerrillas in the densely forested TMG area of the LoC was still on, according to defence officials. Defence sources have confirmed the group of militants engaged in the TMG gunfight had recently infiltrated into the Indian side of the LoC. The LoC is the de facto border between the Indian and Pakistan controlled parts of divided Jammu and Kashmir. Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: In what could be called as a major blow to Oracle, search engine giant Google has won a major US court battle with the software firm. The jury upheld claims by Google and the decision was made in their favour in a long-running copyright fight over Android software used to run most of the world's smartphones. The claims made by Google were pronounced fair, thus bringing the trial to a close without Oracle winning any of the $9 billion (roughly Rs. 60,350 crores) in damages it requested. Oracle had argued that Google had infringed its copyright and had sought nearly $9bn (6bn) in damages. Google uses Java in its Android smartphone operating system which powers about 80% of the world's mobile devices. (With Agency inputs) Colombo: A leading human rights group today criticised Sri Lanka for setting up the 'Office of Missing Persons' without fulfilling its promise of holding consultations with families of the disappeared. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement that the government ratified the 'Convention against Enforced Disappearance' while creating an Office of Missing Persons without promised consultations with the affected families. It called upon the government to honour its pledge to hold meaningful consultations with the families and nongovernmental representatives about the missing persons office and the other transitional justice mechanisms. The Sri Lankan government is creating important structures to address the scourge of disappearances in the country, but it should only do this after receiving input from the families most affected, HRW Asia director Brad Adams said in a statement. The government deserves high marks for ratifying the Convention against Enforced Disappearance, but it needs to take urgent steps to build confidence with affected communities, Adams said. At the United Nations Human Rights Council( UNHRC) in Geneva in September last year, the Sri Lankan government had agreed to hold nationwide public consultations on all transitional justice mechanisms. However, on May 24, Sri Lanka's cabinet approved the new Office of Missing Persons without talking with the families who have long waited for justice. At the same time, it kept a key promise on May 25 by ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the statement said. The government this week announced that the Cabinet of ministers had approved the move to set up the office for the missing. Founded as a private American NGO in 1978, HRW is an international non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Islamabad: Pakistani media and activists poured scorn on Friday on a suggestion from an Islamic religious body that men should be allowed to "lightly beat" their wives, made in their draft of a women's protection bill. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) released a draft of the bill on Thursday, their response to progressive legislation giving women greater rights and protection in the province of Punjab. Local media quoted the draft as saying: "A husband should be allowed to lightly beat his wife if she defies his commands and refuses to dress up as per his desires; turns down demand of intercourse without any religious excuse or does not take bath after intercourse or menstrual periods." The proposal was met with a wave of mockery in the media and online today. The country's biggest and most influential newspaper, the English-language daily Dawn, published a satirical article with a list of things people could beat other than their wives -- including eggs, the bottom of ketchup bottles, and the Michael Jackson hit Beat It. The article was a rare example of the media mocking those claiming to speak in the name of religion in conservative Muslim Pakistan. The draft was also slammed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which condemned its recommendations as "ridiculous" and called for the council of "zealots" to be disbanded. "It is difficult to comprehend why anyone in his right mind would think that any further encouragement or justification is needed to invite violence upon women in Pakistan," the HRCP stated. Online in Pakistan, the bill was met with derision. "This body should be dissolved, preferably in acid," wrote one Twitter user, as others expressed bafflement and anger. Women in conservative Pakistan have fought for their rights for decades, in a country where so-called honour killings and acid attacks remain commonplace. But the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Bill redefines "violence" to include "any offence committed against a woman" including things like domestic or emotional abuse, stalking or cybercrimes. The bill, which was passed in February, also provides for a universal toll free help line for the women, and establishes district protection centres and residential shelters under a phased programme. It also allows courts to order a GPS tracker installed to monitor a defendant's movements. The CII, formed in 1962 to advise parliament on the compatibility of laws with Sharia, has previously spoken out against the bill. Islamabad: Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the former Taliban leader, who was confirmed killed in a US drone strike in Balochistan on Saturday, May 21, was living under the protection of Pakistan`s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). According to reports based on interviews with officials, and present and former colleagues, Mansour was a wealthy and well-travelled businessman who had homes in Dubai and Pakistan. His home in the Pakistan city of Quetta, in particular, was said to have been well protected by the ISI. The killing of Mansour follows the similar elimination on Pakistani soil of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (May 2, 2011). Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar lived and died in Quetta on April 23, 2013, and another al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is awaiting prosecution on charges of terrorism and conspiracy, was captured on March 01, 2003 in Rawalpindi. This shocking revelation of Mullah Mansour having a home in the UAE, which serves as a base for several Western military outfits and intelligence agencies, and also having a home in Pakistan that was under the ISI`s protection, has led to questions being asked in the West as to how every militant leader wanted by them, is caught or eliminated on Pakistani soil. What is even more alarming is that reports quote senior Afghan intelligence officials, as saying that Mansour was known to have taken flights in and out of Pakistan repeatedly before his elimination in a border area of Balochistan five days ago. A wily, brutal and non-ideological operator, Mansour, according to a Geo TV report travelled from Karachi`s Jinnah International Airport to Dubai nine times and visited Bahrain once. The Pakistani news channel claims that on March 12, 2006, Mansour arrived in Karachi from Dubai on a chartered plane, and returned to Dubai in similar fashion on August 23 of the same year. He returned thereafter on October 04, 2006. He travelled between Pakistan and Dubai in 2007 (once); 2008 (twice), 2009 (once); 2010 (twice, including one to Bahrain) and 2012 (once). All of these travels between Pakistan and the Middle East have been verified by photographs taken in airport complexes and at immigration counters. Geo TV also makes a mention of Mansour being issued multiple entry visas to visit Iran twice in March and September 2015. He also travelled to that country between January and May 2016, reportedly using the alias of Wali Muhammad. "Killing of another most wanted terrorist leader in Pakistan shows terrorists continue to use Pakistani soil as a safe haven for their activities. The policy of differentiation between the good, bad and ugly Taliban is intact despite commitments under the NAP (National Action Plan)," the dailyO website quotes senior vice president of the Awami National Party, Bushra Gohar, as saying. Gohar is further quoted, as asking, "Why was Mullah Mansour travelling on a Pakistani passport? Who issued it? How could he easily travel around?" "The killing of yet another Taliban leader inside Pakistan shows there is no change in the self-destructive strategic depth policy," Gohar adds, and calls for a joint session of Parliament to deliberate seriously on the matter, besides on issues of national defence and foreign policy. It is clear as daylight that Mullah Mansour was not a fugitive in Pakistan, nor was he in hiding, and that Pakistan saw him as a strategic asset, and therefore chose to leave him alone. His killing last Saturday proves that the so-called "Quetta Shura" is active in Balochistan and that the Taliban is strengthening itself in that region. New Delhi: BJP will fight next year's Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on the plank of development and not on the issue of construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya becasue it was a "cultural issue" and not political, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday. "The Ram Mandir issue is not a political but a cultural issue. The matter is also sub judice. The matter is in the Supreme Court and we are only waiting for the judgement," he said. Singh said BJP was going to contest the crucial polls in the country's most populous state on the development plank. Asked whether polarisation would benefit BJP, he said his party has never indulged in the politics of communal polarisation for votes. "We neither have, nor are or will ever indulge in polarisation as I believe that polarisation can be dangerous for the country," Singh said in TV interviews. In reply to another question on UP elections, the Home Minister said though he was not looking after the organisational activities directly but claimed that BJP will win it. "I am familiar with the situation in Uttar Pradesh and keeping that in view, I can say that the BJP will get clear majority in 2017 Assembly elections. I am saying this with full confidence," he said. Mathura: A group of women in a village here climbed atop an overhead tank, threatening to jump if power and water supply were not ensured and came down only after the district magistrate arranged for water tankers. The women said power and water supply in Narhauli village had been cut on Monday following a dust storm. Orders have been issued to ensure power supply, District Magistrate Rajesh Kumar told the protestors yesterday. However, they came down after Kumar arranged for water tankers for the village. "No overhead water tank has been commissioned even after completion of work over a year back. Even the handpumps in the village are not working. The water-sharing also fails when tubewells cease working due to fractured power supply," Saroj Devi, village Pradhan said. "The women got down only when the water supply through tankers was started in the village," SHO Subodh Yadav said. Kolkata: After coming to power for the second time, the Mamata Banerjee led government on Friday announced a grant of interim relief to state government employees amounting to 10 percent of their band pay. "In our first cabinet meeting, we have decided to provide a grant of interim relief to state government employees amounting to ten percent of the band pay drawn by them," said state Finance Minister Amit Mitra. "This will be effective from July and will cover state employees, teachers, local government employees and pensioners," he said. "The interim relief is small in nature but the net impact to the state exchequer will be around Rs.3,000 crore," said Banerjee. The difference in dearness allowance for state employees compared to their central counterparts stands at 50 percent. Banerjee had announced a 10 percent hike in dearness allowance for the state employees from January reducing the difference to 44 percent. Later in March, the centre hiked the allowance by another six percent. The government in its first stint had announced the Sixth Pay Commission to review the pay structure of state government employees. Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who was quizzed by CBI in a sting video case, has accused the Centre of using the agency to target him after losing the political battle in the state and said he is not afraid of going to jail. "BJP and the Modi government at the Centre are using?CBI as a tool to settle scores with political adversaries. We will have to respond to this politically and go to people to expose BJP's sinister design," Rawat said addressing?his party leaders here yesterday. "I am not afraid of going to jail. I have fought all along my political career. My station in politics today is due to the blessings of the people. I leave it to them and party workers to give a reply to the injustice of the BJP," he said. "If going to jail or making any other sacrifice is the precondition for working in the interest of the people of the state, I would not hesitate in doing that," he added. Rawat asked his party workers to reach out to people and expose the BJP's "conspiracy" against democratic forces. The chief minister alleged that BJP had no faith in democratic institutions or the judiciary and had resorted to the CBI to take on him after losing the political battle against him. "We don't need to fear any probe. We have to act with restraint and keep ourselves awake to the conspiratorial moves of the BJP," he said. Rawat was examined by CBI for nearly five hours on May 24 in connection with a preliminary inquiry into a sting operation purportedly showing him offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly. Former Union Minister of State for Home and Defence Jitendra Singh, also present at the gathering, said the manner in which Uttarakhand government had saved democracy had given a new lease of life to opposition governments in several states. Pradesh Congress President Kishore Upadhyay claimed the party had emerged stronger out of the political crisis created by the BJP in the state. "We unitedly faced the challenge thrown by BJP and won finally. We have emerged stronger out of the crisis. We have to go from village to village and booth to booth to expose the BJP's unholy intentions," he said. Beijing: China is extremely dissatisfied with a statement by Group of Seven (G7) leaders on the contentious South China Sea, where Beijing is locked in territorial disputes with several southeast Asian countries, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday. Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks at a regular briefing. China`s increasingly assertive stance in the region has sparked concern from the United States and its Asian allies. "This G7 summit organised by Japan`s hyping up of the South China Sea issue and exaggeration of tensions is not beneficial to stability in the South China Sea and does accord with the G7`s position as a platform for managing the economies of developed nations," Hua said. "China is extremely dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that Japan welcomed China`s peaceful rise while repeating Tokyo`s opposition to acts that try to change the status quo by force. China has said that the South China Sea issue has nothing to do with G7 or its member countries. China is not in the G7 club but its rise as a global power has put it at the heart of some discussions at the advanced nations` summit in Ise-Shima, central Japan. G7 leaders agreed on Thursday to send a strong message on maritime claims in the western Pacific. Ise-Shima: Rising maritime tensions in Asia are a cause for concern and disputes should be resolved legally and peacefully, the leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies said on Friday. Though no individual countries were mentioned, the contents of their declaration at the close of an annual summit appeared to be directed at China. Beijing's claim to nearly the entire South China Sea has angered some of its Southeast Asian neighbours and sparked fears over threats to freedom of navigation in the body of water that encompasses key global shipping lanes. The Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also have competing claims in the expansive maritime area. China's ongoing militarisation of islets and outcrops there has sparked broader apprehensions about the country's growing regional might as well as its threats to back up the claims with force, if necessary. "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes," G7 leaders said. China is also locked in a dispute with G7 host Japan over uninhabited rocky outcroppings in the East China Sea claimed by both countries. The G7 -- the US, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada -- said settlement of disputes should be "peaceful" and "freedom of navigation and overflight" should be respected. Washington -- which has embarked on a foreign policy "pivot" towards Asia -- fears Beijing is seeking to impose military controls over the entire area. The US military has conducted several "freedom of navigation" operations, in which planes or ships pass within a 12-nautical-mile buffer around the Chinese installations in the South China Sea, angering Beijing. The G7 leaders also said that claims in the area should be made based on international law and countries should refrain from "unilateral actions which could increase tensions" while also avoiding "force or coercion in trying to drive their claims". They also stressed that judicial means "including arbitration" should be utilised. That call came ahead of a ruling expected within weeks on China's claims brought by the Philippines to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. Beijing has said it does not recognise the case. European Council President Donald Tusk has said on the sidelines of the G7 meeting that the group needs to take a "clear and tough stance" on China's maritime claims as well as the Russian annexation of Crimea. "The test of our credibility at the G7 is our ability to defend the common values that we share," Tusk told reporters yesterday. That same day, Chinese state media on warned the group of seven not to "meddle" in the SCS disputes. China reacted angrily after a statement last month by G7 foreign ministers on maritime issues at their meeting in Hiroshima, and summoned top diplomatic representatives in Beijing to complain. Beirut: Islamic State fighters captured territory from Syrian rebels in an area near the Turkish border on Friday and were close to cutting off an insurgent-held town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The jihadists seized a number of villages around the town of Marea, north of Aleppo, and had almost fully encircled it, the British-based monitoring group said. The advance also brought them closer to Azaz, a town 6 km (4 miles) from Turkey. Rebel groups battling Islamic State in the area, which Washington sees as strategically vital, have been supplied with weapons via Turkey. Beirut: A US-led coalition has carried out at least 150 air strikes on the Islamic State group to back an offensive near the jihadists` northern Syria stronghold, a monitor said Friday. The coalition, as well as US special operations forces, is supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces as they advance in the northern province of Raqa. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 150 strikes had targeted IS positions around the flashpoint towns of Tal Abyad and Ain Issa since the push was launched on Tuesday. "There has been a serious intensification of air strikes, but they were most intense on the first day of the operation," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Abdel Rahman specified that his usage of the word "strike" referred to a missile hitting a target. The coalition has confirmed carrying out air strikes near Ain Issa and Raqa, but it uses a different definition of "strikes" which makes the tallies difficult to compare. The Britain-based Observatory also said that clashes in rural territory in northern Raqa province had left at least 31 IS fighters dead since Tuesday. "There are definitely casualties among the SDF`s ranks but they are not releasing any figures," he said. "There are almost no civilians in the villages where the fighting is happening, which is why there is no civilian death toll," Abdel Rahman told AFP. But further south in the provincial capital of Raqa city, IS was blocking desperate civilians from fleeing. "IS is not issuing passes to leave the city -- it has even become difficult for people who are sick and need treatment elsewhere," Abdel Rahman said. A handful of families had been able to escape the city and had made it west to Idlib province, controlled by a rebel alliance including IS rival, Al-Nusra Front. There are an estimated 300,000 people still living in Raqa city, the de facto Syrian capital of IS`s so-called "caliphate". Abu Mohammed, founder of the Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently activist group, said residents were paying smugglers $400 (350 euros) each to try to flee the city. The SDF has warned that IS is using civilians as "human shields". Jerusalem: Israeli environment minister Avi Gabbay announced his resignation on Friday, saying the appointment of a hardline nationalist as defence minister had created an "extremist government". Gabbay, of the centre-right Kulanu party, is not a member of parliament and his resignation does not affect the ruling rightwing coalition`s majority. London: A new piece of debris found possible belonging to the missing Malaysia Airline flight MH370 was found on a beach in Mozambique. A person contacted the BBC on Thursday and said he recently found the fragment on the Macaneta peninsula. He said the pieces were "reasonably light, did not have metal on the outside, and looked extremely similar to photos posted on the internet of other pieces of debris from aeroplanes." Don Thompson, a British engineer who is part of an informal international group investigating MH370, said the piece found by the person "does look like it`s part of Boeing 777", most like a leading or trailing edge closing panel from the wing or tail. "It`s in the right area where debris is expected to wash up," he told the BBC, saying it indicated the accuracy of drift models which show how debris might have moved from the crash site. The piece will now be examined by the official investigation team in Australia. Five fragments have so far been confirmed as being definitely or probably from MH370. MH370, flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, had 239 people on board when it vanished on March 8, 2014. It is presumed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean after veering off course. Australian, Malaysian and Chinese ships have been searching 120,000 sq.km of seabed using underwater drones and sonar equipment. More than 105,000 sq.km has been searched, but they say the mission will end by around August if there are no further significant finds. National Harbor: Nihar Janga, a fifth-grader from Austin, Texas, and Jairam Hathwar, a seventh-grader from Painted Post, New York, were named co-champions of the US Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday after battling 25 rounds head to head. The late-night duel twice saw Nihar, 11, fail to capitalise on mistakes by Jairam, 13, and claim the title outright. They ended co-winners when Jairam nailed "feldenkrais," a method of education, and Nihar aced "gesellschaft," a type of social relationship. "I`m just speechless," Jairam told reporters after the contest that was televised on cable network ESPN and repeatedly saw the audience in a hotel ballroom burst into cheers. Nihar, the youngest champion since 2002, thanked his mother and added: "I can`t say anything. I`m just in fifth grade." Jairam and Nihar will each receive a $40,000 cash prize. The tie is the third in a row in the Bee, a US institution since 1925. The contest had instituted a 25-round spell-off to try and avoid just such a deadlock. Nihar dazzled the audience by his grasp of words. When given "biniou," he asked pronouncer Jacques Bailly, "Is that a Breton bagpipe?" then whizzed through it with head down, hands at side and shifting slightly foot to foot. Given "taoiseach," he said, "Is that an Irish word for prime minister?" and nailed it, bringing cheers from the crowd. Jairam created an opening for Nihar when he stumbled on "draathaar," a king of dog, wincing when he realized his mistake. Nihar then bobbled "ayacohuite," a Mexican tree, giving Jairam new life. "Hello again," Jairam said to Bailly when he stepped up to the microphone. Even as the boys battled head to head, they gave each other encouraging hand slaps as they returned from the microphone. After several more rounds, Jairam misspelled "mischsprache," a fused language. Nihar failed again to knock him out by missing on "tetradrahm," a kind of coin. One more round, and Bailly said, "This is a beautiful moment. If you both spell the next word correctly, you will be declared co-champions." They did, and the room erupted in confetti and cheers. Jairam and Nihar are the ninth consecutive spellers of South Asian ancestry, and the 12th in 16 years, to win the Bee. Jairam`s brother Sriram was the 2014 co-champion. The finalists were winnowed from more than 280 spelling whizzes after two days of written and oral tests in a Washington suburb. Billings: White House hopeful Donald Trump claimed victory Thursday in the Republican nomination race, while shrugging off criticism from the man he aims to replace, President Barack Obama, who blasted the billionaire`s ignorance and arrogant attitude. Trump vaulted past the threshold of 1,237 needed to win the party`s primary race when a group of unbound delegates from North Dakota said they would back him. The accomplishment caps an extraordinary rise by a political neophyte whose campaign was widely derided as a distraction and a publicity stunt last June, when Trump announced his candidacy. Trump eventually swept 16 Republican rivals aside, and was the last man standing when his remaining two challengers quit the race early this month. "The folks behind me got us right over the top from North Dakota," Trump told reporters in Bismarck, standing with some 15 unbound delegates from the Midwestern state who committed their support to the real estate tycoon. "I`m so honored." Several US media outlets, citing their own analysis of pledged delegates and unbound delegates who announced their commitment to Trump, said earlier Thursday that Trump reached or surpassed the 1,237 mark. The Republican Party will not make the delegate results official until its national convention in July, when delegates vote for their nominee.Trump was already the Republican presumptive nominee, following a spectacular and unlikely run for the White House that thoroughly upended American politics. On Thursday, he took a victory lap of sorts, addressing a crowd in Billings, Montana where he mapped out a bit of his future campaign strategy to focus on swing states like Florida, Ohio and Michigan, as well as California. "I want to focus on 15 or so states," he said. "Because we have to win, and I want my energy to be put into states where it could go either way." Trump still faces the daunting task of unifying skeptical Republicans, with turmoil continuing to dog his campaign as conservatives grapple with their party`s direction. Democrats have gleefully highlighted Republican anxiety about their nominee. Speaking in Japan, Obama plunged into the fray, telling reporters that world leaders are "rattled" by some of Trump`s policies. "A lot of the proposals that he has made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting tweets and headlines," Obama said. Trump shot back, calling Obama "incompetent" and suggesting keeping world leaders guessing about Washington was just fine. "We`ll have great relationships with these countries. But if they`re rattled in a friendly way, that`s a good thing, John. Not a bad thing," he told a reporter. Trump will likely face Hillary Clinton in November, and the Democrat weighed in on Trump securing the Republican nomination. "This man, who is an unqualified loose cannon, is within reach of the most important job in the world," she told MSNBC. "Of course they`re rattled," she said of foreign leaders. "He`s talking about breaking up our alliances, letting more countries get nuclear weapons, banning all Muslims from coming to America. That is a recipe for fewer friends and more enemies that will make us all less safe." The provocative Republican has struggled to win the support of key establishment figures, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, who have voiced concern about Trump`s tone and his lack of policy specifics. "What I`m most concerned about is making sure that we actually have real party unity, not pretend party unity," Ryan told reporters Thursday in Washington. The former reality TV star has dominated headlines since launching his presidential campaign with a mix of incendiary comments and policy stances seen as insulting Mexicans, Muslims and women among others. He has proposed building a giant wall along the US border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants, and called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Trump has also raised eyebrows by continuing to attack members of his own party. On Tuesday, he assailed popular New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez -- someone who could help him win over both Hispanics and women -- saying she was not doing a good job as governor. And the business mogul has shown his national political director the door just six weeks after hiring him. Rick Wiley, who ran Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker`s ill-fated presidential campaign, "was hired on a short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam," Trump`s campaign said Wednesday. Clinton meanwhile is set to clinch her party`s nomination following California`s June 7 primaries, but she remains locked in a battle with challenger Bernie Sanders. And while Trump has pivoted toward his likely matchup against Clinton, knocking her "bad judgment" in violating rules against using a private email account while secretary of state, he mocked her struggle to put Sanders away. "Here I am watching Hillary fight and can`t close the deal. And that should be such an easy deal to close," he said. Ankara: Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is seeking a quick revision to the constitution that would allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to renew his party political activity, sources said today. Erdogan, one of the founders of the Islamic-rooted AKP, had to cut his ties with the party and step down as its leader when he became president in August 2014 to obey constitutional rules that the president should be politically neutral. But the AKP is now seeking a "mini-revision" to the constitution that would allow Erdogan to become a "party- affiliated president", an AKP source told AFP. The bill would be submitted to the parliament in June, the source added. The move for the so-called "mini-revision" - already flagged in the Turkish press - comes as Erdogan also seeks to rally support for a whole new constitution which would enshrine the president's status as the Turkish number one. But mathematics are currently against the AKP with the party lacking the "super majority" required to call a referendum on changing the entire constitution and writing a new one. For the mini-revision, the AKP hopes to win the support of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) which could support the smaller change but is opposed to a presidential system. Analysts say that Erdogan, who served as premier from 2003-2014 and has transformed Turkey over the last one-and-a- half decades, is seeking to consolidate his powers to ensure there is no challenge to his rule. Last week, his loyal ally Binali Yildirim became prime minister following the shock resignation of Ahmet Davutoglu who had feuded with the president on several issues. The opposition, which has accused Erdogan of ruling like a dictator, said it was staunchly opposed to Erdogan renewing his links with his party. "We are opposed to a presidentialization of the system. The country cannot be sacrificed to the ambitions of one man," said Levent Gok of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Government provided necessary funds to solve several community issues of Lori and Tavush districts. Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Davit Lokyan said Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamayan visited Lori and Tavush districts on May 4 where he got familiarized with the community problems which need urgent solutions. As a result, on May 26 the Armenian Government decided to provide 23.5 million AMD to Lori Governorate, and 30 million AMD to Tavush Governorate to solve their community problems. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. The Prosecutor Generals Office of Armenia summed up the results of the investigation of electoral violation cases that were instituted in connection to the Constitutional Amendments Referendum, press service of the Prosecutor Generals Office informed Armenpress. The summery was also discussed with the President of Armenia. Based on the information analysis it was decided that there is a need to make amendments and supplements to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia. The Armenian Prosecutor Generals Office prepared a draft law on making amendments and supplements to the Criminal Code, which suggests criminalization of a number of activities encroaching upon the exercise of the citizens right to vote, including the actions of chairmen of electoral commissions and the members of the commission, as well as liability clarification and punishment strengthening. The Prosecutor General will soon send the prepared draft law on making amendments and supplements to the Criminal Code to the Armenian Government. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian says the news on the document signing during the upcoming Aliyev-Sargsyan meeting in June is completely false. No document is going to be signed. Talks about any kind of document signing are not only premature, but also senseless. There is no such document to be signed, the minister said. The agreement reached by the sides in the presence of the Foreign Minister of Russia, US Secretary of State and the French Secretary of State, is presented in the announcement of the 3 Co-chairing countries. It could have been 5 sided, by including Armenia and Azerbaijan, but Azerbaijan refused to join the announcement, so it became a 3 sided announcement, Nalbandian said. The Minister said appropriate conditions must be present for resumption of talks. If monitoring mechanisms are installed and the powers of the OSCEs office of the Personal Representative of the Chairperson In Office are expanded, meaning the April type of developments are excluded, then there will be opportunities to resume negotiations, he said. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev had a meeting in Vienna on May 16, initiated by the foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairing countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir, Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov, Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, James Warlick of the USA and Pierre Andrieu of France were present at the meeting. The representatives of the Co-chairing countries insisted on the necessity of unconditional adherence to the 1994-1995 ceasefire agreement. An agreement was reached to take measures for creating violation monitoring/investigative mechanisms, expanding the scope of powers of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the possible resumption of negotiations. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan and CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha are highly pleased with the proceedings of Cobalt 2016 police drills in Armenia. This year, our police officers were better than last year, last year they were better than the previous year. This positive dynamics will go on. The cooperation with foreign police forces will greatly contribute to each side, the Police Chief of Armenia said. Our men are in top shape both mentally and physically. I am proud of them, he added. According to him, international terrorism is always a threat to all countries, thus, it is necessary to be prepared to resist any kind of threat anytime, If you want peace, prepare for war he said. CSTO Secretary General N. Bordyuzha said the planning of a joint operations management mechanism of CSTO member states special police forces was very important. This was very important in the context of keeping operative contact, arsenal, joint command system, for avoiding casualties and most importantly to be as effective as possible. In my opinion, the drills proceeded successfully. I want to highlight the high level preparatory works of the Armenian Police leadership. I am grateful for the hospitality and for the high-level organization, Bordyuzha said. Police forces from all CSTO member states took part in the Cobalt 2016 police drills in Armenia. Deputy Interior Ministers from all CSTO member states have arrived in Armenia. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian says both Armenia and the NKR regularly inform the international structures about the gross violations of human rights caused by the Azerbaijani aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh in early April. We raise and present the cases of violations to various international organizations dealing with human rights issues, and we hope they will give appropriate response to these violations, Minister said. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. The last leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev has been banned from entering Ukraine for five years, the Ukrainian Security Service SBU said on its Twitter account, reports TASS. "For his public support for the annexation of Crimea Mikhail Gorbachev is prohibited from entering Ukraine for a period of five years," the SBUs tweet says. SBU spokeswoman Yelena Gitlyanskaya said the decision had been made "in the interests of ensuring state security." In an interview in Sunday Times magazine, the last Soviet leader stated he would have acted the same way as Putin if he had found himself in a similar situation. "Im always with the free will of the people and most in Crimea wanted to be reunited with Russia," Gorbachev said. Mikhail Gorbachev has declined to comment on the Ukrainian authorities decision. "I believe that those in the journalistic profession have a great deal to talk about and to discuss," he replied to a request for a comment regarding the Ukrainian authorities decision. Asked if he wished to say something in response, Gorbachev also said: "No. Commenting is your cup of tea." YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan had a meeting with Iranian Ambassador H.E. Seyyed Kazem Sajjad. By highlighting the present high level economic and cultural cooperation, the need of a more effective cooperation in the legal field was discussed. The Ambassador pointed out the issued which result among Iranians visiting Armenia from the lack of knowledge of the Armenian Legislation, adding that similar issues arise among Armenians visiting Iran. The Prosecutor General said taking into consideration the differences of legislations of the two countries, it is necessary to create a concrete, detailed and accessible mechanism of mutual assistance, which will greatly contribute to both Armenians and Iranians. The fight against illegal drug smuggling was also discussed. A number of other relevant issues were discussed and an agreement was reached on further works for effective cooperation. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to Iraq Karen Grigoryan visited the Governorates of Sulaymaniyah and Halabja in Iraq. H.E. Karen Grigoryan had a meeting with Governor of Sulaymaniyah Aso Faraidoon Ali Amin. Development of commercial and economic relations was discussed. According to the Governor, they are interested in developing ties with Armenia, in particular in the fields of imports and tourism. Afterwards the Ambassador had meetings with the agricultural, healthcare, education, and commercial leadership of the Governorate. Cooperation projects and prospects were discussed. Ambassador Grigoryan visited the Educational Center for Children with disabilities of the Save the Children, the Pashmerga Museum of Sulaymaniyah and the Latif Rashid modern arts gallery. On May 25 the Ambassador visited the Governorate of Halabja, During a meeting with Governor Abdullah Nawroli, issues of mutual interest were discussed. The Ambassador later visited the museum and Memorial of the Chemical attack victims of Halabja. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Two of the US Navys F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets have crashed off the coast of North Carolina on May 26, the US Coast Guard confirmed. Their crews have been recovered and hospitalized, reports RT. Four people have been recovered and taken to the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, the Virginian-Pilot reported citing Coast Guard Petty Officer Fagal Nifin. Nifin said the extent of the crew members injuries is unknown. One of the crew had a leg injury, reported WCTI. Search and rescue teams were deployed to the Oregon Inlet area, 25 miles off the North Carolina shore, after reports of two planes colliding around 10:30 ET, according to Norfolks WBEC. Coast Guard officials in Elizabeth City told WCTI that the planes involved were from the Naval Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia. A fishing vessel reportedly assisted with the rescue. According to the US Navy, two F/A-18F Super Hornets were involved in an in-flight mishap at approximately 10:40 ET, during a routine training mission off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The planes belong to the to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 211, also known as the Fighting Checkmates, based out of NAS Oceana, the Navy said. The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18E Super Hornet is an upgraded version of the F-18 Hornet fighter/attack aircraft, in service with the US Navy and the Marine Corps. YEREVAN, MAY 26, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov says the Armenian Armed Forces and the Nagorno Karabakhi Armed Forces have properly fulfilled their responsibilities and duties. Sharmazanovs statement comes after Samvel Babayan, Former commander of the Nagorno Karabakhi Defense Army, said as if the Armenian side had not taken enough security measures, unlike Azerbaijan. During the 4 day war, the Azerbaijani blitzkrieg has failed. Azerbaijan failed to capture any settlement. All settlements are under the control of Nagorno Karabakhi forces, Sharmazanov said. He added that the failure of Azerbaijani forces prove that Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh pay serious attention to the security measures. We have stated numerous times that our main aim is security, he said. YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The NKR Presidents Spokesman Davit Babayan says Azerbaijan tries to cover up its facts of poisoning. Azerbaijan has repeatedly used chemical toxic substances against the NKR people. It happened in the Soviet times when Heydar Aliyev came to power. They were poisoning the water supplies of the city of Stepanakert, Armenpress reports, Babayan said referring to the Azerbaijani Presidents statement which says Armenia applied chemical weapons. He also recalled how Azerbaijanis put creoulin dangerous substance in the water supplies of Stepanakert as a result of which one third of the NKR people were deprived from water, domestic animals died within a few hours, and many people went to hospital. They did the same thing in Shushi and other places. They say waste of Armenian nuclear power plant are buried in Karvachar, but, of course, it is not true, but we understand with such means they want to create basis for them to be able to poison our rivers as well, Babayan said. Branson in Sydney at the World Business Forum yesterday. Credit: AAP Self-made billionaire Richard Branson spoke at the World Business Forum in Sydney yesterday, and encouraged the delegates to party their way to success. Branson, who is famous for building the Virgin Group of businesses, mixed hilarious anecdotes with accessible inspiration during the closing section of the forum. Vital to his advice was the importance of delegating and ensuring you have time for a party. Early in life I had to learn the art of delegation, said Branson. Also read: 65 books billionaire Richard Branson things you should read If you dont, youll just end up being a manager, not a true entrepreneur. I would go in, set up a company then go back to my houseboat and make sure someone else was there to run it. It has worked pretty well. If youre building a company I recommend if you want a decent life try to put yourself out of business and find someone better than yourself to run it on a day to day basis. Retreat from the building because people want to deal with the top person. That way you can think about the bigger picture and how to take the company forward into new areas, he said. Tie-hating Branson cuts off the tie of facilitator Alex Christou. Source: AAP. To achieve this aim Branson said it is important to promote from within the company if you can. Often the right people are right under your nose, he said. Too often people get experts from outside but right in their own company there could be someone who if given the chance will really excel. Also read: Richard Bransons top 10 tips for success The cleaning lady in one division ended up running all our studios. The watersports person on Nekker Island ended up running the whole island. Branson said that for him, the best businesses come out of frustration. I started my first venture at 15 years old. The Vietnam war was going on and it was an unjust war. Many young people wanted to campaign against it and we wanted a voice about the education system, which we felt was flawed, he said. Story continues Branson explained that he had a desire to do something, so he left school and started a magazine. Ever since whenever I come across a situation where there is that frustration I have thought let me see if I can put this right, he said. I was flying from Puerto Rico to the British Virgin Islands when I was 28. Id been away from home for three weeks and I had a gorgeous lady waiting and American Airlines announced they wouldnt fly until the next morning because of demand. So I went to the back of the airport, borrowed a blackboard and scribbled Virgin Airlines $39 one way and I managed to fill up my first flight! Also read: Three little known causes of billionaire Richard Branson Branson said that is thepeople that unite the Virgin companies, and parties are important in this process. So many different things make for a happy company and, sometimes it is little things that count, he said. We took over a chunk of Britains rail network and the first thing we did was invite all 10,000 staff and their partners and kids and put on the biggest festival in Oxford over six days. I shook hands with everyone when they came in. They were completely transformed they created the best rail network in the world and now instead of nine million travelling on that network we have 35 million. Parties are important! Branson added. Oil prices sank again on data showing a surprise jump in US stockpiles last week, with West Texas Intermediate shedding 2.8% and Brent down 1.8% on August 24, 2016 World oil prices may struggle to sustain a push beyond $50 a barrel after hitting the key level for the first time this year, analysts warned Friday. Crude futures topped $50 a barrel on Thursday, as production disruptions in Canada contribute to a drop in US crude inventories. Prices have won support also from unrest in Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude producer. Prices slipped back Friday however, as analysts warned that the week's move above $50 could trigger some North American producers of crude extracted from shale rock to lift output. Slumping prices, resulting in crude trading at under $30 a barrel in February from above $100 two years ago, made it unprofitable for some shale companies to compete with traditional producers like OPEC and Russia. Futures had plunged over a 21-month period owing largely to a global supply glut, fed by rising production of shale oil. Oil at $50 is meanwhile viewed as a level at which it makes economic sense for certain suppliers to start pumping again, CMC Markets trader Alex Wijaya told AFP. "Crude oil prices have failed to hold above the $50 level due to concerns that higher prices could unlock more supply," he said Friday. - OPEC awaits - Traders are now eyeing next week's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna to discuss world production levels. "There is probably a sliver of hope that OPEC producers will hammer out an agreement to support oil prices, be it to freeze production or otherwise," said IG Asia analyst Bernard Aw. OPEC member Iran, which returned to world markets in January after the lifting of Western sanctions linked to its nuclear programme, has so far refused to curb production. Tehran's stance appeared to reinforce market doubts that OPEC would take any firm action to curb oversupplies. In addition, "OPEC will no doubt use the recent supply disruptions in Canada, the falling output in the US and the firmer oil prices as reasons not to cut production", said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at trading group City Index. Story continues "In the likely event the OPEC maintains status quo, oil prices may fall, at least initially anyway." Razaqzada said the biggest risk to the crude market would be if OPEC did cut production. "This potential scenario would almost certainly lead to a sharp rally in oil prices," he added. Brent North Sea crude, the world's benchmark oil contract, reached $50.51 a barrel on Thursday -- the highest level for almost seven months. US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, meanwhile reached $50.21 a barrel. "Having momentarily surpassed the $50 hurdle, Brent and WTI suffered from profit-taking in the second half of Thursday?s session, before extending their losses slightly on Friday," said Razaqzada. "Despite the pullback, both oil contracts still looked set to close higher for the third straight week." Around 1615 GMT on Friday, WTI for delivery in July stood at $49.17 a barrel, which compared with $47.75 for the June contract one week earlier. Brent North Sea crude for July traded at $49.22 a barrel, up from $48.72 a week earlier. Prices were supported by official data Wednesday that showed US commercial crude inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels last week, indicating strong demand in the United States, the world's top oil consumer. Official data Friday showed that the US economy grew slightly faster in the first quarter of 2016 than originally thought, hitting a 0.8-percent annual pace. However the revision, from the original estimate of 0.5 percent growth, was not as high as economists had expected, underscoring some persistent weaknesses, especially in manufacturing. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Athens on May 27, 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed several economic deals with Athens on Friday during a visit to Greece aimed at reinforcing a relationship with one of his few friends in the EU amid tensions with the West. The visit, Putin's first to the EU since December, comes at a low ebb in relations between Russia and Europe over the conflict in Ukraine that broke out in 2014, with sanctions still in force against Moscow. It also comes as Athens desperately seeks to come out of recession. Greek officials say increased trade with Russia could play a part in recovery efforts. EU leaders are to discuss next month whether to renew sanctions on Russia's banking, defence and energy sectors that expire in July. The sanctions, however, did not prevent Russia and Greece from signing what Putin referred to as a "bunch of agreements" that included deals on energy and Russian tourism to Greece. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev on Friday said a counter-embargo on EU food products would be stretched to the end of 2017. "The issue of sanctions is not our problem. We did not impose them, we took measures to respond to them," Putin said. "As soon as they are lifted we will take analogous steps toward our partners." While the sanctions are likely to be extended, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said resistance is growing within the EU, and a unanimous vote is required. Italy and Hungary have been among the most sceptical while Poland and the Baltic states have repeatedly pressed for maintaining pressure on Moscow. Greece's leftist leader Alexis Tsipras criticised what he branded a vicious circle of sanctions, but nonetheless said his country "belongs to the EU and respects absolutely its commitments to the international organisations to which it belongs." Steinmeier on Friday floated the possibility of a "step by step" reduction of sanctions but only if there is progress on ending the conflict in Ukraine. G7 leaders in a statement warned the policy would not change until the conflict in Ukraine ends. Story continues "We recall that the duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia's complete implementation of ... agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty," the group said in a statement. Tsipras' government angered its EU peers by holding up a joint statement by the bloc on further sanctions. Putin is to meet Tsipras and President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, and sign a number of agreements before giving a brief news conference. Both countries are Orthodox, and religious symbolism is also high on the agenda of the two-day trip, the Russian leader's first to Greece in nearly a decade. - Russia vs China - Except for tourism, Russia is little involved in Greece's economy despite a flurry of agreements over the years, many of which never came to fruition. But this time may be different, said Ioannis Mazis, a professor of geopolitics at Athens' National University. "Russia needs to compete with China which is in the process of piecing together a 'pearl necklace' of ports" from Europe to the South China Sea, Mazis told Skai television, referring to China's investment in a string of foreign ports in recent decades. In an article in Kathimerini daily on Thursday, Putin said Russia was interested in tenders involving Greek rail assets and the port of Thessaloniki, a major gateway into the Balkans. As a major gas exporter, Mazis said, Moscow is also keen to take advantage of the EU's switch away from petrol, and is desperate to find a southern pipeline route to bypass Ukraine -- a country which is a major thorn in EU relations after Moscow's annexation of the Crimea in 2014 and Russia's support of separatist rebels. The Kremlin on Thursday said trade and economy will top the agenda and a "number of bilateral agreements" would be signed. The pro-government Avgi daily on Friday said this would include a deal between Russian oil giant Rosneft and Greek refiner Hellenic Petroleum. The creation of Greek-Russian agricultural companies is also expected next month, Avgi said. Tsipras' advisor on Russian issues, Dimitris Velanis, told Avgi that Russia factors heavily in the government's efforts to pull the country out of recession. "The Greek government is doing everything to launch growth and we believe growth will include Russia," Velanis said. - Calls for help? - Greece has repeatedly sought the help of Russia as it descended into economic crisis over the past six years. Tsipras is believed to have asked for Russian financial assistance last year as the country teetered on the verge of bankruptcy, although Russian officials have denied any requests were made. In the Kathimerini article, Putin said the EU would not be a global player without his country's help. Putin will join celebrations Saturday for the 1,000th anniversary of the Russian presence at the ancient monastic community of Mount Athos in northern Greece, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites. An Icelandic horse farming family was recently surprised to receive a piece of mail that bore neither their name nor address. Instead, the envelope was inscribed with the following instructions: Country: Iceland, City: Buardalur, Name: A horse farm with an Icelandic/Danish couple and three kids and a lot of sheep. The Danish woman works in a supermarket in Buardalur. A rough map of the area with a red dot marking the letters intended destination was also sketched out on the envelope, reports Iceland Review. For the Icelandic postal system, this was apparently more than enough information to get the letter delivered to the correct recipient, Rebecca Cathrine Kaadu Ostenfeld and her family. Icelands Skessuhorni reports that the letter was sent by foreign tourists who had previously visited the farm. In the letter, they explained that they wanted to prove that Iceland was the coolest country on earth, and that in Iceland, anything is possible. Apparently mailing a poorly addressed letter was the best way of making that point. This isnt the first example of mail improbably reaching its destination. BBC reports that in December of last year, a British man received a Christmas card from some friends in Germany. The envelope was addressed with a single word: England. [Photo by Steina Matt] BEIJING (Reuters) - Taking a dig at the U.S. arms embargo against China, the Chinese Defence Ministry said on Thursday all such U.S. embargoes were a relic of the Cold War and should be lifted, after the U.S. fully removed one against Vietnam. The United States placed an arms embargo on China following the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters around Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989. The European Union has a similar embargo. "American public figures on many occasions have said that implementing arms embargoes are a manifestation of Cold War thinking," Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a monthly news conference. "In fact, the U.S. still has unilateral arms embargoes against some countries. We think that the United States ought to abandon its Cold War thinking and put an end to such acts that do not accord with the times." Yang declined to say directly if he was referring to the U.S. arms embargo against China. The U.S. move with Vietnam, announced this week during President Barack Obama's visit to Hanoi, underscores their shared concern about China's growing military influence and growing assertiveness over claims in the South China Sea. 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. 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. China's foreign ministry had given a muted reaction to the lifting of the arms embargo against Vietnam, saying it hoped the development in relations between the United States and Vietnam would be conducive to regional peace and stability. Yang declined to comment beyond what the foreign ministry had already said. 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. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel) CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt is taking on two companies, one French and one Italian, to help search for the black boxes of the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean, the airline's chairman said on Wednesday EgyptAir flight 804 crashed on May 19 with 66 people on board including 30 Egyptians and 15 from France, and nearly a week later investigators have no clear picture of the plane's final moments. EgyptAir chairman Safwat Moslem did not name the companies involved, but he told a news conference they were able to search at a depth of 3,000 metres. 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 the signals, emitted once a second. 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, which should last for 30 days. Until recently, aviation sources say, the US 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 US Navy said on Tuesday it had not been asked for help. Sources within the Egyptian investigation committee said earlier on Wednesday that the jet had not shown any sign of technical problems before taking off from Paris. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they 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. An Egyptian forensics official said 23 bags of body parts had been collected, the largest no bigger than the palm of a hand. 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. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Dominic Evans and Richard Balmforth) (Editor's Note: Please be advised that the last paragraph contains language that some readers may find offensive) By Liz Hampton, Eric M. Johnson and Ethan Lou (Reuters) - Fighting massive forest fires is dangerous and taxing enough, but those sent into Canadas oil sands are not only wrestling with one of the worst wildfires in the countrys history. They are doing it surrounded by the volatile, explosive chemicals and compounds critical to pumping oil from some of the worlds largest reserves. Now in its third week, the fire's proximity to the billions of dollars worth of oil equipment, flammable liquids, and extraction sites had people fearful that the flames, which can jump as far as more than a kilometer with gusts of wind, could do catastrophic damage to critical infrastructure. Dozens of safety workers and industrial firefighters are working at places like Syncrude and Suncor Energy's upgrading facilities north of Fort McMurray surrounded by flames burning to the edges of the oil sands, facing temperatures running as high as 1,100 Celsius (2,000 Fahrenheit). The heavy bitumen in the oil sands themselves is not flammable, but the facilities and people inside are at risk. The most harrowing moments were when we first arrived on scene, dealing with these forest fires growing on you, flames jumping fifty feet in the air," said Aron Harper, 35, a firefighter and emergency medical technician employed by Suncor, who lives in Fort McMurray, Alberta province's main oil hub. "We were yelling at guys to get out of there because the thing was growing so fast. Ive never seen a fire grow that fast in my life. Firefighters do not measure forest fires by temperature, but by a measure known as "head fire intensity," said Travis Fairweather, Alberta wildfire information officer. It is calculated as the rate of heat energy released over time at the front of the fire, and this fire at times reached five times a level considered extreme, he said. Almost half of Alberta's 2,351 firefighters have been assigned to Fort McMurray and oil companies have drafted industrial firefighting specialists to protect operations in the area, where about one million barrels of capacity has been shuttered. (Graphic:http://tmsnrt.rs/1T6HcrN) "DOZER BOSS" These specialists are armed with special foam used to spray exposed equipment and sprinklers that can cover distances of 150 feet (45.7 m). In Alberta many facilities are built with protection against such fires. This includes firebreaks around them, where vegetation is cleared and replaced with pavement or gravel to stop the progression of fire. But with this fire, companies including Enbridge and Suncor had to enhance their buffer zones by widening firebreaks. Philip Haggis, a wildfire technologist with the province of Alberta, found himself driving an all-terrain vehicle over blackened earth and through smoke-filled forests, leading a small convoy of bulldozers in containing the fire surrounding them. Haggis was involved in protecting a Brion Energy Corp facility northwest of Fort McMurray. He was a "dozer boss" for the first week of the fire, supervising a team that removes vegetation - what he calls "fuel" - from the path of the blaze to prevent its spread. The fire shifts without warning, and at least one team has been caught off-guard in a dead end. "They got overtaken by fire," Haggis said. "They had to get evacuated and some of their equipment got burned up." Suncor, one of Canada's largest oil producers, put additional sprinklers on its sites, a company spokesperson said. Enbridge Inc, which saw a fire come within just one kilometer (0.62 mile) of its Cheecham crude oil tank farm, said it has not yet had to use a foam perimeter at its facilities but did spray tanks down with water to protect from the fires. Early last week, after the fire forced the evacuation of thousands of workers from oil sands sites, Harper was tasked with securing the perimeter of Suncors facilities from behind the wheel of a massive 8-wheeled ARFF fire truck (aircraft rescue and firefighting) with a built-in 3,000-gallon water tank linked to a water cannon operated by a crew member. For days they drove up and down a 10 km-stretch of highway adjacent to the plant, with the fire raging on the other side, and would beat back encroaching flames to make sure the fire didn't jump the highway onto Suncor's land. "The major concern was if it ever jumped the highway. Theres a lot of valuable stuff behind us that you definitely cant have catch fire," he said. The weather, it was so dry, the wood so dry, the wind, everything was working against us. You think youd have (the fire) out and youd turn your back and youre like, holy shit, this fire would come right back to life. (Reporting by Liz Hampton in Houston and Edmonton, Eric M. Johnson and Nia Williams in Calgary and Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by David Gaffen and Tomasz Janowski) Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on his fellow citizens to remain on guard against the West's "soft war" aimed at weakening the country. "Our officials and all parts of the establishment should be vigilant about the West's continued soft war against Iran ... the enemies want to weaken the system from inside," the ayatollah said, according to Iran's state media said. "By impairing centres of powers in Iran, it will be easy to harm the establishment from inside. "The only way to materialise the [1979 Islamic] revolution's goals is national unity and not to obey the enemy." The Islamic Republic's "enemies" were trying to manipulate official policy, he said, adding: "Iran's enemies try to influence decision-making centres, alter Iranian officials' positions and change people's beliefs. "We should be strong and empowered." The warning was issued at a meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts, the 88-member body made up of mainly older clerics that has the power to appoint and dismiss Iran's highest statesman. Analysts say supporters of the hard-line leader have accused Iran's pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani of betraying the anti-Western values of the revolution that led to the fall of the US-backed Shah. The hardliners hold the power in Iran, controlling the judiciary, the security forces, the Guardian Council - which vets laws and election candidates - public broadcasters and foundations that own much of the economy. President Rouhani played a key role in the ending of a decade-old nuclear standoff with the West, reaching a landmark deal in 2015. The deal allowed the lifting of international economic sanctions against Iran in return for Tehran promising to halt its nuclear development. By Tife Owolabi and Libby George YENAGOA, Nigeria/LONDON (Reuters) - Chevron's onshore operations in Nigeria's Niger Delta have been shut by a militant attack at its Escravos terminal, sources said on Thursday, and local leaders said military confrontation would not end the violence. A militant group called the Niger Delta Avengers, which has told oil firms to leave the Delta before the end of May, said late on Wednesday that it had blown up the facility's mains electricity feed. Its attacks have hobbled oil output over the past month. A company source told Reuters that "all activities in Chevron are grounded" onshore while oil industry sources said roughly 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Escravos were gone due to the latest attack and another on Chevron's offshore facilities earlier this month. Planned Escravos exports in the first half of 2016 averaged 167,000 bpd. [nL5N1825W8] A Twitter account with the group's name said late on Wednesday: "We Warned #Chevron The PC Opposition on P.E.I. is accusing the MacLauchlan government and the Island's four Liberal MPs of not doing enough to fight Ottawa's decision to increase the lobster carapace size for Lobster Fishing Area 25. Opposition fisheries critic Colin LaVie told CBC News the change in the carapace size will have a direct impact on Island fishermen who supply smaller-sized lobsters, known as canners. He noted P.E.I. processing plants have invested money to develop and service the canner market. LaVie doesn't think enough is being done by Liberal politicians to fight the decision, which comes into effect for the fall fishery. Former Tory MP fought for fishermen, says LaVie "They never went to bat for the Island fishermen," said LaVie. "When Gail Shea was a member we made sure we had canner lobsters, and that is where we are putting most of our levy money, into the canner lobster." LaVie said the four Liberal MPs on the Island, now in government, are not fighting for the Island fishermen, and he said the same about the provincial government. "The MacLauchlan government just folded like a chair," he said. P.E.I. Fisheries Minister Alan McIsaac has said the provincial government lobbied against the change and he has also expressed concern about the decision. Egmont MP Robert Morrissey said he wasn't surprised about the criticism from the Opposition. "Unfortunately it's a typical position that comes from opposition parties who have nothing else to offer," he said. Without proper management, the lobster fishery would not be as successful as it is, he added. "Over the years carapace size increases have led to increases in catches for fishermen, and in fact since 2005 to 2015, a 10 year period, the lobster catch in Atlantic Canada has almost doubled," said Morrissey. "There are parts of the decision I'm not happy with but in my political career, I have always supported and defended conservation measures because I have seen this fishery at a time when it was barely a subsistence fishery and people were not making any money." Story continues The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association is organizing a meeting next week in O'Leary for the fishermen affected by the change. - MORE P.E.I. NEWS I P.E.I. firefighters on their way to Alberta - MORE P.E.I. NEWS I Charlottetown sidewalks safer thanks to orange paint job MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Thursday accused China of breaking a U.S.-brokered deal between the two nations on the Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited rocky outcrop in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines also claim the waterway, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne goods pass every year. Beijing seized control of Scarborough Shoal, near the main Philippine island of Luzon, in June 2012, following a three-month standoff after a Philippine Navy vessel tried to arrest Chinese fishermen found illegally hauling giant clams there. On Thursday, Aquino said the United States moved in quickly to resolve the standoff, brokering a "face-saving" deal by asking both nations to pull out their ships, but only the Philippines withdrew. "Now, their continued presence is something that we have continuously objected to," Aquino told reporters in his hometown in Tarlac, north of the Philippine capital. "There was a deal, which we observed religiously. We hope the other side will do what we have done." China's embassy in Manila did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on Aquino's remarks. Beijing has denied ever making a deal with Manila and Washington, a Philippine diplomat who was involved in the negotiations told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak to the media. China has reclaimed seven reefs in the Spratlys islands, building two airfields, ports, lighthouses radars, and other military structures, which the United States has called a clear move to militarise the disputed area. In March, Washington warned that China might next reclaim the Scarborough Shoal, after Beijing sent survey ships to the area, although a Philippine military aircraft despatched to check the reports did not find a survey ship there. "China is not reclaiming Scarborough Shoal," Aquino said, allaying the fears that Beijing might reclaim the shoal, just outside the former U.S. naval base in Subic. There have been many "red lines" in China's assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, Aquino added, such as harassing a survey ship hired by an Anglo-Philippine firm seeking oil and gas in the Reed Bank. Both Reed Bank and Scarborough Shoal lie in the Philippines' 200-mile exclusive economic zone, Aquino said, calling China's actions a violation of a 2002 pact on the South China Sea between China and ten Southeast Asian nations. (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - A protester and a police officer were killed in Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday during protests against a possible delay to November elections, a United Nations official said. Nationwide demonstrations were called by opposition parties and civil society groups to protest a May 11 ruling by Congo's highest court that allows President Joseph Kabila to remain in power if presidential and parliamentary elections are delayed. Constitutional term limits bar Kabila from running for a third term, but the government has said the election will likely be pushed back because of budgetary and logistical problems. Opposition leaders accuse the president of stalling the elections in order to extend his 15-year rule, charges Kabila denies. In Goma, eastern Congo's largest city, at least one civilian was killed and two wounded by gunfire that most likely came from police, said Jose Maria Aranaz, director of the U.N.'s Congo-based Joint Human Rights Office. One police officer was killed when protesters threw stones, he said. Police had earlier fired tear gas at protesters who burned tires and blocked streets with rocks, said local civic leader Thomas d'Acquin Mwiti, who was at the demonstration. "The protesters encountered ferocious resistance from the police, which led to clashes and barricades being set up," he said. Campaign group Human Rights Watch said at least one civilian was shot and killed and at least six others wounded in Goma, including a six-year-old girl, a boy, 12, and a woman, 80. Spokesman for the national police, Pierre Mwanamputu, said a civilian was killed accidentally during an altercation with police but said no police officers had been killed. He denied that police had opened fire on protesters. About 20 people were detained in the city, he said. Security forces also fired tear gas at an opposition march attended by thousands of people in the capital Kinshasa. Demonstrations in other cities were banned by local authorities. Riot police were deployed in the streets of the southern mining hub of Lubumbashi, where supporters of opposition presidential candidate Moise Katumbi have repeatedly clashed with police this month. The U.N. human rights office said on Twitter at least 59 people had been arrested across the country. (Reporting by Kenny Katombe in Lubumbashi; Writing by Joe Bavier and Makini Brice; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Edward McAllister) Stephen Harper prepares to say goodbye as Conservative convention kicks off The grassroots of the Conservative Party had waited a long time to hear from Stephen Harper. When he finally spoke Thursday evening at the party's policy convention in Vancouver, he used remarks reminiscent of his campaign-style stump speeches to outline his key accomplishments as leader and thank the people who made it possible. The man who served as prime minister for nearly a decade and as party leader for longer than that hadn't spoken publicly since announcing his resignation as leader by press release, following his party's defeat in the Oct. 19 federal election. The former prime minister told the convention that he always found public life more of an honour than a burden. Does he miss being leader? "I've come to quite enjoy being off centre-stage," the intensely private politician said. "While the election last fall did not yield the result that we hoped for," he said, "the fact is our party has enjoyed a remarkable era of success." His government's accomplishments, he said, were thanks to the party's volunteers and officials. He paid special tribute to the sacrifices his family, including his wife Laureen, had made during his time in office. Looking around the room, he said he saw energy and passion to propel the party forward. "The past is no place to linger," he told delegates. "The best is yet to come." "In 2019, perhaps more than we understand even now, our country will need a strong, united Conservative party, ready to govern a party driven by hope and hard work and by higher purpose that Canada can be and must always be the best country in the world." The crowd responded with a standing ovation. 'It's not in his nature' Harper's speech follows word this week that he intends to resign his seat in the House of Commons once it breaks for summer recess. At first, Harper was said to have been reluctant to make remarks of his own. Story continues "It's not in his nature he doesn't run up to the microphone. I think that's the wonderful thing about him," said outgoing party president and close friend John Walsh. "I think he understands people have come from all across the country because they're really interested in hearing from him and thanking him." He's been keeping his own counsel, letting the new team led by interim leader Rona Ambrose set the tone and direction as the party embarks on a long road to elect a new leader exactly one year from Friday. The media staked him out, without success. He's not sat for exit interviews, nor has he dispatched proxies as spokespeople for his views. Party officials said he wrote his final speech himself. (Story continues below the live blog. Can't see the blog? Follow it here.) His exit marks the beginning of a next act for Conservatives. As a party currently without a permanent leader, this week's policy convention is a chance for grassroots members across the country to shape the policies and governance of their organization before a new chief grabs the reins and begins influencing the direction. Indeed, several constitutional amendments up for debate starting Friday morning seek to diminish the power held by the next leader, citing what some electoral district associations felt were mistakes made during Harper's tenure. The central command-and-control structure first imposed to help the party survive its early, tenuous minority governments didn't ease up after 2011's majority win. Dissenting voices are now more free to speak and offer alternative perspectives to the style and substance of Harper's management. "Our prime minister Harper was phenomenal when it comes to the brilliance of how government should work," said southwestern Ontario MP Karen Vecchio ahead of the convention. "It's just sometimes his tone could have been taken a little differently." "He excelled in leadership and the ability to get things done," particularly in getting Canada through the economic recession of 2008-09, she said. Party founder still respected Sitting with newcomers like Vecchio in the House of Commons, Harper remains an active member with great influence on the Opposition bench and valuable experience to offer, despite refraining from speechmaking until now. Fellow rookie MP John Brassard met privately with Harper when he first arrived on Parliament Hill and found him generous with his advice on how to represent his riding. "For me it was a half-hour that I'll cherish," he said, adding it was "kind of neat" to sit down with a former prime minister. "It was because of his leadership ... that we were able to bring the Conservative family together ... winning three back-to-back governments," said Alberta MP Michael Cooper, citing balancing the budget and concluding free trade agreements as key achievements. "Mr. Harper's record was one of success and achievement. And it is a record that I and I believe our entire party is proud of," he said. "We have a strong base to build from. Our base held." Harper had "a rough time from beginning to end" but "performed very well," fellow Edmonton MP Ziad Aboultiaf said. "History will be kind to him." Why France Is Running Out Of Petrol And Diesel Hundreds of petrol stations have been closed in France as a result of industrial action by oil workers. The dispute is over changes to France's employment laws. :: What exactly is happening? A union called the CGT, which some describe as leftist, is organising a widespread strike which is affecting transport across much of France. As well as a blockade of six of France's eight oil depots, which earlier this week caused more than 1,600 service stations to be closed, the strike is impacting train and airport services. At Paris' Orly Airport, 15% of flights have been cancelled, and several local train and metro services have been affected in the capital. :: How long has it been going on for? The dispute started earlier this year, after the government announced it wanted to make changes to the Code de Travail - a 3,000-page book that sets out all of France's employment rules. It began with a petition against the proposals that was signed by one million people, then, in mid-March, hundreds of people began staging nightly protest rallies, many of which have spiralled into violence. This then turned into national days of protest - the eighth of which is on Thursday. :: What changes are being proposed? The so-called El Khomri bill, named after France's employment minister Mariam El Khomri, aims to liberalise France's labour market by making it moderately easier for firms that run into difficulties to lay off workers and making it possible for some employees to work longer than the 35-hour week (before overtime) set down in current legislation. The government hopes that freeing the market from some of its restrictions will encourage French companies to hire more people, in an attempt to overcome the nation's 10% unemployment rate. :: What do the protesters want? They want French President Francois Hollande's government to scrap the changes to the laws, but it comes at a time when some union leaders are seeing a revived confidence in their ability to bring about political change, despite the CGT losing members. Story continues The union is fighting to change Article 2 in particular, which is the part of the bill that sets out how working hours can be agreed at a company level, instead of at sectoral level, as has been the case until the new bill comes into force. :: What does the government want? The Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who has long been regarded as a centrist despite being part of a socialist government, is determined not to back down. He pushed through the new bill on 10 May without having a vote in parliament by employing a rarely-used clause in France's constitution, which allows reform by decree. Mr Valls has maintained his opposition to watering down Article 2, despite some of Mr Hollande's other ministers saying they are prepared to compromise. :: What is the fight between Francois Hollande and Manuel Valls about? Mr Valls was brought in by Mr Hollande to replace his previous left-wing PM Jean-Marc Ayrault, who led the government to heavy losses in local elections. He hoped that a more "right wing" government would help him achieve progress he promised in tackling France's economic woes. Mr Valls' tough-talking stance on the economy and immigration has won him admirers on the right but infuriated those on the left. It is many of those left-wingers who put Mr Hollande in power, by ensuring he was nominated for president. :: What does it mean for Mr Hollande's future? Mr Hollande once said his presidency should be judged on whether he "turned the unemployment curve around". He has so far failed to do so and, with the changes to labour laws under threat, looks unlikely to do it before next year's presidential elections. But, with his battle over the changes to the Code de Travail just the latest in a series of difficulties, his popularity has plummeted to as low as 13%. The fact that his government earlier this month only narrowly won a vote of no confidence in parliament, which several of his own socialist MPs backed, has not helped his cause. :: Who is going to win? According to the latest survey in French newspaper Le Point, 62% of French people back the strikers, but this is down from three-quarters who opposed the laws earlier this month. Mr Valls says that with rationing at the pumps and a determined stance from the government, it can guarantee fuel supplies for three months. But if the situation gets more aggressive, it will only take a few more MPs to vote against the government before a new no-confidence vote could wreck Mr Hollande's chances of re-election for good. FRIDAY, May 27, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- The Friday before Memorial Day has been designated "Don't Fry Day" by the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention, to remind Americans about the importance of sun safety. "As we move into spring and summer, many Americans will start spending more time outdoors. However, exposure to harmful UV rays from the sun and indoor tanning can increase the risk of skin cancer," Carolyn Heckman, chair of the Don't Fry Day campaign, said in a council news release. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, with nearly 5 million cases diagnosed each year. That's more than breast, colon, lung and prostate cancers combined. "Taking the time to get educated about the risks of UV exposure, along with taking steps to protect yourself from UV rays can make a big difference for your health while still allowing the opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities," Heckman said. She is an associate professor in the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Here are six tips for protecting your skin: Use sunscreen whenever you're outdoors. Liberally apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 30 before outdoor activities. A broad-spectrum product offers protection from UVA and UVB rays, according to the experts. Apply sunscreen at least 15 minutes before heading out. Liberally apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 30 before outdoor activities. A broad-spectrum product offers protection from UVA and UVB rays, according to the experts. Apply sunscreen at least 15 minutes before heading out. Reapply sunscreen frequently. Put sunscreen on again every two hours while you're outside, or more often if you're swimming or sweating. Put sunscreen on again every two hours while you're outside, or more often if you're swimming or sweating. Stay indoors when the sun is strongest. Try to stay inside or in the shade between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Try to stay inside or in the shade between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Take extra care near water or sand. The sun's rays are stronger when they reflect off sand or water, so you may burn faster. The sun's rays are stronger when they reflect off sand or water, so you may burn faster. Cover up. It's not always feasible, but when you can, cover up as much skin as possible. A wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses can protect your face and eyes. It's not always feasible, but when you can, cover up as much skin as possible. A wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses can protect your face and eyes. Don't intentionally try to tan. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on sun safety. FRIDAY, May 27, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- New research seems to shed light on how the Zika virus infects, but doesn't kill, placenta cells. The mosquito-borne virus can cause severe birth defects in babies whose mothers are exposed to Zika during pregnancy, but scientists don't know exactly how that happens. "Our results substantiate the limited evidence from pathology case reports," said senior author Mehul Suthar, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, in Atlanta. "It was known that the virus was getting into the placenta. But little was known about where the virus was replicating and in what cell type," Suthar said in a university news release. Scientists conducted experiments using immune cells from placentas of healthy women who had full-term babies delivered by cesarean section. The Zika virus used in the study is the strain circulating in Puerto Rico. The researchers said it's closely related to the strain in Brazil, where the virus-related birth defects became apparent last spring. The researchers found that Zika can replicate in immune cells from the placenta without killing them. They said this may explain how the virus can pass through the placenta of a pregnant woman and infect developing brain cells in her fetus. In Brazil, the result has been an estimated 5,000 cases of microcephaly, a condition in which an infant is born with an abnormally small head and underdeveloped brain. When they examined placenta cells from different women, the researchers also found wide variation in the levels of Zika virus replication. This suggests some women may be more susceptible to infection than others, the researchers said. "Not every pregnant woman who is infected by Zika transmits the virus to her fetus," Suthar said. "Host genetics and nonviral factors, including nutrition and microbiota, as well as timing may be influencing infectivity." Suthar added that a better understanding of these factors could lead to preventive measures, and eventually antiviral therapies. The study was published May 27 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. Zika-related viruses in the flavivirus family include dengue, West Nile and yellow fever, and are rarely transmitted from mother to fetus, the researchers noted. "Zika may be unique in its ability to infect placental cells and cross the placental barrier, in comparison with other flaviviruses," Suthar said. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the Zika virus. APIs Reintroducing Checkout API A simpler and faster way to integrate Square payments into any workflow with min... saudi arabia student youth millennial In the aftermath of the 2003 terrorist attacks carried out by nationals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, then Crown Prince Abdullah argued that youth unemployment was the kingdom's biggest challenge. Fast-forward 13 years, and the problem remains a pressing issue for the Arab state. "Abdullah singled out youth unemployment as Saudi Arabia's No. 1 security challenge and it is," Helima Croft, head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told Business Insider in an interview on Tuesday. "That's the Achilles' heel of Saudi Arabia the question of how to deal with its young population." Approximately two-thirds of the Saudi population is under 30, but about 30% of the population 15 to 24 is unemployed, according to a 2014 estimate from the International Labour Organization. Plus, about 27% of the population is under 14, which implies that Saudi Arabia's going to need to create a lot more jobs in the near future. Screen Shot 2016 05 26 at 1.13.44 PM And so, in this labor market, the big question is how do these large numbers of unemployed young people occupy their time if they don't have jobs? "It's the problem of young, unemployed men who are idle. They can't marry; they have no jobs," Croft said. "In the Middle East, it takes the form of young, idle men getting swept up in extremist groups." "It's a small fraction of that unemployed population that joined groups like ISIS, [but] you only have to have a small fraction join these groups for tremendous damage to be caused," she continued. Notably, Saudis make up the second-largest group of foreign-fighter nationalities in ISIS, according to a December 2015 report by The Soufan Group. Croft continued: I look at Saudi Arabia and think, "Well, we do have those periodic ISIS attacks in the country ... these low-level attacks in the eastern provinces where the Shiites live or on the Yemen-border security outposts." But what if there is something more serious in Saudi Arabia? That's what worries me the most about Saudi. A real security incident there. Weiterlesen ISIS Islamic State Raqqa Syria Member But the youth-unemployment issue is not limited to Saudi Arabia. It's actually a big obstacle for various countries in the Middle East and North Africa. A 2015 report from the ILO estimates that youth unemployment rates in those regions have been trending up since the global financial crisis, and are now around 30% in both. And if 30% does not sound like a very high number, the ILO thinks there are up to 75 million young jobless people in the Arab world a number roughly equal to the populations of France and Greece combined. Screen Shot 2016 05 26 at 12.41.39 PM Education and other labor-assisting programs have been implemented in many North African and Middle Eastern states, and young people in the region are "doing well in terms of near universal education" even for women. Even so, youth unemployment rates in the region have risen since the global financial crisis. This contrasts with other regions around the world, which have seen youth-unemployment rates either decrease or at least remain relatively stable in the same time frame. "The persistent high unemployment among both youth and adults in the [MENA] regions denotes the deep-rooted structural elements that cannot be resolved by supply-side policies alone," the ILO report said. yemen unemployment Notably, the correlation between unemployment rates and lack of job opportunities and joining militant groups is evident in some of these MENA countries. The 2016 Asda'a Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, which surveyed 3,500 Arab men and women 18 to 24 in face-to-face interviews, found that young Arabs believe that the lack of jobs and opportunities is the primary reason why people join ISIS aka the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh. The poll also found that concern about lack of job opportunities is still a huge issue across all 16 countries surveyed, with less than half of respondents (44%) agreeing with the statement "there are good job opportunities in the area I live in." And the most striking thing about the latter finding is that this concern is particularly high in countries where ISIS has actively recruited young people, according to the Arab Youth Survey. Only 2% of young Yemenis, 7% of Libyans, 21% of Lebanese, 28% of Tunisians, and 39% of Iraqis believe that they have good job opportunities available in their countries. Croft told Business Insider: It's one of the central challenges in many countries. It's the "lost boys." These young men have nothing to do. The alienated, isolated young men who are open to recruitment whether it be by militant group in Nigeria or whether it be an online ISIS recruiter. It gives them a sense of belonging, gives them a sense of community. abu dhabi Another interesting detail from the Arab Youth Survey was that, for the fifth year in a row, young Arabs viewed the United Arab Emirates as the top country in which to live and the top country for their home nations to emulate ahead of the US, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada, France, and the UK. Plus, respondents noted that the top associations with the UAE were "safe and secure," "has a growing economy," "wide range of work opportunities," and "generous salary package." "The UAE's popularity is likely a reflection of its status as a model country and regional political and economic safe haven," the survey noted. "The Gulf state has developed a reputation for its robust and diversified economy, which encourages a 'can do' attitude among its residents and is respectful of religious and cultural diversity." Croft told Business Insider: The Emirates is what the young people admire because the Emirates have seem to have found a way to diversification with a hospitality sector, transportation sector, in addition to having the oil produced in Abu Dhabi. It is the model it's what the young people through the Arab world look to and say, "God, this is our dream to have the Emirates model." NOW WATCH: Saudi Arabia is building the worlds tallest building nearly twice the height of One World Trade Center More From Business Insider English Icelandic Revenue EUR 113.3 million, up by EUR 0.6 million from Q1 2015 EBITDA EUR 9.6 million compared to EUR 5.8 million, up by 66.5% from Q1 2015 Net earnings EUR 1.8 million compared to EUR 1.5 million, up by 21.1% from Q1 2015 Transported volume in North Atlantic liner services up by 8.1% from Q1 2015 Transported volume in forwarding services up by 5.9% from Q1 2015 Equity ratio 59.9% and net debt EUR 33.4 million at the end of March EBITDA forecast for the year 2016 has been raised to the range of EUR 49 to 53 million GYLFI SIGFUSSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO Eimskips EBITDA for the first quarter 2016 was EUR 9.6 million, up 66.5% compared to the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter amounted to EUR 113.3 million, up by 0.5%, but lower cargo rates in international forwarding affected the revenue growth. The company took action in recent months to change its sailing system in order to be able to operate more efficiently during the winter season. Due to the streamlining of operations and increased cost control measures, operating expenses excluding salaries were down in the quarter. Total operating expenses including salaries were down by 3.0%, an excellent performance despite materially increased cost related to Icelandic wage agreements. Net earnings came to EUR 1.8 million and grew by 21.1% from the first quarter 2015, despite a negative turnaround of currency exchange difference of EUR 3.7 million. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to EUR 12.7 million compared to EUR 3.1 million in the same period last year and the cash position at the end of March stood at EUR 47.3 million. This is the companys best first quarter in terms of revenue, EBITDA, EBIT and cash flow since 2009, but the first quarter has historically been Eimskips weakest quarter of the year. Transported volume in the North Atlantic liner services grew by 8.1% from the first quarter 2015. There was good growth in transport related to Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway and especially good growth in Norway compared to their difficult first quarter last year. From now on we will be presenting changes in transported volume in the companys total forwarding services for both reefer and dry cargo forwarding, which grew by 5.9% from the same period last year. Eimskip and Royal Arctic Line, the national carrier of Greenland, have signed a letter of intent to connect Greenland with Eimskips international sailing system. The companies plan to invest in and operate three approximately 2,000 TEU container vessels designed and built for the special conditions in the North Atlantic and they will connect the transport systems of Greenland and Iceland with Scandinavia, Europe and North America. The new vessels will be more fuel efficient and better for the environment. This will be a strategic relationship that will create cost efficiency, increase capacity and is a future step for Eimskips fleet renewal program. The estimated time of designing and building the vessels is two to three years. Eimskip continues to evaluate strategic acquisitions and growth investment opportunities. The company is in the position to gain from its strong financial position as the ongoing consolidation in the industry continues. We are in advanced acquisition process and anticipate closing transactions in the third quarter. The second quarter looks favorable compared to last year. The EBITDA forecast for the year 2016 has been raised and is now in the range of EUR 49 to 53 million, from the range of EUR 46 to 50 million as presented last February. Estimated EBITDA related to new acquisitions and strategic investments and cost related to the transactions is not included in the current EBITDA forecast for the year. FURTHER INFORMATION English Latvian On 31 March 2016, the general meeting of the shareholders of Baltic International Bank decided to strengthen additionally its capital base by increasing it by 2 million euro, and on May 25 the increase of the share capital was registered with the Register of Enterprises of the Republic of Latvia. Thus, subscribed share capital of the Baltic International Bank currently amounts to 31.5 million euro, while the paid-up share capital amounts to 30.5 million euro. On 31 March 2016, equity capital of the Baltic International Bank amounted to 32.07 million euro, which complies with both the Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No. 648/2012 and the individual level stated by FCMC. Tier 1 capital ratio is 13.47%, while the total capital ratio amounted to 17.69%. During the first quarter of the year, liquidity ratios of the Baltic International Bank stayed at the record high levels - at the end of the quarter the liquidity ratio of the Bank reached 91%, which by 1.5 times exceeded the minimum internal standard value of 60%. The liquidity coverage ratio exceeded the mark of 600%, reaching 615% (614%) (the standard value is 70% for the period from 01.01.2016. to 31.12.2016.). Icelandic English Eimskip has decided to alter its organizational structure in order to align it to changes in the companys operational environment and increased international activities. The changes will be effective as from 1 June 2016. Eimskip has in recent months invested in companies both in Iceland and abroad and therefore it is essential to adapt the companys structure to new times and increased growth. At the same time as investments are made, it is necessary to secure efficiency of the companies that Eimskip has invested in, by increasing focus on harmonizing the human resource policies and the corporate culture within Eimskip. The main alteration is the creation of a new division of Human Resources, intended to coordinate the companys human resource strategy and corporate culture in all countries where Eimskip operates. Human Resources will be managed by Elin Hjalmsdottir, who will become a member of the Executive Management of the company. The executive management of International Operations and Logistics, managed by Bragi or Marinosson, will move to the Netherlands in order to follow up on the investments that have been made, along with the ones that are pending. The Ship Management will be incorporated into the Finance and Operation. Asbjorn Skulason will continue as a managing director of the German company Eimskip & KCie with residence in Germany. Eimskip & KCie is responsible for ship operation, maintenance and renewal of Eimskips vessel fleet. The Corporate Office will be responsible for legal matters, marketing, communication and events, along with investor relations and integration of projects related to possible investments. The company will be divided into these five main divisions, managed by the President and CEO, Gylfi Sigfusson: Finance and Operation where Hilmar Petur Valgardsson is Executive Vice President. Finance and Operation is responsible for financial management of Eimskip internationally, insurances and properties, operation of information systems, along with ship management which will now be a part of this division. North Atlantic Container Liner Services where Matthias Matthiasson is Vice President. North Atlantic Container Liner Services is responsible for sales and services related to the container liner services, as well as production management. Iceland Domestic Operations and Services where Gudmundur Nikulasson is Vice President. Iceland Domestic Operations and Services is responsible for operation of the domestic system in Iceland, i.e. offices around Iceland and operation of ports and terminals, trucking system, warehouses, cold storage facilities and ferries. International Operations and Logistics where Bragi Thor Marinosson is Executive Vice President. International Operations and Logistics is responsible for operation of Eimskip companies outside of Iceland and transport services worldwide. Its head office will be located in the Netherlands. Human Resources where Elin Hjalmsdottir will become a new Vice President. Human Resources is responsible for strategic planning, execution and follow up on Eimskips Human Resource matters worldwide. Elin has been working for Eimskip since 2004 and started with matters relating to remuneration and later recruitment. She was appointed manager of Human Resources in 2006 and in 2008 she became senior manager of Human Resources in Iceland. Following organizational changes in 2009 she became senior manager of Human Resources of Eimskip. Elin received a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration in 2002 and an MBA degree in 2005 from Reykjavik University. OVERLAND PARK, Kan., May 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Overland Contracting Inc. (OCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of engineering and construction company Black & Veatch, announced today it has formed a strategic alliance with Schletter Inc., an industry-leading provider of solar mounting systems, to address the growing market for high-quality solar photovoltaic (PV) installation projects. Schletter produces ground mount and rooftop solar mounting systems used in utility, commercial and residential solar applications. The collaboration will combine Schletters production expertise with OCIs deep engineering and construction experience to give clients a turnkey solution for large-scale solar photovoltaic deployments. Schletter is a recognized leader in providing the mounting systems that support the increasing use of solar technology to sustainably generate power, said Tom Phillips, Vice President and Director of Renewable Energy at Black & Veatch. Pairing their industry-leading racking solution with our reputation for the safe, effective and reliable construction of power projects will give our clients a significant advantage. Black & Veatchs 2015 Strategic Directions: Electric Industry Report found that a large number of U.S. electric utilities believe that by 2020, up to 10 percent of all U.S. power generation will come from distributed generation, including solar photovoltaic a rise from todays 5 percent of total generation. That will further raise demand for solar panels and the mounting hardware and installation necessary for their deployment. We believe this partnership will greatly benefit our clients, particularly those in the utility scale sector, said Dennis Brice, President and Chief Executive Officer of Schletter Inc. With Black & Veatchs reputation for employing world-class best practices in construction and Schletters reputation for manufacturing robust, high-quality ground mount systems, our customers will enjoy the benefits of an unparalleled, professional combination that will provide a best-in-class project completion cycle experience while complying with budgetary constraints. Editors notes: For more information on solar PV, please click the following link: http://bv.com/home/capabilities/market/energy/renewable-energy/solar-energy About Overland Contracting Inc. (OCI) Overland Contracting Inc., a Black & Veatch company, provides construction services in the open and merit shop markets. Since 1996, OCI has been an industry leader in building vital infrastructure. OCI provides a wide range of construction services in the areas of power generation, power delivery, telecommunications and water. Services are tailored to fit our clients project-specific needs and are available through direct hire or subcontract options. Follow OCI at http://www.overlandcontracting.com/ 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 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and in social media. About Schletter, Inc. Schletter (www.schletter.us) has designed, developed, and manufactured solar mounting products in the U.S. since 2008, while backed with more than 20-years of solar mounting experience from Schletter GmbH. Since opening its United States facility in Tucson, Arizona Schletter Inc. has manufactured more than 1 GW of installed PV mounting systems. Schletter Inc. offers products for roof mount and ground mount systems for residential, commercial, and utility scale photovoltaic systems. Schletter Inc. is an independent subsidiary of Schletter GmbH, which operates subsidiaries in eleven countries with more than 1,300 employees worldwide. For more information on Schletter Inc., please visit www.schletter.us. RENO, Nev., May 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scientists from DRI's Applied Innovation Center (AIC) today announced that they will be exhibiting alongside Renown Health doctors and community advocates next month at the 2016 BIO International Convention in San Francisco. As part of the Nevada State Pavilion, hosted by the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED), DRI faculty and Renown Health leadership will join more than 15,000 attendees and over 3,100 companies from around the world for the biotechnology and pharma industry's largest innovation, education, and business partnership convention. Leveraging the AIC's expertise in large-scale data analysis, DRI scientists are working with Renown doctors and staff to help the largest, locally owned not-for-profit healthcare network in Northern Nevada improve patient outcomes and create innovative solutions that extend from individual and family health, to community safety and governance, to the improved economic vitality of a healthy regional workforce. Supported by the Nevada's Knowledge Fund, the AIC is pioneering new approaches to population health dynamics and data driven health science solutions that will elevate the health, longevity, prosperity and productivity of people across the state. AIC participants will include: Joseph Grzymski, Ph.D., AIC Senior Director and associate research professor of computational biology and microbiology Brian Speicher, AIC Business Development Leader Jim Metcalf, AIC Population Health Sciences Leader and associate research scientist Justin Broglio, DRI Communications Officer Renown Health participants will include: Christos Galanopoulos, MD, MS, FACS, Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Renown Institute for Cancer Wendy Damonte, Vice President of Advocacy and Community Partnership Michele Henderson, Administrative Director Office of Research and Education For more information about the DRI Applied Innovation Center or Renown Health and to schedule interviews prior to or during the 2016 BIO International Convention please contact Justin Broglio. The Applied Innovation Center aims to aid and improve the new, knowledge-based economy in Nevada by integrating DRI's core areas of expertise in hydrologic, atmospheric, earth and ecosystem sciences with data analysis and informatics, visualization, modeling and simulation. DRI, the nonprofit research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education, is a world leader in environmental sciences through the application of knowledge and technologies to improve people's lives throughout Nevada and the world. For more information about DRI's cloud seeding program please visit www.dri.edu Renown Health is a locally governed and locally owned, not-for-profit integrated healthcare network serving a 17-county region comprised of northern Nevada, Lake Tahoe and northeast California. Renown is one of the region's largest private employers with a workforce of more than 6,000. It comprises three acute care hospitals, a rehabilitation hospital, skilled nursing, the area's most comprehensive medical group and urgent care network, and the region's largest and only locally owned not-for-profit insurance company, Hometown Health. Renown has a long tradition of being the first in the region to successfully perform leading-edge medical procedures. For more information, visit www.renown.org/about-us DENVER, May 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In celebration of National Donut Day, everyone who visits LaMars Donuts on Friday, June 3 will get a free donut with no purchase necessary, as LaMars partners with The Salvation Army in an annual fundraising campaign in western states. National Donut Day is celebrated the first Friday of every June, a tradition dating to 1917, when female Salvation Army volunteers known as Lassies made donuts for soldiers on the front lines of World War I. Salvation Army Lassies will visit Denvers VA Hospital on National Donut Day to provide donuts and coffee to Americas heroes. Donation kettles are being placed in participating LaMars locations in advance of National Donut Day and will remain throughout the month of June. Proceeds of the campaign will go toward Salvation Army programs supporting a variety of humanitarian causes. Additionally, LaMars stores are donating a portion of proceeds from Colorado stores the week of May 29 to Salvation Army programs that provide meals to children in need. The Salvation Armys tireless mission to keep children clothed, sheltered and fed is an enduring reminder that many of our neighbors are in need, LaMars spokesperson Temi Osifodunrin said. LaMars is inviting communities we serve into our shops for free donuts and ask only that they consider donating to a praiseworthy cause. In addition to the free donut offer on June 3, veterans and active duty military are invited to LaMars Donuts stores open on Memorial Day for a free donut and coffee. The free-donut offer on Memorial Day and National Donut Day is good for any available regular donut. LaMars Bars, Bizmarks, fritters and other products made without a center hole are exempted. LaMars is asking that patrons wishing to receive a free donut print off the Golden Ticket and present it on June 3. LaMars Donuts are made fresh every morning and produced by hand from start to finish, beginning with kneading of the dough to the made-from-scratch icing and glazes. About LaMars Donuts After developing his original donut recipe as a teenager in 1933, Ray Lamar opened the first LaMar's Donuts in 1960 in Kansas City, Missouri. Today the franchised chain has 25 stores in five states. LaMar's has won numerous awards and favorable reviews by such publications as The New Yorker and Gourmet magazine, and was the first donut to be reviewed and acclaimed by Zagat, the world's most trusted guide to restaurants. About The Salvation Army The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has supported those in need in His name without discrimination for more than 130 years in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year across 5,000 communities nationwide. For more information, please visit www.imsalvationarmy.org. Danish English COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 27, 2016 - Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY) announces that the share buy-back program, which was announced and initiated on May 26, 2016 (see company announcement no. 18 / 2016), has now been terminated, as the intended number of shares under the program has been repurchased. The program was executed in accordance with the provisions of European Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2273/2003 of 22 December 2003 (the Safe Harbour Regulation). The purpose of the program was to meet the Company's obligations arising from the share-based incentive program for the Executive Management. Under the program Bavarian Nordic A/S has bought back 11,144 shares, cf. the table below: Transaction date Number of shares Average purchase price, DKK Transaction Value, DKK May 26, 2016 5,644 257.70 1,454,452.03 May 27, 2016 5,500 253.67 1,395,203.70 Accumulated under the program 11,144 255.71 2,849,655.73 With the transactions stated above, Bavarian Nordic A/S owns a total of 11,144 own shares, corresponding to 0.04 % of the share capital. About Bavarian Nordic Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cancer immunotherapies and vaccines for infectious diseases, based on the Company's live virus vaccine platform. Through long-standing collaborations, including a collaboration with the U.S. government, Bavarian Nordic has developed a portfolio of vaccines for infectious diseases, including the non-replicating smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE, which is stockpiled for emergency use by the United States and other governments. The vaccine is approved in the European Union (under the trade name IMVANEX) and in Canada. Bavarian Nordic and its partner Janssen are developing an Ebola vaccine regimen, which has been fast-tracked, with the backing of worldwide health authorities, and a vaccine for the prevention and treatment of HPV. Additionally, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, Bavarian Nordic has developed a portfolio of active cancer immunotherapies, including PROSTVAC, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The company has partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb for the potential commercialization of PROSTVAC. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com or follow us on Twitter @bavariannordic. Forward-looking statements This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance and/or other information that is not historical information. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law. Contacts Rolf Sass Srensen Vice President Investor Relations (EU) Tel: +45 61 77 47 43 Seth Lewis Vice President Investor Relations (US) Tel: +1 978 341 5271 Company Announcement no. 20 / 2016 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 (Bloomberg) -- Singapores property market may be closer to a bottom than Hong Kong, according to LaSalle Investment Management, which manages more than $58 billion in real estate funds. Governments in Asias two most expensive residential markets have imposed curbs in recent years to tame prices and improve affordability. As demand has dropped amid a slowdown in the regions economies, home prices in both cities are in the midst of a correction. Hong Kong and Singapore are in a different cycle, LaSalles Chris Chow said in an interview. Although Hong Kong also has government austerity measures for residential, that hasnt really translated into actual price correction until recently even though the measures came in a couple of years before. In Hong Kong, prices surged 370 percent from their 2003 trough through a peak in September before the correction began, as fears of a slowing economy in China damped sales. Home prices in Hong Kong have dropped about 13 percent since September. Prices in Singapore have fallen 1.2 percent since September and 9 percent from the peak in 2013 as property curbs cooled demand. Singapore prices had surged 92 percent from 2003 until the record set in September 2013. Stepping Back In Hong Kong, LaSalle has been stepping back from investments for a few years even though they may yield good returns, because the risk is not justified at the current level, Chow said. A turning point in Singapores property cycle is probably closer and more advanced than Hong Kong, so we feel the market is bottoming out, Chow said. LaSalle is focusing on investments in China and Japan, especially in the logistics sector, Chow said. The asset manager, which has three logistics funds in Japan, is planning more investments in the country as modern warehouses are less than 10 percent of the total stock in Japan, so there is potential for upgrading demand, he said. As of March, LaSalle had about $7 billion of its assets invested in the Asia-Pacific region. LaSalle is planning to raise its fifth Asia Opportunity Fund after it has almost fully invested its fourth fund. It raised $585 million for its fourth fund in 2014, targeting investments in China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. Story continues (Corrects spelling of LaSalle in deck headline.) To contact the reporters on this story: Pooja Thakur in Singapore at pthakur@bloomberg.net, Klaus Wille in Singapore at kwille@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Andreea Papuc 2016 Bloomberg L.P. China's government has launched a renminbi-denominated sovereign bond in London, the first of its kind outside of the world's second biggest economy, Britain's Treasury said on Thursday. Beijing issued a bond worth 3.0 billion renminbi (RMB) ($460 million, 400 millions euros), the Treasury said in a statement. "Choosing London as the destination to issue this bond -- the first Chinese sovereign RMB bond issued outside of China -- reinforces the UK's strong economic and financial relationship with China," finance minister George Osborne said in the statement. The move comes after The People's Bank of China last year launched its own yuan-denominated bond in London -- in a debt sale worth 5.0 billion RMB, or yuan. It is said to have been the first time that a yuan-denominated bond auction has taken place outside of China and Hong Kong. Britain, which next month votes in a referendum on whether to remain part of the European Union, is seeking out China to be a key economic partner. "London's attractiveness to foreign investors is clear but its status as the world's leading financial centre has been hard won," Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne added Thursday. "It is crucial we do not put it at risk by voting to leave the EU on 23 June," he added. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative government has meanwhile been accused by the main opposition Labour party that its push for closer ties with China is holding back efforts to save 15,000 steel jobs. India's Tata Steel is selling its UK assets, blaming the move on a glut of cheap Chinese imports of the metal that is used in construction. Cameron's government meanwhile faces accusations that it has blocked higher EU tariffs. In a sign of ever-closer ties, Britain rolled out the red carpet for President Xi Jinping on a state visit last year which included a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II. But earlier this month it was revealed that during the visit, the queen was caught on camera describing some Chinese officials as "very rude" in a rare diplomatic gaffe by the British monarch. The visit yielded trade deals worth 40 billion, including China taking a one-third stake in the troubled project to build Britain's first nuclear plant in decades at Hinkley Point in southwest England. By Amanda Becker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton, seeking to dampen Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's growing appeal with working-class voters, on Tuesday accused him of having cheered on the 2008 housing market crash. Clinton's campaign released an ad with audio the presumptive Republican nominee had recorded in 2006 for his now-defunct Trump University venture. Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, said of a "bubble burst" that "I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy" property and "make a lot of money." Clinton's campaign and her surrogates have seized on the recording to argue that she would take better care of the U.S. economy. She is seeking to blunt the inroads that Trump has been making with voters in crucial states such as Florida and Ohio. Trump, in a statement released Tuesday afternoon, defended the comments as the mark of shrewd dealmaking, arguing that he would bring that sort of sharp business acumen with him to the White House. "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. Politicians have no idea how to do this they dont have a clue," he said. Trump has never held elected office and often touts his history as a businessman in response to accusations that he is unprepared to assume the presidency. Opinion polls in key states show Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, and Trump are in a tight race ahead of the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. Nationally, Trump has been rising in polls to pull roughly even with Clinton. Clinton surrogates from Ohio and Florida held a conference call with reporters about Trump's statements. Her campaign also hosted related events in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada, which will all be battlegrounds in November's general election. "How could Trump possibly champion the collapse of the housing market and our economy?" U.S. Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio said on the call. Clinton, meanwhile, is still fighting on two fronts as she seeks to wrap up her primary battle with Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont. Clinton and Sanders both campaigned on Tuesday in California, which is among six states holding Democratic nominating contests on June 7. California has more Democratic delegates than any other state, and Sanders has invested heavily there. Clinton needs to win California for a strong finish heading into her party's national convention in July and to dispel questions about whether she can unite the party after a drawn-out, increasingly bitter primary race. Clinton on Monday turned down an invitation by Fox News to debate Sanders in California despite having agreed previously to a May debate. Her campaign said Clinton's time would be better spent meeting directly with California voters. Sanders took Clinton to task, saying her refusal was an insult to California voters. In a television ad released by his campaign on Tuesday that will run ahead of California's primary, Sanders says the state is a "long way to Washington" but voters can "send them a message they can't ignore." Sanders on Tuesday also requested that the state of Kentucky review his loss there last week to Clinton by fewer than 2,000 votes. Kentucky's secretary of state, Alison Grimes, said in a statement that they will recanvass the results at all 120 county boards of election. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) By Matt Spetalnick and Thomas Wilson ISE-SHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama disparaged U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday, saying the billionaire seeks tweets over solutions and has "rattled" foreign leaders with his pronouncements. Obama accused the real estate mogul and former reality TV impresario of making cavalier comments for provocative effect, and he urged all presidential candidates to take the high road in a boisterous and harsh campaign. Weighing in on the race to succeed him with his strongest broadside yet against Trump, Obama said fellow leaders from the Group of Seven nations "are surprised by the Republican nominee". "They are not sure how seriously to take some of his pronouncements but they are rattled by them," the president told a news conference on the sidelines of a G7 summit in central Japan. "For good reason, because a lot of the proposals he has made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude, or an interest in getting tweets and headlines, instead of actually thinking through what it is that is required to keep America safe, secure and prosperous and the world on an even keel." Many U.S. allies fear Trump will feed insecurity in countries worried about China's growing power, embolden nationalists and authoritarians, and unravel Obama's "pivot" to the Asia-Pacific. Trump has also been accused of racism and bigotry for saying he would build a wall to keep out illegal Mexican immigrants and would temporarily ban Muslims from the United States. He has also made comments considered demeaning to women. The race between Trump on the one hand and the Democratic candidates, front-runner Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state, and Senator Bernie Sanders, for the Nov. 8 election has become increasingly bitter and personal. Trump this week took his use of accusations against Clinton to levels unprecedented in modern U.S. presidential campaigns, making incendiary statements that television networks cannot resist covering, giving him hours of free media and putting his opponents on the defensive. Obama said it was natural for journalists in such a campaign to elevate "every roll, blink, speed bump, conflict, trash talkin'", but urged, instead, that candidates from both sides stick to the issues. "Grumpiness arises where folks feel that we're not talking about issues but personalities or character." Obama, a Democrat, issued his most extensive analysis to date of his own party's race, while refusing to take sides. He rejected a suggestion that beating Trump would get more difficult as the two parties' conventions approach in July, a period when the Democratic victor can focus on fighting Trump instead of the fellow Democrat, adding that the Democrat battle was tough. "Arguing against your friends is more draining than arguing against political opponents," Obama said. He said there were no big ideological differences between Clinton, an establishment candidate who is a former First Lady and senator, and Sanders, a firebrand populist who identifies as a Democratic Socialist. The president said it was important that the race eventually end in a way "that leaves both sides feeling proud of what theyve done." (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Thomas Wilson; Editing by William Mallard, Robert Birsel) Before jihadists seized his hometown and turned his school into a prison, Syrian teenager Ahmad Mohammad never imagined he would be excited about sitting his final exams. After a long wait, the 17-year-old and around 650 other teenagers were bussed into the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh this month to finally try to obtain their school diplomas. They travelled around 200 kilometres (125 miles) from several towns in the north of Raqa province that were retaken from the Islamic State (IS) group by Kurdish militia in June. Mohammad said he had not seen the inside of a classroom since early 2014, when jihadists captured his hometown of Tal Abyad on the border with Turkey and began using it as a gateway to their Raqa stronghold. "They turned our school into a prison operated by Daesh fighters," he told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "My heart would grow heavy when I walked past my school, not allowed to go in. I would remember the good times with classmates the war has scattered across the globe," he said. "Going back to school brought me back to life... The future looked very dark for me, but that changed today," he added. Around two million children do not attend school in Syria, the United Nations says, five years into a complex war that has killed more than 270,000 people and sent millions into exile. In areas under its control, IS has enforced its own self-styled curriculum of religious education coupled with military training. - 'We felt like outsiders' - In Hasakeh province, schools are run by either the government or Kurdish authorities who declared an autonomous region in areas under their control after the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Many of the students who travelled to the region brought heartrending tales of the obstacles they faced to get an education under IS. "My father is a teacher and he continued teaching us in secret" after school was banned, said a teenager from the town of Suluk in Raqa province. Tahami Abdullah, a school official in Tal Abyad, said when fighters first entered the town "they asked for teaching hours to be reduced and for some of the subjects to be dropped". "Then they abolished education completely and transformed schools either into prisons, missions or religious police posts," he said. He said IS forced many to sign a pledge promising not to teach the Syrian national curriculum. "They had their own special courses they would teach in their Islamic schools and missions," Abdullah said. "But no one taught or studied there except for their members and the families of the foreign fighters. We felt like outsiders." Ibrahim Khalil from Tal Abyad said he had not held a pen or notebook in several years because he was "so afraid IS would cut off my hand." "Daesh came to spread ignorance, but our will is stronger than theirs and we will study and continue our education." - IS 'wants us to be ignorant' - As state institutions collapsed across swathes of Syria, alternative methods of education have filled the void. The autonomous Kurdish administration that has managed parts of northern Syria since 2012 run their own schools and teach the long-banned Kurdish language. And opposition-run local councils manage schools in rebel-held areas. In the battleground second city of Aleppo, schools in opposition-held areas have often been forced to shut for weeks at a time due to intense government bombardment. The frequent closures as well as mass displacement have sparked fears among rights groups of a "lost generation" of Syrian students. Ittihad al-Hassan, an 18-year-old female student from Tal Abyad, said she was supposed to sit her ninth grade exams two years ago. But when IS overran her hometown, the jihadists "banned learning and everything else... because they wanted us to be ignorant." "They forced us to cover up completely with a face veil. It was even forbidden for us to show our hands." She said sitting her exam reminded her of "safer days". Nirouda Mohammed, a Kurdish student who fled from Raqa city to Tal Abyad, said finally being able to sit her exams was a dream come true. "I missed sitting at a school desk," she said. "I'm confident that tomorrow, a new sun will rise over my country." The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out Assessment Quantile Measures for Math Added to Kansas Student Assessments Kansas will be working with a research and education technology company to add an additional dimension to how students are assessed. The State Department of Education has signed a $197,000 contract with MetaMetrics, which has developed scientific measures for academic achievement in reading and math. Two of its best-known products are Quantile Framework for Mathematics and Lexile Framework for Reading. For the past five years, some students in the state have received Lexile measures from the Kansas Reading Assessment. Starting next fall, those same students will receive both the Lexile measures and Quantile measures through the Kansas Assessment Program, which tests students against state learning standards. The new measures have been put in place for students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10. There are two types of Lexile measures: a person's reading ability and the text's difficulty. Students who are tested against state standards receive a Lexile reader measure from the Kansas Reading Assessment. Books and other texts receive a Lexile text measure from a MetaMetrics software tool called the Lexile Analyzer, which describes the book's reading demand or complexity. When used together, the two measures are intended to help match a reader with reading material that is at an appropriate difficulty or will at least help give an idea of how well a reader should comprehend text. The reader should encounter some level of difficulty with the text, but not enough to get frustrated. The Lexile reader measure is used to monitor reader progress. Quantile measures perform a similar job but for mathematics. One Quantile measure describes what the student is prepared to learn next; the other describes the difficulty or demand level in learning for that skill or concept. As the company explained in a prepared statement, "Both measures are represented as a number followed by the letter Q on the Quantile scale," for example, 640Q. The contract is intended to cover the expense of a research study to link the Kansas math assessments to the Quantile scale. This is a common starting point in state use of Lexile or Quantile measures. The company said it has run similar operations in 25 states and two dozen countries. The work is being undertaken as Kansas begins implementing a new educational philosophy, "Kansans Can," with an emphasis on learning success for each student. "Kansas' commitment to its new vision for education requires that teachers be able to target instruction to the academic needs of each student," said Commissioner of Education Randy Watson. "We see these measures as being able to help guide educators as they develop these individual learning strategies." By Krishna N. Das and Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh police are reviewing a nearly forgotten 2013 cyber heist at the nations 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. Story continues 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. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff in Singapore and Jim Finkle in New York; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and David Greising) Papua New Guinea has said it will close an Australian-run immigration centre which houses migrants heading to Australia. Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said the Manus Processing Centre would close after his country's Supreme Court ruled the detentions breached the constitution. Manus holds people attempting to get Australia, many of whom are picked up before they reach the mainland - either at sea or from the country's outlying islands. Most of the detainees on Manus, and at a camp on the island of Nauru, are refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East, Afghanistan and South Asia. The Manus centre is located on a military base once controlled by Australia - before Papua New Guinea gained independence, and was set up to allow asylum cases to be processed offshore. Australia's hard-line policy of processing cases away from its own territory has been strongly criticised by the United Nations and human rights agencies. Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said his country would not be accepting the 800 asylum seekers detained on Manus and stressed the success of the programme. "As the Australian government has consistently acted, we will work with our PNG partners to address the issues raised by the Supreme Court of PNG," said Mr Dutton. Prime Minister O'Neill said it was possible the 800 detainees could be allowed to stay on Papua New Guinea. The detention centre on the tiny isolated island of Nauru, northeast of Australia, houses about 500 people and has been widely criticised for harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse. Many of the detainees are understood to have self-harmed. The Australian immigration minister confirmed that a 23-year-old man from Iran had set himself on fire on Nauru and was due to be evacuated. By Krishna N. Das and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh has asked SWIFT to help its police question technicians sent by the global financial network to Dhaka to connect a new bank transaction system months before February's $81 million cyber heist, according to a source and an e-mail seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Bangladesh's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) told SWIFT in the e-mail sent on Monday that it wants to interview the technicians in Dhaka next week. They were sent to Bangladesh from "around the world" in the second half of last year, it said. Investigators believe the technicians introduced some vulnerabilities when they connected SWIFT to the South Asian country's first real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system. "We have some specific and tangible evidence against the technicians," said a CID source with knowledge of the investigation into the heist. "They have to defend themselves. The technicians may have acted without the knowledge of SWIFT, in their personal capacity." Apart from the nearly half a dozen technicians, some of them contract employees, Bangladesh has also invited senior SWIFT officials to Dhaka, said the source, who declined to be named because of the ongoing investigations. The source declined to identify the technicians or give their nationalities. SWIFT spokeswoman Natasha de Teran declined to comment. Sources in Bangladesh have earlier told Reuters the technicians did not appear to have followed their own procedures to ensure the system was secure, because of which SWIFT messaging at the Bangladesh Bank was widely accessible, including remote access with only a simple password. A Bangladesh government-appointed panel investigating the theft has accused SWIFT of committing a number of mistakes in connecting up the local network. SWIFT has rejected the allegations. It has said its financial messaging system remains secure and had not been breached by the hackers during the attack on Bangladesh Bank. The RTGS, which enables domestic banks and the central bank to settle large transfers between themselves, was installed at Bangladesh Bank in October last year and then connected to SWIFT. In February, hackers sent fraudulent messages, ostensibly from the central bank in Dhaka, on the SWIFT system to the New York Federal Reserve seeking to transfer nearly $1 billion from Bangladesh Bank's account there. Most of the transfers were blocked but about $81 million was sent to a bank in the Philippines and much of that money remains missing. (Additional reporting by Ruma Paul and Jim Finkle in Boston; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) A British man missing after a speedboat capsized in Thailand had been celebrating his first anniversary with his wife. Divers are continuing to search for 46-year-old Jason Parnell, who had been aboard the craft when it overturned off the popular tourist island of Koh Samui. His wife Puja, who was with him on the Angthong Discovery Tour, was rescued. Another Briton was among at least three people killed after the vessel was struck by a large wave on Thursday. She has been named by Thai police as 28-year-old Monica Cozma. A German man and a woman from Hong Kong were also among the dead. It is thought there were other British people on board but they are believed to have been released from hospital following treatment for injuries. There had been 32 passengers and four crew aboard when the vessel flipped over in strong winds and rough seas as it returned from a day trip to Mu Ko Ang Thong marine park. Some passengers were thrown from the boat while others became trapped underneath. At least one person was pulled to safety after rescuers used an axe to smash through the hull. Nearby fishing and tourist boats pulled many of the passengers from the water. The boat's captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, has been detained by police and faces a possible charge of reckless endangerment causing death, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He insists he had asked all tourists to wear a lifejacket but some had taken them off during the trip. Travel agent Amm Pontfuk, who has worked with Angthong Discovery for a number of years, said the boat had not gone out in the days before the tragedy because of rough conditions. She said: "This company is the number one for my travel agency, I have sent the manager customers for years, I have known him a long time. "He is very concerned and professional, normally in bad weather he doesn't go out - he did not go out for three days already - and yesterday he thought the weather was OK and that was why he went out. Story continues "The wind blew very, very strong and it made the boat go under the waves and flip." A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We are supporting the family of a British woman who has sadly died following a boat accident near Koh Samui, Thailand. "We are also supporting the family of a British man who is missing following the same incident. We remain in contact with local authorities in Thailand for further information." By Rania El Gamal and Alex Lawler DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - For those seeking guidance on Saudi Arabia's thinking regarding the future of OPEC, the last few weeks' agenda of the new Saudi energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, might offer a few clues. Since his appointment on May 7 as head of a new mega-ministry - overseeing energy, industry, mining, atomic power and renewables - Falih has toured six state firms, met the South Korean premier, the Canadian foreign minister and Gulf industry ministers, and opened a gas turbine plant. To fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, that speaks volumes. Unlike his predecessor Ali al-Naimi, Falih may not have much time for OPEC. The group meets on June 2, its first talks with the new minister in attendance. For oil-price hawks such as Iran, Algeria and Venezuela, fears are growing that the 56-year-old OPEC is losing its role as an output-setting cartel and turning into a talking shop. "Saudi Arabia killed OPEC and buried it," a senior OPEC source from a non-Gulf producer said. "In OPEC, they go for (including) Indonesia and Gabon to convert OPEC to a forum," the source said, referring to OPEC's decision, supported by Riyadh, to include minor producers. As a historic reminder, OPEC last decided to change output in December 2008, when it cut supply amid slowing demand due to a global financial crisis. Between 1998 and 2008, OPEC made 27 changes to output. For decades, Saudi Arabia, Vienna-based OPEC's largest producer and de facto leader, had a preferred range for oil prices and, if unhappy, would try to orchestrate a group-wide production cut or increase. But a technology-driven spike in non-OPEC output such as that of U.S. shale and growing fuel efficiency led Riyadh to conclude that the era of fast oil growth might be ending. Hence, in the past two years Riyadh has stuck to a strategy of fighting for market share, thinking that pumping more oil now at low prices is better than producing less in the future. Many OPEC members - apart from Riyadh's allies in the Gulf, such as Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates - were unprepared for that shift, with their finances crippled by heavy debts and stagnant production. Venezuela and Nigeria pressed Saudi Arabia to agree to price-boosting output cuts, and even Riyadh's arch-rival Iran is signalling it will be ready for renewed dialogue on freezing production once it reaches pre-sanctions levels. "Of course, the issue of the role of OPEC can be raised. Some members want OPEC to play a more significant role in managing the market," said an OPEC delegate from one of the main producing countries in the Middle East. Earlier this year, Iran refused to join an initiative to freeze output but signalled it would be part of a future effort once its production had recovered sufficiently. An OPEC watcher said: "Other producers are going to want to come and revive the freeze agreement. Iran is now at pre-sanctions levels. And though the worst has been avoided, the reality is that many of these producers remain under real stress." MULTI-TASKING Saudi and Iranian OPEC delegates clashed earlier this month over long-term strategy, with Riyadh saying OPEC should not manage the market and Tehran arguing that the group had been created to perform precisely that task. The tensions come amid a backdrop of worsening relations between Riyadh and Tehran, which are fighting proxy wars in the Middle East, including in Yemen and Syria. To be sure, OPEC has weathered internal strife and conflict before - such as in the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq were at war. It has been through periods that saw it fail to influence prices such as the 1990s - only to return and control the market. But it is hard to see OPEC regaining its grip, unless the Saudi position - driven by Falih's ultimate boss, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman - changes dramatically. Falih's tasks - his ministry is to oversee half of the economy, not to mention plans for a share listing in state oil giant Saudi Aramco - are likely to divert more of his time away from OPEC. "That is going to keep Falih busy and I imagine his priorities will be economic reforms and integrating new portfolios," said Richard Mallinson, geopolitical risk analyst at the think-tank Energy Aspects. OPEC has no supply target. At its last meeting in December the group scrapped its output ceiling of 30 million barrels per day, which it had been exceeding for months. OPEC sources and analysts say they expect the group's meeting next Thursday simply to roll over output policy, which OPEC lacks anyway as its members pump at will. "I don't think there will be a change in position. There will be no agreement on an output freeze," said another OPEC delegate from a key Middle East oil producer. For a busy man such as Falih, long discussions among fellow ministers with no guaranteed serious outcome might seem pointless. So could he simply stand up and say Saudi Arabia sees no need to remain part of OPEC? "Leaving international groups isn't something most countries do lightly. I don't believe the Saudis think OPEC will never be relevant again. Plus, it is hard to see what they would stand to gain from it," Mallinson said. (Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson) The Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld a landmark ruling declaring the state's death penalty unconstitutional and abolishing capital punishment. The decision, passed by five votes to two on Thursday, overturned death sentences imposed on Russell Peeler Jr and ordered a lower court to impose a term of life in prison without the possibility of release. Peeler had been on death row for ordering the 1999 killings of a woman and her eight-year-old son in Bridgeport. The justices were reconsidering a 4-3 ruling made in August last year in the appeal of another death row inmate, Eduardo Santiago. That ruling declared capital punishment no longer complied with the state constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. At the time, the justices wrote dissenting opinions which included highly unusual criticism of each other. In 2012, a law passed by Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy and the Democrat-controlled legislature abolished the death penalty, but only for future murders. That left 11 men, including Peeler and Santiago, still facing execution. The ruling made last year found essentially that it would not be fair to execute remaining death row inmates when lawmakers had determined the death penalty was no longer needed. Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane said prosecutors will now move to get the death row inmates resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. Opponents of the death penalty have praised the ruling. Sheila Denion, project director for the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty, said it "takes the prudent step of ending the state's failed death penalty and the possibility of any future executions". Connecticut's death penalty has been widely criticised by advocates and opponents, because state law allowed for multiple appeals which virtually assured inmates would not be executed for decades. The state's last execution was of serial killer Michael Ross in 2005, but only after he dropped all of his appeals. Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court heard legal arguments in a case that could see the state's 396 death row inmates having their sentences commuted to life terms. Pilot Nadezhda Savchenko has told Ukrainians she will become the country's next president if that's what they want her to do. The 35-year-old was captured in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists two years ago while serving in a volunteer Ukrainian battalion. She reappeared in Russian custody, with the Russians saying she had entered the country illegally but Ms Savchenko was adamant she had been kidnapped and brought in against her will. In March, she was convicted of acting as a spotter for mortar fire that killed two Russian journalists and was jailed for 22 years. But she was released on Wednesday and traded for two Russian military men convicted in Ukraine, receiving a rapturous welcome in Kiev from Ukrainians proud of the defiance she showed while on trial in Russia. On Friday she held a news conference where she told reporters she wanted to go back to her job as a military pilot. But she also said she was willing to launch a political career if it would help Ukraine escape its separatist war and political and economic problems. She said: "Ukrainians, if you need me to become president, then I will become president. "I don't completely believe that our people won't vote for buckwheat (empty election promises from candidates). "Honestly I wouldn't say I want (the presidency) but I'll do everything that is needed (for Ukraine), and I'll go this way and will work with dedication if that's what people need." At her press conference, Ms Savchenko called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "d***head" and said Crimea could be returned to Ukraine if a Third World War broke out. While she was in jail, Ms Savchenko was named a lawmaker in what is now the main opposition party. And she has also slammed a key part of current president Petro Poroshenko's ceasefire deal granting pro-Russian separatists autonomy in eastern Ukraine. Her celebrity profile in Ukraine may make politics difficult for Mr Poroshenko. Story continues However, one Ukrainian politician from Mr Poroshenko's party said Ms Savchenko's main threat would be to opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who currently leads opinion polls. "No one knows to what direction she will move. Ms Tymoshenko herself would like to get rid of her," the lawmaker told Reuters. A spokesman for the opposition leader said: "(Savchenko) is a strong person and in the future could become a strong politician." Analyst Volodymyr Fesenko added: "In the short term there is no threat for Poroshenko and Tymoshenko. "But if there's a presidential election this autumn or in early 2017 - she could be one of the potential candidates and even could very likely win this election. "No one knows which way it will go and therefore everyone is afraid - Poroshenko, Tymoshenko and others. "Savchenko is the choice for many. She is militant patriot." (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Tuesday requested a recount in the close Kentucky presidential primary against front-runner Hillary Clinton, state election officials said on Tuesday. The recanvass will take place at all 120 county boards of election on Thursday, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Grimes. Clinton won Kentucky by just 1,924 votes, according to the unofficial totals posted on the secretary of state's elections page. She won Jefferson County, which includes Louisville and is the largest by far of the state's 120 counties, by nearly 10 times that amount In his filing on Tuesday, Sanders requested a full check and recount of every voting machine and absentee ballot from all precincts in the counties, according to Grimes' website. "My office is notifying all county boards of elections that Sen. Sanders has requested a recanvass, and we are reminding them of the laws and procedures to be followed," Grimes said in a statement. Clinton, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, narrowly defeated Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, in the May 17 presidential nominating contest in Kentucky, a state she had not been expected to win. A Sanders campaign representative said the recount request was important for the integrity of the Democratic presidential contest, in which Sanders is continuing to challenge Clinton despite her formidable lead in the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination. "I think the point is just transparency, it's not just about Kentucky," Sanders aide Larry Cohen said on CNN. "It's about trying to create a context, now and at the (Democratic) convention, that these primaries and caucuses need transparency, they need to be authentic, they need to build confidence among voters, particularly younger voters, that this is not rigged." Sanders has generally drawn more support from young voters than Clinton. (Reporting by Steve Bittenbender and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) By Ahmed Aboulenein CAIRO (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. "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) ATHENS (Reuters) - Russia and the European Union need to build a 'an equal and fair dialogue' as partners to overcome their differences, President Vladimir Putin said in an article published in a Greek newspaper on Thursday on an eve of a visit to the country. Western financial sanctions were imposed on Moscow in 2014 over its role in the Ukraine conflict, where it annexed Crimea. Russia has imposed counter sanctions against West, including a ban on agricultural produce. Putin will be in Athens on Friday, and also visit Greece's monastic community at Mount Athos in northern Greece on Saturday. Greece, along with Cyprus, are among EU member states with close relations to Moscow. They are lukewarm towards sanctions on Russia but comply. "Russia's starting point is the need to build an equal and fair dialogue of partners with the European Union on a wide range of issues, - from simplifying visa processes to building energy alliances," he wrote in Greece's Kathimerini newspaper. While the EU did not appear to feel the same way, Putin said, 'there is no problem which cannot be solved'. "To return to this multi-faceted relationship of partners we must reject the flawed logic that one party has the upper hand. Each side must seriously take into account the views and the concerns of the other," he wrote. Singling out energy and transport, Putin said Moscow wanted to deepen its cooperation with Greece. Russia has been the main gas supplier for Greece and Putin said his country has always counted on its deep ties with Athens to push ahead with its plans to boost its gas supplies Europe. Having tried and so far failed to bolster pipeline links with the continent through Bulgaria and Turkey, Russia's Gazprom is running out of options to secure its strategic entry point into southern Europe, and with it any chance of cutting Ukraine out of the picture this decade. [ID:nL8N16C3N1] The company announced in March new plans with Greece's state natural gas utility DEP and Italian utility Edison to supply natural gas along the seabed of the Black Sea into Greece and Italy, from where it could be sold in Europe. "The issue of our energy resources being carried through southern corridors to the countries of the European Union is still on the agenda," Putin said. He said that Russia could also help Greece upgrade its transport infrastructure and made a reference to Russian Railways (RZD) [IPO-RZHD.L] which is interested in buying the country's railway operator TRAINOSE and its second biggest port in Thessaloniki . RZD and two other suitors submitted an initial interest for TRAINOSE last month and the deadline for the binding bids ends on June 22. RZD is also one of eight companies shortlisted for the acquisition of a 67 percent stake in the Thessaloniki Port where final bids are expected at the end of September. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Michele Kambas; Editing by Toby Chopra) People stand outside a 7-Eleven convenience store outside the headquarters of Seven & I Holdings in Tokyo January 9, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo (Reuters) 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 <3382.T> 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 BankLibrary of Congress
Entrance to a movie house in 1939 on Beale Street. aBeale Street Dynastya is a new 300-page book on the history of Beale from the end of the Civil War to the cusp of World War II.
SHARE By Chris Herrington Memphis tends to have a strained relationship with its public history. Home of the Blues and Birthplace of Rock and Roll are good slogans and defensible claims, but the highlights can grow repetitive. On more contested terrain, a statue of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis still looms over Front Street even though Davis post-war Memphis tenure was brief and uneventful. The memorial to Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest facing Union ironic? is more hagiography than history, declining to mention his role in the slave trade, among other matters. Most Memphians know figures such as Robert Church, Edward Crump and Ida B. Wells if at all only by biographical shorthand: First black millionaire in the South, with a park bearing his name at Beale and Fourth; political boss, with a statue in Overton Park; or crusading anti-lynching journalist. I think because of the King assassination, theres a leeriness in Memphis with regard to history. Because its painful; it hasnt been kind to Memphis, says Preston Lauterbach, author of the new book Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis, which will be published by W.W. Norton & Co. on March 30. But in Beale Street Dynasty, a quick-flipping 300-page survey of the history of Beale and its environs from the end of the Civil War to the cusp of World War II, Lauterbach offers an engaging, surprising, at times edifying tour of a civic past that would enhance most any Memphians sense of place. The subtitle hints that this isnt a typical Beale book: Sex comes before song, as it did in the streets chronology. And Gayoso Street, whose long-demolished brownstone-style brothels provided much of the capital that built Beale, figures nearly as strongly. Without Gayoso, there is no Beale, says Lauterbach. The degree to which sex on Gayoso Street underwrote song on Beale Street is really one of the key tensions in the whole plot: That, to me, was a revelation. And although musical figures such as W.C. Handy, the Memphis Jug Band and Jelly Roll Morton make appearances, race and politics also loom large in the story, as Lauterbach rescues a mostly forgotten history that often runs counter to the citys modern perception, or self-perception. While Crump a machine-style politician on a par with New Yorks Boss Tweed or Louisianas Huey Long emerges midway through as the books chief antagonist, and Wells perhaps its conscience, it is the Church family that is the dynasty of the books title. The Robert Church whom Lauterbach depicts here isnt just the Souths first black millionaire, hes a former slave who was the acknowledged, even apparently favored, son of a Memphis aristocrat. As Lauterbach writes with blunt elegance on the books first page: He belonged to his father not only as a son but as a slave. Light enough to pass for white and this is the kind of book that underscores how all racial language should be packaged in quotes even though he chose not to, this gave Church a familiarity with the elite white world. He built his wealth on brothels white brothels, a feat perhaps without precedent and then converted this wealth into an African-American political family in the Jim Crow South that helped run a Southern city and hobnobbed with presidents. Churchs son, Robert Church Jr., would go on to even greater political power, helping Tennessee go Republican a first for a Southern state since Reconstruction in the 1920 presidential election, and then controlling federal appointments in Tennessee as a consequence of his efforts. The Struggle for the Soul of Memphis refers to a couple of things, Lauterbach says. It refers to the constant controversies and battles around race and racial issues. It refers also specifically to the culminating struggle between the Crump machine and the Church machine. What is this city going to be? Is this city going to be free, or is this city going to be a dictatorship? The political atmosphere in Memphis up to the culmination of the Crump-Church struggle might surprise. If you look at the history of black voting in Memphis, it was absolutely the most progressive Southern city with regard to political rights in that time period, Lauterbach says. Up until the late 1930s, it had been (unusual) in the South for African-Americans at least in terms of political rights and some other opportunities. Black people couldnt vote anywhere else without risking their lives. Beale Street Dynasty is both good history and a good yarn. In it, off to the side, youll encounter a white scion of wealth and privilege who passes for black in order to help run Churchs brothels and vice trade, Irish heavies, a brick-throwing gang of colored orphans headquartered on the bayou named the Hot Dozen, a four-fingered jewel thief, a mule named Napoleon Bonaparte and much more. The most compelling sections may be the early ones, which capture a particularly wide-open period in Memphis from the beginnings of Reconstruction through the aftermath of the yellow fever epidemic. Its this portion of the book that perhaps yearns most for adaptation. It could be a Southern answer to Martin Scorseses Gangs of New York or HBOs similarly titled Boardwalk Empire. Yellow fever hit Memphis just as Reconstruction was being abandoned, delaying the renewed oppression that gripped most of the rest of the South in part by draining the city of much of its white population. While everything in the South is moving backward in terms of African-American civil rights, the exact opposite was happening in Memphis in the 1880s, Lauterbach says. Where not only did you have African-American Memphis votes, but you had African-American elected officials. And perhaps most shockingly, you had white people in power who dealt respectfully and straightforwardly with their African-American constituents. It absolutely was an exceptional set of circumstances in the South. The leading figure in Memphis in this era was David Park Pappy Hadden, who is Lauterbachs richest discovery and may be yours, too, a bearded, tobacco-spitting cotton merchant/judge/de facto mayor who calls everyone Colonel and presides over the city with a jovial but near-total command. (Worst place in the world. St. Louis people who enter this court leave hope behind, he tells one unlucky visitor.) He was the most fun, Lauterbach says. Church really (messed) with my head, but Pappy to me was just fun. Hes got the Shakespearian flair, and it seemed like the city really got him and appreciated him. He was the progressive leader of Memphis politics during that very bizarre period of the 1880s. He was brilliant, and they ran him off for being too aligned with the African-American vote and African-American constituency. By that time the city had repopulated from the yellow fever. There were a lot of new people from Arkansas and Mississippi and elsewhere in Tennessee, and I think people just got there and scratched their heads. Theres a black councilman? Theres a white leader who abides all this? And it freaked them out, and that was the end of him as a political leader. A Virginia native, Lauterbach lived in Memphis for several years. (Disclosure: We were co-workers for a spell at Contemporary Media, parent company of The Memphis Flyer and Memphis magazine, where we were respectively on staff.) He returned to his home state from Memphis more than two years ago, alongside his Memphian wife, but returns this week as a visiting scholar at Rhodes College, where he will keynote a symposium on Beale Street in advance of the books publication. Beale Street Dynasty is a follow-up to Lauterbachs first book, 2011s celebrated The Chitlin Circuit and the Road to Rock N Roll, though Lauterbach had settled on Beale as his next topic even before the pitch for The Chitlin Circuit was sold. I was reading material on Robert Church in the public library. I had already lived there long enough to be familiar with his reputation as the Souths first black millionaire. But I didnt know anything else about him. Whatever I had gotten a hold of, it really stuck with me and intrigued me. I was fighting off illness at the time, and I remember having these vivid, weird fever dreams of Robert Church and old Beale Street. Perhaps the best that can be said of Beale Street Dynasty is that it can take the reader to the same place, no illness required. May 27, 2016 - Graduates of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center react to a standing round of applause from family, friends and guests during Friday's commencement service. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal) SHARE May 27, 2016 Rhea Seddon, MD, delivers the keynote address to more than 150 graduates of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center on Friday. Seddon, a 1973 graduate, went on to become one of America's first women in space. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal) Memphian Rhea Seddon takes advantage of a brief period of weightlessness during zero gravity training to show off her "strength" with fellow astronaut Robert Gibson on June 6, 1979 while aboard a specially equipped KC-135 aircraft. The two were married in 1981. (NASA photo) By Sydney Neely, sydney.neely@commercialappeal.com One of America's first women in space delivered the keynote address to more than 150 graduates at the commencement ceremony of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Medicine Friday at the Cook Convention Center South Hall. Dr. Rhea Seddon, who was one of the first six female astronaut candidates selected by NASA in January 1978, graduated from the College of Medicine five years earlier in 1973. After becoming an astronaut in 1979, she spent 19 years with NASA, completing three space shuttle flights and logging a total of 30 days in space. "I know how difficult it has been to get here," Seddon told the graduates. "The money, the sleepless nights, the money it will all be worth it some day I promise." Seddon is a member of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame last year. She also came to the centennial celebration for the College of Medicine in 2011. Among the proud parents in the audience was Jesselyen Ford who was there to see her daughter, Dr. Allison Rose Ford, walk across the stage. Jesselyen Ford said it was one of the best days of her life. She recalled when her daughter won Student of the Year in the sixth grade at Delano Elementary School and walked across the stage where her teacher asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. The 11-year-old said she wanted to be a rich doctor. Now, more than a decade later, her daughter, who completed her undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt, has 'MD' at the end of her name and plans to become a psychiatrist. "I'm extremely proud," Ford said. The College of Medicine was the last college to hold its commencement ceremony at UTHSC. Graduations started May 12. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center has six colleges Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Health Professions, Nursing, Pharmacy and Medicine but the College of Medicine is the largest with 158 students graduating Friday. "I think we're delighted to have a new bunch of doctors to serve America," said Dr. David Stern, the Robert Kaplan executive dean and vice chancellor for clinical affairs for the College of Medicine. About half of the doctors from the College of Medicine will stay in Tennessee, according to Stern. "I'm delighted that they're going on to the next phase of their career, which is as the keynote speaker said, is 'Anything on earth or in space,'" Stern said. Class president James Randolph Humble said the graduation was bittersweet. "I'm going to miss everything that I've seen, but I'm so glad to be able to know that the times I've had here will be able to guide me as I go forward into the next phase of things," Humble said. By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal Bond was set at $1.5 million this week for a man charged with participating in a heroin ring near three North Memphis schools. George Tate, 44, is one of 19 people indicted on heroin conspiracy charges within 1,000 feet of Klondike Elementary School, Caldwell Elementary and Northside High School. A Shelby County grand jury charged that between May 12, 2015 and March 5, 2016, three of the defendants 36-year-old Jermaine "Trell" Edwards, 38-year-old Derrick "D" Bond and 38-year-old Melvin "Cha Chi" Scott primarily ran the operation and agreed to acquire heroin to sell to others in the drug trafficking organization. Tate, whose bond was set Thursday by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft, would acquire heroin from either Edwards or Bond for redistribution, the grand jury said. The Shelby County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit used a wiretap and video surveillance to gather evidence about the group. Tate was heard on the phones of Bond and Edwards attempting to buy heroin, and authorities had a pole camera overlooking Tate's residence, where he appeared to meet with heroin users for drug transactions, according to testimony at Tate's bond hearing. Another defendant, 37-year-old Johnny "J-Dollar" Dunn, was charged with storing and distributing heroin from his residence within the school zone. Master Roy Jefferson served the drug-trafficking organization as a mid-level distributor who would buy heroin from Bond and redistribute it from his residence, also in the school zone, according to the indictment. On March 5, the Shelby County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit intercepted a package containing 1,072.1 grams of heroin that flew out of a car in which Edwards, Bond and 46-year-old David "Big Dave" Reed were fleeing, according to an affidavit. Before getting into the vehicle, Reed exited a bus from Chicago at the Greyhound station on Airways, the affidavit states. The street value of the package would be worth more than $225,000 after it is cut, said Shelby County Sheriff's Sgt. Charles Eldridge. Tate was acquitted of the 1995 killing of Emily Fisher in Central Gardens, said attorney Claiborne Ferguson. Tate's criminal record includes five felony convictions and 22 misdemeanor convictions. Jonathan Bratcher was shot and killed by two Memphis police officers on Wednesday, January 27, 2016. (Photo provided by Jerian Lawson) By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's inquiry into a fatal Memphis police shooting in January has been turned over to the Shelby County District Attorney's office. Now, District Attorney Amy Weirich and her staff will have to review the report and determine whether any charges will be filed in the shooting of Johnathan Bratcher. DA's office spokesman Vince Higgins confirmed that they'd received the report Thursday and would be examining it. No timetable was given. The incident happened at 888 Kerr Ave. on Jan. 27 after police said Bratcher pointed a gun at them and opened fire. Police said officers tried to stop a Chevy Impala for a traffic violation. The driver fled and crashed into a curb by St. Andrew AME Church at 867 South Parkway. Two men in the car ran in separate directions, and police officers Clement Marks and Alexander Fleites chased them. Police said Bratcher pointed his weapon and opened fire at the two officers. Both fired back. After the shooting, Bratcher collapsed and died behind a church building. A handgun was seen near his body in a video of the aftermath captured by a bystander. SHARE Lazaro Garcia By Yolanda Jones of The Commercial Appeal Memphis police have arrested a 49-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. Lazaro Garcia has been charged with rape of a child, rape and incest. According to the arrest affidavit, the victim told her school counselor that the abuse began when she was 4-years-old. Garcia was arrested Thursday. He denied anything happened with the girl. He is slated to be arraigned on the charges Monday. Gov. Bill Haslam (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig) SHARE By Richard Locker of The Commercial Appeal NASHVILLE A small group of Republican governors are trying to set up a meeting soon with Donald Trump, their party's presumptive presidential nominee, to talk about state and federal issues, Gov. Bill Haslam, one of those involved, said Friday. "As governor I interact with the federal government all the time and there's issues that really matter and there are things that I know that I didn't know before I came into this office (in which) the perspective of the federal government matters. Obviously everybody looks at things like legislation and who you appoint to the Supreme Court and things like that but who you put into (federal) departments, and the philosophy of those departments really matters as well," the governor told reporters after a Memorial Day weekend ceremony. Haslam also reiterated his agreement with Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery's decision to join Texas and nine other states in Wednesday's lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's directive on public school restrooms by transgender students. "I think General Slatery thought, and I agree with him, that the Texas lawsuit has merit, that Obama had overreached his boundaries and that if that is going to be the law, either the Supreme Court should say that's the law or Congress should pass that." The legal action is in response to a guidance letter this month by the U.S. departments of education and justice saying the agencies interpret federal law to allow transgender students to use the school restrooms of their gender identity. School districts that force students to use restrooms of their birth gender may risk losing federal educating funding. Haslam said Thursday he didn't ask Slatery, his chief legal counsel before his 2014 appointment as attorney general, to join the legal action. "I really didn't. I think everybody thinks that, since Herbert used to work here and I've known him a long time. But we really, on things like that, keep a professional distance. That's his job to decide if it's appropriate for the state to decide." As for a meeting with Trump, the governor and his colleagues are working with the campaign on a date, probably in New York, and preferably, he said, before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland July 18-21. "It will just be a group of governors who want to express things that we think are important from a state standpoint in dealing with the federal government. If he is obviously now going to be the nominee of our party, we think it's really important that he hear those issues. And, of course, we'd like to hear some feedback from him on things that matter to us. Obviously education and health care are at the top of that list." The state's annual ceremony in observance of Memorial Day, held under a giant American flag on War Memorial Plaza across from the State Capitol, honored seven service members who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces, including five killed in a terrorist attack by a lone gunman last July at a reserve center and recruitment center in Chattanooga. Also honored was 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman of Knoxville, killed in 1943 during the World War II Battle of Tarawa and whose remains were recovered and identified last year. The Medal of Honor recipient was buried in Knoxville last September. His family was represented at Friday's Nashville ceremony by his grandson, Clay Bonnyman Evans. The seventh honoree was Army Sgt. Gary Lee Reese of Ashland City, killed with two other soldiers in Iraq in 2005 when a bomb exploded under their Humvee. "Tennessee obviously has a proud history of military service but unfortunately that also means that we have lost a lot of people serving the country who are Tennesseans. This is an important chance to recognize that," the governor said. "About 8 percent of Tennesseans are veterans, and I think it says something about who we are as a state. "Today, we are recognizing the five sailors and Marines lost in the tragic attack in Chattanooga, a lieutenant who died 70 years ago in World War II whose body was just recovered, and a sergeant who died in Iraq. I think they represent the breadth of people who have given their lives in serving Tennessee." SHARE Lloyd Dinkins/The Commercial Appeal files Jerry Lee Lewis and wife Myra return from a rough stay in London on May 27, 1958. The beleaguered Lewis arrived home tired and confused about the trouble caused by the revelation of his five-month marriage. The rock and roll singer and his 13-year-old bride went to their home at 4752 Dianne to rest from their long trip to London. May 27 25 years ago: 1991 Oh, what a beautiful evening. Oh, what a beautiful day. Thousands of Mid-Southerners sang a slightly different version of "Oh What A Beautiful Morning," from the musical "Oklahoma!" along the Mississippi River Sunday for the annual Sunset Symphony concert that ends the city's month long Memphis in May International Festival. The Memphis Symphony audience was hamming it up for TV cameras that festival officials said would broadcast their performance on "CBS This Morning." The show's weatherman, Mark McEwen emceed this year's Sunset Symphony. 50 years ago: 1966 Gov. Frank Clement turned a shovel full of dirt yesterday for the West Tennessee Hospital and School at Arlington, calling it a "hopeful 10-million-dollar answer" for mentally retarded children. He told an estimated 400 persons attending the groundbreaking ceremony that "parents of normal children should take the lead in helping the mentally retarded and be thankful that they haven't had to bear the cross of caring for such a child." 75 years ago: 1941 Slow down at sundown. This is the plea traffic officers issued last night as Memphis entered its 89th day without a motor traffic fatality and pushed on toward the goal of 100 deathless days. Pointing out that 70 per cent of all traffic accidents occur after dark, Lieut. Galloway called for a continuation of co-operation from motorists and pedestrians that has placed the city first in Tennessee and high in the Nation for deathless day records. 100 years ago: 1916 Memphis police yesterday issued orders forbidding automobiles to make any unnecessary noises when going past hospitals. Unnecessary blowing of Klaxsons, driving with the muffler cut-out open, and momentary easing of the clutch, in the hospital zones, will land the offender in the police court. 125 years ago: 1891 In Boston a man kissed his wife on his doorstep and was arrested by a vigilant policeman. The judge decided that the policeman acted in good faith, not knowing the relations of the parties, but discharged the defendant. It is different in Memphis. Here a man can kiss his wife as often as he pleases and everybody is pleased to see him do it. And no Memphis policeman would arrest any man for kissing a Memphis girl in public, if she did not object. He would know that the man just couldn't help it. SHARE Tennesseans can credit state Sen. Lee Harris of Memphis for focusing attention on a fringe benefit enjoyed by members of the General Assembly that you won't hear a lot about during election campaigns or at any other time. Well into age the Internet and its information cornucopia, legislators still travel at taxpayer expense to beef up on public policy developments, rub elbows with counterparts from around the country, listen to pitches from special-interest groups and the like. Over the past couple of years, legislators have been engaged in what they would describe as part of their job from Phoenix to Miami to San Francisco and beyond. Harris, the Senate's minority leader, brought the situation to light this week when his request for reimbursement was denied for a trip to the White House for a meeting on gun violence, according to The Associated Press. Calling for a change in the legislature's travel policies, Harris pointed out that GOP members "are frequently going to conferences on the state tab to talk about ways to expand access to guns." Harris has a point. A meeting hosted by Vice President Joe Biden that included governors, attorneys general, state lawmakers and local tribal leaders to confront the nation's deplorable record of gun violence deserves as much attention as anything else a state legislator feels would be useful to attend. Anyone can see why this would not thrill the senator from Memphis, who riled some Republicans recently when he objected to a $100,000 grant to subsidize a meeting of the right-leaning American Legislative Exchange Council. And it was the second time in two years a travel reimbursement request was denied for the legislature's leading Democrat. Last year it was a Joint Center for Economic and Policy Studies conference in Washington on issues affecting communities of color. State law authorizes reimbursement for travel to "conferences, symposiums, workshops, assemblages, gatherings and other official meetings and endeavors concerning state business." Nowhere does the policy say that the meeting's agenda has to conform to the legislative majority's political agenda. Responding to Harris's complaint, Senate Clerk Russell Humphrey said he would take another look at the reimbursement request, which seems reasonable. Anything that would make it more difficult for violent criminals to get their hands on deadly weapons would be a blessing. That access has taken a terrible toll in Memphis. As of Monday, there had been 91 homicides in Memphis this year, most of them committed with guns. That's an increase of nearly 72 percent since last year and on a pace that would put the toll this year at 233, 20 more than the record set in 1993. One would think this might be a matter of concern that crosses geographical, political and ideological lines. SHARE Elaine Lurie Memphis Memphis Mayor Jim Stricklands refusal to consider funding the Shelby County Schools district is shameful. These children are future citizens of his city. As Memphians, we can pay to educate these children now, or we will pay in ways that we may regret years from now as our citys undereducated population increases, and with it comes all the related problems from lack of education. Its hard for me to believe that Mayor Strickland is so shortsighted that he does not understand the value of a school system to a city. How can he entice businesses to move here, homeowners to live here, if he, our mayor, does not believe in our school system enough to fund it? I am sure our mayor would not want to send his children to a school that was not properly funded because it might not be able to attract the best teachers or have the newest or most innovative programs or decent textbooks. Shouldnt the children of his city be afforded the same educational opportunities all it takes is funding. SHARE By David Ignatius INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey Here's a positive move by Turkey, a country that often seems to be heading in the wrong direction: Despite Ankara's severe misgivings, it is allowing the U.S. military to fly daily bombing missions from here against the Islamic State in support of a Syrian Kurdish militia called the YPG that Turkey regards as a terrorist threat. Turkey offered the Incirlik base last year after a dozen years of tepid military relations with the United States, its superpower ally. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is deservedly criticized for muzzling journalists and suppressing democracy, but on this issue he has allowed his military to behave responsibly. I had a window on these Middle East machinations during a visit to Incirlik on Monday with Gen. Joseph Votel, the Centcom commander. It was the last stop on a tour of the region that included a secret U.S. training camp in northern Syria. The U.S. military strategy against the Islamic State in Syria has increasingly relied on the battle-hardened fighters of the YPG, despite Ankara's protests. The U.S. has grafted Sunni Arab forces with the Kurds, under the umbrella name of "Syrian Democratic Forces." But as Votel explained, the U.S. must "go with what we've got," which for now is mainly the YPG. Votel told me in Syria that when he met two days later with Turkish officials in Ankara, he would credit them as "fabulous partners," but would stress that "we have a very good partner on the ground" in the YPG, too. "Part of my job is to help balance this out," he explained. Gen. Yasar Guler, the deputy chief of the Turkish military, appears to have responded with similar nuance on Monday. According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, he told the American general: "Do not be surprised if the YPG lets you down when the fight against (Islamic State) gets tough." Guler reportedly also urged the U.S. to support Turkish-backed moderate Arab forces against the Islamic State in northern Syria, rather than relying so much on the Syrian Kurds. The exchange illustrates how "the U.S. campaign has helped empower the Turkish military and increased the importance of military-to-military contacts," argues Bulent Aliriza, who directs Turkey studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Even as Erdogan has consolidated power, he has given the generals more space to resume cooperation with the U.S. A vivid summary of the U.S. bombing campaign came from Air Force Col. Sean McCarthy, who commands a squadron of about a dozen A-10 "Warthog" ground-attack planes based here. He said his jets were operating over Syria 24/7, and that they were largely "autonomous" of the Turkish hosts. "We don't discuss with them where we're going," he said, standing next to one of his planes. Despite this wary military cooperation, U.S. strategy remains on a collision course with that of Turkey, a NATO ally. What can be done to prevent an eventual rupture that would damage all concerned? Here are two suggestions: 1) Turkey should explore a quiet dialogue with the political leadership of both the YPG and the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which Ankara claims (probably rightly) is the godfather of the Syrian Kurdish militia. Erdogan was making progress in discussions with the PKK until he reversed course last year. An understanding with the Kurds would enhance Erdogan's legacy, Turkish security and regional stability. 2) America should consider modestly augmenting its proxy force in Syria with another Syrian Kurdish militia, the Rojava Peshmerga, that's more acceptable to both Turkey and the official Syrian opposition in Geneva (which dislikes the YPG almost as much as Turkey does). The "Roj Pesh," as it's known, is backed and trained by the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and its leader, President Massoud Barzani. What could this additional Kurdish force provide? Possibly a bridge across what's now a big gap in U.S. strategy. I talked by phone Thursday with Brig Gen. Mohammed Rejeb Dehdo, the commander of the Roj Pesh. He said he has 3,000 trained fighters based in Iraq ready to cooperate with the YPG under overall U.S. command. One sticking point is whether the command center would be in Zakho, controlled by the Barzanis, or in Sulaymaniyah, controlled by the rival Talabani clan. Surely that's a solvable issue. One U.S. commander privately describes the American campaign in Syria as "realpolitik on steroids." OK, defeat the Islamic State now, worry about the regional mess later. But the U.S. and Turkey need to get smarter about regional strategy or they're heading for a crackup. David Ignatius' email address is davidignatius@washpost.com. SHARE By Doyle McManus Donald Trump isn't the only presidential candidate with credibility problems. The State Department's inspector general delivered his report on Hillary Clinton's emails Wednesday and it wasn't 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 email server instead of the government's email system. On several points, the inspector general's findings refuted claims Clinton has made about the way she handled the issue. Three examples: Clinton has long said she used a personal email server solely as a matter of "convenience." But the result wasn't very convenient; because of State Department spam filters, Clinton's emails weren't 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 don't 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 that's 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 general's report did not examine whether Clinton's use of personal email had compromised any highly classified information; that's the subject of an FBI investigation that's 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 aren't surprising. It's been clear for months that Clinton skirted the rules. She has even acknowledged, once or twice, that using a private server wasn't a good idea. And that's 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 general's 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 general's main findings, and certainly no acknowledgement of error. Instead, the campaign's 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 didn't help. Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Contact him at doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com. SHARE By Michael Gerson WASHINGTON Want a good measure of how degraded the presidential foreign policy debate has become? Over the last four years, America has largely been a bystander in the largest strategic and humanitarian disaster of our time the collapse of sovereignty in Syria, producing 5 million refugees, causing more than 300,000 deaths and empowering some of the most vicious, totalitarian nut jobs in the world. But what is the critique from both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? That America is overcommitted, especially in the Middle East. Trump in particular has argued that America is a pathetic debtor country that must get its own house in order before engaging in nation-building. "We cannot go around to every country that we're not exactly happy with," Trump said recently, "and say we're going to re-create [them]." This has hardly been Obama's temptation. His motivation being ... what? A determination to be the anti-Bush? Serial indecision? The pivot to Asia? For whatever reason, Obama has consistently filed action in Syria under the category of "stupid stuff," often overruling the more forward-leaning views of his senior foreign policy advisers (including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton). Tamara Cofman Wittes of the Brookings Institution recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "incremental steps over the last four years to shape both the battlefield and the context for diplomacy" have been "too little and too late to alter the conflict's fundamental dynamics." What have been those dynamics? The regime of Bashar Assad, once teetering on the brink of destruction, has been saved by Iranian and Russian military interventions. Early on, jihadist groups in Syria became the most serious, well-equipped opposition to the regime, forcing rivals off the field and raising a long-term terrorist threat. Assad has committed mass atrocities with impunity, so long as he doesn't use chemical weapons again (though his victims end up just as dead by other methods). To avoid responsibility for this nightmare, the Obama administration has tried to narrow the definition of U.S. interests. What really matters is removing Assad's chemical weapons. Or the Iranian nuclear agreement. Or killing terrorists with drones and special operations. Anything else is, according to Obama, "someone else's civil war." If Obama loses sleep over the situation, he gives no public indication. On the contrary, he often congratulates himself on the coolness and realism of his judgment on Syria (declaring himself "very proud" of his decision not to enforce the chemical weapons "red line"). But this is the kind of thing, like the Rwandan genocide for Bill Clinton, that Obama will be left explaining for the duration of his post-presidency. During the Obama years, perpetrators have been given a clear message: Mass atrocities work, at least if you have faithful sponsors and halfhearted enemies. Though negotiations are ongoing, a genuine settlement during Obama's presidency is unlikely. Peace agreements codify a balance of power; they don't usually create a new one. "Without greater military pressure on the Syrian government," former Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told the Senate hearing, "it will not negotiate a compromise political settlement." Secretary of State John Kerry still tries to huff and puff about a military option: "If President Assad has come to a conclusion that there's no Plan B, then he's come to a conclusion that is totally without foundation whatsoever and even dangerous." No one thinks there is a Plan B. No one. Years of inaction have narrowed American options. Would the U.S. really risk a military confrontation with Russia to enforce a no-fly zone? But any kind of rapprochement with Assad would be both immoral and pointless. He will never have the legitimacy to reunify and rebuild a country he burned to the ground. This leaves (1) more aggressive support for nonradical opposition to Assad and for bordering countries, (2) helping liberated communities with governance and service delivery as an alternative to the jihadists, (3) outreach to traumatized refugee children who are at risk of radicalization, and, most important, (4) abandoning Obama's self-serving and destructive argument that the only alternatives in Syria are inaction or occupation. The theory, practiced by Obama and endorsed by Trump, that the Syrian conflict will somehow burn itself out has been a security debacle and a humanitarian catastrophe. When America refuses to play an active role, the natural result is a regional Shia/Sunni proxy war, exploited by Iran and Russia to expand their influence and by jihadists to expand their capabilities. And still, the populists of right and left argue, callously and foolishly, that America does too much. Michael Gerson's email address is michaelgerson@washpost.com. The Apple Pay payment experience has been simple and elegant. No network connection needed. No need to find an app, launch an app or log in. Just hold the phone at the end of the transaction, place your finger ever so briefly on the button for a split second, and a comforting "Done" icon says you're finished. At least that was true until last week, when several major chains made their official EMV move. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods were among the major retailers that switched on EMV last week, which instantly made the quick Apple Pay experience decidedly less so. Instead of the shopper being done when Apple Pay confirmed all that it needed to confirm (which is pretty much the purchase amount and that your fingerprint matches the one you are supposed to have), a series of new messages pop out on the POS screen. The first message displays again the amount of the purchase and asks that the shopper confirm acceptance of that amount. The problem is that the shopper already saw that amount before paying with Apple Pay. Ah, but EMV rules require confirmation of the amount, not mere knowledge of it. One could argue that the fact that the shopper offered a payment device after seeing the amount was a pretty good indication of acceptance. The second message insists on a signature. Note that this shopper has already provided a finger scan which is a few billion orders of magnitude more secure than a signature so it's a rather pointless request. Why is this all happening? The answer lies deep inside the details of how retail payment transactions work. The problem here is that although POS systems know that an NFC transaction is contactless, those systems often do not know much or even anything beyond that. The POS has no idea if a biometric authentication was completed, so it needs to ask for the signature. The POS has no idea whether the shopper was shown an amount and certainly not whether the shopper really thought about it so it must show it again and demand a confirmation. Those explanations which came from some POS insiders I interviewed on Wednesday are nice to know, but quite irrelevant. The only relevant detail here is that Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay and other secure NFC payment wallets are going to have their customer experiences seriously degraded because of EMV rules and visibility limits within today's payments systems. It's entirely possible that future versions of NFC wallets may be able to do a better job at shouting at POS systems what they are and what they are doing, but that doesn't help shoppers (or retailers) today. There is so much irony here. Once retailers started to understand the downsides of EMV such as needing to leave the card inside the card reader for the whole transaction, a problem that both Visa and MasterCard are trying to slightly reduce they looked admiringly at mobile payments and started to see the mobile wallet light. How amusing is it that EMV rules which pushed interest in mobile payments are now degrading mobile payments. Also, the idea that future versions of Google Pay or Apple Pay may communicate better is also irrelevant. Mobile payments are just starting to grow right now. This is when shoppers are trying them out and deciding if they are open to changing how they pay. By the way, Walmart Pay and Target Pay will sidestep these issues, since they will control the programming of their POS systems. You can safely bet that a Walmart POS will know darn well when it's communicating with Walmart Pay. Retail gains so much by embracing mobile payments, which is the gateway to comprehensive CRM and loyalty, far more effective couponing and the ability to improve the shopping experience dozens of ways. Retailers can't allow blind adherence to EMV rules written by people who presumably hadn't thought through all of the mobile implications to destroy the mobile experience. Retailers can insist on changes at the POS and processor levels. If you're not sure if the effort is worth it, go ask colleagues at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. They are just starting to learn this lesson. These days most of us are becoming much more selective about using bookmarks or assigning favorite status to Web pages, as we strive to keep those collections under control. We need other ways to manage the Websites that we find and thats where these alternatives may make a difference. Always use Safari Reader Before doing any of the following it makes sense to get to know the Safari Reader button. Situated to the left of the URL bar the button is used to create a decluttered version of most pages, so you get all the text and none of the cruft. It works well and means the information you use is likely to be more useful. Now lets look at some of the things you can do with Websites in iOS: Speak it You can have iOS speak selected text for you. First of all go to Settings>General>Speech and make sure the Speak Selection button is enabled (turned to green). Now when you select text on screen youll be able to get iOS to read it to you. If you want entire pages read to you then enable the Speak Screen button. With this youll be able to get a whole page read to you by swiping down with two fingers from the top of the screen but do enter Safari Reader view first if you want to avoid having ads read to you. iOS has lots of accessiblity tweaks that should benefit every user. Add to Reading List Reading List is sometimes all you need. When you add a page to your Reading List, iOS takes a functional picture of the page that is stored on your device and synced with all your other Apple devices. In future when you want to return to the page youll find it available to you in your Reading List. To add a page just tap the Share button and on the iOS Actions strip (Under the AirDrop and apps strips) youll find Add to Reading List (it looks like a pair of specs). To read items in the list, tap the Bookmark button and then the specs icon. Create a PDF Its easy to turn any Web page into a PDF on iOS. When youre on a page you want to save just tap the Share button and choose the App strip just above the iOS actions tier. Just scroll to the left and youll find Save PDF to iBooks. Tap this and the page you want to keep will be turned into a PDF and tucked away inside your iBooks collection, where it will sync to other devices. Save to another app Some apps (Dropbox, Evernote and others) will let you save page contents, for example the Save To Dropbox item available in the iOS Action strip will save webpages as PDFs to your Dropbox account. Alternatively enable Evernote and youll be able to clip pages to the service using the same Share button. Theres lots of other apps that offer this. Add to Notes Apples Notes may not yet be as powerful as Evernote, but they will improve and one thing they can be useful for is to save interesting Web pages inside collections of similar notes, so useful for researchers. Once again, go the page you want to store and then tap the Add To Notes button, youll be asked to assign the note to an existing collection or as a new note and thats it, youll be able to get to that page from any Mac or iOS device running the current OS. Add to News You can also arrange for content from particular sites to be added to your News feed, just tap Add to News in the Share menu. Send an email When on a page, tap Reader View and then choose the Mail option from the Share menu. Ask Siri Finally, you can also ask Siri to help you out. When youre on a page you want to look at again, for example you can say: Hey Siri, remind me to look at this Web page tomorrow at 9. Siri will set a Reminder and you wont forget to check the page. Read ten other ways Siri can help you get things done here. Google+? If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join AppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner community and join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple? Want Apple TV tips? If you want to learn how to get the very best out of your Apple TV, please visit my Apple TV website. Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when fresh items are published here first on Computerworld. A jury in San Francisco on Thursday cleared Google of copyright infringement in a case brought by Oracle over Googles use of Java in Android. The jury of eight women and two men took three days of deliberation to reach its verdict. Oracle was seeking up to $9 billion in damages, making it a huge victory for Google and its legal team. "Your work is done," Judge William Alsup told the jury after the verdict was read. Oracle's lawyers sat stoney faced after the verdict was read, but shortly afterward the company said it would continue the battle. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal and we plan to bring this case back to the Federal Circuit on appeal, Oracle General Counsel Dorian Daley said in a written statement, referring to the U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C. The reaction from Google's legal team was also muted at first, though they stood smiling and embraced after the jury was led out of the room. "We're grateful for the jury's verdict," lead Google attorney Robert Van Nest said later. Judge Alsup said he wished to thank the jurors personally in the jury room. They announced they had reached their verdict just moments before they were due to break for the day. A previous jury failed to reach an agreement on the fair use question, and there was a chance this jury might have done the same. At issue was Googles decision to copy 37 Java application programming interfaces, including thousands of lines of "declaring" code, into its Android operating system. Since the trial began on May 10, the jury has heard evidence from a parade of Silicon Valley bigwigs including Google's Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, and former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Google's message to the jury was that Sun intended Java to be free for anyone to use, which is why it made the Java language open source in the first place. It cited a blog post from Schwartz, congratulating Google on Android's release, as evidence that Sun had no problem with Google's use of Java. Oracle's lawyers painted a very different picture. Google was desperate to get its mobile operating system to market quickly, they told the jury, and after failing to secure a licensing deal with Sun, Google went ahead and used Java anyway. They dismissed Schwartz's blog post as a way to make Android look like a win for Sun. They knew they were breaking the rules, they knew they were taking shortcuts, and they knew it was wrong, Peter Bicks, an attorney for Oracle, told the jury in his closing statement. But the jury didn't buy Oracles argument. The outcome is a small victory for software developers, who were alarmed by an earlier decision in the case that application programming interfaces can be protected under U.S. copyright law. Many developers had assumed APIs werent eligible for protection, viewing them as functional elements of software that are required to make two programs interoperate. The earlier decision that APIs are protected still stands, meaning some developers may be wary of using another companys APIs without permission. But the fact that Googles fair use defense prevailed could make large vendors like Oracle think twice about bringing similar lawsuits in future. The company stood by its allegations in a statement following the verdict. "We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market," Oracle counsel Daley said. "Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Googles illegal behavior. In the trial, Oracle accused Google of infringing its copyright when it decided to use 37 Java application programming interfaces in its Android OS. Android has gone on to dominate the smartphone market, netting Google billions of dollars in profit. Google originally argued that APIs like those in Java arent eligible for protection. The federal district court judge in the case agreed, but an appeals court overturned his ruling. Google asked the US Supreme Court to reconsider the matter, but it declined. Googles defense turned next to the legal doctrine of fair use, which allows copying of creative works under limited circumstances, most commonly for things like criticism, satire and educational use. The jury had to consider four factors in deciding whether Googles use was fair. They included whether its use of Java was transformative, or whether it created something new and different from the original copyright work, which in this case was Java Standard Edition. They also had to consider the extent to which Android harmed Java in the marketplace. Google's lawyers argued that Sun never succeeded in the smartphone market because it never built a decent smartphone OS - not because of Android. It's a civil case, which means Google had to prove by a "preponderance of the evidence" that its use of Java was fair. That's a lower burden than in a criminal trial, when Google would have had to prove its case "beyond reasonable doubt." The jury was required to reach a unanimous decision. A previous trial over the same issue ended with a hung jury, so the case had to be retried. In the earlier case, a majority of jurors concluded Google's use of Java was fair. Bob Larsen is known for his detailed watercolor paintings of familiar buildings in the Concord area. Strong shadows, reflections in windows, and architectural detail are hallmarks of his work. But his style is evolving, as his newest collection shows. Inspirations, New Watercolors will be on display May 31 through June 30 at McGowan Fine Art in Concord, with an opening reception June 3 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Experienced painters can fall into a trap, Larsen said. The people that like your work hold you to a certain subject matter, he said. Its not easy to break out. This show is about breaking out in a much different way. Larsen depicts familiar buildings in new ways, explores vernal and tidal pools to experiment with creating the illusion of water depth, and ventures into black-and-white abstracts. United Methodist Church, Chichester reflects the tightly controlled style for which he is known, while fluid, abstract shadows float on the clapboards in Congregational Church, Webster. This is a very different technique, Larsen said. I tried to mix it up a little and not be a slave to where the shadows fall. This is much looser. In contrast to the gauzy tones of these buildings, Larsen used vibrant reds and greens in Vinnies Pizzeria, study 4. Larsens earlier paintings of vernal pools were abstract, but the new ones are more detailed, achieving a sense of depth, as if one could reach right down into the water. Painting Spring Thaw was complicated, he said. I threw everything I know about water color into this, he said. The snow is melting back, exposing leaves. Youre looking down into a vernal pool with the leaves floating on the surface, then youre looking down into the water. In a series of images of a beech tree in Winant Park, gnarled roots reach into the clear water that is darkened by the decaying vegetation below. Serene or ominous? The viewer can decide. Larsens tidal pool paintings invite one to dip in and pick up a shell. Turquoise water flows over periwinkle mussel shells, and again the sense of depth is evoked, this time by a white shell poking above the surface of the water. Larsens most dramatic style shift is his series of black and white abstracts of tidal pools. Only two are in the show. Before reading the text labels, decide for yourself what youre looking at its more fun that way. Im fascinated by black and white, Larsen said. I dont know how people will respond to this. I wanted to put it in just to say, This is something else I do. Larsen had no formal art training but said that he comes from a family of doodlers. He started in the 1980s with two childrens books, illustrated in pastels, for his son and daughter. His interest in painting grew, and he began donating pieces to charitable auctions. People liked the work and started asking him to do paintings of their houses. At some point you catch the attention of a gallery, he said. He continued to paint during his career as a lawyer at Sulloway & Hollis Law Firm and was in charge of the art acquisition and exhibition program there. His work has been featured in numerous art exhibitions and on the covers of the New Hampshire Bar Journal. But with a full-time job, there was only so much time for painting. You reach a point with your art, he said, where youre going to switch from hobbyist to painter. I did that by retiring. For someone whos artistic, he said, its always something to keep your hand in. Youll come back to it. Larsen has some advice for people who want to turn a hobby into something more. First, he said, you have to have the time to devote to it, and be serious about it. Second, lots of people aspire to get better at their painting, he said, but what holds them back is that theyre not honest about where they are. If they were honest, theyd give themselves a C minus. If you really want to progress, you have to say, I mastered this part of it, but theres a lot more that I can do. You can take classes or study artists; whatever you choose, just do it, he said. Push yourself into things that are not easy, he said. Then youll realize that what youve been doing isnt adequate to accomplish the result you want. You have to figure out new techniques. Its a process. This exhibit will be on display at McGowan Fine Art, 10 Hills Ave., Concord. Hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or by appointment. Call Sarah Chaffee at 225-2515 for more information or visit mcgowanfineart.com. SUBSCRIBE Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates straight in your inbox. Close It seems reports of Jennifer Lopez and boyfriend Casper Smart seeking a surrogate are completely false. Recent reports claimed that Jennifer Lopez and her boyfriend and dancer Casper Smart have been looking for a surrogate who could help them will have a baby together. "Jennifer Lopez has defied aging on the outside, but at 46, her prime baby-making years are behind her - which is why, according to a source close to the superstar, she and boyfriend Casper Smart are on the hunt for a surrogate!," reported OK Magazine. "She knows she's too busy to carry a baby so she has her team searching for the perfect surrogate." However, Gossip Cop has debunked the surrogacy rumors. The publication added that it is possible that Lopez opts to have more children in the future after having her twins with former husband Marc Anthony, but she is not seeking any surrogate currently. According to Inquisitr, the former American Idol judge is too busy at present and cannot afford to take time off work. She has just signed on for Season 2 of Shades of Blue on NBC and is also gearing up to release her upcoming album later this year. In fact, Lopez will also resume her Vegas residency soon, all while already looking after her twins, Emme and Max. "Getting pregnant now would put her career plans in turmoil. She cannot afford to have a baby at a time when her career is skyrocketing. The thought of losing her toned physique just doesn't sit well with Lopez, who has been training for months to get her body in the best shape possible," the report noted. There were also reports of the couple planning to adopt a baby. "Casper recently proposed adopting a baby instead, and knowing how great he is with kids, Jennifer's come around to the idea," a source told Life & Style. Apparently, Casper was "inspired to suggest adoption after seeing how good Jennifer was with children other than her own." But, Gossip Cop has also denied the adoption rumors. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Close Most of us are often told to work hard since they will reap benefits in the end. But has anyone told you about the downside like maybe tying up ADHD or anxiety disorders on workaholics? The claim does sound a bit odd though a study from Plos One does give a better view on how workaholism could lead to some form of psychiatric or behavioral disorder. Disorders would include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), something that many may not expectedly agree. Scientists from the University of Bergen in Norway took the lead in examining workaholics in an effort to set things straight. That includes studying the alleged workaholics and observe if they are in any way affected by some form of behavioral disorder. Per the study, workaholics are defined as "overly concerned about work, driven by an uncontrollable work motivation, and investing so much time and effort to work that it impairs other important life areas". Researchers categorized workaholism as something similar to addictive behavior thought drawing the line between that and excessive enthusiasm was pretty difficult to set. In the modern world, workaholics are considered the people who spend more time working than usual though some resort to it to cover up other personal issues like depression, guilt or even inferiority. Normally, it would take close friends or loved ones to remind them of the realities of life in an effort to show that life is not all about burying yourself with work. The study covered 16,426 adults which aimed to see how workaholics fared in terms of mental health and behavioral disorders. The participants were asked to answer some questionnaires which included adult ADHD self-report scaling, obsession-compulsive inventory, as well as hospital anxiety and depression scale. Results showed that workaholics scored high on all the psychiatric symptoms over non-workaholics. ADHD returned 32.7% individuals meeting criteria against only 12.7% for the non-workaholics while anxiety had 33.8 % for workaholics against 11.9% for the opposite. More than a quarter of workaholics presented signs of OCD and nearly 9% signs of depression. Researchers cautioned that more work will be needed to back the claim that workaholics may still be in need of some form of mental health support. "[While awaiting] 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," said lead author Cecilie Schou Andreassen. See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare Kashmir And The Mother Of All Disasters! By Mohammad Ashraf 27 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org (The prediction by the scientists of the Oregon State University may be the final solution of the Kashmir problem!) The statement given by Yann Gavillot, a Geo-Scientist from the Oregon State University of USA about an impending earthquake of 8 or more on the Richter scale in Jammu & Kashmir has sent a wave of panic among the people. According to Gavillot, the Reasi fault in J & K has been building up stress for thousands of years and is due for sliding to release the stress. Additionally, the construction of power projects in the Chenab valley creating large bodies of water must also be putting some pressure underneath. There have been some earthquakes, even though smaller in intensity, in the Chenab valley. A similar sliding had occurred in the Balakot fault in Muzaffrabad area of Pak Administered Kashmir in 2005 which resulted in more than 80,000 casualties. Gavillot estimates more than a million casualties due to Resai fault sliding as there are several towns in this area. He has further emphasized that the question is not whether this will happen or not but only when it will happen? Such a disaster would be truly a mother of all disasters the state has faced in the living memory! Geologically, the Valley of Kashmir itself is a tectonic creation. Koh-i-Sulaiman or the Shankaracharya hill and Hariparbat are supposed to be dormant volcanos. As the legend goes, Kashmir Valley was once a huge lake called Satisar and Kashyap Rishi, the Sage, after long meditation was able to kill the demon Jalodhbhava at Uri which released the waters. The result was Kashmir Valley with Jhelum flowing through its middle. Again the release of waters must have been a tectonic movement which removed the blockade at the Uri gorge. It is certain that the Valley was a huge lake. This is confirmed by the Karewas all-round the valley. These are the sedimentary clay formations in layers. Earthquakes have been occurring in Kashmir off and on as it is situated in the most susceptible earthquake zone in the Himalayas. However, there is no history of such a strong earthquake having occurred in the past. Many scientists have been predicting some strong earthquakes in the Himalayan region. It is stated to be because of the collision of the continental plates in Earths crust. The Indian plate is thrusting into the Eurasian plate. The Himalayas are supposed to be a creation of this collision. Even though scientists are able to give various hypotheses yet no one has been able to predict earthquakes with some definite accuracy. In the earlier times, Kashmir has faced many disasters like floods, famines, plagues and sometimes earthquakes. There have also been many political upheavals. Many migrations of Kashmiris have taken place in the past because of these natural as well as manmade disasters. It is said that at one time only eleven households were left in Kashmir! But then we grew back again due to our resilience and the incredible capacity for survival. Apart from a scientific explanation of some of the disasters, there is a spiritual view also. Kashmir is known as the valley of the saints because of many pious personalities who have been meditating and praying here. The Rishi or Sufi culture of Kashmir has been hailed by all as the true humanism. Some people opine that the natural disasters are a divine retribution for our misdeeds. It is a fact that the last 70 years or so have seen a total change in Kashmiri character. People have become totally materialistic and greedy. Immorality and waywardness is gone haywire! Religion has been reduced to symbols and rituals. Faith is missing! The last flood which virtually destroyed parts of Srinagar too was opined to be a divine retribution by some religious men. It was said that this time God had taken our possessions only but next time He will take our lives also unless we mend our ways! The Holy Quran describes the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, the twin cities of sin. Prophet Lot was sent to them as a messenger to warn the people against the sinful lives they were pursuing. However, they did not mend their ways and God destroyed these cities. Well, both from the scientific world and the Spiritual World there are warnings of an impending disaster. When will it strike? God alone has the knowledge. Kashmirs political problem has been plaguing not only the sub-continent but entire South Asia for almost 70 years now. One of the reasons for the prolongation of the problem has been the deviant behaviourof the people inhabiting the land. God Almighty may finally resort to the ultimate solution for ending the problem once and for all unless we mend our ways soon! Mohammad Ashraf, I.A.S. (Retired), Former Director General Tourism, Jammu & Kashmir The Real EROI Of Photovoltaic Systems: Professor Charles Hall Weighs In By Ugo Bardi 27 May, 2016 Cassandra's Legacy Charles Hall is known for his multiple and important contributions in the field of sustainability, and in particular for having introduced the concept of Energy Return on Energy Investment, EROI or EROEI. He is now emeritus and still active in research; among other things as chief editor of the new Springer journal: "Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, BERQ. Here, he intervenes in the recent debate on the EROI of photovoltaic systems, sending me this note that I am happy to publish, with some comments of mine at the end. By Charles Hall The EROI of our various energy options, and its associated issues, may be the most important issues that will face future civilizations. The present discussion tends to vacillate between people who accept (or advocate) very high EROIs for solar vs people who accept (or advocate) very low such EROIs. I trust only one study, the one I did with Pedro Prieto, who has a great deal of real world experience and data. This study attempted to (conservatively) estimate all the energy used to generate PV electricity in Spain by following all the money spent (per GW) and using physical analysis where possible, and energy intensity of money where necessary. We found that the panels and inverters, which are the only parts measured in most studies, were only about a third of the energy cost of the system. As noted in the responses to Ugos last post we estimated an EROI of 2.45:1 in 2008 assuming a lifetime of 25 years and at the juncture with the distribution system. Studies that we think used more or less appropriate boundaries (Palmer, Weissbach) got similar results. We recognize that subsequent studies to ours would probably have generated higher EROIs because of using panels of lower energy costs or higher efficiency. But there are many ways that it might be lower too. For example Ferroni and Hopkirk, who (despite, perhaps, some issues) have done us a good service by attempting to get actual lifetimes for modules, which were much closer to 18 years than infinity. This agrees with what happened in Spain when, due to post-2008 financial turmoil, manufacturers did not honor their guarantees and legally "disappeared", leaving broken systems unfixed. (And what happened to all those "surplus" Chinese panels that were never used? Should we factor in their energy costs, as we factor in dry holes for oil analysis?) My point is that we need to include empirical, not theoretical, estimates of ALL the energy used to make these systems work. This is what Prieto and Hall did, imperfectly I am sure, using conservative assumptions of energy costs, many of which now appear too low. Mostly I do not see others doing this, so I mistrust their analyses. I do not know whether Bandhari et al. included only studies using appropriate boundaries, but I would guess that many are for just the panels (and maybe converters), not the whole system required to deliver the electricity. Another way that we were conservative was to not include the (pro-rated) distribution system, as Ferroni and Hopkirk did (i.e. EROIpou, for point of use). It seems to me that we should do this routinely, at least as sensitivity analysis. If you are really analyzing the EROI of solar you need to get the electricity to the factory, the gravel and panels to the installation site etc. etc, There are at least three reasons that EROI estimates appear much wider than they probably really are: 1) They are often done by advocates one way or another, not by experienced, objective (and peer reviewed) analysts. 2) a common protocol is not followed. Murphy et al. 2011 should be followed or good reasons given for not doing so. They recommend that all investigators generate a "standard EROI (EROIst) so that different studies can be compared, but then suggest that investigators may define in addition other criteria/boundaries as long as they are well defined and the reason for their inclusion given. This protocol is being updated at this time to deal with various concerns. 3) Related to above appropriate boundaries are often not used. For a start "follow the money" as money is a lien on energy. Where there is controversy (e.g. include labor or not, and how) this should be dealt with through sensitivity analysis. Energy quality (e.g. electricity vs fossil) also needs to be considered, as Prieto and Hall did in their final chapter. The largest problem with EROI studies is that although the concept has been around and even lauded since at least 1977 it has essentially never been supported by legitimate and objective funding sources such as the US National Science Foundation (which however has recognized this as a large failure and is starting a new program on EROI.) As any investigator knows it takes money to do a good job, and this we have not had. Most of the best work has been done on a shoestring or pro bono. This appears to be changing now, especially in Europe, and we hope to see some kind of objective, high-quality Institute/Program in the future. We also need better governmental statistics on energy use and the development of appropriate energy I-O analyses to get a better handle on energy costs. These had been done to high quality in the US 40 years ago but the official Bureau of Census energy use data has degraded, and we have ceased undertaking appropriate energy I-O analyses while the real experts have retired or died. If these issues can be resolved, which is not too difficult at least in principle, and if the protocols are followed, then I think we will narrow the range of published EROI estimates considerably. In the meantime I have done a fair amount of sensitivity analysis (e.g. Guilford et al 2011; Prieto and Hall 2012) that suggest that at least for the studies I have been involved with the range of uncertainty is well within plus or minus 25 percent (except when using the assumptions of using the energy cost of the full salary of labor or electricity is multiplied by a quality factor of three, in which case the range is two to three). At this time, we do not recommend either of those two factors for general use. This range of uncertainty is much less than the EROI range among the different technologies, as shown in Euan Mearns most recent post. Guilford, M., C.A.S., Hall, P. OConner, and C.J., Cleveland. 2011. A new long term assessment of EROI for U.S. oil and gas: Sustainability: Special Issue on EROI. Pages 1866-1887. Murphy, D., Hall, C.A.S., Cleveland, C., P. OConner. 2011. Order from chaos: A Preliminary Protocol for Determining EROI for Fuels. Sustainability: Special Issue on EROI. 2011. Pages 1888-1907. Prieto, P., C.A.S. Hall. 2012 Spains Photovoltaic Revolution: The energy return on investment. Springer, NY. (about $50) A comment by Ugo Bardi This note by professor Hall highlights some elements of the debate and let me comment on it. Basically, I think that there is nothing wrong in the work by Hall and Prieto that arrived at relatively low values of the EROI of PV (note, however, that there is a lot that's wrong in the recent paper by Ferroni and Hopkirk, but that will be addressed elsewhere). The discrepancies are due to different initial assumptions, as Hall correctly states here, and, obviously, different assumptions lead to different numbers. Then, the question is, what are the "right" assumptions in these estimates? Evidently, it depends on what one is trying to measure. Here lie the problem and the remarkable confusion surrounding the debate. Basically, there are two main possible aims for an EROI calculation: 1) determining whether a technology is an energy source or an energy sink and 2) determining whether a technology can support an industrial civilization similar to ours (maybe including SUVs and plane trips to Hawai'i for middle-class families). Once this point is clarified, we see that answering these different questions requires different assumptions. For the first question, energy source or sink, the estimate is defined by the life-cycle analysis (LCA) of the plant. For PV, that includes the cycle of all the components of the plant (surely not just the cells!). Within the LCA framework, the result is an EROI of about 11-12 for the most common technologies available today. There is no doubt that a PV plant is an energy source, not a sink. For the second question, can PV support a civilization, we are dealing with something very different and it is for this purpose that professor Hall defines the "extended EROI" (EROIext). However, how the term "extended" is to be understood is open for discussion. If you think that a civilization should include plane trips to Hawai'i for middle-class people, then the energy required should be factored in the calculation. Without arriving at these extremes, the more elements you add to the energy cost, the lower the final EROI turns out to be and it is not surprising that Hall and Prieto arrive at values between 2-3. These values still make PV an energy source and not a sink, but find it to be hardly able to support plane trips to Hawai'i. But that should have been obvious from the beginning! There are a few fundamental problems with the concept of "EROIext" that I think make it a scarcely viable idea, but it might become a standard if we all find an agreement on it. The main problem, I believe, is that when we deal with such a thing as the survival of our civilization we move into a very slippery set of questions. One problem is that EROI is not the only parameter that we need to consider, and PV not the only renewable technology available; to say nothing about defining what we mean as "our civilization". So, claiming that PV, alone, cannot support the present civilization may be true, but it is also totally irrelevant. If our civilization has to survive the ongoing crisis it has to go through profound changes that are difficult even to imagine for us. For sure, however, all the renewable technologies able to produce a positive net energy, such as PV, have a role to play in our future. Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy. He is interested in resource depletion, system dynamics modeling, climate science and renewable energy. A Steep Decline In Buddhist Growth Rate: A Cause For Concern By SR Darapuri 27 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org 2011 Census Report has shown a steep decline in Buddhist population growth rate which should be a cause for concern for all Ambedkarites. Dr. Ambedkar had adopted Buddhism as a liberating tool for Dalits. His aim behind it was to liberate Dalits from the hellish caste system of Hinduism and usher them into a casteless Buddhist social order. It was not only a change of religion but a way to economic and mental liberation of Dalits. Dr. Ambedkar had left Hinduism on 14th October, 1956 along with 5 lakhs (0.50 million) Dalits and adopted Buddhism, a religion based on liberty, equality and fraternity. Through it he aimed at ending sub- caste division of Dalits and unite them under a single identity as Buddhists. It was expected that after departure of Dr. Ambedkar Buddhist conversion movement will gain momentum and more and more Dalits will leave the Hindu fold to join Buddhists. He had established Bhartiya Bauddh Mahasabha (Indian Buddhist Association) to carry forward the movement of Buddhist conversion. During his lifetime many Buddhist conversions were arranged in different states and a large number of Dalits left Hinduism and switched over to Buddhism. It has been established that Dalits who have adopted Buddhism have progressed much more than Dalits who continue to be Hindus. It is quite evident from the statistics of 2011 Census Report. According to these figures the Sex- Ratio of Buddhist men and women is 985 as compared with 939 of Hindus, 951 of Muslims and 903 of Sikhs. The Sex- Ratio of 0-6 years Buddhist girls and boys is 933 as compared to 913 of Hindus and 828 of Sikhs. According to this Census the Literacy Rate of Buddhists is 81.3 % as compared with 73.3 % of Hindus and 68.5 % % of Muslims. Similarly Work Participation Rate of Buddhists is 41.3 % as compared with 41 % of Hindus, 32.6 % of Muslims and 36.3 % of Sikhs. These statistics show that sex-ratio, literacy rate and work participation rate of Buddhists is much higher than Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs which shows that Buddhism has helped then in their development. The above analysis clearly establishes that Buddhism has helped Dalits in their development. It has brought a qualitative change in their lives. They have left the old dirty professions. Their living standard has improved and their family lives have changed for better. Hence it was expected that with positive influence of Buddhism, more and more Dalits will leave Hinduism and convert to Buddhism and their population will increase considerably. But 2011 Census statistics belie these expectations. According to 2001 Census Report the population of Buddhists in the country was about 80 lakhs (8 millions) which has grown to 84.4 lakhs (8.4 millions) in 2011 Census Report. But during this decade the population growth rate of Buddhists has fallen from 23.2 % to 6.1 % thereby showing a fall of 17 %. Similarly the Buddhist population in 2001 was 0.8 % of total population of India which has fallen to 0.7 % in 2011 as a result of which there has been an addition of 4.4 lakhs (0.44 millions) Buddhists only during a span of 10 years. This is very low as compared with previous years. 2011 Census has shown that during the last decade there has been a substantial decrease in Buddhist population in the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and Karnatka. In U.P. where Mayawati, a Dalit was the Chief Minister for 4 times the Buddhist population has fallen from 3.02 lakhs (0.3 million) in 2001 to 2.06 lakhs (0.2 million) in 2011 thereby showing a shortfall of about 1 lakh (0.1 million). In Punjab it has fallen from 41,487 to 33,237. In Karnatka it has fallen from 3.93 lakhs (0.39 millions) to 95,710. Buddhist population in Delhi has fallen from 23,705 to 18,449. During this period the states of Maharshtra and some other states have shown an increase in Buddhist population but shortfall in growth rate and very small increase in population is a cause for concern. From the above analysis it transpires that during the decade (2001 to 2011) there has been not only a steep fall in Buddhist growth rate but there has been a shortfall in absolute numbers also in some states. It was expected that with rise of awakening among Dalits there will be a significant increase in Buddhist population but the recent census figures paint a very discouraging picture. It appears that caravan of Dr. Ambedkar has gone back instead of moving forward. Hence it requires a thorough analysis of the causes which have resulted in shortfall in Buddhist population. Some of them can be identified as follows:- It is well known that a lot of bungling takes place during the census process. A majority of the personnel put on this duty are Hindus who try to boost Hindu population. There has been a general complaint that these persons were filling up the census forms with pencil against the clear instructions of writing in pen only. It leaves a lot of scope for manipulation of religion of the householders. It is not a new complaint. Rather it has been there for a long time. Buddhist conversion movement of Dalits has been adversely affected by the opportunist, selfish and corrupt Dalit politics. Two main components of Dr. Ambedkars movement were annihilation of caste and conversion to Buddhism but Dalit politicians have betrayed these ideals and principles. No doubt, Dr. Ambedkar had identified political power as a key to all the problems but at the same time he had said that political power should be used for development of society whereas Dalit politicians have used it for self aggrandisement. Dr. Ambedkar had also said that the task of a political party is not to win election only. The real role of a political party is to give political education to the masses. But Dalit politicians one point program has been to win election in any way. The result is that social and religious movement of Dalits has been pushed back resulting in loss of interest among masses. The lack of interest among Dalits in Buddhist conversion has also resulted from the quality of Buddhist converts. They have failed to inspire the non-Buddhist Dalits through their role model. Many of them have adopted Buddhism in name only and continue to behave as before. It was incumbent on the converts to be good Buddhists and become role models for others. But it has not happened as required. After the departure of Dr. Ambedkar there was a need for a well organised Buddhist movement but Bhartiya Bauddh Samiti has failed to carry on this task. For long there have been two processes of Hinduisation and Dehinduisation of Dalits. It is seen that major sub-castes of Dalits like Mahars, Chamaras and Malas have been adopting Ambedkarism and thereby undergoing Dehinduisation. At the same time smaller sub-castes of Dalits who happen to be orthodox Hindus have been undergoing Hinduisation. Rashtriy Svayamsevak Sangh (R.S.S.) has accelerated the process of Hinduisation by co-opting them under the umbrella of Hindutva. Smaller Dalit sub-castes have been acting in reaction against the dominant Dalit sub-castes and RSS has exploited this divide. The result is that if dominant Dalit sub-castes have adopted Ambedkar as their ideal, the smaller Dalit sub-castes have become more orthodox Hindus thereby falling into the trap of Hindutva. The result is that at present Dalits are divided not only socially but they are divided politically also as evidenced by the last General Election results. Hence from the above analysis it transpires that social and religious movement started by Dr. Ambedkar has moved backward instead of moving forward. The last census report has made this situation very clear. During the last decade there has taken not only a steep fall in growth rate of Buddhist population but there has been a shortfall in absolute numbers also. Hence it is necessary to identify the internal and external causes of this downfall and take measures to remove them. The present opportunist, selfish and unprincipled Dalit politics needs to be replaced by a radical politics. At the same time it is essential to give an impetus to the Ambedkarite movement of annihilation of caste and opposition to capitalism so that Dalits may be united to fight against the onslaught of Hindutva and Corporate capitalism. Similarly it is necessary to speed up the Buddhist conversion movement in a well planned manner so that Dr. Ambedkars dream of making India again a Buddhist country may be achieved. SR Darapuri I.P.S. (Retd) and National Spokesman, All India Peoples Front Printer Friendly Version Obscured American: Patrick The Ex-Computer Programmer By Linh Dinh 27 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org Patrick in Kensington This week, a 55-year-old tourist from Texas was killed when he fell onto the subway tracks at 13th Street Station. He and his wife had just visited the Liberty Bell. Going by the station the next day, I half expected to see some sort of memorial, but there were no flowers, cards or candles. I was heading to Kensington, a place I have written about repeatedly, the last time ten months ago. Kensington is always in the news for the wrong reasons. So far this year, there have been 34 assaults, 7 rapes and 2 homicides, but summer is still nearly a month away. As a prosecutor once joked to me, Theres a correlation between ice cream consumption and crime! On May 10th, a woman who had been beaten to death was found in an abandoned Kensington home, then two days later, a video surfaced of a Kensington crowd casually watching a man repeatedly punching a woman lying on the street. Some even laughed. The man who filmed it said he didnt want to intervene because its dangerous out here. On the sidewalk, there was a canopy, the kind erected for food tables during block parties, but this communal gesture is rather farcical in context, for the community not only failed to stop the assault, it didnt even make the assailant hesitate out of shame or fear. It was somehow natural for him to attack a woman in front of his neighbors. Two men and two women stood under the canopy to watch the violence. Walking down Kensington Avenue, I noticed that all the Vietnamese barbershops have jacked up their cheapest haircut from five to six bucks. At Jacks Famous Bar, a pitcher of Yuengling has also gone from $3.50 to $4. Still, these are rock bottom prices. Some overheard bits from Jacks: When I was in detox, I was the only one there for alcohol. Everybody else was there for heroin! When you hear an ambulance around here, you know what its for. I told her there aint nuttin in the pina colada mix you buy in the supermarket. You have to get your own shit to mix with it. Thats Madonna from the 70s. That woman is as old as me! As is common in bars for old heads, the songs are often nostalgic and speak of loss. He said hes goin back to find / Ooh, whats left of his world / The world he left behind / Not so long ago. Well, there is no going back to a Kensington of half a century ago, for its factories are all gone. This old Irish neighborhood has seen influxes of blacks, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Vietnamese. More recently, yuppies and hipsters have crossed into its southern edge. There are also quite a number of drug addicts from all over. This day, I met a worn out young woman from Texas and a 54-year-old man from Maine. With his bearish built, ruddy face and lush, white beard, Patrick would make a perfect Santa Claus. Each day, youll find him panhandling at Kensington and Westmoreland, across from the Korean-owned J&J diner. After ten years in Florida, Patrick came to Philly to have better access to drugs. Since he doesnt drink, Patrick balked at my suggestion to go to Jacks Famous Bar, so we ended up sitting in J&J, with him sipping a tall glass of milk, and me finishing all too quickly half a pot of coffee. Speaking mostly of despair, Patrick often seemed disdainful. If a man really wants to lie down and dissolve, theres nothing anybody can do, but I sure hope to see Patrick again. I left Maine. I wanted something different. I had a friend in Jacksonville, Florida, and things were pretty good for a while, then I discovered crack. It was crack until about five years ago, and it has been dope since. Ive been on the streets for almost two years. Ive been clean, on and off, for the last twenty years, but this is the longest stint Ive been using, you know, every day. Ten to fourteen bags a day, usually, sometimes more. Each bag costs ten bucks. Standing there panhandling, I average about a hundred bucks a day. It all goes to dope pretty much. Since October, I figure Ive gotten $20,000 just standing there. Saturday, I made about 180. The day before Christmas, I made almost 300. The day before Easter, I made almost 200. The worst day out here is 50, 60 bucks. A hundred a day is nothing. I made six figures. At one job, I made 400 a day sitting at a desk playing with a computer. A hundred a day standing there aint no big deal. I think its pathetic when people say a hundred a day is great money. Thats sad. You need a new fuckin job! Thats fuckin minimum wage! Im a computer guy. Freelancing, I make a hundred an hour. Ive been a computer guy since I was 12. I discovered the computer back in 1973, in 7th grade. Im pretty good at it. I have a spot behind Dunkin Donuts. I have a sleeping bag there. I sleep outside. I havent had anything bad happen here. Kensington aint half as bad as people think it is. I get my dope from right around the corner. Any situation someone is in, its incumbent upon them to change it. Me included. I mean, Im just stuck. Id rather be fuckin dead, plain and simple. Ill give you an example. Last June, I shot a bundle of dope, took a couple of bennies, with the intention of not waking up. When I did wake up, I couldnt stand up. Somehow I wound up with a pinched sciatic nerve in my vertebrae. Ive been in pain ever since. Its been almost a year. This is the first time Ive ever done that, doing dope for the pain. Before, I was just doing dope to do dope. When I get a decent chunk of change, Ill try it again. Take more bennies, and more dope. Im fuckin tired. If I had a gun, Id blow my brains out, but I dont have a gun. My mom is in Maine, but I wont go back there, because theres nothing up there. Theres a lot of appeal, but appeal doesnt pay the bills. The economy is pathetic. I cant get dope. I cant get this situation dealt with. Id be in pain every fuckin day. I wake up every day, its the same routine. Id rather be dead. Im really tired of it. Im here for one fuckin reason. Theres dope right there. Thats the only fuckin reason Im sitting in Kensington. Theres no other reason to be here! Im not from here. The place is a shit hole. It serves only one purpose. Dope! Our medical system is a joke. I know people who get pills, prescriptions for pain pills, whatever, and they sell them, OK? I have a legitimate pain, and I cant even get one. Thats how fucked up our medical system is. Its pathetic! Across the board, its fuckin' pathetic. People like me, they want to put on Methadone or Suboxone... so I want to be a slave to you?! Id rather be a slave to dope! You want to be a slave to government, for real?! Last time I read about slaves in government, it was Nazi Germany! Fuck government! Government doesnt do anything right. They spend a lot of money to fuck things up. Thats all government has ever done in our country, and probably historically. I dont want the government in my life! Theyre in my life enough! Those pills are a substitute for heroin. I can get heroin anywhere, any time. To get Methadone, you have to play their games. You have to be here at this time, you have to attend these groups. No, no, no! Im a Libertarian. I believe in pure, unadulterated freedom. It doesnt mean youre free to kill people and rape or burn houses. Thats not what freedom is. Get out of my life! Let me live my life! Ive been a Libertarian ever since I discovered that being a Democrat was for idiots. Im proud to say Ive never voted for a president that won. My first election, I voted for Carter, but he was too honest and had integrity. Thats not good. I voted Democrat till the mid 80s. I voted for Ross Perot in the early 90s. I havent voted a number of times, because why do I want to waste my time when theres nothing worth voting for? Im a Ron Paul fan. I saw him on my birthday back in 2012, whatever it was. It was in front of Independence Hall. I stood there in the rain for three hours, on my birthday. It was fun. Yeah, Im a Ron Paul fan. Im a Rand Paul fan. Hillary if that cunt gets elected, Ill kill myself for sure. Id like to see someone kill her. Shes an evil whore, an evil bitch. Hes evil, and his bitch is evil. People need to look at who these people really are. Do you know how many people have died because of them? You have Benghazi, which everyone seems to have forgotten about. Shes a piece of shit. I mean, people have been murdered. You know, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, people close to them were getting ready to say stuff, OK, but they conveniently committed suicide, shot gun blast through the back of the head. I dont know any shot gun where youre capable of killing yourself by holding the trigger back here Why go through all that trouble, first of, let alone it's not possible. Nobody seems to care. Yeah, I want to live in a world, and in a country, where no one gives a fuck. Yeah, everybody says, Dont kill yourself! Dont kill yourself! but what the fuck is there to live for in this shit hole? Im 11th generation. My ancestors came here in the early 1600s. They were the founding fathers of Hampton, New Hampshire. My 4th great grandfather, in my direct line, was in the Battle of Bunker Hill, OK? On any given day, I wish my 8th great grandfathers ship had sunk on the way over here. Or any of my other great grandfathers, take any of them out of the picture, and I dont exist, plain and simple. Without any of those people surviving, I dont exist, as I am right this second. Yeah, look at what weve got! Thanks, grandpa! If they could see what our government has become, they wouldnt have wasted their time 200 years ago. Theyre turning over in their fuckin graves. Go down to Independence Mall, stand in the grass, look at Independence Hall and think about the 1700s and the American Revolution, and how cool all that was, then look this way, then look that way. One of them says DOW! The other one says Wells Fargo! Yeah. Wow. Government of the people, by the people, for the people? Fuck no! You mean these assholes are taking jobs to make $200,000 when they could be doing more, elsewhere? There has to be more to it. Well, there is, boys and girls, its called corporation, and theyre all fuckin whores to those corporations. Those corporations have sold out America, and the politicians have allowed them to sell out America. They have sent jobs overseas, so people my age are trying to survive on minimum wage. Minimum wage is meant for fuckin kids! I was making minimum wage in 1976, and that two dollars and something an hour had more buying power! I could get four packs of cigarettes for that $2.35. You cant even get one for minimum wage today, and the minimum wage is almost three times more. Do the math. Its fucked up! People dont give a fuck. Nobody cares enough to try. Nobody cares enough to unite. Two people aint gonna make a difference. Two million people might. Everybody is like, Oh, I dont want to miss whats Kim Kardashian wearing? Whats Kim Kardashian sticking up her ass? Whose black dick is she sucking tonight? Really, thats all people care about. They care more about that whore than they do about their own fuckin neighborhood. I dont see how you can watch all that garbage. I dont watch any garbage, for real. Its been shit for as long as Ive been alive, but I was ignorant. When I was in high school, I was ignorant to what was going on in the world, so everything appeared fine. With my perception, everything was great, but reality wasnt. Ive read some, but not as much as I should have. There was a 50-day period where I read 26 books, eight of them by David Baldacci, who I thought was pretty good. Good stuff. I had great jobs, then came the drugs, but I dont blame the drugs, I blame me. The girl thing and the drug thing are real entwined, and Ive been a social retard for most of my life, so to satisfy the lust, I got hooked on drugs. No, Ive never been married. Ive never had a long term girlfriend. I was a social retard. I dont think Im weird, its just that Ive never been good in that department. I dont know. I dont think Im picky. I dont want some ugly, 500-pound beast. Who the fuck does? Am I suppose to settle for whoever the fuck wants to sit on my face? I just want to be happy. I just want someone who gives a fuck about me, you know, someone whos not materialistic and phony and all that bullshit. I dont want drama! I dont think any of thats asking for too much. I think thats probably pretty normal, what people want, you know. Now that Im out here, Im probably not going to find me a girlfriend, ha ha, unless I settle for a Kensington mail order bride, a whore du jour, right over there! A lot of people have perceptions that drug addicts are these types of people, but drug addicts can be anybody, your uncle, your sister, your brother, your nephew, your niece, your next door neighbor, your mailman. I used to think it was only these people, and youre all weak, the crack thing and stuff, until I tried it, then I knew that everything I had thought about it was wrong. There are people that come down here from the suburbs, then five or six years later return home. They were just coming down for the weekend, or just coming down to get some, and got stuck. Or came down and never made it back home because theyre dead. Ive known of more people that have died down here than Ive ever known in my entire life, elsewhere. The ones that overdosed, I envy them, because why the fuck cant I overdose? Id overdose, and ten minutes away from being done, and someone would fuckin find me. Id wake up in a fuckin hospital! Ive overdosed three times. Of the people who give me money, the best, over all, are the Hispanic women, then Hispanic men, white women, black women. Black men and white men are the worst. I pay attention to that. Being a computer guy, I look at numbers and stuff. The ones that you think would, dont, and the ones that you think dont, do. I also have repeat customers, so to speak. Im nothing special, but there is a certain type of person that people expect to be doing that, and I dont fit that. Im not some fuckin lifelong bum. Ive been homeless a couple of years. I dont get in peoples face. I dont ask anybody for anything. I stand there. If someone wants to give me money, help me out There is nothing on that sign that isnt true. People would ask me, Where do you live? Where is your house? Id go, Dude Anybody whos going hungry, really, if you have to beg to eat, youre really a fuckin moron. There are people that stand there that say theyre homeless that live right around the corner. I have people tell me I cant be homeless because of the sneakers I wear, but people give me stuff. Everything Im wearing was given to me. People give me food, all day long. People have bought me meals at this diner. I read... I look at the Bible, and its great fiction, as far as Im concerned. I mean, in the 1690s, we were hanging women in Salem, Mass, for being witches, for Christs sake. Youd think people would be less naive than they were in 1692. It amazes me how people would read something and just believe it. The Bible says X Y Z, so its X Y and Z. Really, youre that naive? Youre that numb? There cant be more to it, or less to it? Just because some humans wrote these words in a book you call the Bible, you believe it? I never went to church. My parents never forced it upon us, which is why I believe people are the way they are. It was forced upon them. My mom is Russian, but English is the side of my surname, Blake. Thats me. My mom is actually from this shit hole, not Kensington, but Philly. It has nothing to do with me being here, though. Im just here for the dope. Linh Dinh is the author of two books of stories, five of poems, and a novel, Love Like Hate. Hes tracking our deteriorating socialscape through his frequently updated photo blog, Postcards from the End of America. Tweet WhatsApp Share Share on Tumblr Comments are moderated Indigenous Leaders In The Amazon Face Death Threats As Community Files Lawsuit Against Peruvian Government For Violation Of Their Land Rights By Forest Peoples Programme 27 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org 26th May, Pucallpa, Peru: Leaders of the Shipibo indigenous village of Santa Clara de Uchunya, accompanied by their representative organization FECONAU, filed a constitutional law suit challenging Perus regional government authorities for failing to secure legal protection of their traditional lands and enabling its acquisition and clearance by an international agribusiness company.[1] Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC, an agribusiness company affiliated to the Melka commercial group appears to have begun acquiring the lands since 2012. Since that point, satellite images show that more than 5,000 ha of forest have been cleared to pave the way for an oil palm plantation. [2] The lawsuit argues that these actions violate indigenous peoples collective property rights over their traditional and customary lands. These rights, which exist and are legitimate irrespective of whether or not their lands are titled, are protected by Perus constitution and under international human rights law, which is obligatory for the Peruvian government.[3] The lawsuit[4] describes a process over many years through which the Peruvian government failed to legally secure the lands of Santa Clara de Uchunya, but then also enabled acquisition by individuals claiming occupation rights who it appears then subsequently sold their plots to Plantaciones de Pucallpa. Unfortunately, this sort of irregular accumulation of land is widespread practice throughout the Peruvian Amazon. A 2014 report by national indigenous organisation AIDESEP has identified more than 1,200 communities vulnerable to land grabs whose legal land titles remain outstanding. This lack of legally-secure land rights is facilitating widespread conflict over lands, forests and resources. [5] The community has been denouncing and campaigning actively against the operations of Plantaciones de Pucallpa and has engaged energetically with local and national authorities with mixed success. In September 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture ordered the suspension of the operations on the grounds that Plantaciones de Pucallpa had none of the authorisations and environmental certificates and assessments required by the Peruvian government before clearing forest.[6] Since then, however, the operations appear to have continued as verified by a recent field visit to the plantation site by Ministry of Agriculture officials, which was captured on video.[7] Meanwhile, community members have been promised by local officials that the titling of their traditional lands is being processed. However, at the same time, communities point out that the illegal practice in which their lands are issued by local authorities to third parties without their Free, Prior and Informed Consent continues. In December 2015 the community found out that a further 17 plots of land in their traditional lands extending to more than 200ha had been allocated to individual farmers by regional authorities. In this case they managed to file an immediate appeal and an administrative process remains pending. Prosecutors visiting the area on 5th and 6th May confirmed that there was no evidence that would support the farmers claims.[8] Leaders of the community and representatives of the organization FECONAU describe a growing sense of fear as their denunciations and campaigning are triggering a growing backlash, apparently stemming from Plantaciones de Pucallpa and their supporters. This has manifested itself in a campaign of defamation in local media relying on unsubstantiated accusations that community members have burnt down houses of local farmers as well as anonymous death threats for individual leaders.[9] Joel Nunta Valera, President of the community, said There are outsiders coming here who are threatening and intimidating members of the community and sowing fear and disquiet. This is in revenge for the various denouncements and other actions taken by the community in defence of its territory. Community leaders and representatives report that there have been strangers arriving in the village at night who are armed and masked and asking for the whereabouts of their leaders.[10] Meanwhile, these threats have escalated since an official delegation of Peruvian environmental prosecutors conducted a field visit in the area on the 5 and 6 May 2016 and confiscated chainsaws and detained individuals found to be felling trees without permission. Robert Guimaraes, president of FECONAU, reports that he is in fear of his own life and for the lives of the leaders of Uchunya: The threat of death is very strong and smouldering. Residents of the community have literally been told by people in the nearby town of Requena Take care because we are going to kill your leaders and if we do not manage to do your leaders in, then we will kill anyone from Uchunya itself, we have a list. We must have protection from the authorities; we plead for the intervention of international human rights agencies. Plantaciones de Pucallpa is one of many companies registered in Peru with links to a complex corporate network apparently controlled by US-Czech businessman Dennis Melka and known collectively in Peru as the Melka group. Mr Melka founded the Malaysian agribusiness company Asian Plantations. Melka group companies in Peru, including Cacao del Peru Norte SAC and Plantaciones de Ucayali SAC and their parent companies United Cacao Ltd and United Oils Ltd, have attracted similar accusations of illegal deforestation and land conflict. On 4 May 2016 a formal complaint was submitted to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on the London Stock Exchange highlighting the multiple violations of Peruvian law by United Cacao Ltd and requesting their delisting from the AIM. [11] On 24 May, Perus National Forest Authority (SERFOR) issued a statement clarifying unequivocally that Cacao del Peru Norte SAC have engaged in unauthorised deforestation and have urged the AIM to hold them to account. The statement is important because it establishes clearly that the arguments used by United Cacao del Norte and its sister companies, including Plantaciones de Pucallpa, that they have operated within the law are unfounded. [12] Contact: Conrad Feather, Conrad@forestpeoples.org. 0044 7792979187 Robert Guimaraes Vasquez, FECONAU, 0051 961598323, rgv_sh@yahoo.com [1] See press release of FECONAU and the community (Spanish only) [2]. http://maaproject.org/2015/image-4-oil-palm-projects-cause-deforestation-of-primary-forest-in-the-peruvian-amazon-part-1-nueva-requena/ and http://bit.ly/25iol4U and http://bit.ly/25ipxoI [3] See key facts (Spanish only) [4] See summary of lawsuit (Spanish only) [5] http://www.aidesep.org.pe/pueblos-indigenas-exigen-titulacion-de-20-millones-de-hectareas-y-rechazan-proceso-de-consulta-del-lote-192/ [6] https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw-OMuvfs9a4ZHp5WFNmWW03Q0U/view [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPU9nRilTe8&feature=youtu.be [8] http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/rights-land-natural-resources/news/2016/05/peruvian-environmental-prosecutor-documents-planta [9] http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/agribusiness/news/2015/11/press-release-we-are-going-kill-you-indigenous-activist-s-life-dang [10] http://www.forestpeoples.org/topics/rights-land-natural-resources/news/2016/05/peruvian-environmental-prosecutor-documents-planta [11] http://eia-global.org/news-media/united-cacao-breaks-aim-rules [12] http://eia-global.org/news-media/peruvian-government-to-london-stock-exchange-support-our-actions-against-un Holocaust Survivor And Human Rights Activist Hedy Epstein Dies At 91 By Dianne Lee 27 May, 2016 CommonDreams.org ST. LOUIS, Missouri Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 91, died at her home in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, on May 26, 2016. An internationally renowned, respected and admired advocate for human and civil rights, Hedy was encircled by friends who lovingly cared for her at home. Born August 15, 1924, in the Bavarian region of Germany, her lifelong commitment to human rights was formed by the horrific experiences she and her family endured under the repressive Nazi regime. Unable to secure travel documents for themselves, Hedys parents, Hugo and Ella (Eichel) Wachenheimer, arranged for 14-year-old Hedy to leave Germany on a Kindertransport. Hedy credited her parents with giving her life a second time when they sent her to England to live with kind-hearted strangers. Hedys parents, grandparents, and most of her aunts, uncles and cousins did not survive the Holocaust. Hedy remained in England until 1945 when she returned to Germany to work for the United States Civil Service. She joined the Nuremberg Doctors Trial prosecution in 1946 as a research analyst. Hedy immigrated to the United States in 1948. She and her husband moved to St. Louis in the early 1960s, and shortly thereafter Hedy began working as a volunteer with the Freedom of Residence, Greater St. Louis Committee, a nonprofit organization dedicated to housing integration and advocacy for fair housing laws. Hedy worked for many years as a volunteer and board member, and ultimately served as the organizations executive director during the mid-1970s. During the 1980s, Hedy worked as a paralegal for Chackes and Hoare, a law firm that represented individuals in employment discrimination cases. As an advocate for equality and human rights, Hedy spoke out against the war in Vietnam, the bombing of Cambodia, and overly restrictive U.S. immigration policies. She spoke and acted in support of the Haitian boat people and womens reproductive rights, and, following the 1982 massacre at Sabra and Shatila, Hedy began her courageous and visionary work for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. During her later years, Hedy continued to advocate for a more peaceful world, and in 2002 was a founding member of the St. Louis Instead of War Coalition. Much of her later activism centered on efforts to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. She founded the St. Louis chapter of Women in Black and co-founded the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee and the St. Louis chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. She traveled to the West Bank several times, first as a volunteer with the nonviolent International Solidarity Movement and repeatedly as a witness to advocate for Palestinian human rights. She attempted several times to go to Gaza as a passenger with the Freedom Flotilla, including as a passenger on the Audacity of Hope, and once with the Gaza Freedom March. Hedy addressed numerous groups and organizations throughout Europe and returned to Germany and her native village of Kippenheim many times. Three days after her 90th birthday, Hedy was arrested for failure to disperse. She was attempting to enter Missouri Governor Jay Nixons St. Louis office to ask for de- escalation of police and National Guard tactics which had turned violent in response to protests following the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Hedy was a member of the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Centers speakers bureau and gave countless talks at schools and community events. She shared her Holocaust experiences with thousands of Missouri youth as a featured speaker at the Missouri Scholars Academy for more than twenty years. She ended every talk with three requests: remember the past, dont hate, and dont be a bystander. Through the years, Hedy received numerous awards and honors for her compassionate service and relentless pursuit of justice. Hedy is survived by son Howard (Terry) Epstein, and granddaughters Courtney and Kelly. She was beloved and will be truly missed by countless friends in St. Louis and around the world. Hedy often shared her philosophy of service with these words: If we dont try to make a difference, if we dont speak up, if we dont try to right the wrong that we see, we become complicit. I dont want to be guilty of not trying my best to make a difference. Hedy always did her best, and the difference she made is evident in the commitment and passion of those called to continue her work. Her friends and admirers honor and salute her deep and lifelong dedication to tikkun olam, the just re-ordering of the world and promise to remember, to stay human, and to never be bystanders. A memorial service will be held in Forest Park at a date and time to be determined. Donations in Hedys name may be made to Forest Park Forever to establish a permanent tribute, 5595 Grand Drive in Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63112; American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102; American Civil Liberties Union, 125 Broad St. 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004; and/or American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri Foundation, 454 Whittier St., St. Louis, MO 63108. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License The JNU Marches On By Ish Mishra 27 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org The names of the students penalized by a high handed High Level Enquiry Committee headed by the prominent leader of anti-reservation group Youth for Equality, had long been decided before the premeditated attack on JNU in the dawn of 11th February 2016. All these same names are there in the dossier prepared by 11 nationalist (read pro-RSS) teachers of JNU a year ago that describes JNU as a hub of organized sex racket and the anti-national activities. Similar views were published in RSS mouthpieces Organizer and Pamchjanya. Was this group of nationalist teachers assigned the job by the university administration or any government agency or they took the tedious job preparing a 200 page dossier after meticulous research over the number of bottles and buts of the cigarette consumed and condoms used by JNU students? In the first decade of JNU the right wing extremists, the self-claimed moral cops slandered JNU as a place, where wine and women were free. Confronted by the journalists on crack down over1983 agitation in defense of the admission policy, the then VC had also repeated the same slander. Many lumpens believing the rumor would come to the campus in search of free woman and would go back with couple of lessons, at times few physical ones too would become necessary. Girls, though less in number, would be in the forefront of teaching squad. Why slander campaign against JNU and the students? Punishment to selected students is always meant to silence the dissent. But as JNU students made it clear by marching yesterday in very large number and declaring to defy this fascist order, the dissent of JNU cannot be silenced by terror tactic. The new protagonists of this ideological battle have vowed to make it a national movement by joining hands with workers and transform it into a movement for defending democracy. It is going to be a long drawn battle. But with the control of state machinery, the right wing extremists are fighting this battle not by ideas but by state coercion, hooliganism and slander. It is going to be long drawn battle between coercive repression and protracted ideological resistance. Brahmanism knows that it could maintain its hegemony by defining and monopolizing knowledge through education. Universal, constitutional accessibility and democratization through social justice legislations has challenged their monopoly over definition of knowledge. Brahmanism, expressing itself via various RSS organs, is trying to meet the challenge by subverting the education. The attack on the students by the state and the right wing extremism, represented by RSS that took off with Mr. Modis ascendance to power in the center, has intensified in the last one year.s of the government on the economic fronts. The ruling classes, in order to divert the popular attention from the major contradictions and to blunt their edge, overplay some minor, mostly artificial contradictions with sentimental appeals and divert the creative discourse of dissent into reacting to their agenda. Nationalism is very sensitive issue as no one would like to be termed as anti-national. Fascists are intolerant to differing opinions and institutions of higher education with left and Ambedkarite student activism. As has been widely known by now, the invasion of JNU with declarations of its being hub of anti-nationalism by government and RSS ideologues on the basis of the stage managed allegedly anti-national sloganeering, was premeditated. Why the vicious attack and slander campaign aginst the students of HCU and JNU, as has been rightly said by Kanchan Ilaiah, the campuses with a difference (Indian Express, 6 April 2016)? The RSS knows that the Brahmanical values and the hierarchal sense of devotion that forms its ideological bases, cannot flourish without saffronization of the higher education. The campuses like JNU and HCU that encourage and nurture a culture of debate and discourse, a culture of questioning and dissent are unfertile for saffron growth. The eminent presence of ideologically Left and Ambdedkarite students is the biggest hurdle. To break this hurdle the government began to appoint RSS loyalists with redoubtable academic credentials, mostly upper caste, at the helm of academic and research institutions, as the first step in the direction. Next step of RSS design of saffronization of campuses is the generation of ideological following among the students. That is not possible in the campuses with a difference, with democratic academic culture conducive to the creation and recreation of rationality, reason and rebellion, but unfertile to the growth of the sense of devotion and Brahmanical obscurantism. Its student brigade, ABVP cannot have hold in campuses, where the students derive their inspiration from Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh. Therefore it decided to invade the campuses and discredit the radical student activists, the budding intellectuals as anti-national. By doing so, it imposed a cultural war on students. The students have taken up the challenge. The campuses all over the country have risen in revolt. It is a war between constitutional nationalism and jingoistic national chauvinism as propagated by various RSS fronts. The fascist attack on HCU and JNU brought together various left students groups and the followers of Ambedkar on the same platform. Rohith Vemulas martyrdom proved to be the turning point. JNU students were, at the time, engaged in the protracted Occupy UGC agitation against government policy and planning under JNUSU leadership. Rohiths martyrdom brought about the much awaited unity of the Jay Bhim and Lal Salam slogans and JNU became the hub of agitation. This made the right wing extremism desperate that invaded JNU for its anti-nationalism. The difference between modern fascism and the premodern princely despotism is that the former has solid ideological following with a sense of unconditional devotion, armed with Goebbelsian machinery of misinformation and rumor that goes down to common people, who are not willing to reason, as reality. It does not appeal to the popular reason but to the popular emotions with its own constructs of nationalism and antinationalism; patriotism and sedition. As we know from the historical experiences, the fascists are most scared of the ideas that question and expose their designs. Therefore their paramilitary brigades disrupt the opponents programs and discourses with the war cries of nationalism. Mussolinis Black Shirts and Hitlers Storm Troopers (SA) are the glaring historical examples. ABVP, the student wing of the RSS, is doing exactly the same. Instead of organizing its own programs on nationalism, it has been indulging into disrupting others programs, be it on nationalism, Ambedkar or Bhagat Singh, with war cries of Bharat Mata Ki Jay. The slogan that once symbolized and evoked a sense of belonging to a historical unity of a place and people evolved through the anti-colonial struggles has become disruptionist ploy in the hands ABVP to scare the opponents. Unable to counter the ideas by ideas, its leaders, it seems, have decided upon single point program of violent disruption of others right of freedom to ideas, in the name of patriotism or nationalism. What is Nationalism? Why are the students of the institutions of higher education in general, and IIT Madras, Hyderabad Central University and JNU being persecuted and branded as anti-national? It is to be noted the aforesaid institutions are ranked in the top five in the country by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Is the nationalism, as the mythological claim of the right wing extremism, a legacy of some antiquity? Nationalism is not the legacy of any real or mythical past but a historically evolved modern ideology of the modern nation state that rose in Europe on the ruins of a regressive feudalism. As Benedict Anderson has rightly pointed out in The Imagined Communalities, the concept of nationalism as a new identity criterion and as a hegemonic ideology was born in an age when Enlightenment and revolutions were destroying the legitimacy of divinely ordained hierarchical dynastic realm. In pre modern days, there was no nationalism but loyalty to the divinely ordained and the divinity of the rulers authority was testified by the religion as its ideology. From the beginning of the premeditated attack on JNU with aggressive slanderous campaigns, of RSS think tank is pooling its all the intellectual resources to link the death of a soldier on the border with JNUs anti-nationalism. In pre-modern days, the soldier of the kings army was not moved by any patriotic sense but as a mercenary warrior with allegiance of loyalty to his employer, the king or the feudal lord in the same way as Indian soldier of British Indian army owed allegiance to the colonial rulers. People do not join army for patriotism but for a secure job. In Europe, nationalism emerged as an ideology of the modern nation state to validate the authority of the national government. The God, as source of the validity of authority was replaced by an abstract idea of people and religion was replaced by an undefined notion of nationalism as the validating ideology. Historically sedition and anti-nationalism have been used to silence the political dissent. As is well known that the Sedition Law, under which the JNU students are charged, was enacted by the colonial rulers to crush the national movement. Nazi mayhem, persecution of political dissent under McCarthyism in 1950s in the USA and authoritarianism of emergency days in India are just the few glaring examples of oppression in the name of nationalism and perceived national security. In India, nationalism emerged as an anti-colonial ideology. The Indian Freedom Struggle generated many ideologies. Some sought to unite Indians as a nation of a composite culture across the regional, social and religious diversities. Some that sought to perpetuate such diversities and divisions to derail the nationalist march. The colonial rulers with the memories of the popular unity of 1857s Indias War of Independence, still fresh in the mind, adopted the policy of divide& rule and began to utilize all the possible social cleavage for the purpose. It is to be noted that but for the treacherous colonial loyalty of Indias princely states, like Shindhias of Gwalior 1857 could have proved to be the end of colonial rule and plunder. As Gyanendra Pandey ha well documented in his book Construction of Communalism in the Colonial North India, communalism has been a deliberate colonial construct. The reactionary sections of Indian society, knowingly, unknowingly became colonial tool against the anti-colonial, inclusive nationalism by propounding ahistorical theories of religion based nationalism the Hindu and the Muslim nationalism. This, as is history now, gave rise to two-nation theory leading to the cruel partition of the country, the wounds of which continue to bleed in the form of Kashmir issue. Thus like nationalism, communalism too is modern ideology born out of the womb of colonial capitalism on the foundations of supposed religious exclusionism, communal diffidence and hatred. The communal ideologies, promoted by imperialist forces emerged in opposition to secular, inclusive and composite nationalism being shaped by the various streams of anti-colonial struggles. Hindu and Islamic communalisms in India, represented by Hindu Mahasabha and RSS and Muslim league and Jamat-e-Islami respectedly, are not ideological cousins but twins, which not only complement each other but also reinforce each other as both exhorted their followers not to waste energy in fighting the British rule but preserve it for fighting each other that they did when the end of colonial rule became imminent. Golwalkar is categorical in condemning both the streams of freedom struggle the Gandhian and the revolutionary represented by Bhagat Singh and his Comrades -- as born out of the darkness of ignorance, while RSS aims to take the country at some undefined glory. A comparative study of communal ideologies is beyond the scope of this article; they hold not only similar but congruent views on most of the substantial socio-economic and political issues. On the basis of its role in the freedom struggle, Congress assumed the power after the partitioned independence under the leadership of Nehru. The constitution drafted by Baba Saheb BR Ambedkar envisions a democratic, secular India committed to social and economic justices to Indian masses. The concept of Hindu or Muslim nationalism is violation of the spirit of the constitution embodied in the preamble. According to the noted historian, Eric Hobsbawm, nationalism is allegiance to the constitution. Branding the radical young scholars of JNU and HCU as anti-national and their arrest for using their constitutional rights of freedom to thought and expression is a contempt to the constitution and hence anti-national. Claims of being a Hindu nationalist are violation of the preamble of the constitution and hence an anti-national act. The paradox is that anti-nationals are issuing certificates of nationalism. The Brahmanical, fascist onslaught on the campuses of the higher education beginning with the ban on Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle(APSC) on the charge of spreading hatred against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindus, does not seem to stop so does the students radical resistance to it. The repression by states coercive machinery is added and abetted by ABVP and other RSS fronts. Like the Nazi Storm troopers in Germany in 1933 have taken upon themselves to violently disrupt the opponents programs with Police as mute spectators. The physical coercion, including the tortures and abuses to Hyderabad Central University (HCU) teachers and students by the Police, is consistently accompanied by the aggressive hate campaign of sedition against them. The Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi called upon the BJP workers in its national executive meeting to make the nationalism as the main plank of political mobilization. Before that BJP President, Amit Shah had exhorted the workers of the party and other RSS auxiliaries to focus on JNU. Just before that, the Finance Minister of the country had told a gathering of BJPs youth wing, BJYM that the ABVP has won the ideological battle in JNU. Subsequently, he elaborated his point by telling the PTI that their view has been accepted by the majority, probably through some astrological referendum. All three of them, in a cliched pattern continue to repeat the Goebbelsian lie about controversial slogans despite the proven fact that the videos with Bharat Ki Barbadi (destruction of India) slogans attributed to JNU student leaders, telecasted by the nationalist channels were doctored. Mr. Jaitley is right in terming the ongoing tussle between, metaphorically speaking, JNU and jingoism, as an ideological battle. But his proclamation of victory is too hasty and doubtable as the battle is on, only the future will tell the result. This might prove the first battle of the seemingly long drawn ideological/intellectual civil war between the ideologies of constitutional nationalism, as proclaimed by the students and communal jingoism, propagated by RSS; between the forces of progress relying on reason and historical observation and the forces of corporate-Brahmanism relying on irrational belief and Goebbelsian propaganda. Ish Mishra. Associate Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Hindu College, University of Delhi No War 2016, Real Security Without Terrorism: Messages From Archbishop Desmond Tutu And Mairead Maguire Press Release 27 May, 2016 Worldbeyondwar.org World Beyond War is planning a big event in Washington, D.C., in September 2016, just after the International Day of Peace, including a conference beginning Friday afternoon September 23, running all day Saturday September 24, and with activist workshops on Sunday morning the 25th. Were also working with Campaign Nonviolence and the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance to plan a nonviolent activism training and a nonviolent action in D.C. on Monday September 26th. Join us to learn about and engage in working on viable alternatives to war and militarism. To attend you must register here: As the war system keeps societies in a state of permawar, we have reached a stage in human history at which we can say with confidence that there are better and more effective alternatives. Of course we know the question: You say you are against war, but whats the alternative? This event will develop answers to that question, building on World Beyond Wars publication A Global Security System: An Alternative to War. (A second edition will be published before the conference and we welcome all input!) American University School of International Service By William McDonough & Partners-02The event will feature sessions focused on such topics as: War Isnt Working, and It Isnt Necessary. Diplomacy, Aid, and Nonviolent Peacekeeping and Protection. Disarmament, and Abolishing Nuclear Weapons. Capitalism and Transition to a Peace Economy. The Racism of War. Closing Bases. Protecting the Environment from War. Changing War Culture to Peace Culture. International Law. Patriarchy. Media and Peace Journalism. Strategies for Ending War. Demonstrations, Direct Action, Resistance, and Counter-Recruitment We encourage everyone to come for as much of the conference as possible, and participate in building a broader movement to end all war. World Beyond War is working with our allies to plan similar events focused on alternatives to war the same week in other parts of the world. Please contact us to help plan such events. American-University-School-7Plans for Washington are still being shaped, and were inviting organizations and individuals to contact us with ideas and proposals. Organizations can sign on as partners by contributing financially and in working on plans, or as cosponsors by agreeing just to help promote the event. Speakers already committed to being part of the events in Washington, D.C., include: Cynthia McKinney, Dennis Kucinich, Kathy Kelly, Miriam Pemberton, David Vine, Kozue Akibayashi, Harvey Wasserman, Jeff Bachman, Peter Kuznick, Medea Benjamin, Maurice Carney, David Swanson, Leah Bolger, David Hartsough, Pat Elder, John Dear, Mel Duncan, Kimberley Phillips, Ira Helfand, Darakshan Raja, Bill Fletcher Jr., Lindsey German, Maria Santelli, Mark Engler, Maja Groff, Robert Fantina, Barbara Wien, Jodie Evans, Odile Hugonot Haber, Gar Alperovitz, Partners Include: Jubitz Family Foundation, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, RootsAction.org, Code Pink, International Peace Bureau, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, Jane Addams Peace Association, Co-Sponsors Include: Washington Peace Center, Pace e Bene/Campaign Nonviolence, Liberty Tree Foundation, Veterans For Peace, TheRealNews.com, United for Peace and Justice, Nonviolence International, Peace Action Montgomery, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Military Families Speak Out, Peace Action, WILPF-DC, International Movement for a Just World (JUST), Center for Bangladesh Studies, Society for Peace and Conflict Resolution at American University, Nuke Watch, Venue: No War 2016 will be held at American Universitys School of International Service, in the Founders Room and a number of other rooms in the same building. We thank Jeff Bachman for the wonderful venue! Live Streaming: No War 2016 will be live streamed and the videos published by TheRealNews.com. Funding: No War 2016 will be funded with help from our partners, from our speakers generously donating their time, from American University providing the venue, and primarily by generous individuals who choose to donate to World Beyond War. We will be providing printed materials, meals, and other expensive items necessary to the event, inlcuding free copies of the new second-edition of A Global Security System: An Alternative to War which will be completed by the conference. We ask those attending to pay what you can on a sliding scale and to sign up as early as possible to facilitate our planning: We ask those not attending to please contribute what you are able to help cover the cost of others who can make it there. We will thank these donors unless you prefer anonymity. The Determinant Class Of Contemporary Russian History By Gaither Stewart 27 May, 2016 Greanvillepost.com Russia! What a marvelous phenomenon on the world scene! Russia!a distance of ten thousand versts (about two-thirds of a mile) in length on a straight line from the virtually central European river, across all of Asia and the Eastern Ocean, down to the remote American lands!. A distance of five thousand versts in width from Persia, one of the southern Asiatic states, to the end of the inhabited worldto the North Pole. What state can equal it? Its half? How many states can equal its twentieth, its fiftieth part? Russiaa state which contains all types of soil, from the warmest to the coldest, from the burning environs of Erivan to icy Lapland, which abounds in all the products required for the needs, comforts, and pleasures of life, in accordance with its present state of developmenta whole world, self-sufficient, independent, absolute. (Mikhail P. Pogodin- 1800-1875, Russian historian, journalist, intellectual of the Slavophile movement who held to the Norman theory that the Rus people from whom Russians descended, were Scandinavians.) If we are to believe certain oracles of crafty political views, a little revolt is desirable from the point of view of power: revolt strengthens those governments which it does not overthrow. It puts the army to the test; it consecrates the bourgeoisie, it draws out the muscles of the police; it demonstrates the force of the social framework. It is an exercise in gymnastics; it is almost hygiene. Power is in better health after a revolt, as a man is after a good rubbing down. Victor Hugo was right, of course. And he is still probably quite correct in his evaluation since the nature of the state has not changed much and probably wont until it is finally done away with. Rome armchair: It has been said that continuity is the very stuff of history. (1) (Riasanovsky) That being the case, it must be clear that Russias historical development shows amazing continuity despite enormous changes and revolutions, invasions and interventions any of which could destroy less powerful cultures. Since the ninth century A.D. the East Slavs or the Russians we know today have dominated uninterruptedly that great land expanse more than twice as broad as the USA) described by Mikhail Pogodin. Influenced by early Scythians and Sumerians, by Persians, Mongols and Byzantines, the Russians have not only dominated but expanded eastwards to the Pacific Ocean, absorbing the small and disunited local peoples already settled in the Far East who were most likely welcomed Russia. Since the Russians emerged from the Rus peoples of the Kievan state and moved northeastwards, continuity has been the driving force. Kings and princes, Tsars and commissars, Russians allthough today you find many with the slanting eyes of the blood of various eastern peoples flowing through their veinshave guaranteed the necessary continuity to repel repeatedly any and all invaders. Though the earlier periods of Russian history were dominated by warlike monarchs, the instigators and guides of the march through those open and borderless eastern spaces, also a certain Russian spirit was occupying every vacuum in their path. However, it is impossible to compare that Russian expansionism in those times with the growth and spread of European empires, the earlier Alexandrian or Roman empires with their magnificent military machines and skills, or those which would arise later like Ottomans and Hapsburgs and Hohenzollerns in Europe. The latter empires were amassed by invasion and conquest of existing foreign countries and cultures. Since socio-political Russia did not experience an Enlightenment or Renaissance, nor did religious Russia experience a Reformation or a Counter-Reformation as in Europe, its culture took different directions, influenced more than generally recognized by the Mongolian conquest of major parts of Russia, the constant threat of invaders envious of its vast lands, and then later, the reforms of Peter the Great. Thus emerged a culture based on a highly aesthetic-religious format and the pictorial arts, which however spoke a language similar (though with a different message) to that of the great Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals rising across the face of Western Europe, with their pictorial representations translating messages to the illiterate masses of France, Italy and Germany. In a similar way, Russias peculiar form of serfdom held the great masses of illiterate, Russian-speaking peoples in ignorance and wrapped in a world of superstitions, linked to the land of their immediate masters (although they were not quite slaves as in the USA and elsewhere) and in almost religious submission to their Little Father, the Tsar. Right up through the nineteenth century the Russian peasant lived a life similar to that of the European Middle Ages, with however certain peculiarities including a powerful attachment to the land and love for their own people that contributed greatly to the Russian character and in the final analysis to the idea of revolution led chiefly by the nineteenth century intelligentsia against the extremely small ruling elite. The Russian religious philosopher, Georgiy Petrovich Fedotov (b. 1886 in Moscow, d.-1951 in New Jersey), noted that the sky or the heavens is rarely mentioned with particular warmth by the nature-loving Russian Slav. He concentrates his warmth on the earth, the earth as the soil, as a grain-producing field. Thus the great respect for and love for bread. The subject of the Russian character and the struggle between two small elitesthe rulers on the one hand and the intellectuals-intelligentsia on the other marks the history of Russia. While the government cracked down on every manifestation of reform, the Enlightenment in the West had paved the way for Rousseau and Diderot et al, who first attracted cultured 19th century Russians, Westernizers like Alexander Herzen, and a host of Russian intellectuals-exiles, who , step by step, generation after generation, brought also new ideas and culture to the fore in Russia. A long line of Russian intellectualswriters, historians, sociologist and political radicals, the future revolutionariesfound their inspiration in Paris and London and created the Russian-European sort of men like Lenin, men totally dedicated to revolution, men who hated and mistrusted the Liberals governing Russia so badly following the 1905 revolution (in a similar fashion to the Russian Liberals of today who would hand their land over to capitalism). Revolutionaries emerged from among those exiles, who though they changed the course of their native land, they also held firmly to the rule of the continuity of Mother Russia. The Revolution, the Civil War, the defeat of foreign interventionists, the dictatorship of the proletariat and the real emancipation of the serfs, NEP (New Economic Policy), Socialism-in-one-country and Stalinism, the education of an entire people, the industrialization of the huge land, the defeat of Nazi Germany in WWII, and the transformation of what was a backward land for the benefit of the elite few into a superpower to counter that of post-World War II USA. If under Tsardom, the driving force of Great Russia was power and the force behind the 1917 Russian Revolution was socio- political, a new, highly politicized breed of post-revolutionary intellectuals had its place in reinforcing the revolution and spreading its message throughout the world: e.g. especially in China and southeast Asia, much of Latin America, and sub-Sahel Africa. Moscow, where I felt power: That new superpowerthe land mass populated by staunch Russians linked to those lands, a powerful military machine and nuclear weapons nearly readystopped an apparently all-powerful post-WWII America in its tracks in central Europe, an America that preferred to march straight on to Moscow. In a similar manner the new military power of post-Communist Russia has today slowed the advance of aggressive, belligerent, imperialistic America bent on world hegemony. One wonders if Russia can save Europe from Americas mad greed and perhaps even save America from itself. THE INTELLIGENTSIA The intelligentsia (a Russian word) and intellectuals, though both engaged in mental labor, are somewhat different. A word imported from Germany and Poland, the intelligentsia is a social-political class which came to be associated with a cultural approach to the world and the existing order in Russia, a class of educated people aimed at shaping a societys culture and politics. Intelligentsia as a rule refers to a social group, partly political, partly religious or ideological, usually active in some artistic field, but which plays a major role in shaping society, as did nineteenth century Russian members of the intelligentsia class who fashioned the Russian Revolution. Prior to the First World War the intelligentsia had become one of the most significant groups in Russian society..Growing from seeds planted by dissident members of the nobility who, in the late eighteenth century, had dared to raise their voices in criticism of the inhumanities of serfdom, the intelligentsia had, a century later, become an influential and diverse group. Its basic feature was its impulse to criticise and oppose the fundamental iniquities and occasional barbarities of tsarism. Within this rather loose framework a hundred flowers bloomed. Scientists, painters, authors, professional people, teachers and lawyers in particular, were all represented in the ranks of the critical intelligentsia. A wide variety of types and intensity of criticism could be found from the relatively gentle admonitions of Turgenev, through the penetrating and trenchant parables and sermons of Tolstoy to the fulminations of Bakunin and Lenin. (2) A member of the intelligentsia may be of any political persuasion but is more associated with politically committed progressives. In the pre-revolutionary 19th century it was used in Russia by its members themselves also to separate them from the masses. The writer Leonid Andreyev caricatured the intelligentsia as cut off from the masses and overstuffed on the bread of the spirit to the point of indigestion, the intellectual (of the intelligentsia, he means) decides global issues and the question of Russia0s existence but fails in the effort. In general the Russian intelligentsia has been mercilessly critical of the authorities but forgiving of their own shortcomings. The term has been popularized today and includes also socially-politically narrower intellectuals. In comparison, the pure intellectual tooespecially in the West may engage in arts but more often is a specialist of some kind, especially in the academic field where he/she may or may not feel political commitment, a failure, I believe, of the American academic class. Intellectuals can belong to any ideology: conservative, fascist, socialist and are not necessarily of the intelligentsia. One might claim that Russian intellectuals or educated leadership classes have never succeeded in creating a culture of continuity because of the lands chaotic upheavals. Yet, as shown above, the collapse of the Kievan state and the shift northeastwards of Russias center of gravity, the Mongol occupation, Peters reforms and the new alternations of capitals between his capital of St. Petersburg and Russias real capital of Moscow did not interrupt the continuity of Russias evolvement. However, never has the concept of continuity of Russia with its past been more obvious than today. Today, with a new model of leadership, Russians in the great metropolises display the same attachment to their lands as centuries earlier. Its so-called Liberals (in cahoots with western imperialists) are simply out of tune with the mood of the nation, people and leadership and are destined to go nowhere at all in mad schemes for Color revolutions in Russia. Rome-Paris: There is an intellectual idea of two types of culturesone horizontal and the other verticalproposed by the art historian and intellectual, Wladimir Weidle. (2) Although there is a great variation in culture and ways of life across Russia, that variation is minimal when compared to the vastness of the territory. The Russian people of the forests of the north and the steppes of the south, in the near west or the distant east, have in general lived a similar life, have similar beliefs and moral ideas. The population of the country of Russia has never been dense, so the question of extension is always predominant here as, I repeat, Russias misguided invaders have learned the hard way. Because of that extension coupled with a similar life style, its horizontal culture, that is the similar culture that emerged from the masses as in other countries spread over that enormous area. Vertical culture instead (the culture of genius and the great true works of art) demands that its foundations not be too vast. My conclusion is that Weidle intended that the great horizontal culture breeds the vertical culture that produces the genius of great art originating as a rule in Russias original tiny elite, as happened, for example, in the explosion of the great Russian literature of the nineteenth century, which anyone who has read Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Lermontov, Chekov, but also a host of other writers, who, it seems, literally erupted in the world almost together. Certainly that sudden literary flowering was a unique cultural phenomenon in the entire world of arts. Weidles point was that Russias magnificent culturethe pictorial arts, music, ballet and lyric opera but above all its literaturefinds its origins and back-up in the horizontal culture, the art of a people of continuity firmly attached to their lands in a uniform fashion unknown in most parts of the world (as experienced by those foreign invaders: the Tartars (Mongols) after centuries were absorbed, Napoleon was defeated ignominiously and sent home to Paris and into exile, the German Nazis were defeated, routed, captured or slaughtered as at Leningrad and Stalingrad and chased the one thousand miles back to Berlin. It is incontrovertible that the Russian Revolution meant political, social and intellectual revolution. Russian society was transformed into Soviet society according to the plan of Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders. A Soviet man was born. A Soviet culture was created. Despite Pogodins enormous land expanse and great variety of ethnic and cultural strains, the Soviet Union became a remarkably homogeneous land that had one official ideology: Communism. In society, one class dominated: Communist. And though workers and to some extent peasants were represented in the Communist Party, intellectuals came to dominate and in turn became a new class. Intellectualssome honest, some social climbers as everywherecreated Soviet culture, responsible for forming the Soviet Communist person. The Soviet performance in science, scholarship, literature, the arts and education is exemplary in its scope, liberal funding, thorough organization, planning and, not least, in party control. Soviet intellectuals were in effect cultural employees of the new state. Creative work in science (Sputniks, the shot at the moon, and Astronauts orbiting the Earth) and music such as that of Shostakovich was brilliant. On the negative side, socialist realism in literature, with some few exceptions, was gray and dismal, as were advances in historiography, philosophy and sociology. After the death of the great Maxim Gorky in 1936, few major writers stepped forward. The gifted Alexis Tolstoy and Mikhail Sholokhov managed to write good works in line with party requirements as did the two greats: Boris Pasternak and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, some of whose works appeared first abroad. Others simply emigrated and worked abroad, like Ivan Bunin and Alexis Remizov. In any case, the now dominant Soviet intellectuals, the new class, became an arm of the new society. Its artists, from Alexis Tolstoy to the great composer Dmitry Shostakovich (his 7th symphony, the Leningrad sufficed to make him great), were willy-nilly representatives of the Soviet Russian man. As a young man in 1962 in Helsinki for the World Festival of Students and Youth, I was introduced by a journalist acquaintance to the Soviet Russian poet and Russias (official) angry young man, a man of many arts, Yevgeny Yevtushenko. As one of those representatives of Soviet Russia, with a certain air of deviation about him, Yevtushenko made a tremendous impression on me as we sat in a cafe booth drinking beer and vodka. At some point he spoke of his sensational poem Babi Yar published the year before about the 1941 Nazi massacre of some 50,000 Jews in a ravine called Babi Yar in the Ukraine capital of Kiev. The first stanza reads: No monument stands over Babi Yar. A steep cliff only, like the rudest headstone. I am afraid. Today, I am as old As the entire Jewish race itself. I never saw Yevtushenko in Moscow but I did meet him once again, this time in Rome, over twenty years later, where I interviewed him on the occasion of an exhibition of his paintings, (which made no lasting impression) held in a wonderful gallery near the Pantheon. Again, he was the enthusiastic but sardonically loyal representative of Soviet Russia that I recalled. As a journalist in Italy I met, interviewed and befriended other visiting or expatriated Soviet artists: the ballet dancer Nureyev (defected in Paris in 1961) and, a close friend, Alexander Minz, (emigrated to Italy in 1972, also from the ballet world, both premature deaths from AIDS), many dancers from the Leningrads Kirov Theater, also the pianist and winner of the Tschaikowsky Prize in Moscow. Yury Yegorov, who emigrated first to Italy in 1972 and then had a career at the Concert Gebouw in Amsterdam in whose apartment we sometimes gathered for a smoke after a concert. (He lived in my house in Rome for a short time before moving to Holland where he subsequently died of AIDS at age 34.). At the Venice film festival, I interviewed many Soviet Russian film directors, including Nikita Michailkov. I cite these few but not forgetting many unnamed others such as the hosts of Russian painters exhibiting around the world, who, although apolitical artists, were all brilliant examples of the quality and world influence of the still relatively new Soviet Russian culture. Moscow : To such a people with their vast lands, American boots on the ground are not perceived as a great threat. Likewise, NGOs or non-governmental organizations such as anti-Russian Radio Liberty in Moscow itself are a minimal threat and can anyway be forbidden at any moment, which, in my humble opinion, should be done without hesitation. Nor do I believe, I repeat, there will be an Orange Revolution in Russia organized by Russias sold-out Liberals, i.e. pro-US, pro-EU , a U.S. Trojan Horse. Russians are after all NOT like West Ukrainian Nazis who wore German uniforms in WWII against Russia and on U.S rose up against their own democratically elected government.. However: NATO troops based or maneuvering on Russias frontiers or a US Black Sea Fleet, or a US-run Georgia or Azerbaijan can ignite a nuclear conflictwhich neither side negatesconflicts which Russian leaders led by a calm Vladimir Putin handle in a statesman-like manner. The one incalculable to which in my opinion Russia does not give sufficient weight is American Neocon madness, the insanity of persons who themselves do not know what they will do next. Earth=Love for Family=Love for Extended Family=Love for Mankind=Socialism=Salvation For Mankind Here I want to develop the above-mentioned, fundamental theme for understanding Russia and Russians: their traditional link to a natural communalism-socialism which is one aspect of their culture, a theme which I hope will not lead modern Russians who might read this to consider my thinking naive. Historians and observers of Russia write of the Russian link to the soil, to Mother Earth, reaching back to Russian paganism, one aspect of folk religion. The other aspect is a sort of cult of ones ancestors which I am tempted to compare to the Mexican tradition, creating a kind of eternal kinship-community, in Russian that extended family is called the rod, something like the Latin gens or the Celtic clan, e.g. the extended family. And in effect the rod is even more powerful than the Russian immediate family which is very close-knit. By way of example, Russians have preserved the patronymic name, the name of the father. All Russians have two personal names, his own given name (Vladimir) and the second a derivative from his fathers name, (Ilich). In folk usage the patronymic, like Ilich, is often used instead of the first name in order to keep alive the chain of the rod. Or the simple Russian might use words of address like father or grandfather, uncle or brother, or the corresponding female names. Social life thus becomes an extension of family life. As a result, moral relations among humans are raised to the level of blood kinship. The Slavophiles conceived of the whole nation as an immense rod, or a people of the extended family. Then the mir, the typical village community throughout all of rural, peasant Russia, though not based on kinship, inherited from the rod the patriarchal form of family. Only one step then separates the Russian rod concept from the Communist idea of mankind as one great family. I cannot hazard a guess as to how many contemporary urban Russians feel that brotherly kinship with mankind today but I think it must be related to the nature of Socialism/Communism as existed in Russia. Dostoevsky like others before him believed that Russia (beauty and love) was destined to save the world. Such thoughts occurred to me personally when a political reporter from Syria recently wrote concerning the Russian military intervention there that it is Russian fortitude that is preserving the world from total war (and the end of mankind).. BERLIN: I once conducted a mini-survey of various persons here who had lived in what was East Berlin before the fall of the wall and the dissolution of Communist East Europe. I recall vividly a middle-aged woman who ran a small shop in the Nikolai Viertel of former East Berlin who with little prompting spoke of how she and many others missed the sense of the closeness of social solidaritya kind of kinship like the former Russian extended family structurethat had marked the Socialist East, remarks I have heard over and over in East Europe. This view might seem outdated, even superfluous in our times. But it is not. On the contrary. More and more people of the world have already awakened to the idea that we are all brothers and sisters. Gaither Stewart based in Rome is a veteran journalist and essayist on a broad palette of topics from culture to history and politics, he is also the author of the Europe Trilogy, celebrated spy thrillers whose latest volume, Time of Exile, was recently published by Punto Press. NOTES 1. Nicolas V. Riasanovsky (not an admirer of the Soviet Union or Communism but a lover of Russia) was my professor of Russian history at the University of California in Berkeley in the 1960s. Nicolai Valentinovich Riasanovsky was born in Harbin, then Russian Manchuria, in 1923, the son of a lawyer and the novelist Antonina Riasanovsky, who wrote under the name of Nina Federova. The family moved to the USA in 1938. Nicolas died in Oakland, California, adjoining Berkeley, in 2011. His major works included his best-selling History of Russia, and Russia In the West In the Teaching of the Slavophiles. His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle: He, Riasanovsky) specialized in the reign of Emperor Nicholas I (1825 to 1855), a period he examined from different perspectives in a half-dozen books focusing on the monarchy itself, the emergence of state-sponsored nationalism..His writing was known for its scrupulous examination of perceptions and misperceptions on all sides in unfolding events. But when Professor Riasanovsky decided to write a textbook for undergraduates in the early 1960s, he was motivated at least in part by concern with the perceptions that Americans had about Russia. 2. Christoher Reed, History Today, Volume 34, 10 October 1984 3. I became acquainted with Professor Weidle interviewing him in Paris in the 1960s. (Vladimir Vasilyevich Veidle, b. 1895 in St. Petersburg, d. in Paris in 1979), an art and literature historian and critic, Veidle taught in Perm after the revolution before emigration to France in 1924. I had the privilege of meeting him several times in Rome where he came each year on a kind of pilgrimage to visit Caravaggio, always staying in the same Plaza Hotel on Via del Corso where everyone called him Professore, and each year visiting the same artists. In the longest church art visit I had ever made he showed me and lectured in detail in a wonderful mixture of French and Russian the wonders of the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, parts of which by Bramante and Bernini and not only two major works of Caravaggio, but also Pinturicchio, Raffaelo, and many other artists of the Rinascimento. His books on Russian culture are still available. How Obama And Clinton Are Endangering All Of Us By Eric Zuesse 27 May, 2016 Countercurrents.org I am a lifelong FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) Democrat and therefore am anything other than prejudiced against the Democratic Party. But, that Party died when Bill Clinton became President and undid FDRs regulations on the megabanks and FDRs AFDC income program for children in poor families, and when Clinton replaced that with restoration of Wall Street's control over America (like before FDR, only a more convoluted form of it). However, the way in which both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton endanger all peoples lives and property and health and welfare, has to do with something else, something thats even more evil than what Bill Clinton did, and its the Obama-Clinton (thats Secretary of State and now Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton) foreign policy, to overthrow the leaders of nations who are allied with or supportive of Russia such as most recently Syrias Bashar al-Assad, but before that Ukraines Viktor Yanukovych, and before that Libyas Muammar Gaddafi. Its no mere coincidence that all three had had cordial relations with Russia. George W. Bushs 2003 overthrow of yet another pro-Russian head-of-state, Saddam Hussein, had already done enormous damage not only to Iraq but to the U.S., and yet Obama and Clinton are at least as determined to surround Russia by enemies, as Bush was; and they now even support the installation, on-and-near Russias very borders, of a Ballistic Missile Defense system thats actually designed to disable Russias ability to retaliate against a U.S. surprise nuclear attack on Russia the BMD is astoundingly aggressive, especially considering that whereas in 1991 the Soviet and then Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev terminated both the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact on the basis of an understanding from George Herbert Walker Bush and his agents, that NATO would not move one inch to the east, this crucial promise from the U.S. government was violated by Bill Clintons extending NATO into the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland; and by Bushs son Bush then extending NATO into Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia; and by Obama then extending NATO into Albania and Croatia and trying to bring into it also Ukraine and some other nations bordering or near Russia. American President JFK didnt allow the Khruschev regime to place nuclear missiles 90 miles from the U.S. in Cuba in 1962, and Russian President Putin cant stand the Obama regime to place nuclear missiles right on Russias borders, but its happening now, and it endangers us all not only the Russian people. Post-communist Russia is vastly different than the communist USSR was, and the U.S. governments treating it even more aggressively than the USSR ever was treated is simply mega-criminal and can be justified only on the basis of lies. Furthermore, with the support of both U.S. President Obama and his neo-conservative former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (famous for her psychopathic We came, we saw, he died, ha ha!! comment), NATOs current Secretary General and other top people at NATO are now increasingly beating the drums for war against Russia, and are using for justification of it the very same lie that both Obama and Clinton do, as Obama has stated it: Russias alleged conquest' of Crimea. As I have documented headlining The Entire Case for Sanctions Against Russia Is Pure Lies, there was no such conquest, and even Western-sponsored polls of Crimeans both before and after Crimeans voted overwhelmingly to reject the newly imposed February 2014 Obama-engineered coup-government of Ukraine and to rejoin Russia of which Crimea had been a part until involuntarily transferred to Ukraine by the Soviet dictator Khrushchev in 1954, showed the very same overwhelmingly high level of public support for rejoining with Russia that was shown in the plebiscite-results. The U.S. government accepts the right of self-determination of peoples, so that the residents of Scotland can vote to separate from the UK if they wish, and the residents of Catalonia can vote to separate from Spain if they wish, but where it comes now to the right of the residents of Crimea, who had voted 75% for Viktor Yanukovych and who were disgusted by Obamas overthrow of him, to separate from the newly-imposed Obama-coup-regime in Kiev (and even the head of Stratfor called it the most blatant coup in history), Obama and Clinton reject that same right for the Crimean people. Why do they reject it? They have to do this, in order to support NATOs war-buildup against Russia, and support their surrounding Russia with extremely dangerous missiles. (In fact, Russias alleged seizure of Crimea is even the justification that Obama gives for his economic sanctions against Russia; so, hes deep into lying about it.) The expansion of NATO up to Russias borders proves NATOs (thats to say, the U.S. aristocracys, and its subordinate national aristocracies that are represented in NATO) aggressive intent against Russia. Putin had done everything he could to have friendly relations with America, but now under Obama the relationship has plunged into clearly a pre-war situation, not only in Syria, and Ukraine, and elsewhere on Russias borders, but in American propaganda against Russia. The addition of installation now of BMD is flashing to all Russians the extreme-danger signal that the next stop is Moscow, and if Russia therefore launches a surprise nuclear attack against the U.S. at some time before the BMD becomes fully operational, the blame for it belongs to George Herbert Walker Bush, and Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, and all who have lied so viciously against Russia and who so blatantly violated the promise that the George Herbert Walker Bush regime had made to Gorbachev in 1990. Fair is fair, regardless of the particular nation, and unfair is unfair, regardless of the particular nation; and, in this case, clearly, the U.S. government has been extremely unfair to the Russian people, and so the Russian governments patience with the lies of the U.S. government and of its NATO stooges, might have a limit that precedes activation of BMD this would mean a Russian first-strike (and they wont warn about it in advance). They dont want to be just sitting ducks. And they all know that only fools think that disabling an opponents ability to retaliate is only a defensive act. Any intelligent person knows that it can be also an extremely aggressive act. And the coup in Ukraine, which started to be organized in the U.S. Embassy in Kiev by no later than 1 March 2013 a year before the coup itself was an extremely hostile and aggressive act against not only Yanukovych, but also against Russia. The U.S. went so far as to be one of only three countries voting in the U.N. General Assembly against a resolution condemning glorification of Nazism and neo-Nazism, because there was a widespread recognition among U.N. representatives, that what the U.S. had recently done in Ukraine was supporting and even putting into place as the new Ukrainian government a specifically anti-Russian form of nazism. Obama couldnt deny it on the facts, so he simply had his neoconservative U.N. representative Samantha Powers vote No on it and she even cited (the new, post-coup) Ukraines vote against it as being her reason for voting against it, as if following those thugs leadership was somehow American. Obamas reversal of FDR there was simply shocking. The way in which Obama and Clinton are endangering all of us is that, if Russia waits and the BMD (which itself is justified only on the basis of lies) thats now starting to be installed, turns out to work, then only Russia will immediately be reduced to nuclear char; but, if it doesnt work, then both sides will be destroyed; and, if Russia doesnt even wait to find out, but instead strikes first, then only the U.S. and maybe other NATO nations will immediately be destroyed; and, in any case, the level of nuclear contamination of the entire world, and the amount of smoke that will be thrown up into the high atmosphere from the fires and then generate a long-term global freezing (nuclear winter) that will be just as extreme and far more sudden than the otherwise global warming, will make life not even worth living. Obama and Clinton arent the only Americans who are pushing this needless vile brinksmanship, but it is needless; its entirely unnecessary, and, on the U.S.-NATO side, its based clearly upon lies; so, the U.S. government must repudiate it and halt the BMD, right now. If theres anything sane thats still remaining in American politics, this issue will be the central issue of the 2016 Presidential campaign. Because, if things continue drifting in the way that they have been drifting, then the world-as-its-always-been-known will soon end, and what replaces it will become hell-on-Earth, everywhere. And Americas leaders will have been the cause of it. Any Presidential candidate who doesnt condemn both Obama and Clinton for it, has no rational justification for receiving anyones vote. Because, if the next U.S. President doesnt forthrightly repudiate and reverse this pathological policy, then wed all better somehow join the aristocracy and buy deep nuclear bunkers, with years of supplies to outlast the first phases of nuclear decay. Except that the people who have already done so are fools for even wanting to live in such a post-war world. (But at least theyre smart enough to recognize that things are heading in this direction.) The only solution to it is to avoid electing Presidents such as the ones weve been electing. Instead, to elect a President who condemns them and for the sane reasons, not for other, insane, ones. Because this issue is too important to continue any insanity. There is simply no justification for it, other than lies. And its the most dangerous policy in the entire world, right now. Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of Theyre Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRISTS VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity. SHARE Lawrence Jennings The American College of Physicians honored Dr. Lawrence Jennings of Mount Carmel, Illinois with advancement to Mastership during its annual convocation ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. on May 5. The ACP, the largest specialty society organization representing 143,000 internists, conferred Mastership to fifty Internal Medicine physicians this year. Mastership comprises a small group of highly accomplished physicians who have been selected because of personal character, positions of honor, and contributes toward furthering the purposes of the ACP. The election to Mastership recognizes outstanding and extraordinary career accomplishments and has been distinguished by the excellence and significance of his or her contributions to the field of medicine. Jennings has been actively engaged in the ACP since 1984. He has served the Illinois Chapter in numerous capacities, including as a member of the Chapter Meeting Planning Committee, the Education Committee, and the Governor's Council; he has been the lead faculty for the Downstate Resident's Doctors Dilemma competition since 2007; and most recently he served as Program Chair for the 2014 State Chapter Meeting. In 2007, he was recognized for his contributions with the Chapter's Laureate Award as well as the University Of Illinois College Of Medicine Alumni of the Year award. He was awarded the Outstanding Rural Health Physician in 2008. In 2009 Dr. Jennings was listed Best Doctors of America and he participates with the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and the University of Southern Indiana in their Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner teaching program. SHARE Jerry Lawrence Evansville My hat is tipped to Ben Broadhead of Boonville who penned the most sane, intelligent and important message to appear in the "Viewpoint" section in years! His theme: "Compromise!" His assessment of the attitudes prevalent in today's political arena "them or us" is spot on about the problems challenging the future of our nation today. You are either Republican or Democrat! "Our way or the by way" is the mantra of both parties. Compromise is the major ingredient of a successful democracy. It is the stuff of our great Country since the Civil War, America's most bloody conflict. The Civil War, left more soldiers dead (more than 600,000) than all the casualties from World War I. World War II, Vietnam and Korea combined (616,000). The unprecedented violence of battles such as Shiloh, Antietam and Gettysburg shocked citizens and international observers alike. Brothers were killing brothers, especially along the Mason-Dixon Line which stretched from Maryland to Arkansas. Indiana sat atop that deadly divider and saw many of its sons fighting each other. Sound familiar? Compromise, in today's world better known as "bipartisanship," involved skills exercised by John Roberts and our own dynamic Richard Lugar to name just a few all casualties of today's pre-Civil War attitudes. That "bipartisanship" is tantamount to preventing another Civil War, which we are closer to than many of us realize. As our greatest President said on June 15, 1858 before he was elected "A house divided cannot stand!" Sean Selby SHARE By Thomas B. Langhorne Sean Selbys ascension to the Republican nomination for a Vanderburgh County commissioners seat in an intraparty election Thursday gives the GOP potentially a trio of political allies on the countys three-member executive governing body. All three Republicans District 1 nominee Selby, District 3 nominee Cheryl Musgrave and District 2 Commissioner Bruce Ungetheim got there by defeating candidates supported by party establishment figures. Selby and Musgrave backed Ungetheim in his successful 2014 GOP primary challenge to then-Commissioner Marsha Abell. That put them on opposing sides of Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and party leaders, and not for the last time. Musgrave, who said Selby sought her advice before Thursday nights caucus of GOP precinct committee members, was publicly neutral in the race between Selby and former Libertarian Party officer Robb Myers. But Musgrave and Selby called party chairman Wayne Parke out of touch with GOP rank and file in 2014, after Parke devoted party resources to Abells losing campaign. This year, Parke unsuccessfully supported another Republican against Musgrave in a primary election and vocally supported Myers in his unsuccessful campaign against Selby. But while intraparty alliances were very much to the point at Thursday nights caucus of Republican activists, the 34-year-old Selby now takes his campaign to the broader swath of Vanderburgh County voters in a general election. It matters who wins the contest pitting him against Democrat Ben Shoulders. The County Commissioners are frequently referred to as the countys three mayors." We want to make sure businesses have the opportunity to thrive, and the way to do that is conservative principles that can help to keep property taxes low to make sure limited governments at work at the local level, said Selby, a former campaign aide to former 8th District Rep. John Hostettler. Selby said he will talk to Musgrave, a former head of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, about ways to find money for repairs and reconstruction of county-maintained roads. The Republican team is very much going to be a good team going forward to November in fact, I think its going to be a great team, he said. Selby, founder and CEO of Evansville-based technology consulting business integriCORE, acknowledged he starts out behind in money and organization against Shoulders, who did not have to deal with a Democratic primary opponent. In a campaign finance report filed April 15, Shoulders reported having raised more than $29,500 with more than $23,000 cash on hand. Selby believes he can catch up. Were excited about the businesses that are coming forward because theyre very ambitious to see Vanderburgh County do well, he said. They want to see somebody who represents limited government so they can spurn on the job creation and do other things necessary. Selbys victory fills a ballot vacancy in District 1. Republicans had no nominee for the seat because the previous candidate, Dale McCuiston, dropped out of the race. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality proposed Thursday a $1.68 million increase in the bond for Stillwater Mining Co.s Nye mine to offset rising cleanup costs. The agency is seeking to increase Columbus-based Stillwaters bond from $19.5 million to $21.18 million, the figure that was determined after a five-year review, Lisa Peterson, a DEQ spokeswoman, said. The Nye mine is Stillwaters larger production facility located about 50 miles southwest of Columbus in Custer National Forest. Miners produced 80,900 ounces of platinum and palladium from the mine in the first three months of 2016, about 60 percent of the companys total production for the quarter. Hard-rock mining companies in Montana, which includes Stillwater, are required by state law to maintain a bond to pay the full costs of reclamation in event of a closure, Peterson said. Stillwater is Montanas largest mining company and the only U.S. producer of platinum and palladium. Stillwater is bonded for about $40 million for its two mines at Nye and East Boulder near Big Timber. DEQ officials will take public comment for up to 30 days before issuing a final ruling. If the agency decides to increase the bond, Stillwater will have 30 days to pay the additional money. The bond money is held in a state account. Stillwater officials are aware of the bond hike and have participated in the process, Peterson said. HELENA A magistrate judge has sentenced a Washington state man to six months in prison for shooting and killing a grizzly bear in northwestern Montana last year. Shalako Katzer of Mead and federal prosecutors previously reached a deal that called for a sentence of a year of unsupervised probation in exchange for a guilty plea to unlawful taking of a threatened species. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch was not obligated to follow that recommendation. On Monday, he handed down the six-month prison sentence and ordered Katzer to pay $5,000 in restitution. Prosecutors say Katzer was camping Lincoln County in May 2015 when he and his brother spotted a bear in the campground. Katzer's brother fired a rifle. The bear retreated, and the men followed it. Prosecutors say Katzer fired the fatal shot with a pistol. Continue Reading Below Advertisement One of the most memorable parts of Last Temptation is the ending, in which Christ's death is conveyed in a hauntingly beautiful final shot -- again reinforcing that this is the Jesus movie made by one of the greatest directors in history, and not the one from the star of What Women Want. After Jesus overcomes the temptation to live a mortal life, he finds himself (spoiler alert) nailed to a cross, and as he closes his eyes and fulfills his destiny, the image gives way to a flickering ethereal light: Universal Pictures "Hide ... painted eggs ... in my name." Continue Reading Below Advertisement It's cool how they made it look like the camera screwed up at the very last moment, right? Yeah, but that's because that's exactly what happened. Scorsese saved the shots of Willem Dafoe dying on the cross for last, and as they were shooting perhaps the most important part of the movie, the film was "accidentally exposed by some kid" (as in, light got inside the camera and ruined the celluloid). According to one report, no one realized what had happened until they were back in New York editing the movie. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker thought Scorsese was gonna freak out when he saw the mistake and go Taxi Driver on some motherfuckers. Continue Reading Below Advertisement However, Scorsese "fell in love with the image," and had to convince Schoonmaker that leaving the mistake in made for an awesome ending. That's pretty ingenious, when you think about it. Had a boom mic bobbed into frame, Scorsese probably could have convinced us all it was just God's finger, and no one would have said shit. MISSOULA Law enforcement officers are currently searching for a pair of armed suspects who took a family hostage after robbing a casino early Friday morning. Sheriff T.J. McDermott said the two men remain on the loose, and that authorities believe they have been picked up in a vehicle by a third accomplice. The family members were recovered and are unharmed. The incident started when the men robbed Deanos Casino on West Harrier Drive at gunpoint around 3:30 a.m., and left in a car they had stolen by taking the keys from inside the casino. McDermott said the family, who was from Washington, had been getting gas at the travel plaza and saw the robbery. When they left they called 911, and were asked to pull over and wait for an officer to come. Cpt. Tony Rio said the family believed the suspects had already driven away and they were safe, but that after they pulled over their doors were pulled open and the men took the occupants hostage in their SUV. As a chase began with law enforcement, officers were able to speak with the suspects using one of the familys cell phones. The men demanded that police pull back, or they would shoot members of the family. During the chase they stopped twice, the first time to let the familys 12-year-old boy out, the second time to release a 14-year-old girl and the grandmother, but would not release the parents. It was rough on them, letting their children out, having to give them a kiss goodbye and not knowing if they are going to see them again, McDermott said. McDermott said the mother of the family was driving at the start of the chase, but eventually one of the suspects took over and the chase reached high speeds through the city. Near the intersection of Brooks Street and Dore Lane, the SUV made a u-turn and the men fired at pursuing officers. Law enforcement, which had pulled back, lost sight of the vehicle in downtown Missoula. Around 5:20 a.m., the parents and their vehicle were found near Evaro Hill on U.S. Highway 93. They men had fled on foot. McDermott said law enforcement used a K9 unit which tracked the men to another section of the highway. He said the family told detectives the suspects had been making plans with a third party on a cell phone to be picked up in that area. Law enforcement says the suspects are a white, possibly hispanic male, 19 to 25 wearing a dark hat, a hoodie with a white design on it and dark pants. The other suspect is described as an African-American male 19 to 25 with short black hair wearing black sweatshirt and sweatpants, as well as sunglasses and a bandana. Detective Glenville Kedie said the men had attempted to disable the surveillance system when they entered the casino, but he was working with the business to recover any footage. The suspects should be considered armed and dangerous, and anyone with information on their location or identity is asked to call 911 or Crimestoppers at 406-728-4444. Although the latest Pirelli rubber helped push him to the fastest time in FP1 on Thursday, Lewis Hamilton insists that there is very little to choose between the softest compounds on offer for the Monaco Grand Prix. Times tumbled from the very start of the opening session, with Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg enjoying the benefits of an empty circuit as the evaluated the new 'ultrasoft' compound introduced for the first time in competition this weekend. Hamilton eventually topped the times with a lap in the mid 1m 15s, but remained relatively unimpressed with the new rubber. "To be honest, they're pretty much supersofts with purple paint!" he explained, "It's the supersoft painted purple - it's exactly the same. They're very similar to be honest. Generally, the tyres don't feel great. Whether or not it's the tyres not feeling great or whether they're actually up in temperature or over temperature or whatever it may be, they're very, very strange, they can switch on or off." Hamilton had to settle for second place in the afternoon session, after Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo produced the only lap of the day in the 1m 14s, going six-tenths faster than the world champion. "Honestly, I didn't even know it was six-tenths," Hamilton admitted, "I've not really been looking at that as I've been focusing on getting the set-up right. There's a little bit of time left in my lap. "Tyre-wise, these tyres are pretty solid but, even if it looks like you're able to warm them up, sometimes you can't get enough heat in, so we're trying to figure out whether we're maximising the grip potential of the tyres." Despite the margin to Ricciardo, Hamilton had the edge on team-mate Rosberg, who has won the Monaco race for the past three years, but insists that he is just enjoying being back at one of his favourite circuits. "I don't know what [the gap] is saying," he said, "You can take whatever you want from it, but for sure I felt good in the car this morning. I'm super-blessed to be here and racing in F1. "Generally, when you close your visor, you're just in the zone but, for sure, when you get out on this track, it's like going to toy cars - it's like everything's smaller, the track's smaller, narrow, there's no run-off area and it's so fast. You kind of feel like, in your mind, you enter a different zone. It's just amazing. It's the best feeling out there. I know what I can do and, if the car stays together, I should be able to do it." After a tough start to 2016, Hamilton trails his team-mate by 43 points after five rounds, but remains phlegmatic about his chances of success. "I wake up every morning ready, but there's a plan," he explained, "God has a plan and you just have to follow his path and hope it comes out the way you want it to - but it doesn't always happen that way. I'm just grateful to be here, it's beautiful weather, there's only 22 of us get to race, I'm at the front of the 22 so I've been super blessed. During this period of time, I just really count my blessings." We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to FREE email alerts from croydonadvertiser - Daily Croydon Harriers' Martyn Rooney was part of the winning Great Britain 4x400m relay team at the Loughborough International Meeting last weekend. Rooney, who is a Crystal Palace fan, clocked a comfortable 45-second run on leg three as Team GB raced to victory. Meanwhile, another Croydon athlete, James Dasaolu finished a close second to Chidudu Ujah in 10.14sec in the 100m. And Robert Sakala came fourth in the U20 110m hurdles in a wind assisted best time of 14.02 seconds. Jordan Loyda was halfway to Billings from the Flathead Valley where he makes his home when he remembered just how long the drive was. Seven hours after he left, Loyda, a canvasser and supporter of anti-drug and anti-marijuana initiative Safe Montana, was shoulder to shoulder at Donald J. Trumps presidential campaign rally with a wide array of Montanans, ranging from Billings mayor Tom Hanel, to an active shooter defense consultant and even some Bernie Sanders supporters. Trump spoke for about an hour at the Thursday afternoon rally. Mayor Tom Hanel, while standing in the Rimrock Auto Arena tunnel, spoke about his reasons for attending the rally. For many years weve been promised changes, Hanel said. Im tired of these changes, and Im ready for some new ones. Hanel said Trumps business background was a big reason he believed in the candidates ability to succeed as president. When it comes to some of Trumps more controversial statements, like building a wall along the United States-Mexico border and banning Muslim immigration, Hanel said, They may be referred to as controversial, but many of those statements are what American citizens need to hear. Christine Wilnau, 34, showed up with her young children, 5-year-old Riley and 1-year-old Bryce. Wilnau said shes not really a Trump supporter (or a Bernie Sanders supporter or a Hillary Clinton supporter, for that matter), but the historical nature of a Billings visit from a presidential candidate is what brought her out. Weve never had three candidate choices this poor, Wilnau said, adding that shes considering supporting Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. The dilemma there is, do you make your vote count or do you vote for the person you believe can do the job? Wilnau was among a small minority of attendees who werent Trump supporters. That wasnt the case with Loyda. Im a simple guy, Loyda said after finishing a Jimmy Johns sandwich. Im anti-abortion, Loyda said. He wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. Loyda said hes staying at the home of Safe Montanas leader Steve Zabawa and is a computer science and engineering student at Flathead Valley Community College. Loyda and other petitioners and vendors stood along the walkway from the Metras upper parking lot, forcing eventgoers to navigate a gauntlet of political and economic opportunists. Down near the Metra ticket boxes, a graveyard of refreshments, soda bottles and Big Gulp cups could be seen beside the door where security had forced event-goers to ditch their drinks. From there, the sounds of a man repeatedly singing save our nation, could be heard from the lower parking lot. Up the walkway from Safe Montanas table, two Bernie Sanders supporters stood quiet, holding signs for their candidate. Please Choose Love Not Hate," read 33-year-old Rindey Daughters' sign. I think my sign is making people think, Daughters said. Im excited people are participating in the political process. Daughters described herself as an environmental activist who is deeply concerned with the worlds climate. Additionally, Daughters said shes concerned about a Trump presidency because she believes he is a racist. His rhetoric reminds me of Hitlers, Daughters said. I never understood how the Holocaust happened. Now I feel I understand. Ralph and Cherie Moss drove five hours from their home in Joplin to see Trump speak. The married couple found a spot in line at about 10:30 a.m. just to make sure they got into the arena. (We supported Trump) from the beginning because he wasnt a politician, Ralph Moss said. Plus weve been a fan of his for years with 'Celebrity Apprentice' and 'The Apprentice.' Cherie Moss said their son served in Iraq and is a combat veteran. She thinks Trump is more supportive of the troops than the current administration and wanted a candidate who would love America. The couple came prepared. Cherie wore a Trump sweatshirt, and Ralph was in a T-shirt with a picture of President Barack Obama under the words TYRANT in bold red letters. But supporters without Trump swag had plenty of opportunity to purchase hats, shirts, pins and bumper stickers from the many vendor tables and carts outside the arena. Inside the arena, retired Air Force fighter pilot and current active shooter defense consultant Patrick Hoy said he was a longtime Republican and a conservative who was hoping to be convinced. One of his largest concerns is the nuclear deal with Iran. Im here to listen to what he says, as opposed to what the media reports, Hoy said. Im not here for all the yelling and screaming. Afterward, Hoy said he felt the speech was mostly rhetoric, but I agree on the Supreme Court stuff. I just wish he would stop bashing Republicans and bash Democrats more, Hoy said. Hoy said he thinks Trump will be our next president. I wish he would be more civil, Hoy said. The president sets the tone for how the country acts. Dave Kosmann, a 40-year-old Billings fitter-fabricator said, I liked it; I loved it, after the speech had ended. Kosmann said he likes Trumps plans for taking care of illegal immigration and fixing the economy. Kosmann said one of his best friends is a veteran, and he liked Trumps pledge of support for American veterans. Im pretty disgusted with how theyve been treated, Kosmann said. Sarah Pichler, a 21-year-old Montana State University Billings student originally from Columbus, was very happy with Trumps speech. It was really nice to finally hear him speak without the media twisting his words, Pichler said. I really liked how he got the crowd pumped up. He made some really good points. Agreed Tanner Thelen, a 19-year-old Trump supporter from Great Falls, agreed. I thought it was very eye-opening to hear what our country is becoming. Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and former President Bill Clinton, stumping for his wife, Hillary Clinton, have both made appearances in Billings. The Montana primary election is June 7. If you are closing in on retirement age, you are keenly interested in how the three remaining Presidential candidates -- Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders -- plan to deal with the fiscal challenges of Social Security and Medicare. If you are not close to retirement age, you should be even more interested, as the long-term stability of both programs could be at stake in this election. Here are the stances of the three major candidates on retirement issues. Donald Trump Trump plans to keep Social Security as is, considering it "honoring a deal" although in the past he has called for privatization of Social Security. Trump would close the gap by attacking the "tremendous waste, fraud, and abuse" within the program. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimates that eliminating all waste and fraud would save approximately 0.6% in costs, only extending Social Security's solvency by four months. Trump seems to expect economic growth under his administration to take care of the rest of the gap. Trump has stated in the past that adjustments had to be made in Social Security and Medicare, but he has also said that Republicans could not change (cut) Medicare or Social Security and win elections. This seems to suggest potential cuts after President Trump takes office, unless massive growth does materialize. To be safe, he may wait for his second term. While Trump would attempt to temper Medicare costs through negotiating with drug companies, again the math does not add up. He has claimed that he could save $300 billion annually through these negotiations highly unlikely since average Medicare drug spending is $111 billion annually. Expect some yet-to-be-determined policy adjustment after election. Trump's "Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again" plan would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with free market principles such as allowing insurance competition across state lines and greater price transparency. CRFB estimates that Trump's plan will cost from $270 billion to $500 billion over ten years depending on growth assumptions. CRFB also assesses that Medicare cuts are incorporated as a part of this plan's repeal of Obamacare. Hillary Clinton Clinton intends to expand Social Security in targeted ways, such as a caregiver credit that prevents penalizing those who are out of the workforce due to caring for others. She opposes raising the full retirement age, privatization of Social Security, and any reduction in benefits or cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Clinton's plan is paid for by increased contributions from the wealthy, through taxing some income above the current Social Security cap of $118,000 in taxable earnings. Clinton's Medicare adjustments would focus on adjusting weak points in the current system. Reducing the price of pharmaceuticals is a priority, and Clinton would allow Medicare to negotiate with drug manufacturers while expediting lower-cost foreign drugs with approved safety standards. Reducing costs through more efficient bundling of services is also a priority. Bernie Sanders President Sanders expects not only to preserve Social Security, but also to expand it. As a Senator, he introduced legislation to expand benefits by an average of $65 per month, increase minimum benefits to low-income retirees, and increase COLAs. (Sanders' plan is unique in using the CPI-E [the consumer price index for the elderly] to calculate COLAs.) These increases are paid for not by just adjusting the cap on income that is subject to Social Security Tax (as Clinton would do), but eliminating it entirely. As for Medicare, Sanders would create "Medicare for All" essentially a single-payer system that makes the government the only insurer. Co-pays and deductibles would be a thing of the past. Under such a system, Sanders claims that the government could effectively negotiate prices and save money $6 trillion less than the current arrangement over the next decade. The plan is paid for by raising the progressive income tax rates on those earning above $250,000, taxing capital gains and dividends at the same rate as income, and an increased estate tax. Whether you prefer the incremental approach of Clinton, the radical approach of Sanders, or the inscrutable approach of Trump, keep in touch for refinements and changes in retirement policies as the primaries wind down and the general election fight begins and we do mean "fight" this year. Will Obamacare finally be repealed? Stay tuned. MILFORD A woman prohibited by a court order from having any contact with a man she knows will be arraigned later today in Superior Court for allegedly taking photos of him. Police charged Zahaya Magnuson, 39, of Barton Road with violating a protective order. She was arrested on a warrant Thursday in connection with a May 16 incident in which she allegedly took photos of the man and his vehicle. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The state budget recently hammered out by the Legislature continues to reduce tax reimbursements for local hospitals, forcing institutions such as Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincents Medical Center to make do with less. According to the state Office of Fiscal Analysis, Bridgeport Hospital will receive $4.4 million less in reimbursement next year than this year. St. Vincents, meanwhile, stands to lose $3.3 million in reimbursements. Statewide, hospitals will receive $134 million less in tax reimbursements next year than initially budgeted, OFA figures show. When you add the drop in reimbursements to the exorbitant amount hospitals in Connecticut pay in taxes, its an enormous burden, said Dianne Auger, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for St. Vincents. Its becoming really difficult to operate in the state of Connecticut, she said, adding the hospital already pays roughly $2 million a month in taxes. The reduced funding is part of a trend that began last year, as the state responded to lower-than-expected tax revenue. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy quickly cut refunds distributed to hospitals for federal and state taxes paid, and those reductions have remained in the state budget to help close a nearly $1 billion deficit. All of the states hospitals are grappling with cutbacks. Under the new state budget, Stamford Hospital gets $1.9 million less, and the Danbury and New Milford hospitals, $1.8 million less. Griffin Hospital in Derby is losing nearly $500,000 in tax reimbursement payments and Milford Hospital is losing about $114,000. Those losses are slightly offset by a modest increase in payments from the small hospital pool. With these drops in funding, cuts are practically inevitable, Auger said, but its hard to do that without affecting care. It is squeezing every single drop of efficiency, she said. You get to the point where theres not a lot to cut. Each hospital has to look at (possibly) reducing services. Michele Sharp, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut Hospital Association, said the cuts may translate into less care for patients. For patients, it means longer hospital wait times, less access to care, fewer services and higher health care costs, Sharp said. For our economy, its meant the loss of 3,000 jobs since the tax began negatively impacting hospitals in 2013. State Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, said in a recent statement that hospitals have few options for making up for the cuts. The tone-deaf budget plan agreed upon by the governor and the Democrat majorities in the House and Senate called for $43.4 million in cuts to the states hospitals, Hwang said. That translates into $130 million in overall cuts when federal funds are included. The states not-for-profit hospitals cannot simply pack up and move to a more business-friendly state, as many for-profit companies have contemplated or done. The powers-that-be at the Capitol arent listening, Hwang said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate From a press release: STRATFORD The Stratford Librarys Monday Matinees series concludes its spring film schedule with a screening of the Oscar-winning Bridge of Spies on June 13. The series presents recent, popular films on monthly Monday afternoons at noon. The film showings are free and open to the public. During the Cold War, an American lawyer (Tom Hanks) is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy (Mark Rylance) and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Steven Spielberg directed this critically acclaimed film which won the Oscar for Rylances strong supporting performance. It is rated PG:13 and runs 141 minutes. Movies in the Monday Matinees series are shown uncut on wide screen in the Stratford Librarys Lovell Room. The new summer schedule of Monday Matinees begins on June 27 with the 2016 Best Picture winner, Spotlight. For further information, call the Library at (203) 385-4162 or visit: www.stratfordlibrary.org . ANSONIA A school bus was apparently shot at by an air rifle Friday afternoon, according to police. Ansonia police were called to investigate damage to a school bus at about 2 p.m. Friday. When police arrived, they found that two windows had been shot at by a "BB" or pellet gun while the bus was traveling along North State Street toward State Street that afternoon. Could a Montanan be the next vice president of the United States? U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R, told KGVO radio after a Donald Trump rally in Billings that he had talked with the Republican presidential candidate about joining him on the ticket. We talked about it, but he has not made up his mind, said Zinke, who went on to discuss the electoral math. Looking at the electoral college, I think Montana would be a stretch. Hes going to play in 15 states that Republicans havent played in before including New York and California. I think hes going to win Florida, and in Ohio hes ahead but youve got to win! Zinke had earlier told conservative commentary site, Breitbart, that he would be honored to serve in whatever capacity, whether VP or as a cabinet member. He formally announced his endorsement of Trump just a day before the rally. As soon as it become apparent that Trump would likely win the Republican nomination, news organizations, blogs and pundits started to speculate about who Trump might select. Many of the folks suggested as possibilities such as Florida Gov. Rick Scott have publicly withdrawn their names from consideration, although in politics theres always room for changed minds. (Just look at the list of former presidential contenders who have endorsed Trump.) Zinke has not appeared on any of the contender lists, not even the one compiled by Breitbart, which has hailed the freshman congressman as a foreign policy expert. The Montana congressman might be the first to openly admit he has broached the VP subject with Trump to suggest himself. Because so few presidential candidates make campaign stops in Montana a state with few electoral votes at stake and a late primary some have interpreted the Billings rally as evidence that Trump might be considering Zinke. Or Zinkes outspoken interest in joining Trumps ticket could simply be a repeat of his short-lived bid to become Speaker of the House. In October, as Republicans searched for someone to unite their increasingly divided majority, Zinke raised his hand and noted that freshmen Speakers are not unheard of though it has been a long time. Again, pundits quickly dismissed the Montanan as a serious contender. But as the Washington Post noted in its April, Zinke-free list: The short answer: No one knows. Trump relishes being unpredictable, so trying to game out how this most unconventional of politicians will make his mind up is a bit of a guessing game. Add to that the fact that Trump's inner circle remains, largely, devoid of establishment types, and you quickly get into a situation where the people talking don't know much and the people who do know aren't talking. During lengthy testimony about mental health and anger problems, Kayla Jean Edwards said in court Thursday that she had worried that she might hurt herself or someone else. At the end of the hearing, Edwards was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the abuse of her 10-week-old twins, one of whom died two days after Christmas in 2014. Judge Mary Jane Knisely gave Edwards 50 years for deliberate homicide and 10 years for assault on a minor, which will run consecutively. During testimony, Deputy County Attorney Juli Pierce asked why she abused the infants. "Because I was angry, and when I get to a certain point in anger, I black out," Edwards, 25, said. On Dec. 25, 2014, Edwards and her husband, Brandon Tory Edwards, admitted to abusing the twins, Serenity and Tavaris. They had choked the children to stop their crying and would turn their car seats upside down, leaving them suspended by the straps. In an interview with police, Brandon Edwards demonstrated the blow that he saw Kayla Edwards give to Tavaris. Billings Police detective Steven Hallam said Thursday that this was demonstrated by hitting the table, open-handed. "The sound was very chilling," Hallam said. By the time Kayla Edwards admitted to the abuse, Tavaris was being flown to a Denver hospital to be treated for a brain bleed. He died Dec. 27. In April, Brandon Edwards was sentenced to 15 years in prison for charges of assault on the children. Police investigations showed repeated abuse of the young children. Photos presented as evidence showed the infants with bruising around the head and face. Kayla Edwards' sentencing hearing on Thursday lasted more than three hours. William Woolston, a clinical psychologist, outlined a lengthy history of family troubles and mental health issues that plagued Edwards throughout her childhood. Edwards said that a stressful and impoverished family environment set the backdrop for her condition. There were constant treatments, family counseling sessions and stays at group homes throughout those years. Edwards told previous examiners she had suicidal thoughts and had harmed herself, Woolston said. "They noted that family stressors were contributing to that mood disorder," he said. Woolston diagnosed her with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder from a sexual assault. Edwards said that she met Brandon when she was 16. They married in June 2011. Under questioning from defense attorney Steven Scott, she outlined the situation leading up to her arrest. She said that money was tight, they were late on bills, the couple had been arguing, and they even considered divorce. On that Christmas night, she said that her rage came to a head. "I was so angry over everything going on in my life that I just exploded," Edwards said. "And he (Tavaris) happened to be the unfortunate victim." After the death of Tavaris, his twin sister Serenity was placed in foster care. Prior to Knisely's pronouncement Thursday, Edwards read from a written statement. She said that she isn't the "monster" that she's "portrayed in the paper." She characterized herself as an overburdened woman dealing with the stresses of motherhood. Knisely asked Edwards why she didn't seek professional help. "I just wanted to try on my own." Edwards said. "I thought I could do it." US airlines await authorization to fly to Cuba US airlines still await a response from their authorities to travel to Cuba on direct regular flights, asserted Cuban ambassador to Washington, Jose Ramon Cabanas, in an interview through the social network Twitter. The diplomat told Cuban News Agency that the US airlines are waiting for the respective permits to resume regular direct flights between the two countries, suspended for several decades. However, the Ambassador added that the airlines have already begun their contacts with the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics on the steps to follow to realize these flights, which today are only made through charter flights with the usual high costs and irregularity. Cuba and the United States signed on February 16 a Memorandum of Understanding to reestablish direct regular flights, which allows airlines of both countries to sign trade agreements of cooperation such as codes of shared flights and leases of aircraft between them or with third countries. Although there is no exact date for the start of these direct regular flights, some airline spokesmen have said they could begin by mid-2016. The best form of trauma care is trauma prevention. Thats what Dr. Barry McKenzie, director of St. Vincent Healthcares trauma center, told Montana Department of Transportation Director Mike Tooley on a tour of Billings this week. Two words sum up the best prevention for the No. 1 cause of traumatic injury in Montana: seat belts. When Tooley visited the St. Vincent intensive care unit, McKenzie noted that all but one of the motor vehicle trauma patients there had been injured while not wearing a seat belt. Last year in Montana, 172 people were fatally injured while traveling in vehicles equipped with seat belts, according to the Montana Department of Transportation. Seventy percent of them werent wearing seat belts. In Yellowstone County last year, 12 crash deaths were in seat-belt equipped vehicles, yet nine of the victims werent properly buckled up. The motor vehicle fatality rate in Yellowstone County is higher than the U.S. average and the statewide Montana rate is even worse. Recent research has found that 78.6 percent of Yellowstone County adults report they always wear a seat belt while driving or riding in a vehicle. The national percentage is 84.8 percent. What difference would it make if more people used seat belts? Lives would be saved. Consider that the unbelted minority accounts for most traffic fatalities. If more of those folks who forego seat belts could be persuaded to buckle up, their risk of injury and death would be greatly reduced. Safety education helps spread the message, but theres a segment of the population that will buckle up only when they believe they could get a ticket for violating the law. In states that enforce their seat belt laws like other traffic laws, a higher percentage of motorists buckle up. In fact, seat belt usage has risen an average of 10 percent when states enacted laws for regular seat belt enforcement. In Montana, a primary seat belt law would be expected to prevent 11 deaths and 1,100 injuries each year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research Tooley cited. Yet in session after session Montanas lawmakers have refused to strengthen enforcement of the states seat belt law. It remains a secondary offense, which can only be charged if the driver also commits some other violation. Montanans who care about public safety, preventing death and injury and reducing the taxpayers cost of trauma treatment should tell their legislative candidates to support primary seat belt enforcement in 2017. Meanwhile, lets all buckle up this Memorial Day weekend and on every trip all year long. I am writing to make it clear to any transgender students and their parents that the the May 24 guest opinion by State Sen. Eric Moore saying the students and teachers of the public schools of Montana and the United States are not capable of finding a place for you is destructive, hateful, and beyond the levels of absurdity that we should have to put up with in 2016. Ive spoken with Moore and know him to be an intelligent man, so I must assume that his argument is based more on the cynical view of politics that seeks a wedge issue to drive turnout in elections rather than on a view of LGBTQ issues that is grossly ignorant of the facts. Based on his op-ed, Moore seems to have a very low opinion of public school teachers. He believes we are so stupid that we would not be able to create a nuanced process that helps transitioning students get the respect they deserve while also preventing the unlikely event of a student trying to take advantage of a school policy. He seems to believe that instead we would simply allow students to walk in one morning, say that they are a new gender and be allowed instant access to locker rooms or bathrooms of the formerly opposite gender. I do not speak for my school or the district, and so cannot speak to the exact form that procedures would take here. However, in districts that have formal rules, the process of officially changing a persons gender identity is not simple. It involves conversations between student, administrators, parents and teachers. It is not the disrespectful process that Moore describes, where a student would be asked to strip in front of anyone. He insists that transgender students strip away a part of who they are and fit into a box that he prescribes to them. Among the most troubling of boxes that Moore seems to want to assign to people, are those that he has constructed for teenage boys. The senator portrays the situation as one where the passions of teenage boys are so uncontrollable that they could be expected at any moment to try and walk into any bathroom and rape someone. Are our young men not capable of learning to respect and value members of the opposite sex? Does all of the responsibility to rebut unwarranted sexual advances rest on the girls? This is the kind of viewpoint that perpetuates climates where sexual harassment is common and 43 percent of women will experience sexual violence at some point in their lifetimes (National Sexual Violence Resource Center). Moore asks what stress the act of making decisions about transgender students puts on me as a teacher. He may be shocked that the answer is none. In fact, it gives me a sense of security: When I need to help protect vulnerable students going through some of the most difficult decision making of their lives, I have the law on my side. He argues civil protections for individuals should extend only until someone can imagine a scenario where those protections could be misused, no matter how absurd or far-fetched. He also seems to live in a world where teenagers are so unsophisticated as to be unable to handle discussions of sexuality in mature ways that include respect for all. I ask Moore to reconsider and not support any legislation that would oppose the Obama administrations interpretation of this law. But even if he does not reconsider his Quixotic mission against the tide of history, I want to make it very clear that in my classroom everyone will be treated with the respect that they deserve as students and human beings. 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. BUTTE Anaconda police arrested a former state addiction treatment doctor early Wednesday on a warrant after he tried to post bail for a woman in the Anaconda jail. Mark Jay Catalanello, 55, who lists an Anaconda address, also faces a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Authorities said he tried to hide a syringe inside a cast on his right hand while being booked at the jail. Anaconda Police Chief Tim Barkell said Catalanello showed up at the Anaconda jail about 1 a.m. Wednesday to bail out Victoria Lindley, 35. Lindley was jailed on a warrant out of Anaconda for contempt of court, no insurance and driving with a suspended license. Meanwhile, a district court warrant had been issued for Catalanello in Anaconda after he failed to follow through with mandatory alcohol-monitoring testing within the past two weeks. During the booking, Catalanello became upset, waving his arms and tried to conceal the syringe, Barkell said. That led to the charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Catalanello remained in jail as of Thursday afternoon with no bond set. Wednesdays arrest follows several incidents Catalanello has had this year with law enforcement. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County prosecutors on April 18 filed misdemeanor charges of criminal possession of dangerous drugs (marijuana) and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia against Catalanello, 55. Hes scheduled to appear in Anaconda district court Friday. He was arrested March 10 after Anaconda police found him attempting to hide in a culvert after he fled the scene of a two-car collision near the intersections of Highways 1 and 48. Catalanello was charged in justice court with driving under the influence second offense obstructing a peace officer, failing to report an accident and a stop sign violation. He was released from the county jail on $1,940 bond. Not guilty pleas to the misdemeanor offenses were entered by his attorney, court documents state. Also, he was arrested in Rocker on March 4 for allegedly acting belligerent and making vulgar comments to staff at the Living Water Coffee Co. and the It Club, and to police. Catalanello pleaded not guilty March 8 in Butte city court to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and criminal possession of marijuana. A jury trial is slated for Aug. 10. Catalanello, who has a long history of drug abuse and felony drug arrests, came under fire last fall when staff at the Montana Chemical Dependency Center reported erratic behavior they suspected stemmed from Catalanellos illegal drug use. The Montana Board of Medical Examiners has since suspended Catalanellos license. Catalanello at one time worked for two state agencies, serving as a physician at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs and medical director at MCDC in Butte. GILLETTE The Gillette City Council has decided not to reduce its $335,000 annual support to Gillette College. The the decision comes as the council faces 40 percent cuts in the city budget. Proponents of not cutting the aid to the college say its services are needed now to help the community deal with layoffs and an uncertain future in jobs. Mayor Louise Carter-King says this is a time when the community needs the college the most, such as for job retraining and economic development efforts. But two members of the council opposed giving the college the full support. Councilman Robin Kuntz noted that core operations like police and fire are being cut and that the college isn't the responsibility of the city council. 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 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 The tragic scenes of boats laden with migrants capsizing in the Mediterranean, and new figures showing net arrivals in Britain from the EU running at record levels, demonstrate the appalling, indeed almost overwhelming, dimensions of the crisis which is now unfolding. Brussels officials have warned that about 800,000 more people have gathered in Libya and are hoping to make the perilous journey to Europe. Meanwhile, according to the Office for National Statistics, 178,000 EU migrants took advantage of free-movement rules to come to Britain to work last year, including 77,000 who had no job offer. As Boris Johnson and others point out, the only way to take back control of our borders and put power back in the hands of the British people is to vote on June 23 to leave the EU How do the paltry restrictions on in-work benefits obtained by David Cameron as part of his EU renegotiation even begin to deal with this problem? Yet he still refuses to abandon his pledge to cut net migration to the 'tens of thousands' a target which yesterday's figures confirm is a ridiculous fantasy. The overall figure for net migration to Britain last year was 330,000, or over three times Mr Cameron's target. As Boris Johnson and others point out, the only way to take back control of our borders and put power back in the hands of the British people is to vote on June 23 to leave the EU. A disgusting smear The repulsive poster of a snarling white skinhead trying to intimidate a serenely smiling Asian lady has understandably provoked a storm of protest, and ought never to have seen the light of day. This tasteless and misguided stunt was dreamed up by the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi for the pressure group Operation Black Vote, which somehow deluded itself that this was an acceptable way to encourage ethnic minorities to vote in the EU referendum. Last night, the Charity Commission demanded an explanation about why OBV says it is a charity when it is not. But the Cabinet Office, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, which all help fund OBV, also have questions to answer. Rowntree has already been investigated by the Charity Commission over its 300,000 support for Cage, a Muslim 'human rights' group which are apologists for IS executioner Jihadi John. The repulsive poster of a snarling white skinhead trying to intimidate a serenely smiling Asian lady has understandably provoked a storm of protest Almost anyone glancing at the poster for the first time will assume the aggressively gesticulating and tattooed skinhead is supposed to represent a Brexit voter. This is a horrible slur on millions of peaceable and well-mannered citizens including many of immigrant descent who want Britain to leave the EU. If the poster had been done the other way round, with a hateful-looking Asian gesticulating at a gentle white lady, it would immediately have been dismissed as racist: and that, unfortunately, is exactly what this poster is, except that this time the racism is directed against the white working class, many of whose children suffer from over-crowded schools and hospitals, to which mass immigration is a significant contributory factor. Has Dave gone native? How tantalisingly revealing that Steve Hilton, who was David Cameron's closest political friend and the architect of Tory modernisation, now says the Prime Minister's 'whole instinct' always used to be for Brexit. What changed Mr Cameron's mind? How did this once 'firmly Eurosceptic' Conservative morph into a supporter of the undemocratic, unaccountable, out-of-date, monstrously centralising Brussels bureaucracy? How we used to collapse into puerile sniggers when Dr Sanger, the irascible Austrian head of modern languages at Westminster School in the late Sixties, would yell at any boy who stumbled into his classroom during a lesson: 'Get out! Get out! Can't you see I'm having a period?' He was always coming out with such gems, which we would gleefully repeat to each other behind his back, in our best attempts at his Viennese accent. At the time, we thought we were laughing at him, rather than with him. But with the wisdom of my 62 years, I realise his double-entendres were almost certainly deliberate and the joke was really on us. he lion's share of the blame for killing off oddball teachers must surely lie with successive governments and their increasingly bureaucratic demands of the profession An accomplished linguist, he was quite as aware as his smut-loving teenage pupils of the various meanings of the English word 'period'. He delivered his Sangerisms on purpose to amuse us, and so to keep our attention. After all, if we were listening out for a phrase we could store up for our Dr Sanger impressions later on, the chances were that we might also pick up something about the subject he was teaching. Generally, the trick worked. Eccentric Another such cultivated eccentric at Westminster was my late and much- lamented English master, Jim Cogan, who addressed us in a language all of his own. Where more conventional teachers might ask us to hand in our homework and concentrate, Mr Cogan would say: 'Slide your scripts down the aisle, lads, and pin back those lugholes.' Thus he, too, kept our attention in lessons, as we were all ears for peculiar phrases to parrot and mock after school. Then there was Theo Zinn, the veteran head of classics, a great shaggy-haired bear of a man who spoke fluent Latin and Ancient Greek (and also, as I was to learn only after his death last year, Russian, Hebrew and Japanese). As his obituarist movingly put it: 'Small boys just out of prep school, accustomed to think of Latin as a higher species of crossword puzzle, on hearing Theo's mesmerically theatrical renditions of chunks of the Aeneid or Horace's invocation of Mount Soracte, understood for the first time this was great literature.' Certainly, Theo's infectious love of Latin poetry had that effect on me. But by any standards, he was a strange chap. I still carry a vivid mental picture of him, with tears streaming down his cheeks as he recited from memory the passage from Virgil's Aeneid Book II in which Pyrrhus drags Priam, King of Troy, trembling and slipping in a pool of his own son's blood, to his gory death on the altar of Zeus. If we treat the profession like a branch of the civil service, is it any wonder if the colour is draining from our classrooms? Would I have remembered Priam's fate, almost 50 years on, if it hadn't been for Theo's tears? No chance. Most schools boast one or two oddball teachers, whose quirks stick in their pupils' minds for the rest of their days. But I reckon that those I attended had more than their fair share. I think of the maths master who used to sing snatches of Italian opera while he was writing equations on the blackboard. And the ancient teacher who dressed every day in striped trousers and spats, as if fashions hadn't moved on since the death of Edward VII. Come to think of it, the late headmaster of Westminster, John Carleton universally known and, indeed, referred to by himself as 'Coot' was pretty odd, too. He used to swap city suits for country tweeds whenever he ventured north of Hyde Park, believing such areas as Islington were out of town. With all the boxes they must tick on the national curriculum, and all the tests they must teach to, how are today's teachers expected to find time to pass on their private enthusiasms and inspire those in their charge? Now, I'm not denying for a minute that the great academic success of schools such as mine, with their ruinously expensive fees, is attributable in large measure to their strict selection policies and the privileged backgrounds of most pupils. But it has often struck me that Westminster's place at the top of the exam league tables may have had a lot to do with the rich assortment of weirdos on the staff. This brings me, at last, to my point. For one man who also believes eccentricity and a touch of theatricality can be valuable assets in the profession is the Chief Inspector of Schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw. This week, he told a leadership conference at fee-paying Bedales in Hampshire that 'broken' state schools needed more teachers who were 'flamboyant, colourful and, yes, downright strange'. He went on: 'We need extraordinary people. We need our awkward squad. The independent sector has always had them our state system needs more of them.' Himself a former grammar school pupil, he said that three of the best teachers who had ever taught him 'put on an act' to get children to respect them. 'All three of these teachers were very different people. But they were all as tough as hell. 'They all exuded authority and they all had a fierce moral conviction that all children, especially the poorest, deserved the best education and woe betide anyone who got between them and that mission.' Of course, there are still plenty of teachers in the state sector who fit Sir Michael's description. I think in particular of a highly theatrical, inspirational woman who taught our sons at their state primary. At the parents' evening when I first met her, I asked her if she thought our then ten-year-old's spelling was all right. 'All right?' she gasped, with all the surprise, disgust and incredulity of Dame Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell delivering that famous line in Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest: 'A handbag????' 'His spelling is terrible!' she said. 'It's atrocious! It's a disgrace!' Most schools - including Westminster - boast one or two oddball teachers, whose quirks stick in their pupils' minds for the rest of their days I could have thrown my arms around her and hugged her. I'd long been appalled by the boy's spelling, but every teacher I'd asked until then had told me it was average for his age and nothing to worry about. Indeed, before this young woman took him in hand, his homework used to be returned with none of his mistakes corrected, while the only mark made by his teacher would be a smiley face in red ink at the bottom of his work. This new teacher changed all that, laboriously underlining every mistake he made and listing the correct spellings at the bottom of each page for him to copy and learn. I reckon it owes much to her, and to her theatrical performances in the classroom, that he is now an excellent speller and aged 29, he is a state school English teacher himself. But if Sir Michael is correct and eccentrics are, indeed, too few and far between in the state sector, we needn't look far for the reasons. One must be the spread of political correctness, with its insistence that all must have prizes and teachers should at all costs avoid hurting pupils' feelings. Indeed, I wonder how long David Cameron's favourite schoolmaster at Eton would have survived in today's state sector. Described as an engaging eccentric, history teacher Michael Kidson was famous for his insults to pupils. Scathing For example, he dismissed a Scottish boy as a 'Hebridean cave-dweller', while telling a young Etonian of Welsh extraction: 'I make every allowance for your nationality, but this is really not good enough.' How would that have gone down with today's PC brigade? He was pretty scathing about young Cameron, too, describing the future Prime Minister's top grade in his history A-level as 'among the most inexplicable events in modern history'. But the lion's share of the blame for killing off oddball teachers must surely lie with successive governments and their increasingly bureaucratic demands of the profession. With all the boxes they must tick on the national curriculum, and all the tests they must teach to, how are today's teachers expected to find time to pass on their private enthusiasms and inspire those in their charge? An ex-Marine who served in Afghanistan has told how reading got him through some of his darkest moments during the war - and inspired him to write a book of his own. Dan Clements, from Kingston, London, has just published his debut tome, inspired by his experience of the conflict, a collection of 12 stories which he hopes will 'capture something of the war and make it real' - after seeing many of his friends and comrades die. This is despite the 32-year-old, who left school and joined the Marines at 18, having left school and not followed his friends to university. Scroll down for video Dan Clements has just published his debut tome, inspired by his experience of the conflict, which he hopes will 'capture something of the war and make it real' - after seeing many of his friends and comrades die 'Joining the Marines was something different and positive,' Dan recalls. 'I didnt know anyone who was doing anything remotely similar. I had friends going into jobs, I was seeing them all at university having a fantastic time. 'But I was very focused. I was being taken off into a new world, I was being pushed to my absolute limits every day.' While completing his training, Dan picked up a copy of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms, something that he says 'kick-started' a passion for reading and writing. After that, throughout his training, Dan would turn to books 'again and again for comfort and distraction' and before long he was devouring Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1880 novel The Brothers Karamazov - often while his comrades were watching Jeremy Kyle. 'Id be back at the base at Plymouth reading Ulysses with the TV blaring next to me, while the other guys would be messing around,' he recalls. Dan, who completed two tours in Afghanistan, says: 'I didnt know anyone who was doing anything remotely similar. I had friends going into jobs, I was seeing them all at university having a fantastic time' During his training, Dan picked up a copy of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms, something that he says 'kick-started' a passion for reading and writing - after which he spent the majority of his spare time reading Dan Clements' first book, What Will Remain, is published by Silvertail (8.99) and is out now 'The kind of environment youre in is quite juvenile and fun and pretty full-on. We had lots of down time.' His appetite for reading was met with 'slightly amused expressions' and 'a few wry comments' from his colleagues. At 21, shortly after meeting his now-wife, Missy, he was posted out to Afghanistan where he completed two tours. 'I saw myself as quite grown up having done the training,' says Dan, who specialised as an intelligence analyst. 'I thought I was more ready than I was.' A few weeks in, a suicide attack on one of the patrols out on the ground killed one of Dan's fellow Marines. 'That was a defining moment for me,' he says. 'The savage nature of the attack was really quite shocking, it brought home the nature of what we were doing out there. 'Something about how brutal, how random the attack was, it really set the tone of the book to come. There was no war-fighting narrative around it, the guys werent even going into battle at the time.' Dan began writing short stories which he got published in writing journals, but it wasn't until long after he left the Marines in 2008 that he began writing his own novel. 'I spent a lot of time when I came back home adjusting,' he explains. 'I never wanted to write a catharsis; I wanted to write truthfully and objectively. 'I thought I was more ready than I was': Dan was 21 and had just met his wife-to-be when he was posted out to Afghanistan to work in intelligence. He said: 'I saw myself as quite grown up having done the training' 'The kind of environment youre in is quite juvenile and fun and pretty full-on': Dan said he had a lot of downtime which enabled him to indulge his passion for reading despite 'wry comments' from his comrades 'I gave myself a lot of time. I had to get through some of the issues first. 'After the attack in the city on Lashkar Gah, I wanted the reader to understand the particular feeling of horror I felt that particular day.' Having finished writing the book in late 2014, Dan set about finding a publisher. 'Id had a couple of stories published in writing journals so I had a laymans view,' he says. 'I sent it off to a few publishers and I didn't even get a response. It was a lot of trial and error.' Finally a publisher got in touch, and What Will Remain hit shelves earlier this month. 'Holding it for the first time was a really memorable experience,' says Dan, who now works in corporate security. 'I gave myself a lot of time': Dan says he had to get through 'a lot of issues' before he felt able to start writing his book, admitting: I wanted the reader to understand the particular feeling of horror I felt that particular day Among the things he wanted to convey in his book was the 'conflicting emotions' that he experienced on his return - although he stresses he does not see himself as a pacifist. 'I can understand why going to Hellmand and building wells and building schools are justifiable,' he explains. 'I could see the necessity to do violence sometimes, and things that are unpalatable. Sometimes difficult things need to be done. 'But it can be difficult to justify what it is youre out there for. Having lost friends and colleagues, I really struggled to justify their deaths for what was achieved. 'I couldnt come away from it saying it was a "bad" or "good" war I was just left with a difficult mess of emotions.' The Duchess of Cambridge is known for wearing high street brands - but she's rarely seen out in footwear as casual and trendy as a pair of 90 Adidas trainers. But last week she cut a relaxed figure in a black woven jumper, jeans and trainers on a visit to Portsmouth, after showing off her skills in a high speed boat race with Sir Ben Ainslie. The 34-year-old opted for a pair of black Adidas Pure Boost X women's running shoes, with aqua-coloured shoelaces. So is her footwear worth the royal price tag? FEMAIL challenged regular runner Kate Samuelson to put the trainers - promising 'pure comfort and limitless energy' - to the test... Scroll down for video Intrigued by her choice of footwear, FEMAIL writer and regular runner Kate Samuelson (left) put the duchess' trainers - promised to provide 'pure comfort and limitless energy' - to the test As someone with narrow feet and ankles, who generally finds it difficult to find trainers that fit snugly, Kate was pleasantly surprised by these shoes THE FIT As someone with narrow feet and ankles, who generally finds it difficult to find trainers that fit snugly, I was pleasantly surprised by these shoes - which were designed with women's feet in mind rather than created for men and then shrunk down. Made for runners with a neutral gait, according to the Adidas website, these trainers fit well over socks and have plenty of air-holes keeping your feet cool. The sole has a built-in 'floating' arch which fits cosily around the natural contours of your feet - and certainly makes the shoes feel very comfy. The non-restrictive Lycra material makes them feel more sock-like than shoe - I certainly have never wiggled my toes as freely in a pair of trainers before. However, I wonder how much protection they would give you if you were to tread on a sharp rock or stick. I found the tongue of the right shoe rubbed slightly at first but after a few hours' wear both feet felt extremely comfortable and I was reluctant to peel them off at the end of the day. Made for runners with a neutral gait, according to the Adidas website, these trainers fit comfortably over socks and have plenty of air-holes keeping your feet cool The Duchess of Cambridge cut a relaxed figure in a black woven jumper, jeans and trainers in Portsmouth, after showing off her skills in a high speed boat race with Sir Ben Ainslie last week APPEARANCE I recreated the Duchess's look easily with a quick visit to Marks and Spencer, and ever the style icon, I discovered she was right to opt for a block colour look. The trainers suit a casual, dark outfit, as Kate demonstrated during her day sailing in Portsmouth, but the laces may clash with something more colourful. I like the contrast of the black trainers with the aqua-coloured shoelaces, however I am not too sure about the white foamy sole, as it looks a bit like polyester (although it's rubbery). The trainers suit a casual, dark outfit, as Kate Middleton demonstrated during her day sailing in Portsmouth, but the laces may clash with something more colourful As well as black with blue laces, the shoes come in a variety of colours including 'shock' pink with pink and white laces, pink and orange with pale blue laces, black and lime with pink laces and a flowery design that I can't say I'm the biggest fan of. WALKING If I had to describe the sensation of walking in these trainers in one word, it would be bouncy, due to the spongy sole, which cushions every step. If I had to describe the sensation of walking in these trainers in one word, it would be bouncy, due to the foam rubber sole, which cushions every step The sole is made from hundreds of high tech plastic balls made from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which absorb the stress of your feet and instantly revert back into shape. Adidas claims the shoe's 'energy-returning properties keep every step charged with an endless supply of light, fast energy' - however I can't say I felt any less tired than usual when strolling around. The shoes have plenty of grip, so you can jog over different terrains with ease As these trainers are fairly plain (other than the laces) I would have no issue wearing them out with a pair of jeans on the weekend - therefore it's good that they are so comfy to walk in. RUNNING The shoes are extremely lightweight, which makes me understand why athletes have said wearing them feels like running on clouds. The flexible outer sole is arched, meaning running feels pretty natural, and they have plenty of grip, so you can jog over different terrains with ease. However, I don't think they would be supportive enough for a long distance run - and are perhaps better suited for wear in the gym, for a jog or for other short bursts of exercise. I did worry at times that my ankles didn't feel particularly secure. OVERALL VERDICT I would highly recommend these trainers for any women with narrow feet, as it can be difficult to find tight-fitting shoes for exercise that are neither clunky nor childlike. Although 90 sounds like a lot, the Pure Boost X trainers - which launched in February - seem as though they have a long life in them. They are certainly a sensible footwear choice for relatively active women like me and the Duchess of Cambridge - and look good at the same time. It's said that women fall for men like their fathers both physically and personality-wise and now a relationship expert has revealed just why this phenomenon occurs. Speaking to Marie Claire Dr. Judith Wright, from Illinois, Chicago, explains that 'pre-sexual programming' occurs at a very young age and children learn about relationships 'based on the way we are treated by their primary caregivers.' Even if women have had bad relationships with their fathers they will apparently still go for a similar type of man because they think they can 'fix it and do a better job this time around.' Learning young: It's said that women fall for men like their fathers both physically and personality-wise and now a relationship expert has revealed just why this phenomenon occurs She added: 'You might think that you're dating the extreme opposite to your father, and yet the unconscious mind finds a way of slipping back into what's comfortable.' Dr Wright recalls one client she saw who dated wealthy men as a way of rebelling against her father, who had very little money. However, it transpired that all of the woman's suitors were 'distant' and 'dishonest' just like her father had been. The amount of money they had was irrelevant to their underlying personality traits. Running pattern: Even if women have had bad relationships with their fathers they will apparently still go for the same type of person because they think they can 'fix it and do a better job this time around' Confirming this pattern, Jennifer Harman, a psychology professor at Colorado State University and co-author of The Science of Relationships, previously told Canada.com: 'It may or may not be a healthy dynamic, but it feels comfortable. 'If people dont have a lot of self-worth because of early parenting, they enter relationships where that person confirms how they already feel about themselves.' You might think that you're dating the extreme opposite to your father, and yet the unconscious mind finds a way of slipping back into what's comfortable Dr Wright says those who haven't had a male role model growing up and more likely to be attracted to an older partner. This is because they're longing for a responsible, powerful and stable father-figure in their life. She suggests that they could also be hankering after someone resembling their grandfather, who could have been stepping in as a caregiver. According to a number of studies, women who have had secure and supportive relationships with their fathers are more likely to be successful on the romantic front. Affirming this trend Linda Nielsen, a professor of educational and adolescent psychology at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, writes on Family Studies site: 'A girl who has a secure, supportive, communicative relationship with her father is less likely to get pregnant as a teenager and less likely to become sexually active in her early teens. Dr. Judith Wright from Chicago (above) explains that 'pre-sexual programming' occurs at a young age 'This, in turn, leads to waiting longer to get married and to have children - largely because she is focused on achieving her educational goals first.' Nielsen also says the well-fathered daughter is also less likely to suffer from a range of illnesses including depression, anorexia and body dysmorphia. For those women worried about dating someone just like their father, Dr Wright says that being attracted to someone fatherly isn't a bad thing. The most important thing is that the partner shares the father's best traits and is an 'improved' and updated version. The therapist suggests that women who are struggling romantically should create a list detailing of all the qualities their exes share with their father to find good and bad pointers. This will help to highlight the positive and negative patterns in a bid to strike a happy balance. Dr Wright says that counselling can also help people to understand their motivations for picking a particular type of partner. Bismarck Public Schools reported another automated bomb threat at 9:45 a.m. Friday, this one made to Pioneer Elementary School. The threat was similar to the robo-call made Wednesday to Sunrise Elementary School, Sgt. Mark Buschena said. Other schools throughout the country have experienced similar calls this week. All have been baseless. School resource officers from the Bismarck Police Department conducted a sweep of Pioneer, while students were evacuated, Buschena said. Police cleared the building and allowed students and staff to return to their classrooms at 10:25 a.m., Buschena said. Principal Jim Jeske said classes at the school continued as normal after the all-clear, though the office fielded a number of calls from concerned parents. Staff made announcements over the loudspeaker, and some went into classrooms to talk with students about what had happened. "We have to take all things seriously," Jeske said. "I'm proud of the way our students and staff acted." Students followed the evacuation drills they have practiced in case of events like this. At least seven police cars responded to the scene. "We treat them as if they're real," Buschena said of the calls. 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 mumpreneur who set up her own healthy baby food brand after struggling to find products for her two children who suffer with allergies has signed a 2 million deal with Tesco, Waitrose and Morrisons. Shauna McCarney Blair, 36, from Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland, came up with the idea for Heavenly Tasty Organics a decade ago while her children Joe, now 11, and Cara, 10, were babies. She started the company, which produces organic, dairy and gluten free baby snacks - such as pureed fruit with coconut milk - from scratch at her kitchen table and it is now sold in 14 countries. Scroll down for video Shauna McCarney Blair, 36, from Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland founded Heavenly Tasty Organics after struggling to find products for her children, who suffer severe allergies Shauna was a single mother to Joe and Cara who are both allergic to nuts, eggs, dairy and raw apple. 'When they were diagnosed I found it a real struggle. Almost everything contained egg and dairy,' she recalled. 'I found myself standing reading labels in the supermarket and with two young toddlers in a trolley this wasnt an ideal situation. This was before online grocery shopping from the kitchen table became the norm.' The only solution was for Shauna to make all her own pureed meals and snacks for the children from scratch. Shauna with Cara, now 10, and Joe, now 11, who are both allergic to nuts, eggs, dairy and raw apple Shauna with the Heavenly Tasty Organics range which developed from the snacks she would make for her own children When Shauna was bringing up Cara (left) and Joe (right) as a single mother, she struggled to find time to make every meal and snack from scratch and knew other busy parents must be in the same position 'I was able to control everything that went into their food. I knew exactly what ingredients I used, and there was nothing hidden in there that I didnt know about. 'As they were so young and we were still getting to grips with their allergies, it meant less symptoms of allergic reactions as we could pin point what had caused reactions.' But while she enjoyed cooking, as a single mum to two young children it wasn't always convenient. 'I found it tough to make every single thing from scratch as a single mother and I imagined new parents and working parents would find the same. Shuana is now a mother-of-four and welcomed baby Lily 10 weeks ago 'So I had the idea for a brand churning away in the back of my mind for years, but it was 2009 when I put pen to paper. 'My experience really was from being a mum to young toddlers and I loved cooking. I had studied Food Technology when I was younger and was very interested in organic food. 'But I was always very passionate about business, and having come from a family business background I always wanted to start my own company. 'It was something that never phased me or scared me in the slightest. I carried out lots of research when the children were having their naps in the afternoons. Shauanhusband Joe is now Operations Director 'I spoke to nutritionists, our regional Food College, potential suppliers, funders, sourced equipment, packaging and designers all from my kitchen table.' SHAUNA'S PRODUCT RANGE Yummy wafer wisps: A wafer with fruit organic fruits and vegetables blended together with ancient grains. Happy Halo bites: Contains ancient organic grains buckwheat and amaranth, blended with natural organic fruits Mini Italian Breadsticks: Handmade in Italy to a traditional recipe using only the finest ingredients, including extra virgin olive oil Crispy Veggie Waffles: Made from more than 50 per cent organic vegetables Coconut Squishies: Contains squished organic fruits with coconut milk and a dash of lemon juice. One of the 5 portions of fruit and veg recommended daily with nothing added, not even sugar or water. It took two years for Shauna to put everything into place while juggling her family commitments and working part time for her father's business. But once everything was in place, she hired four staff and went 'into pitching to customers and production within a few months. 'We have a range of organic and healthy snacks which contain superfood ingredients like, spinach, kale, amaranth, buckwheat and beetroot,' Shauna explained. 'Our coconut squishies are little pouches of fruit and coconut milk and provide 1 of your 5 a day. 'All of our products are low in natural sugar, which is key, and do not contain any added sugar so parents can be confident in knowing that they are giving their child a healthier option. Her products launched in the supermarket chain Super Valu in Northern Ireland, supplying 30 stores, in 2011 and nationwide a year later. In 2015, Ocado took on Halo Bites and Coconut Squishes, and Crispy Veggie Waffles and Mini Breadsticks launched this year. Shauna admits that it was a challenge to create her business from scratch. Shauna admits it was a struggle to combine setting up a business with raising her children but said it was all worthwhile 'Yes it was difficult, I wont lie. It was exhausting, but very exciting at the same time. 'I was an independent woman, using all my energy to create something for me and my children. I wanted to show them that you can achieve a lot if you put your mind to it. 'I wanted them to be proud of their mum and also be able to make a difference for other parents out there who where struggling with the challenges to find suitable snacks for their children suffering from allergies as I was. 'I had a very supportive mum and dad which I will be forever thankful for. Its no different now really than it was then, like any parent of young children who works or runs a business, it just takes lots of juggling.' Shauna, pictured with Elsa as a baby, launched her range in supermarkets in Northern Ireland in 2011 Shauna is now also a mother to Elsa, two, and Lily, 10 weeks, with her husband James, who she met in 2010. James now works alongside her in the business and the pair have spent several years liaising with major supermarkets, they have struck a 2 million deal to stock her products. They will be on the shelves at Tesco at the end of this month, followed by Sainsbury's and Waitrose. 'It happened after lots of hard work by our team,' she explained. 'My husband James is our Operations Director and looks after all our sales and he has been working closely with the supermarkets over the past couple of years whilst our brand has developed into the range of products we now have to offer. 'The supermarkets totally understand and support our vision and are happy to join us on our journey in becoming a well-known brand within the baby and childrens snacking category throughout the world. 'Parents truly love our products. Some parents can be reluctant to taste baby snacks but when they do they can see how good they actually taste and are totally converted to our brand. We have parents contacting us on a weekly basis to tell us how much they love our products and that really means a lot to me. She also revealed that they were originally pregnant with six babies Advertisement In January, Kim and Vaughn Tucci, from Perth, welcomed their five healthy babies into the world - a son, Keith, and four daughters, Ali, Penelope, Tiffany and Beatrix. Mrs Tucci, 26, who already had one nine-year-old son from a previous marriage and two daughters aged five and two with her husband, fell pregnant with the quintuplets naturally and had a C-section at 30 weeks. Mrs Tucci took part in a live Q&A on the Huggies Australia Facebook page on Friday morning to reveal how much her life has changed since giving birth to her new brood, and answered questions about her shock pregnancy. Scroll down for video Proud mum: Kim Tucci, from Perth, gave birth to quintuplets in January and already had three children aged nine, five and two Adorable: Mrs Tucci took part in a live Q&A on the Huggies Australia Facebook page on Friday morning to reveal how her life has changed since giving birth to her new brood, and answered questions about her shock pregnancy The new bubs: In terms of household requirements, Mrs Tucci revealed the babies go through at least 60 nappies in 24 hours and a tin of formula every two days In terms of household requirements, Mrs Tucci revealed the babies go through at least 60 nappies in 24 hours and a tin of formula every two days - the proud mother also revealing she breastfed the babies for the first six weeks before she struggled with a 'low supply'. Mrs Tucci said the babies go through at least 16 outfits in a 24 hour period but have volunteers that help her out with the washing. Mrs Tucci also detailed their feeding system and how they remain organised each day. In addition, Mrs Tucci revealed that two of the quintuplets, Allie and Penelope, could be identical and that there was originally a sixth baby. 'Unfortunately with my number 6, their heart stopped beating,' she wrote, adding no further details. Amazing effort: The proud mother revealined that she breastfed the babies for the first six weeks before she struggled with a 'low supply' All planned out: Mrs Tucci said the babies go through at least 16 outfits in a 24 hour period but have volunteers that help her out with the washing 'We have a feeding chart. We go off this as to when they need to be fed and changed, we're very time scheduled so everyone in the house knows what's going on. At night this does take four people,' she said. 'We have a feeding schedule and they're staggered. Two could be fed at 7, one at 7.30, one at 8, and then one at 8.30, and then the cycle starts again! The wall chart helps us organise... the paperwork has times of feeds, feed volumes, when they've had a wet nappy etc, so this helps us not to miss anything- we haven't yet thank god. 'At the moment they are fed every 3 hours so they sleep for 2.5 and start to stir. They are awake for about 1.5 hours and then we repeat the cycle. My husband is a house-husband at the moment. I wouldn't be able to cope with him going back to work for at least the first year. It's a lot to handle and really need him at home.' When it comes to using the bathroom, Mrs Tucci said she has to 'book it in' with her husband so they know 'he is going to be needed more.' Strict schedule: 'At the moment they are fed every 3 hours so they sleep for 2.5 and start to stir. They are awake for about 1.5 hours and then we repeat the cycle,' she said Non-stop: 'We have a feeding schedule and they're staggered. Two could be fed at 7, one at 7.30, one at 8, and then one at 8.30, and then the cycle starts again,' she said 'Or I wait until my nan or my mum comes over so I can have half an hour to myself,' she added. On top of the exhausting schedule, Mrs Tucci is also dealing with the babies who have health issues, as well as health problems of her own. 'They are good babies but Keith has reflux, colic and he has bad wind issues. Penelope has silent reflux, and Allie has reflux. We can't see to them all at once but do our best to hold one and pat the other in the cot... they all cry a lot but Tiffany and Beatrix are angels, they are very quiet and content all the time,' Mrs Tucci wrote. 'My body has taken a long time to recover (and still is). My back feels as though it is D shaped from the pregnancy. I think my endometriosis is coming back, which is hard to deal with. I think it will take about a year for me to get back to my usual health.' Not all smooth sailing: 'They are good babies but Keith has reflux, colic and he has bad wind issues. Penelope has silent reflux, and Allie has reflux,' Mrs Tucci said Working together: 'My husband is a house-husband at the moment. I wouldn't be able to cope with him going back to work for at least the first year,' Mrs Tucci said In terms of her three older children, Mrs Tucci said they are coping as well as they can. 'My 9 year old son fell in love at first sight, my 5 year old loves them but she doesn't like sharing mummy and daddys attention. My 2 year is still conflicted, she's not sure if she likes them or she doesn't,' Mrs Tucci wrote. 'When the quintuplets are crying and struggling for our attention my other children can act out. My 9 year old son is old enough to cope and but my younger two find it hard. I try to bond with each but with another 3 children in addition to the five it can be hard. I do try - I feel like all do each day is cuddle.' Mixed opinions: 'My 9 year old son fell in love at first sight, my 5 year old loves them but she doesn't like sharing mummy and daddys attention. My 2 year is still conflicted,' Mrs Tucci said of her other three children Cuddle queen: I try to bond with each but with another 3 children in addition to the five it can be hard. I do try - I feel like all do each day is cuddle,' Mrs Tucci said 'We've lost a lot of our privacy': Mrs Tucci and her husband are doing their best to cope, but it can get a bit much at times Mrs Tucci and her husband are doing their best to cope, but it can get a bit much at times. 'We do cope with the change but we have our days where everything is a little bit too much. We have volunteers coming in and our house is constantly buzzing with people so we've lost a lot of our privacy. Whilst we love the support and are so grateful for it, it's been hard to adjust to such a different lifestyle,' she said. 'If we get off schedule there have been times where all five have had to be fed at once. The Australian Multiple Births Association send us volunteers throughout the day which is a huge help, so I am able to give my older daughter attention throughout the day. 'Having enough time for everyone is the hardest thing... I do get time to myself, my lovely husband always makes sure that I take time out and I do the same for him. And we do manage to get them to sleep all at the same time during the day.' Time out: 'Having enough time for everyone is the hardest thing... I do get time to myself, my lovely husband always makes sure that I take time out,' Mrs Tucci said Mrs Tucci also confirmed she will be having no more children. 'There will definitely be no more babies running around this house, I have had my tubes tied,' she said. But one look at the babies' adorable faces is enough to know the sleepless nights are worth it, with the proud mother recently sharing stunning snaps from a newborn photoshoot. The photos show a glowing Mrs Tucci cradling her five babies, their tiny bodies swaddled in soft pastel wraps. No more: 'There will definitely be no more babies running around this house, I have had my tubes tied,' she said While the couple has shared photos of their children before, this is the first time the babies were featured in a professional shoot. The adorable pictures capture the sleeping quintuplets in what must be a rare moment of peace. The logistical challenges the family face on a daily basis have been taking their toll on the young mother, with Mrs Tucci telling Channel Nine's 60 Minutes that she sometimes 'locks herself in the bathroom and cries on the floor' as she adapts to life with eight children. Although they are 'overwhelmed' by the momentous job, they are the 'happiest they have ever been in their life'. 'No-one thought I could do it, and I did, I showed everyone in my life. So, I think it's the first time that I've actually been proud of myself,' Mrs Tucci told the television show. Stunning: At 24 weeks along, photographer Erin Elizabeth took photos of the expecting mum to commemorate her journey The chance all babies would survive and be healthy was incredibly low, but over a gruelling 27 weeks, Mrs Tucci's body grew to accommodate each infant - each weighing more than a kilogram by the time she gave birth. Her obstetrician, Professor Jan Dickinson, managed to deliver each healthy baby in under two minutes and said Mrs Tucci had a 'super womb'. The quintuplets were rushed to intensive care and were monitored for 24 hours a day for six weeks until they grew strong enough to return home. 'You just gotta do it. We haven't got a choice,' Ms Tucci said. During her pregnancy, Ms Tucci wrote about her intense struggles with back pain, 12 bathroom trips a night and consuming the recommended 6,000 calories a day to feed her five babies. Social star: Her online posts about dealing with pain, nausea, changes to her body and going to the bathroom 12 times a night, amassed a following of more than 318,000 people 'I'm struggling to eat and force feed myself leaving me with reflux for hours,' she wrote on her blog Surprised With Five. 'I can't tolerate a lot of dairy and I can't keep protein drinks down, I'm starting to lose weight when I really need to be gaining it.' Her online posts about dealing with pain, nausea, changes to her body and going to the bathroom 12 times a night, amassed a following of more than 318,000 people most of them mothers who share their own personal stories. At 24 weeks along, photographer Erin Elizabeth took photos of the expecting mum to commemorate her journey. A mother has been left with an 'old lady body' with drooping folds of skin on her stomach, chest, arms and legs after being inspired to shed 11st because her children were being bullied over her weight. Carolyn Docherty, a stay-at-home parent and carer, said she still wears the same loose, baggy clothes as when she was a size 24 and even feels less confident than before she lost the weight. The 35-year-old, from Woolton, Liverpool, had an NHS-funded gastric bypass to lose the weight and is now crowd funding for surgery to remove the excess skin as this procedure is only available on the NHS for medical reasons. Carolyn, from Woolton, Liverpool, had an NHS-funded gastric bypass to lose the weight and slimmed down to a size 10, above. However now she is now crowd funding for surgery to remove the excess skin this has caused A mother has been left with an 'old lady body' with drooping folds of skin on her stomach, chest, arms and legs after being inspired to shed 11st because her children were being bullied over her weight, above Carolyn said: 'Being 20st I hated the way I looked and always felt embarrassed. I would never wear fitted t-shirts, shorts or anything which revealed any skin. 'But I never looked in the mirror, so I couldn't see myself and didn't realise how big I'd become. 'But when the kids came home saying children at school were teasing them because their mum was fat, that was when I knew I needed to do something. 'Before I had gastric bypass surgery, I thought getting the weight off was going to be much better than living with a little bit of excess skin. 35-year-old stay-at-home mum and carer, Carolyn Docherty, said she still wears the same loose, baggy clothes as when she was a size 24, above before surgery, and even feels less confident than before 'I was warned by doctors but wasn't worried, as anything would have been better than being overweight. But now I understand the skin is just as bad. 'I absolutely hate it and I still never look in the mirror because I feel disgusting. 'I don't feel like a size 10, I still feel fat. My body looks like it belongs to an old lady.' Carolyn had always been overweight but after having daughters Keeley, 13, Courtney, 12, and Abigail, nine, and 11-year-old son Joshua her weight rocketed. The surgery Carolyn desperately wants to remove the excess skin is not available on the NHS unless for medical reasons. She says she is disgusted by her body now, above, and that it looks like an old lady's Carolyn, above before her gastric band with husband Danny, 39, had always been overweight but after having daughters Keeley, 13, Courtney, 12, and Abigail, nine, and 11-year-old son Joshua her weight rocketed. By the time she married former taxi driver husband Danny Docherty, 39, in 2012 she hated the way she looked and the following year, aged 32, she reached her heaviest weight of 20st. As well as feeling depressed, Carolyn suffered from bone and ligament problems due to her weight putting stress on her joints and covering up her body which meant she was deficient in Vitamin D. She broke bones in her foot, arm and fingers twice and damaged her ligaments hundreds of times in minor trips and falls. Couch potato Carolyn didn't exercise and would gorge on takeaway fried chicken, crisps and bread while avoiding all vegetables apart from carrots and peas. In autumn 2012 Carolyn, who had a BMI of 52, went to her doctor about gastric bypass surgery. After a year of slimming, in which time she lost a stone, she underwent the procedure in October 2013. Above, after surgery But in autumn 2012 Carolyn, who at this point had a BMI of 52, went to her doctor about gastric bypass surgery. After a year of slimming, in which time she lost a stone, she underwent the procedure in October 2013 and afterwards began walking and working out at home to shed the pounds. After eight months Carolyn, who is now training to be a personal trainer and works out five times a week, plucked up the courage to go to the gym and discovered a passion for exercise. After eight months Carolyn, above showing her weightloss with old shorts, who is training to be a personal trainer and works out five times a week, plucked up the courage to go to the gym However, as the weight dropped off Carolyn's skin did not spring back to how it had been before and she was left with saggy folds all over her body Carolyn said: 'At 32 I knew something had to change. My bones and ligaments were constantly healing and I felt really low. 'There were times I would not even get dressed or go out of the front door. 'My kids were not overweight at all, I do not allow it, but it was one rule for them and another for me. The gastric bypass is a tool - if it is used right, it will work. 'Afterwards, when I began working out, that was when I really started to see some changes. The mum has to wear high-waisted pants when she exercises to keep the skin tucked in, and said it stops her from playing with her children. 'People were saying I looked great and that felt amazing because I had never had those types of compliments before. I had always been so ashamed, but now I felt like a new woman.' But as the weight dropped off Carolyn's skin did not spring back to how it had been before and she was left with saggy folds all over her body. The mum has to wear high-waisted pants when she exercises to keep the skin tucked in, and said it stops her from playing with her children. Carolyn hopes to have an operation to remove the skin at cosmetic clinic Spire Liverpool and believes the multiple procedures could cost in the region of 6,000 Currently, cosmetic surgery to remove excess skin is only available on the NHS if the folds are causing severe medical issues. Carolyn hopes to have an operation to remove the skin at cosmetic clinic Spire Liverpool and believes the multiple procedures could cost in the region of 6,000. Carolyn said: 'I never had much self-confidence before, but now I have none. I'm very self-conscious and always wear the same big baggy things I wore before I lost the weight and big knickers which hold the skin in. 'I never wear tight clothes because you can see all the lumps and bumps. I can't even see my belly button. I feel horrendous and just want something to change.' To make a donation to Carolyn's fund go to https://www.gofundme.com/22a4tjxp CAROLYN'S DAILY DIET: BEFORE Breakfast: Two rounds of cheese on toast Lunch: Nine chicken nuggets and a large fries from McDonald's, or a meat sandwich with chips Dinner: Fried takeaway chicken, a pie or a pizza with chips and peas or carrots Snacks: Crisps, biscuits, fruit jellies and Haribo sweets Drinks: Tea and fizzy drinks CAROLYN'S DAILY DIET: NOW Breakfast: Half a chopped banana, two strawberries and 25g of walnuts Lunch: Two slices of ham, 30g of feta cheese, two cherry tomatoes and some chopped onion Dinner: 100g of chicken cooked in the oven, 50g of sweet potato and vegetables on the side Snack: A yoghurt once a week Drinks: Water and tea without sugar A couple claiming to be the most tattooed in the UK shared their story on today's This Morning and revealed 95 per cent of their bodies are inked. Curly, 49, and Jacqui Moore, 45, from Oxford, appeared on the daytime show today to showcase their body art which covers their entire bodies and part of their faces. Tattoo artist Curly even has designs across the back of his head which he drew himself with the help of mirrors. Although both the husband and wife admit neither of their mothers are thrilled with their inkings - especially the ones on their faces. Jacqui and Curly Moore, who have covered 95 per cent of their bodies covered with tattoos, appeared on today's This Morning The couple's tattoos completely cover their arms, chest, neck and part of their faces The couple caused presenter Eamonn Holmes to joke about a tattoo of his own - but he refused to reveal it on television to the relief of his wife Ruth Langsford. Curly also admitted he hasn't always been such a fan of tattoos. He said: 'Before I got my first tattoo at 23 I thought they were visually unpleasant but then realised possibilities. 'I may now look unpleasant to many people but I like it.' Curly said his inkings have been inspired by cultures around the world and he loves to create collages and patterns, using mirrors to help him tattoo certain areas of his own body and the back of his head. He met his partner Jacqui in 2003 and she became his 'blank canvas' going from having a few on her body to dozens. The mother-of-two is covered head to toe in tattoos and admitted her mother isn't keen on the ones on her face Jacqui only had a few tattoos when she met Curly but he inspired her love of body art, inking her patterns on - some of which took three hours to complete The pair met in 2003 when Jacqui went into Curly's tattoo parlour to get a design to celebrate her divorce Curly told presenters Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford people should think before they ink as being covered in tattoos can 'open doors as well as close them' The couple admitted their mothers aren't keen on their facial designs Curly has inked on his partner's tattoos which would have set her back more than 15,000 if she paid for them The pair say their friends and family have got used to their unusual appearance Mother-of-two Jacqui said she was seeking a tattoo to celebrate her divorce when she first visited Curly's tattoo parlour and the pair then fell in love. Since then, he has covered her in tattoos which would have cost her more than 15,000 if she had paid for them. Florist Jacqui said she loves her designs but admitted she doesn't intend to get anymore as they hurt too much. One of her designs took three hours to complete. She revealed: 'I hate the pain and I am less tolerant of it as I get older. I am happy to not have anymore.' When Eamonn quipped that there wasn't much space left on her body to have any more, Curly said that wouldn't stop a serial tattooer. He said: 'I am friends with the world's most tattooed man. He is completely covered and he is still getting more as you can put layers on top.' Jacqui only had a few tattoos before she met Curly, pictured, following a divorce Jacqui said she won't get more tattoos as she finds them too painful but Curly said he could find space for extras or layer them over his current designs The tattoo artist did the inkings on the back of his head himself using mirrors Curly said his designs have been inspired by cultures around the world Eamonn said he had a tattoo but refused to reveal it on television to Ruth's relief Jacqui said her daughters Kristi, 26, and Fern, 18, and the rest of her friends and family 'don't see' her tattoos now as 'they just see us.' However she admitted her mother isn't a big fan of her look. 'Mum doesn't mind them but she hates fact I have had my face done,' she said. Curly agreed that his mother 'doesn't like any' of his tattoos but he added 'it wasn't meant to look pleasing to parents'. On that note, he said he hopes his own children Louis, 25, and Molly, 23, don't follow his example. 'My kids have minimum tattoos and I am glad about that,' he said. He added that as tattoos have become more popular, with one in five adults in the UK inked, they are not as shocking as they used to be and are 'becoming horribly mainstream'. This Morning viewers Tweeted the programme to show off their designs But he said there is still some prejudice towards body art so he warned viewers to think before they ink. He said: 'You have to think about your job, getting heavily tattooed opens some doors and shuts others. You have to be aware that some will find it unacceptable and won't want it in the workplace.' This Morning viewers weren't as shy as Eamonn when it came to sharing their tattoos though. An online poll found 26 per cent of them had eight tattoos or more and many tweeted the show to share their designs. Vikki Ervine shared snaps of her butterfly designs with the words 'strength through weakness' while Beth said she has one across her chest reading 'never let me go'. She said 'fair play' to Curly and Jacqui for having so many tattoos saying they looked 'great'. Miss Emma revealed she has six - including an elaborate skull and roses design on her back - and said she intended to get more. Just weeks after her first flustered encounter with Tom Hiddleston, the Duchess of Cambridge was reunited with The Night Manager star again - and this time she appeared to maintain her composure. Camilla, 68, teamed up with the star this morning to present the awards for children's writing competition 500 Words, at a star-studded live final at London's Globe Theatre. After the ceremony, which was broadcast live on Chris Evans' Radio 2 Breakfast show, guests and judges met backstage for an informal reception. Scroll down for video The Duchess was an honorary judge at this year's competition, while her fellow judges were authors Malorie Blackman, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Charlie Higson and Francesca Simon - with Chris Evans as chairman Camilla was spotted backstage chatting to high-profile guests Judi Dench, left, and Warwick Davis, right The Duchess was snapped with a number of celebrities, including Nick Jonas, Julie Walters, Warwick Davis and Tom Hiddleston, who had helped give out prizes at the ceremony. Earlier this month, she enjoyed a rather flirty exchange with the actor when they attended the judges' meeting at the BBC Radio 2 studio. Speaking to Tom, who had just appeared live on the breakfast show, she said: 'Hello Night Manager, how are you? Sunday nights just aren't the same without you.' After Tom apologised 'unreservedly' for the series coming to an end, she implored him to return to the screen, before quipping: 'I'm sure I'm the envy of all the ladies,' as she walked off. Today, Camilla looked dress to impress in an elegant cream-coloured wrap dress, which she accessorised with nude patent courts and a matching leather clutch - as well as her signature pearl earrings and necklace. Earlier this month, she enjoyed a rather flirty exchange with the actor when they teamed up for the judges' meeting at the BBC Radio 2 studio - admitting afterwards that she must be 'the envy of all the ladies' The pair first met earlier this month, when they teamed up for the judges' meeting at the BBC Radio 2 studio Today, Camilla spent the morning handing out prizes to the winners at the event that featured performances from One Republic, All Saints and Foxes. She was an honorary judge of this year's competition, while other judges were authors Malorie Blackman, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Charlie Higson and Francesca Simon - with Chris Evans as chairman. Today, celebrities read out the Bronze, Silver, and Gold-winning entries in the two age categories (5-9 and 10-13 years), with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Community Gospel Choir also performing during the show. Camilla and her fellow judges had the gruelling task of selecting the six winners from the Top 50 talented young writers. She was in attendance at the final and presented the Gold winners prizes. The Duchess walks onto the stage before giving her speech. Camilla and her fellow judges had the gruelling task of selecting the six winners from the Top 50 talented young writers, and today she announces the winners Camilla joins host Chris Evans on stage. She joined celebrities reading out the Bronze, Silver, and Gold-winning entries in the two age categories (5-9 and 10-13 years), with the BBC Concert Orchestra performing The Duchess chats to Nick Jonas following his performance at the BBC Radio 2 500 Words competition She also posed for a photo with winners Evie Fowler, nine, from Herne Bay, and Ned Marshall, 12, from Wales In her speech, she spoke about the quality of the writing she and her fellow judges had been faced with. Describing them as brilliant, she said: It has been an almost impossible task to decide on the winners. Shakespeares Globe Theatre was, Camilla said, a fitting place to celebrate the childrens talent, because who wrote better tales than Shakespeare? They have lasted 400 years! she said. He wrote about murders and shipwrecks, fairies and witches, battles and romances. And they still speak to us; they still make us laugh and cry and think. 'We don't really know much about his life we don't even know the precise date he was born but we do know his stories and we still recognise the people in them. In her speech, she spoke about the quality of the writing she and her fellow judges had been faced with. Describing them as brilliant, she said: It has been an almost impossible task to decide on the winners Now, because Shakespeare was a poetic genius, he wasn't happy to use the words that he already knew he invented new ones to say exactly what he wanted. 'You'd be surprised how many of those words we use today. 'One sort of book that I'm not an expert on is Facebook but I believe that you can be "friended" and "unfriended" there. It sounds very modern, but actually Shakespeare used both those words in his plays. There are hundreds of words which scholars think Shakespeare was the first to use. Here are a few that caught my eye bandit, buzzer, barefaced; madcap, majestic, moonbeam; scuffle, shipwrecked, swagger. I wonder how many of these words you used in your stories?' Guest of honour: The Duchess arrives at London's Globe Theatre on Friday morning to join the judging panel Nice to meet you: Camilla is welcomes as she arrives at the Globe Theatre on London's Southbank The Duchess wore an elegant cream-coloured wrap dress, which she accessorised with nude patent courts and a matching leather clutch She continued: And you don't even have to go to see a play to quote from Shakespeare. His words are so apt and so memorable, they're part of the fabric of our everyday language. 'Do you know someone with a "heart of gold"? That's Shakespeare. 'If you won't 'budge an inch' because you need more "elbow room" That's Shakespeare. Whether you are "tongue-tied" or a "tower of strength" or "too much of a good thing" those are all his words. And don't forget, "all's well that ends well" that's his too! Now I hope you will have the chance to see one of his plays - perhaps here at the Globe or at Stratford-upon-Avon. 'But, most of all, I do hope that everyone who took part in this inspiring competition will, like Shakespeare, carry on enjoying the power of words and weaving the magic of stories. VIP guest list: All Saints arrive (left: Shaznay Lewis, Mel Blatt, Nicole Appleton; right: Natalie Appleton) Nick Jonas cuts a smart figure in a beige two-piece suit as he arrives at Shakespeare's Globe this morning At the reception afterwards she met Children's Laureate, writer and illustrator Chris Riddell, who will be illustrating the winning competitors' stories. She was also spotted enjoying a cup of tea with The Night Manager star Tom Hiddleston - who appeared to have recovered from his stage fright after being cajoled into singing on stage by Chris Evans. Camilla posed for a photograph with winners including Evie Fowler, nine, from Herne Bay, and Ned Marshall, 12, from Wales at a reception following the live broadcast. Advertisement Beaming with pride, Crown Princess Victoria was the perfect doting mother this morning as she held her youngest child Prince Oscar during his christening. The prince - whose full name is Oscar Carl Olaf - wore a traditional christening gown as he made his entrance into the Royal Chapel in Stockholm. The 38-year-old mother-of-two, with her husband Prince Daniel by her side, donned a beautiful white broderie anglaise dress. She could also be seen wearing a brooch with a blue ribbon on her chest. The brooch is her personal property, a gift she received from TRH Princess Lilian and Prince Bertil. Scroll down for video Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden today celebrate the christening of their youngest child Prince Oscar. Pictured: Victoria holding Oscar and Daniel with their daughter Estelle Her eldest daughter Princess Estelle, four, looked identical to Victoria, dressed in a dainty white gown with a miniature version of her mother's fascinator fastened to her hair. Prince Daniel of Sweden, wearing a traditional morning suit, looked every bit the proud father as he walked alongside his daughter into the chapel during the special occasion. Also joining the celebrations today were Estelle and Oscar's cousins Princess Leonore and Prince Nicolas, accompanied by their parents Princess Madeleine and her husband Christopher O'Neill. The children's grandparents, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, were also present today. Prince Carl Phillip of Sweden was accompanied by his wife Princess Sofia for today's ceremony. However, absent from the proceedings was there newborn son Prince Alexander who was born just last month. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark looked elegant in a monochrome dress and matching hat as she was joined by Crown Prince of Norway Prince Haakon to wish the family well today. The 38-year-old mother of two was dressed in a clean white broderie anglaise dress as she entered the chapel this morning The young prince appeared to doze off during the service conducted by archbishop Antje Jackelen However when Antje Jackelen lifted the baby away from his mother he didn't seem so docile, pictured bursting into tears Oscar was born on March 2 weighing just over 8lbs at the Karolinska University Hospital in the Swedish capital of Stockholm and is third in line to the Swedish throne after his sister Princess Estelle, four, was the spitting image of her mother dressed in a dainty white dress with a miniature version of her mother's fascinator fastened to her hair Prince Carl Phillip of Sweden was accompanied by his wife Princess Sofia for today's ceremony However, absent from the proceedings was their newborn son Prince Alexander who was born just last month. Pictured: Carl Phillip, Sofia, and Christopher O'Neill carrying Prince Oscar's cousin Prince Nicolas Princess Victoria's younger sister Princess Madeline (pictured here with daughter Princess Leonore) was yesterday announced as godmother to Prince Oscar The service was conducted by archbishop Antje Jackelen, and assisted by bishop Johan Dalman and chaplain Michael Bjerkhagen. Oscar later appeared on his mother's arm before a crowd outside the palace where fans snapped photos and a 21-gun salute rang out. He is third in line to the throne after his mother and 4-year-old sister, Princess Estelle. In 1980, Sweden changed its constitution to allow the eldest heir to inherit the throne, regardless of gender. Before that, female heirs were excluded. Victoria's father, Carl XVI Gustaf, has been king since 1973. The Swedish royal family's duties are ceremonial. Yesterday, the proud parents announced Prince Oscar's godparents. According to a statement from the palace, they have asked Victoria's younger sister Princess Madeleine to act as a godmother, as well as Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who has four children with Crown Princess Mary, will act as a godfather. Both the godparents will be present today to celebrate their godson's christening. Oscar was born on March 2 weighing just over 8lbs at the Karolinska University Hospital in the Swedish capital of Stockholm and will be third in line to the Swedish throne after his sister. Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway (pictured left) will also play godmother to the young Swedish prince Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (left) was joined by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway (right) to wish the family well today The Princess looked elegant in a monochrome floral printed dress and a glamorous matching hat during today's celebrations His proud father Prince Daniel was seen crying tears of joy as he announced his son's birth to the press, adding that they had kept the sex of their new arrival a surprise until he was born. Everyone is obviously very happy,' Prince Daniel said, according to Expressen. I havent had time to feel yet how it feels to be a father of two, but it obviously feels good. He then added: Estelle is of course really enthusiastic and happy about being a big sister.' Just hours before Prince Oscar's arrival, footage emerged of him appearing to kick from inside his mother's belly. The Prince's grandfather King Carl Gustaf seemed full of pride today as he witnessed his grandson's christening Queen Silvia of Sweden also joined her family to celebrate her grandson's special day in the Swedish capital The proud parents yesterday announced who would be godparents to their young son with Victoria's sister Princess Madeleine and Prince Frederik of Denmark taking the role Princess Victoria, 38, was making her final public engagement before her maternity leave - at the Global Change Awards 2016 in Stockholm - when the incredible moment was captured on camera. And she appeared to react to the sudden movement by tenderly putting her hand on her stomach. the christening of Prince Oscar of Sweden with her husband Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has stunned crowds in a chic black and white ensemble while attending the christening of Prince Oscar of Sweden on Friday. The Australian-born princess, 44, was supporting her husband the Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, as he was named godfather to the baby prince. Mary kept to a monochrome look for the christening of baby Oscar at the Swedish palace's royal chapel in Stockholm. Scroll down for video Crown Princess Mary of Denmark stuns once again as attends the christening of Prince Oscar of Sweden on Friday The mother-of-four wore a knee length white dress with black detailing, topping off the outfit with a large, wide brimmed black hat. She kept accessories simple, with a black and white checkered clutch and black cut-out heels, with a pop of colour from her pink manicure. She attended the ceremony with her husband of 12 years Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who is godfather to Prince Oscar, along with godmother Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who was joined by her husband Prince Haakon. During the service, the godparents both delivered readings and held their hands above three-month old Oscar head as a sign of a blessing. The Australian Princess, 44, wore a knee length white dress with black detailing, topping off the outfit with a large, wide brimmed black hat She attended the ceremony with her husband of 12 years Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, who is godfather to Prince Oscar, along with godmother Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, who was joined by her husband Prince Haakon (pictured) Mary kept her accessories simple, with a black and white checkered clutch and black cut-out heels, with a pop of colour from her pink manicure An 18-year-old Mormon bride who is featured in a new documentary about teenage marriage has told how she knew she wanted to wed her 21-year-old boyfriend after just two weeks of dating. Halie, who got married to George, from Riverton, Utah, in her hometown of Mesa, Arizona, said she was not worried about getting married at such a young age because they 'know for us it's the right thing'. Halie and George are one of three young couples featured on FYI's new show Teenage Newlyweds premieres on television on Tuesday and was released online yesterday. The series documents their weddings, nerves over first-time sex and the ups and downs of married life. Young love: Halie, 18, from Mesa, Arizona, pictured on her wedding day with George, 21, decided to marry her husband, from Riverton, Utah, after spending just two weeks together Reality stars: The Mormon couple are one of three on the new FYI television show Teenage Newlyweds, which premieres on Tuesday Smitten: Halie, pictured, said she first met George when he was working as a missionary at her church One couple featured on the show, University of California students Brenda, 19, and Travis, 20, show early signs of friction over differing views on God, gay marriage and abortion and even go to a marriage counselor. Meanwhile, Emma and Joey, 19 and 21, from Dallas, Oregon, experience dramas on their wedding day after forgetting their marriage licence and are followed as they look to buy their first home. Talking about how they met in the first episode, The Weddings, Halie said she first met George when he was working as a missionary at her church. When Halie was in Utah at Christmas, she invited George to dinner with her and her family when she said they 'just kind of clicked'. She added: 'We spent around two weeks together, I just kind of looked at him one day and I looked at him one day and I said "I kind of want to marry you... 'A big reason we didn't wait to get married, we both wanted it, why would we wait?' She added: 'There are people who say I'm too young or he's too young. OK, well that's your opinion but we know for us it's the right thing for us.' However, George admitted that sex was a factor: 'A big part of our religion is that we don't have any sexual relationships outside of marriage...We're young people who like each other a little bit and so things happen... Husband and wife: University of California students Brenda, 19, and Travis, 20, pictured on their wedding day, show early signs of friction Contrasting: The couple, pictured, have differing views on gay marriage and abortion 'People try to put everybody into one category and they try to say there's this age where you're ready to get married, you can't say that. I might not even be ready to be married but you just go for it.' Since their marriage in September, Halie and George said they have 'learned a lot'. 'I guess Halie and I dated completely long distance. It was four months of just visiting each other and then we got engaged so we had a lot of getting to know each other to do,' George told Fox411. 'We talked a lot but hadn't spent a substantial amount of time together so I've learned a lot about Halie since we get married, about how she handles problems and stress. It's not bad, it's great.' Halie said married life has been a steep learning curve but that George is 'a lot cleaner' than she had thought he would be. She said: 'When we were dating, it was kind of just like being on vacation together. But now that we're together all the time, we're working, we have school, and we still have fun together, but we're learning how to handle all these different things going on in our lives.' In the first episode, Brenda and Travis, who study in Irvine, California, admitted they knew early in their relationship that they had big ideological differences but after one year of dating still decided to get engaged. He said: 'For them [his parents] the biggest deal was "does she love God?" and that was my biggest deal too.' Sweethearts: Emma and Joey, 19 and 21, pictured, from Dallas, Oregon, met at high school Surprise: Joey proposed to Emma, pictured, on her 18th birthday Committed: Emma, pictured, said she wants to marry him because 'he always makes me laugh' and she has 'always wanted to have a husband' Travis, who does not believe in sex before marriage, said: 'She's more liberal and I'm more on the conservative side... 'I never thought I'd get married in the middle of college but then if you don't want to have sex until you're married you want to get married.' In the show they are seen having heated debates about gay marriage and abortion after rape and when they go to counselling after their marriage Travis admits that he threatened to leave Brenda. Joey proposed to Emma on her 18th birthday after they met at high school. Emma said she wants to marry him because 'he always makes me laugh' and she has 'always wanted to have a husband'. She added: 'I'm an only child and not a person that likes to be alone.' Joey, who said they were both virgins when they met, said: 'I want to marry Emma because I don't really like anybody else.' Schoolchildren were keen to have their picture taken with her Former journalist took time to chat to booksellers and publishers As a former journalist Queen Letizia of Spain was an apt choice to launch the Madrid Book Fair today. The chic royal could now her pen her own style guide as she has honed her sophisticated look when undertaking public appearances. She didn't disappoint today as she stepped out in her country's capital looking pretty in a blush pink round neck sweater and a grey and pink tweed Fifties-style skirt. Queen Letizia looked chic a blush pink round neck sweater and a grey tweed Fifties-style skirt as she attended the Madrid Book Fair today The queen glammed up her outfit accessorizing dangly diamante earrings The former journalist took time to chat to booksellers and publishers at the 75th staging of the event The 43-year-old fully colour co-coordinated her outfit by wearing pink lip gloss while her hair was loose around her shoulders. She made her appearance more glamorous with pale pink high heels and dangly diamante earrings. Upon her arrival she was seen carrying a cream clutch bag as she posed to chat and have her picture taken with well-wishers. One of the schoolgirls who was delighted to meet the queen even put her arm around her waist as she had a snap with the royal, as one of her minders looked on with a frown. The mother-of-three didn't seem phased by the tactile moment and kept a big smile on her face as she was surrounded by young people clutching their mobile phones keen for a picture of their own. Letizia was without her husband King Felipe VI for today's engagement at the Retiro Park to launch the city's 75th Book Fair. Holding a cream clutch bag, the queen spent time chatting to young people armed with mobile phones to get a snap of the royal One schoolgirl put her arm around the queen's waist as a concerned minder looks on The queen was happy to pose for pictures with the young people towering above them in her heels The queen gives a royal wave to well-wishers as she takes a tour around the stalls She wore high heels which showed off her slim and toned legs The royal browsed stalls before going on to meet school children who were gathered for storybook time with a children's entertainer She browsed stalls, chatting to booksellers, publishers and distributors before going on to meet school children who were gathered for storybook time with a children's entertainer. According to the book fair's website, the latest event has 367 stands and 479 exhibitors. It is an opportunity for writers to promote their work and to encourage people of all ages to get engrossed reading a good book. As a former journalist, Queen Letizia is an avid supporter of the arts and encouraging children to be interested in literature. Letizia was fully colour coordinated from her matched skirt and top to her pink gloss The mother-of-three attended a reading of a children's story as she strives to get young people interested in arts and literature As a former journalist, the royal is keen to encourage young people to follow in her footsteps She took time to chat to a number of young people at the event and posed for pictures with them. The royal gave her support to writers again earlier this week when she appeared in the northern city of Logrono to mark the opening of the 11th International Seminar on Language and Journalism. John says that he tried to warn the BBC about Savile but he banned him from the network When comedian Ronnie Corbett died in March he was mourned by millions, none more surprising, perhaps, than John Lydon, aka former Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten. He did this punk spoof when he was younger, says Lydon, and the image of him and Ronnie Barker in punk gear was absurd but very funny. I ran into him a few years back at the Comedy Awards and I had to say hello, even though he looked surprised. 'He said, Youre not angry with me then?, and I said, Of course not. I loved you to death, silly! Humours always been one of the major influences for me, he adds. I dont take myself too seriously. For a man described in the 70s as the worst threat to our kids since Hitler, a sense of humour has proved a valuable asset to Lydon. Though in his youth spiky-haired and rotten of teeth (hence the stage name), the John Lydon of today is incredibly warm and dentally magnificent thanks to the orthodontic skills of his adoptive Californian home. He also laughs far more than someone who once sang of being an antichrist should. Hes in Britain on a UK tour with Public Image Ltd, the band he formed after the Sex Pistols. I love it, he says. I love that up-close-and-personal contact. And Im alive! Who on earth would have predicted that? Certainly others in his orbit havent fared as well. Fellow Sex Pistol Sid Vicious died in 1979 from a heroin overdose at 21 after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, while Malcolm McLaren, the Pistols manager once dubbed the most evil man alive by Lydon, died six years ago from cancer. I felt sad when Malcolm died, he says. He was rather silly, but so what? The world needs silly people. I still miss Sid too and always will. It doesnt take long to realise that John Lydon is a bit of a softie. His entertaining appearance on Im A Celebrity... in 2004 did much to alter peoples preconceptions of him before he stormed off the show. John says that he had many young girls confess to him the actions of Savile but they were too worried to report it themselves The reasons why werent clear, but he later claimed the producers had refused to let him know his wife Noras flight had landed safely in Australia, where the show is filmed. Years before, Nora and I had been booked on the flight brought down by the Lockerbie bomb, he says, and it was only because Nora hadnt packed her bag in time that we didnt get on it. Ever since its been vitally important to know the other person is safe. I lost all respect for the producers when they didnt do that. They wanted me to throw a hissy fit for TV ratings, so I just said goodbye. Being straightforward is something Lydon requires at all times the reasons for which stem from his childhood. In his 2014 memoir Anger Is An Energy, he describes his upbringing in 1960s north London a Dickensian nightmare of overcrowding (he lived with his three younger brothers and parents John and Eileen), drunks passing out in the outside toilet and rat-infested backyards which was brought to a halt when at seven he contracted meningitis. John was in a coma for seven months, and when he came to hed lost his memory. I knew all about it and said so and got myself banned from the BBC I couldnt recognise my own mother and father and it was the loneliest Ive ever felt, he says. I had suicidal thoughts. I wanted to jump off the balcony at the hospital because I was thinking, Why doesnt anybody know me and why dont I know anybody? I had to learn how to love and learn to trust my parents, and once I began to trust, things started happening for the better. But the fallout is I cant bear people lying to me: I can forgive all manner of bad behaviour but you have to be straight. Once his memories returned he was struck with a sense of guilt that I couldnt remember my parents. It caused problems with my dad because he thought I blamed him, and I thought he blamed me for forgetting him. We sorted it out eventually and became good friends until he died in 2008. His honesty has led to more than a few problems in the past. In 1978, when the Pistols had been causing maximum outrage and when Jimmy Savile was at the height of his fame, fronting shows for BBC radio and TV such as Top Of The Pops, Lydon gave an interview to Radio 1 in which he called Savile a hypocrite... into all kinds of seediness... that were not allowed to talk about. Though the segment wasnt broadcast, hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse against the DJ came to light after Saviles death in 2011. John (centre back) with his band members in the Sex Pistols in 1977 If you said anything youd be off playlists, but that didnt bother me as I was doing a good job of that independently, says Lydon. But first-hand experiences were reiterated to me by young girls who went to Top Of The Pops and said he was touchy, feely, creepy, urgh... Doctor Death. I told them to report it but it would have been seen as grassing then. I knew all about it and said so and got myself banned from the BBC. Family values, eh? he laughs. Turns out I was the only one who had any. Indeed, for someone who incited moral outrage in the 70s, Lydon, now 60, appears a model of small-c conservatism. Hes been married to Nora Forster, 74, a German publishing heiress, for almost 40 years and claims never to have been unfaithful. What on earth for? he says, aghast. Self-gratification? Im a giver, not a taker. We sowed our wild oats before we came together. I thought she was the most beautiful individual Id ever seen, and I still do. The pair never had children. We very much wanted to, says Lydon. But we had an accident decades ago that put an end to it. So I feel sadness about it. But theres always been children around. The neighbourhood kids wander in and out because they know theres someone to play Lego with. Nora already had a daughter, Ariane (aka Ari Up of British punk band The Slits), and before Aris death from cancer six years ago, Lydon helped raise her twins, Pablo and Pedro. It was hell! he laughs. They were in their teens so it was a battle, but worth it. Theyre like all grandkids, though the only time we see them is if they want money! Its comforting to know Lydon can still shock. Two years ago he was planning to play King Herod in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar before it was cancelled (Me, in a musical!) and he even professes a liking for Cliff Richard. I liked Devil Woman, he says, and it was heartwarming when he sent out feelers to me a few years ago if the chance arose Id have worked with him. I hope the police investigation into his alleged involvement into historic sex abuse is over and they decide theres no case. With witch-hunts they tend to grab everybody, but innocent until proven otherwise. His bands tour kicked off a month after the Queens 90th birthday. As the chap who sang about anarchy in the UK, what present would he give Her Majesty? Ten more years, he says. Maybe 20. Shes fantastic. She was born into an institution not of her making, and while I wont support the institution, I support her fully. Does he realise that he himself is in danger of becoming a national treasure, or worse still, seriously huggable? Oh, I wouldnt recommend that, he laughs. Im actually just a big bag of nails. n One of Bismarck High School's commencement speakers will follow in the 123-year-old footsteps of an ancestor June 5 at graduation. "I learned my great-great-great-grandmother had spoken" at her BHS graduation ceremony, said Jared MacDonald, a graduating senior. "I figured I might try out and see if I could speak." The school's administration and counselors chose him and several others after a round of tryouts to deliver two- to three-minute speeches during the ceremony. Maude Robinson, MacDonald's great-great-great-grandmother, was a commencement speaker at BHS when she graduated in 1893 with a class of seven students. She recited an essay, "Climb tho' the Path be Rugged." MacDonalds grandmother, Linda MacDonald, recalls meeting her at a family reunion when Linda was a child. She was a very tiny woman, she said. Still quite sharp. Knew the grandkids and great-grandkids. The family has boasted other commencement speakers as well. MacDonald's father, Will, spoke at BHS 1987 graduation; and Linda MacDonald delivered an address when she finished high school in Montana. This years graduate plans to talk about his experience attending a one-room schoolhouse before joining Bismarck Public Schools. Jared MacDonald grew up on a ranch south of the University of Mary, just a few miles down the highway from the schoolhouse in Manning. He attended that school with 12 other kids, none of whom were in his grade. It was a lot of independent learning, but youre able to get a lot of individual attention with so few students, he said. It was perfect for me. I like learning on my own. At recess, the kids enjoyed snowball fights and riding horses. But when he finished eighth grade, he did as other Manning students do: He transitioned into the largest school district in the state, Bismarck. Jared MacDonald started classes at Simle Middle School. For the first time, he had classmates his own age. It was definitely a culture shock, he said. You learn to pick out the good kids to hang out with. On June 5, he and his friends will graduate in a class of nearly 400 students. He plans to work on the ranch this summer and show cattle at the county fair. In the fall, he will attend North Dakota State University, where he plans to study animal science and agricultural economics. Muslim designers making a mark on the fashion industry will show the beauty in modesty with a stunning exhibition. Faith Fashion Fusion: Muslim Women's Style in Australia shows the latest in modest fashion trends, from swimwear to red carpet couture. The exhibition will include designs by Baraka Women, Integrity Boutique as well as collections by designers Aida Zein and Fay Tellaoui. Beautiful: The Faith Fashion Fusion: Muslim Women's Style in Australia exhibition will show work by Muslim designers including Integrity Boutique (pictured) Beauty in modesty: The exhibition will combine style with modesty in a collection of fashion-forward pieces, including designs by the boutique Baraka Woman (pictured) Aida Zein, who was born in Australia to Syrian parents, specialises in modest street and casual wear. The Powerhouse Museum wrote the talented designer started off studying law, and found her decision to dress modestly and wear a headscarf made it difficult to know what to wear. While working as a paralegal and private investigator, Aida started to make her own clothes and soon found her friends were asking her to make them designs as well. Bold and vibrant: A bright red design by Integrity Boutique features sparkling sequins Intricate: Designer Fay Tellaoui poses with a model who is dressed beautifully in a lace abaya Street style: The travelling exhibition was founded by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, outfit by Baraka Woman (pictured) Her business grew, and by 2009 she had opened her first boutique in Bankstown Centro in Sydney's south-west. Aida is known for her love of denim, and regularly uses it in a series of layered designs. She will be joined by Integrity Boutique, which was founded in 2010 by best friends, designers and sisters Howayda and Hanadi. The label focuses on modest, yet fashion-forward clothing, and is currently one of the longest running boutiques in Australia. Fashion powerhouse: Aida Zein specialises in modest street and casual wear (pictured) and started to design her own clothes while working as a paralegal and private investigator The travelling exhibition was created by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, and MAAS fashion and dress curator Glynis Jones said 'modest modest fashion is one of the global fashion industrys largest growth areas'. 'Its also interesting to see the market for these designs is not limited to Muslim women,' she continued. 'But has broader appeal for woman looking for looser fitting fashionable clothing that offers more coverage.' Broad appeal: The fashion is not limited to Muslim women but has broad appeal for those looking for looser fitting fashionable clothes, pictured is a monochrome design from Integrity Boutique Coming to Canberra: Faith Fashion Fusion: Muslim womens style in Australia will open on Friday at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra The exhibition will explore work by both emerging modest fashion and established designers and entrepreneurs. The collection will include everything from swimwear to denim and red carpet gowns. Thousands of people with lung disease are suffering systemic neglect by the NHS, experts have warned. The first major audit in a decade of treatment for lung conditions has revealed that breathing-related illness is far more widespread than previously thought. One person dies and five more are diagnosed with lung disease every five minutes, according to the report by the British Lung Foundation. This adds up to around 115,000 deaths and 550,000 diagnoses each year. Only heart disease and cancer affect more people. Despite this, the charity said, treatment for lung problems lags far behind what is available for other conditions. Thousands of people with lung disease are suffering systemic neglect by the NHS, the British Lung Foundation has warned. One person dies and five more are diagnosed with lung disease every five minutes Though lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia are among the UKs six most lethal diseases they are poorly understood and underfunded, the report authors said. They argued the impact on the NHS of diseases, which also include asthma and cystic fibrosis, is equal to, or even greater than, the impact of cardiovascular disease. Lung conditions lead to more than 700,000 hospital admissions and six million hospital bed days every year. But while treatment and survival rates for heart problems and non-lung cancer have vastly improved in recent years the number of people dying from lung disease has barely changed in the last decade. Only three European countries Denmark, Romania and Hungary have higher death rates from lung conditions than the UK, according to the authors. Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the BLF, said: Systemic neglect of lung disease, from NHS structures to screening, data collection and research funding, means people affected are being left behind by UK healthcare institutions. Though lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia are among the UKs six most lethal diseases they are poorly understood and underfunded, the report authors said The Royal College of Physicians also backed the charity. Professor Stephen Holgate, its special adviser on air quality, said: Urgent action to prevent lung disease is needed and a good start would be joined-up action to clean up the air we breathe. Urgent action to prevent lung disease is needed and a good start would be joined-up action to clean up the air we breathe Professor Stephen Holgate, Royal College of Physicians Dr Lisa Davies, chairman of the British Thoracic Societys executive committee, also backed the report, saying: This report is yet another wake-up call for politicians and policy makers to get a grip of the problem and prioritise plans and investment to improve the nations lung health. The millions of people living with lung disease in the UK deserve nothing less. A Department of Health spokesman said: We take lung disease very seriously and the NHS has a duty to provide good services for people with the condition. To support this, NIHR funding for research has increased to 25.5million. Cutting smoking rates is one of the key ways we work to prevent lung disease. On May 19, the Islamic State, or ISIS, released a major video campaign against India in which about half a dozen fugitive Indian Muslims threaten to wage jihad against the country. While India cannot be dismissive about the jihadist threat, Indians must bear in mind that for the first time since the Mauryan Empire, which lasted two-and-a-half centuries from the 4th century BCE, India today is strong enough to meet any challenge to its security. Revelation The ISIS video, reviewed by this author, reveals the following: one, it proves conclusively that several militants escaped from the Batla House encounter site. A number of Islamic clerics condemn ISIS while simultaneously supporting the theological diktats on which they thrive Two, it features one of the four jihadist youths who left Mumbai in May 2014, weeks before Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared himself the caliph of all Muslims. Three, a major emphasis of the video is on the message of hijrah (migration), urging Muslims to migrate from the lands of unbelief to the land of Islam (the Iraq-Syria region), as Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to establish Islamic rule in Medina. Four, all the youths speak Urdu, except one who speaks English with a British accent and could be of Indian origin. However, a narrator who is not shown in the video speaks Arabic. It can be said that the video - which was released by the ISIS branch in the Syrian province of Homs - is targeted at audiences in the Arab world and in India, as the Arabic narration carries Urdu subtitles while the Urdu speeches carry Arabic subtitles. Given ISISs media practice, it's possible that this video is part of an upcoming jihadi media campaign against India. The video is also of significance to academics and jihadists. Alberto M Fernandez, a former US ambassador who served as the US State Departments Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Counter-terrorism Communications from 2012 to 2015, says the video offers a jihadist interpretation of Indias history by arguing that the centuries of Islamic rule in India were ended by the Crusaders. He notes: I was struck by it because I had never heard the British in India being described in contemporary jihadist terms in this particular way, with the Mughal Empire described as if it was an uninterrupted reign of jihadist idol destruction and temple vandalism. Currently, the jihadist threat to India originates from six sources. One, a Pakistani state-backed jihadism, threatens India, especially in Jammu & Kashmir, because Pakistan is no longer capable of fighting a military-led war against India. Since jihadism is rooted in Pakistans identity as an Islamic state, this threat to India will exist as long as Pakistan exists in its present form. Two, recent jihadist attacks in Bangladesh claimed by ISIS and al-Qaeda have long-term implications for Indias security. If a right-wing government takes over in Bangladesh, a real possibility in the near future, then this threat will multiply. Threat Three, the threat to India also originates from the Middle East. In present times, ideas travelling across borders can threaten a countrys internal peace. The recent migration of refugees to Europe is an example. In future, invasions will be led by ideas and people, not necessarily by states. For Indias security purposes, there is no think tank in New Delhi that studies domestic implications of a massive Indian Muslim diaspora in the Middle East. Four, there is a global failure to contain jihadism in the Middle East which means the jihadist threat to India will continue to exist till the Arab countries remain in the grip of jihadism, especially that funded by Saudi Arabia. Security Five, the Indian state is itself a source of security threats. In such videos, jihadists cite Hindu-Muslim riots as a form of grievance, which could radicalise Muslims. The failure of the Indian state to build world-class police stations with professionalism and zero tolerance for law-breakers needs to be addressed urgently. This systemic weakness cripples Indias ability to fight jihadism at home. Additionally, political interference which damages the neutrality of the intelligence agencies is also a threat to India. Six, while it can be argued that Islam is a peaceful religion, it can equally be argued based on numerous Quranic verses that Islam is not a religion of peace. Significantly, a number of Islamic clerics condemn al-Qaeda and ISIS while simultaneously supporting the theological arguments on whose basis the jihadist organisations thrive. While not all theology can be restricted, the Indian state must make it mandatory for mosques, dargahs (shrines), madrasas and khanqahs (monasteries) to obtain a PAN card and upload quarterly reports regarding their sources of income and leadership on a government website. Transparency and swifter project approvals have pushed Indian Railways big-ticket projects into the high-speed lane, with significant returns for investors. Union minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu credits his team for initiating this turnaround of the worlds fourth-largest rail network, which was creaking from decades of neglect and chronic under-investment. Most of the change has been made possible by ushering in clarity and doing away with the cumbersome railway tendering process, which discouraged big contractors because of the slow returns and inherent favouritism, he says. Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu is on a mission to transform India's railway services Its the will to generate money and be transparent and proactive in time-bound delivery, which attracts investors, both in India and abroad, Prabhu told Mail Today in an exclusive interview on Thursday. The tender processing time has been reduced from two-three years to nearly six months. This will accelerate the execution of projects, he said. The slow process had resulted in a backlog of around 300 projects, costing around Rs 5 lakh crore over the years. Such is the mood now that even big Indian companies like the Tatas, Reliance, Jindals, Adanis and L&T are not shying away from snapping up key projects to endorse Prime Minister Narendra Modis flagship Make in India mission, say sources. Even cash-rich PSUs, such as Coal India and NTPC, are tying up with the railways in big investment projects for mutual benefit. The sprawling network, which is the nations economic artery and a lifeline for its 1.25 billion people, was saturated and slow after years of under-investment and inefficiency. Till a year back, the railways private investment potential was pegged at Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Today, the estimate is Rs 8.5 lakh crore for five years under the Narendra Modi government, said the minister. Of these, investments worth Rs 2.2 lakh crore have ostensibly been pledged in the last two years for about 35 big-ticket projects to boost railway infrastructure and operations. Nearly Rs 33,000 crore is outside the budgeted investment and through public-private partnership. This is the first major step towards decentralisation, where complete powers have been delegated to officers at zonal level...No tender worth even a single penny is seen by the minister, Prabhu said in his customary hurried tone. Confidence in the railways was most urgent and that is getting back investors. Eight large foreign railways Japan, France, Germany, Britain, Sweden, South Korea, China and Czechoslovakia are going all-out to compete and bid in Indian projects. While American conglomerate GE will manufacture diesel locomotives in Marhora, French multinational Alstom will build Electric locos in Madhepura, both in Bihar. China is doing a feasibility study of a Delhi-Chennai high-speed corridor, while France is examining the Delhi-Chandigarh route. Station development, semi-high-speed trains, locos, wagons, track-laying, signalling projects - foreign firms and experts are making a beeline to Rail Bhavan for everything. For the first time, the timeline for railway projects has been advanced. The networks bread-earning freight sector is heavily dependent on the swift execution of the Dedicated Freight Corridor venture. The DFC, which was to start in 2023, will now kick off in 2019. The minister made it clear that from now on, tenders worth up to Rs 500 crore will be accepted at the level of additional members of the Railway Board. For tenders with values of more than Rs 500 crore, the additional members will form a committee for evaluation, while the concerned board member will be the tender-accepting authority. A significant development has been states coming forward to collaborate in joint ventures and special purpose vehicles for big infrastructure projects, boosting regional development, Prabhu said. As many as 16 states have joined hands with the railways, and about seven have already signed pacts. Among these are Maharashtra, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha. Punjab is next in line to invest with the railways for regional development and fast transportation of people and goods for business. The Jammu and Kashmir government is looking to emulate the Gujarat model of having exclusive prisons for terrorists, to prevent them from recruiting hundreds of inmates at risk of extremist radicalisation. The state is hoping for a Rs 7 crore grant from the Centre to set up such a facility in Srinagar. The strategy was first mooted by BJP president Amit Shah when he was Gujarats home minister, and the union ministry of home affairs under Rajnath Singh sent an advisory last year urging all states to set up separate jails for terrorists. Gujarat already has separate prisons for terrorists, to ensure they do not radicalise non-extremist prisoners Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then chief minister of Gujarat, had given the nod for such a prison in Gandhinagar that could accommodate 600 prisoners, to be built at a cost of Rs 20 crore. Shah had said that if terror convicts and ordinary inmates shared the same prison, there was a chance that the average prisoners could turn into sleeper cells for militant groups. Sources in the union home ministry said that J&Ks PDP-BJP government has come up with a plan and asked for funds. To begin with, they want to set up such a prison in Srinagar. If it works, they can extend it to other cities. The proposal is under consideration, said a government official. The state government was provoked to consider a separate prison for terrorists following intelligence reports that some inmates in Srinagars central jail were being indoctrinated by militants. In a letter to all state governments and union territories last year, the ministry of home affairs said there was an urgent need to decongest jails by setting up secure prisons for terrorists and terror accused outside the city. If that is not feasible, then very high-risk prisoners and other under-trial prisoners under the category of terrorist/security suspects are required to be segregated effectively from the ordinary prisoners within the complex of central and district jails, the communication said. The ministry had also asked states to impose restrictions on the movement of high-risk prisoners within the jails, and their mixing with other inmates even during transit to court or hospital. The move to have separate jails for militants in the conflict-hit state has been floated at a time when the recruitment of local youths into terror outfits has increased in the last couple of years. There are fewer terrorists from Pakistan in J&K, but there has been a steady rise in the number of indigenous militants. Sources said rough estimates put the figure anywhere between 80 and 100 at this time. However, though the number of Pakistani terrorists active in the state has not gone up, infiltration from across the border has risen this year. Before the end of April, 26 successful bids from Pakistan were made, according to home ministry data. Alan Rickman passed away in January after suffering from pancreatic cancer The details of Alan Rickman's will have been revealed four months after he passed away from pancreatic cancer. The famous stage, TV and film actor, famous for playing Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movies and the notorious Hans Gruber in Die Hard, died in January at the age of 69. The details of his last will and testament, governing the distribution of his UK assets, have been revealed. Rickman leaves the bulk of his assets, 4,060,033 according to probate records, to his wife Rima Horton, 68, with whom he lived in west London. He also leaves 25,000 to each of his three nieces. Four charitable organisations also benefited to the tune of 25,000 each: 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. He and his wife, a former Labour councilor and economics lecturer, started dating in 1965 before marrying only four years ago in a private ceremony in New York. contactmusic.com Captain America 'boyfriend' campaign gathers pace First it was Elsa in the forthcoming Frozen sequel that prompted tweets #GiveElsaAGirlfriend. Now, fans are demanding Captain America find same-sex love with a boyfriend using with the hashtag #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend. While social media has given a voice to fans, some experts say campaigns like this encroach on the creative process. I am all for more representations of diverse couples in the media. However, stories should be developed from an organic place, said Christian Beranek. -Fox News Red Planet's orbit brings it closer to Earth Last Sunday morning, Mars, Earth and the Sun were all arrayed in a straight line. The phenomenon is known as Opposition. But the moment did not mark Marss closest approach to Earth. This Monday evening (May 30) at 5:35 pm ET, Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth since Oct 5, 2005: 0.50321377 astronomical units (AU), or 46,762,695 miles. Mars's alignment and its closest proximity to Earth occur on different days because the red planet's elliptical orbit. When Opposition occurred on May 22, Mars was still approaching Earth on its orbital track, and will not reach minimum distance to Earth until May 30. The Narendra Modi government is going all-out to tutor its ministers on the 'efficient' use of social media. The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) is personally monitoring the social media activity of each minister. The PMO has even drawn up their social media report cards, the latest and the only one compiled so far having been sent to them in April. BJP ministers are set to face scrutiny from their own party on how effectively they use social media. HRD minister Smriti Irani, Power minister Piyush Goyal, commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and MoS Jitendra Singh are among those making a notable effort with social media. The report also exemplifies those among the council of ministers who are proactive in the realm as an example for others to emulate. Meanwhile, MyGov - the Modi governments interface with the people - has taken ministers and ministries under its tutelage to teach them to put social media platforms to better use. While Mail Today was the first to report that a workshop for ministers had been organised in this respect, the second edition was held on May 16 at the same venue, the India Habitat Centre (IHC). The PMO has taken into account the activity of the Union ministers on Twitter and Facebook. The report has been compiled for the following periods: January 11-25; January 25-February 8; February 8-22; and February 22-March 2. The report card contains detailed data, along with a graph that records the number of followers and those followed by ministers. One section with an in-depth analysis of the ministers' social media activity is the content remarks section of the report. The Prime Ministers Office is personally monitoring the social media activity of each minister It delves into the content of the tweets and Facebook posts/shares. The social media performance review has also taken into consideration several parameters to judge the ministers. These benchmarks include the average number of tweets per day; user mentions within tweets; links within tweets; how many tweets have been retweeted, and tweets favourited by Twitter denizens. The PMO has also praised several Modi ministers who are proactive on social media, and who have added a personal touch to their interaction with people via social media. Foreign Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Railways minister Suresh Prabhu are the obvious ones to be mentioned. HRD minister Smriti Irani, Power minister Piyush Goyal, commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and MoS Jitendra Singh have also been exemplified after using Twitter and Facebook to reply to the general public and personally alleviate grievances. On the other hand, at the second edition of the social media workshop held at the IHC it was proposed that this interaction between MyGov officials and ministers be made a permanent monthly feature. While the first one was a generic workshop, the second one was specifically regarding the ministers and those handling their social media handles. The handlers have been told to share and retweet not just content concerning their own ministries, but also others, so as to maximize public reach, one of the participants told Mail Today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presented his own report card after two years of being in power at the Saharanpur rally. Observers believe the event was chosen to sound the poll bugle in Uttar Pradesh (UP) that prepares for the 2017 Assembly elections. In his characteristic conversational style, Modi presented his achievements ranging from the social sector to the reconstruction of finance and the economy - the common theme being the poor of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh (centre left, right) at the BJPs Vikas Parv rally in UP's Saharanpur, celebrating two years of NDA rule at the Centre Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, PM Modi said that although the country is transforming, the minds of some of its people are not. In an indirect reference to the Congress, Modi said: Ye desh badal raha hai, lekin kuch logon ka dimag nahi badal hai. (The country is changing, but the mindset of a few people is not). Our biggest achievement is tightening the noose on corruption. In the past two years, have you ever heard that Modi government has indulged in corruption? (Modi sarkar ne ek rupya khaya). Besides have you ever seen or heard anyone trumping allegations on us. Modi addressed a huge gathering consisting of over 1.5 lakh people. Attacking the Congress further, Modi said that two years ago nobody dared to present their report card to the public. When I took charge of the country as the Pradhan Sevak on this day in 2014, I took a pledge to work for the poor and downtrodden and all our schemes are a clear reflection of this. On the occasion of Vikas Parv, I am here to present my report card and am also open to questions, he said. Elaborating on the central governments plans and initiatives for strengthening the states, Modi said that the Centre is constantly working towards development. My government aims to work with the state governments for the benefit of people. Earlier, the central government used to keep 65 per cent of the allocated budget with itself, and only 35 per cent was transferred to the states. "We have reversed the equation, and hope to build a stronger and a developed country with the help of the states, he said. Addressing the woes of sugarcane farmers in western UP, Modi said that their dues will soon be cleared. When our government took charge of the country, the arrears of the sugarcane farmers were to the tune of Rs 14,000 crore. In the past two years, we have brought it down to Rs 700-800 crore and I promise to clear them soon, he said. In a fresh announcement for the medical fraternity, Modi said that the retirement age of doctors working in the public health system will be increased to 65. The cabinet will be taking a decision next week and the retirement age will now be 65, Modi said. He also called on doctors to take a pledge to give free treatment to poor pregnant women and new mothers. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called upon the people of the state to end the BJPs exile. A wild nilgai gave police and forest department officials a tough time on Thursday as it resisted capture on a patch of land near Parliament House. In the early hours of Thursday morning, senior officials spotted the rogue nilgai entering Delhis protected zone, before moving towards Parliament House. However, thanks to the intervention of a large number of police officers and officials, the Antilope tragocamelus, the largest of Asia's antelopes, was finally captured. The wild nilgai gave police and forest department officials a tough time as it resisted capture on a patch of land near Parliament House The female nilgai is now safe and has been taken to Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary. The Wildlife SOS had deployed its 10-member team to rescue the animal. After the panic the NGO tweeted: The Nilgai has been successfully rescued by #WildlfeSOS from #Vijaychowk. The nilgai is believed to have strayed from a forest area behind the Presidents Estate. Initially, a group of policemen rushed to apprehend the animal before a 'VIP' convoy of ministers arrived in the area. The 'blue bull' was seen running around the lawns as a PCR van was given the task of chasing it towards the capture zone. However, the nilgai suddenly ran towards the pursuing van and hit the vehicle on the drivers side. The impact broke the van's window and caused an injury to the nilgais leg. The Wildlife SOS, deployed its 10-member team to rescue the animal, and after the panic the NGO tweeted: The Nilgai has been successfully rescued by #WildlfeSOS from #Vijaychowk. The police teams then made a human chain bordering the lawn to ensure that the Nilgai didnt run towards the road again. Soon after, the traffic police also joined the nilgai operation and the area was cordoned off. The incident caused traffic jams in the area, causing disruption for around an hour. Finally, the forest department officials rescued the animal and explained that they had to be careful as the nilgai has a very delicate heart and officials couldn't risk chasing the animal back to the forest. Nimrat Kaur: I like to slip away every once in a while and I dont like calculating too much in life." Imrat Kaur has quietly signed her second show on American television, after successfully essaying an ISI agent in Homeland. She is playing an interesting role on the second season of Wayward Pines, the sci-fi scare-fest executive-produced by M. Night Shyamalan. At a time when most Indian heroines going to the West literally flood mailboxes of journalists with press releases announcing that feat, Nimrat laughs off the notion when you tell her she is being characteristically low profile. Low profile works for me. I cannot hustle my way into a film or TV project just as I find the entire PR drill very exhausting. Honestly, I feel actors who manage to keep pace with all the marketing frenzy are simply incredible, says the actor who shot to fame with her debut role in The Lunchbox and was seen earlier this year opposite Akshay Kumar in Airlift. Wayward Pines tells the story of a dangerous town people mysteriously wake up into, only to never find a way out again. Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, Toby Jones, Shannyn Sossamon, Juliette Lewis and Melissa Leo toplined the cast on season one, while Nimrat makes her entry in the second season opposite Jason Patric, as the architect of the town. My character is unusual because she, for a change, is not a person who wakes up unaware in the town, since she is the architect who designed it. My entry complicates things, says Nimrat. It is a nuanced role. The relationship she shares with her husband (played by Jason Patric) is an especially sensitive one. For me, setting up the character in my mind was a fresh process because it comes with no prelude and bears no connection with the events of the first season, she says of her role in season two, which airs in India on Star World Premiere HD. Wayward Pines, Nimrat agrees, happened because of her Homeland appearance as ISI agent Tasneem Qureshi. That show was doing well and my role was being appreciated. People in the US loved my act and the current offer followed. Nimrat would love to see more of Shyamalan at the shoot, though they hit it off the few times that they have met. Nimrat enters season two as the architect who designed the mysterious town, and is paired with Jason Patric He loves being in Philadelphia all the time! she jokes. Anyway, he is busy with post-production of his upcoming film. We vibed well the few times we met and creatively I love his work. He is special. She is happy to be a recognised face on American television now. I have been fortunate to be accepted in a part of the world that does not open up to everyone. It is more difficult to find work in American showbiz than Bollywood because people from all over the world land here vying for the same jobs. Is acceptance coming quicker in the West for her then, than back home? I did Airlift earlier this year with one of the major stars of Bollywood, and the film has been a huge hit. The Lunchbox did well in India, too. There are interesting things happening back home. Point is, I try to keep the door open to every opportunity, says Nimrat, about her constant effort to balance work back home and in the West. Balance needs to be struck at various levels, of course, Adapting to television in between films also demands flexibility. In a film, a bound script is with you right at the start, so you get to see the larger picture straightaway. In television, you dont always get the whole grip. Every episode can be improvised and that is a bit tricky, Nimrat points out. Nimrat Kaur: 'Setting up the character in my mind was a fresh process because it comes with no prelude and bears no connection with the events of the first season' She is clearly overawed working in Hollywood. The professional ethos of the industry in films as well as in television is something she admires. I find things are more systematic here, Nimrat tells us speaking on the phone from Vancouver, where she is shooting current episodes of Wayward Pines. The overall efficiency surprises me. People respect time and there is dignity of labour. Best of all, I see a sort of professional equality in the unit, she says. Nimrat feels the big influx of Indians into American television and cinema should have happened a long time ago. People like Saeed Jaffrey and Amrish Puri did good work long ago and later there was Aishwarya Rai too, who created an impact for a while. Its just that people talk about it more now because more people are gettingwork in the West now. Her formula for Indian actors keen to crack the code in American films and television is simple: be willing to take risks. The more people take risks, the more they will get international roles. I feel it is a matter of time before Indian faces become commonplace in the West. The subject of racism naturally comes up in the same context. Nimrat says she has never faced that situation. Personally, I have never faced racism. But the issue makes me sad. I feel it is something absolutely silly. Balancing Hollywood and Bollywood, film and television, has left Nimrat with little time for her original calling: theatre. I havent had much time for theatre since The Lunchbox. But I love films as much as I love the stage. I wish I could strike an equilibrium between the two. The medium clearly does not matter, as long as she is allowed to let herself go, to become a character within a script. The urge to become another person for the camera or on stage is something that perhaps existed in Nimrat forever. She tells you she grew up wanting to be an actor. Of course I had to be an actor! This is what I wanted to do all my life. I grew up on this stuff, watching films all the time and wanting to be a part of this world, she says with the enthusiasm you normally spot in a newcomer. So, what defines her creative process as an actor? Does she prepare as a method actor for all those fabulous performances? As an actor I love to live the role. I have learnt never to overindulge in a role. It is better to become the character naturally. The Lunchbox was the only role I felt had to prepare for. For all my other projects, the script was enough, she says, adding television unlike film is too hectic a medium to give an actor sufficient time for preparation. In her own way, Nimrat has become a brand for lovers of quality cinema. She would seem to be one of the most exciting things to have happened to Indian offbeat cinema in a while now. Nimrat does not mind being termed a brand in an offbeat way, if it lets her live more interesting characters on screen. The idea of being a brand is great if you can manage it. As long as you dont push it and it does not affect you work, whats the harm? It is a great way to connect with the audience, and an opportunity to become someone beyond just an actor if wisely used, she says. She would not stake everything for anything, though stardom, brand power or fame. Nimrat reminds you she is the eternal escapist. North Dakota will in the coming days become the latest state to file a lawsuit against President Barack Obamas administration over its directive on accommodating transgender students. North Dakota Attorney Generals office spokeswoman Liz Brocker confirmed today that the office will be joining 11 states that so far have done so in U.S. District Court. Within the next 10 days, said Brocker, who had no information on what day the office would be filing its lawsuit. The states in their suit call the administrations instructions as being without legal grounds; the instructions are for schools to allow transgender students to use whichever bathrooms and locker rooms the individuals feel match their gender identity. State officials have previously been reported as saying the issue should be left to local districts. During a recent media interaction at the Indian Womens Press Corps, Finance Minister and well known lawyer Arun Jaitley said the judiciary needed to blend activism with restraint and not interfere in the sphere of the executive. The statement came just four days after his controversial remark in Parliament that step by step, brick by brick, the edifice of Indias legislature is being destroyed due to judicial activism. The remarks surprised no one. The Supreme Court struck down a new law for setting up a National Judicial Appointments Commission brought in by the Modi government Modi governments two year tenure has been marked by an acrimonious relationship with the judiciary. These statements assumed significance in the context of the Uttarakhand High Court quashing the Presidents Rule in the state and the apex court too though it stayed the order later allowed a floor test using which the ousted Harish Rawat-led Congress government staged a comeback. It also comes close on the heels of the apex court asking pointed questions to the Centre for imposition of presidents rule in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is to be remembered that when the Centres decision on Arunachal and Uttarakhand came under judicial scrutiny, the stand adopted by Modi governments Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi was that these were purely executive decision and courts could not sit in judgment on adequacy or sufficiency of material with the President to justify his decision to impose President's Rule. Its not the first time that the Centre has attacked the judiciary. The scene was similar in October last year when the Supreme Court struck down a new law for setting up a National Judicial Appointments Commission brought in by the Modi government which had given it a major role, including veto powers, in matters relating to appointment and transfer of apex court and high court judges. The trigger for it was the rejection of former solicitor general and well known lawyer Gopal Subramanium as a Supreme Court judge by the Government soon after it came to power on grounds that he had links with the 2G scam. Subramaniums name was proposed by then chief justice R.M. Lodha in his capacity as the head of the collegium. Subramanium later withdrew his candidature as he was upset over the handling of the issue by the collegium and Government. The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers falls on May 29, a day when the world solemnly remembers the blue berets who have made the supreme sacrifice for the cause of world peace there have been 3,471 such bravehearts by last count. These bravehearts of different nationalities and cultures, donning different uniforms, were bound with a singular vision of dousing the fires in a land alien to them. They were unsung heroes in conflicts not of their making, where the sanctity and territorial integrity of their own motherland were not at stake and hence the anonymity of their departure. India, a founding member of the UN, has been in the vanguard of peacekeeping since 1950 Sacrifice Hundred and sixty-five Indians have been among these unheralded, the largest sacrifice by any troop-contributing nation; as India pushes for restructuring the Security Council to make it more representative, it is time that its role in UN peacekeeping is revisited. Isnt it ironical that uniformed personnel trained to kill, use their arms to maintain peace? As Dag Hammarskjold, the first UN Secretary General, succinctly put it, Peacekeeping is not a job for soldiers, but only soldiers can do it. India, a founding member of the UN, has been in the vanguard of peacekeeping right from 1950 when it contributed medical personnel and troops to the UN Repatriation Commission in Korea. There has been no looking back since and more than 2,08,000 Indian troops have donned the blue beret over the years. The Indian Army and the Air Force have been in the forefront and while the Army has participated in 49 missions since then, IAF contingents have won laurels in Somalia, Sierra Leone, Congo and the Sudan. In fact, Op Khukri, a joint air and ground mission launched in Sierra Leone in 2000 by contingents of the Indian Army and the IAF to free almost 250 UN troops held prisoner for months, is the stuff of legend and used as a model case study in UN training centres. Is the loss of human lives and expense of material worth the effort? Does India gain any tangible or intangible benefits from its contribution in the world of power politics? In yesteryears, by the theory of international relations, a country would be regarded as a power based on its military capability; thus, the British Empire had its sea power and the Prussians their Army. Power The modern day has seen an expansion of the concept of power to include soft power and an intelligent combination of the two, termed smart power. As American diplomat Chester Crocker put it, smart power involves the strategic use of diplomacy, persuasion, capacity building, and the projection of power and influence in ways that are cost-effective and have political and social legitimacy. While the US has hard military power and soft technological power in abundance, it has not succeeded in combining it smartly so as to be accepted politically and socially as a benefactor in the comity of nations. The same possibly holds good for other Western nations too. India, on the other hand, lacks military power beyond a level but has an abundance of soft power capability. All these are in-built in a UN peacekeeping assignment and Indias active involvement, besides being an indicator of the nations altruistic intent, enhances its efforts to be accepted as an important player on the world stage. Relevance Indian troops are model peacekeepers and accepted as being neutral in their handling of warring factions. Peacekeeping missions have generally been in excolonial states where the legacy of their shackled past fosters a feeling of solidarity with Indian peacekeepers and enables amicable solutions through a combination of humane understanding and display of subtle power. This writer was in the IAFs first UN mission to Sudan and was astonished to see how the mere mention of the word Inde or just the sight of the tricolour on the shirt sleeve patch would sweep away so many barriers. A number of Indian Force Commanders of UN Missions and military advisers at UN Headquarters in New York have been integral elements of our international military diplomacy and embedded the Indian viewpoint in driving worldwide agenda. Besides the goodwill that has been generated, Indian troops have got international field experience that is invaluable as they progress to positions of higher responsibility, both within the country and abroad. Stalin had reportedly questioned the relevance of soft power by asking, How many troops does the Pope have? In the present world, power has moved beyond being a binary term, so amply exemplified by the blue berets trying to bring peace to troubled lands. Indian jawans are leading the pack, living up to the national ethos of peace for everyone. They deserve the worlds undiluted gratitude. Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, 65, may have found a fellow billionaire to play with on his new Caribbean bolthole Moskito Island. The entrepreneur is building a new private island retreat with space for nine villas. One purchaser understood to be interested is internet nerd Sergey Brin, 42, the Ruski-born co-founder of Google. The 50 hectare island is also to be home to a population of non-native ring-tailed lemurs being shipped in from a zoo by Branson. Conservationists have expressed concern that local flora and fauna is at risk from the opportunistic predators which are adept at leaping, clawing and munching. They must be anxious about the lemurs as well. Beardy buddies? Russian-born Google co-founder Sergey Brin, right, is understood to be interested in Sir Richard Branson's latest Caribbean bolthole Re: Beardy. Extremist US presidential candidate and fellow billionaire Donald Trump is unlikely to put his name down for a vacant villa on Branson Isle. The two men have never seen eye to eye after Branson, an avid member of the Magic Circle, once worked some of his wizardry on Trumps then wife Ivana. Bransons party trick is to grab a guest and, with a sleight of hand, turn them upside down. Trump has never forgiven Branson for inverting Ivana at a black tie event and dangling her over a swimming pool. The Yank was fuming that previously undisclosed family assets went on display for all to see. Downmarket nightclub group Deltic recently boasted that profits had boomed on the back of new private VIP areas for women. But something was lost in translation when the firms party-popping publicists explained that clubbers at its Pryzm venue in Kingston, Surrey, had literally queued down the street to gain access to the ladies private areas. Oh dear. News that veteran retail guru Harold Tillman is in the race to rescue Austin Reed was met with muted applause at the gentlemans outfitter. Sickly smooth Tillman, 70, is credited with having become the youngest person to float a company when at 24, in 1969, he launched his Lincroft Kilgour fashion chain on the stock market. One of Britains most historic shipping institutions looks all but certain to pass into foreign hands after agreeing to exclusive talks with a Far Eastern buyer. The Baltic Exchange has been a centre for bulk cargo trading since the days of the British Empire, surviving two world wars and a bombing by the IRA. But its independence could be about to end. The organisation is now in takeover talks with the Singapore Exchange which is seeking a new outlet as its traditional markets stagnate. Takeover: The Baltic Exchange all but certain to pass into foreign hands after agreeing to exclusive talks with a Far Eastern buyer The Baltic Exchange said it had received an attractive proposal but critics warned the move could mean a crucial loss of independence. When a sale was first proposed around two months ago, it led to worries among traders that services they relied on could become increasingly costly. In a letter to others in the industry, John Banaszkiewicz of freight broker FIS said the move could be followed by a more restrictive and probably more expensive agreement. The exchange was launched in a London coffee house in 1744 and quickly became a vital part of British finance. Targeted: The Exchange survived a bombing by the IRA in 1992 The exchange moved to a purpose-built centre in 1903, later establishing close connections with the Royal Family. By the 1990s it was the last exchange floor left in the City but its granite and stained-glass confines were wrecked by an IRA bomb in 1992. Three people were killed, including a 15-year-old girl, amid 800m of damage. The site now houses Londons iconic Gherkin and the exchange is further along the same street. The institution compiles the Baltic Dry Index a key global record of the costs of transporting commodities. It also provides a host of other information and acts as a mediator in disputes. The Singaporeans are thought to be offering around 54.4million for the institution. They have pledged to keep its headquarters in St Mary Axe and maintain a broad range of membership services while expanding operations in Asia. Subscription fees for members will remain at 50,000 a year for the next five years, and there will be no increase in charges for users of its information services. For the deal to pass, it must be approved in a crunch vote of about 380 shareholders. Bosses at the Baltic Exchange and representatives from Singapore will meet members in coming weeks to drum up support. Chairman Guy Campbell said: 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. Turnover at the Singapore exchange is down 25 per cent in the past five years. Hostelworld shares travelled down after the group revealed terrorist attacks had hit bookings. The online booking website had good growth in bookings from Asia but said visits to Europe had been lower than expected. Its the latest in a line of tour operators and holiday firms which have struggled amid the political upheaval in the world. Thomas Cook (up 3.3 per cent, or 2.4p, to 75.1p) and Tui (down 1.7 per cent, or 18p, to 1039p) have both reported lower demand following attacks in Turkey, Tunisia and Belgium. Struggle: Hostelworld had good growth in bookings from Asia but said visits to Europe had been lower than expected Hostelworld said in an annual meeting statement that the average booking value had also been lower this year while the number of mobile bookings had increased, trips booked this way tended to be for a shorter amount of time. It said the outcome for the year depends on a recovery in European destinations over the key summer travel season. Numis, which downgraded the stock from a buy to an add (meaning add more stock if you already hold it), said the group is making good progress in the areas of the business which it can control such as brand, technology and marketing. It also believes it still offers good growth potential. With so much uncertainty, though, investors were packing their bags. Shares plunged 28.9 per cent, or 74.3p, to 183p. Car company Marshall Motor Group was in the fast lane after it announced an acquisition. Marshalls sells and repairs new and used vehicles, and also leases cars on deals typically lasting between two and five years. Its purchase of Ridgeway Garages for 106.9million will add 30 franchises to the group across the Home Counties, Wiltshire and Dorset. The move will see Marshalls presence increase from 19 to 25 counties across England. Ridgeways earnings last year were 20.2million. Shares accelerated 24 per cent, or 36p, to 187.5p on the news. Another autos dealer, Inchcape, hit the brakes after a trading update. The firm said that like-for-like revenue was up 12.4 per cent for the first four months of the year, but had fallen 18 per cent in North Asia where consumer confidence had weakened. The group also said performance was in line with expectations, but disappointed investors drove the share price down 3.1 per cent, or 22p, to 691p. Investors were none-too-impressed by Balfour Beattys contract win to build a lorry area on the M20. The group has been given the task of constructing the area to relieve congestion around Kent in a contract worth up to 130million. It is supposed to be a solution to Operation Stack, where lorries have queued up along the motorways when they are unable to travel across the English Channel. But shares finished 0.8 per cent, or 2p lower, at 243.2p. The FTSE finished a tickle in to positive territory for the day, rising just 0.04 per cent, or 2.8 points, to 6,265.65. Paypoint shares soared after it revealed investors were set for a 25million payday. The first third of a special annual dividend will be paid in December, with the remainder to come next July. In its preliminary results, Paypoint said investors could expect a total dividend for the year of 42.4p. The group, best known for its cash machines which can be found in 26,700 UK shops, said profits had risen slightly to 8.2million and retail transactions grew 17.8 per cent to 140million. It also now has more than 10,000 terminals in stores across Romania. Shares advanced 3.7 per cent, or 32.5p, to 906.5p on the update. Blackburn-based toilet tissue maker Accrol is looking to roll out shares on to the alternative market. Set up in 1993 by Jawid Hussain, the father of current chief executive Majid Hussain, Accrols toilet paper, kitchen rolls and facial tissues account for 7 per cent of the total UK tissue market. Sales topped 100million last year and earnings were up 13.7 per cent; now Accrol hopes listing on the stock market will help it increase its market share. Trading on Aim is expected to begin on June 10. Smart buildings essentially means using technology to make a building more productive. You do that by making different machines talk to each other for example, to make a chiller unit more efficient by feeding in data about the weather. Yesterday Coms said it had won a contract to provide smart technology in a shopping centre in the South. British banks are poised to boost dividends to investors after escaping orders to raise the amount of cash they have to hold in reserve. The Bank of England yesterday told major High Street banks and building societies they must hold on to about 35billion to guard against financial meltdown. This new rule will be introduced in two and a half years. In addition to other reserves, it means that banks will have to keep back around 200billion in total a sum which is roughly in line with what they already have. Boost: Instead of using capital to further bolster their reserves banks can return it to shareholders in dividends, or even cut the cost of mortgages This means instead of using capital to further bolster their reserves they can return it to shareholders in dividends, or even cut the cost of mortgages. But critics have warned even this figure might not be enough. Sir John Vickers, who chaired a commission on the banking industry, led calls for tougher requirements earlier this year. Given the awfulness of systemic bank failures, ample insurance is needed, he wrote in the Financial Times. The wisdom of this policy is questionable. But analysts said the announcement would free up more cash for shareholders. Steve Clayton, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: Theres going to be a little bit of relief it could have been worse. 'With little by way of additional reserves necessary, the banks are going to have a good show. The expectations are simply going to be for further dividend increases. The change will affect large banks such as HSBC, Barclays and NatWest owner Royal Bank of Scotland, which have been ordered to separate their High Street divisions from their riskier investment arms. Known as ring-fencing, the process will be completed by the start of 2019. This is when the new rules will kick in. Larger banks will have to hold on to proportionally more money than smaller ones, with the aim of giving new lenders a chance to grow without facing massive costs. Building societies with assets of more than 25billion will also have to hold cash back. An Indian airline has suspended two pilots for attempting to land their plane on a road which they mistook for a runway at Jaipur airport. The IndiGo flight from Ahmedabad in Gujarat state to Jaipur in Rajasthan was close to touching down when the pilots were alerted by a 'too low terrain' warning in the cockpit, IndiGo said in a statement. 'The captain in command immediately took a precautionary measure and carried out a go-around (flight path taken after an aborted approach). The aircraft landed safely on subsequent approach,' the statement read. Indian airline IndiGo has suspended two pilots for attempting to land their Airbus A320 plane on a road which they mistook for a runway at Jaipur airport. (File image) The incident, the latest to highlight safety concerns in India's rapidly expanding aviation sector, happened on February 27 but has only just come to light in Indian media. The Hindustan Times quoted an aviation official as saying the plane was at an altitude of around 900feet and 90 seconds away from landing on a road running parallel to the runway. IndiGo said the pilots were made aware of their mistake by an enhanced ground proximity warning system, which alerts the cockpit if the plane is in danger of flying into the ground or hitting something. 'At no time was safety compromised. Both pilots have been taken off flight duty with immediate effect, pending investigation,' said the statement. At no time was safety compromised. Both pilots have been taken off flight duty with immediate effect, pending investigation Statement from IndiGo airline 'The matter was duly reported to the [aviation regulator] Directorate General of Civil Aviation by IndiGo flight safety department,' IndiGo added. IndiGo, famed for its no-frills approach and fixation with punctuality, commands almost 40 per cent of its home market, the biggest share of any airline. It is the country's only consistently profitable airline. The government wants to make air travel affordable for millions of its citizens but a number of safety incidents have led to concerns over the speed of growth. Earlier this year, an Air India plane with 160 passengers was forced to return to New Delhi almost 30 minutes into a Milan-bound flight after smoke was detected in the cabin. In December, a London-bound Air India flight with more than 200 passengers returned to Mumbai after three hours in the air over a suspected rat sighting in the cabin. That same month, a technician working for Air India died after being sucked into a jet engine as the plane pushed back for take-off at Mumbai airport. An elephant that had lived alone at a zoo in Tokyo for 67 years sparking a worldwide campaign to free her has died in her concrete pen. Hanako, or 'flower child', who was described by campaigners as the 'loneliest elephant in the world', died at the age of 69 at Inokashira Park Zoo in the Japanese capital. She was a gift from the Thai government in 1949 and had lived at the park since she was two. She was Japan's oldest elephant and had a long life for captive Asian elephants. Hanako, or 'flower child', who was described by campaigners as the 'loneliest elephant in the world', died at the age of 69 at Inokashira Park Zoo in the Japanese capital Zoo spokesman Naoya Ohashi said Hanako was discovered lying on her side on Thursday morning and repeated efforts to raise her upright were not successful. She died peacefully in the afternoon. He said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the cause. Regardless of age, an elephant that remains on its side for a long time can suffer organ damage. The petition drive had support around the world from people who thought Hanako should be moved to a Thai sanctuary, but the zoo said she was too old to move. An independent expert who examined her, American Carol Buckley, agreed with the zoo's assessment. Staying in a sanctuary with other elephants would bewilder Hanako after living so many years alone, she said in March. Buckley instead suggested improvements be made where Hanako was kept and for the zookeepers to spend more time with her. But when the zoo put up new fencing, Hanako was frightened and refused to go outdoors. Her regular birthday celebration, when the Thai Embassy brought Hanako fresh strawberries every year, was cancelled in March. Hanako gradually weakened and had been eating less in recent months. The 69-year-old elephant was a gift from the Thai government in 1949 and had lived at the park since she was two. She was Japan's oldest elephant and had a long life for captive Asian elephants 'I'm filled with sorrow,' zoo deputy director and general curator Hidemasa Hori said of the animal's death. 'Today is that inevitable moment that always comes when one's job is working with animals in a zoo. Hanako was the symbol of Japan's peace and growth after World War II. And so an era has come to an end.' Ulara Nakagawa, a Vancouver resident whose blog inspired the petition drive for Hanako, said it was sad how the elephant had spent her life in an enclosure without dirt or grass and water to splash around in. 'Most tragic is that she was deprived of true, lasting companionship, which is crucial to an elephant's overall well-being,' she wrote in an email. 'I hope that Hanako's legacy will be to inspire her fans in Japan and elsewhere to better educate themselves on elephant welfare and work to expose and improve the living conditions of the many other captive zoo elephants who need us,' she wrote. Bernie Sanders resumed slapping at his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton with a little prodding from late night host Jimmy Kimmel. Sanders stopped by the studios of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Hollywood only to be shown a clip from Clinton's interview last week with CNN's Chris Cuomo where she declared, 'I will be the nominee for my party ... That is already done.' Sanders scoffed and muttered, 'Just a tinge arrogance there I think.' He then waged a fresh attack after barely mentioning his rival at his packed rallies over the last several days. 'The people of Indiana a couple of weeks ago, the people of West Virginia, the people of Oregon, who gave us a pretty good victory, don't quite agree with Secretary Clinton's assessment and we split Kentucky,' Sanders said of his string of recent wins. 'And I kind of think that on June 7 the people of California will have a message for Secretary Clinton,' Sanders warned. Scroll down for video Sen. Bernie Sanders joined Jimmy Kimmel for a taping today in Hollywood while on a Southern California swing before the state's pivotal June 7 primary Sen. Bernie Sanders credited Jimmy Kimmel for facilitating a proposed debate between himself and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump Bernie Sanders also used the television appearance to again hit Hillary Clinton, calling out her 'arrogance' for proclaiming last week on CNN that she was already the Democratic nominee Last night the Los Angeles-based late night show set the scene for the political news of the day. Kimmel had Donald Trump on as his guest and presented the Donald with a question from Sanders, knowing the two presidential hopefuls would be appearing on back-to-back shows. Sanders wanted to know if Trump would step up to the plate and debate him, after the news broke that Clinton had backed out of a California confab, a move Sanders said tonight was 'kind of insulting to people in the largest state in the United States of America.' California is also the most delegate-rich. As for the debate proposition, Trump said yes with conditions, while Sanders expressed an eagerness too. For Sanders, whose small dollar donations have dwindled as Clinton has marched closer to the nomination, it's free media time in an important market that he badly needs. For Trump, who no longer has primary opponents, it keeps him fully in the political conversation as he looks forward toward the general election. Kimmel, introducing Sanders as the 'most popular 74-year-old in the United States' and the 'biggest name to come out of Burlington since the coat factory,' sought credit for what he had done. 'You made it possible for us to have a very interesting debate,' Sanders stated. The self--proclaimed democratic socialist said it would be between 'two guys who look at the world very, very differently.' Bernie Sanders has vowed to fight on and told Jimmy Kimmel on tonight's show that the people of California would send a 'message' to Hillary Clinton for jumping the gun on the nomination Repeating what he said earlier today on the campaign trail, Sanders said the 'goal would be to have them in some big stadium here in California,' saying that some networks, including Kimmel's home base of ABC, have expressed interest in airing what could be must-see TV. 'I feel like I should be the moderator of this debate, right?' Kimmel suggested during the broadcast. The host also presented Sanders with Trump's question. 'Dear Crazy Bernie, Will you run [as] a third-party communist against Crooked Hillary or are you a coward and a loser? Signed, President Trump,' Kimmel read off a notecard. The comedian then laughed, saying that wasn't really it. 'He asks, "Bernie, you have been treated very unfairly. Both primary systems are rigged, but in particular the Democrats ridiculous system of superdelegates. Will you run as an independent when Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the party bosses steal the nomination away from you?'" Kimmel read. Sanders didn't say no, but rolled his eyes at the thought. 'Well, I think there's a little bit of self service there for Donald Trump,' Sanders answered, suggesting an independent bid would split up the country's political left, throwing the election toward Trump. 'You think he's really worried about me?' he mused. 'Well, you tell Mr. Trump, I really do appreciate his concern for me. I know it comes straight from his heart. But tell him that what I hope will happen is that, in fact, I will run against him as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States,' Sanders continued. Jimmy Kimmel also had a little fun with Bernie Sanders, showing the Vermont senator a picture of him walking the streets in front of an ill-placed sign 'And if I do we're going to beat him and beat him bad,' the Vermont senator added. The Democratic underdog also gave Kimmel his view of the state of the race. 'There's some confusion about this,' Sanders suggested. Kimmel asked Sanders if he needed to win California by a lot. 'Yeah, here's where we are,' he said. 'In terms of what we call pledged delegates, which I call the real delegates that you win by elections, we're at 46 percent, so we're behind.' Sanders would have to win the majority of the remaining states by overwhelming margins to overtake Clinton's lead. He was again critical of the Democratic superdelegates, more than half of whom have already committed to vote for Clinton at the Democratic National Convention, calling them 'patently absurd and undemocratic and kind of dumb.' Kimmel tried to have a little fun with his political guest too. He asked Sanders what his life has been like now that it's in 'Secret Service lockdown mode' asking the senator if he could still walk the street freely like he did several months ago. Kimmel then threw up a picture of Sanders with his fist clinched in the air. The photo was awkwardly taken in front of a 'XXX Movie Arcade,' with its sign advertising videos, toys and lotions. The Live! host also made the senator's anniversary plans sound slightly X-rated. Kimmel asked Sanders what he planned to do with Jane as they celebrate 28 years of marriage on Saturday. 'Yeah, Jane and I will probably be in front of 20-30,000 people doing something,' the senator answered. 'What are you going to do in front of those people?' Kimmel asked back. The mother of a Texas teenager who famously used an 'affluenza' defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck has been indicted on charges accusing her of helping her son flee to Mexico. Tonya Couch was indicted on charges of hindering apprehension of a felon and money laundering, The Tarrant County district attorney's office said on Thursday. Attorney Don Carter said he had no comment on the indictments because he had just started representing Couch. Scroll down for video Tonya Couch (left) - the mother of Texas teen Ethan Couch (right) who famously used an 'affluenza' defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck - has been indicted on charges accusing her of helping her son flee to Mexico Tonya Couch (pictured in January) was indicted on charges of hindering apprehension of a felon and money laundering, The Tarrant County district attorney's office said on Thursday Authorities said Couch took $30,000 and fled to Mexico with her 19-year-old son Ethan Couch in December after a video showed him at what appeared to be a party with alcohol. Drinking alcohol would be a violation of his initial sentence of probation for the 2013 wreck. A judge last month ordered Ethan Couch to serve nearly two years in jail. Ethan Couch was just 16 when he got behind the wheel of his father's F-150 truck with three times the legal limit for alcohol in his blood. He smashed into a stationary white Mercedes SUV, killing the driver, Breanna Mitchell, along with mother and daughter Holly and Shelby Boyles and pastor Brian Jennings, who were all trying to help Mitchell get her car going. The mother pictured inside a store in Mexico. Authorities said she took $30,000 and fled to Mexico with her 19-year-old son Ethan in December after a video showed him at what appeared to be a party with alcohol Last month, a judge ordered 19-year-old Ethan Couch (pictured in April) to serve nearly two years in jail Couch left the road while traveling at 70mph and hit the group in the fatal crash, and paralyzed Sergio Molina from the neck down after he was thrown clear of the truck. Molina is a one-time best friend of Couch who was left needing round the clock care for the rest of his life following the horror smash. The teen became notorious when a psychologist told his trial he could not be held responsible for his actions because he suffered from 'affluenza' an affliction supposedly born of his privileged yet dysfunctional upbringing. He was initially sentenced to ten years probation and a year of court-ordered rehab, which it has since been revealed to have cost taxpayers $200,000 because his parents could not afford to pay. But he ran into problems, however, when a video surfaced online of him attending a boozy beer pong party - a clear probation violation. He fled to Mexico with his mother in December rather than face the courts. Tragic victims Breanna Mitchell (top left), Brian Jennings (right) Hollie Boyles (bottom left) and daughter Shelby Boyles all died in the horrific card crash caused by Ethan Couch in 2013 Sergio Molina has been confined to a wheelchair since the tragic accident caused by his former friend Couch Couch's parents, whose wealth was used as part of his affluenza defense in the deadly crash (above), said they could not afford the rehab and paid just $1,170 a month His mother allegedly withdrew $30,000 from her bank and called estranged husband Fred to tell him that he would never see either of them again. The mother and son then drove 1,200 miles to the Pacific beach resort of Puerto Vallarta where they stayed at the glamorous Los Tules resort. While there, Couch made repeat visits to a 'sex club' called Harem where he was allegedly spotted snorting cocaine and guzzling Pacifico beers - running up a $2,000 tab, which he was forced to ask his mother to settle. The two later moved to a run-down apartment four blocks from the beach but were discovered after a signal from one of their cellphones alerted authorities as they dialed out for Domino's pizza. Both initially contested their extradition from Mexico but Tonya was returned to the US in early January and was released from jail after posting a $75,000 bond. Since her return from Mexico, Tonya (pictured last December) has been held under house arrest at the Fort Worth home of eldest son Steven McWilliams, 29 Ethan Couch (pictured on his arrest last December) is serving out his sentence as the maximum security Lon Evans Correctional Center - where he has been languishing in solitary confinement for his own safety Her son Ethan Couch was returned on the 28 and remains in jail. Since her return, Tonya has been held under house arrest at the Fort Worth home of eldest son Steven McWilliams, 29. Ethan Couch is serving out his sentence as the maximum security Lon Evans Correctional Center - where he has been languishing in solitary confinement for his own safety. When he is eventually released, Couch's probation restrictions will remain 'consistent' with those he faced as a juvenile, the judge ruled. They include banning him from driving or being around alcohol, pot or other controlled substances. This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up and thumbs down on the issues from the week. Up The North Dakota Mill and Elevator continues to deliver. The only state-owned operation of its kind in the nation, it contributes millions each year to the state budget. The mill is completing an expansion project and planning a new track and wheat unloading pit this year. The mill began operating on Oct. 22, 1922, in an effort to combat the dominance of millers in the Twin Cities. The mill posted a nearly $16.7 million profit in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015. The mill and the Bank of North Dakota are a testament to the foresight of our ancestors and the wisdom of following generations to continue the facilities. Down Two young men are accused of sneaking into the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot shortly before midnight Saturday. One of the men allegedly coaxed a bear to come close to him and he got bit. Both men had been reportedly drinking, but that doesnt make us feel sorry for them. We feel bad for the bear. Zoo animals, though treated well, live a life of routine. They should be treated as the zoo rules state. Anyone, visitor or intruder, who violates the rules can confuse an animal and they can react. Fortunately, the young man doesnt appear seriously injured. The incident should serve as a reminder to everyone to obey the rules and respect the zoos residents. Up Krista Slaubaugh spends most her free time entertaining people. Krista and her sister, Kendra, are the musical duo Tigirlily. Now Krista, a senior at Hazen, has added the role of public advocate. In December she was involved in an accident near her home that left her car on its top. She escaped serious injury because she was wearing a seat belt that left her hanging upside down. Police told her without the seat belt she could have been seriously injured or killed. Shes agreed to share her story as part of the Department of Transportations Code for the Road Initiative. TV and radio ads encouraging everyone to buckle up will air until June 5. Shes an example, at a young age, of giving back to the community. Down A dark chapter in the oil patch has apparently come to a close. James Henrikson was sentenced to two life sentences for masterminding the murders of two business associates. The sentences are intended to keep the 37-year-old in prison for the rest of his life. One of the murders occurred in Spokane, Wash., and the other in North Dakota. The North Dakota victims body hasnt been found. Henrikson wheeled and dealed in the oil patch and did things the wrong way. Justice prevailed with his sentencing and the 30-year prison sentence for Timothy Suckow, the shooter in one case. Two others were sentenced and another is awaiting sentencing. Hopefully the sentences will serve as a deterrence for anyone thinking they can make a fast buck in the Bakken through lawlessness. Up Evangelist Franklin Graham drew 3,100 people to the Capitol on Wednesday during a stop on his national tour. He told his audience the nation must overcome spiritual, economic, moral and racial problems. He urged the audience to become part of the political process by voting and running for office. The crowd didnt let occasional showers bother them as they responded to his request to confess to the sins of the nation. Grahams appearance was a reminder of the power of religion. Down Sunrise Elementary School in Bismarck was briefly evacuated Wednesday after receiving an automated bomb threat. The threats have been sent recently to schools across the country. Besides Sunrise, schools in West Fargo and Grand Forks have received threats. Fortunately, Bismarck schools were prepared for the possibility of a threat and everything went well. Hopefully, authorities will be able to track down those responsible for the calls. Louisiana has become the first state in the nation to expand its hate-crime laws to protect police, firefighters and emergency medical crews. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, whose family includes four generations of sheriffs, signed the law on Thursday. He said it protects 'men and women who put their lives on the line every day.' 'Coming from a family of law enforcement officers, I have great respect for the work that they do and the risks they take to ensure our safety,' Edwards said. Louisiana has become the first state in the nation to expand its hate-crime laws to protect police, firefighters and emergency medical crews. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards (pictured) signed the law on Thursday Edwards said the 'Blue Lives Matter' bill protects 'men and women who put their lives on the line every day' Prosecutors can now seek stronger penalties when first responders are intentionally targeted because of their professions. That is a departure from the other more essential characteristics hate crime laws protect, such as a victim's race, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or affiliation with certain organizations. People convicted of felony hate crimes in Louisiana face an additional five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. Penalties increase by $500 or up to six months in prison in misdemeanor cases. Some advocates worry that adding jobs to the list weakens these laws, and complicates the relationship between police and the communities they serve. Louisiana law enforcement already reports hate crimes at a considerably lower rate than police do in states of similar sizes, according to FBI data. FBI statistics show only six of the state's 86 departments reported any hate crimes in 2014, the most recent data available. Nine hate crimes were reported statewide in 2014. States of comparable sizes show numbers ten times that. As in other states, Louisiana law already provides for increased penalties when police are attacked. But Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandra, said he brought the bill to protect first responders after several seemingly targeted attacks recently, and found overwhelming support in the House and Senate. Law enforcement officers are pictured at a news conference in Houston on the shooting death of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth, pictured in the background. The legislation was prompted by a number of high-profile attacks on police, including the killing of Goforth who was shot 15 times in an ambush Col. Mike Edmonson, the Louisiana state police superintendent, pointed to the death of Trooper Steven Vincent, who was fatally shot in August 2015 after stopping to assist a motorist whose truck was in a ditch. The Louisiana Legislature honored Vincent's family during its regular session. 'For those individuals who choose to target our heroes, the message formalized in this legislative act should be clear and the consequences severe,' Edmonson said in a statement. Similar Blue Lives Matter bills have recently stalled in five other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A federal Blue Lives Matter Act is being considered in Congress. Louisiana's 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. LaToya Lewis, co-chair of the New Orleans chapter of the Black Youth Project 100, said the law is in response to the work of Black Lives Matter 'This law is in response to the work of Black Lives Matter. They're targeting young black people who are standing up and demanding more from our government,' said LaToya Lewis, co-chair of the New Orleans chapter of the Black Youth Project 100. 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. The Anti-Defamation League and other advocates for minorities had called for a veto, saying the law could dilute the importance of hate-crime laws at a time when they already feel under-protected. A man who kidnapped a 14-year-old girl when she accepted his offer of a ride home from school because her feet were sore, held her captive for nine months and raped her repeatedly at his trailer acknowledged his crimes on Thursday and apologized. The girl, who was in court to hear his admission, thanked him for eventually letting her go. Nathaniel Kibby pleaded guilty to seven counts including kidnapping, aggravated felonious sex assault and criminal threatening. He was sentenced to 45 to 90 years in prison. Kibby, who had pleaded not guilty after his arrest, had been scheduled to go on trial next month on nearly 200 felony charges related to the girl's October 2013 disappearance and the months that followed. But he changed his pleas to guilty at a hearing on Thursday. Nathaniel Kibby is escorted out of the Belknap County Superior after pleading guilty and being sentenced 45-90 years in prison for kidnapping, rape, criminal threatening and witness tampering Thursday He kidnapped a 14-year-old girl when she accepted his offer of a ride home from school because her feet were sore and held her captive for nine months where he raped her repeatedly at his trailer Kibby acknowledged his crimes on Thursday and apologized to the victim. The girl, who was in court to hear his admission, thanked him for eventually letting her go Before the 35-year-old Kibby entered his new pleas, a prosecutor said Kibby had kidnapped the girl by offering her a ride home from her school and then brandishing a gun when she tried to get out of his car. Prosecutor Jane Young said the girl and Kibby didn't know each other and she accepted the ride because she'd worn boots to school that day and her feet were blistered. Young said when the girl tried to get out of the car in a parking lot Kibby pulled out the gun and threatened to 'blow her brains out' and slit her throat. Last week, a judge ruled Kibby's lawyers could not question the girl before his trial about her exposure to media coverage of the case and the amount of freedom she was given to move about his trailer in Gorham, where prosecutors say he used a stun gun, zip ties and a shock collar to control her. Kibby was charged with kidnapping the girl on October 9, 2013, as she walked home from her high school in Conway. The girl returned to her home in North Conway the night of July 20, 2014. Nathaniel Kibby kept the girl trapped in a storage container on his Gorham property (pictured is his home and the adjacent storage container in 2014) Kibby was due to go on trial next month but scheduled a change of plea hearing for Thursday (pictured are detectives at Kibby's home in 2014) Young said Kibby released the girl because he was convinced he'd 'terrorized her enough' that she wouldn't reveal his identity. The girl waited until a week after she was home to reveal Kibby's name, which she had seen inside a cookbook in his home. The girl, who is now 17 years old, told a packed courtroom she thinks daily about the crimes Kibby committed against her. But she also thanked him for freeing her in July 2014. 'I want you to know that I appreciate my freedom because of you and I enjoy my life because of you,' she said. 'I just want to thank you for giving me my freedom back.' Kibby apologized for the decisions he made and said he didn't want to discuss his feelings in front of the journalists in the courtroom. Young said that early in the girl's captivity Kibby instructed her to write a misleading letter home in an effort to throw off authorities, who'd launched a massive search for her. The girl still had fake nails at the time and carved his identity and vehicle information into the letter, but he caught on, zapped her with a stun gun as punishment and made her write a new letter. Lawyers hired by the girl's family said she had suffered 'numerous acts of unspeakable violence' during her months of captivity. Their statement was largely a plea for privacy and did not elaborate on what she endured. Kibby has a criminal history dating to 1998, including convictions on simple assault, criminal trespass and breach of bail conditions, according to court records. A police officer who has known Kibby for two decades said he's very bright, opinionated and thrives on conflict. Repeat offender: Nathaniel Kibby is a familiar sight at the Conway Police Department. These mugshots relate to arrests for (left) criminal trespass and simple assault and (right) criminal trespass again, both in 1998 A police officer who has known Kibby (pictured Thursday) for two decades said he's very bright, opinionated and thrives on conflict In an interview in July 2014, former Conway Lt. Chris Perley said Kibby, 'was smart, but he was also brutally myopic in whatever view he had. You could not shake him or redirect him in the way he saw the world.' Kibby grew up and attended school in Conway. He worked as a machinist at two gun makers Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Co. and E.M.M. Precision. Neighbors on the trailer park where he allegedly kept the girl lined up to give their opinions on him. One neighbor who did not want to be named, described Kibby as a gun nut, who was obsessed with conspiracy theories, hated authority and believed that one day there would be a zombie apocalypse. Apparently, part of the reason he had built up such a large arsenal of firearms was because he was convinced he would eventually have to use them to fight off the living dead. The neighbor said: I have known him for years and he was a very odd man. He would always talk to me about zombies and the zombie apocalypse. It was very unnerving. Most people round here avoided Nate. Another added: He would say things like, Ill blow this whole trailer park up without even thinking about it. Thats why we were surprised about [kidnapping the girl]. We expected him to go on a rampage or go crazy with a bomb, not kidnap a child. Former classmates from Kennett High School, North Conway, the same school his victim attended, revealed he was known as an anti-social bully back then. A grade one boy has been accused of dragging girls into the bathroom and sexually abusing them at a Victorian primary school. The boy, who is reportedly seven years old, also allegedly simulated oral sex on girls as well as making them kneel in front of him and putting his genitals in their mouths. A mother named only as 'Kate' revealed the allegations on ABC Radio on Thursday morning and accused the school of leaving them in the dark about the disturbing incidents. A grade one boy dragged female students into the bathroom where he simulated sex acts with them (stock photo) 'There were several incidents including him dragging girls into toilets and forcibly removing their clothes,' she said. 'There were other incidents including kissing younger girls' private parts and making girls get on their knees and open their mouths to put his privates in their mouths. 'My boys were distressed to see these things. It turned out that these things had occurred in term 3 in October but the community hadn't been told.' Kate said the school was more concerned with their reputation than the welfare of its pupils. One parent, Kate, said her children were left traumatised after witnessing the incidents. She said she was unable to comfort them because the school never told her (stock photo) 'I don't think we needed to be told all the gory details, but we needed to be told that there had been sexual behaviour happening in the school yard and that we needed to talk to our children to see if they had seen anything or been involved in anything,' she said. 'It turned out there were quite a lot more children involved than the school was originally aware of. 'The parent of the victim was told not to talk about it for privacy reasons and I suspect the reputation of the school.' The school told the parents of the victims directly involved in the incidents. It is claimed that the school asked them to remain quiet to protect the pupils' privacy Education Minister James Merlino told ABC Radio that such instances of 'age inappropriate sexualised behaviour' were distressing and shocking for everyone involved. 'These can be a result of behaviours they've observed and can't make sense of, they may be victims themselves,' he said. 'They are incredibly distressing situations.' Donald Trump resumed taunting Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as 'Pocahontas' on Thursday as he took a victory lap after clinching the Republican presidential nomination. Warren famously claimed to have 1/32 Cherokee Indian blood during her legal career, a move that resulted in preferential treatment in hiring at American universities. The alleged deception became a major issue in her 2012 U.S. Senate election against Republican Scott Brown. 'I think she is as Native American as I am. OK? That I will tell you,' he said in Bismarck, North Dakota during a press conference preceding a speech about energy policy. Scroll down for video Donald Trump resumed taunting Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as 'Pocahontas' on Thursday as he took a victory lap after clinching the Republican presidential nomination 'But she's a woman that's been very ineffective other than she's got a big mouth.' A reporter had asked him about his ongoing feud with the far-left senator. 'Who, Pocahontas?' he boomed, drawing a claim from Nicole Johnson, a blogger with Cree Indian heritage, that he was 'very offensive.' 'Is it offensive? You tell me,' Trump replied. 'Oh, I'm sorry about that' Without taking a breath, he turned back to the original questioner and asked: 'Pocahontas? Is that what you said?' 'She tweets a lot about me. She's a senator that's highly overrated,' Trump told reporters. 'She's passed very little legislation. She has been a real disaster for a lot of people, including the Democrats who frankly cant stand her.' 'Just ask Hillary Clinton how she likes her!' Warren's name has been floated as a potential vice presidential nominee who could pacify fans of the far-left Bernie Sanders, another senator who is stubbornly continuing to challenge Clinton. 'She said she was Native American, but she wasnt able to document it,' Trump said, resuming his attack on Warren. 'She said, "Well, I have high cheekbones. You see? I have high cheekbones, so Im a Native American!" I dont know if youd call it a fraud or not, but she was able to get into various schools because of the fact she applied as a Native American and probably able to get other things.' Trump and Warren have gone back and forth in recent weeks both in interviews and on Twitter. She called him a greedy 'money-grubber' this week. As Trump's private Boeing 757 landed in Billings, Montana the leg of his western tour following North Dakota he tweeted: 'I find it offensive that Goofy Elizabeth Warren, sometimes referred to as Pocahontas, pretended to be Native American to get in Harvard.' Warren fired back. 'Get your facts straight, @realDonaldTrump. I didn't even go to Harvard I'm a graduate of @UHouston and @RutgersU.' Trump told his supporters that Warren 'is as Native American as I am. OK?' during a press conference in Bismarck, North Dakota Trump (pictured with Rep., Kevin Cramer, at the press conference) also referenced Warren's negative tweets about him. The senator had previously tweeted that the presumptive nominee needed to 'get his facts straight' Trump (pictured speaking to the media before a rally on May 26, 2016 in Bismarck, North Dakota) and Warren have gone back and forth in recent weeks both in interviews and on Twitter When a reporter had asked him about his ongoing feud with the far-left senator, Trump replied 'Who, Pocahontas?' Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump later went on to another rally in Billings, Montana where signed autographs But Trump was referring to her hiring as a Harvard Law School professor. 'If @realDonaldTrump means my job at Harvard,' she wrote in a follow-up tweet, 'he can ask Charles Fried, Solicitor General for Reagan. He says loud & clear thats a lie.' She acknowledged in June 2012 that she had indeed described herself as Native American when she applied for jobs at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania Trump's alma mater. 'At some point after I was hired by them, I ... provided that information to the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard,' she said then. 'My Native American heritage is part of who I am, Im proud of it and I have been open about it.' But Warren, along with Fried and other Harvard and Penn officials, have insisted her ethnic profile had nothing to do with her hiring. After Trump's press conference Robertson, the blogger who had yelled at Trump after he called Warren 'Pocahontas,' told reporters that she considered the nickname 'entirely offensive.' She told DailyMail.com that she didn't consider Warren's claim of having a sliver of American Indian heritage to be equally offensive provided she's telling the truth. GPs will be offered 8,000 to put their children into boarding school under controversial NHS plans to avert a recruitment crisis. They will be handed one-off relocation allowances for agreeing to take up posts in remote areas of England which are severely short-staffed. Doctors only need to move 50 miles away to be eligible and they can work part-time a minimum of two and a half days a week. The allowances are part of a pilot scheme to encourage doctors to relocate to understaffed surgeries in area such as the Lake District, the Isle of Wight, Lincolnshire and Lancashire. GPs will be offered a maximum of 10,000 of which 2,000 will cover education and training if they are returning to work after time off or maternity leave. The remaining 8,000 can be put towards relocation expenses including estate agency fees, removal men, renting a flat or putting their child in boarding school if they dont want to disrupt their education. Boarding fees are on average 10,000 a year although the more prestigious public schools charge up to 40,000 so the money will only partly cover the costs. But critics questioned why the NHS was throwing money at well-paid GPs at a time when it is rationing cancer drugs and routine operations as budgets are so tight. The scheme overseen by NHS England - is the latest initiative to tackle a recruitment crisis in surgeries driven by rising numbers of doctors retiring early, moving overseas or dropping down to part-time hours. They are not being replaced by younger trainees who are instead opting for hospital-based careers and all the while demand from patients is soaring. The incentives are mostly aimed at GPs who currently only work a few days a week or who stopped practising altogether to start a family, temporarily move abroad or pursue other interests. They will be a one off, and doctors must agree to stay in the jobs for at least three years. Jonathan Isaby, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: This will certainly raise eyebrows. We are forever hearing pleas for more money to be put into the NHS so taxpayers will be right to question if the authorities have got their priorities right. Hard-pressed families expect their taxes to pay for nurses and cancer drugs, not to be wasted on fees for expensive boarding schools which many cannot afford for their own children. Stephanie Lis from the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank said: This is yet another example of short-termism trumping best practice in the NHS. Throwing money at already very well-paid doctors will do nothing to fix the systemic problems with our centralised system of healthcare provision. GPs average salaries are around 100,000 a year and they soared by more than a quarter under a contract ten years ago that also enabled them to give up out of hours work. Dr Maureen Baker, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, which helped draw up the scheme said: Making it easier for trained GPs to return to frontline patient care after a career break or period working abroad is a priority for the College, and this scheme that targets returning doctors to work in areas most in need makes a lot of sense. Its important that adequate safeguards remain in order to ensure patient safety, and that every GP who wants to return to practise in the UK is treated equally, but we need to cut through any unnecessary red tape, and working with NHS England, Im pleased that we are making strides in this area. Footage has emerged that shows the execution of a Sydney gangland figure who was shot at point blank range by a masked gunman at a shopping centre. CCTV vision shows a gunman sprint up to an outdoor table where Walid 'Wally' Ahmad is sitting and shoot him at point blank range at Bankstown Central Shopping Centre, in Sydney's south-west, on April 29. Mr Ahmad had been seated with his bodyguard Nael Hadid, also known as Kojak, and a friend before his friend alerted him to the gunman running at him from behind, according to The Daily Telegraph. Footage has emerged that shows the execution of a Sydney gangland figure who was shot at point blank range by a masked gunman at a shopping centre CCTV vision shows a gunman sprint up to an outdoor table where Walid 'Wally' Ahmad is sitting The gunman shoots him at point blank range at Bankstown Central Shopping Centre, in Sydney's south-west, on April 29 He can be seen lunging toward his killer, who is wearing a black cap, mask and hooded jumper, as he is shot several times before collapsing on the ground. Onlookers hesitantly emerge from the shopping centre to see Ahmad lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Then gunman then flees from the scene on foot. Ahmad (pictured), a convicted killer, had been known as a standover man and was wanted by police for questioning after the fatal shooting of Safwan Charbaji at his smash repairs business in April Bystander Hoda Darwiche, 32, (pictured) had stopped to buy a coffee at a cafe when she was caught in the crossfire and shot in the leg after a bullet ricocheted Ahmad's bodyguard Nael Hadid, also known as Kojak, was also shot during the incident Mr Hadid, 51, was also shot and injured. Bystander Hoda Darwiche, 32, had stopped to buy a coffee at a cafe when she was caught in the crossfire and shot in the leg after a bullet ricocheted. Ahmad, a convicted killer, had been known as a standover man and was wanted by police for questioning after the fatal shooting of Safwan Charbaji at his smash repairs business in April in Condell Park, also in Sydney's south-west. He can be seen lunging toward his killer, who is wearing a black cap, mask and hooded jumper, as he is shot several times before collapsing on the ground The gunman then sprints away from the scene before onlookers emerge from the shopping centre after hearing the gunshots Police were investigating Ahmad's killing was 'payback' for the killing of Charbaji. Before his death, Ahmad allegedly demanded local smash repair companies direct a percentage of their business to his Condell Park shop in Sydney's south-west. His competitors were aware of Ahmad's history of violence, including his stint in jail in 2005 after shooting dead Mayez Dany at Greenacre in 2002. Onlookers hesitantly emerge from the shopping centre to see Ahmad lying on the ground in a pool of blood One onlooker rushes to Ahmad's side while others look on in shock following the shooting Ahmad allegedly shot Mr Dany five times at an auto wreckers business after he refused his nephew entry to a nightclub and broke his jaw, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Ahmad's brother, Mahmoud 'Brownie' Ahmad, was named a person of interest in the 2002 shooting, but was never charged. Rejection rate is 37% higher than that of motor insurance Insurance companies using excuses to get out of paying claims New report claims pet owners are living in 'false sense of security' Cat and dog owners are hit with a 232million vet bill every year as insurance companies wriggle out of paying out claims. A new report claims caring pet owners could be living in a false sense of security, as almost four in ten claims are rejected. But insurance companies are using every excuse in the book to avoid paying claims including saying your pet is too old. A new report claims caring pet owners could be living in a false sense of security, as almost four in ten claims are rejected This rejection rate of 37 per cent is far higher than for motor insurance, where just one per cent of claims are rejected according to comparison website money.co.uk. Industry figures show just 13 per cent of travel insurance claims are turned down, and 21 per cent of home insurance claims are rejected. Record numbers of animal-obsessed Britons are taking out pet insurance with 3.9 million cats and dogs now covered. A record 911,000 pet insurance claims were also lodged last year, with 657million paid out, according to the Association of British Insurers. A growing number of pet owners are taking out insurance to protect themselves against soaring vet bills. These policies cost an average of 241 a year but can cost more than double that. With the average claim costing 720, they provide invaluable protection if they pay out. A growing number of pet owners are taking out insurance to protect themselves against soaring vet bills Unusual claims include a python who needed 200 treatment for anorexia and a 333 pay-out to remove a tumour from a polecat. But while the insurance industry has been only too keen to publicise these quirky successes, insurers continue rely on small print in policy documents to reject claims. According to the money.co.uk report, just over one in five (23 per cent) pet owners were caught out when there insurance provider said their pet had a pre- existing condition meaning their suffered from the medical problem before the policy was taken out. A further 14 per cent were told the pet was too old - despite the fact the insurance company continued to accept payments for the policy. And 9 per cent of claims were rejected because the treatment costs were too high. More than half of customers felt that both the policies and the exclusions were not made clear enough in the policy documents. Insurance companies have gained a reputation for burying exclusions in the small print. Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief of money.co.uk said: Pet insurance is no different to any other policy theyre extremely complicated beasts. Some policies are riddled with more loopholes than others so you must pick and choose carefully, really paw through the small print. Dont keep anything secret, pre-existing conditions must be declared otherwise you will invalidate your policy. Pre-existing conditions is a big problem as most policies will not cover them. Those that do normally stipulate your pet must have finished treatment and be symptom free for around two years. If your pet is more than eight years old some providers will not cover them. When your pet reaches this age, some may hike their premiums or ask you to contribute to the cost of treatment. One-a-day suncreams do not offer the protection stated on bottles, putting holidaymakers at risk of burning and worse, it has been claimed. Following tests on four leading brands, consumer watchdog Which? has called for a ban on companies saying their product protects users from harmful rays all day. A further investigation found regular, cheap sunscreens to be just as effective as big-name products which can cost three times the price. Following tests on four leading brands sold in the UK, consumer watchdog Which? has called for a ban on companies saying their product protects users from harmful rays all day As a result, Which? has put a Dont buy warning on one Hawaiian Tropic suncream after it failed to deliver the sun protection factor (SPF) described though the company rejected the finding. Sunscreen that claims to offer all-day protection is appealing to holidaymakers, particularly parents, who would otherwise have the job of chasing children around the beach to slather on more coats. The products tested were Boots Soltan Once Invisible 8hr Sun Protection SPF30, Piz Buin 1 Day Long Lotion SPF30, Riemann P20 Once a Day Sun Protection SPF30, and UltraSun Family SPF30. But Which? found the protection of these sunscreens decreased by an average of 74 per cent over six to eight hours. In Australia, any creams that lead consumers to believe they do not need to be regularly reapplied are banned something Which? wants to see in this country too. Alex Neill, from Which?, said: Our testing shows that these sunscreens just dont live up to their once-a-day claims so people should reapply regularly to ensure they have protection from the sun. In Australia, any creams that lead consumers to believe they do not need to be regularly reapplied are banned something Which? wants to see in this country too With more than 100,000 people diagnosed with skin cancer in the UK each year, some manufacturers need to do more to ensure their sunscreens live up to the claims on the packaging. The British Association of Dermatologists said: Over the course of a day sunscreen can be washed or wiped away, leaving our skin exposed. This is not to say that these extended-wear sunscreens shouldnt be used at all, rather that they should be used similarly to other sunscreens. Cancer Research UK said: The amount of protection you get depends on how well you put it on. Its easy to miss bits when youre applying sunscreen. Cancer Research UK recommends you reapply regularly to help get even coverage of your skin. As well as looking at four once-a-day products, Which? tested 11 standard sunscreens, all of which claimed an SPF of 30 a measure of UVB protection and ranges from 1 to 90. SPF provides a guide as to how long someone can stay in the sun without burning compared to not using any protection. Consequently, an SPF of 30 means you can be in the sun 30 times longer than when using nothing. The cheapest sunscreen that passed the SPF test was Aldis Lacura Suncare Moisturising Sun Spray SPF30 at just 2.79 for a 200ml bottle. Other value options from Asda, Lidl and Wilko also all offered the SPF claimed on the packs. By contrast, the relatively expensive Hawaiian Tropic Satin Protection Ultra Radiance Lotion at 9 for a 180ml bottle twice failed to give the stated SPF protection. Hawaiian Tropic rejected the findings and said the product had been tested by an independent, well-qualified lab in line with international standards. Boris Johnson last night backed claims by David Camerons former policy chief that the Prime Minister was an instinctive Brexit supporter Boris Johnson last night backed claims by David Camerons former policy chief that the Prime Minister was an instinctive Brexit supporter. Steve Hilton one of Mr Camerons closest friends in politics and godfather to his late son, Ivan said the Prime Minister would have been campaigning for Leave if he were not in No 10. He said: If he was a member of the public, or a backbench MP or a junior minister or even a Cabinet minister, Im certain that he would be for Leave. Thats his whole instinct. Thats who he is. As Prime Minister he sees it from a different perspective, and thats perfectly reasonable but I think that if he didnt have that perspective he would be for Leave. Hes always been firmly Eurosceptic. Mr Johnson, the former London mayor, said he agreed, adding: If I remember some of the discussions I have had over many years about the lack of democracy in the EU, that sounds to me like an accurate and fair reflection. Mr Hiltons claim is likely to infuriate the PM and his team while they fight for Britain to vote to remain in the EU. Earlier this week, Mr Hilton came out in favour of Brexit, saying that membership of the EU had made Britain literally ungovernable. He said he wanted to Leave because he believed in taking back power from arrogant, unaccountable, hubristic elites and putting it where it belongs, in peoples hands. Mr Hilton claimed that, in opposition, Mr Camerons team discussed embarking on a course that would mean Britain pulling out of the EU. There was a strong constituency in the senior leadership and policy-making team for leaving the EU, he said. I recall a meeting where we sat down and I remember saying: Right, if our assumption is that we think its in Britains interest to leave the EU and I think were all agreed about that option around this table then we need to have a plan for how we make that a realistic part of our policy platform. 'The intellectual basis for leaving the EU is there in all the arguments that we were making. British exit from the European Union would be a 'serious risk to growth', leaders of the G7 nations have said. The joint statement, in a declaration issued at the Ise-Shima summit in Japan, is the latest in a series of warnings by international bodies of the dangers of a Leave vote in the June 23 referendum on the UK's EU membership. The document, released on the final day of the two-day summit, describes the referendum as one of a number of "potential shocks of a non-economic origin" which could hit world growth. "UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend toward greater global trade, investment and the jobs they create and is a further serious risk to growth," warned the document, agreed by leaders of the UK, US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada. They concluded: 'A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth. 'Escalated geopolitical conflicts, terrorism and refugee flows, are complicating factors in the global economic environment. We have strengthened the resilience of our economies in order to avoid falling into another crisis, and to this end, commit to reinforce our efforts to address the current economic situation by taking all appropriate policy responses in a timely manner.' The comments highlight growing international alarm over the possibility of so-called "Brexit", as UK voters prepare for the referendum to decide whether to leave the 28-country bloc. British exit from the European Union would be a 'serious risk to growth', leaders of the G7 nations have said In a declaration released following the Ise-Shima summit in Japan, they concluded: 'A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth' It comes after Boris Johnson urged European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to visit Britain to see how it has been 'damaged' by the EU. Mr Juncker invited the Tory Brexit campaigner to come to Brussels after claiming that the attacks on the European Union made by Mr Johnson during the Brexit referendum were not 'in line with reality'. Mr Johnson said he would take up the offer but added it would be 'wonderful' if Mr Juncker came to meet families and businesses in the UK that have been hurt by EU membership to give him a 'better understanding' of the impact of EU membership. Mr Juncker was questioned at the G7 summit in Japan about the former London mayor's comparison of the EU's efforts to unify Europe to earlier attempts by Napoleon and Hitler. He said: 'I'm reading in (the) papers that Boris Johnson spent part of his life in Brussels. It's time for him to come back to Brussels, in order to check in Brussels if everything he's telling British people is in line with reality. 'I don't think so, so he would be welcome in Brussels at any time.'' European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has been urged to to visit Britain to see how it has been 'damaged' by the EU In response, Mr Johnson wrote to the EU's senior official saying: ' You very imaginatively suggested today that I might like to visit Brussels, so that I could better inform myself of your work and your plans for the future development of the EU. I would like to take you up on your suggestion. 'As you may know, I believe that the time has come for a real and thoroughgoing reform of Britain's relations with the European Union and that the only way we in this country can take back control of our democracy is to vote leave on June 23. 'I believe that we should develop a more harmonious and practical relationship between Britain and other European countries, and that this should be done on the basis of free trade and intensive intergovernmental cooperation. I would much welcome the chance to explain how this would be of benefit both to this country and the rest of the EU. 'I would also like to extend an invitation to you. Many parts of Britain - many families and small businesses - have been damaged by our EU membership. It would be wonderful if you could visit some of these places and meet some of those people with me. I have no doubt it will help inform the debate and give you a better understanding as you attempt to reform the machinery of the EU. 'As you mentioned, I have happy memories of the beautiful city of Brussels and I look forward to seeing you in the near future.' Before his political career, Mr Johnson spent several years in Brussels as EU correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, where his articles were noted for their Euroscepticism. The level of irritation at the Commission over the former London mayor's trenchant criticism was revealed in a tweet by a senior aide to Mr Juncker, who classed Mr Johnson alongside Donald Trump and French National Front president Marine Le Pen in a 'horror scenario' line-up of potential world leaders. Martin Selmayr, took to Twitter to argue that the prospect of Mr Johnson in Downing Street made it 'worth fighting populism'. Envisaging a future G7 summit attended by Mr Trump as US president, Mr Johnson as British premier, Ms Le Pen as French president and maverick Five Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo as Italian PM, Mr Selmayr wrote: '#G7 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo? A horror scenario that shows well why it is worth fighting populism. #withJuncker.' A new weapon that should allow millions of people to block nuisance calls is launched today. The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has joined forces with the watchdog that polices marketing calls, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). From today people will be able get their mobile number added to a national list of numbers that do not accept marketing and sales calls. This will involve texting the letters TPS plus their email address to 78070. From today people will be able get their mobile number added to a national list of numbers that do not accept marketing and sales calls (file image) In theory this will block firms in the UK which bombard people with calls about PPI refunds, accident claims, pension advice or solar panels. A system already exists for families to get their landline added to the TPS lists which block cold calls. This can be done through the TPS website. Now, it will be quick and easy to do the same thing for mobile numbers. However, the scheme is not foolproof and Ofcom research suggests that as many as two in three marketing calls may still get through. This is because the scheme cannot not stop rogue firms based outside the UK using cold call computers to target Britons. At the same time, rogue firms in this country may simply ignore the new controls in the belief that they can escape any sanction. In theory, firms that call people whose numbers are on the list open themselves up to action, including large fines, from the Information Commissioners Office. (ICO) However, only three of the 20 fines announced by the ICO in the past year have been paid. Ten of the firms have gone into liquidation or have not paid and most of the rest still have time to pay or have issued appeals. The net result is that only 165,000 of the more than 2million in fines imposed by the privacy watchdog has been collected. It has always been possible to register a mobile number with the TPS, but few people have been aware of it. The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has joined forces with the watchdog that polices marketing calls, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) (file image) As a result, currently just 3per cent of mobile numbers 2.9m are registered, compared to 85per cent of landlines 18.5m. By introducing the quick and easy text-to-register process, Ofcom and the TPS aim to raise awareness and drive up the take-up. Ofcom said people need to send an email address as part of the process so they can identify the individuals should they subsequently need to make a complaint. Texting will make it easier for people to register their mobile numbers on the TPS, which is the only official no-call list, and help us stamp out rogue callers once and for all. Head of the TPS, John Mitchison It said people who register should notice a gradual reduction in unsolicited sales and marketing voice calls after a few days, although it can take up to 28 days for the service to become fully effective. The watchdog admitted that its system is unable to stop spam or junk texts. Head of the TPS, John Mitchison, said: Rogue callers operate illegally and against the interests of ordinary people. Texting will make it easier for people to register their mobile numbers on the TPS, which is the only official no-call list, and help us stamp out rogue callers once and for all by giving the Information Commissioner more ammunition to prosecute these cases. Consumer director at Ofcom, Lindsey Fussell, (correct) said: Many millions of landline customers already take advantage of the protection the TPS gives against nuisance calls, and we want to ensure its as easy as possible for mobile users to do the same. We encourage anyone who wants to reduce the number of frustrating and unwanted calls to their mobile phone to register with the TPS today. Baroness Neville Rolfe, Minister responsible for data protection, said: Nuisance calls are incredibly intrusive and can cause significant distress, particularly to elderly and vulnerable members of society. It's a deeply depressing thought. But more than one in ten young people in Britain expects to work until they die, according to a report. Rising life expectancy, the collapse of gold-plated work pension schemes and the increase in the state pension age have made 20-34 year-olds very gloomy indeed about their retirement prospects. According to a global survey from recruitment giant Manpower, 12 per cent of Britain's so-called 'generation Y' believe they will be forced to work to the bitter end. Young Britons are a cheery bunch compared to the Japanese, with almost four in ten - 37 per cent convinced they will never be able to retire But at least young Britons can console themselves with the fact that they do not work as hard as the French, the Spanish or anyone else for that matter. Of the 18 countries surveyed, Britons and Australians were the bottom of the pile, working 41 hours a week. According to the report, the French work a 44 hour week, while Indians are the hardest workers, notching up 52 hours. Despite suffering from sky high unemployment and a deep recession, the Spanish appear to have the sunniest disposition, with just 3 per cent believing they will have to work until they drop. But young Britons are a cheery bunch compared to the Japanese, with almost four in ten - 37 per cent convinced they will never be able to retire. Most younger people, no matter what country they live in, expect to have to work for longer than their parents with more than three in ten (32 per cent) - saying they will work until they're 70. It's hardly surprising that many youngsters believe retirement is an unattainable dream. The state pension age for women which was 60 in 2010 is rising to 68 for both men and women by 2046. Earlier this week Lord Turner the architect of radical workplace pensions reforms warned that the state pension age might have rise to 70 by 2030 to make it more affordable for the government. Latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics show a record number of women are in work as the rising state pension age has already forced many to delay their retirement. Most younger people, no matter what country they live in, expect to have to work for longer than their parents with more than three in ten (32 per cent) - saying they will work until they're 70 Younger people are also working as hard if not harder - than their parents, according to the report from Manpower. Globally, more than eight in ten (83 per cent) said they work more than 40 hours a week. The claims come despite French law stipulating a maximum working week of 35 hours. Workers and trade unions are staging mass strikes in protest at the government's attempt to bring in new labour laws and a longer working week. One City veteran described the suggestion that the French work harder than the British as 'fanciful'. Aiisha Mehajer, the younger sister of controversial developer Salim, has called her brother her life mentor just days after she graduated as a high school teacher. It was revealed on Thursday that Aiisha, who now has a Bachelor of Secondary Teaching in her hands and a masters degree underway, will follow in her sister Mary's footsteps and try her luck as 'Miss Lebanon' at the 'Pageant of the World' beauty contest. But it appears its her brother - who was suspended from Auburn council earlier this year - that she looks to for guidance. Scroll down for video Aiisha Mehajer (right) has called her brother Salim (left), who was suspended from Auburn Council this year, as her 'life mentor' Aiisha Mehajer, one of Salim's seven siblings, recently graduated as a high school teacher Out of spotlight until recent times, Aiisha is believed to have graduated with a Bachelor of Secondary Teaching Now she will follow in her sister Mary's footsteps and try her luck as 'Miss Lebanon' in the 'Pageant of the World' beauty contest On Thursday night, she posted a photo to Instagram of herself in graduation dress alongside Salim. The photo was captioned, My Life Mentor, with a heart emoticon. Salim, a former deputy mayor, is accused of forging documents to rig the 2012 Auburn Council ballot that got him elected. He was charged with using forged documents and using false or misleading documents last December and could face 10 years in jail. Salim has regularly appeared in the headlines over the past few months, but Aiisha is no stranger to media attention, either. Her dramatic change of appearance over the years has received plenty of interest. One of eight siblings, Aiisha has ventured into the world of fashion, regularly promoting her family business the 'Mehajer Beauty Bar' and posing online in colourful wigs with pouted, voluptuous lips. In May last year, Aisha was a finalist at the Miss Lebanon Australia competition in Sydney and proudly accepted the title of Miss Personality. But her latest challenge, to compete in the 'Pageant of the World' beauty contest, will pit her against beauties from a diverse range of countries, ranging from South Sudan to Malaysia to Kazahkstan to Luxembourg and Samoa. The quest to be a 'Woman of the World' is not one that comes easily either - candidates for each country must uphold a list of rigorous requirements should they wish to compete. Aiisha is the co-director of family business 'Mehajer Beauty Brow' and was a finalist in the 2015 Miss Lebanon Mary Mehajer was controversially named Miss Lebanon Australia 2016, despite claims the event was 'rigged' Earlier this year Daily Mail Australia revealed the dramatic transformation she had undergone between her teenage years (left) and now (right) According to the website, potential candidates must be 'at least 150 cm in height with proportional weight,' be 'single and never married or pregnant,' be under the age of 30 and have no tattoos. It's unclear what exactly the 'Woman of the World' will be expected to do, but founder Cindy Dionisio says the winner should be a 'role model for the world and an ambassador for social justice.' 'Aisha is energetic, outgoing, loving, caring and a social person. She finds great satisfaction in knowing she was able to help people in need,' the competition bio reads. 'With an attitude, everything is possible for those who believe Aisha is a firm believer that the Universe is continuously working towards ones highest good and nothing that comes a persons way is meaningless or futile.' The 'Pageant of the World' will hold it's coronation night in Sydney on June 8. It's likely Aiisha's international competitors will be hoping for less drama than the recent Miss Lebanon event Many claimed Mary Mehajer's Miss Lebanon crowning was 'rigged' and influenced heavily by her brother's sponsorship of the event Following her little sister's footsteps: Aiisha will be representing Lebanon in a Sydney beauty pageant It is unknown how long ago the photographs were taken, but Aiisha (pictured left, before and right, after) has had dramatic changes to her appearance over the years It's likely her international competitors will be hoping for less drama than the recent Miss Lebanon event, which many claimed was influenced heavily by her brother's sponsorship. Mary, 18 and the youngest of the Mehajer siblings, defended her 2016 Miss Lebanon Australia title, saying she won the pageant 'fairly' and rejecting suggestions the contest was rigged. 'I would love for (New South Wales Fair Trading) to investigate and see that I won fairly,' Ms Mehajer told the Daily Telegraph. 'My brother being a sponsor is such a beautiful thing. Hes supporting his community and I think that is so positive.' Claims that the competition was rigged emerged following the event on May 1, with at least three judges revealing exclusively to Daily Mail Australia that Mary was not their first choice for the crown. Aiisha posted this image on Instagram with the caption 'Thank you to the team at @sweatybettypr for my @nudebynature kit. Wearing makeup has never felt so lite before, until now' Police arrested Lowe and charged him with murder, her body was found in a wooded area in northeast Collin County on Thursday They also found a bullet hole in the wall of the garage Last Thursday, they searched Lowe's SUV and found a pool of blood in the back of the car and remarked that there was a smell of decaying flesh The next day, police returned to the apartment and found both Lowe and his SUV covered in mud When police showed up at the Richardson, Texas apartment she shared with Lowe, he told police she had left earlier in the day Bardwell's father reported her missing on May 8, when she didn't call either her mom or her step-mom on Mother's Day A body found has been positively identified as a missing woman whose boyfriend has been arrested for her murder in Texas. Police and the FBI say the body of Jessie Bardwell, 27, was found in a wooded area in northeast Collin County just before 6pm on Thursday. Bardwell was reported missing on Mother's Day when she failed to call her mother or step-mother. Police said she last appeared on surveillance video at the gym within her Richardson apartment complex. Her boyfriend, Jason Lowe, 27, was arrested and charged with her murder last week after police searched his car and found a pool of blood and the smell of 'decaying flesh' inside. When Bardwell was first reported missing, Lowe, who shared the apartment with her, told cops that she left earlier in the day on Mother's Day - May 8 - when they arrived to do a welfare check on her at the request of her father. Scroll down for video Jason Lowe (right) has been arrested and charged with murder of his girlfriend Jessie Bardwell (left) in Texas. Her body was found in a wooded area in northeast Collin County Bardwell's father called Richardson, Texas police to conduct a welfare check on his daughter on May 8, when she failed to call either her mom or step-mom on Mother's Day. Cops found no sign of her at the apartment (above) she shared with her boyfriend, Lowe Bardwell's father told police that he hadn't heard from his daughter in the two and a half weeks before Mother's Day and was worried since she didn't call his wife or her mother on that day. Investigators returned to the apartment the next day and grew suspicious when they saw both Lowe and his car covered in mud, with Lowe wearing the same clothes from the day before. When Lowe got out of the SUV, he told police that his girlfriend never came home so he went out to look for her on some of the paths off President George Bush Turnpike that she frequented. He told police that initially he wasn't worried about her not returning for hours because they 'lead a lifestyle where they both do their own thing without being co-dependent'. Lowe gave the officers permission to look through a Dodge Ram he owns, and they found two guns in a black bag. He also let them look around his garage and the apartment, and they left after finding nothing more suspicious. While speaking to Lowe, officers noticed that he had lines of a white-powdery substance resembling cocaine lined up on a saucer in the kitchen, near a tightly rolled piece of paper. Bardwell pictured above with her father. She moved to north Texas in December 2015 to live with her boyfriend, Lowe Lowe was arrested on May 12, when investigators found a pool of blood in the back of an SUV parked at his apartment. He's pictured above in a photo posted to Facebook Officers next asked to look through the home once more, as well as the garage. While Lowe initially asked them to stay out of the garage, he eventually relented. When they were finally able to search through the car four days later, they found a pool of blood in the back of the car, giving them enough evidence to make an arrest. They also remarked that there was 'a distinct smell of decayed flesh was found to be emitting from the garage area'. They then took Lowe into custody, arresting him first on cocaine possession charges. The next day, when officers returned and found yet more evidence of blood throughout the vehicle and a bullet hole in the wall of the garage, Lowe was officially charged with murder and ordered held on $1million bond. Records show that Lowe was previously arrested on May 29, 2015 for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. His then-girlfriend at the time accused him of assaulting her to the point that she lost consciousness. It's unclear if the alleged victim in that incident was Bardwell. The couple are believed to have started dating before she moved to north Texas in December 2015. Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie brought her trademark directness to dinner with Annabel Crabb on Thursday night. Appearing on the hit ABC show Kitchen Cabinet, she bared all on topics such as leaving the Palmer United Party, her secret ball-gown collection and her thoughts on Liberal backbencher Cory Bernardi. Ms Lambie said the controversial Senator was an a***hole who was born with a silver spoon up his rear end. Scroll down for video The 45-year-old senator did not hold back when speaking about colleague Cory Bernardi Ms Lambie said Liberal backbencher Cory Bernardi was an 'a***hole', 'born with a silver spoon up his rear end' Mr Bernardi responded to these comments on Friday morning. 'Given the only conversation I've ever had with Jacqui Lambie was listening to her complain about not getting paid enough, I'm not sure she knows anything about me,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'However, everyone has issues in their life so I just hope she keeps getting the help she needs to deal with hers. 'God love her, she's doing her best.' Mr Bernardi wasnt the only person in the former PUP candidates firing line she went on to speak about Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who she says has left her disappointed, like everybody else is. The 45-year-old politician told Ms Crabb that she wasnt sure what had caused it, but she felt let down by the PM after championing him from day one. Its hard when you see these guys put on strings, and they cant actually be leaders, she said. Leaders shouldnt be put on strings. They should be leading. Her comments sparked a frenzy on Twitter, with many users cheering her on, but some discouraged by the comments which 'discredit' her. Twitter users went in to a frenzy over the Senator's comments, with many cheering her on Some users were less impressed, however - and said Ms Lambie's comments discredited herself and the issues she campaigned for Another Twitter user said the former PUP candidate was simply stating a popular opinion Senator Bernardi told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Lambie 'doesn't know anything about me' Ms Lambie said Malcolm Turnbull's term as Prime Minister has left her 'disappointed, like everybody is' Though she touched on her bitter divorce with Clive and the Palmer United Party it was his way or the highway there was a lot more to Jacqui Lambie than just her political career. After she was medically discharged from the army with a back injury, the Senator said she battled with severe depression. Everything youd been taught to fight with in the army, you couldnt use - because youre fighting against yourself, she said. In retrospect, she confides to the ABC journalist that she often wonders if her mental problems after her discharge contributed to her youngest son Dylan's issues with ice. I wonder if what he went through with me, if that had anything to do with him turning to drugs. Ms Lambie spent 20 months in and out of psychiatric care and feels that she is now back on her feet. During the discussion she revealed she was required to undergo psychiatric assessment before entering the Senate as a result and insisted her colleagues should be doing the same. They should all have to have a psych assessment I had to and it said Im very normal,' she said. Id love to see what their tests come back and say. She also boasted an impressive ball gown collection, many attained quite thriftily from a local bridal shops closing down sale. The Senator revealed one of them was intended for a fashion shoot to help promote women in the defence force an issue that remains close to her heart. The females in the armed forces dont get the recognition they deserve, she told Annabel. We can carry the weapon, but we can also go out of a night time, get dressed up and look like ladies. When asked what she would do if she failed to regain her seat at the upcoming election, Ms Lambie didn't skip a beat. 'Jacqui's Kitchen Cabinet', she said. The outspoken senator cooked a dish of salmon, salad and kipfler potatoes using local, fresh produce The controversial HS2 rail line will cost five times as much as its French equivalent and do little to help regenerate the North of England, experts warned yesterday. An academic review of the 55 billion vanity project to build a new rail link from London to Birmingham, called for it to be halted so that cheaper alternatives can be considered. The HS2 scheme has been championed by David Cameron and George Osborne, despite major questions over whether taxpayers will get value for money in return for the massive investment. The study, led by Professor Tony May from Leeds University and transport consultant Jonathan Tyler, found that the TGV line from Tours to Bordeaux currently under construction in France was costing 20 million/km, compared to 105 million/km for HS2. Controversial HS2 rail line will cost five times as much as its French equivalent and do little to help regenerate the North, experts warned. Pictured, an artist impression of the proposed HS2 station at London's Euston The HS2 scheme has been championed by David Cameron (left) and George Osborne (right), despite major questions over whether taxpayers will get value for money in return for the massive investment Professor James Croll of University College London, said the Governments decision to opt for a line operating at speeds of 250mph per hour (400 km/h) had driven up financial and environmental costs without providing major benefits. He urged ministers to consider scaling back speeds to 190mph, which is the speed on Frances TGV network. Mr Croll said: It is just vanity for the UK to have faster trains than the usual high-speed trains. The UK is far too small geographically to need an ultra-high speed network -- by the time the trains get up to speed it will be almost time to slow them down again. The decision to design for 400km/h has led to a succession of needlessly expensive knock-on effects in construction which will be saddling taxpayers with huge bills for a generation. Ministers claim the new route will help regenerate the economy of the North, but the new study warns that the benefits are uncertain. It also warns that improvements in connectivity will be only limited and that the costly new route contributes nothing to tackling climate change. The study said there were much less costly and environmentally damaging ways of boosting capacity on the rail network. But HS2 Ltd, the company behind the planned link between London and the North, dismissed the comparison with France. An academic review of the 55 billion vanity project to build a new rail link from London to Birmingham, called for it to be halted so that cheaper alternatives can be considered. Pictured, potential HS2 train design A spokesman said: The French section of track is not comparable. The French track has no new stations, it does not go through a dense built-up urban area, it does not have the tunnels that we are building on HS2 to protect the environment and property prices are very low in comparison to the UK. The net result is that it is cheaper, but we will use joint ventures including continental firms with experience of building high speed rail and this will drive down our costs. The academics claim a much fuller range of options should have been considered to meet the objectives of HS2. These include alternative routes better integrated with the existing network, enhancements at lower speed and investment in the North. The report concludes that a review should be carried out to consider these options objectively, transparently and dispassionately. The first phase of HS2 is expected to be completed by around 2026 and will reduce journey times between London and Birmingham by 32 minutes. GPs will today be ordered to stop endangering lives by giving out millions of inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions every year. David Cameron will also announce severe curbs or even a ban on giving them to farm animals in a bid to halt the rise of drug-resistant bugs. Family doctors have cut the overall number of antibiotic prescriptions over the past year and the total is now at 34million. But Downing Street warns that 10 per cent are still inappropriate because the drugs werent needed to treat the patients illness. GPs will be told to halve the 3.4million antibiotics handed out in this way annually by 2020 with cash incentives to help them comply. David Cameron will also announce severe curbs on prescribing antibiotics unnecessarily and even a ban on giving them to farm animals in a bid to halt the rise of drug-resistant bugs. File image Speaking at the G7 summit in Japan, Mr Cameron said the fight against drug-resistant bugs had to become a global priority. British experts say it will kill more people than cancer by 2050 and have accused doctors of doling out antibiotics like sweets. Downing Street said that of an estimated 42million prescriptions issued annually in England, 4.2million or 10 per cent were found to be not used appropriately. Officials said doctors would be expected to halve that figure, which means slashing prescriptions by more than 5,700 a day. SPOTLIGHT ON ANIMAL TREATMENT Doctors have been ordered for years to cut the amount of antibiotics handed out needlessly. But farmers have largely escaped scrutiny despite stark estimates that livestock receive a greater proportion of the drugs than humans. Half the antibiotics used in Britain go to animals to keep them healthy and pig farms take 60 per cent of that supply. Under EU rules, they cannot be used as growth hormones. But in many countries outside Europe including the US the drugs are used to bulk up livestock. When superbugs appear, they can quickly jump from animals to humans, creating a health crisis within weeks. Last November scientists reported that pigs in Shanghai had been found with a vicious strain of E.coli immune to colistin known as a top shelf drug. Within six weeks, 12 patients had been treated in the UK for the same infection. David Cameron will today announce rules to curb or outlaw a list of antibiotics on British farms and it is likely to include colistin and other drugs that are seen as last-resort lifesavers. New rules will also require farmers by 2018 to use no more than 50mg of antibiotics for every kilogram of meat they produce a drop of 10mg. In the US the figure is 200mg/kg. Doctors will also be told they must halve the number of high-risk bacterial infections such as E.coli by 2020. Mr Cameron will announce new rules on prescribing antibiotics to livestock. In some cases, their use will be banned altogether. Hundreds of millions of pounds will be on offer to drugs firms which produce new forms of antibiotics. A No 10 source said: Over the decades, antibiotics have been overused in human and animal health and, as a result, the very bugs which they treat are starting to outsmart the drugs. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said money needed to be spent to save lives. Financial incentives were introduced by NHS England in April last year to address the problem of over prescription. Under the so-called Quality Premium initiative, NHS commissioners are paid an extra 5 per head for meeting targets on antibiotic use and other health issues. Public health minister Jane Ellison said: Tackling this problem is everyones business, doing nothing is not an option. Last week, a report by Lord ONeill warned that superbugs will kill more people than cancer by 2050 and accused doctors of doling out antibiotics like sweets. The peer, who was asked by the Prime Minister to conduct a review, said that by 2020 doctors should only be allowed to prescribe antibiotics if a blood or saliva test has definitively diagnosed an infection that requires the drugs. Unless urgent action is taken, untreatable superbugs will kill 10million people a year by the middle of the century, he warned. Triple whammy yesterday morning: speeches in different parts of London by Sadiq Khan, David Davis and Lord Blunkett. Thus does the EU vortex accelerate. Late May is normally a time for the first Pimms of the year, zeds in a deckchair, a dip into an old Wodehouse. Instead everyone is in a fearful bate about Brexit, posters portraying Eurosceptics as skinheads and some Brussels henchman saying Boris Johnson would be a nightmare as our PM. Well be the judge of that, danke schon. New Mayor Khan headed for a hub for creative entrepreneurs near East Londons Brick Lane for his speech. Pictured during his first questions from Assembly Members at City Hall New Mayor Khan headed for a hub for creative entrepreneurs near East Londons Brick Lane tandoori territory, where every other shop is a curry house. The smells! I was already hungry but after walking down those streets, being wafted by delicious kitchen aromas, I could have eaten a wee dog with sore eyes. The crowd of about 100 was rather more middle-class than the areas residents. The modernist venue had low ceilings, dim lighting and a circular atrium which had a one and a half ton table suspended from the roof. We were welcomed by an American in a T-shirt, then by a young woman who said she was more concerned about equal pay for women than she was about the European Union. That may not have been terribly on-message. Mr Khan, seldom prompt, was 20 minutes late. When he arrived, he, too, distanced himself from David Camerons strategy. He disliked the personal and negative attacks and said: We would survive outside the EU but I think we would be diminished. The same could be said of the large plastic table on which the hub had been serving coffee. A young woman had sat her bottom on it and the table developed a vast crack. Europe made us more safer, said Mr Khan, reading his text. Our maestro of grammar concluded with a lecture about patriotism and hinted that only if we stayed in the EU would we find new treatments for Parkinsons disease, breast cancer and Alzheimers. In Westminster, Tory MP and former Europe minister David Davis was just starting a Serious Talk about the economic case for leaving the EU. Europe made us more safer, said Mr Khan, reading his text. Our maestro of grammar concluded with a lecture about patriotism and hinted that only if we stayed in the EU would we find new treatments for Parkinsons disease, breast cancer and Alzheimers By the time I arrived, panting, DD had a graph on the wall showing UK exports and job statistics. He was speaking at the HQ of the Institution of Civil Engineers to a room of rather earnest bods. His tone was sober. To show just what a Serious Talk it was, he had some sort of clerk sitting next to him. After going through various trade options he concluded that it was not so much a case of Little Englanders wanting to quit the EU as Little Europeans who made it harder for us to trade and cooperate with the rest of the world. The EU was in a 1970s-style decline, he said, and there was a fabulously upbeat scenario if we opted to go it alone. DD is not the worlds most exciting orator but the factual underlay to his claims did make them more convincing. Invited to slag off David Cameron and George Osborne, he changed the habits of a lifetime and declined. We will win this on ideas not by personalities, he intoned. But he did argue that the British Establishment often gets things badly wrong. The bureaucrats and diplomats were worried about their careers. There are risks on both sides of the referendum, said Mr Davis, but I think the risks for the country are much bigger if we stay in the EU. Which left me a few minutes to hare down to the Royal Festival Hall where David Blunkett, once a Eurosceptic, came out as a Remainer. He dismissed yesterdays startling immigration statistics, saying that they needed to be counted in a different way. The disappearance of a young mother and her baby daughter from Victoria's Gippsland region has sparked an investigation by police. Terrianne McConnachy, 25, was last seen in the town of Morwell with her 18-month-old daughter Faith Willetts on Thursday, May 26. Police have released photos of the mother and her child in the hope somebody recognises them and can help assist with the investigation. Police are appealing for information after Terrianne McConnachy, 25, and her 18-month-old daughter Faith Willetts disappeared from country Victoria yesterday Terrianne has been described as Caucasian, of a thin build with medium length light brown hair with hazel eyes. Her daughter is also of Caucasian appearance with short blonde hair and blue eyes, according to police. She was last seen wearing a pink coloured jumper and light coloured leggings and socks. The police are urging anyone with information on the disappearance to come forward. Crime victims are being failed by a justice system which is in meltdown, a report says today. MPs on a cross-party panel launch a scathing attack on the system which they said was close to breaking point. Two-thirds of crown court trials were either delayed or did not go ahead at all, said Parliaments spending watchdog. And a backlog of 51,380 cases were still awaiting a crown court hearing last September an increase of 12,341, or just under a third. Two-thirds of crown court trials were either delayed or did not go ahead at all, said Parliaments spending watchdog. File picture The Public Accounts Committees withering report says the system is not good enough at supporting victims and witnesses, who are often reluctant to endure the ordeal of a court case. Swift access to justice was also a postcode lottery with cases taking different lengths of time, for instance 243 days in Durham and 418 days in Sussex. Victims now face an average 134-day wait between their case leaving the magistrates court and the start of a crown court trial, up from 99 days in 2013. And only 55 per cent of witnesses said they would be prepared to put themselves through the pressure of giving evidence in court, with an appalling 1 in 5 being made to wait more than four hours to take the stand. In a blistering assessment, the committee said the criminal justice system which involves police forces, prosecutors, courts, lawyers and witness services was bedevilled by long-standing poor performance including delays and inefficiencies. In the year to September, around 1.7million offences were dealt with in the courts. Spending on the system, excluding police, prisons and the Crown Prosecution Service, is around 2billion a year. The Public Accounts Committees withering report says the system is not good enough at supporting victims and witnesses, who are often reluctant to endure the ordeal of a court case. File image But the committee said this had plunged by 26 per cent since 2010-11. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which oversees the system, has also been ordered to slash its budget by a further 15 per cent by 2019-20. Yet the Legal Aid Agency had spent nearly 100million on cases that did not go to trial and the figure for the CPS was 21million. The report will make grim reading for Justice Secretary Michael Gove who has demanded a prisons revolution, bolstering rehabilitation and educating inmates to make them less likely to fall back into crime. PROBATION TOLD TO IGNORE BREACHES TO PROTECT FIRMS Probation officers are being told to turn a blind eye to offenders who breach their sentences so the firms that employ them are not penalised. Since 2015, privately-run probation groups known as community rehabilitation companies have received payments linked to convicts complying with the terms of their non-custodial sentences. But research by the Inspectorate of Probation found probation officers had been told by bosses not to recommend that the courts revoke an offenders community sentence because it dented profits. He is also investing 700million in new technology to modernise the justice system and make it swifter. But the committee warned that the MoJ had exhausted the scope to cut costs without pushing the system beyond breaking point. It welcomed the shake-up but warned it would be at least four years before they began reaping the benefits. Committee chairman Meg Hillier said: These are damning statistics. An effective criminal justice system is a cornerstone of civil society but ours is at risk. Too little thought has been given to the consequences of cutbacks with the result that the systems ability to deliver justice, together with its credibility in the eyes of the public, is under threat. Our report paints a stark picture of the human cost of critical failings in management from the top down. The system is overstretched and disjointed. Victims of crime are entitled to justice yet they are at the mercy of a postcode lottery for access to justice. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: The Justice Secretary has been clear that our criminal justice system needs urgent reform. That is why we have embarked on comprehensive measures to improve our prisons and courts, backed by over 2billion of investment, to build a swifter, more certain justice system. Our plans will bring modern technology into our courts to better meet the needs of everyone who uses our services, and will replace ageing and ineffective prisons with new buildings designed to support rehabilitation. DNA profiles and fingerprints of more than 100 suspected terrorists have been wrongly destroyed because of police paperwork blunders. A damning report said the records of the suspects were deleted after forces failed to complete forms which would have allowed them to be stored indefinitely. And Biometrics Commissioner Alastair MacGregor said the number of potential extremists who details could have been kept could be appreciably larger. Mr MacGregor said biometric details of 810 individuals expired last year because senior police officers had failed to decide whether they should be retained on a database of terrorist and criminal suspects. It means potentially vital forensic evidence has been thrown away at a time when Britain is on high alert for a terrorist attack. A damning report said the records of the suspects were deleted after forces failed to complete forms which would have allowed them to be stored indefinitely (file image of ISIS fighter) He also criticised the security services or repeated failures to provide timely assessments of people who had DNA swabs taken. He said that in at least 108 cases there would have undoubtedly been grounds for investigators to apply to keep personal records on national security grounds. Mr MacGregor said: The biometric material of a significant number of individuals has been lost in circumstances where that material could and should have been retained on the grounds of national security. It is obviously very important that steps quickly be taken to establish whether - and, if so, how - replacement material should be obtained from those individuals and/or other action should be taken to minimise any risk which they pose to national security. The fact that a large amount of material has fallen to be deleted before a proper assessment has been made... is, of course, a matter of real concern. Biometrics Commissioner Alastair MacGregor He added: The fact that a large amount of material has fallen to be deleted before a proper assessment has been made of the extent to which its retention would be desirable on national security grounds is, of course, a matter of real concern. The latest report was published after Mr MacGregor's annual report in March, when the problem was highlighted. Then, he believed the DNA and fingerprints of 45 suspected terrorists had been deleted, so the new figure is almost three times bigger. The law requires material from suspects against whom no charges are brought to be destroyed or deleted within six months. But senior police officers can apply for them to be held indefinitely if they apply for a 'national security declaration'. Mr MacGregor said officers are 'risking public safety' by failing to apply for extensions to hold DNA profiles of suspects who have not been convicted. It means potentially vital forensic evidence has been thrown away at a time when Britain is on high alert for a terrorist attack (file image of ISIS fighters) In his latest report, Mr MacGregor also revised upwards the number of people on British counter-terrorism databases who have not been convicted of a recordable offence, from 3,800 to 4,500. The total number on the file is around 9,600. However, he was broadly satisfied that the issues are being addressed. He said: In general terms - and although it has taken much longer to reach this position than I would have wished - I am now broadly satisfied that proper steps have been and are being taken to remedy the expiry and deletion problems that have arisen. A new system limiting DNA record storage was introduced in October 2013 amid a row over revelations that police planned to hold many files forever. Previously, DNA profiles and fingerprints could be stored indefinitely, regardless of whether someone had been charged or convicted. Paedophiles can now be executed or castrated by Indonesian authorites as the government cracks down on abuse following the horrific rape and murder of a girl, 14. Indonesia is a hotspot for Australian paedophiles, with more than 100 sex criminals caught travelling to the country since 2014. On Wednesday Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced the new laws, which come into place straight away, reported WA Today. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has given judges new powers to sentence paedophiles to death or chemical castration. The laws will not apply to accused Australian paedophile Robert Andrew Fiddel Ellis (pictured) Under the laws judges are given the power to sentence paedophiles to death or order that they are chemically castrated a procedure which uses drugs to eliminate sex drive. President Widodo said: '(This) will give room for judges to issue the heaviest sentence on perpetrators of sexual offences on children. 'We hope this regulation will provide a deterrent effect and bring down the number of sexual offences committed against children.' Announcing the laws, President Widodo said: 'This will give room for judges to issue the heaviest sentence on perpetrators of sexual offences on children' Australian Robert Andrew Fiddel Ellis, 69, travelled to Indonesia in 2014 and has since been accused of abusing 16 girls aged between seven and 17. An Indonesian prosecutor said Ellis would not be eligible for the death penalty as the new laws would not apply retroactively. He said: 'No such law existed when Robert committed the crime.' Australian Robert Andrew Fiddel Ellis, 69, travelled to Indonesia in 2014 and has since allegedly abused more than 16 children aged between seven and 17 Ellis allegedly abused his victims by luring them into his house with the promise of clothes and money. He is suspected of being part of an international paedophile ring which flaunted their wealth to take advantage of poverty-stricken children. One of Ellis's alleged victims told the ABC: 'He gave me 100,000 rupiah, the biggest was 300,000 and I went there once and he gave me 250,000 (about $25). 'At Kuta beach I was showering and he asked me to go with him. I went to his house in the afternoon and didn't go home until the morning.' Ellis would not be eligible for punishment under the new laws because they do not come into effect retroactively Earlier in May a 14-year-old girl called Yuyun from the Indonesian village of Sumatra was brutally gang raped and then murdered by 14 boys, all younger than 18. Seven of the attackers were imprisoned for 10 years, a sentence which sparked national outrage as many thought it was too light. Shoppers can expect lower surcharges when they pay with a credit card after the Reserve Bank of Australia introduced new regulations to stop businesses charging excessive fees. Surcharges passed onto shoppers will now have to reflect the actual cost of using a credit card instead of businesses being allowed to charge a fixed rate and make money from it. The changes will also affect airlines, hotels and ticket booking companies in particular because they will have to now charge customers a percentage of the price rather than a fixed fee when they pay via credit card. Shoppers can expect lower surcharges when they pay with a credit card after the Reserve Bank of Australia introduced new regulations to stop businesses charging excessive fees 'So basically if you're using a debit card you shouldn't be paying any more than about half of 1 per cent,' Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, told the ABC. 'If you are using a normal credit card you shouldn't be paying any more than 1 to 1.5 per cent, that's a Visa or Mastercard.' The fees banks receive from credit card companies from transactions will also be capped at 0.8 per cent of the purchase price under the changes, which will be implemented in July 2017. Currently, some of these fees are at 2 per cent. The rules will apply to six card systems, including EFTPOS, Debit MasterCard, MasterCard Credit, Visa Debit, Visa Credit and American Express cards issued by Australian banks. The caps on fees will extend to American Express cards issued as companion cards to MasterCard and Visa cards. New rules on the size of surcharges will take effect for big business like airlines on September 1 this year. Under the new rules, airlines will only be able to pass on the amount it costs them to offer the service, about 0.77 per cent of the transaction, instead of flat fees of up to $30 per flight. Surcharges passed onto shoppers will now have to reflect the actual cost of using a credit card instead of businesses being allowed to charge a fixed rate and make money from it Airlines, taxi companies, hotels and ticket booking companies will no longer be able to charge customers extra fees for using their credit cards The changes will also affect airlines, hotels and ticket booking companies in particular because they will have to now charge customers a percentage of the price rather than a fixed fee when they pay via credit card Domestic booking fees in Australia currently range from $7 per flight for Qantas, $8.50 for Jetstar and Tiger and $7.70 on Virgin. The charges are even more on international flights. According to estimates from consumer group Choice, under the new rules the Jetstar charge of $8.50 would fall to 65 cents. The changes will be enforced by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). WHAT ARE THE DOMESTIC BOOKING FEES IN AUSTRALIA? Qantas - $7.00 Jetstar - $8.50 Tiger - $7.50 Virgin - $7.70 The charge is also increased for international flights. Source: Choice 'With the cost of acceptance defined in percentage terms, merchants will not be able to impose high fixed-amount surcharges on low-value transactions, as has been typical for airlines,' the Reserve Bank said on Thursday. Consumer advocacy group Choice said the decision was long overdue and consumers should keep campaigning about fixed fees, describing it as 'a gouging racket'. Qantas, who own Jetstar, said both airlines plan to move to percentage-based card payment systems, as the standards require, News Corp reports. It urged regulators to make sure the new rules applied to all carriers that sell tickets in Australia, not just airlines. Mastercard reportedly welcomed the changes sand said in a statement that they were 'delighted' the RBA had stepped in to rectify the problem. As well as changes to surcharges, the RBA also announced a cap on average interchange rates which will affect premium and ultra-premium rewards cards. The changes will mean the card holders will either have to spend more to earn a point, need more points to redeem rewards, or both. The married couple who disappeared from their Washington home in April were both shot to death, authorities have revealed. Patrick Shunn, 45, was killed with one shot to his head while his wife Monique Patenaude, 46, died from multiple gunshot wounds. Tony Reed, one of the brothers accused of their murders, led investigators to Shunn and Patenaude's bodies, which were buried just four miles from their Arlington home, authorities said. Reed, 49, and his 53-year-old brother John Blaine Reed, a former neighbor of the couple, have both been charged in the slayings. The bodies of Patrick Shunn, 45, and his wife Monique Patenaude, 46, have been discovered more than a month after they disappeared from their home in Arlington, Washington Shunn was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, while Patenaude died from multiple gunshot wounds.Their remains were found near Oso, in the same area where their vehicles were discovered last month Tony Reed turned himself in last week at the US-Mexico border and was arrested by US Marshals in San Diego after a month-long manhunt. His brother remains at large. Investigators believe the brothers fled first to Ellensburg, where their parents live, and then Mexico after killing the couple, according to the Seattle Times. Search warrant records filed on May 2 by sheriff's investigators in Snohomish County Superior Court said several sightings of the Reed brothers in Mexico were reported as recently as April 21. Investigators obtained a warrant regarding data for an iPhone that was used to make two unanswered calls on April 17 to a friend of the brothers in Phoenix. The calls were made to the friends, described in records as a former Arlington, Washington resident, after the Reeds 'fled his place' on their way to Mexico. Detectives also found a red Volkswagen that had been driven by the brothers in Phoenix, and said the friend then gave the brothers his gold Acura as well as $500 in cash. The car was then spotted in Calexico, California, which is was led investigators to believe the brothers were headed to Mexico. Court orders were filed to freeze the bank accounts of the brothers' parents after it was discovered they were given at least $96,000 in cashier's checks by John Reed. Tony Reed pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, the same charges his brother is facing. Shunn and Patenaude were reported last seen on April 11 and detectives soon concluded the couple had been murdered after searching their vehicles and John Reed's home. Tony Reed (right), one of the men accused of their murders, led investigators to the gravesite, authorities said. His brother John Reed (left) has also been charged in the slayings and remains at large The couple's vehicles were discovered three days after they were reported missing and appeared to have been driven or pushed over an embankment before being partially concealed with cut branches At the top of the embankment, investigators found a new tarp spread out over a mound covered with cut branches and debris, an affidavit states Their vehicles were discovered three days later and appeared to have been driven or pushed over an embankment before being partially concealed with cut branches. At the top of the embankment, investigators found a new tarp spread out over a mound covered with cut branches and debris, an affidavit states. Officers later discovered an Ace Hardware bag, an ax, rubber gloves, tarps, posts and other items around the same area. Detectives then searched John Reed's property, where they found 'red stains which appeared to be dried blood' on the bathtub and a pair of coveralls that also appeared stained with blood. Officers also found two rifles, ammunition, gloves, a tarp and posts similar to those recovered near the couples vehicles. Investigators also obtained CCTV footage from a property close to where the couple's vehicles were discovered showing them being driven towards the site at 3:31am on April 12, hours after Shunn and Patenaude were last spotted. A red Toyota pickup, believed to belong to Reed, was then seen driving up the same lane shortly afterwards with what appeared to be a post in the back. Authorities later found the same vehicle parked at the Ellensburg home of Reed's parents. John Reed was involved in an 'ongoing and constant' dispute with the couple that had lasted for years, police previously said. Tensions between the neighbors reached a peak shortly before the couple disappeared 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. 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. Tensions between Shunn and Patenaude and Reed had come to a head in recent weeks after Patenaude reported him to the police for squatting on a piece of land he used to own near their property in Arlington 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. '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 that killed 43 people. 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 Reed was forced to sell it to the county on March 31, shortly before Patenaude reported him for continuing to squat there. Five Melbourne men were arrested after they towed a boat to Queensland Arrest is believed to be linked to a terror plot by five men to flee to Syria Counter-terrorism police have arrested a man believed to be linked to a botched plan by five men to flee to Syria by boat. The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team raided a property in north-west Melbourne on Friday morning and took the man into custody. He is helping police with their inquiries. The arrest is believed to be linked to the botched plan of five terror suspects arrested earlier this month who planned to sail to Indonesia from Queensland with the intention of reaching Syria to allegedly fight with Islamic State, according to Herald Sun. Scroll down for video Counter-terrorism police have arrested a man believed to be linked to a botched plan by five men to flee to Syria by boat The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team raided a property in north-west Melbourne on Friday morning and took the man into custody. He is helping police with their inquiries 'This activity is not related to a current or impending threat to the community,' a police spokesman said on Friday. 'As this activity remains ongoing, it is not appropriate to provide further comment.' A Facebook page set up to provide support for 'incarcerated Muslims in Australia' posted a status on Friday notifying its members of the arrest. The arrest is believed to be linked to the botched plan of five terror suspects arrested earlier this month who planned to sail to Indonesia from Queensland with the intention of reaching Syria 'Another brother in Melbourne has been arrested this morning. Please keep him and his family in your du'a. More details to come soon in sha Allah,' the post on Brothers Behind Bars page read. Five men were charged over a plot where they tried to flee to Syria so they could allegedly join Islamic State earlier this month. Musa Cerantonio, Shayden Thorne, Kadir Kaya and two others were charged with going to Syria to engage in hostile activities after the plot was foiled by Australian police, the ABC reported. The men - aged between 21 and 31- face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted of the charges. Musa Cerantonio, Shayden Thorne, Kadir Kaya and two others were charged with going to Syria to engage in hostile activities after the plot was foiled by Australian police to sail to Indonesia by boat (pictured) Fears are growing for a teenage girl who remains missing after she was last seen bleeding and screaming for help as police shoot dead her suspected kidnapper. Pearl Pinson, 15, is thought to have been taken by Fernando Castro, 19, who was killed by gunfire at a mobile home park in Solvang, California. It came after the sheriff's department in Santa Barbara spotted Castro's gold Saturn sedan driving in Vallejo yesterday afternoon. Scroll down for video Pearl Pinson, 15, left, is thought to have been taken by Fernando Castro, 19, right, who was killed by gunfire at a mobile home park in Solvang, California When the deputies pursued the car, the driver shot at them, stopped, got out and then fled into a different vehicle at the mobile home park. More shots were exchanged before the driver was killed, police said. But despite the shootout missing Pearl has still not been found, two days after she first went missing. Authorities have been frantically searching for her since a witness reported hearing a girl screaming for help as a man dragged her across a freeway overpass in Vallejo on Wednesday morning. Castro's gold Saturn sedan was pictured driving on the freeway and police gave chase California Highway Patrol units chasing Castro in his gold sedan on US highway 101 in southern California Solano County Sheriff Thomas Ferrara said: 'We continue our search, and we hope to find her alive. Authorities described the two teens as acquaintances, but emphasised that they believe Pearl was taken unwillingly. The search was set to continue through the night with an expanded search resuming Friday morning. Authorities feared Pearl was in grave danger based on what the witness told deputies transpired on the pedestrian overpass on Wednesday. When the deputies pursued the car, the driver shot at them, stopped, got out and then fled into a different vehicle at the mobile home park The witness reported seeing a girl with a bleeding face pleading for someone to help her as a man armed with a handgun pulled her along. Officials say the witness ran for assistance and heard a gunshot. Deputies found what appeared to be blood and Pinson's cellphone on the overpass, but she has not been seen since. The social media guru who responded to angry customers that complained about advertisements written in Arabic has been head-hunted by a U.S. workplace messaging company. Dan de Sousa who worked for the Telco company Optus rose to fame after wittingly responding to outraged comments on Facebook which requested Arabic signage at a Sydney store be removed. 'Dan from Optus' is now employed as a senior customer experience agent at Slack in Melbourne. Dan de Sousa (right), the social media guru who stood up to racists on Optus's official Facebook page was head-hunted by U.S. workplace messaging company, Slack 'Following the publicity I received for my Social Media work at Optus, I was approached by Slack to join their new CE team in Melbourne,' Mr De Sousa wrote on his LinkedIn profile. 'After researching the business and the leadership team, I knew this was one of the most inspiring companies I could work with, so accepting the role was an easy decision!' The Melbourne filmmaker who founded multimedia company ShootCutDrop, and lives in Carlton, in Melbourne's inner-city, was approached by a number of recruiters after his comments went viral, reported Mashable. But Mr Sousa found himself drawn to Slack after Marissa Senzaki, Slack's lead recruiter, contacted him. 'When we first started reading these articles about Dan from Optus, we thought 'this guy sounds really awesome,'' Ms Senzaki said. 'His voice was just very informative and we were really impressed with the social stance he took. We thought his values would really align with Slack. 'Dan was a good way to get started in the community here in Melbourne.' Optus decided to re-introduce its Arabic language advertisements (above) after facing a backlash late last year When one woman claimed English was the national language, Mr de Sousa politely pointed out it was actually Australia's 'most common language' Mr De Sousa wrote polite and reasonable responses on the phone company's official Facebook page when it was receiving backlash and staff were threatened over the advertisements in Arabic. 'Australia is a nation full of languages, some 200 plus of them are native to Australia, but English is not one of those native languages. 'I live in Melbourne, a city renowned for its multicultural community, with world famous precincts to celebrate other cultures. We have Lygon St, where you can still hear Italian spoken in a lot of the restaurants. Lonsdale St and suburbs like Oakleigh, where you can practice your Greek. Richmond, known for its Vietnamese restaurants and stores.' Mr de Sousa told other complainants that 'Casula [a suburb in Sydney's west] itself is listed as having over 10% of the population speaking Arabic at home'. 'Optus Dan' has also founded multimedia company ShootCutDrop, and lives in Carlton, in Melbourne's inner-city One customer said Optus had picked the wrong environment to release the ads but Mr de Sousa respectfully disagreed A woman pointed out that Australia is not Islam, but Mr de Souza corrected her by pointing out Islam was a religion When one commenter said they were 'starting to think you are a Moslem yourself, Dan'. He responded with: 'I have no religious ties actually Jason, but it would be an easy assumption to make since I openly display love and compassion, which are among of the values of the Islamic faith - Dan.' Another person complained that 'this is Australia not Islam'. But Mr de Souza calmly replied with: 'Hi Linda, thanks for your feedback. Australia is a country while Islam is a religion.' His comments eventually struck such a chord with Optus customers and the company's Facebook page was flooded with support as they joked they were nominating him for Australian of the Year, the next Prime Minister and suggesting he receive a pay rise at the very least. Other of Mr de Sousa's fans have asked for his hand in marriage. 'I've got a fever and the prescription is more DAN!' one said. 'Dan is a gentleman and a scholar. Well done sir, well done,' another said. Mr de Sousa moved to Australia from New Zealand about seven years ago and primarily makes films about music and skateboarding Another man who is a migrant said it was immigrants who should assimilate but Mr de Sousa said Optus wanted people to know that its staff could help out in any language Another friend shows her support for Mr de Sousa, saying he was a 'quiet and compassionate achiever' Friends and family of Mr de Sousa revealed his real identity after he responded diplomatically and eloquently to the backlash faced by Optus when the phone company decided to advertise in Arabic He has worked with many hip hop and rap artists, such as Mos Def and Pharoahe Monch, and captured performances by 360, Illy and Seth Sentry Friends and family of Mr de Sousa revealed his real identity after he responded diplomatically and eloquently to the backlash faced by Optus when the phone company decided to advertise in Arabic. 'The quiet and compassionate achiever! Dan your zest for social justice is admirable! And it's consistent! Hence my constant support for you, you're a good human,' one friend wrote on his Facebook page. 'Every day I marvel at your never wavering passion for justice to prevail. Nice to see something good making the mainstream media!' 'Pretty much killing it at your job at the moment mate. Well done,' a second friend said. Friends couldn't believe the impact Mr de Sousa was making from his job as a social media manager. 'Bro I read all those posts this morning and thought this guy is brilliant. Just found out its you.... Awesome bro keep up the great mahi,' one man said. 'They're talking about 'Dan the online hero from Optus' on Radio Live today! Karen Haye using your stance against racist morons as a topic of conversation - so proud of ya!' another woman gushed. Mr de Sousa revealed on his Facebook page his Optus bosses were pleased with his savvy social media skills. Mr de Sousa revealed on his Facebook page his Optus bosses were pleased with his savvy social media skills Others could not believe the impact Mr de Sousa was making from his job as a social media manager An Estonian-speaking man put in a request for signs that were in his native tongue A Chinese exchange student who was slashed in the neck and face by a man with a box cutter as she walked to school was reportedly not the intended target of the attack. JiaJia Liang, 16, needed 200 stitches and was left fighting for her life after the brutal attack in December that happened as she walked through New York City's Queens neighborhood. But authorities now say she was the victim of a horrible case of mistaken identity, as the attacker was allegedly hired to stab a different teen girl, according to the New York Post. Scroll down for video JiaJia Liang, 16, a Chinese exchange student (pictured) who was slashed in the neck and face by a man with a box cutter as she walked to school last year was reportedly not the intended target. Photo courtesy of Ron Kim On Thursday, 25-year-old Wilson Lai (pictured right), who is accused of plotting the attack, was arrested. He had allegedly been dating a 14-year-old Asian girl from Queens, and thought she had been cheating on him, when he reportedly hired a man to cut her on the face, authorities said On Thursday, 25-year-old Wilson Lai, who is accused of plotting the attack, was arrested along with 37-year-old Devon Timothy Berkley, of Pennsylvania, who is accused of ambushing Liang on December 16, 2015. A jealous Lai had allegedly been dating a 14-year-old Asian girl from Queens, and thought she had been cheating on him, when he reportedly hired Berkley to cut her on the face, authorities said. Police sources also noted Lai may have plotted the attack because he was upset the 14-year-old girl's brother owed him money, according to the Post. On the morning of December 16, Berkley, wearing a surgical mask, reportedly ambushed an Asian teen girl as she walked to Whitestone Academy. However, he ended up slashing the face of the wrong girl, police said. Authorities said he mistakenly attacked Liang, who had been staying at the home of the 14-year-old girl as an exchange student from China, according to the Post. Liang (left) was left hospitalized after Devon Berkley allegedly slashed her face with a box cutter and took off The assault occurred at 8:16am on December 16, 2015 close to 147th Street and 13th Avenue in Whitestone, Queens, the New York City Police Department said Following the slashing, Liang had to undergo 200 stitches and was previously reported to be living in fear of even leaving her front door. Now, she is just trying to move on from the terrifying ordeal. 'She feels very grateful that the police were persistent and made an arrest,' Assemblyman Ron Kim told the Post on behalf of Liang on Thursday. Kim added that he was grateful for authorities following leads and waiting until they had enough evidence to make an arrest. 'This attack was orchestrated by two deranged individuals and were glad they are off the street,' he said. Lai has since been charged with rape, assault, criminal sex act, criminal mischief, conspiracy, child endangerment, aggravated harassment and criminal possession of a weapon. Following the attack, Liang is now trying to move on. Authorities said the 'attack was orchestrated by two deranged individuals' The rape charge filed against Lai, who has nine prior arrests, stems from his sexual relationship with a minor, the Post reported. Meanwhile, Berkley was arrested in Pennsylvania but has not yet been charged. Police said when investigators searched his home, they found four guns and marijuana, the Post reported. 'I just feel horrible, horrible,' the Cantonese-speaking girl previously told the New York Post through a translator following the slashing. 'Im concerned about going to back to school,' she said at the time, adding: 'The wound is still very painful... I just dont want this to happen to anyone else.' At the age of 28, Bridget Loudon has just left Sydney for New York where she is taking the business she co-founded three years ago to the next level. Considered among the top ten female entrepreneurs in Australia, Bridget Loudon and business partner Elizabeth Yue, are the founders of Expert360, a recruitment company which has attracted more than $5 million in investment funding from groups and individuals, including former Macquarie Bank CEO Allan Moss. Loudon and Yue were staffers at global management consultant firm Bain & Co, when they spotted a flaw in the traditional methods of recruitment marketing and set about exploiting it. Paying just $180 to set up a website and sending out 1000 LinkedIn messages to consultants within 48 hours of their July 2013 launch the partners signed up 700 people and changed the face of the industry. At the age of 28, Bridget Loudon (above) has just left Sydney for New York where she is taking the business she co-founded three years ago to compete with the management consultant firm heavyweights in a $350 billion industry Ellizabeth Yue and Bridget Loudon (pictured) spotted a gap in the management consultancy market and started up their own company Expert360 which has attracted millions from investors and has now opened in New York They now have 7000 management consultants in 92 countries, more than a thousand business users and $15m in projects posted. They are considered a 'driving change' in the $200 billion management consultant market, which had used the same business model for half a century. Loudon, who scored 99.9 in her HSC but said what she had learned since leaving schoool was more important, had already started and then sold her first company by the age of 21. Loudon and Yue met at Bain after they both started at the company in 2010. Bain, like other management consultant firms, employed the the highly costly practice of sending in teams of consultants to advise companies seeking change. A year into their jobs, the two noticed that the common practice of sending in consultants wasn't working for some businesses. Bridget Loudon, pictured with Senator Michaelia Cash last year, has just moved her company to New York where she and business partner Elizabeth Yue plan to take on the $350 billion management consultant industry giants Bridget Loud (pictured) scored 99.99 in her HSC, but said that it was what she had learnt since leaving school that was important and advised other would-be entrepreneurs to have 'self belief' and take calculated risks 'Companies were saying they didn't need a full team but they did need high calibre people,' Loudon told the Australian Financial Review Magazine. She said the conventional model not only didn't suit some companies, but also didn't suit consultants who might have been highly skilled, but wanted work flexibility because they were pregnant, or wanted to work part-time. 'We'll look back in ten years time and say that was absolutely crazy. For me the purpose now is creating a workplace in which people have choice and don't have to step off.' Loudon said her motivating force was a 'hunger to have an impact on society'. BRIDGET LOUDON'S SUCCESS TIPS - AND THE WORST ADVICE SHE'S EVER RECEIVED Business entrepreneur Bridget Loudon, 28, listed her top tips for women wanting to get into business for marieclaire magazine. 1. Self belief: My biggest advice for women to starting a business is to have self belief. The biggest hurdle in achieving something or leaving your corporate job is to have the self belief that things can be done. 2. Resilience: Along the way, 90 to 95 per cent of people from family to friends to investors will say it can't be done but it's having the resilience and the self belief to move past that that is one of the biggest things you need to hold close to you when you're doing this. 3. Worst advice: I think the worst piece of advice I've ever received is "it's too risky for your Bridget, don't do it" And that can be anything from going to start the business to an expansion strategy. 4. Take calculated risks: I think calculated risk is an excellent thing and people see you have a good thing and it works You get advice not to conitnue to push the boundaries, so I think "it's too risky, don't do it is probably the worst piece of advice I've ever had.' 5. Take a break after a bad day: As an entrepreneur it's really important to be able to bounce back from a bad day at work. I think one of the things I do is I just stop and try to relax. Often the tendency is to do more, make more calls, send more emails, but it's so important to be able to manage yourself.What I do is taken an hour out, have a glass of wine and read a book that's not related to my work, speak to friends, do some meditation, have a lie down and just try and switch my brain off for an hour or two. Because recovering from a bad day at work, which we all have, is a really important part of being a successful entrepreneur Advertisement 'We took the best of consulting (the people), stripped away the overhead and inefficiencies and put it on a digital platform to allow clients and consultants to come together in a flexible way to deliver great work (on-site and remotely),' Yue and Loudon say on their Expert360 site. The business partners started Expert360 in 2012 while they were still at Bain, and financed it themselves through savings and their credit cards, before finally leaving their jobs to launch the start-up firm. The company's clients have included Woolworths, AMP, Virgin, Qantas, ebay, Mastercard and Australia Post, but with a third of its business coming from the US, Yue and Loudon decided to set up an office in Manhattan. 'Consulting is a $US350 billion industry and its home is New York, compared to the Australian market which is around $US8 billion,' Loudon told the Financial Review. They now plan to challenge the reigning four management consultant firms in America, their old company Bain, and the other top three, McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte Consulting. It hasn't been all plain sailing. Loudon said she had been told by many people that leaving a safe job and starting up a company was too great a risk, and that 'is probably the worst piece of advice I've ever had'. She said the best advice she could give to young would-be entrepreneurs was 'to have self belief ... and take calculated risks'. The biggest hurdle in achieving something or leaving your corporate job is to have the self belief that things can be done,' she told marieclaire magazine. 'Along the way, 90 to 95 per cent of people from family to friends to investors will say it can't be done but it's having the resilience and the self belief to move past that. 'That is one of the biggest things you need to hold close to you when you're doing this.' Loudon also said that it was important to relax and take time out 'after a bad day'. As an entrepreneur it's really important to be able to bounce back from a bad day at work,' she said. 'I think one of the things I do is I just stop and try to relax. Often the tendency is to do more, make more calls, send more emails, but it's so important to be able to manage yourself. 'What I do is taken an hour out, have a glass of wine and read a book that's not related to my work, speak to friends, do some meditation, have a lie down and just try and switch my brain off for an hour or two.' Two Australians are injured and many more are missing after a speedboat packed with tourists capsized in Thailand. The boat was carrying 32 tourists and four crew members when it capsized off the island of Koh Samui, killing two women including a British national. Thai police said the Ang Thong Explorer was travelling from Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park when it hit a 'big wave' and capsized on Thursday at 5pm local time. Scroll down for video Two Australian tourists were injured when a speedboat capsized off the island of Koh Samui, Thailand, on Thursday evening The Surathani Police Chief Apichat Boonsriroj and other officials visited two injured women around 11am on Friday to check on their welfare One woman is 36-year-old Samantha Jane Bartlett, from Britian, and the other is Australian Sara Samhammer, 32 (it is unknown which woman is pictured) The Surathani Police Chief Apichat Boonsriroj and other officials visited two injured women around 11am on Friday to check on their welfare. One woman is 36-year-old Samantha Jane Bartlett, from Britian, and the other is Australian Sara Samhammer, 32. Both are remain in stable condition at the Bangkok Hospital in Koh Samui. The speedboat was heading back to Koh Samui after a day trip to a marine park when it was hit by a wave The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that two tourists had been injured in the crash. A spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to two Australians injured as a result of a speed boat accident off Koh Samui, Thailand on 26 May. 'The Australian Embassy in Bangkok is working closely with Thai authorities to confirm whether any other Australians may have been involved in the incident and stand ready to provide consular assistance should this be required.' A British woman and a woman from Hong Kong drowned when the boat capsized. At least seven other passengers are seriously injured A woman from Britain and a woman from Hong Kong died in the incident. A senior police spokesman told the Press Association: 'We're still trying to check everyone. One British woman has died and one from Hong Kong. Two people are missing.' He added that the bodies of the two women have been recovered from the sea. Some reports suggested the women died after being trapped underwater and local media indicated the sea was quite rough at the time of the accident. Those on board are believed to be a mixture of Australian, British, German, Romanian and Chinese citizens. The speedboat was packed with 32 tourists when it capsized in rough seas. Some of the tourists were immediately rescued by a passing boat but most had to wait in the water for a rescue vessel The tourists are reported to be a mixture of Australian, British, German, Romanian and Chinese citizens Seven passengers are believed to be seriously injured, according to Thailand's Public Broadcasting Service. Local media reported many passengers were rescued by a passing speedboat, while others were forced to wait for a rescue vessel. A woman caused quite a stir on a Melbourne train when she jumped on completely naked. The unusual sight was filmed by commuter Cam Thompson and shared to a Facebook page dedicated to strange happenings on Melbourne trains, where it has been viewed more than 4,000 times. Mr Thompson describes the woman in the video as a 'butt naked junkie'. Scroll down for video A woman boarded the Metro on Wednesday completely naked. She was later removed by authorised officers and ambulance staff She is seen, if only briefly, travelling on a busy train with absolutely no clothes on. Rather than acting out, the woman stood with the other passengers, appearing to patiently be waiting for her stop, as though nothing was amiss. The train was travelling on the Sandringham line, which travels south from Melbourne City, along the coast past Brighton. A spokesperson from Melbourne Metro said the woman was 'assisted off the train by authorised officers and ambulance staff'. The woman was removed at the Gardenvale stop. Brazilian police are hunting 33 men who gang-raped a 16-year-old girl and posted footage of the attack online. The girl was assaulted by armed men on Saturday while visiting a shantytown on the west side of Rio de Janeiro and did not regain consciousness until Sunday morning. The men, who have been described as drug dealers, posted obscene screen shots of the video on Twitter, some of them featuring their faces, along with profane descriptions of their actions. The girl was assaulted by armed men on Saturday while visiting a shantytown on the west side of Rio de Janeiro and did not regain consciousness until Sunday morning (file pic) The images received hundreds of comments before the Twitter accounts were suspended. Police said they issued warrants for the arrests of four men, including the girl's 19-year-old boyfriend. He and another man, 41, are facing charges of rape, while two other men face charges for the distribution of images of the attacks on social networks, reports The Globe and Mail. The state Public Prosecutor's Office in Rio has received hundreds of complaints from distressed members of the public who saw the images when they were first posted on Tuesday. The Sao Paulo feminist advocacy organisation Think Olga issued a statement on the attack. 'Women worldwide take their own lives when they find themselves in such circumstances, because they fear the same impunity that allows their perpetrators to defame them on social media,' it said. A high profile trader accused of sending a 'sexist' email about ANZ's new chief financial officer has left his job. Angus Aitken left broking group Bell Potter on Thursday, shortly after an email he sent to clients slamming ANZ's decision to appoint Michelle Jablko as chief financial officer was revealed. In the email, Mr Aitken wrote: 'ANZ - that new CFO has to be one of the dumber appointments I have seen.' High profile trader Angus Aitken's (pictured) 'sexist' rant about ANZ's new chief financial officer Michelle Jablko reportedly cost him a job The note went on to say investment bankers 'tend to be crap at most things,' but listed a few male exceptions, including Chris Mackay and Hamish at Magellan Financial Group. ANZ Head of Corporate Affairs Paul Edwards shared a screenshot of the email on social media, adding the caption: 'sexism alive and well in stockbroking'. However, many on social media disagreed with Mr Edwards claim the email was sexist. 'How is this sexist? Doesn't even mention her by name or gender,' one woman tweeted. 'Are you serious? Where is the sexism is that? A highly subjective hypothetical personal opinion. And that doesn't make it sexist!' another person said. 'Sorry Paul, AA no angel but there's no sexism in all in that. purely based on [investment bankers],' a man wrote. A heated debate has been sparked after high profile trader Angus Aitken was left out of a job, with many wondering if the surprising exit was related to a 'sexist' email about ANZ Bank's new CFO Michelle Jablko (pictured) ANZ Bank's head of corporate affairs, Paul Edwards, tweeted the email with the caption 'sexism alive' 'Comments were blunt, frank, harsh etc...but not in anyway sexist and a ridiculous assertion to make,' another added. But others agreed Mr Aitken's comments were sexist. 'Wow! Who was that email sent to?' someone tweeted. 'That's troubling,' another said. Many social media users defended the high profile trader, saying his comments weren't sexist It comes after Mr Edwards said a male in the same role as Ms Jablko wouldn't be subjected to the same level of criticism, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. 'I'm not saying that people ought not to raise questions about appointments but the nature of that article was surprisingly personal,' he told the newspaper. Mr Aitken was employed as head of institutional equities at Bell Potter Financial Group in Sydney. The email was targeted ANZ Bank's new chief financial officer and former investment banker, Michelle Jablko, labelling her 'one of the dumber appointments [he] had seen' (stock image) 'I mean don't get me wrong, we all gets things wrong - look at some of my stock ideas... but hey I am never going to be CFO of ANZ bank either,' the email read (stock image) His controversial email went on to say: 'UK clients last night were completely amazed that they would appoint a CFO whose last major deal was advising Slater and Gordon to buy the Quindell assets form over $1bn last year that are now worth bugger all.' 'I would be surprised if you saw anything but selling of ANZ from UK investors let alone anywhere else. A Melbourne restaurant has been accused of serving a Vietnamese catfish to customers who believe they are ordering Dory. A whistleblower has alleged that Hunky Dory outlets have been selling frozen fillets of basa, a species of catfish native to the Mekong basin, as fish-of-the-day dory, The Age reports. Owner Greg Robotis has denied the claims and said inexperienced staff may have been calling the fish the wrong name. Th Hunky Dory restaurant chain has been accused of selling catfish as fish of the day dory Hunky Dory has denied the allegations and says inexperienced staff may have been calling the fish by the wrong name 'We sell dory all the time. We are not misrepresenting because at the end of the day, fish-of-the day can be anything. We use all types of fish for fish of the day,' he told The Age. Mr Robotis said that basa was used in wraps, burgers and fish bites and was occasionally referred to as 'H-Dory', a term the restaurant coined for the catfish. The City of Port Phillip Council is investigating Hunky Dory following a complaint received on April 27. 'Council is following-up a complaint regarding the Hunky Dory restaurant at 3/181 Bay St, Port Melbourne for an alleged breach of the Food Act,' Mayor Mayor Bernadene Voss said in a statement. 'Council cannot provide further comment while the investigation is ongoing.' The Age report claims that the fish and chip chain, which has seven stores around Melbourne, has been ordering large quantities of frozen basa and telling staff to call it dory. Invoices provided by the whistleblower allegedly showed that one outlet regularly ordered between 60 and 80 kilograms of basa fillets, among other fish, but no dory. Fairfax Media also cited photos that allegedly show boxes of basa defrosting at a Hunky Dory restaurant. Hunky Dory allegedly sold basa (pictured), a species of catfish native to the Mekong basin, to unsuspecting customers Hunky Dory told Daily Mail Australia that the restaurant has sold the product 'Pacific Dory' as one of their regular fish-of-the-day varieties for the past 11 years. 'This product has undergone several name changes over the years including basa, catfish and mirror dory,' the company said in a statement. 'There is no clear industry guidelines for the label of this product and so Hunky Dory has continued to sell it under the commonly sold name of pacific dory.' The company acknowledged this may have 'caused some confusion' among customers, but it maintained it had never sold basa as premium dory. Hunky Dory said starting from Friday pacific dory would be clearly labelled pacific dory (basa). A Melbourne magistrate has ordered two men responsible for 'prankster' terror videos on YouTube to publicly apologise, warning them not to imitate Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's recent apology. The Jalal brothers, Mariwan known as Max, 20 and Arman, 18, won't have a conviction recorded against their name for making the videos which show them cruising through the streets of Melbourne in Arabic dress and carrying fake guns. Scroll down for video Max Jalal, 20, (pictured left) his brother Arman, 18 (pictured right) must make a public apology as part of their punishment for shooting and uploading the controversial videos The young men wore Arabic dress in the video which depicted fake terror activity in Melbourne Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg warned the Jalals to make a better apology than Johnny Depp (left) and Amber Heard (right) did recently Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg instead sentenced both men to a diversion order which states they must be of good behaviour for six-months, according to the Herald Sun. The Jalals were given an hour to prepare the apology which they must read before the court today. 'I'd certainly not be using Johnny Depp as a role model in this case. Compose something appropriate,' Mr Rozencwajg said. The celebrity couple were ridiculed after their apology for bringing their pet dogs to Australia illegally was made public. One of the Jalal Brothers leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court in Melbourne, Friday, May 27 The brothers did not speak at their hearing, and their lawyer didn't dispute the magistrate's comments that the videos were set up The brothers did not speak at their hearing, and their lawyer didn't dispute the magistrate's comments that the videos were set up, with the people running away noted to be family, friends or actors. The brothers initially shot to fame when the controversial drive-by shooting videos were uploaded to social media. They were then arrested in February with a 16-year-old co-accused, charged with public nuisance offences. Two of three of those charges were dropped. They were found guilty of behaving in an offensive manner in a public place. In court Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg said he would 'hate to think that there would be a time in Australia that wouldn't allow satire of issues including politics'. They were found guilty of behaving in an offensive manner in a public place but no conviction will be recorded Donald Trump has renewed his attacks on The New York Times, saying during a Thursday afternoon press conference that the famed newspaper was 'very embarrassed' about a May 14 front-page story chronicling some of his past interactions with women. He told DailyMail.com that he's heartened by testimonials from some of the women the Times quoted who now say their words were misconstrued or taken out of context to make the Republicans' presumptive presidential nominee look like a misogynist. 'I was so honored by that,' he said in Bismarck, North Dakota, before speaking to a crowd of more than 7,000 supporters about his energy-policy agenda. 'Many of the women have come forward saying, "We have great respect for Donald Trump. We really like Donald Trump. That's not what we said. That's not how it was portrayed. And they actually said this was going to be a wonderful piece",' he said. Donald Trump claimed The New York Times is embarrassed and ashamed about a story that framed him as a misogynist SOUR GRAPES? Donald Trump says Barbara Res (right), the woman he once hired in a glass ceiling-smashing move to lead construction of Trump Tower, has taken to calling him a sexist because she's angry he wouldn't rehire her ANGRY: Rowanne Brewer Lane, shown left, was a Trump girlfriend who said the Times went out of its way to put a false spin on the story of how she met Donald Trump Trump has been critical of the Times since the story was published, calling it a 'failing newspaper.' On Thursday he added some new descriptions. 'The New York Times, I can tell you from personal knowledge, is very, very embarrassed. It was a total hit-job,' he said, claiming that the 165-year-old paper of record 'has been totally discredited.' 'But for them to put a story like that above the fold in The New York Times? I can tell you they are very ashamed of that story.' Officially, the paper has stood by its reporting and its reporters. The Times has not retracted the story or appended any corrections to it. But Rowanne Brewer Lane, the story's leading witness against Trump, quickly denounced the Times for spinning a 'false' tale about how she met Trump, with whom she shared a three-month romance. Trump took questions from reporters including one representing DailyMail.com in Bismarck, North Dakota Carrie Prejean was named Miss California USA in 2009 and today says she is a huge fan of Trump, but The New York Times chose an unflattering episod efrom her book to represent her view of the billionaire The Times described that night, a pool party at the billionaire's sumptuous Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, florida, as 'a debasing face-to-face encounter between Mr. Trump and a young woman he hardly knew.' 'Donald J. Trump had barely met Rowanne Brewer Lane when he asked her to change out of her clothes,' the newspaper reported, describing a moment where he offered her a swimsuit to wear at a pool party. Brewer countered that Trump 'never made me feel like I was being demeaned in any way. He never offended me in any way.' 'He was very gracious,' she said during a Fox News Channel interview. 'I saw him around all types of people, around all types of women. He was very kind, thoughtful, generous. You know, he was a gentleman.' Asked if Trump had ever mistreated women, she answered without hesitation: 'Not that I've ever seen. Absolutely without a doubt, no.' Carrie Prejean, a former California beauty queen who declined to give the Times an interview, found herself quoted anyway via her 2009 memoir. The Times excerpted a pageant anecdote about Trump 'inspecting' a lineup of contestants 'closer than any general ever inspected a platoon.' 'It became clear that the point of the whole exercise was for him to divide the room between girls he personally found attractive and those he did not,' Prejean wrote. 'Many of the girls found the exercise humiliating.' FRONT PAGE: Trump was pilloried in the Times story on May 14 The Republican presumptive nominee attacked the New York Times in a lengthy tirade on social media the day after its May 14 story ran, claiming 'everyone is laughing' at the 'failing' newspaper But she insisted that the Times 'took a little tiny thing from my book and they twisted it. And if they would have actually read on, I talk very highly of Mr. Trump.' 'I don't say anything negative about him,' she said during a Sean Hannity radio broadcast. 'He gives women amazing opportunities, and I was one of those women that he helped.' Barbara Res, another woman featured in the Times article, was quoted complaining that the billionaire builder would boast about his reputation as a sexual romeo and needled her about her weight. 'You like your candy,' Res told the Times she remembered him saying. 'It was him reminding me that I was overweight.' Trump put Res in charge of building Trump Tower, a glass ceiling-breaking move in an era when women had not yet run such large construction projects from start to finish. Contrasting with the Times' account, her own 2013 memoir described Trump as 'the least sexist boss I ever had.' And a nearly two-year-long chain of emails between Res and Trump Organization Senior Vice President Rhona Graff showed Res repeatedly asking for another job. When Trump didn't re-hire her, she turned against him. The Trump campaign released copies of the emails after DailyMail.com showed campaign officials the pages from Res's book that contradicted her account in the Times story. 'After she was gone I never took her back,' Trump said Thursday. 'She wanted her job back.' 'She wrote a book in which she says the nicest thing about me. And she wrote me letters saying, "You were the least sexist person, you are not a sexist." Trump painted Lane as a courageous boat-rocker who condemned the Times with no prompting from him. On roof in an effort stop the 1930s Deli manager Janina Groger is sitting on the roof of her shop in Perth The manager of a deli is sitting on the roof in an effort to stop the historic building being bulldozed by a developer to build high-rise apartments. Janina Groger, who works at Malz Deli in Scarborough, Perth, climbed up the building on the corner of Brighton Road and Hastings Street on Friday morning, WAtoday reported. She says her business still has a lease on the property until the end of 2017, but that development company Psaros has already started tearing down the 1930s building. Janina Groger is refusing to come down from the roof of Mal'z Deli in Perth (pictured) The manager of a deli (pictured) is sitting on the roof in an effort to stop the historic building being bulldozed by a developer to build high-rise apartments She says her business still has a lease on the property (pictured) until the end of 2017, but that development company Psaros has already started tearing down the 1930's building Workers started taking down the roof of the house behind and they started to take the roof off our deli as well, she told WAtoday. So I went on the roof to stop them taking any more of our roof off. If we don't have a roof what can we do? Ms Groger said workers started demolishing the house behind, which is connected to the deli, on Thursday. She told the publication that her and her partner Simon Mackenzie spent $280,000 renovating the property, after relocating there in 2012. Ms Groger posted a desperate plea to Facebook on Friday morning. One of W.As biggest developers tries to demolish part of the business where I work without any permission. Ms Groger posted a desperate plea to Facebook on Friday morning (pictured) Ms Groger and her partner Simon Mackenzie spent $280,000 renovating the property after relocating there in 2012 They are trying to kick my boss out so they can put up apartments. I will be sitting on the roof the whole day to stop them from working, until we get what we want, she wrote. Ms Groger said that everyone who joins her will get a free lunch. Psaros Developments will be releasing a statement on Friday afternoon. Two Queensland teenagers have been given 12 months probation after filming themselves driving over a possum until its entrails were hanging out and sharing it on social media. Callum Gibson Mckenzie and Hunter Lawrence Jonasen, both 17, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday. 'It's sadistic, it's insensitive to another animal,' Magistrate Suzette Coates said after viewing the footage and sentencing the teenagers to probation. Callum Gibson Mckenzie and Hunter Lawrence Jonasen, both 17, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday. The gruesome footage shows a terrified possum trapped under the wheel of a car being repeatedly driven over, while a young man wearing sunglasses cheers the driver on. The helpless possum still tries to flee from its vicious captors afterwards, despite having part of its lower half severed and its entrails hanging out. Meanwhile, the man outside the car laughs with glee and takes pictures of the stricken animal on his phone. At the end of the video it shows the teenager crouching down over the now dead animal, with 'The hunted' typed across the frame. The RSPCA were sent the Snapchat video in January, and posted the video to their Facebook page in the hopes of tracking the teenagers down. 'We deem the actions and demeanour of these individuals to be so concerning that it is necessary to disclose this video so that the perpetrators can be held accountable for such an unprecedented act of animal cruelty,' RSPCA wrote on the Facebook post. Footage showed the terrified possum trapped under the wheel of a car as it was run over multiple times RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty told the Brisbane Times the organisation was receiving more animal cruelty cases through social media. 'It is becoming more and more of an issue now, with social media, you get sent these things,' he said. 'It is often difficult to find out where the person is, where it took place. You have no way of finding them, because it is just enormous out there that is why we decided to post this.' An Australian climber who feared she was going to die on Mount Everest has revealed what it takes to 'conquer the mountain'. Di Westaway, an amateur climber and chief executive of female adventure group Wild Women on Top, said no one should tackle Mount Everest without being properly prepared. 'If youre going to climb Everest you really have to be ready for it do your 10,000 hours. It isnt a adventure holiday you can rock up for and attempt,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Scroll down for video An Australian climber who feared she was going to die on Mount Everest (pictured) has revealed what it takes to 'conquer the mountain' 'Its one of those places thats not to be messed with especially once you start going for the summit. Its called the dead zone for a reason. 'The bottom line is it is Mount Everest its the highest mountain on the planet. You have to be ready to take that challenge if you value your life. 'The dead zone is named that for a reason. Youre going to die up there even with oxygen. Climbers have to get in and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible.' The experienced 'amateur climber' was tackling the North Col of Everest five years ago when she had to turn back. Di Westaway, an amateur climber and chief executive of female adventure group Wild Women on Top, said no one should tackle Mount Everest without being properly prepared 'If youre going to climb Everest you really have to be ready for it do your 10,000 hours. It isnt a adventure holiday you can rock up for and attempt,' Di Westaway told Daily Mail Australia Ms Westaway said she was in her tent for three nights fearing the worst, before ultimately decided the climb wasn't worth the risk. 'I couldve taken some more medication and tried to stay longer, but decided it wasnt worth it,' she said. 'It was mothers day the next Sunday, I decided it really wasnt worth it to me in that moment.' '[Everest] is not one of those places thats not to be messed with especially once you start going for the summit. Its called the dead zone for a reason The experienced 'amateur climber' was tackling the North Col of Everest five years ago when she had to turn back Speaking about the tragic death of Melbourne university lecturer Dr Maria Strydom, Ms Westaway said the 34-year-old would have known the dangers. 'She knew the risks you dont go to Everest without knowing them and her poor husband and family have to live with that,' she said. 'I know Maria and her husband had done a few things, but its a really big jump. S*** happens up there, as much as people think they have everything covered things can happen you have no control over. The highest mountain Ms Westaway has climbed in Mount Cook on New Zealand's south island, which has a summit of 3724 metres Ms Westaway said she was in her tent on Mount Everest for three nights fearing the worst, before ultimately decided the climb wasn't worth the risk Speaking about the tragic death of Melbourne university lecturer Dr Maria Strydom, Ms Westaway said the 34-year-old would have known the dangers 'You need at least three months to prepare for Everest, I dont know if Maria did that or not, but your body has to get used to what the conditions will be like.' WHAT DO YOU NEED TO CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST? A minimum of 10,000 hours on mountains around the world Three months in the Himalayas to allow your body to acclimatise Experience on other big mountains To have 'conquered' another 8000metre summit To have a 'life-wish', not a death-wish An understanding of the risks She added people should always be allowed to climb Mount Everest, so long as they have the right level of experience. 'If you banned climbing Everest you would destroy the whole experience. Its a symbol of human endeavour and adventure, that shouldnt be stopped,' the climber said. 'The Everest industry is the source of such great wealth for the people of the Himalayas. The sherpas feed their families and educate their children on the money tourists spend on trekking and climbing. 'Every year when someone dies it becomes news, but banning isnt the answer, education is.' Ms Westaway has climbed six mountains, including Mount Cook in New Zealand, Mont Blanc in France, and others in the South American Andes. It comes after Dr Strydom's husband says she was without oxygen tanks for 20 hours while sherpas desperately tried to save her life - as her friends attempt to raise $40,000 to get her body off the mountain. '[Maria Strydom] (pictured) knew the risks you dont go to Everest without knowing them and her poor husband and family have to live with that,' Dr Strydom (left) died on Saturday while trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest after succumbing to altitude sickness. Robert Gropel described Dr Maria Strydom, 34, as 'the perfect person' while recounting the amazing efforts of the climbing team to get his wife back down the mountain to safety. Dr Strydom died on Saturday while trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest after succumbing to altitude sickness. 'It was a superhuman effort, she was without oxygen for 20 hours ... because of the length of time it took her, and took us to get her down, and it ran out,' Dr Gropel said, the ABC reports. Robert Gropel (right) described Dr Maria Strydom (left), 34, as 'the perfect person' while recounting the amazing efforts of the climbing team to get his wife back down the mountain to safety 'It was a superhuman effort, she was without oxygen for 20 hours ... because of the length of time it took her, and took us to get her down, and it ran out,' Dr Gropel (pictured) said 'She was my motivation idol, my hero, she was a very strong advocate for women, she was the perfect person.' An expert from the Australian School of Mountaineering told Daily Mail Australia Dr Strydom would likely not have had access to any external oxygen such as tanks and other devices climbers carry meaning she was relying on the very low levels in the air. At 8000 metres there is about seven per cent 'effective oxygen' in the air, compared to 21 per cent at sea-level. Dr Strydom's St Michael's Netball Club in Melbourne has set up the For Maria website to raise the $40,000 needed get the Monash University lecturer's body down to Camp 2, then Base Camp, then Kathmandu. Dr Strydom's (pictured) St Michael's Netball Club in Melbourne has set up the For Maria website to raise the $40,000 needed get the Monash University lecturer's body down to Camp 2, then Base Camp, then Kathmandu According to a website set up by the club, it will cost about US$12,000 for a retrieval team to bring Dr Strydom back to Camp 2 on the mountain, and another US$15,000 to transport her via helicopter from Camp 2 to Base Camp and then to fly her to Kathmandu. US$27,000 converts to about AUD$37,500. The family of an Australian backpacker who went missing in Brazil after he left his friend to get a coffee in an airport will be flying to South America to help search for him. Rye's brother-in-law Sam Brodribb said the family of the 25-year-old, from Tasmania, would be flying to Rio de Janeiro soon. 'The family of Rye are deeply concerned for Rye's wellfare and are seeking to travel to Brazil to search for Rye,' he said. Scroll down for video Rye Hunt, 25, (pictured) who is from Hobart was last seen at Rio de Janeiro International Airport about 3.30pm on May 21. His family are planning to fly over to Brazil to find him As the search continues for Mr Hunt continues, the 25-year-old's girlfriend, Bonnie Cuthbert told The Mercury police were going to look over CCTV footage at Rio airport to find any trace of Mr Hunt. Meanwhile Mr Brodribb has started a gofundme page to help raise money for the family's travel costs. He said the money raised would go towards airfares, accommodation, visa expenses, ad hoc expenses and local investigation services in Brazil. Mr Hunt's sister Romany Brodribb told AAP her brother had not accessed his bank accounts since he went missing. The crowdfunding page set up for Mr Rye's family to Brazil has raised $6,000 in less than 12 hours. Mr Hunt, who was working in Western Australia up until April, was last seen about 3.30pm on May 21 at Rio de Janeiro's international airport, by a friend who he was travelling with. Mr Hunt (left) was travelling with a friend Mitchell Sheppard (right). The pair briefly separated at Rio de Janeiro international airport and arranged to meet up half an hour later, but Mr Hunt never returned Mr Hunt's girlfriend Bonnie Cuthbert (right) has launched a campaign on social media to help find him Mr Hunt has not accessed his bank account, social media or been in touch with any friends or family since he disappeared They were planning to travel to Bolivia, when they split up briefly to get a coffee, and arranged to meet up again half an hour later. Mr Hunt's girlfriend, Perth woman Bonnie Cuthbert, has shared a desperate plea on Facebook with an image and description of Mr Hunt, in the hope of locating his whereabouts. He has not accessed his bank accounts, social media, or been in touch with his girlfriend since. Ms Brodribb told The Examiner when Mr Hunt didn't turn up, his friend went looking around the airport, talked to security for hours and returned to the hostel they were staying at to continue the search. 'Nobody has heard from him, including his girlfriend which is very unusual,' Ms Brodribb said. 'We are really concerned for his safety and we are feeling really helpless being back here. We just want to know he is safe somewhere.' Mr Hunt, who was working in the mining industry in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, before he left was travelling through South America with his friend Mitchell Sheppard. Mr Hunt (pictured) was at the airport with a friend, when they split up to get a coffee but he never returned Mr Hunt and Mr Sheppard (left) began their trip in Thailand in April and planned to spend two months in South America, making stops in Cancun and Acapulco among others, before ending their trip in Europe He posted this update to Facebook before he left at the start of April. 'Today I am leaving Western Australia indefinitely, just a quick thank you to everyone that's helped me out along the way,' he said. 'Throwin' a massive Shukkas out to all the gnarley dudes and ladies I met throughout my time in Kalgoorlie and Perth. 'A special thanks to the Millers and the Sheppards for being so accommodating and putting up with all the antics over the past few years. 'Embarking on an adventure now to see the world over the next few months. unsure of what the future has instore for us, stay safe everybody, hope to see you all upon our return.' Mr Hunt (right) is described as 175cm tall with a tanned complexion and dark brown hair. He was last seen carrying a large blue and black traveller's backpack A DFAT spokesman said the Australian Embassy in Brasilia was working closely with local authorities to locate a man reported missing in Brazil The pair began their trip in Thailand and planned to spend two months in South America, making stops in Cancun and Acapulco among others, before ending their trip in Europe. They planned to attend The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, in northern Spain, at the start of July. Mr Hunt's family has filed a missing person report with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Embassy. A DFAT spokesman said the Australian Embassy in Brasilia was working closely with local authorities to locate a man reported missing in Brazil. Mr Hunt is described as 175cm tall with a tanned complexion and dark brown hair. He was last seen carrying a large blue and black traveller's backpack. The president will place a wreath at the centopath, an arched monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park White House said he will not apologize for President Harry Truman's decision to drop an atomic bomb on the city President Barack Obama will become the first American president to confront the historic and haunted ground of Hiroshima on Friday. Obama will pay tribute to the 140,000 people who died from the attack seven decades ago after US forces dropped the atomic bomb over the Japanese city near the end of World War II. The White House has already stressed that Obama will not apologize for President Harry Truman's decision to unleash the awful power of nuclear weapons on a city for the first time in history. Nor will the president dissect Japanese aggression in World War II in what critics have called an 'apology tour' over a decision they said saved thousands of lives. President Barack Obama steps from Marine One to board Air Force One at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Tokoname, Japan on Friday en route to Hiroshima Schoolchildren offer prayers in front of the cenotaph at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. Obama will place a wreath at the monument on Friday Obama instead will look to Hiroshima as a reminder of the terrible toll of World War II and the 'death of innocents across the continents', he said. It is a place, he said, 'to remind ourselves that the job's not done in reducing conflict, building institutions of peace and reducing the prospect of nuclear war in the future.' The president will place a wreath at the centopath, an arched monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park honoring those killed by the bomb on August 6, 1945. A second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki three days later, killed 70,000 more. The president will be accompanied on his visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a demonstration of the friendship that exists between the only nation ever to use an atomic bomb and the only nation ever to have suffered from one. Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, 82, paid her own respects at the cenotaph on Friday morning, well before Obama arrived, lighting incense and chanting a prayer. Tears ran down her face as she described the immediate aftermath of the bomb. 'I could hear schoolchildren screaming "'Help me! Help me!''', she said. 'It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion.' Han Jung-soon, leader of a group of descendants of South Koreans victimized by the 1945 US atomic bombing , holds up a banner at Peace Memorial Park demanding an apology from the US and Japan Demonstrators rally near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park before Obama's arrival on Friday Han Jeong-soon, the 58-year-old daughter of a Korean survivor, was there too. 'The suffering, such as illness, gets carried on over the generations - that is what I want President Obama to know,' she said. 'I want him to understand our sufferings.' Obama's visit is a moment 70 years in the making. Other American presidents considered coming, but the politics were still too sensitive, the emotions too raw. Jimmy Carter visited as a former president in 1984. Even now, when polls find 70 percent of the Japanese support Obama's decision to come to Hiroshima, Obama's visit is fraught. His choreographed visit will be parsed by people with many agendas. There are political foes at home who are ready to seize on any hint of an unwelcome expression of regret. There are blast survivors who want Obama to listen to their stories, to see their scars physical and otherwise. There are activists looking for a pledge of new, concrete steps to rid the world of nuclear weapons. There are American former POWs who want the president to fault Japan for starting the war in the Pacific. Obama will try to navigate those shoals by saying less, not more. The dropping of the bomb, he said Thursday, 'was an inflection point in modern history. It is something that all of us have had to deal with in one way or another.' All six men are in custody and are due to reappear in court in September Five Melbourne men were arrested earlier after towing boat to Queensland A man and woman were among supporters seen leaving the court Murat Kaya, 25, was charged in relation to 'terror tinnie' saga Supporters of a sixth man charged in relation to the 'terror tinnie' saga were seen leaving court on Friday after he was remanded in custody. Murat Kaya, 25, was charged after counter-terrorism raids at a property in north-west Melbourne on Friday morning. He is accused of buying a car, boat and trailer for the purpose of travelling to northern Queensland to flee Australia with intention of entering Syria. Scroll down for video A woman (left) and a man (right) pictured leaving court, were among supporters who attended Murat Kaya's hearing Murat Kaya, 25, was charged after counter-terrorism raids at a property in north-west Melbourne on Friday, accused of buying a car, boat and trailer for the purpose of travelling to northern Queensland to flee Australia The woman who was present during Murat Kaya hearing attempted to shield her face from photographers as she left Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday He appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday facing a charge of preparing for incursions into foreign counties for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities. A woman and man who were seen present during Mr Kaya's hearing were seen leaving the court after the hearing. The woman attempted to shield her face from photographers. He and five other Melbourne men, whose passports had been cancelled, remain in custody. The pair were present during Mr Kaya's hearing were seen leaving the court each with a can of Solo soft drink The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team raided a property in north-west Melbourne on Friday morning and took Mr Kaya into custody They all face one count each of the same charge. Robert 'Musa' Cerantonio, 31, Shayden Thorne, 28, Kadir Kaya, 21, Antonio Granata, 25, and Paul James Dacre, 30 were arrested on May 10 and are all due to reappear in court on September 22. The group of five were arrested near Cairns en route to Cape York towing a seven-metre boat. The arrest related to the botched plan of five terror suspects arrested earlier this month who planned to sail to Indonesia from Queensland with the intention of reaching Syria Earlier, Australian Federal Police released a statement that the community was in no immediate danger. 'This activity is not related to a current or impending threat to the community,' a police spokesman said on Friday. 'As this activity remains ongoing, it is not appropriate to provide further comment.' Musa Cerantonio, Shayden Thorne, Kadir Kaya and two others were charged with going to Syria to engage in hostile activities after the plot was foiled by Australian police to travel to Indonesia by boat (pictured) A Facebook page set up to provide support for 'incarcerated Muslims in Australia' posted a status on Friday notifying its members of the arrest. 'Another brother in Melbourne has been arrested this morning. Please keep him and his family in your du'a. More details to come soon in sha Allah,' the post on Brothers Behind Bars page read. The men - aged between 21 and 31- face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted of the charges. Thirty five years after his infamous assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, shooter John Hinkley Jr. is living a surprisingly 'normal life'. The would-be assassin has been living with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, for 17 days a month since last year - when a judge said he could spend time away from a mental home where he has spent the last three decades. During those visits home, it would be easy for Hinckley to be mistaken for any other Williamsburg resident. Now in his 60s, he can be found at the cinema catching a movie, taking a trip to Colonial Williamsburg or taking in a lecture on art history, such as 'Leonardo da Vinci & the Idea of Beauty' at the local college. Driving around town in his mother's Toyota, he also makes sure to stock up on cat food for his 'pets' - around $100 a month - and can be found in the town's used-record stores or buying yogurt at Sweet Frog. John Hinckley Jr (pictured left near his mother's home last year and mugshot right), who shot President Ronald Reagan, r. is living a seemingly 'normal life' Despite his seemingly mundane routine, Hinckley infamy means his life will never be 'normal.' One reminder of his title as the last person to shoot an American president are the secret service agents who shadow his every move. For years after his unsuccessful assassination attempt, Hinckley wasn't allowed off the hospital grounds in Southeast DC. But since 1999, the courts have begun granting him certain freedoms - allowing him more independence and freedom to leave the hospital grounds. His mother Jo Ann Hinckley pays the $5,000 to $10,000 cost of each monthly visit, using the family's dwindling oil fortune which also covers the costly treatment for her son, the Washingtonian reports. However, his 17-day visits to see his mother come with condition. He is not allowed to use the internet unsupervised and has to schedule his visit into town. When he's not in Williamsburg, Hinckley lives at the St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital, in DC. Every morning he goes out to feed the two dozen feral cats that regularly gather on the grounds waiting to be fed by Hinckley. 'They love me,' he told a psychiatrist last spring. 'They come up to me, get my rub. I pet them all the time.' On March 31, 1981, Hinckley opened fire on Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington DC. The president was hit under the arm and the bullet missed his heart by an inch As Hinckley is gradually granted more freedoms, his doctors admit there have been some slip ups. In 2011, when he was supposed to be watching a movie at the cinema, he went into a Barnes and Noble store and was seen staring at a shelf of books about presidential assassinations. A secret service agent later said it had given him goosebumps. Despite this, many believe it is not a matter of if but when he'll be released from the mental hospital. As the community faces the prospect of him moving full time, some have expressed their concerns. Local real estate agent John Womeldorf always points out the street where Hinckley's 90-year-old mother lives if he's showing a house in the resort community. He doesn't want new homeowners to be surprised after they've moved in. The news has deterred maybe one or two buyers, he said. 'It's been a non-issue.' Not so for others. Cabot Wade, a musician who gave Hinckley guitar lessons, said he never felt Hinckley was violent or dangerous. Nevertheless, he said, 'Nobody will touch him with a 10-foot pole.' In hearings before U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman, doctors have testified that Hinckley's psychosis and major depression have been in remission for decades and that, while he still has a narcissistic personality disorder, its effects have diminished. Psychological testing shows Hinckley's dangerousness is 'decidedly low,' Hinckley's longtime lawyer, Barry Levine, said during the most recent hearings over his release that ran intermittently from late 2011 through 2013. After he began spending time in the community, residents say he has liked taking walks, playing guitar, painting, eating at Wendy's and driving his Toyota. The would-be assassin has been living with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia, for 17 days a month since last year - when a judge said he could spend time away from a mental home where he has spent the last three decades (pictured next to his mother's Toyota) Hinckley has spent three decades in a mental hospital (pictured walking around the gated community near his mother's home last year) Often, as if to avoid detection, he puts on a hat or visor before going out. Last year he was pictured clutching a bottle of soda in his hand and casually dressed, the 61-year-old enjoys his freedom on a stroll on Easter Sunday near his mother's home. Hinckley is rarely seen since his incarceration at a secure metal health facility following the assassination attempt in March 1981. In April, 2014, one of the few times he was spotted in public, emerging from his mother's detached home near the historic town and passed several joggers who were completely unaware of his global notoriety. As part of the conditions of his 17-day release, which could be relaxed further, he is also allowed to drive a Toyota Camry. He has to carry a GPS monitored cell phone and, although unconfirmed, the Secret Service are said to watch his movements from a distance. At least one night per trip, Hinckley also attends group therapy, including at a local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. He told his caseworkers: 'It's really refreshing to be in a group of people who aren't completely out of their minds. Their mental-health problems are more like depression and anxiety. 'They can carry on regular conversations.' He also clicked with another man in the group. 'He has three cats. What else could I ask for?' he said. Hinckley, who takes Risperdal for psychosis which is in remission, and suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, has even had several romantic relationships. His mother Jo Ann, 90, (pictured last year) has been steadfast in her loyalty to her son and has turned mental health campaigner His most significant was with a St Elizabeth former patient Cynthia Bruce, with whom he was said to have had had an 'on again, off again' relationship for more than six years. He even proposed to his girlfriend, with a ring he described as similar to British Princess Kate's, although he initially kept their engagement secret from his family and therapist. But the relationship fell apart shortly after he was granted longer furloughs. But his closest relationship remains with his mother who has stood by her son since being locked away. She has spent a large part of the three decades promoting mental-health awareness and aiding in his rehabilitation. At the time of the assassination attempt she said: 'We were dumbfounded. I did not think any of us would survive'. Mrs Hinckley, who was widowed in 2008, agreed to allow her son to stay at her home as part of his eventual return to society. Neighbors on the quiet, tree-lined street rarely see her and she never talks about her son. When in Williamsburg, Hinckley is a regular customer at fast food restaurants near his home. The young staff at his favourite Wendy's restaurant have no idea of the identity of their customer who usually orders a cheeseburger, fries and coke. All of the servers were born at least two decades after Hinckley Jr's assassination attempt. He was roughly their age, in his early 20s, when he became fixated with actress Jodie Foster, then one of the best known child stars in Hollywood for her portrayal of a teen prostitute in Martin Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver'. A college dropout, he was living off an allowance from his wealthy parents John and Jo Ann who were based in Denver, Colorado. In 1980 Hinckley learned that Jodie Foster was attending Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He began to follow her across country until he was able to establish contact with her on two occasions. A college dropout, he was living off an allowance from his wealthy parents John and Jo Ann who were based in Denver, Colorado when he became obsessed with actress Jodie Foster in 1980 (Hinckley pictured with a gun to his head in 1981, right, and in an undated photo before the assassination attempt, left) Hinckley Jr. believed he could never establish a relationship with Jodie Foster unless he could do something that would draw her attention. On the morning of March 31, 1981, he stood among a small crowd outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Washington DC. Inside the President was addressing a union conference. As Reagan emerged flanked by his security detail Hinckley Jr. opened fire with a six shot .22 revolver. He wounded James Brady, a policeman and a Secret Service agent before his last shot ricocheted off the president's armor-plated limousine and struck Reagan beneath his left armpit as he was being bundled into the car by other agents. The bullet penetrated within an inch of the president's heart. One lung flooded with blood and Reagan,68, lost half his body's blood supply. Doctors said that had the Secret Service not rushed the president to a nearby hospital as quickly as they did, he might have died. A trauma team led by Dr Joseph Giordano was hastily assembled to receive the president. As he was about to be put under anesthetic Reagan joked, 'Please tell me you're all Republicans'. His surgeon Dr. Giordano, a Democrat, replied, 'Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans'. The operation lasted about three hours, and the President's humour continued when his wife Nancy arrived in the emergency room, telling her 'Honey, I forgot to duck'. On the morning of March 31, 1981, Hinckley stood among a small crowd outside the Hilton Hotel in downtown Washington DC. Inside President Ronald Reagan (pictured in 1981)was addressing a union conference. He was shot within one inch of his heart Hinckley Jr did not attempt to flee and was held at the scene where photographers and TV news crews had captured the pandemonium that followed as the shots rang out. In the would-be killer's hotel room police found a letter he had addressed to Foster. 'There is a definite possibility that I may be killed in my attempt to get Reagan,' Hinckley wrote. Foster later said she had never heard of Hinckley Jr. Brady was the most seriously wounded after being struck by a bullet in the head. He was left paralyzed on the left side of his body and later dedicated his life to gun control by starting the Brady Campaign which has been the most vocal campaign to outlaw assault weapons. Police officer Thomas Delahanty and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy recovered from their wounds. Hinckley was charged with 13 offenses but found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 21, 1982. After the attempted assassination, Reagan joked to his wife Nancy: 'I forgot to duck' Prosecutors had argued that he was legally sane and the verdict caused widespread anger among politicians and the public. Several US states rewrote laws regarding insanity while in Montana, Idaho and Utah the laws were scrapped altogether. Hinckley Jr was sent to the St Elizabeth's Hospital, a 300-acre site in Washington DC, where he was diagnosed with narcissistic and schizoid personality disorders. In 1987, after applying to a court for home visits, his hospital room was searched and staff found photos and letters showing a continued obsession with Jodie Foster. He had also tried to find the address of mass killer Charles Manson and became a pen pal of serial killer Ted Bundy. As a result he was denied the chance for home release and his parents, who had moved to Virginia from Colorado, despaired that he would ever be set free. But in 1999 a court granted him limited release to spend time with his parents, elder sister Diane and brother Scott. These ended up being revoked after he was found to have smuggled material about Foster back into his hospital room. By 2005 he was granted permission to spend three nights a month at his parent's home after psychiatrists for the Government agreed his psychotic disorder was in full remission. One condition of the release was for Hinckley Jr to see a psychiatrist once a week in Williamsburg. In the last decade the amount of time Hinckley Jr. has been allowed out has increased as doctors said he was no longer a danger to the public or himself. Last year U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman expanded the length of the home visits to 17 days a month. In a 106-page report he said Hinckley Jr must show he can better integrate himself into the community and socialize with others in Williamsburg before a full release can be considered. Prosecutors found masses of material which showed Hinckley's dark fascination with Foster, trial evidence above. In his hotel room in DC hours after the attack, police found a letter to her in which he wrote: 'There is a definite possibility that I may be killed in my attempt to get Reagan' The judge wrote that allowing Hinckley Jr to have longer home stays could help him find a possible job and make new friends, adding he was satisfied he 'will not be a danger to himself or to others'. But he stopped short of allowing a plea for him to spend 24 days each month with his mother. Friedman wrote that it would be 'unwise' to let Hinckley have more freedom without more evaluation. He warned Hinckley 'continues to exhibit deceptive behavior even when there are no symptoms of psychosis or depression'. Federal prosecutors had wanted a much slower release schedule and had pointed out Hinckley had lied about seeing two movies during one of his release periods. The lies were only uncovered because Secret Service agents were monitoring his movements. Hinckley's lawyer Barry Levine said last year his client was ready to be freed. 'John has demonstrated and continues to demonstrate that the conditions that existed back in 1981 no longer exist today,' Levine told the Washington Post. David Cameron has admitted that figures showing migration to Britain running at more than triple his target are 'disappointing' - but insisted it was a sign of the strength of our economy. The Prime Minister finally commented on the ONS data that found net migration was 333,000 in the year to December nearly 24 hours after it was published. But he denied that he had been dodging addressing one of the biggest issues in the EU referendum campaign, saying he had been 'in meetings' with G7 leaders. The comments came at a press conference wrapping up an international summit in Japan, where leaders issued yet another dire warning that Brexit would be a 'serious risk to growth'. David Cameron commented on the migration figures at a press conference wrapping up the G7 summit in Japan today Mr Cameron had to be asked twice about the migration figures before addressing them. He was initially pressed on why he had not responded to them when they were published, and said: 'At these G7s I have a day full of meetings and then I have a press conference.' Challenged again later to speak about the numbers he said: 'The figures yesterday are disappointing. 'They come at a time when Britain has created vast numbers of jobs. 'It is important to remember there are vast numbers of British nationals in jobs. 'We have had a situation where for some years the British economy has been the growth economy, the job creating economy in the EU. That is one of the things that drives these figures.' He added: 'Let me say this to those who want to leave the single market and cause all the damage that would do to jobs and to growth and investment: I do not believe for one minute that the right way to control immigration is to wreck our economy.' Mr Cameron had to be asked twice about the migration figures before addressing them But Mr Cameron said he believed the 'picture is changing' as the Eurozone gradually recovers. The PM also flatly rejected suggestions from close friend Steve Hilton, his former policy guru in Downing Street, that he would be supporting Brexit if he was not in power. G7 leaders today warned that Brexit would be a 'serious risk to growth' (pictured David Cameron before his press conference) 'I'm not really a closet anything,' Mr Cameron joked. 'I have pretty much had the same view about Europe ever since I have been involved in active politics... 'Our economic interest is such that we should stay in this organisation.' Mr Cameron refused to apologise for blood-curdling warnings about the consequences of Brext, saying it was 'absolutely right to warn people of the risks and the dangers'. He added: 'It is not just me saying there there are economic risks from leaving the EU.' But the premier did say he would step back from making personal attacks against Tory opponents during the rest of the campaign. He also reiterated that he believes 'Britain could thrive' outside the EU. 'I withdraw absolutely nothing I've previously said. Britain is an amazing country. We can find our way whatever the British people choose,' he said. 'But the question for us is not are we a great country, have we got a brilliant economy, have we got talented businesses, have we got great entrepreneurs, have we got amazing universities, brilliant scientists? Can we go on as we have in the past, breaking new boundaries in all these areas? The question is how do we do best?' Mr Cameron insisted the 'Special Relationship' with the US would survive despite a spat with Donald Trump. The PM heavily criticised Mr Trump, now poised to become the Republican candidate in November's presidential election, after he suggested Muslims should be barred from entering America. Mr Trump has since said he has been invited to Downing Street, but aides have indicated he will want an apology. At the press conference today, Mr Cameron said he would be happy to work with whoever is leading the US. 'I believe in the special relationship,' he said. Asked if he would now congratulate Mr Trump on securing the Republican nomination, the PM said he 'would congratulate anybody who could get through those marathon processes'. The declaration issued from the G7 gathering at Ise-Shima is the latest in a series of warnings by international bodies of the dangers of a Leave vote in the June 23 referendum on the UK's EU membership. Prime Minister David Cameron talks with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim as the attend aG7 'family' picture during the last day of the summit meetings in Ise Shima, Japan US President Barack Obama, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, French President Francois Hollande, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and David Cameron wave as they join other leaders of the G7 for a 'family' photo with other invited world leaders at the G7 Summit The document, released on the final day of the two-day summit, describes the referendum as one of a number of 'potential shocks of a non-economic origin' which could hit world growth. 'UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend toward greater global trade, investment and the jobs they create and is a further serious risk to growth,' warned the document, agreed by leaders of the UK, US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Canada. SPAT WITH TRUMP WON'T STOP SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, PM SAYS David Cameron has insisted the 'Special Relationship' with the US will survive despite his spat with Donald Trump. The PM heavily criticised Mr Trump, now poised to become the Republican candidate in November's presidential election, after he suggested Muslims should be barred from entering America. Mr Trump has since said he has been invited to Downing Street, but aides have indicated he will want an apology. At the press conference today, Mr Cameron said he would be happy to work with whoever is leading the US. 'I believe in the special relationship,' he said. Asked if he would now congratulate Mr Trump on securing the Republican nomination, the PM said he 'would congratulate anybody who could get through those marathon processes'. They concluded: 'A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth. 'Escalated geopolitical conflicts, terrorism and refugee flows, are complicating factors in the global economic environment. We have strengthened the resilience of our economies in order to avoid falling into another crisis, and to this end, commit to reinforce our efforts to address the current economic situation by taking all appropriate policy responses in a timely manner.' The comments highlight growing international alarm over the possibility of so-called 'Brexit', as UK voters prepare for the referendum to decide whether to leave the 28-country bloc. Yesterday the referendum debate was stoked by figures showing a record number of jobless EU migrants moving to Britain looking for work had pushed immigration from the European Union to an all-time high. In a hammer blow to David Cameron, official figures showed the total number of EU nationals coming here under freedom-of-movement rules hit 270,000 last year. This included a record 77,000 who came without the offer of a job. It also included a record number of arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria, according to the Office for National Statistics. Net EU migration taking into account the number of European Union citizens who left the UK was 184,000, equivalent to a town the size of Colchester. Overall net migration, including those from outside the EU, was 333,000 in the year to December, the second highest annual level on record. The figures, the last to be released before the EU referendum on June 23, leave Mr Cameron's pledge to cut net migration to the 'tens of thousands' in tatters. Hammer blow for Cameron as EU migration hits record 184,000 A record number of jobless EU migrants moving to Britain to look for work has pushed immigration from the European Union to an all-time high. In a hammer blow to David Cameron, official figures showed the total number of EU nationals coming here under freedom-of-movement rules hit 270,000 last year. This included a record 77,000 who came without the offer of a job. It also included a record number of arrivals from Romania and Bulgaria, according to the Office for National Statistics. Net EU migration taking into account the number of European Union citizens who left the UK was 184,000, equivalent to a town the size of Colchester. Overall net migration, including those from outside the EU, was 333,000 in the year to December, the second highest annual level on record. The figures, the last to be released before the EU referendum on June 23, leave Mr Cameron's pledge to cut net migration to the 'tens of thousands' in tatters. The figures released by the ONS yesterday covered the 12 months to December Leave campaigners said they demonstrated that the only way for Britain to regain control over its borders was to quit the EU. In a stinging attack, Boris Johnson described the figures as 'scandalous' and accused the Prime Minister of undermining democracy by promising to cut migration then failing miserably. The Prime Minister had promised to stop EU nationals coming here looking for work, but backed down in the face of opposition from Brussels. Critics pointed out that his renegotiation deal will only restrict EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits and said it would do nothing to do deter more jobless workers from coming here. When the EU was founded, citizens of other member states could move to the UK only if they had secured a job in advance. Now anyone from within the EU can come here to hunt for work. Mr Johnson said the Prime Minister had been 'cynical' to promise to bring net migration down to below 100,000 while the UK was part of the EU. He added: 'I think (the figures) show the scandal of the promise made by politicians repeatedly that they could cut immigration to the tens of thousands and then to throw their hands up in the air and say there's nothing we can do because Brussels has taken away our control of our borders.' He could face up to two years in jail or a fine of up to $50,000 Gerrard was on his way to Bali for a week-long holiday with 10 friends He was detained after 'joking' he would jump from an AirAsia flight mid-air man Dolden Aaron Gerrard, 25, has been arrested in Bali An Australian man has been arrested in Bali for reportedly threatening to jump out of a plane mid air as it travelled between Sydney and Denpasar. Dolden Aaron Gerrard, 25, could face up to two years in jail or a fine of up to $50,000 under Indonesian law for his 'joke'. He was on AirAsia flight XT-823 on Thursday night when he was allegedly told repeatedly by crew to sit down. Australian man Dolden Aaron Gerrard has been arrested in Bali for threatening to jump from an AirAsia flight 'But instead he stood and yelled, "I will be the first person to jump from the plane right now" ... That created panic among passengers,' Denpasar Airport Authority investigator Ade Yuliana told reporters on Friday. Gerrard was told again to sit down and stop yelling but he ignored the crew's request, Mr Yuliana said. The Sydney man was reported to airport authorities who detained him on arrival. Gerrard and 10 of his friends had planned a week-long holiday in Bali. Mr Yuliana said perhaps the 25-year-old was overexcited about his trip and began acting out, making jokes about jumping out of the plane with his surfboard but 'those words can create panic'. According to the AirAsia report obtained by AAP, Gerrard told authorities he was 'only joking'. Gerrard was arrested on arrival at Denpasar International Airport and could face two years in jail 'I didn't really mean it. During the flight I was with my friend and went to the toilet and then took a walk around the plane.' At this point, he said he was talking with friends about skydiving and made the badly worded joke. He was warned by the crew to not say such words. When he was told that they would call security on arrival, Gerrard allegedly retorted 'we are not afraid of security'. Mr Yuliana said Gerrard could face charges of endangering the security of a flight. Farmer Ian Turnbull has been found guilty of the murder of environmental compliance officer Glen Turner, who he shot on July 29, 2014 at his Coppa Creek property in Moree, northern NSW. The family of Mr Turner say justice has finally been done after what they described as a 'frustrating' trial. Turnbull, 81, was found guilty of murder in the Supreme Court on Friday after a five-week trial. Scroll down for video 81-year-old Ian Turnbull was found guilty of the shooting murder of Glen Turner in July 2014 Mr Turner was shot on a public road at Coppa Creek, near Moree in northern NSW on July 29, 2014 Crown Prosecutor Pat Barrett told the jury Mr Turner was hit first in the neck with a shot that nicked his artery. 'Without saying anything he raised and aimed a rifle at Mr Turner and shot him resulting in Glen Turner being injured to the neck and chin,' Mr Barrett said. His colleague, Robert Strange, had pleaded with Mr Turnbull to allow him to get medical help but the farmer replied: 'The only way he's going is in a body bag.' Mr Turner was then chased around a car for at least 22 minutes before being fatally shot in the back as he tried to make an escape towards a treeline. 'The attack followed years of tension and a legal battle with the environment department over allegations of illegal land-clearing on the Turnbull family's properties,' 9 News reported. During the five-week trial a jury heard how Turnbull confronted Mr Turner and his colleague Robert Strange at the fence line of a his familys property taking photos of burning piles of timber. Glen Turner, 51, (pictured) died after being shot and then chased around his vehicle for at least 22 minutes before being shot again On the night of the shooting, Mr Turner (pictured) and another environmental officer, Robert Strange, were in the area investigating land clearing Mr Turner's widow, Alison McKenzie, cried as the verdict was read out on Friday afternoon Ms McKenzie expressed relief at the verdict and criticised the way Turnbull's defence team had sought to portray the 51-year-old victim Mr Turnbull gave evidence that he pulled out his rifle and shouted 'Turner you bastard, you wanted to put the Turnbulls off their farms and you have done it', and then shot him in the neck. During his submissions prosecutor Pat Barrett told the jury the murder 'was deliberate and considered.' Mr Turner's partner Alison McKenzie and sister Fran Pearce expressed relief at the verdict and criticised the way Turnbull's defence team had sought to portray the 51-year-old victim. A report from the Herald Sun said Ms McKenzie sobbed with relief as the jury announced the guilty verdict. Mr Turnbull showed no expression as the verdict was read out, glancing once at Mr Turner's family. Ms Pearce said the trial was hijacked by the defence and turned into an attack on her brother's character, and a platform for the Turnbull 'dynasty' to express their grievance over native vegetation laws. 'The murderer was portrayed as the victim - a poor, depressed, respectable farmer driven to despair by the Office of Environment and Heritage,' she told reporters outside court. 'In reality, he is a wealthy property developer who simply refused to accept that the law applied to him.' Ms McKenzie (centre) and her sister Fran Pearce (right) speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court on Friday Mr Turnbull's wife Robeena Turnbull (right) was at the Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday as her husband was found guilty of murder Turnbull's defence team argued for a manslaughter verdict on the basis of substantial impairment, saying the farmer had been suffering severe depression at the time. But Ms Pearce said it was 'an insult to any of the people that are suffering depression'. 'Today's verdict does not bring Glen back, but we do take some comfort knowing that justice has been done,' she said. A relieved Ms McKenzie said it had been hard for her to keep quiet and 'listen to all those lies' during the trial. 'The decimation of Glen's character, and we weren't able to stand up and say what a great man he was - that was the hardest part for me,' she said. A sentence hearing has been set for June 15. It was an opportunity for young voters to ask politicians their questions on the EU referendum. But one smooth-talking audience member made the most of the first live televised EU debate by chancing his luck and trying to ask out BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire. During discussions about how travelling between member states would be affected if Britain opted to leave the EU, the man suggested that the mother-of-two host could join him on a trip abroad. Scroll down for video The smooth-talking audience member (pictured) made the most of the first live televised EU referendum debate by chancing his luck and trying to ask out BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire with a cheeky quip During discussions about how travelling between member states would be affected if Britain opted to leave the EU, the man suggested that the mother-of-two BBC journalist (pictured) host could join him on a trip abroad She had told him that he could 'just get up and go anywhere in Europe if [he] wanted to', to which the university motivational speaker agreed that he could 'leave right now if I wanted'. After Ms Derbyshire joked, 'bye!', he responded with his best attempt at asking out the 47-year-old. Dressed in a white t-shirt with a diamond earring and chained necklace, the smiling man believed to be aged in his twenties quipped: 'You can come with me if you want. We can go together.' At first, Ms Derbyshire - who recently documented her battle with breast cancer appeared to overlook his cheeky comment, but the bold attempt didn't fail to get past audience members. The crowd, comprising of around 150 young voters aged between 18 and 29, erupted into laughter and rapturous applause, with some even wolf-whistling and whooping. Ms Derbyshire, a BBC journalist, then broke down into giggles herself as the man called Kayode - told her: 'Don't laugh, I'm being serious.' As the audience settled back down, the host took the proposition in good humour by joking back: 'I haven't got a visa.' Viewers were quick to take to social media to praise the man's attempts, with some calling him the 'smoothest guy on TV right now'. It came on a drama-filled television debate on the EU referendum which saw Brexit-backers clash with MPS and other audience members on a string of issues such as housing and immigration. Held in Glasgow, the debate saw young voters question four politicians on how they will be affected by a vote to leave or stay in the European Union ahead of the referendum on June 23. Former SNP leader Alex Salmond and Labour MP Alan Johnson were on the panel making the case for staying in the EU, while UKIP MEP Diane James and Conservative MP Liam Fox argued for leaving. Ms Derbyshire had told the young voter that he could 'just get up and go anywhere in Europe if [he] wanted to', to which the university motivational speaker (pictured) agreed that he could 'leave right now if I wanted' After Ms Derbyshire joked, 'bye!', the voter responded with his best attempt at asking out the 47-year-old. Dressed in a white t-shirt with a diamond earring, the smiling man quipped: 'You can come with me if you want' At first, Ms Derbyshire - who recently documented her battle with breast cancer appeared to overlook his cheeky comment, but the bold attempt didn't fail to get past audience members, and she later giggled herself During one particular heated segment, Brexit-backer Emily Wood, a music producer from Poole, argued with MPs over the housing situation, claiming her disabled mother could not get the bungalow she needed because migrants had been 'bumped up the list'. Immigration dominated the first live TV debate of the referendum last night - but Ms Wood was told by others in the audience, and Mr Salmond, that she was wrong to make the connection. She said: 'Me and my mum live in a council house. My mum is disabled and needs a bungalow, which there are none in my area. 'Immigrants are bumped up the list... am I right to want to leave?' Yesterday official immigration statistics revealed overall net migration, including those from outside the EU, was 333,000 in the year to December, the second highest annual level on record. Ms Wood clashed with other members of the audience and the panel, including Mr Salmond who insisted: 'I wouldn't make that connection - if we have a housing shortage, we should build more houses... not kick people out of the country' But Ms Wood said: 'How the heck are we meant to house them when we haven't got enough houses as it is? Where are you going to put them? Where?' Another audience member insisted immigrant families had helped 'build this country' but Ms Wood repeated her insistence there were not enough homes in Britain for people who are already here. Viewers were quick to take to social media to praise the man's attempts, calling him the 'smoothest guy on TV' The studio audence, comprising of around 150 young voters aged between 18 and 29, erupted into laughter and rapturous applause, with some even wolf-whistling and whooping at the man's bold request to Ms Derbyshire Former Tory defence secretary Liam Fox used the row as an opportunity to insist Britain could better spend the 10billion a year it sends to the EU on housing and the NHS. The former Tory defence secretary said Brexit would allow 'control' to be brought to Britain's borders and allow the UK Government to set its own priorities. He said: 'Does anybody think we could not use 10billion to help improve the quality of health service, housing or anything else?' He added: 'It's about control, about how we use that money for the priorities of our country.' In the first major TV debate of the campaign, two leading figures appeared to distance themselves from dire Treasury warnings about recession and job losses if Britain left the EU. George Osborne has claimed 800,000 jobs could go and a year-long recession unfold in the event of a leave vote on June 23. But former SNP leader Mr Salmond said there would be 'no economic apocalypse'. Emily Wood from Poole demanded the panel explain how the housing crisis would be tackled while EU migration remained uncontrolled during the first live televised debate ahead of next month's referendum in the heated debate, Ms Wood said: 'Me and my mum live in a council house. My mum is disabled and needs a bungalow, which there are none in my area. Immigrants are bumped up the list... am I right to want to leave?' The panel faced questions in Glasgow, chaired by BBC host Victoria Derbyshire. One audience member said he had 'no idea' what to do because of the poor quality of arguments from both sides. Another accused both sides of making 'petty arguments'. For Leave, former Defence Secretary Dr Fox said there had always been arrangements between the UK and the Republic of Ireland adding 'Why would that change?'. He argued uncontrolled immigration was pushing up house prices in the UK. Ukip MEP Diane James said voting to Leave would give Britain back control over who to allow in to work in Britain and she wanted to see more workers from Commonwealth countries. A woman has won a legal battle to remove her late partner's testicles from his dead body in the hope of using his sperm to have a child. The Toowoomba woman was granted permission to remove his testicles in the Queensland Supreme Court. The woman lodged an urgent application to perform the procedure the day after her fiance died unexpectedly in April, the ABC reported. A Toowoomba woman has won permission to remove her dead partner's testicles in the hope of using his sperm to get pregnant Several of the couple's friends presented evidence in court supporting their desire to have a child together. The two met in September last year, became engaged a month later and were planning to get married in late 2016. At the time of her fiance's death the pair were already trying for a child. The woman hopes to use his sperm to get pregnant via in-vitro fertilization, or IVF. The sperm will be stored at a fertility clinic until she is ready Justice Martin Burns granted the request to remove the testicles but said another application must be made before the sperm was used. He said this would give the woman the chance to think about whether she really wanted to go through with her pregnancy. In the meantime, the man's testicles will be stored at an IVF facility. IVF is a process by which a woman's eggs are fertilised by sperm in a laboratory setting which mimics pregnancy. Lawyers representing the deceased man did not oppose the application. Advertisement President Barack Obama embraced a survivor of Hiroshima today - but stopped short of an apology for the United States dropping an atomic bomb on the city. The U.S. president declared that the world has a 'shared responsibility' to review history and 'curb such suffering' from happening, as it did on August 6, 1945, when 140,000 residents of Hiroshima died when the town was leveled. 'Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima?' he asked. 'We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not so distant past. We come to mourn the dead.' Obama solemnly reflected on the world's first atomic strike and said, 'We stand here in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell. We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry. We remember all the innocents killed across the arc of that terrible war.' Scroll down for video After making his speech at the memorial park, President Obama embraced an elderly survivor of the attack on August 6, 1945 President Obama, left, shook hands with Sunao Tsuboi, who survived the attack who expressed gratitude for the historic visit Today Obama became the first sitting US President to visit Hiroshima, site of the world's first nuclear attack on August 6, 1945 Standing beside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, Obama said the bomb demonstrated 'mankind had the power to destroy itself' Prime Minister Abe said President Obama's visit to Hiroshima today marks a new chapter of reconciliation between Japan and the US President Obama, right, paused briefly and bowed his head as he laid the wreath at the site of the world's first nuclear attack With his stop today at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park following the conclusion of the G7 summit Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Japanese town that was leveled Allied forces during World War II with this stop today at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. He was careful not to recast President Harry Truman's decision to authorize the launch of the war-ending 'Little Boy' bomb 71 years ago as a mistake and instead focused on the legacy of nuclear weapons. During the emotional speech, which was followed by remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Obama expressed a desire to see the end of nuclear weapons after acknowledging the attack 'demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself' At the moving ceremony Obama said, 'Mere words cannot give voice to such suffering, but we have a shared resp to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again.' What happened 'was not fate,' he said. And every act of aggression between nations, every act of terror and of cruelty 'shows our work is never done.' 'We may not be able to eliminate man's capacity to do evil,' he said, 'so nations and the alliances we have formed must possess the means to defend ourselves.' For nations with nuclear stockpiles, 'We must have the courage to escape the logic of fear, and pursue a world without them,' Obama stated. Still it is not enough. 'Even he crudest rifle and barrel bombs can serve up violence on a terrible scale,' he said. 'We must change our mind set about war itself, to prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after they've begun,' the American president said. 'We must reimagine our connection to one another as members of one human race.' 71 years after Harry Truman authorized the attack, President Obama was introduced to some of the survivors who witnessed the terror Tsuboi said he never thought the US President would visit Hiroshima during his lifetime and warmly welcomed Obama to the city Shigeaki Mori, a survivor, second right, who created a memorial for American prisoners of war who died at Hiroshima greeted the president HIROSHIMA: BY THE NUMBERS 350,000: Population of Hiroshima before the bombing, of which 40,000 were military personnel. 140,000: Estimated death toll, including those who died from radiation-related injuries and illness through Dec. 31, 1945. 300,000: Total death toll to date, including those who have died from radiation-related cancers. 1.2 million: Population of Hiroshima today. 31,500: Height in feet from which the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the 'Little Boy' bomb. 2,000: Height in feet at which the bomb exploded 43 seconds after it was dropped. 3,000-4,000: The estimated temperature in Celsius at ground zero seconds after the detonation. 8,900: Approximate weight of the 'Little Boy' bomb in pounds. 1,600: Radius in feet from ground zero in which the entire population died that day. 90: Percent of Hiroshima that was destroyed. 45: Minutes after the 8:15 a.m. blast that a 'black rain' of highly radioactive particles started falling. 3-6: Weeks after the bombing during which most of the victims with severe radiation symptoms died. 10 million: Origami cranes that decorate the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima each year. Obama advocated on behalf of the 'radical and necessary notion that we are a part of a single human family.' 'That is the story that we all must tell. That is why we come to Hiroshima. So that we might think of people we love. The first smile from our children in the morning. The gentle touch from a spouse over the kitchen table, the comforting embrace of a parent. We can think of those things and know that those same precious moments took place here, 71 years ago. Those who died, they were like us,' he stated. The 54-year-old U.S.politician who has dedicated his time in office to achieving nuclear non-proliferation said the scientific evolution of the past century must be accompanied by a 'moral revolution.' 'For this too is what makes our species unique. We're not bound by genetic code to repeat the mistakes of the past. We can learn. We can choose. We can tell our children a different story. One that describes a common humanity. One that makes war less likely and cruelty less easily accepted,' he said. 'Ordinary people understand this I think, they do not want more war. They would rather that the wonders of science be focused on improving life and not eliminating it. Continuing, he said, 'When the choices made by nations, when the choices made by leaders reflect this simple wisdom, then the lesson of Hiroshima is done.' Obama stressed the events of August 6, 1945 should never be allowed to fade from public consciousness. 'The world was forever changed here. But today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace. What a precious thing that is. It is worth protecting, and then extending to every child. That is a future we can choose. 'A future in which Hiroshima and Nagasaki are known not at the dawn of atomic warfare, but as the start of our own moral awakening.' Abe said Obama's visit to Hiroshima opened a new chapter of reconciliation for US and Japan. After his speech, Obama was greeted by two survivors of the devastating attack which destroyed 90 percent of the coastal city, Sunao Tsuboi, Chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization, and Shigeaki Mori, the creator of a memorial for American POWs killed at Hiroshima. Obama held Tsuboi's hand and gave Mori a hug. He then signed the guestbook inside the memorial park and wrote: 'We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.' Hiroshima survivor Toshiyuki Kawamoto said, 'We welcome President Obama. The 80-year-old added: 'I hope this historic visit to Hiroshima will push for the movement of abolishing nuclear weapons in the world.' Speaking earlier at Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station just south of the port city, Obama addressed some of the 3,000 personnel at the base as well as their Japanese counterparts. He then traveled by helicopter to the site where laid a wreath to those who died in the attack on August 6, 1945 and the second strike on Nagasaki three days later. In his speech he called for the reduction in the number of nuclear weapons held by countries across the globe. He said he wanted a 'world without nuclear arms' but admitted it was unlikely to happen within his lifetime. Obama said: 'It's a chance to reaffirm our commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a war where nuclear weapons would no longer be necessary.' Addressing the historic nature of today's events, he said they were 'a testament to how even the most painful divides can be bridged, how our two nations, former adversaries, can not just become partners, but become the best of friends, and the strongest of allies. Former US President Jimmy Carter considered visiting Hiroshima while in office but found it politically impossible During his historic speech in Hiroshima today, President Obama addressed the issue of the use of 'barrel bombs' in the Syrian conflict Obama and Abe speak at the cenotaph for the memorial of victims of the world's first nuclear attack on August 6, 1945 President Obama did not apologize for Harry Truman's decision to authorize the attack which claimed some 140,000 lives President Obama, center, stepped from Marine Force One has he arrived earlier today in Hiroshima, site of the attack in August 1945 'We see the strength of our alliance on display right here,' he said. 'This base is a powerful example of the trust and the cooperation and the friendship between the United states and Japan.' Speaking to US Marines and members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence force, he added: 'Your service right here is rooted in the shared values of today's Japan and today's United States.' Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed Obama's visit claiming it would provide a 'big boost' to efforts to achieve a nuclear-free world. Among those commemorated were 12 US prisoners of war who were being held in the city at the time of the attack. The victims are believed to have been mostly airmen. Japan surrendered six days after the second attack, which has been credited at bringing the war to an end. However, some historians question this theory. Speaking before his arrival, Obama said: 'I'm coming, first and foremost, to remember and honor the tens of millions of lives lost during the Second World War. Hiroshima reminds us that war, no matter the cause or countries involved, results in tremendous suffering and loss, especially for innocent civilians.' President Obama, left, greeted US troops and their families at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, south of Hiroshima before making the historic visit to the site of the first atomic attack on August 6, 1945 where 140,000 died when a B-29 dropped the uranium bomb on the city Addressing some of the 3,000 Marines and their families at the base, President Obama said today's events were an example as to how Japan and the United States, who were former adversaries, 'can not just become partners, but become the best of friends and allies' Obama spoke of the close friendship which has developed between the two countries in front of an audience of US Marines and members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defence force where he described both nations as 'the best of friends, and the strongest of allies' Protesters have gathered near the site where President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will lay their wreaths later today A cenotaph, pictured, marks the spot where the atomic bomb exploded on August 6, 1945 killing 140,000 people in Hiroshima President Obama will lay a wreath at the site where the Little Boy bomb was dropped by a US B-29 on August 6, 1945 to honor the dead OBAMA FACES CRITICISM FOR HIS TWO-TERM-LONG 'APOLOGY TOUR' President Barack Obama has faced years of criticism for what some people have called an 'apology tour', referring to the Commander in Chief's tendency toward making amends with countries the United States has wronged in the past. Following Obama's most recent trip to Asia, where the Obama Administration explicitly said the president would not be apologizing at Hiroshima, criticism started pouring in. 'This guy's middle name is apology, so when he goes there, people are going to perceive this as an apology,' Fox News' Jesse Watters said on Outnumbered. Zalmay Khalilzad, George W. Bush's final ambassador to the United Nations told Politico that Obama has to be careful what he says while in Japan. 'The president needs to be very careful with the words he uses. There is no real apology for what we did,' Khalilzad said. 'I have no problem with going there. It's what he says there that's tricky.' Obama has faced criticism since the start of his presidency for what some people have called an 'apology tour'. During his acceptance speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney brought the criticism to the forefront. 'I will begin my presidency with the jobs tour. President Obama began his with an apology tour,' Romney said, referring to a 2009 trip to Cairo. 'America, he said, had dictated to other nations. No, Mr President America has freed other nations from dictators.' At a previous debate Romney made similar comments. 'President Obama's policies throughout the Middle East began with an apology tour,' he said. Obama called the idea of his presidency being an apology tour 'the biggest whopper that's been told during the course of' his campaign, according to AOL. Still, years later, political leaders, news correspondents and the public are criticizing Obama for similar actions. In a column for the New York Post, former US ambassador for the United Nations John Bolton wrote that Obama's 'penchant for apologizing is central to his legacy'. 'He may not often say, 'I apologize' explicitly, but his meaning is always clear, especially since he often bends his knee overseas, where he knows the foreign audiences will get his meaning,' he said. He added: 'It is, in fact, Obama's subtlety that makes his effort to reduce America's influence in the world so dangerous.' Like Romney, Bolton said that Obamas apology tour started in Cairo in 2009, and has continued on throughout his presidency. He said: In Europe, saved three times by America in the last century, Obama apologized because there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive. And in this hemisphere, Obama said, We have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms, culminating in his recent fawning visits with the Castros in Cuba. He said that Obamas zeal for photo opportunities often comes before the interests of the United States and that he puts his vanity before our nations pride. The White House debated whether the time was right for Obama to break a decades-old taboo on presidential visits to Hiroshima, especially in an election year. But Obama's aides defused most negative reaction from military veterans' groups by insisting he would not second-guess the decision to drop the bombs. The U.S. president said, 'I will not revisit the decision to use atomic weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I will point out that Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe and I coming to Hiroshima together shows the world the possibility of reconciliation - that even former adversaries can become the strongest of allies.' Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, 82, paid her own respects at the cenotaph on Friday morning, well before Obama arrived, lighting incense and chanting a prayer. Tears ran down her face as she described the immediate aftermath of the bomb. She said: 'I could hear schoolchildren screaming: 'Help me! Help me!' 'It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion.' Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, left, prays in advance of President Obama's historic arrival later this morning to Hiroshima Attack survivor Sunao Tsuboi, who met with Obama today, said he does not believe the American president needs to apologize for the bombing. Instead he said he wanted to express his 'gratitude' for the historic visit. He said: 'I never imagined [the President] would come while I am alive. We do not need apologies. I hope that he will present in Hiroshima what is good for the happiness of humankind. 'I would like to join hands with each other through the power of reason and beyond hatred.' Retiree Tsuguo Yoshikawa took a walk in the park, and said it's time for the U.S. and Japanese people to move forward without grudges. Tokyo actor Kanji Shimizu says he wishes a U.S. president would have come earlier. But he's glad that the time has come. He's hoping Obama's visit will help promote world peace. Obama touched down in Hiroshima on Friday after completing talks with world leaders at the international G7 summit in Shima, Japan. Han Jeong-soon, the 58-year-old daughter of a Korean survivor, was also at the park. 'The suffering, such as illness, gets carried on over the generations - that is what I want President Obama to know. I want him to understand our sufferings.' Obama's visit is a moment 71 years in the making. Other American presidents considered it, but the politics were still too sensitive, the emotions too raw. Jimmy Carter visited as a former president in 1984. A poll found that 70 percent of Japanese people supported Obama's decision to visit to Hiroshima. Another survey of just survivors discovered that 80 percent were not seeking an apology. However, North Korea attacked today's visit branding Obama 'a nuclear war maniac' describing the historic event as 'childish political calculation'. The hermit state's official KCNA news agency added: 'Obama is seized with the wild ambition to dominate the world by dint of the US nuclear edge.' At a news conference on Thursday Obama was asked about North Korea's own nuclear aspirations and the outgoing president, due to retire in January, admitted he has 'not seen the kind of progress that I would have liked to have seen,' although the U.S. has at least been successful at mobilizing the international community 'so that their proliferation activities are scrutinized much more carefully. 'And they have far fewer countries that are tolerant of potential actions by North Korea outside of their own program,' Obama observed. 'Having said that, North Korea is a big worry for all of us. They're not at the point right now where they can effectively hit U.S. targets, but each time that they test -- even if those tests fail -- they learn something. And it is clear that ideologically they are still convinced that -- and Kim Jong-un in particular seems to be convinced that his own legitimacy is tied up with developing nuclear weapons.' CHINA DOWNPLAYS PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HISTORIC VISIT INSISTING JAPAN GOT WHAT IT DESERVED IN 1945 The Chinese government today attacked President Obama's historic government claiming Japanese war crimes in Nanjing in 1937 were more worthy of mention than those who died in Hiroshima. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said that the massacre of civilians by Japanese troops in the city of Nanjing deserved greater reflection. He said: 'Hiroshima is worthy of attention. But even more so Nanjing should not be forgotten. 'Victims deserve sympathy, but perpetrators should never shirk their responsibility.' China says 300,000 people died in a six-week spree of killing, rape and destruction after the Japanese military entered Nanjing in 1937, although some respected academics put the number lower. China historian Jonathan Spence, for example, estimates that 42,000 soldiers and citizens were killed and 20,000 women raped, many of whom later died. The state-run China Daily newspaper declared in an editorial on Thursday that the 'atomic bombings of Japan were of its own making'. It accused present-day Japanese officials of 'trying to portray Japan as the victim of World War II rather than one of its major perpetrators'. A model accused of murdering British millionaire Andrew Bush in a jealous rage at his Costa del Sol mansion made an emotional plea to jurors yesterday to spare her a possible 27-year jail sentence. Mayka Kukucova, 26, trembled and wept as she insisted she never wanted to hurt her former lover and wished she had been shot dead instead of the wealthy jeweller during what she claims was a violent struggle sparked by his attack on her. Under Spanish law defendants are always given the chance of making a final speech from the witness stand after lawyers' summing-up. Scroll down for video Mayka Kukucova (centre), a model accused of murdering British millionaire Andrew Bush in a jealous rage at his Costa del Sol mansion, made an emotional plea to jurors yesterday to spare her a possible 27-year jail sentence Kukucova, 26, trembled and wept as she insisted she never wanted to hurt her former lover and wished she had been shot dead instead of the wealthy jeweller during what she claims was a violent struggle sparked by his attack on her Kukucova (pictured left with Mr Bush), allegedly shot the gold dealer after he returned home from a night out with his Russian girlfriend Maria Korotaeva (right) Standing in front of a pile of used tissues after crying throughout the final stages of the trial, the Slovakian beauty said in broken Spanish just a few paces from Mr Bush's daughter Ellie, 21, and sister Rachel: 'I'm very sorry. I didn't want to hurt Andy. If I could change anything I would never have defended myself. 'I was only defending myself. I was afraid because never in my life has anyone tried to kill me. I didn't know what to do. 'I'm vey ashamed about what happened. I've never hurt anyone and I didn't want to hurt Andy. 'If I could change anything I would.' Looking up at the nine jurors sat on the other side of the courtroom in Malaga, she added: 'You are now going to decide what happens to my life. What would you have done in my situation?' Speaking through an interpreter after breaking down as she tried to finish, she concluded: 'If I could change anything I would. I would not have defended myself. Maybe it would have been better if I had died instead.' Andrew Bush's daughter Ellie, sits and contemplates the trial outside the court today in Malaga, Spain Maria Korotaeva, Andrew Bush's girlfriend at the time of his death in April 2014, tries to shield her face from the cameras as she arrives at court Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year sentence for the 26-year-old blonde (left, with Mr Bush), alleging she shot the gold dealer three times when he returned home from a night out with a Russian girlfriend Ms Korotaeva (right, the two together), three months after they split up Kukucova's emotionally-charged address followed closing speeches by lawyers at the start of the fourth day of the trial. She has already confessed to shooting Bristol-based father-of-one Mr Bush with a .38 revolver, but claims the gun went off during a violent struggle as she tried to defend herself after he hit her before producing the weapon. Mr Bush discovered his former girlfriend of two-and-a-half years waiting inside his 2,500-a-month rented property near Estepona after arriving late on April 5 2014 with new Russian girlfriend Maria Korotaeva, 23, for a romantic getaway. Ms Korotaeva told the court earlier this week she left the former lovers arguing inside the house and waited in her boyfriend's Hummer - before Kukucova emerged after 'three noises' which turned out to be shots and fled in the vehicle after claiming Mr Bush had let her take it to the airport. Opening arguments were attended by Bush's sister and niece, as well as Kukucova's parents. Ms Korotaeva, was also present. Ms Kukucova is pictured with the blonde hair The trial got underway at the Ciudad de la Justicia in Malaga and was expected to last three days Mr Bush's daughter Ellie (left) and his sister Rachel (right) were present for the trial. If Ms Kukucova is found guilty of murder she could be imprisoned for 25 years Andrew Bush's sister Rachel (right) and his daughter Ellie arriving at court in Malaga, Spain Eduardo Martinez Martin, prosecuting on behalf of the British businessman's sister and daughter, claimed in his closing speech Kukucova missed the good life she had grown used to during her time with wealthy Mr Bush and had flown into a jealous rage when she saw him arrive by surprise with his new lover at a house she had broken into. Referring to her statement to a Spanish judge soon after her arrest and extradition from Slovakia that her former boyfriend had a shady side, he said: 'Mayka Kukucova has tried to make him out during the lengthy investigation that preceded this trial to be a drugs trafficker, a man who mistreats women, a womaniser. 'He was 48-years-old when he died and he'd had three girlfriends and a wife. 'There's been an attempt to stain his character and that shows she's not repentant for what she's done.' Kukucova was detained on suspicion of 'consumed intentional homicide', before being extradited back to Spain Ms Korotaeva (pictured), 20, told detectives his ex was waiting for them in her pyjamas inside Mr Bush's mansion when they arrived for a long weekend from the UK Following the shooting, Kukucova - a swimwear model - handed herself over to Spanish authorities after being detained in Slovakia on suspicion of 'consumed intentional homicide' Desperate escape: Ms Kukucova drove from the Costa del Sol villa to her home town of Nova Bosaca in Slovakia following the shooting, before handing herself in to police State prosecutor Jose Antonio Nieblas said Kukukova's refusal to let her old life with Mr Bush go after their November 2013 break-up because of her 'emotional and financial dependance' on him - coupled with her fit of jealousy when she saw him arrive with his new lover - had led to the murder. He told jurors the killing was not a simple homicide and Kukucova could be convicted as a murderer under Spanish law because she had reduced his chances of defending himself by gunning him down unexpectedly. Mr Nieblas said he was still seeking a 20-year-prison sentence for Kukucova if she was convicted of Mr Bush's murder - and the private prosecutor said he wanted her jailed for 25 years for murder and two years for breaking into her ex's home. Kukukova's defence lawyer Carlos Larranaga argued jurors should acquit her because she had acted in legitimate self-defence - but proposed a four-year jail sentence for his client in his summing-up if it was felt she couldn't be exempted from further punishment. A website has been launched promoting the BBCs World Affairs Editor as a corporate consultant seemingly in contravention of BBC guidelines on conflict of interest, MailOnline can reveal. The website offered to use John Simpson's 'enviable network' to 'lay the groundwork for corporate activity' and 'assist clients in reaching their business goals'. Simpson is understood to earn more than 100,000 a year at the BBC. His colleagues, many of whom resent his privileged pay package and position, are furious that Simpson appears to be moonlighting. One described him as a law unto himself and above the law. Smoking: John Simpson, the BBC's veteran World Affairs Editor, is pictured on Facebook enjoying a cigar. The account appears to have been removed today Corporate: The page from John Simpson's website advertising his services to the business world as a 'corporate consultant'. The page was deleted yesterday, following MailOnline's investigation Promotion: John Simpson's Twitter page shows him promoting the website and re-tweeting a link the 'consultancy' page. When questioned by MailOnline, his agent said he was 'new to social media and still learning the ropes'. A BBC spokesperson, however, claimed that Simpson did not write his own tweets A senior journalist at BBC News, who did not want to be named, told MailOnline: Its an appalling breach of editorial policy guidelines which apply to everyone on air. On what planet is that not a serious conflict of interest? Anyone else would get sacked. Shelley Charlesworth, a former BBC broadcaster who worked for the corporation for 15 years, tweeted, How is he able to set up consultancy while still being on BBC payroll? Several BBC journalists earn thousands giving after-dinner speeches, but it is rare for any to sell their expertise to corporate clients while remaining at the corporation. Simpson's agent said the journalist had not 'signed off' the services offered on his website, and claimed it was made public by mistake. Simpson has not yet taken on any corporate work, she said. Yesterday, Simpson's Twitter account tweeted the consultancy page of the site, accompanied by the remark, I like my shiny new website. On what planet is that not a serious conflict of interest? Anyone else would get sacked Senior journalist, BBC News There is particular resentment at the timing of Simpsons apparent website launch, coming amid controversy over high levels of pay awarded to BBC stars while the corporation is facing swingeing cuts. In 2014, Simpson reportedly signed an unusually generous contract that effectively allowed him to work for the BBC for as long as he wanted. Simpson's Twitter profile advertises the website. It was also promoted on his public Facebook page, which included pictures of the veteran correspondent relaxing at home with a cigar and a bottle of 'fine wine'. Today, the Facebook page seemed to have been removed. Simpsons agent, Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, claimed that the website had not been viewed or approved by John Simpson, and was not meant to be publicly accessible. Following MailOnline's investigation, she had the web pages in question deleted. When asked why the veteran journalist has repeatedly promoted his business website on social media, she said: John Simpson is brand new to social media and still learning the ropes. This was apparently contradicted by a BBC spokesperson, who separately suggested that Simpson did not write his own tweets and did not know what was published on his website. MailOnline asked if Simpson planned to launch a consultancy business; whether the BBC would investigate the apparent conflict of interest; and who ran Simpson's Twitter and Facebook accounts. In each case, the spokesperson declined to comment. In an official statement, the spokesperson said: 'We have strict guidelines to ensure the impartiality of our journalists which all BBC News staff must abide by'. Simpson himself has not responded to MailOnline's repeated attempts to contact him. Relaxing: John Simpson poses at home with a cigar and bottle of 'fine wine' in a picture posted on his Facebook page. Today, the account appeared to have been deleted Heroic: John Simpson, one of the BBC's most distinguished foreign correspondents, famously came under friendly fire in Iraq in 2003 and reported live from the scene In the online publicity material, which has since been removed, the website boasted that Simpson has built up an enviable network of international experts in the world of finance, communications and couvert operations (sic). Using this network, together with his strong relationships with key media, he offered strategic media outreach to assist clients in reaching their business goals laying the groundwork for corporate activity and providing access to capital markets. Among the many services offered by the journalist was a proposal to assist companies in securing investment by providing strategic advice building a narrative. Others included enthralling after-dinner speeches, featuring light-hearted and amusing tales from his extensive travels. BBC guidelines demand that everyone involved in editorial decisions and programme making is free from inappropriate outside commitments. Under the section on conflicts of interest, the rules say: The outside activities and interests of on-air talent need very careful consideration, particularly in relation to outside writing commitments, public appearances, endorsements of organisations and commercial advertising. Simpsons website advertised the fact that the veteran reporter, who received a CBE in 1991, is one of only two people to have been twice named the Royal Television Societys Journalist of the year. It also pointed out that Simpson, 71, who has a 10-year-old son, holds the distinction of being the BBCs youngest Political Editor and youngest Foreign Correspondent. He has been World Affairs Editor since 1988, it said, and claimed he had reported from 125 countries across the globe, from 41 war zones. The site also stated that he has interviewed numerous World (sic) leaders, some controversial, including Saddam Hussain, Osama Bin Laden, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Yasser Arafat, Colonel Gadhaffi (sic), Ayatollah Khomeini, Robert Mugabe and the Emperor Bokassa. This is not the first time that the distinguished journalist has been caught up in controversy. In 2012, he admitted placing his London house in a Bahamas company controlled by his wife, Dee Kruger, for the purposes of tax avoidance. The arrangement, which exploited a loophole but was not illegal, allowed him to avoid paying inheritance tax or stamp duty when selling the home, which he bought for 1.85million in 2004. When challenged by reporters at the time, he said he had decided to end the arrangement, stating I pay rather a lot of tax. In 2014, he again made headlines when he told the Sun: The BBC is even more grotesquely managed now than it was [60 years ago], with tough women running the place now The BBC is such a nanny and ghastly outfit. Simpsons agent insisted that John has not accepted or committed to a single consultancy position to date, and that he would only do so with full approval from the BBC. She added: 'The website is in a beta trial version currently and has not been viewed or approved by John Simpson. 'Our understanding was that the website was on a testing server and not publicly accessible. 'The text and categories were put in as holding pages by the web developer and are potentially in-factual (sic) and not yet approved. This is the shocking moment a driver appears to hurl racist abuse at a white woman - for crossing in front of his car too slowly. The chaos unfolded at Arena Shopping Park in Rowley's Green, Coventry, on Sunday afternoon, and shows two people yelling at each other as horrified passers-by watch on. The Mercedes driver can be seen wildly gesturing as his passenger and members of the public try to usher him back to his car outside of Tesco. Scroll down for video The driver can be seen gesturing wildly (pictured on the left) and shouting at Arena Shopping Park in Rowley's Green, Coventry, before a member of the public ushers him into his car (right) It is believed he started bombarding the older woman with abuse because she had crossed the road slowly in front of the his car, according to the Coventry Telegraph. In the video, phrases such as 'white people' can be heard as his cursing is censored out. He is eventually guided back to his car where he can be seen lifting his arms threateningly and shouts: 'What you going to do?' After some more shouting, the woman responds with: 'Go and crash your car.' Brian Kavanagh filmed the mayhem when he was shopping with his 14-year-old son. He told the Coventry Telegraph that his son asked him why the man was 'threatening to kill an old lady'. However the driver cannot be heard saying this in the film. He added that it was unexpected - particularly as Coventry is 'such a multicultural city'. West Midlands Police have confirmed they are aware of the video and incident and will be investigating. A pervert loner sparked a mass evacuation when he cooked a bomb in his oven in a bid to kill himself after police found a huge stash of sickening child porn on his computer. More than 300 residents were forced to flee their homes for eight hours after Ian Shingler, 41, frantically called police to say he had explosives and was going to commit suicide. 100 Met Police officers raced to the paedophile's top-floor flat in Rainham, Essex, to lock it down, after Shingler said he had aimed to blow himself up because he was terrified of going to prison. Ian Shingler, 41, sparked an evacuation of over 300 residents after frantically calling the police to say he had explosives in his flat (pictured) in Rainham, Essex, and was going to commit suicide Officers from all over London stormed into jobless Shingler's home to find the oven door had been destroyed and the remains of a powerful homemade explosive device on a baking tray. Tests showed the lethal explosive was 82% pure and had been bought off the internet. They also discovered a kilogram of a deadly white powder called TATP, also known as acetone peroxide and used in the 7/7 London terrorist bombings in 2005, in the maniac's bedroom. Police also found an improvised explosive device, using a nine volt battery, made by Shingler to take his own life as well as a notepad of instructions on making homemade bombs and a suicide note. The explosives were destroyed in a controlled explosion in a nearby field before residents were allowed back into their homes. Shingler was jailed for nine years after triggering the terrifying bomb scare. Over 100 officers from all over London stormed into jobless Shingler's flat to find the oven door had been destroyed and the remains of a powerful homemade explosive device - bought off the internet - on a baking tray He admitted the possession of ammunition and a firearm without a certificate, having an explosive substance under suspicious circumstances and possessing indecent images of children. Shingler, who was found with more than 4,150 indecent images last March, had also tried to shoot himself with an improvised multi-barrel shotgun made of pipes, but the cartridges he had did not fit the makeshift weapon, Basildon Crown Court was told. Michael Morris, defending, insisted he was of 'good character' but he was a loner whose only friend was the internet. Mr Morris said Shingler, who was also into bestiality and horrific snuff movies, alerted police after realising to his horror that he was putting the whole estate in danger with his bomb. The explosives were destroyed in a controlled explosion (pictured) in a nearby field before residents were allowed back into their homes 'He was concerned about his neighbours,' he said. 'He immediately called the police because his intention was to take his own life and he did not want to cause damage or injure his neighbours. 'He didn't really have a clue about what he was doing.' But Judge Jonathan Black stressed the 'seriousness' of the astonishing drama outweighed his state of mind at the time. Judge Black told Shingler: 'It was possible that such an explosion would have endangered the lives of his neighbours and caused serious damage to property. 'It seems to me that it is the seriousness of the offence that must take precedence in this case.' Mr Morris said it was 'a very unusual case' but warned that more similar cases would surface as people live in 'the dream world of the internet'. 'This is a person who needed help and assistance,' he said. 'He has the opportunity to get his life back on track.' Shingler, who was arrested last March for possessing over 4,150 images of indecent children, was jailed for nine years after triggering the terrifying bomb scare (pictured his flat) Shingler was first arrested in March 2015 after his flat was raided by police and thousands of indecent images of children found on his computer. More than 4,150 vile pictures were found and 698 were category A, the worst type, along with 66 films. Officers also recovered a Yahoo search for 'pre-teen dominatrix'. The court heard that Shingler told police at the time: 'I started downloading credit cards details, it gave me a rush. 'Then I moved on to bestiality, then the snuff and the child porn. It made me feel alive.' Mr Morris said friendless Shingler lacked confidence, became isolated and was fascinated with the sinister 'dark web'. He told the court Shingler got a kick downloading and accessing illegal information but he was 'not sexually attracted to children'. Detailed plans that could pave the way for an 'EU army' - the establishment of EU military headquarters and other operational structures - have been drawn up secretly in Brussels but will not be made public until the day after Britain's referendum, it emerged today. The plans are backed byGermany as the first step toward creating an 'EU army'. Britain vetoed a similar proposal in 2011 and David Cameron has repeatedly rejected the idea Britain would sign up to an EU army. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'We will never be part of an EU army. 'We retain a veto on all defence matters in the EU and we will oppose any measures which would undermine member states' military forces.' Leaked details of plans for an 'EU army' today revealed proposals to create a military headquarters. The plans were not due to be distributed until June 24 - the day after Britain's EU referendum Officials have kept the Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy under lock and key and officials working on them are only allowed to make hand written notes while reviewing the material in a specific room. They must leave all phones and computers outside but diplomats' notes were leaked today. The Times today said the proposals are due to be discussed at the next European summit on June 28 but will not be sent to EU leaders until June 24 - the day after Britain votes on membership - to avoid leaks. Extracts from the proposals seen by the paper reveal diplomats insist 'security and defence is where a step change is most urgent' in the EU. And the documents, drawn up by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, reveal officials believe 'in turbulent times, we need a compass to navigate the waters of a faster-changing world'. But Ms Mogherini's spokesman said that the plans 'in no way aim to set up the EU army'. There are mechanisms within the 2009 Lisbon Treaty signed by Gordon Brown that pave the way for creating the military structures. The draft adds: 'The EU can step up its contribution to Europe's security and defence. 'Our external action must become more joined up across policy areas, institutions and member states. 'Greater unity of purpose is needed across the policy areas making up our external action.' Senior Tory and former defence secretary Liam Fox told The Times the leaks made clear Britain's referendum was 'our last chance to stop being dragged into a permanent EU military force'. Prime Minister David Cameron, seen today at the G7 in Japan, has repeatedly insisted Britain will never join an EU army and the Government today said this position was unchanged Remain supporter and former chief of the defence staff Field Marshal Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank told the paper: 'It is silly to have a duplication of Nato... We want to spend the money on defence, not bureaucracy.' Senior Conservative MP Laurence Robertson said: 'The EU Army (as referred to in The Times today) has been on the cards since Maastricht - one reason why so many of us opposed that Treaty.' Ukip leader Nigel Farage recalled comments by Nick Clegg and said fears about an EU army were no longer a 'dangerous fantasy'. Tewekesbury MP Laurence Robertson said the threat of an EU army had been hanging over Britain since the 1990s Maastricht Treaty Nigel Farage said he had been dismissed for raising fear about an EU army in the past but warned it was no longer a 'dangerous fantasy' A Britain Stronger in Europe spokesman said: 'If we leave the EU, they could create a European army as we would not be at the table to veto it. 'The former heads of Nato, MI5 and MI6 have all said our country's national security is threatened if we leave. That's why we're safer remaining in Europe.' This is the shocking moment the son of a Russian Oligarch live-streamed his involvement in a high speed police chase around the streets of Moscow. Ruslan Shamsuarov, 20, the son of a Vice-President of Lukoil, Russia's second largest oil company, broadcast the incident on Periscope while a friend was allegedly behind the wheel of his Mercedes G-63 AMG. According to local media, a traffic police officer spotted the men heading away from a nightclub in the SUV, worth an estimated 110,000. Ruslan Shamsuarov, 20, broadcast the incident on Periscope while a friend was allegedly behind the wheel Shamsuarov, pictured, is the son of a Vice-President of Lukoil, Russia's second largest oil company The officer instructed the car to pull over but the driver allegedly ignored the command and sped away forcing traffic police to give chase. According to local media, the men inside the car can be heard commenting on the police while filming the high speed pursuit. One says: 'He is a piece of s***, this policeman. We are on the way to find other policemen, to find out why on earth they decided to check us.' Later in the video the youths decide to further provoke the police officer who tried to pull them over. They return to the place where police inspectors were located and make a turn through the double white lines in front of where they are standing. A total of six police cars were involved in the pursuit of the luxury vehicle. A total of six police cars were involved in the pursuit of the luxury vehicle, which started on the streets of Moscow (left) before coming to an end in a park (right) The chase lasted around 10 minutes before the men decided to abandon the car and escape the area on foot. They later broadcast another live-stream while they had their IDs checked by police The chase lasted around 10 minutes before the men decided to abandon the car and escape the area on foot. They were later apprehended in a nearby park and arrested, according to Russia Today, and broadcast another live-stream while they had their IDs checked. Local reports said the owner received a fine of 5,000 rubles (50) for his part in the incident. Shamsuarov, who has been dubbed 'petrol boy' by Russian media, shut down his numerous social media accounts following the police chase. In an interview with Life News he apologised for the incident, claiming his friend kept going because he did not want to 'appear weak'. Plane landed at nearby Avalon Airport before returning safely to Melbourne A plane was unable to land at Melbourne Airport on Thursday night after a runway light failure. The tarmac lights switched off for around 30 seconds as a Virgin plane flying from Coolangatta, south of the Gold Coast, prepared to land at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport. The pilots diverted to Avalon Airport, about 70 kilometres away, and refuelled before safely returning to Tullamarine. The tarmac lights switched off for around 30 seconds at Melbourne Airport as a Virgin plane flying from Coolangatta, south of the Gold Coast, prepared to land The lights failed because of a software glitch, according to 3AW. A Melbourne Airport spokesperson told The Age: 'Last night the runway lights went down for about 30 seconds and pilots were asked to hold.' A statement from Virgin said departures and arrivals were briefly suspended at the Airport after a runway light outage. 'After being placed in a holding pattern Virgin Australia flight VA746 from Coolangatta to Melbourne landed at Avalon Airport to refuel before arriving safely at Melbourne Airport,' the statement said. A drugs gang lieutenant spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of his criminal fortune on a collection of luxury watches, expensive cars and two houses. Elliot Hartwell, 33, has been jailed for 14 months after admitting three counts of money laundering at Liverpool Crown Court. Hartwell had only been released from prison last December on parole midway through a 10-year sentence he received after being convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine. Elliot Hartwell, left, was jailed for 14 months for money laundering after Greater Manchester Police found he spent huge amounts of cash from his criminal dealings on luxuries including this 8,000 Rolex, right The court heard he he was part of an organised gang in Stockport that was found to have 3million worth of cocaine. Police inquiries revealed Hartwell had unlawfully acquired the luxury goods with the proceeds of his criminal activities - spending almost 20,000 on watches, 100,000 on cars and 380,000 on two houses. His watches included: A Breitling Chronograph Emergency with titanium bracelet worth around 3,150 A diamond-studded Breitling Chronograph Cockpit with steel bracelet worth around 3,850 A Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust with steel bracelet worth around 3,000 A Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with steel bracelet worth around 8,000 A Frank Muller Conquistador with steel bracelet worth around 2,500 Greater Manchester Police's investigation found Hartwell made the purchases using cash acquired through criminal activity between 2005 and 2007. He was subsequently arrested and admitted the crimes in court yesterday. Detective Sergeant Colin Shackleton of GMP's Serious Crime Division said: 'We have once again demonstrated that crime does not pay. This diamond-studded Breitling Chronograph Cockpit, left, worth 3,850, and a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust, right, worth 3,000, were also bought with Hartwell's drugs cash He admitted three counts of money laundering during a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, pictured 'Hartwell officially declaring a modest income yet was able to extravagantly spend tens of thousands of pounds on expensive watches and houses, funding this from his criminal activities. 'I would like to thank people in the community who have supported us and I would urge them to continue to stand with us in our fight against organised crime. 'I would like to commend the officers whose commitment to disrupting organised crime and has led to this excellent result. 'We will always look to ensure that convicted people do not profit from their offending. Hartwell also bought a Breitling Chronograph Emergency, left, worth around 3,150, and a Frank Muller Conquistador, right, worth around 2,500 'Hartwell's spending spree has now come to an end and he is behind bars where I hope he reflects on his crimes.' During his previous trial, Hartwell was described by the detectives as one of the principal lieutenants of the gang. Prosecution lawyers said the group shipped cocaine into the UK concealed in freight from Spain before being transported to a house in Hazel Grove, Stockport, to be cut and packaged. Armadle Hospital has admitted they failed to notice some of his injuries A hospital who sent a man home with pain killers while his shoulder bone was sticking up into his skin has apologised. Dylan Hancock, 21, was taken to Armadale Hospital south east of Perth, after he was thrown from his motorbike and hit his head on a cement pylon on February 24. Despite an x-ray revealing a broken collarbone, some broken ribs and a suspected hip injury, he was sent home after seven hours with pain killers and his arm incorrectly restrained. Dylan Hancock, 21, was discharged from Armadale Hospital despite suffering from serious injuries after a motorbike accident The day after going to Armadale Hospital, Mr Hancock was rushed to Sir Charles Gairdener Hospital with fluid in his lung area, two broken ribs, two fractures in his right arm and needed a plate and screws put into his collarbone. His mother Barbara Randall told WA Today that while she is relieved her son has recovered, she now wants an investigation into her son's lack of proper care at Armadale Hospital. 'We were lucky our son is now alright but someone else might not be,' she said. Ms Randall said that Armadale Hospital did not x-ray on her son's neck, back or spine and that his wounds were not cleaned. She added that even after a CT scan at Armadle Hospital revealed bleeding into tissue between her son's hip muscle, pelvis and abdomen, they still sent him home. Armadle Hospital has admitted that they didn't refer Mr Hancock's case to senior staff, gave him the wrong restraint for his collar bone as well as failing to notice some of his injuries. Mr Hancock was rushed to Sir Charles Gairdener Hospital with fluid in his lung area, two broken ribs, two fractures in his right arm and needed a plate and screws put into his collarbone Mr Hancock has made an official complaint to Armadale Hospital and his case is being investigated by the Director of Emergency Medicine Despite his serious injuries, he was sent home after seven hours with Panadeine and his arm incorrectly restrained Armadle Hospital has admitted that they didn't refer Mr Hancock's case to senior staff, gave him the wrong restraint for his collar bone as well as failing to notice some of his injuries Health Minister John Day told WA Today that he was concerned at what appeared to be poor communication with Dylan and his family. 'It appears that the plan for Dylan's care, the possibility of surgical intervention, and symptom management prior to the appointment was not communicated appropriately by the ED staff to Dylan or his mother. 'I have been assured that the fundamental importance of good communication with patients at all times has been reiterated to ED staff, and the hospital has apologised to Dylan.' Those include women talking to strangers or failing to wear a hijab It proposes in a new bill that women can be beaten for various reasons The Council of Islamic Ideology has proposed allowing a man to 'lightly beat' his wife if she does not 'dress as he desires', refuses to have sex, or fails to take a bath after her period. The 20-member council is a constitutional body of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, but can only advise the government rather than make laws. Its latest proposals come as part of its own women protection bill, after it rejected Punjab province's controversial Protection of Women against Violence Act, branding it un-Islamic. The Council of Islamic Ideology, led by Chairman Muhammad Khan Sheeran (pictured), has proposed allowing a man to 'lightly beat' his wife if she does not 'dress as he desires' or refuses to have sex It suggests that women can be beaten if they refuse to have sex without a religious excuse or fail to bathe after intercourse and periods. Women should also be beaten for not wearing hijabs, or for speaking so loudly that strangers can hear them, it recommends. Women should also be beaten for not wearing hijabs, or talking to strangers, it recommends (stock image) The bill argues that women should be banned from military combat, welcoming foreign delegations and appearing in advertisements, and must have spousal permission to give monetary support to somebody. Female nurses should be banned from taking care of male patients and there should be no-co-education after primary school, it suggests. The bill advises that a woman must not interact with strangers and that abortion after 120 days should be declared murder. However, it says that a woman can participate in politics without the permission of her parents and that anyone who tries to force women to marry should be jailed for ten years. Sources in the council told The Express Tribune that three of the council members rejected some of the proposals in the bill during heated discussion led by Chairman Muhammad Khan Sheerani. Alton Towers crash victim Vicky Balch has returned to the theme park to visit the 18million rollercoaster which dramatically crashed last year, causing her to lose her right leg. The former dancer visited the Staffordshire-based theme park earlier this month as part of her ongoing therapy treatment to cope with the devastating injuries she received in the horror smash. The 20-year-old was one of five people to be seriously injured when one carriage on the Smiler ride crashed into a stationary cart last June, and was forced to have her leg amputated in a series of gruelling operations. Scroll down for video Vicky Balch, 20, visited the 18million Smiler ride at Staffordshire-based theme park Alton Towers with her mother as part of her ongoing therapy to deal with the rollercoaster crash in which she lost her right leg Miss Balch has now returned to the ride with her mother Karen as part of her ongoing treatment. She was seen arriving at the theme park in a black car, driven by her mother, before making her way across the car park with her new 70,000 prosthetic limb proudly on show. Following the visit, believed to be to the site of the horror crash in the X-Sector area of the park, she was helped back into the family's vehicle. Miss Balch is now able to walk largely unaided thanks to a new motorised bionic leg, made by German company Otto Bock. The prosthetic has allowed her to start exercising again and attempt to return to the life which was shattered by the crash. Talking about her recovery and learning to walk again, she said previously: 'It's not easy some days, I have really bad days but obviously everyone around me and even people I don't know support me so much. 'I don't want to let anyone down. I think I'm scared of letting people down more than anything.' Five people were seriously injured in the horror crash on June 2 last year which left Miss Balch and fellow ride-goer Miss Washington both needing to have a leg amputated. Miss Balch returned to the park as part of her ongoing treatment and was seen arriving at the park in a black car, driven by her mother, before making her way across the car park with her new 70,000 prosthetic limb Miss Balch arrived at the Staffordshire-based theme park in a black vehicle, driven by her mother Karen Miss Washington and her boyfriend Joe Pugh, 19, both from Barnsley, had gone to the theme park for a day trip. Miss Washington nearly died twice in the wreckage of the rollercoaster while rescuers battled to treat her catastrophic injuries. She lost nearly a quarter of her blood while trapped on the ride and had to have emergency blood transfusions as she was taken to hospital. Meanwhile, her boyfriend Mr Pugh also had to be taken to hospital to be treated for severe leg injuries after the metal safety bar on the ride shattered both of his knees on impact. Miss Balch's friend Daniel Thorpe and Chandaben Chauhan from Wednesbury, West Midlands, were also seriously injured. Rescuers had to build a special platform to reach the stricken ride-goers in a rescue mission last more than four-and-a-half hours. Miss Balch has previously accused the theme park of putting 'money before safety' after it reopened the ride in March - just nine months after the disaster. She said: 'I've never wanted it to reopen, that's just the obvious reaction. I'm not angry or bitter about it because I understand it's a business and it's what they have to do. 'It cost a lot of money and they have to reopen it so it is something that needed to happen. I just didn't think it'd be so soon, it's only nine months, it isn't a very long time. 'It's not even been a year, it's only been nine months and we're all still going through everything. Following the visit, believed to be to the site of the horror crash, she was helped back into the family's vehicle Five people were seriously injured in the horror crash on the 18million Smiler ride at Alton Towers which left Miss Balch and Miss Washington, both needing to have a leg amputated. Pictured: The aftermath of the crash 'If it was a worse day, we could've died, worse-case scenario, thank God there were no fatalities. 'But at the end of the day it feels like the money comes before the people on the ride. 'It's not got easier for any of us. It's just hard and then to realise it's opening again it brings it all back.' 'We've not heard the court findings, so they've not heard them either, so how do they know what the HSE have found? 'I just don't think they should've opened it before they even heard the findings.' Ms Balch now has a hydraulic artificial leg and is able to walk short distances unaided but still has physiotherapy twice a week and does exercises to improve her balance. She said she respects that thrillseekers will want to go back on the ride but admitted she will find it difficult to watch. Ms Balch added: 'I personally would never go near it again, but that's obviously because this has happened. 'I went on it for a reason, I suppose because I wanted the fun aspect of it. 'If people want to go on it, it's the same reason I wanted to in the beginning. So it's personal choice really.' Ms Balch (pictured before the rollercoaster crash) now has a hydraulic artificial leg and is able to walk short distances unaided but still has physiotherapy twice a week and does exercises to improve her balance Alton Tower bosses previously said in a statement that they had sought to 'learn every possible lesson' from last June's crash before deciding to recommence operation of the 18million ride. The park's internal investigation found the accident was the result of human error after safety systems on the ride were manually overridden. The theme park says it has made technical improvements as well as changes to training and has informed the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) about the reopening. Gill Riley, Marketing Director at Alton Towers, said: 'We do understand how the injured and their families are feeling and we have been in conversation with the families on an ongoing basis. 'However, as we stated last year, our own investigations did show the ride itself was not at fault and the ride has been independently certified as safe to operate.' The girlfriend of Australian man Rye Hunt, who disappeared from Rio de Janeiro's international airport a week ago, has broken down in a live TV interview with The Project's Waleed Aly. Perth woman Bonnie Cuthbert, who started a campaign on social media to find Mr Hunt, said she 'just knew he wouldn't go away like this'. 'I first realised something was wrong when I got a message from Rye's travel companion Mitchell, and he contacted me telling me that he'd lost Rye in the airport and that started to ring alarm bells to me,' Ms Cuthbert said. Scroll down for video Rye Hunt, 25, (pictured) who is from Hobart was last seen at Rio de Janeiro International Airport about 3.30pm on May 21. His family are planning to fly over to Brazil to find him Mr Hunt's girlfriend Bonnie Cuthbert broke down on Friday's episode of The Project, saying 'I just know he wouldn't go away like this' Mr Hunt (left) was travelling with a friend Mitchell Sheppard (right). The pair briefly separated at Rio de Janeiro international airport and arranged to meet up half an hour later, but Mr Hunt never returned 'We're in close contact with the authorities, we're communicating with the local police, with DFAT and with the Australian Embassy. 'It's such a slow process because of the time difference, it's just taking a very, very long time.' Waleed Aly questioned her about the CCTV footage from the airport, and said he understood the government wasn't releasing it. 'The last that I was told was that they were accessing the CCTV footage but we haven't been updated on the latest on that, we're assuming that because it was a public holiday yesterday that's why we've had no correspondence,' Ms Cuthbert said. 'But that's all we're waiting for, that's what's going to help us with our next move.' Mr Hunt was last seen on May 21 about 3.30pm when he briefly split up from his travel companion, Mitchell Sheppard, to get a coffee. He has not accessed his bank accounts, social media, or been in touch with family or friends since. According to Ms Cuthbert, his phone is also switched off. Mr Hunt (left) and Mr Sheppard (right) has been in Thailand and planned to travel through South America for a few months before ending their trip in Europe Mr Hunt's family is planning to fly to South America to help search for him. Brother-in-law Sam Brodribb said the family of the 25-year-old, from Tasmania, would be flying to Rio de Janeiro soon. 'The family of Rye are deeply concerned for Rye's welfare and are seeking to travel to Brazil to search for Rye,' he said. Mr Brodribb has started a gofundme page to help raise money for the family's travel costs. He said the money raised would go towards airfares, accommodation, visa expenses, ad hoc expenses and local investigation services in Brazil. Ms Cuthbert (right) has launched a campaign on social media to help find Mr Hunt after he disappeared Mr Hunt's sister Romany Brodribb told AAP her brother had not accessed his bank accounts since he went missing. The crowdfunding page set up for Mr Rye's family to Brazil has raised $6,000 in less than 12 hours. Mr Hunt, who was working in Western Australia up until April, was last seen about 3.30pm on May 21 at Rio de Janeiro's international airport, by a friend who he was travelling with. They were planning to travel to Bolivia, when they split up briefly to get a coffee, and arranged to meet up again half an hour later. Mr Hunt's girlfriend, Perth woman Bonnie Cuthbert, shared a desperate plea on Facebook with an image and description of Mr Hunt, in the hope of locating his whereabouts. Mr Hunt has not accessed his bank account, social media or been in touch with any friends or family since he disappeared Mr Hunt (pictured) was at the airport with a friend, when they split up to get a coffee but he never returned In an interview with The Examiner, Ms Cuthbert said she spoke to him only hours before he disappeared. She said Mr Hunt had told her about spending the day before in the slums of Rio, which had significantly moved him. Mr Hunt then told her he they would speak soon and he loved her. Mr Hunt's sister Romany Brodribb told The Examiner when Mr Hunt didn't turn up, his friend went looking around the airport, talked to security for hours and returned to the hostel they were staying at to continue the search. 'Nobody has heard from him, including his girlfriend which is very unusual,' Ms Brodribb said. 'We are really concerned for his safety and we are feeling really helpless being back here. We just want to know he is safe somewhere.' Mr Hunt, who was working in the mining industry in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, before he left was travelling through South America with his friend Mitchell Sheppard. Mr Hunt and Mr Sheppard (left) began their trip in Thailand in April and planned to spend two months in South America, making stops in Cancun and Acapulco among others, before ending their trip in Europe He posted this update to Facebook before he left at the start of April. 'Today I am leaving Western Australia indefinitely, just a quick thank you to everyone that's helped me out along the way,' he said. 'Throwin' a massive Shukkas out to all the gnarley dudes and ladies I met throughout my time in Kalgoorlie and Perth. 'A special thanks to the Millers and the Sheppards for being so accommodating and putting up with all the antics over the past few years. 'Embarking on an adventure now to see the world over the next few months. unsure of what the future has instore for us, stay safe everybody, hope to see you all upon our return.' Mr Hunt (right) is described as 175cm tall with a tanned complexion and dark brown hair. He was last seen carrying a large blue and black traveller's backpack A DFAT spokesman said the Australian Embassy in Brasilia was working closely with local authorities to locate a man reported missing in Brazil The pair began their trip in Thailand and planned to spend two months in South America, making stops in Cancun and Acapulco among others, before ending their trip in Europe. They planned to attend The Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, in northern Spain, at the start of July. Mr Hunt's family has filed a missing person report with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Embassy. A DFAT spokesman said the Australian Embassy in Brasilia was working closely with local authorities to locate a man reported missing in Brazil. Mr Hunt is described as 175cm tall with a tanned complexion and dark brown hair. He was last seen carrying a large blue and black traveller's backpack. A party of students risked their lives as they posed for a photograph just metres away from the edge of a crumbling cliff where a huge chunk had plummeted into the sea. Around 20 students crawled to the edge of the treacherous chalk cliffs along the Seven Sisters coastline, East Sussex, while a member of the group stood back and snapped a photograph on a smart phone. They posed for the picture yards from site where a massive 250ft sheet of chalk plunged into the sea just weeks ago. The group of students thought to be foreign could be seen lining the edge of the cliff (pictured) as they posed for a photograph A school group picnics dangerously on the beach - although it is not know if it is the same group that posed on the clifftop - while walkers go close to the edge above at Birling Gap, which is also part of the Seven Sisters national park Students were also seen snacking below nearby Birling Gap - but it is unknown if it was the same group. Last night coastguards and safety campaigners slammed the group - believed to be foreign students on a cliff walk - for ignoring clifftop warnings and putting their lives at risk for the sake of a photo. Paul Legendre of the RNLI Newhaven described the risky shot as 'insane'. 'No photograph, however scenic, is worth risking your life for and this picture could very well have been the last record of the lives of 20 or more students,' he said. 'It only takes a split second for the whole of the chalk edge they are lying on to split away and they would have all plunged to their deaths and we would have been looking at an alright tragedy. 'Efforts are being made to establish the identity of the group but it is thought they are a foreign group who were on a clifftop walk.' He said: 'Those cliff tops are so precarious. Anyone going to edge is really taking their life in their hands. I can't believe the stupidity of a whole group of students doing it - it's insane.' This shocking picture was taken from the Belle Tout lighthouse which has been converted into a B&B which attracts hundreds of visitors each year. It clearly shows the students - which were between the ages of 16 and 19 - lying on the edge of the cliff near the South Downs Way on the approach to Beachy Head. It is unknown which school they had come from. The RNLI and coastguards are advising people to stay at least 100m away from the edge and avoid the cliff base. They say a decent photograph can be taken of the views from this distance and no-on should risk their life by getting too close to the edge. Walkers and sightseers have been urged to stay away from the cliff edge along the whole coastline after a series of dramatic falls in recent years. Around ten metres of cliff was lost at the Seven Sisters national park as thousands of tons of chalk plummeted onto the beach and sea (pictured) The landslide - which is believed to be the biggest fall at the park in the last ten years - just a few seconds after the chalk chunk broke off Photographs and video footage released earlier this week showed the latest fall at Birling Gap when a huge slab of chalk sheered off the cliff face and crashed to the beach below. The fall - one of the largest in the last 50 years - saw around seven foot of Britain's coastline disappear in a fraction of a second. Sussex University geologist Dr John Barlow said it was one of the biggest recorded falls in recent years. He said: 'Wave energy weakens the cliff base which weakens the rock but there are also other factors such as salt crystals and ice getting into the chalk. 'Ice expands and causes cracks while salt crystals get wet and then weaken the entire face. 'We are gathering data for councils to improve safety because unstable cliffs are a danger, not just for those walking on them but those walking under them as well.' In March, a photographer was snapped perching dangerously near the side of Birling Gap (pictured) At Birling Gap, the National Trust had to demolish an ice cream parlour and sun lounge that were perilously close to the edge after a large section of the soft chalk cliffs came away in the winter storms of 2014. Jane Cecil, the Trust's general manager for the South Downs, said: 'The speed of erosion at Birling Gap has been breathtaking.' Further along the coast in Dorset, Charlotte Blackman, 22, from Derbyshire, was crushed to death by falling cliffs as she walked along a beach near Bridport. Marco Rubio is defending his decision to cast aside dire warnings he made during the primaries about the threat he said Donald Trump posed to the republic now that he says he'll attend the GOP convention in Cleveland would even consider speaking on behalf of Trump. 'I want to be helpful. I don't want to be harmful, because I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president,' Rubio told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday. It is common for politicians to have to walk back past statements made in the heat of a primary campaign, but Rubio has more ground to cover than most, having labeled Trump 'wholly unprepared to be president of the United States,' and having gone after him as an 'erratic individual' with 'no ideas of any substance on the important issues.' In the interview, Rubio declined to revisit his many differences with Trump by saying he spent nearly a year discussing them already, saying, 'I think they're well understood.' Rubio said he'd help the Republican nominee win the White House. 'I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president. If there's something I can do to help that from happening, and it's helpful to the cause, I'd most certainly be honored to be considered for that,' he said. Rubio took to Twitter to push back against a column in the Washington Examiner that said Rubio 'doesn't have the courage to stand up for his stated convictions.' 'Far from being an inspirational moral leader, Rubio has shown himself to be more of an opportunistic politician with his finger to the wind,' wrote Philip Klein in the article, headlined 'Donald Trump has exposed Marco Rubio.' Rubio tweeted Friday that it a 'funny piece,' then said it was 'easy to be a "keyboard cowboy."' Keyboard cowboy: Rubio pushed back on an article that called him an 'opportunistic politician' Despite his turnaround, the one role Rubio said he won't take on is that of running mate. Rubio self-accessed that he 'wouldn't be the right choice' for Trump's ticket. 'He won the nomination and he deserves to have a running mate that more fully embraces some of the things he stands for,' Rubio told CNN. Scroll down for video ON BOARD: Marco Rubio says he'll attend the Republican nominating convention and would even be willing to speak on Donald Trump's behalf from the stage BACKHANDED COMPLIMENT: Trump later said on Twitter, 'Poll data shows that @MarcoRubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida. Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!' Two months after his White House dreams were dashed, Rubio has come around to the idea of a Trump presidency. 'I'm gonna go to the convention. I don't know if I'll have a role in the convention, but I have a lot of people going there that were supporters,' he told Tapper in an interview that will air in full on Sunday morning. Asked if he'd give a speech if asked, Rubio said, 'Yeah. I want to be helpful.' Rubio said he'd release his 167 delegates to Trump now that he's officially the GOP nominee and holding on to them would be 'irrelevant.' He reiterated his position on Friday in a tweet that said, 'If you can live with a Clinton presidency for 4 years thats your right. I cant and will do what I can to prevent it.' Playing defense: Rubio took to Twitter to defend his decision to back Trump, after calling him a 'con man' during the campaign Taking liberties: Rubio says there are only two 'legitimate' candidates on the ballot, though libertarian Gary Johnson says he'll be on the ballot in 50 states After the clip aired Trump gave him a backhanded compliment on Twitter, tweeting, 'Poll data shows that @MarcoRubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida. Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!' Rubio is facing increasing pressure to stay put in the Senate. CNN reports that Republicans, worried about their tenuous majority in the U.S. Senate, are asking the Florida senator to reconsider his retirement. The 45-year-old politician isn't budging, and the filing deadline for the race less than a month away. 'It's unlikely,' Rubio told Capitol Hill reporters on Thursday. 'I haven't had time to talk to about it, but my sense of it is nothing has changed,' the senator added. He told Tapper it's a 'safe assumption' he'll run for office again one day in some capacity. 'I can tell you I enjoy public service. If there's an opportunity to serve again in a way that I feel passionate about, I'll most certainly think I would explore it,' he said, according to CNN. 'But I don't know where I'm going to be in two years. I don't know what my life will look like then.' Rubio dropped out of the presidential race on March 15, after losing his home state primary to Donald Trump. He planned not to run for Senate again The No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn publicly joined the chorus calling on Rubio to run on Thursday. 'It's obviously a very personal decision, but I think it be good for the party, it would be good for the Senate I'd like to see him do it,' Cornyn told CNN. 'I hear a lot of buzz around here from members and others; that's a conversation we need to have.' Behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, CNN said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell surveyed a room full of Senate Republicans to see who wanted Rubio who was not in attendance to enter the race. Nearly everyone raised their hands, while the top Republican encouraged Rubio's colleagues to exert a little peer pressure on the former presidential hopeful. Later, the news network spotted Sen Roger Wicker cornering Rubio on the Senate floor. 'It is a very real development,' Wicker said, saying Rubio running again in Florida was 'certainly within the realm of possibility.' Rubio dropped out of the presidential race on March 15, the night of the Florida primary, after being crushed in his home state primary by the now-presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump. Long before bowing out, Rubio said he would not be running for re-election. He used that as an excuse when political rivals hammered him for missing votes, as he often opted to be out on the campaign trail instead of Washington, D.C. It was also widely reported that he was just not that into his job, with some associates even saying that he 'hated' it. 'I don't know that "hate: is the right word,' he was qouted as saying in an October report in the Washington Post. 'I'm frustrated.' But now, even as Rubio's popularity at home took a hit because of his presidential run, he's still a known name and can bring in donations. Other Florida Republicans in the race do not have his incumbent advantage in the purple state either in a year that could see Democratic turnout go up. Hopefuls on the Republican side include Lieutenant Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a close friend of Rubio's, whose interest in the race might color the sitting senator's decision, Reps. David Jolly and Ron DeSantis and two men from the private sector, Carlos Beruff and Todd Wilcox. The Democrats, meanwhile, have Reps. Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson in the running. Rubio told Florida reporters Thursday, 'We need to make sure we get behind the right candidate in the primary to win. As I said, I think Carlos Lopez-Cantera is a very good candidate. The Libertines star Pete Doherty (left) was good friends with Alan Wass (right) who died from a heroin overdose in April 2015, aged 33 An inquest into the death of rock star Pete Doherty's friend was dramatically halted when a witness was arrested on suspicion of injecting a fatal heroin overdose. Guitarist Alan Wass, 33, a close friend of The Libertines co-frontman, 37, died in April last year after an overdose at his flat in Ladbroke Grove, west London. However, Westminster Coroner's Court heard that it was physically impossible for one-time band member Wass to inject the class A drug because he had an arm injury and a fear of needles. Witness Martin Dillon, who was in Wass's flat that day, originally told the inquest that he did not see who injected his friend. But under fresh questioning, Dillon admitted that he saw Norman Campbell, 57, inject Wass as he sat down in a chair in his flat. Coroner Fiona Wilcox adjourned the inquest and Campbell was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and has been bailed until July. Talented musician Wass became notorious following the death of Goldsmith heiress and documentary maker Robyn Whitehead, 27, who died of a heroin overdose hours after filming him and Doherty smoking crack cocaine. Earlier the coroner's court heard that Wass had been drinking all day on April 15 last year with Dillon, when they bumped into Campbell and another drug user, Marcel Donald. They returned to Wass's flat where they drank and took drugs. Donald filmed the scene, which was shown to the court, but stopped shortly before Wass was injected. In the transcript of a 999 call made by Donald, he said: 'He's in a bad way. He's overdosed. I think he's just taken some heroin. I had my back to him. I don't know what was going on. 'He's not breathing at all normally. He's just laying on the floor. It was about 15 to 20 of heroin.' The court was then shown a second video, also recorded by Donald, where paramedics tried to resuscitate Wass. Mr Wass, pictured with wife Liza on their wedding day, died at his flat in Ladbroke Grove, west London, last year Just before his death, Mr Wass (pictured in 2005) was seen leaping around the living room with his guitar He was taken to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, but died 11 days later. Giving evidence, Donald told the court that he 'could not recall whether there was ever any drugs in the flat'. But Dr Wilcox said: 'In your statement to police at the time, you assumed that Norman (Campbell) had injected Alan with heroin and had left because he had collapsed - is that true?' Donald replied: 'I cannot recall.' Dr Wilcox said: 'You don't want to be accused of being a grass. Is that correct?'Donald mumbled: 'It's an assumption,' but then denied being threatened by Campbell. When Dillon gave evidence he at first said he had injected himself but didn't see who injected Wass 'because I was crashed out asleep.' Dr Wilcox then made the court, which was still filled with Wass's friends and family, re-watch the video of Wass singing and playing guitar moments before his overdose. Questioning Dillion again she asked: 'Alan received an injection of heroin and collapsed straight afterwards. Is that correct? 'And is it true that it was administered just as he sat down in the chair? 'Did you hear him ask, "I want Norman to do it"? Mr Wass (centre) was a friend of Pete Doherty (left) and the pair were often seen together during the latter years of his life The inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court (pictured) was dramatically halted when a witness was arrested on suspicion of injecting a fatal heroin overdose 'Is it true that he could not inject himself and that's why he asked Norman? 'He asked for a clean needle and asked Norman to inject him? 'You saw him do it?' To each question Dillon replied 'Yes'. Dr Wilcox asked why his latest evidence in court, under oath, did not match the statement he had given to police. He said: 'Because I was scared. I was still under the influence and I didn't know what to do.' The hearing was abruptly adjourned while Campbell was questioned by DC Francis outside the courtroom and then arrested. Today is the second occasion Dr Wilcox has had to adjourn the inquest. In July last year she ordered the Met to re-analyse the DVD recordings to see if if was possible to hear who Wass asked to inject him. She also issued a warrant for the arrest of Donald who had failed to turn up to give evidence. Commenting on the arrest of Campbell, who was due to give evidence at the inquest, a Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Detectives investigating the death of Alan Wass have arrested 57-year-old man on suspicion of manslaughter. 'He was arrested on Wednesday May 25, during Mr Wass' inquest held at Westminster Coroner's court. 'He was taken to a central London police station and subsequently bailed to a date in early July. The Slovakian swimwear model who shot dead a British millionaire has been branded as a 'murderous cow' by the man's former wife. Mayka Kukucova faces 22 years in jail after being found guilty of murdering jeweller Andy Bush in a jealous rage on the Costa del Sol. She shot her former boyfriend three times after lying in wait for the 48-year-old and his new girlfriend. On Friday afternoon Mr Bush's former wife Sam Mason attacked Kukucova on Twitter for her actions. She wants her to 'rot' in prison, called her 'low life scum' and spoke about the devastation her family has suffered. Andy's ex-wife Sam Mason (pictured) said the family and their daughter were 'devastated' by his death Sam Mason's message on Twitter about today's court verdict where she calls Kukucova 'low life scum' The former BBC Bristol presenter tweeted on Thursday a photo of herself and Andy after giving birth to Ellie now aged 21 Her tweet said: 'Twenty years for the murderous cow. Hope she rots. At no stage has she apologised to my girl. Blaming Andy, low life scum.' The couple had one daughter, Ellie, during their time together. Speaking to the Mirror, she said: 'I'm so glad this long, arduous journey is finally over. My heart is with our darling daughter, my brother, sister and mother-in-law. 'No sentence would be enough for the complete devastation she has caused our family.' The former BBC Bristol presenter tweeted on Thursday a photo of herself and Andy after giving birth to Ellie now aged 21. She said: 'Daddy and daughter. How can any1 ruin this? Verdict tomoz. My dear girl,no daddy. Heartbroken forever.' Guilty: Mayka Kukucova, 26, faces 22 years behind bars for shooting her former boyfriend Mr Bush after lying in wait for the 48-year-old and his new girlfriend Justice: In a statement outside court in Malaga, Mr Bush's daughter Ellie (pictured left holding his sister Rachel's hand), said: 'She's finally got a little bit of what she deserves after what she's put this family through' Killer: Mayka Kukucova, 26, was today convicted of murdering Mr Bush six months after he dumped her - and found love with another, younger woman Infatuation: Kukucova dated the jeweller - nicknamed the 'King of Bling' - for two and a half years after he gave her a job in one of his Gold Trader shops in Bristol Love match: Just a matter of months after they split, Bush began dating Maria Korotaeva - a stunning Russian university student who was just 20 years old Kukucova begged the court to believe her story, that she had shot Bush in self defence during a fight when he had interrupted her as she had returned to the property to collect some clothes. But her pleas fell on deaf ears and it took less than a day to convict her of murder. For Bush's daughter Ellie and his sister Rachel, it is the end of a two-year battle for justice. 'She's finally got a little bit of what she deserves after what she's put this family through,' she said. 'It's been a tremendous ordeal to go through. 'We are just glad now that this chapter is finally done and we can move forward with our lives knowing that we got the justice we came here to get. 'We're really happy with the verdict here today. We came a long way to get where we are.' Now the family are just left to rue the day the jeweller set eyes on the seductive swimwear model four years ago. He gave Kukucova a job in one of his Gold Trader Shops in Bristol - and she struck gold. Just 22 years old, she was less than half the age of the loan shark pawn broker, who was known to his customers as the 'King of Bling'. High maintenance: Bush began seeing Kukucova in 2012, after his relationship with mother of his daughter Samantha Mason broke down Enraged: But her erratic behaviour quickly began to worry his family, and came to the fore on a holiday to celebrate the businessman's daughter Ellie's 18th birthday in Dubai Violence: The jeweller's daughter and sister looked on in horror one night on the trip to Dubai as she flew into a blind rage, screaming at him and then threw a handbag at him Rages: Bush bundled her into a taxi and sent her back to the hotel room where they were staying where she is said to have put his Apple computer under a tap in revenge for their row But their relationship quickly became turbulent as she threw tantrums, flew into jealous rages and constantly checked his computer and mobile phone. When he dumped her and began dating an even younger model she spiralled out of control, shooting him dead at his Spanish villa. Andy Bush was never a man to keep a low profile. The former body builder, who worked out with a personal trainer twice a week, wore designer labels and had a permanent tan, lived in the sleepy Welsh market town of Chepstow. But his five-bedroom home, which he bought in 2002 for 320,000 near Chepstow racecourse in rural Monmouthshire, was not discreet. It was surrounded by a seven-feet high wall, had electronic gates, reinforced steel shutters on all the windows and doors, security cameras and even Rottweiler guard dogs. On paper Bush did not appear to be a millionaire. He officially had four businesses but three of them were dormant and his only trading company Bigwig Enterprises barely broke even. His 2013 accounts showed profits of 21,040. However, according to news reports, two of his shops in Bristol were targeted by armed raiders, who made off with 500,000 in jewellery and diamonds, and he always walked around town with a couple of minders. He also had a fleet of expensive cars including a red convertible Ferrari and a grey Lamborghini as well as a top-of-the-range Hummer, which he kept at his Spanish villa in the seaside village of Cancelada, on the coastal strip near Malaga once known as the Costa del Crime. Spanish police say he did not have a criminal record. During the 1990s he met Ms Mason, a news presenter for ITV's HTV channel in Bristol, who was two years his junior. They had daughter Ellie in 1994. The couple split up a few years after her birth but remained friends. She has now moved to Yorkshire. It was after they separated that Bush developed a penchant for younger women: he began dating Kukucova, his sales assistant in 2012 but the relationship was far from smooth-sailing. New love: As he moved on from his relationship with Kukucova, the successful father-of-one met Russian Maria at a branch of Costa Cafe in Bristol, studying human resources at the University of the West of England Stalked: By this time, Bush had a restraining order out against his former lover - but Maria, who is only a year older than his daughter, claims possessive Kukucova was tracking him using the Find My Friends phone app New model: Bush split with Kukucova in October 2013. By Christmas, he and Maria were an item, but the Russian, now 22, claims Kukucova was a dark shadow over the early stages of their romance His daughter Ellie, who worked part-time for her father, says that Kukucova was 'extremely insecure' and 'could not control her anger' she was even jealous of his relationship with his daughter. 'She was always worried about him being with other women,' Ellie told the Mail on Sunday in an interview after his death. 'He couldn't leave the shop to get a coffee without her following him. She would check his computers as soon as he walked away and go through his phone all the time.' Her erratic behaviour began to seriously worry his family when they visited Dubai in September that year to celebrate Ellie's 18th birthday. On one occasion she threw a temper tantrum in a Dubai shopping mall. 'We were out shopping and there were loads of things Mayka wanted to buy,' said Ellie. 'But Andy said: 'No.' She went into a blind rage, screaming, and threw a handbag at him. 'She did it purposely to hurt him and then stormed off. We didn't see her for a few hours. It was a common thing.' Towards the end of the holiday, she even destroyed Bush's laptop. 'She stamped all over it,' said his sister Rachel, who also worked in his shops. 'Then she put it underneath a tap and put it back in the case. 'When we got back to England, Andy realised but he tried to ignore it. He thought he could change her. Mayka cannot control her anger. She was like a little child. It was regular behaviour every time we were together. 'I was in hospital once and she pretended that the taxi crashed on the way so that everyone was asking if she was OK when she got there. But there was no taxi crash. She has to be the main attraction.' Final straw: Kukucova was tracking her former lover's social media and police in Spain believe pictures of him with Maria (pictured) sent Kukucova over the edge Shooting: In April 2014 when Bush and Ms Korotaeva decided to spend the weekend at his holiday home on the Costa del Sol to celebrate their five month anniversary they had no idea his ex-lover would be there Kukucova was even jealous of his relationship with his family she told his sister that she was 'jealous that Andy has got a daughter' and she removed all the family photographs from his house. 'I said to Andy: 'Where have the pictures gone?',' said Rachel. 'She had taken them. She's not stable.' In September 2013, Kukucova went even further: Bush arrived at his house to find her handcuffed with a pillow over her head. She claimed that she had been overpowered by armed burglars. Police were called but there was no appeal for witnesses, no description of the gang and no Crimewatch reconstruction. The family suspected her from the outset because the alleged robbery took place shortly after the couple had rowed Kukucova had hid his passport to stop him going to the Middle East on business. 'The robbery came at a time when their relationship was basically over,' added Ellie. 'She was psychotic. I said to her: 'You're mental. You need to be locked up.' 'She suddenly became very clingy and would say: 'Oh, Andy, I can't sleep at night, I'm so scared.' It was all very strange. She was the only person in the house when it happened.' The following month, the couple finally broke up but Kukucova did not take the split well. She posted a series of videos on YouTube featuring the couple kissing and hugging - including screen grabs of loving text messages they had exchanged set to Celine Dion music. She implored her ex-lover to 'forget everything bad' saying: 'Days without you don't have meaning' and 'Let's be together forever.' But by Christmas she had been replaced in Bush's affections by Maria Korotaeva, a Russian student he met at a branch of Costa Cafe in Bristol. She was a human resources student at the University of the West of England, who was just a year older than his daughter. By then Bush had taken out a restraining order against his ex-lover but Maria believes that she was still tracking him after finding the Find my Friends app on his mobile phone. Happier times: But when Bush and his new younger lover arrived, they found Kukucova at the property and a fight broke out in which Bush was shot in the face and thigh Bling: Former body builder Mr Bush wore designer labels and had a permanent tan. He lived in a five-bed house in Chepstow, Wales, surrounded by a seven-feet high wall, had electronic gates, reinforced steel shutters on all the windows and doors, security cameras and even Rottweiler guard dogs Plot: Kukucova fled the property and ordered Ms Korotaeva (pictured) to get out of her boyfriend's 60,000 Hummer and got their suitcase out of the boot before driving off Last moments: Ms Korotaeva (pictured) said she was then locked out of the property and her mobile phone batter was dead so she was unable to call the police Love: She has revealed how the couple were 'talking about how much we loved each other' as they arrived at the villa, but then she realised something was terribly wrong 'I saw the App because I would often use his phone, but he had no idea what it was,' she said in an interview with The Sun after his death. 'The email address used to activate it wasn't his. The only explanation is that she set it up when they were together. Andy told me to delete it, so I did.' It is Maria's photographs on Facebook and Instagram of the couple together which, police believe, pushed Kukucova over the edge. She found her opportunity when the couple decided to have a romantic getaway to celebrate their fifth month anniversary at his Spanish villa. On the way to Bristol airport, Bush presented Maria with a 10,000 diamond ring, saying he wanted to discuss 'something important' that night. But, the conversation never took place. When they arrived at the villa in the early hours of April 5, 2014, laughing and 'talking about how much we loved each other', they were greeted by his spurned lover, who was lying in wait. 'As soon as Andy switched on the lights I knew there was something wrong,' Maria added. 'There were bras and knickers hanging on a clothes rack in the entrance. My heart started thumping I had a feeling someone was in the house. Run: After the murder Kukucova dumped the Hummer in Marbella and travelled to Madrid where she was met by a former boyfriend from Slovakia. The pair travelled by coach to her home country where she handed herself in to the authorities Extradition: Four days later Kukucova - pictured with a mystery man shortly before the killing - was sent back to Spain to face justice where she was remanded in custody before her trial Murder scene: Her ex-lover's body was found in a pool of blood at the villa (pictured) by Ms Korotaeva, who watched Kukucova calmly walk out the house and demand the keys to the car, before fleeing the scene 'I followed Andy in and there was a suitcase on the floor with a pair of stilettos inside. I turned and went upstairs. When I got to the top I could see her. She looked calm and stayed very still, like a rock. 'The image will haunt me for life. She stood there, staring at me. She had her hair down and was wearing pyjamas tiny shorts and a little flimsy vest top. I could just see her silhouette. I screamed and ran out of the house.' After sitting in the 60,000 Hummer for a few minutes, Bush emerged and told her: 'It's OK darling, don't worry. Call the police and tell them to come now.' But her battery was dead. 'I decided that he'd be able to sort it out,' she added. 'So I waited.' Within minutes Kukucova had shot her boyfriend three times with an Italian-made .38 Amadeo Rossi revolver one shot hit him in the arm; the others in the head. The police are uncertain where she got the gun, as the serial numbers had been sawn off. 'I could hear shouting and then I heard a bang, then another bang-bang,' she said. 'I thought it was something being thrown down the stairs, maybe a TV or the luggage. 'Then Mayka came out of the house. She had the keys and said: 'Get off the car.' She was so calm that it sends chills down my spine. I was furious. I didn't think Andy would give her the keys. Tears: She will be sentenced at a later date - but is expected to be jailed for up to 22 years for murder. Kukucova's parents have reportedly sold their home in Slovakia to pay her legal fees Hug: Bush's daughter Ellie (left) and his sister Rachel (right) were in court for the trial. They had doubts about Kukucova's wild temper tantrums and say she has got the verdict she deserved 'But when she told me he wanted me to go inside and see him, I decided that he was desperate to get her away from the villa. Mayka said: 'Andy wants to speak to you, he is in the toilet.' 'So I got out and started to walk to the door. Then the car sped off and I realised the front door was closed. I shouted for Andy to let me in but there was no answer.' After trying in vain to get into the villa, Maria charged her mobile at an outdoor socket. She then called Bush's sister Rachel and the police. 'I started praying: 'Please God let him be alive. I don't care what else, just let him be alive'.' Disgraced blogger Belle Gibson made more than half a million dollars after claiming to have cured her terminal cancer with natural remedies. Court documents revealed on Friday that Ms Gibson made $578,005 from sales of her app The Whole Pantry and book with the same name, as well as a deal with Apple Watch. She may now be forced to pay back every dollar, and then some. Watchdog Consumer Affairs Victoria want Gibson to pay a fine - possibly more than $1 million - and publish in newspapers an apology that acknowledges her lies and advises cancer patients to seek advice from medical professionals, according to the court documents. Disgraced Victorian blogger Belle Gibson (pictured) could be forced to publicly apologise and pay a $1 million fine for claiming to have cured her terminal brain cancer with natural therapies Healthy food app The Whole Pantry was runaway success - until Ms Gibson admitted she never had cancer in the first place The regulator says Gibson engaged in 'unconscionable conduct' by claiming she had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 2009 and given four months to live, before taking and rejecting conventional treatments to heal herself naturally. They also say she engaged in misleading or deceptive commerce by making these claims to promote her app and book. This deceptive commerce was repeated when Gibson said she would donate a portion of her app's revenue to charities or other humanitarian causes. This included the Birthing Kit Foundation, One Girl, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and the family of a seven-year-old boy who is battling terminal brain cancer. Gibson is said to have conducted misleading commerce before Mother's Day 2014 by telling purchasers of her app the full amount of that sale, and an additional $1 for family-themed social media posts, would be donated to not-for-profit 2h Project, and the Bumi Sehat Foundation. The Whole Pantry app was available for purchase between August 2013 and May 2016, court documents show. By March 2015, it had been downloaded 115,324 times from iTunes. In a range of media interviews last year, Ms Gibson admitted she had not told the truth about her cancer Gibson received $20,725 from Apple, while her company Inkerman Road Nominees - formerly known as Belle Gibson Pty Ltd - was paid $264,881. It's believed Gibson and her company also received $28,452 from sales of the android version of Whole Pantry. The consumer regulator say Gibson's company was paid $263,947 by publisher Penguin for her The Whole Pantry book, released in October 2014 and withdrawn from sale five months later. Penguin had signed a contract with Gibson in late 2013. Ms Gibson was the founder of the popular wellness and recipe app, The Whole Pantry CAV announced on May 6 that it was launching proceedings against the 23-year-old social media entrepreneur in the Federal Court. Simon Cohen, the director of CAV, had applied for leave to commence proceedings against Ms Gibson's company, Inkerman Road Nominees Pty Ltd. Now leave has been granted, proceedings can go ahead against the company and Ms Gibson. In civil proceedings, companies can be forced to pay penalties of up to $1.1 million and individuals up to $220,000. A range of other penalties, including declarations and injunctions, are also available to the court. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Gibson for comment. Earlier this year, the mother-of-one said she did not believe she would face charges following the consumer probe. 'I don't believe I will,' she told Melbourne newspaper The Herald Sun. Vote Leave have put a 50million prize on the table for anyone who can predict every result at Euro 2016 in a bid to attract young voters to Brexit. In the latest attempt by the referendum campaigns to catch the eye of younger voters, the official Out campaign secured the huge prize via insurer Lloyds of London. The contest is free to enter - but does require players to hand over their contact details and voting intentions with less than a month to polling day. Vote Leave claim 50million is what Britain sends to the EU every day. If no-one guesses every result a 50,000 prize is on offer to whoever gets closest. But bookmakers Ladbrokes today warned the odds of winning the jackpot by guessing all 51 results were more than eight billion to one - odds so long players would get a better return risking a 1 stake in the normal way. The firm said their odds calculator stopped counting when the number reached the trillions. Vote Leave put a 50million prize up for grabs today, claiming it was the same amount of money as Britain sends to the EU every day Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings said: 'Every day we spend at least 50 million on the EU - that's 350 million a week which is enough to build an NHS hospital. 'We want as many people as possible to know that we are sending life changing sums to the EU every single day so we're giving them a chance to win it. It's a bigger prize than any one person has ever won on the national lottery. 'This is the chance of a lifetime - just imagine what you could do with the 50 million we send to the EU every single day. We want everyone to have the chance to win the sort of money most people can only dream of, unless they are a banker or a Euro MP.' Mr Cummings continued: 'Too many people, particularly younger voters, don't engage in politics and do not plan to vote in the referendum. For years there's been a lot of talk about this problem but it's got worse. '50million.uk is an attempt to engage with large numbers of people who normally ignore politics. We'll be able to speak to them about the issues, give them some facts, and answer their questions.' Mr Cummings insisted Vote Leave were the 'underdogs' in the campaign because of the Government 'setting the rules.' Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: 'Trying to work out the odds of correctly predicting the outcome of every Euros game sent out system into meltdown. 'The final number is in the billions, so anyone who thinks they have cracked it should probably just stuck a quid on themselves instead.' But correctly forecasting every result - including the fate of England under Roy Hodgson, right, and Jordan Henderson, left - is said to require overcoming galactic odds Vote Leave's use of the 350million a week figure has been hotly disputed by the remain campaign. The Brexit campaign insist it is the gross figure but have still been reprimanded for not including Britain's rebate from the EU or any EU spending in Britain. The chairman of the UK Statistics Sir Andrew Dilnot criticised the claim again today. He said: 'Given the high level of public interest in the European Union referendum debate, it is vital that official statistics are used accurately, with important caveats and limitations explained. 'The UK Statistics Authority is disappointed to note that there continue to be suggestions that the UK contributes 350 million to the EU each week, and that this full amount could be spent elsewhere. 'As we have made clear, the UKs contribution to the EU is paid after the application of the rebate. A man has been banned from a popular London street after hiding his smartphone in a bag to film up women's skirts. IT worker Miroslav Mirchev made his way through the aisles of Topshop in Oxford Street, swinging his bag around close to the floor, which contained a smartphone, after seeing 'a woman he was attracted to'. Security guards in the store were alerted to the 33-year-old's antics and recovered his phone from the bag. IT worker Morislav Mirchev made his way through the aisles of Topshop in Oxford Street, swinging his back around, which contained a smartphone, after seeing 'a woman he was attracted to' They found more than eight minutes of recorded 'upskirt' footage on the device. Mirchev is from Varna in Bulgaria and flies to the UK to install databases at hotels and restaurants, according to the London Evening Standard. He gave his address to Westminster Magistrates' Court as a hotel in Banbury. Prosecutor Zahid Hussain said: 'He had his iPhone in the bag within close proximity to the floor and he was filming up the skirts of young females. 'He said he went into the West End to purchase some food, and after eating he saw a female he was attracted to. He used his phone and bag to film up her skirt, and used this method to film several girls.' Mirchev admitted outraging public decency on February 7. He has been banned from going to Oxford Street, before he is sentenced on June 16. Mirchev admitted outraging public decency on February 7. He has been banned from going to Oxford Street, before he is sentenced on June 16 He has been banned from going to Oxford Street prior to sentencing on June 16. Magistrates allowed him to keep his phone and computers devices to use for work. Smiling for the camera, this police officer looks like he's just messing around with a mate who he's playfully pinned up against the wall. But he's actually in the middle of a life-and-death struggle with an ISIS suicide bomber who just seconds earlier tried to detonate his explosive vest at an Iraqi checkpoint. Nevertheless, Saad Ali Thabit somehow found time to pose for his picture while holding the jihadi's arms up to stop him triggering his bomb and killing dozens of people. Scroll down for video Say cheese! Iraqi police officer Saad Ali Thabit poses for his picture in the midst of a struggle with an ISIS suicide bomber who just seconds earlier tried to detonate his explosive vest at a checkpoint in Baghdad As Thabit presses him against the wall, his colleagues rip off the militant's clothes to reveal an explosive belt Police officers carefully cut away the explosives and wires that were hidden under the bomber's clothes As he presses him against the wall, his colleagues rip off the militant's clothes to reveal an explosive belt which they cut off him. He then forces the would-be bomber to the ground and ties his hands behind his back. Thabit has been hailed a hero by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who commended him for his courage. The dramatic arrest in the Kadhimiyah neighborhood of Baghdad on Wednesday was also caught on CCTV and has since gone viral, racking up hundreds of thousands of views. The footage shows Thabit discovering and then disarming the would-be bomber during a routine search at the checkpoint where he was working. Deadly: The would-be bomber was discovered during a routine search at the checkpoint in the Iraqi capital Taken down: Saad Ali Thabit then forces the would-be bomber to the ground and ties his hands behind his back It shows other people lined up at the checkpoint quickly running away as the bomber's explosive belt was discovered. Baghdad has experienced a wave of deadly bombings this month that killed more than 200 within a single week. The attacks point to the resilience of ISIS, which has claimed responsibility for many of the deadliest attacks. ISIS has increasingly resorted to bombings in civilian areas far from the front lines as it has lost territory to Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes. Hidden danger: Iraqi police officers inspect the makeshift explosives after disarming the bomb But the bombings also exposed lingering gaps in the Iraqi capital's defenses, which are manned by an array of security agencies and militias that don't always cooperate. In addition to defending Baghdad from ISIS, Iraqi security forces have also had to contend with months of mass anti-government protests led by powerful Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Twice during the weekly protests, the demonstrators breached Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone and ransacked government buildings inside. Iraqi forces are currently waging an offensive to retake the ISIS-held city of Fallujah west of Baghdad. ISIS still controls some key areas in western and northern Iraq, including the country's second-largest city, Mosul. Donald Trump hit the buzzer on the 'debate of the century' Friday after teasing about going one-on-one with Bernie Sanders for days, saying he didn't want to take on a 'second place finisher.' The extraordinary turnaround after the idea of a Trump-Bernie face off captivated cable television and appeared to become a live possibility with networks and TV personalities trying to get in on the act and some even offering charity contributions to try to pull it off. Sanders released a statement Friday afternoon saying two TV networks had expressed interest but Trump pulled the plug within minutes. 'Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and [Democratic Party chair] Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher,' Trump said in a statement. 'Rigged system': Trump pulled the plug on the idea of a debate, saying it would be 'inappropriate' to go against the 'second place' finisher Sanders who is still battling Clinton for the Democratic nomination This ship has sailed: Despite two days of hype, claimed interest by TV networks, and charity offers of at least $1 million, the highly anticipated Trump-Sanders debate looks to be off 'Likewise, the networks want to make a killing on these events and are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes, in this case, womens health issues. Therefore, as much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders - and it would be an easy payday - I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton, or whoever it may be.' Just a day earlier Trump had been defending Sanders and criticizing Hillary Clinton for not following through and debating Sanders before the June 7 California primary. Trump hinted at the coming reversal Friday afternoon at a rally in Fresno. 'I want to debate him so badly. I'd love to debate Bernie. But you know, people say first of all, I said give $10 million give $15 million to women's health issues. We'll pick the charities,' he said, mentioning his push to use the debate to raise funds. 'And the networks want to keep the money themselves, that's one thing, so that's a problem. Then the second thing is, we got the nomination yesterday, so we have the nomination. So we're number one,' he concluded. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to questions about how much money any television network had proposed to donate according to his demands. Lets do this: Sanders' camp was 'prepared to accept' one of two offers from network TV. Sanders wanted to have the debate in a big stadium in California Maybe not: Trump said 'as much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders' he'd rather debate the 'first place finisher' Before Trump pulled the plug, the Sanders camp put out an optimistic release. 'Our campaign and the Trump campaign have received two offers by broadcast television networks to host the Sanders-Trump debate that we suggested. Both offers include a major contribution to charity,' said Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement. We are prepared to accept one of those offers and look forward to working with the Trump campaign to develop a time, place and format that is mutually agreeable. Given that the California primary is on June 7, it is imperative that this all comes together as soon as possible. We look forward to a substantive debate that will contrast the very different visions that Sen. Sanders and Mr. Trump have for the future of our country, Weaver said. After Trump killed the idea, Sanders released a statement on Trump's 'on-again, off-again position on a debate.' 'In recent days, Donald Trump has said he wants to debate, he doesnt want to debate, he wants to debate and, now, he doesnt want to debate,' said Sanders. Given that there are several television networks prepared to carry this debate and donate funds to charity, I hope that he changes his mind once again and comes on board,' the Sanders statement concluded. The idea of a debate between Trump and Sanders wasn't going over well with Democrats who see it as just the latest effort by the Vermont senator to undercut the party and weaken Hillary Clinton. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia called the idea 'Bulls***' when asked about it by Politico. That confirms what weve been saying. Why would you expect Bernie should be considerate or be nice or be working to bring everyone together? Why? Hes not a Democrat,' Manchin, a Clinton supporter, vented. Another lawmaker, Representative Gary Peters of Michigan, complained to the publication, I dont know why he would do that. I think its time to start to winding down the primary. Its time to move on. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who has been mentioned as a possible Clinton running mate, called the idea 'peculiar.' Sanders' decision to talk up a debate with Trump irritating some Democrats in Congress Its all about Bernie trying to get the advantage in California. Its not going to work, he said. The complaining comes as Sanders shows no sign of slowing down. He hit Clinton Thursday again, when asked about her statement that she would be the nominee. 'Just a tinge of arrogance there, I think, Sanders said. Trump continued to promote the idea while campaigning in North Dakota Thursday. "I'd love to debate Bernie," Trump said. "I think it would get very high ratings. It would be in a big arena." "I'd love to debate Bernie, but they'll have to pay a lot of money for it," he said. There is another: Trump did allow that he would debate the first place finisher 'probably crooked HIllary or whoever it may be' West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin called the idea of a Trump-Sanders debate 'bulls***' Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said there had been "a few discussions" between the campaigns about how the debate would work. "We hope that he will not chicken out," Weaver told CNN. "We hope Donald Trump has the courage to get on stage now that he said he would." After Trump first floated the idea, Sanders immediately jumped on the offer. "Game on," he tweeted. "I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary." He had been trying in vain to force Clinton into debating him in a play for exposure, as a new poll showed the the two running neck-in-neck. Sanders called the debate with Trump a "very interesting debate." 'You made it possible for us to have a very interesting debate about two guys who look at the world very, very differently' he said in his own appearance on Kimmel Thursday. "This doesn't sound like a serious discussion. I'm looking forward to debating Donald Trump in the general election. I really can't wait to get on the stage with him," Clinton told CNN. North Korea has attacked US President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima claiming he is a 'nuclear war maniac'. The astonishing statement was released by North Korea's official news agency KCNA who branded the event as an act of 'childish political calculation'. Kim Jong-un's secretive regime regularly accuses the United States and South Korea of wanting to topple the despotic regime. Kim Jong-un, pictured inspecting a building site has branded President Obama a 'nuclear war maniac' North Korea's official state news agency called Obama's wreath-laying ceremony 'childish political calculation' According to KCNA: 'Obama is seized with the wild ambition to dominate the world by dint of the US nuclear edge.' Chinese official state media was also highly critical of today's event, with foreign minister Wang Yi claiming: 'It is worth focusing on Hiroshima, but it's even more important that we should not forget Nanjing.' He added: 'The victims deserve sympathy, but the perpetrators can never escape their responsibility.' China claims Japanese troops in 1937 killed 300,000 people in its then-capital of Nanjing. A postwar Allied tribunal put the death toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese politicians and scholars deny a massacre took place at all. China historian Jonathan Spence, for example, estimates that 42,000 soldiers and citizens were killed and 20,000 women raped, many of whom later died. The state-run China Daily newspaper declared in an editorial on Thursday that the 'atomic bombings of Japan were of its own making'. This is the moment an enraged tattooist confronts a 'beggar' as he spots him getting into an expensive pick-up truck after he had been panhandling for money. The intense footage shows Jimmy Severs approaching the man, who was apparently holding a sign while begging across the street from where the tattoo artist works in Vancouver, Washington. Severs becomes outraged as the man opens the door of a bright red Toyota pick-up truck, which the video maker claims was manufactured in 2014. Jimmy Severs approached the man, who was apparently panhandling across the street from where the tattoo artist works, and confronted him In the clip, the tattooist launches a foul-mouthed tirade at the man. He says: 'Ladies and gentleman this is the kind of s*** we deal with daily. People drive nice a** f****** vehicles. 'I don't even own a vehicle, I work my a** off day in and day out. This mother f***** sits out here with a goddamn sign begging people for f****** money and he's driving that. 'Imagine the mother f****** house he lives in. Imagine what he f****** does. Imagine how much is in his bank account. Look at this. No money but this is your f****** truck?' Throughout the confrontation the man chooses to stay silent and instead gets behind the wheel of his vehicle before driving away. The video was posted to Facebook where it quickly went viral. The enraged tattooist launches a foul-mouthed tirade at the man, who chooses to stay silent, while pointing out that he owns a 2014 Toyota Severs tells the man that he works 'day in day out' but is unable to afford a car as the man gets into his pick-up truck and heads away Severs later told KOIN 6 News he has 'personally seen him [the man] sitting there' holding a sign, which prompted him to become so angry when he saw him getting in the car. He added that his video should serve as a warning to unsuspecting people. The local news site also attempted to speak to the man featured in the video and reporters approached him on the same corner after the incident. He told them he was going home and added that he was not going to be beg for money anymore, but failed to answer questions on his Toyota pick-up truck. Vancouver Police said panhandling is only illegal if it is an obstruction to traffic or being carried out aggressively. Up to 30 students have been given 99 lashes each in Iran for attending a mixed-gender graduation party. The young men and women were all flogged in Qazvin, about 90 miles north west of the capital Tehran, as part of a brutal new crackdown. It came amid claims some of the women were 'half naked' when they were found - interpreted as meaning they were not wearing Islamic coverings of scarves and long coats - and that the students had been 'mingling'. The young men and women were all whipped in Qazvin, about 90 miles northwest of the capital Tehran (file picture), as part of a brutal new crackdown Prosecutor Ismaeil Sadeqi Niaraki is reported to have held a special court session after the revellers were rounded up following the party at a villa on the outskirts of the city. The National Council of Resistance to Iran cites the Mizan news agency as saying that the arrests, interrogation and punishment all took place within 24 hours. Niaraki is quoted as saying: 'After we received information that a large number of men and women were mingling in a villa in the suburbs of Qazvin... all the participants at the party were arrested. 'Thanks God that the police questioning, investigation, court hearing, verdict and implementation of the punishment all took place in less than 24 hours.' He added that the judiciary would not tolerate the actions of 'law-breakers who use excuses such as freedom and having fun in birthday parties and graduation ceremonies.' Up to 30 students have been given 99 lashes each in Iran for attending a mixed-gender graduation party (file picture) He also warned the victims that 'being arrested in mixed-gender parties and receiving sentences is a crime and would create problems for their future education and employment.' Shahin Gobadi of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran said: 'This barbaric act once again proves that moderation during Hassan Rouhanis Presidency is nothing but a myth. 'Three years after Rouhanis Presidency the human rights situation in Iran is deteriorating in every aspect. Fears of clash between rivals as Bandidos try to establish Police have raided bikie gang headquarters across Tasmania amid fears the Bandidos are establishing themselves in the state. Federal and state police arrested four men during the raids as fears grow of a clash between rival gangs. More than 70 officers swamped 19 homes, businesses and gang clubhouses where they found illegal firearms and Tasers, explosives, more than 400 rounds of ammunition, ice worth $36,000, cannabis worth more than $70,000, and cash. Police have raided bikie homes and headquarters across Tasmania amid fears of a clash of rival gangs in the state. More than 70 officers swamped 19 homes, businesses and gang clubhouses where they found large amounts of drugs, weapons and cash Federal and state police arrested four men during the raids. Above, a property connected to The Outlaws motorcycle gang They launched a crackdown which started at Devonport on Monday and spread to Launceston before reaching Hobart's northern suburbs by Friday. Police expect to take action against 12 more people. The Rebels are the most significant bikie gang in Tasmania and The Outlaws, Black Uhlans and Devils Henchmen also have a presence with a combined membership of more than 100 across the state, Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Glenn Frame says. 'They've all got, most of them, very small footprints in Tasmania and we think the Bandidos are also trying to establish,' he told reporters. There are fears the island could be too small for more gangs and recruitment could spark rivalry. The Rebels are the most significant bikie gang in Tasmania and The Outlaws, Black Uhlans and Devils Henchmen also have a presence with a combined membership of more than 100 across the state, Tasmania Police assistant commissioner Glenn Frame says. Above, a property connected to the Rebels gang As part of the operation, notices were served on two southern Tasmanian men who allegedly owe the Australian Taxation Office more than $270,000 'That's certainly something that could arise and we're well aware of it and we're taking action ... to try and deter any illegal activity between the gangs,' Mr Frame said. The gang's southern migration across Bass Strait is part of the Bandidos 'business model', AFP superintendent Anthony Hall said. 'Outlaw motorcycle gangs are expanding their business model, using their techniques, to exploit any crevice within Australian society, to exploit the honest citizens of the country and use their violence and criminality to exploit the community,' he added. A police officer who sparked a nationwide terror alert by making a hoax 999 call to his own force in which he warned of an imminent ISIS attack has been jailed for seven years. PC Amar Tasaddiq Hussain sent West Midlands Police into 'overdrive' after phoning through an anonymous warning that a terrorist with links to Syria was planning to kidnap a Muslim policeman. Jailing Hussain at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Michael Chambers QC criticised the 29-year-old officer for showing no remorse and pleading not guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence. Scroll down for video PC Amar Tasaddiq Hussain (pictured), 29, sparked a major terror alert by making a hoax 999 call to his own force. He was jailed today for seven years for two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice A trial which ended earlier this month was told that Hussain and two other Birmingham men hoped the 999 call would discredit an official at an Islamic community group they were members of. Hussain, unemployed Adil Bashir, 26, and 31-year-old tutor Muhammad Ali Sheikh, were all convicted of two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Jurors heard that the hoax call on December 8, 2014 prompted police commanders to put a hostage negotiator on stand-by and order substantial inquiries into the supposed terror plot. During the 24-hour alert, which only ended with the arrest of an innocent man, armed police units were deployed to the home of an off-duty officer who did not answer an emergency roll-call. The conspiracy had earlier led to police inquiries in September 2014 into unfounded claims of a forced marriage taking place at an address in Moseley, Birmingham. Bashir and Sheikh were both given three-year jail sentences today for their parts in the conspiracy. Describing Hussain as 'the last person who ought to be serving' with West Midlands Police, the judge said the officer had been the instigator of the offences - with his accomplices playing lesser roles. The judge told Hussain - who was suspended on full pay after his arrest and faces dismissal at a hearing next month - that he had caused 'chaos and anxiety' to his colleagues and 'enormous' difficulties for his force. The judge said: 'It's quite clear you abused your knowledge of the 999 system and police procedures for your own ends. 'It is also clear you were prepared to say any lie to avoid your guilt despite what was overwhelming evidence.' The three-week trial at Stafford Crown Court ended this month with the conviction of Hussain, as well as two others fom Birmingham - Adil Bashir (left), 26, and Muhammad Ali Sheikh, 31, (right) - on the same charges Bashir (left), and Ali Sheikh (right) during the court proceedings. Jurors, who returned unanimous guilty verdicts after deliberating over three days, were told PC Hussain hoped his bogus tip-off would discredit an official within an Islamic community group Addressing all three conspirators, the judge added: 'The three of you plotted to falsely incriminate an innocent man with being involved in serious criminal offences. 'All three of you were members of the West Midlands branch of an international group which is an entirely peaceful and law-abiding organisation. 'You, Hussain, had been thwarted in your ambition to become its head of security. 'The effect of the 999 call was quite devastating both for (the innocent man arrested) and the police. 'At that time the threat level in the United Kingdom for terrorism matters was severe. Sadly we live in an age when such threats and plots are credible.' The innocent party named in the 'malicious' tip-off was questioned over two days on suspicion of involvement in terrorism, causing him immense personal anxiety, the judge added. At the start of the three-week trial, prosecutor Simon Davis claimed the call alleging a terrorist plot was an attempt by PC Hussain to discredit a fellow member of Dawat-e-Islami, a faith group which held peaceful gatherings in the West Midlands. The bogus allegation that a kidnapping was imminent led to a man being arrested by counter-terrorism police at a tyre business in Walsall. But it soon became obvious to police that the claims made against the innocent party were malicious. Hussain, 29, was jailed for seven years at Stafford Crown Court (pictured) today over the fake kidnap plot Addressing the court after the guilty verdicts, Judge Chambers said: 'These were extremely serious offences and in your case, Hussain, represent a vast breach of trust.' In a statement issued after the convictions, the West Midlands force said its inquiries showed all three defendants were intent on undermining colleagues within the Islamic group. PC Hussain, based at the Birmingham West and Central local policing unit, was suspended after his arrest in September last year. Speaking after the sentencing, Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said: 'Today's sentencing reflects the severity of what Hussain did. He not only let down West Midlands Police, he has also let down the peaceful, non-political organisation that he was part of. 'The impact of the threat had an unprecedented effect on officers and staff and in turn on their loved ones. 'Never before have we had to instruct officers and staff to call in after their tour of duty to let us know they had returned home safely. 'There is absolutely no place in policing for those who abuse the trust placed in us by the public.' Assistance: Headmistress Kerry Targett asked police to attend a school in Croydon, South London, after Year 11 pupils threw water bombs and eggs Pupils who tweeted about their former teacher who called police after students threw eggs on the last day of school have been forced to delete their messages, it was claimed today. Headmistress Kerry Targett asked officers to attend St Andrews High School in Croydon, South London, after Year 11 pupils threw water bombs and daubed threatening and abusive graffiti about her on walls and furniture. And when the story reached her old pupils at Riddlesdown Collegiate in nearby Purley, where Mrs Targett used to work as vice principal, some of them shared articles about it on Twitter. But a source claimed a Riddlesdown staff member spotted the tweets and the pupils were taken out of lessons and told to remove them. They said: They were pulled out of lessons and forced to delete re-tweets of the news article about ex-vice principal Kerry Targett. 'The reason given was that it reflects badly on the Collegiate. The social media coordinator at the school compiled a list of any students who had commented, liked or re-tweeted the article and they were told they had to delete them. Gordon Smith, chief executive of The Collegiate Trust, which runs Riddlesdown, played down the move, saying it was a very minor issue for us. He added: A small number of students put things online via Twitter which were unpleasant and there was some retweeting. We asked them to reflect carefully on this which I am pleased to say they did. Mrs Targett, who left Riddlesdown last year to become head teacher of Church of England school St Andrews, called the Metropolitan Police to her new school on May 16. Deleted tweets: When the story reached her old pupils at Riddlesdown Collegiate (pictured) in nearby Purley, where Mrs Targett used to work as vice-principal, some of them shared articles about it on Twitter She said Year 11 pupils had organised a muck-up day - where pranks are played on the last day of school - but it got out of hand, as MailOnline reported last week. The headmistress said: We did send them home early because they were getting a little bit silly with what they were doing. They were throwing eggs and water bombs around, yes. 'But they werent necessarily directed at me. I wasnt hit by any of them. We had to call the police just to disperse the numbers so we could clear the streets and get them to go home. She added that police did not actually arrive and the pupils eventually left of their own accord. The graffiti scrawled in corridors and on school tables was aimed specifically at Mrs Targett and included messages such as f*** you, Mrs Targett and Kerry Targett, bang bang bang. Church of England: Mrs Targett called police to St Andrews High School (pictured) in Croydon after Year 11 pupils organised a muck-up day, where pranks are played on the last day of school, and it got out of hand A source close to St Andrew's said that Mrs Targett's behavioural policy has left students frustrated. They were pulled out of lessons and forced to delete re-tweets of the news article about ex-vice principal Kerry Targett Source But the headmistress said: I've seen some of the graffiti but I'd like to think the pupils don't have a personal problem with me. I'm a new teacher at the school. I've made some changes that were needed. 'I've hopefully improved the learning environment and I've been working hard to ensure we have staff in classrooms teaching them what they need to know in their exams.' A top weight loss surgeon who threatened his wife after their marriage fell apart in a confrontation so violent one of their children was sick has walked free from court. Jamie Young, 39, told his wife Julie he wished she was dead after she announced she was leaving him and about to move out of their marital home in Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland. The high-flying doctor, who had carried out 307 operations during the course of 2014/15 at Borders General Hospital, near Melrose, pushed his doctor wife onto their sofa and caused her to scream. Selkirk Sheriff Court in the Scottish Borders heard the relationship between the pair had become 'sticky' and that Young found it hard 'accepting' that their marriage had broken down. Jamie Young, 39, (pictured) wished his wife Julie was dead after she told him she was leaving him and about to move out of their marital home in Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland When Mrs Young told him she was looking for alternative accommodation, Young began shouting at her and said in front of their eight year old son that he wished she was dead, the court heard. Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser told the court that on another occasion between January and April last year an argument broke out at their home. He said that the surgeon got hold of his wife Julie - a medical doctor - and there was a struggle between them in front of the two children and one of them was physically sick. Mr Fraser added that Young pushed his wife down onto a sofa and she was screaming at the time. Young had already spent four nights in custody after he faced a total of six domestic-related charges dating back three years. But shortly before he was due to stand trial, he admitted a single charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. The amended charge he admitted included him behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, shouting, saying that he wished his wife was dead, struggling with her and throwing items around their home between January 15 and April 27 last year. But Sheriff Kevin Drummond hit out at policy-makers on domestic violence and the 'blind following' in the handling of similar cases which added to the distress of normally law-abiding people. He went on to take the unusual course of action by granting an absolute discharge, which means it will not count as a criminal conviction. The court heard the married couple had been together for 11 years and had two sons aged eight and six. Mr Fraser said: 'The relationship between the Youngs had been fairly sticky for some time. 'They moved to the Borders in 2014 looking for a fresh start in their relationship but unfortunately that did not take place.' Mr Fraser explained that when Mrs Young had an income of her own she felt she was able to move out of their home and leave her husband. He added: 'In January 2015, the relationship came to an end as far as she was concerned and the accused had difficulty in accepting that. 'She intended to move out of the marital home but for a period of three months they still lived in the same house but in separate bedrooms. The confrontation at their home was witnessed by their two young sons, one of whom was physically sick at what he saw 'It is no surprise there were some tensions. 'She had acquired another house in the same street but she has now put that house on the market and intends to move somewhere else.' Mr Fraser said there were a number of incidents during the time of the offence. He said: 'The accused has accepted his behaviour was not acceptable on these occasions.' The couple's eight-year-old son was due to give evidence by videolink until Young changed his plea to guilty. Not guilty pleas to five other charges dating back to October 2013, when he was alleged to have assaulted his wife by repeatedly kicking her on the body at a house in Auchterarder, Perthshire, were accepted by the Crown. He had also been initially charged with threatening to kill his wife at their home in Melrose. Defence lawyer Robert More said his client was a general surgeon at Borders General Hospital, a position he had held for the past three years, with a special interest in weight loss surgery. He had not been suspended from his job but was signed off on account of the stress which he has felt over the past five months. The high-flying doctor, who had carried out 307 operations during the course of 2014/15 at Borders General Hospital (pictured), near Melrose, admitted being threatening and abusive towards his doctor wife Mr More explained the local NHS Trust and the General Medical Council were aware of the case but there had already been a determination that he presents no risk to patient safety and he was anxious to return to work. Mr More said that the cost of locums during his absence from work had been 150,000. He explained that he was detained on a Friday evening by police officers which was witnessed by his younger son who again was physically sick. Mr More urged that in the circumstances an absolute discharge should be imposed. He said: 'It is a matter of profound regret to the accused that the events took place in front of his children.' Granting the request of an absolute discharge, Sheriff Kevin Drummond was heavily critical of the current policy relating to domestic cases and how they were handled with 'blind following'. He said the policy added to the distresses encountered by those involved and pointed out in this case an otherwise respectable and law abiding person in the community had spent four nights in custody. Sheriff Drummond said he expected criticism for his views from those who were most vocal on domestic cases and those who implement the policy. He said: 'So be it. That is why we have an independent judiciary.' Councillor David Dean was suspended by the Conservative Party today over alleged comments about Sadiq Khan A senior Conservative councillor in London has been suspended from the party after it was alleged he told a voter Sadiq Khan would treat white people 'like dirt' as mayor. David Dean was accused of making the remarks while knocking doors in Putney on behalf of Zac Goldsmith's doomed campaign for City Hall. Mr Dean, who is a local councillor in Merton and ran for the London Assembly in May, denies accusations of racism and has insisted the remarks were 'banter' on the doorstep. Mr Dean is alleged to have said: 'As a white man ... you will be a pariah in your own town. He will treat you like dirt.' The Putney resident revealed the exchange to the Evening Standard and claimed part of the conversation had been recorded by accident. A Conservative spokesman said: 'As soon as we became aware of his comments he was immediately suspended from the party, pending an investigation.' The Standard said a complaint was filed to Mr Goldsmith's Back Zac campaign two days before the mayoral election on May 5. It alleged: 'I recently had David Dean on my doorstep to canvass for support in the upcoming election. 'I mentioned that I was a previous Conservative supporter and in fact had held office within the party many years ago but was concerned with the way the party had moved forward and for the first time may not vote for the party.' He added: 'More worryingly was his comment regarding Sadiq Khan that ''as a white man... you will be a pariah in your own town. He will treat you like dirt''. 'I would very much like to hear if this racist approach is also the opinion of Zac Goldsmith and if he supports this opinion. 'My neighbours are Muslim and could probably overhear the conversation. Somebody in the house recorded this part of the conversation which you are welcome to listen to.' Mr Dean told the Standard he was not racist and added: 'Have you met my wife? She's from Cyprus.' The father of three, who lost his London Assembly contest, added: 'I was in a situation where I was laughing and joking with people and someone else has recorded a snippet of it. Labour's Mr Khan eventually won the mayoral contest by a huge margin, defeating his Tory rival by more than 300,000 votes '[The person I was canvassing] had lots of complaints about my political party and I said I wasn't having any of that. I said x,y,z and we ended up shaking hands whilst he told me to f*** off. 'He was loud and swearing but always with a smile on his face. So it was a bit of banter. 'Whoever has recorded this clearly doesn't like the Conservatives. There is a context to this and I need to talk to my party.' The person who made the complaint was not identified by the Standard story. He said: 'It was not remotely banter or light-hearted. I was looking for serious replies to my concerns as a voter. It was a coincidence a portion of the conversation happened to be recorded. 'I find it repulsive that anyone could think that the colour of my skin or the colour of the candidate's skin should have any bearing on how I cast my vote.' Mr Dean said he had 'no comment to make' when contacted by MailOnline. A 21-year-old man posted a picture from inside his flooded car moments before disappearing on Thursday night - while torrential rain left one person dead and four missing across Texas. Darren Mitchell, 21, is one of two people missing in Washington County, where heavy rain trapped dozens of people between Thursday and Friday. A third person died in the area in a flooded trailer home. Meanwhile, two other people are also missing in the Austin area, where authorities rescued five people from the roof of a house by helicopter. Scroll down for video Darren Mitchell's sister says he posted a picture of his flooded car on Facebook (pictured) just moments before disappearing on Thursday night Missing: Darren Mitchell (pictured), 21, is one of two people missing in Washington County, Texas Heavy rain has forced people out of their homes and led to evacuations and road closures in Texas between Thursday and Friday. Pictured, flooded cars in Montgomery County on Thursday night Mitchell posted a photo from inside his submerged car on Thursday evening, KHOU reported. His sister told the station he shared the photo on Facebook, writing in the caption: 'And all I wanted to do was go home.' Mitchell called his mother to tell her he was in high water on Thursday night, according to KHOU. Authorities found his overturned car near the highway on Friday morning. The search was later suspended until water levels went down, KHOU's Stephanie Whitfield tweeted. Another person remains missing in the Brenham area. Officials found their vehicle without a driver inside. Floods in Washington County also left one dead in Chappell Hill, where a person died in a trailer park. The trailer park was on the FM 1155, not far from Blenham, when it became flooded, KHOU reported. Two more people remain missing about 90 miles away, in the Austin area. They were on top of a car and rescuers were about to go help them when water swept them away in a flooded creek, Fire Chief Ken Bailey told KEYE TV. Water kept rising on Friday after a night of heavy rain in Texas. Pictured, 16-year-old Marilla Dial watches the flood water from the Colorado River rise over Hidden Shores Loop in Smithville on Friday Roads remained closed all around the state on Friday as rainwater made it impossible to drive. Pictured, a sheriff deputy closes a flooded road in Smithville on Friday Flooding pushed people out of their homes and some had to be evacuated. Pictured, Janie Flores (left) rests on her daughter Michelle Weaver's shoulder at City Hall in Buda Friday Abandoned vehicles were spotted in the aftermath of the torrential downpours. Pictured, a car washed off by flooding sits on the side of the road in Southeast Travis County near Austin Friday This pickup truck was washed off of Von Quintus Road during overnight flooding and remained on the side of the road in southeast Travis County Friday near Austin The Colorado River (pictured) inched closer to a house in the Doty River Estates in Smithville on Friday after a night of heavy rains Emergency services completed 45 rescues in high water in the Brenham area (pictured). About 50 children couldn't go home after school on Thursday afternoon as buses weren't running One person died in Chappell Hill, not far from Brenham, in a flooded mobile home. Four people remain missing across the state. Pictured, flooding in Magnolia, Texas Two people disappeared in Washington County and two more in Travis County, where floodwaters swept them away before emergency services could get to them. Pictured, flooding in Somerville, Texas The two people disappeared around 1.15am on Friday according to the Austin American-Statesman. The waters in the area have now receded and authorities are hopeful the two people missing are safe, Travis County Emergency Services spokeswoman Lisa Block said. Five people - four adults and one child - were also rescued by helicopter while standing on the roof of a house in the Austin area. Several of the city's neighborhoods were evacuated on Friday morning and authorities asked drivers to avoid certain roads as water continued to rise. Heavy rain also hit Houston, where some schools are closed or have delayed start times. Emergency services completed 45 rescues in high water in Brenham, according to KHOU. About 50 children couldn't go home after school on Thursday afternoon as buses weren't running. The Brexit-backer who sparked a row on last night's EU referendum debate said today her disabled mother has lost out on up to six bungalows because immigrants jump the housing queue. Emily Wood, 28, from Poole, who lives with mother Valerie and carer father Roderick, says they have even visited the council houses afterwards to prove foreigners are being 'bumped up'. She told MailOnline: 'When we have gone round to see who has ended up in the property, it has usually been immigrants'. Miss Wood rowed with MPs and audience members when she said her disabled mother could not get the council house she needs because immigrants are given priority. Today the music producer stood by her comments on live TV last night and told MailOnline: 'I felt I had to speak up for my generation'. Row: Emily Wood, from Poole, pictured with her disabled mother Valerie and father Rod outside their council house, has stood by her comments that immigrants are being bumped up the housing queue Question: Miss Wood said on TV last night : 'My mum is disabled and needs a bungalow, which there are none in my area. Immigrants are bumped up the list... am I right to want to leave?' Counter-argument: Asma from Aberdeen said Emily Wood was using the EU as a 'scapegoat for her own problems' Their current three-bed terrace has been adapted with an unreliable lift for Mrs Wood so she can get from the living room to her bedroom upstairs. Message: Miss Wood says she is not anti-immigrant but says the issue is fuelling the housing crisis But once the partially-sighted pensioner got stuck in the lift for five hours before she was rescued - and because the only toilet is downstairs, she has struggled to make it down at night time. She said: 'Every bungalow that comes up that is adequate for us we have bid on. There have been about six in the last four years and each time we get down to the top 20 but every time it gets taken by an emergency case. 'When we moved here in 2000 all the bungalows in this road were taken up be elderly people. But now the priorities have changed and at least a few of them are taken up by immigrants, mostly Polish and other nationalities. 'I've been up to the council housing department and have seen it where they just seem to jump the queue and it's frustrating. 'They get to see someone before people already waiting. They when I have been back a few weeks later I have seen the same people coming out with keys. 'I know they jump the queue because they have nowhere to go, no friends or family and they need help because they haven't got a roof over their head. 'I'm not anti-immigrant, I want them to come here but the government seem to be giving them houses without thinking of priorities'. Her father Rod said: 'We've tried everything we can to help the council. We've looked at every option. 'We've looked at extending this house or putting a bathroom upstairs but they said it's just not possible. There's not even space for a commode. We have to keep the wheelchair in the garden. 'Yet every bungalow we go for we get close but always miss out. But it makes you wonder, if we're 15th then there are 14 other families in a more desperate situation than us. 'If we had control of how many immigrants we can accept at a time they could make sure there are enough houses for them. The EU could be great but at the moment it doesn't work.' A spokesman for Poole Borough Council said its housing went to people based on need and not whether they are immigrants. He said: 'To be placed on the housing register applicants must qualify under certain criteria. This includes having a local connection to Poole, meaning they must have lived in the area for at least two years before being eligible. 'Once people are deemed to have an assessed housing need they are placed into one of four bands and properties are allocated to those deemed to have the highest priority housing need. Each case is assessed in line with our housing policy regardless of the applicants' immigration status. 'We are unable to comment on individual cases but would encourage anyone who thinks their circumstances might have changed or feels their housing need might have changed to contact us.' Troubles: Miss Wood says her mother has been stuck in the house's lift for five hours - and because the only toilet is downstairs, she has struggled to make it down at night time Last night her appearance on the BBC's first EU referendum TV debate led to it being dominated by the issues of immigration and the housing crisis. She told MPs: 'My mum is disabled and needs a bungalow, which there are none in my area. Immigrants are bumped up the list. Am I right to want to leave?' Miss Wood then clashed with other members of the audience and the panel, including ex SNP leader Alex Salmond who insisted: 'We should build more houses, not kick people out of the country'. Rejection: Alex Salmond said that Miss Wood was 'wrong' to make a connection with immigration and the housing crisis But Miss Wood said: 'How the heck are we meant to house them when we haven't got enough houses as it is? Where are you going to put them?' Fellow audience member Asma Butt, from Aberdeen, put her hand up to make the case for the EU. She told Miss Wood: 'Emily needs to realise that the Government needs to build more council houses. 'The EU is not some kind of scapegoat for you to keep blaming for your problems'. Asma then added: 'It's funny how you have selective memory. Just remember how immigrants like my family and people in this audience have built this nation'. Miss Wood told MailOnline: 'Me and the other girl saw each other afterwards and we both apologised. You get heated in the moment but it's because we are just so passionate about the issue. 'It was quite a nerve wracking experience but I felt I had to speak up for my generation'. She added: 'I find it a bit overwhelming that people have taken on board what I have to say. 'I was just explaining my point of view but it's an issue that does need addressing. 'It's helped highlight my mum's situation. Hopefully now it might make the government help people in situations like ours and not just sweep them under the carpet. 'People told me it was trending on Facebook and it was on the BBC and I had friends calling me saying 'I've just seen you on the news'. 'Immigration numbers have picked up and the government don't even seem to know how many are coming. 'We need to take control now so we can help them and us. 'If we don't sort it out its only going to get worse, what are we going to do for the next generation?' Yesterday official immigration statistics revealed overall net migration, including those from outside the EU, was 333,000 in the year to December, the second highest annual level on record. As the row continued another member suggested that the money given to the EU could be better spent in the UK on houses for people like Emily's mother. Labour's Alan Johnson then accused Vote Leave supporters of fabricating the 350million figure it claims Britain sends to Brussels, saying it was half that. Tory Liam Fox (left) and Ukip MEP Diane James (second left) made the case for Brexit - while SNP's Alex Salmond (second right) and Labour's Alan Johnson (right) made the case for Remain - Victoria Derbyshire was the host Victoria Derbyshire presented the first live debate of the EU referendum campaign tonight from Glasgow, moderating an audience of 18-29 year old voters Immigration and the housing crisis dominated the first live TV debate of the referendum last night. Former Tory defence secretary Liam Fox used the row as an opportunity to insist Britain could better spend the 10billion a year it sends to the EU on housing and the NHS. The former Tory defence secretary said Brexit would allow 'control' to be brought to Britain's borders and allow the UK Government to set its own priorities. He said: 'Does anybody think we could not use 10billion to help improve the quality of health service, housing or anything else?' He added: 'It's about control, about how we use that money for the priorities of our country.' In the first major TV debate of the campaign, two leading figures appeared to distance themselves from dire Treasury warnings about recession and job losses if Britain left the EU. THE BREXIT BATTLE: THE LINE UP OF TV CLASHES AHEAD OF POLLING DAY Thursday June 2 at 8pm: Sky News' David Cameron Live Friday June 3 at 8pm: Sky News' Michael Gove Live Tuesday June 7: ITV's Cameron and Farage Live: The EU Referendum Thursday June 9: The ITV Referendum Debate Wednesday June 15 at 6.45pm: BBC Question Time EU Referendum Special with Michael Gove Sunday June 19 at 6.45pm: BBC Question Time EU Referendum Special with David Cameron George Osborne has claimed 800,000 jobs could go and a year-long recession unfold in the event of a leave vote on June 23. But former SNP leader Alex Salmond said there would be 'no economic apocalypse'. The former Scottish first minister said the Remain side were 'scaremongers' on the economy and he wanted to put a positive case for staying in the EU. 'The Treasury says it's going to be apocalypse if we leave the EU. I don't believe that'. 'But I do believe there's going to be less jobs. I think we should stay in the EU because of the prosperity'. He told ministers to 'leave the scaremongering behind', while accusing the Leave campaign of scaremongering on immigration. Former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson also declined to directly endorse Osborne' s forecasts. Asked about Treasury forecasts he said 'it's not just them' and pointed to warnings from independent forecasters. The panel faced questions in Glasgow, chaired by BBC host Victoria Derbyshire. One audience member said he had 'no idea' what to do because of the poor quality of arguments from both sides. Another accused both sides of making 'petty arguments'. Mr Johnson claimed Brexit could mean the return of 'watchtowers' across the border between Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The panel faced questions in Glasgow - one audience member said he had 'no idea' what to do because of the poor quality of arguments from both sides. For Leave, former Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox said there had always been arrangements between the UK and the Republic of Ireland adding 'Why would that change?'. He argued uncontrolled immigration was pushing up house prices in the UK. Ukip MEP Diane James said voting to Leave would give Britain back control over who to allow in to work in Britain and she wanted to see more workers from Commonwealth countries. Mr Salmond said the SNP would demand another independence referendum if Scotland was 'dragged out' of the EU despite voting to stay in. A UKIP MEP has said the UK should accept more migrants from the Commonwealth if voters back Brexit and reject eastern Europeans because they do not speak English. Diane James said the UK needs more doctors but they should be people from Commonwealth countries 'who speak our language', not EU migrants. It came as Ms James, a Leave campaigner, admitted that the campaign 'just don't know' whether people would require visas to travel around Europe if the UK votes to exit. She added: 'We know we want doctors, if we've got qualified doctors in Commonwealth countries ...why not have somebody from the Commonwealth who speaks our language?' Speaking over an angry reaction from the audience she added: 'I do have an issue with that actually... I do.' THE CONTENDERS: THE FOUR POLITICIANS SQUARING UP FOR THE FIRST TV DEBATE OF THE BREXIT BATTLE ALAN JOHNSON Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson is leading Labour's campaign to keep Britain inside the European Union. Seen universally as a safe pair of hands, Mr Johnson has been repeatedly tipped as a possible successor to three Labour leaders - including the incumbent Jeremy Corbyn. The postman turned political veteran filled a succession of cabinet posts through most of the 13 years of Labour government. Mr Johnson hasn't contested a TV debate before but he's a seasoned media performer. ALEX SALMOND The former First Minister of Scotland has more referendum and TV debate experience than anyone else on the panel tonight. Mr Salmond has been on the political front line for almost 30 years and spearheaded his party's doomed effort to win independence for Scotland in 2014. He contested two debates during the referendum against Better Together chief Alistair Darling and was generally seen to have won one and lost one. LIAM FOX A Tory Europsceptic heavyweight, the former defence secretary has been on the front line of the fight for Brexit for decades. Dr Fox was the first Tory to appear alongside Ukip leader Nigel Farage during the referendum campaign and was one of the first of his party to get out of the starting blocks. A former leadership contender, Dr Fox is poised to return to the top of politics in the event a Brexit vote dooms David Cameron. He's not taken part in a televised debate before but is highly experienced on television. DIANE JAMES The relative unknown on tonight's panel, Diane James is a Ukip MEP for the South East of England. She rose to prominence fighting the 2013 Eastleigh by-election and came within 2,000 votes of becoming Ukip's first elected MP by turning over a Lib Dem stronghold. A frequent panellist on the BBC's Question Time, Ms James may be unknown to many but has plenty of experience in dealing with questions from a live audience. 'He's the smoothest talker on TV!' Cheeky young voter boldly asks BBC's Victoria Derbyshire on a DATE during live EU debate It was an opportunity for young voters to ask politicians their questions on the EU referendum. But one smooth-talking audience member made the most of the first live televised EU debate by chancing his luck and trying to ask out BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire. During discussions about how travelling between member states would be affected if Britain opted to leave the EU, the man suggested that the mother-of-two host could join him on a trip abroad. Scroll down for video The smooth-talking audience member (pictured) made the most of the first live televised EU referendum debate by chancing his luck and trying to ask out BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire with a cheeky quip She had told him that he could 'just get up and go anywhere in Europe if [he] wanted to', to which the university motivational speaker agreed that he could 'leave right now if I wanted'. After Ms Derbyshire joked, 'bye!', he responded with his best attempt at asking out the 47-year-old. Dressed in a white t-shirt with a diamond earring and chained necklace, the smiling man believed to be aged in his twenties quipped: 'You can come with me if you want. We can go together.' At first, Ms Derbyshire - who recently documented her battle with breast cancer appeared to overlook his cheeky comment, but the bold attempt didn't fail to get past audience members. The crowd, comprising of around 150 young voters aged between 18 and 29, erupted into laughter and rapturous applause, with some even wolf-whistling and whooping. Ms Derbyshire, a BBC journalist, then broke down into giggles herself as the man called Kaodie - told her: 'Don't laugh, I'm being serious.' As the audience settled back down, the host took the proposition in good humour by joking back: 'I haven't got a visa.' Viewers were quick to take to social media to praise the man's attempts, with some calling him the 'smoothest guy on TV right now'. After Ms Derbyshire joked, 'bye!', the voter responded with his best attempt at asking out the 47-year-old. Dressed in a white t-shirt with a diamond earring, the smiling man quipped: 'You can come with me if you want' At first, Ms Derbyshire - who recently documented her battle with breast cancer appeared to overlook his cheeky comment, but the bold attempt didn't fail to get past audience members, and she later giggled herself See more of the latest Top Gear news at www.dailymail.co.uk/topgear Matt LeBlanc has hailed the show as an ' Chris Evans today insists he is not nervous about the first broadcast of the new Top Gear. The highly-anticipated new series, which has undergone a huge makeover, will be televised across Britain on Sunday. Evans, 50, spoke about the launch of the show as he appeared at the finals of BBC2's 500 Words children's writing competition at London's Globe theatre. The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, is an honorary judge of the creative writing event. And while the Radio 2 presenter said he's ready for the start, his co-star Matt LeBlanc revealed he had not realised how big the show is adding its a 'juggernaut'. Chris Evans is the main presenter of the new Top Gear series which will begin on Sunday, May 29 Evans, 50, spoke as he appeared at the finals of BBC2's 500 Words children's writing competition at London's Globe theatre. Camilla is an honorary judge of the inspirational creative writing event When asked whether he was nervous, Evans said; 'No, it's all done now. There's nothing to be nervous about, it's all in the can. 'Normally my shows are live. But honestly I'm not thinking about it now. And this is the perfect antidote, it reboots your system and puts everything in perspective. 'You've got to try your best, we've tried our best. The only time you should worry is if you have in the back of your head 'you didn't give it your all'. 'So I could not have done more. And if it's not enough, if then I'm not the right man.' Huge interest was sparked after previous frontman Jeremy Clarkson was sacked for an 'unprovoked physical and verbal attack' on a producer, and co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond, who had presented the show together since 2003, later left. The filming of the new series, which features Friends actor Matt LeBlanc, has been marred by controversy as well. In March, Chris Evans was forced to apologise 'unreservedly' for Top Gear when Matt LeBlanc was filmed doing donut wheelspins next to a Cenotaph in London. The broadcaster used his BBC Radio 2 show to try to quell mounting anger. The new Top Gear presenters are (from left) Rory Reid, Chris Evans, The Stig, Matt LeBlanc, Sabine Schmitz and Chris Harris Evans, who took over presenting the show after Clarkson was sacked for hitting a producer, said: 'On behalf of the Top Gear team and Matt I would like to apologise unreservedly for what these images seem to portray. 'There's been some very incendiary comments involved and written alongside these pictures and I completely understand all this furore', but in attempt to distance himself from the stunt he added: 'This isn't a shoot I'm particularly involved in'. Politicians and a former Army chief quickly condemned the BBC for arranging the 'gravely disrespectful' sequence yards from Britain's main war memorial. Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: 'It beggars belief that they were ever allowed to film here. 'This is a sacred tribute to millions of people who have done far more for their country than [show hosts] Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc ever will.' Skid Marks are left on Whitehall by the Cenotaph and war memorial by Top Gear's Matt Le Blanc after performing donuts for the new series Matt LeBlanc hailed Top Gear's global popularity, calling the BBC Two series an 'international juggernaut'. Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, which is due to be broadcast on Friday night, the new co-host discussed Top Gear's reach overseas. LeBlanc said: 'The show is a lot bigger than I thought it was. It's an international juggernaut of a show - it's massive. 'It premieres this Sunday and by Wednesday, it will be in 83 countries on six continents. It's just huge.' Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc's first challenge is a battle between the UK and the USA LeBlanc's appointment marks the first time the show has ever had a non-British host in its 39-year history. On the subject of how he landed the job, the 48-year-old said: 'I did it (Top Gear) the first time to promote Episodes and went around the track which went pretty good, and I went back again in a new car to see if I could beat my old record. 'Then they had a clip show, Top Gear The Racers, which I introduced. Chris was on board already and I was asked if I'd like to be part of it. It sounded cool and I wasn't doing anything else. It's a lot of fun.' LeBlanc's appointment marks the first time the show has ever had a non-British host in its 39-year history LeBlanc also teased Sunday's first episode, which appears to have a transatlantic theme. 'We had to drive Renault Reliant Rialtos with the roofs cut off, which is great with the British weather, from London to Blackpool,' he told host Norton. 'Mine broke down about 10 times and I think Chris had it fixed because it's UK versus USA. 'We're in English cars - his is painted like the Union Jack and mine is the Stars and Stripes - and mine breaks down repeatedly and his runs like a clock! Go figure.' Although best known to millions around the world for his 10-year role as Friends' Joey Tribbiani, LeBlanc said he is a 'petrolhead'. 'I'm one of those people who subscribe to about 15 different car magazines - I've been doing that forever and a friend said the other day, 'It's finally paid off!' LeBlanc revealed that he has a big bulldozer on his range in the US. 'I use it to re-surface the motocross track or just use it to knock stuff down,' he said. 'I thought I needed one and I started looking and my friends said, 'Don't get one too big.' And I was like, 'What do you know?' It's way bigger than I need, but I love it.' Despite all the headlines about Top Gear, Joey rarely goes away. LeBlanc told Norton one story about his ever-present alter ego. 'Friends just follows me around,' he said. An eighth grade girl who wore a t-shirt in support of the gay community landed in the principal's office for her 'disruptive' clothing. Ali Chaney, of Copperas Cove, Texas, wore a t-shirt with the message, 'Some people are gay. Get over it!' to SC Lee Junior High School, where it was deemed a dress code violation. Officials offered Chaney a school shirt to change into, but the teen burst into tears and called her mother, who said her daughter was discriminated against for being gay. Ali Chaney (pictured) was told to change her 'disruptive' clothing after she wore a t-shirt in support of the gay community Officials at SC Lee Junior High School found the t-shirt with the message, 'Some people are gay. Get over it!' (left), violated the dress code, which prohibits 'disruptive' clothing (pictured right: Chaney) Chaney was called to the principal's office on Monday for violating the dress code, which prohibits 'clothing that is disruptive to the learning environment based on reactions by other students'. The 13-year-old was offered a school shirt to change into, but she refused and became upset when she thought she was being personally attacked. School officials reportedly told her they didn't want 'that' in school, but Chaney told KCEN-TV her response was: 'You don't want what in your school? You don't want gay kids in your school?' The Copperas Cove Independent School District issued a statement saying: 'Our purpose at CCISD is to educate children, first and foremost. 'According to CCISD's dress code in the Student Handbook and Code of Conduct, clothing that is disruptive to the learning environment based on reactions by other students is prohibited.' The school district offered another example of a dress code violation, and said a student wearing a t-shirt with Miley Cyrus' face with the words 'Twerk it' was also told to change. But Chaney claims a student who wore a t-shirt with a political statement aligning President Obama with Islam and Communism was not cited for a dress code violation. The teen's mother, Cassie Watson, claims her daughter had been bullied, and told KCEN-TV: 'All of the kids should be treated the same. 'They're there to learn, not have their ideology changed because someone doesn't agree with it.' The school district said another student wearing a t-shirt with Miley Cyrus' face with the words 'Twerk it' was also told to change, but Chaney claims the student on the right was not cited for a dress code violation The teen's mother, Cassie Watson, supported her daughter and said: 'They're there to learn, not have their ideology changed because someone doesn't agree with it' Watson, who took Chaney out of school for the day and filed a complaint, wrote a Facebook post about the incident that has been shared 2,400 times. She wrote: 'If anyone knows my Ali, they know she has so much spirit. 'She has been taught love and acceptance and not hate and bigotry! She is an exceptional young lady with so much courage!' A similar incident occurred at Richland High School in Giles County, Tennessee in 2015. High school senior Rebecca Young wore a t-shirt with the same slogan to school. The principal told her not to wear it to school again, and banned her from other clothing that would 'support... the LGBT community.' The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee sued the school and a federal judge ruled in favor of Young, saying the principal was violating her right to free speech. Chief Judge Kevin H. Sharp wrote: 'The legal ground covering [these] issues is so well-trod that the Court finds itself surprised at the need to journey down this path.' A woman who was arrested in Arkansas has been dubbed 'Prison Bae' after her flawless mugshot circulated online. Sarah Seawright was arrested in Pulaski County in late April for failure to appear in court in connection to a 2014 arrest for a careless driving charge, New York Daily News reported. Despite her angelic looks, she has a mischievous past, including accusations of robbery, kidnapping and battery for a 2012 parking lot theft, KLRT reported. #PrisonBae: Sarah Seawright was arrested in Pulaski County in late April for failure to appear in court. Her flawless mugshot (pictured) has sent Twitter into meltdown 'She could stab me 9 times and I'd apologize and buy her Chipotle,' wrote Lil Nicki Vert on Twitter of the Arkansas woman As soon as the internet picked up on Seawright's mugshot, a Twitter frenzy kicked up. 'She could stab me 9 times and I'd apologize and buy her Chipotle,' wrote Lil Nicki Vert. Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson even took to Twitter to comment on Seawright's mugshot, although the former Bengals wide receiver didn't seem to be as taken with '#PrisonBae'. 'Today is a day to save money, she's gonna have to sit & think about her mistakes like I did,' he wrote. As soon as the internet picked up on Seawright's mugshot, a Twitter frenzy kicked up. Lil Nicki Vert seemed very taken with Seawright One Twitter user questioned whether Seawright had a 'glam squad' to help her get camera ready Twitter user Pursuit of Happiness described Seawright as 'gorgeous'. He's not the only person who thinks so Seawright encouraged first-time visitors to her social media to check out her Snapchat, where she shared a video saying 'f*** the judge' Seawright has taken notice of her new-found internet infamy and seems to be enjoying it. She told visitors to her Facebook page to follow her on Snapchat, where she shared a video saying 'f*** the judge,' according to the Daily News. It's unclear if Seawright will have a future in the modeling world like internet superstar Jeremy Meeks received after his mugshot caused a Twitter meltdown in 2014. It's unclear if Seawright will have a future in the modeling world like internet superstar Jeremy Meeks (pictured) Meeks was deluged with modeling offers from all over the world shen he was released from federal prison. Meeks with his wife Melissa and children (left) Meeks was released from federal prison in March after being sentenced for weapons violation in 2015. Upon his release, he was deluged with modeling offers from all over the world among them a smattering of invitations from unnamed royals to visit them at their palace homes. Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of being a 'part-timer' after it emerged he is set to miss the Battle of Jutland commemoration next week. The Labour leader was invited to attend a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the key First World War clash alongside David Cameron and members of the Royal Family. But Mr Corbyn has apparently snubbed the invite as he is on holiday during the parliamentary recess. Shadow defence secretary Emily Thornberry is due to go. Jeremy Corbyn on the EU referendum campaign trail with former Labour leader Ed Miliband today Labour MP Kevan Jones, a former defence minister, told MailOnline the decision would cause 'huge offence'. 'He has got to realise that Leader of the Opposition is not a part time job,' Mr Jones said. 'This will cause huge offence to many voters and refinforces the notion that Labour is not interested in security or defence issues.' More than 8,500 British and German seamen died off the coast of Denmark in the 36-hour Battle of Jutland which began on May 31, 1916 and changed the course of the war. Dignitaries will join descendants of those who fought in the battle for a service at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall on Orkney Tuesday. The location has been chosen because the British Grand Fleet was launched from Scapa Flow to tackle German forces attempting to break a British blockade. Both sides claimed victory as the Germans lost 11 ships and Britain 14, but the enemy's naval fleet was seriously weakened and did not pose a significant challenge again during the conflict. THE BATTLE THAT WON THE WAR Jutland has been described as the 'battle that won the war', but it came at the cost of thousands of lives. Over 36 hours between May 31 and June 1 1916, the British fleet lost 6,094 seamen and the Germans 2,551 in the defining naval meeting of the First World War. After two years of war, historians say both sides planned to lure the other into a trap in the North Sea, with the British wanting another Trafalgar-style victory while Germany was desperate to end its rival's maritime domination. In the aftermath, both nations claimed victory - Germany because of the casualty count and Britain because the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet maintained the numerical advantage. Fought off Denmark's Jutland peninsula, around 250 ships were involved on both sides, creating a scale of battle that has not been seen since. The high number of deaths has partly been put down to the unexpected sinking of large battleships such as HMS Invincible, HMS Ardent and SMS Pommern which were designed to take heavy hits. The sailors killed were heralded at the time as gallant comrades who died gloriously in battle, but some historians believe many lost their lives due to 'careless mistakes'. Dr Novotny said: 'There's about 6,000 from the British fleet that are killed, the German fleet lost about 2,500. 'The casualties on the British side are definitely a lot higher - the British fleet was much larger with about 150 ships versus 99 on the German side. The Germans were going to be out gunned.' German President Joachim Gauck will join the Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal at the service, which will be followed by a second memorial at Lyness Cemetery on Hoy - the final resting place for more than 450 service personnel who died in the war, including sailors killed at Jutland. The Government said the commemorations will remember those who lost their lives while also paying tribute to the role of the Royal Navy and the Orkney Islands in the 1914-18 conflict. St Magnus Cathedral is currently host to thousands of ceramic poppies, first seen at the Tower of London, as part of the Jutland commemorations. Orkney Islands Council vice-convener Jim Foubister said: 'We are proud to be hosting the UK's national commemoration of the Battle of Jutland. 'On Tuesday we will remember the huge importance of Jutland to the outcome of the First World War, and the enormous number of lives lost during the course of the battle. 'The cemetery at Lyness stands close to the waters of Scapa Flow, from where the British Grand Fleet set out for the Jutland Bank. 'It is fitting that the Jutland commemorations will draw to a close among the graves of some of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their countries a century ago.' Ceremonies remembering the battle are also being held in Rosyth and South Queensferry on Saturday, ahead of the anniversary. The Battlecruiser force sailed from the Firth of Forth, and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is among those expected to pay their respects during a wreath-laying service at Rosyth Parish Church. A further memorial will take place across the Forth at a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery where 40 casualties from the battle are commemorated or buried. The British lost 6,094 seamen at Jutland and German losses numbered 2,551. Less than a week later, on June 5 1916, the British war effort suffered another major blow when HMS Hampshire sank with the loss of 737 lives after hitting a German mine west of Orkney. Among the dead was Lord Kitchener, Britain's secretary of state for war who famously featured on a recruitment campaign poster. Next Sunday, a commemorative service will be held at Marwick Head, above the waters where HMS Hampshire was sunk. HMS Warrior during the Battle of Jutland in 1916, which is often credited as the turning point in the war This fascinating rediscovered black and white footage shows the remarkable moment Eton schoolboys including future Tory minister Jonathan Aitken ventured down a Scottish coal mine. The footage, newly released from the British Film Institute's private archives, shows a class of Eton schoolboys on an exchange to the coal mining village of Cumnock, East Ayrshire, in 1961. Among the fresh-faced visitors is none other than a young Jonathan Aitken - who went on to become a Tory MP and cabinet minister before being jailed for perjury in 1999. Scroll down for video The footage, released from the British Film Institute's private archives, shows a class of Eton schoolboys - including Jonathan Aitken (above) on a visit to the coal mining village of Cumnock, East Ayrshire in 1961 Among the fresh-faced visitors to the coal mining village is none other than a young Jonathan Aitken (in the background to the right of the boy with glasses), who went on to become a Tory MP and cabinet minister A Jonathan young Aitken (far right) emerges from the coal pit during the schoolboys' venture down the mine The clip is a 'cinemagazine' designed to be watched by those working in the mining industry. The full ten minute black and white reel, titled 'Visit to Ayr' first shows scenes of the pupils from Eton College dressed in formal attire being greeted at the Cumnock train station by the local MP. Speaking in a crisp accent over dramatic music the narrator says: 'Cumnock station in Scotland, and Emrys Hughes, MP for South Ayrshire, meeting boys from Eton College who had come for their first glimpse into the mining community.' The students can then be seen packed into a small bus - with a tall Jonathan Aitken ducking in order to fit - before meeting the local families they are staying with. One scene shows another boy, 'Jeremy', in a full suit wearing a carnation, towering over his host family as he greets them outside their terraced home. The narrator notes 'the boys made themselves at home' as one 16 year-old pupil delves into the history of the area with the mine's 'dust suppression officer.' In another scene a pupil can be seen reading the paper at his host family's breakfast table - slightly overdressed in an ornate dressing gown. They then take a sightseeing tour to 'get the feel of a mining community', and also visit the cottage of Robert Burns. The pupils, including a young and fresh-faced Aitken (centre) visited Robert Burns' cottage during their trip One scene shows another boy, 'Jeremy', in a full suit wearing a carnation, towering over his host family as he greets them outside their terraced home (pictured). The footage has been released by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) have newly published a haul of films from their private archives - making them publically available for the first time. The clip isdesigned to be watched by those working in the mining industry Speaking over music, the narrator says: 'Cumnock station in Scotland, and Emrys Hughes, MP for South Ayrshire, meeting boys from Eton College who had come for their first glimpse into the mining community' Jonathan Aitken, the former Conservative party cabinet minister (pictured), was jailed for perjury in 1999 The footage also shows them going underground at Barony Colliery - putting on the 'unaccustomed clothing' of overalls. A young Mr Aitken can even be seen fixing his hair under the mining helmet - before 'going down' the pit. They are then seen returning from the pit with coal-smudged faces, 'dirty, happy and wiser from the experience of seeing how the nation's coal is won.' Mr Aitken, speaking today, recalled that the trip was organised after MP Emrys Hughes - who had a number of 'formidable' mines in his constituency - gave a speech at the Eton Political Society, which he presided over. He said: 'I remember this episode well. Towards the end of his speech in a half humorous way he asked why Eton isn't sending any of its boys into the coal mining industry. 'He said, 'I challenge the boys of Eton to come down the mines of my constituency'. I accepted. 'We worked on the coalface. We went down the mines for the four days, and gosh it was tough. To me it was very very eye opening and fulfilling and fascinating work. 'We also rather bonded with our mining hosts.' The footage shows them going underground at Barony Colliery - putting on the 'unaccustomed clothing' of overalls. Mr Aitken can even be seen fixing his hair under the mining helmet before 'going down' the pit Behind bars: Aitken (right) prepares to go down the coal mine during the boys' trip to the East Ayrshire village 'Jeremy' enjoys a working class miners' breakfast in the newly released footage, which dates back to 1961 Mr Aitken said the trip sparked an exchange programme - with miners visiting Eton for five days. The school also launched a fundraising effort for the mine when tragedy struck just four months after the visit - when disaster struck and four men were buried alive. Their bodies remain there today. But Mr Aitken said one of the men - Jimmy Tanner - stood out in his memory, as Mr Tanner wrote to him some years after the visit, saying he was retiring, suffering from a chest condition, and wished to move south. Mr Aitken said: 'He wrote to me - I was by that time a very young member of parliament.He said, 'Do you think you could help me get a council house?' And I did get Jimmy Tanner a council house in Ramsgate. 'I saw him from time to time and revered him as a man'. Patrick Russell - senior curator at the BFI - said that 450 films such as this were made between 1947 and 1983. He said: 'The industrial field was a very prolific field - particularly the mining reviews. 'They reveal a 20th century field that has changed very radically since. 'In this particular case it's a very interesting cultural exchange across class barriers.' An ISIS fighter filmed bartering for young girls at a sex-slave market while demanding to 'check their teeth' has been captured in Iraq. The militant was caught on video 18 months ago bidding for captured Yazidi girls on what was sickeningly billed as 'slave market day'. During negotiations, he says he will pay more for girls with blue eyes and offers to pay the seller $500 for a 15-year-old. But he demands to look in her mouth first, saying: 'If she doesn't have teeth, why would I want her?' Scroll down for video That's wiped the smirk off your face: An ISIS fighter filmed bragging about buying 'blue-eyed' slave girls for $500 has been captured by Iraqi forces Disturbing: The clip begins with the bearded militant explaining it is slave 'distribution day' before going to laugh about buying young Yazidi girls who have been enslaved by the terror group He has now been captured by Kurdish forces in Iraq, according to sources. Pictures posted online show him being paraded for the camera by military commanders with the smirk he showed callously wore in the video wiped off his face. ISIS has enslaved hundreds of Yazidi girls after storming their villages two years ago, subjecting them to brutal beatings and rapes while incarcerating in horrendous conditions. The video, which MailOnline reported in November 2014, shows the men negotiating the price of the women, with blue and green-eyed young girls fetching a higher price. It starts with one man saying to the camera: 'Today is the slave market day. 'Today is the day where this verse applies: Except with their wives and the (captives) whom their right hands possess for (then) they are not too be blamed'. Not laughing now: Pictures posted online show him being paraded for the camera by military commanders with the smirk he callously wore in the video wiped off his face The militant says he is willing to pay more if the girl has blue eyes He added: 'Today is distribution day God willing. Each one takes his share.' Another then says: 'I swear man I am searching for a girl. I hope I find one.' The men laugh and another says: 'Today is the day of (female) slaves and we should have our share.' Bartering begins after a seller is found, who says he is happy to sell his slave for a Glock pistol. Sellers offer prices, with the captured militant going as high as five banknotes. Subtitles on the clip explain that one banknote is probably the equivalent of $100. The video was shot in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, which was seized by ISIS in June 2014 He demands to look in her mouth first, saying: 'If she doesn't have teeth, why would I want her?' But the buyers explain the price they are willing to pay depends on looks and they will need to verify the girl is to their liking. One says he would need to check the teeth of the 15-year-old being auctioned, and explains: 'If she doesn't have teeth, why would I want her?' The video was shot in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, which was seized by ISIS in June 2014, according to Al Aan TV - who translated the clip into English. Hundreds of pubs, dozens of bingo halls and London landmarks are among 40,000 properties in the capital owned by offshore companies, it was claimed today. Wine cellars and car parking spaces are also allegedly registered offshore, with one in ten properties in Westminster and the City of London now said to be owned by firms in tax havens. Analysis of Land Registry data is reported to have found landmarks registered offshore include Google's UK headquarters of Belgrave House and Admiralty Arch, once the Cabinet Offices base. Registration: Admiralty Arch, once the Cabinet Offices base, is allegedly an offshore-owned London landmark Office: Google's UK headquarters Belgrave House is said to have a leasehold owned by an offshore company Developments are now owned by firms in the likes of Panama, Liechtenstein and the British Virgin Islands, according to a Guardian study by Robert Booth, Helena Bengtsson and David Pegg. It was also claimed dozens of UK Gala Bingo halls plus hundreds of Yates and Slug & Lettuce pubs - which are owned by Stonegate Pub Company - are owned offshore. But a Stonegate spokesman told MailOnline that the firm 'is a Cayman-incorporated company, and is tax resident in the United Kingdom. It files UK corporation tax returns on an annual basis.' Another London building said to registered in a tax haven is 12 Palace Street, which was once the Westminster Theatre but is now home to 35 luxury homes as well as the St James Theatre. And at one of Londons most exclusive addresses, One Hyde Park, even wine cellars and parking spaces are allegedly registered to offshore firms in the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein and Liberia. Top of the range: One of Londons most exclusive addresses, One Hyde Park, even wine cellars and parking spaces are allegedly registered to offshore firms in the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein and Liberia The number of properties in London owned by offshore companies has risen by 9 per cent in ten months helping to contribute to a current total of 39,917 buildings, the newspaper reported. The revelation follows concerns over foreign buyers using London homes as investments without living in them. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hit out at those who buy UK flats as 'gold bricks. It was also revealed this week that Britain's tallest residential skyscraper - St George Wharf Tower in London - is mostly owned by wealthy foreign investors who do not actually live in the property. A fortnight ago Prime Minister David Cameron warned foreign companies which own around 100,000 properties in England and Wales that they will be required to disclose their ownership. Mr Cameron told an anti-corruption summit in London on May 12: 'All foreign companies with properties in the UK will have to register publicly who really owns them, who really controls them.' Performing arts: Another London building said to registered in a tax haven is 12 Palace Street, which was once the Westminster Theatre but is now home to 35 luxury homes as well as the St James Theatre (pictured) Last August analysis reported in the Daily Mail revealed offshore companies had bought more than 150billion worth of property in England and Wales over the past 15 years. The figure was almost as much as last year's welfare and defence budgets combined, with Land Registry data showing that many of the UK's most expensive buildings had been snapped up. It found that on one London street, 149 homes were owned by firms based in tax havens, bought for a total of 563million - and nearby, 101 properties bought by firms based offshore cost 348million. Press representatives for Google and One Hyde Park did not respond to a request for comment today, while the owners of Admiralty Arch, Belgrave House and Palace Street could not be reached. A spokesman for Gala Bingo said the buildings in question are owned by M&G Real Estate. An M&G spokesman declined to comment. These are the amazing scenes as special forces operatives fast-rope down from a Blackhawk helicopter to rescue a Florida mayor as part of a dramatic training exercise. The heavily armed troops threw coiled ropes from the helicopter before sliding down to the ground in an impressive show of military force. The event was part of the International Special Operations Forces Week 2016 in Tampa, Florida. These are the dramatic scenes as US special forces troops storm a boat hijacked by pirates in an exercise Soldiers dropped from a helicopter while others clambered up the side of the ship using special ladders The event was part of the International Special Operations Forces Week 2016 in Tampa, Florida Thousands of people looked on as troops from 15 nations put on a 30-minute show highlighting their skills During the demonstration, a range of special forces teams from several nations demonstrated their skills in front of thousands of onlookers. The troops fired thousands of blank rounds as they parachuted from aircraft, drove humvees and swooped down from several helicopters. Troops from 15 nations, including the United States took part in the event. As part of the exercise, Mayor of Tampa Bob Buckhorn was rescued from 'pirates' and allowed to celebrate by firing a .50 caliber machine gun towards the crowd - although the weapon was only loaded with blanks. The troops 'rescued' Mayor of Tampa Bob Buckthorn, (center) who celebrated by firing a large machine gun Buckthorn opened fire with the .50 calibre machine gun, safe in the knowledge it was only firing blanks Several 'explosive' charges were set to add drama to the event which took place on air land and in water Some of the troops began their exercise skydiving to the exercise area in downtown Tampa Speaking to the Washington Post following the event, Lt Colonel Chris Robeshaw of the US Special Forces command said: 'A lot of what we do is a bit secretive, we dont really advertise much of what we do and there is a reason for it, 'I think this is maybe a stark reminder that there are young men and women out there putting themselves at risk.' He added: 'I would say there appears to be a heavy reliance on Special Operations forces, not just us but all of our international allies. I think the deployments really push people to their limits and Im always amazed at the perseverance that we all share.' The dramatic 30-minute exercise took around three days to plan and involved service personnel from all 15 participating nations. Apart from the use of blank ammunition, the other major aspect of the show which was less than realistic was special forces normally wait for the dark to attack. The demonstration took three days of planning and involved some of those who were attending the conference Some of the troops showed how to clear buildings by bursting through doors while tourists looked on is 'trying to get the job done of bringing my wife home' The husband of an Australian woman who died on Mount Everest kept climbing after she decided to turn around due to fatigue - but her condition rapidly deteriorated as she climbed down. Maria Strydom, 34, and her husband Robert Gropel began their summit bid on Friday night in clear weather, but at the South Summit at nearly 8,000 metres, Dr Strydom slowed and decided not to continue. Her husband continued the journey and reached the peak of the mountain with the rest of the group. 'When I made it to the summit of Everest, it wasn't special because I didn't have her there,' Dr Gropel said, Seven's Sunday Night reports. The body of Australian climber Maria Strydom, left, has been recovered from Mount Everest a week after she died on the mountain as her husband, Robert Gropel, right, reveals his heartache Dr Strydom's husband, Robert Gropel, who was in her team and also suffered altitude sickness, was airlifted to Kathmandu early this week The next time he saw his wife, her health had deteriorated and she had become severely ill with altitude sickness. With medication and more oxygen brought up by sherpas, Strydom improved and was making her way down. She then suddenly collapsed and could not be revived. Arnold Coster, owner of Arnold Coster Expeditions, which was heavily involved in the tragic climb, said the entire team reached the summit except Dr Strydom. 'On 19 May the whole team left the South Col and everybody summited the next day, except Marisa who decided to turn around just above the the South Summit at 8am in the morning, due to fatigue,' Mr Coster said. 'Marisa was doing well until the 'Balcony', but became very slow after this and decided to turn around. 'Normally this would give her enough time to descent safely, but her condition deteriorated rapidly.' Dr Strydom's body was recovered from Mount Everest and taken to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Friday. Dr Gropel said he was struggling to come to terms with his wife's sudden death. 'I still can't look at any pictures of her because it just breaks my heart,' he told Sunday Night in an episode due to be aired on Sunday. Dr Gropel said he hadn't thought about anything but retrieving his wife's body from the mountain. 'I'm just trying to be strong, I'm learning to cope and block out what causes sort of, breakdowns, and trying to get the job done of bringing my wife home,' he told the ABC. 'All I am thinking is I want to get her home.' Dr Maria Strydom died on Saturday while trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest after succumbing to altitude sickness 'It was a superhuman effort, she was without oxygen for 20 hours ... because of the length of time it took her, and took us to get her down, and it ran out,' Dr Gropel (pictured) said The veterinarian (pictured) is 'very determined' to bring his wife's remains back to her family in Australia WHAT IS ALTITUDE SICKNESS? 'Altitude sickness' refers to the group of potential dangers faced by high altitudes, and is also known as 'mountain sickness'. It is caused by gaining altitude too rapidly, which doesn't allow the body enough time to adjust to reduced oxygen and changes in air pressure, and causes hypobaric hypoxia (a lack of oxygen reaching the tissues of the body). In severe cases, fluid builds up within the lungs, brain or both. Symptoms of the illness include: headaches, lethargy, a lack of coordination, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and insomnia. (Source: Better Health Victoria) Advertisement Dr Gropel described his wife as 'the perfect person' while recounting the amazing efforts of the climbing team to get his wife back down the mountain to safety. 'It was a superhuman effort, she was without oxygen for 20 hours ... because of the length of time it took her, and took us to get her down, and it ran out,' Dr Gropel said, the ABC reports. 'She was my motivation idol, my hero, she was a very strong advocate for women, she was the perfect person.' He has been plagued with a residual cough since fluid built up in his and his brain started to swell during the expedition, which also claimed the life of Dutch climber Eric Arnold. Seven Summit Treks managing director Mingma Sherpa said they planned to have Dr Strydom's body brought down much quicker but bad weather had made the journey far more treacherous. Dr Strydom's sister, Aletta Newman, on Wednesday acknowledged it would be 'at least a few days to get her to Kathmandu if successful'. Ms Newman, who lives in Brisbane, said her and her family were eagerly awaiting Dr Gropel's return as he could shed some light on what happened during her sister's last night. 'He's probably the person who can give us the most answers in terms of what really happened because he was there,' she said. Dr Gropel said he and his wife began their summit bid on Friday night in clear weather, departing from Camp 4, but at the South Summit at nearly 8,000 metres, Dr Strydom slowed, stricken with illness Seven Summit Treks managing director Mingma Sherpa said they planned to have Dr Strydom's body brought down much quicker but bad weather had made the journey far more treacherous 'She was my motivation idol, my hero, she was a very strong advocate for women, she was the perfect person,' Dr Gropel said of his wife 'He is able to speak but obviously he's absolutely distraught - he's absolutely broken,' Ms Newman said. 'He's very determined not to leave Nepal without his wife.' Dr Gropel's parnets, Heinz and Patricia, have flown from Melbourne to support him. The couple acknowledged they'd been 'very worried' before their son and daughter-in-law embarked on their attempt to scale the world's highest peak. 'We knew what Everest could do but you can't deny children their dreams,' Mrs Gropel said. Dr Strydom's mother, Maritha, posted on Facebook on Tuesday thanking her 'amazing family and in-laws who are all working as a team to make [the retrieval] happen and raise the fortune needed to bring Marisa back'. Dr Strydom's netball club had been trying to raise the estimated $40,000 needed to recover her body. Dr Gropel was airlifted to hospital in Kathmandu on Monday to receive treatment for altitude sickness but was discharged (pictured) on Monday after his parents Heinz and Patricia arrived 'He's very determined not to leave Nepal without his wife,' Ms Newman said of her sister's husband Authorities could have prevented the rape and murder of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher by revoking Adrian Bayley's parole as soon as he breached it, a coroner has found. While no inquest was held into the 2012 murder of Ms Meagher at her family's request, Coroner Ian Gray said on Friday he made the findings because she was one of three women murdered by men with violent criminal histories during a six-month period. 'Gillian Meagher's death was preventable,' he said, pointing to failings by Community Correctional Services (CCS) and the Adult Parole Board (APB). Scroll down for video Authorities could have prevented the rape and murder of Melbourne woman Jill Meagher (pictured) by revoking Adrian Bayley's parole as soon as he breached it, a coroner has found CCS is a division of Corrections Victoria, while the parole board is a separate body within the Department of Human Services. 'A more rigorous, risk averse approach by CCS and the APB would have led to a cancellation of Bayley's parole,' Mr Gray said. 'The approach taken is difficult to understand ... it did not bring dangerous and high risk parolees immediately to account.' Bayley was on parole for previous rapes when he raped and murdered Ms Meagher, 29, as she walked home from Brunswick in the early hours of September 22, 2012. He was also on bail pending an appeal of a three-month sentence received after pleading guilty to king-hitting a man outside a Geelong pub in 2011. At the time of that incident, Bayley was on parole after serving eight years' jail for 16 counts of rape against five women. Bayley (pictured) murdered and raped Ms Meagher in the early hours of September 22, 2012 in Brunswick, just north of Melbourne's CBD At the time of that incident, Bayley (pictured) was on parole after serving eight years' jail for 16 counts of rape against five women. He had already served time for rapes committed from the age of 18 He had already served time for rapes committed from the age of 18. The coroner noted Victoria's parole system has been amended since Ms Meagher's murder. Had it been when Bayley was charged with the Geelong assault, Corrections Victoria told the coroner, his parol probably would have been cancelled automatically when he was convicted of that offence. 'The poignant truth of this ... will resonate with Ms Meagher's husband, family and friends,' Mr Gray said. Had it been when Bayley (pictured) was charged with the Geelong assault, Corrections Victoria told the coroner, his parol probably would have been cancelled automatically when he was convicted of that offence The coroner also referred to the murders of both Sarah Cafferkey and Sharon Siermans in his findings. Ms Cafferkey, 22, was killed in November 2012 by convicted murderer Steven James Hunter 11 days after his parole for other crimes ended. Ms Siermans, 29, was murdered in Ballarat by paroled rapist Jason John Dinsley the following April. Russia continues to modernise its strategic arsenal under President Vladimir Putin (pictured) Russia has successfully tested an anti-satellite missile capable of wiping out U.S. navigation, communications and intelligence devices. The Nudol direct ascent missile was launched from a facility in Plesetsk, 500 miles north of Moscow, and was monitored by U.S. intelligence. It is unknown whether the Nudol was fired at a target or just launched on a suborbital trajectory but the successful test represents a major milestone for Russia as it continues to modernise its strategic arsenal under President Vladimir Putin. The developments have been shrouded in secrecy but Russian state reports have insisted that the Nudol is for defense purposes, describing it as 'a new Russian long-range missile defense'. However, former Pentagon official Mark Schneider warned that the consequences of an anti-satellite attack on the U.S. could be devastating. 'The loss of GPS guidance due to [anti-satellite] attack would take out a substantial part of our precision weapons delivery capability and essentially all of our standoff capability,' he told The Washington Free Beacon. Air Force Lt. Gen. David J. Buck, commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, said in March that 'Russia views U.S. dependency on space as an exploitable vulnerability, and they are taking deliberate actions to strengthen their counter-space capabilities.' Gen. John Hyten, the commander of Air Force Space Command, also expressed concern at the development of such weapons in both Russia and China, but Russian military analyst Pavel Podvig said this latest launch was not part of calculated strategic plan against the U.S. 'I wouldn't be surprised if the [Nudol] system is being developed just because it can be developed -they will think about its role later, assuming that it works,' he said. Former Pentagon official Mark Schneider warned that the consequences of an anti-satellite attack on the U.S. could be devastating (stock image) A Defense Intelligence Agency report to Congress in February 2015 stated: 'Russia's military doctrine emphasizes space defense as a vital component of its national defense. 'Russian leaders openly assert that the Russian armed forces have anti-satellite weapons and conduct anti-satellite research.' Advertisement This is the moment a matador was tossed in the air and trampled during a bullfight - five years after he lost an eye when he was gored by another beast. One-eyed matador Juan Jose Padilla was picked up by the charging bull before being dashed to the ground at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain. Dramatic pictures show the 43-year-old, dubbed 'The Pirate' because of the patch he wears, taunting the 1,400lb animal before it rams into his chest. Pictures captured the moment a matador was tossed in the air and trampled during a bullfight - five years after he lost an eye when he was gored by another beast One-eyed matador Juan Jose Padilla was picked up by the charging bull before being dashed to the ground at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain Dramatic pictures show the 43-year-old, dubbed 'The Pirate' because of the patch he wears, taunting the 1,400lb animal before it rams into his chest Moments later, Padilla somersaulted in the air before the bull tried to gore the back of his legs with its horns as the shocked audience watched on. Incredibly, the matador escaped the terrifying ordeal with only minor injuries though blood was seen on his face. The incident came five years after he suffered horrific injuries in a fight in Zaragoza when a bull's horn pierced his jaw and it came out through his eye. At the time, the matador, who is known professionally as the Cyclone of Jerez, was heard screaming 'I can't see' as he was helped from the arena. Padilla somersaulted in the air before the bull tried to gore the back of his legs with its horns as the shocked audience watched on Great escape: Incredibly, the matador walked away from the terrifying ordeal with only minor injuries - though blood was seen on his face Counter-attack: The matador, Juan Jose Padilla, was easily picked up and thrown to the ground at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain In trouble: The audience looked on in horror as Juan Jose Padilla was picked up and dashed down on to the sand during the encounter Trampled: The bull, already tormented by two barbed sticks wedged in its flank, wasted no time as it went on the offensive Gruesome: The bull swung its horns at the one-eyed matador as he lay helpless on the ground. Others had to step in and rescue him from the angry bull The crowds at the Fiestas Del Pilar bullfight at the Misericordia ring were left stunned after the bull attacked when he slipped in the sand. He later underwent a life-saving five-hour operation to repair severe damage to his eye, bone, muscle and skin - his face reconstructed with titanium plates and mesh. It was not the first time Padilla, a popular matador who has won many fans for his courage and willingness to face the toughest bulls, had been gored. With blood running down its side, the bull is distracted away from the helpless bullfighter who lies on the ground Defeated: Juan Jose Padilla was helped to his feet by colleagues after the bull got its own back on the matador The incident came five years after he suffered horrific injuries in a fight in Zaragoza when a bull's horn pierced his jaw and it came out through his eye Ole! Drenched in its own blood, a bull is taunted by one-eyed matador Juan Jose Padilla to the delight of the audience Blood thirsty: In 2001 the Jerez native suffered serious injuries to his neck during another fight in Pamplona, Spain Showing off: Padilla taunts another heavily bleeding bull as he performs at Las Ventas bullring in Madrid, Spain In 2001 the Jerez native suffered serious injuries to his neck during a fight in Pamplona. The incident involving Padilla in Madrid yesterday was not the first time a matador had been caught out this year. Last month, Spanish matador Julian Lopez, 33, was gored in the buttocks during a fight in Seville, Spain. Family rescued deer from the gate, who would have died without help Through struggling it opened nasty wounds on either side of its body Animal tried to squeeze through a gate and became stuck between bars Tourists stumbled upon the distressed deer while on the island of Lanai This is the heroic moment a group of tourists rescued a severely injured deer trapped between the railings of a metal gate. The family spotted the animal bleeding and in distress while on a tour of the mountain houses on the island of Lanai, the sixth largest in Hawaii. The animal, which had tried to squeeze through the gate, appeared to have misjudged how wide it is and became stuck between two bars. The family spotted the trapped animal in distress while on a tour of the mountain houses on the island of Lanai The severely injured animal had tried to squeeze through the metal gate but became stuck between two bars Through struggling it opened two extremely nasty wounds on either side of its body, and without the intervention of the tourists, would have most definitely died. The video shows the group approaching the deer slowly so as not to startle it and to access the situation in order to provide help. One man sets about trying to lift the animal, while the other begins pulling at the bars to extend the narrow gap between them. Throughout the clip the distressed deer continues to escape - making its already horrible injuries that little bit worse. Eventually one of the two men climbs the gate and gives the animal a pet to calm it. One man tries to lift the deer, while the other begins pulling at the bars to extend the narrow gap between them The two men slowly lift the deer into the air and towards the widest section between the two bars to rescue it The second man continues to pull at the bars and has some success in making them wider. Meanwhile the other starts to lift the front half of the animal. Reaching out to touch its legs, the man who had been pulling at the bars holds the back half of the deer and lifts it slowly into the air. The duo bring the animal to the widest part between the bars and slide it out of the gate. Sensing freedom the deer tries to make a premature run for it, and ends up falling on its side before it is eventually able to escape the area. Sensing freedom the animal tries to make a run for it, but ends up falling on its side before getting away Eventually the badly injured animal is able to run away from the area and disappears back into the woodland The video concludes with a woman, who had been watching the rescue operation, asking whether anyone thinks the deer will survive with its severe wounds. Since appearing online the footage has been viewed more than 7,000 times and a number of people have speculated the same thing. One wrote: 'I'm guessing it died of infection or internal injury. Hopefully it wasn't in too much pain.' While another, who was more hopeful, said: 'Not necessarily even though we saw blood, it might have been grazes only. Let's just hope he/she was ok.' A father from Idaho has been jailed after he took his 14-year-old daughter out of state to marry a 24-year-old man who had previously raped her and got her pregnant. Keith Strawn will spend at least 120 days in jail after being sentenced on a charge of one felony injury to a child charge. He will also serve a suspended sentence of four years. The horrific ordeal began last summer after Strawn took his teenage daughter to Missouri, to marry 24-year-old Aaron Seaton. Bad dad: Keith Strawn took his 14-year-old daughter out of state to marry a 24-year-old man. He has now been jailed for 120 days. He claims he was motivated by religion but admits he made a 'bad decision' Vile: Adam Seaton, now 25, pleaded guilty to a rape charge in April and is believed to have impregnated the teenager just months later. She later miscarried. Seaton is serving a 15-year sentence Seaton had previously pleaded guilty to a rape charge in April and impregnated the girl who later suffered a miscarriage. Seaton is now serving a 15-year prison sentence. Court records show dad Strawn 'harbored and protected' Seaton by allowing him to live with his teenage daughter. His justification was simple: 'If you get them pregnant then you marry them,' Strawn told District Judge Greg Moeller during the hearing. 'While you spend those 120 days in jail, perhaps you will think about the 120 days your daughter was in a vile farce of a marriage to a rapist,' Moeller said to Strawn during the sentencing. Strawn's defense attorney, Douglas Knutson, recommended a sentence of six days in jail and probation. Knutson told the court that his client's decision to allow the marriage 'might have been a religious motivation.' 'The victim told me herself that her father asked her several times during the trip to Missouri, and even the day of the marriage, if it was something she wanted to do,' Knutson said. Horrific ordeal: Strawn's daughter, who has not been named in news reports, had a miscarriage in October. The marriage has since been annulled [stock photo] Seaton first met Strawn's daughter when the two families went into business together and the convicted rapist began taking advantage of the teenager while she was drunk. In court, Seaton offered a number of excuses as to why he raped Strawn's daughter claiming that he 'did not know it was wrong, it was an accident, no one was hurt, he didn't plan it and that he made a mistake, he didn't know how it happened and the victim was overly affectionate.' The judge did not buy any of Seaton's excuses. 'It's hardly a glowing report,' Judge Moeller said. 'It suggests you are completely unaccountable for your actions.' 'Attempting to now present yourself as some kind of hero for trying to protect a pregnant teenager by marrying her yourself I completely reject that as an explanation,' Moeller said. 'This didn't happen once; it happened multiple times, and you clearly groomed the victim.' Turning to the father, Strawn admitted that his actions were wrong. 'I love my daughter very much and I would never do anything to intentionally harm her or put her in harm's way,' Strawn said. 'I made the wrong decision, and I made that decision in duress.' An Alaskan man was arrested after he led police on a low-speed chase on a forklift, which he stole and used to break into a liquor store. Witnesses called police after they saw a forklift with two front prongs attached slam into the Brown Jug liquor store around 3.30am on Thursday. The man, 38-year-old Joseph Martin, allegedly took some bottles of alcohol, got back into the front-end loader and fled. Scroll down for video A forklift was driven into Brown Jug liquor in Anchorage, Alaska, before the man suspected of driving the vehicle led police on a low-speed chase Joseph Martin, 38, allegedly took some bottles of alcohol, got back into the front-end loader and fled from the store Police pursued Martin in the forklift, but the chase only reached speeds of about 15mph. In a video posted by the Anchorage Police Department, an officer can be heard telling dispatch the tires on the forklift are industrial and he will be unable to puncture them. He also says they have no way of forcing him off the road. The video shows the final four minutes of the chase, which ends in a trailer park with Martin surrendering to police. Alcohol bottles were found inside the front-loader, which had been stolen from a construction site, officers said. The loader had been stolen from Trina Gaskov of Green Acres Landscaping Construction and Aquascapes in South Anchorage, according to Alaska Dispatch News. 'The fence had gotten broken through when he took the loader. 'The keys were left in it, but it was left in a fenced-in area that was supposed to be secure,' said Jennifer Castro of the Anchorage Police. Police followed him at 15mph through a suburban neighborhood before Martin turned in to a trailer park where the chase ended The loader had been stolen from Trina Gaskov of Green Acres Landscaping Construction and Aquascapes in South Anchorage, who said she believes Martin had previous experience driving forklifts Gaskov told the Dispatch News she believes Martin had previous experience driving forklifts. 'He's obviously a good driver, 'cause he was drunk off his butt but he was still driving really good. 'He didn't hit a car or nothing and making those wide turns he must have experience driving around the loaders or something,' she said. Gaskov has no connection to Martin and did not know him prior to the incident. A Spanish bishop has demanded priests and monks working for him must provide a special certificate to prove they are not a paedophile. The Catholic Church in Spain has been embroiled in a number of sex scandals in recent years. Now The Local reports that Juan Piris Frigola, the Bishop of Lleida in Catalonia has announced that priests must provide an 'anti-paedophile certificate' before he will allow them to work with his flock. The Seu Vella (Old Cathedral) in Lleida, Catalonia. The local bishop has ordered all priests, monks and volunteers to obtain a certificate proving they are not paedophiles The piece of paper - officially called a Certificate of Sexual Offences - will prove the bearer has never committed a sexual crime. The certificate can be obtained from a government website and must be carried by those working with children. The Bishop of Lleida's demand will affect 80 priests and 100 monks as well as 400 volunteers who work with children, said the El Periodico newspaper. Bishop Frigola has given them until September to obtain the document. There have been a number of scandals involving Catholic priests both in Spain and globally in recent years. Twelve priests were arrested in Granada in 2014 for abusing an altar boy but charges were dropped against 11 of the 12 defendants because their crimes did not fall within the statute of limitations. Catholic priests take a vow of celibacy but there have been a number of scandals around the world, involving both child and adult victims In October last year the Vatican announced it was closing an investigation into abuse in a school run by Opus Dei in northern Spain, citing 'lack of evidence'. In 2014 Feliciano Miguel Rosendo was expelled for 'inappropriate behaviour' after reports of orgies with nuns. But two nuns later submitted virginity tests in a bid to clear his name. Former Australian Idol co-host James Mathison is set to contest Tony Abbott's seat at the July 2 election in an attempt to rally young voters to unseat the former prime minister. The 38-year-old television presenter made the decision after watching Mr Abbott's campaign launch on Sky News two weeks ago, and decided as an independent candidate in the safe Liberal seat of Warringah. Mathison will use the Twitter hashtag #TimesUpTony and the slogan 'Our Chance For A Change', he told The Daily Telegraph. Former Australian Idol co-host James Mathison (pictured) has focused his efforts on challenging Tony Abbott at the July 2 election after realising the former PM guaranteed changes he hasn't been able to keep Mr Mathison claimed the Liberal Party's former leader had 'broken so many promises' that it was 'hard to take him at his word.' He said: 'When he said 'we'll fix Brookvale Oval, we'll fix public transport' something in me said 'hang on, I think you said that three years ago.' 'So I looked up online and in 2001 he was saying these things and I just thought, 'who is holding him to account?' No one, because it's a safe seat.' Alongside his campaign Mr Mathison hopes to post his policies in a series of pre-recorded video messages set to attack Mr Abbott and his 22-year record as a Northern Beaches federal member. But Mr Mathison has his work cut out for him with the former PM holding a massive 15.4 per cent margin in the region. The Frenchs Forest resident and father-of-two confirmed his candidacy as an independent for the Sydney seat of Warringah to the Telegraph today saying he was 'there for the electorate'. The 38-year-old TV presenter made the decision after watching Mr Abbott's (pictured) campaign launch, but will have his work cut out for him with the former PM holding a massive 15.4 per cent margin in the region Mr Mathison told the Gold Coast Bulletin: 'I am there for the electorate and if that means I'm out at 4am, outside The Steyne, outside The Boatshed I'll be there. 'If I served kebabs instead of mints, imagine that?' His parliamentary run will be crowd-funded through a Pozible campaign and Mr Mathison hopes to get his Uber license to help canvas local issues and concerns with prospective passengers. Mr Mathison will focus his efforts on the youth modelling his social media strategy on The Project's viral video editorials and US talk show satirist John Oliver. The environmental and social justice advocate told the Gold Coast Bulletin that the stance of the far right Liberal Party does not reflect the community. Mr Mathison (left) grew to fame after becoming a video journalist on Channel V and eventually co-hosting Australian Idol with Osher Gunsberg also known as Andrew G (right) He said: 'The Greens are too extreme. People here don't overly trust Labor but they can't stand Tony, so what do they do? They just sleepwalk into the polling booth and do what they've always done.' Mr Mathison believes there is a 'disdain' for Mr Abbott in the area and the former PM's stance on marriage equality, refugees and climate change will put him at odds. Mathison grew up in the Frenchs Forest region in Sydney's north and grew to fame as an Australian television presenter through his career as a video journalist for Channel V. He later became the co-host for Australian Idol and eventually worked on The 7pm Project. In 2013 Mr Mathison became the presenter of the breakfast show Wake Up and returned to live in the north last year with his blogger wife Carlie Fowler and their daughters Luca 3, and 18-month-old Celeste. Committee concluded public is 'poorly served' by both sides of the debate Vote Leave was told it should repaint its bus to remove misleading 'core campaign claim' about Britain's cash An influential Commons committee has hit out at both sides in the EU referendum campaign for misleading the public. The Treasury select committee, which includes both pro- and anti-Brexit members, said the Vote Leave's 'core campaign number' that leaving the EU would give the country a 350million a week windfall was 'highly misleading'. It said the Remain campaign's claim that 3million jobs were dependent on Britain's continued EU membership was also 'misleading'. And George Osborne's claim that families would be worse off by 4,300 a year as a result of Brexit was 'likely to be misconstrued by readers ... and has probably confused them', it added. Both sides were guilty of a 'mountain of exaggeration and unqualified assertion', the MPs concluded. Boris Johnson's Vote Leave campaign was told to take a claim Britain sends 350 million a week to the EU off the side of their bus by the Treasury Committee. The Britain Stronger in Europe campaign was also slammed for making wild claims about the risks of quitting the EU The report said: 'The public debate is being poorly served by inconsistent, unqualified and - in some cases - misleading claims and counter-claims. 'Members of both the Leave and Remain camps are making such claims.' Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie, a Tory MP who has yet to declare his own voting intention in the referendum, said Vote Leave were guilty of 'by far the most serious' offence over its claims about how much extra money would be available for public services. The Brexit campaign has been widely criticised for a message painted on the vehicle on which figures such as Boris Johnson are touring the country which reads: 'We send the EU 350million a week let's fund our NHS instead.' Mr Tyrie told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: 'That is simply untrue, it is highly misleading and it is deeply troubling that they should be persisting with this. Repaint it, immediately.' The verdict was agreed unanimously by the committee, which includes leading pro-Brexit Tories such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Steve Baker, who is a member of the Vote Leave campaign committee. 'All of us concluded that that number is highly misleading and that to persist with it is deeply troubling. George Osborne, pictured campaigning in Solihull today, has been criticised for making inflammatory claims about the impact of Brexit on pensions 'Therefore clearly what we need is action to clean up this debate, remove these numbers and use numbers that are better qualified so that the public can get a better grip on what they are being asked to assess.' He said the government 'have done a bit better' but also needed to be clearer that its numbers were 'a likely or a plausible effect rather than saying this is definitely what is going to happen'. There must be 'an end to the arms race of ever-more-lurid claims and counter claims made by both sides. It is confusing the public, it is impoverishing political debate. 'Today is the first day of the main campaign. It would be a good day to have an amnesty. 'The public are thoroughly fed up with it.' The committee said Vote Leave's claim that the UK would get back 350million, which could be spent on things 'like the NHS and schools' failed to take account of the British rebate worth 85million a week. 'It is very unfortunate that they have chosen to place this figure at the heart of their campaign,' it said. 'This has been done in the face of overwhelming evidence, including that of the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, demonstrating that it is misleading.' The Remain camp's claim that 3million jobs are dependent on continued EU membership is attacked as misleading, leading to the public 'forming the mistaken impression that all these jobs would be lost'. Treasury committee chairman Mr Tyrie hauled all of the key players in the referendum in for a grilling over their campaign tactics The Chancellor's claim that families will be worse off by 4,300 a year as a result of Brexit is likely to be 'misconstrued' because the figure is in fact the total projected loss of the country's GDP divided by the number of households, rather than the actual average loss per household. The MPs concluded that any single number purporting to measure the impact of staying or leaving inevitably over-simplifies the complexities underlying the question on the ballot paper. But they said it was 'plausible' that, in the short term, Brexit would 'weaken the pound, reduce domestic and foreign direct investment, and increase borrowing costs'. In the longer term, trade with the EU is likely to fall also with an economic cost. But they also concluded that Brexit could create potentially beneficial opportunities: to improve the regulatory framework, and to strike new trade and better trade deals with countries outside the EU. A TV news presenter has opened up her crippling anxiety that plagued her nightly and threatened to end her 25-year career. Kerryn Johnston, who resigned from the WIN Network in February, said she suddenly became overwhelmed with anxiety several years ago as she presented the nightly news bulletin to thousands of Canberra homes. She battled the knot in her stomach and dreaded anxiety attacks every time she went on air for the next three years, Ms Johnston told the Sydney Morning Herald. TV news presenter Kerryn Johnston (pictured) has opened up about the crippling anxiety attacks that plagued her nightly every time she went live on air to thousands of Canberra homes The attacks continued for three years and threatened to end her 25-year career The first time it happened Ms Johnston said she thought she was having a heart attack. 'My heart was a bass drum, I could hardly breathe I stumbled through, took a huge breath and then after the bulletin I thought "what the hell was that?"' But it continued to happen. 'It was every night, it was harrowing,' she said. 'I would come home and fall in a heap there was lot and lots of tears.' Ms Johnston (pictured) said she was able to overcome the attacks using several techniques, including clenching her fists and focusing on her breathing Terrified that not only the audience would see through her facade, but that her colleagues would as well, she agonised about how to hide the signs of her anxiety. Ms Johnson said she studied the bulletins after each time they aired and pick apart her shaky voice or heavy breathing. She initially sought help from a psychologist but said it wasn't the right fit for her and soon found a counsellor. She learned tricks to help her calm down and keep her focus and also began shortening her on camera pieces, giving herself a chance to breathe. Over time the techniques worked, Ms Johnston said and she was anxiety free for a year before she retired this year. After being discharged, he vowed to get back on booze for rest of the week The family of a British father-of-two who is in a coma after a horrific fall from his hotel balcony have flown out to Spain to be at his bedside. Andrew Phillips, a 25-year-old bricklayer, from Newport in Wales, was on the first night of his holiday in the resort of Magaluf in Majorca. He had just checked into his room with a group of mates when he fell from the first floor balcony. Andrew Phillips (pictured) is in a coma in hospital after falling from the hotel balcony A hotel worker found him sprawled on the lawn and he was rushed to the Son Espases Hospital in nearby Palma. Joanne Phillips, 45, said her son was in a 'serious' but non-life threatening condition. He was put into an induced coma after doctors noticed he had a bleed to the brain. She said Andrew's father, Peter Davies, 45, had flown out to Majorca. Ms Phillips said: 'We don't know what exactly the situation is. He's in an induced coma and has multiple fractures. It's his head and face - his body is fine.' She said he had flown out on Wednesday morning and had not even been in Magaluf for 10 hours. Ms Phillips said: 'As soon as it happened his friend phoned his dad who phoned me. I was in shock with it all. It's not something you expect to hear. Teenager Cameron Relf (left) collapsed outside a Magaluf bar (right) after downing 75 shots 'It's not very good at all. We are waiting to see what happens now in the next few days.' Andrew has a five-year-old son Rylee and a baby stepdaughter Sadie. The Spanish Civil Guard said there was nothing to indicate a crime had taken place. The incident came only hours after it was reported that a British teenager had almost drunk himself to death after downing 75 shots. Cameron Relf, 18, had been dared to drink a deadly amount of Sambuca and caramel vodka in Magaluf. He said: 'We had been up for a really large night out but that's what you do in Magaluf. The shot girls just kept getting us to drink more.' Heavy drinking and wild behaviour is considered the norm in the resort of Magaluf (pictured) Last summer officials announced a plan to introduce fines of up to 3,000 (2,182) for anyone caught being naked in the street. The new rules came into effect in June 2015, and also included hefty fines for anyone urinating in public or 'balconing' which refers to the act of drunkenly jumping from hotel balconies. A bitter pill to swallow: A divorced father has been told by a court that he can pay child support to his ex-wife in the form of pizza despite her angry protestations (picture posed by model) A divorced father has been told he can pay child support to his ex-wife with pizza. The man, who just so happens to be a pizza chef, had been ordered to pay 230 a month for the couple's eldest daughter. But he chose instead to send his own creations to his ex-wife to the value of the agreed settlement because he couldn't afford the cash payment. After a while, the mother grew sick of the deliveries and took the 50-year-old, named only as NT, to court. But judge in Padua, Italy, ruled in the father's favour because he didn't earn enough to keep up the payments. The judge, Chiara Bitozzi, said that it was acceptable to carry on paying the child support in the form of pizza, it was reported by The Local which cited Il Gazzettino. Neither Bitozzi or the man's lawyer, Sonia Della Greca, were available for comment. The case is not the first in Italy to raise eyebrows. Last month, a divorced Italian father was ordered to pay child maintenance for his 28-year-old student son in the latest example of the country's problem with 'big babies' who won't leave the nest The middle-aged man was at a civil court in Modena, northern Italy to challenge a condition of his divorce settlement which stated he should pay for his grown-up child's education. The son had reportedly completed a degree in literature after taking 'several years' longer than expected to do so. But the judge said the young man's course should be supported despite the father's claim he 'does not deserve any further financial support, having made no effort to find work to support himself.' A judge in Padua (above) ruled in the father's favour because he didn't earn enough to keep up the payments Last year, an Italian octogenarian tried to divorce her husband because they were not having enough sex. The 84-year-old woman from Scafati in Campania, southern Italy, filed for divorce from her 88-year-old husband on the grounds of sexual unfulfillment. She told her lawyer that her elderly husband only wants to have sex with her twice a month, which is not enough for her. An alleged Apex gang member has had his youth supervision curfew reduced because it could negatively impact his love life. The 16-year-old Melbourne teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged for crashing a stolen vehicle then assaulting a man while on probation, reports Herald Sun. A magistrate slapped the teen with 9pm curfew so as to keep him from associating with other gang members, but this changed to 10pm after the boy's lawyer argued the curfew could hinder his love life. Police allege the boy is part of the notorious Apex gang, who grabbed headlines in March for sparking an infamous riot in Melbourne's CBD (pictured) 'It can actually be inhibiting if he, say for example, gets a girlfriend,' the boy's lawyer argued. The magistrate argued the boy should be spending time at home rather than with others who are a bad influence. 'You get into trouble at night, you have to stay home with your family,' The teen was charged with car theft after crashing a stolen vehicle into Hampton Park before fleeing the scene on May 1. He broke also broke into a Mt Eliza home and stole a Fiat station wagon and BMW station wagon on March 1. In February he and other suspected gang members bashed a stranger in front of his female companion. The problem of containing the gang has come to a head in the past year, according to Victoria Police The teen was charged with car theft after crashing a stolen vehicle into Hampton Park before fleeing the scene on May 1 Police allege the boy is part of the notorious Apex gang, who grabbed headlines in March for sparking an infamous riot in Melbourne's CBD. Apex is made up predominantly of boys and men of African background, mostly Sudanese and also Somali. An asylum seeker who jokingly wore a T-shirt saying 'I'm Muslim, don't panic' was so savagely beaten by his fellow refugees that he had to be rushed to hospital. The 23-year-old Iraqi had thought that his fellow Islamic asylum seekers would see the funny side, but instead they accused him of offending their religion and decided to teach him a painful lesson. The man was attacked in the evening as he returned to his asylum seeker home in Berlin, Germany wearing the T-shirt which he had just bought. An asylum seeker who jokingly wore a T-shirt saying 'I'm Muslim, don't panic' was so savagely beaten by his fellow refugees that he had to be rushed to hospital He was allegedly confronted by three angry Muslims who ripped up the T-shirt and ran off after beating him. Two of the alleged attackers, a 27-year-old from Syria and a 33-year-old from Lebanon, were later arrested on charges of aggravated GBH. A pair of doctors helped save the life of a man shot in the chest in south London. The 28-year-old victim sustained chest and arm injuries but was aided by three bystanders, including two medics who were carrying equipment and able to treat him until paramedics arrived. He was taken to hospital and is said to be in critical but stable condition after the attack in Armitage Road, Greenwich, which took place at around 8.40pm last night. Witnesses said the victim, who had been sitting in a car, 'owes his life' to the passers-by. Passing doctors helped save the life of a man who was shot twice while sitting in his car in Greenwich, pictured John Zhang, 42, told the Evening Standard: 'Two doctors just happened to be walking down the street with all their medical kit. 'They did an amazing job, I think they're the ones that saved his life and he's lucky they were in the area.' He added: 'This guy was ambushed, he was driving his car and he was shot down the road.' The scene was described like 'something from a Hollywood movie' with the victim losing blood on the pavement. But the victim was said to have walked to the ambulance when it arrived. Residents have said they have been left 'scared' by the attack, despite the presence of CCTV cameras in the street. Witnesses said the victim 'owes them his life' after the shooting in an area described as 'peaceful and friendly' by residents The area was described as a 'peaceful and friendly' place. The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is investigating with the Trident Gang Crime Command leading the probe. It is understood no arrests have been made but that officers believe one gunman and an accomplice may have driven away in a dark car along Woolwich Road. Advertisement These stunning aerial pictures show attack helicopters, vintage aircraft and even Concorde on display alongside US Navy warships in New York, as thousands of sailors gather for Fleet Week. The annual event sees Marines and naval personnel mingle with the public as ships, aircraft carriers and warplanes are shown off to New Yorkers. Ahead of Memorial Day, the planes and helicopters have been shipped on to the Hudson River, where people can take a closer look at air power past and present The Navy describes the event as an 'unparalleled opportunity' for the citizens of New York to meet with servicemen and witness first-hand 'the latest capabilities' of today's Navy. As well as the planes and helicopters - which include one of the Marines' V-22 Osprey aircraft - the centerpiece this year is the USS Bataan - an 850ft length Wasp-class assault ship capable of carrying up to 27 attack helicopters which has been deployed to the recent conflicts in Libya and Iraq. More than 4,500 sailors and Marines are in New York and have been seen meeting locals and tourists in Times Square. Attack helicopters, vintage aircraft and even Concorde (pictured) are on display in New York as part of the 28th annual Fleet Week A CH-53E Super Stallion (left) and an Osprey V-22 (right) from the Marines sit on an aircraft carrier on the Hudson River in New York The stunning aerial pictures show the sheer scale of US Navy aircraft carriers, such as the USS Bataan which is in town for Fleet Week One of the Marines' Osprey V-22 - a hybrid between a helicopter and a plane that can take off and land vertically - was among the military aircraft on display A handful of the 4,500 sailors in New York were seen waiting for a bus in Brooklyn as they headed into town for the event The annual event sees Marines and naval personnel mingle with the public as ships, aircraft carriers and warplanes are shown off Magnificent men in their flying machines: Dozens of aircraft - old and new - are on display in New York City until after Memorial Day Ahead of Memorial Day, the planes and helicopters have been shipped on to the Hudson River, where people can take a closer look at the machines of war New York photographer Peter Massini flew above the display in a Robinson R44 Raven II to take these stunning aerial images. Pictured center is an A6 Intruder Air and sea: A CH-53E Super Stallion and an Osprey V-22 were on display, as was a large US Navy warship, attracting hundreds of people Two Vietnamese planes - including a blue camouflage PZL-Mielec Lim-5 (MiG-17F) - sat alongside the US planes on deck A Vought F-8 Crusader (left) - complete with shark teeth - was stationed next to a green camouflaged Vietnamese jet. Crusaders were crucial for reconnaissance missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis A Harrier jump jet (right) was accompanied by an Italian vintage jet (left), complete with the roundel of the Italian Air Force on each wing Great day out: The Navy describes the event as an 'unparalleled opportunity' for the citizens of New York to meet with servicemen Not a bad backdrop: Concorde (bottom right) is seen on the banks of Hudson River, with the Manhattan skyline pictured behind A Christian church in Germany has held a funeral for a teenage immigrant who was killed fighting for ISIS after becoming a Muslim and running away to Syria. The 17-year-old, named as Florent Prince N., was born in Cameroon and raised as a Christian in Hamburg before converting to Islam and becoming radicalised. Now, a year after his death in Syria, the church he once attended - St. Pauli in Hamburg - has held a controversial service in memory of the militant. A Christian church in Germany has held a funeral for teenage immigrant Florent Prince N. (shown in the photo) who was killed fighting for ISIS after becoming a Muslim and running away to Syria Pictures show his mother Florence arriving at the church ahead of the 'multi-faith' ceremony while a large photo of the teenager was displayed inside Pastor Sieghard Wilm (right) and Islamic pastor Abu Ahmed Jakobi (left) stand outside St. Pauli Church prior to the interfaith memorial service Pictures show his mother Florence arriving at the church ahead of the 'multi-faith' ceremony while a large photo of the teenager was displayed inside. According to Breitbart, the service was organised by Sieghard Wilm, pastor of the protestant church. While still a Christian, Florent was said to be active in the St. Pauli Church community. But the website reports that he converted to Islam in his early teens and soon became radicalised. He travelled to Syria in May last year and died after sending an audio message to Germany saying he was disillusioned with ISIS. Controversial: The service was organised by Sieghard Wilm, pastor of the protestant church While still a Christian, Florent was said to be active in the St. Pauli Church community. His mother is pictured arriving at the church The funeral service has sparked controversy in Germany with some questioning the decision to hold a memorial for someone who had left to join a terror organisation The funeral service has sparked controversy in Germany with some questioning the decision to hold a memorial for someone who had left the country to join a terror organisation. But Mr Wilm told the German website SHZ.de: 'We cannot deny this is a difficult situation. 'I can tell you as a pastor at St. Pauli, that I have also laid to rest more killers. A man remains a man. Even a person who has offended against someone. Even such a man has relatives who mourn him.' Florent's mother was still a Christian, prompting moves to hold the service at St Pauli, Breitbart reports. The pastor said he had observed Florent's behaviour when he became radicalised and changed his name to Bilal. But he soon lost contact with the teenager and saw that he had 'been estranged from me and his former social environment'. One person injured in a boat crash off Koh Samui in Thailand has been identified as an Australian woman. Sara Samhammer was on board the speedboat when it capsized on Thursday, killing two tourists. The 32-year-old woman received a visit from the Surathani Police Chief Apichat Boonsriroj and other officials around 11am on Friday, local time. Scroll down for video One person injured in a boat crash off Koh Samui in Thailand has been identified as an Australian woman. Sara Samhammer was on board the speedboat when it capsized on Thursday The boat (pictured) was carrying 32 tourists and four crew members when it capsized, killing two women including a British national They also checked the welfare of 36-year-old Samantha Jane Bartlett, from Britain. Ms Samhammer has since been released from hospital, Thai officials told Daily Mail Australia. The boat was carrying 32 tourists and four crew members when it capsized, killing two women including a British national. Thai police said the Ang Thong Explorer was travelling from Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park when it hit a 'big wave'. The Surathani Police Chief Apichat Boonsriroj and other officials visited Ms Samhammer and a 36-year-old British woman also on board around 11am on Friday to check on their welfare Two Australian tourists were reported to have been injured in the accident The speedboat was heading back to Koh Samui after a day trip to a marine park when it was hit by a wave The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that two tourists had been injured in the crash. A spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to two Australians injured as a result of a speed boat accident off Koh Samui, Thailand on 26 May. 'The Australian Embassy in Bangkok is working closely with Thai authorities to confirm whether any other Australians may have been involved in the incident and stand ready to provide consular assistance should this be required.' A British woman and a woman from Hong Kong drowned when the boat capsized. At least seven other passengers are seriously injured A woman from Britain and a woman from Hong Kong died in the incident. A senior police spokesman told the Press Association: 'We're still trying to check everyone. One British woman has died and one from Hong Kong. Two people are missing.' He added that the bodies of the two women have been recovered from the sea. Some reports suggested the women died after being trapped underwater and local media indicated the sea was quite rough at the time of the accident. Those on board are believed to be a mixture of Australian, British, German, Romanian and Chinese citizens. Some reports suggested the women died after being trapped underwater and local media indicated the sea was quite rough at the time of the accident The tourists are reported to be a mixture of Australian, British, German, Romanian and Chinese citizens Seven passengers are believed to be seriously injured, according to Thailand's Public Broadcasting Service. Local media reported many passengers were rescued by a passing speedboat, while others were forced to wait for a rescue vessel. Speaking through only slightly gritted teeth, a Texas police chief has praised high school students who left a cruiser without any wheels as part of a senior prank. Paul Montoya, who heads up the force in Hallsville, around 100 miles east of Dallas, paid his respects to seniors from the local high school after they left the force's reserve cruiser up on blocks. But despite branding the prank 'epic' and 'very funny', Montoya also warned against repeat offenses, telling copycats that the stunt is 'once in a lifetime.' Scroll down for video Hallsville police chief, Paul Montoya, has praised seniors from the local high school who left the town's reserve police cruiser up on bricks after taking the wheels off as a prank In a video posted to the department's Facebook page, Montoya said: 'Late at night last night a couple of members of our senior class got our reserve Tahoe and put it up on blocks. 'Now that's funny, it is an epic prank, I have never seen a prank that well planned out, so...' he says before applauding. Montoya adds: 'Well done guys, you got us, you got us. We're not mad about it, what can you do? You just got to laugh and say, you got us.' Still keen to prove the cops have the upper hand, however, Montoya goes on to reveal that the team of pranksters were actually caught on CCTV taking the wheels off. Montoya applauded the students for their skill and planning, but warned copycats that the prank was 'once in a lifetime' and that they will be caught in the act Perhaps in an attempt to identify the culprits, he also invites them to come down to the station to view the 'selfies' he says the cops took of them. But despite his upbeat attitude, Montoya does have a more serious message for anyone thinking of copying the stunt. He says: 'We do not want this to be a catalyst for other kids in other communities or anywhere else, to take this as a free ride to start doing this. A grieving woman was horrified to find the graveyard where her grandparents are buries was so overgrown she could not even see their headstones. Linda Gillam, 69, from Mitcham in South London, had decided to cut the grass herself around the grave, in March, after all the families were told about the state of the site. The retired classroom assistant went to to lay the flowers on May 20 at Lambeth Cemetery and said she was 'angry' at what she discovered - the grass around her grandparents has overgrown to the point that she couldn't see the headstones. A grieving woman was horrified to find the graveyard was so overgrown she could not even see her grandparents' headstones She said: 'It was the first anniversary of my mother's death and she used to visit my nan and grandad there, so it seemed a fitting time to go - I feel close to my mum there. 'It really upset me and it made me angry'. Not only was the grave so overgrown it could barely be seen, but when Ms Gillam went to get some water for the flowers she had brought, nothing came out of the tap. She said: 'I took some flowers but when I turned the tap on there was no water, evidently a pipe has broken or something and it's going to take weeks to have that repaired.' Ms Gillam and her partner Mike Webster, 62, spoke to a member of staff in the office on the day, and later contacted Lambeth Council for an explanation. She said: 'The person in the office could not have been nicer and was full of apologies. 'I really felt sorry for her. I feel sorry for the other people who are going to see their relatives, how shocking it will be. 'Some of them will be lucky to find the graves. There are people that go to that cemetery weekly and they take flowers up and there's no water. 'And people pay a lot of money to have their loved ones buried there. I'm absolutely disgusted.' Linda Gillam, 69, from Mitcham in South London, had cut the grass cut around the grave in March after all the families were warned about the state of the site According to Mr Webster, at least one person has been injured by hitting their leg on a headstone they could not see in the grass. A response the couple received by email from Lambeth Council said: 'I would like to apologise profusely for any distress caused. 'I fully agree and appreciate that the grass cutting is not up to standard. 'The reason for the grass reaching this length is due to a change in service provider - the council brought grounds maintenance in-house this summer when the contract with the previous maintenance team ended. 'Unfortunately the outgoing contractor did not put arrangements in place to cut the cemeteries prior to the transfer as requested.' According to the council's email, a new team was in place by May 16, and the three borough cemeteries are to be maintained in rotation. International protocols may be launched to promote immune treatment A revolutionary study has revealed a correlation between the immune system and serious mental illness. The study, from the University of Sydney and Perth-based charity Meeting for Minds, found immune treatment had already worked for a large number of mental health sufferers. One of the beneficiaries from the study, Elle McCabe, battled with mental illness after suffering a virus but found the symptoms were greatly alleviated under immune treatment, the ABC reported. A revolutionary study has revealed a correlation between the immune system and serious mental illness (stock) Ms McCabe suffered a psychotic episode at the age of 16, when her battle with mental health came to a head. She had doctors treat her immune system through a combination of plasma infusion and medication. 'It's changed my life. I study full time. Not just study. I do well at uni whereas before even being able to read was a struggle,' she said. Professor Ian Hickie of the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Centre said the link between poor immune system and mental illness is stronger than previously thought. He said one of the challenges is gauging the therapies for different patients: some might require a improvement to the immune system, while others may require a drop. International clinical protocols could be established to promote immune therapy as a treatment for mental illnesses. Melissa Swift, 25, admitted sneaking the poison into bottles stored in a fridge in her staff room to try and kill her colleagues A former carer who tried to murder three co-workers including her own sister by putting bleach into their drinks has been jailed for life. Melissa Swift, 25, admitted sneaking the poison into bottles stored in a fridge in her staff room to try and kill her colleagues. The former police special constable had made death threats to workers at Goldfield Court, West Bromwich, before she launched her deadly plan. She searched 'how to get away with murder' in the weeks before her spate of attacks and wrote a letter in blood to her step-sister saying she would 'cook her and eat her.' In total 30 staff and residents, including one in their 90s, were taken ill after Swift spiked bottles with bleach and placed them back in fridges on August 4, 2014. She admitted two counts of threatening to kill, including one against her older sister Lulla Swift, and three counts of attempted murder in February last year. Swift, of West Bromwich, West Midlands, appeared via video link from Rampton Secure Hospital at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday. She broke down in tears as she was sentenced for life, of which she will serve eight years until she is eligible for parole. Swift will serve her time in hospital until she is well enough to go to prison under Section 45a of the Mental Health Act. Sentencing, Judge Mark Wall QC said: 'The events all happened in the summer of 2014 'Your guilty plea confirms your desire that people should drink those liquids and die as a result. 'The effects of what you did are immeasurable. The former police special constable had made death threats to workers at Goldfield Court, West Bromwich, before she launched her deadly plan Police forensic officers at Goldfield Court, West Bromwich where 30 people were taken ill 'What is known is that at the time you were doing this seven members of staff and 23 residents became unwell. 'There is evidence of advanced planning, which included internet searches related to poisons. 'You were aware of your illness and you did not seek help when it was offered. 'You searched how to get yourself diagnosed for depression. 'The only conclusion I can see is you were contemplating getting depression after the crime as a form of excuse.' Smith was handed four year minimum sentences for each charge of threatening to kill to run concurrently. She will serve her time at Rampton Secure Hospital, Nottinghamshire, and will be transferred to prison if she is deemed well enough. Prosecutor Matthew Brook said: 'In June 2014 Swift searched on the internet 'how to get away with murder', 'why do I want to commit murder'. 'In her diary on June 17 she wrote 'I want to hurt someone badly, or maybe even kill them. 'I will seek revenge. They will get what they deserve. I wrote on the wall I will kill you. 'There were three instances of graffiti saying 'I will kill you', written backwards in the same way Swift wrote it backwards in her diary. 'On June 18 she wrote: 'I have had more thoughts about killing people. 'If anyone gets in my way I don't think I will be able to control myself.' SWIFT'S LETTER TO HER SISTER, WRITTEN IN HER OWN BLOOD The letter, said: 'Hello again. I can see you and I don't like what I see. 'You deserve to die. You will do because I will kill you. You will bleed slowly, I will cut your throat and once you die I will enjoy every bit. 'Then I will cook you and eat you. I'm watching you bitch, I will get you.' Swift sent a similar letter to Charlotte Dixon, a colleague, which read: 'B**** you will get what's coming to you. 'I will make you bleed. You may not remember but you will. You are a liar, a cheat and a back stabbing b****. 'I will make sure you die. Make the most of your last days. I am watching you.' Advertisement Police and Sandwell Council take a refuse bin at the rear of the West Bromwich care home for investgation Mr Brook said on June 19 that Swift wrote to her sister, who is 20 years older than her and who left home before Swift was born. The anonymous letter, written in her own blood, said: 'Hello again. I can see you and I don't like what I see. 'You deserve to die. You will do because I will kill you. You will bleed slowly, I will cut your throat and once you die I will enjoy every bit. 'Then I will cook you and eat you. I'm watching you bitch, I will get you.' Swift sent a similar letter to Charlotte Dixon, a colleague, which read: 'B**** you will get what's coming to you. 'I will make you bleed. You may not remember but you will. You are a liar a cheat and a back stabbing b****. We are all getting on and you expect carers to care for you, not to try and kill you Resident Brenda Stephenson, 90 'I will make sure you die. Make the most of your last days. I am watching you.' On July 16 she wrote in her diary: 'I want to kill someone or something. I went looking for a bird or a cat to kill it. 'I was going to chop of its head.' Mr Brook continued: 'In June and July patients began to report illness and vomiting. During that time seven members of staff and 23 residents were taken ill. 'Swift was placing eye drops and cleaning fluid containing bleach brought from home and placing it in water bottles and jugs which could have been drunk by anyone.' On July 31 she texted a colleague and said: 'I have tried to kill some people. 'But doing this makes me feel in control and happy. I'm not going to stop, I can't help it I will keep going until I succeed.' Mr Brook said: 'She went to her GP where she came clean. 'Her GP made it clear she would have to breach patient confidentiality. She asked where Swift worked, but she refused to give it. 'When she was told the police would have to be involved she left the room.' Swift was arrested on August 4, 2014 after police were informed that several people, including residents and staff at the home, had been taken ill. The poisoning also resulted in four elderly residents having to be taken to hospital on the evening of August 5 with diarrhoea and vomiting. Smith was handed four year minimum sentences for each charge of threatening to kill to run concurrently Three of her colleagues then drank the liquids and fell ill with food poisoning type symptoms. Victim Amy Garnett described when she was poisoned in a victim statement read out to the court by Mr Brook. He said: 'She felt a buzzing in her head and couldn't concentrate. She was violently sick and wouldn't walk. 'She called a taxi and when her mum met her she described her as 'lifeless'. 'She was rushed to hospital where doctors believed she was having a stroke...' Alison Scott-Jones, defending, said: 'This young lady has offered a guilty plea at the first opportunity. 'It's clear when you look at the bizarre nature of the offending and her previous mental health issues that although she was fit to plea, mental health difficulties were germinating at the time the offending took place. 'If she had not come forward when she did no-one would have know what was happening. 'It was herself who drew attention to what was going on, very quickly after it started.' There is nothing to have stopped anyone from consuming the drinks she tampered with Detective Chief Inspector Michaela Kerr from West Midlands Police After the case, care home resident Brenda Stephenson, 90, a grandmother-of-four, who has lived at the home for three-and-a-half years, said: 'She has got what she deserved. 'She could have done a lot of damage with what she did so its much safer for everyone that she is off the streets. 'I thought she wouldn't get such a long sentence but I am glad she got what she deserves. 'We are all getting on and you expect carers to care for you, not to try and kill you. 'There was never any clue that she would act in the way she did.' After the case, Detective Chief Inspector Michaela Kerr, from West Midlands Police, said the plan was 'dangerous, reckless and hugely alarming'. 'There is nothing to have stopped anyone from consuming the drinks she tampered with and, given the nature of her profession and workplace as a care provider, she went against everything her dedicated colleagues worked for,' she said. 'Today's sentence reflects the severity of her actions. 'Thankfully no one was seriously injured as a result of what she did, but the story could so easily have been different. An off-duty Boston officer was caught roughing up a man who allegedly tapped the cop's window with an umbrella after being cut off by the policeman. In a video filmed by Stephen Harlowe, the off-duty officer wearing a Red Sox shirt can be seen kneeling on the much smaller man, who is not being identified because he has not been charged with a crime. Harlowe says the officer - also unidentified - slammed the 54-year-old man in purple to the ground, grabbed a handful of hair and then slammed his head into the ground again. An off-duty Boston officer was filmed roughing up a man who allegedly tapped the cop's window with an umbrella The man in purple later admitted to crossing a crosswalk against the light, but was startled by the off-duty police officer who chased him down the road The officer was confirmed to be a member of the Boston Police by the Boston Globe. The man in purple later admitted to officers he was crossing a crosswalk against the light, and was startled when the officer turned the sharp corner, causing him to tap on the window with his umbrella. The officer exited his vehicle and then chased the man in purple, who fled because the officer was in plain clothes and off-duty. Then, with his hand on the man's collar, the officer forces the man to get up, he repeatedly tells him he's 'under arrest' as Harlowe asks over and over to see the man's badge. The officer, confirmed to be a member of the Boston Police by the Boston Globe, claimed the man cracked his window with an umbrella and said the man was 'under arrest' The man was not arrested and has not been charged with a crime. The officer is being investigated for being 'too rough' during the incident He either ignores the question or says he 'doesn't have it with him'. As they walk, Harlowe keeps asking 'what did he do?' 'He cut me off at the corner. I tapped his glass with my umbrella,' the man in purple says. The officer walks the man to the intersection of Boylston and Arlinbgton streets in Boston where the confrontation began and places him against his car, which is not a police car, according to Vocativ. As they walk, Harlowe asks the officer: 'Because you cut him off and he tapped your glass?' The officer insists the man in purple 'cracked' his window. 'Do you have a badge?' Harlowe asks the officer. 'No, but I have an ID though,' the cop replies. 'Do you want me to call 911?' Harlowe says yes. They then begin talking over each other as the man in purple explains to other witnesses what happened. The officer claims the damage to his window is 'more than a tap'. The officer walked the man in purple back to his car, which is not a police vehicle, while the man filming asks the officer to identify himself This is the 'crack' the officer claimed the man made in his car window. A police report later confirmed the 'crack' was actually a smudge and wiped right off A woman steps in and tells the officer the man in purple is a 'good man' and asks him to think about what he's doing. Harlowe asks the man in purple if he's OK and he says he is, although he looks resigned to the humiliating scene. Finally the officer calls for backup and after he gets off the phone Harlowe says: 'Wait you didn't yield to a pedestrian?' The cop replies: 'I had the right-of-way.' 'It doesn't matter,' Harlowe shoots back. 'In the state of Massachusetts, if he's in a cross walk...' Multiple witnesses came forward as the officer detained the man saying the cop was being too aggressive and that nothing meriting his behavior happened Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the officer 'seemed a little aggressive' but would wait until an investigation finished to make a full comment The officer cuts him off, telling him he's wrong. He then goes on to say again that the man in purple cracked his window. The crack turns out to be a smudge, a police report later confirms. Multiple police vehicles arrive and start speaking with witnesses, the cop and the man in purple. The man in purple was not arrested or charged with a crime. The officer is being investigated but has not been placed on leave or had disciplinary action taken against him. People who saw the chase said they feel the reaction was excessive, and police are interviewing witnesses as they review the officer's actions, according to WCVB 5. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh told NECN of the video: 'I don't know what happen before it. Advertisement Caravans and possessions belonging to 'Queen of the Gypsies' Ruby Pearl Marshall were burnt to mark her passing on Friday in an ancient tradition which stretches back for centuries. Hundreds of mourners travelled from across the UK yesterday to attend Mrs Marshall's funeral, which was held at St Tydfil's Old Parish Church in Merthyr, Wales, followed by a burial at Glyntaff Cemetery in Pontypridd. And today Mrs Marshall's family and friends gathered around to pay their final respects by burning her four caravans and all of her possessions. Scroll down for video Travellers have burnt four caravans belonging to the 'Queen of the Gipsies' Ruby Pearl Marshall following her funeral on Thursday in Wales The burning, which took place in Glynmill Caravan Site in Merthyr, saw four of the late Mrs Marshall's caravans go up in flames Burning caravans and possessions is an ancient traveller ritual as traditionally no one is allowed to live in a deceased traveller's caravan The act is a traveller tradition which sees each family member choosing a keepsake to remember the deceased. Ruby's son, Mario Marshall said: 'After someone dies no one touches their property except for each family member choosing one thing to remember them by.' Mr Marshall added: 'Everything else is burned and nobody is allowed to live in the caravan. Each member of Mrs Marshall's family was allowed to choose a possession of hers to remember her by before each of the four caravans went up in flames 'People don't even look what's in there - it's tradition and about respect. Ruby Pearl Marshall was known as the 'Queen of the Gipsies' and had 52 grandchildren and great-grandchildren 'Ruby had four caravans, one for her belongings, one for her china, one to store things and another to live in.' All four caravans were set alight at the entrance of the Glynmill Caravan Site in Merthyr, including one which Mrs Marshall bought only a month before her death. 'My mother always said the only way she was leaving the caravan site was in a box,' Mr Marshall said. 'We all offered her to stay with us but she never wanted to leave the site. 'She travelled around the world but Merthyr was always her home and she made great friends here. 'Her best friend Dolly died a couple of years ago so her family gave us some of her possessions to burn with Ruby's so the two friends' things are together. 'It's the end of another chapter now and we know she's not going to be on her own up there because she's with her family.' Mrs Marshall, who was described as the 'Queen of the Gipsies' by herdaughter, died at the age of 78 on May 12 following heart and kidney problems. Two town centres were brought to a standstill during her funeral as limousines, a horse-drawn carriage and police escorts led a funeral procession. More than 60 wreaths were made in the shape of Mrs Marshall's favourite things - including a caravan and a television, her dog Tiny, Polo sweets, Walkers crisps and Dove soap. Following the church service, the funeral procession made its way to Glyntaff Cemetery while some of Mrs Marshall's favourite music was played over a sound system - including I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. Flowers were placed at the graveside before white doves and heart-shaped balloons were released in her memory. Mario said: 'I just want to say thank you to everyone who came to the funeral to pay their respects, both within the traveller community and the non-travellers who came. 'Travellers often get tarnished with a certain brush so it was nice that everyone could come together. 'It was great to see so much respect being shown and I can't thank everyone enough - the police, the funeral directors, people working in the unit next to me, Cathy and Anthony Price and the whole Merthyr community.' Yesterday her funeral took place in Merthyr, putting the whole town at a standstill as her cortege, led by four white horses, passed through Ruby Pearl Marshall's family followed along the road in a succession of white stretch limousines in her funeral procession yesterday Ruby Marshall spent the last 25 years living in Merthyr but had previously lived in Cardiff, Walsall and other parts of England. She had 52 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her children all lived nearby. Her daughter Debbie said they wanted to give her 'a big fat gipsy funeral'. The attendance was so big that the University of South Wales opened up a section of its car park at its Glyntaff campus in Pontypridd to help with parking for the funeral at the cemetery nearby. Floral decorations of Mrs Marshall's favourite things were created for the procession, including a huge black floral horse Over 16,000 was spent on flowers alone, including sixty wreaths, which all reached about six foor high and included an intricate floral caravan Mrs Marshall, who had lived in Merthyr for 25 years, died aged 78 earlier this month after suffering from heart and kidney problems Jailed: Michael Purcell, 53, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the murder of Imelda Molina A steelworker who murdered his flatmate and then mutilated her genitals because she was a lesbian has been jailed for life. Michael Purcell, 53, had knocked back rounds of whisky and coke when he burst into the room of 49-year-old Imelda Molina and horrifically attacked her, plunging a knife into her back at least 48 times. Ms Molina's half-naked body was discovered minutes later by her distraught partner Amalia Valdez at their home in Cricklewood, northwest London. Irishman Purcell, who owed 8,000 to the taxman, claimed to have no memory of the attack because of his heavy use of Jack Daniels whisky in the two weeks before the murder and burglary. Sentencing him to 23-years in prison at the Old Bailey, Judge Wendy Joseph QC said she was satisfied Purcell inflicted the injuries to the victims genitals because Ms Molina was a woman or a lesbian. The judge said: There has never been a clear account of what happened in the flat but I am satisfied there came a time where Ms Molina was under threat and either fled to her room or was already there and locked the door from the inside. He broke in with a knife and if he had not already stabbed her outside the room he did it inside. When she was dead or dying he made a further attack with the knife in her genital area. It is impossible to interpret your decision to carry out this later attack as anything other than an attack made in reference to her sex or sexual orientation which you knew to be lesbian. When paramedics arrived at the scene of the horrendous crime, Purcell, originally from Tipperary in southern Ireland, told them: I killed the woman next door, I just want to die. While swabs were being taken from his hands at St Marys Hospital, in Paddington, he said: I dont know why youre doing this, its not needed. I hold my hands up. I did it. He added I dont know what came over me, because she was a lovely lady and kept repeating sorry over and over. Purcell became distressed when officers asked to take swabs from his groin, insisting: I didnt rape her. The rucksack containing 1,000 belonging to Ms Valdez was found stashed in Purcells wardrobe on a second search of his room. Giving evidence Purcell said: I had been drinking five or six double JDs a night - there would be times I would walk in the building and fall asleep outside the flat. People say I am a polite, quiet drunk. I had finished a job in Stratford, I got moved to a site in Cricklewood, I didnt really like the job, I didnt really get on with some of the people. I wasnt fussed about it. My drinking became quite a lot heavier. I made my mind up that I wasnt going to do that job any more and I started drinking more. I would stay in the pub until six or seven oclock in the evening. Ms Molinas sister Elisa Tolentino wept as she told how the victim came to the UK to earn money for her family trapped in poverty in the Philippines. She said: Imeldas goal in life was to set up a charity to help under-privileged children and families with an education. Ms Molina's half-naked body was discovered minutes after her death by her distraught partner Amalia Valdez at their home in Cricklewood, northwest London (pictured, their road) When her visa for the UK came Imelda was over the moon. She said she was taking one step closer to her dreams. Instead they have all been shattered. Before these horrible things happened we were just about to go back home to the Philippines to celebrate Imeldas 50th birthday but when I went home for Christmas we were planning her funeral. Her partner Ms Valdez said in her statement to the court: I knew Imelda to be a very humble, friendly, loving and caring, responsible and kindhearted person. Imelda was the sole breadwinner for her family. This is the very reason why we are here to earn money to support our families. Imelda was killed for no reason at all. Ms Molina and Ms Valdez, who both worked as housekeepers, had met two months after the victim had moved to the UK in 2013. Purcell, whom both women knew as Mick, had been living with Ms Valdez since late 2011. Ms Valdez had bumped into him as he was browsing notices in the local corner shop looking for a room. She said: I approach him because I think hes nice, hes smart - hes dressed properly and I think he is a nice, respectable man. Ms Valdez charged Purcell 100-per-week for the room and he would pay her in cash on a weekly and sometimes a monthly basis. The couple rarely saw Purcell because of their working hours, but would occasionally meet in the kitchen while making coffee. Sentencing him to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey (pictured), Judge Wendy Joseph QC said she was satisfied Purcell inflicted the injuries to the victims genitals because Ms Molina was a woman or a lesbian. I got home at 4pm or 5pm depending on the traffic and he usually came home around 9.30 or 10pm - we wouldnt see him in the evenings. Ms Valdez admitted she was aware Purcell had a drink problem, but described him as a controlled and disciplined drunk who never caused them any problems. A neighbour remembered hearing noises consistent with a struggle shortly after 6:30pm and a high-pitched groaning noise that was not quite a scream. Ms Valdez returned home with pizza at 7.14pm on 28 October last year to find her partner horrifically injured. When police arrived, Purcells door was locked, but when the forced the handle they heard keys falling to the floor from the inside. They found him lying on the bed soaked in blood, with a 10cm gash to his neck where he had tried to slit his own throat. Purcell claimed he was thinking of killing himself in the weeks before the attack and said: I though about overdosing, about jumping in front of a bus or a train, slitting my throat. U.S. Special Forces fighting side-by-side with the Kurds in Syria are now just 18 miles from ISIS' de facto capital, Raqqa. American soldiers were seen at an outpost in Fatisah alongside Kurdish soldiers, with some even seen wearing the badges of the Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG). Fatisah is around 30 miles from Raqqa, but the Daily Beast claimed American forces were now just 18 miles from the ISIS stronghold. Scroll down for video U.S. Special Forces fighting side-by-side with the Kurds in Syria are now just 18 miles from ISIS' de facto capital, Raqqa The Pentagon and the White House have previously insisted that Special Forces are only in Syria to train and assist forces fighting against ISIS, but pictures suggest U.S. soldiers have a more active role than that American soldiers were seen at an outpost in Fatisah alongside Kurdish soldiers, with some even seen wearing the badges (right shoulder of left soldier) of the Kurdish People's Protection Unit ()) The Pentagon and the White House have previously insisted that Special Forces are only in Syria to train and assist forces fighting against ISIS, but pictures suggest U.S. soldiers have a more active role than that. The photographs emerged on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Fatisah was purged of ISIS militants, so the Americans cannot have been far from the battle. Despite this, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook insisted Special Forces soldiers 'are not at the front line'. Cook refused to say where U.S. soldiers were at this time, but senior military officials said the troops were moving with Syrian rebel forces as they headed toward Raqqa. A source added that it was possible the soldiers were closer to the front line of battle than they had been before. There are at least 50 Special Forces soldiers in Syria, with President Obama authorizing a maximum of 250 to enter the country to join the 'advise and assist mission'. The photographs emerged on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Fatisah was purged of ISIS militants, so the Americans cannot have been far from the battle Senior military officials said the troops were moving with Syrian rebel forces as they headed toward Raqqa There are at least 50 Special Forces soldiers in Syria, with President Obama authorizing a maximum of 250 to enter the country to join the 'advise and assist mission' A commander from the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance said American ground forces were 'taking part' in operations north of Raqqa. 'There are US forces using (anti-tank) TOW missiles to fire on the explosives-rigged cars that (ISIS) is using to attack the SDF,' Hawkar Kobane said. Rami Abdel Rahman, from the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said ISIS is 'concentrating 2,000 fighters along the front lines north of Raqqa' to repel the offensive. 'ISIS has prepared for this fight in recent months by digging tunnels and lining them with explosives, as well as preparing car bombs and hiding in buildings among civilians,' Rahman added. The SDF has insisted its current campaign is only for the rural area north of Raqqa city, but the de facto capital is expected to be the end goal. A commander from the U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance said American ground forces were 'taking part' in operations north of Raqqa Fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are seen in the village of Fatisah, north of Raqqa Turkey lashed out at the U.S. after the pictures of the American soldiers wearing YPG badges surfaced because the force is seen in Ankara as an extension of the PKK insurgent group, which is regarded as a terrorist group by the U.S., UK, NATO and the EU. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was 'unacceptable' for a Turkish ally to wear the insignia, but Cook insisted they were for the soldiers' protection. Cook said U.S. special forces have in the past 'worn insignias and other identifying marks with some of their partner forces'. 'What I will say is that special operations forces when they operate in certain areas do what they can to, if you will, blend in with the community to enhance their own protection, their own security,' he said. The removal of motorway hard shoulders has led to as many as 600 near misses at high speed, MPs were told. Sections of the M25 no longer have a hard shoulder in an attempt to ease congestion. When someone breaks down, Red X warning signs tell drivers to avoid the stricken vehicle. Despite figures showing drivers ignoring the signs have caused hundreds of near misses, officials are preparing to extend the trial to other motorways. Traffic: Sections of the M25, pictured, do not have a hard shoulder because of heavy congestion The move has already been blamed for the death of a young woman after an HGV smashed into the back of her broken-down car on the M25. For the first time, Highways England has admitted it is worried about the danger to motorists, despite rejecting police opposition to the trial. Mike Wilson, Highways Englands chief operations officer, told MPs: The public are travelling through the Red Xs and coming across traffic officers. That is where the near miss comes from. Near misses include incidents in which cars have almost collided with police or members of the public in a lane displaying a Red X. They are either caught on CCTV, or reported by police or motorists. Victim: Laura Cooper, 34, was killed in a crash on the M25 because there was no hard shoulder Trade union Prospect, which represents traffic officers, said that since the trial began in 2014 it had recorded 603 near misses on just one of the two sections of the M25 without a hard shoulder. Official figures show that on parts of the motorway, 12 vehicles are driving through Red X signs into closed lanes every minute at the busiest times. Mr Wilson told the transport select committee that one in 12 drivers flout the signs. Drivers are fined if they are caught in Red X lanes, but a 2014 survey for the Highways Agency found a third of road users did not know what the signs meant. Last month 34-year-old Laura Cooper, from London, was revealed as the first person known to have been killed because hard shoulders were removed. The mother was a passenger in a car which ran out of petrol on an unlit stretch of the M25 near Waltham Abbey, Essex, and got stuck in a live lane as there was no hard shoulder. Miss Cooper died after an HGV rammed into the back of the car at 2am on March 29. Her father Martin Cooper yesterday accused road bosses of playing Russian roulette with drivers lives. Highways England has acknowledged there is a 200 per cent higher risk of collisions involving vehicles broken down in a live lane. But taking into account all the circumstances in which accidents can occur, it claims the overall risk of death or injury is lower on the M25 trial sections than elsewhere. Son Spenser said he hoped people would respect police officers more Said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for her family His wife of nearly 20 years, Tricia, spoke before his funeral on Friday Ronald Tarentino, 42, died Sunday after getting shot the back in Auburn Advertisement The widow of a police officer who was gunned down in Massachusetts delivered a touching tribute before his funeral on Friday. Ronald Tarentino, 42, was laid to rest in Charlton five days after getting shot in the back during a traffic stop in Auburn. His wife of 20 years, Tricia, thanked the state police, her church, the first responders, residents, doctors, nurses and all those who celebrated her husband's life - or tried to save it. Their son Spenser stood with his two brothers by his side as he said he hoped people would start treating police officers with more respect. Scroll down for video Ronald Tarentino, 42, was laid to rest in Charlton five days after getting shot in the back during a traffic stop in Auburn, Massachusetts. His wife Tricia (pictured) gave him a touching tribute beforehand Tarentino's sons Kyle (left) and Ronald III (right) stood next to their brother Spenser (center) as he spoke about their father on Friday, saying he hoped people would start treating police officers with more respect Tarentino stopped a vehicle on a residential street in Auburn around 12:30am on Sunday. The occupant shot him and fled while Tarentino was taken to the hospital in Worcester, where doctors pronounced him dead. His wife said she was 'a little nervous' before giving her statement ahead of his funeral on Friday - but insisted on giving it herself. She thanked her church and the state police, saying the family's communities had been 'amazing' as they rallied behind them, CBS Boston reported. Police officers lined up outside St Joseph Church in Charlton (pictured) during the ceremony. Tarentino died on Sunday, hours after stopping a vehicle in a residential street in Auburn Tarentino would be 'so touched to see how much he was loved', his wife said Friday, thanking everyone who has rallied behind their family in the days since his death. Pictured, police line up during the funeral More than 100 people gathered on Sunday evening at Leicester's Town Common to light candles in honor of Tarentino (pictured), just hours after his death 'We have been blessed by all the thoughts and prayers, meals, flowers, signs, services donated and vigils that were so moving to watch,' she said. 'The overwhelming generosity everyone has shown and considerate words, stories people have shared about the character they had seen in Ron and the find memories were really uplifting. 'It's amazing to see how many lives he has touched and how each of you has shown and expressed your love for him.' More than 100 people gathered on Sunday evening at Leicester's Town Common to light candles and pay tribute to Tarentino. Some brought flowers and flags to a memorial set up in front of the police station in Auburn earlier this week. 'Ron would be so touched to see how much he was loved,' his wife added Friday. She said their family was praying for a speedy recovery for the trooper who got injured as state police hunt down the suspect in the shooting. Jorge Zambrano, 35, died later on Sunday in Oxford, a few miles away from the scene of the shooting. State police spotted his car outside of a house and went up to a bedroom on the first floor as they searched for him. Zambrano jumped out of a wardrobe and shot one of the state troopers, an 18-year veteran who came out with a minor wound. Another officer responded, shooting and killing Zambrano. Tarentino's wife wished a speedy recovery to the trooper who got injured in a standoff with suspect Jorge Zambrano, 35, who was gunned down later Sunday. Pictured, police officers carry Tarentino's casket Spenser (right) told his mother: 'Mom, I'd like to thank you. You've been so strong for us. I know Dad loved you more than anybody'. Both are pictured Friday with their relatives 'I speak for both my brothers in saying he was not only my dad but my best friend,' Spenser added, saying he had learnt 'everything' from his father. Pictured, family members embrace after giving a eulogy 'We have been blessed by all the thoughts and prayers, meals, flowers, signs, services donated and vigils that were so moving to watch,' Tarentino's wife said Friday (pictured) Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis remembered Tarentino as a humble man with a 'larger than life personality'. Pictured, police officers attend the funeral service on Friday Tarentino always brightened his fellow officer's days and nights, Sluckis added, and was a 'knight in shining armor' to those in need. Pictured, mourners arrive at St Joseph's Church for the funeral Friday The suspect had a long criminal history, with a series of recent arrests and several probation violations. He had been caught three times for assaulting police officers and had served seven years in prison for drug trafficking, the Boston Globe reported. Tarentino's son Spenser stood by his two brothers, Kyle and Ronald III, as he spoke at their father's funeral Friday. 'I apologize if I get too loud. I have my dad's voice - along with his goofy arms and legs,' he said according to CBS Boston. Spenser thanked the relatives, friends and police officers who have supported the family since Tarentino's death. 'Police officers specifically - you guys have one of the hardest jobs in the world. 'Mom, I'd like to thank you. You've been so strong for us. I know Dad loved you more than anybody,' Spenser said, turning to his mother. 'I'd like to say something that I know a lot of you guys are thinking. Police officers deserve so much more respect than they get. 'I hope that my dad didn't go in vain and that something good comes out of this.' He said he hoped people would start treating police officers with more respect. 'I'd like to talk about how great my dad was as a father,' Spenser continued. 'I speak for both my brothers in saying he was not only my dad but my best friend. I learnt everything I know from him - his sense of humor, his work ethic.' Police officers carried Tarentino's casket out of St Joseph's Church on Friday. Dozens of them lined up outside during the ceremony. Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis remembered Tarentino as a humble man with a 'larger than life personality'. He always brightened his fellow officer's days and nights, Sluckis added, and was a 'knight in shining armor' to those in need. His son Spenser thanked police officers on Friday, saying they had 'one of the hardest jobs in the world'. Pictured, mourners enter the funeral service on Friday Congressman James P McGovern, Secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Daniel Bennett, Massachussets State Police Colonel Richard D McKeon (pictured from left to right) and other officials attended the funeral service for Tarentino on Friday Tarentino's wife thanked all those who had shared uplifting stories about her husband Friday. Pictured on Monday, Auburn police station's sign draped in black in his memory Mourners stopped by Auburn police station to deposit flowers and flags and pay tribute to Tarentino earlier this week. His wife thanked everyone for their support on Friday The memorial set up for Tarentino in front of the police station in Auburn was covered in flowers, candles and flags on Monday, just one day after his death A British woman killed when a speedboat full of tourists capsized in Thailand was on honeymoon after her dream wedding, MailOnline can reveal. Monica O'Connor, 28, from Manchester, married new husband Tim in a beautiful ceremony on May 7 - before leaving on what should have been the holiday of a lifetime. But the idyllic celebration turned into a nightmare when the couples speedboat was struck by a big wave and capsized off the island of Koh Samui on Thursday afternoon. A heartbreaking photograph from the couples wedding shows them holding hands underneath a cloud of pink blossom, while another shows the pair at the reception. Ceremony: Briton Monica O'Connor was on her honeymoon in Thailand with her new husband Tim when she was killed after a speedboat full of tourists capsized. Pictured, the couple on their wedding day on May 7 Together: The pair had been married for less than three weeks when the tragic incident occurred, after the speedboat was struck by a 'big wave' off the island of Koh Samui Dream: Mrs O'Connor is one of at least two people killed in the crash, which saw the speedboat capsize and trap tourists underneath it. Pictured, the couple's pet Chow-chow Jasper during the wedding ceremony A third, taken before the ceremony, shows the couples pet Chow-chow Jasper being prepared for his role of walking down the aisle. Mrs OConnor, who earned an International Business degree from the University of Manchester, was working as a manager at Deloitte. Both Thailands marine police and the company that owned the speedboat have confirmed the names of those killed and injured in the crash. Of the 33 passengers on board, there were eight Britons, nine Germans, four Australians, four Romanians, six Chinese and two from Thailand. Mrs OConnor has been confirmed dead, while Briton Jason Parnell, 46 who was celebrating his first wedding anniversary is still missing. While Mr Parnell became trapped under the boat, his wife Puja, 31, managed to escape. Loss: Another Briton, who is still missing following the incident, has been named by Thai police as Jason Parnell, 46, pictured above on his wedding day with his wife Puja, 31, who escaped unhurt. They were celebrating their first wedding anniversary at the popular holiday resort Tragedy: A woman is put on a stretcher after being rescued when a speedboat carrying 32 tourists capsized near the Thai island of Koh Samui Care: Foreign tourists receive medical attention after the speedboat capsized off Koh Samui, killing two people A German woman, named Kafo Franeiska, 29, has also been confirmed dead by Thai authorities. A woman from Hong Kong, who was in her 30s, also died. Police have arrested the captain who drove the boat, Sanan Seekakiaw, on suspicion of reckless endangerment leading to deaths and injuries, a crime that has a maximum jail sentence of 10 years. Mr Seekakiaw said he had asked all the passengers to wear a life vest but some had taken them off during the journey. The boat was travelling from Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park when it was struck by the wave and capsized at 5pm local time. Some of those on board were thrown overboard and became trapped underneath it. Video and pictures captured the desperate rescue operations by locals and Thai marine police who had to use a hammer to smash through the hull to rescue the trapped victims. Four tourists from the UK, Australia, Germany and Romania were taken to hospital on the island for treatment. One has a broken shoulder and another is being treated for a skull fracture. Help: Rescue workers smash a hole in the hull to retrieve a woman trapped underneath the speedboat Two more suffered from a lack of oxygen and were being monitored for lung infections. The other British tourists on board are understood to have been released from hospital following treatment for any injuries. Apichart Boonsriro, the commander of Surat Thani provincial police, said: 'Weather was the cause of the accident because it created high waves, but the boat was also being driven at a high speed.' Sanan Seekakiaw, the Thai captain of the Ang Thong Explorer speedboat, has been detained and charged with negligence that led to deaths and injuries. He said he had asked all tourists to wear a life vest but that some had taken them off during the journey. But the province's governor only one of the deceased was found wearing a life jacket and called on authorities to 'strictly' enforce laws that require boat passengers to wear life vests. The regulation is rarely respected on the notoriously reckless speed boats that ferry tourists around Thailand's famed beaches and often lack an adequate supply of life vests. 'If tourists refuse to wear [life vests] then crew should not allow them onto the boat,' said the governor, Wongsiri Phromchana. Travel agent Amm Pontfuk, who has worked with Ang Thong Discovery for a number of years, said the boat had not been out on the water in recent days due to rough conditions. She said: 'This company is the number one for my travel agency, I have sent the manager customers for years, I have known him a long time. 'He is very concerned and professional, normally in bad weather he doesn't go out. Disaster: Foreign tourists are rescued by Thai marine police officers and rescuers after their speedboat capsized when it was hit by a 'big wave' while travelling from Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park at 5pm local time yesterday Angry: A woman gestures after she was rescued from a capsized boat on Koh Samui Treatment: The Samui District chief and the hospital director visit a woman who was injured when the speedboat capsized Aftermath: Four tourists from the UK, Australia, Germany and Romania were taken to hospital on the island for treatment. Pictured, one of the patients is visited in hospital by Thai officials Rescue: Tourists cling to the upturned hull as the speedboat is pulled to shore by rescuers. Those on board are thought to be a mixture of British, German, Romanian and Chinese citizens Urgent: A British woman has been killed in Thailand after a speedboat packed with foreign tourists capsized near the island of Koh Samui. Two tourists are missing and 21 have been injured, seven seriously 'He did not go out for three days already and yesterday he thought the weather was OK and that was why he went out. 'The wind blew very, very strong and it made the boat go under the waves and flip.' Local media report many victims were rescued by a passing speedboat, while others were forced to wait for a rescue vessel. The British Foreign Office confirmed Mrs O'Connor's death and said it was assisting her family and it said Mr Parnell was still missing. Holidaymakers: Another British national was injured in the accident near popular tourist island of Koh Samui Dangerous: The speedboat was heading back to Koh Samui after a day trip to a marine park when it was hit by a wave 'We are also supporting the family of a British man who is missing following the same incident. We remain in contact with local authorities in Thailand for further information.' The German Embassy in Bangkok was not available to comment. Tourism is a key source of revenue for Thailand, but accidents involving tourists are common in a country where safety regulations are often weakly enforced. In recent years the kingdom's reputation as a tourist haven has been tarnished by bus and boat accidents, political violence and crimes against foreigners. In January a speedboat struck and instantly killed a French tourist while she was snorkelling in waters reserved for swimmers off a Thai island in Krabi province. Upset: The capsized speedboat was pictured floating off the shore. It appears that a line had been attached to it to pull it ashore or stop it from floating off A woman allegedly made more than $1million by buying designer handbags online before returning Chinese knock-offs in-store and netting the profits. Praepitcha Smatsorabudh has been charged with fraud and could face 20 years in jail after being accused of running the scheme, which authorities say targeted Gucci, Fendi and Burberry. After flogging the counterfeit purses, police believe Smatsorabudh, from Arlington, Virginia, sold the high-end products on eBay and Instagram to make even more cash. Praepitcha Smatsorabudh allegedly made more than $1million by buying designer handbags online before returning Chinese knock-offs in-store and netting the profits (file picture) The woman, who is in her early 40s, bought so many bags that she became a luxury retailer's top online customer, ABC News reported. She would have the bags - some worth $2,000 - delivered to her home but then drove to 12 different states to hand the counterfeit bags in to customer services in-store, prosecutors say. Investigators discovered that Smatsorabudh bought handbags every week between late 2014 and the end of 2015. The Thai woman would buy just as many of the fake purses from dealers in China and Hong Kong. In an email to one of the knock-off handbag suppliers in September 2014, Smatsorabudh allegedly said: 'The best fake bag Ive ever seen! Can you send me more ... from this factory. They make bag IMPaCABLE [sic]!!!!' She would usually target one particular department store, but authorities did not disclose which one. Smatsorabudh has been charged with fraud and could face 20 years in jail after being accused of running the scheme, which authorities say targeted Gucci, Fendi and Burberry. File pictures of Gucci and Fendi bags Once the retailer worked out the alleged scam, they contacted police. Smatsorabudh was arrested after an undercover Homeland Security officer posed as a buyer online and bought one of the designer bags from her. Federal authorities raided her home in Arlington, Virginia, in March and found 572 handbags, of which some were fake, court documents say. Smatsorabudh is charged with wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison. When you have a reputation as the worlds most handsome horse to maintain, then having your hair done is quite a performance. But for Frederik the Great, whose renown as an international equine heart-throb was revealed in the Mail earlier this week, there is no need to hoof it down to a salon he has his own wash stall at his luxury stable. As our exclusive photographs illustrating the secrets of his beauty regime reveal, the sleek black stallion is joined by three grooms for the two-hour process of washing his 6ft long mane and his tail. Fame: Black stallion Frederik the Great has achieved renown for being an international equine heart-throb Extensive: Grooms spend two hours washing Frederik's beautiful 6ft long mane during his long beauty regimie He is gently tethered by two ropes so he doesnt move his head around too much before the painstaking work begins with a thorough comb. Two of the stable hands work on his mane and one on his tail, which are given two shampoos and two rinses with hoses, before conditioner is applied before a final rinse. His owner Stacy Nazario tells the Mail: We use gallons and gallons of water and everyone gets soaking wet, but has tremendous fun. Frederik absolutely loves it. He adores being pampered who wouldnt? Most horses get tired of being stuck in a stall for that long, but hes so good natured. And he gets a lot of attention and plenty of his favourite carrots to keep him happy. After the shampoo and condition with special equine beauty products, the rest of his body is washed, too, and tended to with a tool called a scrape, which removes excess oil and water. Then, commercial blow-dryers are used, followed by more combing of his glorious locks. Wash: Two of the stable hands work on Frederick's mane and one on his tail, which are given two shampoos and two rinses with hoses, before conditioner is applied before a final rinse (pictured, his owner Stacy Nazario pulls out his long mane) Parting of the ways: Frederik's owner Stacy said he gets through ten combs and brushes a month due to his meticulous regime (pictured, stable hands comb sections of his mane) Mrs Nazario says: Frederik gets through about ten combs and brushes a month. He has probably got more beauty supplies than ten women put together. After his wash, his hair is braided as a temporary change of style from his normal flowing locks, which have won him an army of admirers. And then he wants to play, so he is led outside to put on a little show for our photographer by shaking his famous mane. Frederiks videos have been viewed by millions worldwide on YouTube, more than 13,000 people like his Facebook page and hes in a range of prints, posters and greetings cards. Hes even been offered movie roles. Plait'll do nicely: Stacy braids Frederik's impressive mane to give him a change in style after his wash Off-the-shoulder number: Frederik's beautiful long hair cascades across his muscular body and proud face Playtime: Frederik enjoys a five-acre section of the farm all to himself and judging by this picture he can't want to gallop around it The 15-year-old Friesian horse, who stands 16.1 hands, was imported from the Netherlands, where the rare breed originates, to the equine stud farm in The Ozarks, north-west Arkansas in the U.S., which Mrs Nazario runs with her husband Kim, in 2007. Frederik looking so much like the stallion in Anna Sewells classic book Black Beauty has won many first-place rosettes in dressage competitions, and sired a dozen foals. His stud fee is nearly 4,000 a time, and he has a five-acre section of the farm to himself plus his own security system. Mrs Nazario says she has been offered millions to sell him, but says she never would because he is like one of the family. Hillary Clinton met up with community leaders in Oakland, California on Friday, wearing a vintage - if slightly unexpected - outfit. The former secretary of state donned a pink gingham jacket with large white buttons as she sat down with mayor Libby Schaaf at the Home Of Chicken And Waffles. Together they discussed gentrification, job opportunities and inequality in Oakland - and got so entrenched in the conversation no one noshed on the diner's comfort food specialties, NBC Bay Area reported. Pink gingham became increasingly popular at the end of the 1950s, after French actress Brigitte Bardot wore it during her 1959 wedding to costar Jacques Charrier. Hillary Clinton donned a pink gingham jacket with large white buttons as she sat down for a meeting at the Home Of Chicken And Waffles in Oakland, California on Friday (pictured) The former secretary of state and mayor Libby Schaaf discussed gentrification, job opportunities and inequality in Oakland, ahead of the state's primary on June 7 Her bridal gown, with a fitted waist and a lace collar, ushered a new era of pastoral chic at the time. But Clinton's outfit on Friday seemed strangely shapeless as she stood up to gesture at the diner's kitchen staff. It was her second stop in Oakland this month. California's primary is scheduled for June 7 - little more than ten days away. 'I want to be a champion for Oakland and all the Oaklands of America ... places that have challenges but places that are coming together,' she said according to East Bay Times. Clinton's outfit on Friday seemed strangely shapeless as she stood up to gesture at the diner's kitchen staff (pictured). Pink gingham became increasingly popular in the 1950s Oakland's leaders and Clinton (pictured with Mayor Schaaf) got so entrenched in their conversation that no one noshed on the diner's specialties Friday Derreck Johnson (left), the owner of the Home Of Chicken And Waffles, told Clinton that 70 per cent of his staff had served time behind bars Clinton spoke in favor of programs designed to help incarcerated people learn business skills. Derreck Johnson, the owner of the Home Of Chicken And Waffles, told her that 70 per cent of his staff had spent time behind bars. He said the most gratifying part of his job was giving an employee their first pay check, East Bay Times wrote. Clinton also addressed the disproportionate suspension rate in the school district, in which black students get suspended more often than their peers. The situation, according to Clinton, 'is part of a disproportionate disciplinary culture and it is part of what contributes to this cradle-to-prison pipeline that we are all committed to ending.' She also discussed problems in housing, with certain neighborhoods becoming too expensive for residents who have lived there for a long time. 'There are advantages, of course, to fixing up neighborhoods and making them attractive and all the rest of it,' she said according to East Bay Times. 'But I think it's a big price to pay to displace everybody who has been there ... through the bad times and deserve to be part of the good times.' Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders also campaigned in the Bay Area on Friday. He held a meeting at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro in front of 1,000 people - most of them labor union members according to ABC 7. 'A moral economy is not an economy where CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year, ship our jobs abroad and take away health care from their workers, ' he said. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders also campaigned in the Bay Area on Friday and held a meeting at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro (pictured) At 23, Kirsty should be forging a career and making plans for the future, her life a whirl of parties, music festivals and holidays with friends Lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to a drip, Kirsty Keep looks very unwell. Her pasty skin is sweaty, she is writhing in pain, and is twig thin her weight has dropped to just over six-and-a-half stone because she can't keep any food or water down. Two nurses arrive and attach a syringe of morphine to a cannula in her hand. This is followed by two anti-sickness drugs; meanwhile the drip is to rehydrate and restore her potassium levels. At 23, Kirsty should be forging a career and making plans for the future, her life a whirl of parties, music festivals and holidays with friends. The reality could not be more different. Shockingly, this is the fifth time in a month Kirsty has been admitted to hospital as an emergency. Each time she has begged her mother Theresa, 49, to take her instead to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end her life. 'I feel I'm dying anyway,' she says, propped up on her pillows. 'I feel I'm wasting away. I can't carry on like this.' It's a desperate state of affairs for a young woman who seems to have given up all hope of ever being well again and can't face a future of repeated hospitalisation. There are many troubling facets to Kirsty's story. Not only is it the tale of a young woman's life wrecked by a mystery illness for which there seems no definitive diagnosis or cure, it tells of the desperate struggle of a mother prepared to go to any lengths to give her child some hope of recovery. Distraught every time Kirsty begs to be taken to Dignitas, Theresa has turned her anger and distress on the NHS, accusing them of letting Kirsty down. She is prepared to fall out with medical professionals, rather than accept that our high expectations of doctors to perform miracles and cure everything within a cash-strapped NHS might be unrealistic. It also raises this disturbing question. What would happen if right-to-die clinics were allowed to operate in the UK? Would someone as young as Kirsty come to see it as a viable solution, rather than accept that she must live with a condition she often finds unbearable? Theresa, for one, is relieved that no such option is available in this country and every time Kirsty mentions Dignitas, she simply redoubles her efforts to find someone who can help. 'To hear your daughter beg to die is the worst thing for any mother to hear,' says Theresa, from Maidstone, Kent. 'What Kirsty needs is hope.' Since she was first taken to hospital 11 years ago after a severe reaction to an insect bite, Kirsty has been admitted about 55 times suffering from ever worsening, debilitating symptoms. Last week, Theresa Keep's patience ran out. She posted one of the many shocking videos she has taken of Kirsty groaning in agony and struggling to breathe online to bring her plight to public attention. So what is wrong with Kirsty? Well, that is the problem. No-one appears able to give a definitive answer to explain the 'mystery illness' which has plagued her since the age of 12. Diagnosed in 2008 with the auto-immune condition lupus where the body produces too many antibodies which cause inflammation affecting the skin, joints and organs Kirsty has, over the ensuing years, been prescribed a long list of medications. So what is wrong with Kirsty? Well, that is the problem. No-one appears able to give a definitive answer to explain the 'mystery illness' which has plagued her since the age of 12 These have included steroids and chemotherapy which can help reduce inflammation hormones, anti-sickness drugs, anti-histamines, painkillers, antidepressants and even anti-malaria drugs, which have also been found to be effective against the symptoms of lupus. But in March, a lupus specialist at Guy's Hospital in London said her symptoms, including chronic pain and fits, might be caused by the genetic condition Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), which affects the skin, bones and connective tissue. She is now waiting to see another specialist at University College Hospital in London. Add to this Kirsty's increasing reliance on strong opioid medication to manage her chronic pain and a very complex picture starts to emerge. Indeed, the family feels the NHS unable to cure her now regards Kirsty as a 'nuisance'. They fear medical staff think her symptoms are either all in the mind, exaggerated or triggered by her dependence on prescription drugs. Kirsty, prescribed liquid and sublingual (which dissolve under the tongue) opiates to manage her chronic pain, says: 'It seems like I'm the problem, when I've done nothing wrong. I feel no one is listening to me. Twice a psychiatrist has been sent to see me, but there's nothing wrong with my head. 'It's not my fault I'm ill, but if I ask for a painkiller, I feel they're acting as if I am asking for drugs for the fun of it. 'I have to take them because of the pain. It's because they actually work. I don't want to take them. Without them, I feel my bones are breaking.' I just want my daughter to have a normal life Theresa adds: 'One specialist told us Kirsty needed rehabilitation to help wean her off all the powerful drugs she's taken over the years, so why aren't we getting any help from the NHS?' Theresa Keep is convinced the root cause of her daughter's illness can be traced back to the insect bite she suffered at the age of 12. Kirsty spent three weeks in hospital after the skin around the bite swelled to the size of a hand and she developed blisters around her neck. Despite two negative blood tests one when she was first taken to hospital after the bite and another this year Theresa believes Kirsty has Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by ticks, which can mimic the symptoms of auto-immune disorders such as lupus. Lyme disease came to prominence last year after billionaire Phones4U tycoon John Caudwell claimed up to 11 members of his family had been struck down by the disease. Former farm shop manager Theresa, who is now a full-time carer to Kirsty, is pinning all her hopes on taking Kirsty to a 3,500 a week 'integrative medicine' clinic in Florida. So far the family has raised 36,297 through Kirsty's Go Fund me page. Set up by her sister Chloe, 27, they have a target of 45,000 to cover the cost of a three-month stay at the Sponaugle Wellness Institute, which claims to specialise in tick-borne diseases and 'stealth' infections that affect the brain and neurological system. Established by Dr Rick Sponaugle, a former drug addiction specialist who developed his treatment for Lyme disease after his own daughter fell ill, the institute's website talks of a patented intravenous therapy designed to 'detoxify' the brain and 'reawaken' the immune system into fighting every foreign micro-organism, 'to a level God intended'. This is the first time Kirsty and her mother Theresa have spoken in detail about her illness. We met at Maidstone hospital in Kent a couple of days after Kirsty was admitted by ambulance early on Monday last week after collapsing in the bathroom of her boyfriend's home. Since then she has been discharged and had another episode of ill-health before stabilising. They both live in dread of relapse. 'Sometimes it feels like my body is shutting down, I feel like I am going to die and no-one can help me,' says Kirsty, who, in 2011, also had major surgery to correct an underdeveloped jaw. 'But I'm worried about going to Florida. What if we got there and it still doesn't work and we've wasted everyone's money? 'When Mum told me the cost, I said to her 'No, Mum, it's too much money, just take me to Switzerland instead.' I feel like an alien, I feel like no-one can help me, what's the point?' But Theresa says: 'When Kirsty is in one of these episodes, she will say 'don't make me do it' when I take her to hospital. She says 'I don't want to be here', but I have to give her some hope. We can't just give up. 'Everyone says it is such a complex situation, which is difficult to treat, but she needs help now. 'It used to be that I'd have to take her into hospital every five or six weeks, because she couldn't stop being sick, but now it's five times in as many weeks. 'I'm in tears all the time, thinking 'what are we going to do?' You feel so isolated, not knowing where to turn, which is why I released that video, in absolute desperation. 'I keep saying to the doctors, 'how long can she go on like this?' She is getting weaker and weaker. It's devastating to watch. We've heard wonderful things about this centre in Florida. It's all we've got left.' The family shared this image of Kirsty in hospital to raise awareness of her plight Theresa, a single parent of four adult children, says Kirsty was a picture of health until the insect bite. She doesn't know if it was a tick. Blood tests at the time showed markers which suggested lupus and also HUVs, a severe form of the inflammatory disease Urticarial Vasculitis, which can cause breathing and kidney problems. According to Lupus UK, the immune system is very complex and still not fully understood by doctors, so treatment relies heavily on the use of medication to dampen down and control symptoms but these drugs can cause problems of their own as Kirsty has discovered. By suppressing the immune system, Kirsty also lacks the ability to fight off viral infections and blood tests show evidence of five recent viral infections, including Epstein- Barr virus. Kirsty left school at 15, too ill she says to take GCSEs, and her poor health has made it impossible to complete any college courses she has tried to take up. 'Sometimes I would have good days, but others I was too weak to do anything but lie in bed. Once I spent six days in bed, only getting up to go to the bathroom,' she says. 'I don't have a life any more. All my friends have drifted away. All I can eat is noodles and stir-fries because everything else makes me sick, sometimes even water.' Theresa says her daughter's symptoms suddenly worsened two years ago, after the two of them went on a quiet holiday to Ibiza. On the flight home, Kirsty couldn't stop being sick and an ambulance was waiting for her when they landed at Gatwick. Last October she was put in an induced coma and rushed to intensive care after she started suffering seizures and struggled to breathe. She had a brain scan for epilepsy, which came back negative. Recent NHS tests suggest she may also be suffering from PoTS postural tachycardia syndrome a chronic condition affecting the nervous system. This causes a drop in blood pressure and increase in heart rate when a sufferer gets up from a lying down position, triggering dizziness, palpitations, headaches and sometimes black-outs. Theresa says: 'Kirsty needs treatment. She's been referred to a new specialist, but there's no sign of an appointment yet. I've been calling and calling and I've been told it will take 18 weeks. 'But she hasn't got that much time, she is so low. Even if I offered to pay privately, the earliest we could get an appointment is July.' In the meantime, Theresa and Kirsty have decided to place their faith in foreign doctors and holistic practitioners, paid for with generous donations from strangers touched by her plight. So far Theresa has spent 6,000 on private diagnostic tests and treatment. Every morning Kirsty spends an hour in a pressurised oxygen chamber at a clinic in Kent, which costs 80 a session, to help control her pain and improve her breathing. Dr Rob Pender, who runs the clinic, told the Mail that Kirsty was 'a very ill girl'. Her family had hoped to fly her to Washington DC to see a specialist last month, but had to abandon that plan when Kirsty collapsed again and ended up in Tunbridge Wells Hospital. On April 14, after she was discharged, Theresa took her daughter to a private laboratory in Germany for blood tests, and to see a Lyme disease specialist doctor. 'The blood test for Lyme disease came back negative, but the doctor told us that doesn't mean she doesn't have it. 'Sometimes it doesn't show up in a blood test if the bite happened a long time ago, but you can still suffer chronic long-term symptoms' says Theresa. 'They gave her vitamins and supplements to build up her immune system, but she hasn't been able to keep them down because she is vomiting all the time. Her body can't fight infections.' A spokesperson for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: 'Over a number of years, we have worked closely with other healthcare specialists to treat Miss Keep for a complex range of symptoms. 'We understand and are sorry that Miss Keep's condition is debilitating and stressful for her and we are happy to discuss any aspects of her care and treatment with her directly.' Theresa, who sleeps on a camp bed next to Kirsty every time she is admitted to hospital, says: 'I can't leave Kirsty because of the seizures. It's hard watching over her constantly and what we don't need is people telling us we might never know what's wrong with her. A tiny shaft of light saved the life of Royal Navy engineer Henry Kitching. At the Battle of Jutland, 100 years ago, he was below decks in the engine room of HMS Warrior on May 31, 1916, when 'I heard a tremendous explosion, a heavy jar went through the whole fabric, the lights went out. There was a roar of water and steam'. Groping his way up an escape ladder to the deck of the elderly armoured cruiser, he was quickly lost in the pitch black. 'I was driven back by a rush of thick smoke and blinding fumes, and there seemed no possibility of lifting the heavy hatches above me and getting out,' he recalled. 'A spasm of terror came over me. I was like a trapped rat.' The Battle of Jutland was the largest sea battle in naval warfare history and changed the course of WW1 The water rose and he was sure he was going to die there in the North Sea, 80 miles off the coast of Denmark, just another of the thousands of British sailors to go down with their ships in what was turning out to be the biggest and bloodiest battle in naval history. Then a miracle happened. A figure beckoned. 'I looked up and there was a man calling my attention to a glimmer of light above. The next minute I found myself climbing out through a hole torn in the deck.' Kitching was one of the lucky ones. So was Leading Signalman Charles Falmer, who, as the battle roared, had been ordered 180ft up the pitching mast of the battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable to untangle a signalling flag. 'From the top I could see all the German fleet and made out 40 ships. Suddenly, a shell hit our magazine. There was a terrific explosion and our big guns flew up in the air like matchsticks. Lots of bodies, too. 'Within half a minute, the ship turned right over and she was gone. I was thrown well clear, otherwise I would have been sucked under. 'I came to on top of the water and there was another fellow, Jimmy Green. We got a piece of wood, him on one end and me on the other. A couple of minutes afterwards, some shells came over and Jim was minus his head, so I was on my lonesome.' Picked up by the Germans, Falmer was one of just two survivors from the Indefatigable's crew of 1,019 officers and men, all obliterated in the blink of an eye. Heroes emerged. Royal Marine officer Major Francis Harvey had both legs blown off when a gun turret on HMS Lion, the flagship of the battlecruiser fleet, took a direct hit, but managed to crawl to a voice pipe and order the powder magazines to be flooded and sealed off before the fire could get to them. He saved the ship, but lost his own life. On the light cruiser HMS Chester, Jack Cornwell, just 16 with the rank of Boy (First Class), stayed at his post manning a gun though mortally wounded a feat which was honoured this week as his grave in East London was given a Grade-II listed status. Both Harvey and Cornwell were posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, two of the four won at Jutland. On the same ship, an officer reported a line of casualties, the feet of every one of them shorn off at the ankles by a shell, sitting calmly smoking cigarettes with the bloody stumps of their legs tourniqueted out in front. An hour later, they were dead from shock. Here on the high seas was carnage to compare with anything being experienced in the trenches at this desperate midway point in World War I. In fact, it was because of the stalled land war that this slaughter at sea was happening at all. Badly burned survivors of the clash at Jutland - the battle on 31 May 1916 saw 6,094 British and 2,551 German personnel lose their lives On the mainland of Europe, the war had been fought to a bloody standstill by the summer of 1916. It was time for the Kaiser to flex his maritime muscle. It was time for Der Tag The Day. There had been bloody clashes in the North Sea in 1914 and 1915, and German ships had shelled British east coast ports, but the clash of the titans which both sides longed for had simply not happened. Now, the British were to be drawn into battle and defeated, relieving the blockade that was depriving Germany of much-needed military supplies and food for its slowly starving civilians. Unfortunately for the Germans, the British had cracked their naval codes, so as soon as the German High Seas fleet left Wilhelmshaven, the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet steamed out of Scapa Flow and Rosyth. Battle was joined on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 31, when a scouting group of German battlecruisers ran into an advance force of Royal Navy battlecruisers led by the gung-ho Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty. The first shots were fired at 3.48pm. A quarter of an hour later, the Indefatigable sank. Just 25 minutes later, another battlecruiser, HMS Queen Mary, was blown out of the water by shellfire and a further 1,266 British sailors were dead. Watching his battlecruisers being vaporised, Beatty turned to his flag captain and said: 'Chatfield, there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.' At this point, the German force headed south towards home, a ploy to lure Beatty into a pulverising ambush by their main battle fleet. Beatty took the bait, taking fire and more casualties. When Beatty saw the larger German force, he set off back north, giving the impression he was running. Instead, he was using the same tactic leading the Germans into a trap. GRAVE OF BOY HERO REMEMBERED He was a boy hero who epitomised true British grit during the largest naval battle of the First World War. Now the grave of John 'Jack' Travers Cornwell has received protected status to mark the centenary of the Battle of Jutland, in which he was fatally injured after coming under fire from German ships. Jack, who was just 16, was just eight months into his service and remained at his post on the HMS Chester awaiting orders despite suffering mortal shrapnel injuries as all his gun crew were killed or fatally wounded around him. His grave has received the special status from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to mark next week's anniversary of the three-day battle which saw 6,094 British seamen killed along with 2,551 Germans. The British Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, with 16 dreadnoughts, was steaming in from the north-west, drawing the now combined German force onto their guns. A remarkable and daring feat of seamanship gave Jellicoe his crucial advantage. In one swift movement and risking multiple collisions, he turned his six columns of fast- moving ships 144 in all, including torpedo-carrying destroyers into a single six-mile curved line lying across the Germans' path. He then ordered his dreadnoughts to launch a massive broadside at an enemy they could not even see. Then the battlecruiser Invincible exploded in a huge fireball. The 567ft hull split in two, each half plunging to the seabed 180ft below and settling upright, the tops sticking up above the water like tombstones. Of her 1,032 crew, there were just six survivors. But Jellicoe was getting the upper hand; it was the enemy fleet that was taking the bigger pounding. From his flagship, the Lutzow, all the German commander, Admiral Reinhard Scheer, could see was the flash of guns and 'a sea of fire' in a vast arc ahead of him. Hopelessly outgunned and in a state of panic, within minutes he ordered his ships to turn about and run, but Jellicoe kept after him. For 50 minutes a rain of British heavy metal battered the High Seas Fleet. To survive, Scheer issued a desperate command he ordered his battlecruisers to charge the enemy in a death ride while his destroyers launched a mass torpedo attack. The ploy worked. Jellicoe turned his ships away and, as the day turned into evening, the German fleet dead and wounded lying mangled on many of its decks slipped away at full speed. Jellicoe pursued for a while, then, as night fell, gave up the chase. As dawn broke the following day, the British knew their quarry had escaped. The Germans claimed a famous victory. It made much of the British losses 6,000 men dead, 14 ships sunk against its own 2,550 men, six ships. The Royal Navy reached home a few days later to a storm of public protest that it had allowed itself to suffer an ignominious defeat. Dockyard workers booed the ships. Sailors were spat on in the streets for supposedly betraying the Nelsonian tradition. Jack Cornwell, left, 16, was fatally wounded by shrapnel after the HMS Chester, right, came under heavy fire during the Battle of Jutland It wasn't true. At worst, the battle was a draw; at best, it was a strategic victory that maintained British mastery of the North Sea and confined the German fleet to its home waters, with poor morale. When the German sailors were ordered to put to sea in October 1918 for a final battle, they mutinied. The Kaiser abdicated and peace followed. But the loss of British lives and of ships on such a scale had rankled, and there were urgent inquests to find out what had gone wrong. The finger of blame was pointed at supposedly inferior British ship design, which allowed so many to sink so quickly, and stuffy battle tactics that stifled the initiative of individual captains to close in on the enemy and defeat him. And there had indeed been crucial intelligence blunders. The Royal Navy's analysts knew from decrypts which port the retreating German fleet was heading for, but kept Jellicoe in the dark. The headstrong Beatty also erred at the start of the action by getting too far ahead, stringing out his ships and leaving them vulnerable. He was lax, too, in not passing on clear orders to his fellow battle-cruisers, resulting in confusion. Modern methods of investigation allow us to lay to rest some old chestnuts about Jutland. Laboratory experiments in the BBC documentary show conclusively that British ship design was not at fault, after all. Our ships were every bit as capable of staying afloat after multiple hits as the riddled German ones were. So why did so many more of ours sink? The answer lies in a big bang theory. They suffered direct hits into gun turrets, which then flashed down into magazine chambers below the waterline and blew the ship apart in one mighty explosion. Proper safety procedures should have prevented this explosives properly stored; flash-proof doors kept closed. But, in the heat of battle, corners were cut. While the German gunnery was more accurate, Beatty's battlecruisers relied on rapid fire. Speed was the order of the day load, fire, re-load, no pauses. To keep up the rate, excessive amounts of cordite in linen bags were kept too close to the gun turrets. Protective doors were propped open. On British ships at Jutland 100 years ago, safety was sacrificed for speed, with the result that thousands of men were sent in one big bang after another to unnecessary, watery graves. One of the questions that has plagued mankind for centuries is whether we are alone in the universe or if there could be life on distant planets. Now we could be a step closer to reaching an answer after astronomers have discovered a distant planet capable of hosting life. Their findings may give researchers hunting for extraterrestrial life somewhere to focus their efforts. Kepler-62f, shown here in an artist's rendering, is far enough from its star that its atmosphere would need a high concentration of carbon dioxide to maintain liquid water on the planet's surface. New simulations show Kepler-62f, the fifth and outermost planet in a distant solar system, could harbour liquid water one of the most important ingredients for life. 'We found there are multiple atmospheric compositions that allow it to be warm enough to have surface liquid water,' said lead author Dr Aomawa Shields, a University of California President's Postdoctoral Program Fellow. 'This makes it a strong candidate for a habitable planet.' WHAT IS KEPLER-62F? The planet, which is about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Lyra, is approximately 40 percent larger than Earth. At that size, Kepler-62f is within the range of planets that are likely to be rocky and possibly could have oceans. Nasas Kepler mission discovered the planetary system that includes Kepler-62f in 2013, and it identified Kepler-62f as the outermost of five planets orbiting a star that is smaller and cooler than the sun. Advertisement Nasa's Kepler mission discovered the planetary system that includes Kepler-62f in 2013, and it identified the 'super-Earth' Kepler-62f as the outermost of five planets orbiting a star that is smaller and cooler than the sun. But the mission did not produce information about Kepler-62f's composition or atmosphere or the shape of its orbit. To solve this, researchers have come up with possible scenarios about what its atmosphere might be like and what the shape of its orbit might be, to determine whether the planet could sustain life. They found there are multiple possible atmospheric conditions that could let it harbour water on its surface. On Earth, carbon dioxide makes up 0.04 per cent of the atmosphere. Because Kepler-62f is much farther away from its star than Earth is from the sun, it would need to have dramatically more carbon dioxide to be warm enough to maintain liquid water on its surface, and to keep from freezing. Nasa's Kepler launched in 2009 with the purpose of hunting for Earth-like planets. It discovered a planetary system featuring Earth-size planets in a 'habitable zone.' Kepler-62f, pictured right on this illustration, is 1.4 times the size of Earth, while Kepler-62e, pictured bottom left, is estimated to be 1.6 times larger On Earth (pictured) carbon dioxide makes up 0.04 per cent of the atmosphere. Because Kepler-62f is much farther away from its star than Earth is from the sun, it would need to have dramatically more carbon dioxide to be warm enough to maintain liquid water on its surface, and to keep from freezing WHAT IS A SUPER-EARTH? Astronomers have discovered several thousand exoplanets orbiting stars far beyond the boundaries of our own solar system. Most of these have been found to be enormous, similar to the gas giant Jupiter but a few have been found to be approaching the size of the Earth. A super-Earth is an exoplanet with a mass higher than our own planet but below those of the ice giants like Uranus and Neptune. It is thought some of the smaller super-Earths may well be rocky world's similar to our own. Earlier this month astronomers revealed they had found three rocky worlds orbiting a star just 14 light years away. One of these, Wolf 1061c, is thought to be around four times the mass of the Earth but sit within the 'Goldilocks' zone in orbit around the star thought to be just right for liquid water to exist. Advertisement Kepler-62 and the Solar System: The diagram compares the planets of the inner solar system to Kepler-62, a five-planet system about 1,200 light years from Earth in the constellation Lyra discovered last April. Until now, these were the closest planets to Earth, in terms of size Dr Shields said for the planet to be consistently habitable throughout its entire year, it would require an atmosphere that is three to five times thicker than Earth's and composed entirely of carbon dioxide. Having such a high concentration of carbon dioxide would be possible for the planet because, given how far it is from its star, the gas could build up in the planet's atmosphere as temperatures get colder to keep the planet warm. THE SIMULATIONS CONSIDERED: An atmosphere could range in thickness from the same as Earth's all the way up to 12 times thicker than our planet's. Various concentrations of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, ranging from the same amount as is in the Earth's atmosphere up to 2,500 times that level. Several different possible configurations for its orbital path. Advertisement 'But if it doesn't have a mechanism to generate lots of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere to keep temperatures warm, and all it had was an Earth-like amount of carbon dioxide, certain orbital configurations could allow Kepler-62f's surface temperatures to temporarily get above freezing during a portion of its year,' she said. 'And this might help melt ice sheets formed at other times in the planet's orbit.' The research is published online in the journal Astrobiology. Scientists do not know whether life could exist on an exoplanet, but Dr Shields is optimistic about finding life in the universe. More than 2,300 exoplanets have been confirmed, and a few thousand others are considered planet candidates, but only a couple dozen are known to be in the 'habitable zone' meaning that they orbit their star at a distance that could enable them to be warm enough to have liquid water on their surfaces, Dr Shields said. Launched in March 2009, Kepler is the first Nasa mission to find potentially habitable Earth-size planets. For four years, Kepler monitored 150,000 stars in a single patch of sky, measuring the tiny, telltale dip in the brightness of a star that can be produced by a transiting planet FINDING ALIENS MAY BE EASIER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT Finding examples of intelligent life other than our own in the universe is hard work. Between spending decades listening to space for signs of radio traffic which is what the good people at the SETI Institute have been doing and waiting for the day when it is possible to send spacecraft to neighboring star systems, there simply haven't been a lot of options for finding extra-terrestrials. But in recent years, efforts have begun to simplify the search for intelligent life. Thanks to the efforts of groups like the Breakthrough Foundation, it may be possible in the coming years to send 'nanoscraft' on interstellar voyages using laser-driven propulsion. But just as significant is the fact that developments like these may also make it easier for us to detect extra-terrestrials that are trying to find us. More than 2,300 exoplanets have been confirmed, and a few thousand others are considered planet candidates, but only a couple dozen are known to be in the 'habitable zone' meaning that they orbit their star at a distance that could enable them to be warm enough to have liquid water on their surfaces, Shields said. Directed-energy technology, such as the kind behind the Very Large Telescoping Interferometer, could be used by ET for communications Advertisement In the early 20th century, African Americans left the southern United States in droves, as waves of people packed their bags and headed north-east and west in search of a better life. Genetic analysis shows America's 'great migration' left its mark on African American populations and their genetic diversity. Stock image Today, traces of the mass internal migration of more than six million people are evident in the ethnic mixing in populations across the country. But genetic analysis has provided fresh insights into the impact the Great Migration left on African American populations. America's Great Migration took place over six decades, from 1910 to 1970, as black families moved from the southern states to escape the lack of economic opportunities and social segregation in the southern states - as well as additional factors such as the Great Depression in the 1920s. Initially, half a million black trail blazers left for major cities including Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and New York, with many more millions following in their wake. Researchers have now revealed the profound impact this migration had on the genetic diversity of African-American communities around the country. Led by a team at McGill University in California, researchers looked at genetic data from 3,726 African Americans in three groups, representative of the population across the country and across social and economic groups. From their analysis, published today in the journal PLOS Genetics, they were able to show the genetic ancestry of these populations were on average 82.1 per cent of African origin, 16.7 per cent European and 1.2 per cent from the Americas or Asia. Interestingly, samples from individuals in southern states tended to have a slightly higher percentage of African genetic ancestry than individuals living in the north. The researchers claim that increased European ancestry correlated with increased likelihood of migration. Rather than being driven by black southerners remaining and intermarrying within their communities, the genetic differences seen in African Americans in the north may be due to their ancestors having children with people from European descent further back in their family line. THE LASTING IMPACT OF AMERICA'S GREAT MIGRATION America's great migration (between 1910 to 1970) is believed to have had a huge lasting impact on the rural south and urban north of the US. The gradual relocation of millions of African Americans from the southern states to cities in the north - such as New York and Chicago - has exerted enormous and lasting cultural influence. In 2014, a genetic study found that people who identified as 'African American' had on average just 72.3 per cent of African ancestry, and 24 per cent European ancestry and 0.8 per cent Native American. It also revealed small amounts of African heritage popping up in populations of Latino and European descent. Further analysis of the different DNA passed on down the line by mothers and fathers revealed that European ancestors tended to be males, while African and Native American ancestors tended to be female. Advertisement Explaining the possible reason for the genetic link, Dr Simon Gravel, an assistant professor of human genetics at McGill University, who led the study, said: 'There are a few possibilities. 'The best documented historically is that plantation owners who had children with slaves often wanted to send their kids away from the plantation, to avoid embarrassment and, in some cases, to provide their children with better opportunity.' He told MailOnline: 'More generally, individuals with more European Ancestry likely had better access to resources across the board, and individuals with most access to resources were often the first to migrate.' The transplantation of huge groups of black people from the rural south to urban centres in the northern United States has left an indelible mark on the culture of the country. In a 2010 interview with NPR, Isabel Wilkerson, a journalist and author whose parents were part of the migration in the 1960s, said: 'The suburbanization and the ghettos that were created as a result of the limits of where [African-Americans] could live in the North [still exist today.] And ... the South was forced to change, in part because they were losing such a large part of their workforce through the Great Migration.' But beyond adding another dimension to the black cultural history of the US, researchers believe such genomic studies of African Americans could have medical benefits, helping to explore the genetic components of disease and treatment which have typically been done largely in white populations. Initially, half a million black trail blazers left the south for major cities including Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and New York, with many more millions following in their wake. Pictured is a family leaving Florida during the Great Depression in the 1920s 'Researchers are now realising the importance of including diverse populations in medical genetics research not just Europeans,' explained Dr Gravel. 'When studying diverse cohorts, we need to account for demographic differences between and within populations. Apple is developing an upgrade to its TV box to turn it into a 'Siri speaker' for the home. The move would put Apple in a three way battle with Amazon and Google. It is also set to allow app makers to access its smart assistant, it has been revealed. Scroll down for video The move would put Apple in a three way battle with Amazon and Google. It is unclear whether Apple could also release a separate, standalone speaker. 'Apple is working on its answer to Amazon's Echo, the voice-activated assistant packaged inside a speaker, but it may come in the form of a refreshed Apple TV, rather than a new hardware product, VentureBeat has learned,' the site said. It claims a source told them 'They want Apple TV to be just the hub of everything,' It is unclear whether Apple could also release a separate, standalone speaker. The speaker would double as a music player, and could be revealed next month at the firm's annual developer conference, it is believed. 'Apple is upping its game in the field of intelligent assistants,' wrote Amir Efrati of The Information, who revealed the speaker. 'After years of internal debate and discussion about how to do so, the company is preparing to open up Siri to apps made by others. 'And it is working on an Amazon Echo-like device with a speaker and microphone that people can use to turn on music, get news headlines or set a timer.' Steve Jobs unveiling the Apple iPod Hi-fi at its launch in 2006. Now the firm is set to unveil a new speaker powered by its Siri assistant. Apple is also expected to reveal at its WWDC conference in San Francisco next month that is it bringing Siri to the Mac. It will also unveil software to allow developers to access Siri for their own apps. Last week Google declared war on Amazon and Facebook with a new smart assistant it plans to put in 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 the search giant unveiled today. It will harness the power of Google's search engine along with the AI technology the firm developed to beat a grandmaster at the ancient board game Go to create assistants people can talk and text with as if they were a human being. Mario Queiroz showed off the new Google speaker, called Google Home, that will be released later this year. The Amazon Tap (left) is a portable version of the 9.25-inch Echo that sells for $130, while the $90 Echo Dot (right) can be plugged into any speaker. at are designed to amplify the role that its voice-controlled assistant Alexa plays in people's homes and lives. They will now complete GOOGLE'S NEXT-GEN VR HEADSET The tech giant is reportedly working on an update to its current entry-level Cardboard, and is expected to release a headset this year. The firm is bolstering its Android support for VR and is developing a smartphone-based system which will rival Gear-VR, the Samsung-Oculus Rift collaboration which has been available since last year. The new headset will support a wider range of devices than Samsung's Gear, which is limited to Samsung Galaxy smartphones. In addition, Google plans to solve the lingering latency problem with VR the slight delay between head movements and the video stream which can be disorientating and leave users dizzy. Google boss Sundar Pichai took to the stage at a giant outdoor amphitheatre holding 7,000 next to Google's Silicon Valley HQ to unveil the Google Assistant and Google Home speaker, alongside a new version of Android and a virtual reality headsets for mobile phones. The firm is aiming squarely at Amazon's Echo with the home speaker, which has Amazon's Alexa assistant built in. Facebook is also developing AI bots that will run inside its Messenger app, Mark Zuckerberg revealed at its developed conference last week. However, Google believes its search engine and AI experience will give it a huge advantage. 'We want to be there for users, asking them 'Hi, how can I help',' said Pichai, who took over as Google boss when the firm reorganised as Alphabet earlier this year. 'We want users to have an ongoing 2 way dialogue with Google.' Pichai showed the system using its smart assistant to book cinema tickets, downloading them automatically. Mario Queiroz showed off the new Google speaker, called Google Home, that will be released later this year. 'I should be able to interact without a phone,' he said. Users will be able to simply talk to the speaker, telling it what to do or asking it questions in normal English. The gadget is also a high quality speaker, Google claims, allowing users to play back music from online services of a phone. It can also control other speakers, forming a voice controlled multi room hifi system, and control other devices such as lights and Google's Nest thermostat. The speaker is designed to be placed in every room, creating a multi room control system for an entire home. The new Google Home speaker will use Google's new smart AI assistant, and will go on sale later this year. The voice controlled assistant will be able to control devices and answer queries. He also revealed over 50% of Google's queries now come from mobile phones. 'We are evolving search to be much more assistive,' he said. 'We understand a billion entities, and we can even do real time visual translation. Google says that it is 'an order of magnitude ahead of everyone else' in understanding natural-language conversational queries. 'We believe the real test is whether humans can achieve a lot more with AI assisting them,' said Pichai Advertisement For decades, Pluto was a dim blur on the edge of the solar system. But since New Horizons reached the dwarf planet eight months ago, our view of the icy world has come into ever increasing focus. Now, Nasa has released one of its most detailed view of Pluto's terrain with an incredible resolution of 260ft (80 meters) per pixel. Scroll down for video For decades, Pluto was a dim blur on the edge of the solar system. But since New Horizons reached the dwarf planet eight months ago, our view of the icy world has come into ever increasing focus. Now, Nasa has released one of its most detailed view of Pluto's terrain with an incredible resolution of 260ft (80 meters) per pixel The mosaic strip of the dwarf planet extends across the hemisphere that faced the New Horizons spacecraft as it flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015. The image, which has been released as a video and a zoomable map here, includes all of the highest-resolution images taken by the Nasa probe. The mosaic allows New Horizons scientists and the public the best opportunity to examine the fine details of the different types of terrain on Pluto, and determine the processes that formed and shaped them. 'This new image product is just magnetic,' said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. 'It makes me want to go back on another mission to Pluto and get high-resolution images like these across the entire surface.' The view extends from the 'limb' of Pluto at the top of the strip, almost to the 'terminator' (or day/night line) in the southeast of the encounter hemisphere. The width of the strip ranges from more than 55 miles (90km) at its northern end to about 45 miles (75km) at its southern point. This mosaic strip of the dwarf planet extends across the hemisphere that faced the New Horizons spacecraft as it flew past Pluto on July 14, 2015. The image, which has been released as a video and a zoomable map, includes all of the highest-resolution images taken by the Nasa probe 'This new image product is just magnetic,' said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute, Boulder. 'It makes me want to go back on another mission to Pluto and get high-resolution images like these across the entire surface' The perspective changes greatly along the strip: at its northern end, the view looks out horizontally across the surface, while at its southern end, the view looks straight down onto the surface. This movie moves down the mosaic from top to bottom, offering new views of many of Pluto's distinct landscapes along the way. Starting with hummocky, cratered uplands at top, the view crosses over parallel ridges of 'washboard' terrain, chaotic and angular mountain ranges, cellular plains, coarsely 'pitted' areas of sublimating nitrogen ice, zones of thin nitrogen ice draped over the topography below, and dark mountainous highlands scarred by deep pits. The pictures in the mosaic were obtained by New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) approximately 9,850 miles (15,850km) from Pluto, about 23 minutes before New Horizons' closest approach. Earlier this month, Nasa unveiled another composite map of Pluto, providing an incredibly detailed look at the dwarf planet. . The map includes all images of the dwarf planet surface taken by New Horizons between July 7 to 14, 2015. The view extends from the 'limb' of Pluto at the top of the strip, almost to the 'terminator' (or day/night line) in the southeast of the encounter hemisphere The width of the strip ranges from more than 55 miles (90km) at its northern end to about 45 miles (75km) at its southern point The perspective changes greatly along the strip: at its northern end, the view looks out horizontally across the surface, while at its southern end, the view looks straight down onto the surface. This movie moves down the mosaic from top to bottom, offering new views of many of Pluto's distinct landscapes along the way The images have pixel resolutions ranging from 18 miles (30km) on the Charon-facing side to 770 feet (235 meters) on the side facing New Horizons when it made its closest approach on July 14. The blurry non-encounter side is shown in less detail because of the largest distances at which the images were captured. The latest images woven into the map were sent back to Earth as recently as April 25, and the team will continue to add photos as the spacecraft transmits the rest of its stored Pluto encounter data. All encounter imagery is expected on Earth by early fall and Nasa said it is working on improved color maps in the meantime. Nasa has also released a relief view of the region surrounding the left side of Pluto's distinctive heart-shaped feature, informally dubbed Sputnik Planum. It shows that the vast expanse of the icy surface is on average 2 miles (3km) lower than the surrounding terrain. New Horizons mission science team has also produced this updated black-and-white global map of Pluto. The map includes all resolved images of Pluto's surface acquired between July 7-14, 2015, at pixel resolutions ranging from 18 miles (30 kilometers) on the Charon-facing hemisphere (left and right edges of the map) to 770 feet (235 meters) on the hemisphere facing New Horizons (map center) A close up view of the north west edge of Pluto's heart. This image has a resolution of 770 feet (235 meters) and is one of the imaged parts of the dwarf planet The latest images woven into the map were sent back to Earth as recently as April 25, and the team will continue to add photos as the spacecraft transmits the rest of its stored Pluto encounter data. The blurry non-encounter side (pictured) is shown in less detail because of the largest distances at which the images were captured Nasa has released a shaded relief view of the region surrounding the left side of Pluto's distinctive heart-shaped feature, informally dubbed Sputnik Planum. It shows that the vast expanse of the icy surface is on average 2 miles (3km) lower than the surrounding terrain. Angular blocks of water ice along the western edge of Sputnik Planum can be seen 'floating' in the bright deposits of denser nitrogen Angular blocks of water ice along the western edge of Sputnik Planum can be seen 'floating' in the bright deposits of softer, denser solid nitrogen. Topographic maps of Pluto are produced from digital analysis of New Horizons stereo images acquired during the July 14, 2015 flyby. Such maps are derived from digital stereo-image mapping tools that measure the parallax or the difference in the apparent relative positions of individual features on the surface obtained at different times. Parallax displacements of high and low features are then used to directly estimate feature heights. NEW HORIZONS' NEW MISSION The spacecraft that gave us the first close-up views of Pluto now has a much smaller object in its sights. New Horizons is now track to fly past a recently discovered, less than 30-mile-wide object out on the solar system frontier. The close encounter with what's known as 2014 MU69 would occur in 2019. It orbits nearly 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto. Nasa and the New Horizons team chose 2014 MU69 in August as New Horizons' next potential target, thus the nickname PT-1. Like Pluto, MU69 orbits the sun in the frozen, twilight zone known as the Kuiper Belt. MU69 is thought to be 10 times larger and 1,000 times more massive than average comets, including the one being orbited right now by Europe's Rosetta spacecraft. On the other end, MU69 is barely 1 percent the size of Pluto and perhaps one-ten-thousandth the mass of the dwarf planet. So the new target is a good middle ground, according to scientists. The team plans to formally ask Nasa next year to fund the mission extension for studying MU69. Scientists promise a better name before showtime on January 1, 2019. These topographic maps are works in progress and artifacts are still present in the current version. The map is artificially illuminated from the south, rather than the generally northern solar lighting of landscape during the time of the flyby. One of the many advantages of digital terrain maps is that they can be illuminated from any direction to best bring out different features. North is up and the total relief in the scene is approximately 4 miles (6km) from the lowest to the highest features. The latest maps follow images recently of hills of water ice could be 'floating' in a sea of frozen nitrogen on Pluto, moving over time like icebergs in Earth's Arctic Ocean These hills, are believed to measure one to several miles across. They are found in the vast ice plain within Pluto's 'heart' and are likely miniature versions of the larger, jumbled mountains on the region's western border. Hills of water ice on Pluto 'float' in a sea of frozen nitrogen and move over time like icebergs in Earth's Arctic Ocean. This shows the inset in context next to a larger view. The resolution is about 1050ft (320 meters) per pixel and 300 miles (almost 500km) long and 210 miles (340km) wide. It was taken 9,950 miles (16,000km) from Pluto, 12 minutes before New Horizons' closest approach to Pluto on July 14 The two scans were taken 15 minutes apart on July 14, 2015 from 67,000 miles away, showing the hemisphere visible to New Horizons as it flew by. According to Nasa, water ice is the crustal bedrock of Pluto, over the course of the changing seasons, it is covered by more volatile ices Nasa describes the feature as 'yet another example of Pluto's fascinating and abundant geological activity.' Because water ice is less dense than nitrogen-dominated ice, scientists believe these water ice hills are floating in a sea of frozen nitrogen and move over time like icebergs on Earth. The hills may be fragments of the rugged uplands that have broken away and are being carried by the nitrogen glaciers into Sputnik Planum. 'Chains' of the drifting hills are formed along the flow paths of the glaciers. When the hills enter the cellular terrain of central Sputnik Planum, they become subject to the motions of the nitrogen ice, and are pushed to the edges of the cells, where the hills cluster in groups reaching up to 12 miles (20km) across. At the northern end of the image, the feature informally named Challenger Colles honouring the crew of the lost space shuttle Challenger appears to be an especially large accumulation of these hills, measuring 37 by 22 miles (60 by 35km). This feature is located near the boundary with the uplands, away from the cellular terrain, and may represent a location where hills have been 'beached' due to the nitrogen ice being especially shallow. Nasa experts believe the object may be a 'dirty block of water ice' which is floating in denser solid nitrogen. Also visible are thousands of pits in the surface, which scientists believe may form by sublimation. Its a common scene in classrooms the teacher turns their back for a moment, and students begin to swap exam answers with the person next to them, even if they arent close friends. Researchers from Canada and China say this type of behaviour is a widespread phenomenon in many settings, as people cheat for others within their social groups at the expense of a third party. The team says that in these circumstances, a persons loyalty to their group might outweigh their morals, and allow them to be seen as a hero by their peers. Researchers from Canada and China say it's common for people to cheat for others within their social groups at the expense of a third party. The team says that in these circumstances, a persons loyalty to their group might outweigh their morals, and allow them to be seen as a hero by their peers (stock image used) WHY CHEATERS KEEP CHEATING Researchers from Northwestern University and Harvard University found that people who engage in unethical behaviour are least likely to have vivid memories of their actions. Compared with memories of ethical behaviour, or of actions that were simply positive or negative in nature, the details of unethical activities are typically harder to recall, and may be forgotten altogether. And, researchers say this may explain why people repeatedly make unethical decisions. Those who had trouble recalling their unethical actions were more likely to repeat this type of behaviour in the future. 'Unethical amnesia' may be a way for people to maintain positive self-image as they distance themselves with this behaviour over time. While participants had trouble clearly recalling their own unethical choices, they were able to remember the details of other peoples wrongdoings. In the study, the team from University of Guelph, Ryerson University and Shanghai University recruited 900 students from two universities in China and analysed their behaviour in money-allocation tasks. The people in each of these social groups might know each other, but they wouldn't be considered friends, the researches explained. The participants were divided into two groups. Allocators were asked to divide 50 yuan, roughly $8, between two students. One of these recipients would be a student from the same university, while another would be an outsider a student from a different university. To determine how much money they would give to each recipient, students were allowed to pick from a list of six options, or choose an option based on the roll of a die. The allocation options did not allow for the students to split the money evenly; they were only given the option to choose an amount between 0 to 50 yuan, on increments of 10. For the most part, the researchers found that the allocators were more likely to give students from their own university more money. Cheating happens all the time, whether its intentional deceit or its perceived to be harmless, said Ryerson professor Fei Song, one of the studys co-authors. Our study demonstrates that sometimes people cheat to help others with whom they have a connection at the expense of third parties who are more socially distant from the cheater. More than 70 percent of the students who had chosen freely were found to give students from their own university more money. Nearly two-thirds of these students gave 30 yuan to the person who attended their university, with the remaining 20 going to the outsider. Its a common scene in classrooms the teacher turns their back for a moment, and students begin to swap exam answers with the person next to them, even if they arent close friends (stock image used) In the other group, the team found that students who based their decision on their die roll were most likely to cheat. Sixty percent of these students chose options that favoured the recipient, regardless of the number theyd rolled. Overall, these students gave an average of 28 yuan to students from their university. Such cheating is likely widespread, said Professor Bram Cadbsy of the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of Guelph, one of the studys co-authors. Students lend their homework to their classmates to copy, organization members lie about the bad behaviour of their colleagues to protect them from punishment, skating judges conspire to award points that favour skaters from their own country and companies hire less qualified relatives of current employees. Our study examines students from very similar universities and backgrounds. 'Cheating for others might well be far more likely when ones own group is in a competitive or hostile relationship with the other group. Advertisement 'There will be more earthquakes, it's what created the mountain range,' says Ram Moktan, our senior trekking guide, 'but we can't worry about it, as we don't know when they will happen.' We're standing together on a ridge above a shrine built for Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who along with Sir Edmund Hillary became the first person to summit Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, in May 1953. Prayer flags draped around the white spire capped rotunda flutter in the wind, like multi-coloured leaves, honouring him. We look out across the landscape of sky-piercing Himalayan peaks that were formed around 50 million years ago, when the northern edge of what is now India began to slam into a slab of the Earth's crust that today carries Nepal and Tibet. The collision is still going on today and continues to release enormous earthquakes. Scroll down for video Katy was eager to return to Nepal to see how well it is faring since the 2015 earthquake. She is pictured crossing one of the bridges along the Mount Everest trail with many prayer flags tied to it Katy spent a few days trekking part of the route to Everest base camp to see some of the reconstruction work going on. Pictured are the views to Everest that she encountered In the distance we see a large scar on a slope above the trail that winds to Everest Base Camp from Namche Baazar. It's a trail I'd first walked two years ago, when I joined eco operator Intrepid Travel on a 60th anniversary trek to Everest base camp. The landslide was caused by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on the 25th of April 2015, killing 9000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Ram tells me that by September the previous year he'd already led four trips to Base Camp. But this year he'd been on just once. Tourist arrivals dropped by 90 per cent after the earthquake and since then its estimated they are down by 50-75 per cent on the same period last year. A double blow to the Nepalese who rely on visitors for their livelihood. 'The best thing people can do now,' says Ram, 'is to come back.' Katy in 2013 when she joined eco operator Intrepid Travel on a 60th anniversary trek to Everest base camp (left) and an image she took during that trip (right) A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal on the 25 April last year causing mass devastation and killing 9000 people. Pictured then, rescue helicopters return to base camp at Mount Everest to collect remaining survivors When Intrepid asked me to join them on a trip to see how well Nepal was faring since the earthquake, there was no question I'd visit. I was itching to return to the country where, for me, the trekking is unlike anywhere else in the world; from the teahouses, which began with the kindness of the Nepalese people, welcoming trekkers into their homes, to the landscapes of towering snow and rock spires. I longed to again experience and witness the fearsome tumbling glaciers and dramatic rocky passes, the ancient temples and monasteries and of course the people. We planned to spend a few days trekking part of the route to Everest base camp to see some of the reconstruction work going on. Early that morning I arrive in the Sherpa Capital, Namche Baazar at 3440m, a village set in gigantic green amphitheatre - the gateway to Everest. After dumping our bags at our guest house we set out on our trek above Namche. Vibrant recovery: Local villagers are pictured rebuilding the road past the Tenzing memorial which was damaged by a landslide Sherpers carry heavy building material along the trail (left) and colourful prayer wheels are seen along the Everest base camp trail (right) Nicholas Cowie, Intrepid's Nepal general manager said that there was 'minimal damage' to the majority of accommodation and trails in the Everest and Annapurna regions and that most of the damaged buildings could easily be repaired. Pictured men rebuild a property at Benkar Everyone does their bit: A sherpa carries wood to help rebuild a house in Tengboche Nicholas Cowie, Intrepid's Nepal general manager, tells me that the report they commissioned, via Californian earthquake engineering specialists Miyamoto International, found there was 'minimal damage' to the majority of accommodation and trails in the Everest and Annapurna regions and that most of the damaged buildings could easily be repaired. 'There is always a risk of rockfall and landslides in the mountains,' he says 'especially during the monsoon season and this hasn't increased since the earthquake.' Further along from the landslide past the Tenzing memorial, we see two other, darker scars- evidence of older slides. 'The engineers told us this was a troubled spot due to the rock faces,' says Nick, 'So there are two choices; climb up and around the landslide, or just don't hang around. Just around the corner it's safe.' Further down the rocky path two local men are chipping away with simple tools, cutting stones to make a new road. Nick tells me they were paid by villagers and the Sagarmatha national park to do this, so we give them some rupees to help with their endeavours. As we wander back through the national park we see lots more rebuilding work going on. A mother and child strolling through Tengboche (left) and children sit outside playing at Benkar (right) Repair work is underway, pictured are fallen houses in the villages of Tengboche and Benkar (left) and rebuilding at Sagarmatha national park (right) REBUILDING NEPAL: 100 PER CENT OF PROFITS USED TO IMPROVE COUNTRY Intrepid Travel is donating 100 per cent of the profits from Nepal trips back to rebuilding the country. They're aiming to raise AUD$1million by end of May 2016, when the trekking season finishes. For more information on Intrepid Travel's trips in Nepal, and the charities you can help just by travelling in the country, visit: www.intrepidtravel.com/return-nepal For more info,visit http://www.theintrepidfoundation.org/projects/emergency-earthquake-appeal/ After dinner we head to my favourite trekkers bar in Namche, the quirky cafe Daphne, with its walls still decked out with t-shirts, signed by expeditions from years gone. I chat to the barman, Jack (Jagadish) about how business has been this year so far. He says: 'To tell you the truth. We've not even had 40 per cent of the peopleand its not because of the earthquake, its because of the media. 'When I talk to people - mostly Europeans - they say the media is still broadcasting the same news over and over that Nepal is not safe to travel. But actually, everything is operating over here.' While some properties stand tall and seem relatively untouched, houses in front of them have collapsed in the villages of Tengboche and Benkar Spectacular panoramas: Life goes on, colourful laundry is pictured hanging out to dry near Namche Bazaar The next day we head down from Namche to spend the night at Phakding at 2,652m. We pass the villages of Tengboche and Benkar, some of the worse affected stretches of the trail. At Tok Tok, rockfall has meant a section of the trail was partially blocking the Dudh Khosi river, but landslides here are nothing new and completing the route was not a problem. Passing through Benkar we see a guesthouse with its modern half intact, but its 50-year-old section collapsing under the weight of its traditional stonewalls and roof. Nick explains that professional engineering advice has been provided since the earthquakes. The buildings are being repaired using cement, reinforcing steel and local stone stacked to create friction so they can move but are still solid. The best chance against future earthquakes. The following morning we fly back to the bustling capital of Kathmandu. Life in the city seems very much back to normal here, despite it being one of the worst hit parts of the country. The jumble of streets are still alive with fragrant spices, jingling bells, beeping tuk-tuks and tiny shops selling masala tea, pashminas and colourful knitwear. But it is relatively quiet and uncrowded compared to two years ago, so - selfishly - it's almost good time to go. The streets are less chaotic due to a fuel crisis and there isn't always working wifi or a full menu in restaurants but I am happy to pay more to get a cab across town. The earthquake damage around the city has been largely cleared away or cordoned off. In historic Patan Durban Square, reconstruction of its ancient temples and shrines is going on everywhere. We arrive for the start of the eight day Indra Jatra Festival, which pays tribute to the rain god, Indra, and marks the start of the new trekking season after the monsoon. Despite the earthquake, thousands of Nepalis, have trooped to the site to watch the festival, using rubble as stadium seating, trying to catch a rare glimpse of the living goddesses, the Kunaris. The pre-pubescent girls, who are dressed in red with a symbolic 'fire eye' painted on their foreheads, are worshipped as a divine manifestation of female energy. Normally isolated from society, they are carried across Kathmandu in golden chariots to thank the god Indra. Ready to welcome back tourists locals are pictured fixing the road at Benkar Hand-drums reverberate across the square as masked dancers representing deities and the tiger toothed Bhairava, a demon associated with destruction, accompany the Linga, a carefully selected 36ft long wooden pole, on its way to being erected outside Kathmandu's old royal palace, the Hanuman Dhoka. The building's walls were gouged open during the earthquake. Here a banner of Indra is unfurled. It was much the same scene of reconstruction at one of Kathamdu's other most famous sites; the ancient Buddhist hilltop shrine, Swayambhunath, also known as Monkey Temple. The hundreds of rhesus macaques monkeys that reside there are still as cheeky as ever, jumping on my head as I try to take photos of the views across the city and its Newari temples. There's no real explanation as to why some buildings there fell and others didn't, other than the way ground moved at the exact moment the earthquake struck. The site is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus and even more so in the temples that are still standing. My mind drifts back to the hillside where I stood with Ram, looking out across the towering Himalayas. I asked him if he was worried about the risk of his job, or the risk for people returning to Nepal; 'where there is no risk,' he replies, 'there is no life.' It seemed to me that Nepal was now at a crossroads; it can choose to continue offering the same trekking routes or look to diversify. So many of its of mountains, jungles, savanna and cultures are largely unexplored. The key is to explore them in a way that's sustainable environmentally, economically and socially. OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES Scenic flights: Buddha Airlines offers an Everest Experience with a guaranteed window seat of the glaciers, peaks and lakes of the Himalayas. The 50 minute fixed-wing flights depart each day at 6am and cost from $212 per person, including transfers (www.buddhaair.com). Heli-flights: Simrik Air offers a four-hour Everest Experience by helicopter. The tour to Everest stops by Kala Pathar Peak and other neighbouring peaks, as well as a stop at the highest hotel in the world for breakfast. The tour costs $5000, for one to five people (www.simrikair.com.np/). Day tours in Kathmandu: Intrepid's Urban Adventures offers day or half-day tours including Kathmandu by Bike, Spiritual Nepal, and Path to a Hidden Monastery. The newest trip is a half-day food experience with local charity Seven Women, a social enterprise which supports disadvantaged women. Learn how to cook traditional Nepali cuisine in a three-hour class from 47.32. http://www.urbanadventures.com/kathmandu-tour-cook-in-kathmandu. A statue of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa with views of Everest in the background at the Sagarmatha national park Hundreds of passengers have been arrested on suspicion of being drunk on a plane or at an airport in the last two years, figures reveal At least 442 people were held between March 2014 and March 2016, in police statistics obtained by a news agency. Cases include drunk passengers accused of attempting to open the doors of a plane, smashing a window and banging on the outside of the cockpit. At least 442 people were held between March 2014 and March 2016 on suspicion of being drunk on a plane or at an airport across the UK. Sussex Police are increasing patrols at Gatwick next month in a bid to tackle the problem Alleged incidents at airports include a man headbutting another person after being refused permission to fly and a passenger at Luton Airport smashing a barrier and kicking out a door panel after he missed his flight, according to the Press Association who obtained the statistics. Shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood described the figures as 'extremely concerning'. She said: 'Drunk passengers on flights can pose a real safety risk, and they can create an unpleasant or even intimidating environment for other passengers and air crew. 'The new statistics suggest that more needs to be done to tackle the problem.' Drunk passengers on flights can pose a real safety risk, and they can create an unpleasant or even intimidating environment for other passengers and air crew,' said Shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood Figures obtained following freedom of information requests show 77 people were arrested on suspicion of being drunk on an aircraft in 2014/15, followed by 73 in the subsequent 12 months. Passengers convicted of being drunk on an aircraft can face a fine or up to two years' imprisonment. AIR PASSENGER DRINK ARRESTS: POLICE FORCE TOTALS IN LAST TWO YEARS Avon and Somerset - 4 on a plane, 3 at an airport Bedfordshire - 4, 8 Devon and Cornwall - 0, 1 Essex - 0, 26 Greater Manchester - 21, 31 (compiled from descriptions of offences, not actual data) Hampshire - 0, 3 Merseyside - 11, 23 PSNI - 1, 0 Northumbria - 11, 24 South Yorkshire - 9 (no distinction between aircraft or airport) Sussex - 31, 97 (airport figure includes four arrests on suspicion of being drunk or under the influence of a drug or an 'intoxicating substance') West Midlands - 6, 19 West Yorkshire - 6, 6 Police Scotland - 46, 51 (airport figure includes several arrests on suspicion of being drunk or under influence of drugs or an 'intoxicating substance') The forces not listed either responded with a figure of zero or did not provide comparable data. * Figures collected between 1 March, 2014 and 28 February, 2015 show number of people arrested on suspicion of being drunk (or drunk and disorderly) on an aircraft then number of people arrested on suspicion of being drunk (or drunk and disorderly) in an airport. For the police forces that gave information, a further 143 arrests were made relating to alleged drunkenness at airports in 2014/15, with 149 in the most recent year covered. This included arrests for being drunk and disorderly, while a small number were held on suspicion of being drunk or under the influence of drugs or an 'intoxicating substance'. The true numbers will almost certainly be higher as the Metropolitan Police, which covers the UK's busiest airport Heathrow, did not provide figures. Sussex Police - which handles incidents at Gatwick - recorded 128 arrests over the two years. The ages of those detained around the UK ranged from 18 to 65. The revelations come after a flurry of incidents in which flights were disrupted by alleged drunken behaviour. In February six men on a stag party were arrested by German police after a mid-air brawl caused a Ryanair flight from Luton to Bratislava, Slovakia, to divert to Berlin. Another case involved a female passenger punching an easyJet pilot in the face after being ordered to leave the aircraft before it took off from Manchester on May 11. A spokesman for the British Air Transport Association (BATA), the organisation representing UK airlines, said disruptive passengers can have a 'big impact'. He added that this behaviour can involve to 'threats to passengers, crew and aircraft safety'. Over the past few months the aviation industry has been working on how to tackle the issue, but no potential solutions have been announced. Aviation minister Robert Goodwill said: 'Passengers who become disruptive on flights after drinking alcohol cause distress to other travellers, create knock-on delays to other flights, and in rare cases can even put flight safety at risk. 'That is why we strongly support efforts to tackle the problem. Airports, airlines and the police are developing an industry-wide code of conduct and running information campaigns aimed at passengers.' The revelations come after a flurry of incidents in which flights were disrupted by alleged drunken behaviour (file image) The Airport Operators Association (AOA) issued a statement which said that while disruptive behaviour is 'unacceptable', it only occurs on 'a very small minority of flights'. A number of airports use poster and leaflet campaigns to outline the risks of 'drink and disruptive group behaviour', while some 'boisterous passengers' are issued with written warnings, the AOA added. Sussex Police are increasing patrols at Gatwick next month in a bid to tackle the problem. Operation Disrupt, in its second year, targets specific problem routes. The Civil Aviation Authority said there is 'no excuse for rude or aggressive conduct by passengers' and welcomed 'criminal prosecutions where appropriate'. A town with just six residents and no shops or hotels has become a top tourist destination on the island of Sardinia, all thanks to its colony of cats. Cats at Su Pallosu roam the sandy beaches and even play in the water while visitors are free to pet them. The unusual attraction has even been awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence and is currently ranked as seventh on the travel reviews site. Scroll down for video The cat colony at Su Pallosu in Sardinia has existed for over a century and now there's around 60 cats There are different species of cats, all living together and cared for by a local not-for-profit organisation Visitors will get to see the cats' feeding area and where they live as well as the turtle beach and the Gianni Atzori Mineral Collection The animals are used to the beach having grown up around it. Above, a daring cat leaps over the tides The cat colony by the beach is said to have existed for over a century after fishermen on the island introduced the animals to keep the rat problem in check. Today, they are cared for by I Gatti di Su Pallosu, a not-for-profit organisation. A video released by the founder Andrea Atzori shows different species of cats running around the beach, seemingly very happy to get up close to the water. The group arranges guided tours of the feline colony and promotes tourism in the area, including of the local archaeological sites. In the last three years, thousands of visitors have visited the area for the cats. Visitors will get to see the cats' feeding area and where they live as well as the turtle beach and the Gianni Atzori Mineral Collection. The cats are happy to frolic by the water and are friendly enough to play with visitors who come to the beach The cats were originally introduced onto the island by local fishermen to keep the rat problem in check Discussing the peninsula, Andrea Atzori said: 'People love cats and they love beaches too, so it's a recipe for success' All of the tours are free but they recommend booking at least a week in advance. But while the organisation looks after the welfare of around 60 cats, it does not accept any new animals and the organisation warns visitors not to abandon their pets at the site. I Gatti di Su Pallosu was awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence on Thursday thanks to the five-star reviews on the site by visitors according to The Local. Andrea Atzori said: 'People love cats and they love beaches too, so it's a recipe for success.' She added: 'People are curious because they assume cats hate water, but the Su Pallosu cats grew up on the shore and have no fear of the sea. 'They are also super tame and friendly so know how to entertain visitors.' All of the tours to the colony are free but organises recommend booking with them at least a week in advance There's around 60 cats living at the colony but the organisation does not accept any new cats brought to them I Gatti di Su Pallosu was awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence on Thursday thanks to the five-star reviews on the site by visitors British holidaymakers heading abroad for a half-term break will get a bit more for their money thanks to the surging pound. Sterling has strengthened in the last week, hitting 1.31 an increase of four per cent from 1.26 since the start of May. Its good news for holidaymakers heading to the continent with half-term just a few days away, as they can pocket an extra 18 (23) for every 500 they exchange into euros. Tourists heading to places such as Paris can pocket an extra 18 (23) for every 500 they exchange With the pound gaining on several currencies, a 12 per cent surge over the euro over the past three years will put an extra 52 in tourists pockets, according to a study by money transfer firm FairFX. Visitors to countries such as the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland and Sweden will also benefit from the pounds rise. Norways krone is 38 per cent cheaper than it was three years ago, while Hungarys forint is 22 per cent cheaper. Ian Strafford-Taylor, chief executive of FairFX, said: Exchange rates have a big impact on the cost of your holiday so it's good news for holidaymakers that we've seen several improvements over the past month. Smart holidaymakers will take advantage of favourable rates which will mean you can get significantly more for every pound. A 30 per cent three-year increase against the Australian dollar has added 117 to Britons' spending budgets Its not just Europe where families can stretch their pounds even further, as currencies in Argentina, Africa and Australia are also on the slide against sterling. Despite a small dip this spring the pound has risen 158 per cent against Argentinas peso in three years, giving Britons 306 extra for every 500. The pound is up six per cent against the South African rand since the start of May, adding an extra 28 to a 500 budget, while a 30 per cent increase against the Australian dollar in the last three years has added 117 to spending budgets. The pound has made a 106 per cent three-year rise in Russia, with sterling up 42 per cent in Mexico, 31 per cent in Malaysia, 15 per cent in Thailand and 10 per cent in Croatia. Advertisement An awe-struck animal lover has spent ten years photographing 'mesmerising' elephants in the wild. Since taking her first elephant shot in Kenya a decade ago, Australian photographer Bobby-Jo Clow has travelled Africa and produced a stunning collection of images of the magnificent beasts. The 33-year-old specialises in capturing the daily interactions of the herd as they feed, sleep and wander through the wilderness. Australian native Bobby-Jo Clow, 33, has been taking pictures of beautiful elephants since 2004 The photographer has made regular pilgrimages to southern and eastern Africa to capture the stunning creatures on camera in their natural habitat Bobby-Jo has narrowed down her thousands of images to just 200, and is planning to create a book of her beautiful pictures called Reflections of Elephants Since 2004, Bobby-Jo has made regular pilgrimages to southern and eastern Africa to capture the stunning creatures on camera in their natural habitat. Now, Bobby-Jo has narrowed down her thousands of images to just 200, and is planning to create a book of her beautiful pictures called Reflections of Elephants - along with written reflections of writers, poets, conservationists and elephant experts from around the globe. Bobby-Jo said: 'I have been interested in wild animals from a very young age - like most children my age, I grew up to Attenborough's voice on the television. 'After photographing my very first African elephant, I became absolutely mesmerised by Africa's wildlife, landscapes, and people - but most of all, her elephants. The 33-year-old specialises in capturing the daily interactions of the herd as they feed, sleep and wander through the wilderness The wildlife photographer says that has 'been extremely privileged to observe and photograph wild elephants', and now wants to 'give something back' Intruder: In this photograph, a cheeky giraffe appears to have photobombed one of Bobby Jo's snaps 'A wild elephant is killed every 15 minutes - in the time it takes you to drink your next cup of tea or coffee, somewhere in Africa or Asia a beautiful elephant will be destroyed. 'I have been extremely privileged to observe and photograph wild elephants - and now I feel I owe them something in return. 'I joined forces with writer Dave Blissett, and began working on a project that would help make a difference to elephants.' Bobby-Jo is now fundraising to help raise money for the production of the book. Bobby-Jo, pictured (left) with a huge elephant, has said that she became 'mesmerised' by the beasts after taking her first photo Bobby-Jo has been able to take photos from the land and the air so as to capture the daily lives of the African elephant Making a splash: The Australian photographer said that royalties from book sales will go to the Askari Project, supporting work in southern Kenya to preserve wildlife She said: 'We received work from some truly incredible and inspiring people - everyone has donated their time and work to this project. 'One hundred per cent of the royalties from book sales will go to the Askari Project, supporting work in southern Kenya to preserve wildlife - especially the magnificent elephants. A tourist has been fined 150 (115) after using beach furniture to reserve a spot on the Spanish sand. In the first penalty of its kind in Spain, the man believed to be from Madrid, had headed to El Cura beach in Torrevieja, Costa Blanca early in the morning and planted an umbrella in the sand. However, local officials deemed the beach goer's actions as a disruption to the 'urban cleaning' of public areas, and issued the fine - despite the holidaymaker saying he was still at the beach and had just gone for a swim in the sea when they discovered his unattended parasol. A man from Madrid set up his parasol early one morning on the beach - but was then fined as it disrupted the cleaning process The incident happened back in September 2015, and now, almost nine months later, the city council has said that planting a parasol in the sand 'contravenes one municipal ordinance that seeks to avoid the reservation of space.' The man alleged that he had gone for a swim at the time when beach patrols noticed the umbrella in the sand. They proceeded to remove it and write out a fine. The tourist had lodged a complaint against the fine, but has now been told it has to be paid. The incident was reported by Spanish news website cadenaser.com, who said that such measures are in place to avoid 'the exclusive use of areas on beaches'. Holidaymakers in Torrevieja are not allowed to use beach furniture such as umbrellas and seats in the early hours of the morning The Local.es reports that 'between 3am and 8am, the use of beach furniture like umbrellas, seats or towels to reserve space is prohibited'. The mayor of beaches, Javier Manzanares, told El Mundo: 'People who live in Torrevieja know that there are people who, at 5.30am, place an umbrella on the beach and go. Advertisement Forget stamps or coins, one man decided to take up a hobby of collecting something that came with an edible pay off - McDonald's boxes. Serge Zaka, 26, has journeyed far and wide to compile a collection of 344 of the company's fast food boxes, from 34 different countries and their varying products in total. The five-year feat has seen the Frenchman spend 2,000 and consume a whopping 393 burgers in the process, with his pick of the packages being lovingly displayed on the ceiling and walls of his home. Scroll down for video Serge Zaka, 26, has journeyed far and wide to compile a collection of 344 fast food boxes from McDonald's His vast collection includes boxes from 34 different countries and their varying products - which come in all shapes and sizes The five-year feat has seen the Frenchman spend 2,000 and consume a whopping 393 burgers in the process While it may seem like an unusual hobby, Zaka said that his experiences have taught him about foreign cultures. Zaka, who is a storm chaser and climate researcher, told MailOnline Travel: 'McDonald's is used to dealing with the food habits of each country. 'In France and Swiss, there are a lot of hamburgers with local cheese and meat, whereas in Portugal you can find soups. 'In Italy, there is the McPizza, with Germany serving some limited editions ones with sausages and cabbage, but in Lebanon, Turkey and Greece you can find the McArabia or McGreek with kefta and local vegetables.' But despite scouring the globe for the varying offerings, his favourite McDonald's menu is the one served in his home country, France. He explained: 'They have really adapted to French local tastes. I love McRaclette, McChevre, McCamembert and Croque McDo.' All of the packages he has sourced have been lovingly stored and displayed on the ceiling and walls of his house While it may seem like an unusual hobby, Zaka said that his experiences have taught him lots about foreign cultures Despite scouring the globe for the varying offerings, his favourite McDonald's menu is the one served in his home country, France MAN ON A MISSION: COUNTRIES ZAKA HAS VISITED AS PART OF HIS MCADVENTURE Germany Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada China Colombia Denmark United Arab Emirates Spain United States France Greece India Italy Japan Lebanon Malta Morocco New Zealand Netherlands Peru Poland Portugal UK Russia Slovenia Swiss Turkey Paraguay Uruguay Zaka got the idea for hoarding some of the unusual menu option boxes offered around the globe in 2011 after a holiday to Canada. The traveller said that when he started his colourful collection, his friends and family made fun of him but now they are impressed. 'I live with some friends, and they even help to contribute to the collection each time they travel now,' he said. Although he has consumed a vast number of burgers on his quest, Zaka said he always orders a small salad instead of fries, and a bottle of water over carbonated drinks. While his collection may be large, the foodie said he has no plans to slow down, with upcoming trips to Italy and Prague already booked to sample some of their McDonald's offerings. Zaka got the idea for hoarding some of the unusual menu option boxes offered around the globe in 2011 after a holiday to Canada Although he has consumed a vast number of burgers on his quest, he said he always orders a small salad instead of fries, and a bottle of water over Coca Cola Advertisement Washingtons Watergate Hotel located in the same complex that was at the heart of the political scandal that led to Richard Nixons resignation is set to reopen after being dormant for nearly 10 years. The iconic hotel has undergone a $125 million (85 million) redesign by its new owner over the past two years, bringing it into the latest age of luxury while retaining its historic name. Opening on June 1, the 336-room hotel features a brand new interior with a grand ballroom, whisky bar and rooftop lounge among the additions. The Watergate Hotel is located in the same complex that was at the heart of the political scandal that led to Richard Nixons resignation This rendering shows the hotel's first-ever rooftop lounge, which has 360-degree views of the Potomac River and Washington Monument The lobby features floor-to-ceiling windows, sculptural metal work, a black granite floor and a wall of hand-painted brass tubes Guests of its 336 rooms and suites will have access to an indoor swimming pool, fitness facility and a spacious spa The Watergate Hotel is located within the Watergate Complex, not far from the Kennedy Center and Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The Watergate Hotel closed in 2007 for renovations that never happened because its previous owner ran into trouble and declared bankruptcy amid the US financial crisis. It was eventually purchased by New York-based Euro Capital Properties, which launched the nine-figure redesign in 2014. From around $289 (200) a night, guests will stay in 336 rooms, including two presidential suites and 26 speciality suites, and have access to a spa and pool, a library on a balcony overlooking the lobby, a whisky bar and a rooftop lounge with 360-degree views of the Potomac River and Washington Monument. Every room has a marble bathroom and most have views of the river. Catering to well-heeled visitors, the hotel has 336 rooms, including two presidential suites (pictured: presidential suite bedroom) Wach 2,400 square foot presidential suite has dark wood floors, custom furniture in shades of blue and yellow, and private balconies The hotel's whisky bar features a spherical art structure made from 2,500 illuminated bottles, creating a glowing bronze colour Kingbird, its restaurant, has two dining rooms and menus created by executive chef Michael Santoro, who previously worked at Heston Blumenthals three-Michelin-starred The Fat Duck in Berkshire. Designed by Ron Arad, the lobby features floor-to-ceiling windows, sculptural metal work, chandeliers, a black granite floor, a wall of hand-painted brass tubes and a 46ft long brass reception desk that mirrors the buildings signature curves. Hoping to attract Washingtons elite, the whisky bar features a spherical art structure made from 2,500 illuminated bottles, creating a glowing bronze colour. The iconic hotel has undergone a $125 million redesign over the past two years, bringing it into the latest age of luxury Every guest room and suite inside the Watergate Hotel has a spa-like marble bathrooms with custom La Bottega amenities The hotel's whisky bar (pictured), lobby and restaurant, Kingbird, were designed by industrial designer Ron Arad The hotel, which is on the US National Register of Historic Places, features more than 10,000 square feet of outdoor terraces overlooking the Potomac. Given its a historic property, its facade, which was designed by Italian architect Luigi Moretti in 1961, remains untouched. Euro Capital Properties said its aim was to give the hotel a modern reinvention from its scandalous past by creating a space with classic elegance and bold mid-century modern design. The hotel's owner said its aim was to give the building a modern reinvention from its scandalous past with classic elegance One of the hotel's new features is a grand ballroom that has thousands of tiny star-like LED lights in the ceiling Set to open next week, the Watergate Hotel closed in 2007 for renovations that never happened because of financial problems Hotel staff will wear retro-inspired uniforms from costume designer Janie Bryant, who won an Emmy Award for her work on the HBO series Deadwood and was nominated for three awards for her work on AMCs Mad Men. The hotel's owner has maintained a level of secrecy around the project, choosing not to release photos of the suites and other public areas. Instead, it shared photos of a model room and renderings of areas such as the rooftop lounge, presidential suite, ballroom, pool, lobby and whisky bar. A major political scandal called Watergate ensued after the Democratic National Committees headquarters at the Watergate Hotel and Office Building were broken into in 1972. Armed police were forced to intervene after a 'fight broke out' between passengers at Gatwick Airport on Thursday, according to an eyewitness. The flyer has described the moment there was an altercation between two groups of passengers who were waiting to board the Boeing 737 to Palma, Majorca. The incident took place after Norwegian Air flight D82426 was cancelled while passengers waited at the gate. They had earlier been told their flight would be delayed by two hours. Armed police were forced to intervene as tensions spilled over when two Norwegian Air flights were cancelled at Gatwick Airport last night (Thursday) After being told of an original two hour delay, passengers flying out of Gatwick to Majorca then saw their flight cancelled As hundreds of passengers returned to the Norwegian Air check-in desks, armed police were pictured ready to deal with any tensions boiling over Jim Holder, who was travelling to the Spanish isle for a holiday with his young family, told MailOnline Travel that 'after heated arguments', a 'fight broke out at the gate' between passengers. Around 180 flyers were then escorted back through security to collect their luggage and told to head to the Norwegian desks. There, they were grouped together with a similar number of passengers from another Norwegian flight out to Madrid that had also been cancelled. 'Neither the Norwegian or Gatwick staff had organised anything nor knew what to do,' Mr Holder said. 'This is when the armed police were called in to keep the peace as frustrated passengers were faced with inactivity and no communication from staff.' One passenger told MailOnline that he felt airport and airline staff 'didn't know what to do' when the two flights were cancelled Sussex Police have confirmed officers were dispatched to the terminal to deal with any fights. A spokesperson told MailOnline Travel: 'Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 11.30pm on Thursday (May 26) to a report of a group of people fighting. 'When police attended there had been a minor altercation between two men and two women, from two groups of travellers unknown to each other. No one was injured and no one was arrested but all parties were spoken to. 'Police officers are routinely armed at Gatwick for security reasons. They will also attend routine incidents where they are called to do so.' Forty-one-year-old journalist Mr Holder then claims airline and airport staff 'hid upstairs behind check-in desks to avoid customers.' 'It goes without saying that seeing people slugging it out is pretty unsettling when you have children, and likewise the arrival of armed police when arguments turn heated,' added Mr Holder. He said that his family were among the first to leave the airport at around 1.30am this morning (Friday), but added that he suspected many 'left much later.' A Norwegian spokesman said: 'We sincerely apologise to passengers for the delay to their flight from Gatwick to Mallorca-Palma on Thursday. This was caused by a crewing delay due to the impacts of the French air traffic control strike. 'Passengers were advised in the gate lounge area that overnight hotel accommodation would be provided for them. 'Unfortunately, airport police were required to attend the gate area due to an argument between two groups of passengers. The flight was rearranged and departed on Friday evening.' She revealed that kids were not on the cards last year. But Ricki-Lee Coulter appeared to be a natural when it comes to looking after children as she shared a sweet photo of herself playing with her little sister and young nephew on Thursday. The 30-year-old songstress took to Instagram to share the cute photo of the trio enjoying a giggle, accompanied with the caption: 'Missing the two little munchkins! My baby sister & my nephew!' Scroll down for video '#CantWaitForACuddle': Ricki-Lee Coulter, 30, appeared to be a natural when it comes to looking after children as she shared a sweet photo of herself playing with her little sister and young nephew on Thursday '#CantWaitForACuddle', added the former Australian Idol contestant. Meanwhile, Ricki-Lee, who tied the knot with her husband Richard Harrison last year, told Mamamia that she had no intention of having children of her own. 'There are women who have always wanted to be a mum I've never wanted to be one of them', she explained. Sharing the love: The brunette beauty often takes to social media to share adorable family photos 'My work and writing songs is my baby,' she added. She also revealed that her decision not to have children was the cause of her first divorce to Gold Coast builder Jamie Babbington in 2007. Meanwhile, Ricki-Lee and her current husband Richard agreed never to have children very early on in their relationship and both stand firmly by their decision. 'My work and writing songs is my baby': Meanwhile, Ricki-Lee, who tied the knot with her husband Richard Harrison last year, told Mamamia that she had no intention of having children of her own 'It was one of our first dates and he brought it up. I thought 'thank God!' she told News Corp. 'He has just always known he doesn't want them,' she explained. The loved-up pair have been together since 2009 and tied the knot last year during a lavish Paris ceremony. Disagreement: She also revealed that her decision not to have children was the cause of her first divorce to Gold Coast builder Jamie Babbington in 2007 Next week she will return to EastEnders as feisty Lauren Branning following a 15-month maternity leave. And actress Jacqueline Jossa reveals she can't wait to get stuck into some dramatic storylines in Albert Square. Appearing on This Morning on Thursday, the star looked well-rested and ready to get back to work as she discussed her return. Scroll down for video Stepping out: On Thursday morning EastEnders actress Jacqueline Jossa looked decidedly well-rested and refreshed as she and her cast mates appeared on ITV's 'This Morning' Speaking about how she has kept abreast of the latest goings-on in Walford, Jacqueline said: 'I always watch it anyway, but not being in it is quite nice because you don't know what's going on. 'I'm trying to fill in all the gaps as well. When I came back in, I was like: "So what's going on next?" Because I don't know and it's quite exciting not to know.' She also revealed that she prefers when her character is coping with major drama rather than cruising through life carefree. 'It is boring when you're happy,' she said. 'When you're happy you're just sort of involved in everyone else.' Enthusiastic: Looking tan and radiant, the Bexley-born beauty, who gave birth just over a year ago, said that being away on maternity leave made the show even more exciting for her In the dark: Jacqueline likes the fact she has to guess what will unfold next in Albert Square: 'I'm trying to fill in all the gaps as well. When I came back in, I was like, "So what's going on next?" Because I don't know and it's quite exciting not to know' Radiant: The 23-year-old looked stunning in a cropped pastel pink t-shirt, which she paired with a textured white skirt Camera-ready: She played a simple but effective make-up game with a bit of pink lippie and a neutral colour palette Drama queen: She also revealed that she prefers when her character faces problems: 'It is boring when you're happy,' she said. 'When you're happy you're just sort of involved in everyone else' The 23-year-old looked stunning in a cropped pastel pink t-shirt, which she paired with a textured white skirt. Going for a pure and sophisticated look, she wore simple tan sandals, carried an elegant and refined beige bag and played a simple but effective make-up game with a bit of pink lippie and a neutral colour palette. Over the years her character Lauren Branning has provided plenty of difficult situations: She has been groomed by a paedophile, expelled from school for cannabis and battled alcoholism. More recently she withheld information that could have prevented her father Max from being wrongfully convicted of murder. 'She didn't do anything, she was off in New Zealand. So she knew all about it and I think now's the time suddenly to come back and sort things out.' Picture of health: Jacqueline had a natural glow and has clearly taken well to motherhood Bouncing back: Despite giving birth just over a year ago, Jacqueline looked to be in top form She's lived: Over the years her character Lauren Branning has survived plenty of difficult situations: She has been groomed by a paedophile, expelled from school for cannibis and battled alcoholism Bonnie Langford, who joined the EastEnders cast in the role of Carmel Kazemi one year ago, discussed her nomination for Best Newcomer at the upcoming British Soap Awards. The 51-year-old actress joked that she took her time to secure her first nomination. 'I'm very slow,' she said. 'I'll be 103 if I get a Lifetime Achievement Award.' 'It's weird and it's wonderful because it does show it's sort of a new chapter and a new beginning. I went to the Soap Awards last year. I was in the front row and I remember I hadn't even been on screen and it's a fantastic world I've been welcomed into.' They recently split after nearly 33 years of marriage, after Ozzy Osbourne was caught cheating with Los Angles hairstylist Michelle Pugh. But it seems Ozzy, 67, has been doing his best to make it up to wife Sharon, 63, with a source telling Us Weekly that 'hell go to any lengths necessary to repair the damage.' And the estranged pair even reportedly recently sat for a 'mediated discussion' with a marriage counselor who added that Ozzy 'wants his family back.' Working on it: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have reportedly seen a marriage counselor following the rocker's alleged affair with hairstylist Michelle Pugh (pictured on May 12 in Hollywood) And the source added that Ozzy has been 'groveling' since he and Sharon split earlier this month. The Black Sabbath frontman wants to regain his wife's trust, but looks to have a time limit as he is going off on tour with his band this summer. 'The Osbournes have been through thick and thin together and have stayed together through it all,' an insider said. He 'wants his family back': A source has said that Ozzy will 'go to any lengths necessary to repair the damage' (pictured with daughter Kelly, Sharon, and son Jack in England on September 28) The source added to Us Weekly: 'This is putting them all through a really horrible time.' Back on May 10 Sharon had commented on the difficult time she is going through on chat show The Talk, sharing her gratitude to all of the fans that had been so supportive. 'I honestly cannot thank people enough for their backing me,' she said, adding: 'For saying they love me. For everybody here at my home, supporting me, sending me messages of love. I honestly am empowered and I have found this inner strength and I'm like, "Right. OK. What's next?"' Moving past it: The issues with the Osbournes, who have been married for almost 33 years, stem from Ozzy's alleged affair with hairstylist Michelle Pugh (pictured on May 21) Firing back: Furious about the damage done to her family, Kelly tweeted out a lewd message about Michelle, also including her phone number The news comes after Sharon's 31-year-old daughter Kelly took to Twitter, posting a lewd message as well as the phone number of her father's alleged mistress. The former Fashion Police co-host posted: 'Anyone looking for cheap chunky LOW-lights a blow out and a b***j** call...' However, Sharon - who is also mom to Aimee, 32, and Jack, 30 - shared that she wasn't upset with Kelly, instead insisting that she's 'proud' of her. Giving it a try: The two look to be at least trying to work it out, as following Sharon's announcement of the split on The Talk they were seen leaving together and sharing a ride in Beverly Hills, on May 20 'Oh, Kelly has the best sense of humour ever. And you know what? In cases like this, what can you do but laugh?' she said. 'What are you gonna do - be angry with her because she loves her mom and dad and she wants us to be together? She loves us.' Australian model Elyse Taylor and her husband Seth Campbell have called time on their marriage. Close friends confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that the pair, who share two-year-old daughter Lila Louise, separated many months ago, though remain on amicable terms following the split. The pair had been married for over a year after tying the knot in August 2014 in the US. Scroll down for video Split: Australian model Elyse Taylor and husband Seth Campbell have called time on their marriage after tying the knot back in August 2014 'Elyse's main priority is the happiness and well-being of Lila,' a source said of 29-year-old Elyse. During her big wedding day, the runway sensation was the picture of elegance as she sashayed along a makeshift aisle at Seth's family's farm outside New York City. The couple exchanged vows in front of approximately 200 guests on the manicured grounds at The Campbell Farm. Elyse's stunning bridal gown was designed by Zac Posen and featured a plunging neckline, a flowing white veil and sweeping train. Breakup news: A source close to the couple told Daily Mail Australia that the pair, who share two-year-old daughter Lila Louise, separated many months ago, though remain on amicable terms following the split Nuptials: Elyse and Seth got married in August 2014, tying the knot in an intimate ceremony Seth's family's farm outside New York City A month after the nuptials, Elyse said she was very serious about her marriage to Seth. She told The Daily Telegraph at the time: 'I'll only do it once'. 'It was such an intense experience. Meanwhile during an interview accompanying a lingerie photo shoot in March last year, the blonde beauty said: 'What attracted me to Seth was his strength - he's very smart, determined and focused'. 'And he thinks I'm cute when I have meltdowns (they are anything but cute!!).' Main focus: 'Elyse's main priority is the happiness and well-being of Lila,' the source said about the 29-year-old model's sense of direction going forward Mother and daughter: Elyse gave birth to Lila back in March 2014 After giving birth to daughter Lila in March 2014, Elyse soon after returned to work as one of Australia's most successful international beauties. Discovered at age 18, she moved to New York where she was immediately booked by major labels such as Dolce & Gabbana, Bottega Veneta, Tommy Hilfiger, Moschino and Trussardi. Since then she has featured in campaigns for Estee Lauder and Victorias Secret, having also starred in the lingerie brand's highly coveted annual fashion show with the likes of Miranda Kerr. Model life: After giving birth to daughter Lila in March 2014, Elyse soon after returned to work as one of Australia's most successful international beauties Runway sensation: Elyse pictured strutting the catwalk at the David Jones Autumn/Winter Fashion Show in Sydney last year More recently, the model has been appointed as the global face of Nude by Nature, as well as the face of new Seafolly brand Milea swimwear. She has also collaborated with Witchery for the Witchery in Motion campaign. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Elyse's representatives for comment and is awaiting a response. After her whirlwind trip to Cannes, Chloe Sevigny is enjoying some down time back home in New York. The 41-year-old actress was spotted strolling around her Soho neighbourhood and perusing the luxury boutiques in a pretty sundress. She flashed her toned legs in the short blush pink garment which featured short ruffled sleeves as well as dainty straps. Scroll down for video Leggy look! Chloe Sevigny stepped out in a blush pink mini dress as she stepped out in Soho, New York on Thursday Opting for a low-maintenance look, Chloe wore her blonde locks back in a low ponytail and donned fashionable shades. She sported a little bit of red lipstick on her pout and carried a chic small handbag with floral detail. Meanwhile, during the Cannes Film Festival, Chloe spoke out about the sexual harassment she has experienced on the casting couch. Making strides: The actress strolled around the chic boutiques toting a small black handbag with floral details So chic: The American Horror story beauty wore her locks in a centre-parting and donned dark shades The actress, who currently stars in the eagerly-anticipated Love & Friendship, made the admission during the Women In Motion talk. Speaking at the event, the Academy Award-nominated star said: 'I did audition for some bigger directors who were more mainstream and they were creepy situations,' she said. 'One asked me, "What are you doing after the audition?" which is just inappropriate, obviously knowing what he wanted. Another one wanted to bring me shopping and have me try on clothes.' Back to business: The 41-year-old actress recently got back from Cannes Film Festival The 'worst' experience, she said, came when an undisclosed director talked at length about her body. I went in and I was dressed a little provocatively because I was dressing the part,' she said. 'Hes like, "Oh you should show your body off more before you get too old you should show it off now, you never show your body." Im like, actually Ive been nude in almost every movie Ive done so I dont know what youre watching!". Chloe introduced her directorial debut, a short film titled Kitty, while at Cannes. The film which Chloe adapted from a Paul Bowles' short story is about a little girl who dreams of becoming a kitten and finds herself transformed into one. Miss Saigons West End run may be over. But the shows appeal lives on, with not one, but two Miss Saigon films in the works one of them directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle. First to be released will be Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Performance, which features a mix of footage from that landmark gala show in 2014 and the last night of the recent revival at the Prince Edward Theatre. That film featuring a breakout performance by Eva Noblezada as Kim, the club girl who falls for an American GI just as Saigon collapses at the end of the Vietnam War; Jon Jon Briones, as the conniving pimp-fixer known as the Engineer; and Alistair Brammer as Chris the GI has some brilliant footage. Miss Saigons West End run may be over. But the shows appeal lives on, with not one, but two Miss Saigon films in the works one of them directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle. Pictured, actor Eva Noblezada as Kim and (right) producer Cameron Mackintosh Ive seen the stage production more than 20 times all around the world over a quarter of a century. But watching a full rough cut of this picture felt like a totally fresh experience, and I heard the songs in a different way. Producer Cameron Mackintosh worked with his own film team and executives at Universal on the anniversary special. And theyre still polishing it, prior to a special, one-off public screening around the world on October 16. It will be available to buy on DVD and digital soon afterwards. A few months ago, I mentioned talk of the second film: a big Hollywood movie Danny Boyle plans to direct at the end of 2018. I wondered if that would still go ahead, following the anniversary DVD? But I am assured that it will and Boyle is believed to be linking with his close collaborator Simon Beaufoy, with a view to him writing the screenplay (though neither Boyle nor Beaufoy have completed negotiations yet). Both won Academy Awards for their work on Slumdog Millionaire. Boyle saw Noblezada perform in Miss Saigon twice when it was on at the Prince Edward. The camera certainly likes her and I would not be surprised if she ends up on Boyles shortlist to play Kim in his big-budget film. But thats a long way off, and Boyle still has plenty of time to mull over how he wants to cast it. If he goes for Noblezada, perhaps he will opt for a star name to play her lover, Chris. The story of the innocent bystanders of war is as resonant now as it was when Nicholas Hytner directed the original production at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, back in 1989. And I was reminded of it when I watched President Obamas visit to Vietnam this week. Stand by your calendar, Barlow's Girls are heading to the West End Fourteen months after songwriters Gary Barlow and Tim Firth put on a show called The Girls in a village hall in North Yorkshire about Womens Institute members who raised funds for a medical charity by posing nude for a calendar it has found itself a West End home. Based on Firths story for the film Calendar Girls about the Rylstone and District WI The Girls will open in February 2017 at the Phoenix Theatre. After the workshop production ran at the village hall in Burnsall, near Skipton, in March last year, the musical had a run at the Leeds Grand Theatre, and then the Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays. Ever since, Firth, Take That frontman Barlow and producers David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers have been on the lookout for the right theatre. And now theyve found it. Barlow and Firth said in a statement: It has been four years in the making. Then, just over a year ago, we premiered at the village hall in Yorkshire, where the Calendar Girls did their first ever photoshoot. Its been a little like tending a sunflower: from seeding it in Yorkshire, to now seeing it bloom in Londons West End. Barlow and Firth have fine-tuned The Girls since it ran in Leeds and Salford Quays and will continue to work on it until rehearsals start in December. Blac Chyna gave fans a very candid insight into her pregnancy journey on Thursday. The former stripper donned a pair of colourful patterend leggings and a very mini crop top as she posed sideways showing off her growing tummy. In the revealing selfie, Chyna is covering her face with her phone but you can just about see her cropped raven locks. Check out my bump! Blac Chyna donned a pair of colourful patterend leggings and a very mini crop top as she posed sideways showing off her growing tummy on Thursday Cheeky: She gave fans a very candid insight into her pregnancy journey She captioned the photo: 'Pants - @88finbyblacchyna' which was a nod to her clothing line. Her revealing outfit showed a snippet of her tummy tattoo, which was done by artist Paul Nguyen, where he covered up two old tattoos with a pair of flowers on Chynas hip in January 2015. Chyna recently posted a sonogram of her baby on Instagram. The lengthy caption said: For a long time I felt like King was going to be an only child. That he was my greatest blessing and we were gonna live happily ever after together Just the 2 of us, I was no longer looking for love because I thought I had all that I needed. We needed.' See Blac Chyna updates as she shows off her growing belly in revealing Instagram selfie He's going to be a big brother! Chyna recently posted a sonogram of her baby on Instagram. The lengthy caption said: For a long time I felt like King was going to be an only child She continued: 'But look at God ! Here I am Engaged to be married to one of the greatest men I know who loves King & I unconditionally AND having another bundle of joy! I just want to say Never give up & ALWAYS have faith because fairytales DO come True #LookAtOurLittleNugget #KingsGoingToBeABigBrother.' Chyna has clearly been a blessing in disguise for Rob too. His inspiration: He posted a picture of Chyna on her own recently posing with her tummy out as he wrote: 'My beautiful babies in Miami' Complicated family tree: Chyna is already the mom of three-year-old son King Cairo with ex-fiance Tyga who used to date Rob's younger half-sister, Kylie Jenner The 29-year-old reality star continues to post gushing images and messages of his wife to be on social media. He posted a picture of Chyna on her own recently posing with her tummy out as he wrote: 'My beautiful babies in Miami.' The couple only went public with their relationship in January this year but it seems things are moving very quickly for the loved up couple. Chyna is already the mom of three-year-old son King Cairo with ex-fiance Tyga who used to date Rob's younger half-sister, Kylie Jenner. Not wasting any time! The couple only went public with their relationship in January this year but it seems things are moving very quickly for the loved up couple Going strong: Their only five months down the line but the pair seem very smitten with one another She celebrated her 30th birthday last week. And now Megan Fox is revealing details about her latest pregnancy and what she plans to do to celebrate Father's Day with on-again husband Brian Austin Green, in addition to how she selects the kind of sex scenes she plays in the movies. The Transformers actress spoke with Extra on Friday, and wore an eye catching partially sheer top and crimson lipstick for the occasion. Scroll down for video Star of the show: Megan Fox, 30, spoke with Extra on Friday, and wore an eye catching partially sheer top and crimson lipstick for the occasion While she did acknowledge that being pregnant can be painful and uncomfortable at times, she revealed the surprising truth that she loves the feeling. 'I feel the overall process is an amazing one. I feel so productive creating a human person that Im so excited to meet because I know that I have such a spiritual connection to them,' she gushed. Megan and Brian already have two children together, three-year-old Noah and two-year-old Bodhi. Bodhi is still a bit young to understand what's going on, but Noah is reportedly 'very excited' about having a new younger sibling. Reconciled? Though the Jennifer's Body star filed for divorce from her husband Brian in August, they have apparently decided to try to mend their relationship now that they're expecting a third child together (pictured out to lunch together on May 20th, 2016) Meanwhile, though the Jennifer's Body star filed for divorce from her husband in August, they have apparently decided to try to mend their relationship now that they're expecting a third child together. It seems things may still be a tad tense around the house however, as Megan immediately shot down any possible big celebration of Father's Day for Brian, instead opting for a lower-key approach. 'I dont think were gonna celebrate. He never gets to eat anything fun because my house is so clean and I make him eat really clean, too, so maybe Ill get him a German chocolate cake or something. Hell be so happy to see junk food.' Growing bump: While she did acknowledge that being pregnant can be painful and uncomfortable at times, she revealed the surprising truth that she loves the feeling (pictured out to lunch on May 20th, 2016) The real story: The interview also provided an opportunity to straighten out some comments she made in the past about her views about participating in sex scenes on screen; it seems she's mostly concerned with how her children could perceive her The interview also provided an opportunity to straighten out some comments she made in the past about her views about participating in sex scenes on screen; it seems she's mostly concerned with how her children could perceive her. 'I dont want them to see me as a woman play a character thats degrading or being abused in a graphic way,' she explained, 'I dont think thats something theyll be able to process well They're very sensitive.' Though she's obviously quite busy with family, Megan is also quite excited about her latest project, 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.' She spilled that 'the whole shoot was like an adventure. I had a good time and Im really happy with how it turned out. It was a chilly night in Melbourne on Thursday - but that didn't stop Gold 104.3 radio stars Jo Stanley and Anthony Lehmo Lehmann launching Australia's first ever NAKED restaurant. The Jo & Lehmo breakfast show duo bared almost everything as they joined a host of completely nude foodies to sample the menu at The Noble Experiment in Collingwood. But it was all about celebrating healthy and positive body image as guests enjoyed the clothing-optional event, with Lehmo declaring the next morning: 'It was a full party.' Scroll down for video Clothing optional: It was a chilly night in Melbourne on Thursday, but that didn't stop mother and daughter Vicki and Estelle Ferrie stripping off to attend Australia's first ever naked restaurant The occasion dubbed 'Jo & Lehmos Nude Food' was inspired when the co-hosts heard about London's first naked restaurant Bunyadi, which has over 30,000 people on the waiting list. But far from being a titillating affair, the clothing-option eatery instead championed different body types, including those of all shapes and sizes and people affected by disease and injury. The guest list included Alison Zarafa, who is in remission from a very rare form of cancer, who said proudly: 'The way I look at it, its OK to have fear but dont let fear stop you.' Cause: Gold 104.3 duo Jo Stanley (left) and Anthony Lehmo Lehmann (right) hosted the event, dubbed 'Jo & Lehmos Nude Food' at The Noble Experiment in Collingwood to celebrate healthy and positive body image Survivor: The guest list included Alison Zarafa, who is in remission from a very rare form of cancer, who said proudly, 'The way I look at it, its OK to have fear but dont let fear stop you' Celebration: The Melbourne radio station later posted this group photo from the restaurant on Instagram Baring all: All of the guests arrived clothed but many stripped naked to enjoy the unique dining experience She continued: 'I fought an extremely long and hard battle for a year and these days I look at life extremely different, and Im blessed every single day of my life. 'I have amazing family, friends, and partner and gorgeous son... and I want to look back when Im old and I want to laugh about the things Ive done, and this is one of them,' she concluded. Meanwhile, pictures from the night show a variety of Melbourne residents looking in thoroughly good spirits as the enjoyed food and cocktails in the buff. Covering up: Jo and Lehmo seemed to spend the night bundled up in white bathroom robes, but most of the other diners stripped off soon after arriving Cheeky! Barman Buck flashed his bottom in just an apron while mixing up a cocktail A restaurant... with a difference: This pixellated snap, shared by Gold, shows several diners eating while nude A social event: Radio personality Lehmo noted that there were partitions between the tables to start with, however as the evening progressed the partitions were pulled down Diners Jordan Kettle, 22, and Rebekah Jackson, 20, smiled as they perused the menu, while cheeky barman Buck flashed his bottom in just an apron while mixing up a drink. Lookalike mother and daughter duo Vicki and Estelle Ferrie also smiled for the cameras while sat at their table against the backdrop of rustic brick decor. Helen Belyea, who is 30 weeks pregnant, also perused the menu with her partner Ryan Wilshire, who stood out from the unclothed crowed in a woolly beanie. Jo and Lehmo seemed to spend the night bundled up in white bathroom robes as they cheerfully posed for photographs at the Gold press wall. Don't order the hotplate! Diners Jordan Kettle, 22, and Rebekah Jackson, 20, looked over the food options Bun in the oven: Helen Belyea, who is 30 weeks pregnant, also perused the menu with her partner Ryan Wilshire, who stood out from the unclothed crowed in a woolly beanie On Friday morning, they said on-air that the response to their naked dining experiment had been overwhelming. 'Everybody was in such a good mood, I was nervous for the people who were doing it but they went down there, they got their kit off, they enjoyed it,' said Lehmo, 46. 'We had partitions up between all the tables, they pulled the partitions down. They were all swapping tables by the end of the night, it was a full party,' he added. Mingle: Radio co-host Lehmo said, 'Everybody was in such a good mood, I was nervous for the people who were doing it but they went down there, they got their kit off, they enjoyed it' Breaking the ice: He continued, 'We had partitions up between all the tables, they pulled the partitions down. They were all swapping tables by the end of the night, it was a full party' Earlier this week, 43-year-old Jo experienced what it was like getting naked with strangers for a radio segment - as she didn't want to strip off in front of colleagues at the restaurant. 'I just sort of felt like I dont want to get nude at the restaurant because there will be people there that I work with, namely Lehmo, and thats weird,' she explained. 'But I am sort of interested in this process of understanding your body in a different way, such that you might like it regardless of how it looks. 'That would be so freeing for me, free of that self-talk that makes you think, "Thats not right",' she concluded. A Noble Experiment indeed! The name of the restaurant was appropriate for hosting a clothing-option event It's a popular breakfast treat loved by millions across the world. But model Tallulah Morton has found another use for Pop-Tarts. The 24-year-old model posted a bizarre picture to Instagram on Thursday, which showed her attempting to cure her period pain by placing the tasty snack on her underwear. Scroll down for video How bizarre! Tallulah Morton posted a bizarre picture to Instagram on Thursday, which showed her attempting to cure her period pain by placing Pop-Tarts on her underwear 'Pop tarts help period paynnn [sic] and there [sic] yummy too!!' the 24-year-old Australian beauty captioned the unconventional snap In the bizarre snap, the Australian beauty is seen posing whilst lying on her bed. After unbuttoning her denim jeans and pulling them below her waist, the runway regular then placed two of the pastries on her underwear. Adding more peculiarity to the snap, her face was covered with what appeared to be a black charcoal face mask. 'Pop tarts help period paynnn [sic] and there [sic] yummy too!!' she captioned the unconventional snap. There is no scientific evidence that placing Pop-Tarts on your abdomen can heal period pain. Daring to bare: Earlier this month, the runway regular stripped down to next-to-nothing as she posed topless for Australian jewellery label Amaleia's Summer 2016 collection Feeling free: The brunette beauty peers out from underneath a wide-brimmed hat, cutting a seriously sultry figure in the steamy shots Earlier this month, Tallulah stripped down to next-to-nothing as she posed topless for Australian jewellery label Amaleia's Summer 2016 collection. The striking stunner looked incredible as she dared to bare for the racy shoot, parading her slender frame as she modelled stand-out pieces from the range. Showing off her enviable frame, Tallulah showcased the one-of-a-kind hand-crafted pieces with an effortlessness reserved only for models of her calibre. In the sexy shoot, Tallulah rocks nothing but a pair of high-waisted light-blue denim jeans, as she confidently parades her assets on the shore line. In a number of images, she retains an element of modesty by covering her chest with her hands, however in a number of images she glides along the sand freely. Stunning jewellery: Showing off her enviable frame, the Australian beauty showcased the one-of-a-kind hand-crafted pieces with an effortlessness reserved only for models of her calibre Flawless: Tallulah exudes an element of laid back luxury in the shoot The pictures are just Tallulah's latest body-baring offerings,regularly sharing a stream of barely-clothed images to her Instagram page. Despite being just 24, Tallulah has clocked up over a decade in the modelling industry. She first rose to fame at 13-years-old, and walked the runway for Josh Goot at Australian Fashion Week when she was just 14. Shes since gone on to walk all the major international fashion week runways, and covered Australian magazine Russh at home, as well as several other magazines globally, including Argentina's Harper's Bazaar. She courted controversy in 2008 when she became a regular appearance on American party blog The Cobra Snake, and was pictured holding alcohol drinks despite being under the legal drinking age at the time. Tallulah - who in the past has been likened to American Victoria's Secret model Karlie Kloss - is currently signed with Chic Management. Seasoned pro: Despite being just 24, Tallulah has clocked up over a decade in the modelling industry Natural beauty: The stunner first rose to fame at 13-years-old, and walked the runway for Josh Goot at Australian Fashion Week when she was just 14 The Governments chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies The Truth About Alcohol (BBC1) Rating: Going Forward (BBC4) Rating: The latest Government guidelines on alcohol allow us no more than a pint of beer a day, or a bottle-and-a-half of wine each week. And thats the maximum the only healthy limit, says Nanny Whitehall, is nothing at all. But without booze, we could not have had the incendiary cinema performances of Richard Burton and Peter OToole. The scintillating novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the sublime poetry of Dylan Thomas, would not have existed. Ban the demon drink, and you lose the hallucinogenic colours of Vincent Van Gogh. Youd never hear the whiskey-soaked croon of Frank Sinatra. Theres more. If the Beatles hadnt spent years carousing in Hamburg nightclubs, the greatest pop songs in the world could not have been written. And if Sir Winston Churchill had obeyed his doctor and gone teetotal, Britain might have lost World War II. Thats what the Governments chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, would prefer. Better a world without The Great Gatsby, without My Way and Please Please Me, if it means we can all live a couple of years longer . . . bored and abstemious. The Truth About Alcohol (BBC1) was a public information broadcast on behalf of Dame Sally, who began the programme with an insincere disclaimer: It is not for me to say: You Must Not Drink! But thats exactly what she was saying. There is, we were told repeatedly, no safe level of alcohol consumption except for, funnily enough, Professor Dame Sally herself. Women in her age bracket, 55 and over, will actually benefit, she said, from a couple of glasses of vino. Thats convenient, isnt it? Dr Javid Abdelmoneim, who presented the show, did his mortal best to put us off drinking by making it look as unpleasant as possible. First, he donned a plastic leg shackle, like a prisoners tag, to monitor the amount of alcohol he consumed. Most of us do that by counting drinks, but he had to do it by analysing his sweat. BOTCHED BURIAL OF THE WEEK After a tow-truck ploughed into Gail's flat in Coronation Street (ITV), police discovered a corpse - where her son David concealed it last year. And serves him right, too. Who'd hide a body under their mum's floor? That's what the patio is for! I like a drink, he claimed, but Dr Javids idea of a fun night out was to have one glass of chardonnay, then blow into a breathalyser every 20 minutes. The more the wine wore off, the more he enjoyed himself. What a hoot I cant wait to try it. Then he showed us hangover cures, including a full English breakfast that looked like it had been congealing in its own cold fat for three days. After that, he staged the most joyless drinking session ever devised, with the staff of Arkells ale factory in Swindon lined up on a wooden bench, glumly downing halves of bitter like it was hemlock. Its official: the BBC truly cannot organise the proverbial p***-up in a brewery. Limo driver Terry, a braggart with a nasty streak in Jo Brands sitcom Going Forward (BBC4), wont be falling for any elf & safety blather. Going Forward, penned by and starring comedian Jo Brand (pictured, left, with Helen Griffith) is that rare phenomenon, a show thats much cleverer than it looks He reckons he never listens to health warnings when he went on safari in South Africa last year, he not only got out of the tourist Jeep, but he walked up to a lion and stroked it. So says Terry. Its hard to guess whether that gag was dreamed up by Jo, who stars as nurse Kim Wilde, and also wrote this three-part show or ad-libbed by actor Tom Davis, who plays Terry and is also the incompetent Inspector Sleet in the improvised crime comedy, Murder In Successville. Going Forward sounds as though the cast are making up their lines as they go along. They stumble over words, they repeat themselves, and sometimes they seem to be holding back splutters of laughter. The camera work is no more professional, with light flaring through every window and characters drifting in and out of shot. But underneath all that, theres a tightly engineered plot pulsing away. Beset by money worries, the characters have backed themselves into a double disaster. They were the most controversial couple on the Australian series of Seven Year Switch. And now, Brad and Tallena have shared the first photo of their secret fairytale wedding, which took place last week. Brad took to Instagram on both Wednesday and Thursday to share images of the couple's special day', while they enjoyed their honeymoon in Bali. Scroll down for video In the first image, shared on on Wednesday to social media, it appears Tallena finally got her dream wedding. The blushing bride was dressed in an extravagant strapless princess-style gown, with a sweetheart neckline and plenty of tulle. Exposing her shoulders with an elegant up-do and veil pinned into her blonde locks, the bride beamed at her groom. Meanwhile, Brad scrubbed up in a traditional tuxedo, as he tenderly clutching his ladylove's waist and lovingly resting his forehead against that of his new wife. 'The best day of our lives!' Brad wrote in the caption, before paying tribute to his bride, adding: 'My best friend, my rock, my happiness'. Honeymooners: The couple also shared pictures of their honeymoon in Bali In another picture, posted on their account on Thursday, the groom again gushed about the couple's big day. 'Smile, love, laugh, 3 essential ingredients to our stronger then ever relationship,' he captioned the shot, adding 'Our special day'. Brad also included the hashtags: 'fighters', 'love conquers all', 'lovers' and 'best friends'. In this image, the couple are facing the camera with large smiles on their faces, as Tallena's pastel bouquet fills the bottom of the shot. The blushing bride was adorned in silver and diamante jewellery, and sported dramatic eye make-up with a slick of deep pink gloss across her lips. And they're off: Hours later, the happy couple uploaded a flashback image of themselves onboard an aircraft as they made their way over to their holiday destination On Thursday, the controversial Seven Year Switch couple also shared the first images from their Bali honeymoon. In the happy snaps, the pair are seen cuddling up at what appears to be a swanky resort. 'After filming for most day's from 6am till midnight and sometimes longer whilst also trying to finish the final touches for our wedding, relaxation in Bali for our honeymoon hit the spot quiet nicely, to find ourselfs and have just us to have each others company (sic),' the caption read. Hours later the happy couple uploaded a flashback snap of themselves onboard an aircraft as they made their way over to their holiday destination. Official: The pair confirmed they had tied the knot on Wednesday after sharing an image from their big day just days after the Seven Year Switch finale - the experiment that saved their relationship Sitting by the window, the pair captured the special moment with a selfie. According to Woman's Day magazine, the pair, who have been dating since 2014 after meeting on Tinder, wed in Queensland while surrounded by 70 family and friends. A friend, who attended the wedding, told the publication the newlyweds couldn't wipe the smile off their faces during the ceremony. 'The past few months have made Brad and Tallena stronger than ever, and you could tell they genuinely in love,' the wedding guest said. Brad and Tallena were originally supposed to get married in February, however Tallena admitted they had to postphone their special day due to a lack of funds. During the series she also admitted that the couple hadn't been intimate for 11 months, stating: 'It is more of a friendship at the moment.' Alice Through The Looking-Glass (PG) Rating: Lewis Carroll wrote his childrens story Through The Looking Glass, And What Alice Found There, in 1871. But it might as well have been 1971 if you listen to those who like to interpret it as a crazy hallucinogenic trip. Thats pretty much the line taken by British director James Bobin in Disneys superior sequel to Tim Burtons 2010 film Alice In Wonderland. It was Burton himself (one of the producers this time) who described Carrolls stories as like drugs for children. BRIAN VINER: As the Hatter and the Red Queen, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are again encouraged to give full vent to their innate bonkers-ness, and do so with manifest enthusiasm Bobin, who gave himself two hard acts to follow with his wonderful feature debut The Muppets (2011) and its 2014 follow-up Muppets Most Wanted, seizes the notion and spins it into a CGI-embellished riot of DayGlo colours and fantastical sets. As the Hatter and the Red Queen, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are again encouraged to give full vent to their innate bonkers-ness, and do so with manifest enthusiasm. If anyone steals the show, though, it is a new addition to the illustrious cast, Sacha Baron Cohen. He plays the character of Time as a sinister and unhinged Prussian scientist, revelling in laments such as: Will this day never end? It clings to me like a pair of sweaty pantaloons! Mia Wasikowska, at 26, might now be a little old to play Alice, but she again does a fine job as the engagingly spirited Victorian heroine, who in an exhilarating pre-credits sequence, and looking strikingly like Juliet Mills in Carry On Jack, navigates her ship, the Wonder, through treacherous waters back to London. Mia Wasikowska, at 26, might now be a little old to play Alice, but she again does a fine job as the engagingly spirited Victorian heroine There she finds that her ghastly, jilted suitor Hamish (Leo Bill) is scheming to humiliate her and her genteel, impoverished mother (Lindsay Duncan). So she steps through the looking glass back into Wonderland, where her old friend Hatter is in a dreadful state, mourning his lost family. The only way for Alice to help him out of his gloom is to turn back the clock, hence the clash with Baron Cohens glowering Teuton, from whom she steals a time-travel device, the chronosphere, and finds out, by the by, why the Red Queen has a historical grievance with her goody-goody sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). All this is strange but fun, likely to befuddle and bewilder all but the brightest of the children it is supposedly aimed at, yet chock-full of pleasures for adults. They include a bittersweet one; the late Alan Rickman again gives sonorous voice to the Caterpillar. Also back in the voice cast are Timothy Spall, Michael Sheen and Stephen Fry, while Matt Lucas has never been better matched with a role than he is as twin weirdos Tweedledum and Tweedledee. If Lewis Carroll were alive today, I think he would approve. Mind you, from what we read of him he might also have been dragged into Operation Yewtree, but thats another story. A KID'S EYE VIEW: ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS Verdict: A real Wonder Rating: Disneys winning streak continues with the sequel to 2010s live-action adaption of the classic book and the animated film. When Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to Wonderland (through a mirror, or looking glass), she finds the Mad Hatter to be in a deep state of depression (possibly because he looks like hes still wearing his Jack Sparrow teeth, from Pirates Of The Caribbean). She travels back in time to restore the Hatters good nature, even though it means having to clash with Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen). The visuals are amazing, especially how they have used 3D. It doesnt make things jump out at you, but it adds depth and detail. It was a nice way of putting a twist on something youre used to. The story and actors are also great, and the movie is dedicated to the late Alan Rickman, who voices the Caterpillar. Old characters return, as well as some new additions, such as the Seconds, Times bumbling brainless workers who remind me of the clock creature from Return To Oz. The movies tone is different to the first one. Whereas that was full of Tim Burtons trademark darkness, James Bobin (the new director) fills the movie with more jokes and comic relief. The jokes are bearable, but boy oh boy, there are a LOT of time puns. All thing considered, I enjoyed Alice II, not only as a good sequel, but because it manages to be its own movie at the same TIME (get it?) ELLIS BARNES-CHURCH, 11. Love & Friendship Rating: A greater titan of English literature, Jane Austen, is exquisitely served in Whit Stillmans Love & Friendship. This is an adaptation of Austens novella Lady Susan that pulls off the near-impossible. While respectfully doffing its topper to classic Austen bonnets-and-breeches themes a heaving embonpoint here, a fluttery glance there it also somehow manages to be gloriously, hilariously original. Far more so, actually, than another recent film that attempted the same alchemy, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies. Kate Beckinsale plays Lady Susan Vernon, recently widowed, very beautiful and utterly, irredeemably devious. Kate Beckinsale plays Lady Susan Vernon, recently widowed, very beautiful and utterly, irredeemably devious Naturally she is on the hunt for a rich husband, to which end she goes to stay with her in-laws, and plots to ensnare the handsome, guileless Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel), younger brother of her sister-in-law Catherine (Emma Greenwell). All goes spiffingly until her own innocent daughter, Frederica (Morfydd Clark), turns up out of the blue, having run away from school. Sensing a potential love rival, Lady Vernon tries to pair Frederica with the eager, buffoonish Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett, giving an unmissable masterclass of comic timing, and for sheer stupidity eclipsing even the ultimate Regency dolt, Hugh Lauries Prince of Wales in Blackadder The Third). Stillmans screenplay is a delight, irrepressibly wordy but enormously rewarding to follow. This is his first period drama but in some ways recalls his splendid debut, Metropolitan (1990), which was nothing if not a comedy of manners. He also reunites Beckinsale with Chloe Sevigny, almost 20 years after they co-starred in his witty drama The Last Days Of Disco. Sevigny plays Lady Vernons sly American accomplice Alicia Johnson she has none of the uncouthness one normally expects of Americans, says Lady V approvingly, having earlier observed: Americans have shown themselves to be a nation of ingrates . . . only by having children can one understand such a dynamic. Toronto Star Gives "Latitude" to Error | Main | A Letter-Writer Taps Into NPR Bias May 26, 2016 Media Misses Abbas' 'Humanitarian' Call to Destroy Israel Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), called for Israels destruction in a May 23, 2016 speech at the U.N. World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey. Major U.S. print news media failed to report Abbas remarks. They also failed to cover the assertion at the same event by Dore Gold, director-general of Israels foreign ministry, that Hamas obstructs his countrys humanitarian aid by taking 95 percent of the cement Israel allows into the Gaza Strip for rebuilding structures damaged in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war (Israel: Hamas stealing 95 percent of civilian cement transferred into Gaza,? Jerusalem Post, May 25). Gold said the confiscated cement goes to build additional infiltration tunnels into Israel and other terrorism-related projects. Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) is the U.S.-designated terrorist organization the rules the Strip. Elder of Ziyon, an American blogger who writes about the Arab-Israeli conflict and antisemitism, noted that Abbas told the summit that we emphasize our support and our commitment to the responsibilities set out in the agenda of the Secretary-General for this humanitarian summit. In Palestine, our people and leadership seek with all our will and determination to end the suffering of our people, through peaceful means, since the question of Palestine and its people have been here for nearly 70 years. More than half of our people have been wrongfully displaced from our homeland, and are still waiting for a solution. Our people will not accept to remain under occupation, nor consistently in the current situation, which humiliate our freedom and humanity and dignity and basic rights? (Abbas tells humanitarian summit its time to erase Israel,? Elder of Ziyon, May 24). Abbas called for international involvementignoring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus recently reiterated invitation to direct negotiationsto implement a just political solution to the Palestinian issue, as the basis for putting an end to the tragedy of the Palestinian people of all its aspects, which was implemented beginning in 1917, and has lasted until the present day.? Elder of Ziyon pointed out, If the Palestinian tragedy began in 1917 [a reference to the Nov. 2, 1917 Balfour Declaration which supported the reestablishment of a Jewish national home in what was then a portion of the Ottoman Empire], and it is time to end it in all its aspects, then Abbas is calling for the modern state of Israel to be retroactively erased from history. This is not a call to end occupationit is a call to end the entire concept of a Jewish state and for the world to apologize for even thinking that the Jewish people have any rights as a people.? It also is a statement filled with falsehoods. As CAMERA has noted (see, for example Reality Goes Missing in Anti-Israel Hill Op-Ed,? May 11, 2016), Abbas has not sought to end the suffering of? the Palestinian people through peaceful means.? Rather he has incited anti-Jewish violence, blessed every drop of [Arab] blood? spilled in Israeli counter-terrorism strikes, and consistently rejected U.S. and Israeli proposals for a two-state solution? in exchange for peace with and recognition of the Jewish state. Similarly false was Abbas claim of support? and commitment to the agendafor this humanitarian summit.? According to its Web site, among the core commitments of the U.N. World Humanitarian Summit were those to prevent and end conflict? and respect rules of war.? That presumably would include not encouraging Palestinian children to murder as both the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza have done nor using civilians as human shields as the latter has. The summit also urged participants to work to end need and invest in humanity.? The PAs use of international aid money to pay its imprisoned terrorists or their families and Hamas confiscation of construction material for aggressive purposes also would seem to contradict the gatherings purposes. Abbas proclaimed adherence to the summits core commitments was transparently false. His call for Israels elimination echoed Palestinian rejectionism and maximalism of the pre-1993 Oslo peace process? era. It also violated Oslo-related Palestinian pledges to end anti-Israeli incitement and resolve all outstanding differences through negotiations with Israel. But a Lexis-Nexis search of The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times, among others, showed not a single mention of Abbas remarks. Yet, all of these outlets provided other reporting about the Humanitarian Summit. If Abbas has showed up wearing a headband, Hamas- and Hezbollah-style, with Death to Israel!? stitched on it, would that have been considered newsworthy? The absence of coverage of his diplo-speak equivalent amounted to a widespread journalistic failure.--Sean Durns Posted by ER at May 26, 2016 04:24 PM "We must be ready to sacrifice all for our country Israel. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must continue to acquire proficiency in defense and display determination and stamina in purpose." Never surrender - we are fighting for our survival and the alternative is extinction. Israel's mission first and foremost is to take care of the Jewish people and insure their safety and security in Israel. Israel's obligation is to its Jewish People and not to pacify the world at large. The historical facts are that for thousands of years the world at large has always persecuted the Jewish people and stood idle while millions of Jews are exterminated and persecuted. Right now we are in a badly separated, internally struggling, bickering state both within Israel and also in the Diaspora. And our enemies are happily latching onto this internal fragmentation exploiting us against each other and leading successful campaigns against us on all fronts. No political wisdom, trickery no weapons and a mighty army can save Israel or Jews worldwide unless we rise above our differences, above our argumentative nature and form a single united Nation that is impenetrable. And that wouldn't just save us but would blaze a trail of hope for others in this crazy world where there are no allies or friends any more only enemies waiting for the opportunity to destroy each other. We may not agree on everything, but we must respect each other and work together for our common goal which is survival in this hostile world which is on spiral deterioration to mayhem. "A United Israel is a Strong Israel" YJ Draiman Posted by: YJ Draiman at May 29, 2016 11:12 AM I love the God of Israel, and stand in all promises to His People! Posted by: Pascal at May 30, 2016 01:41 AM As Abbass calls for the destruction of Israel, the God of Israel calls for the building up of the nation and restoring Jerusalem which He Himself will and has done-Psalm 147v2, Isaiah 44v26. Abbass uses cunning and the nations of the world just close their eyes but God sees and will bring retribution. I like the previous writer love the God of Israel and stand on all His promises to His People. Posted by: Dorothy Finlay at June 2, 2016 06:10 PM Major newspapers the world over are ignoring this article. Posted by: peter fernandez at June 7, 2016 10:34 AM Guidelines for posting This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material. Post a comment As J. R. Ewing, the dastardly oil baron in Dallas, Larry Hagman bestrode the Eighties as the worlds most famous TV actor, earning 70,000 an episode equivalent to more than 200,000 today. But if ruthless charmer J. R. was larger than life, Hagman had a persona even more colourful than his Dallas alter ego. He regaled everyone with tales of his drinking bourbon over his cornflakes and champagne all day, until a liver transplant in 1995 curtailed his alcoholic adventures and readily admitted smoking marijuana and taking LSD. Scroll down for video It has been often repeated that underscoring Larry Hagman's fame was his devotion to family life with his children, Kristina and Preston, and his wife of almost 60 years, Maj He played up his eccentricities, such as the times when he would visit the supermarket wearing a chicken costume purely for fun, and loved his fans, often asking them to sing him a song in exchange for his autograph. Yet it has been often repeated that underscoring it all was his devotion to family life with his children, Kristina and Preston, and his wife of almost 60 years, Maj. When he died four years ago of leukaemia, aged 81, tributes poured in from all over the world. A consummate storyteller, he might well have enjoyed his daughter Kristinas new book The Eternal Party, an account of growing up in the Hagman household. But while she plainly adores her father, her story also highlights the fact it wasnt all non-stop fun for a young child. People want to believe that he found it easy to quit drinking, says Kristina, 58. And they want to believe that he was faithful to my mother and that was easy, too. But its just not true. Perhaps the most surprising revelation in her book is that Hagman had several extramarital affairs while claiming publicly that I never had the predilection or the opportunity. Yet all the while he honoured my mother and loved her, says Kristina. She describes a fun-loving, chaotic household. Perhaps the most surprising revelation in Kristina Hagman's (second right, with Larry, Maj and Preston) book is that Hagman had several extramarital affairs while claiming publicly that I never had the predilection or the opportunity It was the mid-Sixties when Hagman achieved his first TV hit show, I Dream of Jeannie, but even before then, he and his Swedish wife Maj (pronounced My) loved a party. Kristina was often woken by late-night festivities and was just three when she inadvertently experienced her first hangover, after drinking dregs of wine from the previous nights celebrations. The free-wheeling Sixties and Seventies certainly suited her fathers sensibilities. When the hard-living actor Jack Nicholson introduced him to marijuana in 1964 to try to curtail his drinking, Hagman later admitted: It didnt work because I just did both. Larry pictured with his mother, Mary Martin Kristina was eight when she ate two brownies her parents had hidden, not knowing they were laced with marijuana, and had her first drug experience. By 17, she had tried LSD and, a year later, at her fathers suggestion, they took it together. Kristina did so hoping she could at last understand who he was, but admits that while I wouldnt say I didnt like it, I dont think you ever recover from it. Hagman once said LSD made him feel intensely aware of how absolutely alone you are and perhaps his partying and need for attention masked a deep loneliness. He loved his family around him and he liked the TV and the music going at the same time he didnt like silence, says Kristina. He was very affectionate and a joy to be with, but never liked to talk about personal things or anything that upset him. Kristina admits that doing drugs together did, however, prove a bonding experience for her parents. Once, needing time together alone, they entrusted their children to a friend, who was also a drug user, and headed to Montreal. But while they were away, Kristina was sexually abused in her bedroom by three teenage boys. She was eight years old. Kristina only told her parents about the incident 19 years later, when she was 27, after attending an anti-abuse rally. She wanted them to comfort her, but they said nothing. I just dont think they could deal with it, she says. Kristina also recalls that when she was 15, Dennis Hopper, the star of Easy Rider who died in 2010, showed up at the family home while her parents were out. He had friends with him, all high on drugs, and when Hopper announced, Get her in the Jacuzzi. I want to f*** her, Kristinas survival instinct kicked in and she bolted. Larry and Maj were married for several decades Both her parents were alcoholics and she is anxious to dismiss the myth perpetuated by her father that he was instantly able to give up drinking when, after being diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 1992, then liver cancer three years later, he underwent a liver transplant. Yes, he quit for several months, but within a few years his drinking was again excessive. Id refuse to drink with him, but it really didnt do any good. He just found me boring and a wet blanket, says Kristina. But he was so grateful after the transplant, so he really encouraged organ donorship. He also told me that he would pick up drunks off the street in downtown Los Angeles and take them somewhere to sober up. He was full of contradictions. Nowhere more so, seemingly, than in his marriage to dress designer Maj Axelsson. He always spoke lovingly of her and was proud his marriage survived for six decades. At the same time, Dad was good at camouflaging things, says Kristina. I think he had lovers like this people we all knew, people who were a part of our lives, who regularly had dinner with the family. After he died, women would go to some lengths to tell Kristina that her father was the most important man in their lives. The success of Dallas gave him everything he could want, so maybe having a secret gave him something extra, says Kristina. But my parents adored each other and I dont think either of them ever wanted to divorce. However, Maj did struggle with his infidelities. Kristina says she was hurt when in 1994 a magazine reported on an alleged affair of Hagmans. After that, you can see a real upturn in all the interviews he gave, talking about the most perfect marriage in Hollywood and declaring that he had never cheated on my mother. Why did Maj go along with it if it wasnt true? Mum wouldnt have wanted to be thought of as lacking in any wifely ways, so him denying it allowed her to have some pride. But she did suffer. Larry was one of the most recognizable television actors of all time after appearing as JR Ewing in Dallas opposite Linda Gray who played his wife Sue Ellen Several years ago, Maj was diagnosed with Alzheimers and vascular dementia and she is now, at 88, in a care home. Dad looked after her for about five years, says Kristina. Hagman had to take over the cooking and shopping, and help Maj look after herself. In 2012, he was delighted when Dallas was brought back to TV, reuniting him with his old co-stars and returning him to the spotlight. He died just five months after its relaunch, however, following complications from acute myeloid leukaemia. He was surrounded by his loved ones, including his girlfriend a woman the same age as Kristina whom he had kept secret for about two years. His daughter admits she is still learning things about her father. No amount of money made him feel really comforted, she says. At parties he would steal the bread rolls, telling us, Put these in your pocket as if we were destitute! Kristina says his last words to her before he died were: Forgive me. For a fun-loving guy, he had his struggles, she says. But doesnt that just make it more interesting that he was a three-dimensional character as opposed to a cardboard cutout? He split from Sharon Osbourne earlier this month amid reports he was having an affair with hairstylist Michelle Pugh. But Ozzy Osbourne might have been signalling that things were back on track with his wife of 33 years when he showed off his wedding ring at an event in Birmingham on Thursday. The Black Sabbath rocker was in great spirits as he returned to his home city to have a Midland Metro tram named after him. Scroll down for video Working it out? Ozzy Osbourne showed off his wedding ring as he attended a tram unveiling in his home city of Birmingham on Thursday Another chance: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne have reportedly seen a marriage counselor following the rocker's alleged affair with hairstylist Michelle Pugh Ozzy brushed off the drama, looking jovial as he waved to to the large crowd of fans assembled around him. His gold wedding band was evident on his ring finger, perhaps signalling that his relationship with estranged wife Sharon is on the mend. Ozzy, 67, looked thrilled as he came face-to-face with the special tram, admiring the fresh paintwork in his honour. Bling: His gold wedding band was evident on his ring finger, perhaps signalling that his relationship with estranged wife Sharon is on the mend Badge of honour: The Black Sabbath rocker was in great spirits as he returned to his home city to have a Midland Metro tram named after him Back on his home turf: The Aston-born frontman of the legendary Birmingham band attracted a huge crowd at the new Corporation Street stop as he launched the vehicle The Aston-born frontman of the legendary Birmingham band attracted a huge crowd at the new Corporation Street stop as he launched the vehicle. He enthused: 'It is a great honour to have a new tram named after me, I'm proud to be a Brummie and this means so much!' Clad in a pinstripe jacket and smart trousers, Ozzy added a rock 'n' roll edge to his ensemble thanks to a stripy scarf, pendant necklace and his trademark round shades. Man of the hour: Ozzy, 67, looked thrilled as he came face to-face with the special tram, admiring the fresh paintwork in his honour He enthused: 'It is a great honour to have a new tram named after me, I'm proud to be a Brummie and this means so much!' MailOnline has contacted Ozzy's representative for comment. It seems Ozzy has been doing his best to make it up to wife Sharon, 63, with a source telling Us Weekly that 'hell go to any lengths necessary to repair the damage.' And the estranged pair even reportedly recently sat for a 'mediated discussion' with a marriage counselor who added that Ozzy 'wants his family back.' Stylish appearance: Clad in a pinstripe jacket and smart trousers, Ozzy added a rock 'n' roll edge to his ensemble thanks to a stripy scarf, pendant necklace and his trademark round shades Big reveal: The rocker's name was emblazoned across the side of the pink tram carriage In good spirits: Ozzy brushed off the drama, looking jovial as he waved to to the large crowd of fans assembled around him The source added that Ozzy has been 'groveling' since he and Sharon split earlier this month. 'The Osbournes have been through thick and thin together and have stayed together through it all,' an insider said. Back on May 10 Sharon had commented on the difficult time she is going through on chat show The Talk, sharing her gratitude to all of the fans that had been so supportive. 'I honestly cannot thank people enough for their backing me,' she said, adding: 'For saying they love me. For everybody here at my home, supporting me, sending me messages of love. I honestly am empowered and I have found this inner strength and I'm like, "Right. OK. What's next?"' She's known for turning heads every time she steps out. And Tammin Sursok didn't disappoint on Thursday. The 32-year-old Australian actress put on an eye-catching sartorial display when she stepped out to run errands in Los Angeles, sporting a bright pink mini-dress which showcased her trim pins. Scroll down for video Pretty in pink! Tammin Sursok put on an eye-catching sartorial display when she stepped out to run errands in Los Angeles on Thursday, sporting a bright pink mini-dress which showcased her trim pins The Pretty Little Liars star wore the bright garment with confident as she sashayed along the pavement whilst chatting on her phone. The mother-of-one teamed the effortlessly glamorous frock with a black denim jacket and teetered about in a pair of nude pointed heels. She wore her long glossy brunette locks down in loose waves around her shoulders and highlighted her pretty features with a light application of makeup. Eye-catching: The 32-year-old Australian actress wore the bright garment with confident as she sashayed along the pavement whilst chatting on her phone Natural beauty: The Pretty Little Liars star wore her long glossy brunette locks down in loose waves around her shoulders and highlighted her pretty features with a light application of makeup Tammin relocated to the U.S to further her career and now owns a production company, Charlie Baby Productions with her husband Sean McEwen. They are planning on developing, writing and directing their own web comedy series called Aussie Girl together. The striking star rose to fame in the iconic soap Home and Away playing feisty teenager Dani Sutherland on Home And Away. Tammin and Sean were married in 2011, and after 11 years together, are still as loved up as ever. While they have one daughter Phoenix together, the actress has admitted the couple have considered having more children and joked that Sean constantly tries to have a baby with her. The brunette beauty has previously hinted that she and Sean have considered relocating back to Australia in the hope of raising Phoenix Down Under. It has been more than 10 years since the Cronulla Riots erupted in the Sydney beachside suburb between 'Anglo' and Middle Eastern Australians and sent shockwaves through the nation. And now Australian film-maker Abe Forsythe is releasing a controversial dark comedy titled Down Under, which looks at the aftermath of the race-based brawls that rolled through the area for days in December 2005. In the new trailer for the movie, set to premiere at the Sydney Film Festival next month, former Home And Away star Lincoln Younes is joined by fellow actors Damon Herriman and Rahel Romahn, on two sides of the battle. Scroll down for video Sneak peek: The trailer for Australian dark comedy Down Under, based on Sydney's Cronulla Riots of 2005, has been released The trailer opens with an aerial shot panning over Cronulla beach in Sydney's Sutherland shire, with viewers informed the film is set in 2006. Herriman, who plays Jason in the film, is seen informing a friend of the riots that have just erupted. But it's not long before Jason decides to join some of his friends in taking part in the violence. Audiences see a flashback news footage from the actual Cronulla riots, before being shown the characters of the movie involved in the melee. In character: Rahel Romahn (L) and Lincoln Younes (R) plays Nick and Hassim, seemingly young men of Middle Eastern descent in the Abe Forsythe flick The other side: Damon Herriman, who plays Jason in the film, is seen informing a friend of the riots that have just erupted The 'other side' of the battle is shown when actor Rahel Romahn, who plays Nick in the film, asks his elders for some support of an extreme measure. 'We need weapons,' he says, citing 'personal reasons' for asking. Throughout the trailer, there is the use of racially motivated, strong language from both sides. Blast from the past: Audiences are treated to flashback news footage from the actual Cronulla riots, before being shown the characters of the movie continuing the violence-fuelled attacks 'We need weapons': The 'other side' of the battle is shown when actor Rahel asks his elders for some support of an extreme measure Not happy: Rahel reveals his frustration when speaking to Lincoln's character One man tries to explain how the feud even began, telling a younger gent: 'They reckon the beach belongs to us'. 'It's a beach, it belongs to everyone,' he innocently replies, before more footage of the fights are displayed across the screen. An official press release states the film is a 'story of two carloads of hotheads from both sides of the fight destined to collide. 'Sincere, though misguided, intent gives way to farcical ineptitude as this hilarious yet poignant story of ignorance, fear and kebab-cravings unfolds, and what was meant to be a retaliation mission turns into something neither side could have imagined.' Harsh truth: Lincoln's character tries to reason with his pal, after realising violence may not be the best way to sort out the cultural differences Arresting sight: Footage of a man, seemingly of Middle Eastern descent, being arrested is then shown On the streets: Muslim residents are also shown strolling the streets in fear The Cronulla riots in 2005 were the result of boiling community tensions, which were ramped up when a group of surf lifesavers were attacked by a group of young Middle Eastern men on December 4. Reports that young Muslim Australian men were leering at 'Aussie ' girls in bikinis helped ignite the spark. On the morning of December 11, about 5000 people gathered on Cronulla Beach to protest against the violent attacks. The Cronulla riots resulted in the arrest of 16 people on 42 charges against Australians on both sides of the conflict and led, briefly, to an overseas warning against people travelling to Australia. Real event: The Cronulla riots in 2005 were the result of boiling community tensions, which were ramped up when a group of surf lifesavers were attacked by a group of young Middle Eastern men on December 4 Nicholas Hoult might be a millennial, but he gamely climbed inside an antique called a phone booth on the New York set of Rebel in the Rye on Thursday. In the biopic, the 26-year-old Englishman plays a young J.D. Salinger, the celebrated-yet-reclusive author of the 1951 loss-of-innocence literary classic The Catcher in the Rye. The X-Men: Apocalypse heartthrob dyed his hair black and wore brown contacts lenses as he suited up to better embody the Park Avenue-raised WWII veteran. Scroll down for video Look, a relic! Nicholas Hoult might be a millennial, but he gamely climbed inside an antique called a phone booth on the New York set of Rebel in the Rye on Thursday Pictured in 1953: In the biopic, the 26-year-old Englishman plays a young J.D. Salinger, the celebrated-yet-reclusive author of the 1951 loss-of-innocence literary classic The Catcher in the Rye Filming began April 26 on the period film, which is based on Kenneth Slawenski's 2010 biography J. D. Salinger: A Life. Nicholas portrays Salinger - who died age 91 in 2010 - in his beginnings as a writer, first heartbreak, and military service leading up to the creation of angsty anti-hero Holden Caulfield. Rebel in the Rye - hitting US theaters in 2017 - also stars Kevin Spacey, Sarah Paulson, Victor Garber, Hope Davis, and Brian d'Arcy James. In between takes, Hoult looked relaxed sipping a can of Canada Dry ginger ale, and toting orange juice while clad in jeans and trainers while in Manhattan's SoHo neighbourhood. Tamed his 'vulcan brows': The X-Men: Apocalypse heartthrob dyed his hair black and wore brown contacts lenses as he suited up to better embody the Park Avenue-raised WWII veteran Former child star: Filming began April 26 on the period film, which is based on Kenneth Slawenski's 2010 biography J. D. Salinger: A Life Before he was a recluse: Nicholas portrays Salinger - who died age 91 in 2010 - in his beginnings as a writer, first heartbreak, and military service leading up to the creation of angsty anti-hero Holden Caulfield Hitting US theaters in 2017! Rebel in the Rye also stars Kevin Spacey, Sarah Paulson, Victor Garber, Hope Davis, and Brian d'Arcy James Burberry suit: In between takes, Hoult looked relaxed sipping a can of Canada Dry ginger ale, and toting orange juice while clad in jeans and trainers while in Manhattan's SoHo neighbourhood On Wednesday, the Berkshire-born Brit's onscreen love interest played by 21-year-old Zoey Deutch was in costume (and slippers) as teenage debutante Oona O'Neill. 'My feet are so blistered they look like i was walking around in wooden clogs (??) #sexappeal,' the nepotistically-privileged daughter of Lea Thompson tweeted to her 150K followers. Oona was the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, and she broke Jerome David's heart in 1943 when she eloped with 54-year-old Charlie Chaplin a month after turning 18. Empire co-creator Danny Strong makes his directorial debut on Rebel in the Rye, and he believes Salinger was like Holden Caulfield 'in many ways.' Blue velvet frock: On Wednesday, the Berkshire-born Brit's onscreen love interest played by 21-year-old Zoey Deutch was in costume (and slippers) as teenage debutante Oona O'Neill The nepotistically-privileged daughter of Lea Thompson tweeted to her 150K followers: 'My feet are so blistered they look like i was walking around in wooden clogs (??) #sexappeal' Sought-after dame: Oona was the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, and she broke J.D.'s heart in 1943 when she eloped with 54-year-old Charlie Chaplin a month after turning 18 I just ordered a pot of pasta to work and feel concerned and excited but mostly upset that I didn't know this sort of thing existed. #caccioepepetotheface A photo posted by Zoey Deutch (@zoeydeutch) on May 19, 2016 at 2:41pm PDT At the helm: Empire co-creator Danny Strong (R) makes his directorial debut on Rebel in the Rye, and he believes Salinger was like Holden Caulfield 'in many ways' (pictured May 19) 'There's a rebellious streak and a very interesting, dynamic way of how he looked at the world,' the two-time Emmy winner told EW this month. 'He was very driven to be a writer. He really wanted it so bad and then when he got it, he ultimately didnt want it anymore.' But fans of the Mad Max: Fury Road stud can next see him as illustrator Silas falling for writer Nia (Kristen Stewart) in the sci-fi romance Equals, released on VOD Thursday and hitting US theaters July 15. They're known for their L.A. rock chick fashion and catchy chart-topping pop hits. But it looks like The Veronicas are also keen to showcase their raw singing talent, with the Australian sister act going on vocal rest ahead of their show at Jupiters Hotel & Casino on Friday night, according to the Daily Telegraph. The pop-rock twosome recently hinted that they could be preparing to make a comeback soon after they shared a video to Instagram declaring: 'The b****es are back.' The sound of silence: According to Daily Telegraph, The Veronicas have gone on vocal rest ahead of two Australian concerts + After the bold statement flashes across the screen, the video cuts to Lisa and Jessica's Origliasso's feet and slowly pans up as booming electronic music plays. The sexy sisters put on a provocative display, with one sporting thigh-high leather boots while the other is dressed in raunchy fishnet stockings and stripper heels. The video then ends with the word 'soon,' teasing fans that the duo could have another radio-friendly smash up their sleeves. 'The b****es are back!' The pop-rock duo recently released a teaser video hinting that they may be preparing to stage another comeback 'The Veronicas still exist!' The sister act appear to be dropping multiple hints that they may return with some new chart-topping pop tunes soon Following their Gold Coast show on Friday, The Veronicas are set to wrap up their Australian mini-tour with a performance at the Big Pineapple Music Festival on Saturday. The starlets released their last studio album, a self-titled effort, in 2014. It was a huge success in Australia, reaching platinum sales and spawning the No. 1 hit, You Ruined Me. Hitmakers: The starlets released their last studio album, a self-titled effort, in 2014 Unfortunately, the album failed to make a dent in America, where the pair had previously done well thanks to their bubblegum hit Untouched. After the disc missed out on the Billboard 200 chart altogether, the sisters canceled their scheduled U.S. tour, citing Visa issues. The Veronicas' last single was Cruel, which peaked at No. 53 in Australia. Angela Paton, an actress best known for appearing with Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, has died at age 86. Her nephew George Woolf says Paton died Thursday in Oakland, California, where she had been in hospice care after a recent heart attack. Paton played Mrs. Lancaster, the kindly, elderly, small-town innkeeper who played host to Murray on his never-ending day in 1993's Groundhog Day. RIP: Angela Paton, an actress best known for appearing with Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, has died at age 86 (seen here in the 1993 film) She had 91 film and television credits, nearly all of them after she was in her late 50s. Before that she had a long stage career based mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area, and founded a theater in Berkeley. She most recently appeared in a 2012 run of Harvey on Broadway. Her movie credits also include 2003's American Wedding and the 1997 Lolita. She passed on: Actor Frank Langella, right, talks with Jerry Stiller, left, and Angela Paton at the Morosco Theater in New York in 1980 (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File) She's slowly becoming one of Hollywood's trendiest fashionista's. And 19-year-old Zendaya proved that even more with her latest cover shoot for Wonderland magazine. The young model uploaded a sneak peak of her cover on Instagram on Wednesday as she captioned it: '@wonderlandmag cover (I see what y'all saying by the hand placement lmao but that was not intentional you little perv.' Stunner: 19-year-old Zendaya proved she is one of Hollywood's fashionista's with her latest cover shoot for Wonderland magazine Her light hearted jokes certainly went down well with her 26.3m followers. One user wrote: 'zendaya i LOVE YOU', whilst another simply commented: 'Yolo.' Another fan had her back all the way as they commented on the post: 'u okay girl just work it.' Summer cover girl: The young model uploaded a sneak peak of her cover on Instagram on Wednesday They one too! The girls from Fifth Harmony also had an alternate cover Zendaya revealed her sensational cover for the summer issue of Wonderland magazine, shot by Petra Collins and Gary Armstrong. Her Instagram wasn't the only place she was showcasing her beauty. She attended the 2016 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday looking glam as ever. What a joker: Zendaya captioned her post '@wonderlandmag cover (I see what y'all saying by the hand placement lmao but that was not intentional you little perv.' The 19-year-old star exposed her toned torso in a nude-coloured ensemble with bra-like top and long flowing skirt. Her gown was held up with two thin spaghetti straps and featured a sheer neckline, only increasing the amount of skin revealed. She wore a high-waisted skirt and it incorporated a long delicate train which added a chic touch to her wardrobe. Continuing to be by her husband Oliver Curtis' side during his trial, Australian PR guru Roxy Jacenko was once again spotted arriving at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney on Friday. The 34-year-old blonde arrived in another designer ensemble, this time sporting a sleek black leather Louis Vuitton dress - her raciest courtroom look yet. The cap-sleeved number, officially called the Laced Lambskin Dress, retails for around $5,469 AUD. Scroll down for video Laughing her worries away! Continuing to be by her husband Oliver Curtis' side during his trial, Roxy Jacenko was once again spotted arriving at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney on Friday It finished just above her knees, and featured stylish slits and lacing detail. She slipped her feet into a pair of strappy black heels, while also wearing a delicate Cartier bracelet, which seems to be from its 'Divine collection' with products priced from $9,550 up to $122,000 in the range. Her golden locks were worn out in loose waves, while her makeup was applied to picture perfection, as per usual. Racy: The 34-year-old blonde beauty arrived in another designer ensemble, this time sporting a sleek black leather Louis Vuitton dress With a wide grin across her face, the mother-of-two appeared to be in high spirits as she walked hand-in-hand with smiling Oliver. Oliver wore a crisp navy suit, teamed with a shirt and a patterned tie. While accompanying her husband over the past few weeks, Roxy has sported an array of stylish ensembles. Earlier in the week: Roxy wore a colourful floral printed mini-dress from Mary Katrantzou, which retails for a whopping $2,835 to support husband Oliver at court trial on Tuesday On Tuesday she showed off her sartorial style in a bright floral printed mini-dress from Mary Katrantzou, which retails for a whopping $2,835. The petite PR boss, who runs her own lucrative Sydney-based company Sweaty Betty PR, paired the feminine frock with a pair of $1,800 Azzedine Alaia stilettos, an item favoured by the likes of Kim Kardashian. Meanwhile on Monday she stepped out in a black dotted Christian Dior dress. Spotted: The astute businesswoman has mostly opted for low-key ensembles in dark shades for her court room attire - pictured this Monday in a black and white Dior polka dot dress While accompanying her husband last week, Roxy also opted for sleek black ensembles on more than one occasion. Last Thursday, she cut a serious demeanour in all-black outfit, as she arrived for court on the arm of her beau. The astute businesswoman wore a knee-length leather skirt teamed with a black knit and strappy stilettos. The day before she also opted for a basic black ensemble featuring a wrap skirt tied at the waist paired with a matching fitted singlet. Bright and beautiful: The mother-of-two added a splash of colour here and there throughout the trial. Pictured on Friday She did however manage to throw in a touch of her signature glam, capping her look off with her favourite Azzedine Alaia stilettos. She later added to the streamlined look, throwing on a leather Balmain biker jacket which retails for around $5,500 AUD. Last Monday, Roxy opted for yet another monochrome ensemble, wearing a loose-fitting LBD from Miu Miu. The long sleeve garment featured a conservative high neck and a leather belt around the hips before flaring out. Dark days: Roxy wore black for the fifth time in a row as she attended her husband Oliver's trial last Thursday The Sydney socialite teamed the chic dress with a pair of nude and black Gianvito Rossi shoes valued at over $1,000 AUD, and wore her glossy blonde mane in a perfect blow dry. On the first day of her husband's trial the Wednesday before, Roxy wore a conservative chic all-black ensemble, consisting of a high-neck top and a flared A-line skirt. The PR owner dressed up her professional attire with a pair of strappy leather heels and a gold embellished Louis Vuitton belt. Day two, saw Roxy dress in a smart miniskirt suit with her gaze hidden behind dark Ray-Bans as the pair walked into court. Basic black: Last Wednesday, the blonde beauty arrived in all-black attire, throwing a leather Balmain jacket over the top of a wrap skirt and matching tank LBD: Last Monday, the fashionista opted for another monochrome ensemble, wearing a loose-fitting LBD from Miu Miu She struck a slightly less conservative figure than a day earlier in a shorter ensemble and opted for her more daring heels that laced up to the ankle. Prosecutors allege Roxy's husband Oliver Curtis conspired with his former best friend to commit insider trading offences between 1 May 2007 and 30 June 2008. The alleged offences netted the pair a reported $1.433 million, prosecutors told the New South Wales Supreme Court on Wednesday a week before the last. Just prior to jury selection, the 30-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charge telling Justice Lucy McCallum and potential jurors: 'Not guilty, your honour.' Comedian Sarah Silverman isn't exactly known for her fashion sense, but she is clearly in love with the floral LBD she donned on Thursday's Late Night with Seth Meyers. It's the same exact short-sleeved mini-dress, fishnets, navy socks, and lace-up boots the 45-year-old wore to the Masters of Sex panel on May 16, and the Love & Friendship premiere on May 3. The two-time Emmy-winning writer has enlisted stylist duo Emily Current & Meritt Elliott for red carpet looks in the past, so it's unclear why the outrageous public figure can't find another ensemble to wear. Scroll down for video Fashion fetish: Comedian Sarah Silverman isn't exactly known for her sense of style, but she is clearly in love with the floral LBD she donned on Thursday's Late Night with Seth Meyers Oops! It's the same exact short-sleeved mini-dress, fishnets, navy socks, and lace-up boots the 45-year-old wore to the Masters of Sex panel on May 16, and the Love & Friendship premiere on May 3 Whatever: The two-time Emmy-winning writer has enlisted stylist duo Emily Current & Meritt Elliott for red carpet looks in the past, so it's unclear why the outrageous public figure can't find another ensemble to wear To her credit, Sarah did sport a bit of smoky eye make-up and skipped her signature ponytail hairstyle for the talk show appearance. For Late Night, Silverman also played a tidy lawyer during a trailer spoof for a film called Under Oath. Earlier on Thursday, the Bernie Sanders supporter emerged from her Manhattan hotel in an ultra-sheer white sleeveless top and camouflage cargo pants. Like her boyfriend Michael Sheen, Sarah appeared on NBC's The Red Nose Day Special - benefitting impoverished children - which aired live on Thursday evening. Tomboy at heart: To her credit, Sarah did sport a bit of smoky eye make-up and skipped her signature ponytail hairstyle for the talk show appearance Oscar bait: For Late Night, Silverman also played a tidy lawyer during a trailer spoof for a film called Under Oath If you love Oscar winners, nominees and @SarahKSilverman, don't miss the Under Oath trailer tonight on #LNSM. pic.twitter.com/m0j8xtXT0L Late Night (@LateNightSeth) May 27, 2016 Casually clad: Earlier on Thursday, the Bernie Sanders supporter emerged from her Manhattan hotel in an ultra-sheer white sleeveless top and camouflage cargo pants Busy day: Like her boyfriend Michael Sheen, Sarah appeared on NBC's The Red Nose Day Special - benefitting impoverished children - which aired live on Thursday evening According to Page Six, Silverman joked about vomit, semen, abortion, sexual assault, and sex with the 46-year-old Welshman at Monday's ArtsConnection Gala where teenage students sat in the crowd. 'I have so much material about him, and he's always great about it,' the Grammy nominee told People of her beau of two years. 'One, he's not going to like inhibit my art and my process, and I appreciate that, but also because he said, "No one will ever believe that it's true. No one will ever believe that everything you're saying is exactly true."' 'I have so much material about him!' According to Page Six, Silverman joked about vomit, semen, abortion, and sex with the 46-year-old Welshman at Monday's ArtsConnection Gala (pictured May 16) 'Always a baby to me #Lily!' The Golden Globe nominee is father to 17-year-old daughter Lily with ex-partner Kate Beckinsale, whom openly adores Sarah The Golden Globe nominee is father to 17-year-old daughter Lily with ex-partner Kate Beckinsale, whom openly adores Sarah. Silverman will next perform a sold-out stand-up show Wednesday at Connecticut's Ridgefield Playhouse. The I Smile Back actress will next play Andy Samberg's publicist in the comedy Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which hits US theaters June 3 and UK theaters August 26. 'I lead with my thighs': Silverman will next perform a sold-out stand-up show Wednesday at Connecticut's Ridgefield Playhouse (pictured Sunday) As 007 James Bond, he gets to drive one of the coolest and most expensive cars on the planet - the Aston Martin. But Daniel Craig, who famously said after 2015's Spectre he'd rather slit his wrists than make another Bond film, is swapping the spy's ride for a NASCAR racer. The British star is finalizing a deal to star in Logan Lucky, a crime caper set in the world of the popular American sport, Deadline.com reported on Thursday. Scroll down for video No more Bond? Daniel Craig, pictured in November, is set to star in the NASCAR crime caper Logan Lucky for director Stefen Soderbergh. The movie is slated to begin filming in the fall Changing rides: The British actor, 48, seems keen to swap 007's Aston Martin, left in Spectre, for a NASCAR racer, like the one pictured at the Daytona 500, right Joining him in the film, to be directed by Steven Soderbergh, will be former Grey's Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl, the website said. Already cast are Adam Driver, Seth MacFarlane and Riley Keough and filming is slated to begin in the fall. Craig, 48, has also signed on to play the lead in a TV series Purity to be made by Hollywood producer Scott Rudin. Served his time: Craig has played James Bond in four films, starting with Casino Roytale in 2006, Quantum of Solace in 2008, 2012's Skyfall (pictured) and last year's Spectre The revelations are perhaps another sign that Craig really is done with the Bond franchise after a decade of drinking shaken martinis. He has starred as 007 four times, starting with Casino Royale in 2006, followed by Quantum Of Solace, Skyfall and then Spectre. It has previously been reported that despite his lack of enthusiasm for making a fifth franchise film, the actor was under contract for a fifth. Meanwhile, it's understood that British actors Tom Hiddleston and Jamie Bell are both under consideration for the 'licensed to kill' contract, having met with Bond producers. Former Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl, 37, (pictured in April) is set to join Craig in Logan Lucky. She also stars in the new CBS legal drama Doubt that has just been ordered to series for the 2016-17 TV season The casting news for Logan Lucky is another sign of Heigl's return to the spotlight after her career has faltered in the past several years. Heigl, 37, found fame as Izzie on ABC's long-running medical drama Grey's Anatomy but left the show in 2010 under a cloud after falling out with showrunner Shonda Rhimes. But this month CBS ordered her new legal drama Doubt to series for the 2016-17 season, and she's been filming the thriller Unforgettable with Rosario Dawson and Cheryl Ladd. She was welcomed into the world on April 5, and Cheyenne Tozzi appears to be already quite smitten by her niece Echo. The 27-year-old model and actress shared a snap on her Instagram page on Friday, of her older sister Tahyna Tozzi's almost two-month-old daughter laying outstretched on a bed. The cherubic tot is clad in an adorable pink jumpsuit as she stretches her arms above her tiny head. Scroll down for video Precious moment: Cheyenne Tozzi shared a snap to her Instagram on Friday, of her older sister Tahyna Tozzi's almost two-month-old daughter Echo laying outstretched on a bed Doting Aunty: Tahyna welcomed Echno into the world on April 5 and the ANTM judge appears to be already quite smitten by her niece It seems proud Aunty Cheyenne may have been enjoying an early morning cuddle session with the newborn, with a breakfast plate sitting in the unmade bed next to Echo. Cheyenne shared another snap to her Instagram last month, showing her cradling her sister Tahyna's one-month-old daughter lovingly. She flashed an exaggerated pout as she stared directly down the lens of the camera, covering the child's face with her right hand. Aunty Cheyenne! The 27-year-old model and actress cradled her niece Echo in a loving snap shared to Instagram last month 'Just holding my baby,' the brunette beauty wrote in the caption of the snap. Tahyna took to Instagram last month to announce the happy news of the arrival of her first child to her friends and fans. The 29-year-old also revealed that she and her husband of two years Tristan had chosen a very unique name for their new bub, calling her Echo Isolde. Love: Cheyenne posted an intimate snap of her sibling and her husband in hospital 'I love you and baby too': Cheyenne unofficially announced her sister Tahnya's pregnancy in a post on Instagram back in February 'Our baby girl Echo Isolde Macmanus was born 05/04/2016 healthy and happy,' she wrote alongside a snap of their baby's name, handwritten on a piece of paper. 'Tristan & I are so thankful for everyone's support Xx.' Tahyna is understood to have given birth in Australia after being based in her hubby's native Ireland. Meanwhile, her younger sister Cheyenne was the first to congratulate her sibling, posting a very intimate snap of Tristan and Tahyna in hospital. Congratulations: Cheyenne was the first to congratulate her sibling on the arrival of the infant The A Team: Cheyenne is back in Australia currently to film the long-awaited tenth series of Australia's Next Top Model 'Welcome baby girl Echo Isolde MacManus @tahynavalentina,' she wrote in a caption alongside it. Apart from becoming an aunt for the first-time, Cheyenne is working on developing her music career. Last year, she confirmed to the Daily Mail Australia that she had officially moved to Paris, however she is back in Australia currently to film the long-awaited tenth series of Australia's Next Top Model. As an avid supporter of the Free The Nipple campaign, she's no stranger to flashing the flesh on social media. And is seems Caitlin Stasey is up to her old tricks again. The 26-year-old former Neighbours star donned a very see-through fitted top in a snap shared to Instagram on Thursday. Scroll down for video Kangarude! Caitlin Stasey dared to bare in a see-through top as she posed for an Instagram snap on Thursday The actress appeared to be adopting a typically Australian look, wearing shorts and an open shirt with a bush hat and boots teamed with the revealing sheer garment. Seemingly nonplussed about her cleavage being on full display, she smiled coyly whilst looping her thumbs through the belt of her shorts. The brunette beauty simply captioned the shot with a pun on Australia's iconic animal the Kangaroo and her nakedness, writing: 'Kangarude.' Racy: Last week Caitlin sent social media into a frenzy when she shared a fully nude snap of herself on Instagram. The following day, her boyfriend Lucas Neff decided to repost the image, with a few adjustments that perhaps poked fun at the social media platform's nudity policy Last week Caitlin sent social media into a frenzy when she shared a fully nude snap of herself on Instagram. The following day, her boyfriend Lucas Neff decided to repost the image, with a few adjustments that perhaps poked fun at the social media platform's nudity policy. 'Editing this was lame for all of us,' read the caption next to the image of the actress, in which her nipples were concealed with strategically placed monkey emojis. Double standard? Caitlin did not caption the naked image, but shortly after posted a screen-grab of a recent post by 'Instagram King' Dan Bilzerian, highlighting the social media site's 'sexist' double-standards Reactions flooded in through the comments section, with one Instagram user writing: 'The original version was better but still terribly hot @caitlinjstasey'. Meanwhile, the original image posted a day earlier by Caitlin, showed the Australian actress completed nude, her naked body displayed while she lay on a bed. Caitlin, who is known for her role as Rachel Kinski in Neighbours, seemed to have had her hair wrapped in a towel as she reclined in the bedroom. Looking relaxed, she displayed her striking natural beauty while stretched out on a comfy unmade bed and stroking her cat. As sunlight poured through a curtain on the left side of the frame, the walls appeared to be decorated with several artistic erotic photos. Caitlin did not caption the image, but shortly after posted a screen-grab of a recent post by social media personality, Dan Bilzerian. In the photo, the so-called 'Instagram King' promoted his new mobile phone game, which features animated nudity and a controversial theme. She captioned the screen-grab, 'Yeah. And I'm the one violating community guidelines,' drawing attention to the perceived double-standard of Instagram's terms of use. 'Yeah. And I'm the one violating community guidelines': After posting her nude photo, Caitlin shared a screen-grab of a recent post by Instagram personality Dan promoting his mobile game (pictured), which features animated nudity and a controversial theme Many of her followers seemed to concur with Caitlin's view, with one commenting: 'He demeans woman yet is allowed to post pics but we as woman can't post without us "violating terms".' Meanwhile, last Friday, Caitlin made yet another bold statement as she drew attention to her hairy underarms in an Instagram snap. Stripped down to a skimpy silver bikini, the Reign actress happily flashed her armpits while topping up her tan in the glorious sunshine. Got hair, don't care! Last Friday, Caitlin made a bold statement on Instagram as she drew attention to her hairy underarms in a bikini-clad selfie Caitlin is also a proud supporter of the 'Free The Nipple' campaign, an ongoing protest against Instagram's 'no nipple policy' when it comes to women's breasts. It has been claimed this is a sexist double-standard as photos of shirtless men are permitted under the social media website's community guidelines. Meanwhile, at the start of the year, the Melbourne-born actress strongly hinted that she had tied the knot with Raising Hope star Lucas, 30. In January, she posted several images which show the Chicago native carrying her over the threshold and the pair punching the pair with glee. Their close pal, actor Echo Kellum, took to Twitter to congratulate them, writing: 'Congrats to Lucas Neff and Caitlin Stasey on their marriage! They are the cutest!!! Proud to be y'all friend!' Caitlin and Lucas have yet to address their rumoured nuptials. She plays the perennially-afflicted Saffron Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous. But actress Julia Sawalha is loving her real life off-screen - thanks to finding love on the set of the show's forthcoming film. Speaking to The Mirror, the 47 year-old star gushed about being loved-up with sound engineer Luke Hollingworth, who's seventeen years her junior. Scroll down for video Loved up: Julia Sawalha is loving her real life off-screen - thanks to finding love with Luke Hollingworth 'The age gap took a while to get my head around but hes so emotionally mature he helps me be more relaxed. Hes younger than me but hes an old soul. 'We have the same sense of humour. We laugh all day and hes the kindest and most loving partner I would ever wish for. Ive always dated men my age or significantly older and none of them are a patch on Luke. 'Before Luke, I was single for seven years. By the time we got together, Id stopped looking for someone else to fill the void.' Sweet: Speaking to The Mirror , the 47 year-old star gushed about being loved-up with the sound engineer, who's seventeen years her junior Starring role: Julia has enjoyed huge success - not professionally and personally - thanks to Ab Fab The comments come as the acclaimed star, who first rose to fame in Press Gang, took to Twitter to share her joy at the romance. Uploading a picture of them in woodland, she captioned the sweet snap with a message saying 'thank you for a beautiful day X'. Moments before he'd shared a selfie of them both, saying: 'What a lovely day for a walk with this gorgeous girl'. Going public: The comments come as the acclaimed star, who first rose to fame in Press Gang, took to Twitter to share her joy at the romance Unsurprisingly, the images were 'liked' countless times and delighted fans. Julia, who never married or had children, has previously doubted she would ever find the One, saying: There are times when I think, Oh what a shame, but I dont think thats my path in this life. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is released on 22 July and will see a host of stars join Eddie and Patsy for drama. Blamed for a major incident at an uber fashionable party, they become entangled in a media storm and are relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi. Fleeing penniless to the glamorous playground of the super-rich, the French Riviera, they hatch a plan to make their escape permanent and live the high life forever more! Breakout role: Julia has also starred as Dr Penny Henderson in ITV's acclaimed Midsomer Murder She adopted an adorable new pet pooch two weeks ago. And Helena Christensen looked as though she was in the throes of puppy love as she took her cute canine companion, Kuma, on a stroll through New York City on Thursday. Looking pretty as a picture as she headed out on her walk, the model, 46, embraced the summer sunshine in a flirty floral sundress while picking up a coffee in the West Village. Scroll down for video It's a dog's life! Helena Christensen looked as though she was in the throes of puppy love as she took her cute canine companion, Kuma, on a stroll through New York City on Thursday Accentuating her slim figure, Helena's chic white ensemble featured a flattering belt to cinch in her waist and was adorned with bold red flowers. The catwalk queen ditched her heels in favour of a pair of comfortable flip-flops and balanced her grey holdall bag and coffee in one hand as she held her puppy's lead in the other. Helena looked fresh-faced, securing her hair in a casual low bun and sheltering her eyes from the summer sunshine with a pair of oversized shades. Clearly besotted, the brunette took a break from her walk to take pictures of her new companion as he sat patiently in front of her. Puppy love: Looking pretty as a picture as she headed out on her walk, the model, 46, embraced the summer sunshine in a flirty floral sundress while picking up a coffee in the West Village Flower power: Accentuating her slim figure, Helena's chic white ensemble featured a flattering belt to cinch in her waist and was adorned with bold red flowers The Danish beauty announced she had adopted a puppy on Instagram two weeks ago. Sharing a picture of her new furry friend, Helena wrote: 'This happened today..our first dog ever. We're so in love'. The fluffy pooch, thought to be a Border Collie, has one blue eye and one brown eye. And Helena - who is mother to son Mingus, 16, from her relationship with The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus - made sure to keep her fans in the loop, asking them for help in choosing a name for the pup. Canine companion: The catwalk queen ditched her heels in favour of a pair of comfortable flip-flops and balanced her grey holdall bag and coffee in one hand as she held her puppy's lead in the other Little poser: Helena took a break from her walk to take pictures of her new companion as he sat patiently in front of her 'No name for her yet, suggestions pls . Thank you for all those cool names, we'll sleep on them', she wrote. And it took the model turned photographer a week to decide on a name, finally settling on Kuma. 'Waking up to this little face every day. Finally named, Kuma, which means bear in Japanese (rilakkuma cartoon bears, definition of cute)', she finally announced on Instagram. 'We've named him Kuma': The Danish beauty announced she had adopted a puppy on Instagram two weeks ago She is set to appear in the upcoming live action adaptation of Alice Through The Looking Glass. And despite the fact that Mia Wasikowsa has undoubtedly earned her position among Hollywood's acting elite, the Australian actress has admitted to feeling starstruck among her famous co-actors. Speaking to Popsugar this week, the Canberra-born 26-year-old explained that she still pinches herself when she thinks about working with the likes of Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway. Scroll down for video Pinching herself! Mia Wasikowsa, 26, has admitted to feeling starstruck among her famous co-stars while filming Alice In Wonderland and the upcoming Alice Through The Looking Glass 'Its a wonderful thing and theyre such cool people. You grow up watching them! Its really nice', explained the blonde beauty. Mia also revealed that the fantastical makeup and costuming piled on top of her famous castmembers helped her overcome any nerves. 'Its a wonderful thing and theyre such cool people': She appears in the upcoming fantasy flick Alice Through The Looking Glass alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, Anne Hathaway and Johnny Depp 'I feel like my time seeing them as celebrities was very limited', she explained. 'Most of the time I saw them in their full makeup, and it was so easy to forget Johnny Depp was underneath it, or Anne Hathaway was there somewhere. That made it quite comfortable'. Mia also features alongside actors Robert Pattinson and Sacha Baron Cohen. 'Most of the time I saw them in their full makeup': Mia revealed that the fantastical makeup and costuming piled on top of her famous castmembers helped her overcome any nerves Alice Through The Looking Glass, based on the novel by Lewis Carroll, picks up with Alice Kingsleigh three years after viewers last met her. Having returned from sailing the high seas, she re-encounters Absolem, finds a magical looking-glass and returns to the nonsensical realm of Underland. The film is set for release in Australia in July She is a natural beauty who makes anything look good. So it's no surprise that Rose Huntington-Whiteley managed to look sensational - even while perched on the back of a classic car, this week. The blonde beauty, 29, was posing on a vintage Mercedes while modelling in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. Scroll down for video Model behaviour: Rose Huntington-Whiteley managed to look sensational - even while perched on the back of a classic car for an LAS photoshoot on Friday Keeping it casual for the occasion, the stunning star looked effortlessly cool as she sported a long-sleeved breton top. Matching it with a pair of boyfriend shorts and clumpy boots, she embraced a tomboy style which still managed to be beautiful. Wearing her long, flowing mane in a cascade of curls, she also wore a light touch of glam make-up. Team-work: At one point she also sported a hat, which gave her a continental edge - before being adjusted by photography assistants and a make-up artist Natural beauty! Keeping it casual for the occasion, the stunning star looked effortlessly cool as she sported a long-sleeved breton top At one point she also sported a hat, which gave her a continental edge - before being adjusted by photography assistants and a make-up artist. Proudly displaying her long legs, the catwalk star was the epitome of English rose beauty. Although Rosie didn't disclose any details of the project on social media, chances are she's modelling Ugg footwear. She was recently named the brand's global ambassador, adding the Australian to her growing list of associations, including Bulgari and Paige Denim. Best footwear forward? Although Rosie didn't disclose any details of the project on social media, chances are she's modelling Ugg footwear Selfie-esteem: Rosie was recently named Ugg's global ambassador, adding the Australian to her growing list of associations, including Bulgari and Paige Denim She also has a lingerie and cosmetics line with high-street store Marks and Spencer. Engaged to be married to boyfriend Jason Statham, no doubt she has been busy planning the big day after announcing her happy news at the start of the year. You can guarantee that when the cast of Geordie Shore hit the town, drama is never too far behind. And that was exactly the case when the reality stars partied in Central London to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the hit MTV reality series on Tuesday evening as Charlotte Crosby revealed some painful looking bruises following a playful scrap with co-star Chloe Ferry on Friday. Explaining the countless marks that occupied both of her legs, the 25-year-old TV personality revealed they were the result of a feisty play-fight she shared with her 21-year-old pal after a boozy night out in the British capital. Scroll down for video Ouch! Charlotte Crosby revealed some painful looking bruises following a playful scrap with co-star Chloe Ferry on Friday 'I just wanted to talk about these scratches, bruises on me legs off Chloe Ferry,' the social media savvy star told her followers. 'Me and Chloe decided to have a full on play fight when we got back in at 4.30 in the morning.' She added: 'I won because Im solid.' See Geordie Shore news as Charlotte Crosby covered in bruises after fight with Chloe Ferry Feisty! Explaining the countless marks that occupied both of her legs, the TV personality, 25, revealed they were the result of a feisty play-fight she shared with her pal, 21, after a boozy night out in the British capital Getting candid: 'I just wanted to talk about these scratches, bruises on me legs off Chloe Ferry,' the social media savvy star told her followers But despite claiming victory, co-star Kyle Christie suggested that it was in fact Chloe who had the upper hand in the scrap. After Chloe threatened to put him in his place during a jokey exchange on Twitter on Thursday, Kyle quipped: 'Ya might be able to deck everyone else in the house but if you try that s*** you tried with Charlotte al lay you out MATE!' Departing the group's hotel on Wednesday morning, Chloe's legs didn't bear a single mark when she left their overnight digs in a pair of denim shorts, while Charlotte chose to keep her marked pins concealed in leggings. She continued: 'Me and Chloe decided to have a full on play fight when we got back in at 4.30 in the morning.' Seemingly in an attempt to reassure fans that there is no bad blood between the girls following their drunken scrap, Charlotte shared a snap of herself and Chloe on Instagram on Thursday evening. '2 girls 1 egg @chloegshore1,' she captioned the snap which saw the one-time Celebrity Big Brother champion putting a friendly arm around Chloe's shoulders during their night out. Their night on the town saw the controversial cast visit the MTV studios in the city before heading on to night spot Gilgamesh and Lucky Voice karaoke bar. But despite claiming victory, co-star Kyle Christie suggested that it was in fact Chloe who had the upper hand in the scrap Sprightly as ever! Charlotte was in typically animated spirits while shooting the Snapchat Whoops! Charlotte's lithe legs were covered thigh to toe in sore looking marks and appeared especially painful across the knees Faces of cast members old and new were present for the occasion, though the profile of Charlotte's tumultuous love interest Gary 'Gaz' Beadle was noticeably missing. Reports claimed that the 29-year-old had been 'banned' by Charlotte from attending, with a source telling The Sun: 'Charlotte cannot be around Gary at the moment. 'There is more to the story than just him cheating. It's too painful for her. The rest of the cast are really not keen on him either so it's all a bit awkward so the best thing to do was to have Charlotte there tonight and Gary at the press night a few weeks ago.' Still besties: Seemingly in an attempt to reassure fans that there is no bad blood between the girls following their drunken scrap, Charlotte shared a snap of herself and Chloe on Instagram on Thursday evening Gaz's representative denied the claims and and insisted that Gaz's lack of attendance wasn't Charlotte's decision. 'Gary wasn't banned by anyone. He chose not to attend, due to filming commitments,' they told The Mirror. Instead, Gary was forced to settle with commemorating the anniversary with a Twitter post, with the 28-year-old enthusing: '5 years f***ing hell!!!! Happy birthday to the Gshore crew... Shame things are abit s**t atm and I'am not going London... Special day tho.' She has previously spoken about the dramatic near-death experience of her daughter Phoenix during childbirth two years ago. And now, Tammin Sursok, 32, has revealed that she suffered postnatal depression after welcoming her first child. Speaking to Cosmopolitan Magazine this week, the Australian beauty said: 'I think after I had my child, I went through a period where I felt quite isolated and I felt quite lost'. Scroll down for video Dark days: Tammin Sursok, 32, has revealed that she suffered postnatal depression after welcoming her first child Tammin cited her new motherhood blog, Bottle And Heels, as helping her overcome her darker days, saying: 'It took me a year and a half to find a tribe and a network of women where we could support and uplift each other rather than pit each other against one another,' 'I think if I'd had something like that after my daughter was born, I would have felt less isolated', she added. Bottle And Heels features a series of posts by various authors exploring the gritty realities of motherhood and includes a detailed description of Tammin's struggles. Tough times: Speaking to Cosmopolitan Magazine this week, the Australian beauty said: 'I think after I had my child, I went through a period where I felt quite isolated and I felt quite lost' The post, titled 'My Not So Perfect Birth Story', details what she describes as her 'viceral post-traumatic reaction' to the moment she was told that her umbilical chord was wrapped around her child's neck. Meanwhile, the former Home and Away actress is gearing up to reprise her role as the villain Jenna in the new season of Pretty Little Liars. Speaking to Cosmopolitan about the show, Tammin said: 'The girls haven't seen Jenna in a year and a half, so it's kind of a big surprise. She's definitely involved in a lot of exciting, tantalizing things that the viewers want answers for'. 'I think if I'd had something like that after my daughter was born, I would have felt less isolated': Tammin cited her new motherhood blog, Bottle And Heels , as helping her overcome her darker days She's back! Meanwhile, The former Home and Away actress is gearing up to reprise her role as the villain Jenna in the new season of Pretty Little Liars She also revealed that her character's look has changed due to the fact that Jenna has become visually impaired, which has caused her to wear sunglasses most of the time. During filming, the LA-based brunette took to social media with a series of behind-the-scenes snaps, several of which picture pairs of sunglasses resting on top of the Pretty Little Liars script. As well as Pretty Little Liars, Tammin will soon be seen in the thriller The Stepsister alongside TV actress Ashley Newbrough. He's one of the biggest magic acts to come out of Australia. And now Paul Cosentino has revealed how an afternoon in the Lysterfield Library as a 12-year-old got him hooked on tricks and illusions saying: 'I had no intention to learn magic, it kind of found me.' Speaking to the Herald Sun, the 33-year-old said it was the encouragement from his mother Rosemary that made learning the tricks fun after she saw him reading a book in the school library. Scroll down for video 'I had no intention to learn magic, it kind of found me': Paul Cosentino has revealed how an afternoon in the Lysterfield Library as a 12-year-old got him hooked on tricks and illusions Cosentino grew up in the rural Victorian town of Lysterfield and his mother was the principle at the school. 'I was a very shy, introverted little boy. I had a lot of learning difficulties growing up, reading, writing, spelling difficulties,' he told the publication. 'I found myself in the library and there was a magic book, my mother saw me reading the book and she is like 'hallelujah', so she takes it home, and starts reading to me about the history of these magicians. Painful: Knife slashings, a ruptured ear drum and broken ribs are part of the rigours of the job for the magician, who has spent the last 12 months on tour 'The back of the book had magical tricks and, by breaking down the rules, analysing and applying it physically, I started to learn this very unique art of magic.' 'I had never seen a magician on TV. I had no intention to learn magic, it kind of found me,' he concluded. The Australian escapologist has just returned from touring overseas with his death-defying show. He recently spoke about the highs and lows of his latest venture and opened up about the gory injuries he has suffered whilst entertaining large crowds. Star appeal: Cosentino recently toured New Zealand, Thailand and Indonesia with his show, Twisted Reality Reloaded Knife slashings, a ruptured ear drum and broken ribs are part of the rigours of the job for the magician, who has spent the last 12 months on tour. 'I've been slashed by knives, I've got 12 stitches in my chin, I've got seven in my head,' he told AAP. 'I sounds like I don't know what I'm doing, but it's really dangerous stuff.' Cosentino recently toured New Zealand, Thailand and Indonesia with his show, Twisted Reality Reloaded. Cosentino, who won Dancing With The Stars in 2013 and was runner up on Australia's Got Talent in 2011, performs at Crown Casino on June 24 and 25. Hot talent: The Australian sensation made a name for himself across the nation in 2012 after he appeared on Channel Seven's Australia's Got Talent She's been in a happy relationship with Robbie Williams for ten years. But Ayda Field has admitted she's glad she didn't meet her husband when he was in his twenties, during a frank discussion on her show Loose Women on Thursday. The presenters were talking about the news that Hollywood star Johnny Depp is divorcing his younger wife Amber Heard, when Ayda, 37, explained that she thinks timing is everything when it comes to a happy marriage. All about timing: Ayda Field has admitted she's glad she didn't meet her husband Robbie Williams when he was in his twenties, during a frank discussion on her show Loose Women on Thursday Ayda, who met Robbie, now 42, when she was 27 and he was 32 in 2006, explained that she thinks meeting the right person at the right time in life is the key to a successful relationship. 'I do think that timing is really important in relationships,' she told her co-hosts. 'Rob and I talked about this. Why didn't we meet when were in our twenties, I had to date all those losers before him!' She added that she thinks her former boybander husband, who has had a history of alcoholism and substance abuse problems, would have done something to ruin their relationship if they had met earlier in life. Express yourself: Ayda wore an unusual double breasted suit in vibrant red and cool white A certain flare: In wide legged silk flared trousers and striking black and white stiletto's Ayda hit the right fashion note Meant to be: Ayda, who met Robbie, now 42, when she was 27 and he was 32 in 2006, explained that she thinks meeting the right person at the right time in life is the key to a successful relationship Loose Women: Pictured with the panel, from left Ayda, Kaye Adams, Linda Robson and Andrea McLean 'He would have completely screwed it up, he would have been off his face, he would have cheated, that's the tip of the iceberg really! He would have ruined it.' 'We wouldn't be married with kids, it was meant to be this way,' she determined. 'For a relationship to work you have to want the same thing at the same time.' Having her say on the split between Johnny, 52, and Amber Heard, 30, Ayda continued: 'Amber wants to go out and party, and Johnny wants to stay at home with his friends and be weird - it's not going to work!' Morning chat: The Californian actress wasn't backwards in coming forwards when it came to sharing her opinions Seal of approval: Linda Robson and Ayda share a laugh on the set of Loose Women Looking back: 'I do think that timing is really important in relationships,' she told her co-hosts. 'Rob and I talked about this. Why didn't we meet when were in our twenties, I had to date all those losers before him!' Lovely cabbages! Kaye Adams re-created the Amanda Holden naked vegetable shoot later in the show Women with a voice: Plenty to talk about when it came to relationship timing and how we change as we age and develop as a person 'But more than age difference, I think more of danger in relationships is when you get together with someone really young when you're 16, 18, you're a completely different person than when you're 30.' Ayda and Robbie married in at his home in Beverly Hills in 2010, before welcoming their first child - daughter Theodora Rose 'Teddy' Williams - in September 2012. Their son Charlton Valentine was born on October 27, 2014. In the stars: 'We wouldn't be married with kids, it was meant to be this way,' she determined. 'For a relationship to work you have to want the same thing at the same time' Former Eastender: Actress Michelle Colins added her voice to the debate on relationships Busy lady: Mother-of-two Ayda shares two children, a son and a daughter, with husband Robbie Williams At his best: She said she thinks Robbie (pictured with their daughter Teddy), who has a history of alcoholism and substance abuse problems, would have done something to ruin their relationship if they had met earlier Elsewhere on Thursday's Loose Women, the panellists revealed that they had all taken part in a self-confidence exercise the night before, where they stripped naked in front of the mirror and talked through their body. Ayda was heard in her recording, played back for the show, lamenting her post-baby body, explaining: 'I think if I had known what happens you when you have kids I would have had a goodbye party for my tummy!' She also revealed that her husband 'lovingly refers to her breasts as Picasso boobs since I breastfed,' explaining: 'When you have kids you have the same pieces of the puzzle, but the pieces go together slightly different!' Happy family: Ayda and Robbie married in 2010, before welcoming their first child - daughter Theodora Rose 'Teddy' Williams - in September 2012 followed by their son Charlton Valentine in 2014 They are one of the most entrepreneurial families in the world and have used their globally recognised name to front a string of business ventures. And the Kardashian clan are making it clear that they will not take lightly to others attempting to cash in on their famous moniker and have reportedly gone down hard on a plastic surgeon who has been offering his patients what he has dubbed the 'Kardashian Facelift'. According to documents obtained by TMZ, the Kardashians have had their attorney hound Dr. Gary Eldridge and demand that he quit using their name to promote his fibrin protein treatment. Scroll down for video They're definitely Keeping Up! The Kardashian family are making it clear that they will not take lightly to others attempting to cash in on their famous moniker and have reportedly gone down hard on a plastic surgeon who has been offering his patients what he has dubbed the 'Kardashian Facelift' In an attempt to fight his corner, the Australian doctor has filed documents to trademark the procedure in the U.S. It's alleged the surgeon has insisted that the treatment is not at all connected with the famous family and is actually the name of his family dog. Unsurprisingly, the Kardashian's lawyer reportedly refused to accept the doctor's claim and informed him in a very affirmative letter that the family already holds countless trademarks on its name, in all matter of fields, from beauty to advertisements, which Dr. Eldridge is infringing upon. Threatening to sue: According to documents obtained by TMZ, the Kardashians have had their attorney hound Dr. Gary Eldridge and demand that he quit using their name to promote his fibrin protein treatment Big business: The family already holds countless trademarks on its name, in all matter of fields, from beauty to advertisements, which Dr. Eldridge is infringing upon It's believed the surgeon has since dropped his trademark application and has removed the Kardashian name from his procedure, instead calling it simply a 'Fibrin Facelift'. Kim Kardashian and her husband Kanye West are currently embroiled in legal action of their own as it's claimed the rapper has threatened to file a $10million lawsuit against his former bodyguard, who claims he was 'fired for trying to talking to his wife'. The hip-hop star issued a damning statement about Steve Stanulis after the latter discussed his difficult working relationship with the famous couple leading up to his sacking on 2 May. The couple said they will a file a breach of confidentiality suit against the father-of-three, 42, unless he apologises for his comments he has made about them to the media in recent weeks. Furious: Kim and Kanye West, pictured in London on Monday night, are responded to their former bodyguard's claims A spokesperson for Kanye told MailOnline : 'The West Family will no longer tolerate the spreading and selling of fake stories in a desperate, transparent and shameless attempt for publicity at their expense. 'This sad, parasitic maniac has violated every basic human tenet of decency with his story of lies. As such, the Wests will explore all legal means at their disposal to silence this nonsense.' TMZ.com reported the Kanye and Kim's lawyer has sent a legal letter to Stanulis, accusing him of breaking a confidentiality agreement he was under as their former employee. However, the former New York police officer maintains that the Wests are asking him to sign such an agreement retroactively. He also alleges they have failed to pay him for his three days work protecting the couple during a trip to New York City earlier this month, according to the New York Daily News . Missing the drama: Kim and Kanye at the Met Gala on 2 May - shortly after Stanulis was fired Stanulis maintains he was fired by Kanye, 38, after attempting to talk to Kim, 35, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, shortly before they were due to attend the Met Gala. He insisted he just wanted to clarify the couple's movements after hearing about a potential change of transport and she was the first one he saw. The bodyguard, who is happily married, claimed Kanye was 'jealous' and accused him of 'flirting' with mother-of-two Kim. He launched a scathing attack on the rapper, calling Kanye 'the most condescending person I have ever met', He explained how the rapper refused to press his own lift buttons, asked guards not to talk when he was present, sulked when forced to sit in the front seat of a car and 'never' apologised. Stanulis said he is still waiting for the $900 plus $200 in expenses he is owed for his three days work with the couple. He told the Daily News: 'I called the guy (who contracted the job) to find out where is my pay. He told me that Wests camp rejected the invoice and said "tell him to get paid by Inside Edition".' Style muse Alexa Chung was the ultimate special guest at Canadian fashion designer Erdem Moraliouglu's dinner party with mytheresa.com on Thursday night. Rocking up in a clash between ladylike elegance and rocker chic, the British brunette perfectly embodied the designer's unique fashion edge. The 32-year-old model-turned-TV personality was shot outside the Hotel Amman in Venice as she arrived by water taxi for the special dinner. Scroll down for video Rock chick: Alexa Chung flaunted her fashion credentials on Thursday night as she arrived at the Hotel Amman in Venice, Italy for the Erdem dinner She was dressed in a pretty Peter Pan collar blouse with sheer sleeves, that she layered beneath a sequin tabard dress. It featured the same tulle hemline, cut asymmetrically, to soften the look of her patent cowboy boots. Alexa let her lob-length tresses do that effortless wave that's made her the hair-envy of millions and she added smokey eye make-up to complete the image. Style star: She was wearing a ladylike blouse with a sequinned tabard dress Naturally, the style star couldn't resist sharing the picturesque dinner spot, along with her killer ensemble, on social media. She snapped away, turning her own lens on herself after walking in to the flash of eager photographers. From the boat ride over to the moment she made a stylish arrival in the gorgeous northeastern Italy spot. Shooting selfies: Alexa couldn't help shooting selfies as she arrived for the fashionable dinner Alexa accompanied director Caroline Issa as well as the man himself to dinner, which was also attended by Keira Knightley and her husband James Righton. Designs by Erdem are a staple in Alexa's wardrobe and she last supported the designer on the red carpet at 2015 British Fashion Awards in December. The exclusive dinner celebrated the opening of Bienanle Venice as well as the bond between the e-commerce site and the designer. Special guest: Alexa arrived in a water taxi with Erdem Moraliouglu (centre) and Carolina Issa (right) Capturing the views: Alexa shared her time in Venice with her followers The ashes of David Gest have been scattered in a small ceremony in York. Tourist attraction Clifford's Tower was closed for a day earlier this month to allow the service to take place in private, with 20 close friends and family members in attendance, including David's sister Barbara Gerber, who gave a reading. The small ceremony comes after a funeral was held for the US star on April 29 at Golders Green crematorium in London, which was attended by a large number of his UK celebrity friends. Scroll down for video Final resting place: The ashes of David Gest were scattered in a private ceremony in York earlier this month, it has been revealed. Tourist attraction Clifford's Tower was closed for a day to allow the service to take place David, 62, was found dead in a five-star hotel in London on April 12. According to friends he was planning to move to York in the weeks before his death, a city he previously said he'd like to die in. The star's closest family and friends gathered at the top of Clifford's Tower in the city for a short ceremony this month. After a pastor led a short service on the turret, the ashes were tipped to the grass below as guests released white doves and balloons from the tourist attraction which overlooks the flat to which David had moved all his possessions the weekend before he died. Imad Handi, David's best friend and co-producer, explained: 'He said that in his estate if he passed away he just wanted somewhere nice in York. We decided it was a peaceful place.' Favourite city: David, 62, was found dead in a five-star hotel in London on April 12 and while his funeral took place in the capital last month, his friends and family decided to scatter his ashes in York - where the US star had planned to move to A spokesman for English Heritage, custodians of the tower, added: 'We were approached by David Gest's family who asked if they could scatter his ashes from the top of Clifford's Tower in a small, private memorial. 'As he was an adopted son of York, we thought it an appropriate thing to do for his family.' The Celebrity Big Brother star previously said of York: 'I've lived in New York, Beverly Hills, I still have property in Hawaii, I lived in Claridge's for two years. But here it's so special. 'When you have the Minster, all other churches fade by comparison. It has an elite beauty and the people are so special. I think I'd like to die here.' With the scattering of his ashes, it had been revealed that David's request for his favourite sandwich shop to be his resting place was the star's final joke. Small service: After a pastor led a short service on the turret, the ashes were tipped to the grass below as guests released white doves and balloons from the tourist attraction During his frequent visits to York, Gest had been a regular at York Hog Roast, now called the York Roast Company, where he liked to eat standing up at the counter at the smaller of the two shops in Stonegate. Twelve days before his death, he said in a BBC interview that he wanted his ashes scattered outside the shop. Thinking that was what he would have wanted, David's pal and York Roast boss Wayne Chadwick had been waiting to receive the remains. Following the funeral at Golders Green last month, hog roast boss Mr Chadwick planned to install the ashes in a disused part of the shop with a fireplace where the scattering could take place rather than out in the street. Home city: Clifford's Tower overlooks the flat to which David had moved all his possessions the weekend before he died But Mr Chadwick said he had not been told about the ceremony and had assumed the scattering would take place at the shop. 'On the other hand, David always was a bit of a joker. It was an interview he gave on the BBC which started all this off so I don't know exactly what was in the will,' he said. 'I had been asking what was going to happen but was told the decision was going to be taken by the estate. 'I am a bit disappointed. But we don't have any rights over what was to happen to the ashes and if his inner circle wanted to scatter them without any publicity I can understand that. 'There were practical difficulties in disposing of the ashes in a land-locked shop so from a respect point of view I wanted to leave the final decision to David's friends and family.' She is an avid social media fan, who often shares envy-inducing pictures of her life. And Friday was no exception for Elyse Knowles, as she shared a glamorous beachside shot of herself during her trip to Fiji on Instagram. The 24-year-old beauty looked absolutely sensational, flashing her sun-kissed complexion and toned curves in a sexy white dress. Scroll down for video 'I'm happy as can be': Model Elyse Knowles shared a glamorous beachside shot of herself during her trip to Fiji on Friday evening The summery ensemble, which boasted crochet detailing along the bodice and a double thigh-high slit, drew heaps off attention to her lean and slender limbs. With her golden tinted tresses left loose in tousled waves, Elyse radiated a gorgeous glow with minimal traces of makeup highlighting her face. She captioned the snap: I MADE IT! And it's extremely beautiful! A couple of hrs on the island and I'm refreshed already! The business brain is out the window and I'm happy as can be #Fiji [sic] Style star: The Melbourne beauty, 24, began modelling at age 10 and she has since had notable success Meanwhile, the Melbourne sensation began modelling at age 10 and she has since had notable success. 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. Beach babe: She currently boasts over half a million followers, with legions of fans across the world fascinated by the stunning blonde Elyse recently revealed to Daily Mail Australia that she maintains her petite frame by exercising 'at least once a day'. She also admitted her tips and tricks for exercising while travelling, saying: 'I travel with a skipping rope and runners' she said. 'When you travel you can't take your whole fitness regimen with you, so I literally have my stop watch on my phone and I skip and I jump on things. Or I do push-ups and burpees, I use whatever I have in my hotel room. She was discovered at fourteen when she was accompanying friends to a model search in 2002. And now Gemma Ward has talked about the shift in the modelling world when it comes to models booking jobs and the assumption that some only get work based off their Instagram followers. Speaking to Kyle and Jackie 'O' Henderson on their KIIS FM breaskfast show on Thursday, the 28-year-old said social media does play a part in a model's career these days, however they shouldn't be judged purely on their online profiles. Scroll down for video New industry: Gemma Ward has talked about the shift in the modelling world when it comes to models booking jobs and the assumption that some only get work based off their Instagram followers 'I think it's started to become that way. I think it's probably good to consider a model kind of how you would look at her before Instagram,' Gemma told the radio duo. Jackie also quizzed the stunning mother-of-one on whether the industry is moving in a way where it will only book models based on their Instagram followers. 'I've heard that but then I have heard the opposite is true and there are a lot of great models who don't even have social media or really participate in it,' the blonde beauty replied. Notoriously private, Gemma's Instagram page only became public last year. 'I think it's probably good to consider a model kind of how you would look at her before Instagram,' Gemma told the radio duo No assumptions: Speaking to Kyle and Jackie O on Thursday, the 28-year-old said social media does play a part in a model's career these days, however they shouldn't be judged purely on their online profiles Gemma is currently preparing for her guest judge role on Australia's Next Top Model. Although she's yet to film her stint, Gemma also told Kyle and Jackie O that she'll be judging a challenge on the reality show. Earlier this week, Gemma explained to The Daily Telegraph that she would remain gentle in her feedback when reviewing the contestants' efforts. 'I've heard that but then I have heard the opposite is true': Jackie also quizzed the mother-of-one on whether the industry is moving in a way where it will only book models based on their Instagram followers 'I don't like critiquing people and hurting their feelings,' she told the publication. 'I don't want to be harsh, I'll be delicate. In general in life it helps to have a thick skin but in this job it helps removing yourself from your whole identity, that can help.' Gemma emerged from a six-year retirement last year, having returned to the catwalk for labels such as Prada, Country Road and Ellery. She recently returned from a glamorous trip to Cannes, turning her fans green with envy by posting an endless stream of bikini pictures. And Kimberley Garner was clearly still in the holiday spirit as she posed in nothing but her underwear back at her London home on Friday. The 26-year-old reality star took to Instagram and put on a sizzling display for the camera in barely-there Calvin Klein briefs and a loose-fitting sporty crop top. Scroll down for video Who needs clothes? Kimberley Garner took to Instagram and showed off her long, lean limbs in barely-there Calvin Klein briefs and a loose-fitting sporty crop top at her Chelsea home on Friday Wearing her blonde shoulder-length locks loose, the former Made In Chelsea star grinned as she balanced a vase of pale pink roses and a cup in her arms. The long-limbed Chelsea socialite showed off her home's smart interior design theme, boasting a white sofa, lamp, cream carpet and black and white wall art. Kimberley captioned the shot: '#Home'. Earlier in the week she returned home from Cannes by helicopter, having kept fans updated on her glamorous holiday via Instagram. Sharing numerous bikini-clad shots against jaw-dropping backdrops, Kimberley modelled pieces from her own swimwear range in many of the snaps. Sunny disposition: The 26-year-old reality star showed off a sailor inspired two-piece from her swimwear collection In one picture, set on a boat owned by Eden Roc - the luxury hotel chain fellow Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews is heir to,Kimberley sported a nautical navy and white bikini. The piece featured a flattering high-waist design that made the most of the designer's svelte frame and elongated her already never-ending legs. Kimberley opted for a natural look as she posed by the water's edge as she sported a fresh face and only accentuated her features with lashings of mascara. Like a true beach babe, she also left her shiny golden hair to fall in beachy waves around her shoulders. Kimberley kept with the nautical theme as she posted more shots from the idyllic setting in another one of her designs, which she fittingly named the Cannes One-Piece. In the navy: Kimberley kept with the nautical theme as she posted more shots from the idyllic setting in another one of her designs, which she fittingly named the Cannes One-Piece Stunning! The navy and white bikini featured a flattering high-waist design that made the most of the designer's svelte frame and elongated her already never ending legs The cut-out design showed off the former reality TV star's tiny waist and drew attention to her perky decolletage with contrasting white detailing. And Kimberley showed just how much fun she was having at the glamorous Eden Roc Hotel as she captioned one of the images: 'Never grow up'. She also claimed that she jumped into crystal water, despite it being 'icy'. Earlier in the week, Kimberley made sure to not let the glamour subside as she enjoyed a luxury shopping trip with her pal in a strapless white playsuit. Looking the epitome of riviera chic, Kimberley flaunted her endless tanned legs as she hit high end stores such as Chanel, whilst sporting a handbag from the same French fashion house. Sunning in France! Kimberley enjoyed a luxury shopping trip with her pal in a strapless white play-suit on Thursday afternoon in the sunny South of France Endless legs: Standing in at 5 ft 7 in, the beauty accentuated her long legs with a pair of brown sandal-heels which were adorned with gold studs Standing in at 5ft 7in, the beauty accentuated her long legs as she paraded elegantly along in a pair of brown sandal-heels which were adorned with gold studs. The slight plunging neckline of the corset-style ensemble showed off her humble cleavage, while two dainty chains rested upon her decolletage, which was also spotlighted with a chic printed neck-tie. Making sure the accessories on her upper half were on full display, she tied her blonde tresses into a sophisticated low-lying ponytail. Her face sported a healthy dose of blush and chiselled contour as she adorned a pair of tinted sunnies, which she forewent on numerous occasions. The sleeveless element of the jumpsuit showed off her stunning physique which she has further sculpted during her work stay in sunny California. Beauty guru: Making sure the accessories on her upper half were on full display, she tied her blonde tresses in to a sophisticated low-lying ponytail Taking inspiration from their A-list surroundings, on one occasion the duo struck some model poses where they put their hands on the hip and put on leg in front of the other. A mere few hours later she showed off her perky assets in a plunging white satin gown as she schmoozed on the French resort. Why hello: The sleeveless element of the jumpsuit showed of her stunning physique which she has further sculpted during her work stay in sunny California 'Up in the air': The British beauty flew back from Cannes by helicopter earlier this week Breaking the white colour scheme, Kimberley went on to stun at the Cinemoi Awards Gala in a red gown which cinched in her waist with a dramatic gold belt. Meanwhile, Kimberley recently revealed that she rejected the chance to return to Made in Chelsea and claimed that she felt like a 'caged animal' while on the hit E4 reality series. 'I did get called in and they did speak to me about coming back. I sometimes joke with my boyfriend, and after a few minutes we're like, "Absolutely not,"' she told OK! She treated herself to a mammoth three hours of Botox, lip, fillers and liposuction on Thursday. And one of the first people to see Katie Price's transformation was her one-year-old daughter Bunny, who looked adorable as they left the Mac Aesthetics clinic in Birmingham. Bunny wore head-to-toe pink, while her TV personality mum, 38, cradled her in a matching fluffy pink blanket as they left after a lengthy day of beauty modification. Scroll down for video Long day! Katie Price, 38, took one-year-old daughter Bunny home after getting Botox, lip, fillers and liposuction all in one day on Thursday The blonde beauty absolutely beamed with confidence as she braced the slight breeze in a satin white bomber jacket, while also balancing a hot pink bag on her shoulder. In true Katie style, she jazzed up the look with sparkly silver trainers and matching cat-shaped sunnies. Sporting a fantastic mood, she later took to Instagram to flaunt her pride at her youngest's impeccable behaviour during her lengthy three hours at the clinic. 'Nearly home and my Bunny boo been soo good and still happy (sic),' Katie enthused about her second daughter- who she shares with hubby Kieran Hayler. Time for a nap: Bunny wore head to toe pink, while her mum cradled her in a matching fluffy pink blanket as they left after a lengthy day of beauty modification Her own spin: In true Katie style, she jazzed up her look with sparkly silver trainers and matching cat-shaped sunnies as they headed home Bonding! The TV personality was joined at the clinic by her adorable daughter Bunny, one, who looked to be in high spirits despite her mother's lengthy visit Katie would be the first to admit to undergoing her fair share of surgical procedures over the years. However, her three alterations during one visit may be a new record for the former glamour model. And she wasn't shy to flaunt it as she shared a series of candid shots of the procedures in action on social media. 'Hey what am I up to,' read her first post on Instagram, which saw Katie's make-up free face brandished with a white formula around her lips and at the tops of her cheek bones, before confessing it was numbing cream. Surgery splurge! She would be the first to admit to undergoing her fair share of surgical procedures over the years but Katie possibly broke a new record, even for her The star also treated herself to a 3D liposuction session and even shared a snap of the non-invasive procedure taking place. 'Wow this is amazing,' she gushed. 3D-lipo allows patients to choose between several options and combinations to target and treat stubborn fat and areas of cellulite. Depending on which option you choose, the effects can include weight loss, skin tightening and cellulite reduction, with each operation lasting between 30-60 minutes. Having a pamper: 'Hey what am I up to,' read her first post on Instagram, which saw Katie's make-up free face brandished with a numbing cream around her lips and at the tops of her cheek bones Going all out: The star also treated herself to a 3D liposuction session and even shared a snap of the non-invasive procedure taking place And it seemed Katie was delighted with the end result as she flaunted her pearly whites with a beaming selfie. 'Absolute love my lips and smile with my new lips @macaesthetics (sic),' she wrote alongside the snap. Her post comes just days after Katie criticised the smile of Victoria Beckham, who she has had a rivalry with since the early Noughties after the former Spice Girl released a song with her ex Dane Bowers called Out Of Your Mind. During a segment on the power of smiling, Gloria Hunniford, 76, said she didn't like the way the fashion designer, 42, fails to smile when she is photographed. 'That's because she has horrible teeth,' Katie, 38, said as quick as a flash. 'I'm sorry but she does.' Beaming: 'Absolute love my lips and smile with my new lips @macaesthetics (sic),' she wrote alongside another smiley snap Katie then revealed that she doesn't personally like to smile as she had an accident when she was younger that affected her own appearance. She said: 'I hate smiling. When I was younger, I broke my teeth on my brother's skateboard. I like them now but that's because I paid enough for them.' The former glamour model - who has undergone seven boob jobs in her lifetime - was quick to insist on Thursday that she wasn't undertaking any surgeries on her breasts, despite a source telling Closer magazine in April that she was contemplating her eighth operation. The location of the upcoming series finale of The Bachelor Australia has been a hot topic since the paparazzi were reportedly tipped last week by a crew-member. Now, Private Sydney has reported that the reality show's producers have decided to attempt at shooting the finale for a second time in light of the situation. According to the publication, the highly-anticipated episode will be re-shot this weekend in an overseas location. Take two! The Bachelor's producers have reportedly decided to attempt at shooting the finale for a second time in light of the location being leaked by a crew-member The location for The Bachelor finale is always kept hush hush from the public to keep viewers of the show on edge. However, a crew member for the latest installation of the popular Channel Ten series allegedly used his Tinder app while filming the final scenes, inadvertently alerting paparazzi to where production were filming, it has been claimed. According to the Daily Telegraph, a Warner Bros worker unknowingly revealed the sensitive details to his potential love interest via the app, including the location and his flight times. The publication alleged the young woman received the messages from the crew member while she was at the house of a Sydney paparazzo, who reportedly managed to squeeze information out of her. See more news on The Bachelor Australia as second try at shooting the finale is underway 'The first shots of Ritchie and a girl having a date on Sydney's northern beaches garnered a $25,000 payday'': A source told the Daily Telegraph that Warner Bros had struggled to keep the show's filming locations a secret throughout the past three months A source told the Daily Telegraph that Warner Bros had struggled to keep the show's filming locations a secret throughout the past three months. 'The first shots of Ritchie and a girl having a date on Sydney's northern beaches garnered a $25,000 payday,' the source said. The Daily Mail has reached out to Network Ten for comment. Hunky bachelor: Richie Strahan was confirmed as the Bachelor for series four in March Meanwhile, Richie Strahan was confirmed as the new Bachelor in March. The 30-year old broke the news of his selection on March 9, admitting he was stunned when Network Ten offered him the opportunity following his last TV appearance on the sister show. 'To be honest I couldn't believe they called me up to ask,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'I'm a very private person and it's a really big decision to put yourself out in the public arena again.' 'I found it really hard to open up on The Bachelorette last year, but the end decision was that I could meet a girl I could pretty much spend the rest of my life with.' Happy to be back: The 30-year old broke the news of his selection on March 9, admitting he was stunned when Network Ten offered him the opportunity following his last TV appearance on the sister show Dreams: Richie said he 'hoped to meet someone amazing'on the reality series Several hours later Richie posted a new promotional snap of himself holding a rose on Instagram, along with the caption: 'Can't wait to start this adventure as The Bachelor! I hope to meet someone amazing. This will be a wild experience, get excited!' With his tall, muscular frame, piercing blue eyes and boyish good looks, Richie certainly ticks all the right boxes for the show. The hunk will follow in the footsteps of previous incumbents, Tim Robards, Blake Garvey and Sam Wood - all of whom found love on the show. Her spot in the final of Britain's Got Talent wasn't without its controversies. But Beau Dermott, 12, pushed the drama aside as she arrived at Wembley Arena on Friday ahead of the talent show's live finale this weekend. And just like her audition and semi-final performance, the youngster's parents Karen and Ian Dermott were on hand to support her and calm her nerves. Scroll down for video Family affair: Beau Dermott, 12, arrived at Wembley Arena with her mum and dad on Friday ahead of the talent show's culmination Beau walked alongside her mother who beamed with pride, while her dad was seen giving her a pep-talk. Looking back at him, the talented youngster flashed a huge smile as she soaked in her father's advice. Her mum Karen appeared calm and collected while the trio engaged in a family conversation. You've got this! Ian was on hand to support Beau and calm her nerves, interlocking his fingers with hers Final countdown: The talented youngster will take to the stage during the BGT final on Saturday Beau hit headlines after her impressive audition aired last month, which resulted in her nabbing Amanda's coveted golden buzzer slot. Audiences accused her of 'cheating' after her years of formal singing training wasn't mentioned in audition clip. However, her father Ian denied his daughter was a cheat and clarified the reports by explaining that Beau only received lessons from amateur theatre group Stage Pro 'once every three months.' Motherly love: Karen also looked at ease for the sake of her daughter Apple of his eye: Beau obviously has a lovely relationship with her dad Speaking to The Mirror, the proud father explained: 'People are saying she's been in theatre school for five years - she hasn't.' 'It might be once a month, it might be once in three months. She's never done any productions for them.' As for the revelation about Beau's previous experience in smaller talent competitions, the bricklayer continued: 'You've got to use local talent shows to build their confidence up. Hoping her daughter does well: Her mother Karen looks slightly apprehensive about the BGT finals on Saturday night Through thick and thin: Her parents have always been by her side and supported Beau 'It would be crazy to put your child on to a stage like BGT without knowing the can do it. You'd be hanging them out to dry.' His comments about his 'shy and quiet' daughter come after video of an old performance surfaced which saw Beau taking part in another talent competition. In the video, the 12-year-old is seen singing beautifully in the Teen Star contest, appearing confident, calm and collected. Got your back! Beau soaked up her dad's wise words as she relaxed ahead of the big day Naturally talented: Ian defended his daughter after her original audition resulted in 'cheating rumours' The clip appears to be at odds with the assertions she found the BGT audition nerve-wracking after her mother revealed getting on stage was a 'really big thing' for her. Nonetheless, she dazzled once again with a mind-blowing rendition of Someone Like You from Jekyll and Hyde on Wednesday night's semi-final. Head judge Simon stated: 'Very simply this is why we make the show for people like you. Just a few: He explained that Beau only received lessons from amateur theatre group Stage Pro 'once every three months.' Your choice of song is impeccable. Your performance skills are sensational. I guarantee in five or 10 years time we are all going to look back to this moment and say this is when we discovered a star.' The final line-up for BGT has been unveiled after the week-long semi-final rounds and will include 10 act, plus two wildcards. The finale of Britain's Got Talent will air on ITV at 7.30pm. Shanina Shaik appears to be putting the alleged brawl between her fiance and ex behind her, by posting a happy snap of her posing in a tiny bikini. The racy pic uploaded on Friday shows the Victorias Secret model on her balcony in just a barely-there two-piece. Woke up in good spirits #goodmorning, she wrote on Instagram to her 737,000 followers, including a bikini emoji. Scroll down for video Good morning: Shanina Shaik appears to be trying to put the alleged ugly brawl between her fiance and ex behind her, posting a happy snap of her posing in a tiny bikini It came just a few days after her fiance Gregory DJ Ruckus Andrews was allegedly involved in a bloody fistfight with her ex Tyson Beckford. While the weaved, patterned bikini top covered her relatively well in the side-on pose, the G-string-style bikini bottoms left very little to the imagination. The bright morning almost-summer sun helped show off the 25-year-olds incredible physique, very toned leg and flat stomach. Shanina dangled her right hand over the balcony and looked back smiling at the camera with her messy black bed hair flowing over her slender shoulders. Breaking her silence: On Tuesday, the Melbourne-born lingerie model (R) commented on reports that Tyson Beckford and DJ Ruckus (L), real name Gregory Andrews, 'brawled' over her in a New York nightclub Just an hour after the risque photo hit the internet, Beckford, 45, posted a snap of himself with the caption it's Friday #teamtyson with a devil emoji. It follows another post on Thursday of a quote by notorious 1930s gangster Al Capone, accompanied by a fist emoji. Dont mistake my kindness for weakness. I am kind to everyone, but when someone is unkind to me, weak is not what you are going to remember about me, it read. The fallout from the fight has, at least publically, mostly been played out over social media with the parties posting cryptic snipes at each other all week. Statement: The 25-year-old Australian model posted to Twitter 'I only know of one man and he fights for me' Setting it straight: Shanina previously took to Instagram to share a colourful patterned image which had 'Good Vibes' written in white across the front, suggesting she is not bothered by the recent press reports Beckford on Wednesday posted F**k what people think, just do you as his first missive after the altercation. It came after the Melbourne-born lingerie model posted to Twitter, 'I only know of one man and he fights for me'. Alongside the statement she included a screenshot of the latest front page of The New York Post, which features the headline, 'The woman everyone is fighting over' next to a photo of Shanina. Meanwhile, Ruckus also took to social media to address the articles by sharing a short 30-second video. 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' 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.' Fighting mad: Shanina's ex-boyfriend Tyson Beckford (pictured) reportedly got into a brawl with DJ Ruckus outside the Up & Down nightclub in Manhattan, New York last Thursday night At the time, Tyson had yet to comment on the situation, but shared multiple images of himself partying with attractive women. On Tuesday it was reported by TMZ that Tyson got into a late-night fight with Ruckus over the Victoria's Secret model last Thursday. The alleged brawl between the former friends happened outside the Up & Down nightclub in Manhattan, New York, it was claimed. 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 pleased when Ruckus, who has a residency at Hakkasan Las Vegas, began dating his ex-girlfriend 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. Sources told TMZ the 32-year-old DJ flipped off the 45-year-old male model and the rivals 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. A doorman called the cops, but when they arrived 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, Shanina and Ruckus are now planning their wedding after getting engaged during a romantic holiday in the Maldives last December. Old love: Tyson and Shanina ended their eight-year on-off relationship last summer, after meeting on reality TV She can always be relied on to add some glamour to any red carpet event. And Diane Kruger ensured she pulled out all the stops for the German Film Awards in Berlin on Friday as she stepped out in a caped scarlet dress. Flaring out behind her as she walked across the red carpet, the 39-year-old actress was a vision of beauty in the shots, drawing parallels to Charles Perrault's iconic Little Red Riding Hood character. Scroll down for video Lady in red! Diane Kruger ensured she pulled out all the stops for the German Film Awards in Berlin on Friday as she stepped out in a caped scarlet dress Featuring a keyhole neckline that offered a glimpse at her ample cleavage, the scarlet gown nipped in at her tiny waist, flashing more flesh with risque cut out detailing. Flaring out and trailing to the floor, a thigh-high split also offered a glimpse at her tanned and toned pins which were elongated by a pair of gold peep toe heels. But it was her cape that proved to be the show stopping element of the ensemble, flaring out behind her and trailing across the floor as she walked. What a big cape you have: Flaring out behind her a she walked across the red carpet, the 39-year-old actress was a vision of beauty in the shots, drawing parallels to Charles Perrault's iconic Little Red Riding Hood Wearing her honey coloured locks in loose waves, she swept her glossy tresses behind her ears, exposing her pretty face. Opting for a neutral make-up palette, the Troy star showed off her natural beauty as she walked the red carpet, merely accentuating her flawless features with a sweep of bronzer and slick of gloss. She finished off the look with a gold patchwork clutch that injected another splash of colour into her vibrant ensemble. Leggy lady! Flaring out and trailing to the floor, a thigh high split also offered a glimpse at her tanned and toned pins which were elongated by a pair of gold peep toe heels Natural beauty: Opting for a neutral make-up palette, the Troy star showed off her natural beauty as she took to the stage, merely accentuating her flawless features with a sweep of bronzer and slick of gloss Diane has been back in her home country of Germany promoting her latest film Sky - which has already been released in North America. But while her longtime beau Joshua Jackson has a cameo in the movie, he wasn't with her at the red carpet event. Nor was her co-star Norman Reedus. But the star seemed more than content in her own company, and cut a striking solo figure as she headed into the awards. Red carpet ready: She waltzed into the venue, turning all heads in her direction Sharing the red carpet: She shared her moment in the spotlight with a close friend Special recognition: The blonde bombshell was awarded a gong on stage by Peter Kurth Gracious winner: She gave a slight bow as she received the glittering gold trophy He's barely been seen without his girlfriend, Chloe Grace Moretz, over the past few weeks. But Brooklyn Beckham was clearly enjoying some alone time as he was spotted skateboarding in London's upmarket Notting Hill neighbourhood on Thursday. David and Victoria's eldest son looked to be having fun as he showed off his moves at the skate park and even taught other youngsters some tricks. Scroll down for video Showing off his moves: Brooklyn Beckham was clearly enjoying some alone time as he was snapped skateboarding in London's upmarket Notting Hill neighbourhood on Thursday The 17-year-old rocked a casual ensemble comprising a baggy white T-shirt and grey skinny jeans teamed with a pair of black Nike trainers. Safety-conscious Brooklyn wore a sturdy looking helmet to protect himself, should one of his extreme moves go wrong. His usually untamed mass of hair was hidden under the bulky black helmet. The teenager happily chatted away with fellow skaters in between his expert tricks and found time to help others with their moves too. Impressive: David and Victoria's eldest looked to be having fun as he showed off his moves at the skate park Skilled skater: The famous face even had time to teach some of the other youngsters a few tricks Dressed dowm: The 17-year-old rocked a casual ensemble of a baggy white T-shirt and grey skinny jeans His skating trip comes just days after Brooklyn confirmed his status as a global celebrity in his own right as he featured on the cover of Vogue ME. Sharing a snap of the cover on Instagram, he captioned the image with the words: 'My vogue me cover with Jing and heather. #VogueMe #VogueChina. Thank you @VogueChina @Angelica_Cheung.' The official Instagram account for the magazine teased that Brooklyn's younger brother Romeo, 13, also appears inside the magazine, which hits news stands on June 1. Tasty treat: Dad David Beckham posted a snap of him with a plate of pie and mash on set during his filming schedule on Friday All the the right gear: The teenager wore some specialist Nike skateboarding trainers in black Safety conscious: Brooklyn wore a sturdy looking helmet to protect himself if one of his extreme moves went wrong Chatty: The teenager happily talked with fellow skaters in between his expert tricks and found time to help others with their moves too Wearing an embroidered sweater, he is sat in between his two female colleagues, staring moodily at the camera. Dad David also posted the cover and on Friday shared a snap of him with a plate of pie and mash on set during his filming schedule. Brooklyn's solo appearance is a surprise after being attached at the hip over the past week to girlfriend Chloe. The teens even appeared together at the premiere of Chloe's new film, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. Bad hair day? His usually untamed mane of brunette hair was invisible under the bulky black helmet Well known: His skating trip comes just days after Brooklyn confirmed his status as a global celebrity in his own right as he featured on the cover of Vogue ME After first sparking speculation they had rekindled their romance last month, Brooklyn has recently shared a number of pictures of himself and Chloe on his Instagram account, and described her as his 'bae'. Chloe said during an appearance on The Talk they chose now as the time to reveal their relationship status as hiding it was putting them under strain. She said: 'Well, we've been off and on together for a couple of years now, and we just kind of made it official.' Success! The teenager appears to have mastered the technically challenging trick Hair raising: The famous youngster flips his board as he leaves one of the park's ramps Getting hot? Brooklyn rolls his T-shirt up after his skating session perhaps due to the heat Mishap? He appears to stumble after one trick and looks back to check his skateboard is not damaged She added: '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."' Chloe went on to confirm their relationship earlier this month during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. Alone time: Brooklyn's solo appearance is a surprise after being attached at the hip over the past week to girlfriend Chloe New romance: After first sparking speculation they had rekindled their romance last month, Brooklyn has recently shared a number of pictures of himself and Chloe on his Instagram account He's been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Amber Heard. But for now that shouldn't be a problem for Johnny Depp, who was pictured in Portugal on Friday, as his estranged wife was seen sobbing outside a Los Angeles courtroom. As a solemn Amber succeeded in her bid to get a restraining order against her husband of 15 months, Johnny was across the Atlantic in Europe. The actor was photographed with his Hollywood Vampires bandmates Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, doing charitable deeds ahead of their gig at the Rock in Rio Lisboa music festival. Charity work: Johnny Depp helps an elderly lady get a hearing aid fitted in Portugal as part of an outreach project; back home in Los Angeles Amber Heard was successfully getting a restraining order against him Quiet moment: Johnny sips a drink between photo opportunities; he did not comment on his wife's allegations Not a good day: The actor kept his sunglasses on throughout the public appearance The band's official Instagram stated: 'The Hollywood Vampires have partnered with the Starkey Hearing Foundation in order to bring awareness to this foundation who change lives by bringing hearing aids to impoverished corners of the world where the hearing impaired are often unable to participate in life.' But as Johnny did his bit for good, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl H. Moor was making the ruling after being shown pictures of Amber with a bruised face. The judge cautioned the 52-year-old not to try to contact the 30-year-old actress after she alleged that she had been the victim of physical assault by her husband. TMZ reports that Amber told the judge she filed for divorce on Monday because Johnny hit her with an iPhone two days before, leaving her with a bruised eye, which she showed a picture of in court. Doing his bit: Johnny's band The Hollywood Vampires have partnered with the Starkey Hearing Foundation Facing the press: But as Johnny did his bit for good, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl H. Moor was making his ruling after being shown pictures of Amber with a bruised face Performing: Johnny's band are set to take to the stage at the Rock in Rio Lisboa music festival on Friday She is said to have claimed that Johnny offered her money to keep quiet about the injury and also included pictures taken at other times she alleges he assaulted her. She wrote in a statement: 'During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me. I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry, hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him. 'I live in fear that Johnny will return to (our house) unannounced to terrorise me, physically and emotionally.' Charming the customers: The actor made another hearing aid recipient smile What's he doing now: Johnny had fun with a pair of miniature tweezers That's a boy: Joking aside, Johnny helped to make a patient's dream come true Johnny's lawyer, celebrity divorce attorney Laura Wasser, represented him in court. He has yet to comment on Amber's allegations or the judge's ruling. The Pirates of the Caribbean star - who is estimated to be worth around $400 million - recently asked a judge to reject Amber's claim for spousal support. Allegations: Amber made an appearance in court on Friday in Los Angeles to allege her husband hit her in the face with an iPhone on Saturday The pair are not thought to have put a pre-nuptial agreement in place before they wed in February 2015 in Los Angeles, followed by another ceremony in the Bahamas. The former couple met on the set of 2011 film The Rum Diary. Johnny previously divorced his first wife, make-up artist Lori Anne Allison, in 1985 after just two years of marriage and he split from French actress partner Vanessa Paradis - who he has daughter Lily-Rose, 16, and 13-year-old son Jack with - in 2012 after 14 years together. Amber was in a three-year relationship with girlfriend Tasya van Ree until 2011. Amber Heard is fighting to keep Johnny Depp away from her dog Pistol. A judge on Friday granted the 30-year-old actress' request for a restraining order against her estranged husband - but rejected Amber's plea to keep Johnny away from her tiny Yorkshire Terrier, saying there wasn't enough evidence the dog needs protection. The couple have two Yorkshire Terriers, Pistol and Boo, who landed them in trouble with Australian customs last year. Scroll down for video Divorcing: A somber Amber Heard had a large bruise on her face as she arrived in court in Los Angeles on Friday, where a judge agreed to her restraining order request against estranged husband Johnny Depp Pistol was a gift to Amber from her ex-girlfriend, artist Tasya Van Ree, ET reported. And Boo was owned by Johnny, which is why Amber's court papers only mention one dog, TMZ reported. TMZ also reported that Amber has both Pistol and Boo because Johnny is out of the country, but will return Boo to Johnny when he gets back to Los Angeles. On Friday, the Johnny - who is currently in Europe promoting Alice Through The Looking Glass - was ordered to stay 100 yards away from his ex, after Amber alleged she was the victim of domestic violence and appeared in court with a nasty bruise on her face. But the judge denied Amber's request that Johnny, 52, also be blocked from interacting with one of the couple's dogs, believed to be Pistol. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl H. Moor determined there was 'an insufficient showing of need to protect the pet dog.' Nasty: The judge rejected Amber's request that Johnny be kept away from her Yorkshire Terrier Pistol, saying there wasn't enough evidence the dog needed to be protected Shock claims: The actress alleged in court that Johnny attacked her with his iPhone and was physically violent on other occasions, and a judge ordered him to stay 100 yards away from Amber Under California law, pets are considered personal property, so she is likely to get to keep Pistol. The Golden State follows a 50/50 'community property' approach to assets, meaning Amber is legally entitled to half of what Johnny earned during their 15-month marriage. The couple had no prenup, and the judge on Friday also rejected Amber's request for $50,000 a month spousal support, although she was allowed to stay in their Los Angeles home, TMZ reported. Seeking custody: Amber took Pistol for a walk while filming Magic Mike XXL in Georgia in 2014. The terrier was a gift from her ex-girlfriend It's not the first time Pistol and Boo have made headlines. The actors famously ran afoul of Australian authorities last May when they failed to properly quarantine the dogs before bringing them into country on their private jet while Johnny was filming the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The now-estranged couple made a grovelling apology video after Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce threatened to have the dogs put down if they didn't leave the country. Australia has very strict quarantine laws to protect its unique natural wildlife. Hot water: Amber and Johnny got in trouble with Australian authorities after not declaring their two Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo with customs last year Awkward: The pair were forced to make a grovelling apology video after an Australian politician threatened to have the dogs put down Amber's court request to protect her dog from Johnny came after The Adderall Diaries star's shock allegations she was the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of the Hollywood star. TMZ reports Amber told the judge she filed for divorce on Monday because Johnny hit her with an iPhone two days before. The alleged attack left her with a bruised eye, which she showed a picture of in court. A bruise was also clearly visible as she left the court house looking somber on Friday. Abuse claims: Johnny Depp attended the premiere of Alice Through The Looking Glass in Hollywood on Monday, the day Amber filed for divorce The 30-year-old also claimed Johnny offered her money to keep quiet about the alleged attack, and fled the scene when she called the cops, TMZ reports. She declined to file a police report and instead filed for divorce days later. Amber also submitted to the court other pictures taken after other alleged assaults by Johnny, and TMZ reports she claims to have video of him beating her. Happier times: The pair were all smiles at the Venice Film Festival in September Johnny's lawyer Laura Wasser, who represented him in court on Friday, has yet to comment on Amber's domestic violence allegations or the restraining order, But Johnny broke his silence on the split yesterday, saying he wants the divorce to be resolved 'quickly.' The now-estranged couple met on the set of their movie The Rum Diary in 2011, and wed in February, 2015. Amber previously dated artist Tasya for four years, before they split in 2012. She then began dating Johnny, who had recently ended his relationship with longtime partner Vanessa Paradis. Johnny and Vanessa share two children: sixteen-year-old model Lily-Rose and son Jack, 13. She's put her split from former boyfriend James 'Arg' Argent firmly behind her. And Lydia Bright looked the picture of happiness as she attended the Vogue 100 Viewing in London on Wednesday. The 26-year-old TOWIE star looked stylish in a casual combination of dungarees and a simple black blouse. Scroll down for video Radiant: Lydia Bright looked the picture of happiness as she attended the Vogue 100 Viewing in London on Wednesday, rocking a very casual ensemble She completed her look with a pair of intricate black stiletto sandals embellished with tasselled ties. Lydia accessorised with a black and cream leather bag, a pair of simple stud earrings and an understated watch. Her blonde highlighted tresses were worn in a relaxed wavy style, which fell over her shoulders and framed her radiant visage. The reality TV star appeared in high spirits and was happy to pose for pictures for the waiting photographers. It's been a tough month for Lydia who recently joined host Lorraine Kelly on her morning TV programme to discuss her split from ex James. Dressed down: The 26-year-old TOWIE star opted for a casual combination of dungarees over a black blouse All smiles! She completed her look with a pair of intricate black stiletto sandals embellished with tasselled ties 'It was a tough decision to make but I felt like I didn't have a choice. I'm stronger and happier now,' she told the veteran presenter. 'I've just been away to Indonesia and I've come back a lot more positive and strong and looking forward to the future.' Lorraine chimed: 'You'll always love him, though. You'll always be friends. I want to shake him sometimes.' Lydia replied: 'You and me both, Lorraine.' It was reported earlier this month that Lydia finished things with her long-term boyfriend after he allegedly relapsed into his cocaine habit. To get over the split she travelled to Indonesia for some time out of the spotlight and seemed to confirm her decision by captioning an Instagram snap: 'I saw this sign at the Tagenungan waterfall in Bali and it made me smile. 'Life threw a massive curveball at me over six weeks ago. But I can now say I have healed and I am happy. Some things in life just aren't meant to be. #Indonesia #Traveling #SEAsia #Closure #NoRegrets'. Famous friends of Australian actress Teresa Palmer have congratulated her and husband Mark Webber following their announcement they are expecting a second child. Model Lara Worthington (nee Bingle), who is rumoured to be pregnant as well, led the string of celebrity congratulatory messages, writing on 30-year-old Teresa's Instagram page on Friday: 'More boys!!!! Yay!!!'. The 28-year-old's message was left in the comments section underneath a photo Teresa had shared of son Bodhi and husband Mark looking at her baby bump. Scroll down for video Congratulations! Australian model Lara Worthington (L) has led the string of celebrity congratulatory messages for actress Teresa Palmer (R) who has announced she's expecting her second child And from her comment, it looks like Lara may very well have been suggesting that Bodhi will soon have a younger brother. Straight under Lara's comment was Australian actress Tammin Sursok's congratulatory message. The 32-year-old former Home And Away star kept her note short and sweet, simply penning 'Congratulations', along with two love heart emojis. Both Lara and Tammin are proud mothers themselves. Lara gave birth to son Rocket in March 2015, while Tammin welcomed daughter Phoenix in October 2013. 'More boys!' From her comment, it looks like Lara may very well have been suggesting that Bodhi will soon have a younger brother Exciting news: Lara's message was left in the comments section underneath a photo Teresa had shared of son Bodhi and husband Mark looking at her baby bump Sydney-based breakfast radio star Rove McManus also left a comment, reading: 'CONGRATULATIONS! We're sure the sequel will be just as good as the original. Much love to you and @likemark from us'. The 42-year-old Gold Logie award-winning comedian, who used to live in LA, shares daughter two-year-old daughter Ruby with actress wife Tasma Walton. New mum Tahnya Tozzi also gave her well wishes to the expanding family. On Friday Teresa and Mark broke the news that they are expecting their second child together. Fellow mothers: Tammin Sursok (L) and Tahnya Tozzi (R) also congratulated Teresa on the great news Short and sweet: Both Australian actresses kept their messages simple with the use of fun emojis Mark shared a picture of his gorgeous wife showing off her bump in a bikini while on an idyllic beach. 'There's a baby in there,' he captioned the snap. The Australian actress also posted a photo of her son Bodhi kissing her tummy. 'And just like that my heart grew bigger. Welcoming baby number 2 in to the family. Can't believe our little Bodhi is going to be a big brother!' Teresa wrote. Well wishes: American dancer and actress Julianne Hough also took the time to congratulate pal Teresa Lovely note: The blonde beauty left her comment underneath the same photo Friendly shout-out: Sydney-based breakfast radio star Rove McManus also left a comment Signature wit: Rove decided to be creative with his comment, saying 'we're sure the sequel will be just as good as the original' Mark also has a son Isaac from a previous relationship. The pair first started dating in September 2012 and got married in December 2013 in Mexico, just three months after announcing their engagement and that they were expecting a child together. In 2014, Teresa and Mark tied the knot again, this time legally, in a Christian ceremony in California. Teresa's film credits include 2005's Wolf Creek, the zombie horror comedy Warm Bodies and last year's remake of Point Break. Baby joy: On Friday Mark shared a picture of his gorgeous wife showing off her bump in a bikini while on an idyllic beach She never fails to bring some glamour to the red carpet. And Victoria Silvstedt didn't disappoint as she dazzled in an elegant, jade coloured gown at the Amber Lounge fashion show in Monaco on Friday. Showing off her hourglass curves in the figure-hugging dress the 41-year-old Swedish model ensured all eyes would be on her as she headed into the Meridien Hotel. Scroll down for video Showstopper: Victoria Silvstedt stunned in elegant, jade coloured gown at the Amber Lounge fashion show in Monaco on Friday Featuring swathes of emerald lace with a nude overlay, the flamboyant gown perfectly complemented her tanned complexion whilst giving her sparkling blue eyes an added pop of vibrancy. Nipping in at her tiny waist before flaring out into a full skirt, Victoria's enviable curves were on full display, exhibiting her sensational physique whilst remaining demure. Falling just below the ankle, the gown also allowed a peek at her barely there grey heels which gave her model frame an extra boost. Trim and toned: Showing off her hourglass curves in the figure-hugging dress the 41-year-old Swedish model ensured all eyes would be on her as she headed into the Meridien Hotel Gorgeous in green! Featuring swathes of emerald lace with a nude overlay, the flamboyant gown perfectly complemented her tanned complexion whilst giving her sparkling blue eyes an added pop of vibrancy The former Playmate of the Year wore her golden locks loose and tousled, styling her glossy tresses in big bouncy waves that framed her pretty face. Contoured to perfection, she wore a sweep of bronzer across her defined cheekbones, whilst a slick of pink lipgloss framed her plump pout. Injecting a final touch of glamour into her ensemble she wore a large ornate pendant with a matching sparkling ring. Blonde beauty: The former Playmate of the Year wore her golden locks loose and tousled, styling her glossy tresses in big bouncy waves that framed her pretty face, which was contoured to perfection But whilst she may have been keen to highlight her curves on the red carpet, the blonde beauty recently revealed that she resorted to 'starvation' when she first started modelling in a bid to look more like her fellow runway models. Speaking to Female First, she said: I started very young to model in Paris when I was 18, I remember like starving myself to fit into the clothes and it was an amazing experience but you know I did shows for Valentino, Chanel, so it was really prestigious. But it never felt like it was my thing, I'm not like a runway skinny model, I'm more curvy. It was torture, I put myself through starvation, you know torturing myself. Poolside: Victoria looked ultra-glamorous at the poolside later that afternoon Green goddess: She was determined to pose up a storm in her teal gown Glittering: Lady Victoria Hervey was also in attendance, looking stylish in glittering dress By night: Hofit Golan was among the guests turning out for the poolside party Dressed up: Prince Albert II of Monaco's daughter Jazmin Grace wore just a blazer Sexy look: Beneath it, she went braless as she put on a leggy display Chatting away: Victoria had the chance to catch up with socialite Hofit inside the bash On the front role: There was a giggle to be had on the front row of the fashion show Laugh out loudL Jazmin certainly seemed to find her companion amusing Poser: Busty Victoria put on quite the show in her strappy dress Global economy is 'urgent priority': G7 Pumping up the world economy is an "urgent priority" G7 leaders said Friday, as they warned there could be dire global consequences if Britain decides to leave the EU. The Group of Seven industrial powers cautioned that the worldwide economy was patchy and faced unwelcome headwinds, but disputes erupted over how bad things actually are and the best course of action. Wrapping up their meeting in rural Japan, the leaders endorsed a pick-and-mix approach to dealing with the malaise that has lingered since the financial crisis erupted in 2008. US President Barack Obama (right) speaks with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria at the G7 summit in Japan on May 27, 2016 Stephane de Sakutin (AFP) "Global growth is our urgent priority," the G7 said in a final statement. "Taking into account country-specific circumstances, we commit to strengthening our economic policy responses in a cooperative manner and to employing a more forceful and balanced policy mix, in order to swiftly achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth pattern." The strained consensus reflects behind-the-scenes clashes within the grouping of rich nations. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe argued that the global economy faced the risk of a "crisis", and drew comparisons with the mood when Japan last hosted the exclusive club, in 2008 just months ahead of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. "To that, one leader questioned whether the degree of the current situation was negative enough to use the term 'crisis'," a senior Japanese official said. That leader was Angela Merkel, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper said Friday, who was backed by International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, according to Bloomberg News. At his post-summit press conference, however, Abe put a different gloss on it. "We shared a strong sense of crisis," he told reporters of his discussions with fellow leaders. Some observers, however, said the high-profile meeting didn't deliver much. "We know there are different views on fiscal policy but the statement simply concludes that fiscal policy should be implemented 'flexibly' in order to 'promote growth'," said Andrew Kenningham, Senior Global Economist at research house Capital Economics." "That really says nothing at all." - Brexit - Leaders were unequivocal though on their attitude to one of the risks facing the global economy, and came out firmly against the prospect of a so-called "Brexit". "A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth," they said in a declaration after two days of talks. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has campaigned for his nation to remain in the 28-country bloc, seized on the unified G7 position. "The communique is very clear about the economic dangers and economic risks" of Brexit, he told a press conference. The grouping -- the United States, Germany, Japan, Britain, Italy, France and Canada -- found easy common ground on the hot-button issue of refugees, agreeing it was a worldwide problem. "The G7 recognises the ongoing large scale movements of migrants and refugees as a global challenge which requires a global response," the leaders said in a statement. 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. "We commit to increase global assistance to meet immediate and long-term needs of refugees and other displaced persons as well as their host communities," they said. "The G7 encourages international financial institutions and bilateral donors to bolster their financial and technical assistance." Merkel told reporters the G7 had decided to dedicate its attention this year "especially to Iraq" -- one of the chief sources of the tide of migrants fleeing conflict and seeking refuge in Europe. - China - China -- which is not a member of the G7 and was not at the two-day summit in Ise Shima, 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo -- made its expected cameo appearance in the final statement. Although it was not mentioned by name, there was no room for doubt that Beijing was in the crosshairs when leaders expressed unanimous disquiet about tensions in the Asia-Pacific. "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes," they said. Tensions have risen over competing claims in the South China Sea, a strategic body of water that encompasses key global shipping lanes and which is claimed nearly in its entirety by China. Beijing's claims and ongoing militarisation of islets and reefs there has angered some of its Southeast Asian neighbours, including the Philippines and Vietnam. China is also locked in a dispute with G7 host Japan over rocky outcrops in the East China Sea, stoking broader concerns about the country's growing regional might and threats to back up its claims with force, if necessary. The leaders said claims should be made based on international law and countries should refrain from "unilateral actions which could increase tensions" while also avoiding "force or coercion in trying to drive their claims". G7 nations Adrian LEUNG, Gal ROMA (AFP) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses a press conference at the end of the G7 summit in Ise Shima, Japan, on May 27, 2016 Toru Yamanaka (AFP) G7 leaders wrapped up their summit in Japan on May 27, 2016 Jim Watson (AFP) ICoast court rejects appeal by ex-first lady Simone Gbagbo Ivory Coast's supreme court has rejected former first lady Simone Gbagbo's appeal against a 20-year sentence over her role in the violence that followed the 2010 elections that her husband Laurent Gbagbo lost, her lawyer said. "The supreme court Thursday rejected our appeal," Rodrigue Dadje told AFP, criticising it as a "political decision". Simone Gbagbo, currently being held in Abidjan, was sentenced in March 2015 to 20 years imprisonment after being convicted of "attacking state authority" over her role in the post-election violence, which left more than 3,000 people dead. Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo, was sentenced in 2015 to 20 years jail over her role in 2010 post-election violence, which left more than 3,000 people dead Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File) She was tried with 78 co-defendants for their part in the crisis caused by the refusal of former president Laurent Gbagbo to recognise Alassane Ouattara's victory in the November 2010 presidential election. The former first lady is also due to go on trial on May 31 in Abidjan on charges of crimes against humanity related to the wave of post-election violence. Laurent Gbagbo is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes also linked to the unrest that followed his refusal to step down. Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has struggled to return to normalcy after years of civil war, which effectively divided the country between the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north. Hiroshima: what happened to people? The atomic blast in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 killed 140,000 people; tens of thousands died instantly, while the rest succumbed to injuries or illness in the weeks, months and years afterwards. - Ball of fire - The first thing people noticed was an "intense ball of fire" according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This combo shows black and white portraits taken on May 25 and 26, 2016 of survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, (top L to R) Keiko Ogura, Park Nam-Joo, Sunao Tsuboi, and (bottom row L to R) Shigeaki Mori, Misako Katani and Emiko Okada in Hiroshima Johannes Eisele (AFP) The atomic bomb had a yield of 15 kilotonnes, equal to 15,000 tonnes of TNT, yet was 3,300 times less powerful than the biggest hydrogen bomb tested by the Soviet Union in 1961. Temperatures at the epicentre of the blast reached an estimated 7,000 degrees Celsius (12,600 Fahrenheit), which caused fatal burns within a radius of about three kilometres (five miles). ICRC experts say there were cases of temporary or permanent blindness due to the intense flash of light, and subsequent related damage such as cataracts. A whirlwind of heat generated by the explosion also ignited thousands of fires that burned several square kilometres (miles) of the largely wooden city. A firestorm that consumed all available oxygen caused more deaths by suffocation. It has been estimated that burn- and fire-related casualties accounted for more than half of the immediate deaths in Hiroshima. - Shock wave - The explosion generated an enormous shock wave and almost instantaneous expansion of air which also caused a huge number of deaths. Some people were literally blown away while others were crushed inside collapsed buildings or perforated by flying debris. The ICRC recorded many victims with ruptured internal organs, open fractures, broken skulls and penetration wounds. - Radiation - Another deadly effect of the atomic bomb was the emission of radiation that proved harmful in both the short and long term. Radiation sickness was reported in the attack's aftermath by many who survived the initial blast and firestorm. Acute radiation symptoms include vomiting, headaches, nausea, diarrhoea, haemorrhaging and hair loss. Radiation sickness can lead to death within a few weeks or months. Longer-term effects noted among "hibakusha", or bomb survivors, are increased risks of thyroid cancer or leukaemia. In both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which was hit by an atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, the rate of various cancers and leukaemia have risen. Of 50,000 radiation victims from both cities studied by the Japanese-US Radiation Effects Research Foundation, about 100 died of leukaemia and 850 suffered from radiation-induced cancers. The foundation found no evidence of a "significant increase" in serious birth defects among survivors' children, however. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Adrian Leung (AFP) Key dates in the nuclear arms race Here is a timeline of the development of nuclear weapons, as US President Barack Obama pays a historic visit to the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Friday. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only two cities to suffer an atomic bombing, by US planes in August 1945. - June 1942: The United States launches the top-secret "Manhattan Project" to build an atomic bomb before the Nazis do. More than $2 billion is spent to achieve that goal. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the only two cities to suffer an atomic bombing, by US planes in August 1945 - (AFP/File) - July 1945: The early morning "Trinity" test takes place in New Mexico, marking the dawn of the nuclear age. - August 1945: On August 6, a US bomber drops an atomic bomb built with uranium on Hiroshima, killing 140,000 people and wounding tens of thousands. Three days later, a second atomic bomb with plutonium fuel smashes Nagasaki, killing 70,000 people. On the 15th, Japan surrenders. - August 1949: Four years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki are destroyed, the Soviet Union successfully tests its own atomic bomb in Kazakhstan. Britain becomes the world's third nuclear power with an A-bomb test in Australia in October 1952. - November 1952: The US tests its first hydrogen, or thermonuclear bomb (H-bomb), in the Pacific. It is almost 700 times more powerful than an atomic bomb. The Soviet Union tests its first H-bomb in 1953, followed by the British in 1957. France then tests an A-bomb in February 1960, as does China in October 1964. Both countries follow suit a few years later with H-bomb tests. - February 1967: The Tlatelolco treaty declares Latin America a nuclear-free zone. It is followed by other treaties that cover the Pacific, South-East Asia, and Africa. - July 1968: Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which takes effect in March 1970. - May 1998: India and Pakistan become nuclear powers. - October 2006: North Korea, which withdrew from the NPT in 2003, detonates an atomic device, and follows with three more tests since then. North Korea is also developing ballistic missile technology. In December 2006, Israeli authorities let it be known they possess nuclear weapons, and the country is also developing long-range missiles. - April 2010: Russia and the US sign a second Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) agreement to replace one signed in 1991. It calls for a significant reduction in the nuclear weapons arsenals of both countries. Britain is also reducing its stocks, while France and Israel are believed to be maintaining a stable level. According to the Federation of American Scientists, China, India, North Korea and Pakistan are building their inventories of warheads. - July 2015: An agreement between Iran and major powers is signed with the aim of ensuring that Iran's nuclear programme remains limited to civilian purposes. In exchange, international sanctions against Iran are lifted. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the number of nuclear warheads has decreased, but the nine known nuclear powers continue to develop more sophisticated nuclear weapons. In early 2015, SIPRI estimated the total number of nuclear warheads worldwide at 15,850 of which 4,300 are considered operational. In 2010 the numbers were estimated at 22,600 and 7,650 respectively. Australia removed from UN climate report over tourism fears All references to Australia were removed from a UN report on climate change and World Heritage sites after objections from Canberra, in a move scientists and activists Friday called "extremely disturbing". The study, World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate, was jointly published Thursday by UNESCO, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the United Nations Environmental Programme. It profiles the impacts of climate change on major tourism drawcards including the Statue of Liberty, Venice and Stonehenge, listing 31 vulnerable sites in 29 countries. Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which is suffering its worst bleaching in recorded history, has been removed from a climate change report Initially it contained a chapter on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which is suffering its worst bleaching in recorded history, and sections on Kakadu National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness, scientists said. But when the Australian Department of Environment saw a draft, it objected and every mention of Australia was removed. The department told AFP it "indicated" to UNESCO that "it did not support any of Australia's World Heritage properties being included" in the study. "The department was concerned that the framing of the report confused two issues -- the World Heritage status of the sites and risks arising from climate change and tourism," it said in a statement. "Recent experience in Australia had shown that negative commentary about the status of World Heritage properties impacted on tourism." The reef, which contributes an estimated Aus$6.0 billion (US$4.3 billion) annually to the economy, mainly through tourism, last year narrowly avoided being put on the World Heritage endangered list. Will Steffen, one of the scientific reviewers of the axed section on the reef, said he was stunned. "It beggars belief that Australia would not even rate a mention," he said. "To argue that this is about tourism doesn't make much sense. No other country requested sections to be removed from the report. "Information is the currency of democracy, and the idea that government officials would exert pressure to censor scientific information on our greatest natural treasure is extremely disturbing," he added. Greenpeace called it "jaw-dropping news". "Especially while the Great Barrier Reef is suffering from its worst-ever coral bleaching," said Greenpeace Australia reef campaigner Shani Tager. "They're trying to pull wool over Australians' eyes about serious threats to the future of our greatest natural wonder." The world's biggest coral reef ecosystem is under pressure from not only climate change, but farming run-off, development and the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish. Last month scientists warned large parts of it would be dead within 20 years if climate change was not tackled. In introductory remarks to the study, UNESCO's World Heritage Centre director Mechtild Rossler said "globally, we need to better understand, monitor and address climate change threats to World Heritage sites". "As the report's findings underscore, achieving the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rise to a level well below 2 degrees Celsius is vitally important to protecting our World Heritage for current and future generations." Killer hippos spread fear among fishermen in Senegal rivers Lying in hospital with bloodied bandages over the deep gashes in his legs, Senegalese fisherman Ali Fall recalls the moment a hippopotamus tried to kill him as he hauled in nets in a local river. "I came with another fisherman to pick up the nets I had left when the hippopotamus upended our boat. My friend got away but it bit into my left leg, then my right," said the shaken 25-year-old. The waters of Gouloumbou in eastern Senegal, a tributary of the river Gambia and the village where Fall lives, have often run red with the blood of his peers. In the last decade, 25 fishermen have been mauled to death in the giant jaws of hippos and many more injured in the waters of Gouloumbou in eastern Senegal, village officials say Tony Karumba (AFP/File) In the last decade, 25 fishermen have been mauled to death in the giant jaws of these easy to provoke mammals and many more injured, village officials said. "It's the second time I've been attacked, after their first attempt in 2014. I've cheated death twice," said Fall from his hospital bed in the nearby city of Tambacounda. Back in Gouloumbou, which lies 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of the capital Dakar, village chief Abdoulaye Barro Watt looks out of the windows of his office, next to the river where locals continue to risk death with few other options for a livelihood in this rural area. They were all fisherman hoping to make a living for their families," he said. "These men are struggling to survive due to these attacks. I have written so many letters to the authorities, even the fisheries minister, to make them aware of the problem." Gouloumbou villagers and the massive hippopotamuses once lived together in relative safety, the chief said. "We used to play with them in the river. They were harmless." That has all changed, said fisherman Abdoulaye Sarr, sitting with a friend, Moussa Bocar Gueye. "They are evil monsters who attack us night and day. Because of them, we haven't been fishing." Both men are from the "thiouballo" ethnic group which has long made its living from fishing but neither will be launching their "pirogue", or traditional wooden boat, onto the river today. "It's three weeks since we last went fishing," Gueye added. "There aren't any more fish at the market." Hippopotamuses, vegetarians that live in or near swamps and rivers, can weigh up to 1,500 kilogrammes (3,300 pounds) and spend long hours in water to protect their skin from the sun. Easily irritated with terrifying strength, the mammals kill more humans each year than almost any other animal in Africa because of their volatile nature, according to wildlife experts. - Protected, but deadly - Senegal lists the hippopotamus as a protected species, so culling them is illegal. Their current number is unknown, but a survey is underway to track their presence in the country. It is not only fishermen who fear the giant beasts. A lack of running water makes villagers dependent on the river to wash themselves and their clothes. "I'm scared they'll attack. That's why I always stay facing the river," said Aminata Sy, a woman in her forties scrubbing her laundry. "We don't have a well or any taps," she added, keeping a close eye on children swimming nearby. The fishermen have pressed the government to send them motorised boats, and a first lot has been promised. "The fisheries ministry will provide the fishermen of Gouloumbou with 20 metal pirogues (with motors), which are more resistant to attacks," said Djibril Signate, national director of inland fishing. "We are installing a fish farming enclosure in Gouloumbou. The ministry has also distributed nets, hooks and lifejackets so they can fish in pools that are chock full (of fish)," Signate added. Different explanations are given for the attacks. Fishing officials say hippopotamuses are especially aggressive at this time of year when the females are giving birth. But fisherman Sarr says a decline in superstition is responsible. "Practising magic protected people from the river, but now they don't treat it properly, washing their clothes and dishes." He warned, darkly, that a Malian fisherman was to blame, after cursing the village following an argument over pricing in 2007. Whatever the cause, fisherman Fall will take no more chances. "After I get better, I'm changing profession," he said. Ali Fall, 25, the latest victim of a hippopotamus attack in the Gambia river, lies on a bed at the hospital on May 12, 2016 in Gouloumbou, eastern Senegal SEYLLOU (AFP) Fading splendour of Pakistani Mughal mosque Legend says when construction on Pakistan's Shah Jahani mosque was destroyed in 1644, advisers to the Mughal governor told him to find someone "who is so pious that he has committed no sin in all his life" to lay the foundation. Bells rang out with the message, calling on such men to come in the darkness of the night and lay a stone in the grounds of the mosque, which was being constructed on the orders of Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor best known for building the Taj Mahal. The next day, 450 bricks were found placed in the foundations at the site in the town of Thatta. Completed in 1647 by thousands of labourers, the Shah Jahani mosque is a rare example of Pakistan's Mughal heritage Asif Hassan (AFP) "And thus the construction work started taking off," said Syed Murad Ali Shah, the ninth generation heir to Amir Khan, then-governor of Sindh. "There were hundreds of pious men and saints in those old good times, but there are none today to salvage the mosque," he said, standing outside the centuries-old structure, its grandeur now threatened by time, exposure, neglect and negligence. Completed in 1647 by thousands of labourers, the Shah Jahani mosque is a rare example of Pakistan's Mughal heritage outside of the country's cultural centre of Lahore, with its famous fort and Badshahi mosque. Thatta was for centuries the historic capital of Lower Sindh, and the central mosque would fill to capacity on Fridays and during Eid. Spanning more than 6,300 square feet, it was famously constructed so that an imam's voice could travel to every corner without amplification, pinging through dozens of domes lining the corridors surrounding its vast courtyard. But as Thatta's importance declined after the 18th century, the mosque too fell into disrepair. Poor reconstruction work carried out in the 1970s by the federal government inflicted irreparable damage to original features including its unique auditory system. "Many things were replaced during the repair work, and the replacements have ruined the original immaculate work, as well as disturbing the sound system," said Mohammad Ali Manji, principal of the Government College Thatta. "No conservationist or archaeologist was consulted (for the repair) work, so its originality was badly damaged," said Qasim Ali Qasim, director of the Sindh Archaeology Department. The facade of the mosque's arched entrance was damaged during the repairs, with stones engraved with Koranic verses removed and taken to the National Museum in Karachi then dumped in a junkyard. They were retrieved earlier this year only to be installed in a replica of the mosque's arch built at the entrance to the museum, a move that enraged mosque prayer leaders who wanted them returned. Qasim said efforts are being made to drain groundwater threatening the structure of the mosque, which still draws a small number of worshippers. While fascinated tourists can be seen posing for selfies before the intricate mosaic tiles on the foot-thick walls, slowly being sundered from the red bricks beneath them by humidity. But, Qasim said, despite the mosque's unique and historic qualities, there are no plans for any further restoration of its fading splendor. Poor reconstruction work on Pakistan's Shah Jahani mosque carried out in the 1970s inflicted irreparable damage on original features Asif Hassan (AFP) G7 says 'concerned' by situation in East, South China seas Rising maritime tensions in Asia are a cause for concern and disputes should be resolved legally and peacefully, the leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies said Friday. Though no individual countries were mentioned, the contents of their declaration at the close of an annual summit appeared to be directed at China. Beijing's claim to nearly the entire South China Sea has angered some of its Southeast Asian neighbours and sparked fears over threats to freedom of navigation in the body of water that encompasses key global shipping lanes. China is locked in a dispute with G7 host Japan over uninhabited rocky outcroppings in the East China Sea claimed by both countries Jim Watson (POOL/AFP) The Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also have competing claims in the expansive maritime area. China's ongoing militarisation of islets and outcrops there has sparked broader apprehensions about the country's growing regional might as well as its threats to back up the claims with force, if necessary. "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes," G7 leaders said. China is also locked in a dispute with G7 host Japan over uninhabited rocky outcroppings in the East China Sea claimed by both countries. The G7 -- the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada -- said settlement of disputes should be "peaceful" and "freedom of navigation and overflight" should be respected. Washington -- which has embarked on a foreign policy "pivot" towards Asia -- fears Beijing is seeking to impose military controls over the entire area. The US military has conducted several "freedom of navigation" operations, in which planes or ships pass within a 12-nautical-mile buffer around the Chinese installations in the South China Sea, angering Beijing. The G7 leaders also said that claims in the area should be made based on international law and countries should refrain from "unilateral actions which could increase tensions" while also avoiding "force or coercion in trying to drive their claims". They also stressed that judicial means "including arbitration" should be utilised. That call came ahead of a ruling expected within weeks on China's claims brought by the Philippines to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. Beijing has said it does not recognise the case. European Council President Donald Tusk said Thursday on the sidelines of the G7 meeting that the group needs to take a "clear and tough stance" on China's maritime claims as well as the Russian annexation of Crimea. "The test of our credibility at the G7 is our ability to defend the common values that we share," Tusk told reporters on Thursday. That same day, Chinese state media on warned the group of seven not to "meddle" in the South China Sea disputes. China reacted angrily after a statement last month by G7 foreign ministers on maritime issues at their meeting in Hiroshima, and summoned top diplomatic representatives in Beijing to complain. Three tourists killed, one missing in Thai speed boat accident Three foreign women were killed and one other tourist remains missing after a packed speed boat capsized off the popular Thai holiday island of Koh Samui, police said Friday. The boat, which was carrying 32 tourists plus four crew, flipped over Thursday afternoon and tossed its passengers into the sea after it was slammed by a wave near a rocky stretch of coast in the Gulf of Thailand. The bodies of a 28-year-old British woman and a 29-year-old German woman were retrieved that afternoon, according to local officials, and the body of a third tourist was discovered Friday morning. Tourism is a key source of revenue for Thailand, but accidents involving tourists are common in a country where safety regulations are often weakly enforced Frederic J. Brown (AFP/File) "It was a Hong Kong woman in 30s. Her body was found at 10:30am (330 GMT) some 500 metres from the accident site," Thanakorn Pattananun, the head of the island's tourist police, told AFP. A team of 50 rescue workers in seven boats were scouring the area for a British man who is still missing, he said. Police have charged the Thai captain of the Ang Thong Explorer speedboat with negligence that led to deaths and injuries, a crime that carries up to 10 years in prison. "Weather was the cause of the accident because it created high waves, but the boat was also being driven at a high speed," Apichart Boonsriro, the commander of Surat Thani provincial police, told AFP. The speed boat was returning the tourists from a trip to a string of nearby islands and was only a few metres from a pier when it capsized, trapping some of the passengers under its hull. Only one of the deceased was found wearing a life jacket, said the province's governor, who has called on authorities to "strictly" enforce laws that require boat passengers to wear life vests. - Weak enforcement - The regulation is rarely respected on the notoriously reckless speed boats that ferry tourists around Thailands famed beaches and often lack an adequate supply of life vests. "If tourists refuse to wear [life vests] then crew should not allow them onto the boat," said the governor, Wongsiri Phromchana. Three passengers -- from the UK, Australia and Romania -- have been hospitalised on the island for injuries sustained during the accident, said staff at Samui hospital. The United Kingdom's Foreign Office confirmed the death of a British woman Thursday and said it was assisting her family. A spokeswoman said they were aware of another British national in hospital for injuries suffered in the same incident, but did not make reference to a third citizen. "We remain in contact with local authorities in Thailand for further information," she said. Tourism is a key source of revenue for Thailand, but accidents involving tourists are common in a country where safety regulations are often weakly enforced. In recent years the kingdom's reputation as a tourist haven has been tarnished by bus and boat accidents, political violence and crimes against foreigners. In January a speedboat struck and instantly killed a French tourist while she was snorkelling in waters reserved for swimmers off a Thai island in Krabi province. Thailand accident AFP (AFP) Regulations that require boat passengers to wear life vests are rarely respected on speed boats that ferry tourists around Thailands famed beaches Mark Ralston (AFP/File) Mila Kunis, 'The Walking Dead' lend star power to Red Nose Day The cast of "The Walking Dead" spoofed the hit zombie show while a host of celebrities manned phone lines Thursday as America's Red Nose Day raked in $30.7 million for needy children. Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln and many other stars of AMC's record-breaking series parodied their characters in one of a series of video vignettes which raised a laugh during the second annual NBC comedy telethon. Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Minnie Driver were the biggest names among more than a dozen stars in the studio who answered members of the public calling in with pledges. Actress/recording artist Mel B. (L) and producer Stephen Belafonte attend the 2nd Red Nose Day Special on NBC, in Universal Studios, California Valerie Macon (AFP) Craig Ferguson, the Scottish-born veteran of US late night TV, was master of ceremonies during the two-hour live broadcast at Los Angeles' Universal Studios. "Remember, if it's not funny it doesn't matter -- you're laughing to save lives," the funnyman told the audience during one commercial break. More than 50 stars of film, television and the music world took part in the event, which raises money for children in America and overseas. One of the show's highlights was a pre-recorded parody ballad which saw "Machete" star Danny Trejo, Hollywood A-lister Steve Buscemi and Iwan Rheon -- evil nobleman Ramsay Bolton in "Game of Thrones" -- cast aside their tough guy images to croon: "Why can't I be a part of Red Nose Day?" There were pre-recorded sketches from Paul Rudd, Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan, Jordan Peele and Margot Robbie, who reprised her "naked in a bathtub" spot seen in Wall Street comedy "The Big Short." A skit making fun of the charity appeal trope which sees numerous stars saying one line or even just a few words each featured Zac Efron, Julianne Moore, Ellen DeGeneres, Emma Watson, Liam Neeson, Bill Gates and Bono. Julia Roberts and rapper Ludacris visited impoverished, sick and hungry American children, while Jack Black updated viewers on a street child in Uganda who was finally getting an education thanks to cash from the previous year's appeal. The music was provided in pre-taped segments from Elton John, who belted out his ballad "A Good Heart," while country musician Blake Shelton sang "Saviour's Shadow." Japan's master of realism gets first overseas exhibition The works of Ken Domon, an acclaimed photographer whose images of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb shocked 1950s Japan, take centre stage in Rome Friday with the opening of the first exhibition of his pictures outside his home country. Domon, who died in 1990, is venerated in Japan as one of the country's greatest photographers and a pioneer of realism, but relatively unknown internationally. Organisers of the collection on display at the Italian capital's Ara Pacis museum hope that will begin to change with an exhibition that runs until September 18. A woman visits the exhibition of Japanese photographer Domon Ken (1909-1990) at the Ara Pacis Museum on May 25, 2016 in Rome Filippo Monteforte (AFP) It features some 150 of his works dating from the 1920s to the 1970s and encompasses the full range of his enormous output, from propaganda-style shots of military cadets and nurses destined for the frontline in the 1930s through his documenting of Japan's post-war social and political struggles. There are also examples of his meticulous capturing of the country's temples and Buddhist statues and portraits of artistic figures of the 1960s and 1970s. "He loved 'his' Japan, all of its art and its people and he wanted to show this Japan to the world through a Japanese eye," said Takeshi Fujimori, a former student of Domon's who was in Rome for the opening. Fujimori jointly curated the Rome exhibition with Rossella Menegazza, an Italian expert on the history of East Asian art. Now the artistic director of the Ken Domon Museum of Photography in Sakata in northern Japan, Fujimori recalls Domon as having a gruff, uncompromising side to him that made him a hard taskmaster. "That is why they called him the devil of photography. He never used words to teach, you had to learn by observing him. - Hiroshima turning point - "We were always afraid of making a mistake, knowing it could lead to a wallop on the back or a clout round the head." Another former student, Ushio Kido, described his former master as "a very sensitive person." "He loved human beings, especially children," Kido said. Children feature in many of the most striking images on display, from the small boy peeing in the street from a 1952-54 series to the laughing toddler who features alongside his equally joyous but disfigured father in "the Otani family" from his Hiroshima collection. A small selection of the 7,800 images Domon took in and around Hiroshima in the Fall of 1957 form the heart of the collection in Rome and have been symbolically placed in a low-lit room in the centre of the riverside museum. Twelve years after the first military use of the atomic bomb, the scars were still evident on the city's infrastructure and in the disfigured and reconstructed limbs and faces that Domon was to be severely criticised for recording, often weeping as he did so, according to his own account. "People said it was too shocking, and he was attacked for capturing the reality of the survivors' situation," said Menegazza. "But for him it was a moment of change in his life. He recorded in his notebook the exact time at which he arrived in Hiroshima for the first time and for him him it was one from which there was no turning back. "He realised that up until that moment he had chosen to ignore or had been afraid of what Hiroshima meant. And that pushed him deeper into realism." A woman dressed with traditional Japanese clothes stands in front of a picture by Japanese photographer Domon Ken (1909-1990) during a press preview of the exhibition dedicated to his work at the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome Filippo Monteforte (AFP) Domon Ken, who died in 1990, is venerated in Japan as one of the country's greatest photographers and a pioneer of realism, but relatively unknown internationally Filippo Monteforte (AFP) 'Inexcusable errors' by Australia TV crew in Beirut kidnap An Australian television crew involved in a botched child kidnap story in Lebanon made "inexcusable errors", a review found Friday, with a producer leaving the company and others reprimanded. The team from Channel Nine's "60 Minutes" current affairs programme were detained last month and accused of aiding Australian mother Sally Faulkner snatch her son and daughter in broad daylight on a Beirut street. They were all charged "for kidnapping the two children and for taking part in the crime" and spent almost two weeks in jail before being released after the woman's estranged husband agreed to drop personal charges. Australian television presenter Tara Brown (C) and producer Stephen Rice (R) from Channel Nine's "60 Minutes" current affair programme after they were released on bail from prison in Beruit Peter Parks (AFP) Evidence presented to a Beirut court showed Nine paid Child Abduction Recovery International more than Aus$100,000 (US$72,000) on behalf of Faulkner, who had sought 60 Minutes' help in her family battle. In return, the crew would exclusively film the story. "It's clear from our findings that inexcusable errors were made," said veteran journalist Gerald Stone, who conducted the review on behalf of the broadcaster. He found the crew formed an emotional attachment to Faulkner and "in this case, it led to 60 Minutes grossly underestimating a number of factors, not least being the power or willingness of a foreign government to enforce its laws". Stone, who founded 60 Minutes Australia 37 years ago, lamented the team's poor judgement, its failure to adhere to Nine's usual procedures on safety and security risks and pointed to too much autonomy for producers without adequate management oversight. Stephen Rice, producer of the Faulkner story, stepped down but star reporter Tara Brown, cameraman Ben Williamson and sound recordist David Ballment all escaped with formal warnings. Nine chief executive Hugh Marks said the story exposed the crew to serious risks and the company to significant reputational damage. "We got too close to the story and suffered damaging consequences," he said. "As a result of the review, we are expanding and upgrading our processes related to story selection and approval, how we approve contracts and payments and the way we conduct risk assessments." Faulkner has said that her ex-husband Ali al-Amin took their children for a holiday to Beirut and then allegedly refused to return them to Australia. China pushes 'patriotic' tours in South China Sea: report China will turn contested islands in the South China Sea into pleasure-trip destinations for "patriotic" tourists, state-media said Friday, in a move likely to further stoke regional tensions. China claims almost all of the strategically vital South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. But the Asian giant hopes to turn the area around Woody Island in the contested Paracels chain into a "major tourist attraction comparable to the Maldives", the state-run China Daily said. Crew members of China's South Sea Fleet taking part in a drill in the Xisha Islands, or the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea earlier this month STR (AFP/File) Holidaymakers will be able to windsurf, fish, dive, take sea plane trips and attend island weddings "for romantics", it explained, with no mention of rival claims to the island by Vietnam and Taiwan. "It is not an easy trip, but many people with a patriotic spirit want to try it," Xiao Jie, the mayor of Sansha city, on Woody Island, told the paper, adding that it was "like a blank canvas". Tourists have been allowed to travel to non-militarized areas of the South China Sea since 2013, it said, with Xiao estimating that 30,000 have already visited. Cruise ships brought 16,000 tourists on six trips to the Paracel islands -- known as Xisha in Chinese -- last year, the paper added. Beijing unilaterally awarded Sansha two million square kilometres of sea in 2012, declaring it to be China's largest city. It will use ships to remove rubbish as the number of visitors rises, the China Daily said. Tourist ships depart from Sanya city in the southern province of Hainan, whose cruise terminal is undergoing a nearly $3 billion dollar renovation to become one of the busiest in Asia, the report said. China says Nanjing more worthy of remembrance than Hiroshima China said on Friday that Japan's World War II violence is more worthy of remembrance than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, ahead of a historic visit by US President Barack Obama. The trip is the first visit to the city by a sitting American President since the world was first shown the potential key to its own destruction in a bombing that claimed the lives of 140,000 people. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said that the massacre of civilians by Japanese troops in the city of Nanjing deserved greater reflection. Honorary guards place wreaths on a memorial monument during a ceremony at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in Nanjing on December 13, 2015 on the second annual day of remembrance to commemorate the massacre "Hiroshima is worthy of attention. But even more so Nanjing should not be forgotten," the ministry's website cited him as saying. "Victims deserve sympathy, but perpetrators should never shirk their responsibility," told a huddle of reporters, state broadcaster CCTV showed. China says 300,000 people died in a six-week spree of killing, rape and destruction after the Japanese military entered Nanjing in 1937, although some respected academics put the number lower. China historian Jonathan Spence, for example, estimates that 42,000 soldiers and citizens were killed and 20,000 women raped, many of whom later died. The state-run China Daily newspaper declared in an editorial on Thursday that the "atomic bombings of Japan were of its own making". It accused present-day Japanese officials of "trying to portray Japan as the victim of World War II rather than one of its major perpetrators". While some in Japan feel the attack was an abomination because it targeted civilians, many Americans and former allied countries say it hastened the end of a brutal and bloody conflict. China's ruling Communist party often reminds its citizens of the brutal behaviour of Japanese soldiers who occupied China during the War, and accuses Tokyo of attempting to whitewash history. The bombing of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified, the China Daily said, as "a bid to bring an early end to the war and prevent protracted warfare from claiming even more lives". "It was the war of aggression the Japanese militarist government launched against its neighbours and its refusal to accept its failure that had led to US dropping the atomic bombs," it added. Obama's visit comes on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Seven nations in Japan, which on Thursday said it was "concerned" about rising tensions in the South China Sea. Beijing said that the bloc of major economies -- which excludes China -- should stay out of its disputes with several Southeast Asian neighbours. China's Communist party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, published a commentary Friday saying Japan had "disregarded the feelings of Asian countries, manipulated historical facts, abandoned peaceful promises, and created threats to the regional security situation". A man places a flower on a monument in Nanjing on March 9, 2014 showing the names of people who died in battles against Japan during World War II Obama makes history with Hiroshima visit Barack Obama paid moving tribute to victims of the first atomic bomb Friday, offering a comforting embrace to a tearful man who survived the devastating attack on Hiroshima. In a ceremony loaded with symbolism, the first sitting US president to visit the city clasped hands with one survivor and hugged another after speaking about the day that marked one of the most terrifying chapters of World War II. "71 years ago, death fell from the sky and the world was changed," Obama said of a bomb that "demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself". US President Barack Obama (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands after laying wreaths at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 27, 2016 Jim Watson (AFP) "Why did we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead," he said. As crows called through the hush of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Obama offered a floral wreath at the cenotaph, pausing in momentary contemplation with his eyes closed and his head lowered. The site lies in the shadow of a domed building, whose skeleton stands in silent testament to those who perished. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe followed by offering his own wreath and a brief, silent bow. After both men had spoken, Obama, whose predecessor Harry Truman gave the go-ahead for the world's first nuclear strike, greeted ageing survivors, embracing 79-year-old Shigeaki Mori, who appeared overcome with emotion. "The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged," Mori told reporters afterwards. Obama also chatted with a smiling Sunao Tsuboi, 91, who had earlier said he wanted to tell the US president how grateful he was for his visit. - Ball of searing heat - The trip comes more than seven decades after the Enola Gay bomber dropped its deadly atomic payload, dubbed "Little Boy", over the western Japanese city. The bombing claimed the lives of 140,000 people, some of whom died immediately in a ball of searing heat; others succumbed to injuries or radiation-related illnesses in the weeks, months and years afterwards. A second nuclear bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki three days later. The visit also marks seven years since Obama's memorable speech in Prague in which he called for the elimination of atomic weapons, a call that helped him win the Nobel Peace Prize. Crowds of young and old gathered to meet the American president, who retains enormous star power in Japan. "We welcome President Obama," said 80-year-old Toshiyuki Kawamoto. "I hope this historic visit to Hiroshima will push for the movement of abolishing nuclear weapons in the world." - 'We listen to the silent cry' - Japanese and American flags flew on the street in front of the site, with a city official saying it was the first time the Stars and Stripes had been raised there. As expected, Obama offered no apology for the bombings, having insisted that he would not revisit decisions made by Truman at the close of a brutal war. As an eternal flame flickered behind him, however, he said leaders had an obligation to "pursue a world without" nuclear weapons. "This is why we come to this place, we stand here, in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell. "We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry." "The world was forever changed here but, today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace," the US president said. "What a precious thing that is." While some in Japan feel the attack was a war crime because it targeted civilians, many Americans believe it hastened the end of a bloody conflict, and ultimately saved lives. Though there had been calls for an apology, public reaction to the visit and the speech was overwhelmingly positive. Megu Shimomura, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, one of the selected guests at the ceremony, told AFP: "I was thrilled to attend the historic event. Obama is someone who lives in a very different world than I do but I felt his humanity." Shinzo Abe praised the "courage" of the visit, which he said offered hope for a nuclear free future. "An American president comes into contact with the reality of an atomic bombing and renews his resolve toward realising a world without nuclear weapons," he said. "I sincerely welcome this historic visit, which has long been awaited by not only people of Hiroshima, but by all Japanese people." The pilgrimage drew a less sympathetic response in other Northeast Asian countries where historical disputes with Tokyo over wartime and colonial aggression remain raw. In a commentary released late Thursday, North Koreas official KCNA news agency called Obamas trek to Hiroshima an act of "childish political calculation" aimed at disguising the presidents true nature as a "nuclear war maniac". "Obama is seized with the wild ambition to dominate the world by dint of the US nuclear edge," the agency said. And in Beijing, the government-published China Daily newspaper ran a headline saying: "Atomic bombings of Japan were of its own making." US President Barack Obama hugs Shigeaki Mori, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park cenotaph on May 27, 2016 Johannes Eisele (AFP) The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Adrian Leung (AFP) Crowds try to get a glimpse of the wreath laid by US President Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park cenotaph on May 27, 2016 Johannes Eisele (AFP) A flame flickered behind Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front R) and US President Barack Obama (L) as they spoke in turn at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 27, 2016 in a ceremony loaded with symbolism Jim Watson (AFP) Sixth man charged over Australia's 'tinnie terror' plan A sixth man was charged Friday in connection to Australia's so-called "tinnie terror" case in which a group of young men allegedly hoped to travel overseas on a small boat to join jihadists. Australian Federal Police said a 25-year-old Melbourne man was charged on suspicion of preparing to enter a foreign country to engage in hostile activities. "There is no current or impending threat of a terrorist act to the Australian community arising from this investigation," they said in a joint statement with Victoria Police. Australian Federal Police said a 25-year-old Melbourne man was charged on suspicion of preparing to enter a foreign country to engage in hostile activities Saeed Khan (AFP/File) The arrest follows that of five men earlier this month after they drove from the southern city of Melbourne some 2,840 kilometres (1,765 miles) north to Queensland, towing a seven-metre (23-foot) boat. "Tinnie" is used in Australian slang to describe a small boat. Police have alleged they planned to sail to Indonesia and from there travel to other countries to engage in hostile activities. The five, aged in their 20s and 30s, had all had their passports cancelled so were unable to travel by plane. Counter-terror police allege that the latest man arrested, who did not apply for bail, bought a boat, vehicle and trailer and had plans to leave Australia to travel to Syria, reports said. Australia has been increasingly concerned about its citizens fighting with jihadist organisations such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, with some 110 citizens already having left to join such groups. Japan's oldest elephant dies, aged 69 Japanese animal lovers were mourning the death of the country's oldest elephant, Hanako, on Friday, who passed away "quietly" aged 69 after triggering protests over her captivity. Hanako, which means "Flower Child" in Japanese, became something of a cause celebre last year following an international campaign to improve the ageing pachyderm's cramped living conditions. The cause of death was not immediately known, zookeepers told AFP, adding that an autopsy would be conducted later in the day and that the animal's body is to be donated to medical research. Hanako, which means "Flower Child" in Japanese, became something of a cause celebre last year following an international campaign to improve the ageing pachyderm's cramped living conditions According to Guinness World Records, the oldest known elephant was Lin Wang, an Asian elephant who lived until the grand old age of 86 and died in 2003 at Taipei Zoo. Captive elephants have a life expectancy of 40-plus years. Mourners flocked to Tokyo's Inokashira Park Zoo to pay their respects on Friday with more than 70 condolence cards left for Hanako by well-wishers. "Fans are visiting the park to place flowers in front of Hanako's enclosure," said Hiroshi Mashima, in charge of information and education at the zoo. Hanako passed away on Thursday after 20 zoo staff members attempted to raise her to her feet by rope, a common technique used when elephants remain lying on the floor, according to Mashima. Elephants die if they lie on their side for a prolonged period of time as it can crush their internal organs, Mashima added. "She passed away quietly and calmly," Kiyoshi Nagai, head of the zoo, was quoted as saying by Japan's Kyodo news agency. "It's truly a pity. She was the most beloved elephant in Japan." Hanako, who lived longer than the average 55-60-year life span of wild elephants, became a media star last year after a heart-wrenching blog post by a Canadian animal rights activist led to an online petition. "I was shocked and dismayed to see the conditions of her confinement first-hand," wrote Ulara Nakagawa. "Totally alone in a small, barren, cement enclosure, with absolutely no comfort or stimulation provided, she just stood there almost lifeless, like a figurine." The post, along with a photo of a sad-looking Hanako, went viral as more than 400,000 people signed the "Help Hanako" petition. Hanako was brought to Japan in 1949 when she was two years old as a gift from the Thai government and her story was turned into children's books and a television drama. Hanako also had a dark past, stomping on a drunk man who sneaked into her enclosure at night in 1956 and a zookeeper some years later, forcing zookeepers to keep her chained up for around six months. Coalition warplanes pummel IS in Syria bastion Warplanes from the US-led coalition have pounded the Islamic State group with at least 150 strikes to bolster a major offensive on the jihadists' Syrian stronghold of Raqa, a monitor said Friday. The US is backing twin assaults against IS -- one in Raqa province and another which aims to retake the Iraqi city of Fallujah across the border. A Kurdish-Arab alliance is being supported by coalition air raids as well as US forces on the ground in its push for territory north of Raqa city -- IS's de facto Syrian capital. Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic forces as US special operations forces ride in the back of a pickup truck in the northern Syrian province of Raqa on May 25, 2016 Delil Souleiman (AFP) Turkey on Friday said it was "unacceptable" that US troops had been seen near Raqa wearing insignia of Kurdish militia who belong to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and who Ankara regards as a terror group. The coalition has been providing air support to the SDF with 150 strikes on IS positions since the assault began Tuesday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor. "There has been a serious intensification of air strikes," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. SDF forces have pushed forward from Ain Issa, less than 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Raqa city, into the surrounding farmland and small villages. The fighting and bombardment has left 31 IS fighters dead so far, Abdel Rahman said. The number of SDF casualties was unclear. Near the front line, an AFP photographer on Wednesday saw US soldiers supporting SDF forces, who say they have advanced seven kilometres from Ain Issa. The twin offensives come as world powers try to salvage a shaky ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels agreed in February to boost efforts to end a conflict that has killed more than 280,000 people. - Raqa residents terrified - The estimated 300,000 people still living in Raqa city are becoming increasingly desperate to flee. According to anti-IS activist group Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), residents were paying smugglers $400 (350 euros) each to try to escape. "There is nearly no one walking in the streets," said RBSS activist Hamoud al-Musa. "People are afraid of a brutal onslaught from the warplanes, whether coalition, Russian, or even regime," he told AFP. IS had set up a few new checkpoints in Raqa city and was "amassing its forces on the front lines" further north, he said. For the second time this week, coalition warplanes on Friday morning dropped leaflets encouraging residents to flee Raqa. IS, which has tightened restrictions on movement, has been accused of using residents as human shields. Abdel Rahman said a handful of families had fled the city to Idlib province, controlled by a rebel alliance including IS's jihadist rival, Al-Nusra Front. - IS shock advance - IS swept through rebel territory in Aleppo province Friday in a shock advance, cutting off tens of thousands of internally displaced Syrians living in informal camps near the closed Turkish border. Pablo Marco, regional operations manager for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said the group was "terribly concerned... about the estimated 100,000 people trapped between the Turkish border and active front lines." In Aleppo city, at least four civilians including a child were killed in barrel bomb attacks on an opposition-controlled eastern district, according to the civil defence. Air strikes also killed 11 people in a bakery in the town of Hreitan and four in Kfar Hamra in the same province, rescue workers said. Rebel rocket fire hit Aleppo's regime-held district of Midan, killing an elderly woman and wounding nine others, state media said. In Iraq, pro-government forces have advanced towards bridges leading to IS-held Fallujah, said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, head of the Fallujah Liberation Operations Command. IS fighters were using "car bomb and suicide (bombers) and sniper detachments" to resist the advance. About 50,000 civilians are estimated to be trapped inside the city, and only 800 had been able to escape, according to the UN's refugee agency. Spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the UN had received reports that people including women and children had been killed trying to flee. "There have been reports of a dramatic increase in the number of executions of men and older boys in Fallujah refusing to fight on behalf of extremist forces," Fleming said. She described "harrowing tales" of families trekking for hours through the night on foot, sometimes hiding in old irrigation pipes, to reach safety. Fallujah, which lies only 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, has been out of government control since January 2014. The operation to retake what is one of only two remaining major Iraqi cities still in IS hands has been complicated by a political crisis in the capital that saw security forces fire tear gas Friday as thousands of protesters massed. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had urged the demonstrators to stay at home because security forces are busy trying to recapture Fallujah. The battle for Raqa Islamic State (IS) group fighters established the capital of their self-declared caliphate in Raqa after seizing control of the northern Syrian city in 2014 Russia to raise military presence on disputed Kuril islands Russia said Friday it was taking unprecedented measures to upgrade its military presence on the far-eastern Kuril islands claimed by Japan, including plans to set up a new base on an uninhabited island. Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, commander of the eastern military district, announced the launch of "unprecedented measures to develop military infrastructure in the area", the defence ministry said in a statement. He said Russia was taking the steps to "exclude the emergence of even the smallest risks." Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visits Iturup island, one of the Kurils, in August 2015 Dmitry Astakhov (Ria Novosti/AFP/File) Russia has military bases on the Kuril Pacific archipelago, while Japan claims four of the islands in a dispute that has simmered since World War II, preventing the countries ever signing a peace treaty. Soviet troops seized the four at the end of World War II just after Japan surrendered. Surovikin listed the measures being taken as "a planned rearmament of the formations and units and boosting the level of social protection for all categories of serving soldiers and their family members." Russia earlier this month sent six ships from its Pacific Ocean naval fleet on an expedition to an uninhabited island in the archipelago called Matua. Surovikin said Friday "the main aim of the expedition is to study the possibility of future basing of Pacific Fleet forces there". "The eastern outpost of Russia, particularly Sakhalin Island and the Kuril islands provide unconditional guarantees of security and the territorial integrity of our country," he said. Matua is not one of the four islands in the chain claimed by Japan and is closer to Russia. Russian television showed army tents set up on the island as well as a cargo ship landing military vehicles. Troops have set up a field camp and organised water and electricity supplies and communications, Surovikin said. The uninhabited island is swathed in fog and has snow at sea level even in late May. It is dominated by a snow-topped active volcano. Rossiya 24 television showed sappers exploding mines from World War II. It said that the island had housed a secret Japanese base and still has three airstrips and numerous fortifications. The bullish statements come as Japan hosts a summit of the Group of Seven, which has snubbed Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in March that Russia would deploy a range of coastal missile systems on the Kurils as part of increased military spending in the region. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Russian President Vladimir Putin this month at his holiday residence in Sochi with peace talks high on the agenda. The Japanese foreign ministry afterwards said Abe had come closer to a breakthrough on the dispute and had proposed a new approach, while Russia said simply that negotiations between diplomats would continue. Putin is expected to visit Japan some time this year, a Kremlin advisor told journalists this month. Israeli minister quits Netanyahu's 'extremist government' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffered his second cabinet resignation in a week on Friday when a minister quit over the appointment of a hardline nationalist in the "extremist government". Environment minister Avi Gabbay announced his resignation in a strongly worded statement that accused Netanyahu of putting the country on a path to ruin. Gabbay said that he was "unable to swallow" Netanyahu's decision to take the defence portfolio from former general Moshe Yaalon and hand it to Avigdor Lieberman, who has pledged harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists". General view of the Knesset or Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, pictured during a vote on December 3, 2014 Thomas Coex (AFP/File) Yaalon resigned from the government a week ago in protest, warning of a rising tide of extremism in the party and the country as a whole. "I could not accept the removal of Yaalon, a professional and thoughtful defence minister," Gabbay said. "The country of course has the right to have a government of the right or left," he added. "But I do not think it is right... to form an extremist government." "We must stop the process which I fear will lead to our ruin." Gabbay, of the centre-right Kulanu party, is not a member of parliament and his resignation does not affect the ruling rightwing coalition's majority. Yaalon himself was quick to praise Gabbay for his stand. "In our politics, sticking to principles has become an object of ridicule, while U-turns and deceit are considered 'sophisticated'," he wrote on Twitter in Hebrew. "Full appreciation to Avi Gabbay who proves that another way is possible. One must not give up." Co-opting 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 next week as expected. In his announcement, Gabbay referred to the frosty relations between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama. - "Completely messed up" - "It wasn't easy for me being a member of this government... which completely messed up relations with the most important power in the world, which preserves our security interests." The United States has said that the new coalition raises "legitimate questions" about the Netanyahu government's commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, in a rare comment on Israeli internal politics, said Wednesday that 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," he said. Netanyahu says he still plans to pursue peace with the Palestinians -- though negotiations have been at a standstill since April 2014. The Palestinians said Wednesday that Lieberman's appointment jeopardises regional stability. "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 move would "result in apartheid, racism and religious and political extremism." In 2001, Lieberman advocated bombing the Aswan Dam in Egypt, accusing Israel's Arab neighbour of supporting a Palestinian uprising. More recently he said that the leader of the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniya, had 48 hours to hand over two detained Israeli civilians and the bodies of soldiers killed in a 2014 war "or you're dead". As defence minister, Lieberman, who himself lives in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, would oversee military operations in the Palestinian territories and have a major say in policy towards the settlements. The defence portfolio is widely seen as the second-most powerful in the government, overseeing an array of contracts, missions and activities in a country on a near-constant war footing. Former Labour prime minister and defence minister Ehud Barak said after Yaalon's resignation that Israel's government "has been infected by the shoots of fascism". "Sooner or later we shall see the cost and can only pray that we shall not have to pay too high a price," he told Israel's Channel 10 TV. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has handed the defence portfolio to hardline MP Avigdor Lieberman (pictured), who has pledged harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists" Menahem Kahana (AFP/File) The shake-up in Israeli politics comes at a time of heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians Jaafar Ashitiyeh (AFP) Everest rescuers find body of missing Indian climber Rescuers on Friday found the body of one of two Indian climbers missing on Mount Everest, before bad weather forced them to halt search operations, an expedition operator said. The two men -- identified by the Indian embassy as Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh -- were near the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain on Saturday when they lost contact with the rest of their team. "Rescuers located Paresh Nath's body around the South Col (mountain pass)," Wangchu Sherpa of Trekking Camp Nepal told AFP. Two men, identified by the Indian embassy as Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh, were near the summit of Everest on Saturday when they lost contact with the rest of their team Roberto Schmidt (AFP/File) The cause of Nath's death has not yet been established. But the South Col -- located at an altitude of 8,000 metres -- marks the beginning of the "death zone", notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air, as low levels of oxygen raise the risk of altitude sickness. "There is too much wind and snow to continue our search for Goutam Ghosh today," Sherpa said. The missing climbers were part of a team of four, one of whom -- Subhash Pal -- died after falling ill on Sunday. The fourth team member, a woman, was rescued and taken to hospital. Subhash Pal was the third mountaineer to die on Everest in recent days after an Australian and a Dutch climber succumbed to altitude sickness. Some 400 people, including more than 150 foreigners, have summited Everest this season after two consecutive years of deadly disasters that led to almost all attempts being abandoned. Hundreds of climbers fled Everest last year after an earthquake-triggered avalanche at base camp killed 18 people. Only one climber reached the top in 2014 after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides that year. Despite the risks and recent disasters, Everest's allure remains undimmed, with Nepal issuing 289 permits to foreigners for this year's spring climbing season, due to end soon. Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for the impoverished Himalayan nation. The wave of successful summits is expected to give a boost to the climbing industry, left reeling after a string of disasters, including last year's quake, which killed almost 9,000 nationwide. Iran sticking to nuclear deal: UN watchdog Iran is still complying with the July 2015 landmark nuclear deal with major powers, a report from the UN atomic watchdog seen by AFP showed on Friday. The International Atomic Energy Agency's second quarterly assessment since the accord came into force on January 16 showed that Iran was meeting its main commitments. The report showed that Iran "has not pursued the construction of the existing Arak heavy water research reactor" and has "not enriched uranium" above low levels. A UN atomic watchdog report says Iran "has not pursued the construction of the existing Arak heavy water research reactor" Atta Kenare (AFP/File) Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium, material which can be used for peaceful purposes but when further processed for a nuclear weapon, has not risen about the agreed level of 300 kilos (660 pounds). The level of so-called heavy water has not exceeded the permitted level of 130 tonnes, as it did briefly during the previous reporting period. Verification by the IAEA has continued as agreed. The IAEA added that "all stored centrifuges and associated infrastructure have remained in storage under continuous Agency monitoring" and no enriched uranium has been accumulated through research and development activities. The steps taken by Iran under the 2015 deal extend to at least a year the length of time Tehran would need to make one nuclear bomb's worth of fissile material -- up from a few months before the accord. They included slashing by two-thirds its uranium centrifuges, cutting its stockpile of uranium -- several tonnes before the deal, enough for several bombs -- and removing the core of the Arak reactor which could have given Iran weapons-grade plutonium. Centrifuges are machines that "enrich" uranium by increasing the proportion of a fissile isotope, rendering it suitable for other purposes. Throughout the 12-year standoff that preceded the deal, Iran always denied wanting nuclear weapons, saying its activities were exclusively for peaceful purposes such as power generation. In return for the scaling down of its nuclear activities, painful UN and Western sanctions were lifted on the Islamic republic, including on its lifeblood oil exports. Iran however has complained that major powers have been slow to implement their side of the bargain, with badly needed foreign investment into the country proving slower than hoped. The United States has maintained its sanctions targeting Tehran's alleged sponsorship of armed movements in the Middle East and its ballistic missile programme. European banks, which often have subsidiaries on US soil, have therefore been slow to resume business with Iran, fearing prosecution in the United States. GULFPORT, Mississippi -- A former Ingalls Shipbuilding employee pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to lying to government agents about authorizing fraudulent pay when he was an Ingalls director. According to U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis, 63-year-old Randy Mitchell Wilson of Grand Bay, Ala., pleaded guilty to one count of making materially false and fraudulent statements in March 2014. Other reports indicate Wilson was director of manufacturing services for Ingalls when he authorized pay for divers who had not worked. He then lied to investigators about the fraudulent pay authorization. Wilson's false statements were given to special agents from the U.S. Navy, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Coast Guard "for the purpose of misleading the agents, when he was questioned as to his knowledge regarding an ongoing investigation relating to government mischarging at HII. Wilson will be sentenced Aug. 23 by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Louis Guirola Jr. He faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The case was investigated by special agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the U.S. Coast Guard. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones is prosecuting the case. Dalai Lama warns of growing divide among Tibetans The Dalai Lama warned Friday of a growing divide among exiled Tibetans, saying that morals are "degenerating" in the community, as the leader of its government-in-exile was sworn in at a ceremony in India. Speaking in front of crowds in a packed temple courtyard in the Indian hill town of Dharamsala, the spiritual leader called on Tibetans to uphold the community's traditions of love and compassion. The recent race for political office, won by incumbent Lobsang Sangay, a 48-year-old Harvard scholar, was hit by reports of negative campaigning by candidates. Lobsang Wangyal (AFP) "Some were campaigning on the provincial and sectarian lines. These are not healthy. Tibet and Tibetans have been together for centuries," the Dalai Lama told the crowd at Tsuglagkhang temple. "We speak about good moral character and behaviour, but in reality, these are degenerating in our society." Sangay, the newly re-elected Sikyong, or political leader, was sworn in Friday at a colourful ceremony attended by thousands of supporters, as he vowed to resolve his people's struggle for autonomy during the Dalai Lama's lifetime. His re-election last month came five years after the spiritual leader, now 80, ceded power in a bid to foster democracy and secure his succession. Addressing the crowds, Sangay vowed to continue the so-called "middle way" policy that advocates a peaceful campaign for greater autonomy for Tibetans, rather than all-out independence from China. "We are committed to make efforts towards the holding of talks between the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the representatives of the Chinese government and resolve the issue of Tibet peacefully during His Holiness the Dalai Lama's lifetime," Sangay said. He offered sympathy with the actions of tens of Tibetans who self-immolated to protest against Chinese rule and pledged their deaths would not be in vain. "I stand in solidarity with and express my sincere appreciation for the patriotic fervour that continues to burn in Tibet, in all Tibetan hearts," he said. Thousands of Tibetans have fled their Himalayan homeland since China sent in troops in 1951, and many have settled in India, where a government in-exile functions from Dharamsala. Around 90,000 Tibetans in 13 countries from Australia to the United States had registered to vote in the elections for a Sikyong. Marcos son loses Philippines vice president election The son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has narrowly lost the election for vice president, according to an official count that was only completed Friday, almost three weeks after polls closed. The result dealt a blow to the political aspirations of the family, which had targeted the position for Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jnr as a potential stepping stone to recapturing his late father's presidential post. Anti-crime firebrand Rodrigo Duterte won the separate May 9 contest for president by landslide, but the closely fought vice presidential race went down the wire, with Marcos losing by around 263,000 votes to political neophyte Leni Robredo. Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (L) lost the race for vice president of the Philippines by around 263,000 votes Noel Celis (AFP/File) "The elections have been very divisive and we need to rebuild as a nation. He (Duterte) needs everyone's help in rebuilding our country," Robredo said over GMA television as the country's Congress completed the tallying of election returns. Marcos, 58, did not immediately return telephone calls made by AFP on Friday. But his lawyer George Garcia told AFP his client was considering filing an appeal, alleging 3.9 million votes for Marcos were not reflected in the official count. "We suspect that these votes were credited to other candidates.... We believe these votes belong to Bongbong Marcos," Garcia added. President and vice president of the Philippines are both directly elected positions. A win for the younger Marcos would have been the family's biggest political victory since its humiliating downfall in 1986 after a "People Power" uprising ended 20 years of the family's rule. The Marcos family fled to US exile 30 years ago after the revolution ended the dictator's one-man rule, in which thousands of critics were thrown in prison and $10 billion was allegedly plundered from state coffers. The patriarch died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, but no member of the Marcos family has been convicted. The Marcoses have since made a surprising political comeback, rebuilding their base in the dictator's northern bailiwick of Ilocos Norte province. The dictator's widow, Imelda Marcos, this month swept to a third term in the House of Representatives representing Ilocos Norte. Her daughter, Imee Marcos, was also elected as provincial governor there for the third time. Marcos Jnr was elected to the Senate in 2010 and his term runs out on June 30. Robredo, 52, was thrust into politics after the 2012 plane crash death of her husband, the interior minister of incumbent President Benigno Aquino. She served a three-year term in the House of Representatives before running for vice president under Aquino's party. Obama's Hiroshima visit draws rave reactions US President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima on Friday drew rave reactions on social media and from many of the thousands who turned up to witness the historic event. It also spawned a huge queue of well-wishers eager to snap a picture of the white-flower wreath that Obama placed in front of a cenotaph to victims at the city's Peace Memorial Park. The line of hundreds snaked along a concrete path leading up to the iconic monument where Obama had stood as the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima since the bomb was dropped on the city on August 6, 1945, in the final chapter of World War II. US President Barack Obama places a wreath at the cenotaph in the Hiroshima Peace Momorial Park on May 27, 2016 Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP) Some posed beside the wreath inscribed with Obama's name, including visitors who had been unable to catch a glimpse of the US president because of the huge crowds. "I couldn't see him at all so at least I wanted to get a picture of the wreath," said Hiroshima local Kana Kamioka, a 30-something shop employee. "I'm going to upload them on my Twitter account so my friends know I was here." Megu Shimomura, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, said she was "thrilled" to have seen history in the making. "He is someone who lives in a very different world than I do, but I felt his humanity," she said of Obama's impassioned speech. Reaction on social media was also upbeat, with Twitter user @0li0li0livia saying: "Mr Obama's speech was really great. I had tears in my eyes." American visitor Miki Palm welcomed Obama's decision to come to Hiroshima, but it aggravated longstanding questions about wartime US President Harry Truman's decision to use an atomic weapon to end the war. "We should not have dropped the bomb," the mother of two from San Francisco said before the official ceremony. "America has this misconception that we had to drop the bomb in order to stop the war, but thats a mistake." Hugs and tears: Obama meets A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima Two men who suffered horrific injuries in the world's first nuclear strike seven decades ago came face-to-face Friday with the present-day commander-in-chief of the country that launched the attack. And one of them got a hug. Shigeaki Mori, 79, appeared overwhelmed with emotion as he shook hands with US President Barack Obama after a highly-charged ceremony in Hiroshima. "The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged," Mori said of the embrace that was broadcast around the world. US President Barack Obama hugs Shigeaki Mori (front), a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, during a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan on May 27, 2016 Jim Watson (AFP) That very human moment between an old man and one of the world's most powerful people came after Obama delivered a soaring speech that touched on the horrors of the American atomic bomb that obliterated Hiroshima. "71 years ago, death fell from the sky and the world was changed," Obama told a specially-invited audience at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. "Why did we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead," he said. Mori was a young boy when he was blown into a river by the force of the huge blast on August 6, 1945. He saw dead and dying people everywhere, many with their innards hanging out, and says he was only able to escape the horror by clambering over the barely-breathing bodies all around him. Obama also met the sprightly Sunao Tsuboi, a 91-year-old who suffered serious burns in the blast and subsequently developed cancer. Tsuboi, a long-time campaigner for nuclear disarmament, smiled broadly as he shook Obama's hand, with the two men conversing for upwards of a minute. "I was able to convey my thoughts," a satisfied Tsuboi told reporters afterwards. Tsuboi suffered burns all over his body during the attack, and wandered naked through the charred streets until he could no longer walk, before collapsing in the radioactive dirt. "I told him to firmly study what exactly nuclear weapons are," he said, adding that he appreciated Obama's visit. "I give him a big welcome. His Prague speech is still alive." Tsuboi was referring to a landmark address Obama gave in the Czech capital in 2009 when he called for a "world without nuclear weapons," a sentiment he reiterated Friday in Hiroshima. For Mori, the emotion of the meeting with Obama was all a bit much. Asked what exactly the two men had talked about before he got his hug, he confessed he didn't quite know. "I tried to listen to him, but it was so overwhelming," he said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) looks on as US President Barack Obama (R) lays a wreath during a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on May 27, 2016 Jim Watson (AFP) Militants attack Nigerian state oil, gas pipeline in Niger delta Militants have attacked Nigerian state oil and gas pipelines in the Niger delta, the second sabotage in two days following an assault on Chevron infrastructure, a state official said Friday. The attack on a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline took place late Thursday near Warri, a city in Nigeria's increasingly volatile oil-producing south. "Another crude pipeline was attacked Thursday night near Batan oil field in Warri," Eric Omare, a Delta state governor aide and spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, one of the largest ethnic groups in the region, told AFP. Militant activity in the Niger delta has an immediate and significant impact on the country's wealth, with oil exports accounting for 70 percent of Nigeria's government revenue Dave Clark (AFP/File) Warri resident Augustine Amaka said the sabotage had polluted the area around the pipeline, while soldiers had cordoned off the site. Militant group Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) appeared to claim the attack Friday in a statement on a Twitter account bearing their name that said it had blown up the pipeline. "This is the same pipeline that has already been attacked in February and May this year and which provides gas to Lagos for power generation," said Dirk Steffen, from the Denmark-based Risk Intelligence firm. Recent attacks on oil infrastructure in Nigeria's southern swamplands have caused water supplies to be turned off in Lagos, the country's biggest city. Oil output in Africa's largest economy has dropped to a 20-year low following repeated attacks claimed by the NDA, a new group demanding more economic and political control of the region. In one of their most sophisticated attacks NDA divers targeted Shell's underwater flow line near Forcados in February, an ambitious assault in deep waters requiring experienced scuba divers. Speaking after meeting officials from the Niger delta on Thursday, Nigeria's junior oil minister Emmanuel Kachikwu appeared to signal that the federal government sees dialogue, not force, as the solution to ending the attacks. Kachikwu called for a restructuring of the amnesty scheme -- a kind of welfare programme for former rebels -- and voiced an "urgent need to create business opportunities for the locals in the region." The amnesty scheme was introduced in 2009 after years of violence, including kidnappings and attacks on oil and gas installations, by militants demanding a fairer share of revenues for local people. There has been uncertainty over the scheme's future since President Muhammadu Buhari took office last May, with indications it would gradually be wound down. Boko Haram violence creates education crisis in NE Nigeria More than two years after being attacked by Boko Haram, piles of blackened furniture, iron bed frames and computers still litter the burnt-out shell of the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi. The corrugated iron roofing has caved in and the eerily silent school compound in Yobe state, northeast Nigeria, is overgrown with shrubs and grass. Boko Haram fighters stormed the boarding school on February 25, 2014, killing at least 43 students as they slept, and destroying classrooms, offices, laboratories and dormitories. A man stands in the doorway of a burnt out classroom of the Federal Government College in Buni Yadi on May 21, 2016 Aminu Abubakar (AFP/File) Five months earlier, 40 students were shot in their beds at an agricultural college in Gujba, 23 kilometres (14 miles) away. After the second attack, public officials in Yobe closed all schools. But local residents say their children have yet to resume classes, even with relative peace restored in the state. "Some parents who have the means have sent their children to schools elsewhere," Husseini Idi told AFP from under a tree outside his burnt-out house overlooking the deserted school. "Most of us are poor and can't afford to send their children to schools in other places." - Massive attack - The situation in Buni Yadi is reflected across northeast Nigeria and a reminder of the challenges facing those charged with reconstruction of the devastated region. The insurgency exacerbated problems in a region already grappling with low levels of education. According to a report published last year by the Africa Health, Human and Social Development Information Service, some 52.4 percent of men and boys over aged six and 61.1 percent of girls and women had no education in the northeast. In Yobe, it said the figure was 83.3 percent of the 1.4 million males. More than one million children have been kept out of school because of the violence since it began in 2009, the UN children's agency said in December. In Yobe, Boko Haram, which opposes so-called Western education, killed 128 students in five public schools, burning down hundreds of classrooms, the state government said last week. Next door in Borno, the authorities said at least 350 teachers have been killed and 512 schools destroyed, including in Chibok, from where more than 200 girls were abducted in April 2014. At least 18,000 of the 130,000 people to flee when Boko Haram attacked Buni Yadi again in July last year have now returned, according to one military officer in the town involved in documenting returns. But one of those to come back, Ibrahim Kampani, said: "For two years our children have not been going to school and this worries us as parents." - Town v country - One school that has reopened is the Government Comprehensive Secondary School in Yobe's commercial hub, Potiskum, where a suicide bomber disguised as a student killed 58 on November 10, 2014. "The advantage we have over schools in the countryside is that we are located in the town where Boko Haram have no base," said vice-principal Jubril Muhammad. "Most of the students are based in the town and could come for classes from their homes while repairs were carried out on facilities destroyed in the attacks." Schools in hard-to-reach rural areas, however, face greater difficulties, with Boko Haram remnants still said to operate in the bush. In Chibok, for example, there have been promises to rebuild the school, which was the only one in the town and surrounding villages. But despite global outrage at the mass abduction that brought worldwide attention to the conflict, so far nothing has been done and the compound is in ruins. - On alert - In Buni Yadi, residents say the security situation is still too precarious for schools to restart, despite military claims of success. "We don't want to take any chances," said one government official, who asked not to be identified. "It is still not safe for schools to reopen in the Buni Yadi district." Muazu Usman hasn't been able to pick mangoes from his farm several kilometres outside the town since he returned last month. He said nearby countryside is "still infested with Boko Haram". The bush outside Buni Yadi leads to Sambisa forest, a former game reserve in Borno which Boko Haram has turned into its stronghold. Soldiers and civilian vigilantes patrol Buni Yadi's dusty, potholed streets in pick-up trucks. "We are always on alert," said one vigilante at a checkpoint, holding a hunting rifle in one hand and a machete in the other. "We have pushed Boko Haram out but we are not relaxing our vigilance." After two attacks in 2013-2014, public officials in Yobe closed all schools and local residents say in May 2016, that their children have yet to resume classes, even with relative peace restored in the state Aminu Abubakar (AFP/File) Members of a civil society group hold a banner bearing the names of 59 secondary school students of Federal Government College massacred by Boko Haram Islamists in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, during a rally in Abuja, on February 25, 2015 Art of Diplomacy: inside the US State Department collection The elevator brings visitors up out of the dull, beige maze of the US State Department's bureaucratic warren and back in time to a hall lined with period decor recalling the era of the American Revolution. The 18th century backdrop is artificial -- plaster and resin overlaying the modern office structure -- but the diplomatic reception rooms house a unique collection of 5,000 historic artefacts. When the state rooms were first opened in 1961, the institutional office furniture made them look, in the words of their late former curator Clement E. Conger, "like a 1950s motel." The State Department's Thomas Jefferson State Reception Room includes a statue of the former US president Mandel Ngan (AFP/File) "It was a disaster by any standards for elegant entertaining and international diplomacy," Conger wrote, describing how he undertook to transform the space into a tribute to American craftsmanship and cultural heritage. Conger's team brought together a collection of objects and furnishings dating from early American history, from 1740 under the British Empire, through the 1776 Revolution to 1830. Some belonged to supporters of the fledgling republic, including some to the Founding Fathers of the United States, others to loyalists to the Crown. Some have diplomatic significance, others are simply a tribute to the skilled artisans of the era. Thus, in pride of place, visitors can find the desk on which was signed the 1783 Treaty of Paris that brought to an end the Revolutionary War in which the United States won independence from Britain. Nearby, sits an unfinished sketch for a painting which ought to have commemorated this moment: The five US negotiators, including Benjamin Franklin, are already finished, but the British representative refused to pose for the artist. Marcee Craighill, current curator of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, beams with pride as she explains how this work will soon grace the halls of a French royal palace as part of a temporary exhibition: "Versailles and American Independence." Today, the reception area comprises 42 rooms covering 28,000 square feet (2,600 square meters) on the seventh and eighth floors of the State Department's Harry S Truman Building in downtown Washington's Foggy Bottom district. The refurbishment was paid for by private donations in cash and kind, Craighill says, and today the art and artefacts have an estimated value of $125 million. But that is without counting the architectural decor, which allows today's diplomats and statesmen to discuss world affairs against a backdrop of moldings and ceilings based on famous stately homes. Part of the area forms a reproduction of Thomas Jefferson's mansion in Monticello, Virginia, just south of the US capital, and others use marble and hardwood floorings recovered from historic buildings. The grandest chamber, the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room, has a 21 foot (6.4 meter) ceiling and a 98-foot floor rug that weighs 4,000 pounds, under a table that can sit 375 dignitaries. "We wanted guests to have the impression of entering an 18th century American house," Craighill said. - The art of statecraft - Every year in August the state rooms are closed for cleaning -- part of their $300,000 annual upkeep -- but for the rest of the year they play host to the daily rituals of world diplomacy. International summits, bilateral negotiations, press photo opportunities, working dinners with foreign dignitaries -- hundreds of events take place every year. "The artwork plays a role whenever possible in the art of diplomacy, in the dialogue with foreign leaders," Craighill told AFP on a recent tour. For example, in March paintings representing the Niagara Falls were moved to pride of place during a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to celebrate "visual highlights of our shared border." The collection is also testament to the long-standing commercial ties of a rising world leader. One porcelain dinner set shows the founding fathers with Asiatic features, having been painted by Chinese craftsman who had never seen a European face. The rooms, hidden away on top of the otherwise fairly unremarkable office block, are not a huge draw on Washington's well-beaten tourist trail. Only 20,000 visitors per year join guided visits. But diplomatic events and educational programs bring another 100,000 people to the rooms each year, and the venue remains popular enough to support its upkeep through private donations -- as US law forbids public funding for such luxury. A portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale is seen in the John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room of the US State Department Mandel Ngan (AFP/File) Marcee Craighill, Curator of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the US Department of State, pictured in the John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room in Washington, DC Mandel Ngan (AFP/File) The Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room of the US State Department in Washington, DC, which can sit some 327 dignitaries Mandel Ngan (AFP/File) The Treaty of Paris Desk inside the John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room of the US State Department -- the treaty ended the Revolutionary War and was signed on the desk in 1783 Mandel Ngan (AFP/File) Pakistanis hit back as clerics say men can 'lightly beat' wives Pakistani media and activists poured scorn Friday on a suggestion from an Islamic religious body that men should be allowed to "lightly beat" their wives, made in their draft of a women's protection bill. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) released a draft of the bill on Thursday, their response to progressive legislation giving women greater rights and protection in the province of Punjab. Local media quoted the draft as saying: "A husband should be allowed to lightly beat his wife if she defies his commands and refuses to dress up as per his desires; turns down demand of intercourse without any religious excuse or does not take bath after intercourse or menstrual periods." Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani (C) addresses a press conference in Islamabad on May 26, 2016 Farooq Naeem (AFP/File) The proposal was met with a wave of mockery in the media and online Friday. The country's biggest and most influential newspaper, the English-language daily Dawn, published a satirical article with a list of things people could beat other than their wives -- including eggs, the bottom of ketchup bottles, and the Michael Jackson hit Beat It. The article was a rare example of the media mocking those claiming to speak in the name of religion in conservative Muslim Pakistan. - Council of 'zealots' - The draft was also slammed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which condemned its recommendations as "ridiculous" and called for the council of "zealots" to be disbanded. "It is difficult to comprehend why anyone in his right mind would think that any further encouragement or justification is needed to invite violence upon women in Pakistan," the HRCP stated. Online in Pakistan, the bill was met with derision. "This body should be dissolved, preferably in acid," wrote one Twitter user, as others expressed bafflement and anger. Women in conservative Pakistan have fought for their rights for decades, in a country where so-called honour killings and acid attacks remain commonplace. But the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Bill redefines "violence" to include "any offence committed against a woman" including things like domestic or emotional abuse, stalking or cybercrimes. The bill, which was passed in February, also provides for a universal toll free help line for the women, and establishes district protection centres and residential shelters under a phased programme. It also allows courts to order a GPS tracker installed to monitor a defendant's movements. The CII, formed in 1962 to advise parliament on the compatibility of laws with Sharia, has previously spoken out against the bill. The council's recommendations are non-binding, and it has drawn widespread criticism in the past for other rulings -- including in 2013, when it suggested making DNA inadmissible evidence in rape cases, instead calling for the revival of an Islamic law that makes it mandatory for a survivor to provide four witnesses to back their claims. CII chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani emphasised to AFP that the bill is still being drafted. "Islam does not allow violence against women," he said. "There may be a dispute between husband and wife but that is something separate from torturing wives." Pakistani civil society activists march during a rally to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad on March 8, 2016 Aamir Qureshi (AFP/File) Iraq forces fire tear gas as thousands protest in Baghdad Security forces fired tear gas as thousands of protesters gathered in central Baghdad on Friday and attempted to head to the Green Zone, a fortified area they have breached twice. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had called on the demonstrators, most of them supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, to stay home and security forces deployed to block their way to the Green Zone, but the protesters were undeterred. Demonstrators pushed past security forces at Tahrir Square, breached a barbed wire barrier and attempted to pull down slabs of heavy concrete blast wall blocking Jumhuriyah Bridge, which leads toward the Green Zone, where Iraq's main government institutions are located. An Iraqi protester attends a demonstration at Tahrir square in Baghdad on May 27, 2016, defying a call by Iraqi prime minister to halt protests while security forces are battling the Islamic State group in Fallujah Jean Marc Mojon (AFP) Some protesters, who are calling for a new government, gave olive branches and flowers to security personnel at Tahrir, but events quickly escalated, and the forces fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the demonstration. Many of the protesters, most of them supporters of powerful Najaf-based cleric Sadr, had come equipped with gas masks or surgical masks. "Those with masks, go this way to pick up the injured," one protester instructed his comrades after the first canisters were fired at the crowd. Demonstrators forced open a gate to the Green Zone and stormed the premier's office last Friday before being driven away by security forces. They used tear gas, water cannons, sound bombs and a barrage of bullets largely fired into the air to disperse the protesters and harry them away from the Green Zone, killing at least two people and injuring dozens. Abadi had sought to head off a repeat this week, calling on Thursday for protesters to postpone their demonstration, as security forces are busy fighting to retake the city of Fallujah from the Islamic State group. Saif, a 23-year-old protester who was recovering from the effects of tear gas, said he had two brothers who were killed fighting IS. "I hope our forces finish the job in Fallujah; I wish them well, of course," Saif said. "But if those corrupt people in the Green Zone weren't there in the first place, there would be no Daesh and no war against Daesh," he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. The protest eventually wrapped up with only minor injuries reported, mostly cases of suffocation. Demonstrators faced little resistance when they entered the Green Zone and overran parliament in late April, but the period of tolerance of such actions has ended. Protests have been held almost every Friday for weeks by people demanding the current government be replaced with technocrats. Abadi proposed that measure in February, but has faced opposition from powerful parties that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds. Sadr, a Najaf-based cleric who led an insurgency against US-led forces, has also demanded a technocratic government, encouraging his supporters to call for the change. Supporters of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had previously clashed with security forces in Baghdad's "Green Zone" a week ago, on May 20, 2016 Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP/File) Iraq forces poised for Fallujah assault Elite Iraqi troops were poised to assault one of the Islamic State group's most emblematic bastions, Fallujah, as the jihadists counterattacked in Iraq and neighbouring Syria where thousands of civilians have fled the fighting. Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition's chief negotiator Mohammed Alloush announced his resignation Sunday, citing the failure of UN-brokered peace talks and the continued shelling of rebel-held areas by President Bashar al-Assad's regime. "The three rounds of talks were unsuccessful because of the stubbornness of the regime and its continued bombardments and aggressions towards the Syrian people," Alloush said in a statement on Twitter. Iraqi pro-government forces reach al-Sejar village on the boundary of Fallujah, on May 28, 2016, as they take part in a major assault to retake the city from the Islamic State group Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP) He also accused the international community of not doing enough to ease the suffering of the Syrian people. Fighting in Syria and Iraq has prompted a new exodus of thousands of desperate civilians and deep concern for the many more trapped in the battlegrounds. In Iraq, the overall commander of the Fallujah operation, Abdelwahab al-Saadi, has said it was a matter of hours before the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) entered the city. The week-old operation has so far focused on retaking villages and rural areas around Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad. "I won't tell you hours but the breach of Fallujah will happen very soon," Hadi al-Ameri, a senior commander in the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, told Iraqi television Saturday. CTS's involvement will mark the start of a phase of urban combat in a city where US forces in 2004 fought some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War. The jihadists were also under pressure from Kurdish fighters east of their northern Iraqi stronghold Mosul and from US-backed Kurdish-led fighters in Syria. Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Sunday announced the launch of a pre-dawn offensive involving 5,500 peshmerga fighters to retake an area on the road between its capital Arbil and Mosul. "This is one of the many shaping operations expected to increase pressure on ISIL (IS) in and around Mosul in preparation for an eventual assault on the city," the Kurdistan Region Security Council said in a statement. Ten hours into the operation, which was launched a day after a wave of 12 coalition air strikes in the area, Kurdish forces had fully retaken three villages, it said. In Syria, Kurdish rebels from the People's Protection Units (YPG) allied to Arab fighters and backed both on the ground and in the air by the US-led coalition, were targeting Raqa, IS's de-facto Syrian capital. IS countered in both countries where they declared their "caliphate" in 2014, attacking non-jihadist rebels in Syria as well as the Iraqi town of Heet, which the army recaptured just last month. "An attack by Daesh (IS) terrorists on several parts of Heet was thwarted... Now the whole area is under control," the Joint Operations Command said in a statement. - Suicide bomber hits cafe - It said coalition aircraft targeted IS forces during the attack and added that pockets of jihadists remained. "Daesh attacked Heet to ease the pressure on their fighters inside Fallujah, especially following the announcement that CTS had arrived," the statement said. Northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, police said a suicide bomber killed at least seven people and wounded 22 when he blew himself up in a cafe in Moqdadiyah, in an attack claimed by IS. In northern Syria, the jihadists have launched an offensive against the towns of Marea and Azaz that threatens to overrun the last swathe of territory in the east of Aleppo province held by non-jihadist rebels. It would also bring IS to the doorstep of the Kurdish enclave of Afrin. As the fighting raged on multiple fronts, civilians were once again bearing the brunt of the conflict. At least 29 civilians have been killed since IS began the assault in Aleppo province early on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. More than 6,000 civilians fled into the countryside, it said. In Iraq, only a few hundred families managed to slip out of the Fallujah area, with an estimated 50,000 people still trapped inside the city proper. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, around 3,000 people have managed to escape the Fallujah area since May 21. The biggest wave so far arrived on Saturday night, the NRC said, but a larger influx could be triggered when the urban battle between Iraqi forces and the jihadists begins in earnest. "Our resources in the camps are now very strained and with many more expected to flee we might not be able to provide enough drinking water for everyone," said Nasr Muflahi, NRC's Iraq director. "We expect bigger waves of displacement the fiercer the fighting gets." Map of Iraq locating IS-held Fallujah and showing territorial control by the various forces fighting in the country Jean Michel Cornu, Simon Malfatto (AFP) Despite plans before the operation for safe corridors, few civilians have managed to flee the Fallujah battle in recent days Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP) PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A man wanted for cyberstalking a Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Marine Patrol officer was taken into custody Thursday night in Stone County. According to DMR spokesperson Melissa Scallan, Stone County Sheriff's deputies assisted DMR officer in the arrest of Joey Jason Holliman at his McHenry home. Holliman was transported to the Jackson County Adult Detention Center and bond was set at $2,500. Holliman posted bond and was released. Holliman had posted what officials considered threatening comments on Facebook after Marine Patrol officer Michael Strickland had pulled Holliman over in Vancleave and cited him for careless driving and no proof of insurance. Mississippi law grants Marine Patrol officers the same authority on land as on water. "badge # mp 11 is a money extorting pig that has no life whatsoever," the Facebook post reads, "and he is the bitch for mdmr he rides around in a 2016 dodge ram 4 dr pickup with his bitchy blue lights on top............ i bet he aint so tough without his taser badge and gun. he probably beats his wife every time he is unable to write a ticket to an innocent person out of a fit of rage." DMR Marine Patrol Chief Keith Davis said his office received numerous tips about the post, which still appears on Holliman's Facebook page. A Jackson County Justice Court judge issued a warrant for Holliman's arrest Thursday, prompting a coastwide search for the suspect. "With the current climate of violence against law enforcement, this type of activity can not and will not be tolerated," Davis said Thursday. "Law enforcement across the Coast reached out to Marine Patrol today regarding this post, and I am so thankful for the response and support from our local law enforcement community." Under Mississippi Code 97-45-15, cyberstalking is defined as: Use in electronic mail or electronic communication any words or language threatening to inflict bodily harm to any person or to that person's child, sibling, spouse or dependent, or physical injury to the property of any person, or for the purpose of extorting money or other things of value from any person. Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another repeatedly, whether or not conversation ensues, for the purpose of threatening, terrifying or harassing any person. Electronically mail or electronically communicate to another and to knowingly make any false statement concerning death, injury, illness, disfigurement, indecent conduct, or criminal conduct of the person electronically mailed or of any member of the person's family or household with the intent to threaten, terrify or harass. Knowingly permit an electronic communication device under the person's control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section. If convicted, Holliman faces up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. EU further tightens sanctions on North Korea The European Union on Friday further tightened sanctions against North Korea over nuclear and ballistic missile tests carried out in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The 28-nation bloc said it adopted new restrictions in the trade, financial, investment and transport sectors in order to complement UN resolutions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the north's official name. "The EU decided to further expand its restrictive measures targeting the DPRK's nuclear, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes," according to a statement from the European Council, which groups EU member states. Undated photo released on March 4, 2016 shows a test-fire of a new large-caliber rocket at an undisclosed location in North Korea It cited the "grave threat to international peace and security in the region and beyond" that North Korean actions pose. Under the new measures, the EU bans imports of petroleum products and luxury goods from North Korea as well as the sale or transfer to the regime of any civilian material or equipment that can also be used for military purposes. It also prohibits any financial support for trade with the regime as well as any North Korean investment in the European bloc. EU nationals and entities are barred from investing in the mining, refining and chemical industries sectors as well as in any entities working on illegal programmes. The bloc also bans any North Korean aircraft from landing in or taking off from EU territory or even flying over it. And it prohibits any vessel owned, operated or crewed by North Korea from entering EU ports. Last week the bloc added 18 persons and one entity to its asset freeze and travel ban blacklist, meaning sanctions are now in place against 66 individuals and 42 entities in North Korea. In March, the UN Security Council imposed the toughest sanctions yet against Pyongyang, including unprecedented inspections of all cargo to and from the notoriously reclusive country which has locked itself away from the rest of the world for the past 60 years. The UN sanctions also banned or restricted exports of coal, iron and iron ore and other minerals, along with the supply of aviation fuel as part of efforts to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missile ambitions. IMF sets program to help Somalia rebuild from civil war The International Monetary Fund said Friday it would provide an oversight program for Somalia to help bolster the recovery of the country's war-devastated economy. "Somalia is recovering slowly from nearly 25 years of civil war. Weak institutional capacity, complex clan politics, and a challenging security situation have complicated the countrys economic reconstruction," the IMF said in a statement. The IMF said it agreed to a request from the Somali authorities for a staff-monitored program that will include helping the impoverished east African country restore macroeconomic stability, rebuild institutions and improve governance and economic statistics. Displaced Somalis queue for aid in Beledweyne, north of Mogadishu on May 26, 2016 Mohamed Abdiwahab (AFP/File) "Given Somalia's weak administrative capacity, technical assistance is an integral part" of the program, it said. Among the program's objectives will be to try and keep the government's budget balanced without piling up unpaid domestic obligations. The country already has a large level of unpaid external debt, including to the IMF. Other areas include currency reform and a stronger framework to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The program, which will run through April 2017, aims at setting up a track record on economic management and reform implementation, along with a strategy for clearing out the country's debt. Somalia is ineligible to receive any new IMF financial assistance given its $328 million in arrears to the Washington-based institution. "Continued support from creditors and donors will remain critical for a full normalization and resumption of financial assistance from the IMF," the Fund said. The IMF recognized the current Somali government three years ago and concluded its first annual review of the country in more than 26 years in 2015. Somalia sank into a devastating civil war in 1991 when warlords ousted president Mohamed Siad Barre, plunging the country into years of chaos. US commandos ordered to remove 'inappropriate' YPG patches US special operations forces photographed in Syria wearing the insignia of Kurdish troops considered terrorists by Turkey have been ordered to remove the patches, a military spokesman said Friday. Ankara accused the United States, a NATO ally, of "unacceptable" behavior for such an overt display of support for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). "Wearing those YPG patches was unauthorized and inappropriate, and corrective action has been taken," Baghdad-based military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told Pentagon reporters. US special operations forces, photographed in Syria on May 25, 2016, wearing the insignia of Kurdish troops have been ordered to remove the patches Delil Souleiman (AFP) "We have communicated as much to our military partners and military allies in the region." The United States has more than 200 special operations troops in northern Syria, where they are advising the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, the bulk of which is made of YPG fighters. The commandos are supporting the local forces as they push toward Raqa, the Islamic State group's Syrian stronghold. While it is not unusual for US special operations forces to wear the insignia of partner forces, Warren said in this case it was inappropriate to do so given the "political sensitivities" around the issue. China risks 'Great Wall of self-isolation': Pentagon chief China risks creating a "Great Wall of self-isolation" through its continued military expansion in the South China Sea and its hacks on US companies, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said Friday. Carter's remarks came ahead of his trip next week to an Asian security summit in Singapore, where China's actions in the contested waterway will likely dominate discussions. "China's actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation," Carter told graduating officers at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Chinese soldiers stand guard below the pillars of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 4, 2016 Greg Baker (AFP/File) "Countries across the region - allies, partners, and the unaligned - are voicing concerns publicly and privately at the highest levels." China has in recent years dredged reefs, islets and other maritime features and built these up into larger islands capable of sustaining a military presence. For instance, the Fiery Cross Reef Outpost, located between the Philippines and Vietnam, has since 2014 been converted from a sandy speck in the ocean to an island stretching more than two miles (three kilometers,) complete with a lengthy runway. "China's actions (in the South China Sea) challenge fundamental principles, and we're not going to look the other way," Carter said. The United States disputes China's sovereignty in the region and has conducted several "freedom of navigation" operations in which it deliberately sails close by the islands, attracting the ire of Beijing. Carter also blasted Chinese cyber attacks on US companies. Haitian, African migrants reach Mexico seeking access to US Hundreds of migrants from Haiti and Africa have streamed in recent days into the Mexican border city of Tijuana, hoping to apply for political asylum in the neighboring United States. Since last Saturday, the San Ysidro border crossing separating Tijuana from San Diego, California has seen a continuous stream of men, women and children from the distant shores of Guinea, Angola and Haiti. They have spent days and nights waiting to see US immigration authorities. "I'm surprised by the number of foreigners. They don't usually arrive in such large numbers, and they usually come to other border crossings like Laredo," US Consul General William Ostick told AFP. A migrant from Haiti waits at the San Isidro Port of Entry on May 26, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico Gulliermo Arias (AFP/File) Usually, migrants trying to reach the United States from Mexico come from Central America. "I left alone, then I met some friends and other people," said Jonas Despinasse, a 39-year-old Haitian who has plied various trades in his life. "The political problems since 2004 have made the economic situation worsen, and things have gotten even worse after the 2010 earthquake," said the academic, who has been waiting since Wednesday to see a US immigration agent. His journey through Central America lasted three months and cost him all his savings. He said he entered Mexico through Chiapas, where he obtained a temporary 30-day authorization to stay. Another migrant in the queue was a 25-year-old man from Guinea Bissau who declined to give his name for fear the authorities would refuse to grant him political asylum. He said that in Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru, he was the victim of corrupt police who demanded money. "Now I always hide my travel money, or ask people I trust to deposit money in each country I visit," he said in a broken Spanish, after arriving in Tijuana from Brazil, a journey he says cost him $3,000. "In my country there are no employment opportunities. There's no work due to the political divisions" and regional conflicts, said the former textile merchant. Ostick cautioned that each case is reviewed carefully and individually to determine whether to grant asylum to a refugee. "Everyone must present their case, and the requirements for asylum are very specific. They need to provide reliable or verifiable information that they fear of persecution," he explained. The overwhelmed immigration offices at San Ysidro temporarily stopped issuing permits and other paperwork to Mexican travelers living in the border area. Mexico's 3,200-kilometer-long (2,000-mile-long) border with the United States is one of the busiest international boundaries in the world. Every year, thousands of migrants pass through the long border legally and illegally, making it a hot-button issue, especially in America's presidential politics. Iran ends hajj talks in Saudi without final deal An Iranian delegation wrapped up a visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday without reaching a final agreement on arrangements for hajj pilgrims from the Islamic republic, Saudi officials said. The Saudi hajj ministry said that the delegation had "asked to go back home without signing the agreement on arrangements for the pilgrims" despite two days of extensive talks. A statement said the ministry had offered "many solutions" to meet a string of demands made by the Iranians who had arrived on Tuesday and performed the minor umra pilgrimage during their visit. 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) Agreement had been reached in some areas, including to use electronic visas which could be printed out by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran, it said. Riyadh cut ties with Tehran in January after demonstrators torched its embassy and a consulate in the Iranian capital following the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month Iran had accused its regional rival of seeking to "sabotage" the hajj, saying "arrangements have not been put together" for its pilgrims. Tehran said Riyadh had insisted that visas for Iranians be issued in a third country and would not allow pilgrims to be flown in aboard Iranian aircraft, which the Islamic republic rejected. On Friday the Saudi hajj ministry said Riyadh had agreed to allow Iranians to obtain visas through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has looked after Saudi interests since ties were severed in January. Riyadh also agreed to allow some Iranian carriers to fly pilgrims to the kingdom despite a ban imposed on Iranian airlines following the diplomatic row between the two countries, the ministry said. Talks on an agreement were the second attempt by both countries to reach a deal on organising this year's pilgrimage for Iranians after they held an unsuccessful first round last month in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi ministry said the Iranian Hajj Organisation would be held responsible "in front of God and the people for the inability of its pilgrims to perform hajj this year." The kingdom "categorically rejects all (attempts to) politicise the hajj... and is always ready to cooperate to serve pilgrims and facilitate their arrival," it said. The annual hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam which devout Muslims must perform at least once during the lifetime. Johnny Depp's wife claims domestic violence: media Johnny Depp's wife appeared in court Friday with bruises on her face, accusing the Hollywood star of assaulting her, and seeking a restraining order against him, celebrity news website TMZ reported. Amber Heard, who filed for divorce in Los Angeles earlier this week and is seeking spousal support from the 52-year-old "Pirates of the Caribbean" star, says she is the victim of repeated physical attacks by Depp, TMZ said. The website published a picture showing Heard, 30, with a bruise around her right eye, reporting that the actress says it was taken shortly after Depp smashed his iPhone into her face on Saturday night. Johnny Depp's wife Amber Heard arrives for the Costume Institute Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2016 in New York Timothy A. Clary (AFP/File) "Heard claims after he allegedly hit her, he offered her money to stay quiet, but instead she filed for divorce first thing Monday morning," TMZ reported. The website noted that Heard says she is facing an immediate threat of harm from Depp even though the actor has been out of town since Wednesday promoting a new film. Depp's lawyer Laura Wasser denied requests for comment, while Heard's attorney Samantha Spector was not immediately available. The couple's separation came less than a week after the death of Depp's mother, Betty Sue Palmer, at the age of 81. Celebrity magazine People, which said it had obtained a copy of Heard's divorce petition, said the 30-year-old was citing "irreconcilable differences," standard legal language for a no-fault divorce. The petition listed their date of separation as Sunday. Depp and Heard met on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum Diary," when Depp was still in a long-term relationship with the French actress Vanessa Paradis, mother of his son Jack and daughter Lily-Rose. They married in a small, private ceremony in Los Angeles in February last year before celebrating with a larger event on Depp's private island in the Bahamas. Celebrity news website Page Six, citing unnamed sources close to the pair, said the marriage hit the rocks after just three months. Depp "quickly grew tired of Heard's enchantment with Hollywood glitz," it said, and became increasingly suspicious over her bisexual past and closeness to her lesbian friends. Louisiana expands hate crime law to protect police Aggression toward police officers in Louisiana is now classified as a hate crime, an unprecedented legal expansion roundly criticized by minority rights groups Friday. Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards -- the son of a former sheriff -- signed the bill in the southern state Thursday, expanding the state's list of those protected by hate crimes legislation to include law enforcement officials, firefighters and emergency paramedics. "The men and women who put their lives on the line every day, often under very dangerous circumstances, are true heroes and they deserve every protection that we can give them," Edwards said. Police patrol behind a parade on June 1, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana Rusty Costanza (Getty/AFP/File) The legislation is also known as the "Blue Lives Matter" bill, an appropriation of the slogan used by the Black Lives Matter movement that denounces police violence against African-Americans. Hate crime statutes in America traditionally protect groups considered particularly vulnerable to bigotry for identity characteristics including race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or handicaps. Penalties for those convicted of hate crimes vary from state to state, but sentences often include heavy fines and prison time. The Black Youth Project organization in New Orleans said the Louisiana measure will allow law enforcement agents to be "held above criticism and the laws they are charged to enforce." Dozens drown in new Mediterranean migrant tragedy The Italian navy has recovered the bodies of 45 migrants who drowned Friday in the latest shipwreck, while dozens of others are still missing in the third major tragedy in the Mediterranean in as many days. Italian coastguards sent in rescue ships after a call for help that spoke of 350 people in the water, just a day after another shipwreck had left up to 30 dead. With search efforts continuing late into the day, the navy saved 130 people and was still searching for others, it said. The latest sinking comes only a day after two crowded boats capsized off Libya "The vessel Vega rescued 135 migrants from a sinking vessel. Forty-five bodies were recovered and search efforts are ongoing," the navy said on Twitter. While the European Union has pushed hard to limit the influx of people fleeing war and poverty, a bout of good weather as summer arrives has kicked off a fresh stream of boats trying to make the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy. The coastguard said about 1,900 people were saved on Friday from 16 vessels in distress, adding to an estimated 10,000 people already rescued near the Libyan coast in the past four days. - 'Astounding' - "It's astounding. We are almost at the level of the Greek islands last year," said Flavio di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, referring to a period when thousands arrived there from Turkey every day. About 40,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy's southern ports so far this year. But in one of the worst tragedies in the Mediterranean recently, a fishing trawler with some 650 people capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday. The Italian navy, which captured the tragedy in a horrifying video that shows the boat roll over and dump its passengers into the water, was able to rescue about 560 people. But at least five people died and 100 are still feared missing, according to many survivors who reported having lost a loved one or a fellow passenger. On Thursday, the EU's naval force said up to 30 migrants were believed to have died after another ship flipped over off Libya. "Three sinkings in three days, it's very worrying," said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency in Rome. A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team in Sicily who assisted the survivors of Wednesday's shipwreck could hardly fathom their patients' distress. "Nearly all of them lost one or several relatives," MSF head of mission Andrea Anselmi said, adding that it was "hard to believe" that tragedies at such a scale could be happening. - Perilous rush - French merchant navy officer Antoine Laurent, who has taken part in rescue operations in the Mediterranean, said the rush to get to safety often led vessels to sink. "On migrant boats, those in the hold act as a ballast but they try to get out as soon as possible. Yesterday they did exactly that and upset the boat's centre of gravity and it lost all stability," he told AFP. In the single deadliest migrant boat sinking since the crisis began, some 700 people died in April last year, also off the coast of the chaos-wracked north African country. The flow into Europe via Greece and the Balkans route, which hundreds of thousands of people used in 2015, has slowed to a trickle after countries shut their borders. But more than 26,000 migrants have already landed on Italy's shores so far this year after setting off from Libya. In France meanwhile, prosecutors said they had launched a probe into a massive brawl in the "Jungle" migrant camp in the northern port town of Calais -- from where the migrants try and sneak into Britain -- that left 40 people injured. A female aid worker was among those seriously hurt after the fight broke out between some 200 Afghans and Sudanese on Thursday. The brawl began as food was being distributed and one person was stabbed. Leaders of the G7 nations, meeting in Japan, Friday pledged more funds to tackle the migrant crisis. 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. 75,000 more Syrians living under siege: UN The number of Syrians living under siege has grown by some 75,000 to total 592,700, underscoring the worsening plight of civilians in the five-year war, the UN aid chief said Friday. Stephen O'Brien, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council that the use of siege and starvation as a weapon of war was "reprehensible" and "must stop immediately." The new figure, up from 517,700, marks a further increase from a previous estimate of 486,700 people living in besieged areas. Syrian boys on a bicycle on May 14, 2016 in the southern city of Daraa Mohamad Abazeed (AFP/File) It includes the residents of the Al Wa'er area of Homs in western Syria that have been under siege by Syrian government forces since March, said O'Brien. "Today 592,700 people are living in besieged areas because of the appalling, deteriorating situation in Al Wa'er," he told the council. The United Nations is preparing to begin humanitarian air drops over besieged areas starting June 1, after its repeated demands for access to the blockaded towns were refused. In May, Syrian authorities allowed aid deliveries to 14 hard-to-reach areas, far short of the requests to reach 35 towns on the UN list. O'Brien said the Damascus regime had denied aid to more than 40 percent of the target population for May, including in Aleppo, Al Wa'er and Talbiseh. Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari denied that his government was blocking aid and said that 19 of the 26 UN requests for humanitarian convoys had been approved for the month of May. Of the 19 approved convoys, the United Nations only sent three, said Jaafari. The ambassador complained that the situation concerning humanitarian aid "is manipulated" and that UN figures were "far from reality, based on unknown sources or unreliable ones." According to the United Nations, 452,700 Syrians are living in towns besieged by regime forces, while 110,000 are under siege by the Islamic State group in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor. Some 20,000 are under siege by rebel groups in Foah and Kefraya in Idlib province and 10,000 are surrounded by both Syrian forces and rebel groups in Yarmouk in Damascus. Boosting humanitarian aid is a key condition to be met before political talks on ending the war can resume. Gautier Avenue of Flags 1.jpg Gautier will once again host its Avenue of Flags ceremony in honor of Memorial Day at the Veterans Tribute Tower in front of City Hall, beginning at 11 a.m. (File photo/Gulflive.com) JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- While Memorial Day weekend is traditionally filled with barbecues, trips to the beaches or barrier islands and family gatherings, there are events slated for Jackson County intended to commemorate the more somber purpose of Memorial Day. Among those events is a Memorial Day concert by the Ocean Springs chorale, set for 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. in Marshall Park in downtown Ocean Springs. The event, sponsored by St. Paul United Methodist Church, will feature musical performances, a wreath-laying ceremony and guest speakers. In addition, long-time St. Paul music director Mary Elizabeth Sawyer, who has announced her retirement, will be honored. The public is invited to attend the free event and bring lawn chairs or blankets to the park. In the event of rain (the forecast is for sunny skies), the concert will be held at St. Paul's Porter Avenue campus. On Memorial Day, the City of Gautier and American Legion Post 1992 will host the third annual Avenue of Flags ceremony at the Veterans Tribute Tower in front of Gautier City Hall on U.S. 90, beginning at 11 a.m. The program includes the placement and display of American flags honoring military veterans from Jackson County, particularly those who have died in the line of duty, as well as guest speakers. Also on Monday, across the bay bridge in Biloxi, the annual Memorial Day program will be held at Biloxi National Cemetery "to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation," according to a release from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. There will be numerous guest speakers, including keynote speaker U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker. The ceremony, set for 9 a.m., is held at the main flag pole inside the cemetery. Parking is available at the VA Medical Center garage -- north of the cemetery's main gate. No parking will be allowed off of Veterans Avenue on the VA Campus or in Biloxi National Cemetery. Police say man used front-loader to break into liquor store ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) Alaska police say a man used a stolen front-end loader to break into a liquor store and then led officers on a low-speed chase early Thursday. A witness flagged down Anchorage police about 3:20 a.m. to report a front-loader with forklift attachments had ripped off most of the front entrance to a Brown Jug, an Alaska liquor store chain. The witness saw the driver go inside, take bottles, then hope back on the front-loader and drive east. During a 15-mph chase, police followed the driver into a recreational vehicle park and blocked the only exit with patrol cars. Police say alcohol bottles were found inside the front-loader, which had been stolen from a construction site. Obama ready to face historic, haunted ground of Hiroshima HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) Convinced that the time for this moment is right at last, President Barack Obama on Friday will become the first American president to confront the historic and haunted ground of Hiroshima. Here, at this place of so much suffering, where U.S. forces dropped the atomic bomb that gave birth to the nuclear age, Obama will pay tribute to the 140,000 people who died from the attack seven decades ago. He will not apologize. He will not second-guess President Harry Truman's decision to unleash the awful power of nuclear weapons. He will not dissect Japanese aggression in World War II. People gather around the gutted Atomic Bomb Dome at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, southwestern Japan, Thursday, May 26, 2016. President Barack Obama is to visit Hiroshima on Friday, May 27. Seven years ago, a new American president stood before cheering throngs in Pragues historic Hradcany Square and laid out an audacious goal. Today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons, Barack Obama declared. I'm not naive. This goal will not be reached quickly _ perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, Yes, we can. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) Rather, Obama aimed to offer a simple reflection, acknowledging the devastating toll of war and coupling it with a message that the world can and must do better. He will look back, placing a wreath at the centopath, an arched monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park honoring those killed by the bomb that U.S. forces dropped on Aug. 6, 1945. A second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki three days later, killed 70,000 more. Obama will also look forward. Hiroshima is much more than "a reminder of the terrible toll in World War II and the death of innocents across the continents," Obama said Thursday. It is a place, he said, "to remind ourselves that the job's not done in reducing conflict, building institutions of peace and reducing the prospect of nuclear war in the future." Those who come to ground zero at Hiroshima speak of its emotional impact, of the searing imagery of the exposed steel beams on the iconic A-bomb dome. The skeletal remains of the exhibition hall have become an international symbol of peace and a place for prayer. The president will be accompanied on his visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a demonstration of the friendship that exists between the only nation ever to use an atomic bomb and the only nation ever to have suffered from one. Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, 82, paid her own respects at the cenotaph on Friday morning, well before Obama arrived, lighting incense and chanting a prayer. Tears ran down her face as she described the immediate aftermath of the bomb. "I could hear schoolchildren screaming: 'Help me! Help me!'" she said. "It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion." Han Jeong-soon, the 58-year-old daughter of a Korean survivor, was there too. "The suffering, such as illness, gets carried on over the generations - that is what I want President Obama to know," she said. "I want him to understand our sufferings." Obama's visit is a moment 70 years in the making. Other American presidents considered coming, but the politics were still too sensitive, the emotions too raw. Jimmy Carter visited as a former president in 1984. Even now, when polls find 70 percent of the Japanese support Obama's decision to come to Hiroshima, Obama's visit is fraught. His choreographed visit will be parsed by people with many agendas. There are political foes at home who are ready to seize on any hint of an unwelcome expression of regret. There are Koreans who want to hear the president acknowledge the estimated 20,000-40,000 of their citizens who were among the dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There are blast survivors who want Obama to listen to their stories, to see their scars physical and otherwise. There are activists looking for a pledge of new, concrete steps to rid the world of nuclear weapons. There are American former POWs who want the president to fault Japan for starting the war in the Pacific. Obama will try to navigate those shoals by saying less, not more. The dropping of the bomb, he said Thursday, "was an inflection point in modern history. It is something that all of us have had to deal with in one way or another." ___ Benac reported from Shima, Japan. ___ Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac Kinuyo Ikegami offers prayers at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama is to visit Hiroshima on Friday, after the Group of Seven summit in central Japan, becoming the first sitting American president to do so. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) Lawyer: Rapper Gucci Mane released early from Indiana prison ATLANTA (AP) Rapper Gucci Mane was released a few months early from an Indiana prison where he was serving a federal firearms sentence, his lawyer said Thursday. Attorney Drew Findling said the music artist, whose real name is Radric Davis, was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana. Davis, 36, was released early after a series of motions filed a few months ago said the rapper hadn't received credit for previous time served, according to Findling. "The original computation didn't give him that credit," Findling said. "We had to file a series of motions. Ultimately, the judge signed an order acknowledging he was entitled to that credit. Then the bureau of prison immediately gave him that credit." FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2010 file photo, rapper Gucci Mane arrives on the red carpet for the BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta. A lawyer for rapper Gucci Mane says his client has been released a few months early from an Indiana federal prison where he was serving a federal firearms sentence. Attorney Drew Findling says the 36-year-old rapper, whose real name is Radric Davis, was released Thursday morning, May 26, 2016, from the Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Ind. (AP Photo/John Amis, File) Davis was expected to be released on Sept. 20, prison records show. The rapper was serving a three-year state sentence after pleading guilty to aggravated assault for attacking a fan at an Atlanta nightclub. That sentence ran concurrently with a 39-month federal sentence he was given in 2014 for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Davis' federal prison time served satisfied his state case, Findling said. Davis will be on home confinement and then supervised release, which is the federal equivalent to probation. Findling said the rapper lost about 50 pounds while in prison. "He's trimmed. He's fit," he said of the rapper. "He's very excited to go back to his life's calling, which is being a recording artist." Colorado governor attends event wearing Trump, Sanders socks DENVER (AP) Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper says he was just having a little fun when he showed up to a book signing sporting a pair of socks featuring caricatures of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, arrived Thursday at the downtown Denver brewpub he once owned wearing a sock on his right foot showing the Republican Trump and one featuring the Democrat Sanders on the left. Both socks featured wisps of fake hair, a nod to the candidates' often ridiculed hairstyles. The governor says he bought the socks at a store in Grand Junction and that socks portraying Hillary Clinton were sold out. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shows off one of his socks--with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders while the other bears the likeness of Republican candidate Donald Trump--before entering his former brewpub for a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Hickenlooper was promoting his new autobiography, the release of which has fueled speculation that he is positioning himself to join Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shows off his socks--one with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the other with Republican candidate Donald Trump--before entering his former brewpub for a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 3 foreign tourists dead after boat capsizes in Thailand KOH SAMUI, Thailand (AP) Rescuers in Thailand searched Friday for a British man who was still missing after a speedboat packed with tourists capsized near the popular resort island of Koh Samui, leaving three women dead, officials said. The boat, carrying 32 tourists and four crew members, capsized Thursday afternoon because of strong winds and high waves, said Pichet Sudduan, a port official. A Briton and German were found dead at the scene Thursday, and the body of a woman from Hong Kong woman was found Friday morning, police Maj. Gen. Apichart Boonsriraj said. The boat's occupants were thrown overboard and some were trapped under the vessel when it capsized. At least one person was pulled out after rescuers used hammers to smash a hole in the vessel's hull. Four people remained hospitalized Friday out of the 28 who received medical treatment, said Dr. Theerasak Viriyanon. He said one of the four has a fractured shoulder and another has a fractured skull. The other two suffered from a lack of oxygen and are being monitored for lung infections. The boat's captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, is being held by police for investigation and faces a possible charge of reckless endangerment causing death, punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. Hot new trend in Cuban ID photos: digital suits and blouses HAVANA (AP) It wasn't yet 10 a.m. but Juan Carlos Espinosa was sweating when he exited his Soviet-era Lada sedan in front of a photo studio in the middle-class Havana neighborhood of 10 de Octubre. With temperatures in the 80s and humidity lying thick over the city, Espinosa wore a black T-shirt as he posed for a visa photo in front of a white sheet. Then, in a side room, Lian Marrero worked magic: digitally cutting away the T-shirt with a photo-editing program and pasting in a somber black suit with a neatly knotted gray tie. Marrero hit print and Espinosa had a set of three professional-looking ID photos of himself in a suit that once belonged to a total stranger, or may have never existed at all. Lian Marrero takes a portrait of his client, Miami-based Cuban Javier Fontanella, for his Cuban citizenship application in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, May 26, 2016. Marrero, a 27-year-old electrician who runs a busy photo studio in the front room of the home he shares with his wife, said he offered clients actual clothing to try on but people found it unappealing to wear clothes that others had been sweating in. So he digitally cuts away his clients' shirts with a photo-editing program and pastes in formal suits. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Across Cuba and the world, tens of thousands of Cubans stare out of ID photos in elegant suits and dressy blouses they have never actually worn. Each imperceptibly altered photo is a tiny tribute to Cubans' finely honed ability to apply ingeniously homebrewed technical solutions to the problems of an island beset by economic scarcity. In this case the problem is relatively minor: how to look one's best in official photos when tropical heat, lack of air conditioning and tight family budgets make it highly impractical to wear dressy clothes to the local photo studio. The answer: over-the-counter photo-editing programs and an informal sharing network of photo studio owners who trade images of suits and blouses among themselves. Marrero, a 27-year-old electrician who runs a busy photo studio in the front room of the home he shares with his wife, said they had offered clients actual clothing to try on but people found it unappealing to wear clothes that others had been sweating in. "We realized that people preferred the idea of digital suits," he said. "We ended up with three real suits and 10 digital ones," and eventually the shop got rid of the real clothes entirely. The demand for altered photos has diminished as more Cuban and foreign government agencies equip themselves with the ability to take in-house digital photos. But many foreign consulates still require visa applicants to bring their own headshots, and since few explicitly prohibit altering photos, the digital suit business is still flourishing. Espinosa, a 53-year-old mechanic, said he and his wife, Isis Lopez, had debated between a blue digital suit with a patterned tie and the black-and-gray combo they eventually settled on. "Wearing a suit in Cuba isn't easy," he said. "Here, we have the ability to pick whichever one we want." Both ended up happy with the result. "I thought this one was more serious. I like the solid-color tie," Lopez said. "Yes, I like this combination." ___ Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein In this May 23, 2016 photo, Lian Marrero organizes samples of suits that customers can choose from to have digitally added to their portraits at his home-based photo studio in Havana, Cuba. "We realized that people preferred the idea of digital suits," Marrero said. "We ended up with three real suits and 10 digital ones" and eventually the shop got rid of the real clothes entirely. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Lian Marrero edits a photo of Miami-based Cuban Javier Fontanella, with digital suit options at left, as he prepares his client's ID photo which he'll use for a Cuban citizenship application in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, May 26, 2016. Across Cuba and the world, tens of thousands of Cubans stare out of ID photos in elegant suits and dressy blouses they have never actually worn. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) A digital photo of Miami-based Cuban Javier Fontanella is printed for his Cuban citizenship application at a home-based photo studio in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, May 26, 2016. Cuba's answer to looking one's best in official photos when tropical heat, lack of air-conditioning and tight family budgets make it highly impractical to wear dressy clothes to the local photo studio, are over-the-counter photo-editing programs and an informal sharing network of photo studio owners who trade images of suits and blouses among themselves. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Photos of men wearing digitally added suits lay inside the home-based photo studio of Lian Marrero in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, May 26, 2016. Each imperceptibly altered photo is a tiny tribute to Cubans' finely honed ability to apply ingeniously home-brewed technical solutions to the problems of an island beset by economic scarcity. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa) Visitors to Hiroshima memorial reflect on Obama's visit HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) Visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Friday had this to say ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit later in the day. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to come to Hiroshima, a city devastated by a U.S.-dropped atomic bomb at the end of World War II. ___ KINUYO IKEGAMI, 82, who lit incense and chanted a prayer at stone memorial in the park Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami offers prayers at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Convinced that the time for this moment is right at last, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday will become the first American president to confront the historic and haunted ground of Hiroshima. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) "I could hear schoolchildren screaming, "Help me! Help me!' It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion." ___ TSUGUO YOSHIKAWA, 70, retired Hiroshima resident taking a walk in the park "I don't think most Japanese and Hiroshima citizens have much sense of grudge any longer. I know some people from a survivors' group who said something like we should work together with the U.S. You know, we cannot move forward if we are sticking too firmly to a sense of grudge." ___ HAN JEONG-SOON, 58, daughter of Korean atomic-bomb survivor "The suffering such as illness gets carried on over the generation. That is what I want President Obama to know. I want him to understand our sufferings." ___ KANJI SHIMIZU, Noh actor (Japanese traditional performance art) from Tokyo "It has been over 70 years and it would have been great if the U.S. president could have come earlier. But I guess it means the world has finally become ready for such a visit, and I see this as such a good chance for peace. It would be great if it could lead to a chance for more people like him to give a message to the world to abolish nuclear weapons." ___ KO IL-KUK, 75, A-bomb survivor from South Korea "President Obama will visit Hiroshima and lay flowers at the memorial for the atomic bombing victims in Hiroshima. We urge him also to come to the memorial dedicated for the Korean victims who died suffering from the heat over 4,000 degrees just like the rest of the victims and to commemorate their souls." ___ This story has been corrected to show that Kinuyo Ikegami is 82. Kinuyo Ikegami offers prayers at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. U.S. President Barack Obama is to visit Hiroshima on Friday, after the Group of Seven summit in central Japan, becoming the first sitting American president to do so. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) School children pose for a group photo with the Atomic Bomb Dome as a backdrop in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Convinced that the time for this moment is right at last, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday will become the first American president to confront the historic and haunted ground of Hiroshima. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) Australian party leader says some Trump views 'barking mad' CANBERRA, Australia (AP) Australia's opposition leader on Friday described some of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's views as "barking mad," breaking a longstanding Australian convention of avoiding taking sides in U.S. political contests. Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull criticized opposition leader Bill Shorten for potentially offending Americans through his comments during a radio interview. Australia is in the early weeks of campaigning before the July 2 election and how its leader would deal with a possible President Trump has emerged as an issue. The United States is Australia's most important strategic ally and successive Australian governments undertake to work with whatever administration Americans choose. Shorten, who leads the center-left labor Party, told a Darwin radio station that a Trump administration was among "the sort of scenarios you hope don't emerge." "I think Donald Trump's views are just barking mad on some issues," Shorten said. "America's a great friend of Australia; whoever they dish up we'll work with, but: wow, Trump's sort of It's sort of the ultimate victory of celebrity politics," he added. Shorten described Trump's popularity as the "ultimate protest vote," and a warning that Australia should pursue policies of fairness and equality. Shorten later defended his strident attack on Trump at a news conference, but declined to repeat his "barking mad" comment in front of television cameras. "I think he's got very erratic views. I think that the views he has are not views that sit comfortably with the mainstream of Australian opinion," Shorten said. Turnbull, who leads a conservative coalition, later declined to give his own views on Trump. "You can imagine how Australians would feel if an American president were to describe one of our prime ministerial aspirants as 'barking mad.' You can imagine the resentment and ill will that would create in Australia," Turnbull told reporters. "It is absolutely critical that our ... prime minister, whether it is me or Mr. Shorten, is able to deal with the new American president ... without the relationship being clouded or affected by comments of the kind Mr. Shorten has made," he added. Turnbull in January made his only trip to the United States as prime minister and spoke to a single Republican seeking the presidential nomination, taking a phone call from Marco Rubio. Turnbull also took a call from Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, whom the former merchant banker has known since 1992. OSHS grads collage.jpg Patrick Cressler (left), Sunna Savani (center) and Sally Boswell are the Valedictorian, Salutatorian and Orator, respectively, for the Ocean Springs High School Class of 2016. (OSHS photos) OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs High School will award 390 diplomas to graduates Thursday night during commencement exercises at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Class of 2016 is the first to have spent all four years at the $50 million high school on Old Spanish Trail which opened in 2012. "This is phenomenally gifted class and it gives me peace that our future is in their hands," said OSHS principal Vickie Tiblier. The accomplishments of this graduating class are extensive: Three students earned Star Student recognition for their performances on the ACT. The students, Sally Boswell, Jessica Leonard, and Sunna Savani selected their star teachers as June Wilkerson (Boswell), Charlotte Hayes (Leonard), and Angela Sanders (Savani). Additionally, Boswell and Savani qualified as ALL-STAR Scholars. Boswell, Leonard and Savani also earned recognition as U.S. Presidential Scholar candidates, with Leonard reaching the semifinalist stage. In addition, Boswell, Savani and Kelsey Bryant were recognized as National Merit Finalists, with Boswell receving a National Merit scholarship. There are five Advanced Placement (AP) Scholars in the class -- Davida Franklin, Emma Frieze, Chandler Kuiper, Zachary Melcher and Jillian Vice. These are students who have received scores of three or higher on at least three AP exams. Additionally, there are three AP Scholars with Honors -- Boswell, Leonard and Joseph Pocreva -- who have averaged at least 3.25 on all AP exams and scores of three or higher on at least four of the exams. There are two AP Scholars with Distinction -- Savani and Patrick Cressler -- who have averaged at least 3.5 on all AP exams and scored three or higher on five or more of the exams. The AP numbers are expected to rise as results from AP exams taken during students' senior year are released. There are 13 International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma candidates. The class has a top 10 average ACT score of 33 and a top 100 average score of 27.76. Twenty-one Greyhound athletes signed college scholarships. One of those, Landon Twiggs, became the first Mississippi lacrosse player to sign a Division I scholarship when he signed with Jacksonville (Fla.) University. Twenty members of the Blue-Grey Pride band will join college and university bands in the fall. William McKay of the Construction Trades class in the OSHS Career and Technical Education Program, finished first in the Mississippi Skills USA cabinet-making competition and will compete at the national level this summer. The 2016 graduating class earned in excess of $13 million in college scholarship offers. "In the Ocean Springs School District, we believe that our students rise to our expectations, said superintendent Bonita Coleman-Potter. "The Class of 2016 propelled past our collective expectations with lightning speed. They are scholars, they are civic minded, and most of all, they have consistently exhibited the Greyhound spirit which we believe will take them far." Patrick Cressler is the 2016 OSHS Valedictorian with the class' highest rank. He is the son of Dana and Laurette Cressler and will attend Harvard University in the fall, with plans to study Government. As a junior Cressler was Mississippi's lone representative at the Civics Renewal Network's Constitution Day in Washington, D.C. for work on elder financial abuse. He was also a team member on the first-place team at the Mississippi Council on Economic Education's 2016 Mississippi Economics Challenge. Sunna Savani is the class Salutatorian. The daughter of Dr. Iqbal and Amyna Savani, she has held many leadership roles in various honor societies, including serving as Presidnet of the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta and Junior Civitan. Savani also served as vice-president of the Ocean Springs Mayor's Youth Council and plans to attend the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where she will enter the Early Medical School Acceptance Program and major in Economics as part of the University Honors Program. Sally Boswell is the 2016 class Orator. She is the daughter of Todd and Robin Boswell and has also held many leadership roles, including secretary of Mu Alpha Theta, Special Projects Coordinator on the Mayor's Youth Council, and president of the Mississippi Conference United Methodist Youth Council. Boswell was also the overall scholastics winner in Mississippi's Distinguished Youn Women Scholarship Program. She plans to attend the University of Mississippi, from which she received the Penelope W. and E. Roe Stamps IV Leadership Scholarship. Boswell plans to major in both Mathematics and International Studies and will be a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, the Croft Institute for International Studies and the Chancellor's Leadership Class. Cressler, Savani and Boswell are all International Baccalaureate diploma candidates. Earlier in the school year, OSHS announced the members of the 2016 Hall of Fame class: Alyssa Baacke, Boswell, Kaylin Brennan, Isabel Cheney, Cady Cooper, Cressler, Morgan Dubaz, Samuel Edmondson, Olivia Eustice, Christopher Horne, Amanda Kilduff, Jessica Leonard, Olivia Nash, James Noblin, Allison Norman, Savani, Jillian Vice, Kaylee Warren, Andrew Windham and Ethan Worch. Graduation ceremonies are set to begin at 7 p.m. 3 Cambodian commandos jailed for attack on legislators PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) A Cambodian court on Friday convicted three military commandos of beating up two opposition lawmakers outside the parliament last year, and sentenced them to one year each in prison. The legislators' lawyer called the punishment too lenient. Phnom Penh presiding judge Heng Sokna initially sentenced the three men to four years in jail but suspended the sentence to one year. He also ordered them to pay fines totaling $21,500. The attack occurred in October 2015 when the two opposition lawmakers from the Cambodia National Rescue Party were confronted by a pro-government mob, which was demanding the resignation of the party's deputy leader Kem Sonkha. Suth Vanny, center, and Chay Sarith, left, suspected attackers who are accused of beating two opposition lawmakers, arrive at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 27, 2016. The court on Friday convicted three military commandos, including them, of beating up two opposition lawmakers outside the parliament last year, and sentenced them to one year each in prison. The legislators' lawyer called the punishment too lenient. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) Heng Sokna said the attack on the lawmakers by the three members of an elite military unit hurt the nation's reputation and left the victims injured. The defendants are members of Prime Minister Hun Sen's bodyguard unit, leading critics to suggest the ruling Cambodian People's Party orchestrated the attacks. The attack came as Hun Sen and his party stepped up pressure on the opposition, which had mounted a surprisingly strong challenge in the 2013 general election. Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the sentence amounted to a cover-up. "Everybody knows that there was wider involvement of the members of the bodyguard unit beyond these three men, but clearly the government wants to prevent further investigations up the chain of command," Robertson said. "Even the compensation awarded by the court to the two MPs is so paltry that I doubt it even covers medical costs they incurred recovering from their injuries in a Bangkok hospital." Police stood by during the assault, which inflicted serious injuries on Kung Sophea and Nhay Chamraoen. After the attack, the mob went to Kem Sokha's home and threw stones. On Thursday, police tried to arrest Kem Sokha in connection with defamation cases which the opposition says are politically motivated. He remains in hiding. During their trial, the bodyguards admitted to the attack, but said they did not realize the men they dragged out of their cars and battered were opposition lawmakers. The bodyguards alleged they had been verbally provoked by the victims, who called the demonstrators "Vietnamese puppets." Associating the ruling party with Vietnam appeals to old nationalistic grievances over ceding territory to Cambodia's larger eastern neighbor. Hen Sen was installed in power after a Vietnamese invasion ousted Cambodia's fanatical Khmer Rouge regime three decades ago. While Cambodia is formally democratic, Hun Sen's government is authoritarian and known for intimidating opponents. The lawmakers' lawyer, Sam Sokong, said he plans to consult his clients about an appeal. "I think by sentencing them to four years each in prison but allowing them to serve just one year is too lenient. If the judge ordered them to serve their four years respectively in prison, as ruled, I think that would be acceptable," he added. Suth Vanny, left, and Chay Sarith, back, suspected attackers who are accused of beating two opposition lawmakers, gets off a car upon arrival at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 27, 2016. The court on Friday convicted three military commandos, including them, of beating up two opposition lawmakers outside the parliament last year, and sentenced them to one year each in prison. The legislators' lawyer called the punishment too lenient. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) In this photo taken on Oct. 29, 2015, and released by Human Rights Watch on Friday, May 27, 2016, Cambodia National Rescue Party member Kung Sophea lies at a Bangkok hospital, Thailand, following an assault by three members of an elite military unit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A Cambodian court on Friday, May 27, 2016, sentenced three military commandos to a year in prison for beating up two opposition lawmakers outside the parliament last year. The court also ordered them to pay fines totaling $21,500 as the legislators' lawyer called the punishment too lenient. (Human Rights Watch via AP) In this photo taken on Oct. 29, 2015, and released by Human Rights Watch on Friday, May 27, 2016, Cambodia National Rescue Party member Nhay Chamraoen sits in a Bangkok hospital, Thailand, following an assault by three members of an elite military unit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A Cambodian court on Friday, May 27, 2016, sentenced three military commandos to a year in prison for beating up two opposition lawmakers outside the parliament last year. The court also ordered them to pay fines totaling $21,500 as the legislators' lawyer called the punishment too lenient. (Human Rights Watch via AP) Members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), raise joined hands for photographs at their party headquarters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 27, 2016. A Cambodian court on Friday convicted three military commandos of beating up two CNRP lawmakers outside the parliament last year, and sentenced them to one year each in prison. The legislators' lawyer called the punishment too lenient. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) Alibaba won and lost a friend in Washington; how it happened SHANGHAI (AP) In 2011, a respected anti-counterfeiting coalition in Washington escalated its fight against the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, saying its websites served as a 24-hour market "for counterfeiters and pirates" and should be blacklisted. Fast forward to 2016. The same lobbying group, the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, reversed its position. Alibaba had become "one of our strongest partners." The group welcomed Alibaba as a member and invited its celebrated founder, Jack Ma, to be the keynote speaker at its spring conference in Orlando, Florida. This is the tale of how one of China's corporate giants won and ultimately lost a friend in Washington, using legal methods long deployed by corporate America: money and influence. But those time-honored tools weren't enough to defuse the deep loathing that has greeted one of communist China's greatest capitalist success stories. Staffers past security guards near a company logo at the Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province on Friday, May 27, 2016. Alibaba's relationship with an anti-counterfeiting lobby coalition known as the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition is a tale of how one of China's corporate giants won _ and ultimately lost_ a friend in Washington, using legal methods long deployed by corporate America: money and friendship. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Alibaba is at the forefront of China's rise on the global stage. The anxiety and suspicion that have greeted the company abroad are, to some extent, anxiety and suspicion about China itself. A month after it became the first e-commerce company to join the anti-counterfeiting coalition, Alibaba got kicked out. An Associated Press analysis of public filings shows that the coalition's public comments shifted from criticism to praise as the personal and financial ties between Alibaba and the group deepened, even as other industry associations and the U.S. and Chinese governments continued to take a harder line. A probe by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into Alibaba's accounting practices and sales data, disclosed this week, has raised further questions about how the company does business. How Alibaba fares in Washington could help shape the global fight against counterfeiting and impact the expansion of one of China's most prominent companies. Those who believe Alibaba intentionally profits from the sale of fakes fear the company could lobby its way out of having to make meaningful changes in the way it polices its platforms. That, critics say, would be a boon for the multibillion-dollar counterfeiting industry, which costs U.S. companies money, can imperil consumers' safety, and feeds an underground money-laundering industry for criminal syndicates. Alibaba was one of the first Chinese companies to play politics seriously inside the beltway, and may not have realized how even the smallest misstep can backfire, said Sean Miner, China program manager for the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "Chinese firms are going to have a bigger spotlight on them," he said. Miner said that as Alibaba tries to expand its global reach, "their reputation has preceded them. ... Some Americans might think, 'Why don't you go home and fix the problems first?'" ___ ALIBABA'S RICHES Alibaba began 17 years ago in the modest living room of a gutsy man with a history of failure. Jack Ma struggled in school, and even Kentucky Fried Chicken refused to hire him. Today, Alibaba is a $15.7 billion e-commerce ecosystem that supports the livelihoods of tens of millions of merchants. Some 423 million shoppers last fiscal year picked through the billion listings that Alibaba's platforms host on any given day. Alibaba doesn't sell any merchandise. It merely facilitates transactions, deriving much of its revenue from advertising. Alibaba's core is Taobao, a Chinese consumer-to-consumer platform much like eBay, only bigger. The company also operates Tmall, which offers merchants, including Nike and Macy's, official storefronts to consumers in China. Two export platforms, Alibaba and AliExpress, connect businesses in China with buyers around the world. Critics, among them some top brands and intellectual property lawyers, say Alibaba's ecosystem has proven remarkably conducive to counterfeiting. They feared Alibaba's inclusion in the anti-counterfeiting coalition would lend it undeserved credibility. In U.S. court filings, Gucci America and other brands belonging to France's Kering Group have accused Alibaba of knowingly profiting from the sale of fakes a charge Alibaba has dismissed as "wasteful litigation." Alibaba and its advocates argue that the only way to fight counterfeiting is to fight together. The company says it works diligently to improve its systems, and that it proactively took down 120 million listings of suspicious products on Taobao last year. Still, it remains relatively easy to find knock-offs. Chat with a vendor on Taobao and the price of a Louis Vuitton Rivoli handbag listed at 15,200 yuan ($2,318) may magically drop to 980 yuan ($150). And despite the company's repeated admonitions that it stands with brands in the global fight against fakes, skepticism reigns. ___ MR. MA GOES TO WASHINGTON After Robert Barchiesi, a gruff-talking former New York cop, took over the anti-counterfeiting coalition in 2008, the group took a hard line, singling out Alibaba and Taobao for facilitating the large-scale sale of fakes. The U.S. Trade Representative listened, and placed Taobao on a blacklist of markets notorious for sales of fakes in 2008. Alibaba ramped up its game in Washington. In 2012, Alibaba's spending on lobbying shot up from $100,000 a year to $461,000, and has remained fairly steady ever since, according to Opensecrets.org. Among its lobbyists was James Mendenhall, former general counsel for the U.S. Trade Representative. Mendenhall was part of a string of high-profile hires Alibaba would make, including a former chief of staff for the U.S. Treasury and a former White House staffer who went on to GE Capital. In April, Alibaba announced a further expansion of its government affairs office in Washington, with three new hires with experience in the White House, the Commerce Department, Congress and several blue-chip U.S. companies. "Alibaba has engaged in a thoughtful, customer-focused dialogue with policy makers," said Eric Pelletier, head of international government affairs for Alibaba Group. "Enabling U.S. businesses greater access to global markets, including China, will create more American jobs, which is good for everybody." The anti-counterfeiting coalition told the trade representative in 2012 that Taobao topped its list of concerns. "Advertisements for fakes of IACC member brands are often in the thousands and even millions," the coalition wrote. By the end of 2012, Alibaba was off the notorious markets list anyway. The U.S. Trade Representative commended Taobao for its "notable efforts" to work with rights-holders. Alibaba says the positive developments in Washington reflected its measures to address counterfeiting. "Alibaba has created extensive anti-counterfeiting efforts, including working with many industry groups and government agencies," Alibaba spokesman Bob Christie said in an email. He cited a program the company developed with the IACC. In 2013, the coalition signed an agreement with Taobao to expedite the removal of counterfeit goods through a pilot program it called MarketSafe. The coalition charged its members $12,500 last year to participate, on top of annual dues as high as $8,400. The coalition had found a way to monetize brands' frustration with Alibaba's take-down procedures. It was also starting to look like a family business. Barchiesi's daughter-in-law, Kathryn Barchiesi, provided "investigative support" for MarketSafe. The coalition says the program is not profitable, but those fees helped the IACC more than double revenues, to $2.6 million, under Robert Barchiesi's leadership. In 2011, a fresh-faced man named Matthew Bassiur hired Barchiesi's son, Robert Barchiesi II, to work as an investigator at Apple. Two years later, Bassiur was on the board of a foundation that awarded a private company run by Barchiesi's other son, James Barchiesi, a contract for "fiscal and operational management." The coalition paid companies belonging to James Barchiesi nearly $150,000 from 2012 to 2014 for accounting, advertising and rent. The coalition says those contracts were market-rate or better. Five weeks before Alibaba's 2014 public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, Barchiesi went on CNBC and deflected attention from Alibaba, saying counterfeiting on Alibaba's sites was a "microcosm of a bigger problem." He praised the company for working "in good faith" with the coalition. What Barchiesi didn't say is that he too would buy shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. He bought shares on that first wild day of trading, at $91 each, according to the coalition, which also says his holdings represent a "small percentage" of his portfolio. Alibaba's new shares shot up 38 percent in one day. It was the largest IPO in history, catapulting Ma to near-mythic status. ___ MEMBER REVOLT By 2015, the coalition had stopped complaining about Alibaba to U.S. officials, focusing instead on the "true cooperation and partnership" they enjoyed with Alibaba through the MarketSafe program. But neither the U.S. nor the Chinese governments were convinced the company had turned a corner. In January 2015, Chinese regulators published a report stating that just 37 percent of the goods purchased on Taobao were genuine. Alibaba disputed the accuracy of the report, which disappeared from the Chinese internet. Meanwhile, the American Apparel & Footwear Association, which represents over 1,000 brands, urged U.S. authorities to put Taobao back on the counterfeiting blacklist. It asked the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Trade Representative for help with "rampant proliferation" of counterfeit goods on Taobao, which it said had been getting worse. "The slow pace has convinced us that Alibaba is either not capable of or interested in addressing the problem," the group concluded. Brands were quietly dropping off the membership roster of the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition. LVMH holding, Tory Burch, Hunter Boots, Columbia Sportswear, Cath Kidston, Sony Corp. and Lucasfilm all vanished between October and March. Those companies either did not respond or declined requests for comment on their reasons for leaving. In December, the U.S. Trade Representative reported that Alibaba's platforms had been "widely criticized" for selling large quantities of counterfeit goods. It urged Alibaba to "enhance cooperation." The next month, Robert Barchiesi's friend, Bassiur, started work as Alibaba's chief of global intellectual property enforcement. The coalition continued to praise Alibaba to U.S. officials and in April welcomed it as the first e-commerce member, under a special new category that precluded voting and leadership rights. U.S. luxury brand Michael Kors was the first to quit in protest. Its general counsel, Lee Sporn, told the coalition's board in an April 21 letter that it had "chosen to provide cover to our most dangerous and damaging adversary." Then Gucci America defected. The coalition and Alibaba jumped into action, announcing that MarketSafe would be free for all companies, whether or not they were members. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The storm soon intensified. The morning of May 11, an anonymous email went out to board members threatening a mass walk-out unless Alibaba was kicked out. The email contained a list of concerns, including personal ties between Bassiur and Barchiesi. The coalition, the email said, "has become a revenue generating business rather than the nonprofit organization we all so desperately need." Alibaba's membership, it added, "damages and weakens the enforcement and legal remedies we have with Alibaba group." Tiffany resigned its seat on the board that same evening, citing governance concerns. On May 13, the AP reported Barchiesi's ownership of Alibaba stock. The AP investigation also mapped the personal and business ties between Barchiesi's family and Bassiur, and documented Barchiesi's use of family members to help run the coalition, including hiring his son's firm as the coalition's "independent" accountant. The board convened a call at noon that day. Barchiesi spoke first, defending his achievements. He did not offer to step down. At 2 p.m., less than 12 hours after the AP's report, the board informed members that the coalition was suspending Alibaba's membership category, pending "further discussion." The board said Barchiesi's "performance and accomplishments as President have been exemplary, and he has the Board's full confidence and support." The coalition's policy states that board members must be informed of conflicts of interest. But not all board members knew the head of their coalition owned stock in a company some of their membership regarded as an enemy. The board issued a statement saying that omission of "certain aspects of the disclosed conflict" was not Barchiesi's fault, but arose from weak governance. They vowed to commission an independent review. Dissenting coalition members were dismayed Barchiesi didn't step down and contemplated a coordinated walkout. There was talk of boycotting Ma's keynote at the coalition's conference in Orlando. Before that could happen, Alibaba announced Ma was pulling out, two days before his scheduled keynote. Alibaba president Michael Evans appeared in Ma's place. "We cannot and will not allow a tyranny of the minority to thwart progress," Evans said at the conference last week. "If we are not invited to join you in this fight, then we invite you to join us. We have no competitors in this battle. Only a common enemy: the counterfeiters." Barchiesi remains at the helm of the coalition. The results of the governance audit are not expected for months. Ma came to America anyway. What was meant to be a victory lap for the wiry former English teacher, now China's second-richest man, had become a public relations debacle. Even so, he left no doubt that Alibaba has succeeded in making inroads with Washington. On Tuesday, Ma had a quiet lunch with President Barack Obama. Reporters spotted him leaving the White House amid a crush of black umbrellas. He smiled beneath a gray sky and pronounced his meeting with the president "very good." Then he ducked into a waiting car and was gone. ___ Associated Press reporters Stephen Braun and Josh Lederman in Washington and researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report. ___ Follow Kinetz on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ekinetz and Butler at http://twitter.com/desmondbutler A man rests on a ladder near the company logo at the Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou, eastern China's Zhejiang province on Friday, May 27, 2016. Alibaba's relationship with an anti-counterfeiting lobby coalition known as the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition is a tale of how one of China's corporate giants won _ and ultimately lost_ a friend in Washington, using legal methods long deployed by corporate America: money and friendship. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2015 file photo, Alibaba founder Jack Ma speaks at the CEO Summit attended by 800 business leaders from around the region representing U.S. and Asia-Pacific companies, in Manila, Philippines, ahead of the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Jack Ma, the head of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is withdrawing from an anti-counterfeiting convention in Florida just two days before he was scheduled to give the keynote speech. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) The Latest: UN chief welcomes Obama's Hiroshima visit HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) The Latest on U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima, Japan (all times local): ___ 2:30 a.m. U.S. President Barack Obam, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands after laying wreaths at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Obama on Friday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, bringing global attention both to survivors and to his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons. Atomic Bomb Dome is seen in the background. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Hiroshima will inspire new concrete actions leading to a nuclear-free world. U.N. Spokesman Farhan Haq said Friday that Ban was "himself very strongly moved by his visit to Hiroshima and he believes that for world leaders to be able to see the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons can encourage all efforts to end their use anywhere in the world." Haq pointed out that Ban was the first sitting U.N. secretary-general to visit Hiroshima. ___ 6:15 p.m. President Barack Obama has greeted survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing at Hiroshima, Japan. Obama spoke briefly with survivors who were in the audience for his remarks at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. One of the survivors stamped his cane emphatically while speaking to the president. Obama smiled as he listened to the survivors. The president's interaction with survivors was highly anticipated ahead of his historic visit. Obama did not apologize for the decision to bomb, but paid tribute to the victims and decried the horrors of war. ___ 6:10 p.m. President Barack Obama has signed a guest book and laid a wreath during his historic visit to Hiroshima and its memorial park. Here is what he wrote: "We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons." The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima during the closing days of World War II, killing some 140,000 people. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. He also laid a wreath near the base of an arched memorial in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. ___ 6 p.m. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) says President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima opens a new chapter in reconciliation between the United States and Japan. Abe is speaking at a wreath-laying with Obama in the city where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb. Abe says he sincerely respects Obama's courage in deciding to visit Hiroshima. Abe says the tragedy of Hiroshima must not be repeated again. He says he and Obama are determined to realize a world free of nuclear weapons, no matter how difficult that is to achieve. ___ 5:50 p.m. President Barack Obama says the world has a shared responsibility to ask how to prevent the suffering that took place in Hiroshima 70 years ago from happening again. Obama is speaking at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay). Obama says the memory of Aug. 6, 1945, "must never fade." He's referring to the day the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on the western Japanese city. Obama says the memory allows the world to fight complacency and fuels a common moral imagination. He's also calling for a reduction in nuclear stockpiles and a move toward a world without nuclear weapons. Obama is commenting after he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. He laid a wreath near the base of the memorial. ___ 5:30 p.m. President Barack Obama has arrived at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on a historic visit to the city where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb. Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) entered the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where Obama is expected to sign a guest book. While at the park, Obama will also lay a wreath and deliver brief remarks. He is now the first sitting U.S. president to make the trip that his predecessors have avoided. Some 140,000 people were killed when President Harry Truman unleashed the nuclear weapon in August 1945 in the closing days of World War II. Obama will not apologize or second-guess Truman's decision. Nor will he dissect Japan's aggression in the war. Obama instead will acknowledge the devastating toll of war and encourage the world to do better. ___ 5 p.m. Barack Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit the hallowed ground of Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bomb attack. Obama arrived in Hiroshima after addressing U.S. and Japanese troops at nearby Marine Corps station. Obama will pay tribute to the 140,000 people who were killed 70 years ago when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the final days of World War II. During brief remarks, he's likely to also pitch his vision of a nuclear weapons-free world. Obama will not apologize for the decision to use a nuclear weapon. Instead, he plans to acknowledge the devastating toll of war and couple it with a message that the world can and must do better. ___ 4:15 p.m. President Barack Obama says his visit to Hiroshima will be an opportunity to honor the memory of all those lost during World War II. Obama is visiting U.S. and Japanese troops at Iwakuni air station just before traveling to nearby Hiroshima for the first visit by a sitting U.S. president. He says his historic visit is a chance to reaffirm a commitment to pursuing a world where nuclear weapons are no longer necessary. The president says his visit is a testament to how even the most painful divides can be bridged. He says it shows how former adversaries Japan and the U.S. can become not just partners but the best of friends and strongest of allies. Obama is also praising the troops for their sacrifices to ensure the security of people around the world. He says the world mustn't forget to honor those who have given everything for freedom. ___ 3:30 p.m. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) says President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima will give a "big boost" to efforts to achieve a nuclear-free world. Abe says what happened in Hiroshima should never be repeated. Some 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima near the end of World War II when the U.S. dropped at atomic bomb on the western Japanese city. It was the first such attack anywhere in the world. Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima's hallowed ground on Friday. Abe commented at the conclusion of a summit of world leaders in Shima, Japan. ___ 12:30 p.m. Hiroshima's peace memorial park is being cleared of visitors in preparation for President Barack Obama's visit. But there were plenty of morning visitors to the park, and all had their own reasons for coming. Kinuyo Ikegami, who is 82, came to light incense and chant a prayer. Long lines of schoolchildren took turns bowing and praying beside her. Retiree Tsuguo Yoshikawa took a walk in the park, and said it's time for the U.S. and Japanese people to move forward without grudges. Tokyo actor Kanji Shimizu says he wishes a U.S. president could have come earlier. But he's glad that the time has come. He's hoping Obama's visit will help promote world peace. U.S. President Barack Obama walks to lay a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Obama on Friday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, bringing global attention both to survivors and to his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted by U.S. Marines and their families at Iwakuni air station in Iwakuni, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016, after attending the G-7 Summit in Shima, central Japan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) U.S. President Barack Obama lays a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Obama on Friday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, bringing global attention both to survivors and to his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted by U.S. Marines and their families at Iwakuni air station in Iwakuni, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016, after attending the G-7 Summit in Shima, central Japan. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Spike in crime in Las Vegas spurs search for causes, cures LAS VEGAS (AP) From shootings on the Strip to the killing of a liquor store clerk who couldn't open a safe to an April weekend that saw five slayings in separate cases, crime is spiking in the shadows in Las Vegas and spurring questions about causes and cures. The local sheriff, police union officials and district attorney have various theories about what's behind the body count: 64 homicides by the end of April, compared with 29 killings after the first four months of 2015; 75 slayings as of Wednesday, compared with 45 by the same date last year. They cite officer staffing levels; gang activity; jail release policies locally and in neighboring California; and a departmental reorganization after Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo was elected 18 months ago. FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2015 file photo, police and emergency crews respond to the scene of an incident along Las Vegas Boulevard, in Las Vegas. Crime is spiking in Las Vegas and spurring questions about causes and cures. A motorist plowed through a crowd of Las Vegas Strip pedestrians in December, killing one and injuring at least 34 others from seven states, Mexico and Canada. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) "That's the million-dollar question," DA Steve Wolfson said. "There are lots of theories." Lombardo defends his deployment decisions, and concedes that pointing the finger at California jails and criminals is based more on what he calls a gut reaction than on statistics. "Everybody's dealing with an increase in violent crime across the nation," Lombardo said. "The question is whether we're dealing with it more here than anybody else." In Washington, D.C., FBI Director James Comey cited Las Vegas and Chicago as examples of a rise in violence nationally. He said he'd been briefed about crime rates in more than 40 cities, but he named just two. "From the Las Vegas Strip you can't tell that more than 60 people have been murdered in Las Vegas this year," Comey recently told reporters in the nation's capital. Lombardo, a 25-year Las Vegas police veteran, heads a department with 2,612 sworn police officers covering a city and most of a county with more than 2 million residents, plus more than 40 million visitors a year. "Officers' presence makes a difference," Lombardo said. "All the resources we can, within reason, we bring forward to attack violent crime." But the image of the safety in Sin City has been shaken several times in recent months: A motorist plowed through a crowd of Las Vegas Strip pedestrians in December, killing one and injuring at least 34 others from seven states, Mexico and Canada. Two bystanders were grazed by police gunfire in a January shooting during an evening musical fountain show at the Bellagio resort. The officer was firing at a man with a handgun, who wasn't hit. A shooting in February killed two San Francisco Bay-area women and left a man wounded in a car after a fistfight in a Strip resort parking lot. A brazen takeover robbery at a warehouse-style liquor store stunned the city in April. Security video showed three assailants entering the store, and cameras recorded the shooting death of a 24-year-old clerk who police said didn't have the combination to open the safe. The headlines have prompted second-guessing amid the police rank-and-file including some who think dispersing gang detectives from a central office to the department's eight regional commands was a bad idea. "We didn't get more bodies. We moved people around," said Mark Chaparian, executive director of the local police union. "When homicide numbers have doubled and violent crime is up, everyone looks at what happened and asks, 'What went wrong?'" John Faulis, a lieutenant who heads the police supervisors' union, agrees with Lombardo that Las Vegas police are understaffed. Department figures put the number of police officers in Las Vegas at 1.7 per 1,000 residents. The number is just under the 1.8 officers per 1,000 residents average for large cities in the West, according to FBI data, but below the average of 2.2 per 1,000 for similar-sized cities nationally. The ratio doesn't count people staying in Las Vegas' 150,000 hotel rooms. Lombardo, who looks to cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix as models, said he believes half the homicides this year in Las Vegas have been associated with gangs. Police estimate that Las Vegas has 15,000 gang members. Los Angeles also is seeing a spike in crime this year compared with 2015, said Kevin McCarthy, detective commander of a department with nearly 10,000 sworn police officers in a city of 4 million people a ratio of 4 per 1,000. McCarthy said violent crime was up 16 percent and homicides were up 16.5 percent. In Phoenix, a city of 1.5 million people, homicides are up one-third this year, from 33 in the first four months of 2015 to 49 this year. The police department has a ratio of 2.1 officers per 1,000 residents. San Diego, a city of 1.4 million, appears to be an exception, with violent crime down 12 percent in the first three months of 2016, compared with 2015. It has 1.5 police officers per 1,000 residents. Elected officials in Las Vegas balked several times in recent years at proposals to hike the local sales tax to hire more officers before voting in September to increase the sales tax from 8.1 percent to 8.15 percent. "Do we need more cops? Obviously," said Steve Sisolak, chairman of the seven-member Clark County Commission, the elected body with oversight of the Las Vegas Strip. "But how do you pay for them?" FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2015 file photo, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, left, and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson speak at a news conference, in Las Vegas. The two officials spoke about the car driven by suspect Lakeisha N. Holloway, pictured on monitor, of Oregon, who police said smashed into crowds of pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, killing one person and injuring at least 34 others. Crime is spiking in Las Vegas and spurring questions about causes and cures. (AP Photo/David Becker, File) In this May 5, 2016, photo, employees of a funeral home remove a body from a murder scene in North Las Vegas, Nev. Violent crime has spiked in Las Vegas, spurring a search by the sheriff for way to stop it. The local sheriff, police union officials and district attorney have various theories about whats behind it. They cite everything from officer staffing to gang activity to jail release policies locally and in California. (AP Photo/John Locher) FILE - In this April 27, 2016, photo file photo, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo listens to reporters questions as he briefs the media on a violent crime spike at the news conference in Las Vegas. The local sheriff, police union officials and district attorney have various theories about whats behind it. They cite everything from officer staffing to gang activity to jail release policies locally and in California. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, File) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT In this April 26, 2016 photo, officers of the Northeast Area Community Policing unit talk to a woman while investigating in the Liberty Village Apartment complex in Las Vegas. Officers are searching for suspects for a April 24 homicide in the area. Crime is spiking in Las Vegas and spurring questions about causes and cures. The sheriff, police union officials and district attorney have various theories about whats behind the body count. They cite everything from officer staffing to gang activity to jail release policies. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT In this Tuesday, April 26, 2016 photo, Officer Damian Wilbur with Metro's Targeting Neighborhood Taggers listens during a meeting with Clark County School District police officers at Eldorado High School in Las Vegas. Officers are investigating a rash of homicides in the valley. The sheriff, police union officials and district attorney have various theories about whats behind the body count. They cite everything from officer staffing to gang activity to jail release policies. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL INTERNET OUT; LAS VEGAS SUN OUT Dump Trump? Some millennials aren't so sure COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) Brendan De Regla drove three hours and waited in line for half a day to see Donald Trump speak at a rally in Southern California. Dozens of college-aged protesters shouted on the other side of a police line, but De Regla, 22, stood unwaveringly in support of Trump. "I just fell in love with him immediately," he said, sporting a "Make America Great Again" T-shirt. "Since day one, I've loved him. But I knew it would take some time for people to figure out what he was about and what he was going to do and it's finally happening." In this May 11, 2016, photo, Jeremy Wiggins poses for a photo in Columbia, Mo. Wiggins, a 20-year-old business administration major at the University of Missouri-Columbia, is a supporter of Donald Trump and has been elected to be a delegate from Missouri to the Republican National Convention where he plans to cast his delegate vote for Trump. While most polls show Bernie Sanders is the overwhelming favorite of millennials, some young voters are taking a serious look at Trump as the primary season rolls on. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) While most polls show Bernie Sanders is the overwhelming favorite of millennials voters between the ages of 18 and 35 some young voters are taking a serious look at Trump as the primary season rolls on. In a Harvard Institute of Politics poll out this spring, 25 percent of people under 30 said they would vote for Trump if he faced off against Hillary Clinton in the fall. Sanders still has the clear advantage among millennials, and the same Harvard poll shows 80 percent of young people with a very favorable opinion of Sanders would vote for Clinton if he drops out. But young voters are united in their anger and disillusionment, having come of age during the Great Recession. Trump has tapped into that subset of those voters in the same way as Sanders, despite their radically different policy proposals, said Morley Winograd, a senior fellow at the University of Southern California who has authored books on millennials. Young voters think: "'The system is rigged, I need somebody to totally overthrow the system' and that's what Trump says he's going to do and that's what Sanders says he's going to do," he said. "You can understand where there might be those commonalities." Millennials are also deeply suspicious of corporate power and bureaucracy, in part because many watched their own families suffer during the economic meltdown. That leads to a greater distrust of Clinton, who is seen as part of the establishment; 53 percent of those under 30 say they dislike Clinton, according to the Harvard IOP poll. "Right now, their disapproval of her is kind of hard to watch in some ways," said Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, which has studied millennial voting patterns in this election. What seems to be missing is party loyalty among young people who are voting, Kawashima-Ginsberg said. "It seems to be a mistake to assume that because there's a Democratic Party nominee that they will vote for that person." That's already been the case for 28-year-old Newport Beach voter Kevin Morton. Morton, who is black, voted for Barack Obama in 2008, but then he lost his house to foreclosure during the recession and was unemployed for a year. Now a self-employed small business owner, Morton said he began to follow politics more closely and studied up on what caused the economic collapse and world politics. He briefly considered Sanders for his honesty, but ultimately settled on Trump because Sanders is "too hippyish." "I'm going to vote Republican this election but that doesn't mean I'm Republican. ... This is a choice we're making for the next four years." Even some of the youngest millennials who didn't suffer the brunt of the recession see promise in Trump. Jeremy Wiggins, 20, is a junior at the University of Missouri and a delegate to the Republican National Convention. He plans to vote for Trump at the convention although he, too, respects Sanders for his message, he said. "You have an honesty (with) Sanders or Trump, an honesty with your candidate," he said. "But for why you'd choose Trump over Sanders, for somebody my age you're going to be in the job market very soon, starting your first job, getting health insurance and ... we want the jobs to be there." Trump is still a long way from cementing the support of these voters, who "grew up with this cultural norm of not bullying, being inclusive and with diversity being seen as a strength, not a weakness," said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego. "Donald Trump has to talk in a different way if he's going to get these voters. He can't just be that bully who says we need these jobs back," he said. "He needs a message for people who are still looking for good jobs and who are more comfortable with the new face of America." Ian Smith, a 24-year-old who works with adolescents in drug and mental health rehab, showed up at the same Trump rally in suburban Southern California. He grew up with a Democratic activist mother but was torn between Trump and Sanders before he was turned off on Trump by what he called the hatefulness of the crowd. Now, he prefers Sanders, but says Trump might come back into consideration in a potential race with Clinton, who he thinks is an opportunist and a liar. "To be perfectly honest, I'd flip a coin," Smith said of a choice between Trump and Clinton. "I don't like either, but I'm going to vote, no matter what." ____ Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/gflaccus Colorado governor's book raises Clinton veep speculation DENVER (AP) John Hickenlooper, Colorado's term-limited Democratic governor, released a candid autobiography and is doing the book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. Hickenlooper insists he hasn't been approached by Clinton's camp, and he uses self-deprecating humor to deflect queries about his ambitions. But his name has come up before. "Everyone says I'm on the short list," he said recently. "I think it's probably a long list; I'm probably closer to the bottom." Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shows off his socks--one with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the other with Republican candidate Donald Trump--before entering his former brewpub for a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Hickenlooper is one of few Democratic governors who survived off-year Democratic routs over the past eight years. Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is usually cited as a top candidate for vice president, along with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Labor Secretary Tom Perez. Another name being floated is Ken Salazar, the former U.S. interior secretary and U.S. senator from Colorado. Because of the primary challenge from Clinton's left flank posed by Bernie Sanders, there has been increased speculation she will turn to a Senate liberal for her vice president, like Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Both, however, hail from states where GOP governors would be able to appoint their replacement. Yet both Democrats and Republicans in Colorado, a key presidential swing state, say a Clinton-Hickenlooper fit makes sense. ___ OIL TO BEER TO POLITICS Laid off as an oil and gas geologist during a 1980s bust, Hickenlooper founded a brewpub in 1988 that helped trigger the transformation of Denver's gritty downtown warehouse district. The tireless civic booster was elected mayor in his first try at political office, re-elected, and helped bring the 2008 Democratic National Convention to Denver. In 2010, Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter told Hickenlooper he wouldn't seek re-election and encouraged him to run. Hickenlooper did and beat a splintered Republican Party. Four years later, Hickenlooper narrowly defeated former Rep. Bob Beauprez in 2014's GOP-dominant election. ___ WHY HE'D FIT Colorado is crucial to victory in November. Hickenlooper's idiosyncratic humor and plain talk could boost Clinton's favorability ratings among voters. Clinton "needs to find someone who's likable, and John Hickenlooper's definitely likable," said Owen Loftus, a Republican campaign adviser. On divisive issues like guns and energy, Hickenlooper seeks consensus rather than confrontation. Mike Stratton, a Democratic strategist in Denver, said Hickenlooper's record of bipartisan problem-solving makes him an appealing vice presidential candidate. "That kind of thing is at a premium everywhere in the country," Stratton said. "Obviously someone from the West helps balance the ticket." Hickenlooper has overseen a growing economy with unemployment at 3.1 percent, compared with 9.1 percent when he took office. Bill Cadman, state senate GOP majority leader, calls him a "great marketing director for the state." Hickenlooper reluctantly accepted voters' decision to create the nation's first recreational pot industry but insisted it be tightly regulated. ___ WHY NOT Hickenlooper is a friend of fracking, the gas-drilling procedure some Democrats find dangerous. Clinton alienated many by saying she'd put coal miners out of work. "It's religion in the Democratic Party to oppose fracking, and I can see him having problems with the party's more liberal elements," said Dick Wadhams, a former Colorado Republican Party chair and political consultant. Hickenlooper was widely criticized in 2013 for granting an indefinite execution reprieve to a man who shot and killed four people at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. The governor said he wanted to put off a decision on the man's execution until another governor took office, a delay that struck both death-penalty supporters and opponents as cowardly. He's yet to find a solution with tax-averse Colorado Republicans to help Colorado's underfunded schools. In 2013, voters overwhelmingly rejected his plan for a $1 billion income tax increase for schools. Hickenlooper threw his weight in 2013 into the passage of universal background checks and gun magazine limits, something that could endear him to Democrats but infuriate Republicans already incensed at Clinton's gun control stance. ___ 'COLORADO DOES NOT QUIT' Coloradans' response to a series of disasters inspired the title of his book, "The Opposite of Woe," subtitled, "My Life in Beer and Politics." In 2012, Colorado suffered the most destructive wildfires in state history and the Aurora theater shootings, in which James Holmes opened fire at a "Batman" movie, killing 12 people and wounding 70. The next year brought the assassination by an ex-felon of Colorado corrections chief Tom Clements, epic flooding that displaced thousands, and a high school shooting in which a student killed a classmate before taking his own life. "Colorado does not quit," Hickenlooper writes. "What we showed the world is that Colorado is the opposite of woe." Hickenlooper's self-portrait includes using pot as a teen and taking a nude selfie in a (filled) bathtub. He comes off as both bullied and rebellious as a youth. He kept his attempts to rescue his first marriage to the writer Helen Thorpe and his courtship of his second spouse, Robin Pringle, out of the public eye. "It's certainly not the portrait of someone who's trying to prepare themselves to be a vice presidential candidate," Hickenlooper told reporters this week. ___ Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report. ___ James Anderson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jandersonap. Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyatt FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, file photograph, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper smiles at spectators after taking the oath of office to begin his second term as the state's top official during inauguration ceremony on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Colorado's Democratic governor, Hickenlooper, has released a candid autobiography that's revived speculation he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. Hickenlooper insists he hasn't been approached by the Clinton camp. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shows off his socks--one with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the other with Republican candidate Donald Trump--before entering his former brewpub for a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, center, autographs one of his times while in his former brewpub for a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to guests at the Colorado Democrats 83rd Annual Dinner, in Denver. Colorado's Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper, has released a candid autobiography that's revived speculation he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. Hickenlooper insists he hasn't been approached by the Clinton camp. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, right, autographs a tome at his former brewpub during a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, left, autographs his time for attorney Craig Silverman while in Hickenlooper's former brewpub for a book signing event to mark the release of his autobiography Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Denver. Hickenlooper, who is term-limited, is doing book talk rounds this week, reviving speculation that he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Trump shifts to Clinton after claiming GOP delegate majority BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) Presidential candidate Donald Trump, armed at last with a majority of the Republican Party's delegates, is celebrating by shifting his attention toward the general election while his likely Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, remains locked in a divisive primary contest. "Here I am watching Hillary fight, and she can't close the deal," Trump crowed Thursday during an appearance in North Dakota. "We've had tremendous support from almost everybody." Trump's good news was tempered by ongoing internal problems, including the sudden departure of his political director and continuing resistance by many Republican leaders to declaring their support for his outsider candidacy. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a campaign rally, at the Rimrock Auto Arena, in Billings, Mont., Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) At the same time, Clinton faced fresh questions about her use of a private email server while secretary of state, even as she fought to pivot toward Trump, who she warned would take the country "backward on every issue and value we care about." Campaigning before union workers in Las Vegas, she decried Trump's anti-union comments and his proposal to deport millions of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. She said he is an "unqualified loose cannon" who should never be president. Complicating her election challenge, Clinton's Democratic rival Bernie Sanders embraced the possibility of a one-on-one debate with Trump. The Republican said he'd "love to debate Bernie," but would want the debate to raise at least $10 million for charity. Just 75 delegates short of her own delegate majority, Clinton remains on a path to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, according to an Associated Press count. But Trump got there first. The New York businessman sealed the majority by claiming a small number of the party's unbound delegates who told The Associated Press they would support him at the national convention in July. Among them was Oklahoma GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard. "I think he has touched a part of our electorate that doesn't like where our country is," Pollard said. "I have no problem supporting Mr. Trump." It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination. Trump has reached 1,239 and will easily pad his total in primary elections on June 7. At a rally in Billings, Montana, Trump offered new specifics on his general election strategy. "What I'm going to do is I want to focus on 15-or-so states," he said, that could go "either way." Among those he mentioned: the Democratic bastions of California and New York, which he insists he can put into play. Trump said during a news conference Thursday that he would "absolutely" end his habit of attacking fellow Republicans now that the nomination is effectively his. But that truce appeared to be short-lived. Speaking later at the Billings rally, Trump said 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who has refused to endorse him, had "failed so badly." His campaign also released a celebratory Instagram video that features a montage of former rivals, including Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz, saying he would never be the party's nominee. Trump's pivotal moment comes amid a new sign of internal problems. Hours before clinching the nomination, he announced the departure of political director Rick Wiley, who was leading the campaign's push to hire staff in key battleground states. In a statement, Trump's campaign said Wiley had been hired only until the candidate's organization "was running full steam." ___ Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Washington, James Nord in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, James MacPherson in Bismarck, North Dakota, Lisa Lerer in Las Vegas, Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, Iowa, and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets supporters during a campaign rally, at the Rimrock Auto Arena, in Billings, Mont., Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes the stage before speaking at a United Food and Commercial Workers International union Legislative and Political Affairs conference, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) After harrowing cave escape, operator considers safety HORSE CAVE, Ky. (AP) One day after 19 people trudged through neck-deep water in a harrowing escape from a flooded Kentucky cave, the operator of the spelunking attraction says he is analyzing the incident for any possible safety lessons. David Foster, executive director of the American Cave Museum, said he had no way to reach the group of students a mile deep in the caverns Thursday afternoon to warn them that the water was rising and threatening to block their only exit. Radio frequencies don't reach that deep into the caverns; there are no phone lines to check in. So Foster sped home to get his boots, called 911 and ran into the flooded Hidden River Cave to find them. If he didn't act fast, he thought, the group of guides and college students there on a five-hour tour could be trapped for days until the water receded. Rescued people walk out of the entrance to Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT They all made it out safely after navigating deep water, rushing currents and mud so thick it sucked off a police chief's boot. Now Foster said he's turning his attention to any safety updates that might help prevent another close call. Four years ago, another spring flood forced Foster to undertake a similar rescue mission. In March 2012, eight students and a teacher on a field trip were deep in the cave when a thunderstorm dumped rain on the area, said Bonny Armstrong, editor of the journal American Caving Accidents, a publication of the National Speleological Society. That group, like the cavers rescued Thursday, had no idea their only exit was being plugged by water. Foster and another guide went in to rescue them. One canyon, about 1,000 feet into the cave, is particularly prone to dangerous flooding, Foster said. In 2012, the guide tied a rope around his waist, and the students grasped onto it. They walked where they could, but the flood was so deep they sometimes had to swim, Armstrong said. Everyone made it out safely. Foster said they learned from that experience and built a ladder and cable system in the canyon as an escape route. They used it Thursday, and Foster said it allowed them to traverse the most treacherous part of the cave without incident. His worry after Thursday's flood is communication. The groups entered the cave around 10 a.m., and when the rain started hours later there was no way to warn them to hurry back aboveground. Foster is now looking into installing a phone system in the cave, which gets about 15,000 visitors every year and is operated by the nonprofit American Cave Conservation Association. Its yearly budget is about $300,000. Revenue comes from donations, grants and ticket sales for the cave and museum. Foster's cave is about 10 miles from Kentucky's most famous caverns, Mammoth Cave National Park. Park spokeswoman Vickie Carson said the cave has a hard-wired telephone system. Phones are placed at regular intervals so guides are never far from one. "We can make plans for safety as best we can," Carson said. "But it's not all under human control. It's a wild place. That's what gives it the sense of adventure." After the 2012 incident, Armstrong said she recommended stashing supplies in high, dry areas inside the cave so cavers trapped by water can camp until the flood subsides. She repeated Friday that allowing cavers to be temporarily trapped is safer than braving the daring, high-water rescues like the one on Thursday. Foster said he will consider stashing warm clothes and supplies deep in his cave. But after spelunking there for 30 years, he said he knows the cave and how the water rises in it, and was confident Thursday that he had enough time to get everybody out safely. People know spelunking holds inherent risks, he said. That's why they descend into a cave in the first place. "In a world where all the high mountains have been climbed, there are very few wilderness areas left where human beings have not traveled," he said. "Here we're sitting in a small Kentucky town where there are miles of caves that have never been explored, nobody has ever seen them. There are still discoveries to be made." ___ Schreiner reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Beth Campbell in Louisville contributed to this report. People who were rescued from Hidden River Cave celebrate at a house next to the cave Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT People exit Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. Horse Cave Fire Chief Donnie Parker said the rising water was caused by heavy rains in the area Thursday afternoon. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Abby Harmon, 27, of Knoxville, Tenn., checks her phone after being rescued from Hidden River Cave, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Becca Dozier, center, takes off her helmet after having been rescued from Hidden River Cave, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group of college students trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Rescued people gather at a house next to Hidden River Cave after over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Rescued people walk out of the entrance to Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Rescued people exit Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT People who were rescued from Hidden River Cave celebrate Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Egypt says search for crashed EgyptAir plane narrows CAIRO (AP) The search for the EgyptAir plane which crashed last week killing all 66 people on board has narrowed to a 5-kilometer-wide area in the Mediterranean Sea, based on signals from the craft's emergency beacon, Egypt's chief investigator said. The chief investigator, Ayman al-Moqadem, said late Thursday that Airbus had given Egyptian authorities information on the Emergency Locator Transmitter, or ELT, from the doomed aircraft. An official from the Egyptian investigation team on Friday clarified that the beacon information was from the day of the crash, May 19, and that no new signal had been found. An Airbus official said he was unaware of any ELT received or given to the Egyptians. FILE - This file still image taken from video posted Saturday, May 21, 2016, on the official Facebook page of the Egyptian Armed Forces spokesman shows some personal belongings and other wreckage from EgyptAir flight 804 in Egypt. Human remains retrieved from the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 804 suggest there was an explosion on board that may have brought down the aircraft in the east Mediterranean, a senior Egyptian forensics official said on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (Egyptian Armed Forces via AP, File) Both officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. The ELT's signal is too weak to transmit information from underwater, unlike the locator pings emitted by the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, known as the black box. Al-Moqadem stressed that the black boxes have not been found, which he said requires highly sophisticated technology. But he said the search was now being conducted in a 5-kilometer (3-miles) area. He did not clarify how long the search has been narrowed to that area. A French naval oceanographic research ship, Laplace, carrying a long-range acoustic system able to detect signals from the black box is headed to the crash site, France's air accident investigation agency, the BEA, said in a statement. The ship left Corsica on Thursday and was due to reach the crash area on Monday or Sunday, it said. Earlier, Egyptian officials had said the ship had already arrived at the site. Eight days after the plane crashed off Egypt's northern coast on a Paris to Cairo flight, the cause of the tragedy still has not been determined. Ships and planes from Egypt, Greece, France, the United States and other nations have been searching the Mediterranean north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria for the jet's voice and flight data recorders, as well as more bodies and parts of the aircraft. Small pieces of the wreckage and human remains have been recovered while the bulk of the plane and the bodies of the passengers are believed to be deep under the sea. A Cairo forensic team has received the human remains and is carrying DNA tests to identify the victims. Egypt's civil aviation minister Sherif Fathi has said he believes terrorism is a more likely explanation than equipment failure or some other catastrophic event. But no hard evidence has emerged on the cause, and no militant group has claimed to have downed the jet. Earlier, leaked flight data indicated a sensor detected smoke in a lavatory and a fault in two of the plane's cockpit windows in the final moments of the flight. The French vessel, Laplace, is carrying three detectors made by the Alseamar company designed to detect and localize signals from the flight recorders, believed about 3,000 meters (3,280 yards) underwater. The torpedo-shaped detectors can be lowered about 1 kilometer (half mile) into the water to listen for signals up to 4 kilometers away. France may also send an unmanned submarine and deep-sea retrieval equipment, the statement said. The BEA is involved in the search because the crashed plane was an Airbus, manufactured in France. Because of the difficulties in finding the black boxes, Egypt has contracted two foreign companies, Alseamar and Deep Ocean Research, to help locate the flight data recorders of the plane. Also, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said earlier that a submarine would join the search for the plane's data recorders. However, al-Moqadem told reporters that the submarine is not equipped to detect signals from the black boxes. ___ Associated Press writer Raphael Satter contributed to this report. EgyptAir hostesses line up during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, May 26, 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) Jessie and Jason.jpg (Sgt. Kevin Perlich) PASCAGOULA, Mississippi--Sgt. Kevin Perlich of the Richardson Police Department confirmed to the Mississippi Press on Thursday the body found in Farmersville, Texas on last week is that of Pascagoula resident, Jessie Bardwell. Tips provided to RPD led them to a rural area 36 miles outside of Richardson where a body was discovered and turned over to the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office. Bardwell's parents became suspicious after they had not heard from her during Mother's Day weekend, so they decided to reach out to RPD to provide a welfare check on her. Numerous attempts to reach Bardwell was to no avail. After contact still had not been made by Bardwell, her parents traveled to the Dallas-Richardson area to file a missing person report. Lowe was questioned in regards to Bardwell's whereabouts, but numerous holes in his alibi caused RPD to become suspicious. In their initial visit to his apartment, RPD found cocaine on Lowe's countertop. While they continued to search his apartment, nothing was found, but when Lowe was asked to open his garage, RPD discovered a wry smell emanating from within, which according to officers on the scene, smelled of a decomposing body. An autopsy of Bardwell's body will not be available for 2-3 weeks, according to public information officer for Collin County, Eric Nishimoto. Lowe was arrested on May 13, 2016, and charged with Bardwell's murder. He is currently in custody at the Collin County Detention Center. This story will be updated. Search for abducted teen moves to Northern California coast VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) Authorities on Friday narrowed their frantic search for a missing teenager to a remote area about 65 miles from where she was last seen being dragged by an armed acquaintance who later died in a gun battle with police. The Solano County Sheriff's Office said Friday that new information was prompting investigators to focus their search for 15-year-old Pearl Pinson along a road that traverses Sonoma Coast State Park near the town of Jenner. The search on land and along a river was suspended for the night and will resume Saturday morning, authorities said. Sheriff's Deputy Christine Castillo did not say what the nature of the new information was but said it came out of the investigation into the San Francisco Bay Area girl's disappearance. This undated photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office shows Pearl Pinson. Authorities are hoping to find the missing teenage girl alive as they frantically search a wide swath of California for her Friday, May 27, 2016, a day after the man suspected of abducting her died in a shootout with police. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office via AP) The search for the missing girl has been complicated by the death Thursday of the young man suspected of abducting her Wednesday as she walked to school. Police fatally shot Fernando Castro, 19, in Southern California after they spotted his car and exchanged gunfire with him as they say he attempted to get away. "This case spans from Northern to Southern California," Solano County Sheriff spokeswoman Castillo said earlier Friday. A witness saw Castro armed with a gun and pulling a screaming Pinson across a freeway overpass in the city of Vallejo, where they both lived. The witness reported hearing a gunshot while running for help. The sheriff's department said Friday that surveillance cameras captured images of Castro's car traveling Thursday morning in Marin County, about 25 miles from where Pinson was taken and 300 miles away from where he was shot and killed hours later. The gold Saturn sedan was spotted on a freeway near San Francisco Bay, and authorities also were searching the water's edge. Authorities said the two teens knew each other but emphasized that they believe Pinson was taken unwillingly. Rose Pinson, the missing girl's older sister, said she had heard Castro's name but had never met him and described him as an acquaintance, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald (http://tinyurl.com/gs68eut ). "Everyone is looking for Pearl. We aren't doing so good," Rose Pinson said at a vigil Thursday. "She's always happy, she loves to laugh, loves to ride her long skateboard." Blood and Pearl Pinson's cellphone were found on the pedestrian overpass where she was taken Wednesday. A day later and hundreds of miles away, Southern California sheriff's deputies spotted and pursued Castro's car. Castro abandoned the sedan about 45 miles north of Santa Barbara and shot at deputies as he ran into a mobile home park, the sheriff said. He briefly barricaded himself there, but a woman inside was able to escape safely. He stole a gray pickup from the house and opened fire at deputies again before they shot and killed him, authorities said. In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, California Highway Patrol units pursue a car being sought in a statewide Amber Alert in the disappearance of a Northern California 15-year-old girl, as it passes through Buellton on U.S. Highway 101 in Southern California Thursday, May 26, 2016. Fernando Castro was being sought and is believed to be the driver. (AP Photo Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP) This undated photo provided by the California Highway Patrol shows Pearl Pinson. Pinson is the subject of an Amber Alert as law enforcement agencies in Northern California were frantically searching Thursday, May 26, 2016 for the 15-year-old girl, whom a witness reportedly heard screaming for help as a young man dragged her across a freeway overpass. Fernando Castro, 19, is also being sought. (California Highway Patrol via AP) This undated photo provided by the California Highway Patrol shows Fernando Castro. Castro is the subject of an Amber Alert as law enforcement agencies in Northern California were frantically searching Thursday, May 26, 2016, for a 15-year-old girl, Pearl Pinson, whom a witness reportedly heard screaming for help as a young man dragged her across a freeway overpass. (California Highway Patrol via AP) In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, California Highway Patrol units pursue a car being sought in a statewide Amber Alert in the disappearance of a Northern California 15-year-old girl, as it passes through Buellton on U.S. Highway 101 in Southern California Thursday, May 26, 2016. Fernando Castro was being sought and is believed to be the driver. (AP Photo Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP) In police cases, black activists push reforms outside court BALTIMORE (AP) Black activists in Baltimore and beyond say they are disappointed but not discouraged after neither of the first two police officers to stand trial in the death of a man who was injured in the back of a police van was convicted. A number of black leaders said that they had low expectations of seeing anyone found guilty in the death of Freddie Gray. And they say bringing about real and lasting change in the criminal justice system will require action both inside and outside the courtroom, including pushing for new laws and reforms in police procedures. "You don't judge a war by winning or losing battles," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a longtime civil rights leader. "We're not prosecutors; we're activists. If you gauge (the 1960s) by one case, it's depressing. If you look at the bills that came out of it, you understand the big picture." FILE- In this May 23, 2016, file photo, protesters gather outside of a courthouse after Officer Edward Nero, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, was acquitted of all charges in his trial in Baltimore. Black activists in Baltimore and beyond say they are disappointed but not discouraged after neither of the first two police officers to stand trial in the death of Gray was convicted. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) Gray died just over a year ago after suffering a broken neck in the back of a police van while he was handcuffed and shackled but not buckled in. His death triggered the worst riots in decades in Baltimore and added his name to the list of unarmed black people in the U.S. who have died in confrontations with police. Baltimore's top prosecutor swiftly filed charges against six officers, two of whom have gone to trial. One case ended with the jury deadlocked; that officer will be retried in the fall. The other case ended Monday with a judge acquitting an officer of assault and other charges. "The policies related to policing almost guarantee that police officers will never be held criminally responsible for their actions," said Baltimore activist DeRay Mckesson, who launched his activism in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. "Most of these verdicts merely confirm that understanding." At the same time, he and other civil rights activists noted that there are still five trials ahead, including that of the van driver, who faces the most serious charge of all, second-degree murder. And some said seeing police officers put on trial is itself a sign of progress, regardless of the outcome. Across the country, demands for accountability in the deaths of unarmed blacks in recent years have met with mixed results. Prosecutors declined to indict the officers involved in the Ferguson case, the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland or the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York. On the other side of the ledger, Michael Slager, a former police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, will face trial in the killing of Walter Scott, who was gunned down as he ran away. "No trial is going to bring back a stolen life," said Ashley Green, an organizer in Tampa, Florida, with the Dream Defenders. "But don't insult us by not even taking the step to ask the question of whether this person deserved to die. That's what we're really asking for when we demand a trial." Adam Jackson, founder of the Baltimore group Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, said the outcome of the Baltimore trials so far reveals fundamental and systemic flaws in the criminal justice system. "We weren't expecting much," he said. "I think people are going to keep being frustrated and being angry about the results, but our argument the whole time is that the system is designed to protect law enforcement officials." Activists point out that they managed to change the system in other ways, outside the courtroom, in some of the cities roiled by killings. They mobilized to defeat prosecutors at the ballot box in Cleveland and Chicago, while in Ferguson the police chief and a judge resigned, organizers worked to register more black voters, and more blacks got elected to the City Council. The unrest in Baltimore resulted in the firing of the police commissioner, Anthony Batts. Additionally, the U.S. Justice Department has launched investigations into several police departments, including Ferguson and Baltimore. And police reform has become part of the conversation in the 2016 presidential election, something that was not on the radar in recent cycles. Activists are also pushing to attack what they see as some of the root causes of violence, including inadequate housing, education and job opportunities. "We know that accountability will require a change in laws and it will require pressure from the courts, just as it has required pressure from the streets," said Mckesson, who co-founded Campaign Zero, an advocacy group aimed at police reform. "It's all of these things working in concert, never just one." ___ Abe claims success as G-7 leaders back action on economies SHIMA, Japan (AP) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claimed success Friday in winning support for his approach to fighting off a possible economic crisis from fellow leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations, despite mounting evidence the formula is failing to yield promised results in Japan. In meetings at an isolated seaside resort renowned for its crayfish and pearls, Abe appealed for more action to stave off a downturn, insisting that an earlier lack of urgency contributed to the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Wrapping up the gathering with a sweeping declaration and several additional "action plans," the leaders acknowledged increasing risks for the global economic outlook, including terrorism, legions of displaced people, and conflicts that "pose a serious threat to the existing rule-based international order." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe leaves after a press conference of the Group of Seven Summit in Shima, central Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. The G-7 host, Abe appealed to his fellow leaders to act to avert another global crisis, comparing the current global economic situation to conditions just before the 2008 financial crisis. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) But they said their countries had strengthened policies to avoid relapsing into crisis. Attention swiftly shifted from the G-7 finale as Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama traveled to Hiroshima, where Obama became the first sitting American president to visit the city devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb in 1945 in the closing days of World War II. Abe said the commitment by the leaders to "use all policy tools monetary, fiscal and structural" was an endorsement of his own "Abenomics" three-pronged strategy for reviving Japan's sluggish growth. "We agreed to mobilize all our resources and launch three 'arrows' of monetary, fiscal and structural reform measures," Abe said. "We will be launching Abenomics to the world." "In order to avoid risks of the world economy falling into crisis, Japan will also do its utmost to cooperate and take leadership, mobilizing all possible resources, and boost the engine of Abenomics," he said. More than three years after Abe took office vowing to "Bring Japan Back!" from more than two decades of economic doldrums, his formula has yet to deliver the desired results: rising wages, business investment and a sustained recovery that places the world's third-largest economy into a "virtuous cycle." After a slight uptick in growth earlier this year, economists say conditions in Japan have deteriorated, partly due to the slowdown in China and other emerging economies. But backing from his G-7 counterparts may give Abe a boost as his ruling Liberal Democratic Party heads into a July parliamentary election. It also could embolden him to put off an unpopular increase in the national sales tax, to 10 percent from 8 percent. "Abenomics is not a failure at all," Abe told reporters, declaring he would "rev up the engine of Abenomics to the highest level possible." While they did not formally concur with Abe that the world is poised on the brink of crisis, the G-7 leaders did claim a special responsibility for beefing up their own economic policies. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, also said the world was "no longer in a 2008 moment." "We are out of the crisis but we are suffering the legacy of the crisis," Lagarde said, pointing to bad loans on the books of companies and banks as one of the biggest causes of concern. But she said, "Many countries can do quite a lot and some more than they are currently doing." The G-7 summit brought together the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Leaders of major international organizations and a select group of developing countries attended "outreach" sessions held after the G-7 summit meetings ended. The group's discussions addressed a wide range of issues, including terrorism and other risks to peace and global growth, the massive flows of refugees and migrants to Europe to escape conflict and poverty at home, global threats to public health, cybercrime, corruption and efforts to help girls and women. The leaders also expressed unease over territorial tensions in the East and South China seas. The declaration does not specifically mention China and its expansion into disputed areas, but calls for respect for freedom of navigation and overflights and for resolving conflicts peacefully through law. But the main focus was on economic challenges. In their statement, the leaders denounced protectionism and trade barriers and noted the negative impact of overcapacity in some industries. One of the biggest headaches, Abe said, was a glut in China's steel industry. "It's a root cause distorting the market, and unless it's fundamentally resolved, the problem persists," he said. The group said Britain's possible exit from the European Union, depending on the outcome of a June 23 vote, is one of many potential shocks for the global economy. British Prime Minister David Cameron said staying in the EU is "all about Britain's national interest." "The EU makes us better off. Better off in terms of jobs, better off in terms of growth. Better off in terms of investment by other countries into our economy that creates the growth and the jobs and the livelihoods that we need," Cameron said. ___ Associated Press writers Miki Toda and Aritz Parra contributed to this report. Kurtenbach reported from Ise, Japan. From Left to right; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Laos' President Bounnhang Vorachit, European Union Council President Donald Tusk, Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chad's President Idriss Deby, U.S. President Barack Obama, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, France's President Francois Hollande, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao pose during the family photo session at the G-7 summit, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Shima, Japan, (Jeon Heon-kyun, Pool Photo via AP) From Left to right; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Laos' President Bounnhang Vorachit, European Union Council President Donald Tusk, Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chad's President Idriss Deby, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, France's President Francois Hollande, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao wait for US. President Barack Obama for the family photo session at the G-7 summit, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Shima, Japan, (Jeon Heon-kyun, Pool Photo via AP) Leaders of Group of Seven nations, from left, British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, European Council President Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel look to media as they gather to participate in a G-7 Working Session in Shima, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016, during the G-7 Summit. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Pool) U.S. President Barack Obama, right, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel participate in a G-7 Working Session in Shima, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016, during the G-7 Summit. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Pool) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at a press conference at the G-7 summit in Shima, central Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waves to the media after a press conference of the Group of Seven Summit in Shima, central Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. The G-7 host, Abe appealed to his fellow leaders to act to avert another global crisis, comparing the current global economic situation to conditions just before the 2008 financial crisis. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) U.S. President Barack Obama, right, speaks with Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Angel Gurria at the first Outreach Session during the second day of the Group of Seven summit meetings in Ise Shima, Japan, May 27, 2016.(Jim Watson/Pool Photo via AP) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, walks with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim right, during the family photo session at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit in Shima, Japan. Friday, May 27, 2016. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP) Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron speaks during a press briefing following the G-7 summit in Shima, central Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. A possible exit from the European Union by Britain, depending on a June 23 vote, is also hanging over the talks. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) French President Francois Hollande, left, speaks with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde during the family photo session at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit in Shima, Japan. Friday, May 27, 2016. (Jeon Heon-kyun/Pool Photo via AP) Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, speaks with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at the first Outreach Session during the second day of the G-7 summit meetings in Shima, Japan, May 27, 2016. (Jim Watson, Pool Photo via AP) Leaders from left, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chad President Idriss Deby Itno, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, French President Francois Hollande and Indonesian Persident Joko Widodo, leave a space for U.S. President Barack Obama, as they wait for him to arrive for a photo session with other G-7 leaders and Outreach Partners in Shima, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016, during the G-7 Summit. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, Pool) U.S. President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim as he arrives to attend the Outreach Session of the G-7 summit, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Shima, Japan. (Manan Vatsyayana, Pool Photo via AP) Obama uses Hiroshima visit as opportunity to urge no nukes HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) With an unflinching look back at a painful history, President Barack Obama stood on the hallowed ground of Hiroshima on Friday and declared it a fitting place to summon people everywhere to embrace the vision of a world without nuclear weapons. As the first American president to visit the city where the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb, Obama came to acknowledge but not apologize for an act many Americans see as a justified end to a brutal war that Japan started with a sneak attack at Pearl Harbor. Some 140,000 people died after a U.S. warplane targeted wartime Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, and 70,000 more perished in Nagasaki, where a second bomb was dropped three days later. Japan soon surrendered. U.S. President Barack Obama hugs Shigeaki Mori, an atomic bomb survivor; creator of the memorial for American WWII POWs killed at Hiroshima, during a ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Obama on Friday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, bringing global attention both to survivors and to his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons. (AP Photo Carolyn Kaster) "Their souls speak to us," Obama said of the dead. "They ask us to look inward, to take stock of who we are and who we might become." With a lofty speech and a warm embrace for an elderly survivor, Obama renewed the call for a nuclear-free future that he had first laid out in a 2009 speech in Prague. This time, Obama spoke as a far more experienced president than the one who had employed his upbeat "Yes, we can" campaign slogan on the first go-round. The president, who has made uneven progress on his nuclear agenda over the past seven years, spoke of "the courage to escape the logic of fear" as he held out hope for diligent, incremental steps to reduce nuclear stockpiles. "We may not realize this goal in my lifetime, but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe," he said. Obama spent less than two hours in Hiroshima but seemed to accomplish what he came for. It was a choreographed performance meant to close old wounds without inflaming new passions on a subject still fraught after all these years. In a solemn ceremony on a sunwashed afternoon, Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe placed wreaths before the cenotaph, a simple arched stone monument at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. Only the clicking of camera shutters intruded on the moment as Obama closed his eyes and briefly bowed his head. Then, after each leader gave brief remark, Obama approached two aging survivors of the bombing who were seated in the front row, standing in for the thousands still seared by memories of that day. Ninety-one-year-old Sunao Tsuboi, the head of a survivors group, energetically engaged the president in conversation, telling Obama he would be remembered as someone who listened to the voice of a few survivors. He urged him to come back and meet more. "He was holding my hands until the end," Tsuboi said. "I was almost about to ask him to stop holding my hands, but he wouldn't." Obama stepped over to meet historian Shigeaki Mori. Just 8 when the bomb hit, Mori had to hold back tears at the emotion of the moment. Obama patted him on the back and wrapped him in a warm embrace. From there, Obama and Abe walked along a tree-lined path toward a river that flows by the iconic A-bomb dome, the skeletal remains of an exhibition hall that stands as silent testimony to the awful power of the bomb blast 71 years ago and as a symbol for international peace. Abe welcomed the president's message and offered his own determination "to realize a world free of nuclear weapons, no matter how long or how difficult the road will be." Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency for his anti-nuclear agenda but has seen uneven progress. The president can point to last year's Iran nuclear deal and a weapons treaty with Russia. But North Korea's nuclear program still looms as a threat, and hopes for a pact for further weapons reductions with Russia have stalled. Critics also fault the administration for planning a big and costly program to upgrade U.S. nuclear stockpiles. Just as Obama had delicate sensitivities to manage in Hiroshima, so too did Abe. The Japanese leader made a point to dismiss any suggestion that he pay a reciprocal visit to Pearl Harbor. Abe did not rule out coming to Hawaii someday, but clearly wanted to avoid any notion of moral equivalence. In Japan, Pearl Harbor is not seen as a parallel for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but as an attack on a military installation that did not target civilians. Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, 82 paid her own respects at the cenotaph early Friday, before the politicians arrived. "I could hear schoolchildren screaming: 'Help me! Help me!'" she said, tears running down her face. "It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion." Obama went out of his way, in speaking of the dead, to mention that thousands of Koreans and a dozen American prisoners were among those who died. It was a nod to advocates for both groups who had publicly warned the president not to forget about them in Hiroshima. In a brief visit to the museum at the peace park, Obama visited a display about a young girl who survived the bombing but died several years later of leukemia. She folded paper cranes in the hospital until she died and is the inspiration for the story of Sadako and the thousand cranes. ___ Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac. Follow Foster Klug at www.twitter.com/apklug U.S. President Barack Obama lays a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western, Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Obama on Friday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, bringing global attention both to survivors and to his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) U.S. President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands and chats with Sunao Tsuboi, second right, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing and chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization (HPCASO), as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe watches them during his visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, May 27, 2016. Obama on Friday became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack, bringing global attention both to survivors and to his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons. (Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP) Savchenko: I could run for president if Ukrainians want it MOSCOW (AP) Nadiya Savchenko, a pilot who returned to a hero's welcome in Ukraine after two years in Russian custody, declared Friday she would run for president if that's what Ukrainians wanted. Her comments are sure to send a thunderbolt through Ukraine's political system, which is already in turmoil due to a devastating war with separatists in the east, failing efforts to combat government corruption and a collapsing economy. Savchenko was captured in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists in June 2014 when she was serving in a volunteer Ukrainian battalion. She resurfaced in Russian custody she says she was kidnapped and spirited across the border, Russians say she came in illegally. In March, she was convicted of acting as a spotter for mortar fire that killed two Russian journalists and sentenced to 22 years in a Russian prison. Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who was freed from a Russian jail, gestures while speaking to the media during her news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, May 27, 2016. Savchenko, who came home on Wednesday after two years in Russian custody says she would run for president if that's what Ukrainians desire. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov) Savchenko was released Wednesday after being pardoned on humanitarian grounds by Russian President Vladimir Putin he says at the urging of the journalists' relatives and traded for two Russian military men convicted in Ukraine. She received a rapturous welcome in Kiev, lauded for her flinty defiance of the harsh Russian justice system. At her first news conference upon her return, the 35-year-old told reporters Friday in Kiev that what she would like best is to return to her job as a military pilot. But she said she is willing to launch a political career if this could help Ukraine deal with the separatist war and snap out of political and economic turmoil. When asked if she was willing to run for president, she replied: "Ukrainians, if you want me to become president, I will become president." Despite fears that Savchenko, an ardent nationalist, will use her popularity to pursue a populist agenda that could undermine peace accords for eastern Ukraine, the pilot sounded moderate when asked about the conflict in the east. She said talks with Russia-backed rebels are necessary in order to reach a settlement but added this does not mean that Ukraine should grant them broad autonomy. The news conference was interjected by shouts "Glory to Ukraine!" Savchenko, dressed in a white shirt and a tailored waistcoat, echo them with "Glory to the heroes!" Savchenko rejected suggestions that she should ditch the party of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko which made her a lawmaker in the 2014 parliamentary election while she was in a Russian jail because of the party's reputation of favoring Ukraine's oligarchs. She said she would stick with that party and was anxious to come to work at parliament next week. ___ This story has been corrected to change the spelling of Savchenko's first name from Nadezhda to Nadiya to use the transliteration of her name in Ukrainian. Nadezhda is the Russian version of the same name. Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who was freed from a Russian jail, smokes durinh a break of her news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, May 27, 2016. Savchenko, who came home on Wednesday after two years in Russian custody says she would run for president if that's what Ukrainians desire. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov) Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, who was freed from a Russian jail, speaks to the media during her news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, May 27, 2016. Savchenko who came home on Wednesday after two years in Russian custody says she would run for president if that's what Ukrainians desire. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov) UNHCR concerned about conditions of evacuees from Idomeni GENEVA (AP) The U.N. refugee agency is expressing concerns that migrants and refugees who have been moved to several sites with "sub-standard conditions" after being evacuated from a makeshift camp near Greece's border town of Idomeni. UNHCR says some evacuees were taken to "derelict warehouses and factories" with "insufficient" supplies of food, water, toilets, showers and electricity. At a briefing in Geneva on Friday, UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming called on Greek authorities, with financial support from the European Union, to find "better alternatives quickly" for some of those moved out from Idomeni, which is near the Macedonian border. Cyprus president ready for peace talks after UN spat over NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) Talks to reunify the ethnically divided island of Cyprus appear to be back on track after its president said he's ready to pick up where things left off following a halt after a perceived attempt to diplomatically upgrade the island's breakaway Turkish Cypriot north. President Nicos Anastasiades said Friday he's pleased that the United Nations has clarified there's no change to its policy of recognizing only the government of the Cyprus Republic. Anastasiades called off Friday's meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci following his appearance at a heads of state dinner during a U.N.-sponsored summit Monday in Istanbul. NATO: Aegean patrols helping stem migrant tide ABOARD THE FGS BONN (AP) A multinational NATO maritime force deployed to the Aegean to help stop the smuggling of migrants from Turkey to Greece has aided in reducing the flow into Europe, in a large part by helping to bridge historic animosities between the two countries, the flotilla's commander said. The seven-ship flotilla was ordered to the Aegean in February after NATO approved a joint German, Turkish and Greek proposal, with a mandate to carry out reconnaissance patrols to help the coast guards of Greece and Turkey. Though both are NATO members, the two countries have longstanding disputes in the Aegean concerning the limits of their territorial waters and airspace, which had hampered efforts to stop smugglers bringing migrants to Europe. Escorted by a rescue speed boat, the NATO German warship FGS Bonn, left, departs from the harbor of the city of Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) They're both now contributing ships to the NATO flotilla with Greek ships sticking to Greek waters and Turkish ships to Turkish waters while the vessels from other nations including Britain and Germany are patrolling both. "What we've observed here in the past few months is a clearly improved, a really visibly improved cooperation between the forces deployed here in the territorial waters," said German Rear Admiral Joerg Klein, who holds the rotating command of the force known as the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. "We have always had Greek and Turkish officers in the command ship. They are very professional officers who understand one another very well, work very well with each other, but naturally represent their national positions." At some points in the Aegean, Greece and Turkey are separated by less than 2 kilometers, which made the route the most popular maritime migrant route into Europe last year with more than 850,000 crossings, compared to about 150,000 in the central Mediterranean. So far this year, 194,611 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea, including 156,157 by the Aegean route, according to a report Friday by the International Organization for Migration. Some 376 have died along that route, while 1,093 have died in the central Mediterranean, where two boats sank this week off the coast of Libya. Despite the NATO patrols, which have been operating for about three months, the Aegean route continues to be the most popular for migrants, though numbers have been steadily declining with 12,358 reported in April compared to 27,358 in the same month of 2015. "Naturally the drastic reduction of the number of migrants who are making it to the Greek islands today is above all else the success of political decisions and strategic measures, but with our mission we're also playing a part," Klein told reporters aboard the flagship FGS Bonn during a short cruise around Izmir harbor. Klein refused to specify how many ships had been spotted, saying any number would be meaningless without comparisons. Crewmembers said the flotilla spotted smugglers' boats almost daily. Unlike the EU Operation Sophia, whose ships are tasked with boarding, searching and seizing boats in the central Mediterranean, the NATO force makes no contact with smugglers' vessels, instead reporting them to either the Greek or Turkish coast guards. Of the seven ships available at least three are on patrol at all times, and the mission has been slowly expanded south from the waters off the Greek island of Lesbos to other islands, including Chios, Samos, and Leros. The NATO ships can rescue migrants if they are in need of emergency help, but so far that has not been necessary. Meantime, every boat spotted by NATO so far has been intercepted, thanks to rapid reactions from Greece and Turkish coast guards, Klein said. On a political level, however, Greece and Turkey remain at odds, even over the mission. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last said month saying Ankara was hampering the mission by not allowing NATO warships to operate in the south Aegean; an accusation Turkey denied. Klein said that the fact that the ships aren't allowed into the south Aegean has had little effect, however, as initial worries that the deployment in the north might force smugglers south hadn't come to pass. _____ Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this story A German soldier walks over the international warship code of the NATO German warship FGS Bonn as the ship departs from the harbor of the city of Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) A German marine soldier stands aboard the NATO German warship FGS Bonn as the ship departs the harbour of the city of Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) A German soldier walks over the international warship code of the NATO German warship FGS Bonn as the ship departs from the harbor of the city of Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) The NATO German warship FGS Bonn departs from the harbor of the city of Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) A German Navy soldier gives a signal to lift up a rescue speed boat aboard the NATO German warship FGS Bonn, after the ship departs the harbor of the city of Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Admiral Joerg Klein, right, briefs a group of media aboard the NATO German warship FGS Bonn at the harbor in Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Crew members aboard the NATO German warship FGS Bonn control the docking of the ship at the harbor in Izmir, Turkey, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The FGS Bonn is part of the NATO flotilla patrolling the Aegean Sea in an effort to curb migrant activity between Turkey and Greece. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Pakistani supporters hold prayers for slain Taliban chief PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) Supporters of the slain Taliban chief have held funeral prayers across Pakistan for Mullah Akhtar Mansour, killed in a U.S. drone attack last week. Some 400 Jamaat-ud Dawa members held the ceremony Friday in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Similar ceremonies were also held in Quetta, Hyderabad and Karachi. Jamaat-ud Dawa is a terror organization widely believed to be front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai. The funeral prayers took place even though Mansour's body is still in the hands of Pakistani authorities for DNA testing. The crowd in Peshawar also chanted U.S. slogans burned an American flag. Will Trump continue to dominate media in 1-on-1 match? NEW YORK (AP) During the height of the primary season, a sense of Donald Trump overload in the media united a divided electorate. Now, as things pivot toward a general election campaign almost certain to match Trump against Hillary Clinton, television news producers will be watched to see whether traditional notions of fairness and equal time will take hold in a political season that has been anything but traditional. The expected Republican nominee so dominated campaign coverage that by late March a Pew Research Center survey found that 75 percent of Americans said the media had given him too much attention. FILE - In this May 25, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves toward the crowd after speaking at a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, Calif. Two California cities are gearing up for visits by Trump and the possibility of protests, following similar events around the country that led to violence and several arrests. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is speaking Friday, May 27, 2016, in Fresno and San Diego ahead of California's June 7 primary election. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) "Donald Trump does make news and he does drive ratings," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. "He's invariably interesting, in the same way that watching the Indy 500 is interesting. You're never exactly sure what's going to happen, but there's always the possibility of a crash." Evening news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC spent more than twice as much time on the Republican primary campaign as on the Democrats this year through the end of April, according to the Tyndall Report, which follows the content of those broadcasts. Trump tallied 425 minutes of coverage, and Clinton had 117. During a four-week period in March and April, the conservative watchdog Media Research Center found that CNN spent 730 minutes on the Republican race and 214 on the Democrats. Trump had 331 minutes of coverage and Clinton had 110, the MRC said. CNN has drawn particular attention because its ratings have risen faster than its rivals and, unlike Fox News Channel and MSNBC, both parties are more likely to work with the network. Some CNN employees have expressed concern, through internal channels, about Trump's airtime. Yet it fits the playbook of CNN chief executive Jeff Zucker, who believes in lavishing attention on big stories, be they missing planes or politics. Zucker, who declined an interview request, has vigorously defended CNN's coverage and said neither the network nor Trump should be punished for his accessibility. Now that the primaries are ending, "the sort of free-for-all season is over," said Frank Sesno, a journalism professor at George Washington University and former CNN Washington bureau chief. "All news organizations have an obligation to get serious and sober about how they are going to cover this, about the equity with which they cover it," Sesno said. These discussions are already taking place informally and each day's coverage is planned with fairness in mind, said one television news producer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. The producer predicted the party nominees would get equal time or close to it. "You're going to see more coverage than you can handle of both of them," the producer said. History shows how coverage changes with a campaign's focus. During the first four months of 2008, the novel candidacy of Democrat Barack Obama received 243 minutes of coverage on the broadcast evening newscasts compared with Republican John McCain's 138 minutes, Tyndall said. Between Labor Day and Election Day, McCain had 212 minutes of coverage and Obama 185, Tyndall said. During the last three presidential elections featuring no incumbent (2008, 2000 and 1988), the eventual loser had more coverage time, although it was virtually even in 2000 like the election itself. That's probably because the underdog takes more chances toward the end, said news consultant Andrew Tyndall. Trump's accessibility and media consciousness he recently called the CNN newsroom to point out an interview done on Fox News is a complicating factor. "The problem for the networks is you have one candidate who is far more wary of the media than she ought to be and you have another candidate who is far more eager to be in the media than the media ought to allow," Jamieson said. Sesno said Clinton needs to "rip off the Bubble Wrap and engage" the media far more than she's probably comfortable with. News organizations need to be careful with the extent to which they let Trump drive the agenda, he said. "The rule book has been shredded," he said. "I'm concerned that the echo chamber of horse race, personality and charges and countercharges will eclipse the serious conversation about candidates and policies that we should be having." This past week provided fresh evidence that there's a lot more to coverage decisions than counting minutes. Newsrooms were faced with a decision when Trump attempted to tie Clinton to 1990s-era controversies the Whitewater real estate investigation and the suicide of a White House aide where the Clintons were investigated and no wrongdoing found. "The way Trump works is to lay a lot of things out there on the assumption that he's not going to be held accountable for them, but you'll tally them up to a distrust of Hillary Clinton," Jamieson said. Journalists need to weigh a responsibility not to publish misleading information and play into Trump's strategy, with an obligation to report on the activities of the Republican candidate for president and report on examples of how he thinks, she said. ___ Follow David Bauder at twitter.com/dbauder. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder ___ This story has been corrected to note that Trump called CNN to point out interview on Fox, but it wasn't his interview. FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to guests at the Colorado Democrats 83rd Annual Dinner, in Denver. Colorado's Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper, has released a candid autobiography that's revived speculation he is positioning himself to join Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign ticket. Hickenlooper insists he hasn't been approached by the Clinton camp. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A Jackson County judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of a local man wanted for posting a violent threat against a law enforcement officer on social media. According to Mississippi Department of Marine Resources spokesperson Melissa Scallan, Marine Patrol officer Michael Strickland stopped Joey Jason Holliman, address unknown, Wednesday in Jackson County and cited him for careless driving and no proof of insurance. Several court cases across the country have upheld a Marine Patrol officer's right to issue citations on land. A short time after being cited, Holliman posted a violent threat against Strickland on Facebook. "badge # mp 11 is a money extorting pig that has no life whatsoever," the post reads, "and he is the bitch for mdmr he rides around in a 2016 dodge ram 4 dr pickup with his bitchy blue lights on top............ i bet he aint so tough without his taser badge and gun. he probably beats his wife every time he is unable to write a ticket to an innocent person out of a fit of rage." The post was still on Holliman's Facebook page late Thursday afternoon. His profile indicates he is from Gulfport and lives in Wiggins. Several people contacted the MDMR about the post, which Marine Patrol Chief Keith Davis said led to initiating a coast-wide search for Holliman. "With the current climate of violence against law enforcement, this type of activity can not and will not be tolerated," Davis said. "Law enforcement across the Coast reached out to Marine Patrol today regarding this post, and I am so thankful for the response and support from our local law enforcement community." The Justice Court warrant issued Thursday calls for Holliman's arrest on a charge of cyberstalking. 1 dead, 11 injured in bus on fire in Albania TIRANA, Albania (AP) Police say that one woman has died and 11 others were injured when a fire broke in a bus in northern Albania. Police said Friday that the fire broke out at 11:25 a.m. (0925 GMT) when the Mercedes bus was near the old bazaar in Kruja, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Tirana. It was taking 30 Christian Orthodox believers coming from the southwestern port city of Vlora to visit the castle of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, a 15th-century warrior. Local media quoted one of the passengers saying the fire spread rapidly and that passengers could not reach the bus door, but got out after some passers-by smashed some windows. A burned bus is seen on the street in Kruja, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Tirana, Friday, May 27, 2016. Police say that one woman has died and 12 others were injured after a bus caught fire in northern Albania. The bus was taking 30 Christian Orthodox believers coming from the southwestern port city of Vlora to visit the castle of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, a 15th-century warrior. (AP Photo) Doctors said eight of the injured all elderly women were gravely ill with burns over more than half of their bodies. First reports had said 12 people were injured. Church officials said that the group was on a pilgrimage around Albania and neighboring Montenegro. Police say the cause of the fire is being investigated. ___ This corrects earlier copy which said 12 were injured. A burned bus is seen on the street in Kruja, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Tirana, Friday, May 27, 2016. Police say that one woman has died and 12 others were injured after a bus caught fire in northern Albania. The bus was taking 30 Christian Orthodox believers coming from the southwestern port city of Vlora to visit the castle of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, a 15th-century warrior. (AP Photo) A burned bus is seen on the street in Kruja, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Tirana, Friday, May 27, 2016. Police say that one woman has died and 12 others were injured after a bus caught fire in northern Albania. The bus was taking 30 Christian Orthodox believers coming from the southwestern port city of Vlora to visit the castle of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, a 15th-century warrior. (AP Photo) PICTURED: Editor selections of the week in the Mideast In Egypt, candlelight vigils have been held for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804. The cause of last week's crash of the EgyptAir jet flying from Paris to Cairo that killed all 66 people on board 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. In Iraq, government forces and allied Shiite and Sunni fighters have pushed Islamic State militants out of some agricultural areas outside Fallujah as they launched a military offensive to recapture the city from the IS extremists, officials said. Iraq also honored policeman Saad Ali Thabit as hero after a closed circuit video of him discovering and then disarming a would-be suicide bomber during a routine search at a checkpoint went viral. The video was quickly shared on social media racking up hundreds of thousands of views. FILE - A fighter with Badr Brigades an armed Shiite group under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces loads his rifle as Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces and Sunni tribal fighters, take combat positions outside Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, May 23, 2016. Iraqi government forces on Monday pushed Islamic State militants out of some agricultural areas outside Fallujah as they launched a military offensive to recapture the city from the extremists, officials said. (AP Photo/Rwa Faisal) Israel held the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant in Tel Avi, which has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East. ___ This gallery was curated by Associated Press Middle East Regional Photo Editor Maya Alleruzzo in Baghdad. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mayaalleruzzo ___ Follow AP photographers and photo editors on Twitter: http://apne.ws/15Oo6jo FILE - Smoke rises from Islamic State group positions after an airstrike by U.S.-led coalition warplanes in Fallujah, as Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces and Sunni tribal fighters, take combat positions outside Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, May 23, 2016. Iraqi government forces on Monday pushed Islamic State militants out of some agricultural areas outside Fallujah as they launched a military offensive to recapture the city from the extremists, officials said. (AP Photo/Rwa Faisal) FILE - In this image released by Iraq's Federal Police on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, policeman Saad Ali Thabit detains a would-be suicide bomber at a checkpoint north of Baghdad???s Kadhimiyah neighborhood. Thabit is being honored as a hero by Iraqi officials and on social media. Closed Circuit video of Thabit discovering and then disarming the would-be bomber during routine searches was quickly shared on social media racking up hundreds of thousands of views Thursday. (Iraq Federal Police via AP) FILE - Iraqi Federal police arrive to join the forces surrounding Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Clashes between Iraqi government forces and the Islamic State group outside the city of Fallujah briefly subsided on Tuesday, the second day of a large-scale military operation to drive militants out of their key stronghold west of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Rwa Faisal) FILE - Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces and Sunni tribal fighters, take combat positions outside in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, May 23, 2016. Iraqi government forces on Monday pushed Islamic State militants out of some agricultural areas outside Fallujah as they launched a military offensive to recapture the city from the extremists, officials said. (AP Photo/Rwa Faisal) FILE - A man navigates the rubble of a destroyed home after a bombing in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 26, 2016. 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 on Wednesday. (AP Photo) FILE - A fighter with Badr Brigades Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces takes down a flag of the Islamic State group outside Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, May 23, 2016. Iraqi government forces on Monday pushed Islamic State militants out of some agricultural areas outside Fallujah as they launched a military offensive to recapture the city from the extremists, officials said. (AP Photo/Rwa Faisal) FILE - Egyptians light candles during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, May 26, 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. The number 66 refers to the number of the victims. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) FILE - In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 file photo, A Coptic Christian grieves during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of Thursday's crash of EgyptAir flight 804, at Al-Boutrossiya Church, the main Coptic Cathedral complex, in Cairo, Egypt. Human remains retrieved from the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 804 suggest there was an explosion on board that may have brought down the aircraft in the east Mediterranean, a senior Egyptian forensics official said on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File) FILE - In this Friday, May 20, 2016 file photo, The Imam of al Thawrah Mosque, Samir Abdel Bary, gives condolences to Tarek Abu Laban, center, who lost four relatives, all victims of EgyptAir plane crash, following prayers for the dead, at al Thawrah Mosque in Cairo, Egypt. Human remains retrieved from the crash site of EgyptAir Flight 804 suggest there was an explosion on board that may have brought down the aircraft in the east Mediterranean, a senior Egyptian forensics official said on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File) FILE - EgyptAir hostess walk at the stage during a candlelight vigil for the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, May 26, 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) FILE - 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 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) FILE - Ultra-Orthodox Jews stand around a bonfire during the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba'Omer celebration in Jerusalem, Wednesday, May 25, 2016. The holiday marking the end of a plague said to have decimated Jews during the Roman times. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) FILE - Pakistani boys cool themselves off during a heat wave in Karachi, Pakistan, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Various parts of the country continued to experience an intense heat wave, with the temperatures reaching 49 degree Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) in Larkana and other cities. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan) FILE - Girls run toward their friends after getting free food from a distribution point at a shrine in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) FILE - In this Wednesday, May 18, 2016 photo, Jewish settler boys play with toy guns in Amona, an unauthorized Israeli outpost in the West Bank, east of the Palestinian town of Ramallah. It is the largest of about 100 outposts in the West Bank which were built without permission but generally tolerated by the government. Under an Israeli Supreme Court order, the government must tear down the outpost by the end of 2016. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) FILE - In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, Liez Nhas, a contestant in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, listens to a choreographer during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) FILE - In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, a contestant in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, walks the catwalk during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) FILE - Contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant practice the walk on the stage during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Romania: Businessman gets prison sentence for bribing judges BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) A court has sentenced one of Romania's richest businessmen to four years and four months in prison for bribing judges to rule in his favor in court cases. Romania's top appeals court upheld an earlier sentence that ruled that Dan Adamescu had instructed his lawyer to pay bribes of 20,000 euros ($22,400) to judges in December 2013. The bribes were related to several insolvency cases involving his companies. One judge got 12 years and two months in prison and three other judges got lesser prison sentences. The ruling is final. Adamescu's lawyer reportedly threw himself in front of a subway train after the judges' arrest in May 2014. Origins of key Clinton emails from report are a mystery WASHINGTON (AP) Since her use of a private email server was made public last year, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has insisted she turned over all work-related emails to the State Department to be released to the public. But after 14 months of public scrutiny and the release of tens of thousands of emails, an agency watchdog's discovery of at least three previously undisclosed emails has renewed concerns that Clinton was not completely forthcoming when she turned over a trove of 55,000 pages of emails. And the revelation has spawned fresh criticism from presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. The three messages include Clinton's own explanation of why she wanted her emails kept private: In a November 2010 email, Clinton worried that her personal messages could become accessible to outsiders. The messages appear to have been found among electronic files of four former top Clinton State Department aides. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a United Food and Commercial Workers International union Legislative and Political Affairs conference, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Las Vegas. Clinton was supposed to have turned over all work-related emails to the State Department to be released to the public. But an agency audit found at least three emails never seen before including Clinton's own explanation of why she wanted her emails kept private. (AP Photo/John Locher) Two other messages a year later divulged possible security weaknesses in the home email system she used while secretary of state. The Clinton campaign has previously denied that her home server was compromised. On Thursday, Clinton, who has called her use of a private email server "a mistake," said she had been forthcoming with her personal emails and said she believed her use of a private email account was allowed. "I have provided all of my work-related emails, and I've asked that they be made public, and I think that demonstrates that I wanted to make sure that this information was part of the official records," Clinton said, according to an interview transcript provided by ABC News. Most of Clinton's emails have been made public by the State Department over the past year due to both a court order and Clinton's willingness to turn them over. But hundreds were censored for national security reasons and 22 emails were completely withheld because the agency said they contained top secret material a matter now under investigation by the FBI. Clinton said in March 2015 that she would turn over all work-related emails to the State Department after removing private messages that contained personal and family material. "No one wants their personal emails made public and I think most people understand that and respect their privacy," she said after her exclusive use of private emails to conduct State Department business was confirmed by media reports. Senate investigators have asked for numerous emails about Clinton's server as part of their own inquiry into Clinton's email practices in recent months, but they didn't get copies of key messages made public by the State Department's own watchdog this week, a senior Republican senator said Thursday. "It is disturbing that the State Department knew it had emails like this and turned them over to the inspector general, but not to Congress," said Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the chair of the Senate judiciary committee that's been probing Clinton's use of a private server. The emails appear to contain work-related passages, raising questions about why they were not turned over to the State Department last year. The inspector general noted that Clinton's production of work-related emails was "incomplete," missing not only the three emails but numerous others covering Clinton's first four months in office. The inspector general also found Clinton's email set up violated agency policies and could have left sensitive government information vulnerable. It also complicated federal archiving of her emails, in turn making it more difficult to obtain them under the Freedom of Information Act. On Thursday, Clinton told ABC News her use of the personal email was "allowed," saying that "the rules have been clarified since I left." In a later interview Thursday with CNN, Clinton said she "believed it was allowed." A spokesman for the Clinton campaign did not respond to emailed questions Thursday. An inspector general's spokesman declined to discuss the report. The report said the inspector general was able to reconstruct some of Clinton's missing emails by searching the email files of four former Clinton aides who had turned over thousands of pages of communications in 2015 at the request of the State Department, which is defending itself in multiple public records lawsuits, including one filed by The Associated Press. The four aides who turned over those files, according to the report, were Clinton's former chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, and top aides Huma Abedin, Jake Sullivan and Philippe Reines. Abedin was the aide who authored the key email in November 2010 that provoked Clinton's concerns about outsiders obtaining her personal emails. After the State Department's computer spam filters apparently prevented Clinton from sending a message to all department employees from her private server, Abedin suggested that she either open an official agency email or make her private address available to the agency. Clinton told Abedin she was open to getting a separate email address but didn't want "any risk of the personal being accessible." Clinton never used an official State Department address, only using several private addresses to communicate. Abedin, Mills, Sullivan and Reines all also used private email addresses to conduct business, along with their government accounts. Two other emails sent to Abedin were cited in the inspector general's report, but also did not turn up among the emails released by Clinton. Those messages to Abedin contained warnings in January 2011 from an unidentified aide to former President Bill Clinton who said he had to shut down Hillary Clinton's New York-based server because of suspected hacking attacks. In response, Abedin warned Mills and Sullivan not to email Clinton "anything sensitive" and said she would "explain more in person." ___ Russia deplores US refusal to jointly fight Nusra in Syria MOSCOW (AP) Washington's refusal to jointly fight al-Qaida's branch in Syria has contributed to an escalation of fighting in the war-torn country, Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday. The Russians proposed last week that Russia and the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition launch joint action against the Nusra Front, but the U.S. military said its contacts with Russia are only to maintain airspace safety in the crowded skies over Syria. Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff said the U.S. refusal to consider join action against the Nusra Front is leading "to further escalation of the military conflict." Lt.-Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian Military General Staff, speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Rudskoi said Washington's refusal to jointly fight al-Qaida's branch in Syria has contributed to the escalation of fighting. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) He noted that the U.S. has failed to encourage opposition groups eager to abide by a U.S.- and Russian-brokered cease-fire in Syria to leave the areas where the al-Qaida affiliate is present, saying their failure to do so is threatening the truce. A cease-fire that began Feb. 27 has helped reduce hostilities in some areas of Syria, but intense fighting has continued around the northern city of Aleppo and other areas. Rudskoi said the situation in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib has considerably worsened recently as "Nusra leaders sought to undermine the reconciliation process." He said the group has managed to replenish supplies and seize several villages, taking advantage of the fact that Russian warplanes haven't targeted areas where moderate opposition units are located close to Nusra positions. Rudskoi said Nusra is now "the main obstacle to expanding the cease-fire regime in northern Syria." "Further foot-dragging by our U.S. partners on the issue of separation of opposition units they control from terrorists don't only discredit the so-called 'moderate opposition,' but could lead to the collapse of the peace process and the resumption of fighting in Syria," he told reporters at a briefing. Rudskoi also said the Russian military has intensified airstrikes on oil infrastructure and trucks used by Syrian militants to carry oil to Turkey since May 20. Lt.-Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian Military General Staff, leaves after speaking to the media in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Rudskoi said Washington's refusal to jointly fight al-Qaida's branch in Syria has contributed to the escalation of fighting. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) Lt.-Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian Military General Staff, speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Rudskoi said Washington's refusal to jointly fight al-Qaida's branch in Syria has contributed to the escalation of fighting. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) Polish Church leader appeals for end to political conflict WARSAW, Poland (AP) The head of Poland's influential Catholic Church Episcopate has appealed for an end to a political conflict that has divided the nation and strained foreign ties. Poles are divided over the deep changes that the conservative Law and Justice party has been introducing ever since it won presidential and parliamentary elections last year. Some of the moves, like new legislation regulating the Constitutional Tribunal and more government control of state media, have drawn massive street protests and international censure. The European Union has urged Poland to find a solution soon, and a senior EU leader, Frans Timmermans pledged all necessary support, during his visit to Warsaw Tuesday. But no real steps have been taken to end the conflict, with the government and the opposition sticking to their positions. In opinion polls, Law and Justice is well ahead of any opposition party. Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki said that the "state of tension" in Poland calls for a "national reconciliation." The remarks, made during Thursday's Corpus Christi procession in the western city of Poznan, were posted on the Episcopate's website on Friday. People carry a religious image during a procession celebrating the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) "More often than not, social peace calls for mutual concessions, that are sometimes difficult and even painful," Gadecki said. "But the alternative is a senseless life in constant conflict that paralyzes social and public life." The Church's opinion matters to the ruling party that promotes Catholic values and considers the Church a moral authority. The party largely owes its electoral victory to the Church which more or less directly supported its candidates across the nation. Girls throw flower petals during a procession celebrating the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) Girls walk in a procession celebrating the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) People attend a procession celebrating the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) Faithful in traditional dresses pray during a procession celebrating the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) Priests carry a holy figure during a procession celebrating the Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, May 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) Netrebko and Beczala are surprise Wagner stars DRESDEN, Germany (AP) They've lit up the stage together in lyric works by Puccini, Massenet and Tchaikovsky. Now Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala are taking on a tougher challenge with their first forays into Wagner. And their debuts in "Lohengrin" as Elsa, the maiden in distress, and her heroic knight have drawn raves from critics and standing ovations from audiences, who snapped up every ticket for the four-performance run at the Semperoper Dresden, ending Sunday. "Schwahnsinn!" that's how the online newspaper Merkur headlined its review, a play on the German words for "madness" and "swan," the vehicle for Lohengrin's entrance in Act 1. Die Welt said of the performance, with Christian Thielemann conducting the Staatskapelle Dresden: "Some rave about their best 'Lohengrin' ever!" In this undated image released by the Semperoper Dresden, Soprano Anna Netrebko, left, and tenor Piotr Beczala perform in Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" at the Semperoper Dresden in Germany. Their debuts in Lohengrin as Elsa, the maiden in distress, and her heroic knight have drawn raves from critics and standing ovations from audiences, who snapped up every ticket for the four-performance run at the Semperoper Dresden ending Sunday, May 29. (Daniel Koch/Semperoper Dresden via AP) The Associated Press sat down with the Russian soprano and the Polish tenor to talk about the experience. Here are excerpts from the conversation: Associated Press: How did this project come about? Beczala: I was singing Strauss songs in Munich with Thielemann, maybe four or five years ago, and he just started to talk about Wagner. At that time I was: 'Stay away from me with that kind of repertory!' The next try was a year later and, step-by- step he just kept at it. ... 'Oh, Anna will be there, too.' Somehow we ended up in Dresden. Netrebko: I always wanted to sing Wagner, only this one role, Elsa. With Thielemann, with a German orchestra. I had my conditions. I wanted to go in the right way. AP: Is it difficult singing in German? Beczala: I learned German after I got a contract to sing in Linz 24 years ago. So it's my second language. And Anna is starting to learn it now. Netrebko: No! (Laughs.) Of course, after you spend five or six weeks, the language is there in some words and some things I can understand, but it's been very hard because of the pronunciation. In one article they even called me Eliza Doolittle because I really try so hard. Beczala: But you have some experience, singing Strauss' "Four Last Songs" ... Netrebko: Yes, but I didn't memorize a word. I had the text in front of me the whole time. AP: Is it a vocal stretch to sing Wagner, who is usually considered to require big voices? Beczala: I've been singing 'Ballo' (Verdi's 'Un Ballo in Maschera') for six or seven years already and Lohengrin doesn't need any bigger voice. But the German language makes it a different story because you don't sit just on the vocal line, you have to use the consonants, which gives it a special kind of heaviness. Netrebko: I was surprised when I came here because everyone told me, 'You sing too loud, too much voice.' I realized that in many places, there's nothing in the orchestra for Elsa, it's very soft. I used a completely childish voice, very innocent, very bright, like I sang 15 years ago. ... Until she starts to get upset in the second act, and then you have to push. Beczala: The orchestration is really like Mozart in many places. It's very clear, very straight, not so much sound. Especially with Thielemann. Netrebko: They want it like that. Not like we're used to hearing Wagner ... Beczala: ... Two people screaming at each other. AP: What appeals to you about your characters? Netrebko: I chose Elsa because the role is big, it's complete, it has development. I love the girl. She's just the girl from Brabant, a proud princess who has all her doubts and falls in love and all this is happening in her head. Beczala: Actually, 'Lohengrin' should be called 'Elsa' because it's her story. It's not the story of Lohengrin. He disappears from the stage in the same condition in which he came. But I love to be a knight, to save the virgin. AP: Will you sing more Wagner? Beczala: Once you start, it's like you hold out a small finger and then they grab you by the hand and you disappear forever into the Wagner universe. 'Lohengrin' will not be my mainstream repertory for sure, but one production in a season would be great. And maybe it would happen that I'd sing 'Parsifal' someday. Netrebko: I'm doing 'Lohengrin' in St. Petersburg, but after that I don't know. I think I would love the role of Isolde (in 'Tristan und Isolde'). Beczala: Unsingable! That's hard stuff, very hard. Things to know about Mount Athos: 1,500 monks, no women ATHENS, Greece (AP) Christian Orthodox believers know Greece's heavily-forested northern peninsula of Mount Athos as the "Orchard of the Virgin Mary," but women have been strictly barred from entering it for more than a thousand years. The autonomous monastic community is seen as a spiritual ark of Eastern Christianity, and thousands of male pilgrims visit its 20 fortified monasteries every year. Located a few kilometers (miles) away from busy seaside resorts in Greece's Halkidiki region, access is only allowed by sea, in tiny ferries for those carrying a permit to visit a specific monastery. On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will go to the Monastery of St. Panteleimon, which is inhabited by Russian monks on the western coast of the peninsula. A view from the sea of the Russian monastery St. Panteleimon in Karyes, on Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Here are some things to know about Mount Athos. THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION Russians are Orthodox Christians, for whom Mount Athos is one of the most revered sites in the world. And this year marks the 1,000th anniversary of the first recorded settlement there by Russian monks, in 1016. While most of Mount Athos' 1,500 monks are Greek-born, male Orthodox Christians are allowed to live on the peninsula as monks, which male followers of other religions can visit but not live on. The 20 monasteries on the peninsula include one Russian, one Serbian and one Bulgarian, while Romanians, Moldovans, Ukrainians and Georgians also live there. ___ THE HISTORY OF MOUNT ATHOS Wars and pirate attacks left the peninsula largely deserted after the end of the ancient world. Monks first settled there before the 8th century, and the first monastery was founded in the 10th century. Byzantine emperors in Constantinople whose Patriarch still leads the Mount Athos community on religious matters encouraged the settlement, heaping treasures, protection and privileges on the monasteries. The monks also managed to keep on the good side of Greece's Turkish rulers and to avoid interference during Greece's World War II German occupation. ___ LIFE IN THE MONASTERIES ON MOUNT ATHOS Mount Athos still follows the Julian calendar, and is 13 days behind the rest of the planet. Monks and visitors start their day at 4 a.m., and monasteries bar their doors to all after sunset. Meat is banned, and monks spend their days in prayer and communal work, including agriculture. Mobile phones and Internet use are allowed. ___ GREEK TIES The community was granted administrative autonomy when it was incorporated into the modern Greek state. Even Greece's European Union membership status contains provisions for Mount Athos to retain its special status. The EU has contributed substantial funds for the conservation and restoration of its buildings and their treasures, which include centuries-old wall-paintings and icons, manuscripts and religious artifacts. ___ WHY NO WOMEN? The monasteries believe women might offer monks the fleshly temptations they renounced upon taking orders. Rumored breaches include one by refugees fleeing Nazi occupation forces, and a woman dressed as a man was caught shortly after World War II. The penalty is a maximum 12-month jail sentence. Greek human rights groups have failed to have the ban overturned in court. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, center, poses for cameras with orthodox monks in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016, ahead of Russia's president Putin visit. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) An Orthodox monk walks down the steps as Greek police provide security at a palace in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016. Russia's president Vladimir Putin is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) A Greek policeman provides security as Patriarch Kirill of Moscow meets with orthodox monks in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016, ahead of Russia's president Putin visit. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Greek police provide security at a palace in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016. Russia's president Vladimir Putin is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Orthodox monks look at the security preparations in the port of Dafni at Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, center, arrives to the port of Dafni, at Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016, a day ahead of Russia's President Putin's visit. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) A man disembarks from a Greek coast guard boat in the port of Dafni at Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow arrives to the port of Dafni, at Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016, a day ahead of Russia's president Putin visit. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, right, is welcomed as he arrives to the port of Dafni, at Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016, a day ahead of Russia's President Putin visit. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Greek police provide security in the port of Dafni at Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Monks attend a liturgy in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016, ahead of Russia's president Putin visit. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, center, attends a liturgy in Karyes, the capital of Mount Athos, Greece, Friday, May 27, 2016, ahead of Russia's president Putin visit. Russia's president is due in financially struggling Greece Friday for a state visit that will include a trip to a 1,000-year-old, all-male Orthodox Christian sanctuary in the north of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) Researchers: Asian bank hacks may be linked to North Korea NEW YORK (AP) Cybersecurity researchers say North Korea might be connected to a recent attack that resulted in the theft of over $100 million from the Bangladeshi central bank and the attempted thefts of millions more from other Asian banks. If the finding holds up, the attacks would amount to a new strategy for the rogue nation, whose state-sponsored efforts have been have long been motivated by politics, not money. Security researchers at Symantec say that the malware used in February to steal $101 million from the Bangladeshi bank's account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is similar to that used in the past by a group known as "Lazarus." FILE - In thus Dec. 16, 2014 file photo, North Koreans gather at the Mansu Hill where the statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il tower over them, in Pyongyang, North Korea. Cybersecurity researchers say its possible that North Korea is behind a recent hacking that resulted in the theft of millions of dollars from the Bangladesh central bank and the attempted thefts of millions more from other Asian banks. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File) That group has been linked to a string of hackings largely focused on U.S. and South Korean targets dating back to 2009. That includes the crippling 2014 hack of Sony Pictures, which the FBI has blamed on the North Korean government . North Korea denied the allegation. According to the Symantec research, the malware's rare code also showed up in the October 2015 hack of a bank in the Philippines and another of a Vietnamese bank about two months later, tying both to the breach of the Bangladesh bank. Earlier this month, the global money-transfer coordinator Swift reported a new cyberattack against another unnamed bank. Swift said the attack was part of a coordinated campaign following the theft from the Bangladesh bank. While Swift didn't say if any money had been stolen, it did say that the attack allowed for the transfer of money and the tampering of bank documents. It also emphasized that its own system, which connects more than 11,000 banking and securities organizations as well as other clients moving billions each year, had not been compromised by the malware. ___ Donald Trump breaks with nation's only Latina governor SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) It was a stunning rebuke even by Donald Trump's standards aimed at the nation's only Latina governor at a political rally in her home state of New Mexico. Trump chastised Republican Gov. Susana Martinez for not doing her job when it came to unemployment, federal food aid and even containing the Syrian refugee crisis while he stumped at a raucous political rally this week in the nation's most Hispanic state. Martinez, who has not endorsed the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, skipped the event in Albuquerque, citing a busy schedule. The public spat dampened any lingering speculation that Martinez might be picked as vice president to attract more female and minority voters to the Republican ticket. It also thrust the second-term governor into the company of other prominent Republicans who have withstood attacks as Trump attempts to consolidate support ahead of the final round of primaries that includes New Mexico and California. This Thursday, May 26, 2016 photo New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez stands up during the National Anthem at a ribbon cutting of a new Rio Rancho park. GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump chastised Martinez on Tuesday for not doing her job when it came to trends in unemployment, federal food aid and even containing the Syrian refugee crisis during a raucous political rally at a convention hall in Albuquerque. Martinez, a Republican who has not endorsed Trump, skipped the event citing a busy in-state schedule.(AP Photo/Russell Contreras) Key politicians rushed to Martinez's defense, including U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Martinez endorsed for the presidential nomination in March as his campaign faltered. "Susana Martinez is a great governor, she turned deficits into surpluses, she cut taxes," Ryan told reporters this week. Bush tweeted that Martinez is "the future of our party," and Walker said Martinez had driven conservative reforms in a state that President Barack Obama won twice. At Tuesday's rally in Albuquerque, where protesters hurled burning T-shirts and overran barricades, Trump described New Mexico as a state beset by unemployment and rising dependence on federal food assistance, placing the blame squarely on Martinez. "Your governor has got to do a better job," Trump said. "She's not doing the job. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going." Asked about Martinez at a news conference Thursday, Trump acknowledged that she had favored another Republican candidate but added, "I imagine she'll come over to my side." Martinez spokesman Michael Lonergan said the governor "will not be bullied into supporting" Trump, describing the accusations as political pot shots. The governor's office fired back that the billionaire businessman had used economic data dating to 2000, a decade before Martinez was elected, to exaggerate trends while overlooking her efforts to tie food benefits to work-related requirements. Trump also said Syrian refugees arrived in "large numbers" to New Mexico, when the tally since 2011 is 10. Martinez, who is chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association, has resisted endorsing Trump as she crisscrossed the country to speak at GOP conventions and fundraisers. She needs to know more about his plans to support New Mexico's national weapons laboratories and military bases and ensure other federal funding to the state, a spokesman says. For Martinez, Trump's rise has quickly shifted her assured standing in the party. His comments struck at an open political wound, after members of the state Republican Party have assailed the governor and a top political adviser for their handling of the economy amid an oil and gas downturn. Unemployment in the state has fallen gradually to 6.2 percent in April, leaving New Mexico among the five worst states for jobs. Signs of tensions with Trump emerged last summer when Martinez, whose paternal grandparents came to the U.S. from Mexico in the early 1900s, criticized his comments that Mexican immigrants bring drugs and crime and are rapists. More recently, Martinez said Trump's plans for a bigger border wall would put trade relations with Mexico and other Latin American countries at risk. But the governor has taken a hard line on immigration enforcement, including a five-year effort to do away with New Mexico's policy of issuing driver's licenses to immigrants in the country illegally. Those policies and aggressive border enforcement are applauded by Hispanic Republicans including Rowena Baca, an alternate New Mexico delegate to this summer's Republican National Convention who calls Martinez a friend. Baca chalked up the standoff with Trump to a personality clash between the brash billionaire and former district attorney from Las Cruces who has dealt firsthand with smuggling cartels at the border. "They're both on the same level, the same conservatism," said Baca, a business owner in San Antonio, New Mexico. Trump has vowed to return to New Mexico before the general election and win a state where Democrats account for 47 percent of registered voters. His rhetoric about building a border wall and mass deportations doesn't necessarily spell political doom in a state were more than 45 percent of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, outnumbering non-Hispanic whites, Albuquerque pollster Brian Sanderoff said. Hispanics in New Mexico are less likely to be foreign-born than in Nevada or California, making attitudes unpredictable toward immigration policy and enforcement, Sanderoff said. New Mexico doesn't track race and ethnicity among registered voters. "If you're a New Mexico Hispanic who proudly traces your lineage here to the 1600s, you may not be as sympathetic toward illegal immigrants as some would think," he said. ___ Associated Press writers Russell Contreras in Albuquerque and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report. In this Thursday, May 26, 2016 photo, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, left, sits with her sister, Lettie, center, at a ribbon cutting of a new Rio Rancho, N.M., city park. GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump chastised Martinez on Tuesday, May 24, for not doing her job when it came to trends in unemployment, federal food aid and even containing the Syrian refugee crisis during a raucous political rally at a convention hall in Albuquerque. Martinez, a Republican who has not endorsed Trump, skipped the event citing a busy in-state schedule.(AP Photo/Russell Contreras) UNHCR urges solution for Serbia-Hungary border camp HORGOS, Serbia (AP) The U.N. refugee agency on Friday urged Serbia and Hungary to find a solution for the migrants camping in dire conditions at their border, hoping to enter the European Union despite border closures. The UNHCR representative in Serbia, Hans Schodder, visited the small tent city that has formed at the Serbian side of the border next to the razor-wire fence that Hungary put up last year to keep the migrants away. Schodder said 300 migrants were at the camp, including families with small children and people with disabilities. He said some have been waiting for weeks without toilets or running water while relying on aid agencies for drinking water and food. "This situation is not good at all," he said. "We hope, and we support, that the two governments will find a solution to put in place a process whereby the refugees and migrants don't have to wait in these conditions." A boy stands in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Hungarian authorities have been letting about 20 people a day into the country, mostly families with small children. Serbian government minister Aleksandar Vulin said authorities will try to persuade the migrants to move to nearby transit centers from where they could apply for entry into EU-member Hungary. "This is the state border zone, it is not possible to camp here," Vulin said, adding authorities will not use force to make the migrants leave. Migrants have been pushing to enter the EU despite the closure of the Balkan migration corridor in March and an EU-Turkey deal aimed at curbing the flow after over 1 million people came last year. Thousands have been stuck in the region for months, many seeking help from the smugglers to cross borders illegally. The U.N. refugee agency also expressed concern Friday that migrants and refugees in Greece have been moved to several sites with "substandard conditions" after being evacuated from a makeshift camp near Greece's border town of Idomeni. UNHCR says they were taken to "derelict warehouses and factories" with "insufficient" food, water, toilets, showers or electricity and said it was concerned that some families were being separated during the transfer. At the Serbian-Hungarian border, Schodder said the situation there differed from Idomeni because the border is open for small groups of people. He warned that unless a "legal pathway" for entry into Hungary is established, the refugees likely will refuse to move and aid workers are warning numbers of migrants could increase as the weather improves. Ahmad Seeyar Wahaj, a 17-year old from Afghanistan, has been waiting for over 20 days to go to Hungary. He said he has seen other refugees come and go across the border, while he and his six family members were left waiting. "Now we have lost our hope," said Wahaj, who wanted to reach Switzerland. "I want to go to high school ... I want to study law to be a lawyer." A woman rests in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A woman looks out from her tent in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A woman stands in front of her tent in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A man holds his child looking through a border fence in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A woman walks by a border fence in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A family rest in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A woman rests in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A woman holds her child as she walks in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) Children swing in hammocks in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A boy swings in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A boy stands in front of his tent in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A girl rests in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A kid swings in a hammock in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) A woman holds her child as she looks through a border fence in the makeshift refugee camp near the Horgos border crossing into Hungary, near Horgos, Serbia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Nearly 400,000 refugees passed through Hungary last year on their way to richer EU destinations. The flow was slowed greatly by Hungary's construction of razor-wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) US official: Tribal shield should be pulled from auction ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Friday asked French authorities to prevent the auction of a ceremonial shield from a Native American community in New Mexico, saying the item was believed to have been stolen decades ago. In a letter to the auction house regulator in France, Jewell detailed why the Acoma Pueblo shield should be removed from Monday's planned sale in Paris. "It is a sacred object and its importance to Acoma's culture, history and spirituality cannot be overstated. For this reason alone, repatriation is appropriate," she wrote. "However, the tribe has provided additional evidence ... that the shield was stolen from its rightful owners." FILE - In this Tuesday, May 24, 2016 file photo, a man looks at Native American artifacts as a group of American Indian advocates hold a news conference nearby at the Smithsonian National Musem of the American Indian, in Washington, to contest a Paris auction house's upcoming auction of Native American remains and sacred objects. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Thursday she's troubled by the auctioning off of objects held sacred by Native American tribes and she's calling on the French government to help find a path toward repatriating the items. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Documentation forwarded by U.S. authorities to the French official included a statement from the tribe's preservation officer as well as a sworn affidavit from the granddaughter of one of Acoma's traditional leaders who once cared for the shield. It's believed the colorful shield, made of thick tanned skins stitched together with concentric leather straps, went missing in the 1970s when the family's home was broken into. Jewell's letter indicated evidence of the theft is important because French officials had explained to her during a meeting in Paris last year that a sale could be prevented if the sacred object were stolen or obtained illicitly. Similar auctions in recent years have spurred condemnation by many Native American tribes, with some tribal leaders saying the sales have created a monetary incentive for thieves and wrongdoers. Paris' EVE auction house is preparing to put up for bid hundreds of religious items and art pieces from the Americas, Africa and Asia. Aside from the Acoma shield, a Plains war shirt made with hair from human scalps and sacred Hopi objects that resemble masks are listed. The auction house has defended its practices. Director Alain Leroy reiterated Friday all the items are of legal trade in both the U.S. and France and that tribes will have an opportunity through the public auction process to acquire their past. "And that is exactly what some tribes prefer to do, seeking efficiency and discretion," Leroy said. Aaron Sims, an attorney for Acoma Pueblo, said the tribe does not plan to purchase the shield because doing so would fuel the "black market" that may have led to the item being taken in the first place. Aside from Jewell's letter, an emergency meeting was held earlier this week with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, at least two tribes, the State Department and federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. Acoma Pueblo Gov. Kurt Riley also sent an open letter to the people of France asking that they stand with his tribe and call on the auction houses to stop selling sacred items. He called the practice profane and said the trafficking of such items violates tribal law. The Acoma people trace their history back thousands of years in what is now western New Mexico. The pueblo, a National Historic Landmark, sits atop a tall mesa in a remote stretch of high desert. The U.S. Interior Department has been working with tribes and other agencies to review the circumstances by which sacred objects and other important tribal patrimony are making their way into foreign markets. On Friday, Jewell asked the French government for help in identifying the person who listed the Acoma shield with the auction house "so that justice may be served." ___ Associated Press writer Mary Hudetz contributed to this report. FILE - In this May 24, 2016 file photo, Hoopa Valley Tribal Council member Leilani Pole burns incense and says a prayer as a group of American Indian advocates hold a news conference at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington, to contest a Paris auction house's upcoming auction of Native American remains and sacred objects. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Thursday she's troubled by the auctioning off of objects held sacred by Native American tribes and she's calling on the French government to help find a path toward repatriating the items. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Never mind Trump, GOP uniting under banner: 'Never Hillary' WASHINGTON (AP) Donald Trump's best ally in winning over skeptical Republicans is turning out to be Hillary Clinton. Having overcome a multimillion-dollar "Never Trump" campaign aimed at blocking him from the Republican nomination, he's now benefiting from a wave of GOP donors, party leaders, voters and conservative groups that are uniting under a new banner: "Never Hillary." "Nothing unites Republicans better than a Clinton," says Scott Reed, a political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who has advised previous GOP campaigns. While Reed says there remain "many unknowns" about Trump, he adds that "the knowns about Hillary are very powerful motivators to Republicans." FILE - In this May 26, 2016 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks in San Francisco. Donald Trumps best liaison to Republicans is turning out to be Hillary Clinton. Trump overcame a Never Trump campaign aimed at stopping him from clinching the Republican nomination. Now the businessman is benefiting from a wave of GOP donors, voters and conservative issues groups uniting under a new banner: Never Hillary. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) Thanks to Republicans' deep disdain for the likely Democratic nominee, Trump is piling up those kinds of lukewarm GOP endorsements. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who called Trump a dangerous "con artist" during his own failed presidential campaign, now says he's willing to get involved in the general election to stop Clinton. "If you can live with a Clinton presidency for 4 years, that's your right," Rubio wrote on Twitter Friday. "I can't and will do what I can to prevent it." Later in the day he reiterated on Twitter that his assistance should not be viewed as pro-Trump. "I said I would be 'honored' to help party beat Hillary," he wrote. "Never Hillary" graced the subject line of a new Republican National Committee fundraising email that had nary a mention of Trump. Super PACs advised by Trump-skeptic Karl Rove are using the hashtag "NeverHillary" on Twitter to promote online videos about her perceived scandals even as Rove says the groups aren't likely to spend money boosting Trump. Last week when the National Rifle Association endorsed Trump, the announcement came without much of a sales pitch for him. But it did include a blunt message for the 5 million members about Clinton. Noting the heated GOP primary campaign, Chris Cox, the NRA's chief lobbyist, said at the organization's convention last week, "Were there differences between candidates for the nomination? Of course. Are there valid arguments in favor or some over others? Sure. Will any of it matter if Hillary Clinton wins in November? Not one bit." For the NRA and other Republican-leaning groups, Clinton has become a reason to look past Trump's spotty record on conservative issues. On guns, for example, Trump previously backed an assault weapons ban. He's since backed away from that, which appears to be good enough compared to Clinton's calls for tougher gun control laws. "If she could, Hillary would ban every gun, destroy every magazine, run an entire national security industry right into the ground and put your name on a government registration list," NRA chief Wayne LaPierre told the crowd at the gathering in Louisville, Kentucky. Likewise, Clinton has been an entry point for big donors once not thrilled with or even downright hostile to Trump. Billionaire Minnesota broadcasting executive Stanley Hubbard helped pay for the Never Trump campaign, but says he's willing to give money to the GOP nominee to stop Clinton. Trump has unclear policies on some of the issues most important to conservative donors. Even so, Foster Friess, who backed Rick Santorum in his last two presidential campaigns, said he has made a donation to Trump because "the choice is stark." In an email, he contrasted Clinton's possible Supreme Court picks with Trump's, as well as their approaches to economic and immigration policies. Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino executive whose top issue is the protection of Israel, urged reluctant Republican Jews to unite behind Trump. "Like many of you, I do not agree with him on every issue. However, I will not sit idly by and let Hillary Clinton become the next president," he wrote in an email to fellow board members of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Clinton has served as a call-to-arms for some of the top fundraisers for Trump's vanquished rivals, helping him quickly assemble an experienced finance team from scratch. Some Republican voters, too, are finding that unease with Clinton is a good enough reason to back Trump. Margaret Lee, a 66-year-old from Clayton, North Carolina, said that while the former reality TV star may not have been her first choice, she'll vote for anybody but Clinton. "Hillary Clinton is not being held accountable," Lee said of Clinton's use of private emails as secretary of state. "The fact that she's going to be the Democratic nominee having this hanging over her head, I just can't understand that." In Pennsylvania, Lori Clifton said she's deeply frustrated by the prospect of an election face-off between Trump and Clinton. Clifton, a 51-year-old from the Philadelphia suburb of Doylestown, isn't a Trump fan. But as a reliable Republican voter in presidential elections, she said, "What choice do I have? I really don't trust Hillary Clinton." Alison Scott, a 36-year-old from Apex, North Carolina, also has concerns about Trump's demeanor, saying he often "doesn't seem very presidential." But with Clinton as the only alternative, she said her decision is simple. "If I had to pick one of those," Scott said, "I'd vote for Trump." ___ Follow Julie Bykowicz at http://twitter.com/bykowicz and Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC Migrant shipwreck survivor says he was under hull, pal died SICULIANA, Sicily (AP) A Sudanese man who survived the capsizing of a heavily overcrowded smugglers boat off Libya recounted Friday how the vessel tipped over when fellow migrants heard the voice of approaching rescuers and rushed above deck, leaving hundreds of people foundering in the Mediterranean. When the boat overturned, Mohammed Ali found himself underneath the hull, but somehow emerged and knew he survived when he "saw the sun." Because he doesn't know how to swim, he couldn't save a friend who perished in the sea, he added. The 28-year-old was one of 562 migrants rescued Wednesday by the navy, which also recovered five bodies. He spoke to The Associated Press in Sicily outside a center where he and other migrants are sheltered while their identities are checked for their requests for asylum. In this image taken from video, Mohammed Ali, from Sudan, is interviewed as he is shown an Italian Navy video of the capsizing of a boat he was on during an interview with the Associated Press in Siculiana, in Sicily, Italy, Friday, May 27, 2016. Ali, who survived the capsizing of the vessel, said he found himself underneath the hull when the boat overturned, but somehow emerged and knew he survived when the "saw the sun". (AP Photo/Gennaro Maceli) Ali said smugglers' ignored warnings the boat was overcrowded. "The smugglers assured us it will be a very safe trip," said Ali. "The captain talked to him, 'It's too many people, stop bringing more people," said Ali. "'The ship won't be safe.' They didn't listen to him." He said he paid 1,500 euros (about $1,700) and waited two months in Libya for the chance to board a smugglers' boat in hopes he would reach Italian shores, and eventually London. The smugglers took advantage of a spell of calm seas and warm weather in the Mediterranean waters between their base in Libya and Italy. In all some 8,000 migrants were rescued this week in dozens of operations coordinated by the Italian coast guard. That includes more than 1,900 migrants plucked to safety on Friday. Speaking slowly in English, Ali said the wooden boat he was on left Libyan shores at 3 a.m. Wednesday and "after one or two hours, it began to flip left and right because the passengers were moving too much." He recalled during the voyage feeling "scared, scared, and I want to be saved and looking for any ship, any ship to save us." After the rescue, the navy boat's commander would recount how he tried, repeatedly to convince the migrants to sit still. But, said, Ali, the desperation to survive propelled many below deck to rush above deck when the rescue operation began. "The people below can't see nothing, can't see nothing, but when they heard, they started coming up....They wanted to be saved, too. When they came up, the ship started to flip." Ali marveled when he was shown for the first time the dramatic navy video of the boat heaving ever more to one side as passengers scrambled to the top while others flung themselves or fell into the sea and tried, often futilely to swim. "The ship flipped and the people are sank, many people all crying for help, all panicking. At this moment I was under the boat," Ali said, pointing to the video. Somehow he emerged from under the overturned boat. "Then I saw the sun" and I knew I had survived, Ali said. "I can't swim actually. After the boat sank, I tried to swim" amid the bodies, Ali said. "My friends, one of them drowned. I saw him near to me. You couldn't do nothing. I can't swim. If I tried to save him I would drown with him." In this image taken from video, Mohammed Ali, from Sudan, points to where he was in an Italian Navy video showing the capsizing of the vessel he was on during an interview with the Associated Press in Siculiana, in Sicily, Italy, Friday, May 27, 2016. Ali, who survived the capsizing of the vessel, said he found himself underneath the hull when the boat overturned, but somehow emerged and knew he survived when the "saw the sun". (AP Photo/Gennaro Maceli) In this image taken from video, Mohammed Ali, from Sudan, looks at an Italian Navy video showing the capsizing of a boat he was on during an interview with the Associated Press in Siculiana, in Sicily, Italy, Friday, May 27, 2016. Ali, who survived the capsizing of the vessel, said he found himself underneath the hull when the boat overturned, but somehow emerged and knew he survived when the "saw the sun". (AP Photo/Gennaro Maceli) 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) 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 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) Israeli Christian wins first 'Miss Trans Israel' pageant TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) An Israeli from a Catholic Arab family has been crowned the winner of the country's first transgender pageant. Talleen Abu Hanna, 21, from the northern city of Nazareth wore a white bridal dress as she was declared the first "Miss Trans Israel" on Friday at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv. She describes her victory as "historic" and says it promotes equality. Contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant practice the walk on the stage during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) She will represent Israel at the Miss Trans Star International pageant in Spain in August. Israel is generally tolerant of gay people, and Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most gay-friendly destinations. The Israeli city stands in sharp contrast to many parts of the Middle East, where gay people are often persecuted. But homosexuality is commonly shunned in religiously observant Jewish and Muslim communities. In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, Liez Nhas, a contestant in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, listens to a choreographer during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, practice the walk on the stage during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, May 26, 2016. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Tuesday, May 24, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant practice the walk on the stage during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant gather for rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, listen to a choreographer during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, rest during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Thursday, May 26, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant practice the walk on the stage during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Tuesday, May 24, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, practice the walk on the stage during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, listen to a choreographer during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, listen to a choreographer during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday, May 26, 2016. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) In this Sunday, May 22, 2016 photo, contestants in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, listen to a choreographer during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Madlen Matar, a contestant in the first Miss Trans Israel beauty pageant, uses her smartphone during rehearsal in Tel Aviv, Israel on Thursday, May 26, 2016. The pageant will be held at HaBima, Israel's national theater, in Tel Aviv on Friday. Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Space probe confirms chemicals of life in comet's halo BERLIN (AP) Scientists have found further evidence supporting the theory that some of the building blocks for life may have come to Earth from outer space. Using instruments aboard the European space probe Rosetta, researchers detected glycine and phosphorus in the dusty halo around a comet. Glycine is an amino acid, one of the molecules needed to make proteins, while phosphorus is essential for DNA and cells. In this March 27, 2016 photo released by the European Space Agency ESA Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and its coma are backlit by the sun. The photo was taken by the NavCam of the Rosetta space probe from a distance of 329 km from the nucleus. Scientists say they have detected glycine and phosphorus in the dusty envelope around a comet, supporting the theory that comets 'delivered' key chemicals necessary for the emergence of life on Earth. (ESA/Rosetta/NavCam via AP) Their presence in the coma enveloping comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko "supports the idea that comets delivered key molecules for prebiotic chemistry throughout the solar system and, in particular, to the early Earth," according to the study published online Friday by the journal Science Advances. Scientists say adding a high concentration of those molecules to a body of water could have produced the "primordial soup" that gave birth to life on our planet more than 4 billion years ago. "The beauty of it is that the material in the comet was formed before the Sun and planets formed, in the cold environment of the star forming region (known as the) molecular cloud," said Kathrin Altwegg, a physicist at the University of Bern, Switzerland, who led the study. "That means what has happened a long time ago in the cloud from which our solar system emerged could happen in all clouds," Altwegg told The Associated Press in an email. "Then you just need another planetary system forming with a planet at the right position and you could have another go at life. It may not be successful, but as there are billions of stars and as we now know billions of planets, chances are good." Jonathan Lunine, director of the Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science at Cornell University, said scientists had expected to find glycine in comets. "This is because glycine is so simple and easy to make," said Lunine, who wasn't involved in the study. In fact, glycine has already been detected in meteorites, and NASA's Stardust mission collected samples of dust from comet Wild 2 that were found to contain glycine. Because those samples were processed on Earth, however, there was a possibility that the glycine could have resulted from contamination. Scientists used a technique known as isotopic analysis to conclude that the molecules had likely come from a comet. "Our detection is a very direct measurement with no human interference directly at the comet," said Altwegg, adding that phosphorus has never previously been confirmed in a comet. Lunine said confirmation of glycine on 67P would provide a useful comparison for future space missions to ocean worlds like those of Enceladus and Europa moons of Saturn and Jupiter respectively that some scientists think could harbor life. Altwegg said the two molecules were first detected more than a year ago, but researchers wanted to be absolutely sure about their discovery before announcing it. The team has already found further, even more complex molecules and hopes to publish its findings on them once they have been thoroughly checked, she said. ___ Follow Frank Jordans on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wirereporter Venezuelan boy's death sparks anger over health care crisis CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Venezuelans are expressing dismay over the death of an 8-year-old boy with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who had become a symbol of the crisis-wracked nation's collapsed health care system. Oliver Sanchez gained fame in February when he appeared with his mother at a demonstration to protest medicine shortages wearing a mask and holding up a homemade sign reading, "I want a cure, peace and health." Sanchez died Tuesday, sparking outrage on social media and in congress. Opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly held up pictures of the second-grader to denounce what they called an avoidable death. A popular cartoonist dedicated a drawing to him dressed as an angel with a white dove in his hands. FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2016 file photo, Oliver Sanchez, diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, holds a sign with a message that reads in Spanish; "I want to be cured, peace, health" during a protest against the growing shortage of medicines and medical supplies, in Caracas, Venezuela. The eight-year-old boy who had become a symbol of Venezuela's medical crisis, died Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) The boy's mother, Mitzaida Berroteran, told local newspaper El Nacional that in the absence of readily-available and affordable drugs she had to scour social media for donations. "Each time they prescribed us something we had to run," said Berroteran, who thinks her son contracted a deadly bacteria while interned in a public hospital in western Caracas. AP FACT CHECK: Clinton misstates key facts in email episode ST. LOUIS (AP) Over the months, Hillary Clinton misstated key facts about her use of private email and her own server for her work as secretary of state, the department's inspector general reported this week. According to the findings, she claimed approval she didn't have and declined to be interviewed for the report despite saying "I'm more than ready to talk to anybody anytime." Scrutiny of her unusual email practices appeared to be unwelcome, despite her contention those practices were well known and "fully above board." A look at some of Clinton's past claims about her unusual email set-up and how they compare with the inspector general's findings: FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2015, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Over the months, Clinton misstated key facts about her use of private email and her own server for her work as secretary of state, the departments inspector general reported this week. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File) CLINTON: "The system we used was set up for President Clinton's office. And it had numerous safeguards. It was on property guarded by the Secret Service. And there were no security breaches." March 2015 press conference. THE REPORT: Evidence emerged of hacking attempts, though it's unclear whether they were successful. On Jan. 9, 2011, an adviser to former President Bill Clinton notified the State Department's deputy chief of staff for operations that he had to shut down the server because he suspected "someone was trying to hack us and while they did not get in i didnt (sic) want to let them have the chance to." Later that day, he sent another note. "We were attacked again so I shut (the server) down for a few min." The following day the deputy chief emailed top Clinton aides and instructed them not to email the secretary "anything sensitive." Also in May 2011, Clinton told aides that someone was "hacking into her email," after she received a message with a suspicious link, the new audit report said. The Associated Press has previously reported that, according to detailed records compiled in 2012, Clinton's server was connected to the internet in ways that made it more vulnerable to hackers. It appeared to allow users to connect openly over the internet to control it remotely. Moreover, it's unclear what protection her email system might have achieved from having the Secret Service guard the property. Digital security breaches tend to come from computer networks, not over a fence. ___ CLINTON: "What I did was allowed. It was allowed by the State Department. The State Department has confirmed that." AP interview, September. THE REPORT: "No evidence" that Clinton asked for or received approval to conduct official government business on a personal email account run through a private server in her New York home. According to top State Department officials interviewed for the investigation, the departments that oversee security "did not and would not approve" her use of a personal account because of security concerns. Clinton has changed her account since the report came out. On Thursday, she told CNN "I thought it was allowed. I knew past secretaries of state used personal email." Colin Powell was the only secretary of state who used personal email for work, but not to the extent she did, and he did not use a private server. ___ CLINTON: "It was fully above board. Everybody in the government with whom I emailed knew that I was using a personal email." AP interview, September. CLINTON: "The people in the government knew that I was using a personal account . the people I was emailing to on the dot gov system certainly knew and they would respond to me on my personal email." NBC News interview, September. THE REPORT: According to the findings, it's unclear how widespread knowledge was about Clinton's use of a personal account. Though Clinton's use of a private email was discussed with some in her agency, senior department officials who worked for her, including the undersecretary responsible for security, said they were not asked to approve or review the use of her private server. The officials also said they were "unaware of the scope or extent" of her email practices, even though Clinton exchanged hundreds of thousands of messages with people in government from her personal account. ___ CLINTON: "In the fall, I think it was October of last year (2014), the State Department sent a letter to previous secretaries of state asking for help with their record-keeping, in part because of the technical problems that they knew they had to deal with. And they asked that we, all of us, go through our e-mails to determine what was work-related and to provide that for them." NBC News, September. THE REPORT: While it's true that the State Department requested records from former secretaries of state in November 2014, the report says the department raised concerns about Clinton's compliance with federal record-keeping laws years earlier, and the attention did not appear welcome. Two employees in the Office of Information Resources Management discussed concerns about her use of a personal email account in separate 2010 meetings. One of the employees stressed in one of the meetings that the information being transmitted needed to be preserved to satisfy federal records laws. They were instructed by the director of the department "never to speak of the Secretary's personal email system again," according to the report. ___ CLINTON: "I think last August I made it clear I'm more than ready to talk to anybody anytime. CBS News interview in May. THE REPORT: Clinton declined through her lawyer to be interviewed for the report. Four other secretaries of state participated: John Kerry, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell. She now says: "everything I had to say was out there." But she has said she will speak to the FBI as part of a separate criminal investigation into possible security breaches related to her private server. In October, she testified about the issue before the House committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks. ___ Lerer reported from Las Vegas. ___ Follow Catherine Lucey and Lisa Lerer on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/catherine_lucey and http://twitter.com/llerer After nuclear deal, Iranian art auction sees $7.4M in sales TEHRAN, Iran (AP) An annual art auction in Tehran drew record sales of $7.4 million Friday, a sign of Iran's emerging arts market that buyers hope will be buoyed by the recent nuclear deal with world powers. The sale at Tehran's high-end Azadi Hotel the former Hyatt near Evin Prison drew celebrities, collectors and businessmen hoping to walk away with the artworks there. Total sales were 12 percent higher than the previous year, though this year's auction saw only 79 items sold, as opposed to 126 then. Prices continue to rise for Persian pieces, and many hope that only will accelerate after the lifting of international sanctions. Iranian auction workers hold a pair of paintings of Iranian artist Aydin Aghdashlou in Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Iranian "artworks should be introduced at the international level after the sanctions," said Saeed Nikbkhat, an art collector looking at the pieces ahead of the sale. "Iranian art is a unique and precious art. I think world-class museums are interested in having them." The items for sale at the Tehran art show shied away from politics, instead offering abstracts, Farsi calligraphy and pastoral images in the thick-paint impasto style. Portraits and sculptures were also on the block, along with paintings of ancient scenes of the Persian empire or the mosques of Isfahan, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Works by the famed late artist Sohrab Sepehari, also known for his poetry, sold for $873,000. Last year, three of his untitled paintings sold for $875,000. Works by the internationally known sculptor Parviz Tanavoli had a starting price of about $100,000. Among images of the art in a glossy magazine to accompany the sale were advertisements for Porsche and Samsung flat screen televisions. Those companies and more hope to expand their markets into Iran after the deal, which saw the Islamic Republic limit its ability to enrich uranium in exchange for the lifting of some economic sanctions. Since the sanctions took hold, Iran's wealthy have used art as an investment opportunity as international markets were off-limits. That's seen art sold at the auctions, held every year since 2012, raise more and more money. Last year, the auction saw $6.6 million in sales. "Most of the buyers are art collectors as far as I know," said Rahim Rajabi, an art lover. Even moderate President Hassan Rouhani has praised the power of Iran's art scene in powering the Islamic Republic's economic engine. That's after even music was banned briefly in Iran following its 1979 Islamic Revolution. "Culture and arts are the driving forces for production and economy," he said in May. In a sign of support, Culture Minister Ali Jannati briefly appeared at the auction Friday. Foreign customers were able to bid through local connections paying of their behalf. That's despite Iran's banking system still not being fully connected to the international market due to technical problems. The identity of buyers is traditionally not revealed, but likely did not include any Americans, as other sanctions still largely bar U.S. citizens from engaging in any business in the country. But asked if the lifting of the nuclear sanctions had an effect on sales, auctioneer Hossein Pakdel simply said: "Do not have any doubt." ___ Online: Tehran Art Auction: www.tehranauction.com/en/ ___' Follow Nasser Karimi on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ncarrimi. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/nasser-karimi. In this picture taken on Thursday, May 26, 2016, Iranian visitors look at a painting of famed late Iranian artist Sohrab Sepehri on display a day prior to go to Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) In this picture taken on Thursday, May 26, 2016, an unidentified art collector points to a painting of famed late Iranian artist Sohrab Sepehri on display a day prior to go to Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Iranian auction workers hold a painting of famed late Iranian artist Parviz Kalantari in Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Iranian auction workers hold a painting of famed late Iranian artist Sohrab Sepehri as Hossein Pakdel, right, takes a bid, in Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Secretary of Iran's General Culture Council cleric Hossein Shahmoradi, who is also an art collector, attends Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Participants follow the Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Some participants follow the Tehran Art Auction from the video screen outside the main hall at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Iranian auction workers hold a painting of late Iranian artist Mehdi Vishkai as Hossein Pakdel, right, takes a bid, in Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) In This picture taken on Thursday, May 26, 2016, a sculpture from the "Hostages" series of Iranian artist Bahman Dadkhah is displayed while Iranians visit art works a day prior to go to Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) In this picture taken on Thursday, May 26, 2016, a visitor looks at art works on display a day prior to go to Tehran Art Auction at the Azadi Hotel in Tehran, Iran. The paintings in background show portraits of two officials of Qajar dynesty Mirza Abdolvahhab Khaje Nouri, right, painted by Aliakbar Mozayyan-o-Dolleh, and Fakhr-ol-Molk Ardalan painted by Mohammad Ghaffari, also known as Kamal-ol-Molk. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) The Latest: Officials say Acoma shield was stolen years ago ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) The Latest on a planned auction in France of Native American sacred items (all times local): 12:30 p.m. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is asking French authorities to prevent the auction of a ceremonial shield from a New Mexico Native American community, saying the item was believed to have been stolen decades ago from its rightful owners. FILE - In this Tuesday, May 24, 2016 file photo, a man looks at Native American artifacts as a group of American Indian advocates hold a news conference nearby at the Smithsonian National Musem of the American Indian, in Washington, to contest a Paris auction house's upcoming auction of Native American remains and sacred objects. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Thursday she's troubled by the auctioning off of objects held sacred by Native American tribes and she's calling on the French government to help find a path toward repatriating the items. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) In a letter Friday to the auction house regulator in France, Jewell detailed specific reasons why the Acoma Pueblo shield should be removed from Monday's planned sale in Paris. The letter included an affidavit from the granddaughter of one of the tribe's traditional leaders who cared for the shield. She testified that the item went missing during the 1970s when the family's home was broken into. Jewell's correspondence also included documents from the tribe's legal counsel and preservation officer attesting to the importance of the shield and its status under tribal customary law. ___ 11:12 a.m. The Paris auction house criticized for putting up for bid objects held sacred by Native American tribes is defending its upcoming sale. EVE auction house director Alain Leroy said Friday all the items are of legal trade in both the U.S. and France and that tribes will have an opportunity through the auction process to acquire their past. Monday's planned auction will feature hundreds of religious items and art pieces from the Americas, Africa and Asia. Included is a ceremonial shield from a Native American tribe in New Mexico. Acoma Pueblo Gov. Kurt Riley argues it's illegal to trade and sell Native American items considered sacred or used in worship. He has reached out to the French people through an open letter in an effort to halt such auctions. FILE - In this May 24, 2016 file photo, Hoopa Valley Tribal Council member Leilani Pole burns incense and says a prayer as a group of American Indian advocates hold a news conference at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, in Washington, to contest a Paris auction house's upcoming auction of Native American remains and sacred objects. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Thursday she's troubled by the auctioning off of objects held sacred by Native American tribes and she's calling on the French government to help find a path toward repatriating the items. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) knowlton coloring.jpeg From left Legion representative Ron Farber with student contest winners Isabella Grogan, Jake Oliveira and Giannah Kenstler, and Legion representative Gene Neiderlander. (Special to Lehighvalleylive.com) The American Legion held a coloring contest at Knowlton Township School for students in 4th grade. This year the students had to color in a picture of the Emilio Carranza Crash Monument in Tabernacle, N.J. Students learned about this pilot's trip from Mexico City to New York on the Mexico-Excelsior. Carranza's plane crashed in the New Jersey Pine Barrens while making this trip. The winners were Isabella Grogan, Jake Oliveira and Giannah Kenstler. Do you have education news to share? To see it posted here and possibly in The Express-Times and Warren Reporter, send me an email. Met with 50 farmers before rally who are disgruntled about the prioritization of endangered fish over water needed for their crops Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, 'There is no drought'. During a rally in Fresno, California, Trump accused state officials of denying water to Central Valley farmers so they can send it out to sea 'to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish'. He is referring to the three-inch Delta smelt, which is a native California fish on the brink of extinction. California is in the fifth year of a severe drought. Last year capped the state's driest four-year period in its history, with record low rainfall and snow. Scroll down for video Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, 'There is no drought' Trump accused state officials of denying water to Central Valley farmers so they can send it out to sea 'to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish'. Pictured, Folsom Lake at just 17 per cent of its capacity in 2014 California is in the fifth year of a severe drought. Last year capped the state's driest four-year period in its history, with record low rainfall and snow. Pictured, Lake Oroville in July 2011 (left) and 2014 (right) In Fresno, Trump said he'd spent 30 minutes before his rally meeting with more than 50 farmers who complained to him about their struggles. 'We're going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they're taking the water and shoving it out to sea,' Trump said at the rally, which drew thousands. 'They don't understand nobody understands it,' he said, declaring at one point: 'There is no drought. They turn the water out into the ocean.' Although the State Water Board eased up on the emergency water conservation regulation earlier this month, more than 86 per cent of California is still plagued with moderate to exceptional drought conditions, which have persisted for five years. Trump aligned himself with farmers who criticized the federal government for its 'despicable' practices and requested water from the Sacramento River to be diverted to them. Although the State Water Board eased up on the emergency water conservation regulation earlier this month, more than 86 per cent of California is still plagued with moderate to exceptional drought conditions In Fresno, Trump said he'd spent 30 minutes before his rally meeting with more than 50 farmers who complained to him about their struggles (pictured, Folsom Lake in 2011, left, and 2014, right) They believe federal efforts are prioritizing endangered fish like the delta smelt, over farmers who need water for crops (pictured, Lake Oroville in 2011, left, and 2014, right) Politically influential rural water districts and well-off corporate farmers in and around California's Central Valley have been pushing back against longstanding federal laws protecting endangered fish and other species. They believe federal efforts are prioritizing endangered fish like the delta smelt, over farmers who need water for crops. The three-inch Delta smelt has become an emblem in the state's battles over environmental laws and water distribution. The farm lobby, a heavyweight player in California's water wars, also is seeking federal and state approval for billions of dollars in new water tunnels, dams and other projects. Trump promised that, if he's elected, he would put their interests first. 'If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive,' he said. Trump (pictured on Friday) promised that, if he's elected, he would put their interests first. 'If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive,' he said About a thousand Trump protesters demonstrated outside San Diego's convention center and clashed with his supporters as the left California is the country's No. 1 agriculture producer. The state's drought is raising the stakes in water disputes among farmers, cities and towns, and environmental interests. The comments came a day after Trump outlined an energy policy plan that relies heavily on expanding fossil fuel exploration and reducing environmental regulations. He held a pair of rallies Friday in Fresno and San Diego as he closed a campaign swing through the west, drawing vocal crowds of protesters, many carrying signs critical of Trump's plan to wall off the border with Mexico. Slain police officer remembered for dedication, generosity CHARLTON, Mass. (AP) A police officer shot and killed during a traffic stop was remembered Friday for his dedication, professionalism, willingness to help anyone and sense of humor during a funeral attended by officers from across the state. Hundreds of mourners packed the pews of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Charlton for the funeral of Auburn Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. while hundreds more stood in rows outside. Tarentino's wife, Tricia Tarentino, thanked those who turned out for his service. Tricia Tarentino, widow of slain Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr., touches her heart as she makes a statement to news media, Friday, May 27, 2016, at his funeral in Charlton, Mass. Authorities said the Massachusetts police officer was shot dead during a weekend traffic stop. At left is Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) "It's amazing to see how many lives he has touched and how each of you has shown and expressed your love for him," she said before the service. She thanked the children of Auburn and the family's hometown of Leicester for their support as well as the first responders, doctors and nurses who tried to save her husband's life. Burial was scheduled to take place at Greenville Baptist Church Cemetery in Leicester. Officer Tarentino's youngest sister, Caitlin Tarentino, remembered him during her eulogy for his sense of humor and generosity. She made mourners laugh when she remembered the place of privilege he had as the first-born child in an Italian family. It made him "kind of a big deal" and earned him the nickname "the Prince," she said. The officer, who was 42 years old, was always helping around his parents' house, building a new deck or cleaning the gutters, she said. "He was always going out of his way to help others," she said. Auburn police Chief Andrew Sluckis said Tarentino's death at the hands of a "feckless coward with a gun" had robbed the town of a fine officer who had earned his respect and trust. One of Tarentino's three sons, Spenser Tarentino, said he hopes his father's death reminds people to give police more respect. Officer Tarentino, whose father was a Medford officer, was shot in the back by Jorge Zambrano during a traffic stop early Sunday, authorities said. Zambrano, who had a lengthy criminal history, was killed later Sunday in an exchange of gunfire with police inside a duplex apartment. Tricia Tarentino, widow of slain Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr., touches her heart as she makes a statement to news media, Friday, May 27, 2016, at his funeral in Charlton, Mass. Authorities said the Massachusetts police officer was shot dead during a weekend traffic stop. At left is Auburn Police Chief Andrew Sluckis. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Family members embrace after eulogizing Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino, Jr., of Leicester, Mass., during a funeral service at St. Joseph's Church in Charlton, Mass., Friday, May 27, 2016. Officer Tarentino, 42, died after being shot during a traffic stop Sunday, May 22. (Christine Hochkeppel/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool) Police officers attend the funeral service for Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino, of Leicester, Mass., at St. Joseph's Church in Charlton, Mass., Friday, May 27, 2016. Officer Tarentino, 42, died after being shot during a traffic stop Sunday, May 22. (Christine Hochkeppel/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool) Police march to St. Joseph's Church during the funeral for Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr., Friday, May 27, 2016, in Charlton, Mass. Authorities said the Massachusetts police officer was shot dead during a weekend traffic stop. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Mourners make their way into St. Joseph's Church during the funeral for Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr., Friday, May 27, 2016, in Charlton, Mass. Authorities said the Massachusetts police officer was shot dead during a weekend traffic stop. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Mourners enter the funeral service for Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino, of Leicester, Mass., in St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Charlton, Mass., on Friday, May 27, 2016. Tarentino died after being shot during a traffic stop Sunday, May 22. (Christine Hochkeppel/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool) Mourners enter the funeral service for Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino, of Leicester, Mass., at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Charlton, Mass., on Friday, May 27, 2016. Tarentino died after being shot during a traffic stop Sunday, May 22. (Christine Hochkeppel/Worcester Telegram & Gazette via AP, Pool) A suburban Phoenix high school didn't allow a student, who fought cancer during his junior year, to walk with his graduating class. Stephen Dwyer withdrew from school his junior year to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant to treat high-risk leukemia. Dwyer, the student body president, is only two-and-a-half credits short of graduating and will have to finish in December. 'I never asked to receive a diploma and am even okay with not walking across that stage or having my name called. Stephen Dwyer (pictured, right) withdrew from school his junior year to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant to treat high-risk leukemia. He was not allowed to walk with his graduating class on Thursday because he is two-and-a-half credits short of earning his diploma Dwyer said he didn't mind not walking but he just wanted to wear a cap and gown and be with his peers after losing so many memories already. They still denied his request 'I just want to be a part of the ceremony as one of my peers would be. 'I want to sit on the field in cap and gown, walk in the same line and throw my cap in the air as we all celebrate what we have accomplished,' he wrote in a Facebook post. On Thursday he led seniors at Dobson High School in Mesa onto the field for commencement but then sat in the stands. He was not allowed to wear a cap and gown during the ceremony and instead wore a grey button-down shit and a black and grey tie. On Thursday he led seniors at Dobson High School in Mesa onto the field for commencement but then sat in the stands and was not allowed to wear a cap and gown Dwyer spent his senior year on the varsity swim team, as a member of National Honor Society, and earning a 4.2 GPA his first semester back In a Facebook post, Dwyer said he wanted to sit on the field in a cap and gown alongside his classmates. 'I lost a lot of high school memories already and now Im losing the final one,' he wrote. Mesa Public Schools says a number of students each year don't meet the required number of credits because of personal hardships and they don't participate in graduation. According to AZ Central, Dwyer spent his senior year on the varsity swim team, as a member of National Honor Society, and earning a 4.2 GPA his first semester back. He even took an 'A-hour' class before first period to help catch up, he wrote in his Facebook post. 'Stephen Dwyer is a strong, courageous young man. 'Dobson High School and Mesa Public Schools have worked with the Dwyer family throughout Stephens high school career to provide an educational environment that is safe and supportive,' the school said in a statement. Dean Stoneman wins closest Freedom 100 by 0.0024 seconds INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The weekend of the 100th running of the Indy 500 got off to a historic start Friday. Dean Stoneman edged out Ed Jones in the Freedom 100 in the closest finish in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history, his win in the Indy Lights race highlighting a Carb Day that drew tens of thousands of fans. Stoneman drafted off Jones down the backstretch of the final lap, then pulled around him on the outside as they entered Turn 3. They were side-by-side in a drag race down the front-stretch, and not even Stoneman's car owner Michael Andretti was certain who had won until everyone started jumping up and down around him. Dean Stoneman, of England, reacts after winning the Indy Lights Freedom 100 Race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/R Brent Smith) "Then I jumped up," Andretti said with a grin. Stoneman won by 0.0024 seconds, breaking the track record for closest finish of 0.0026 seconds, when Peter Dempsey beat Gabby Chaves to the line in a dramatic four-wide finish in the 2013 race. Dalton Kellett was third and Shelby Blackstock was fourth, giving Andretti Autosport not only its first Freedom 100 victory but three of the top four finishers in the IndyCar feeder race. "First time ever for this race. We're so excited," Andretti said. "We've been trying so many years to win this and Dean finally brought it to us, and to have three cars in the top four is a great day." It's the kind of day Andretti would love to see replicated on Sunday. One of his drivers, Carlos Munoz, was second-fastest in the final round of practice. Ryan Hunter-Reay was also in the top five, and even Marco Andretti began to find some speed during Carb Day. They'll have their work cut out for them matching the finish of the Indy Lights race. "I saw Ed was coming but it was a fantastic finish, right at the line," said Stoneman, who has won the last two Indy Lights races. "It was a great finish. I don't know what to say." The Englishman joined Andretti Autosport for his first Mazda Road to Indy season this year. He had been competing in the World Series by Renault, FIA GP3, and Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain. Jones had qualified on the pole and spent the entire race running up front. "It's so frustrating to lose the race like that. We went back and forth," he said. "I got the lead into Turn 1 and thought I had the good run and was running away, and then the draft down the back straight and I made the decision to stay inside, and he got the momentum on the outside and he just beat me to the line. "I blame myself for this one," Jones said. "You can't believe it." Governor signs financial rescue package for Atlantic City SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) Republican Gov. Chris Christie has signed a package of bills to keep financially troubled Atlantic City from running out of cash. The Democratic-led Assembly and Senate approved the measures by wide margins Thursday just as the state's 127 miles of beaches prepared for Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. Christie said the bills give him the authority he needs. Christie said the new laws will give him the authority to reform Atlantic City's "overblown municipal government." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center, greets people as he walks along an already crowded boardwalk to kick off the Memorial Day holiday weekend at the Jersey Shore Friday, May 27, 2016, in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) The deal reached this week ended a nearly five-month-long political fight that pushed the resort city toward bankruptcy and spared it from an immediate state takeover for at least five months. The city government has five months to draw up plans to balance its books over the next five years, Christie said. "For Atlantic City officials, the final countdown starts today," he said. "They now have 150 days to develop and implement fiscally responsible reforms and finally meet the obligations of every other municipal government in our state." Atlantic City has had a state monopoly on casinos, but its tax base has contracted since four of its 12 casinos closed. Its Republican mayor, Don Guardian, called the deal "huge." "We want people to know the shore is open for business," he said. Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto hailed the legislative passage as an improvement over an earlier Senate- and Christie-backed bill that would have provided for an immediate takeover. Under the legislation, casinos will not be allowed to opt out of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan, even if voters authorize casinos in northern New Jersey. Atlantic City will get temporary loans of $30 million for the remainder of this year, $30 million to be applied to leftover debt from last year and another $15 million for next year. The city also would be able to get at least $120 million each year from casinos under a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan that would last for 10 years. It also could offer early retirement to its workers and retain its collective bargaining rights. The impasse surrounded the harsher provisions of a Senate aid package that originally would have allowed the state to seize control of Atlantic City's finances and major decision-making powers, including the right to unilaterally break union contracts, in just over four months. Suit blames Baton Rouge jail conditions for prisoner's death BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Poor medical care and dangerous conditions at a Louisiana jail led to the death of a prisoner who hanged himself in his cell last year, a federal lawsuit says. Relatives of Lamar Alexander Johnson sued East Baton Rouge Parish and its sheriff on Thursday, blaming the 27-year-old's death on a "culture of violence and indifference to prisoner welfare" at the parish jail. The suit claims Johnson is one of at least four people who have died at the jail since 2013 due to inadequate medical and mental health care. Johnson ingested synthetic marijuana in jail and wasn't properly treated for a severe reaction to the "readily accessible" drug before he hanged himself in May 2015, the suit alleges. This undated family photo provided by Linda Franks Johnson shows her son Lamar Johnson. A federal lawsuit claims poor medical care and dangerous conditions at a Louisiana jail led to the death of Lamar Johnson, a prisoner who hanged himself in his cell last year. Relatives of Johnson sued East Baton Rouge Parish and its sheriff on Thursday, May 26, 2016, blaming the 27-year-old's death on a "culture of violence and indifference to prisoner welfare" at the parish jail. (Linda Franks Johnson via AP) "His extreme emotional distress was apparent to anyone within sight and sound of Mr. Johnson," the suit says. "Rather than provide any medical or mental health care, (jail) staff ignored Mr. Johnson's serious mental health needs." The jail isn't adequately funded, staffed or supervised, and its staff members aren't properly trained to provide mental health and medical care, the suit also says. Casey Rayborn Hicks, a spokeswoman for Sheriff Sid Gautreaux's office, called Johnson's death "unfortunate and tragic" but said there are no "evidence or facts" to support the suit's claims. Linda Franks, Johnson's mother, said her son didn't have a history of mental illness or drug abuse. Learning that her son had hanged himself left her in "utter disbelief," she said during a telephone interview Friday. "He never ran away from adversity," Franks said. "He never was one to hold onto negativity." Johnson was jailed for four days following his May 26, 2015, arrest by a Baker police officer, who stopped his car for having tinted windows. He was jailed on an arrest warrant from Jefferson Parish, where he had allegedly tried to pass counterfeit checks. "Video and audio of the arrest show Mr. Johnson to be relaxed, engaged, and in complete control of his emotions," the suit says. Franks said she spoke to her son by telephone twice after his arrest, and he assured her that "everything was fine." But eyewitnesses described him as "deranged," paranoid and suicidal after he ingested synthetic marijuana, according to the suit. Jail staff members also assaulted Johnson after he ingested the drug, the suit claims. "This violent and abusive response by (jail) employees exacerbated Mr. Johnson's condition, making him more paranoid and delusional," it says. Johnson spent hours in an isolation cell before he hanged himself, but nobody at the jail evaluated or treated his mental condition, the suit says. He was taken from the jail to a hospital, where he died several days later. Kentucky governor says he will join transgender lawsuit FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Kentucky's Republican governor said Friday that he will join a lawsuit challenging a federal order to allow students to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity, jumping ahead of the state's Democratic attorney general and underscoring how the issue is driving a wedge between politicians in several states. Eleven states announced Thursday that they had joined a court challenge to President Barack Obama's directive that public schools allow transgender students to use the bathroom and locker room of their choice, or else risk losing critical federal dollars. Gov. Matt Bevin said the federal government has no authority to dictate local schools' policies, and he criticized Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear for not joining the lawsuit sooner. Bevin said that Beshear "unfortunately ... is unwilling to protect Kentucky's control over local issues." "Therefore, my administration will do so by joining this lawsuit." In a news release, Beshear said Bevin's statement "was not truthful." The day after the Obama administration issued its directive to public schools, Bevin said he opposed it and was "researching" options to respond. "I expected to be consulted on those options, but my office has not received a single phone call from the governor or his attorneys on this matter," Beshear said. "Any statement that (the attorney general's office) does not stand up for Kentucky families is entirely false." In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Phil Bryant announced he would also join the lawsuit, despite the objections of Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood. Hood said he did not join the lawsuit because he had already joined a similar lawsuit and lost. Republicans quickly used the issue to pounce on Beshear, son of former Gov. Steve Beshear and a potential candidate to challenge Bevin for re-election in 2019. Republican Party of Kentucky spokesman Tres Watson said Beshear is "more interested in playing politics than standing up for Kentucky." But Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, said he was disappointed Bevin "has decided to be on the wrong side of history and the law." "This lawsuit is nothing but a political stunt and an attack on transgender students, who are among our most vulnerable," Hartman said. "There have been no disruptions, increases in public safety incidents, nor invasions of privacy related to transgender students using the restrooms that match their gender identity." Last year, Atherton High School in Louisville changed its policy to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. The Republican state Senate responded by passing a bill to force transgender students to use separate bathrooms, but the measure never came up for a vote in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The state legislature did not take up the issue this year. In December, Bevin called the transgender bathroom issue "nonsense" in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. "I'm just telling you right now. I have no tolerance or interest in that kind of nonsense. None," Bevin said. "Those things matter to some but they sure don't matter to everything else that needs to be addressed in this state. We are going to prioritize. We are going to have a sense of purpose." The newspaper quoted Bevin spokeswoman Jessica Ditto as saying the "federal overreach" is what prompted Bevin to act in this case. Kentucky's governor and attorney general have battled over social issues before. In 2014, Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway declined to appeal a federal court order overturning the state's ban on gay marriage. But Steve Beshear hired private attorneys to appeal the decision anyway. Beshear ultimately lost at the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump says he no longer wants to debate Sanders SAN DIEGO (AP) Republican Donald Trump says he's not interested in debating Democrat Bernie Sanders after all. The billionaire mogul, who had previously said he'd "love to debate" the Vermont senator, said in a statement Friday that he's now decided a one-on-one showdown between the pair would be "inappropriate," despite interest from television networks. "Now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher," Trump said of Sanders, who is trailing front-runner Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. salutes at a campaign rally at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum in San Pedro district of Los Angeles, Friday, May 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) "As much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders," Trump added, "I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party." Sanders responded with a statement Friday saying: "In recent days, Donald Trump has said he wants to debate, he doesn't want to debate, he wants to debate and, now, he doesn't want to debate. I hope that he changes his mind once again and comes on board." Trump first expressed interest in debating Sanders during a taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" earlier this week. Trump reiterated his interest at a press conference Thursday, where he said he had been serious about the idea as long as the pair could generate $10 to $15 million for charity. "I think we'll get very high ratings. It should be in a big arena somewhere. And we can have a lot of fun with it," said Trump, adding that his campaign had already received several calls from television networks interested in hosting the debate. Trump said in his statement Friday, however, that the networks were "not proving to be too generous to charitable causes, in this case, women's health issues." But Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said it had received two offers from television networks that included "a major contribution to charity." The Latest: After cave escape, operator reviews safety HORSE CAVE, Ky. (AP) The Latest on the harrowing rescue of 19 from a flooded Kentucky cave (all times local): ___ 4:30 p.m. Rescued people walk out of the entrance to Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT One day after 19 people trudged through neck-deep water to escape a flooded Kentucky cave, the cave's operator says he's analyzing the incident for possible safety lessons. David Foster is executive director of the American Cave Museum, which runs the Hidden River Cave. He said he had no way to reach the group of students spelunking a mile deep in the caverns Thursday afternoon to warn them that the water was rising and threatening to block their only exit. All got out safely after a harrowing rescue. Now Foster said he's looking into installing a communication system that would let guides contact employees aboveground, who could alert them to ominous forecasts. Mammoth Cave National Park nearby has phone system along the pathways so guides are never far from a phone. ___ 3:30 a.m. Gary Russell was leading a group of geology students on a five-hour tour of a Kentucky cave when he turned a corner and saw water rushing by where water wasn't supposed to be. He had no way to communicate with the outside world, but he knew water wasn't supposed to be a mile deep in the cave. Russell and his group were among 19 people who escaped the flooded Hidden River Cave on Thursday afternoon. They navigated neck-deep water, rushing currents and mud so thick it sucked off the police chief's boot. It was pitch black. Kentucky State Police Trooper B.J. Eaton says the group that spent more than six hours inside the cave included Clemson University students, four tour guides and two police officers who got trapped when they tried to rescue the group. People who were rescued from Hidden River Cave celebrate at a house next to the cave Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT People exit Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. Horse Cave Fire Chief Donnie Parker said the rising water was caused by heavy rains in the area Thursday afternoon. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Abby Harmon, 27, of Knoxville, Tenn., checks her phone after being rescued from Hidden River Cave, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Becca Dozier, center, takes off her helmet after having been rescued from Hidden River Cave, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group of college students trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Rescued people gather at a house next to Hidden River Cave after over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Rescued people walk out of the entrance to Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Rescued people exit Hidden River Cave after officials said over a dozen people who exploring the cave were trapped by rising water Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. The group waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT People who were rescued from Hidden River Cave celebrate Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Scientists find minivan-sized sponge, world's largest HONOLULU (AP) Researchers in Hawaii have been absorbed by a sea creature they discovered last summer, and their findings are pretty big. The team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition in the waters off Hawaii discovered what they say is the world's largest known sponge. The creature, roughly the size of a minivan, was discovered about 7,000 feet down in a marine conservation area off the shores of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The rare sponge, with a bluish-white color and brain-like appearance, stunned scientists when it appeared in the remote cameras attached to their underwater rover. This Aug. 12, 2015 photo provided by NOAAs Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 shows a massive sponge photographed at a depth of about 7,000 feet in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the shores of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. A team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition discovered the sponge, which they say is the worlds largest ever documented.A study published this week in the scientific journal Marine Biodiversity described the massive sponge after a year of study. (NOAA Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 via AP) Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Hawaii studied the sponge for about a year before releasing their findings. "The largest portion of our planet lies in deep waters, the vast majority of which has never been explored," Papahanaumokuakea research specialist Daniel Wagner with NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries said in a statement released Wednesday. "Finding such an enormous and presumably old sponge emphasizes how much can be learned from studying deep and pristine environments." A study published this week in the scientific journal Marine Biodiversity described the massive creature. The animal was found in the waters of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which is the largest protected conservation area in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It covers an area that is bigger than all the other U.S. national parks combined. Christopher Kelley, program biologist at the Hawaii Undersea Research Lab, who helped lead the expedition with Wagner, said the crew captured images of the sponge with remote underwater cameras that were positioned above their underwater research vehicle. They then used laser points to measure parts of the sponge and also carefully measured the vehicle and compared those dimensions to the images they had of the sponge and vehicle together to determine its size. Kelley said they took samples of a sponge of the same species they found the day before the larger one and sent them to the world's top experts, and no one could identify what genus the sponge belongs to. "Here's this animal that has presumably never been encountered before and it's enormous and that kind of bring up a little intrigue for deep water and what else exists down there," he said. While this particular sponge is only incrementally larger than other sponges found, the researchers say it shows the value in exploring the ocean's depths to discover unknown and mysterious forms of life. They pored over scientific literature and found this was the largest documented sponge to date. Paul Dayton, professor emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California has studied large sponges in the Antarctic. "Certainly I can agree that this is a very large sponge indeed, the largest I have heard of," Dayton said in an email to The Associated Press. "It is incrementally larger than the ones off British Columbia and they might find an even bigger one, but surely this is the biggest sponge I have ever heard of." Joseph Pawlik, a professor in the department of biology and marine biology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington said getting a good sense of the size of these large sponges can be difficult. He has studied large barrel sponges that grow to very large sizes, and has come up with a method of estimating their age and size based on volume. "Largest implies volume," he said. "We have some pretty substantial sponges that are barrel sponges that have huge volume." Sponges are similar to coral reefs in that they provide critical habitat for other sea life and filter large amounts of sea water and remove material other animals in the ocean don't eat. According to scientists, some of the large sponges found in more shallow waters have been estimated to be over 2,300 years old, leading researchers to wonder how old some of these deep-sea organisms that have never been encountered can become. ___ Follow Caleb Jones on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalebAP Find more of his work here: http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/caleb-jones This Aug. 12, 2015 photo provided by NOAAs Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 shows a massive sponge photographed at a depth of about 7,000 feet in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the shores of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. A team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition discovered the sponge, which they say is the worlds largest ever documented.A study published this week in the scientific journal Marine Biodiversity described the massive sponge after a year of study. (NOAA Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 via AP) This Aug. 12, 2015 photo provided by NOAAs Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 shows a massive sponge photographed at a depth of about 7,000 feet in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the shores of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. A team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition discovered the sponge, which they say is the worlds largest ever documented.A study published this week in the scientific journal Marine Biodiversity described the massive sponge after a year of study. (NOAA Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 via AP) This Aug. 12, 2015 photo provided by NOAAs Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 shows a massive sponge photographed at a depth of about 7,000 feet in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument off the shores of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. A team of scientists on a deep-sea expedition discovered the sponge, which they say is the worlds largest ever documented.A study published this week in the scientific journal Marine Biodiversity described the massive sponge after a year of study. (NOAA Office of Exploration and Research/Hohonu Moana 2015 via AP) Iowa Indian burial site possibility stalls oil pipeline DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) The possibility of an American Indian burial site in northwest Iowa may require relocation of a crude oil pipeline route and delay the beginning of construction in Iowa, the only one of four states where work hasn't begun. The Dakota Access pipeline passes through the Big Sioux Wildlife Management area in Lyon County, traditional homeland for the Dakota Sioux where Standing Rock Sioux Tribal leaders say there is a burial site. "The site has been identified by the tribe as of historical and cultural significance with associated burial activity," said State Archaeologist John Doershuk. FILE - In this May 9, 2015, file photo, workers unload pipes for the proposed Dakota Access oil pipeline that would stretch from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to Illinois. The discovery of a possible American Indian burial site in northwest Iowa may require relocation of a crude oil pipeline route which would further delay the beginning of construction in Iowa, the only one of four states where work hasn't yet begun. The Dakota Access pipeline passes through the Big Sioux Wildlife Management area in Lyon County where an American Indian tribe said it has a burial site. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File) Under Iowa law, Doershuk must now study the area to determine whether it is more than 150 years old. If so, it is considered ancient burial grounds and he is obligated under Iowa law to protect it from disturbance. The Sioux ceded land in the region to the U.S. government by treaty in 1851, according to a history of Lyon County, Iowa, posted on the county's website. The wildlife area is managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service owns the property. The federal agency in March granted Iowa permission to issue a permit for the pipeline to run through the area but on Wednesday informed the state agency the permit was revoked due to the discovery. "We did send a letter to the DNR stating to please stop all clearing and ground disturbing activities within that pipeline corridor on the Big Sioux pending further investigation," said Mara Koenig, a spokeswoman for the agency's Midwest region. "We'll work with state archaeologist to review evidence that is collected from that site so we can determine the next course of action." On Thursday the state sent a "stop work order" letter to the Dakota Access contractor. Houston-based Dakota Access LLC wants to build the 1,150-mile pipeline designed to carry a half-million barrels of oil a day from northwest North Dakota to a storage facility in south-central Illinois. Construction on the $3.8 billion project has begun in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois, but the Iowa Utilities Board has not yet authorized work to begin. A spokeswoman for Dakota Access said the project isn't affected because work has not yet begun in Iowa. "We are aware of the rumors of a potential archaeological site along the route, which has not been confirmed," said Lisa Dillinger. "If something is confirmed in the area, we will work with the appropriate agencies to make any necessary adjustments." Tribal leaders said discovery of the burial site highlights why state and federal agencies should slow down and more thoroughly study the pipeline route. "This consequence of the expedited project is representative of a Tribal apprehension regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline: the destruction of important cultural and historic sites," said Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The area also includes a pipeline section for which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction. The Corps has yet to issue permits for the pipeline as it continues to review river crossings and other federal land for which the Corps has permit responsibilities. "If this is a significant Indian historical site that certainly could delay the permitting process if we have to get involved in realignments," said Ron Fournier, a Corps spokesman. ___ Follow David Pitt on Twitter at https://twitter.com/davepitt Teen cancer survivor's wish to walk at graduation denied MESA, Ariz. (AP) Some criticized a suburban Phoenix high school for not allowing a student diagnosed with cancer to walk with his graduating class after he worked to keep up with classes through treatment. Stephen Dwyer withdrew from school his junior year to receive a life-saving bone marrow transplant for leukemia. Dwyer, who is student body president, is 2 credits short of graduating and will finish in December. A community Facebook page for Dwyer says the teen wanted to sit on the field in a cap and gown alongside his classmates Thursday but didn't ask to receive a diploma or even walk across the stage. After numerous meetings with the district superintendent and school board members, his request was denied. In this photo taken, Thursday evening, May 26, 2016, Stephen Dwyer, right, who could not wear a cap and gown nor sit with his classmates, leads graduates during the Dobson High School graduation in Mesa Ariz. Dwyer, who withdrew from classes his junior year to receive a lifesaving bone-marrow transplant to treat high-risk leukemia, returned for classes his senior year and he worked to catch. He is only 2.5 credits short of meeting the requirements to graduate from Dobson. He expects to graduate in December. The school and the Mesa Public Schools district officials said Dwyer may not wear his cap and gown, but can lead the Class of 2016 out at the beginning of the ceremony.(David Wallace/The Arizona Republic via AP) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT He led seniors at Dobson High School in Mesa onto the field for commencement but then sat in the stands. He donned a cap and gown after the ceremony so he could take pictures with classmates. Several people attended the ceremony with signs supporting Dwyer and wore orange shirts, the color representing leukemia awareness. "They say it's a matter of policy, but, I mean, they should be able to make decisions based on circumstances, and this is a perfect circumstance to allow him to be able to do that," Jacob Martinez, a student council member, told Phoenix station KTVK-TV (http://bit.ly/1Wppar1 ). Mesa Public Schools spokeswoman Helen Hollands lauded Dwyer for being "courageous" but cited district policy. "Each year, the district has a number of students who due to their personal hardships have not earned the minimum number of credits required to graduate," Hollands said in a written statement. "These students do not participate in a graduation ceremony before successfully earning a diploma." Dwyer declined several other opportunities to participate in the graduation ceremony as a student leader, Hollands added. Dwyer family members did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday by The Associated Press. The Facebook page says Dwyer went through chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments that left him exhausted between June 2014 and February 2015. After that, he completed courses online until returning to school in fall 2015. He rejoined the varsity swim team and added an early-morning class to help catch up academically. DMC: Commissioner should apologize for words about rap NEW YORK (AP) Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and hip-hop icon Darryl "DMC" McDaniels says the New York police commissioner's recent comments where he labeled rappers as thugs following a shooting at a hip-hop concert are disrespectful and that the commissioner should apologize to rappers like Chuck D, Will Smith and Kendrick Lamar performers whose songs do not promote violence and negative images. Police commissioner William Bratton's comments came Thursday after four people were shot at a Manhattan concert hall where rapper T.I. was scheduled to perform on Wednesday night. Bratton blamed the shootings on "the crazy world of the so-called rap artists who are basically thugs that basically celebrate the violence that they live all their lives." McDaniels, one of the founding members of the pioneering rap group Run-DMC, said the shooting is not a "hip-hop problem" and that Bratton's statement was unfair to rappers like LL Cool J, De La Soul, J. Cole and many others. FILE - In this Dec. 9, 2014 file photo, Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC performs at Christmas in Brooklyn in New York. McDaniels says the New York police commissioner William Brattons recent comments, where he labeled rappers as thugs following a shooting at a hip-hop concert, is disrespectful and that he should apologize to rappers like Chuck D, Will Smith and Kendrick Lamar. McDaniels, one of the founding members of the classic rap group Run DMC, said the shooting is not a hip-hop problem and that Brattons statement was unfair. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File) "He needs to apologize to all the rappers who have come from (the) streets but have never put out anything negative (and) disrespectful to break down ... and destroy their community," McDaniels, 51, told the Associated Press on Friday. "(Bratton) was upset and pointing a finger and getting to the root and not thinking about the people he would hurt by saying what he said," McDaniels continued. "Him as the commissioner saying it did so much damage (and) pushes hip-hop back that's why he should apologize." Bratton told the AP Friday night that, "I meant what I said about the thugs who call themselves rap artists, and shoot up crowded clubs, and in this case, kill and wound people." But he said in a statement emailed by his spokesman that he understands rap has become "an important vehicle for storytelling in urban America" and that there's a segment of "gangster rap" that often overshadows rap's most important messages. Bratton said his comments about the shootings were "misread as a reference to all of rap and hip hop, which it was not." He said he's concerned about the "subset that not only glamorize violence but some who employ violence like a prop for 'street cred.'" Police are investigating the deadly shooting at Irving Plaza, where one person died. Rapper Roland Collins, whose stage name is Troy Ave, will face attempted murder and weapons charges. He was also shot in the leg. Ronald McPhatter, who died, was a member of Collins' entourage and had been there to provide security, according to his family. In an interview with WCBS radio, Bratton said rap music "oftentimes celebrates violence, celebrates degradation of women, celebrates the drug culture." "It's unfortunate that as they get fame and fortune that some of them are just not able to get out of the life, if you will," he said. McDaniels said his words are "totally, totally, totally unacceptable and false." "There's a million rappers who come from the hood who do not portray, promote or produce products that celebrate or legitimizes any forms of negativity," he said. "The commissioner, he knew better than that. I respect his job, I know it's hard and all of that, but he should have known better." Colombian rebels free Spanish journalist, 2 others BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Leftist rebels have freed a Spanish correspondent and two other journalists who went missing in a lawless region of Colombia, ending a weeklong saga that recalled some of the darkest days of a long-running conflict the South American nation is trying to move beyond. "Thank you to everyone who prayed for me," Salud Hernandez-Mora, a longtime correspondent for Spain's El Mundo newspaper, said Friday in her first comment upon being freed. Rebels identifying themselves as members of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, handed her over to a delegation led by Ramon Catholic clergy in the volatile Catatumbo region. Hours later, two other journalists from Colombian network RCN were also freed by the rebels. Salud Hernandez-Mora, correspondent in Colombia for Spain's El Mundo and columnist for the Bogota daily El Tiempo, speaks on the phone after being freed by leftist rebels in Ocana, northeastern Colombia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Hernandez-Mora said she was taken captive on May 21 by rebels of the National Liberation Army, ELN, while she was working on a story about coca growers in a mountainous area dominated by rebels and drug-traffickers near the border with Venezuela. (AP Photo) Hernandez-Mora said she was working on a story about coca growers when, while on a lonely street, she was approached by a man on a motorcycle who took her equipment. He identified himself as a member of the ELN. Later she was invited to retrieve her belongings and went in search of the guerrillas on the back of a motorcycle. She said she was aware of the risks but thought it might result in an interview with a rebel commander. When she crossed paths with the rebels she was informed she was going to stay with them for a couple days and said she knew right away that she was being taken hostage. "I've always been imprudent, because a reporter needs to be imprudent or they'll miss half the things," Hernandez-Mora said during an improvised press conference in the city of Ocana. The incident shook Colombia because the ELN in March had agreed to join the much-larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and pursue a peace deal with President Juan Manuel Santos' government to end a half century of fighting. Santos, who has demanded the ELN renounce kidnapping and free its captives in order for those talks to begin, celebrated Hernandez-Mora's release from Catatumbo, where he had traveled earlier Friday to personally oversee the search efforts for the journalists. In addition to her work for El Mundo, Hernandez-Mora is one of Colombia's most-prominent columnists, admired and reviled in equal measure for her outspoken conservative views against Santos' peace efforts. Her disappearance last weekend while on assignment shocked Colombians who have experienced dramatic security gains in recent years as Colombia's half-century conflict winds down. Hernandez-Mora was last seen May 21 arguing with an unidentified man and then taking a motorcycle to an unknown destination. The two journalists from the RCN network went missing 48 hours later while covering the search for the Spanish journalist. The release Friday night of Diego D'Pablo and Carlos Melo came as loved ones were holding a religious vigil in their hometown of Cucuta. D'Pablo's adolescent daughter broke down in tears when she spoke live on TV for the first time with her father. Hernandez-Mora said she was treated well by her captors. The biggest menace she faced during her captivity was boredom and the regular flyovers of army helicopters and intelligence aircraft part of a huge military deployment to locate the journalists. She said her captors transferred her each night to a different location, including abandoned buildings and peasant homes. "I spent the day looking at the sky, when there was a sky. And looking at the roof, when there was a roof," she said. The Jamaica-sized Catatumbo region of northeastern Colombia is among the country's poorest, most marginalized backwaters. It is a major coca-growing area and a corridor for cocaine smuggling to Venezuela, with the state able to maintain only a few militarized strongholds. In addition to the ELN, remnants of the Popular Liberation Army are still active in the area as is the much-larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. "Catatumbo is an area abandoned by the Colombian state, with tremendous social problems and I'm not sure how they're going to be resolved," Herandez-Mora said. ___ Joshua Goodman is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apjoshgoodman His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/joshua-goodman Salud Hernandez-Mora, right, correspondent in Colombia for Spain's El Mundo and columnist for the Bogota daily El Tiempo, is greeted by Melisa Gomez after Salud was freed by rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Ocana, northeastern Colombia, Friday, May 27, 2016. Gomez is the wife of Jose Cabrales Camacho, a man who was held captive by the ELN for seven months. Hernandez-Mora said she was taken captive on May 21 while working on a story about coca growers in a mountainous area dominated by rebels and drug-traffickers near the border with Venezuela. (AP Photo) Bridge fire temporarily shuts down rail traffic over Potomac Capital fire officials say a blaze on a CSX bridge over the Potomac River has been extinguished and trains are running again after an hours-long delay on the only rail bridge linking the District of Columbia and Virginia. D.C. fire spokesman Doug Buchanan said the department battled the fire from above and below the Long Bridge after it was reported at about 1:45 p.m. Friday. Two fireboats pulled water from the river to spray the underside of the structure. CSX shares its century-old bridge with the VRE commuter line and Amtrak passenger trains. The Latest: Fishermen helped save pilots after jets crashed RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The Latest on the crash of two Navy jets off the coast of North Carolina on Thursday (all times local): 4:45 p.m. One of the fishermen who helped rescue navy pilots after their fighter jets crashed off North Carolina says it's "remarkable" they survived with only minor injuries. Navy aviators involved in a crash exit a coast guard helicopter at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va. Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending several people to the hospital, officials said. (L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT Four aviators were rescued from the water Thursday morning after two F/A-18 Super Hornets were involved in what the Navy is calling an "in-flight mishap." Rob Schutrumpf of Richmond was on a yacht that rescued two of them. He told WAVY-TV (http://bit.ly/1WqHtfb) they saw a wing or tail burning, which helped them find the men in the water. Schutrumpf said he and his friends were boating to Virginia Beach from Florida when the planes crashed, and just "happened to be in the right place at the right time." ____ 4:00 a.m. Navy officials are investigating what caused two fighter jets to crash off the coast of North Carolina during a training mission. Four crew members were rescued from the water Thursday after two F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters were involved in what Navy officials called an "in-flight mishap." Officials say they suffered only minor injuries. Lt. Cmdr. Tiffani Walker is a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. She couldn't provide additional details on the crash, but said an investigation is underway. Derick Ansley is a Coast Guard official who helped rescue two of the aviators. He told WTKR-TV that they "got pretty lucky." The crew is part of Strike Fighter Squadron 211, based in Virginia Beach, and isn't currently assigned to an aircraft carrier. A Navy aviator involved in a crash waits to exit a coast guard helicopter at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va., Thursday, May 26, 2016. Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending several people to the hospital, officials said. (L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT A Navy aviator involved in a crash is brought into Sentara Norfolk General Hospital's emergency department in Norfolk, Va., Thursday, May 26, 2016. Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending several people to the hospital, officials said. (L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT A Navy aviator involved in a crash is brought into Sentara Norfolk General Hospital's emergency department after exiting a coast guard helicopter under his own power in Norfolk, Va., Thursday, May 26, 2016. Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending several people to the hospital, officials said. (L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT The first of two coast guard helicopters exits Sentara Norfolk General Hospital after bringing Navy aviators involved in a crash to the hospital, in Norfolk, Va., Thursday, May 26, 2016. Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending several people to the hospital, officials said. (L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT A Navy aviator involved in a crash waits to exit ta coast guard helicopter at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va. Thursday, May 26, 2016. Two Navy jet fighters collided off the coast of North Carolina during a routine training mission on Thursday, sending several people to the hospital, officials said. (L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot via AP) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT Argentine court sentences ex-dictator for Operation Condor BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Argentina's last dictator and 14 other former military officials were sentenced Friday to prison for human rights crimes committed during the Operation Condor conspiracy to hunt down dissidents across South America and beyond. Operation Condor was launched in the 1970s by six South American dictators who used their secret police networks in a coordinated effort to track down their opponents across borders and eliminate them. Some leftist dissidents had sought refuge in neighboring countries only to be detained as part of the state-sponsored terror campaign. An Argentine court on Friday sentenced former junta leader Reynaldo Bignone, 88, to 20 years in prison for being part of an illicit association, kidnapping and abusing his powers in the forced disappearance of more than 100 people. The former general who ruled Argentina in 1982-1983 is already serving life sentences for multiple human rights violations during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. People sit in federal court for the sentencing of former military officers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 27, 2016. The court will deliver a sentence on a long-awaited human rights trial focused on Operation Condor, a secret conspiracy launched by six South American dictators in the 1970s in a combined effort to track down their enemies and eliminate them. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) In the landmark trial, 14 other former military officials received prison sentences of eight to 25 years for criminal association, kidnapping and torture. They include Uruguayan army colonel, Manuel Cordero Piacentini, who allegedly tortured prisoners inside Automotores Orletti, the Buenos Aires repair shop where many captured leftists were interrogated under orders from their home countries. Two of the accused were absolved. The sentences are seen as a milestone because they mark the first time a court has proved that the criminal conspiracy called Operation Condor was carried out by the U.S.-backed regimes in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. "Operation Condor affected my life, my family," Chilean Laura Elgueta told The Associated Press outside the court room. Her brother, Luis Elgueta, had taken refuge in Buenos Aires from Gen. Augusto Pinochet's forces, only to be forcibly disappeared in Buenos Aires in 1976 as part of Operation Condor. "This trial is very meaningful because it's the first time that a court is ruling against this sinister Condor plan," she said. Since in many cases the bodies of the victims have never been found, Argentine prosecutors argued that the crime of covering up their deaths continues today, and that statutory time limits don't apply. The victims also include Maria Claudia Irureta Goyena, the daughter-in-law of Argentine poet Juan Gelman, who was pregnant when she was kidnapped and held for months inside Automotores Orletti before an Argentine air force plane took her to Uruguay. She gave birth there, and then was disappeared. Decades passed before her daughter, Macarena Gelman, discovered her own true identity. A key piece of evidence in the case was a declassified FBI agent's cable, sent in 1976, that described in detail the conspiracy to share intelligence and eliminate leftists across South America. Operation Condor was launched in November 1975 by Chile's Pinochet who enlisted other dictators in South America. But the covert program went much further: the U.S. government later determined that Chilean agents involved in Condor killed the country's former ambassador Orlando Letelier and his U.S. aide Ronni Moffitt in Washington, D.C., in September 1976. Operation Condor's agents also tracked other exiles across Europe in efforts to eliminate them. "This is a great ruling, with stiff sentences," Luz Zaldua, a lawyer representing families of the victims said as she left the court house. "It has established that Condor was a supranational criminal association, and that's important not just for our country but for all countries that have been part of this operation." __ Associated Press video journalist Paul Byrne and AP photographer Natacha Pisarenko contributed to this report. Nora de Cortinas, president of the Argentine group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, talks to journalists as she waits to enter federal court to hear the sentence for former military officers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 27, 2016. A court in Argentina will deliver the sentence on a long-awaited human rights trial focused on Operation Condor, a secret operation launched by six South American dictators in the 1970's that was a coordinated effort to track down their enemies and eliminate them. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Former intelligence officer Miguel Angel Furci sits in federal court for his sentencing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 27, 2016. The court is delivering sentences for multiple former military members Friday in a long-awaited human rights trial focused on Operation Condor, a secret conspiracy launched by six South American dictators in the 1970s in a combined effort to track down their enemies and eliminate them. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) People sit in federal court to hear the sentence for former military officers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 27, 2016. The court will deliver a sentence on a long-awaited human rights trial focused on Operation Condor, a secret conspiracy launched by six South American dictators in the 1970s in a combined effort to track down their enemies and eliminate them.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Nora de Cortinas, president of the Argentine group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, talks to journalists before entering federal court to hear the sentence for former military officers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 27, 2016. A court in Argentina will deliver the sentence on a long-awaited human rights trial focused on Operation Condor, a secret operation launched by six South American dictators in the 1970's that was a coordinated effort to track down their enemies and eliminate them. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Nora de Cortinas, president of the Argentine group Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, center, and a member of the same group Mirta Baravalle, right, enter federal court to hear the sentence for former military officers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, May 27, 2016. A court in Argentina will deliver the sentence on a long-awaited human rights trial focused on Operation Condor, a secret operation launched by six South American dictators in the 1970's that was a coordinated effort to track down their enemies and eliminate them. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn join forces in battle against Brexit Former Labour leader Ed Miliband is publicly joining forces with his successor for the first time since Jeremy Corbyn took over the party as the pair go into battle against Brexit together. Despite talk at Westminster of tension between the two men, they are making a joint intervention to rally grass roots Labour supporters in the North of England to swing behind the Remain campaign. The pair are visiting Raventhorpe solar farm in north Lincolnshire to push the message that Brexit will damage the fight against climate change as EU membership amplifies Britain's voice at global negotiations, and provides funding to develop green technologies. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, right, and former Labour leader Ed Miliband Mr Corbyn said Brexit would threaten clean beaches and fresh air quality. "Climate change is one of the greatest fights of our generation, and at a time when the Government has scrapped funding for green projects, it is vital that we remain in the EU so we can keep accessing valuable funding streams to protect our environment. "Leaving the EU would mean the green spaces, clean beaches and fresh air we want to leave for our children could be at risk. It would risk investment in new green technologies and the jobs that accompany them, and would leave us open to the Tory agenda which has been so damaging to our environment. "Pollution and climate change don't respect national borders so we can't hope to deal with these issues if we withdraw into our shell. We must vote to Remain and continue to work with our European neighbours to stop climate change and protect our environment," Mr Corbyn said. Mr Miliband, who has kept a low profile since leading Labour to last year's disastrous general election result, said voters had a "moral" obligation to think of the environment. "The challenge of tackling climate change is a moral responsibility, an economic necessity and the single most important thing we can do for our children and our grandchildren and leaving the EU would rob us of the ability to overcome that challenge. "Membership of the EU has not only raised the UK's environmental standards but, especially as I know personally from my time as climate change secretary, enabled Britain to drive progress across all member states. "Every major climate change agreement has involved EU leadership. So when it comes to climate change Britain stands taller and is stronger inside the EU. That is why people who care about this generational challenge should vote to Remain," Mr Miliband said. Hundreds arrested by airport police for drink offences Hundreds of passengers have been arrested on suspicion of being drunk on a plane or at an airport in the last two years, figures reveal. At least 442 people were held between March 2014 and March 2016, police statistics obtained by the Press Association show. Cases include drunk passengers accused of attempting to open the doors of a plane, smashing a window and banging on the outside of the cockpit. Andrew Tosh, of Stirling Street, Dundee, sexually assaulted a female cabin crew member (Sussex Police / PA) Alleged incidents at airports include a man headbutting another person after being refused permission to fly, and a passenger at Luton Airport smashing a barrier and kicking out a door panel after he missed his flight. Shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood described the figures as "extremely concerning". She said: "Drunk passengers on flights can pose a real safety risk, and they can create an unpleasant or even intimidating environment for other passengers and air crew. "The new statistics suggest that more needs to be done to tackle the problem." Figures obtained following freedom of information requests show 77 people were arrested on suspicion of being drunk on an aircraft in 2014/15, followed by 73 in the subsequent 12 months. Passengers convicted of being drunk on an aircraft can face a fine or up to two years' imprisonment. For the police forces that gave information, a further 143 arrests were made relating to alleged drunkenness at airports in 2014/15, with 149 the year after. This included arrests for being drunk and disorderly, while a small number were held on suspicion of being drunk or under the influence of drugs or an "intoxicating substance". The true numbers will almost certainly be higher as the Metropolitan Police force - which covers the UK's busiest airport, Heathrow - did not provide figures. Sussex Police force - which handles incidents at Gatwick - recorded 128 arrests over the two years. The ages of those detained around the UK ranged from 18 to 65. The revelations come after a flurry of incidents in which flights were disrupted by alleged drunken behaviour. Six men on a stag party were arrested by German police in February after a mid-air brawl caused a Ryanair flight from Luton to Bratislava, Slovakia, to divert to Berlin. In June last year a passenger who had been so drunk he did not know what country he was in was jailed for nine months after forcing a plane to be diverted following a mid-flight bust-up. Andrew Tosh, 34, of Stirling Street, Dundee, sexually assaulted a female cabin crew member, swore and acted aggressively to other passengers on the Glasgow to Turkey flight. A spokesman for the British Air Transport Association (BATA), the organisation representing UK airlines, said disruptive passengers can have a "big impact". He added that this behaviour can involve "threats to passengers, crew and aircraft safety". Over the past few months the aviation industry has been working on how to tackle the issue, but no potential solutions have been announced. Aviation minister Robert Goodwill said: "Passengers who become disruptive on flights after drinking alcohol cause distress to other travellers, create knock-on delays to other flights, and in rare cases can even put flight safety at risk. "That is why we strongly support efforts to tackle the problem. Airports, airlines and the police are developing an industry-wide code of conduct and running information campaigns aimed at passengers." The Airport Operators Association (AOA) said that while disruptive behaviour is "unacceptable", it only occurs on "a very small minority of flights". A number of airports use poster and leaflet campaigns to outline the risks of "drink and disruptive group behaviour", while some "boisterous passengers" are issued with written warnings, the AOA added. Sussex Police are increasing patrols at Gatwick next month in a bid to tackle the problem. The Civil Aviation Authority said there is "no excuse for rude or aggressive conduct by passengers" and welcomed "criminal prosecutions where appropriate". We just got word that human rights activist Peter Tatchell, director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation has been detained in Qatar where he wa... Rio Ferdinand: Jose Mourinho is a winner and can thrive at Manchester United Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes any fans worried by the imminent arrival of Jose Mourinho as manager only need to look at the Portuguese's success elsewhere. Mourinho, who has won league titles with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, is expected to complete his protracted move to United on Friday with reports suggesting he will finalise a three-year contract to succeed Louis van Gaal. While the deal has not yet been made official, Ferdinand passed on his congratulations to Mourinho in a message on his Facebook page and is confident he can flourish at Old Trafford, especially after his acrimonious exit from Chelsea in December last year. Rio Ferdinand says Jose Mourinho is like a "wounded animal" following his departure from Chelsea last year Ferdinand wrote: "Congratulations to Jose on being announced manager of the biggest club in the world! "This is Jose Mourinho's most exciting & most challenging job yet. "One thing I can tell Manchester United fans is that they have got themselves a true winner in all aspects. His CV shows success! "After his recent unsuccessful time at Chelsea in the final year, I can assure you this winner is now a wounded animal which makes him such a mouthwatering appointment. Jose went from winning the League cup & Premier League to a season of disappointment at Chelsea and I am certain he will want to restore all of that very quickly." Ferdinand, who made 455 appearances in all competitions between 2002 and 2014 for United, also outlined what Mourinho should prioritise if he is to thrive. Briton missing after Thai boat capsize was celebrating first wedding anniversary The British man missing following a fatal speedboat accident in Thailand was celebrating his first wedding anniversary with his wife . Jason Parnell, 46, was visiting the country with his wife Puja when a huge wave capsized their boat off the coast of a paradise island. Divers are still searching for the missing tourist, but Mrs Parnell escaped the crash unharmed. The scene near Koh Samui in Thailand after a British woman died in a speedboat accident (Nalinee Siriked/Twitter/PA) In pictures shared on social media, the couple are seen enjoying beaches, meals and dances together in the days before the boat trip. One post from earlier this week read: "Happy 1st anniversary to my wonderful wife." At least three other people, including Briton Monica Cozma, 28, were killed when the boat went below the waves. Rough waters and strong winds contributed to the Angthong Discovery Tour vessel being overturned with 32 tourists and four crew members on board near the popular destination of Koh Samui. A German man and a woman from Hong Kong were also among the dead, Koh Samui authorities said. Travel agent Amm Pontfuk, who has worked with Angthong Discovery for a number of years, said the boat had not left shore in the days preceding the accident due to rough conditions. She told the Press Association: "This company is the number one for my travel agency, I have sent the manager customers for years, I have known him a long time. "He is very concerned and professional, normally in bad weather he doesn't go out - he did not go out for three days already - and yesterday he thought the weather was OK and that was why he went out. "The wind blew very, very strong and it made the boat go under the waves and flip." When the vessel capsized, some passengers were thrown overboard while others became trapped beneath the boat, according to a port official. At least one person had to be pulled from the hull after rescuers used a small axe to smash through it, and another woman was pictured lying on a stretcher on nearby rocks. The boat's captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, said he had asked all tourists to wear a life vest but that some had taken them off during the journey. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We are supporting the family of a British woman who has sadly died following a boat accident near Koh Samui, Thailand. "We are also supporting the family of a British man who is missing following the same incident. We remain in contact with local authorities in Thailand for further information." It is believed there were other British people on board the boat but they are understood to have been released from hospital following treatment for injuries. Four people remained in hospital on Friday - one with a broken shoulder and another with a skull fracture. The other two suffered from a lack of oxygen and were being monitored for lung infections. Koh Samui is among the most popular Thai island destinations for backpackers and luxury holidaymakers alike, and is known for its beautiful beaches, coconut plantations and waterfalls. Andy Murray delighted to make speedy progress past Ivo Karlovic Andy Murray hopes he has repaired some of the damage from his first two matches at the French Open after taking a much more direct route into the fourth round. Having expended considerable physical, emotional and mental energy battling from behind to beat Radek Stepanek and Mathias Bourgue in five sets, Murray knew he could not afford another epic. The Scot was happy to be facing 6ft 11in Ivo Karlovic because it meant short rallies, and that was exactly how it panned out. Of the 174 points they played, only 22 comprised more than four shots. Andy Murray, pictured, eased into the fourth round of the French Open with victory over Ivo Karlovic (AP) Murray made the perfect start, winning the first five games, and needed only an hour and 56 minutes to complete a 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7/3) victory. The world number two said: "Obviously any match you play, the quicker you get it done, the better, especially in these events with best of five when it can go long. "So it was nice to win quickly today. I spoke about that the other day, if it was possible to get this one done quickly, it gives me a chance to recover from the first few days, which is good. "I have had good success against him in the past, and I have always enjoyed playing against serve and volleyers, normally. "Obviously it's a bit easier. I didn't know my opponent in the second round, (I've) never really seen him play a match, which can make things a bit tricky. But today was different." The match was also good practice for his next clash, where he will face 6ft 10in John Isner, who came from two sets to one down to defeat Teymuraz Gabashvili in five. Having made it seven wins from seven against Karlovic, Murray will look to notch a sixth straight win against Isner. Murray used his day off on Thursday to recover physically and spend time with wife Kim and baby daughter Sophia and appears to be in good shape. He said: "I felt okay today actually. Yesterday I was a bit tired. I had a very light practice yesterday and just tried to keep my feet up and recover as best as possible, tried to get as much sleep as I could, spend a lot of time with the physio, and then just resting to try to give myself the best chance to feel good today." Murray flew out of the blocks, winning the first three points on Karlovic's serve and then breaking with a lob over the towering Croatian, who had hoped to become the oldest man since Nicola Pietrangeli in 1972 to reach the fourth round here. Karlovic managed to avoid losing a love set for only the fifth time in his career and thereafter it was much tighter. Murray broke again at the start of the second set, his third break in four Karlovic service games, and that was enough to give him a two-set lead. There were no breaks in the third but Murray made the perfect start to the tie-break with a dinked backhand pass and never looked in trouble. The statistics made happy reading for the 29-year-old, who did not face a break point, made 75 per cent of his first serves, hit 34 winners and made only four unforced errors. Karlovic had hit 72 aces in his first two matches, but managed just 14 here and left the court knowing he had been thoroughly outplayed. The most uncomfortable part of Murray's afternoon came when interviewer Fabrice Santoro persuaded him to say in French what he would be ordering for dinner. The answer: filet du boeuf avec maison frites et salade verte (steak and chips with a green salad). Murray, meanwhile, expressed surprise but not total shock following Rafael Nadal's withdrawal because of a wrist injury. The Scot, who could not have met Nadal until the final, told ITV4: " I'm surprised but I knew he'd been struggling with his wrist. "I practised with him before the tournament and his wrist was strapped heavily. He was grimacing sometimes. I didn't know it was bad enough for him to pull out of the event. "It certainly opens up his part of the draw. It's a big opportunity for the guys in that section." Tom Hiddleston hits right note at 500 Words creative writing final Tom Hiddleston performed a song from his first acting role as Toad Of Toad Hall as he was joined by the Duchess of Cornwall to honour winners of a children's creative writing competition. He treated the finalists of Radio 2's 500 Words short story competition to a brief rendition of "Beep beep crackle bang" on stage at Shakespeare's Globe after telling host Chris Evans that Wind In The Willows was the first school play he was in. After Evans asked for a performance, the star of The Night Manager said: "I walked right into that one" before launching into: "Crackle bang, crackle bang, like a a vintage car, hey!" The Duchess of Cornwall with Sophie Turner, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans and Helen George as she joined the judging panel for the 500 Words competition Hiddleston, who is widely touted to be in the running to take over the role of James Bond from Daniel Craig, was tight-lipped when Evans asked him: "What have you been reading? Anything by Ian Fleming? Just checking." He was joined by stars including Julie Walters, Andy Serkis and Nick Jonas to read out the winning stories in the competition, which were announced during Evans' Radio 2 breakfast show broadcast live from the theatre. The competition asked children aged 13 and under to compose an original work of fiction under the word limit to promote literacy and encourage them to explore their creativity. Hiddleston read out the story that won the silver prize in the 10 to 13 years category, The Sands Of Time by Clara Cowan, 10, from Glasgow, while Serkis read out the silver winner in the five to nine years category, The Grannies Who Flew To The Moon by Katie Denyer, nine, from Surrey. Walters read out the gold medal winning story from the five to nines, Poor Pig's Revenge by Evie Fowler, nine, from Kent and Jonas read e-COURTROOM.com by Ned Marshall from mid Wales, who won in the 10 to 13 category. The bronze winners were The Great Cookie Quest by Ben Bailey, 10, from Gloucestershire and The Smoking Pipe by Fergus Gathorne-Hardy, eight, from Suffolk. The stories were read by Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis and Game Of Thrones star Raleigh Ritchie respectively. Walking out on stage to present the gold medal winners with their prizes, honorary judge the Duchess of Cornwall said: "I don't think I've ever been on this stage, I've watched from the boxes but it's quite frightening to be up here. I think I would rather be down there." Dressed in a cream dress by Artigiano, she added: "I've never seen such brilliant stories. My grandchildren were going to write a story but I saw some of them and they didn't quite match up. Perhaps next year they will put in a better one." The senior royal, who rarely speaks in front of cameras, said there was no better place to celebrate creative writing than at the Globe in Shakespeare's 400th anniversary year. Camilla, transformed into an animated character to help launch the competition in January, told the children: "I just want to reassure you that this is the real me here this morning. "I'm afraid I'm a little bit older than my cartoon character." She added: "Even though he was a genius, everyone here has one thing in common with Shakespeare - we all love words. "When I was thinking about what to say to you today, and when you were writing your stories, we all chose our words really carefully. We wanted to find just the right one. For all of us, words are building blocks and Lego bricks, they can be the colour and size that we want." After the ceremony, Walters said she thought her story had the best line, saying: "It was such a brilliant line, I'm not sure I was worthy of it. It was heaven. " She added: "This competition is really brilliant, it is so important to encourage imagination." She also revealed her unexpected love of emojis, saying she fills her phone memory with new symbols but prefers the traditional heart and knife and fork above all others. Evans, who introduced musical guests All Saints, One Republic and Foxes for live sets during the radio show, said he was overwhelmed by the magic of the morning. The broadcaster, who will present the new series of Top Gear when it returns to BBC2, ended the breakfast programme saying: "Don't forget there is a car show starting on Sunday," but speaking afterwards, he said he isn't nervous. "It's all done, there is nothing to be nervous about, it's all in the can. "Normally my shows are live so if I had a TFI Friday to do I would be but I'm not thinking about it and, honestly, this is the perfect antidote anyway because it just reboots your system. "We will try our best and you can't do any more than that. The only reason you ever worry is if you think in the back of your head you didn't give it your all. "I could not have done more and if it's not enough then I'm not the man. If it is, it is." The Duchess of Cornwall with Sofia Zambuto, nine, at the 500 Words final last year Actors Julie Walters and Tom Hiddleston embrace during the final of Radio 2's 500 Words creative writing competition Actor Andy Serkis speaks at the live broadcast of the final of BBC Radio 2's 500 Words creative writing competition Earth-like planet 1,200 light years away 'could be habitable' An Earth-like planet orbiting a star 1,200 light years away could have conditions suitable for life, say scientists. Kepler 62f is about 40% larger than the Earth and may possess surface oceans. It is the outermost of five planets circling a star that is smaller and cooler than the sun discovered by the American space agency Nasa's Kepler space telescope in 2013. An artist's impression of the planet Kepler 62f, which scientists believe could have conditions suitable for life (NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle/PA Wire) New computer simulations of possible kinds of atmosphere that might be found on Kepler 62f suggest it could sustain life. Lead scientist Dr Aomawa Shields, from the University of California at Los Angeles, said: "We found there are multiple atmospheric compositions that allow it to be warm enough to have surface liquid water. This makes it a strong candidate for a habitable planet." Because of Kepler 62f's distance from its host star, it would need the greenhouse effect of a thick carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere to keep its water from freezing, the research showed. However certain types of orbit could allow the planet's surface temperature to rise above freezing at certain times of the year - even with much lower levels of carbon dioxide, closer to those found on Earth. "This might help melt ice sheets formed at other times in the planet's orbit," said Dr Shields. More than 2,300 exoplanets outside the solar system have been identified, and a few thousand others are as-yet unconfirmed planetary candidates. Rafael Nadal confident of making Wimbledon despite French Open withdrawal Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal was close to tears as he was forced out of the French Open with a wrist injury. It is a huge blow to the Spaniard personally and also to the tournament, which lost Roger Federer to a back problem three days before the start. This is only the second grand slam since Nadal's emergence more than a decade ago when neither he nor Federer will be in the second week. Rafael Nadal is out of the French Open because of a wrist injury (AP) The only other occasion, at Wimbledon in 2013, came because of shock defeats. This is more troubling and will only increase speculation about how long tennis' leading men can continue at the top of the game. The news came as a major shock because Nadal had looked in prime form in his first two matches, losing just nine games against Sam Groth and Facundo Bagnis. But the Spaniard, who was clearly devastated, announced at a hastily-arranged press conference that an injury he first felt in Madrid earlier this month had worsened to such an extent that he would not be able to continue. He said: "I arrived here with a little bit of pain but it was something I was able to manage, but every day it was a little bit worse. We spent a lot of hours here working so hard to try to play. "Yesterday I played with an injection, with anaesthetic, and I could play but yesterday night I started to feel more and more pain and this morning I felt I couldn't move the wrist. "I had an MRI (scan) and the results are not positive. It's not broken but if I keep playing it's going to be broken the next couple of days. "If it was not Roland Garros I would probably not take risks on playing the first two days, but it is the most important event of the year for me so we tried our best. "When I am coming to Roland Garros, I am coming thinking about winning the tournament. To win the tournament, I need five more matches, and the doctor says that's 100 per cent impossible." Nadal said the problem was to do with the tendon sheath in his left wrist. He has been advised it should clear up within two to four weeks, although wrist injuries are notoriously slow to heal and he indicated three months would be a worst-case scenario. That would rule him out of Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics, where he is due to be Spain's flag-bearer having not being able to fulfil the role in London four years ago because of injury. But Nadal remains optimistic he will be at Wimbledon, saying : "We're going to work hard to be ready for Wimbledon. I need a couple of weeks (with the wrist) immobilised. Then we're going to do the treatment and we hope that works well. "We expect to recover quick and to be ready for Wimbledon." Nadal has had a catalogue of serious injury problems during his career, with his knees causing the most trouble. His last major period of absence came in 2014, when he missed three months, including the US Open, because of right wrist problems. He struggled throughout 2015 to recover his best form, failing to win a slam title for the first time since 2004, and this is a particularly cruel blow because it looked like he was finally close to hitting his peak again. Nadal said: "Today is one of the toughest press conferences in my career. "I worked so hard to recover my level, and I think I was there. I played the last month and a half at a very high level competing against everybody, and I felt myself ready for this tournament. "But it happens what's happened. The only thing that I can say is it's bad luck and that's part of life. "Now is a tough moment, but it is not the end. I feel myself with the right motivation and the right energy to be back in Roland Garros the next couple of years, and I really hope to keep having my chances in the future." This is Nadal's earliest departure from the French Open, with the 29-year-old's only two defeats at Roland Garros coming in the fourth round in 2009 and the quarter-finals last year. Fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who Nadal had been due to face, receives a walkover into the fourth round, where he will play either Dominic Thiem or Alexander Zverev. Nadal, meanwhile, was the major obstacle to Novak Djokovic reaching another final as he chases the one slam title still to elude him. Italian mayor breaks with PM's party over lack of help for migrants ROME, May 26 (Reuters) - A mayor and other officials in a Riviera town have suspended their membership of Italy's ruling party in protest at what they view as government neglect of scores of migrants living rough there. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has called repeatedly for more help from the European Union to process the migrants who arrive daily from North Africa by boat. Almost 38,000 have reached Italy so far this year, according to the interior ministry. Meanwhile councillors from Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) in Ventimiglia, a stone's throw from France, are frustrated at the lack of a regional or national response to requests for help with some 200 migrants who are camped out under a bridge. "These people are living like animals and we cannot accept that," said local PD head Domenico Casile, adding he along with Mayor Enrico Ioculano and some other councillors had suspended their party membership. "The PD is in government with lots of ministers... and these people have kept quiet." Casile said a migrant identification centre at Ventimiglia, whose rocky shore also became the site of a temporary migrant camp last year, had been closed, but the problem was not solved. The risky route from Libya to Italy is becoming the main entry point for migrants to Europe after a deal between the EU and Turkey stemmed arrivals in Greece. Good weather has tempted thousands to make the crossing this week, and two shipwrecks have killed at least five people. Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War Two has prompted clashes between governments over border control, led to the build-up of thousands of people in squalid camps and called into question the EU's concept of passport-free travel. Guinea Bissau president names Baciro Dja as prime minister DAKAR, May 26 (Reuters) - Guinea Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz named Baciro Dja as prime minister late on Thursday, according to a presidential decree, sparking protests from political opponents outside the presidential palace. Cyber firms say Bangladesh hackers have attacked other Asian banks By Dustin Volz and Jeremy Wagstaff WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE, May 27 (Reuters) - Hackers who stole $81 million from Bangladesh's central bank have been linked to an attack on a bank in the Philippines, in addition to the 2014 hack on Sony Pictures, cybersecurity company Symantec Corp said in a blog post. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has blamed North Korea for the attack on Sony's Hollywood studio. A senior executive at Mandiant, the cybersecurity company investigating the Bank Bangladesh heist, also told Reuters the hackers had recently penetrated banks in Southeast Asia. In the blog post published on Thursday, Symantec did not name the Philippines bank or say whether any money was stolen, but said the attacks could be traced back to October last year. It did not identify the hackers. The Philippines central bank's deputy governor, Nestor Espenilla, told Reuters that no bank in the country had lost money to hackers, although he did not rule out the possibility of cyber attacks. "We are checking if there are similar attacks on Philippine banks," Espenilla said. "However, no reported losses so far." He added: "It is one thing to be attacked. It is another to lose money." Marshall Heilman, vice president for Mandiant, a part of U.S.-based FireEye, said it was not known whether any money was lost in the other attacks he described or whether the hackers had been successfully blocked. "There is a group operating in Southeast Asia that definitely understands the bank industry and is at more than one location," he said. Heilman declined to identify the country or countries, or the institutions attacked. He said it was the same group as the one involved in the Bank Bangladesh theft and that the attacks were recent, but declined to be more specific. Central banks elsewhere in Southeast Asia - Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and East Timor - have declined comment or denied knowledge of any other breaches. There have been at least four known cyber attacks against a bank involving fraudulent messages on the SWIFT payments network, one dating back to 2013. SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, urged banks this week to bolster their security, saying it was aware of multiple attacks. Banks around the world use secure SWIFT messages for issuing payment instructions to each other. "HARD CONNECTION" SWIFT said earlier this week that February's Bangladesh Bank hack was a "watershed event for the banking industry" and that it was "not an isolated incident." Spokeswoman Natasha de Teran said on Thursday that SWIFT was "actively looking into other possible instances of such fraud," but would not comment on individual entities. Symantec said it had identified three pieces of malware that were used in limited targeted attacks against financial institutions in Southeast Asia. (http://symc.ly/1sRNHc7) One of the malicious programs has been previously associated with a hacking group known as Lazarus, which has been linked to the devastating attack on Sony's Hollywood studio in 2014. "There is a pretty hard connection now to the Sony attacks and the actor behind them" and the Bangladesh heist, Eric Chien, technical director at Symantec, said in an interview. Another cybersecurity firm, BAE Systems, said this month that the distinctive computer code used to erase the tracks of hackers in the Bangladesh Bank heist was similar to code used to attack Sony. Chien said that if North Korea was responsible for the hacks on banks via the SWIFT messaging network it would represent the first known episode of a nation-state stealing money in a cyber attack. Policymakers, regulators and financial institutions around the world are stepping up scrutiny of the cyber security of the SWIFT payments system after hackers used it to make fraudulent transfers totaling $81 million out of Bank Bangladesh's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Symantec and other researchers have also linked the hack to a failed attempt to use fraudulent SWIFT messages to steal from a commercial bank in Vietnam. In addition, Reuters reported last week that Ecuador's Banco del Austro had more than $12 million stolen from a Wells Fargo account due to fraudulent transfers over the SWIFT network. Vietnam restricted access to Facebook during Obama visit - activists By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 (Reuters) - The Vietnamese government restricted access to Facebook Inc inside Vietnam for several days this week as part of a broader crackdown on human rights and political dissidents during a visit by President Barack Obama, two activist organizations said on Thursday. Officials of Access Now, a digital rights organization, and Viet Tan, a Vietnamese pro-democracy group, said the social media site was restricted and at times blocked inside Vietnam from Sunday to Wednesday, citing reports from people inside the country on Twitter and to Access Now's digital security help service. The move coincides with a trend toward restrictions on Facebook in countries including China, Uganda and Turkey during politically sensitive times as the 1.6 billion-person social network grows more powerful. Obama's three-day visit to Vietnam ended on Wednesday. Obama largely focused on normalizing relations with Vietnam. But he also promoted human rights and chided Vietnam about restrictions on political freedoms after critics of its communist-run government were prevented from meeting him. The Facebook shutdown was part of a stepped-up campaign by the Vietnamese government to limit use of the social network for political protests, activists said in phone interviews. Facebook was blocked several times earlier this month as street protests erupted over an environmental disaster that resulted in mass fish deaths, the two groups said. The social media site was also unavailable inside Vietnam ahead of parliamentary elections on Sunday as pro-democracy activists called for a boycott, members of the two groups said. Facebook declined to comment. Vietnamese government officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted via a government website. Uganda's government blocked Facebook and Twitter Inc in February during presidential elections. In March, after a deadly bombing in Turkey, an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter. And during the 2011 Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, social networks were repeatedly shut down. Facebook is often shut down in Vietnam during politically sensitive times, Angelina Huynh, advocacy director for Viet Tan, which has members around the world, including in Vietnam, said in a phone interview. "People were using Facebook to call for protests. They did not want people to take to the streets," Huynh said. Galen Glen Winery The outside covered patio at Galen Glen Winery in Andreas, Schuylkill County. One of the top producers of premium wine in the state, this would be a good weekend to head over to taste the wine and sample any of its scheduled events: Food Truck Friday, unveiling of the summer wine slushies, and scheduled tours of the vineyard and wine cellar. Check the winery's website of Facebook page for more. (Paul Vigna / pvigna@pennlive.com) With the arrival of the Memorial Day weekend, wine might be one of the items on your to-buy list. So we decided to check in with Kirt Heintzelman, wine specialist at the Lemoyne store in the West Shore Plaza, for his recommendations on some of his best buys. These are all wines you can find at his store, albeit most if not all should be available at many of the other PLCB shops. Heintzelman's comments are in parentheses. 49157 Cantine Valpane Barbera Del Monferrato Rosso Pietro 2014 (Barbera with a little Freisa blended in, which gives it a hint of strawberry to it... perfect summer red) 750 ML 2014 $11.99 Luxury Wine RED (IMPORTED) - ITALIAN 78156 Carini Captain Fantasy Red NV Chairman's Selection (juicy and jammy wine that has notes of blueberry cream... perfect for chargrilled foods) 750 ML $19.99 Luxury Chairman's Selection Wine RED TABLE WINE - OTHER (CA) 78124 Carol Shelton Jacqueline Cuvee 2014 Chairman's Selection (juicy and jammy wine with black raspberry and black peppercorn notes... perfect for chargrilled foods) 750 ML 2014 $18.99 Luxury Chairman's Selection Wine RED TABLE WINE - OTHER (CA) 74057 Charles and Charles Rose Washington 2015 (rose made from mostly Syrah from WA state...with notes of cherry, blood orange and raspberry) 750 ML 2015 $11.99 Luxury Wine BLUSH/ROSE/PINK - OTHER (US) 49853 Chateau D'Esclans Whispering Angel 2015 (Provence rose with that delicate pink hue that everyone wants from Provence... this is the one that everyone asks for by name... very crisp and clean and delicious) 750 ML 2015 $20.99 Luxury Wine ROSE (IMPORTED) - FRENCH 43887 DFJ Vinhos Portada Winemaker's Selection Tinto 2011 (a veritable kitchen sink of Portuguese AND French grapes that actually works... it's a steal at only $9.99) 750 ML 2011 $9.99 Luxury Wine RED (IMPORTED) - PORTUGUESE 73026 Les Rocailles Apremont 2015 (the crispest, freshest, refreshing white on the planet... I might be biased, though... but it is the refreshing (est) with huge acidity and minerality... serve it ice cold on a hot summer day... you'll be back for to buy more) 750 ML 2015 $12.99 Luxury Wine 33825 Shannon Ridge High Elevation Petite Sirah 2013 Chairman's Selection (delicious and inexpensive... and everyone loves Shannon Ridge wines for CA's Lake County) 750 ML 2013 $ 9.99 Luxury Chairman's Selection Wine PETITE SIRAH (CA) Lemoyne, West Shore Shopping Center 4 to 6 p.m. Friday and noon to 2 p.m. Saturday Wines of California in honor of Memorial Day, per retail wine specialists Kirt Heintzelman and Rob Eckard Before I get into the new arrivals, let me go over what Rob and I are tasting this weekend. Since Memorial Day is on Monday, we decided to have our tasting with completely domestic wines ... which is always a joy. We tend to talk about the wines of France and Italy and Spain a lot, but we make some pretty darn good juice in the good ole US of A. And we'll be tasting three from three different regions of California (from the south and going north ... Paso Robles, Napa and Mendocino) and one from Washington's Columbia Valley. It should be a fun and delicious tasting for everyone. Eberle Winery 2014 Viognier 'Mill Road Vineyard' from Paso Robles ($23.99). The winemaker says... "Full bodied yet elegant, our Viognier has a classic floral bouquet of citrus blossoms, litchi, honeysuckle and apricot with mouthwatering flavors of melon, ripe pears, peaches, almonds and hints of candied ginger spice culminating in a long, dry finish. Lush and exceptional, our Viognier pairs exquisitely well with a wide range of dishes from spicy Thai cuisine to grilled scallops." Gold Medal: 2015 Los Angeles International Wine Competition Charles and Charles 2015 Rose from Columbia Valley ($11.99), which is a blend of Syrah (61%) Mourvedre (12%), Grenache (10%), Cabernet Sauvignon (7%), Cinsault (7%), and Counoise (3%). Charles Smith, owner/winemaker, says... "I know I say it each year but it's really true that this is the most complete Rose we've made to date, period. The aromatic lift, balance of fruit, minerality and herbal complexity has never been so in tune. With the Rose, we strive for a long hang time to develop flavor, but with low alcohol and ripeness. We invite the tension of a touch of herbal and under ripe notes, a profile we don't at all want for the red wine blend. Aromas of cherry, wild raspberry, blood orange, rhubarb, salt and Herbs de Provence carry over to the palate, where you also pick up some nice minerality. There is a broad palate that leads nicely into a bright acidity that builds as it refreshes. The color is a pale yet vibrant fuchsia pink." The winery states ... "Charles & Charles is a collaboration founded in 2008 between Food & Wine Magazine 2009 Winemaker of the year, Charles Smith (K Vintners, Charles Smith Wines) and Charles Bieler (Three Thieves, BIELER Pere et Fils, Gotham Project)." Edmeades 2012 Zinfandel 'Gianoli Vineyard' from Mendocino Ridge ($34.99). The winemaker says... "Edmeades Gianoli Vineyard Zinfandel expresses intense notes of blackberries, forest floor, cracked black pepper, and cherry liquor. Flavors of ripe cherries, black fruits, extra dark chocolate, and bay leaf blend together on the palate. The finish is long with lingering notes of tobacco leaf, pepper, and spice." This has a rating of 89 points from Wine Spectator (June) with this review... "A burst of jammy huckleberry fruit is at the core of this lively Zin, which offers notes of plum, smoked pepper and grilled rosemary. Drink now through 2021. Only 250 cases made." Chairman's Selection(r) Lang and Reed Wine Company 2012 Cabernet Franc 'Two-Fourteen' from Napa Valley ($29.99). Quoted at $48 in The Wine Advocate (Oct 2014) with a rating of 89 points with this review... "The 2012 Cabernet Franc Two-Fourteen is the clone, which is of Loire Valley origin. A real juicy, crunchy style of wine with lots of color, lots of fruit (berries, cherries and pomegranate), the wine is medium-bodied, appealing, soft and certainly and ideal bistro style of red to drink boisterously with a plate of charcuterie. Not the most complex wine, but it indeed does have a certain Loire Valley affinity in its aromatics and flavor profile. Drink it over the next 5-6 years." And the same 89 point rating from Wine Enthusiast (June 2015) with this review... "There's welcome austerity to this wine, which expresses the temperamental variety with class and composure. Herb, sage and cedar wrap themselves around a leathery mid-section, carried through by sharply etched acidity and a peppery finish. York store, 2547 York Marketplace 4 to 6 p.m. Friday and 2 to 4 Saturday Mix of wines, per wine specialist Patti Meckley Bollicino Spumante Extra Dry NV, $10.99. A lovely sparkler with beautiful small bubbles and a warm bread mouthfeel. Perfect for upcoming graduations, picnics and weddings! 2013 Bigi Orvieto Secco, Umbria, $11.99. The signature wine of Orvieto, this wine offers a floral bouquet of hawthorn blossom with hints of musk and almond. Dry and full bodied on the palate with an aftertaste of white peaches and bitter almonds. The wine spends 3 months in stainless steel tanks. 2012 Bava Mainera Barbera, Piemonte, $12.99. 90% barbera and 10% nebbiolo from the vineyards at the summit of the hills of Rocche at Agliano. A handsome intense ruby red color rich with shades of amethyst, the aroma is pleasantly fruity and intense. The taste is dry with harmonious strength and good aftertaste. 2012 Vino Dei Fratelli Primitivo, Puglia, $14.99. A full bouquet of ripe berries and fruit make their presence known on the nose and palate. This wine is soft and elegant with a dry, pleasantly tannic and well balanced finish. The violet reflection of this ruby red wine is carried by more aromas of ripe, jammy blackberries and plums. Lancaster store, 558 Centerville Road 4 to 6 p.m. Friday Red blends, per wine specialist David Speakman Orin Swift Locations CA3 Red Blend California Non Vintage. "Eureka...I have found it!" is the state motto of California and apropos for our second release of Locations-CA. Inspired by its diverse growing regions, an exhaustive search was initiated to create a wine as dynamic as the state itself. A blend of Tempranillo, Barbera, Petit Sirah, Syrah, and Grenache. Select blocks from vineyards spanning Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and the Sierra Foothills were sourced to create a proportioned and innovative blend akin to our international projects. The wine has a beautiful hue of dark purple with a crimson band that lines the top of the glass. Aromas of dried cherry and savory plum melt together in an inviting blend of ripe stone fruit. Soft at first the gentle entry leads to a graceful mid-pallet with generous layers of ripe, candied watermelon and black currant. A bright band of acidity wraps around all of these flavors and deftly leads into a finish that drips with fullness and length." - winery notes 2012 Guardian Chalk Line. Stand by for a burst of ripe black cherry, summertime blackberry and ripe plum on the nose. The first sip will fill your mouth with intensely concentrated dark fruit flavors. This warm vintage created elegant full-bodied wines. As always, Chalk Line is our one wine that showcases all our award wining vineyards together. -not rated yet. Blend: 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 20% Syrah, 8% Cab Fanc, 3% Petit Verdot 2012 Bogle Phantom Blended Red Napa Valley. A spectre of rubies sparkles in the glass, awaiting with its first impression. Bright red cherry fruit and black pepper tempt you to take that sip, with hints of brawny juniper, rich blackberry and briary boysenberry in the background. Succulent in mouthfeel, the wine showcases its versatile grape varietals: Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Mourvedre. Aged for over 24 months in 1 and 2 year old American oak, tones of spicy vanilla and toasted coconut moderate the firm tannins and create a focused and intense finish. Enjoy this passionate and commanding red wine, yet another vintage impossible to ignore. Blend: Petite Sirah 46% - Zinfandel 40% Cabernet Sauvignon 11% - Mourvedre 3% 2013 Sparkman Cellars Kindred Red Blend Columbia Valley, Washington. In the Warehouse District of Woodinville, Washington, Chris & Kelly Sparkman have pursued their family's vision of fusing art, science, agriculture, and philosophy into handcrafted, award-winning wines. The pair sources from some of Washington's foremost vineyards - the majority of which are on Red Mountain - including Klipsun, Ciel du Cheval, Kiona, Hedges, and Red Haven. They also source from top sites such as Stillwater Creek, Boushey, and DuBrul, among others. Sparkman has focused largely on Bordeaux-style blends and Syrah, although more recently they have been experimenting with other varietals as well. Chris Sparkman spent two decades as sommelier and wine buyer in some of the U.S.'s best restaurants (Commander's Palace in New Orleans, Michael's in LA, Todd English's Olives in DC and Mackay Restaurants in Seattle) and currently serves as Chairman of the Washington State Wine Commission. Kelly Sparkman has a background in wildlife biology and veterinary medicine. 'Kindred' is a blend of 42% Malbec; 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 23% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot. It is packed with black fruits, and a supple texture. This Washington wines delivers amazing value for the quality in the bottle. Harrisburg store, 5070 Jonestown Road 4 to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday Mix of wines, per wine specialist Paul Robertson 2014 Cora Pinot Grigio 2014, $9.99. Cora Pinot Grigio is gently pressed then fermented for two weeks at cool temperatures (15deg- 16deg C) in stainless steel tanks. The wine is then bottled in screw-cap bottles in order to maintain its fresh, bright flavors. Clean and crisp, with hints of citrus and floral notes. 2013 Di Majo Norante Sangiovese Terre degli Osci IGT, $9.99. 90 Points The Wine Advocate - "Di Majo Norante does a great job with its 2013 Sangiovese (an IGT Terre degli Osci wine). This expression shows a great sense of balance and harmony with red fruit energy that emerges from the glass. Cherry, dried blackberry and currants are part of the aromatic equation. So are softer aromas of spice, leather and tobacco. That crisp Sangiovese acidity comes through nicely and the wine ends with firm tannins and an elegantly streamlined mouthfeel." 2012 Lang and Reed Cabernet Franc Two Fourteen Napa, Chairman's Selection, $29.99. 89 Points Wine Advocate -"The 2012 Cabernet Franc Two-Fourteen is the clone, which is of Loire Valley origin. A real juicy, crunchy style of wine with lots of color, lots of fruit (berries, cherries and pomegranate), the wine is medium-bodied, appealing, soft and certainly and ideal bistro style of red to drink boisterously with a plate of charcuterie. Not the most complex wine, but it indeed does have a certain Loire Valley affinity in its aromatics and flavor profile. Drink it over the next 5-6 years." 2012 Seifried Estate Sweet Agnes Riesling Nelson New Zealand, $22.99. 90 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - The 2012 Sweet Agnes Riesling exudes intense aromas of lemon marmalade, lime cordial and jasmine with hints of musk and honeyed peaches. The palate is very, very sweet yet is lifted with racy acidity that reveals lots of rich, silky layers of citrus flavors and carries through a long finish. It is delicious now but shows the potential to develop over 4-6 years. Guinea Bissau president names Baciro Dja as prime minister BISSAU, May 26 (Reuters) - Guinea Bissau President Jose Mario Vaz named Baciro Dja as prime minister late on Thursday, according to a presidential decree, sparking protests from political opponents who said the appointment was unconstitutional. Dja succeeds Carlos Correia, who was sacked earlier this month in a move that threatened to deepen political turmoil in the tiny West African nation. The ruling party said it would not support Dja, who held the same post briefly last year but was forced to resign when the supreme court ruled that the appointment was made without consulting all political parties and was therefore unconstitutional. "The PAIGC will not accept any illegal and unconstitutional decision," and "will respond with all means at its reach," the party said in a statement demanding that it choose its own prime minister. About 100 protesters descended on the presidential palace after the appointment, throwing stones at the palace and burning tyres. Police fired tear gas on the crowd and some protesters were injured, according to a Reuters witness and the PAIGC. The incident is the latest in a spiraling political crisis in Guinea Bissau, a former Portuguese colony that has not seen a democratically elected leader serve a full term since independence in 1974. Vietnam jails four asylum seekers returned by Australia HANOI, May 26 (Reuters) - A court in Vietnam on Thursday jailed four Vietnamese for terms ranging from two to 2-1/2 years each for "organising others to flee abroad illegally" after Australia sent back their group of asylum seekers, their lawyer said. The 46 asylum seekers were aboard a small vessel intercepted off Australia's remote west coast last year and were returned to Vietnam as a result of negotiations between the two countries. The defendants, two men and two women, were crossing the border illegally for the first time in July 2015 and their 42 Vietnamese companions were relatives and acquaintances, lawyer Vo An Don told Reuters. "The verdict is too heavy and lacks humanity," Don said by telephone, adding that the defendants were likely to appeal against it. "They are too poor and just want a better life. They didn't arrange it for money." Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. A spokesman for Australia's department of Immigration and Border Protection said it was confident the Vietnamese government was upholding its assurance not to prosecute any of the returned people for their illegal departure. "It is our understanding these prosecutions do not relate to the illegal departure of those returned, but relate only to a small number of individuals who authorities allege are responsible for organisation of the venture," the spokesman told Reuters on condition of anonymity, in line with departmental protocol. New York-based Human Rights Watch said the action violated defendants' fundamental right under international law to leave their own country, however. "Vietnam has blatantly broken its promise to the Australian government not to prosecute boat returnees," said the group's Australia director, Elaine Pearson. Some of the returnees said that on their arrival in Vietnam, a Vietnamese official assured the group in front of the Australian consulate's representatives that they would not be arrested or detained, according to lawyer Don and HRW. Vietnam has been rebuked for its poor record on human rights, with dissidents, bloggers and religious figures being jailed in recent years. Three missing journalists being held by Colombia's ELN rebels -gov't BOGOTA, May 26 (Reuters) - The Colombian Marxist rebel group, the National Liberation Army, is responsible for the disappearance of three journalists who disappeared in recent days near the border with Venezuela, Colombia's defense minister said on Thursday. The reporters vanished while working in El Tarra municipality in Norte de Santander, where the group, known as the ELN, earns money from illegal cocaine production in the lawless region about 400 km (250 miles) north of Bogota. The government did not classify the disappearances as kidnappings, but the group has held hundreds captive during more than 50 years of war. Spanish reporter Salud Hernandez, 59, who writes for Spain's El Mundo and local newspapers, was the first of the three reporters to go missing. She was last seen climbing aboard a motorcycle taxi on Saturday while working on a story about the illegal drug trade. Reporter Diego D'Pablos and cameraman Carlos Melo, from local television news channel Noticias RCN, went to the area to cover Hernandez's disappearance, before they themselves vanished on Tuesday. "Based on intelligence information gathered until up to a few hours ago, it's confirmed that the ELN is responsible for the disappearance of the three journalists," Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas told reporters. "By the government's judgment, a prudent time has passed for their return - from here on out what happens to them is the responsibility of the ELN," he said. Hernandez is known for opinion columns highly critical of Colombia's insurgents and of President Juan Manuel Santos' peace talks with the bigger guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Colombia and the ELN agreed in March to begin peace talks, but Santos has said no talks will begin until the group frees all hostages. Santos increased troop presence and sent the heads of the army and national police to the area to direct search operations for the journalists. He has said finding them was a top government priority. The 2,000-strong ELN has increased oil pipeline bombings in recent months and continued kidnappings in what many see as an attempt to pressure the government into beginning talks quickly. Inspired by Cuba's 1959 revolution, the ELN was founded by radical Catholic priests in 1964. Verizon turns to former Yahoo bankers for bid -sources By Greg Roumeliotis and Liana B. Baker NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 (Reuters) - Verizon Communications Inc is working on its bid for Yahoo Inc's core assets with an investment bank which was, as recently as last year, one of the U.S. internet company's top advisers, people familiar with the matter said. Verizon has added former Yahoo adviser Bank of America Corp to its roster of investment banks, as the U.S. telecommunications carrier seeks an edge over other bidders ahead of a June 6 second-round bid deadline in the auction for the core assets, the people said this week. The sources asked not to be identified because details of the auction process are confidential. Verizon, Yahoo and Bank of America declined to comment. Bank of America has intimate knowledge of Yahoo. The bank was listed as its lead adviser last year on a plan to spin off its 15 percent stake in China's e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, whose value is equivalent to 84 percent of Yahoo's $35 billion market capitalization. That plan was abandoned in December on concerns that the spin-off could result in a tax bill that would have potentially exceeded $10 billion. Bank of America can also help provide financing for Verizon's offer. The three other investment banks working on the bid - Guggenheim Partners LLC, LionTree LLC and Allen & Company - are boutiques with limited or no balance sheet for deal financing. While Verizon is prepared to buy all the core assets, the New York-based company is primarily interested in Yahoo's advertising technology tools, according to one of the sources. It is also examining how the other assets up for sale, such as search, mail and messenger, could be combined with the corresponding businesses of AOL, which it acquired last year for $4.4 billion, the source said. Given its synergies with AOL, analysts see Verizon as the most likely candidate to prevail in the auction for Yahoo's web business, which has garnered interest from a host of private equity firms and other bidders such as a Warren Buffett-backed consortium led by Quicken Loans Inc founder Dan Gilbert. While valuation estimates for Yahoo's core assets vary, sources have suggested that first-round bids for the assets ranged from $4 billion to $8 billion. Beyond AOL, Verizon has taken other steps to advance its advertising-backed internet business, including taking over Microsoft Corp's advertising technology unit and buying a company called Millennial Media. As ties deepen, elite U.S., Vietnam forces eye possible opening By Phil Stewart TAMPA, Fla., May 26 (Reuters) - Special operations forces from the United States and Vietnam are signaling a readiness to start forging ties should their governments choose to do so, in what would be a major step in relations between militaries that were at war 4-1/2 decades ago. Rear Admiral Colin Kilrain, who leads U.S. Special Operations Forces in the Asia-Pacific region, told Reuters in an interview that he met the commander from Vietnam's elite forces on the sidelines of a conference in Tampa, Florida, this week. "Both of us would like to deepen the relationship but we're also very mindful that we go at the pace of what our governments want to do," Kilrain said, disclosing the details of the meeting. The talks, which lasted about half an hour on Wednesday, came two days after U.S. President Barack Obama ended the U.S. arms embargo on Vietnam during a visit to that country on Monday. Human rights advocates reacted to Obama's decision with dismay, saying Washington's decision to end the embargo tossed away a critical lever it might have used to spur political reform in the Communist-ruled state. Obama's trip to Vietnam, which borders China, underscored shared concerns about China's growing military clout as Beijing aggressively advances sovereignty claims to the South China Sea. READY FOR NEXT STEPS "We were both very encouraged by the positive meeting that President Obama had with the Vietnamese. And we wanted to go back and tell our chains of commands that ... we stand ready to take the next steps," Kilrain said. Still, Kilrain was emphatic that the extent and pace of any such contacts would be decided by their governments. "We will wait for positive signs from our own governments to move forward," he said. The U.S. Navy has already taken important steps, carrying out four port visits last year, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet said. The head of U.S. military forces in the Asia-Pacific earlier signaled to Congress his desire to do more visits in 2016. The United States has also contributed over $92 million since 1993 to help Vietnam address the threats posed by unexploded ordnance from the war and is supporting Vietnam's development of a peacekeeping training center near Hanoi, the White House said. Kilrain noted that when it came to kick-starting military ties, elite U.S. special operations forces, which include everything from Navy SEALs to the Army's elite Delta Force, are often some of the best options. Green Berets, who specialize in irregular warfare, were active in the Vietnam conflict. "For us, because we're light, we're small and we can move quickly, we're about re-establishing friendships and relationships," Kilrain said. "And we're oftentimes the easiest ones to start with militarily. And I'm proud of that." Although he declined to speculate on first steps with Vietnam, Kilrain acknowledged the process usually started slowly, with planning conferences to share information about how their militaries were organized and discussions on human rights. After sea spat, China pledges deeper defence ties with Indonesia BEIJING, May 27 (Reuters) - China wants deeper military ties with Indonesia and will strengthen cooperation on bilateral and multilateral issues, China's defence minister told his Indonesian counterpart, after a recent diplomatic spat in the South China Sea. In March, Indonesia attempted to detain a Chinese trawler it accused of fishing in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, prompting the Chinese coastguard to intervene. China has said its vessels were operating in "traditional fishing grounds". Indonesia is not embroiled in the rival claims with China over the South China Sea and has instead seen itself as an "honest broker" in disputes between China and the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. Meeting on the sidelines of a regional defence ministers meeting in Lao capital Vientiane, Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan said he hoped China and Indonesia would "deepen pragmatic exchanges and cooperation" and promote military ties, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. "Being two large developing countries in Asia, China and Indonesia have aligned development strategies and broad prospects for cooperation," the report paraphrased Chang as telling Indonesian Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu. Chang also "made clear China's consistent stance" on the South China Sea issue, Xinhua added, without elaborating. China's increasingly assertive military posture in the South China Sea, a strategic shipping corridor that is also rich in fish and natural gas, has rattled the United States and its allies in Southeast Asia. Obama mourns dead in Hiroshima, calls for world without nuclear arms By Minami Funakoshi and Matt Spetalnick HIROSHIMA, Japan, May 27 (Reuters) - Barack Obama on Friday became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bombing, in a gesture Tokyo and Washington hope will showcase their alliance and reinvigorate efforts to rid the world of nuclear arms. Even before it occurred, the visit stirred debate, with critics accusing both sides of having selective memories, and pointing to paradoxes in policies relying on nuclear deterrence while calling for an end to atomic weapons. The two governments hope Obama's visit to Hiroshima, where a U.S. atomic bomb killed thousands instantly on Aug. 6, 1945, and some 140,000 by the year's end, underscores a new level of reconciliation and tighter ties between the former enemies. "We come to ponder the terrible force unleashed in the not so distant past," Obama said after laying a wreath at a Hiroshima peace memorial. "We come to mourn the dead, including over 100,000 Japanese men, women and children, thousands of Koreans and a dozen Americans held prisoner. Their souls speak to us." Before laying the wreath, Obama visited a museum where haunting displays include photographs of badly burned victims, the tattered and stained clothes they wore and statues depicting people with flesh melting from their limbs. Obama visited the display for Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who survived the bombing but died several years later of leukemia, contracted as a result of radiation exposure. She was the inspiration of the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." In Japan some believe that by folding one thousand paper cranes one can increase longevity. The girl folded cranes in hospital until she died. "We have known the agony of war," Obama wrote in the guest book. "Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons." He left two paper cranes alongside his inscription, the White House said. After speaking, Obama shook hands and chatted briefly with two atomic bomb survivors. Obama and Sunao Tsuboi, 91, smiled as they exchanged words; Shigeaki Mori, 79, cried and was embraced by the president. The city of Nagasaki was hit by a second nuclear bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, and Japan surrendered six days later. A majority of Americans see the bombings as having been necessary to end the war and save lives, although some historians question that view. Most Japanese believe they were unjustified. The White House had debated whether the time was right for Obama to break a taboo on presidential visits to Hiroshima, especially in an election year. But Obama's aides defused most negative reaction from military veterans' groups by insisting he would not second-guess the decision to drop the bombs. Obama's main goal in Hiroshima was to showcase his nuclear disarmament agenda, for which he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. "Amongst those nations like my own that own nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them," he said. 'SHARED RESPONSIBILITY' Obama avoided any direct expression of remorse or apology for the bombings, a decision that some critics had worried would allow Japan to stick to the narrative that paints it as a victim. "We remember all the innocent killed in the arc of that terrible war and wars that came before, and wars that would follow. We have a shared responsibility to look directly in the eye of history," he said. For atomic bomb survivor Eiji Hattori, Obama's remarks provided solace. "I think it was an apology," said Hattori, 73, who was a toddler at the time of the bombing and now suffers from three types of cancer. "I didn't think he'd go that far and say so much. I feel I've been saved somewhat ... For me, it was more than enough." Mori was also consoled by the president's embrace. "It made me so happy that I thought I was walking on air," he said. Survivors said earlier an apology from Obama would be welcome but for many, the priority was ridding the world of nuclear arms, a goal that seems as elusive as ever. Obama has invested heavily during his term in modernising the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and Japan relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for extended deterrence. "I'm afraid I did not hear anything concrete about how he plans to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons," said Miki Tsukishita, 75. "A-bomb survivors including me are getting older. Just cheering his visit is not enough." Abe's government has affirmed past official apologies over the war but said future generations should not be burdened by the sins of their forebears. China and South Korea, which suffered from Japan's wartime aggression, often complain it has not atoned sufficiently. "It is worth focusing on Hiroshima, but it's even more important that we should not forget Nanjing," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Friday, according to the ministry's website. China says Japanese troops in 1937 killed 300,000 people in its then-capital of Nanjing. A postwar Allied tribunal put the death toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese politicians and scholars deny a massacre took place at all. G7 vows growth efforts as Japan's Abe warns of global crisis By Tetsushi Kajimoto ISE-SHIMA, Japan, May 27 (Reuters) - The Group of Seven industrial powers pledged on Friday to seek strong global growth, while papering over differences on currencies and stimulus policies and expressing concern over North Korea, Russia and maritime disputes involving China. G7 leaders wrapped up a summit in central Japan vowing to use "all policy tools" to boost demand and ease supply constraints. "Global growth remains moderate and below potential, while risks of weak growth persist," they said in a declaration. "Global growth is our urgent priority." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, talking up what he calls parallels to the global financial crisis that followed the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, said the G7 "shares a strong sense of crisis" about the global outlook. "The most worrisome risk is a contraction of the global economy," led by a slowdown in emerging economies, Abe told a news conference after chairing the two-day summit. "There is a risk of the global economy falling into crisis if appropriate policy responses are not made." In the broad-ranging, 32-page declaration, the G7 committed to market-based exchange rates and to avoiding "competitive devaluation" of their currencies, while warning against wild exchange-rate moves. This represents a compromise between the positions of Japan, which has threatened to intervene to block sharp yen rises, and the United States, which generally opposes market intervention. The G7 vowed "a more forceful and balanced policy mix" to "achieve a strong, sustainable and balanced growth pattern", taking each country's circumstances into account, while continuing efforts to put public debt on a sustainable path. Abe has stressed the need for flexible fiscal policy to sustain economic recovery, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been sceptical about public spending to boost growth. The G7 called global industrial overcapacity, especially in steel, a "pressing structural challenge with global implications". NORTH KOREA, 'BREXIT' WORRIES The G7 demanded that North Korea fully comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions and halt nuclear tests, missile launches and other "provocative actions". The group condemned Russia's "illegal annexation" of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. The declaration threatened "further restrictive measures" to raise the costs on Moscow but said sanctions could be rolled back if Russia implemented previous agreements and respected Ukraine's sovereignty. The G7 also expressed concern over the East and South China Seas, where China has been taking more assertive action amid territorial disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations. Without mentioning Beijing, the G7 reiterated its commitment to the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes and to respecting the freedom of navigation and overflight. The group called for countries to refrain from "unilateral actions which could increase tensions" and "to settle disputes by peaceful means". China was not pleased with the G7 stance. "This G7 summit organised by Japan's hyping up of the South China Sea issue and exaggeration of tensions is not beneficial to stability in the South China Sea and does accord with the G7's position as a platform for managing the economies of developed nations," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing. "China is extremely dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done." The G7 also called large-scale immigration and migration a major challenge and vowed to increase global aid for the immediate and long-term needs of refugees and displaced people. Referring to Britain's referendum next month on whether to leave the European Union, the G7 said an exit "would be a serious risk to global growth". The leaders pledged to tackle a global glut in steel, though their statement did not single out China, which produces half of the world's steel and is blamed by many countries for flooding markets with cheap steel. On climate change, the G7 said they aim to put into effect by the end of the year the Paris climate agreement, in which almost 200 nations agreed a sweeping plan to end global dependence on fossil fuels to limit rising temperatures. China eyes turning South China Sea islands into Maldives-style resorts BEIJING, May 27 (Reuters) - China aims to turn some of the islands in the disputed South China Sea into Maldives-style resorts catering for weddings with new developments on areas that don't need a military presence, a state-run newspaper quoted a top official on Friday as saying. China began tourist cruises to the South China Sea on a trial basis in 2013, as part of efforts to cement its claims by boosting the civilian presence there. China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. In an interview with the official China Daily, Xiao Jie, mayor of what China calls Sansha city, said he hopes the area will become a major tourist attraction comparable to the Maldives. "We will develop some islands and reefs to accommodate a select number of tourists," Xiao said, adding they would be in places without a military presence. "It will be an orderly and gradual procedure." Sansha city is on Woody Island in the Paracel archipelago, China's administrative base for islands and reefs it controls. There will be sea plane trips, island weddings, fishing and diving trips, Xiao added. "The arrival of tourists will nourish the need for divers and windsurfers," he said. Xiao said the cruises had been very popular with tickets hard to come by. "It is not an easy trip, but many people with a patriotic spirit want to try it," he added. A second cruise ship would start operating soon, the newspaper said. There would also be regular flights to the southern Chinese island of Hainan, and Xiao said he was hopeful of direct flights one day to Beijing. The report did not say if foreigners would be allowed to visit. To date, only Chinese nationals have be permitted to go on tours there. It is also not clear if any of the islands in the Spratlys will be opened to tourists. The United States and its allies in the region have voiced concern about China's increasingly assertive pursuit of its claims in the South China Sea, including artificial island building and the construction of airfields and other military facilities. China faces headaches from warming Viet-U.S. ties By Greg Torode and Megha Rajagopalan HONG KONG/BEIJING, May 27 (Reuters) - At a stroke, the U.S. and Vietnam have complicated the strategic outlook for China over the disputed South China Sea. As U.S. President Barack Obama marked one of his last trips to Asia by the historic lifting of Washington's arms embargo on Vietnam, he repeatedly insisted it was not directed at Beijing. And yet regional military sources and security analysts say China will face short and longer term strategic headaches from the fully normalised relationship between former enemies in Hanoi and Washington. Operationally, China faces the short-term prospect of Vietnam obtaining U.S.-sourced radars and sensors, surveillance planes and drones to better monitor and target Chinese forces, the analysts say. In the longer term, the move makes Hanoi a key player in Obama's strategic pivot to East Asia. U.S. arms manufacturers will compete with Russia for big-ticket weapons sales to Vietnam. The U.S. Navy may get a long-held wish to use Cam Ranh Bay, the best natural harbour in the South China Sea, military sources say. Then there is the prospect of political cooperation and greater intelligence sharing over China's assertiveness, according to diplomatic sources, even if Vietnam shuns any formal steps towards a military alliance. Such moves dovetail with the goals of Vietnam's military strategists who have told Reuters they want to discreetly raise the costs on China's rapidly modernising forces from attacking Vietnam again. Vietnam understands that a future conflict with their giant neighbour would be vastly more difficult than the bloody land battles on their northern border that rumbled through the 1980s, or the sea battle over the Spratlys in 1988. RELYING ON DIPLOMACY Chinese official reaction has so far been muted. But Beijing is paying close attention to Vietnam's acquisition of modern weaponry and deployments in the South China Sea, said Ruan Zongze, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank linked to the Foreign Ministry. "It's not impossible that this will then impact the territorial issue between China and Vietnam," said Ruan, a former Chinese diplomat. Zhang Baohui, a mainland security expert at Hong Kong's Lingnan University, said he believed Vietnamese planners knew they could never prevail against the modern Chinese military, so they had to rely on diplomacy to keep stable relations with Beijing. Zhang said he expected this to continue, despite the Obama visit, saying it was the "cheapest form of defence". "Vietnam is working the U.S. into an enhanced deterrence strategy," he said. "To enhance its relations with China, they have to play the U.S. card," he said. CAM RANH BAY U.S. naval officials say they are keen to gradually increase ship visits, but are aware of Vietnamese concerns over pushing China too hard. When in March Vietnamese officials announced the opening of a new international port in Cam Ranh to foreign navies, China was one of the first militaries to get a formal invite, according to reports in Vietnam's military press. U.S. port calls are currently long-planned formal affairs. But U.S. military officials say a servicing agreement is one long term option to allow U.S. warships to make routine visits to Cam Ranh Bay. Security analysts say even a small increase in ship visits, for example, would complicate China's operations in the South China Sea, now centred on dual-use facilities being built on seven artificial islands in the Spratlys archipelago. China claims 80 percent of the South China Sea as its territory, while Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei also have overlapping claims across one of the world's most important shipping lanes. Lifting the embargo not only offers an opportunity for U.S. arms makers in Vietnam but elsewhere in rapidly developing Southeast as well, said a military advisor in Thailand. "The U.S. sees opportunity and demand opening up in various other countries, such as Laos and Cambodia, which use weapons from Russia and China," said Panitan Wattanayagorn, an adviser to Thailand's Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon. Poland - Factors to Watch May 27 Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Friday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours): MINUTES Poland's central bank to publish minutes from its May sitting at 1200 GMT. GAS Polish utilities plan investments worth almost 60 billion zlotys ($15.3 billion) in gas infrastructure to raise Poland's energy safety, daily Rzeczpospolita reported. PENSION FUNDS Poland mulls merging 140 billion zlotys ($35.6 billion) worth of assets held by the country's 12 privately held pension funds (OFEs) into one fund controlled by a state-run company like PZU or also state-run bank BGK, daily Rzeczpospolita quoted its sources as saying. BANK TAX Polish banks and insurers paid 725 million zlotys in the new bank assets tax in two months. If the trend continues, Polish budget may gain almost 4 billion zlotys from the levy this year, compared to 5.5 billion included in full-year budget plan, daily Rzeczpospolita reported. ****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** Israeli environment minister quits, citing rightist gov't tilt JERUSALEM, May 27 (Reuters) - Israel's centrist environment minister announced he was resigning on Friday in protest at the inclusion of ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman in the coalition government, the second such cabinet walkout in a week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed up Lieberman as Israel's new defence minister on Wednesday in a pact beefing up his coalition to six parties with control over 66 of parliament's 120 seats, up from a razor-thin majority of 61. "The recent political maneuvering and defence minister's replacement are, in my view, grave actions that ignore what is important for the country's security and will bring about more extremism and rifts among the people," Environment Minister Avi Gabbay said in a resignation statement. Gabbay is with Koolanu, the lone centrist party in the coalition, with 10 lawmakers in parliament. His announcement comes days after the former defence minister, Moshe Yaalon of Netanyahu's conservative Likud party, stepped down in protest at his portfolio being offered to Lieberman. Romania - Factors to watch on May 27 Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Friday. DEBT TENDER Romania sold a planned 500 million lei ($124.17 million)worth of April 2019 treasury bonds on Thursday, with the average accepted yield at 1.81 percent, central bank data showed. MONEY SUPPLY Romanian M3 money supply rose 10.8 percent on the year to 285.5 billion lei ($70.87 billion) at the end of April and by 1.7 percent on the month, central bank data showed on Thursday. CEE MARKETS Hungary raised more than planned at a government bond auction while a Romanian debt sale attracted healthy demand on Thursday as Central Europe's high yields relative to the euro zone continued to draw in investors. BUCHAREST BOURSE The Bucharest Stock Exchange said on Thursday it has approved a new set of regulations that enable investors to take short sale positions, supported by lending in securities mechanism, which would increase liquidity and reduce valuation imbalances of listed assets. BONDS Romania's finance ministry aims to sell 100 million lei ($24.85 million) worth of two-year treasury bonds to households and individuals for the second time in more than a decade, in a bid to diversify savings instruments. The subscription period will start later this year. For the long-term Romanian diary, click on For emerging markets economic events, click on For an index of all diaries, click on Cameron says Britain must support Libya to thwart threat ISE-SHIMA, Japan, May 27 (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday that Britain must support the Libyan government to help it to gain control over a country which in its present state "is a danger to us all". Speaking at a summit of the G7 industrial powers, Cameron said Britain, like other countries, was threatened by the flow of migrants through Libya, by the increasing number of people-smuggling gangs and the rise of Islamic State in the country. "It is clearly in our interest to do what we can to support the new fledgling Libyan government ... because of the state it's in is a danger to all of us," he told a news conference. Anglo American's De Beers picks insider Cleaver as CEO BENGALURU/BRUSSELS, May 27 (Reuters) - Anglo American Plc's De Beers named insider Bruce Cleaver as chief executive of the diamond group, which the global mining company is counting on to help revive its fortunes. Cleaver takes on the new role at a difficult time for De Beers as Diamond sales stagnated in 2015, hit by a weaker Chinese economy. However, producers are seeing scope for recovery, especially in the United States, which accounts for some 45 percent of demand. Anglo American, which has an 85 percent stake in De Beers -- the world's largest diamond producer by value -- is focusing on the diamond business after a restructuring. Cleaver, 51, was previously group director of strategy and business development at De Beers. He will take over the role on July 1, the company said on Friday. He succeeds Philippe Mellier, 60, who is stepping down saying he had envisaged his job as a five-year plan. "Having steered through some of the diamond industry's toughest times and with the market showing signs of recovery, now is the right time for me to pass the baton to the next generation," he said in a statement. Mark Cutifani, Chief Executive of Anglo American and Chairman of De Beers, said Cleaver, offered "strong continuity at an important stage in the diamond market's recovery". Cleaver first joined De Beers' board in 2008 and served as its co-acting CEO in 2010 before Mellier's appointment. "He is a very solid internal choice for what is arguably the key division," Jeremy Wrathall, analyst at Investec, said. Japan Abe set to delay sales tax hike by 1-3 years - sources By Takaya Yamaguchi and Leika Kihara TOKYO, May 27 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a sales tax hike planned for next year, perhaps by as much as three years, government sources say, a move he will justify as part of G7 efforts to avert another global financial crisis. While the tax hike was seen as critical to reining in Japan's massive public debt, Abe and his aides have signalled the chance of deferring it as Japan's economy skirts recession and a threat of deflation re-emerges ahead of summer upper house elections. "We've reached a global agreement to cooperate to avoid another big crisis from erupting ... As G7 chair, Japan will spearhead such moves to contribute to the global economy using all policy tools available," Abe told reporters after the Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit in western Japan on Friday. "We must reignite powerfully the engine of Abenomics. That undoubtedly would include a decision on what to do with the sales tax hike," he said, offering his strongest hint yet that next year's tax hike will be delayed. Abe said that a decision, which he is yet to reach, will be announced before the upper house elections expected in July. But government sources told Reuters the premier will reach a decision early next week after consulting with his ruling party's junior coalition partner. Abe is likely to delay the tax hike, originally scheduled in April 2017, by one to three years, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. Such a delay will still allow Japan to narrowly meet its target of turning its budget deficit into a surplus by fiscal 2020, they said. G7 A COVER FOR TAX DELAY During the Ise-Shima G7 summit, Abe has been playing up what he calls parallels to the global financial crisis as growth in Japan sputters. While such pessimism was dismissed by some countries like Germany, Abe was attempting to have the G7 paint a dismal view of the global economy to justify delaying the tax hike or deploying a big domestic spending package, some analysts say. "We have strengthened the resilience of our economies in order to avoid falling into another crisis and, to this end, commit to reinforce our efforts to address the current economic situation by taking all appropriate policy responses in a timely manner," the G7 agreed after a two-day summit on Friday. Abe postponed the tax hike to 10 percent by 18 months after the first increase to 8 percent in April 2014 tipped Japan into recession. Since then, he has said the tax hike will not be delayed unless there was a massive natural disaster or a crisis on the scale of the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. "Abe's portrayal of the global economy as being one step away from a crisis is excessive, but delaying the tax hike would certainly remove a negative from Japan's economy," said Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Mizuho Securities. "As long as he doesn't shelve the plan indefinitely, Abe can still reasonably claim he hasn't given up on fiscal discipline." Japan narrowly averted recession in the first quarter of this year and many analysts expect it to barely grow in the current quarter as weak emerging market demand weighs on exports and tame wage growth hits household spending. A recent Reuters poll added to the gloom, showing a strong majority of Japanese firms surveyed now expect no escape from deflation for the foreseeable future. The Asahi newspaper reported that Abe would also forgo calling a snap election of the lower house of parliament, instead focusing on the upper house election already scheduled in July. ChemChina interested in Germany's SGL Carbon - Manager Magazin By Maria Sheahan and Edward Taylor FRANKFURT, May 27 (Reuters) - ChemChina is interested in buying SGL Carbon, Manager Magazin reported on Friday, one of a growing number of Chinese companies seeking to acquire key German industrial technology. Shares in SGL Carbon, which makes graphite electrodes for scrap metal recycling, jumped to a four-month high, trading 11.2 higher at 11.75 euros by 1045 GMT, valuing the company at just over 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion). SGL has been seeking a buyer for its graphite-electrode business, which has struggled since Chinese semi-finished steel became cheap enough to compete with scrap, sending demand for recycling equipment plunging. China is the world's biggest steel producer and consumer. SGL has warned that its operating income will fall markedly this year as prices at its graphite electrode business fall. A spokesman for SGL declined to say whether ChemChina was a possible buyer for the graphite electrode business but said that SGL was not seeking to sell the group as a whole. A person familiar with the matter said only the sale of that business was under consideration. Manager Magazin said that ChemChina would rather buy the whole company. Graphite electrodes are SGL's biggest business. SGL also makes other graphite products for the chemical, semiconductor, energy and automotive industries. Manager Magazin said ChemChina Chairman Ren Jianxin had held talks with SGL Chief Executive Juergen Koehler and with Quandt family heiress Susanne Klatten, who owns 27 percent of SGL. ChemChina could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for Susanne Klatten declined to comment on whether ChemChina approached Klatten about buying a stake in SGL Carbon, but said: "As an international businesswoman, Mrs Klatten regularly talks to international investors." SGL Carbon has a free float of just 37 percent. Apart from Klatten's stake, BMW owns 18 percent of the company, Volkswagen has 10 percent and family-run engineering firm Voith owns more than 5 percent. SGL would be the latest in a series of German industrial groups to be targeted by Chinese buyers as the world's second-largest economy makes the transition from a low-cost factory location into a high-tech industrial hub. China is approaching a point where it can use major steel recycling facilities as materials used in a construction boom start to reach the end of their lifetime. The government is pushing to raise the amount of steel recycled in the country. State-owned ChemChina has also agreed to buy German plastics-processing machinery maker KraussMaffei Group for 925 million euros. French insurer AXA sells last UK life and savings business By Geert De Clercq and Esha Vaish PARIS, May 27 (Reuters) - French insurer AXA is selling its UK investment and pensions business to Phoenix Group , completing a well-flagged exit from a mature life assurance market to focus on faster-growing emerging economies. AXA completed a five-year strategic plan last year that helped it solidify its position as the second biggest insurer in Europe after Germany's Allianz by turning more to countries in the developing world with low insurance coverage. Following the sale, AXA will have raised 832 million euros ($930 million) from the disposal of its UK life and savings businesses this year, though it will book a 400 million euro loss on the transactions, it said on Friday. AXA, which also announced a management reshuffle under its incoming chief executive on Friday, has previously sold its platform Elevate to Standard Life and offshore investment bonds business to Life Company Consolidation Group. Phoenix, Britain's largest owner of life assurance funds closed to new customers, said it would pay 375 million pounds ($549 million) in cash to close the deal, adding that it will add 12.3 billion pounds of assets under management and more than 910,000 policies. After the acquisition, which will be Phoenix's biggest deal since 2010, it will hold 59 billion pounds of life assets for about 5.4 million policyholders, it said. AXA's Sun Life, which sells life assurance to the over 50s, is the largest of the businesses Phoenix is buying. Phoenix shares were up 3.8 percent at 881.50 pence at 1217 GMT, making it the top gainer in London's FTSE midcap index , while AXA shares were 0.3 percent higher. Phoenix Chief Executive Clive Bannister said the company would seek other deals in the short term. "This is a sensible transaction which makes Phoenix both bigger and better and it acts as a stepping stone for additional transactions ... So a door that is already open, we're making open even broader and open more widely," he told Reuters. The life insurance market is consolidating with some firms selling assets due to the increased costs of running life insurance businesses following the introduction this year of new European capital rules for insurers, known as Solvency II. Earlier this week, Britain's Legal & General Group said it would buy 3 billion pounds of annuity liabilities from Dutch insurer Aegon. HSBC and JPMorgan advised Phoenix while Barclays and Fenchurch worked with the French insurer. "The deal is part of Phoenix's efforts to optimise their capital base by diversifying into more mortality risk," said a source close to the deal. PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - MAY 27 MOSCOW, May 27 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. VEDOMOSTI www.vedomosti.ru - Russian businessmen have started to repatriate their capitals from off-shore companies, according to Russian central bank accounts. - Russian authorities are putting more pressure on the heads and activists of non-government organisations which are defined as "foreign agents" under the country's new legislation. - Deputy Rosneft head Larisa Kalanda is leaving her post due to "personal reasons", but the daily suggests that the move is due to her disagreement with company head Igor Sechin. KOMMERSANT www.kommersant.ru - Colonel Dmitry Kochnev has been appointed to head the Federal Protective Service (FSO) in charge of safeguarding Russia's top officials. His predecessor Yevgeny Murov had led the service for the last 16 years, the daily says. - Yakutia may stop extinguishing fires now raging on nearly 86 percent of its forests, or 219 million hectares, if they do not threaten people. Greenpeace activists believe that Russia's government lacks funds to fight forest fires across the country, the daily writes. IZVESTIA www.izvestia.ru - Sberbank has no plans to sell its subsidiaries in Ukraine although they work in extremely difficult conditions, Sberbank CEO German Gref says in an interview. - The mother of Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, jailed in the United States for 20 years, appeals to President Vladimir Putin to help save her son who needs urgent medical assistance. ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA www.rg.ru Middle East refugees help Europe prosecute war crimes By Thomas Escritt THE HAGUE, May 27 (Reuters) - European authorities are seeking testimony from some of the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Middle East violence as they try to build war crimes cases linked to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. As witnesses to atrocities, they are invaluable to prosecutors preparing trials in European courts that will offer a way round the United Nations impasse that has prevented the setting up of an international court for Syria. The search for evidence takes a variety of forms. Dutch and German immigration services hand out leaflets to arriving migrants, inviting them to testify. In Norway, police screen arrivals' mobile phones for evidence of possible involvement in war crimes. "Over the next five years you'll see a lot of prosecutions," said Matevz Pezdirc of the European Union's Genocide Network, a forum that brings together police and prosecutors twice a year in The Hague to swap information about war crimes. Some alleged perpetrators may be European citizens who have joined Islamic State; others may be militants who have travelled to Europe from Syria or Iraq, blending in with the more than 1 million migrants and refugees who streamed into the continent last year. "You may have lots of victims or witnesses in one place, but you can't move with a prosecution until you have a perpetrator in your jurisdiction," Pezdirc said. Most European countries have legislation allowing them to prosecute international crimes like genocide regardless of where in the world they happen. About 15 have units dedicated to investigating and prosecuting them. Over the past decade, authorities in Europe have launched 1,607 international war crimes cases in domestic jurisdictions, while another 1,339 are ongoing, according to EU judicial cooperation agency Eurojust. STRESSED WITNESSES German police have compiled testimony from hundreds of potential witnesses to the Syria conflict, and war crimes prosecutors in Karlsruhe have questioned a few dozen of them in greater depth. But gathering evidence is a painstaking process. Traumatised witnesses, fresh from harrowing journeys on foot and by sea, need time before they are ready to testify, and can often face only short periods of questioning each day. "The refugees usually need time to rest and calm down before they decide to cooperate with law enforcement," Pezdirc said. Investigators have interviewed Yazidi Kurd refugees in Germany for evidence of alleged genocide against the ethnic and religious minority. A German citizen thought to be in Syria is the subject of a sealed arrest warrant on separate war crimes charges. They are preparing further cases against two other suspects, one accused of torture and another of kidnapping a U.S. legal adviser near Damascus. In France, genocide and war crimes prosecutors have a handful of investigations open into Syrian nationals, including a former Syrian colonel, once a doctor in a military hospital, who has sought asylum. More than 4,000 European citizens are estimated to have left to fight in Syria, of whom around a third have since returned home, a Dutch think tank said earlier this year. With both witnesses and perpetrators on their territory, European prosecutors have already brought some cases. A German citizen is on trial for war crimes after Facebook posts showed him posing alongside decapitated heads. Last year, Swedish courts convicted a Syrian on the basis of a video showing him torturing a fellow combatant. Crimes being investigated around the continent include torture, murder, rape, crimes against humanity and genocide. SECURITY COUNCIL SPLIT With more than 400,000 people killed in Syria since 2011, there have been calls for perpetrators of massacres to face trials in a U.N. court, like those that followed the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. But division among the five veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - who include Syria's ally, Russia - has stymied attempts to refer such cases to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, or set up a special tribunal. So rights campaigners are pinning their hopes on national prosecutions, and Syria and Iraq have come to dominate the agenda of the Genocide Network, which has been operating since 2004. "If there's going to be justice in Syria, it's going to be in the courts of third states," said Stephen Rapp, a U.S. diplomat who led the prosecution of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, at a meeting of law enforcement officials in The Hague this week. Successful trials could help to influence the wider course of the war and the migrant crisis, he said. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It's often been said, if you choose a job you love, you never have to work a day in your life. No truer words were spoken for Jerry Judin, the endearing chief supervising court attorney in the Richmond County Surrogate's office who retired Thursday after 32 years of service. And in case you haven't heard -- and we can't imagine who hasn't -- Judin was lauded as the man of the hour at a spectacular, heartwarming, "Retirement Bash," inclusive of more than 250 well wishers, a time for family members, friends and colleagues to raise their glasses to celebrate Judin's career and illustrious life. That is -- before they all danced the night away in his honor. Among Judin's myriad Proclamations and Citations, in Judin's honor Rep. Daniel Donovan (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) read into the Congressional Record on April 12. Said Donovan in The House of Representatives: "Mr. Speaker, it is right and proper that we recognize Jerry Judin's dedication to serving his community and the legal profession. I thank him for all of his great work and I am proud to honor this greatman who has consistently put others before himself." What's more, President Barack Obama signed a letter on April 27 lauding Judin for his commitment to community. We would be remiss if we didn't recount that Judin's send off party was coordinated by Irini Bekhit, party planner extraordinaire, who by day is a senior court attorney in the Surrrogate's Office, who hailed Judin an an "exemplary role model." Bekhit was followed by attorney Robert Mulhall, president of the Staten Island Trial Lawyer's Association, who in satirical style, called Judin "the guru of gadgets and gizmos" before referencing Judin's retirement desk clock that was ticking away until May 26. Attorney Bill Frew noted Judin's early career as a Park Ranger on Liberty Island and then as an air-traffic controller: "His retirement will leave a big void in the Surrogate's Court. And his wit and wisdom will surely be missed by everyone." And in closing, Frew quoted Bob Dylan's touching tune, "Forever Young" -- "When the winds of change shift, may your heart always be joyful and may your song always be sung. May you stay forever young." Chief Clerk of Richmond County, Ron Cerrachio, a cherished friend and colleague, pointed out his relationship with Judin has truly been a source of joy. During some back and forth banter, Cerrachio explained the top ten reasons why someone would want to be Jerry Judin. "And the number one reason," said he: "So that hundreds of friends attend your retirement party and tell you how much they'll all miss you." It was Surrogate John A. Fusco who elevated Judin to his current position. Said Surrogate Fusco: "Jerry's dedication, professionalism, care and love, his devotion to this family, to his wife Barbara and son, Danny, is indicative of Jerry's character." Surrogate Robert J. Gigante stated: "I don't know anyone who helped so many people who've felt the gentle hand of Jerry Judin. He's been a leader in the Surrogate's Court. And it's difficult to see him leave." In taking the mic, Judin himself spoke from his heart when acknowledging all who traveled from near and far to attend his retirement gathering, before noting that the Surrogates with whom he worked taught him so much. "My very worst day in Surrogate's Court is still better than my best day anywhere else. Each day was unique," he added. He referred to his longtime friend and colleague Ron Cerrachio as his brother, and went on to define the close relationship they shared over the years. "The late Judge Charles D'Arrigo showed me how to have judicial temperment and to treat everyone the same way. Judge Fusco showed me you can work hard and still have fun. And Surrogate Gigante showed me you can still be a judge and be a nice guy." "And I want to thank my wife Barbara, my son Danny, my uncle Stanley Applebaum, who've all been with me on this wild, wonderful, magical ride. " Said he: When people ask why I'm retiring, my response is "I want to be like Sandy Koufax. " I want to retire at the height of my career." Judin went on to note: "And while my bedroom is in New Jersey, where I live, my heart will always be on Staten Island." It's no secret that Judin, dubbed "Judge Wednesday," loved his craft, so for him, coming to terms with retirement was even more difficult than one might expect. FYI: Judin has come to be known as "Judge Wednesday" because he hears cases on that day each week. Judin has served three Surrogates - the late Judge Charles D'Arrigo, Judge John A. Fusco and, for the past eight years, Judge Robert J. Gigante. Congratulations, Jerry! CELEBRATIONS - MAY 31 Happy birthday Tuesday to Julianne Angelico, Chuck Driscoll, Zelig Sokoll, Alec Springstead, Tina Marie Briscoe, Rita Mary Rose, Vincent P. Russo, Diane O'Donnell, and Alyssa Marco DeMeo. Happy wedding anniversary wishes Tuesday to Camille and Mark Klein and to Nancy and Dan McGarry. G7 told to act on antibiotics as dreaded superbug hits U.S. By Kylie MacLellan and Ben Hirschler ISE-SHIMA, Japan/LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Britain told the G7 industrial powers on Friday to do more to fight killer superbugs as the United States reported the first case in the country of a patient with bacteria resistant to a last-resort antibiotic. U.S. scientists said the infection in a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman "heralds the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria" because it could not be controlled even by colistin, an antibiotic reserved for "nightmare" bugs. In Japan, British Prime Minister David Cameron said leading countries needed to tackle resistance by reducing the use of antibiotics and rewarding drug companies for developing new medicines. "In too many cases antibiotics have stopped working. That means people are dying of simple infections or conditions like TB (tuberculosis), tetanus, sepsis, infections that should not mean a death sentence," he told a news conference at a summit in Japan. "If we do nothing about this there will be a cumulative hit to the world economy of $100 trillion and it is potentially the end of modern medicine as we know it." A review commissioned by the British government and published last week said a reward of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion should be paid for any successful new antimicrobial medicine brought to market. If the problem is not brought under control, antimicrobial resistance could kill an extra 10 million people a year by 2050, the review warned. The U.S. case is a further wake-up call for the world, although it is not the first time that colistin resistance has appeared. Medics around were alarmed last year by the discovery in China of a new gene that makes bacteria highly resistant to the medicine. Since then, the deadly strain has also been detected in Europe and Canada. The development of colistin resistance is linked to the drug's widespread use in livestock and the European Medicines Agency on Thursday called for a 65 percent cut in the amount of the medicine used in farming. "The more we look at drug resistance, the more concerned we are," Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in Washington. "The medicine cabinet is empty for some patients. It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently." The problem is aggravated by drugmakers' reluctance to invest in developing new antibiotics, preferring to focus on more profitable disease areas, although recently there has been some increase in investment, prompted by the superbug threat. Swiss banks, retailers to launch mobile payments platform for shoppers ZURICH, May 27 (Reuters) - Switzerland's five biggest banks and some of the country's main retailers will launch a digital payments system later this year enabling consumers to pay for goods by mobile phone and other digital devices, the companies involved said on Friday. Supermarket chains Coop, Migros and telecom operator Swisscom are participating in the scheme, which will be open to other retailers as well. Banks UBS, Credit Suisse, PostFinance , Raiffeisen and ZKB are taking part in the platform that will enable consumers to pay for everything from food and drinks to ski passes by smartphone. The five banks and financial infrastructure group SIX will now set up a company to run the "TWINT" system. Islamic State advances against Syrian rebels near Turkish border - monitor BEIRUT, May 27 (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters captured territory from Syrian rebels in an area near the Turkish border on Friday and were close to cutting off an insurgent-held town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The jihadists seized a number of villages around the town of Marea, north of Aleppo, and had almost fully encircled it, the British-based monitoring group said. Nigeria militants blow up gas, oil pipelines -community leader By Tife Owolabe YENAGOA, May 27 (Reuters) - Militants attacked crude oil and gas pipelines operated by Nigeria's state oil firm in the Niger Delta, a community leader said on Friday, in an attack claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers, which has been targeting energy facilities for weeks. "Another crude pipeline was attacked yesterday Thursday night near Batan oil field in Warri," said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in the vast delta in southern Nigeria. "There were two simultaneous attacks on (state oil firm) PPMC and NNPC pipelines," he said, referring to the marketing arm of the NNPC. The militant group tweeted later that they had blown up a gas and crude pipeline near the town of Warri that was protected by soldiers and operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). "At 11:45pm on Thursday @NDAvengers blew up other #NNPC Gas and Crude trunkline close to Warri," the group said on its Twitter feed. It had claimed on the same platform an attack on Chevron's main power feed in the Delta, which shut down the U.S. firm's onshore operations, according to a company source. The Avengers, who have given oil firms until end of the month to leave, say they want independence for the Delta and have intensified attacks in recent weeks, pushing oil output to its lowest in more than 20 years and compounding Nigeria's economic problems. Delta residents, some of whom sympathise with the militants, have long complained of poverty in an area producing oil accounting for 70 percent of national income. The government has responded by moving in army reinforcements but British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said this month that President Muhammadu Buhari needed to deal with the root causes of poverty and anger about oil spills. In the first signal that the government might try a less heavy-handed approach, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Thursday an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve. A committee set up by Delta state leaders warned on Thursday that a military approach would not work and saw "an apparent consensus" that the federal government and oil companies have neglected the grievances of local communities. Weaker U.S. dollar rate allows Serbian gas price cut from June BELGRADE, May 27 (Reuters) - Serbia will cut wholesale prices of natural gas for households and industry from June by 3.6 percent and 4 percent, respectively, mainly to reflect a weaker U.S. dollar exchange rate, energy regulator AERS said on Friday. It will be the fifth price cut since June last year, after AERS lowered rates in April. U.S. is 'two-faced' if it does not see Syrian Kurdish YPG as terrorists -foreign minister ANKARA, May 27 (Reuters) - The United States is "two-faced" if it does not see the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia as a terrorist group, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday. Cavusoglu also told a news conference that it was "unacceptable" for U.S. soldiers to wear the YPG insignia on their uniforms. Philippine arrests 10 Chinese fishermen in latest sea spat MANILA, May 27 (Reuters) - Two Philippine coast guard vessels intercepted a Chinese fishing boat with 10 crew off northeastern Luzon after a two-hour chase, two local broadcasters said on Friday, accusing them encroaching into Philippine territorial waters. It was the latest in a series of similar clashes, with each side saying the other is in the wrong. China and the Philippines are locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. Lieutenant Jeffrey Collado told broadcasters ABS-CBN and GMA the steel-hulled Chinese fishing boat, flying a Philippine flag, tried to escape after ramming the Coast Guard boat but another vessel arrived to help stop the Chinese boat. "The Chinese fishing boat was in Philippine territorial waters, they are not in disputed seas," he said, adding the 10 fishermen would be charged with illegal fishing. 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. Political crisis slows EBRD lending in Ukraine - Chakrabarti By Olzhas Auyezov ASTANA, May 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine's political impasse paralysed decision-making in the first quarter so the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will invest less there this year, EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti told Reuters. The EBRD is one the biggest foreign investors in Ukraine and its projects in the former Soviet republic were worth about 2.2 billion euros in 2014 and 2015 combined, Chakrabarti said in an interview on Friday in the Kazakh capital Astana. "This year, I don't think we'll get anywhere near 1 billion euros because, frankly, the political situation in the first quarter of the year meant that no decisions were being taken and we're only now getting going," he said. Ukraine's parliament approved presidential ally Volodymyr Groysman as prime minister in mid-April, ending months of political deadlock. RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN In neighbouring Russia, the bank stopped making new investments in 2014 in response to European Union sanctions on the country because of its annexation of Crimea. But Chakrabarti said the EBRD had no plans to close any of its Russian offices. "We've been maintaining our operational capacity in Russia," he said, adding that some staff members there have been working on projects in other countries including Kazakhstan. "And we've also been working with the government on a number of issues, policy issues and so on. We must engage in Russia and we will continue to do that." EBRD investments in oil-rich Kazakhstan, Central Asia's biggest economy, have grown rapidly over the past few years as the country initiated a new wave of reforms. "In the case of Kazakhstan, that started two years ago. They started before the oil price fell but obviously accelerated afterwards," Chakrabarti said. The bank has invested about $1.4 billion in nearly 50 Kazakh projects over the last two years, he said, calling it "a really good engagement". The EBRD is issuing a small Kazakh tenge-denominated bond worth 2.4 billion tenge (about $7 million) and may follow up with a larger bond in the second half of this year, said Agris Preimanis, the EBRD's regional lead economist who accompanied Chakrabarti. One major upcoming project is a $900 million, 66-kilometre road that will divert traffic from the busy streets of the country's commercial hub Almaty. EBRD officials declined to say how much of that the bank would provide. AZERBAIJAN, TURKMENISTAN "In the case of Azerbaijan, I think they started (reforms) 6-9 months ago really, in quite a big way," Chakrabarti said. "And in the case of Turkmenistan, much more recently." "I think Azerbaijan is beginning to show some of the same (positive) signs," he added. "It's very interesting, having been there, to see civil society telling us that things are improving in terms of rights and also in terms of corruption." He said corruption has dropped significantly after the reforms of the customs administration, licensing, permits and inspections. "There is a real wind of reform," Chakrabarti said. Traditionally closed Turkmenistan, in the meantime, "is just really taking the first steps", he said, and EBRD investments there have so far been very limited. "But the agreement with our board is that we can go now into gas flaring projects and also municipal infrastructure projects," Chakrabarti said. "We are, I think, going to move ahead of with one or two projects in the next 12 months." Asked if the lender has given up on Uzbekistan, where its operations have also been minimal, Chakrabarti said the bank would continue trying to engage Tashkent. Last man standing: another Australian scheme refugee leaves Cambodia By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH, May 27 (Reuters) - The fourth of a handful of asylum-seekers sent to Cambodia under a controversial $29-million resettlement deal with Australia has recently departed the Southeast Asian country, a migration official said on Friday, leaving a sole final participant. The man who left was an Iranian who arrived last June from a detention centre on the remote South Pacific island nation of Nauru along with two compatriots and a Rohingya, from Myanmar's Muslim minority, many of whom are stateless. "He has left, but we have nothing to say on where, or why," said Joe Lowry, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which facilitates the resettlement scheme. Lowry declined to say where the man had gone, but the two other Iranians and the Rohingya have reportedly returned to their home countries. Australian and Cambodian officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The last refugee left under the 2014 scheme, which Cambodia agreed in exchange for aid worth A$40 million ($28.56 million), is also Rohingya. Cambodia had threatened to pull out of the scheme, but this week said it would send a team to Nauru next month to interview two more Iranian refugees seeking resettlement in the country, reviving the deal that had 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 detaining their passengers in camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. 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. EU regulator's advisory panel backs AstraZeneca diabetes drug May 27 (Reuters) - A panel that advises the European drugs regulator has supported an approval for AstraZeneca Plc's diabetes drug combination. The European Medicines Agency said on Friday that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use backed AstraZeneca's combination of saxagliptin and dapagliflozin. (http://bit.ly/20JOyWA) The recommendation comes seven months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration denied an approval to the treatment, seeking more data. The components of the combination are currently sold separately for the treatment of type 2 diabetes under the Onglyza and Farxiga brand names. AstraZeneca said earlier on Friday that U.S. regulators would not approve its new drug for high potassium levels at present due to a manufacturing issue. Barack Obama has become the first sitting US president to confront the consequences of using an atomic bomb as he visited Hiroshima to remember its dead and demand a world free from nuclear weapons. With the skeleton of Hiroshimas A-Bomb Dome as a backdrop, Mr Obama laid a wreath in memory of at least 80,000 people who died when the US became the first and only country to launch a nuclear attack, on August 6 1945. Mr Obama and Mr Abe laid wreaths in turn. Mr Abe bowed; Mr Obama did not. Then the two men shook hands. Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed, said Mr Obama, addressing an audience including hibakusha, as survivors of the bombing are known. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself. Among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear, and pursue a world without them, Mr Obama added. The US president made clear he was not apologising. Just ahead of his Hiroshima visit, addressing troops at a US Marine Corps base near Hiroshima choreography intended to show strength as well as sorrow he said the visit was an opportunity to honour the memory of all who were lost in World War Two. Mr Obamas visit is a powerful symbol of reconciliation between the US and Japan, former enemies who have became close allies. Opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Japanese are pleased Mr Obama is visiting now, even without an apology, after US presidents avoided the site for 71 years. But the visit to Hiroshima did draw some criticism from the right in the US. John Bolton, former ambassador to the UN, said the trip was part of the presidents shameful apology tour and was an exercise in demonstrating moral equivalence between the decision to drop a nuclear bomb and Pearl Harbor. Obamas apologies and gestures prove yet again that he isnt like those other presidents on our currency, Mr Bolton wrote in the New York Post. Among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear, and pursue a world without them - Barack Obama The visit also symbolises some of the frustrated ambitions of Mr Obamas presidency. In the seven years since his landmark speech in Prague, where he said the US had a moral responsibility to rid the world of atomic weapons, Russia, China and others have modernised their atomic arms. Mr Obama himself has begun a $1tn upgrade to the US nuclear arsenal . Visiting Hiroshima is a chance to revive that moral mission from 2009 as his presidency draws to a close. Hans Kristensen, an expert on nuclear issues at the Federation of American Scientists, said that recently disclosed figures show the Obama administration had reduced the stockpile of nuclear weapons at a slower pace than any administration since the end of the Cold War. He said the US had cut its stockpile by 702 warheads to 4,571 a reduction of 13 per cent compared to a nearly 50 per cent drop during the George W Bush administration. To be fair, it is not all President Obamas fault, Mr Kristensen wrote. An entrenched and almost ideologically opposed Congress has fought his arms reduction vision every step of the way. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the birth of the nuclear age, where a single bomb could bring instant death to millions of civilians. In the US, Mr Obamas visit has reignited a long-running debate about whether the atomic bombings were justified, saving lives by helping to end the war, or were an unnecessary attack on a largely civilian target, launched without warning. In Japan, the atomic conflagration and horrifying loss of civilian life has shaped how the second world war is remembered. To some in South Korea and China, Mr Obamas visit promotes a version of history in which Japan thinks of itself as a victim and not as an aggressor. Obama cements his legacy with his trip to Hiroshima The presidents visit to city hit by the first US A-bomb helps build bridges, writes Jacob Weisberg The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at 8.15am local time, detonating 600 metres above the ground with a white magnesium flash. The spreading blast and fireball destroyed every building within 2km. Tens of thousands of people died instantly. Akiko Takakura, who survived just 300m from the hypocentre, spoke of a whirlpool of fire. The fingertips of those dead bodies caught fire and the fire gradually spread over their entire bodies from their fingers, she told an archive project years later. A light grey liquid dripped down their hands, scorching their fingers. I was so shocked to know that fingers and bodies could be burnt and deformed like that. I just couldnt believe it, she said. Horribly burnt, survivors fled the ruins of the city as a black rain of radioactive dust and ash began to fall. Many more died in the following days from burns and radiation; the bombing of Nagasaki took place three days later, on August 9. Japan surrendered on August 15. Many of the living survivors were children at the time of the bombing. Mr Obamas visit seven decades later is a memorial to the attack that shaped their lives and raises the hope that such weapons may never be used again. Finland's Fortum buys waste treatment firm Ekokem for $525 mln By Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell HELSINKI, May 27 (Reuters) - Finnish utility Fortum Oyj has agreed to pay 470 million euros ($525 mln) for an 81 percent stake in Ekokem, a local waste treatment company that won a high-profile contract to help destroy Syria's chemical weapons. The deal, announced by Fortum on Friday, broadens the scope for the state-owned utility, which is hungry for acquisitions after its recent exit from the Nordic power grid. Fortum said it had signed a deal to buy the stakes of Ekokem's top four shareholders, which are the Finnish state, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, pension fund Ilmarinen and the Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority. It will also make a tender offer for the remaining shares. The deal price gives Ekokem an enterprise value of around 700 million euros. Fortum expressed interest in Ekokem earlier this month, saying the company would fit in with its clean energy strategy to provide services for urban energy and waste. "We see excellent international growth opportunities for the business and intend to invest in the further development of Ekokem's solutions," Fortum CEO Pekka Lundmark said in a statement. Ekokem had earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 55 million euros last year on sales of 258 million. It operates hazardous waste treatment facilities in the Nordic region, and in 2014 won a contract along with France's Veolia to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. Analysts said the deal was in line with Fortum's strategy but added that the company should be looking for bigger fish. "This is a good deal for Fortum, but it won't solve their investment issue. They still have around 5 billion euros to spend, and they would need to find something bigger," said Inderes Equity Research analyst Rasmus Skand, who has an 'increase' rating on the stock. Fortum, which has traditionally focused on the Nordic and Russian power markets, said last month it was looking to invest in solar power projects in India, and sources told Reuters that it was in talks with SunEdison Inc. Turkey tourist arrivals see biggest drop in 17 years By Nevzat Devranoglu and Daren Butler ANKARA/ISTANBUL, May 27 (Reuters) - The number of foreign visitors to Turkey fell by 28 percent in April, official data showed on Friday, the biggest drop in 17 years amid tensions with Russia and security concerns after a wave of bombings. The decline signals more pain for Turkey's economy, which is smarting from slowing exports and weak private investment. Some economists have forecast that tourism revenue will drop by a quarter this year, costing around $8 billion, or the equivalent of 1 percent of GDP. The drop-off does not bode well as Turkey heads into the May-August high tourism season, when European holidaymakers usually flock to its southern beaches. "As we move from low to high season in tourism, the deterioration in tourism statistics gets more and more significant," said Deniz Cicek, an economist at Finansbank in a note to clients. Tourism fell 28.07 percent year-on-year in April, with 1.75 million people arriving, data showed. It was the biggest drop since May in 1999, when the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group launched a bombing campaign and warned tourists to stay away after the capture of its leader Abdullah Ocalan. The number of Russian visitors all but evaporated, falling by nearly 80 percent, the data showed. Russians traditionally account for one of the biggest groups of foreign visitors after Germany, but they have stopped coming after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria last year, souring relations. The number of Germans fell by more than a third. "The substantial decline in tourist arrivals this year was not limited to Russia, and spread out to all major tourism partners of Turkey to some extent," Cicek said. ECONOMY HEADACHE The pronounced drop in tourism is yet another headache for a government trying to win back investor confidence. Sentiment has been battered by security fears and worries about President Tayyip Erdogan's growing power. It was given a boost this week when Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, seen as an anchor of investor confidence, retained his position in the new cabinet. However, Simsek's authority has been curbed in his new role, and security concerns continue. Turkey has been hit by a wave of suicide bomb attacks this year, including two in Istanbul - its biggest city and traditional tourist draw - blamed on Islamic State militants. In January a suicide bomber killed 12 German tourists when he blew himself up in the city's historic heart. Three Israeli tourists and an Iranian were killed in March when another suicide bomber blew himself up in Istanbul's most popular shopping district. The NATO member faces multiple security threats. It is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and also battling the decades-old militant insurgency in the largely Kurdish southeast region. Portugal PM warns Lisbon dock workers to end strike LISBON, May 27 (Reuters) - Portugal's prime minister warned Lisbon dock workers on Friday that his patience was running out after a strike that has lasted a month, paralysing the city's ports. Lisbon is Portugal's second largest port and the dock workers have warned they would continue their stoppage until June 16 if port operators do not drop plans to reduce benefits and hire short-term workers to work some shifts. "This is a serious conflict for the economy and the government is completely committed to finding a solution," Prime Minister Antonoio Costa told parliament. "But everything has a limit and I can add that the limit is for the two sides to reach agreement today." The government has the power to adopt a public interest clause to force the workers to return to their jobs. Previous governments have done so in the past but if Costa went ahead with such a move it would be the first time his new Socialist government, which is supported by the far-left, took such action. Representatives from the port of Lisbon's administration, port operators and dock workers are meeting on Friday to discuss how to end the strike. Halep survives scare from 'a child of the internet' By Pritha Sarkar PARIS, May 27 (Reuters) - Simona Halep avoided the embarrassment of falling victim to a teenager who calls herself "a child of the internet" as she huffed and puffed her way into the fourth round of the French Open with a 4-6 6-2 6-3 win over Naomi Osaka on Friday. It seemed as if the Romanian's name would be splashed across the World Wide Web as the latest high-profile casualty in the French capital. She was totally bamboozled in the opening set by a Japanese opponent ranked 101st in the world. However, the sixth seed made sure she did not suffer the same fate as Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber or fifth seed Victoria Azarenka. She kept her wits about her despite a barrage of winners flying off Osaka's racket. The 18-year-old's winning groundstrokes in the opening set drove Halep to take out her frustration on her racket as she went set point down. She earned a code violation from the umpire for turning her racket into a mangled mess after repeatedly hammering the frame against the red dirt. It was too late to save the first set, but releasing her anger certainly produced the desired result in the second set. The 2014 Roland Garros finalist saved a break point in the opening game before levelling the match. Osaka, who was born in Japan but raised in the United States by her Haitian father and Japanese mother, was not one to give up easily. She fought back from 3-1 down in the third set to 3-3, again raising the prospect of an upset. However, by this stage, Halep had had her fill of close calls for the day. She ran off with the last three games to wrap up victory. "She has more experience than me ... I'm not the greatest player ever, so I can't be upset that I lost," Osaka told reporters. The teenager who once declared "I feel like I'm a child of the Internet, and the Internet has raised me" may have failed to create the headlines she wanted, but Halep set up an intriguing fourth-round showdown with either 2015 finalist Lucie Safarova or 2010 runner-up Sam Stosur. Germany monitoring Chinese takeovers to ensure no loss of technology-source BERLIN, May 27 (Reuters) - Germany is closely monitoring Chinese investment in the country and will consider each takeover on a case-by-case basis to ensure it does not lose key technology, a government source said on Friday. "We support investment in Germany but we must make sure that there is no outflow of technology," the source told Reuters. "The activities of Chinese investors have increased. We are intensively watching these developments." A growing number of Chinese companies are seeking to acquire key German industrial technology. Last week, home appliance maker Midea Group made a $5-billion bid for German robot maker Kuka, while on Monday China's Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund LP agreed to buy Aixtron for 670 million euros ($747.05 million). Ukraine files defence in $3 bln Russia Eurobond case KIEV, May 27 (Reuters) - Ukraine filed its defence on Friday with a British court over a $3 billion debt to Russia, arguing that the original loan agreement with its neighbour and former ally was invalid, the Foreign Ministry and Finance Ministry said in a statement. The lawsuit has become yet another bone of contention between the two countries, whose relations are at an all-time low following Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and a costly pro-Russian separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russia filed a lawsuit against Ukraine in February at London's High Court demanding repayment of the $3 billion Eurobond, which matured on Dec. 20. "Ukraine's defence explains that the loan agreement is invalid and unenforceable for multiple reasons," the statement said. "As a matter of Ukrainian law, Ukraine lacked the capacity to enter an agreement that violated the borrowing limits then in place and ... the agreement was procured through duress exerted by Russia on Ukraine throughout 2013 in order to prevent Ukraine from signing an Association Agreement with the EU," it said. The Eurobond in question was issued by the government of former president Viktor Yanukovich just two months before he fled to Russia in February 2014 amid bloody street protests. The unrest began when Yanukovich sought to halt Ukraine's move towards European integration in favour of closer economic ties with Russia. Delta militants threaten "something big", greet Nigerian children LAGOS, May 27 (Reuters) - The Niger Delta Avengers militant group, which has mounted a bombing campaign against oil pipelines, on Friday threatened "something big" - but also wished Nigerian youngsters a Happy Children's Day. The Avengers say oil firms in the Delta are responsible for pollution and say the poor swampland region fails to reap any benefit from the wealth on which it sits. The militants, whose activities have hammered Nigeria's crude output, posted a warning on Twitter to the army and oil firms: "Watch out something big is about to happen and it will shock the whole world ". They also sent out salutations to children. The Avengers website showed a picture of children clambering over rusting oil pipelines above a message condeming the Nigerian government for denying the nation's youth the "enchanting vista" of childhood. Ex-Guinea-Bissau PM calls government's dismissal "constitutional coup" BISSAU, May 27 (Reuters) - Former Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Correia denounced the dismissal of his government by President Jose Mario Vaz as a "constitutional coup d'etat" on Friday as a new prime minister was sworn in. Opponents of Vaz protested outside the presidential palace on Thursday night, burning tyres and throwing rocks, after he named Baciro Dja as Guinea-Bissau's new prime minister. Vaz sacked Correia and his government on May 12 claiming they had proved incapable of managing a months-long political crisis. "We are facing a constitutional coup d'etat because the dismissal of my government is unconstitutional," Correia told Reuters. Guinea-Bissau has been embroiled in a power struggle within the ruling PAIGC party since last summer, caused in part by the overlapping duties of the president and prime minister in its semi-presidential system. Members of Correia's government were still at their offices on Friday and he said they will not transfer their duties to ministers named by Dja. The PAIGC said in a statement it would not support the new prime minister, who was sworn in on Friday. It is the second time Vaz has named Dja to head the government, having appointed him last August after sacking then Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, the president's principal rival in the PAIGC. However Dja was forced to step down after the Supreme Court ruled his appointment violated the constitution. He now has the task of forming Guinea-Bissau's fourth government in 10 months. The former Portuguese colony is notoriously unstable and has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1980. Vaz, a former finance minister, was elected in 2014 after the army was forced to hand back power to civilian politicians following a military coup. Foreign companies named in Brazil's "Car Wash" probe May 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian police said this week they were investigating local units of three international steelmakers in a massive corruption investigation involving the country's state-run oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras. Prosecutors have identified at least 285 foreign companies that have done business with people who are under investigation, though they say that does not mean all the firms are suspected of graft. Brazilian investigators are working closely with U.S. and other international authorities. Below are foreign companies that have appeared in Brazil's largest-ever corruption case named "Operation Car Wash" for a Brasilia gas station where some of the alleged money laundering took place. For more than two years the investigation has ensnared the country's largest construction companies and high-profile politicians. Petrobras wrote off $2.1 billion in graft losses, though federal police and prosecutors believe the amount siphoned from the company for more than a decade could be much higher. United States Steel: Prosecutors on Tuesday said Apolo Tubulars, which is 50 percent owned by United States Steel, allegedly paid bribes to win pipe contracts with Petrobras between 2009 and 2012. U.S. Steel said it is reviewing the matter and is in contact with Apolo Tubulars. Apolo Tubulars said it was cooperating with authorities. Tenaris SA: Luxembourg-based Tenaris' Brazilian unit Confab was also accused of paying kickbacks to obtain contracts with Petrobras. Tenaris is part of Italian-Argentine steel group Techint. Tenaris officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but Confab said it has no evidence its employees paid bribes and is cooperating with authorities. Vallourec SA: Police said on Tuesday they had no proof of corruption at French pipe maker Vallourec SA but were continuing their investigation of the company's Brazilian unit, V&M. V&M said it was facing no charges and had been guided by legal standards throughout 60 years of business with Petrobras. Keppel Corp Ltd: Prosecutors charged a former lobbyist for Keppel Fels, the local unit of Singapore oil rig builder Keppel Corp Ltd, with corruption in April but said they did not have enough evidence to prosecute any Keppel employees. Keppel said it put its relationship with the lobbyist on hold and has a zero-tolerance stance against any form of illegal activity. Prosecutors said political strategist Joao Santana received bribes in contracts involving Petrobras, shipbuilder Sete Brasil and Keppel Fels. Ensco Plc: Petrobras ended a drillship contract with rig contractor Ensco Plc in January because of corruption allegations. Petrobras chartered the DS-5 drillship in 2008, when it was owned by Pride International, a company Ensco bought in 2011. Prosecutors have said they planned to present charges related to the DS-5 charter. Ensco, which is headquartered in London, says it has found no evidence that Pride, the company, or any current or former employees were aware of or involved in wrongdoing. Astra Oil: The unit of Belgian-controlled Astra Transcor Energy allegedly paid $15 million in bribes to encourage Petrobras to buy part of Astra's Texas-based Pasadena Refining Systems Inc for $1.2 billion in 2006, prosecutors said in November. Astra has not responded to request for comment. Transocean Ltd: A former Petrobras executive said in plea- bargain testimony made public in September that he was offered payments in 2007 in exchange for Switzerland-based Transocean Ltd winning a drillship contract. Transocean said it requires employees and everyone making visits on its behalf to adhere to high standards for integrity. Vantage Drilling: Prosecutors said in August that a lobbyist for U.S.-based Vantage Drilling arranged bribes for former Petrobras executives at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York in exchange for awarding Vantage Drilling a 2009 drillship contract. Vantage executives have not been charged and the company says it fully met the terms of the drillship contract and has found no evidence of improper activity. Saipem SpA: Prosecutors in July 2015 said they are investigating whether a former Petrobras executive accepted bribes in exchange for favoring Italy's Saipem SpA on a contract for an undersea gas pipeline for offshore subsalt fields in Brazil. Saipem said at the time it had not yet been notified by authorities but planned to cooperate. Sembcorp Marine Ltd: A former Petrobras executive said in plea testimony made public in March 2015 that a representative of Sembcorp's Jurong Aracruz shipyard was involved in bribe payments. Sembcorp Marine Ltd said it did not make any illegal payment. Maersk Group: Prosecutors say Denmark's shipping and oil group Maersk allegedly paid bribes to win Petrobras contracts. Maersk said it first met with Brazilian investigators in July 2014 and received a request for additional information late last year. Maersk has also said it is normal and customary to use brokers to promote tanker-operators' services to customers around the world and to pay brokers a 1.25 percent commission on earnings from charter contracts. Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc : The British engineering company that makes equipment for offshore oil and gas rigs has said it is cooperating with the investigation, though prosecutors say it has not signed a formal cooperation deal. Skanska AB : Swedish builder Skanska's local unit Skanska Brasil Ltda is one of some 20 companies being investigated by Brazil's anti-trust regulator Cade for forming a cartel that fixed prices and overcharged Petrobras for work in order to pass on bribes worth 1 percent to 3 percent of contracts. Skanska said it has a zero tolerance against unethical behavior and takes the suspicions very seriously but does not seek any leniency agreement as it denies being part of a cartel. Rio de Janeiro police investigate alleged gang rape that has shocked Brazilians By Brad Brooks RIO DE JANEIRO May 27 (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro police are investigating allegations that more than 30 men and boys raped a 16-year-old girl, officials said on Friday, as outrage spread in the host city for the Olympics and reverberated across the country. The reported assault was discovered after one of the suspects posted to Twitter a video of the nude, semi-conscious youth, with a few men brazenly insulting the girl, showing their faces, and one man heard saying, "more than 30 impregnated her!" The Twitter account where the video was posted has since been suspended. Police said the girl told them more than 30 men had assaulted her, but they could not yet confirm how many took part in the alleged rape, as they are still investigating. "There are all the indications that this rape did in fact happen, but we still have to investigate further before we can absolutely confirm it," said Fernando Veloso, head of Rio's civil police department, at a press conference on Friday. Veloso said police have identified four suspects so far in the assault that apparently took place last Saturday in a western Rio slum - but have yet to make any arrests, saying further investigation is required. Hashtags on Twitter such as #EstuproNaoECulpaDaVitima - Portuguese for "rape is not the victim's fault" - blasting the reported crime were among the top global trends. Many Facebook users in Brazil, including suspended President Dilma Rousseff, the nation's first woman leader, changed their profile photos to the Venus female gender symbol with words calling for an end to a "culture of rape." Brazil's interim President Michel Temer wrote on his Twitter account that he "vehemently repudiates" the alleged rape, and added that "it is absurd that in the 21st century we have to live with barbaric crimes like this." Temer appointed a new government this month when Rousseff was suspended to face trial in the Senate for allegedly breaking budget rules. He came under intense criticism for excluding women and black Brazilians from his cabinet - something not seen in decades. Temer said his justice minister would meet on Tuesday with the public security chiefs who oversee policing in Brazilian states to discuss how better to combat violence against women. The interim president also said he would form a special department within the federal police focused on crimes against women, which would help to coordinate action and share information among the individual state security departments. When Temer served as head of public safety for Sao Paulo state the early 1990s, he created the first police division in Brazil devoted to combating crimes against women, an idea that has since spread throughout the country. RIO RESIDENTS SHOCKED The cruelty of the alleged assault is the latest bleak chapter for Brazil and Rio. The Olympic Games in August were meant to showcase a nation that had become a global power. Instead, they will take place as Rousseff faces an impeachment trial, the economy suffers its worst recession since the 1930s, an outbreak of the Zika virus prompts health concerns and a massive corruption scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras infuriates Brazilians. In Rio, a city that has long dealt with serious violence often involving minors, the brutal nature of the allegations shook citizens. Marta and Leticia Festes, a mother and daughter heading to work and university in the Rio neighborhood of Copacabana, criticized a culture of sexism in Brazil. They said the slow and disorderly justice system lacked teeth and allowed for impunity. "Some men think that they can get away with these things, especially in poor neighborhoods where the police are never around," said Marta, 43, who works as a maid. Her 20-year-old daughter, in her third year of studying computer science, said stricter and swifter justice was needed. U.S. judge sentences Vietnamese man to 40 years for al Qaeda affiliate support By Nate Raymond NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) - A Vietnamese-born man who U.S. authorities say was instructed by a top figure with al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate to carry out a suicide attack at London's Heathrow Airport was sentenced on Friday to 40 years in prison. Minh Quang Pham, 33, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan after pleading guilty in January to charges he provided material support to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Nathan cited Pham's renunciation of the militant group as a reason for not imposing a 50-year term sought by prosecutors. But she said he deserved more than the mandatory minimum 30 years due to his role in the "horrific" bomb plot. "Given this, he must face a significantly severe sentence," she said. Pham, a graphic artist who left behind a pregnant wife in Britain to travel to Yemen in 2010, has admitted he helped prepare the Islamist militant group's online propaganda magazine, Inspire, and received military-type training. But prosecutors said he did more than just that for the group, agreeing to carry out a never-executed plot to construct and detonate an explosive device in the arrival area at Heathrow after returning to Britain from Yemen. Prosecutors said Pham was trained on how to carry out the suicide attack by Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Muslim cleric who became a leader in the group. He was killed in a September 2011 U.S. drone attack. On his return to London in July 2011, Pham was detained by authorities at Heathrow, who discovered items including a live round of armor-piercing ammunition. He was arrested at the U.S. government's request in June 2012. In court, Pham's lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, disputed that he planned to carry out the attack, pointing to his time out of custody as demonstrating he had no intention of following through on al-Awlaki's instructions. Pham likewise said that while he had made a "very serious mistake" in joining al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, he "never intended to hurt or harm anybody." But Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Skotko said Pham likely knew he was under surveillance and delayed his plans, and said he even called al-Awlaki while in Britain. Dr. Heimlich, 96, saves choking woman with namesake maneuver By Barbara Goldberg May 27 (Reuters) - Dr. Henry Heimlich, the 96-year-old Cincinnati surgeon credited with inventing the lifesaving technique named for him, used it for the first time this week to save a fellow senior center resident who was choking on a hamburger, a center spokesman said on Friday. Heimlich, who in multiple national television appearances had demonstrated the technique commonly known as the "Heimlich Maneuver" to dislodge food from an airway, had never employed it in an emergency, said spokesman Ken Paley. But on Monday, Heimlich was sitting at a communal dining table at Cincinnati's Deupree House, an upscale senior living center where he lives, and noticed fellow resident Patty Ris, 87, in distress while eating an open-faced hamburger. He dashed out of his seat, put his arms around her and pressed on her abdomen below the rib cage, following his own instructions, which are displayed on posters required to be displayed in most restaurants in the United States, although some laws have been discontinued. "After three compressions, this piece of meat came out, and she just started breathing, her whole face changed," Heimlich said in a video interview shared by Paley, vice president of marketing for Episcopal Retirement Services, which operates Deupree House. "I sort of felt wonderful about it, just having saved that girl," Heimlich said. "I knew it was working all over the world. I just felt a satisfaction," said Heimlich, who has lived in the 120-apartment complex for six years and swims regularly for exercise. Ris said she randomly selected the seat in the dining room on Monday because she is a new resident at Deupree. Putin says Romania, Poland may now be in Russia's cross-hairs By Denis Dyomkin ATHENS, May 27 (Reuters) - 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. Putin issued his starkest warning yet over the missile shield, saying that Moscow had stated repeatedly that it would have to take retaliatory steps but that Washington and its allies had ignored the warnings. Earlier this month the U.S. military -- which says the shield is needed to protect from Iran, not threaten Russia -- switched on the Romanian part of the shield. Work is going ahead on another part of the shield, in Poland. "If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security," Putin told a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. "It will be the same case with Poland," he said. Putin did not specify what actions Russia would take, but he insisted that it was not making the first step, only responding to moves by Washington. "We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbour us." He said the argument that the project was needed to defend against Iran made no sense because an international deal had been reached to curb Tehran's nuclear programme. The missiles that will form the shield can easily reach Russian cities, he said. "How can that not create a threat for us?" Putin asked. He voiced frustration that Russia's complaints about the missile shield had not been heeded. "We've been repeating like a mantra that we will be forced to respond... Nobody wants to hear us. Nobody wants to conduct negotiations with us." CRIMEA ISSUE CLOSED Putin sounded a defiant note over Crimea, the Ukrainian region which Russia annexed in 2014. Moscow said it was acting on the will of the Crimean people, who voted to join Russia, but Western governments say it was an illegal land grab. "As far as Crimea is concerned, we consider this question is closed forever," Putin said. "Russia will not conduct any discussions with anyone on this subject." The Russian leader also touched on relations with Turkey, which have been toxic since the Turkish military shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian-Turkish border last November. Ankara said the plane strayed into Turkish airspace, an allegation Moscow denies. Putin said he was ready to consider restoring relations with Ankara, but that would require a first step from Turkey, and so far there was no sign of that. Putin was asked about the South Stream project, a planned gas pipeline from Russia that would have gone under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and onwards to southern Europe. Russia shelved the project after Bulgaria backed out. Poll gives Peru's Fujimori 5.8 point lead a week before election LIMA, May 27 (Reuters) - Center-right presidential hopeful Keiko Fujimori gained more ground over her centrist rival Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in a Datum opinion poll on Friday, the third survey in the past week to show her winning Peru's June 5 run-off election. Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, had 52.9 percent of valid votes compared with Kuczynski's 47.1 percent, according to Datum's mock voting exercise. The survey of 1,979 voters May 23-25 had a 2.2 point margin of error. The two free-market advocates in the world's third top copper supplier were locked in a statistical tie in previous Datum polls. However, 13.7 percent of respondents cast blank or spoiled ballots, giving Kuczynski room to pick up more support if he can exploit fears about Fujimori's ties to her father's authoritarian government and alleged drug trafficking. Fujimori has climbed in opinion polls even after Univision reported on May 15 that a top aide is under investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The DEA declined to confirm or deny the report. Fujimori and her aide have denied wrongdoing and said they were victims of a smear campaign. Ipsos gave Fujimori a 5.2 point lead over Kuczynski in a poll published on Sunday before a debate later in the day that she was widely considered to have won. Local pollster CPI put her 8.4 points ahead on Thursday. Fujimori has portrayed Kuczynski, a 77-year-old former World Bank economist, as out-of-touch and part of Peru's elite. She is seen as stronger on crime and more supportive of the Andean country's provinces and social programs for the poor, according to Datum. U.S. 'concerned' about Libyan-Americans on trial in UAE -official WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Friday it was "concerned" about the case of two Libyan-American businessmen charged by the United Arab Emirates with supporting Libyan militants amid allegations they were tortured into signing a confession. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the case of Kamal Eldarat and his son, Mohamed Eldarat, had been raised with UAE officials by the U.S. ambassador. A verdict in the case was expected on Monday. Toner said U.S. officials would be present. The Eldarats were initially charged with terrorism-related offenses, but the prosecutor in March changed the charges to providing support to Libyan militants and collecting donations without state permission. They face up to 15 years in prison. Amal Eldarat, the daughter and sister of the defendants, said State Department officials had told her the case had been raised with the rulers of the UAE "at the highest level in the State Department and the White House." U.S. President Barack Obama brought the case up with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed when they met on the sidelines of the Gulf Cooperation Council summit April 20 in Riyadh, said a person familiar with the case who asked not to be further identified. The White House declined to comment on Friday. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, said in February his office had credible information that the detainees were tortured and forced to sign confessions, and had been "held incommunicado in secret detention locations" for prolonged periods of time. The UAE denies using torture. Its embassy in Washington could not be reached for comment on Friday. "We remain concerned about several aspects of this case," Toner told reporters. "This includes allegations of mistreatment, their ongoing health issues, as well as prior lack of access to legal representation, (and) the absence of formal charges until their first hearing." Canada expressed similar concerns on Friday, saying it was "seized of the seriousness" of the case against Salim Alaradi, a Libyan-Canadian rounded up in August 2014 at the same time as the Eldarats. He is facing similar charges. "Canada takes every opportunity to raise Mr. Alaradi's case with the United Arab Emirates authorities, particularly our concerns regarding Mr. Salim Alaradi's health, well-being and consular access," said Chantal Gagnon, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Foreign Ministry. Toner said U.S. diplomats had not had consular access to the Eldarats at the start of their detention nearly two years ago. Eldarat said her father had sought political asylum in the United States during the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi. When Gaddafi was toppled, the family tried to help their ancestral city of Misrata, which was involved in the fighting, she said. The UAE and Egypt carried out air strikes against Islamist forces in Libya, including some around Misrata, in August 2014 amid rising concerns over the influence Islamist militias were having in the Middle East. Around the same time, Eldarat said, the Emirates security forces rounded up 10 men of Libyan ancestry, including her brother and father. The defendants' defense team has presented several affidavits attesting to the character of the Eldarats and Alaradi, including one from Libya's attorney general office dated March 30, 2016. If you have a path but do not have the clarity of vision in order to complete your journey, you will not be able to move for a minute on your path. That's what I felt when I read this tweet by the chairman of Pakistan People's Party, Bilawal Bhutto: Disgusting.Disgraceful.Shameless cowardice.insult to all of us who have fallen victim to evils of violent extremism https://t.co/gsfc2pkMvf BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) May 24, 2016 Bilawal was reacting to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan's refusal to call slain al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden a terrorist. When asked on a private television channel if he thought bin Laden was a terrorist, Imran said he would not want to comment. However, Imran isn't the only one in Pakistan who seems to have turned a blind eye to the scourge of terrorism. Pakistan's interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Khan had refused to accept the killing of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, even though the Taliban had itself confirmed the killing and US president Barack Obama had termed it an "important milestone in our longstanding effort to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan". Imran, it may be noted, has always been silent on the Taliban; we have hardly ever heard him criticise the terrorist organisation. It was he who suggested that the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) should have offices in Pakistan, and had accepted in an earlier interview that a senior Afghan Taliban leader was treated at Lahore's Shoukat Khanum Hospital, which was founded by him. Imran Khan refused to comment on whether Osama bin Laden was a terrorist. The PTI chief's unwillingness to call bin Laden a terrorist exposes Imran's policy of treating the terrorists with a kid glove. Is he at all serious in combating terrorism? It looks doubtful. Indeed politicians like Imran seem to have taken off from the policy of former dictator Zia-ul-Haq which was characterised by backing militant groups. These politicians now think of the Taliban operatives as their brothers. If Imran is unable to call bin Laden a terrorist, how can he present himself as a leader of the people of Pakistan? Does he think the people will accept him despite knowing that he has strong sympathies for the Taliban - a group which wants to turn the world into hell? How could they forget that common citizens and civilians have been killed as a result of terrorism? It is not only the problem of one country or one region, it is in fact the problem of the entire world. Imran and indeed Choudhary Nisar Khan's statements prove that for these politicians, there is always a so-called "good" Taliban, or mujahideen (freedom fighters). It is unlikely that these politicians can lead the people of Pakistan to a bright future that they want and deserve. On May 19, the Islamic State, or ISIS, released a major video campaign against India in which about half a dozen fugitive Indian Muslims threaten to wage jihad against India. While India cannot be dismissive about the jihadist threat, the Indians must bear in mind that for the first time since the Mauryan empire which lasted two-and-a-half centuries from 4th century BCE, India is today militarily the strongest state that can meet any challenge to its security. Revelation The ISIS video, reviewed by this author, reveals the following: one, it proves conclusively that several militants escaped from the Batla House encounter site. Two, it features one of the four jihadist youth who left Mumbai in May 2014, weeks before Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared himself the caliph of all Muslims. Three, a major emphasis of the video is on the message of hijrah (migration), urging Muslims to migrate from the lands of unbelief to the land of Islam (the Iraq-Syria region), as Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to establish Islamic rule in Medina. Four, all the youths speak Urdu, except one who speaks English with British accent and could be of Indian origin. However, a narrator who is not shown in the video speaks Arabic. It can be said that the video - which was released by the ISIS's branch for the Syrian province of Homs - is targeted at audiences in the Arab world and in India, as the Arabic narration carries Urdu subtitles while the Urdu speeches carry Arabic subtitles. Given the ISIS's media practise, it's possible that this video is part of an upcoming jihadi media campaign against India. The video is also of significance to academics and jihadists. Alberto M Fernandez, a former US ambassador who served as the US State Department's Coordinator for the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications from 2012 to 2015, says the video offers a jihadist interpretation of India's history by arguing that "the centuries of Islamic rule in India were ended by the Crusaders". Batla House. (Source: YouTube) He notes: "I was struck by it because I had never heard the British in India being described in contemporary jihadist terms in this particular way with the Mughal Empire described as if it was an uninterrupted reign of jihadist idol destruction and temple vandalism." Currently, the jihadist threat to India originates from six sources. One, a Pakistani state-backed jihadism threatens India, especially in Jammu & Kashmir, because Pakistan is no longer capable of fighting a military-led war against India. Since jihadism is rooted in Pakistan's identity as an Islamic state, this threat to India will exist till Pakistan exists in its present form. Two, recent jihadist attacks in Bangladesh claimed by ISIS and al-Qaeda have long-term implications for India's security. If a right-wing government takes over in Bangladesh, a real possibility in near future, then this threat will multiply. Threat Three, the threat to India also originates from the Middle East. In present times, ideas travelling across borders can threaten a country's internal peace. The recent migration of refugees to Europe is an example. In future, invasions will be led by ideas and people, not necessarily by states. For India's security purposes, there is no think tank in New Delhi that studies domestic implications of a massive Indian Muslim diaspora in the Middle East. Four, there is a global failure to contain jihadism in the Middle East which means the jihadist threat to India will continue to exist till the Arab countries remain in the grip of jihadism, especially that funded by Saudi Arabia. Security Five, the Indian state is itself a source of security threat. In such videos, jihadists cite Hindu-Muslim riots as a form of their grievance, which could radicalise Muslims. The failure of Indian state in training and building world-class last-mile police stations with professionalism and zero tolerance for lawbreakers needs to be addressed urgently. This systemic weakness cripples India's ability to fight jihadism at home. Rarely does it happen that nations strong at home fall. Additionally, political interference that damages the neutrality of intelligence agencies is also a threat to India. Six, while it can be argued that Islam is a peaceful religion, it can equally be argued based on numerous Quranic verses that Islam is not a religion of peace. Significantly, a number of Islamic clerics condemn the al-Qaeda and ISIS while simultaneously supporting the theological reasons based on which the jihadist organisations thrive. While not all theology can be restricted, the Indian state must make it mandatory for mosques, dargahs (shrines), madrasas and khanqahs (monasteries) to obtain a PAN card and upload quarterly reports regarding their sources of income and leadership on a government website. In the 21st century, Pakistan is still bearing the brunt of anti-women laws. Three decades ago, former dictator Zia-ul-Haq presented the Hudood Ordinance in 1979, which goes against the basic rights of women. Few years later, former prime minister Shaheed Benazir Bhutto could do nothing to remove the discriminatory law because it had been presented in the assembly in the name of Islam. Whenever human rights' advocates, writers and women themselves speak about the Hudood ordinance, calling for amendments, it is declared that the groups have western agendas and speak against Islam. Pakistani acid attack survivor Shamma Maqsood holds a picture of herself before the attack. "If we speak for human rights for women, religious voices say that we are rendering our society uncivilised and imposing the western culture upon Pakistan." If women ask for equal rights, is it a western agenda? If they wish to be equal participants in the society to promote democratic values, would you term it a foreign practice? When a society objects to child marriage, do human rights become a western import? Whoever calls human rights a western agenda should peep into themselves - how can human rights become western agenda? Are women in our society to walk on the tightrope of laws that harm their lives? No democratic and civilised society accepts such laws. Even so, when women speaking up for human rights, they are always targeted and named characterless and uncivilised. The reason being that conservative minds want to keep women confined to four walls and see them as slaves. If women broke this tradition and contributed their share in the society at par with men, it would hurt their so-called egos. Therefore, the conservative class does not want to see women empowered and tries to banish them behind closed doors in the name of Islam. Whenever governments pledge to bring new laws to protect women and ensure their human rights, then the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) speaks against them. It seems that CII has one responsibility alone - and that is to oppose women's basic rights. It sees criticism from most fronts - be it social media or political parties. While it is entrusted with making recommendations, the CII presents itself as a law in itself, which is unacceptable. The council has reduced its importance a great deal because of its inhuman statements concerning women. "What is the use of CII in our system? When we have parliament system and parliamentarian bound to account for legislation and Supreme Court is present that can tell us about law - nowadays CII has lost its importance while making nuance statement. Those who want to keep Zia-ul-Haq's ideology alive in society, they back up CII, said Zaman Khan, coordinator, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Pakistan's Punjab Assembly presented the Protection Of Women Against Violence Bill 2015 (PWAVB), appreciated across Pakistan, and the civil society expressed its doubts about whether the Pakistan Muslim league - N (PMLN) can implement the legislation in its spirit. So far, the PWAVB has found support across the country and given Pakistanis a reason to hope because the PMLN has worked for the cause of women. Unfortunately, the CII feels that such a bill needs its religious, scholarly review following which it will recommend what the legislation should entail! On May 26, 2016, CII's recommendation on the bill led to strong disagreement among citizens, political parties and human rights organisations, including PMLN. The CII "allowed a husband to 'lightly beat' his wife". Does the CII not know that millions of our women are brutally beaten, tortured and killed in their homes? Several prominent women in the Pakistani society have condemned the CII's recommendation. PMLN Member of National Assembly(MNA) Maiza Hameed openly criticised the proposal: "Punjab Assembly has started working on PWAVB, and we cannot accept a single undemocratic or un-Islamic word which allows the world to laugh at us. Indeed, the CII's statements may have shown our religion in poor light. Our religion (Islam) does not allow violence against women. How can CII speak about them?" Hameed added that Islam should not be abused by men. The CII should think about the negative thoughts this will feed into innocent minds in our society, and how they will be used to create more problems. This is not just a stray statement; it has a lasting impact on everyone's minds. We should think for our children, the young generation that lives in our society. We need to give them positive and not negative education. "We will consider logical, humanitarian recommendations that reflect the tenets of our religion; those leading to further violation are unacceptable," said Hameed. "These are insane statements and they (CII) have lost their nerve," said Asma Jahangir, human rights activist and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both back more federal investment in pre-K and K-12 programs, and a focus by states on closing achievement gaps between white students and students of color, senior policy advisers to the two said during an education-focused debate Thursday. The debate took place at the Newseum in Washington sponsored by The Committee for Education Funding, an organization that advocates for more funding of pre-K and higher education initiatives. Neither candidate attended the event. Clinton was represented by Ann OLeary, who previously served as the vice president of The Center for the Next Generation, and Sanders by Donni Turner who previously served as the policy director for the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. (Nobody from presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trumps campaign participated in the debate despite being invited.) Both Clinton and Sanders have spoken little about K-12 education policies on the campaign trail. Thursdays debate, which lasted less than 30 minutes and was livestreamed, made clear that there are few differences between their K-12 education agendas. Both candidates advocate for expanded Pre-K, wrap-around services and local decisionmaking, their advisers said. Regarding the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which hands states greater power to shape their own school accountability systems and teacher evaluations, Turner said Sanders would push for parental involvement in the decisionmaking process. Its been state-driven so far, said Turner. We want to make sure that theres local input and its significant, that parents and students have a voice in how curriculum is set, accountability is set and what it means to graduate. Clintons adviser, O Leary, said that while ESSAs predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, focused the right attention on achievement gaps, it overemphasized testing. I hope that this time around, were able to recognize we need to have a full curriculum for all students, OLeary said. We are all for supporting districts and states figuring out what works for them. They both also pushed for more federal spending to help states figure out ways to close achievement gaps and to expand pre-K and access to Wi-Fi for poor families. But neither adviser specified how the candidates planned to pay for those initiatives. After the debate, speakers from think tanks ranging from the conservative to the left-leaningLindsey Burke from the Heritage Foundation, Nat Malkus from the American Enterprise Institute, and Carmel Martin from the Center for American Progressdiscussed other education policies, including teacher quality, federal spending and closing achievement gaps. Watch the entire debate here . Washington Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said Thursday that the departments proposed accountability regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act represent an attempt to move away from the overprescriptive and to some extent punitive approach to accountability that proliferated under ESSAs predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act. During a visit to the J.C. Nalle Elementary School, King visited a classroom here and discussed the new rules with reporters. He emphasized that the new regulations were based on a lot of listening by department staffers to a variety of groups. King also participated in a roundtable discussion at J.C. Nalle with education advocates, teachers, and others in a bid to highlight how ESSA and the draft rules the department released on it Wednesday try to broaden the definition of student success and give schools new ways to excel. Weve tried to balance state and local flexibility with strong civil rights guardrails, King told reporters. The much-anticipated rules deal with a number of complicated and often controversial topics such as school ratings, test participation, school turnaround requirements. Among other hot-button issues: The rules dont require states to give indicators like test scores a specific weight. But they are required to give academic factors more weight. And when it comes to identifying schools for turnarounds, academic indicators would essentially carry more weight. Schools would also have to publish comprehensive, summative ratings for schools. And states would have to choose from a menu of options of what to do about low test-participation rates in schools, or come up with their own strategies. In early reactions to the rules, there have been concerns about how states would have to address low participation in state exams, and how exactly states would and would not have to define consistently underperforming groups of students for school improvement purposes. Once the draft rules are published in the Federal Register (slated to occur May 31), the public will have 60 days to provide comments on them. The public-comment window will close Aug. 1. Broad Issues Discussed While ESSA itself was the product of consensus and bipartisan compromise, when it comes to the law and the proposed rules, Our purpose here is to make sure that we are doing our best for every single student at every single school, said Cecilia Munoz, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, who was also at the discussion. The panel included a discussion of issues such as dual-language instruction, equitable funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and access to advanced coursework. These are all issues that King and the Education Department have emphasized when discussing ESSA and education more broadly in recent months. Laurent Rigal, a physics teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Washington, recalled that when he taught at a different school, there was no instruction in physics and 900 students were graduating without having taken any classes in the subject. Initially, he had been asked to teach biology, even though he had been trained as a physics teacher. He built up Advanced Placement physics instruction at his previous school, but when he left, that instruction came to a halt, he recalled. (Students taking and successfully completing advanced coursework is one way schools could satisfy the requirement to have a school quality or student success accountability indicator under ESSA.) No one there was able to teach the class, Rigal said of his former school when he left. And Wade Henderson, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, noted that schools have played an important role historically as a leveler of societal injustices. Among other things, he wants teachers with the most training to teach the disadvantaged students who need such quality instruction the most. He said he hopes that under ESSA, Teachers and students are matched better. But Kristen Amundson, the executive director of the National Association of State Boards of Education, did register one concern she had with the draft rules: the requirement for each school to have a single, summative rating under ESSA. But she didnt get into details about why she was worried. Photo: Education Secretary John B. King Jr., third from left, listen to a panel of educators, civil rights activists, and others during a discussion of the Every Student Succeeds Act at J.C. Nalle Elementary School in Washington, D.C. Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . A new test is positioning itself as a non-common-core alternative to the SAT and ACT. Word about the Vector Assessment of Readiness for College, or Vector A.R.C., has been making its way through the conservative blogosphere, which is pitching it as a tool for families who dont want their children taking college admissions tests that reflect the Common Core State Standards. Families who home school or send their students to private schools, and those who live in states without the common core, are key audiences for Vector A.R.C. On its website, Vector ARC goes on the attack against testing giants that have gained a virtual monopoly over widely used tests such as the SAT and ACT, and markets itself as the antidote for Common Core-aligned college entrance exams. Vector A.R.C. also appeals directly to the local-control sentiment that fueled the fight against the common core, using this tagline on its website: Working to preserve both your academic freedom AND your college options. Testing can be a tool for assessing both proficiency as well as higher-learning skills, the website says. But when testing is driven by nationalized content, it can be a tool for disenfranchising those who have chosen an education that is not governmentally prescribed. True education is a lifelong process that extends well beyond the standardized classroom. So, why should students be limited in their options of educational instruction? The assessment is in beta-testing mode. Students who attended a national home-schooling convention in Cincinnati last spring were given the opportunity to take the test so developers could refine it. For that beta testing, Vector A.R.C. sought students who already had SAT or ACT scores, presumably to facilitate study of how performance on the new test compares with performance on those established exams. Vector A.R.C. says on its website that the test was developed by educators, policy developers, and subject-area experts, and that there are colleges and universities interested in and willing to accept the A.R.C. once the scores are validated, but it offers no further details. The Heartland Institute, a libertarian think tank, has been spreading the word about Vector A.R.C. in a bid to get more families to sign their students up for beta testing and for the finished exam. Justin Haskins, the groups executive director, wrote a piece for Forbes this week that said the test is soon to be released, but Vector A.R.C.'s website doesnt give a date, and company spokeswoman Julie West wasnt immediately available for discussion. Haskins writes that Vector A.R.C. will only test students on the information they actually need to be successful in college and later in life, focusing heavily on the classical Western educational standards of the past. ... If students have the skills that have been considered essential for centuries in Western nations, they will do well on the Vector A.R.C. test. In a post last month on the Federalist , Heartlands senior fellow on education, Robert Holland, talked with West, who told him that the test is untimed, and gauges mastery of math through calculus, science through chemistry and physics, and English/language arts. A plan to improve South Carolinas poor and rural schools will most likely be delayed another year as state lawmakers take more time to determine the details of the proposed legislation, according to The State. The proposal calls for the state to borrow $200 million a year to then help school districts improve decrepit school facilities. Currently, school districts must rely on local tax base money for construction projects, which puts poor school districts at a disadvantage. State senators announced Wednesday that the legislation, which is supported by Gov. Nikki Haley and passed the House in April, is unlikely to move forward before the legislative session ends in June. Instead, lawmakers approved $1.5 million for a study that will determine which poor and mostly rural school districts most need the funding. The legislative attention to poor and rural districts is in response to a 2014 state Supreme Court order , which called for officials and school districts to determine ways to improve struggling low-income schools in the state. That order was the result of a lawsuit on behalf of more than two-dozen poor and rural school districts, which claimed the state had failed to provide a minimally adequate education for their students due to a lack of funds for poor and rural districts. Since that ruling, officials and lawmakers have proposed various solutions including raising teacher salaries and consolidating schools , but little change has occurred. According to The State, lawmakers plan to reintroduce the construction funding legislation next year. An attorney representing Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that the federal investigation into the governor should be closed because there's no evidence McAuliffe violated laws dealing with foreign influence of U.S. policy. James W. Cooper, a lawyer with the D.C.-based firm Arnold & Porter, said the U.S. Department of Justice told him the probe is focused on McAuliffe's foreign sources of income before he became governor and whether he lobbied on behalf of those interests without registering as a foreign agent. "We understand from the Justice Department that they do not have evidence that that occurred," Cooper said in a phone interview. Cooper said the Justice Department did not mention donations from Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang, the Clinton Global Initiative or public corruption. "I want - to the extent Governor McAuliffe's reputation has been tarnished - to at least put out what we understand from the government as the nature of their investigation," Cooper said. He added that he wished to "dispel some of the false information" attributed to government officials. CNN reported Monday that the Justice Department and FBI are investigating McAuliffe over contributions to his 2013 gubernatorial campaign, particularly $120,000 in contributions from a New Jersey-based company linked to Wang. McAuliffe has said Wang is a valid donor because he has permanent legal status in the U.S., which makes him eligible to contribute to political campaigns under federal law. Cooper said investigators are exploring a potential violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires representatives of foreign entities to disclose their connections before engaging in political activity, such as lobbying, in the U.S. "This matter focuses on governor McAuliffe's receipt of some funds from some foreign sources during the time when he was a private citizen and a global businessman," Cooper said. "So it is unremarkable that he would have foreign sources of income." Cooper did not identity a specific source of foreign income that has come under scrutiny. "What I can say is that there's ample information on public sources about then-Mr. McAuliffe's business with state-owned enterprises and doing things like infrastructure projects," Cooper said. The Justice Department did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment. McAuliffe pushed back earlier Wednesday on revelations about the investigation, saying CNN was "sold a bag of goods" and criticizing federal agencies over what he called a "leak." "It is very unfortunate that our institutions of integrity like [the U.S. Department of Justice] and the FBI would leak information," McAuliffe said during a morning appearance on WTOP's "Ask the Governor" program. "I think they should be held to a higher standard." McAuliffe said his lawyer had contacted the Justice Department and received assurances that no wrongdoing has been found. "Unless there's something I don't know today, I just don't know, but this poor man has been dragged through the mud for giving a legitimate contribution," McAuliffe said. McAuliffe suggested to reporters Tuesday that he had never met Wang, but he clarified Wednesday that the two men may have met "once or twice," but the total encounters were likely "less than 10 minutes." "They say that he may have come to the inaugural. Not sure," McAuliffe said. "We may have had him over for a cup of coffee with my secretary of [agriculture]. So we're having our people pull out all the schedules. But I have had no dealings. I would not know the man if he sat in this chair next to me." The full scope of the investigation, first reported by CNN, remains unclear. McAuliffe said it wasn't clear to him what attracted the interest from investigators. Middle and high schools in Maine are returning their iPads and switching back to laptops after a survey found that 88.5 percent of teachers and 74 percent of students in one district preferred laptops for schoolwork and classroom instruction, reports the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal . The Maine Department of Education and Apple are offering a refresh swap deal to school districts at no additional cost. Old devices can be traded in for new MacBooks (or new iPads, since both devices have been upgraded). Already, 1,718 laptops are set to be delivered in the fallno word on whether any schools made the trade for new iPads. Apple had initially offered better priced and designed iPads and Macbooks for Maine schools after hearing that schools were complaining about the iPads and opting instead for less expensive computers such as Chromebooks, which are made by Google. The swap deal comes following the results of a survey given to Auburn School Department students and teachers in grades seven through 12, conducted by the districts technology director Peter Robinson, according to Hot HardWare . Robinson told the Sun Journal that the results, which he presented last week, are pretty darn clear and made the decision for us. He said after seeing the success with iPads in primary grades three years ago, he thought iPads were absolutely the right choice, but has since realized that iPads have shortcomings for older students. Students and teachers felt that iPads are often used to play games in class, while laptops allow students to do more for schoolwork and are better devices for coding and programming, for example. According to the Sun Journal, a teacher participating in the survey wrote that iPads provide no educational function in the classroom and word processing is near to impossible. The iPads are largely students gaming devices, another teacher wrote, while yet another called them a disaster. Students seemed to share the same perspective, according to the Sun Journal. One wrote WE NEED LAPTOPS!!! three times in the study. Another said that iPads are easier to play games on and get addicted to. The state underestimated how different an iPad is from a laptop, said Mike Muir, policy director for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. Muir also noted that student use of iPads could have been more effective if the state department of education had encouraged more teacher training. Teachers have long called for more professional development and training with technological tools in the classroom. For instance, training and technical support were among the many issues plaguing the Los Angeles Unified School Districts iPad program , with reports finding that iPads and other devices were used in ways that did not take advantage of the 1-to-1 device availability for students and showed limited potential to engage students in new or exciting learning opportunities. At the same time, a recent meta-analysis examining 15 years of research found that 1-to-1 laptop programs increased student achievement and student engagement, and had a positive impact on student test scores in English/language arts, writing, math, and science. While schools wrestle with whether to use a mix of devices or to rely heavily on one type of technology to build their 1-to-1 computing programs, research has found that choosing the right digital learning device for each specific grade level can be the key factor in determining how technology is effectively integrated into the classroom. Photo by Flickr user Lucelia Ribeiro ; licensed under Creative Commons . More on classroom technology: Controversial Louisiana Law Makes Targeting Police a Hate Crime A new law in Louisiana makes it a hate crime to target law enforcement and emergency personnel. The bill making these professions a protected class -- dubbed Blue Lives Matter -- was reportedly proposed in response to the Black Lives Matter movement criticizing police brutality in the black community. It is the first of its kind in the country. Hate crime legislation makes punishments more severe when crimes target a protected class, such as age, race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability. Critics say that adding law enforcement to this list of protected classes dilutes the value of this type of legislation by basing it on a mutable or changing characteristic, such as a profession, rather than an unchangeable one like race or national origin. Protecting Blue Lives According to NPR, crime statistics show an overall decline in officer killings. Still, the Louisiana law making police, firefighters, emergency medical crews, and other first responders a protected class reportedly passed easily. Anyone convicted of intentionally targeting someone in this protected class will be punished more severely than previously based on the now-protected status. "Coming from a family of law enforcement officers," Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said in a statement. announcing the signing of the bill into law, "I have great respect for the work that they do and the risks they take to ensure our safety." State Police Superintendent Colonel Mike Edmonson expressed his support of the law, too, pointing out the heroism of law enforcement and first responders who run toward trouble when others are running away. Edmonds said, "For those individuals who choose to target our heroes, the message formalized in this legislative act should be clear and the consequences severe. On behalf of first responders throughout Louisiana, we thank the legislature and the governor for helping to make this law a reality." Diluting Hate Crime Legislation? Critics say, however, that this legislation dilutes hate crime laws by enlarging the protected class to include people who are not targeted for what they are but for what they do for a living. The Anti-Defamation League, for example, opposed the legislation and explained the basis for its opposition to what it called the "Blue Lives Matter" bill before it was signed into law. In a statement issued earlier this month, it wrote, "The ADL strongly believes that the list of personal characteristics included in hate crimes laws should remain limited to immutable characteristics, those qualities that can or should not be changed. Working in a profession is not a personal characteristic, and it is not immutable ...This bill confuses the purpose of the Hate Crimes Act and weakens its impact by adding more categories of people, who are better protected under other laws." There is something to that argument. After all, people can choose to be blue. But there is little choice about being foreign or black or having a handicap or any of the more traditional protected classes. Accused? If you are accused of a crime of any kind, talk to a lawyer. Get help with your defense. Many criminal defense attorneys consult for free or a minimal fee and will be happy to discuss your case. Related Resources: Nyree Holmes is a senior at Cosumnes Oaks High School in Sacramento County. When Mr. Holmes tried to express his African heritage by wearing a kente cloth (a cultural cloth from Ghana) to his graduation ceremony, school officials insisted he remove it. When he refused, school officials called sheriff's deputies to kick the high school senior out of his graduation ceremony. Police Escort Black Merit Scholar Out of Graduation After Refusing to Remove Kente Cloth So this happened: a Texas man, relaxing in a trailer park with his marijuana, was bit by a dog. Shocked, and believing the bite was a gun shot wound, he called the cops. Raucous hilarity ensued. The Houston Chronicle shares the few details available. Colombia wants to produce Novartis's leukemia drug imatinib under a compulsory license, something it is allowed to do under its trade agreement with the USA, to bring the price down from $15,161/year (double the annual average income) to prices like those charged in India ($803/year). This is totally legal, and the government has only taken the step because Novartis has refused to come to the table to negotiate. But that doesn't mean Novartis has sat on its hands: ever since Colombia announced this plan, the Swiss and US governments have been leaning on the country. Most recently, a top Orrin Hatch staffer from the Senate Finance Committee went to the Colombian embassy in DC and threatened to yank America's $450M in support for Paz Colombia, the peace process that offers the first hope in decades for stability in a country where America has fought a vicious, high-casualty proxy war on drugs. Bernie Sanders and Sen Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have written to the US Trade Rep, demanding that they cut this shit out. But the meetings at the Colombian embassy have sparked protest from some Democratic lawmakers. Yesterday, 15 House Democrats fired off a letter to Froman to complain. And in their own missive, Sanders and Brown wrote that the warnings given to Colombian officials contradict the rights that countries have under a World Trade Agreement to issue compulsory licenses. The lawmakers also noted that an existing trade agreement between the US and Colombia reiterates this right. "Attempts to dissuade Colombia would be inconsistent with the goals of these agreements and would signal that the US is not committed to living up to the standards of our free-trade agreements when it does not suit corporate interests," they wrote. In one letter, a Colombian embassy official wrote that while Novartis is not an American company, the US pharmaceutical industry is "very worried" the Gleevec case may become a precedent. US Senator Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, has close ties to the pharmaceutical industry, and the US Trade Rep had already placed Colombia on its list of countries that does a poor job of enforcing patent rights. Bernie Sanders accuses US Trade Rep of intimidating Colombia over Novartis patent [Ed Silverman/Stat] Background FAQ on Glivec (imatinib) compulsory license in Colombia [KEI] (Image: Industria Novartis, Leoboudv, CC-BY)M& The DAI will offer free general admission to all active duty military personnel and their families, as well as discounted admission to the special exhibitions Into the Ether and The Antarctic Sublime & Elements of Nature: Water. The DAI will also offer active duty military personnel and their families a $10 discount on the purchase or renewal of a museum membership. The Dayton Art Institute will participate in the 2016 Blue Star Museums program, a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America, to offer free admission to the nations active duty military personnel, including National Guard and Reserve and their families, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Blue Star Museums provides families an opportunity to enjoy the nations cultural heritage and learn more about their new communities after a military move. A list of participating museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums. The site also includes a map to help plan visits. Our military personnel and their families give so much to protect our country, said DAI Executive Director Michael R. Roediger. Blue Star Museums is an important way for The DAI and other museums throughout the country to thank them and give something back to them. The Dayton Art Institute is proud to participate in the program again this year. During the program, The DAI will waive its suggested admission fee and offer free general admission to its permanent collection for all active-duty military personnel and their families, as well as discounted admission to the special exhibitions Into the Ether: Contemporary Light Artists (currently on view through June 26) and The Antarctic Sublime & Elements of Nature: Water (on view July 16 October 16). In addition, The DAI will offer active duty military personnel and their families a $10 discount on the purchase of a new museum membership or membership renewal. About Blue Star Museums Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and more than 2,000 museums across America. The program runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The free admission program is available to any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active duty U.S. military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps - and up to five family members. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly. Leadership support for Blue Star Museums is provided by MetLife Foundation through Blue Star Families. For more information about The Dayton Art Institutes participation in Blue Star Museums, call 937-223-4ART (4278). ABOUT THE DAYTON ART INSTITUTE As one of the Miami Valleys premier fine art museums, The Dayton Art Institute offers a full range of programming in addition to exhibiting its collection. Gallery hours areWednesday Saturday, 11 a.m. 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon 5 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Thursdays. Suggested admission to the museums permanent collection is $8 adults, $5 seniors, active military and groups. Admission is free for museum members, students (18+ w/ID) and youth (17 and under). Some special exhibitions, programs and events may carry an additional charge and include admission to the museums permanent collection as part of that price. Free parking is available at the museum and the facility is fully accessible to physically challenged visitors. The DAIs Museum Store is open during regular museum hours. Leo Bistro serves lunch Wednesday Friday, 11 a.m. 2:30 p.m.,Saturday, 11 a.m. 2 p.m., and Sunday, noon 3 p.m. Leo Bistro also serves dinner on Thursday evenings, 4:30 8 p.m. For more information, please call 937-223-4ART (4278) or visit www.daytonartinstitute.org. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The DAI also receives support from the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District. ABOUT BLUE STAR FAMILIES Blue Star Families is a national, nonprofit network of military spouses, children, parents and friends, as well as service members, veterans and civilians, dedicated to supporting, connecting and empowering military families. With our partners, Blue Star Families leverages data-driven insights to curate resources for military families, including career development tools, local community events for families, and caregiver support. Since its inception in 2009, Blue Star Families has engaged tens of thousands of volunteers and serves more than 1.5 million military family members annually. Blue Star Families also works directly with the Department of Defense and senior members of local, State and Federal government to bring the most important military family issues to light. With Blue Star Families, military families can find answers to their challenges anywhere they are. Visit bluestarfam.org for more information. ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates Americas rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Arts and the agency is celebrating this milestone with events and activities through September 2016. 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. The successive markdown comes at a time when its American rival Amazon is aggressively gaining traction in the burgeoning Indian ecommerce market. New Delhi: Signalling a tough road ahead for Flipkart, a mutual fund managed by Morgan Stanley has marked down the value of its shares in the Indian e-commerce major by 15.5 per cent, valuing it at under $10 billion (Rs 67,030 crore) $1.77 billion ( Rs 11,864 crore) less than its December 2015 valuation of $11.8 billion ( Rs 79,095 crore). The successive markdown comes at a time when its American rival Amazon is aggressively gaining traction in the burgeoning Indian ecommerce market. A number of investors like Fidelity Investments and T Rowe Price have also made similar mark downs of the company, which was considered as the poster child of Indian ecommerce industry. According to a US SEC filing, Morgan Stanley has marked the value of their Flipkart shares at $87.9 per share as of March 2016 from $103.9 per share as of December 2015. The December value was lower by over 23 per cent from $135.8 per share as of September last year. The markdown brings down the valuation of Flipkart to under $10 billion. According to repo-rts, the Bengaluru- based firm had raised capital in July last year at a valuation of over $15 billion. Comments could not be obtained from Flipkart as emailed query remained unanswered. Morgan Stanley had picked up stake in Flipkart in 2013. According to reports, Flipkart has been facing funding crunch and falling valuations. 29 per cent of children in India drop out before even completing their five years of primary education. (Representational image) The numbers of children who are deprived of education in India are countless; in fact 29 per cent of children in India drop out before even completing their five years of primary education. According to a report on The Better India, 1.4 million students in the 6-11 year old bracket are presently not attending any school, which is a direct reflection of the countrys sluggish economy. Although the government has initiated numerous programmes in the past on paper, a lot of children and their parents dont even know about those schemes. Also, there are various factors like non-completion of education, non-enrolments, and high drop out rates that is stopping the country from attaining its goal to increase literacy rates. While it is impossible to provide for all the needy children out there, an old lady has taken up the initiative to literally bring education to the doorsteps of the needy and unprivileged children. Ranjani Paranjape, popularly known as Ranjani Tai, is the founder of the Door Step School, which is a non-profit organisation focusing on providing education to the children who come from the poorer division of the society. Currently, she is focused on providing education or literacy classes to children between 3-14 years of age. She has introduced several programs over the course of 20 years. As she continues to shower her efforts towards this noble cause, she also hopes that other people join in and lend support to these children. Here is a video by The Better India with a short summary of what the organisation is doing: Mumbai: Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatts Udta Punjabs trailer may have been let off easy without a single cut but the film itself is receiving a severe treatment. According to reports, the Abhishek Choubey film has failed to get the Board's nod over the blatant use of cuss words and scenes showing substance abuse. The makers have tried to convince the examining committee (EC) about the importance of the dialogues as well as the scenes, but to no avail. Now, instead of appealing to the Board's revising committee, the makers have approached Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT). Apparently, the board members have been divided over the number of cuts, although they had unanimously agreed to grant it an 'A' certificate. The CBFC's decision comes a week after Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had expressed reservations over the portrayal of Punjabis in the film which is scheduled for release on June 17, seven months ahead of the 2017 assembly polls. While there have been reports that the film has been banned altogether, Anurag took to his social networking handle to put an end to all the speculations. He wrote, For the record ,"Udta Punjab" is not banned. The examining committe has deferred the decision to Revising and due process is on. Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 28, 2016 And due process takes it own time so please abstain for spreading a BAN rumour. There is nothing to speak on the subject as of now. Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 28, 2016 A film is banned only when examining, revising and FCAT all three refuse certificate . And then you fight it out in Supreme Court Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) May 28, 2016 Anurag had earlier thanked Pahlaj Nihalani for clearing the movie trailer on Twitter. He wrote, Pleasantly surprised and thankful to the CBFC for seeing the Udta Punjab trailer in the context and clearing it without a single cut.Big one. Having cursed the CBFC always for there overzealous attitude, must credit them where its due. Thank you Mr Nihalani. Hoping it continues is what woke the Board up to the miss. Last month, Ekta Kapoor had approached FCAT after EC had rejected 'Great Grand Masti'. The tribunal had passed the film stating that it was a lot less vulgar than 'Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3' and 'Mastizaade', both of which released in January. Watch the trailer of 'Udta Punjab' here. Mumbai: Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif recently wrapped up the Moroccan schedule of their upcoming film 'Jagga Jasoos' directed by Anurag Basu. Several pictures of the two along with their body doubles have surfaced online. Read: Katrina skips Karan Johars birthday bash due to Ranbirs presence? #RanbirKapoor on the sets of #JaggaJasoos in #Morocco. A photo posted by Jagga Jasoos Fan Club (@jaggajasoos.fc) on May 21, 2016 at 3:44am PDT Going by the picture, Ranbir and his body double were shooting for a fight sequence as the two are tending to an injured arm. Katrina and her stand-in are seen standing pretty, donning identical chequered dresses. Recently, Ranbir had spoken about the film, "With Jagga Jasoos, Anurag Basu is trying to bring in a new genre of films to Bollywood. And its very interesting for me as an actor to play a young detective who stammers and is on his way to find his stepfather. Its on the landscape of an adventure film like Indiana Jones or Tintin." Mumbai: Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri's adorable AbRam turns 3. The actor, who was in London to attend Aryan's graduation day, also ringed in Karan Johar's 44th birthday before flying back to Mumbai. A globe trotter, AbRam often accompanies his dad for IPL matches and movie shoots. The toddler rang in his birthday 30,000 ft above the ground. Shah Rukh shared a picture on his social networking handle, "Birthday celebrations 30,000 ft from the ground. The chips are here now waiting for the colas & cake." Birthday celebrations 30,000 ft from the ground. The chips r here now waiting for the colas & cake. A photo posted by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on May 26, 2016 at 1:32pm PDT Shah Rukh, who has been barred from posting anymore pictures of his kids online, shared a picture of him all covered with balls. I am forbidden by family to post their pics on the net but sometimes all u need is some balls to tread the forbidden... A photo posted by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on May 25, 2016 at 11:06am PDT On work front, Shah Rukh recently wrapped up shooting for Gauri Shinde's untitled film with Alia Bhatt. He is also gearing up for the release of 'Raees' next year. Priyanka, who was accompanied by 'Quantico' co-star Yasmine Al Massri, received a warm welcome by fans at the Mumbai airport. Mumbai: Priyanka Chopra, who worked overtime to wrap up shooting for Baywatch, has made it back to Mumbai. Priyanka, who was accompanied by 'Quantico' co-star Yasmine Al Massri, received a warm welcome by fans at the Mumbai airport. Priyanka, who has been juggling with several projects at once, made her last trip to India in April, to collect her Padma Shri from President Pranab Mukherjee. She was recently in Las Vegas for the Billboard Music Awards 2016 where she dazzled at the red carpet. According to reports, Priyanka will be busy shooting for several endorsements while in India. She has been signed on for 24 advertising campaigns and she is estimated to make close to Rs 100-crores. She will be heading back to begin shooting for second season of 'Quantico'. An elated Priyanka posted, Mere desh ki dharti.. So good to be home... #amchiMumbai PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) May 26, 2016 Priyanka Chopra received a warm welcome at Mumbai airport, watch the video here. Priyanka's next film 'Baywatch' is based on the hugely popular 1990s TV series of the same name where she will be essaying the character of Victoria Leeds. The suave and stylish Arvind Swamy, who made an awesome comeback after a long hiatus with Thani Oruvan, has been flooded with several offers, although he is choosy about it. Having said that the Roja star has gone on board, to host a show on a popular channel. Reportedly he was paid a lucrative sum as remuneration. The sneak promos with Swamy in a cool and trendy avatar have already created a buzz in cyber space. The show titled Neengalum Vellalaam Oru Kodi, which is the Tamil adaptation of Kaun Banega Crorepati, was earlier hosted by biggies like Suriya and Prakash Raj. Arvind Swamy is hosting the third season and the makers claim that they have made few changes to kindle the audiences interest. On the film front, the actor received accolades for his solid performance in the Hindi flick Dear Dad. His forthcoming movies include Bogan with Jayam Ravi and Dhruva with Ram Charan. Looks like injuries and Vishal are inseparable! The actor, who fractured his limbs while shooting for Poojai, was later severely hurt during the climax action sequence of the recently-released Marudhu. Now, we hear that the star injured his shoulders while performing a stunt sequence for his upcoming flick Kaththi Sandai, which has Tamannaah as the female lead. Despite the pain, we hear that the macho man completed the days portion. When contacted, the actor, who is in Hyderabad for the release of Rayudu (the Telugu version of Marudhu), says, It has become part of my profession. Whenever I get injured during shooting, those films were super hits as in the case of Sandakozhi and Malaikottai. So, it works for me sentimentally. (laughs) Vishal also says that he was hurt in the same place on his shoulders, when he did a risky shot for Balas Avan Ivan. Quiz him about reports making the rounds that he will start a multi-starrer movie with Bala sometime in January 2017, and he replies, Hmmm... Whenever Bala sir calls me, I would go without asking any questions, he asserts. The new film has Arvind Swamy, Atharvaa, Rana Daggubati and Arya among other biggies, which Bala himself revealed earlier. Despite two big Tollywood films Sardar Gabbar Singh and Brahmotsavam not doing well at the box-office as expected, Telugu distributors are falling over each other to bag the rights for Kabali. The Rajnikanth-starrer will release in the first week of July and Telugu film distributors are ready with their cheque-books. Popular distributors like Abhishek Pictures, Dil Raju, Suresh Babu and Sunil Narang are all in consultation with the Tamil producer for the rights. At present the Tamil producer is quoting nearly Rs 32 crore, with satellite rights, for the Telugu distribution, says a source. Rajnikanth has a huge following among Telugu audiences and the recently-released promotional video of the film has gone viral on social media. Meanwhile, there is a complaint with the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce regarding Rajnis earlier film, stating that whoever buys the rights of Kabali should compensate the loss of the distributor who had bought the earlier film. Rating: Director: Pavan Kripalani Cast: Radhika Apte, Satyadeep Mishra, Ankur Vikal, Yashaswini Dayama Have you ever seen a person suffering from acrophobia? Well, if not in real life, you would have surely seen one on-screen. Remember 1993 cult film Damini that starred Meenakshi Seshadri? The story takes form when an unfortunate incident (where she sees a girl being raped) changes her life forever. She is even deemed mentally ill by the lawyer played by late Amrish Puri. The subject of Director Pavan Kripalanis Phobia deals with the issue where a person has an extreme or irrational fear that causes panic attacks and keeps the person away from their loved ones. Mahek Rao (Radhika Apte), an artist by profession, suffers from acrophobia. One of her symptoms portrayed in the film is an intense and irrational fear of the things around her. Her boyfriend Shaan (Satyadeep Mishra) and sister played by Nivedita Bhattacharya, come to rescue her and take Mahek to a therapist but to no avail. Soon after, Shaan shifts Mahek into his friends apartment where she starts living alone to overcome her phobia. Later, Mahek discovers that her ex-flatmate Jiah, was brutally killed by her neighbour Manu (Ankur Vikal) who still lives next door. With the help of another neighbour Nikki (Yashasvini Dayama), the two set out on a mission to find out the truth behind the murder, but there is a shocking twist to the story to the story that will surprise you. Directed by Pavan Kripalani, Phobia has all the elements of a psycho-thriller, enough to leave you second guessing everything, but it tends loses grip in a few scenes. Keeping in mind that his previous flick Ragini MMS (inspired from the Hollywood flick Paranormal Activity), managed to send shivers down your spine; Phobia is a sincere effort at making a psycho flick with a chilling storyline. One might get a sense of dejavu while watching this film, as certain scenes are strikingly similar to the film 100 Days where Madhuri Dixit could foresee things which will happen to her in the near future and Ramgopal Varmas thriller Kaun featuring Urmila Matondkar who lives alone in a bungalow and turned out to be a psycho killer. Screenplay by Pavan Kripalani and Arun Sukumar is slightly slow in the first half, but has enough to keep you glued to your seat till the last frame. Dialogues by Pooja Ladha Surti are woven nicely with the psychology of a girl who is dealing with acrophobia. The background score is commendable. The VFX and makeup is good, especially in one scene where her finger gets cut off and Satyadeep keeps in the ice box to preserve it. The films chill factor rests on the shoulders of Radhika Apte, whos expressions are flawless and tends to leave the audience wide-eyed and in awe of her performance. Her act in the climax which leads to a bloodbath shakes you to the bone. Her no make up look is just perfect and is close to the reality. Satyadeep Mishra has done a fabulous job as a friend cum admirer in the film. The pain he feels for Radhikas character is believable. Supporting cast Nivedita Bhattacharya, Yashaswini Damaya and Ankur Vikal, have all done justice to their respective roles. Pavan Kripalanis Phobia is a good pick this week unless such psycho thrillers are not your cup of tea. Actor Rana Daggubatis fans take his health very seriously, so when the actor posted a photo of his injured wrist, fans obviously got worried. The actor had recently put up a photo saying, Taped up my damaged wrist for full blown training soon!! #Baahubali. Photo of Ranas wounded wrist Fans got worried and a media house even posted that the actor had broken his wrist. However, Rana took to Twitter to calm his fans. He posted, I didnt break anything yet ;) its a small injury thats all :) (sic). Bablu, 25, had to flee to Mumbai after being ostracized by his family. (Credit: YouTube) A 25-year-old man with a medical condition that has caused one of his arms to grow to an alarming size says that he was compelled to migrate after being disowned by his family. Bablu, moved to Mumbai, in India, after he was ostracized by people in his hometown and even dubbed as a devils child by his neighbours. He suffers from local gigantism which is a disease that causes excessive growth of body tissue. Bablu's neighbours would call him a 'devil's child' because of his hand. (Credit: YouTube) In order to shed light on the daily struggles that Bablu has to go through, a local journalist followed him around the streets of Mumbai as he went about his usual routine. The video reveals how Bablu is unable to carry out even simple tasks like holding a cup of water with his enormous hand, reports Daily Mail. Bablu is unable to carry out simple tasks because of his medical condition. (Credit: YouTube) Tragically this has made it extremely difficult for him to find a proper job in the city as people were scared of his hand. The journalist in the video says that his 20kg hand could be reduced to normal size if he receives proper treatment. Sadly, doctors who examined him declared that it will never be like a normal hand as his condition has reached an advanced stage. Local gigantism triggers a certain body part to grow excessively which is usually fingers and toes but in Bablus particular case, his entire limb has become enlarged. Click on the link below to know more: In previous cases doctors have found screws, fruit seeds, stones, fishing lines, toothpicks, bullets, needles, teeth, dog hair in the appendix. (Photo: Journal of Medical Case Reports) Recently during a surgery the doctors were surprised to find a condom inside woman appendix. The 26-year-old came to the hospital in Cameroon, complaining about stomach pain and nausea. Due to the tenderness on the right side of her pelvis, she was unable to consume any food and was also suffering from fever. The scanning reports showed that her abdomen was swollen with fluid so the medic and the doctors came to the conclusion she had appendicitis. She was rushed for emergency surgery in order to remove the organ before it burst but the team found something unusual when the organ was removed. They found a piece of condom stuck inside it. The doctors believe that this is the first case of its kind to be reported in the medical literature. We blindly dissected the appendix and found an incomplete piece of rubbery material which was consistent with a condom, said the doctors, describing the case in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. (Photo: Journal of Medical Case Reports) After the procedure, the woman confirmed that accidentally swallowed a condom two weeks before. While with her boyfriend the sheath had become loose - and accidentally slipped down her throat, she said, reports The Daily Mail. She didnt go for any medical assistance after discovering pieces of condom in her excretion five days later. She didnt even think that those symptoms were caused due to that incident. However, the doctors believe that the condom was torn into fragments as it traveled through her gastrointestinal and fragments of it were found in her feaces as well, while a part of it got stuck in her appendix. The organ is located on the right side of the large intestine, so the objects at times can get stuck their which leads to infection and inflammation. In previous cases doctors have found screws, fruit seeds, stones, fishing lines, toothpicks, bullets, needles, teeth, dog hair in the appendix. The findings were published in the journal PLoS ONE. London: Workaholics, take note! You may be more prone to psychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety, researchers including one of Indian-origin have warned. Scientists examined the associations between workaholism and psychiatric disorders among 16,426 working adults. "Workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics," said Cecilie Schou Andreassen from University of Bergen in Norway. Among workaholics, 32.7 per cent met attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) criteria compared to 12.7 per cent among non-workaholics, researchers said. More than 25 per cent of workaholics met obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) criteria compared to almost nine per cent among non-workaholics, they said. Almost 34 per cent met anxiety criteria compared to 12 per cent among non-workaholics, researchers said. Almost 9 per cent met depression criteria, while the figure was 2.6 per cent for non-workaholics, they said. "Thus, taking work to the extreme may be a sign of deeper psychological or emotional issues," said Andreassen. "Whether this reflects overlapping genetic vulnerabilities, disorders leading to workaholism or, conversely, workaholism causing such disorders, remain uncertain," she said. Researchers including Rajita Sinha from Yale University in the US used seven valid criteria when drawing the line between addictive and non-addictive behaviour. Participants rated experiences occurring over the past year from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The experiences were - 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. The other experiences included - you become stressed if you are prohibited from working, you deprioritise 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, researchers said. The findings were published in the journal PLoS ONE. On Friday morning, he had a fight with his wife and his eldest son intervened. (Representational image) New Delhi: A 48-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death during a scuffle with his wife and children at his residence in southwest Delhi's Sagarpur area on Friday. A police team that reached the residence of Virender was put in a fix as all his family members -- Virender's wife Mithlesh and three children, aged 16,18 and 20 years -- came forward owning up the crime, a senior official said. From preliminary investigation, it appeared that Virender was alcoholic and frequently assaulted his wife. On Friday morning, he had a fight with her and at least one of the children, the 20-year-old son, intervened, police said. It led to a scuffle between them during which Virender was stabbed with a knife, the official said. All of Virender's relatives were questioned and the eldest son has emerged as the prime suspect. He has been detained by the police and is likely to be arrested, the official said. However, role of the other family members, especially Virender's wife, are also being probed, he added. "It is quite a complex matter which is being thoroughly investigated. A case has been registered," DCP (southwest) Surender Kumar said. Virender is survived by his wife (45), daughter (18) and sons aged 16 and 20 years. Police also recovered around Rs1.34 crore from the accused, identified as Sudeep Kumar and Pavan Kumar Gupta (directors), manager G. Nagaraju and custodians K. Lokeshwar Reddy, K. Ajay Kumar, G. Praveen Kumar and R. Pandu. (Representational image) Hyderabad: Six persons, including two directors and the manager of RCI Cash Management Services, who were involved in the multi-crore funds siphoning scam, were apprehended by the CCS Police on Friday. Police also recovered around Rs1.34 crore from the accused, identified as Sudeep Kumar and Pavan Kumar Gupta (directors), manager G. Nagaraju and custodians K. Lokeshwar Reddy, K. Ajay Kumar, G. Praveen Kumar and R. Pandu. CCS DCP Mr Avinash Mohanty said that RCI Cash Management Service had entered into an agreement with an FSS company to replenish cash at 116 ATM centres in Hyderabad and Secunderabad and resolve technical problems in the machines. As the company was running in loses, the directors asked the custodians to adjust Rs 2.5 crore from the ATM centres and divert them towards staff salaries and other maintenance expenses. Meanwhile when RCI failed to renew their agreement in April 2016, FSS stopped placing cash indents and took over all the ATMs entrusted to RCI in May. Srinagar: As many as 18 "highly trained" terrorists crossed the Line of Control and infiltrated Kashmir Valley in April this year, out of them three were shot dead, according to security agencies. Though the army disputed the figure at a recent multi-agency meeting, official sources said 18 militants had entered the Valley through Kupwara area of north Kashmir. The army, however, claimed only 10 had infiltrated. During the meeting, the army's claim was countered through technical intelligence available with the Defence Intelligence Agency and other central security agencies. The first batch of around 12 terrorists was reported to have entered the Kashmir Valley through Dardpora village located along the LoC on April 12. Six other militants were reported to have infiltrated from Lolab side around April 17. Of the 10 militants the army claimed had infiltrated, three were gunned down in Putshai area of Lolab in Kupwara district on April 21, the sources said. They said the army had been handed over some "tell-tale signs" which included different radio wave signals and foot prints of Kupwara and Lolab infiltration which were also different in size. All security agencies were unanimous about infiltration from Jammu side where they claimed militants made three infiltration bids which were foiled by troops. One of the reasons cited by the sources for spurt in infiltration is the realignment of troops along the LoC as some army personnel have been pushed back into counter insurgency grid, which is a conglomeration of army, para-military and state police engaged in neutralising terrorists on the plains and in densely populated areas. According to sources, the militants who infiltrated recently, have already gone to higher reaches of Bandipora from where they have moved towards central and south Kashmir. Congress MLA from north Kashmir's Bandipora Usman Majid said that he had been flagging the issue of infiltration with various authorities. "They generally use Bandipora as a transit camp and move to other areas," he said. The MLA quoted villagers in his constituency as saying that new faces in smaller groups had been seen in the area and it was "most likely" that they were terrorists who had infiltrated recently. During winter, infiltration is always low. However, this year, winter did not last long and terrorists are suspected to have taken advantage of the favourable weather conditions, sources said. There were 121 infiltration attempts along the border in Jammu and Kashmir in entire 2015 of which 33 were successful. However, 46 terrorists were killed by security forces. In 2014, there were 222 infiltration attempts in the state of which 65 were successful. A total of 52 terrorists were killed by the security forces that year. Bhopal: An IAS officer who had praised Jawaharlal Nehru in a Facebook post, has been transferred by the Madhya Pradesh government. Ajay Singh Gangwar who was the Barwani District Collector, was transferred last night as Deputy Secretary in the Secretariat in Bhopal. Gangwar had been promoted to the IAS cadre from the state service in 2005. "The state government has transferred Barwani Collector Gangwar as Deputy Secretary in the Mantralaya in Bhopal," a state Public Relation Department official said. In the Facebook post written in Hindi, which has gone viral on other social media platforms, Gangwar has written that "let me know the mistakes that Nehru should not have committed...Is it his mistake that he prevented all of us from becoming Hindu Talibani Rashtra in 1947? "Is it his mistake to open IIT, ISRO, BARC, IISB, IIM, BHEL steel plant, dams, thermal power? Is it his mistake that he honoured Sarabhai, Homi Jehangir in place of intellectuals like Asaram and Ramdev?" According to the government official, the FB post had not gone down well with the top officials as it was in "violation" of the service rules, following which an initial probe was conducted and Gangwar was transferred. Ever since the Facebook post had gone viral, there was talk that Gangwar could be shunted out of the district. However, his transfer order did not mention anything about his Facebook post on Nehru, the official added. Amit Shah said in the remaining three years of its tenure all the promises made in the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls will be fulfilled. (Photo: Twitter/ANI) New Delhi: Presenting a report card of two years of Modi government, BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday credited the party for giving a "decisive" government and said in the remaining three years of its tenure all the promises made in the run up to 2014 Lok Sabha polls will be fulfilled. At a press conference here, Shah talked at length about the government's initiatives to create employment and give a boost to economy in the last two years. He also lambasted Congress, alleging "scams, scandals and policy paralysis" ruled the roost during ten years of UPA rule. Accusing the UPA government of having left behind an "empty treasury and policy paralysis," Shah said the bureaucracy was "dejected" and there was pessimism among people. Claiming that the Modi government has generated hope in all these sections within two years of coming to power, Shah expressed confidence that the government will take the country to new heights after laying the foundation stone in this period. "We have given a decisive government to the country. This is a government, which takes decisions. Such a decisive government led by Modi ji has been formed in the country after a long time. "Modi government has assumed power after the ten years rule of UPA in which scams and scandals ruled the roost. After two years in government, even our opponents have not been able to level any allegation of corruption on us," Shah said. Referring to the first NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said that the development journey of the nation that started then seemed to have come to halt during the UPA regimes. "UPA I and UPA II had brought the situation to such a situation that it appeared that the development journey of the nation has come to a halt," he said. Shah said that Modi government worked to bring an all inclusive development by adopting a balanced approach. The BJP chief also cited the government's decision to bring the NEET ordinance that allowed states to have their own medical entrance examinations, as an example of Government's focus on quick disposal of people's problems. Shah also appealed to all parties to support legislations and measures related to the "agenda of nation's development". He was asked how BJP expects AIADMK to support the government on GST bill after campaigning aggressively against Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu. "We have fulfilled the responsibility that was given to us to bring the nation out of policy paralysis and bring prosperity. "We are confident that after fulfilling all the promises made to people in next three years, we will get a fresh mandate. We have worked much in two years," he said. Responding to questions about Congress' criticism of the functioning of Modi government and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal daring the minsters for a debate, Shah said tersely the BJP cannot get into a debate with him. "What do you expect from Congress. Will they praise us," he said. "This is the only government, which has taken one new initiative everyday," Shah said listing achievements of government in different sectors like manufacturing, power, software import as well as the steps taken for the welfare of farmers and youths facing sustained Congress attack on the issue of employment generation, the BJP chief referred to schemes like Stand Up, Start Up and Skill India, saying it was for the first time when any government worked with a belief that employment generation is not only about jobs. Shah also claimed that price rise has "by and large" been under control, while foreign currency reserves have gone up. The BJP chief also said that the issue of OROP, which was pending for last many years, was resolved during this government. Besides Amaravati, two other cities, Pune and Indore will be developed into smart cities, British High Commissioner to India said. (Photo: Representational Image) Mumbai: Britain will be collaborating with the state governments and the municipal authorities to develop Pune (Maharashtra), Indore (MP) and Amravati (Andhra Pradesh) into smart cities, British High Commissioner to India Dominic Anthony Gerard Asquith said here on Friday. The High Commissioner, who met Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan here, said a centre of excellence on automobile skills will be set up in Pune. Maharashtra would welcome cooperation from Britain in areas such as cleaning of rivers and water bodies, sewage treatment and management of solid waste, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said quoting Rao. Deputy High Commissioner of Britain in Mumbai Kumar Iyer was also present at the meeting. Tirupati: Andhra Pradesh government may soon extend reservation for the poor among upper castes, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu indicated here on Friday. "We will conduct a survey. Based on that we will have no objection to extend reservation benefits to the economically- backward among the upper castes," Naidu said while delivering the inaugural address at the Telugu Desam Party's three-day annual conclave 'Mahanadu' here. Terming the backward classes as the "backbone" of the TDP since its inception, the Chief Minister said a special sub-plan has been drafted for BC welfare with a budgetary allocation of Rs 8,600 crore this year. "Similarly, we are providing benefits worth Rs 1,000 crore to the Kapu community. We have constituted a commission to get Kapus included in the backward classes list and extend reservation benefit. "For Brahmins, too, we are providing financial assistance for education and self-employment. There are poor among other upper classes as well. We will conduct a survey to determine their economic status. We have no objection in providing reservation for them as well," Naidu said. During his 90-minute speech, he mentioned about the travails of the state, "caused by the irrational bifurcation", but did not speak about the special category status that has become a politically contentious issue. "We have no money. We have a lot of problems, but still we are doing everything for the uplift of the poor," he said. The Chief Minister also said it was the responsibility of the Centre to fulfil all commitments made in the AP Reorganisation Act-2014. "We aligned with BJP only to overcome the troubles caused by the bifurcation (of the state). We still have to get complete support from the Centre. I have taken up these issues with the government bigwigs in New Delhi 18-19 times so far," Naidu pointed out. The TDP supremo inaugurated a blood donation camp and a photo exhibition marking the inauguration of Mahanadu. He paid floral tributes to the TDP's founder-president N T Rama Rao on the occasion. Union and state ministers, MPs, MLCs, MLAs and a host of other leaders were present at the event. New Delhi: Terming the killing of a Congolese national in the capital as 'unfortunate', Minister of Culture and Tourism Mahesh Sharma said that even African countries are not safe. It is an unfortunate incident. However, even Africa is not safe. Such incidents happen in other parts of the world too, Sharma said. Read: 23-year-old African national, attacked with stones, beaten to death in Delhi His comment came after the killing of Olivier Masonga Kitanda in New Delhis Hauz Khas area which caused a diplomatic rift between Indian and African envoys. 29-year-old Olivier was beaten to death by three men on Friday, after a verbal altercation. Sharma said that such untoward incidents will give India a bad name. India is a large country and such incidents will give a bad name to India, he added. Read: Govt committed to safety of African nationals in India: Sushma Swaraj Meanwhile, African countries have demanded concrete steps against 'racism and Afro-phobia' and sought deferment of the celebrations of Africa Day by India, which assured them of safety and security of their nationals. Mumbai: A panel of doctors from government-run JJ Hospital on Friday submitted a report to the Bombay High Court, describing the condition of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal as "stable". Bhujbal, arrested on money laundering charge by Enforcement Directorate, has sought bail on medical grounds. Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi adjourned till June 8 the hearing on bail petition after Bhujbal's lawyer Amit Desai sought time to seek the opinion of a private doctor on the report submitted by the nine-member doctors' panel. Last week, the HC had asked for opinion of JJ Hospital doctors on Bhujbal's health. The panel in its report has said though Bhujbal suffers from several ailments, his condition is stable after receiving medication. But Desai said the report contains medical jargon and he needed to consult a private doctor. Prosecutor Purnima Kantharia opposed the plea for bail saying Bhujbal had got medication and treatment as per the doctors' advise and his condition was now stable. Bhujbal, 69, has said in the petition that he suffers from diabetes, blood pressure, chronic asthma and blockages in heart among other things, so he be released on bail. His lawyer argued that Bhujbal was in custody for over two months now and was suffering from multiple health problems for which he needed to undergo treatment. On May 13, the Special Court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act cases had rejected Bhujbal's bail petition. ED arrested Bhujbal, who handled the Public Works portfolio in Congress-NCP government, on March 14 this year in a case related to alleged irregularities in the contract for construction of the state guest house Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi. At present, he is lodged in the Arthur Road prison here. Chennai: A confidential report prepared by the public election department for the Election Commission of India is to reveal that milk men, newspaper boys and goondas were used by politicians to distribute cash for votes in the recently held Assembly polls. Though party men are usually used for distributing cash-for-votes in large numbers, 691 complaints relate this time to envelopes without any names on them with cash inside being distributed among voters, besides 22 complaints of newspaper boys giving cash have been received, a top official told Deccan Chronicle. In case of newspaper boys and milkmen, 34 complaints were received, of which 29 cases have been accepted for further action. There were also cases in which goondas were involved in cash distribution. Of the 36 complaints received in this category, 29 were booked with police registering FIRs. The network put in place by the EC received 5,825 complaints of party men distributing cash for votes, of which 5,463 were accepted. Police action after registering an FIR has been taken in 90 percent of the serious complaints and about 60 cases are pending in this regard, the official said. To a query on other modes of freebie distribution, the official clarified that in 146 cases people with votes have accepted gifts and another 34 accepted tokens from politicians. A senior diplomat from Ghana read out a poem in memory of our son Oliver, the Congolese student who was brutally murdered last Friday. New Delhi: The killing of an African youth in the national capital and the outrage it has sparked among African diplomats here comes at an awkward time as vice-president Hamid Ansari will undertake a five-day visit to the North African nations of Morocco and Tunisia beginning May 30 as part of efforts to consolidate diplomatic gains from the India-Africa Forum Summit held in October last year. There is also speculation that PM Narendra Modi may visit the southern African nation of Mozambique and possibly South Africa too in the coming months. In New Delhi, furious African diplomats relented and decided to attend the ICCR function after a mammoth discussion among themselves that lasted two-and-a-half hours on Thursday morning. They are understood to have made it clear to the MEA that while they would attend, their core concerns remained on the serious issue of attacks against Africans in India. A senior diplomat from Ghana read out a poem in memory of our son Oliver, the Congolese student who was brutally murdered last Friday. He wondered why Africans have to meet such a fate and said Africa would receive the blood from the Ganges. Other African diplomats, including those from Nigeria and Eritrea, angrily pointed out at a roundtable discussion at ICCR that Indian-African friendship would ring hollow unless urgent steps were taken by the Indian government to tackle the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in India. The African diplomats wondered whether Africans, particularly students, were safe in India. Some of them also demanded that the police play a more proactive role in ensuring security for African students. Speaking at the event, Sola Enikanolaiye, acting high commissioner of Nigeria, was quoted by news agencies, as saying, Racism against black Africans in India is a major concern. Ugly incidents, like what we consider barbaric attacks on Africans, murder in cold blood, have met with outrage. Recent incidents in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and in Delhi last week and several such incidents in last three years, counting Goa, have given cause for very serious concern. He said ideas of brotherhood and friendship will remain hollow if Africans dont feel safe in India. Understanding the anguish of the African diplomats at the ICCR function, MoS for external affairs Gen. V.K. Singh (Retd.) asked everyone present to stand for a minutes silence in memory of the slain student. He said he was shocked and deeply hurt at the murder of Oliver by criminals and said India would always welcome African students with open arms. At a briefing on Thursday evening meanwhile, the MEA spokesperson reiterated Indias position that while strict action was being taken against the culprits, criminal acts should not be projected as racial attacks. The MEA spokesperson further said certain isolated incidents should not be generalised to say that all African students are insecure or in danger. The MEA also pointed out that Indian bystanders had rushed to the rescue of the Congolese student but that they too were beaten up by the criminals, two of whom have been arrested. Asked whether the murder of the Congolese student had an impact on Indo-African ties, the MEA spokesperson said, Certainly, I will not deny.... The fact that African HoMs (Heads of Missions) were forced to issue a statement shows that there was depth of concern on their part, he said. (THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE ASIAN AGE AS MAY THE CASE BE) Jaipur: The Modi government has put an "effective control on middlemen and power brokers" and has "stopped" leakage (of money) to them, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Friday. "The government has eliminated the role of around 80 per cent middlemen. It has resulted in a system where each and every penny of money sent by the government is being spent on the welfare of farmers, poor and weaker section of society," the MoS for Minority Affairs told a press conference here. He said the government has established a "corruption-free and development-oriented system". "Congress leaders are unable to see the good governance because they are in a habit of living in corruption. Congress is doing 'Bhangda of Brastachar' wearing 'Ghotale ka Ghungru'," the minister said. "The two years of the Modi government is full of confidence. Congress' rule was of corruption but we talk of connection of LPG, of electricity, of broadband, and of road," he said. He also said the government has taken a tough stand on the issue of terrorism and terrorism-related incidents have "reduced by around 80 per cent" in the country. "Terrorist forces have been isolated in the country," he claimed. He also claimed the participation of minority communities in "jobs has increased" under in the Modi government. When asked whether the controversial statements of certain leaders of the party have impacted BJP's image in two years, he said "the party never justified those statements". "We are a democratic party but whatever the statements were made on different occasions were never justified by the party," he said. The SIT has made all the eight persons, including five cops, accused and a magistrate has been informed about the change of section from 307 (attempt to murder) to section 302 (murder) of the IPC. (Photo: Representational Image/PTI) New Delhi: Five Haryana policemen and three others have been booked for killing of gangster Sandeep Gadoli allegedly in a fake encounter at a hotel in Mumbai suburb, the Supreme Court was informed on Friday. "Five policemen and three private individuals including a lady who was with gangster Sandeep Gadoli has been booked under section 302 (murder) of the IPC. Special Investigation Team of Mumbai police, after investigation, has found that it was a fake encounter," Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a vacation bench of Justices P C Pant and D Y Chandrachud. He said that the SIT has made all the eight persons, including five cops, accused and a magistrate has been informed about the change of section from 307 (attempt to murder) to section 302 (murder) of the IPC. The "notorious" gangster Sandeep Gadoli was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head and was wanted in over 40 FIRs since 1999. He was killed in an alleged shootout by the Gurgaon police on February 7 in a Mumbai suburb hotel. The apex court, which recorded the statement of Attorney General and posted the plea filed by Gadoli's relative seeking judicial inquiry into the killing for further hearing on July 13. Rohatgi opposed the plea saying that autopsy has been done and the inquest proceedings had been completed by an Executive Magistrate. "The main prayer in the petition before the Bombay High Court was that it was a fake encounter and murder charges be slapped on police officials, who were involved in the fake encounter. Now all these have been done, so the petition has now become infructuous," Rohatgi said. Advocate Sanjay Parikh appearing for relative of Gadoli said that as per settled preposition of law, inquiry by a judicial magistrate needs to be conducted into the incident as it was an alleged police encounter. He said that the High Court has said that there cannot be two FIRs into the same incident and there cannot be a magisterial inquiry into it. To this, the bench said, "There can be two versions. There can be two FIRs and even two chargesheet can also be filed into an incident." The counsel appearing for Gadoli's relative said the dead body was lying in the mortuary for the past three months and they have not bee allowed to take the body as there was no magisterial inquiry. Attorney General said that "since Gadoli was not in police custody nor killed in police custody, inquiry by judicial magistrate can't be conducted." The Bombay High Court had earlier ordered registration of FIR against the Gurgaon policemen, who were involved in the killing of the gangster in the shoot out. Earlier, Haryana police had told the apex court while challenging the decision of Bombay High Court, that the state officials were only discharging their official duties at the time of the incident and carried out a meticulous operation which lasted for almost 48 hours to nab a notorious gangster which can be verified and cannot be said to be a "fake encounter". "Consequently, the direction for registration of FIR against the police officials of the petitioner state is not only demoralising but shocking for the entire police machinery of the state. "As such, if the second FIR will be registered against the innocent police officers, it will cause undue harassment and embarrassment to them," the Haryana police contended. New Delhi: The nexus between the middlemen, arms agents and Defence Ministry officials has been broken, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Friday and termed it as one of the "biggest achievement" of the NDA government. He also asserted that he had inherited the ministry with "fear psychosis and frozen mindset" in the department where no one was ready to take any decision and changing that system was a challenge. The minister highlighted transparency, fast decision-making process and ease of doing business among his other successes. "Under our tenure, we have broken the nexus that the middlemen and arms agents had with officials in Defence Ministry," Parrikar said in an interview. He said things have come to such a change that officers are not afraid of putting negative views on a file which they avoided earlier. "The crux of the achievement is change in mindset. The Ministry was in a fear psychosis and was stuck up in a frozen mindset. I have managed to break this barrier of fear and create atmosphere of trust, if not full but partial that is good enough for the Ministry to start moving," he said. Parrikar, who assumed charge of the Ministry in November 2014 from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, talked about wide- ranging issues concerning his Ministry including Rafale deal, AgustaWestland scam and acquisition programmes. On AgustaWestland probe, he said the investigators are hot on the trail of people, including journalists, who are linked to the VVIP chopper scam and the effort is to unravel the money trail with evidence. He said many in the Ministry knew "hera pheri (wrong doing)" was happening to ensure that the Italian firm is shortlisted for the VVIP chopper contract. "They did not have courage to talk about the wrongdoings as key bureaucrats concerned with the deal were close to the power centre. And that close contact is proved by the fact that most of them got coveted posts after their retirement or even after the job was done," he said, adding that six people linked to the deal got rewarding positions. These people are favoured people, Parrikar said adding, "I am not alleging but favourite means powers thought of them as own guys who will do the job". Asserting that "no one can influence me", the Defence Minister said his decisions are based on merit and what is there on file. "To be the best of my ability, I will make a judgement on that. And my judgement, on most occasions, are judgements which are beneficial to the government. May be once or twice, erroneous judgements can be made but judgements are based on information available and to the best of my ability to interpret," he said. Parrikar said he will not buy an equipment simply because someone he knows has recommended and nor will he reject something because someone has batted for it. "Obviously, if it is a good product and price is good, I will consider it. That is why I had the courage to say Bofors is a good gun. Corruption in it was bad. People who did corruption should be punished, not the guns," he said. He also lamented that the Ministry had not purchased a single artillery gun after Bofors controversy and he had to push for the same as it was stuck for over three decades. Parrikar also questioned why the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas took 32 years. "The test flight of the aircraft took place in Vajpayee's tenure in 2001. After that, during 10 years of UPA government, how many meetings did defence minister conduct to ensure that LCA goes into production and is inducted into Air Force? I did it. I did about 18 meetings on this issue. I pushed them both together. Asked Aeronautical Development Agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to do what is required and asked IAF not be unreasonable," he said. Asked about murmurs that government has evidence against journalists in the VVIP chopper scam, he asked, "Who said we have evidence? I am not saying there is no evidence but evidence required in such matters need to be conclusive. Let them (investigating agencies) link. Sometime you get evidence but it cannot be linked in a particular manner. Let them do their job. They are trying to crack open the money trail. It is not easy," he said. Parrikar said there are many people whose tickets for foreign travel was booked through middleman Christian Michel. "It has to show that it was done for a particular reason. Let us assume, there is an air show and someone sends tickets. This cannot be proved as corruption. Many a times, when marriages are held in Goa, the host sends air tickets to guests. But this is not corruption. Because he wants them to come there but if it happens too often, and for too many times, then it can definitely be a special favour. Then it starts going into the zone of corruption," he said. Parrikar stressed that the investigative agencies have been given a free hand. "The job of the political class is to ensure that officers should be allowed to function free. To see they are not pressurised," he said. Talking about his tenure as Defence Minister, he said the journey so far had been good. "File movement has started. Decision-making on directions (are happening). They do not fear even giving a negative opinion also," he said. Talking about specifics, he said a lot of positive changes have taken place in welfare of ex-servicemen besides armed forces involved in field operations getting a "morale boost". BJP said the previous UPA regime in its 10 years rule did not pay attention to the country's defence needs and preparedness despite the fact that the country has neighbours like Pakistan and China. (Photo: Representational Image) Bhopal: India will procure 400 fighter planes by 2030, Union Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Friday said. "The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is concerned over the country's security. India is going to procure 400 fighter planes by 2030," Singh told reporters here while highlighting the achievements of the BJP government in its two years in office. He said the previous UPA regime in its 10 years rule did not pay attention to the country's defence needs and preparedness despite the fact that the country has neighbours like Pakistan and China. Singh recalled that India had 500 fighter planes, 40 years ago. But, the arms and ammunition dwindled under the UPA dispensation. He said that under Modi, the long awaited one rank one pension (OROP) scheme has been cleared and is being implemented. "The army men desperately needed it. It has boosted their morale," he said. Referring to Congress leader Girija Vyas, who was here on Thursday and accused Modi government of rechristening UPA government's schemes, the minister said that their opponent's intention and implementation of the schemes were not right. "UPA government failed to achieve the aims of these schemes and that why we have reformed them," he said. "We have completely transformed Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and made it foolproof. Now we are making payment through direct benefit transfer (DBT) to 94 per cent beneficiaries under MNREGA," he said. Meanwhile, on fresh controversy over the sudden transfer of MP's Barwani district collector Ajay Singh Gangwar to state secretariat yesterday, over his Facebook post for praising former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he said everyone has the right to freedom of expression. Singh, however, added that the officer might have been shunted out for some other reasons. Jayalalithaa told Modi that the five fishermen from Kanyakumari district had been contracted by a Saudi individual and that they were engaged in fishing in Saudi Arabia. (Photo: PTI) Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in ensuring the release of five "innocent" Indian fishermen arrested by Iran for allegedly straying into its waters. Jayalalithaa told Modi that the five fishermen from Kanyakumari district had been contracted by a Saudi individual and that they were engaged in fishing in Saudi Arabia. These five had ventured for fishing from Qatif fishing base of Saudi Arabia on April 23, and during the course of their fishing operations "they inadvertently strayed into Iranian waters and were arrested and detained by the Iranian Coast Guard," she told Modi in a letter. The five Indian fishermen had been lodged in Central jail, Dehloran, Iran, she said. "I bring this matter to your notice seeking your immediate and personal intervention to instruct the Embassy of India in Tehran and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to take effective legal steps to secure the immediate release of these poor innocent fishermen from Tamil Nadu," she said. Have you ever wondered why we never see a list of the most handsome males in the IAS and IPS? she asked in her post. (Photo: Facebook) Munnar: The Assistant Superintendent of Police of Munnar, Merin Joseph, posted a note on Facebook expressing her dismay over a sexist article titled "10 Most Beautiful IAS and IPS Officers in India" by a prominent Hindi daily. Have you ever wondered why we never see a list of the most handsome males in the IAS and IPS? she asked in her post, which has gone viral on social media. She calls out the blatant objectification of women by the Indian press, "especially vernacular", for reducing a woman's self-worth to her looks. Read: Kerala: IPS trainee goes viral on Facebook for being attractive 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, she writes. Many share her views and her post garnered support in the comments. Read: Merin Joseph floored by Action Hero Biju In 2014, Joseph went viral on Facebook after a post claimed she took charge as the new ACP in Kochi. Many users complimented her for her good looks and suggested they didnt mind getting arrested by her. Some even went on to suggest they could start thieving to get arrested by her. Though the news was fake, Facebook users went on a liking spree. Joseph is known for being outspoken about gender issues and her post has definitely stuck a chord with the masses. Kolkata: The Left-Congress alliance in West Bengal on Friday berated the newly-installed Trinamool Congress government for wasting crores of public money in holding the ostentatious swearing-in ceremony today while their party workers were being attacked. "As Bengal bleeds & burns crores of public money is drained in d name of oath taking ceremony!How many crores of money has been spent, "CPI-M state Secretary Surya Kanta Mishra tweeted. As Bengal bleeds & burns crores of public money is drained in d name of oath taking ceremony!How many crores of d people is wasted madam CM? Surjya Kanta Mishra (@SurjyaKMishra) May 27, 2016 Demanding an immediate stop to the attack against Opposition workers, Mishra in another tweet said, "CM takes oath amidst pomp&glory!!Her goons hurled bombs in d house of Haldias MLA Tapasi Mondal, a winner securing 50% plus votes! Democracy." CM takes oath amidst pomp&glory!!Her goons hurled bombs in d house of Haldias MLA Tapasi Mondal,a winner securing 50% plus votes! Democracy? Surjya Kanta Mishra (@SurjyaKMishra) May 27, 2016 State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said the Congress would have attended the oath-taking ceremony had there been no attack on Opposition workers. "We would have attended the ceremony had there been no attack on our cadres and workers. Our decision to boycott was a mark of protest against the brazen attack on Opposition workers," Chowdhury said. Both the Congress and the Left combine had boycotted today's oath-taking ceremony. The state BJP too had boycotted the programme although Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley attended it citing the federal structure of the country. However, other political parties in the country lauded Banerjee's return to power describing it as a great day for democracy. They hoped that today's event where they all gathered would strengthen the idea of a federal front at the Centre. Banerjee also supported the idea and said she would cooperate if such a front was formed by like-minded parties. RJD leader Lalu Prasad congratulated Banerjee with the hope that she would play an important role in that direction. Veteran National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said that there was a possibility of the formation of a federal front at the Centre. "There are many like-minded parties and leaders and Mamata Banerjee is one of them," he said adding "it is a great day for democracy and the secular fabric of the country". SP leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said, "We have come here to greet her. It is a great day for all of us and democracy". DMK leader Kanimozhi as well as AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also hailed Mamata's return to power. New Delhi: The purchase of Rs 48.25 lakhs wanky Jaguar XE as the new official car for Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has raised eyebrows with the opposition Congress on Friday asking her to reconsider using the luxury vehicle. The Lok Sabha secretariat, however, cited security considerations behind the purchase of the Jaguar car. When queries on the issue were put at the Congress briefing, Party spokesman Manish Tewari said the Speaker should reconsider the matter. Tewari said it was for the Speaker to decide whether it would be "prudent" to go for such a vehicle when one-thirds of the country was facing acute agricultural distress. D Bhalla, Secretary in the Lok Sabha Secretariat, sought to downplay the purchase, maintaining that it was the "most affordable option" among the four-five cars suggested on the basis of security manoeuvrability. He insisted that the Rs 48.25 lakh vehicle has been bought because of security considerations. "This is not an overnight purchase. It is a decision of the LS secretariat after advice by the security. All information is available on our files. It is a transparent decision," Bhalla added. The shock wave generated by the blast shattered the window panes of adjoining buildings and panic-stricken people were seen running helter-skelter, an eye-witness on Thursday said. (Photo: Twitter) Thane: The death toll in the massive explosion at an industrial unit in Dombivali township of the district has risen to six while 159 injured were undergoing treatment, a senior official said on Friday. Police have registered a case against the company management, he said. The explosion occurred on Thursday triggering a blaze in the chemical manufacturing unit at Shivaji Udyog Nagar of MIDC phase-II area in Dombivali (East). The death toll rose to six with the recovery of a body near the factory on Friday, Thane District Collector Mahendra Kalyankar told PTI. The number of injured is 159, he said. A case was registered against the company management, Kalyankar said. Removal of debris is still on, he said, adding the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is assisting in the work. The shock wave generated by the blast shattered the window panes of adjoining buildings and panic-stricken people were seen running helter-skelter, an eye-witness on Thursday said. State Industries Minister Subhash Desai, who visited the site on thursday, said the government was considering shifting chemical industrial units in and around Dombivali to alternative locations for which suitable legislative changes would be effected. Chemical industries in Dombivali are likely to be shut down for a week to carry out an inspection and combing operation to ascertain implementation of various safety and security measures, the minister said. Meanwhile, the district authorities were assessing the damage caused to other properties and houses in the vicinity of the factory due to the explosion. Roof of some of the houses in the vicinity were blown away while some huts were damaged. The explosion has created a big crater at the site. Among the injured were those hit by flying glass shards. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had visited the blast site on Thursday and also the hospital where some of the injured were admitted. "State government will bear all the expenses for their medical treatment," he had said, adding that an in-depth inquiry will be conducted into the incident. "This is a serious and major incident. The government would conduct a detailed inquiry," he said. Trinamool Congress secured a major victory in the recent Assembly polls, bagging 211 out of the 294 seats, higher than last time's score of 184. (Photo: PTI/Representational Image) New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated Mamata Banerjee on taking oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the second time and said he looked forward to working closely with her government for the state's growth. "Congratulations to @MamataOfficial ji & her team on taking oath. Looking forward to working closely with the WB Govt for the state's growth," Modi tweeted. Congratulations to @MamataOfficial ji & her team on taking oath. Looking forward to working closely with the WB Govt for the state's growth Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 27, 2016 His tweet came shortly after 61-year Banerjee was sworn in as the Chief Minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry. She was administered oath of office and secrecy by state Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi at the sprawling Red Road. Trinamool Congress secured a major victory in the recent Assembly polls, bagging 211 out of the 294 seats, higher than last time's score of 184. A host of political leaders including RJD chief Lalu Prasad, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and DMK's Kanimozhi were present at the ceremony. Leaders of Congress and the Left parties boycotted the swearing-in to protest against alleged post-poll violence by TMC. State BJP leaders also stayed away from the ceremony alleging post-poll violence. Jaitley, however, said that the central ministers attended the programme in the spirit of democracy. We have sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore for the development of railway network in the Northeast region, says Narendra Modi. (Photo: Twitter/ANI) Shillong: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated passenger trains for Manipur and Mizoram improving railway connectivity in the land-locked Northeast region. The trains include Bhairabi Silchar and Jiribam Silchar passenger trains which would bring Mizoram and Manipur on the broad gauge passenger railway map of India, while the Kamakhya-Katra Express would link Assam directly with Jammu and Kashmir. Flagging off the trains during a public reception at the Polo grounds here, the Prime Minister said "We have sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore for the development of railway network in the Northeast region." He said the Railway ministry was planning to spend Rs 5000 crore during the current year for expanding rail network in the region. The Prime Minister said the centre has come up with a mission policy to upgrade roads, telecommunication, power and waterways in the region apart from railways. "This will give a boost to the economic development of the region," he said. Earlier in the day, railway officials said at the NEC plenary meeting that commissioning of lines in the region has increased from 68 km in 2011-12 to 537 km in 2015-16. Of the 25 ongoing railway projects with an anticipated cost of Rs 63,045 crore, Rs 29,095 crore have been spent since April 1 this year, they said. Highlighting the targeted commissioning of some of the projects, the officials said the Bhairabi-Sairang (Mizoram) route was to be commissioned by 2018-19, and the Dimapur-Zubza (Nagaland), Sevok-Rangpo (Sikkim) and the Byrnihat-Shillong (Meghalaya) routes were set to be commissioned by 2019-20. The deadline set for Tetelia-Byrhinat route in Meghalaya was by early next year, as per the 2020 vision document of the Indian Railways. New Delhi/Hyderabad: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday sought an urgent report from the Telangana government over an attack on a 23-year-old Nigerian student in Hyderabad, an incident that took place amid outrage by African envoys here over killing of a Congolese youth. Nigerian student Ghazeem sustained head injuries after a man in his neighbourhood hit him with a rod following a dispute over car parking on Wednesday night. "I have spoken to Telangana Chief Minister about the attack and he promised to take stringent action against culprits," the External Affairs Minister said. He has promised to take an immediate and stringent action against the culprits. /2 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 27, 2016 External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Swaraj has urgently sought a report from the Telangana government on the incident. "I have also asked Shri Amar Sinha Secretary ER (Economic Relations) of my Ministry to speak to Chief Secretary Telangana and monitor this," Swaraj tweeted. Envoys of African countries on Thursday had expressed shock over killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver here last week following which India assured them of safety of African nationals. "On reports of a Nigerian student injured in Hyderabad: EAM @SushmaSwaraj has urgently sought report from State Govt, is monitoring the case," Swarup tweeted. According to Hyderabad police, an argument broke out between the Nigerian student Ghazeem, studying in a city college, and Gafoor, a resident of Singadabasti locality in Banjara Hills area, over car parking. When Ghazeem refused to remove his car from outside Gafoor's residence, a scuffle broke out. After sometime Gafoor took out a rod and hit Ghazeem on his head resulting in injuries, a senior police officer said. Narendra Modi said he has always maintained that instead of fighting with each other, India and Pakistan should together fight against poverty. (Photo: PTI) Washington: India-Pakistan ties can "truly scale great heights" if Pakistan removes the "self-imposed" obstacle of terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he asked Islamabad to play its part by putting a complete stop to any kind of support to terrorism "whether state or non-state". "In my view, our ties can truly scale great heights once Pakistan removes the self-imposed obstacle of terrorism in the path of our relationship. We are ready to take the first step, but the path to peace is a two-way street," Modi told The Wall Street Journal, in comments posted on its website on Friday. He said he has always maintained that instead of fighting with each other, India and Pakistan should together fight against poverty. "Naturally we expect Pakistan to play its part," he said. "But, there can be no compromise on terrorism. It can only be stopped if all support to terrorism, whether state or non-state, is completely stopped. Pakistan's failure to take effective action in punishing the perpetrators of terror attacks limits the forward progress in our ties," said the Prime Minister. Modi said his government's proactive agenda for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood began from the very first day of his government. "I have said that the future that I wish for India is the future that I dream for my neighbours. My visit to Lahore was a clear projection of this belief," he said. Ruling out a change in India's decades-old policy of non-alignment, Modi said that despite the border dispute, there have been no clashes with China, pointing out the "new way" in today's "interdependent world" unlike the last century. "There is no reason to change India's non-alignment policy that is a legacy and has been in place. But this is true that today, unlike before, India is not standing in a corner. It is the world's largest democracy and fastest growing economy. "We are acutely conscious of our responsibilities both in the region and internationally," he said. Read: Indo-Pak border talks likely in Lahore in July Modi's significant comment on India's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which many now also prefer to call as strategic autonomy, came in response to a question on China's assertiveness. "The US is very keen on India, the rising power that India is, to be part of, if not an alliance, then at least a grouping that can stand up to some extent to China. Where do you see India taking a position on the global stage?" he was asked. "We don't have any fighting with China today. We have a boundary dispute, but there is no tension or clashes. People-to-people contacts have increased. Trade has increased. Chinese investment in India has gone up. India's investment in China has grown," Modi said. "Despite the border dispute, there haven't been any clashes. Not one bullet has been fired in 30 years," he said. "So the general impression that exists, that's not the reality," Modi said on India's ties with China. Modi appeared to be appreciative of China's Maritime Silk Road initiative. "We feel that the world needs to hear more from China on this initiative, especially its intent and objective," he said. Read: India expecting breakthrough in Indo-Pak talks: envoy With a 7,500 kilometre-long coastline, India has a natural and immediate interest in the developments in the Indo-Pacific region, he said, adding that India has excellent relationships with the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. "India is a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region. We, therefore, watch very carefully any developments that have implications for peace and stability in this region," he noted. Talking about India's ties with the US, Modi said many of the values between the two countries match. "Our friendship has endured, be it a Republican government or a Democratic. It is true that Obama and I have a special friendship, a special wavelength," he said ahead of his travel to the US next month, his fourth visit to the country after becoming the Prime Minister. "Beyond our bilateral relationship, whether it is global warming or terrorism, we have similar thoughts, so we work together. "But India doesn't make its policies in reference to a third country. Nor should it," Modi said. He said India and the US have enjoyed a warm relationship, regardless of whether America has a Republican or Democratic administration. "During the last two years, President Obama and I have led the momentum; we are capturing the true strength and scale of our strategic, political and economic opportunities, and people to people ties. Our ties have gone beyond the Beltway and beyond South Block," he said. "Our concerns and threats overlap. We have a growing partnership to address common global challenges viz. terrorism, cyber security and global warming. We also have a robust and growing defence cooperation. Our aim to go beyond a buyer-seller relationship towards a strong investment and manufacturing partnership," he added. Modi said unlike the last century, when the world was divided into two camps, this is not true anymore. "Today, the whole world is interdependent. Even if you look at the relationship between China and the US, there are areas where they have substantial differences but there are also areas where they have worked closely. That's the new way," he said. "If we want to ensure the success of this interdependent world, I think countries need to cooperate but at the same time we also need to ensure that there is a respect for international norms and international rules," he said. New Delhi: With NDA Government facing criticism of "rehashing" schemes, a top PMO official said no idea is entirely new and its origin can be traced in old ones but what distinguishes it is how effectively a programme is applied to a particular situation. Stating that initiatives including Swachh Bharat and Jan Dhan Yojana were "path breaking and ambitious" but were dubbed by critics as "basically new names", P K Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary in the PMO, cited the example of noted economist Amartya Sen's concept of entitlement and suggested it was similar to observations made decades earlier by an official of erstwhile Mysore State. Sen, a Nobel laureate, has been critical of Modi government's policies. Addressing inaugural session of second National Symposium on Excellence in Training here, Mishra said the initiatives taken by Modi government required "highly motivated and competent" personnel for ensuring "effective implementation". "It is sometimes pointed out that these programmes or schemes are not new, they are basically new names. I would like to point out that no idea can be entirely new. Ideas evolve over years, innovations and any new idea, so-called new idea, its origin can always be traced to something in the past," he observed. Referring to Sen's concept of Entitlement, the bureaucrat said the economist had developed it with "extremely insightful" study of Bengal famine. But, Mishra added, the Mysore State Diwan had in his book published "sometime between 1915 and 1920" too had explained "how during drought and famine, it is not the shortage of food but lack of purchasing power which affects people". The Diwan though had not used the word entitlement in his book, the official said. "The point I am making is one can trace any idea in earlier ideas. But what distinguishes the current efforts or the new initiatives is how an idea, whether in the form of a scheme or programme, can be effectively applied to a particular situation," he added. Mishra also made a strong pitch for application of three "distinctive aspects" of transparency, speed and effective implementation in governance. Underscoring need for human resource development, he said it was the same factor that had propelled economic development in East Asian countries between 1960s and 80s. The official also underscored use technology for effective implementation of schemes of like direct benefit transfer, Digital India or Smart City. "We need to use technology not in the sense of high-level technological equipment, but technology at the grass roots-level also will make the schemes more effective. So, all these pose lot of challenges to training institutes," he said. Mishra also underlined the need for training people at the district and village levels as he noted capacity building training of those who are actually interacting with people is extremely important. "It is not difficult to say, nobody will disagree, we need transparency, we need objectively but how exactly people will be imbued with the not only capacity, but the incentive to adopt these approaches and that is a big challenge," he added. Besides Mishra, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Co-ordinator Yuri Afansiev also addressed the session. According to reports, the draft also makes it mandatory for tobacco and liquor products, and shops that sell them, to carry the same message. (Representational photo: AFP)) Mumbai: In a move to curb underage drinking and tobacco consumption, the centre has proposed a new law that makes it mandatory for police officers to register an FIR when they spot any minor under the influence of liquor, narcotic drug, cigarette or other intoxicants. The FIR will also have to ascertain the source of the substance and investigate on how the minor came to posses the intoxicant. The new Juvenile Justice Act 2015 (Care and protection of children) makes it punishable to sell tobacco products to juveniles and those identified as violators can face up to 1 lakh fine and seven years of imprisonment. The women and child development ministry has invited comments on the draft rules. According to reports, the draft also makes it mandatory for tobacco and liquor products, and shops that sell them, to carry the same message. Under the existing law, selling intoxicants to minors can invite a penalty ranging from 1000 to 2000 INR. Comed-K on Friday said that its affiliated private medical and dental colleges will not allot seats to government quota students. Bengaluru: Just hours before the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) was to announce the results of Common Entrance Test-2016, Comed-K on Friday said that its affiliated private medical and dental colleges will not allot seats to government quota students. Twelve medical and 24 dental colleges are affiliated to Comed-K. Every year, they surrender 1,500 medical and the same number of dental seats to state students that are filled up through CET by KEA. Mr M.R. Jayaram of MS Ramaiah Medical College said that since the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has been made mandatory for admissions to private medical colleges, the consensual agreement signed with the state government remains invalid. "15% seats in private medical colleges are reserved for NRIs. We will not share even a single seat out of the remaining 85% with the state government," he said. A surprised Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil said, "We signed the consensual agreement only recently. After the private medical and dental colleges requested, we increased the annual fee by 10%. We will take a decision on the Comed-K stand after consulting with the law department." State students shine in COMED-K UGET COMED-K announced its UGET (engineering) results on Friday evening. State students have shared most of the top rankings. Releasing the results, COMED-K chief executive A.S. Shrikant informed that in the top 10 rank, seven were bagged by the Bengaluru city students. Adhokshaja V.M. from the city scored the first rank by securing 170 marks out of 180. Rahul R, another city student have secured second rank. Third rank was bagged by Ms. Sai Himali Allu from Hyderbad. Fourth rank is bagged by Arveti Shiva from Andhra Pradesh. Yashvant K.T. from Bengaluru have secured fifth rank. Another highlight of this year's result is that out of first 100 ranks, 56 were bagged by Karnataka students. Out of top 1,000 ranks 417 were bagged by the state students. CBSE Class X results today CBSE class X results will be declared at 2 pm on Saturday. Results will be available on cbse.nic.in. Around 10,000 students from the state have appeared for the exam. New Delhi: Just when the Government seemed to have succeeded in pacifying angry African envoys by persuading them to attend the governments Africa Day celebrations on Thursday following the murder of a Congolese student in Delhi last week, Union Culture minister Mahesh Sharma on Friday put the government in a spot by saying that Africa too was unsafe. The ministers comment now is bound to further result in infuriating the Africans at a time when vice-president Hamid Ansari is set to visit North Africa and Prime Minister Modi too is likely to visit southern Africa in the coming months. Mr. Sharma had attracted controversy in the past as well for some of his previous utterances. Terming the killing of a Congolese national in the capital as unfortunate, Mr. Sharma said that even African countries are not safe. India is a large country and such incidents will give a bad name to India. It is an unfortunate incident. However, even Africa is not safe, Mr. Sharma was quoted by a news agency adding, Such incidents happen in other parts of the world too. Mr. Sharma narrated how he had to cut down his morning and evening walks during a visit to South Africa because of safety concerns, and said that it is unfair to paint India as an unsafe country. When I went to South Africa, I was stopped from going for a morning walk by the hotel people citing security reasons. My post- dinner walk was also dropped for the same reasons. Its not fair to say that India is unsafe, said the minister. Sharma added that the tourism ministry has introduced measures to ensure safety of foreign nationals in the country. The tourism ministry has introduced a helpline no 1363 for foreign nationals who visit India. We also issue certain do's and don'ts for them here, said the minister. Raipur: A senior IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh has been shunted out of his post after he praised Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a sarcastic Facebook (FB) post. Barwani district collector Ajey Singh Gangwar , the 2005 batch IAS officer of MP cadre, was on Thursday shifted to state secretariat as deputy secretary after his comment in the social media that took an indirect dig at the Hindu radicals while praising Nehru for steering India to become a modern nation. He cooment stirred a row in the ruling BJP circle here. The 55-year-old bureaucrat however deleted his post after it went viral in the social media. Interestingly, his transfer order assigned no reason. There was also no mention of praise for Nehru in it. The transfer order followed a scrutiny of his FB post by the authorities concerned to examine if it was violation of All India Services (conducts) Rules, official sources said on Friday. Thiruvananthapuram: That there could be cancer-causing chemical in bread manufactured by major brands, had rocked the nation, but it has not affected sales in Thiruvananthapuram. It is still early to say whether there has been some impact, says Gopakumar Kaimal, managing partner of a leading bread manufacturer here. However, many did ring him up to ask if their brand of products had any of those hazardous chemicals. We have assured them that our products dont have it. We source our flour from local flour mills. We are sure they dont use these. It is used to make the bread softer, and we have to pay extra if they use any such chemical, he says. An employee at a major bread outlet also shared that their regular customers are asking if their products are safe. Meanwhile, the small-time bread manufacturers too have issued statements saying that the bread they supply is safe. Almost all manufacturers are quick to allay the fears of the people, saying that they add nothing, but yeast. However, the flour they use is rarely made by manufacturers. Many source it from flour mills, while many others rely on branded atta and maida. Few like K.N. Ramakrishnan, GM, Elite Group of Companies, say they have their own flour mill units. The flour that is sourced is not tested for the presence of Potassium Bromate and Potassium Iodate, the two chemicals at the heart of the controversy. mentioned in the Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment. Many are ignorant about the chemicals. "We dont have to use these, since these are for keeping the bread for a longer time. Our stocks get over in a couple of days, and we have to supply fresh bread," said an employee at a major bread outlet. Many like him have no idea that Potassium Bromate is used for better consistency in the dough and Potassium Iodate is a flour treatment agent. New Delhi: Facing threats of radicalisation of inmates in Srinagar's Central Jail, Jammu and Kashmir government has sought the Centre's help in segregating petty criminals, including stone-pelters, from hardcore terrorists. There have been intelligence inputs suggesting that hardcore terrorists had been "brainwashing" youths booked for small crimes like theft or stone-pelting, officials in the Union Home Ministry said and added that it was a "serious trend" which needs to be checked as soon as possible. The officials said that the state government had asked for a grant of Rs 7 crore for setting up a new prison facility so that hardcore terrorists are separated from petty criminals. Once a stable of Maharaja Hari Singh, the Central Jail, which is located on the foothills of famous 'Hari-Parbhat', has a capacity for housing 300 inmates. However, due to lack of proper prison facility, the prison was housing nearly 450 inmates. The officials said that there was no mechanism to keep small-time criminals away from hardened terrorists who not only radicalise them but also make them messengers to get in touch with contacts even across the border. The state has 13 prisons and the Central Jail in Srinagar is the oldest of them. KOCHI: Kerala High Court on Friday observed that if the revenue and police officers having charge of the Puttingal temple area were stern in the enforcement of law, the tragedy would not have occurred. Justice P. Ubaid rejected the bail applications of 40-odd accused in the case and observed that it was high time the government banned fireworks displays and parading of elephants as part of festivals and ceremonies. The politicians should make earnest efforts to refine our bureaucracy and the civil service and free them from disturbing influences and pressures. Kerala has developed a very 'unhealthy' culture and practice that every religious festival or ceremony must be glamorised by fireworks. No religion will promote or sponsor such explosive ceremonies. We have sufficient laws to ban or control the use of explosives and other substances in connection with festivals and ceremonies. We also have a definite machinery under the law to regulate and control the use of explosives. But the machinery or the officers functioning under the laws do not have the guts, urge and commitment to enforce the laws. That is why this sort of calamities happen," the court said. "The persons who used that much quantity of explosive substances will definitely have the full knowledge of the inevitable consequences that it will definitely make dangerous explosion causing death of human beings. If a massacre occurred due to the use of such quantity of explosives, that cannot be called a sheer accident," the court said. Meanwhile, the court granted bail to two accused-Jinju and Salim-- who had allegedly sold some explosive substances to the contractors. Mr P Vijayabhanu, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that they were not the persons who caused the explosion and that they had no active or indirect role in causing the explosion. There was nothing to show that potassium chlorate was in fact sold by the two accused. The court observed that continued detention of the duo was not necessary. Mumbai: Amid a row over Amitabh Bachchan's participation in second anniversary celebrations of NDA government in Delhi on Saturday, the megastar on Friday said he will be hosting a small segment regarding 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign during the programme. When asked about being targeted by the Congress for "hosting" the event, Bachchan said, "I said what I had to, I think media has carried it as well. I have been invited to host a small segment for the programme. I am attached to a campaign called 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', that is the segment I am hosting. The actual show is hosted by Madhavan I am not hosting the show." "I am just hosting a small segment of a programme on sidelines of an event endorsed by the United Nations. I am United Nations' ambassador for Girl Child mission. So I will be talking about that," the actor said. A row had earlier erupted over Bachchan's participation in the second anniversary celebrations of NDA government with Congress targeting him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the light of the megastar's name figuring in Panama Papers expose. When asked how he deals with criticism, Bachchan said, "I think no person is perfect. I think everybody has the right to express themselves. Social media has given everyone the opportunity to have a voice to be heard not just by himself but millions of people. I think it is wonderful." The "Piku" star said that he tries to tell people not to use abusive language. "But those who use abusive language, I tell them there was no need to use this kind of language. If they improve, good, if not, then I choose to not listen to it," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and most of his ministerial colleague are expected to attend the event at India Gate, where Amitabh will also host a small segment of the programme, to mark the government's second anniversary. 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. Nellore: During the past two years the NDA government has totally failed in its rule, said DCC president Panabaka Krishnaiah. Addressing a press briefing at Indira Bhavan on Thursday, he alleged that it was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had politically decided for the division of AP by raising the slogan 'One vote-two states'. By strengthening the BJP the state division has become possible, he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that he would provide over Rs 5 lakh crore more than that was announced by the Congress in the state reorganisation bill. Not only that, he had also promised that he would help construct a capital which is better than Delhi, he alleged. As per the state BJP's election manifesto, then prime minister Manmohan Singh gave more assurances following BJP's pressure. The BJP had assured that the Centre would totally bear the state financial deficit completely. The BJP had also promised that it would implement special package to Rayalaseema and north Andhra but it failed to implement so. So far, three budgets were introduced at the Centre, but AP had got only Rs 6,500 crore. During the past two years, the government failed to implement special status and there by the state had faced severe loss, he bemoaned. The Centre failed to allot reasonable funds to the Polavaram project. Though half of the term of Modi rule was completed, our state failed to get a railway zone or Dugarajapatnam, Chennai-Visakha industrial corridor, international airports at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati remained a distant dream. There is no development in the country's economy. The government had issued three ordinances amending the land acquisition act against the farmers. The railway charges were increased thrice during the BJP's rule. Though the petrol and diesel prices have come down at international markets, they are increasing day by day in India, he added. The BJP rule across the country was against the people. He called upon the people to teach a befitting lesson to the BJP which failed to provide special status to AP and in the improper implementation of state reorganisation bill. Kolkata: The stage is set for Mamata Banerjees second coronation at the Red Road. Didi wanted common people to witness the historic event and therefore, deviating from the tradition of taking oath at Raj Bhavan, she chose the sprawling tarmac-like iconic Red Road as the venue for her swearing-in ceremony amidst high security arrangements. Over 30,000 people are expected to attend the programme, besides a large number of VVIPs from all across India and some neighbouring countries. Red Road has been closed for traffic since the night of May 23 for the construction of podium and seating pavilions. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, Union minister of state for urban development Babul Supriyo, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Bangladesh industry minister Amir Hossain Amu, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah have already confirmed their participation. Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani, Zee Group chairman Subhas Chandra are likely to attend the ceremony. It was not yet confirmed whether Bengals jamai babu Amitabh Bachchan and Bengals brand ambassador Shahrukh Khan would attend the event but Juhi Chawla will be present. Though Congress president Sonia Gandhi will not be able to attend, she is likely to send some one on her behalf. Two important Congress leaders, Ambika Soni and C.P. Joshi, will be in the city on Friday for an important party meeting. State Congress leadership said it did not have any information if they would attend Banerjees event. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sent a 20 kg hilsa fish as her gift to Banerjee on this occasion. Frantic last minute preparations were going on Friday at the Red Road. Chief secretary Basudeb Banerjee, Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar and other senior officials of the city police visited the venue on Thursday to supervise the preparations. There will be seating arrangement for 6,000 VIPs and 25,000 common people, an official of the information and cultural affairs department said. Banerjee on Thursday announced that everybody was welcome to witness the event, This is a peoples event and invitation/entry card is not needed. Seat will be offered on first come first serve basis, she said. The stages will have a predominance of blue and white colour. To beat the heat, 34 giants air-conditioners have been installed, besides pedestal fans for the general people. As for security, Lalbazar officials said it would be on the lines of the Republic Day celebrations. All senior officers above the rank of DC will be present at the site, along with officials of other law enforcement agencies. There are several entry points towards the stage, which would need to be sealed. Sniffer dogs are being used and CCTVs have been installed, a senior Lalbazar officer said. (This story originally appeared in the Asian Age) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With former chief minister Oommen Chandy declining to become the opposition leader, Ramesh Chennithala is all set to be elected to the post. The Congress Legislature Party meeting will elect Chennithala as its leader at the meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday in the presence of the representatives from the High Command. K C Joseph will be deputy leader of CLP. Chandy will retain the post of UDF chairman. Chandy, Chennithala and KPCC president V M Sudheeran reached a consensus on these posts at a meeting held at the Indira Bhavan on Friday. Soon after Congress-led UDF's massive defeat in Assembly elections, Chandy had informed the high command that he was not in the fray for Opposition leader's post. One of the reasons for him to decline the post was the less number of MLAs belonging to his A group compared to Chennithala led I group. Of the 22 MLAs of Congress, 12 belong to the I and 8 to the A. Two are unattached. 60-year-old Chennithala who will become the Opposition leader for the first time, began his political life from early school days. In 1982 he became the national president of NSUI and the same year got elected as MLA from Haripad constituency. In 1985 he became general secretary of Indian Youth Congress. Chennithala was hand-picked by the then chief minister late K Karunakaran to become the youngest minister of his Cabinet in 1986 at the age of 29. In 1989 he was elected as MP from Kottayam Parliamentary constituency and soon became the national president of Youth Congress. Chennithala was re-elected as MP in 1991,1996 and 1999 . He took over as KPCC president soon after the Karunakran faction split the Congress to form a separate party the Democratic Indira Congress. Earlier, the high command had left the decision on the opposition leader to the state leadership which arrived at a consensus on Chennithala in consultation with CWC member A K Antony. The Congress leadership also held parleys with the UDF allies Muslim League and Kerala Congress ahead of taking the decision. Chandy will continue as UDF chairman. As per UDF set up, usually the chief minister or opposition leader holds the front chairman. However, with Chandy refusing to be the Opposition leader, the Congress had to change the precedent. Many fear with Chandy as UDF chairman and Chennithala as opposition leader, two power centres might emerge in the Congress. In purely quantitative terms, the Narendra Modi governments engagement with the world throws up some interesting statistics. Mr Modi has travelled to 33 nations and met over 100 world leaders in the past two years while external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj made 34 bilateral visits and met over 115 foreign ministers. India evacuated thousands of those stranded in strife-torn Ukraine, Libya, Iraq and, most notably, from Yemen, where over 6,000 were evacuated under Operation Raahat, including 2,000 foreign nationals from 48 countries. FDI has gone up by 40 per cent and India has jumped 16 spots on the World Economic Forums Global Competitive Index. But these numbers, though important, tell only a part of the story. In a globalising era, the key aspect of foreign policy should be managing the conflicting interests and expectations of different countries and fine-tuning these in our own interest. Earlier, we were stuck on keeping Israel at arms length in the belief that this would keep our traditional Gulf friends happy (and also for domestic votebank politics). But this government has held three unprecedented bilateral summits with the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran (with a Qatar visit coming soon), but also strengthened ties with Israel. When Mr Modi met Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in New York in September 2014, on the UN General Assembly sessions sidelines, an Israeli commentator wrote that the most important thing Netanyahu did in New York wasnt at the UN, it was meeting Indias new PM. With Tehran and Riyadh backing rival sides in the raging civil war in Syria, it is noteworthy that PM Modi has not only visited both countries in a short span, but also got a rousing welcome in both. Ms Swaraj has already visited Israel and there is huge anticipation about Mr Modis expected visit. While the details are yet to be announced, as and when it happens it will undoubtedly be one of the most significant events in the history of both countries. Energy security is undoubtedly one of the top priorities of this government. The recent Chabahar agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan will not only give India earlier access to Iranian oil, but also to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. Africa is emerging as a major player in supplying oil and natural gas: the 16 per cent it contributes now is likely to shoot up. Further, uranium supply agreements with Australia and Canada are further landmarks in achieving energy security. Infrastructure development is another key foreign policy focus. Japan is funding the bullet train linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad, and separate infrastructure funds have been announced with the US, Britain and UAE. Almost every major country is a partner in Smart City projects. Our partnership with the major democracies is being strengthened at every level, most importantly with the United States. Mr Modi has already visited the US thrice in the past 24 months, and President Barack Obama was chief guest at our Republic Day celebrations last year. Next month, PM Modi will pay an unprecedented fourth visit to America, and will address the US Congress. Defence ties have been significantly upgraded, with Manohar Parrikar and US defence secretary Ashton Carter exchanging visits, and the US-India Defence Technology and Partnership Act, that puts India at par with Americas Nato allies, is before the US Senate. The Act East policy is yielding dividends: the results are visible in Bangladesh, Myanmar, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. Japans PM Shino Abe developed a strong personal chemistry with Mr Modi long before he became PM, as Japan (and Canada) were regulars at the Vibrant Gujarat Summits. Closer India-Japan ties are being carefully watched globally, specially in the context of Chinas rising assertiveness. Reviving civilisational ties is a unique aspect of PM Modis foreign policy outreach. Visits to temples in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, a mosque in Abu Dhabi, a Buddhist monastery in Mongolia and to gurdwaras in Canada and Iran symbolise this. The engagement with the Indian diaspora worldwide is yet another major step, involving the community in bettering ties with host countries. The grand public welcome Mr Modi got in countries ranging from the US, Britain and China is unprecedented not only in Indian political history, but for any political leader worldwide. While all these initiatives will reap both short-term and long-term benefits, there are still a few areas of concern. Indias policy towards Pakistan has been consistent, it has made it clear that terrorism and talks cannot go hand in hand. India, under Manmohan Singh, made a tactical error by delinking terror and talks in the joint statement issued in July 2009 at Sharm El Sheikh. We cant afford this, and the ball is now squarely in Pakistans court, on how it responds to Indian demands to act against the perpetrators of terror living under state protection who are involved in the attacks in Mumbai and Pathankot. Enhanced China-Pakistan defence and infrastructure ties, Chinas ambiguous stance on anti-India terrorists on Pakistani soil and its opposition to Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group are adding complexities in India-China relations. Nepals highly fragmented polity and its inability to take along all sections of Nepalese society is yet another area of concern for India. India has traditionally had a close relationship with Britain, and has strong ties with almost all European Union nations. The coming Brexit referendum in the UK is likely to have a significant impact on global geopolitics, particularly if Britain decides to leave the EU. The relationship with the US has matured enough to grow beyond American domestic politics. Therefore, irrespective of who wins in November, the outcome of the US presidential election is unlikely have any major adverse impact on India-US relations. Two years back, when Mr Modi was elected PM, no one had imagined foreign policy would be among his key success stories. But right from the day of his swearing-in, to which he had invited all the heads of Saarc nations, the NDA government has pursued a concerted agenda of strengthening ties with all nations of interest, rebuilding civilisational and cultural bridges, reinforcing national security priorities and extending a helping hand to all those in need, thereby making India a significant player in global affairs. The recent front-page photograph showing Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Chief of Air Staff, taking his maiden flight in Indias indigenously-built light combat aircraft Tejas in Bengaluru understandably made quite an impression on those eagerly waiting for over 33 years to get the good news of Indias achievement. ACM Raha is the first IAF chief to fly the twin-seat aircraft. Indeed, Air Chief Marshal Rahas statement that the aircraft was good for induction comes as more than a pleasant surprise, nay music to the ears, nullifying the constant naysayers who didnt want to see it being a part of the IAFs operational squadrons. Many will recall the muddled activities of some powerful individuals when it comes to accelerating indigenous defence production as a substitute for imported military hardware. This despite Jawaharlal Nehrus early push for Indias own ordinance factories, and Indira Gandhis Make in India enterprise, that saw the launch of the conception-to-construction LCA along with the advanced light helicopter and integrated missile development programme in 1983. Six (British origin) Leander-class frigates were developed and a submarine fleet, imported from the then Soviet Union in the 1960s, was inducted, but a constant sabotage-like scenario, from both within and without, forced India to get dependent on the import lobby and foreign vendors. It made the armed forces helpless too as they could not be self-sufficient, and faced periodic threats of the imposition of Western sanctions, that dangled like a Damocles sword over defence preparedness. This import mania also resulted in the colossal depletion of the Air Forces assets, coupled with the countrys failure to develop and produce an indigenous fighter aircraft. So much so that it may be virtually impossible today for those in charge of the nations defences to tackle a two-front crisis simultaneously. This is one of the gravest security nightmares facing us. Seen in this background, it is time to assess the ground situation arising out of the virtual test flight of the indigenously-developed Tejas. Announced in 1983 as LCA, Indias requirement was for air superiority and light close air support aircraft starting in the 1990s. The stipulated salient features of the plane were: single-seater, single-engine, delta-wing, built of composite material with a fly-by-wire control system, and a central weapons management system. Today, in the LCA of 1983, renamed Tejas, Air Chief Marshal Raha has given an important message to both the import lobby and indigenous enterprise: India needs its own fighter aircraft that is produced in India. What made ACM Raha test the Tejas himself? There must have been an element of urgency, plus a desire on the Air Chiefs part to boost the morale of IAF personnel due to the rapid depletion of its operational assets. To make matters worse, the protracted selection process of imported fighter aircraft, the ceaseless charges of corruption in military hardware acquisition since 1980s, the high casualty rate of (fighter) pilots and (flying) machines in the recent past, the nightmarish induction and application of the strategic doctrine of war on two fronts, behind-the-scenes activities of lobbies acting on behalf of foreign aircraft manufacturers must have had a role in ACM Rahas decision. For the political establishment too, the future is far from rosy. It is a Catch-22 situation. No one can possibly disagree with Prime Minister Narendra Modis clarion call for Make in India. The moot point, however, is how to go about it. Internal elements do not yet appear to have reached the confidence-inducing level, and foreign manufacturers and vendors still successfully market their products to be inducted, or if not inducted, be transferred in the form of imports by India for technical cooperation or joint ventures. Thus, even if Swedens Saab JAS 39 Gripen and the American Lockheed F-16 were rejected for not passing the qualitative requirement of the Indian armed forces, somehow both have made a mysterious comeback with a strong bid to be inducted into the IAF with an offer as a Make in India product. The timing of both the US and Swedish action appears more than a mere coincidence. It has been a testing time for the indigenously-researched and built Tejas. In other words, if the Tejas today doesnt pass the flight tests at the highest level of fighter pilots, it could very well be the end of the indigenisation of Indias fighter aircraft programme. It will open the gates for even the rejected fighters from foreign vendors. Another interesting feature of this sudden triangular fight between Indias Tejas, the Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen and American Lockheed F-16, for the Indian market, is that all are single-engine flying machines. And technically, both the Swedish and Indian aircraft are reportedly neck and neck in technical performance parameters. However, a final note of caution is needed. If rejected foreign aircraft try to make a comeback, why not give the Tejas a break with full-throttle support? Should one pay a very high price for the supposed benefits of state-of-art technology? Is there no merit in simplicity? After all, it was the simple Gnat that smashed the sophisticated F-86 Sabre jet in the India-Pakistan war of 1965. Consider this: it might be infinitely better to go in for the indigenously-produced Tejas than to renegotiate for the rejected Saab JAS 39 Gripen or Lockheed F-16. Is that the signal that was being sent out by Indias Chief of Air Staff from the cockpit? The Supreme Court, in granting permission to Italian marine Salvatore Girone to return to Italy subject to certain conditions and pending the verdict of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, has acted in the interest of the law in such cases. It had earlier shown Mr Girones comrade, Massimiliano Latorre, the same leniency after Mr Latorre had suffered a stroke in India. It is best to allow the courts to exercise their wisdom and understanding of the law rather than let the matter become a handle for local politicians seeking popularity. On the diplomacy side, what leverage New Delhi can hope to obtain vis-a-vis Rome is far outweighed by the principles of justice. Girone will remain under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, even while in Italy, until the international tribunal rules on the limited question of who has jurisdiction over the marines. The killing of the two fishermen took place at sea off the coast of Kerala. It is almost impossible to prove whether the shooting took place in waters under Indian jurisdiction. What powers India can exercise will vary according to the zone in which the marines ship was at the time of the incident (these zones are decided by their distance from the Indian coast and Indias powers in these zones also depend on what the ship was doing). There was never any point in letting matters develop into a diplomatic row. India must wait for the verdict of the international tribunal. This is an undated image released by CNRS on Wednesday May 25, 2016 of stone rings inside a cave on Bruniquel in France. ( Photo: Michel Soulier/CNRS via AP) Berlin: 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. This is an undated image released by CNRS on Wednesday May 25, 2016 of stone rings inside a cave on Bruniquel in France. (Photo: Michel Soulier/CNRS via AP) 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. Scientists say that a pair of mysterious stone rings found deep inside a French cave was probably built by Neanderthals about 176,500 years ago, proving that our ancient cousins were capable of more complex behavior than previously thought. (Etienne Fabre/CNRS via AP) 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 structures were made from hundreds of column-shaped mineral deposits, called stalagmites, that were chopped to a similar length and laid out in two oval patterns up to 40 centimeters (16 inches) inches high. (Michel Soulier/CNRS via AP) 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. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. You can get a very decent smartphone for Rs 10,000, but if you up your budget a little. The Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 segment has become the hottest segment that Android phone makers are competing tooth and nail in. You can get a very decent smartphone for Rs 10,000, but if you up your budget a little, you could get a couple of important features like a fingerprint scanner, 3GB of RAM which in our opinion has become bare-minimum for heavy multitasking on Android, better chipsets, Full HD displays, bigger batteries that should help the phone survive upon heavy use and better-performing cameras. Although Motorola has ruled the roost in this segment with their Moto G series for the past three years, the newly-launched Moto G4 Plus will receive heavy competition from the likes of Xiaomi, LeEco, Lenovo and Huawei. Motorola Moto G4 Plus | Price: Rs 14,999 | Display: 5.5 inch, 1920 X 1080 pixels | Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 | CPU: 1.5GHz | GPU: Adreno 405 | RAM: 3GB | Storage: 32GB | Camera: 16MP + 5MP | Battery: 3000mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: Yes. Click here for the lowest price for Motorola Moto G4 Plus here. LeEco Le 1S Eco | Price: Rs 10,999 | Display: 5.5 inch, 1920 X 1080 pixels | Chipset: MediaTek MT6795T Helio X10 | CPU: 2.2GHz | RAM: 3GB | Storage: 32GB | Camera: 13MP + 5MP | Battery: 3000mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: Yes. Click here for the lowest price of LeEco Le 1S here. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 | Price: Rs 11,998 | Display: 5.5 inch, 1920 X 1080 pixels | Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 | CPU: 1.8GHz | GPU: Adreno 510 | RAM: 3GB | Storage: 32GB | Camera: 16MP + 5MP | Battery: 4050mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: Yes. Click here for the lowest price of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 here. Lenovo K4 Note | Price: Rs 11,999 | Display: 5.5 inch, 1980 x 1080 pixels | Chipset: MediaTek MT6753 | CPU: 1.3GHz | GPU: Mali-720 MP3 | RAM: 3GB | Storage: 16GB | Camera: 13MP + 5MP | Battery: 3300mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: Yes. Click here for the lowest price for Lenovo K4 Note here. Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) | Price: Rs 13,990 | Display: 5.2 inch, 1280 x 720 pixels | Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 | CPU: 1.2GHz | GPU: Adreno 306 | RAM: 2GB | Storage: 16GB | Camera: 13MP + 5MP | Battery: 3100mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: No. Click here for the lowest price for Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) here. Lenovo Vibe S1 | Price: Rs 12,999 | Display: 5 inch, 1920 X 1080 pixels | Chipset: MediaTek MT6752 | CPU: 1.7GHz | GPU: Mali-760 MP2 | RAM: 3GB | Storage: 32GB | Camera: 13MP + 8MP | Battery: 2420mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: No. Click here for the lowest price for Lenovo Vibe S1 here. Huawei Honor 5X | Price: Rs 12,999 | Display: 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels | Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 | CPU: 1.8GHz | GPU: Adreno 510 | RAM: 2GB | Storage: 16GB | Camera: 16MP + 5MP | Battery: 3000mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: Yes. Click here for the lowest price of Huawei Honor 5X here. Xiaomi Mi4i | Price: Rs 11,999 | Display: 5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels | Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 | CPU: 1.7GHz | GPU: Adreno 405 | RAM: 2GB | Storage: 16GB | Camera: 13MP + 5MP | Battery: 3120mAh | Fingerprint Scanner: No. Click here for the lowest price of Xiaomi Mi4i here. Source: Pricebaba.com Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. This undated handout photograph released by the Afghan Taliban on May 25, 2016 shows Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada at an undisclosed location. (Photo: AFP) Washington: Extending on olive branch, the United States has said that the new Taliban leader Mawlawi Haibatullah is not on its list of designated terrorists and urged him to opt for peace, not war. "No, he's not. You asked if he was on the designated terrorist (list), he's not," US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing. Last week a US drone killed Mawlawi Haibatullah's predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a remote area of Balochistan and on Monday the Taliban elected him as their new chief. "We would hope that he would seize the opportunity. He does have an opportunity in front of him to choose peace and to work towards a negotiated solution. We hope that he makes that choice now," Toner said. When asked if another drone attack is in store for the new Taliban Chief if he rejects the peace process, Toner said: "I'm not going to predict who we might target in the national security interests of the United States." US President Barack Obama had said in a statement that Mullah Mansour was killed because he had rejected efforts to seriously engage in peace talks and end the violence that took the lives of countless Afghan men, women and children. Obama said that Mullah Mansour's death had created an opportunity for peace and 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. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves toward the crowd after speaking at a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center. (Photo: AP) New York: US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has fired his national political director after six weeks on the job, campaign sources said on Wednesday. Trump told staffers and supporters gathered backstage before a campaign rally in California on Wednesday that political director Rick Wiley "should be fired" for his handling of a fundraising deal with the Republican National Committee, according to the sources. The RNC fundraising agreement included 11 states but not Nevada, where Republicans in the state are angling for key victories in the November elections. Three sources confirmed Trump said Wiley should be fired after Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald told Trump that Wiley was responsible for leaving Nevada out of the deal. McDonald did not return calls seeking comment. Wiley did not respond to emails, text messages and phone calls seeking comment. The move is the latest in a tug of war between Trump's original campaign team, including press secretary Hope Hicks and campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and a group of professionals he brought in later to shore up support from more traditional corners of the Republican Party. The new arrivals, led by veteran strategist Paul Manafort, whom Trump hired in late March, have urged Trump to tone down some of his most provocative positions, such as his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. But Trump reprimanded Manafort, according to two sources familiar with the conversation, after Manafort told a gathering of RNC members at an April meeting in Florida that Trump was only "acting" when describing his proposed Muslim ban or his plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Manafort hired Wiley on April 13. A statement issued by the Trump campaign said Wiley had been hired on a "short-term basis as a consultant until the campaign was running full steam" and it thanked him for "for helping us during this transition period." Manafort did not responds to calls and emails seeking comment. Washington: Two senior officials from President Barack Obama's administration acknowledged Europe's increased cooperation in the fight against terror, but cautioned that further progress was needed. European countries "are improving in the sharing of information when it comes to anti-terror efforts, they are on the right path," Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told a US Senate panel. "They are not where we need to be but we are working to make sure they are." Justin Siberell of the State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism said recent attacks in Paris and Brussels highlighted the need for heightened transatlantic collaboration. "There is political will now within Europe for improving their systems, improving their watching lists," Siberell told lawmakers. He added that US officials have seen "a greater openness to work with us" from European countries. The spate of attacks in Europe left US officials and lawmakers concerned with the pitfalls of Europe's counterterrorism systems. Those weaknesses are seen as a direct threat to US homeland security, as most Europeans can enter American territory without a visa. Washington was particularly pleased after Europe reached an agreement in April on the collection of air passenger data. Mayorkas also praised initiatives taken to reinforce Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency. Europeans have "really empowered and equipped Europol as a central repository off information and cooperation. It's a really important issue in which we participate considerably," Mayorkas said. He added that the US had actively offered technological advice to boost Europe's forces. Mayorkas plans to discuss counterterrorism cooperation when he travels to Europe next week for meetings with his European counterparts. The G7, which groups the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada, also reiterated that settlement of disputes should be "peaceful" and "freedom of navigation and overflight" should be respected. (Photo: AP) Ise-shima: The leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies on Friday said they are worried over rising maritime tensions in Asia and called for disputes to be resolved without resort to force. "We are concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas, and emphasise the fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes," they said in a statement at the end of a two-day summit, though refrained from mentioning any individual countries by name. Read: World economy is an 'urgent priority': G7 leaders Their declaration comes as tensions have risen over competing claims in the South China Sea, a strategic body of water that encompasses key global shipping lanes and which is claimed in nearly its entirety by China. Beijing's encompassing claims and ongoing militarisation of islets and outcrops there has angered some of its Southeast Asian neighbours, including the Philippines and Vietnam. China is also locked in a dispute with G7 host Japan over rocky outcroppings in the East China Sea, stoking broader concerns about the country's growing regional might and threats to back up its claims with force, if necessary. Read: Migrant crisis is 'global challenge': G7 leaders The G7, which groups the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Canada, also reiterated that settlement of disputes should be "peaceful" and "freedom of navigation and overflight" should be respected. The leaders also said that claims should be made based on international law and countries should refrain from "unilateral actions which could increase tensions" while also avoiding "force or coercion in trying to drive their claims". Barack Obama (R) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) after laying a wreath in front of the cenotaph to offer a prayer for victims of the atomic bombing in 1945 at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima on May 27, 2016.Obama on May 27 paid moving tribute to victims of the worlds first nuclear attack. (Photo: AFP) Seoul: Nuclear-armed North Korea has ridiculed United States (US) President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima as the "childish" diplomatic ploy of a "nuclear war fanatic." In a commentary released late on Thursday, the North's official KCNA news agency said Obama's decision to become the first sitting US president to visit the site of the 1945 atomic bomb strike was an act of stunning hypocrisy. "It is a childish political calculation," the agency said. "Even if Obama visits the damaged city, he cannot hide his identity as a nuclear war fanatic and nuclear weapons proliferator," it added. Heavily sanctioned for its four nuclear tests, Pyongyang insists its entire weapons programme is an unavoidable response to decades of US nuclear hostility. Obama was due to lay a wreath in Hiroshima later on Friday at a memorial to the bombing which ultimately claimed the lives of around 140,000 people. The KCNA commentary also questioned Tokyo's motives in organising Obama's visit, saying it was playing up the notion of Japan as a victim of war, and shifting the focus away from the pain its colonial ambitions and wartime aggression inflicted on others. "Japan seeks to put under the carpet its true colours as a provocateur of the war and aggressor ... despite its past crimes," the agency said. US President Barack Obama (C) walks toward waiting leaders as they gather for the "family photo" with "Outreach Partners" and wo The Korean peninsula suffered more than three decades of harsh Japanese colonial rule which only ended with Japan's surrender following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. "This continues to be an organisation that sees violence as a strategy for obtaining its goals and moving its agenda forward in Afghanistan," said Obama, told reporters during a Group of Seven summit at Ise-Shima in central Japan. (Photo: AP) Ise-Shima, Japan: US President Barack Obama said on Friday he expects the Taliban to continue a strategy of violence following the appointment of a hardline leader, adding that the United States aims to uphold Afghanistan's fragile democratisation and prevent its use as a base by ISIS. "This continues to be an organisation that sees violence as a strategy for obtaining its goals and moving its agenda forward in Afghanistan," said Obama, told reporters during a Group of Seven summit at Ise-Shima in central Japan. "In the short-term, we anticipate that the Taliban will continue to pursue an agenda of violence and blowing up innocent people." "Our goal right now is to make sure (Afghanistan's) constitution and democratic process is upheld (and) maintain the counter-terrorism platforms that we need in the region so that al Qaeda and now ISIS are not able to take root and use it as a base to attack us in the United States," he said, using an acronym for ISIS. The selection of cleric Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada as the new Taliban chief on Wednesday all but dashes Obama's hopes for opening peace talks before he leaves office, one of his top foreign policy goals, current and former US defense and intelligence officials said. Akhundzada, a conservative Islamic scholar from the Taliban's stronghold in southern Afghanistan, succeeded Mullah Akhtar Mansour four days after he was killed in a US drone strike. Some US officials had expressed hope that Mansour's death would eliminate an obstacle to peace negotiations between the Taliban and the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Bangkok: Three foreign women were killed and one other tourist remains missing after a packed speed boat capsized off the popular Thai holiday island of Koh Samui, police said on Friday. The boat, which was carrying 32 tourists plus four crew, flipped over Thursday afternoon and tossed its passengers into the sea after it was slammed by a wave near a rocky stretch of coast in the Gulf of Thailand. The bodies of a 28-year-old British woman and a 29-year-old German woman were retrieved that afternoon, according to local officials, and the body of a third tourist was discovered Friday morning. "It was a Hong Kong woman in 30s. Her body was found at 10:30am (330 GMT) some 500 metres from the accident site," Thanakorn Pattananun, the head of the island's tourist police said. A team of 50 rescue workers in seven boats were scouring the area for a British man who is still missing, he said. Police have charged the Thai captain of the Ang Thong Explorer speedboat with negligence that led to deaths and injuries, a crime that carries up to 10 years in prison. "Weather was the cause of the accident because it created high waves, but the boat was also being driven at a high speed," Apichart Boonsriro, the commander of Surat Thani provincial police said. The speed boat was returning the tourists from a trip to a string of nearby islands and was only a few metres from a pier when it capsized, trapping some of the passengers under its hull. Only one of the deceased was found wearing a life jacket, said the province's governor, who has called on authorities to "strictly" enforce laws that require boat passengers to wear life vests. Weak enforcement The regulation is rarely respected on the notoriously reckless speed boats that ferry tourists around Thailand's famed beaches and often lack an adequate supply of life vests. "If tourists refuse to wear [life vests] then crew should not allow them onto the boat," said the governor, Wongsiri Phromchana. Three passengers from the UK, Australia and Romania have been hospitalised on the island for injuries sustained during the accident, said staff at Samui hospital. The United Kingdom's Foreign Office confirmed the death of a British woman Thursday and said it was assisting her family. A spokeswoman said they were aware of another British national in hospital for injuries suffered in the same incident, but did not make reference to a third citizen. "We remain in contact with local authorities in Thailand for further information," she said. Tourism is a key source of revenue for Thailand, but accidents involving tourists are common in a country where safety regulations are often weakly enforced. In recent years the kingdom's reputation as a tourist haven has been tarnished by bus and boat accidents, political violence and crimes against foreigners. In January a speedboat struck and instantly killed a French tourist while she was snorkelling in waters reserved for swimmers off a Thai island in Krabi province. The picture appeared to have been doctored to add the captions 'Execution Room @ Buchenwald 2016' (Photo: AFP) Berlin: German police have launched an investigation to identify two men believed to be Britons who appeared in an online picture performing a Nazi salute at the former Buchenwald concentration camp, Bild newspaper reported on Thursday. The image was published on Friday on the Twitter page of British neo-Nazi group National Action. It showed two men, whose faces had been blurred, holding a black flag displaying the group's lightning bolt logo and performing the salute. The picture appeared to have been doctored to add the captions "Execution Room @ Buchenwald 2016", and "Meat Hooks", with an arrow pointing to hooks on the ceiling used to hang victims strangled by the Nazi SS force. A police spokesperson in the eastern city of Weimar told Bild: "We take such actions very seriously." Police could not be reached for comment on Thursday, a holiday in several of Germany's 16 states. Buchenwald, near Weimar, was the biggest concentration camp on German soil. Set up by Hitler's SS in 1937, it held more than 250,000 Jews, Roma, gay and other people not tolerated by the Nazis. More than 56,000 people died there from torture, medical experiments and starvation. Devinder Singh, 30, was also banned from driving for five years and ordered to pay 350 pounds (USD 512) in costs and an 80-pound (USD 117) victim surcharge by Ealing Magistrates' Court in London. (Representational image) London: An Indian-origin businessman who ran a car parking service at London's Heathrow airport was on Friday fined and handed a six-week suspended sentence for illegally driving a customer's Range Rover car in her absence. Devinder Singh, 30, was also banned from driving for five years and ordered to pay 350 pounds (USD 512) in costs and an 80-pound (USD 117) victim surcharge by Ealing Magistrates' Court in London. "Singh was interviewed under caution after one of his customers complained to police about the use of her car while away on holiday. The customer had left their car, a Range Rover Sport, with Singh's business YesParking. "His business provided a service for motorists wishing to leave their car in storage while they flew from Heathrow airport," a Scotland Yard spokesperson said. Singh was convicted of driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and taking a motor vehicle without the owner's consent after he pleaded guilty to all charges, the spokesperson said. "He also ran another business providing the same service called HeathrowParking 24-7. When the customer collected the vehicle, they noticed it was clean, the setting was in the off-road position which was never used and there was less fuel. "Also the mileage had changed significantly. A tracking device showed the car being parked at various addresses including Singh's home during the period while the customer was away," the spokesperson said. Singh was previously convicted for similar driving offences in relation to his business and had received a number of suspended sentences, a legal term implying delaying of incarceration in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. "This was a betrayal of his customer's trust by brazenly using their cars while they were away on holiday without their knowledge. "He would have continued to do this had he not been caught. The travelling public must be careful to use reputable companies when leaving their motor vehicles whilst travelling from Heathrow Airport," Detective Inspector Ian Robinson of Aviation policing said. London: Sex workers around the world face violence, rape, widespread discrimination and extortion, a global human rights watchdog said on Thursday, with male or transgender sex workers facing further stigma from the police, clients and the community. Research published by Amnesty International showed that sex workers globally lack protection from "horrific" abuse and violence, even in countries like Norway, which are perceived to have strong human rights laws. From Papua New Guinea to Argentina, Hong Kong and Norway, researchers consistently found cases of sex workers being physically and sexually abused by clients and the police. "Sex workers are experiencing horrific levels of violence and abuse throughout the world," Kate Schuetze, a policy advisor at Amnesty International, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In many cases police are the perpetrators of the abuse, making sex workers reluctant to report the crime, especially if prostitution is illegal in their country, Schuetze said. She added that sex workers caught carrying condoms - seen by police as evidence of illegal activity - have been arrested or targeted for extortion, which in turn discourages safer sex practices. Mona, a sex worker in Papua New Guinea, said she was raped by several police officers after being caught with a client. "I don't have any support to come to court and report them. It was so painful to me, but then I let it go," Mona was quoted by Amnesty as saying. "If I go to the law, they cannot help me as sex work is against the law in PNG." Sex work vs sex trafficking In April, France followed Northern Ireland, Canada, Sweden, Norway and Iceland in introducing legislation to make it an offense to buy sex. Some activists said shifting the criminal charge from victim to the client would make countries like France less attractive for pimps and traffickers. But male sex worker Luca Stevenson said conflating sex work with sex trafficking was problematic. "Calling for an end to sex work to end trafficking for sexual exploitation doesn't make sense. It will and it does push sex work underground," said Stevenson, a coordinator at the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe. "The reality is - the large majority of sex workers make a decision to sell sex," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Globally, almost 21 million people are trapped in forced labor, of which 4.5 million are victims of sexual exploitation, according to the International Labour Organisation. "We're absolutely opposed to things like trafficking, the sexual exploitation of children," said Schuetze. But overly broad anti-trafficking laws can also trample on the rights of people engaging in sex work consensually as adults, she added. Amnesty, which has called for the full decriminalization of sex work, wants governments to create policies to protect adults who consent to selling sex for money. For male or transgender sex workers in more conservative countries, such policies could result in less discrimination and better access to healthcare and other services. "In Papua New Guinea, we were told that sex workers were made to wait all day in health clinics because it was known they were transgender," Schuetze said. "What we're trying to do is shift the focus so people recognize these are human beings in need of protection and the same rights as everyone else." During the 15-month long abuse, she forced the minor boy to have cold showers and even beat him so hard that she broke a wooden spoon in the process. (Representational Image) Edinburgh, Scotland: A woman has been arrested on charges of punishing a toddler by giving him severe electric shocks using a dog training electric collar. The incident took place at Fort Augustus village in Scotland. According to a Daily Mail report, the accused, an army veteran identified as Lanna Monaghan, subjected the victim to horrific physical abuse for 15 months including kicking and biting. During the 15-month long abuse, she forced the minor boy to have cold showers and once beat him so hard that she broke a wooden spoon in the process. The three-year-old victim's ordeal came to light when a female dog owner reported the abuse to police officials who eventually tracked down Monaghan, leading to her arrest. In her statement to the police, Monaghan said, I am truly sorry for what happened, I can't believe it happened. The child pushed my buttons, spitting on me, peeing on the floor and being sick on the floor. Monaghan pleaded guilty at the High Court of Edinburgh and was charged with five counts of child cruelty in 2014 and 2015. During the trial, Monaghan told the court that she had a bad temper and would often 'zone out' and would go 'out of control.' Monaghan said that she had seen a neighbouring lady use the electric training collar on her pet dogs and thought that if it worked on the dogs, it would work on kids too. After the toddler's medical examination, doctors revealed that he had a number of bruises on his body, including multiple red marks around his neck. Monaghan has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at the High Court in Glasgow in July. Baghdad: Civilians who managed to flee besieged Falluja have reported cases of starvation in the Iraqi city that government forces are trying to recapture from Islamic State militants, the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Thursday. "If they stay in Fallujah they face possible starvation, if they try to escape they risk being killed getting out," NRC media coordinator Becky Bakr Abdulla said in an emailed report, citing fresh refugee accounts. The Iraqi army launched an offensive on Monday to dislodge the ultra-hardline Sunni militants from Fallujah, situated 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad. Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to fall under IS control, in January 2014, and has been under a tight siege for about six months. The NRC, which assists refugees at a camp south of Fallujah, said the fighting made it difficult to assess the full extent of "the dire situation in the city". One woman told the NRC her family had lived on dry dates and drank from the Euphrates River before escaping Fallujah. About 50,000 are trapped in a city that now lacks drinking water, electricity and fuel, according to the NRC. About 40 families managed to flee in the past 36 hours, one of them saying they hid in a drainage pipe. Aid agencies have become alarmed about civilian suffering and the United Nations has urged combatants to assure safe passage to inhabitants trying to escape the fighting. The offensive to retake Fallujah is part of Baghdad's campaign to reverse IS's capture of wide tracts of northern and western Iraq. Government forces retook the Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, near Fallujah, in December. The young victim was pregnant with twins when she succumbed to her injuries. (Photo: AFP) Damascus, Syria: In a shocking revelation, a 22-year-old student who gave up her life to fight off Islamic State militants in Syria has spoken about the horrific life of young girls under ISIS rule. According to a report in the Mirror, the student identified as Joanna Palani, said that an 11-year-old girl was gangraped and impregnated by Islamic State 'monsters', adding that the young victim was pregnant with twins when she succumbed to her injuries. Palani claimed that she had seen young girls and women being sexually abused at the hands of ISIS terrorists who often kept them as sex slaves. A photo posted by Joanna Palani (@joannapalani2) on Apr 12, 2016 at 2:38am PDT Read: ISIS forces birth control pills on girls to keep them 'available for sex' While fighting against ISIS in 2015, Palani said that she was shocked to find a 'house' in a village near Mosul in Iraq where young girls were sexually assaulted and were often loaned out to the militants. Goodmorning ;-) A photo posted by Joanna Palani (@joannapalani2) on May 3, 2016 at 7:57pm PDT "Even though I am a fighter it is difficult for me to read about how a 10-year-old girl is going to die because she is bleeding from a rape," she told Vice. Differentiating between Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces and ISIS militants, Palani said that ISIS terrorists are very good at sacrificing their own lives, but Assad's soldiers are very well-trained and they are specialist killing machines. A photo posted by Joanna Palani (@joannapalani2) on May 8, 2016 at 2:39am PDT Although Palani is back from Syria and has chosen to continue with her studies in Copenhagen, she said that she should not have left behind the child abuse and sex slave victims. Beijing: China on Friday said it will expand cooperation with India to combat terrorism at the UN and other international for a, a day after President Pranab Mukherjee raised the issue of Beijing blocking New Delhi's move to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar blacklisted by the UN. Describing Mukherjee's four-day state visit as "very successful and fruitful", Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, the two sides have "agreed to carry forward our fine traditions, deepen practical cooperation and elevate bilateral relations." "The two sides will expand bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism. Terrorism is our common enemy. We will continue to enhance our counter-terrorism efforts under the UN, the BRICS and other frameworks to jointly maintain regional peace and stability," Hua said when asked about the outcome of Mukherjee's visit and whether China supports India's move in the UN to ban JeM chief Azhar. During his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, Mukherjee sought China's cooperation in international fora like the UN in the fight against terrorism stating that there was "no good or bad terrorists". "As for specific outcomes, the two sides agreed to maintain high-level exchanges to better top level design and put in place improved mechanisms," Hua said. Hua also said both sides will "properly manage and control our disputes, so that these disputes will not stand in the way of our practical cooperation". "We will continue to make full use of the special representatives meeting on border question to maintain border peace and tranquility," she said. India and China held 19th round of Special Representatives talks last month to resolve the disputes over 3488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet and India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during 1962 war. Hua said China and India will support each other on regional and international occasions by joining their voices together on the international stage. She spoke of more "balanced" bilateral trade as India has expressed serious concerns over USD 48 billion deficit in about USD 70 billion annual trade in China's favour. India is seeking big ticket investments from China in India to generate more trade to offset the trade deficit. "In practical cooperation we will enhance our cooperation in industrial zones, construction and build more sister cities. The two sides will also enhance cooperation in investment, tourism and more. We will try to move forward our two way trade in more balanced way through cooperation," she said. Earlier, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying in his meeting with Mukherjee that "the two sides should appropriately address our differences" and consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communications between the top leaders. Describing Mukherjee as a "seasoned statesman" and "an old friend of China", Xi pledged to boost the strategic and cooperative partnership with India and proposed that the two sides consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communication between state leaders and making use of various bilateral dialogue mechanisms. In his meeting with Mukherjee, Premier Li Keqiang suggested the two sides align China's 'Made in China 2025' campaign and 'Internet Plus' initiative with India's 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' campaigns, Xinhua said. Mukherjee's four-day visit to China ended today with a meeting with State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who is also China's Special Representative for boundary talks with India. Briefing media on Mukherjee-Xi talks, Director General of Asia department of the foreign ministry Xiao Qian said the two leaders agreed to work to resolve differences by every effort but at the same time, be realistic. "It means they will manage well, the issues that cannot be addressed in a very short time so that these disagreements will not stand in the way of our development and cooperation," Xiao said yesterday and cited boundary dispute as an example. Xi also proposed to tap the potential for practical cooperation between India and China on railways, industrial park, smart city, new energy, environmental protection, information technology, human resources, industrial capacity, investment, tourism and services. The Chinese president looked forward to closer cultural and people-to-people exchanges as well as law-enforcement and security cooperation between the two countries. He called for efforts to join their development strategies, advance the construction of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor, a component of China?s mega Silk Road initiative in which India is taking part. He also said India which has joined the China proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) should make it a professional and efficient financing platform and conclude the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at an early date. Commenting on Mukherjee's visit, Sun Shihai, director of the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, said the Indian President's trip follows a visit to India by Xi in 2014 and seeks to convey the message that the two countries are ready to maintain the tempo of high-level interactions. Sun said that while China is concerned with improving ties between India and other countries, including the US and Japan, Mukherjee's visit shows India's efforts to strike a balance in its relations with these countries. Fu Xiaoqiang, a scholar on South Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Mukherjee has a very good understanding of China. He has visited China a number of times in different capacities. He has also met and interacted with top Chinese leaders, including Xi and Premier Li, during their visits to India, he told state-run China Daily. "Given that Washington is drawing New Delhi to its side on security, the visit of Mukherjee will help to advance bilateral cooperation in all fields and eliminate disagreements," Fu said. Beijing: China has conveyed its willingness to enhance cooperation with India on combating the menace of terrorism, including in the United Nations, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday winding up a "fruitful and productive" four-day visit to that country, Mukherjee, who met the top Chinese leadership including President Xi Jinping yesterday, also expressed the hope that China will play a "positive and facilitative role" in ensuring a predictable environment for India in its pursuit of civil nuclear programme in bridging the huge power deficit the country faces. His statement on the two issues in his interaction with the media on board Air India One aircraft on his way back home, assume significance in the context of China's recent action in blocking a UN move to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist and Beijing's stand that India should sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) for gaining admission to the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group. The Chinese stand is seen as a bid to scuttle India's membership of NSG and New Delhi has dismissed the Chinese proposition. "Terrorism was an important topic which I covered in my meetings," the President said. During his discussions with the Chinese leadership, he conveyed to them that there was universal concern over growing acts of terrorism. "India has been a victim of terrorism for around three and a half decades. There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist. Terrorism respects neither ideology nor geographical boundaries. Wanton destruction is its only aim. "Comprehensive cooperation by all countries of the world is essential to tackle this global menace. The international community must engage in strong and effective action. As close neighbours, India and China should work together. The Chinese leadership agreed that terrorism was a menace to the entire human race. They conveyed their willingness to enhance cooperation, including in the UN," he said. Supporters of Pakistani religious group Jamaat-ud-Dawa burn representation of an American flag during a protest rally to condemn the US drone strike in Pakistani territory which killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. (Photo: AP) Peshawar, Pakistan: Supporters of the slain Taliban chief have held funeral prayers across Pakistan for Mullah Akhtar Mansour, killed in a US drone attack last week. Some 400 Jamaat-ud Dawa members held the ceremony Friday in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Similar ceremonies were also held in Quetta, Hyderabad and Karachi. Jamaat-ud Dawa is a terror organization widely believed to be front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai. The funeral prayers took place even though Mansour's body is still in the hands of Pakistani authorities for DNA testing. The crowd in Peshawar also chanted U.S. slogans burned an American flag. The group's leader, Ghazi Inamullah, told the gathering that "after the humiliation in Afghanistan, U.S. forces are now targeting Pakistan with drone attacks." French automaker Renault buoyed by the grand success of its small hatch Kwid in India, and in a bid to cater to the growing demand has decided to ramp up production capacity for the car. Talking to Deccan Herald here on Thursday, Renault India Country Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Sumit Sawhney said, Since the Kwids launch in the latter part of last year, we have received 1,25,000 bookings for the car, and weve delivered 50,000 cars till date. According to sources, the waiting period for the Kwid had gone up to six months, since the production was affected by floods that hit Chennai in December, and over time, it has reduced to around 2-3 months. It must be noted that the Kwid received an overwhelming response even prior to its launch, thanks to the companys digital and other marketing initiatives. Kwid is a great success story. The demand for the car is growing, and many customers today, keen to buy the car, are unwilling to wait long to get it. Hence, to provide more customers with the Kwid experience, we are ramping up production at our Chennai facility to 10,000 units a month. We have also introduced a third shift to help increase production, Sawhney said. Currently, Renault India has an installed capacity of 4,80,000 units at its manufacturing facility at Oragadam in Chennai. The company plans to launch a 1,000 cc variant of the Kwid very soon this year, besides a model with automated manual transmission (AMT) around the second half of 2016. Sources said that in Bengaluru alone, around 700 units of Renault Kwid are sold monthly, after considering sales by all the dealerships put together. Used-car drive Meanwhile, the company has forayed into the pre-owned car space, with the launch of Renault selection on Thursday. The first outlet under this brand has opened in Bengaluru, with plans to open outlets in Jaipur, Nagpur and Chandigarh as well. By the end of this year, 20 Renault selection outlets are envisaged by the company, aiming to hit 50 outlets by the end of next year. Shabra Begum, 70, was taken to Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Hospital around 10.30 am after she complained of severe abdominal pain and breathlessness. Around 12.45 pm, she died on a stretcher in the emergency ward of the hospital, where resident doctors were on a one-day strike. Family members claimed she was left unattended to for over one and a half hours.The death sparked protests from other patients who witnessed the incident. They blocked the road outside the hospital demanding that the doctors check them properly. No patient died because he/she was unattended, said Dr D K Tempe, medical director at LNJP Hospital, in a text message to Deccan Herald. With resident doctors across government hospitals protesting against the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, OPDs remained shut and emergency services adversely affected. We filled out an OPD form around 10.40 am. With no doctors, we were asked to go from one floor to the other. Nobody attended to my mother. Then she was left on a stretcher in the Emergency. Around 15 minutes before she died, she was given an injection, said Shabir, the womans son. The doctors said they could not admit her as there were nobody available for the strike, he said. The patient was brought from Radhu Palace. She had swelling on her body and was suffering from breathlessness and pain. We repeatedly pleaded with doctors for her treatment, said Rehana, the dead womans daughter. A doctor on duty at the LNJPs emergency ward said only stable patients were being turned away from the hospital. The ground situation, however, looked different. With OPD registration counters open, some patients were left confused as they were given OPD slips but were left unattended. Rajidan, in her late 60s, who came from Hapur district in Uttar Pradesh was given an OPD slip from the Medicine department. At 12.30 pm, she was told by the security guards that she should come back later. Since morning, different people in the hospital kept misleading me. Now the security guards ask me to stop loitering around and come back later. Why did they give out OPD card if there were no doctors to see patients? Prabhu Dayal, 75, who was brought in a semi-conscious state to the hospital was referred to RML Hospital/Safdarjung Hospital on the emergency card. Such blind referrals were leading to further deterioration of patients condition as a majority of resident doctors at RML were on strike. The doctors said it would not be possible to treat him here as most doctors are on strike here. I am clueless if my father will get treatment at the referred hospital, said Lalit as he put his father in an autorickshaw with the help of his friend. Some family members kept persisted with the hospital administration till the patients were taken in. The doctors refused my husband treatment. He was in critical condition. But I kept at it till they agreed to see him in the Emergency, said Aabida, 60. Lakshmi, who brought her one-month-old niece from NOIDA Sector-75, had a similar story to share. She has undergone two surgeries since birth. The child was in discomfort from last night. Even though the doctors refused to see her, we hung around, she said. Patients suffered in government hospitals across the capital as medical services remained paralysed with over 20,000 resident doctors on strike on Thursday. While OPD services remained shut at most hospitals, surgeries were postponed. Doctors say if their demands are not met they may go on an indefinite strike from June 1. At the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Hospital, family members of a 70-year-old patient alleged the woman died as doctors did not attend to her. The hospital administration denied any medical negligence. Patients who did not know about the one-day strike turned up at hospitals only to be sent away by doctors. My brother suffers from epileptic fits. My mother and I came to get medicines from here. Even though it was an emergency case, the pharmacies were not functioning due to the strike, said Gauri, 18, an Azadpur resident. The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), Delhi went on a token strike demanding a better pay structure for doctors. The federation includes doctors working at hospitals run by both Centre and Delhi government, and municipal corporations. However, the impact of the strike on corporation hospitals was less. They doctors are protesting against the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC). Protesting doctors marched from Lady Hardinge Medical College to Jantar Mantar on Thursday. The doctors have threatened to go on an indefinite strike starting June 1 if the Centre does not respond to their demands by Friday evening. The doctors claimed other states would also support them. FORDA is waiting for the Central government to respond to the demands by Friday evening, failing which we will launch into an indefinite strike from June 1. Doctors associations from across the country are planning to extend their support to us, said Dr Pankaj Solanki, FORDA president. Patients were sent away from hospital pharmacies as well and no free medicines were given. Doctors on duty tried to cater to pregnant women and accident victims on priority. Skeletal OPDs were run and routine OTs suspended. We tried to run emergency services smoothly, said Dr Savita Babbar, medical director, at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. Out Patient Department services also remained suspended at other government hospitals like Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. Medical services remained adversely affected at the hospital, said one of the medical superintendents at LBS Hospital. The OPD registration counters were closed before the usual timings. We did not keep any planned OTs scheduled for the day, said Dr Punita Mahajan, medical superintendent, Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital. At RML Hospital, even emergency surgeries were affected, said doctors. A section of doctors, however, said they are opposed to the strike and described the stir as a knee-jerk reaction. The Centre is seeing into the demands. We do not agree to the reasons of the strike, said Dr Rahul Bamal, a resident doctor at Safdarjung Hospital. There have been a few takers for the mosquito-proof desert cooler developed over seven years ago by National Centre for Disease Control to check vector-borne diseases like dengue, chikungunya and malaria in the city. The project failed to take off due to lack of publicity, said a senior official with National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). In a bid to arrest the rising number of dengue cases, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has taken upon itself to spread awareness among masses by publicising mosquito-proof coolers as dengue-free coolers. The municipality launched an eco-friendly anti-larva drive from its City Zone on Thursday. Normal coolers can be converted into dengue-free coolers by placing a net above the water tank so that mosquitoes cannot lay eggs in there. Health experts also demonstrated how leaves of plant Agave Americana can be used to destroy larvae. The extract of the plant can be poured into the water tank instead of a larvicide - temephos granules, petrol or diesel. It has the potential to kill the larva from zero to eight hours. Chairperson of Medical Relief and Public Health Committee Surekha Gupta said that saplings of Agave Americana plant will be grown on a mass scale at the corporations nurseries so that they can be distributed to public. She added that dengue cannot be prevented without the cooperation of people and urged them to install nets in their coolers or buy the dengue-free coolers to combat the menace of vector-borne diseases in the city. Additional Commissioner (Health), North Corporation, Pankaj Kumar Singh said dengue is endemic in Delhi and as many as 15,867 cases were reported last year. Of which, 60 patients had died. He added that water tank attracts mosquitoes including Aedes aegypti, which causes dengue and chikungunya. So it should be covered with the net. Municipal Commissioner Praveen Gupta said a dengue-free cooler, designed by the NCDC, tries to separate mosquitoes from clean water which is conducive for breeding. The official with National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said that they have trained a few manufactures in Delhi to assemble mosquito-proof cooler which is nearly Rs 1,000 costlier than an ordinary cooler. But one manufaturer backed a few months ago saying that the demand of mosquito-proof cooler is too low in Delhi, the official added. Showing national aspirations, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday virtually gave a zero to Prime Minister Narendra Modi while assessing his two-year performance in office. In a series of tweets, Kejriwal questioned Modi for alleged failure on issues ranging from appointing new judges to non-performing assets of banks, from silence on corruption to inability to increase farmers' income by 50 percent and check farmer suicides. He also touched upon issues like education for Dalits and alleged attempts by the Centre to destablise state governments an indirect reference to Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The Aam Aadmi Party convenors criticism reflected the growing confidence of the party which aspires to be the main opposition to the NDA at the national level. Dear @narendramodi ji 2 years ago u promised to reduce Non Performing Assets of Banks but allowed defaulter Vijay Mallya to flee from India, said Kejriwal. The AAP leader tweeted: 2 years ago u promised corruption-free governance but are silent (like Manmohan ji) on Vyapam, Lalitgate, mallya, khadse,2 years ago, u promised that Team India shall not be limited to PM but include CMs. Now u conspire to destabilize CMs, he said. On vacancies in the judiciary, Kejriwal tweeted: 2 years ago, you promised new courts & doubling number of judges but even tears of the CJI haven't made you act. He was unsparing in his criticism of the Modi government over the Hyderabad University episode. 2 years ago, u promised education for Dalits but remained silent on Rohith Vemulas institutional murder, he said. Highlighting farmer suicides, the Chief Minister tweeted: 2 years ago u promised farmers minimum profit of 50% over input cost but despite thousands of suicides u refuse to act. Kejriwals tweets followed similar aggressive messages by other AAP leaders on social media, questioning the amount spent by the Modi government on advertisements highlighting its two-year performance. AAP Govt was accused for Advertisements, do I need to remind how much money is spent now by MODI Govt on Media blitz. Will TV discuss this? said AAP leader Ashutosh. Kejriwal then tweeted: How much money are they spending? Modi govt spend on ads for jst ONE event 2 yr bash? Sources- more than Rs 1000cr All Del govt depts total spend less than 150cr for full yr, he tweeted. Kejriwal touched upon threats to some women journalists and discontentment among traders. Dear PM sir, minorities, students, dalits being targetted. Traders, jewellers, businessmen disappointed/angry, he tweeted. Dear PM sir, everyone feeling insecure. Even senior women journos facing filthiest abuses n serious threats by those who u follow, he said. Kejriwal also talked about intolerance and alleged violent attacks by right wing activists. Dear PM sir, those who say Bharat mata ki jai in kashmir n those who don't say it outside kashmir are being attacked, he said. Over 100 migrants were feared dead today after two crowded boats capsised off Libya in separate incidents, with one of the tragedies captured on video that shows dramatic rescues and desperate final moments. The survivors of the first shipwreck, which happened yesterday, said some 650 people were aboard their boat when it left chaos-wracked Libya. But they "spoke of 100 missing people who were stuck in the hull," a spokesman for the International Organization of Migration in Italy, Flavio Di Giacomo, told AFP. Italian authorities had initially given a toll of five confirmed dead. While the Italian navy was able to rescue some 560 people from the water yesterday, the shipwreck may be one of the worst tragedies in the Mediterranean in recent months. The navy captured the tragedy in a horrifying video that shows the boat roll over and dump its passengers into the water. Seconds later the sea begins to churn as the migrants swim for their lives. Several rescuers from the Italian navy jumped into the water in an effort to help, some grabbing people by the hair in order to pull them to safety. Separately, the EU's naval force announced that up to 30 migrants were believed to have died after another ship flipped over today, drawing rescuers to the scene who threw life jackets and floats to those in the water. Another migrant boat sinking on Tuesday left a baby girl orphaned after both her parents died, prompting dozens of Italian families to offer to adopt her. The single deadliest migrant boat sinking remains one from April 2015 when some 700 people died. Amid the catastrophes at sea, police in Greece were finishing the evacuation of the squalid Idomeni refugee camp on the border with Macedonia that had become a symbol of human suffering and chaos as Europe struggles with its worst migrant crisis since World War II. In the space of three days, police transferred about 4,000 migrants by bus from Idomeni to newly created camps in the industrial outskirts of Greece's second city Thessaloniki. "We're done. No more people remain, just tents with supplies belonging to aid groups," a police source told AFP. The muddy, overcrowded Idomeni camp exploded in size after Balkan states began closing their borders in February to stem the human tide seeking new lives in northern Europe. As the footage of yesterday's capsise went around the world, photographs posted on social media showed migrants from Thursday's shipwreck waving their arms for help as they balance perilously on the deck of the boat, already underwater but still clearly visible. "The two sides should appropriately address our differences," President Xi Jinping told Mukherjee during their meeting here yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Describing Mukherjee as a "seasoned statesman" and "an old friend of China", Xi pledged to boost the strategic and cooperative partnership with India and proposed that the two sides consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communication between state leaders and making use of various bilateral dialogue mechanisms. In his meeting with Mukherjee, Premier Li Keqiang said the two countries' development constituted opportunities for each other. Li suggested the two sides align China's 'Made in China 2025' campaign and 'Internet Plus' initiative with India's 'Make in India' and 'Digital India' campaigns, Xinhua said. The cooperation and development of China and India will not only benefit one-third of the global population, but also help global economic recovery and growth, Li said. Mukherjee's four-day visit to China ended today with a meeting with State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who is also China's Special Representative for boundary talks with India. Briefing media on Mukherjee-Xi talks, Director General of Asia department of the foreign ministry Xiao Qian said the two leaders agreed to work to resolve differences by every effort but at the same time, be realistic. "It means they will manage well, the issues that cannot be addressed in a very short time so that these disagreements will not stand in the way of our development and cooperation," Xiao said yesterday. The two leaders also agreed to further advance the boundary negotiations under the framework of special representatives so that the tranquillity and peace of the boundary region will be maintained, he said. The boundary issue is a "legacy question from history. We have agreed on advancing the boundary negotiations under the framework of our special representatives mechanism. But before the final settlement of the boundary question, we will take actions to maintain the peace and tranquillity in the boundary region", he said. Hailing the development of the bilateral ties in recent years, Xi told Mukherjee that the two sides should stick to the theme of neighbourly friendship and reciprocal cooperation to cement the China-Indian relationship and benefit the people of the two countries, the Xinhua report said. Xi also proposed to tap the potential for practical cooperation between India and China on railways, industrial park, smart city, new energy, environmental protection, information technology, human resources, industrial capacity, investment, tourism and services. The Chinese president looked forward to closer cultural and people-to-people exchanges as well as law-enforcement and security cooperation between the two countries. He called for efforts to join their development strategies, advance the construction of the Bangladesh-China- India-Myanmar economic corridor, a component of Chinas mega Silk Road initiative in which India is taking part. He also said India which has joined the China proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) should make it a professional and efficient financing platform and conclude the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at an early date. Commenting on Mukherjee's visit, Sun Shihai, director of the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, said the Indian President's trip follows a visit to India by Xi in 2014 and seeks to convey the message that the two countries are ready to maintain the tempo of high-level interactions. Sun said that while China is concerned with improving ties between India and other countries, including the US and Japan, Mukherjee's visit shows India's efforts to strike a balance in its relations with these countries. Fu Xiaoqiang, a scholar on South Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Mukherjee has a very good understanding of China. He has visited China a number of times in different capacities. He has also met and interacted with top Chinese leaders, including Xi and Premier Li, during their visits to India, he told state-run China Daily. These experiences will enable him to better connect with Chinese leaders. "Given that Washington is drawing New Delhi to its side on security, the visit of Mukherjee will help to advance bilateral cooperation in all fields and eliminate disagreements," Fu said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the G20 summit in September, which will be followed by the BRICS summit in Goa, which Xi will probably attend, he said. "The visits by leaders of the two nations this year will help to consolidate bilateral political trust, boost economic ties and facilitate people-to-people exchanges," Fu said. India and China should appropriately address their differences and consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communications between the top leaders, Chinese leaders said in their meetings with President Pranab Mukherjee, state media reported today. Telling Pakistan that the path to peace is a "two-way street", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Islamabad needs to remove the "self-imposed" obstacle of terrorism which is coming in the way of Indo-Pak friendship. Modi also asked Pakistan to play its part by putting a complete stop to any kind of support to terrorism - "whether state or non-state". "In my view, our ties can truly scale great heights once Pakistan removes the self-imposed obstacle of terrorism in the path of our relationship. "We are ready to take the first step, but the path to peace is a two-way street," Modi told The Wall Street Journal, in comments posted on its website today. He said he has always maintained that instead of fighting with each other, India and Pakistan should together fight against poverty. "Naturally we expect Pakistan to play its part," he said. "But, there can be no compromise on terrorism. It can only be stopped if all support to terrorism, whether state or non-state, is completely stopped. "Pakistan's failure to take effective action in punishing the perpetrators of terror attacks limits the forward progress in our ties," said the Prime Minister. Modi said his government's proactive agenda for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood began from the very first day of his government. "I have said that the future that I wish for India is the future that I dream for my neighbours. My visit to Lahore was a clear projection of this belief," he said. Ruling out a change in India's decades-old policy of non-alignment, Modi said that despite the border dispute, there have been no clashes with China, pointing out the "new way" in today's "interdependent world" unlike the last century. "There is no reason to change India's non-alignment policy that is a legacy and has been in place. But this is true that today, unlike before, India is not standing in a corner. It is the world's largest democracy and fastest growing economy. "We are acutely conscious of our responsibilities both in the region and internationally," he said. Modi's significant comment on India's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which many now also prefer to call as strategic autonomy, came in response to a question on China's assertiveness. "The US is very keen on India, the rising power that India is, to be part of, if not an alliance, then at least a grouping that can stand up to some extent to China. Where do you see India taking a position on the global stage?" he was asked. "We don't have any fighting with China today. We have a boundary dispute, but there is no tension or clashes. People-to-people contacts have increased. Trade has increased. Chinese investment in India has gone up. India's investment in China has grown," Modi said. "Despite the border dispute, there haven't been any clashes. Not one bullet has been fired in 30 years," he said. "So the general impression that exists, that's not the reality." Modi appeared to be appreciative of China's Maritime Silk Road initiative. "We feel that the world needs to hear more from China on this initiative, especially its intent and objective," he said. With a 7,500 kilometre-long coastline, India has a natural and immediate interest in the developments in the Indo-Pacific region, he said, adding that India has excellent relationships with the littoral states of the Indian Ocean. "India is a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region. We, therefore, watch very carefully any developments that have implications for peace and stability in this region," he noted. Talking about India's ties with the US, Modi said many of the values between the two countries match. "Our friendship has endured, be it a Republican government or a Democratic. It is true that Obama and I have a special friendship, a special wavelength," he said ahead of his travel to the US next month - his fourth visit to the country after becoming the Prime Minister. "Beyond our bilateral relationship, whether it is global warming or terrorism, we have similar thoughts, so we work together. "But India doesn't make its policies in reference to a third country. Nor should it," Modi said. He said India and the US have enjoyed a warm relationship, regardless of whether America has a Republican or Democratic administration. "During the last two years, President Obama and I have led the momentum; we are capturing the true strength and scale of our strategic, political and economic opportunities, and people to people ties. Our ties have gone beyond the Beltway and beyond South Block," he said. "Our concerns and threats overlap. We have a growing partnership to address common global challenges viz. terrorism, cyber security and global warming. We also have a robust and growing defence cooperation. Our aim to go beyond a buyer-seller relationship towards a strong investment and manufacturing partnership," he added. Modi said unlike the last century, when the world was divided into two camps, this is not true anymore. "Today, the whole world is interdependent. "Even if you look at the relationship between China and the US, there are areas where they have substantial differences but there are also areas where they have worked closely. "That's the new way," he said. "If we want to ensure the success of this interdependent world, I think countries need to cooperate but at the same time we also need to ensure that there is a respect for international norms and international rules," he said. Haryana DGP K P Singh has kicked up a controversy with his remarks that common people coming across any miscreant trying to outrage the modesty of a woman or indulging in acts of arson or murder have the right to "take his life". Singh, who was recently made DGP after his predecessor Yashpal Singhal was removed in the wake of severe flak faced by the state police over handling of the Jat stir, said citizens are not aware that they can take action when they come across violations of law. "Common citizens are not aware that this is not just the right which the law gives to policemen only. If the common man is a witness to someone insulting a woman or indulging in acts of arson by burning someone's property or trying to kill a person then the law gives the right to the common man that he can take the life of the person indulging in such acts," DGP Singh said. The DGP expressed these views while taking part in a convention about the role of police in Panchayati Raj in Haryana's Jind yesterday, where BJP MLA Prem Lata Singh who is wife of Union Minister Birender Singh, was among those present. He stressed that while it is the police's role to maintain law and order, one needs to understand the role of a common man. "It is police's job to maintain law and order but as common citizens you have to understand your role...," he said. Notably, sections 96 to 106 of the Indian Penal Code pertain to the law relating to the right of private defence of person and property. The provisions contained in these sections give authority to a person to use necessary force against an assailant or wrong-doer for the purpose of protecting one's own body and property as also another's body and property when immediate aid from the state machinery is not readily available. With state police drawing flak over its handling of the Jat quota stir in February, DGP Singh said the Haryana Police will not be a mute spectator if any ruckus is created in the future and strict action will be taken against the culprits. In the backdrop of some Jat leaders renewing the threat to start the agitation afresh over their quota demand, the DGP said some people from outside the state are trying to disturb the peaceful atmosphere but it is the duty of locals to keep away from them. "Agitation is right of public but it is wrong when protesters damage the environment by cutting trees and cause damage to public and private property," he said. Notably, the Prakash Singh Committee report which was submitted to the Haryana Chief Minister recently found "deliberate negligence" on the part of 90 officials, including IAS and IPS officers. On May 17, the Haryana government had shunted out Additional Chief Secretary (Home) P K Das who was replaced by senior IAS officer Ram Niwas. Prior to that, DGP Singhal was replaced by K P Singh. Thirty people were killed in violence and there was extensive damage to property during the stir whose epicentre was Rohtak district. In a noble gesture, a Catholic Bishop in Kerala has decided to donate one of his kidneys to save the life of a 30-year-old Hindu man, who is suffering from the organ failure. Auxiliary Bishop of Pala Diocese Jacob Murickan today appeared before an authorisation committee of Kottayam Government Medical College to complete all legal formalities with regard to donating one of his kidneys to E Sooraj. "This is perhaps for the first time in the history, a serving Bishop is donating one of his kidneys to save a valuable life," said Kidney Federation Chairman Father Davis Chiramal. Chiramal, who had earlier donated his kidney to an ailing person in Kerala, said the organ transplantation surgery will be performed at Lakeshore Hospital, Ernakulam, on June 1. "Sooraj belongs to a very poor family. He is the sole bread winner of his family comprising his mother and wife", Chiramal said. He had lost his father four years ago. Later, his brother died of heart attack. "Hearing his sad stories, the Bishop decided to donate one of his kidneys to the Hindu youth. We also want to generate money from generous people for successfully completing the organ transplantation surgery," the priest said. Muricken was declared Auxiliary Bishop of Palai in 2012 while serving as the Diocesan Pastoral Coordinator. On 19 September 2013, he, along with the other newly-appointed Bishops from around the world, was received in audience by Pope Francis at the Vatican. District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai has said that the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard at Baikampady should be developed so as to cater to the vendors needs. Chairing a meeting at the APMC office in Mangaluru on Tuesday, he said that the yard is situated in an area of 80 acres. Under-utilised But, 90% of it is underutilised. The entire yard should be developed to accommodate stalls of merchants and to create a total business environment, he instructed. APMC Secretary M C Ramachandra Reddy said that a Rs 12-crore bank loan was availed of to develop the roads at APMC in 1998 and the central government has given a subsidy for the same. About Rs one crore of the loan is to be repaid, he added. Several proposals Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim, who is the administrative officer of the APMC, said that there are several proposals for the development of APMC yard. All the shops in the Bunder area, including the sub-yard, should be shifted to the APMC yard after holding discussions with merchants. If done so, the Bunder area can also be developed, suggested the officer. Ibrahim further said that the merchants who are now operating at the sub-yard in Bunder, did not agree to shift to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee premises, even after the construction of a road to the yard. If the merchants continue to resist the change of place, a food, vegetable and flower market can be started on the Agricultural Produce Market Committee premises. The rest of the space at the APMC yard can be utilised to develop a truck terminal, he added. Rai directed the deputy commissioner to convene a meeting with merchants in the next 15 days and to come to a conclusion on the matter. If possible, a portion of land can be given for private enterprises to develop the infrastructure, said the minister. Rammohan Pai Maroor, president of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said that the functioning of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee has not been improved in the last 20 years. The project implemented at a cost of crores of rupees should not go waste, he said. G Vishwanath Kamath, Mangaluru APMC Market Functionaries Association president, said that the underground drainage, water supply and electricity supply are not proper at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee yard. Ministers B Ramanath Rai and K Abhayachandra Jain paid a visit to APMC yard on the occasion. Dr Devraj Urs State Truck Terminal Corporation Managing Director Mallikarjun was present on the occasion. A meeting convened by District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai decided to invite an expression of interest under public-private-partnership (PPP) model at national-level for building a private bus stand at Pumpwell. The meeting also decided to ask the Karnataka Housing Board to prepare a concept plan under PPP model and submit the report. The meeting arrived upon a decision that the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) should specify its requirements in clear terms to enable them to prepare the plan. The meeting decided to invite expression of interest within 15 days. The bidders will be given 60 days to submit their proposals. MLA J R Lobo said the bus stand should provide space for parking at least 160 buses and light motor vehicles. Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim said the expression of interest should be invited within June 10. The proposed bus stand should have parking facilities for light vehicles as well, he added. Earlier, the MCC had asked the Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) Ltd (iDeCK) to prepare a concept plan. A consultant of the MCC said that iDeCK had submitted the plan considering 4.5 acre land. Accordingly, only 66 buses can be parked in the bus stand. Nehru statue The minister said that a 7.50-feet tall Nehru statue will be installed at Nehru Maidan. Objecting to it, opposition leader of Council in the MCC Roopa D Bangera said, We have respect towards Nehru. But when already there is a statue of Nehru in front of the Town Hall and Corporation Bank in Mangaluru, what is the need to install another statue at Nehru Maidan? she asked and walked out of the meeting hall along with Deputy Mayor Sumithra Kariya. Reacting to it, Rai asked what was wrong in installing Nehrus statue. The Banjara Hills police investigating the case of attack on a Nigerian student by a local on Wednesday here have ruled out racism as a reason for the attack. The police said that they will be submitting a report on the incident to the Union Home Ministry which has expressed concern over a series of such attacks on Africans in the country. The incident occurred on Wednesday, when the 23-year-old Nigerian student Ghazeem, third year degree student at Nizams College and a resident of Singada Basti under the jurisdiction of Banjara Hills police station limits, had a tiff with one Mohammad Gafoor over parking his vehicle, K Srinivas, Inspector Banjara Hills police station said on Friday. The FIR mentions that Gafoor was enraged as Ghazeem parked his car in front of the gate of the opposite house where he lives. On Wednesday also Ghazeem had parked his sedan at the same spot leading to a discussion and finally a scuffle broke out during which Gafoor hit Ghazeem with a rod. Ghazeems friends took him to a hospital where he received eight stitches to his head. I have told Gafoor that I have been parking my car in a manner that wont trouble him. But he was adamant, Ghazeem told media. But Gafoor says that he returned home after a heated discussion but never attacked the student. Based on the students compliant, the Banjara Hills police have booked Gafoor under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapon). However, the police refused to register a counter compliant by Ghazeem. In a bid to conduct court proceedings in a peaceful manner, the Madras High Court on Friday made changes to the existing rules under the Advocates Act. In exercise of powers conferred by Section 34(1) of Advocates Act, the court makes the following amendments to the existing rules. The amendments shall come into force with effect from the date of publication, the notification released by the Registrar General of the High Court, said. According to the new rules, the court has power under 14-A of Advocates Act to debar advocates who indulge in activities such as trying to influence a judge or participates in a procession inside court campus or holds placards inside the court hall, among others. The notification further said the court shall have the power to initiate action against misconduct under Rule 14-A In the village of Tharu, in the Terai region in Nepal, jwano ko jhol is a rather important healthy dish. The name comes from thyme seed, locally known as jwano, which is generously added in the soup as it is very popular in the region. There is also a tradition of giving jwano ko jhol to women post-pregnancy. Then there is sel roti a lookalike of doughnuts. When the villagers invented this humble bread, little did they realise it would be cherished with chilled white wine at the banks of the River Rapti. Made with rice flour, water, sugar, cooking oil and ghee, it is mildly sweet and served with potato pickle, which is what makes it so peppy. People sometimes prefer it with a mixture of banana and coconut in it. Food & festivals The communities spread across Nepals diverse topography have their own festive cuisines, usually a product of their environment, I learn during my stay at The Taj Safaris Meghauli Serai at Chitwan National Park, Nepal. For example, mari or confectionary items are significant for the Newari community. They assign the task of making maris to Madhikarmis who have been in this trade for many generations now. Lakhamari is one sweet specifically made during Newari weddings. As I take a bite of the delicious sweet, Pradeep, the naturalist who belongs to the region, explains, Prior to the system of sending wedding invitation cards, pieces of lakhamari were sent to relatives. I cannot help giggling when he adds, Close relations were sent bigger pieces, while distant relatives got the smaller ones as tokens of invitation. There is more to it. Three shapes of lakhamari are sent to Newari brides before the wedding. These are in the shapes of a fish, frog and bird. Tradition has it that the fish symbolises movement which means that the bride is going to be busy in household chores; the frog symbolises confinement, meaning the brides limits of the new house like a frog in a well. And the bird symbolises that the bride will still be flying free within the limits of the household. Another important festival is the Maghe Sankranti, celebrated as Maghi the New Year by the Tharus. A special type of spinach called patne palungo grown in Nepal and tarual (yam) are regarded very important and special foods during Maghe Shankranti. While anadi ko chamal a sticky rice variety is commonly eaten, on this day, they make a unique form of rice called khariya, which is prepared in a traditional clay pot called dhikuni. Once the rice is steamed, it is wrapped in a banana leaf and then baked under glowing embers. Non-vegetarians love to celebrate the Festival with pakuwa, which is barbecued meat tempered with spices. Tharus eat various forms of chutneys, a famous one being the bayarak chutney. It is made from bayar (wild Indian plum) and has a spicy, sweet and sour flavour. Tharus also love their liquor. Alcoholic beverages prepared from fermentation of rice are often served to guests. During my visit, I was offered a glass of jaand, a fermented rice beverage, as a welcome drink. And if you are a teetotaller, you can have po cha. Made from special tea leaves, salt and milk with dollops of yak butter, the tea keeps the natives of entire Himalayan belt warm and healthy. You read that right, a tea sans sugar, ginger or masala. The tea leaves are steeped for several hours to form a concentrate known as chaku, which is then combined with the butter and salt in a tall cylindrical wooden churn to make it smooth. Adding milk is optional. In Nepal, foodies can lose their ways in the maze of regional cuisines with so many options and influences Sherpa, Newari, Tharu, Madhesi, Bhojpuri, Lohorung and what binds them together is the simple po cha. The CorCom also works in close coordination of United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) formed jointly by the several militants groups including ULFA(I) and NSCN(K). The militants on Friday released photographs of a joint hit squad of the CorCom (Core Committee), a joint platform of all the militant groups operating in Manipur.This has come as a challenge for the Indian Army and other security forces who have launched a massive operation in Manipur along the porous Indo-Myanmar border after the militants, last week, ambushed and killed six Assam Rifles troopers and took away their weapons.The militants are said to have their bases in the Sagaing division of Northern Myanmar across the border.In a press statement, copy of which is available with DH, the CorCom stated that the ambush, code named 'operation Yenning', was carried out by a combined force under the supervision of the joint military council of CorCom.Six personnel of the 29 Assam Rifles were killed on the spot and seven others seriously injured. One light machine gun, one INSAS rifle and four AK-56 rifles were seized, the statement added.CorCom was formed on October 5, 2012, and acts as a joint platform for all the underground militant groups of Manipur who are operating in the valley areas of the state. In his trademark style, Yadav refused to state whether he and the other leaders would hold a meeting during their current visit to Kolkata. He added that if leaders present on Friday did not come together BJP and Sangh Parivar will divide the nation. Mamata, who hinted at future national political alignments after her victory, is more guarded. If anybody wants my help, Ill work for it, she said. Top regional party leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and DMK MP Kanimozhi were special invitees to the swearing-in ceremony. They held a closed-door meeting with her in the evening, sources said, although the agenda remains undisclosed. Rahul too joins Talks of the proposed front were further fuelled after a tweet from the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. He congratulated her for winning a second term in office. As top Trinamool leaders rubbed shoulders with Kejriwal, Nitish and Lalu, the whispers became stronger that the backroom boys have started working on the proposed rainbow alliance, looking at the 2019 General Elections. While Congress leaders have maintained that a true anti-BJP force cannot be formulated without their support, Lalu said that the federal front is the real national party. Trinamool spokesperson Derek OBrien said, Theres no third front or second front. If at all this is the first front. As regional leaders gathered in Kolkata on Friday to celebrate Mamata Banerjees second term as Chief Minister of West Bengal, they sparked off rumours of a secular, federal front in the making.Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah openly admitted that talks are underway to bring together all secular forces against Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre.Its true that well discuss the prospects of a federal front to fight against Modi and RSS. We want all secular forces to come together. Since Modi came to power, there has been no development in the country, only talks of it; farmers are dying, half the country is reeling under drought. All secular forces have to unite to fight this, otherwise the Sangh will take us all down, said Lalu.Abdullah echoed similar sentiments and endorsed the Trinamool chief as one of the leaders of the said front. Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma on Friday kicked up a row by comparing the safety of Indian cities with that of Africa. The remark comes when the controversy surrounding the killing of a Congolese student in Delhi is still ripe. India is a large country and such incidents will give a bad name to India. It is an unfortunate incident. However, even Africa is not safe. Such incidents happen in other parts of the world too, Sharma said in an interview. The minister narrated how he had to cut down his morning and evening walks during a visit to South Africa because of safety concerns. When I went to South Africa, I was stopped from going for a morning walk at 6 am by the hotel people citing security reasons. My post-dinner walk was also dropped because of the same reasons. Its not fair to say that India is unsafe, said Sharma. The murder of the Congolese student in South Delhis Vasant Kunj has snowballed into a diplomatic crisis as African nations threatened to pull out of a government-sponsored event to celebrate the Africa Day. They relented later only after receiving personal assurance from the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. After bickering over it, Parliaments Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will now examine the government auditors controversial report on the purchase of AgustaWestland helicopters. The PAC, chaired by senior Congress leader K V Thomas, has also selected the much debated issue of rising non-performing assets of banks and public institutions and over hundred issues based on suggestions of the members of the committee. At the first meeting of the re-constituted Committee on May 18, BJP members had insisted on taking up the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the AgustaWestland deal. Thomas had then taken the plea that the report was presented to Parliament in 2013 and the then PAC headed by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had decided not to take it up for examination. PAC sources said the Committee would take up issues from this list of 106 subjects selected for examination during the year 2016-17. The PAC cannot take up all the subjects selected for examination. Subjects would be decided by consensus, the sources said. They added that issues pertaining to rising non-performing assets of banks and telecom spectrum would be taken up for examination at the meeting of the Committee next week. The recently concluded Budget Session of the Parliament witnessed a slugfest between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress over the alleged irregularities in the purchase of the VVIP choppers. The deal was finalised and subsequently cancelled during the previous UPA regime after allegations of kickbacks given by helicopter manufacturers to government officials. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had told Parliament that the government was determined to track down the beneficiaries of the kickbacks. We can do what we could not do in the Bofors case, Parrikar had said in the Lok Sabha. Restaurant and pub operator Holy Cow Hospitality is eyeing expansion, and plans to take its bars pan-India. The young firm is looking at pushing its popular American-style gastropub PlanB to new cities in India, even as it seeks newer markets for its other watering hole brands. Talking to Deccan Herald, Holy Cow Hospitality Co-founder Sundeep Nayak said, We want to get into new markets this year... PlanB, which is one of our popular chains, began its journey in Bengaluru, where we run two outlets, besides one in Chennai. Now, we are eyeing markets such as Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai, to set up PlanB gastropubs, may be in the next 25 months. Bengaluru-based Holy Cow Hospitality embarked on its gastronomical trail in 2010, when Nayak, along with childhood friend Thashvin Muckatira, opened the first PlanB at Castle Street, Bengaluru, with a seed capital of Rs 80 lakh. In 2010, very few pubs sold good food. The emphasis was on the gastropub concept a communion between good food and drink. The idea was to focus on meats and cheeses, and serve good ol American favourites. In 2012, we opened the second PlanB, again in Bengaluru, and the latest one came up in Chennai, Co-founder Muckatira said. Meanwhile, the company came out with other brands Mother Cluckers Bar, and One Night in Bangkok. While both have one outlet each in Bengaluru, the former serves global bar food, while the latter is set as a complete Thai-style bar. In all, the company has invested around Rs 9 crore, through internal funding, and from the business. Talking about near-term expansion plans for this year, Nayak said, In this financial year, we are eyeing Mumbai and Hyderabad. We are scouting different options. Depending on the location, we will decide which of our chains will be best suited where. We are seeking funding in the form of either individual outlet mode, or investment into the company to raise valuation. Holy Cow Hospitality garnered revenues of Rs 19 crore in the last fiscal year, and is currently looking at doubling the same to around Rs 30 crore this year. The Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation (KPCF) has ruled out government quota in private medical and dental colleges for 2016-17. This contradicts the Centres stand on the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) before the Supreme Court on Friday. KPCF is a conglomeration of professional medical, dental and engineering colleges, which were earlier under ComedK (Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka). Addressing reporters in Bengaluru on Friday, KPCF members said all the seats would be announced only through NEET, and the agreement with the Karnataka government is no more valid. This would mean that the 40% seat reservation for students to avail seats under the Karnataka Common Entrance Test quota (that exists in private colleges) will be cancelled. In view of the Supreme Court judgment, admissions to undergraduate courses in MBBS and BDS for 2016-17 shall be made on the basis of merit from eligible students (candidates who have scored 50% more marks in NEET), Dr M B Jayaram, KPCF secretary, told DH. Going by KPCF, the state government will lose 1,200 seats in private medical and dental colleges. As per the agreement, 40% of the total seats in 12 medical and 24 dental colleges were government seats. There are 1,500 medical and as many dental seats in private colleges. Jayarams statement is in contradiction to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgis line of argument in the Supreme Court. Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, said the ordinance was promulgated to accommodate states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Some states have already held entrance examinations to admit students in government medical colleges and fill the quota of government seats in private medical colleges. In keeping with the apex court guidelines, Jayaram said 15% seats in private colleges would be set aside for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) candidates. Of the renaming 85% seats, 42% would be for SC, ST and OBC students. The remaining can be availed by the general merit category. First preference would be given to SC and then ST. If it is not filled, it would be given to OBC students. The remaining seats would be given to the general category, he said. The fee for NEET seats would be decided by the Fee Fixation Committee, headed by Justice Gururajan. Agreement invalid? Private colleges have already entered into a consensual agreement with the state government to set aside 40% of their seats to be filled by those who clear CET. However, KPCF said the agreement is invalid. The state government said this would amount to legal offence. Dr Sharan Prakash Patil, Minister for Medical Education, said the state government would consult the Law Department to decide the next course of action. They have already signed an agreement for seat sharing. There is also an act in place for this. The concession in fee was an outcome of the agreement. Now, we have to see the implications of the Union government ordinance, Patil said. They warned of initiating legal, criminal and administrative action against those crossing the limits of discipline. We have not received any leave requests so far. The higher-ups at districts will take suitable action. There wont be any protests on June 4. The government will soon clarify some of the issues, Director General & Inspector General of Police Om Prakash told Deccan Herald. None in the police department is planning any protest. Some outsiders claim that cops would go on a strike. The reports that about 15,000 constables have processed leave requests is an exaggeration. Some disgruntled men in the force may do so, but the department will take stern action agains such staff, a senior officer said. There are provisions to take legal, criminal and administrative action. The department will consider all these measures. The law permits the department to even imprison the protesting staff and the offence can be non-bailable, the officer said. Adequate measures He said sufficient measures have been taken for the welfare of the constabulary. The recruitment process is on, weekly offs are given and Rs 200 allowance is given for those working on the day of their weekly off. The police personnel cant demand regular weekly offs as they need to work during emergencies, he added. The SPs and DCPs have been directed to reject leave requests which by lower rung staff. Those who have already applied for leave on June 4 in view of unavoidable circumstances will be permitted granted leave, the officer said. Senior officers came down heavily on V Shashidhar, a former policeman, for planning the protest. This man doesnt even know the facilities extended to the constabulary in the last two years. His only motto is to steal the show. Karnataka is one of the States where constables are enjoying maximum benefits, another officer said. The top police brass on Friday downplayed the move by lower-rung staff to take mass casual leave on June 4 as a mark of protest, seeking fulfillment of various demands. When US President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he was ending a half-century-long arms embargo against Vietnam, it was another milestone in his long-running ambition to recast Americas role in Asia a pivot as he once called it, designed to realign Americas foreign policy so it can reap the benefits of Asias economic and strategic future. Yet, as Obamas time in office comes to an end, Asian nations are deeply sceptical about how much they can rely on Washingtons commitment and staying power in the region. They sense that for the first time in memory, Americans are questioning whether their economic and defence interests in Asia are really that vital. Obama was the first president to have grown up in the region he lived in Indonesia as an elementary school student and he has never doubted that America is underinvested in Asia and overinvested in West Asia. In visit after visit, he has capitalised on the palpable nervousness about Beijings intentions while also cautioning that Chinas growing influence and power are unstoppable forces of history. That means both the US and the rest of the region will have to accommodate and channel Chinas ambitions rather than make a futile attempt to contain them, while reassuring the Chinese of Americas peaceful intentions. At the core, the policy has been building on the two-decade-old opening to Vietnam; the establishment of a new relationship with Myanmar as it lurches toward democracy; closer relations with the two largest treaty allies in the region, Japan and South Korea; and renewed military ties with the Philippines. The administration has also pushed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would set new terms for trade and business investment among the US and 11 other Pacific Rim nations. Perhaps most important, Obama has received unexpected help from the Chinese themselves, who have so overplayed their hand in the South China Sea that smaller neighbours suddenly took a new interest in deepening their relations with Washington. Countering those developments, though, is the US political mood, which has darkened toward long-standing alliances and international trade itself. For Asian allies, this means the United States might pivot away. Every country in Asia views the problem differently, and through their own lenses, but they all see a twofold risk of things getting out of balance quickly, Kurt M Campbell, one of the architects of Obamas strategy in his first term, said on Monday. One is that China seriously overplays its nationalism and that conflict breaks out in the South China Sea. But Campbell, who is about to publish an account of Obamas efforts titled The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia, also noted that Asian nations were equally worried that the US is no longer willing to be a steadying power. Asian countries are prone to anxiety about the behaviour of major powers, for good reasons they have seen a lot go wrong over the past thousand years, said Daniel R Russel, the assistant secretary of state for Asia. And now there is angst about what comes next and the sustainability of the rebalance. Not surprisingly, uncertainty begets hedging, in big ways and small. The Vietnamese gave Obama a huge welcome on Monday, lining the streets in ways reminiscent of Bill Clintons first presidential trip there 16 years ago. But missing from the news conferences was the hard-core group in the leadership that remains deeply suspicious that Washingtons real long-term goal is regime change. So while almost certainly they will buy US arms especially the high-tech gear they need to keep an eye on what the Chinese are doing at the edge of Vietnams territorial waters they have no intention of building the kind of alliance the US has with Japan and South Korea. Now that the US fully lifted the weapons ban, I think US Navy vessels will come to Cam Rahn Bay later this year, said Alexander L Vuving, a specialist on Vietnam at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Honolulu. In the Philippines, the firebrand who has just been elected president, Rodrigo Duterte, once promised to ride a Jet Ski to plant a flag on one of the artificial islands the Chinese have constructed. More recently, he is backing away from the current governments effort to press its sovereignty arguments, saying he wants to negotiate directly with the Chinese, perhaps swapping a little sovereignty for some economic concessions. That is just the kind of invitation the Chinese wanted to hear. Obamas vision is certainly nuanced. As Campbell writes in his book, the trick in the pivot is to build a deep relationship with the Chinese to convince not only China but also Chinas neighbours that our China policy is not intended to produce needless and unproductive friction. Containment has little or no relevance to the complexities of an interdependent Asia in which most states have deep economic ties with China. The Chinese are unconvinced. One of the key military elements of the strategy is for US troops to rotate through strategically important Asian ports not to be based there, but to be able to land, refuel, train and build partnerships. Challenges on home turf It started with Darwin, Australia. Now Obama is trying to do the same in the Philippines, which the US left more than two decades ago, and at the deepwater port of Cam Rahn Bay, if the unspoken deal with Vietnam works out. That would give the US more reason to regularly traverse waters the Chinese claim as their exclusive zone. The biggest challenge, however, is on the home front. Donald Trumps threat to with-draw US forces from South Korea and Japan unless they pay far more of the cost and they already pay much of it may just be a negotiating position. But it suggests that the US has no independent national interests in the Pacific. That would be a rejection of a post-World War II order that goes back to the Truman administration. The real glue may well be the Trans-Pacific Partnership the big, unwieldy trade deal that involves a dozen nations, but not the Chinese. Russel notes that for Obama, the agreement fulfills the strategic promise of the rebalance, as a system that integrates the US with the Asian-Pacific region. Good geopolitics, though, often makes for bad domestic politics. Even some of Hillary Clintons top foreign policy aides were astounded by her decision to declare herself against a deal she often praised. After all, in November 2012, just before she left the State Department, she did not sound like she had a lot of doubts: Our growing trade across the region, including our work together to finalise the Trans-Pacific Partnership, binds our countries together, increases stability and promotes security, she said then. The question is whether the opposite is also true: Having put Americas Pacific strategy on the line, if the deal fails does that mean the binding glue will loosen, and stability and security will be imperiled? And if so will the leaders of Asia see that as another reason to welcome Obamas successor one week, and visit Beijing and Moscow the next? Congress leaders from the state on Friday suggested to the party high command that Energy Minister D K Shivakumar be appointed the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president. With the incumbent president G Parameshwaras term having already ended, the high command has sought names of probables from state leaders for the post. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara during their meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary incharge of Karnataka, Digvijaya Singh are learnt to have suggested Shivakumars name. With Siddaramaiah planning to reshuffle his ministry next month, he is learnt to have asked the party top brass to announce the new presidents name simultaneously. The party top brass have agreed to the chief ministers suggestion and promised to appoint new state president to state soon, sources told Deccan Herald. Though Shivakumar wanted to continue as minister even after becoming the state unit president, the high command did not give its consent for it. He has agreed to quit as minister and work for the party, sources said. Though party leaders had asked Animal Husbandry Minister A Manju whether he wanted to be the KPCC chief, he had rejected the offer saying that he would preferred to serve as minister, sources said. With the BJP appointing Lingayat leader B S Yeddyurappa as state unit president, Congress has taken a decision to appoint a Vokkaliga as its state president. Though the party leaders were earlier planning to appoint Lingayat leaders IT Minister S R Patil or State Representative in Delhi Appaji Nadagouda, now they have decided to select Vokkaliga leader keeping with view of the assembly elections in the state, a senior leader said. As Yeddyurappa is a powerful Lingayat leader, appointing another leader from the same community as KPCC chief would not help the Congress. Instead by having a Vokkaliga as state unit president, the party can woo the other dominant community as well as minorities, other backward classes and dalits, a senior leader said. Justice Subhash B Adi can resume office as Upalokayukta, with the Justice R B Budihal committee giving him a clean chit, said Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa on Friday. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Thimmappa said that the inquiry committee had found that there was wrongdoing on part of Justice Adi. In November 2015, as many as 78 Congress MLAs had moved a motion seeking removal of Justice Adi accusing the latter of overstepping his jurisdiction in closing a case against a medical officer, Dr Shailaja Patil. Following the allegations, the High Court Chief Justice S K Mukherjee had appointed Justice (retired) Budihal to inquire into the charges against Adi. In his 316- page report, Justice Budihal has said that none of the charges against Justice Adi had been proved, and hence the proceedings had been dropped. The report was submitted to the Speakers office on May 20. To a question, Thimmappa said that he had discharged his duties, and that he couldnt comment on whether the committees decision had embarrassed the government. You should ask the government about that, he added. Closed chapter Law Minister T B Jayachandra sought to put an end to the issue, saying that it was a closed chapter. Justice Adi getting a clean chit is not a setback to the government. The ruling party need not tender an apology as has been demanded by Opposition leader in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar. Recently, the Supreme Court set aside imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand. Has the prime minister or any of the Union ministers tendered an apology for this? he wanted to know. Justice Budihal, in his report to the Speaker, has said the evidences furnished with the petition were not enough to prove charges against Justice Adi. The Speaker has dropped the proceedings. So, the issue is now closed, Jayachandra said. Skin is the largest and fastest growing organ of the human being. Many patients die at Victoria Hospital while undergoing treatment. We have requested heads of all departments to inform us about every death so that we can convince immediate relatives of the deceased for skin donation. A team of counsellors has been constituted to convince relatives of the deceased at the mortuary where bodies are taken for post mortem, doctors said. The hospital has created a pledge form to register for the skin donation after the death. However, consent of the immediate relatives is mandatory even after the members death. The hospital will soon launch an online pledge form to help donors across the state. Skin from thighs and legs is collected as they are the widest parts of the human body, Dr Smitha said. Anyone aged 18 and above and without symptoms of HIV-Aids, Hepatitis B and C, sexually transmitted diseases, skin cancer and HBSAG are eligible to donate skin. The states first skin bank at Victoria Hospital will start skin collection from June first week as facilities to commission the centre are nearing completion. It is the countrys second largest and sixth skin bank.We sent cultures and swabs of walls and corners of the room meant for the lab to know if it is completely sterile, Dr Smitha S Segu, head, Rotary Ashirvad BMRCI skin bank, Victoria Hospital, told Deccan Herald.Testing lab wall samplesAs per the standard practice, the samples have to be sent thrice to confirm that the lab is fully sterile. Dr Smitha is confident of skin collection for transplant from June first week and have a first transplant in August.The collected skin needs to be processed for at least two months before it is transplanted, she said on the two-month delay even after collecting the skin.The Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns plans to convert the skin bank into a nodal centre for Karnataka. There are plans to open skin collection centres at every district hospital and other big hospitals in the state. The bank provides skin collection facility at these hospitals. The skin can be stored in a media for about 48 hours before it is processed at the bank, she said.Victoria is the countrys second largest burns unit followed by Delhis Safdarjung Hospital. There are 54 beds at the unit and caters to the requirement of patients sustaining more than 20 per cent burns from across South India.The unit registers 160 to 180 burn admissions a month. Dr Smitha said that at least 50 of the admitted patients succumb to burn injuries. The skin bank can save the lives of at least 50 such patients a month, Smitha said.Donor awarenessThe hospitals immediate challenge is lack of awareness and less number of skin donors. Though the bank was inaugurated on April 30, 2016, only a little over 50 persons have registered so far. The Bengaluru leg of 'Vikas Parva' rally to celebrate two years of the NDA government at the Centre had a recurring theme by speakers, "the best is yet to come". Led by Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, the speakers told the audience at the rally held at a playground in Sheshadripuram that more schemes and programmes were in store. As many as 33 Central ministers are holding public meetings in 200 cities in the next few days as a part of the celebrations. Union Minister of State for Finance Jayanth Sinha set the tone for the convention by stating that the NDA government had achieved a 'milestone' during the last two years by taking a four-fold approach - giving priority to youth and encouraging startups, introducing comprehensive rural development programmes, building a strong social security platform and initiating poverty alleviation schemes. "But the best is yet to come," he said indicating more new programmes are lined up. Naidu said,Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a scam-free government during the last two years. In the previous Congress regime, there were scams in the morning, afternoon, evening and even for dinner," he said. The Union minister said that the Centre had made it a habit to respond immediately to any sort of crisis or problems. "There was confusion with regard to admission to medical colleges and we immediately came up with the NEET ordinance," Naidu said. He said the NDA government was celebrating two years in power by going to the people while the Congress had just confined itself to holding press conferences, making baseless charges against the ruling dispensation. BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa said the party would strive to remove the Congress from power in the state. Karnataka is the only major state where the Congress is in power and the time has come for it to go, he said and added that the BJP will form the government after the 2018 Assembly polls by winning 150 of the 224 seats. He reiterated that agitation against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the state government will be taken up in all the 28 Assembly segments in Bengaluru from June 12 onwards to highlight the failure of the ruling dispensation in solving the problems faced by the people. The admissions to the universities of agricultural sciences in the state is set to become more easy with a common entrance test mooted for all the five such varsities in Karnataka. The new norms will come into force from this academic year itself. A meeting of various officials of the Higher Education department held here on Friday, decided to streamline the admission process into the UASes by introducing the common entrance test. Karnataka has five UASes - Bengaluru, Shivamogga, Dharwad, Raichur and Bagalkot. Hitherto, each varsity had its own entrance test, counselling, document verification and seat allotment procedure. This had made the admission process cumbersome and time-consuming. M B Rajegowda, Registrar, UAS, Bengaluru, told Deccan Herald that the objective of conducting the common entrance was to avoid students appearing for multiple tests and attend counselling repeatedly. It would also help in bringing transparency in the admission process, he added. Even the fee structure will be common for all the universities. The approximate fee for first semester of MSc course is Rs 22,000 and that for second semester is Rs 12,000. The fee for first-year PhD is Rs 25,000 and for second year it is around Rs 12,000. Rajegowda said that every year around 7,000 students seek admission for the agricultural varsities and most of them were girls. The varsities altogether have 850 MSc seats and 350 PhD seats. The students for the PhD are drawn from all across the country while those for the PG course are selected only from Karnataka. Rajegowda said that girls were increasingly opting for courses in agriculture and horticulture. Around 53% of the students are girls and they are keen on research and field works. The change is because of increased awareness. They have realised that food is the most important of all the sectors, he added. Over the years, the varsities have introduced several new subjects such as sericulture, agri-technology, BSc in agricultural engineering, BSc in rural home science and forestry. Google claims that its chip is 10 times more efficient in performance per watt compared to the conventional alternatives Google announced in its recent I/O conference that it has developed Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), an application specific processor designed for deep learning. Google states that TPU demonstrates faster intelligence capabilities to manage AI workloads. Google proudly claims that TPUs are high-tech chips that drive forward chip-technology seven years into the future. This custom IC (Integrated Circuit) finds its application in Googles TensorFlow machine learning software. Thousands of them are being used in its own data centres for over a year now. They are used to power components that perform deep learning tasks, which include Googles search algorithm and StreetView feature of Google Maps. Notably, AlphaGo, Googles computer program which beat a professional Go player recently, was also powered by TPUs. GPUs (Graphic Processor Unit) are preferred for deep learning tasks than CPUs (Computer Processing Unit) because it is more efficiently suited for faster algorithms. But fundamentally, GPUs were designed to perform calculations for processing and display of 3D graphics. Although NVIDIAs graphic card architecture is suitable for deep learning, dedicated processors such as TPUs which are essentially designed for deep learning are certainly superior. Google claims that its TPUs are 10 times more efficient in terms of performance per watt when compared to the conventional alternatives. Googles TPUs are accelerators for deep learning while Intel chips are general-purpose processors. Since Google makes use of deep learning for most of its applications now, designing its own chip seems meaningful. While TPUs will probably not replace Intels server chips, it is definitely a potential threat to NVIDIA since it plays in the same deep-learning field. In addition, Google aims to make the TPUs available over its cloud computing platform. This would give Google a competitive edge over Amazons AWS and Microsofts Azure. At present, Google has no plans to sell the TPUs to third-parties. The cable will be 6,600 Kms long and aims to improve, widen internet connectivity across US, Europe, Africa, Middle East & Asia The 2 tech superpowers, Microsoft and Facebook, will soon be joining forces to build a really long subsea cable for Internet connectivity across the Atlantic Ocean. The cable is being called MAREA and aims to meet the growing demand of high speed data connectivity for cloud and online services for Microsoft and Facebook. Construction of the cable is expected to commence in August this year, with a completion date set for October 2017. MAREA is touted to be the highest capacity subsea cable going across the Atlantic. The cable will feature 8 fibre pairs and will be capable of transmitting data at 160 terabytes per second! MAREA will also be the first such cable to connect the United States to Southern Europe: from Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then beyond to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In a recent blogpost announcing the partnership, Microsoft wrote, Were seeing an ever-increasing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for Microsoft cloud services, including Bing, Office 365, Skype, Xbox Live, and Microsoft Azure. As the world continues to move towards a future based on cloud computing, Microsoft is committed to building out the unprecedented level of global infrastructure required to support ever faster and even more resilient connections to our cloud services. This robust, global infrastructure will enable customers to more quickly and reliably store, manage, transmit and access their data in the Microsoft Cloud. The Lenovo ZUk Z2 is likely to be powered a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC and may feature a 3500mAh battery After launching the Zuk Z2 Pro in China last month, Lenovo is putting the final touches to the smaller Zuk Z2. According to a latest leak, the Zuk Z2 was certified by TENAA in China. TENAA is the Chinese equivalent of TRAI. The latest smartphone from the company is expected to be launched on May 31. It is likely to go on sale in China thereafter. The Lenovo Zuk Z2 shares a similar specification sheet as the recently launched ZUk Z2 Pro. The phone is rumoured to feature a 5-inch display with 1920 x 1080p resolution.The display is expected to be covered with a 2.5D glass. According to mydrivers, which spotted the TENAA listing, the phone will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC. It will be available in 3GB/4GB RAM variants with 32GB and 64GB storage options respectively. The 13MP rear camera on the Z2 is is supposed to have PDAF (Phase detection autofocus) with dual-tone LED flash. The leak suggests that the phone will have an 8MP camera at the front and a 3500mAh battery. Besides these, the Lenovo Zuk Z2 is rumoured to have a fingerprint scanner and Quick Charge 3.0 support. The device is likely to run on Android Marshmallow out of the box. Currently, only the Zuk Z1 has been made available in India but we expect other phones from the company will be joining the Indian market soon. Sonys latest range of televisions can play 4K content and are powered by Google TV platform While 4K content is yet to hit mass consumption levels, television makers are busy launching new and better line of 4K TVs. Earlier today Sony India announced the launch of its premium 4K HDR TV lineup. The new lineup of TVs consist of five TVs with prices starting from Rs. 1,94,900 for the 55-inch Bravia X8500D. All five TVs feature Googles Android TV platform and features voice search. This allows users to search for content directly from the remote. Furthermore, The One TV Remote can control both the TV and your DTH or set top box, So that you don't have to use two remotes. Also, these televisions are recommended by Netflix and Sony has provided a dedicated Netflix button, right on the remote. Read the full press release below Committed to providing ultimate consumer experience, Sony announced today its 2016 BRAVIA 4K HDR line-up. The new 4K HDR models are a true novelty for consumers, adding real value to their 4K TV viewing experience. The 2016 BRAVIA line up boasts of Sonys 4K HDR technology - a burgeoning video standard that greatly expands the range of possible visual expression by reproducing stunning details never produced before by a 4K TV. Combined with 4K Ultra HD resolution, HDR video content delivers exceptional detail, colour and contrast, with a far wider range of brightness than other video formats. The technology reflects most lifelike picture with brilliant highlights and fine detail. The HDR compatible content and services are now expected to become more prevalent via Internet video services, TV broadcastings and Ultra HD Blu-ray titles. Additionally, the 4K HDR range supports Googles official Android TV operating system offering a unique experience of Sonys exclusive user interface, exclusive TV apps and a plethora of TV apps & features from GoogleTM. Launched last year in India, Sonys range of Android TVs have garnered excellent feedback from the market and has established itself as one of the leaders in smart TV segment. The 2016 range of Sonys Android TVs additionally delivers features which makes the TV viewing via DTH/STB, an extremely user friendly experience. The upgraded Voice search function enables customers to search their channel names/TV contents without manual typing or remembering the respective channels. The seamless user interface of the Content Bar allows a customer to explore other TV contents, internet videos via YouTube or Netflix without disturbing their ongoing TV contents. Furthermore, the inbuilt Program guide & one TV Remote controlling both DTH/STB & BRAVIA supports in delivering a much needed experience for the Indian Market where customers spend majority of their TV viewing time into DTH/STB contents than any other online contents/TV features The Google Play offers a huge and ever-growing choice of apps which are customized for TVs. With its access, one can enjoy a huge range of games, movies & music contents from Google. Sonys Android TVs also makes it extremely easy for customers to connect their smartphones (including Android OS & iOS) in the easiest manner. The Google Cast further offers greater connectivity than ever before by allowing to cast contents directly from their mobile devices. It facilitates sending movies and music from smartphone to TV thereby using the phone as a remote control. In addition, all the 4K HDR series (X9350D, X9300D & X8500D Series) are Netflix Recommended TVs, which means customers get the best experience for Netflix .This is attributed to the special features like direct Netflix button on the TV remote, quick app launch and easy navigation and switching between apps and inputs. The 2016 BRAVIA Series also introduces Sonys new and exquisite design concept- Slice of Living which encapsulates the design that feels at home and merges with the overall surroundings. Structurally simple, 2016 BRAVIA TVs resonate with living room design as they are recomposed of slate shapes that seem sliced from walls or the floor and screens that recall pictures or windows. Free of distracting elements, TVs across the lineup have the ability to route the cables through the stand, thereby concealing it from view on all sides. With this, Sony aims to set a new standard in elegant TV design maintaining the harmony of a living room while still making a statement. Slice of living design BRAVIA X9350D: The Ultimate in picture & sound The BRAVIA X9350D Series establishes itself as the Sonys flagship model in the 4K HDR series. The series boasts of the best picture and sound experience for the customers making it the stand alone choice for any customer wanting to purchase a TV with the ultimate viewing experience. For the stunning picture quality, this TV pairs the brilliance of 4K clarity with the brightness, color and detail of High Dynamic Range (HDR).Powered with Sonys unique technologies-4K Processor X1, 4K X-Reality PRO, Triluminos Display & X-tended Dynamic Range, the TV performs thousands of adjustments every second to dynamically enhance resolution, colour and brightness, taking every scene to the vividness of 4K and beyond. The magnetic fluid design produces with DSEE HX upscales the sound sources to near high-res quality, resulting in details and dynamics like of an original sound. The series comes with the new carbon fiber speaker providing better sound with more enhanced sound pressure and higher sound speed. With the most authentic High-Resolution Audio, customers can enjoy true-to-life scenes and sounds from a TV that put you at the heart of the action. In terms of design, the series has Sonys iconic wedge design which is the perfect blend of aesthetics and functional beauty. Slim at the top with a full flush surface, the Series is uniquely designed for deep, rich sound with its front facing speakers. The series is powered with Android TV and delivers a unique value proposition to its customers. BRAVIA X9300D: Beautifully designed for brilliant pictures The new masterpiece from Sony is a perfect amalgamation of world class technology and luxurious design aimed to uplift the TV viewing experience. The BRAVIA X9300D is a 4K HDR television offering breathtaking picture quality in a super thin design. Owing to its supreme technology and craftsmanship the X9300D Series was recently honored with the Red Dot Design Award 2016. The Slim backlight drive with X-tended Dynamic Range PROTM reproduces a far wider brightness range than a conventional LED TV with brighter peaks and deeper, more revealing shadow detail and blacks. When combined with an HDR signal, experience even greater brilliance in every scene as it increases the quality of HDR with finely-gradated bands of colour, more vibrant colours & details all thanks to 4K Processor X1, 4K X-Reality PRO, Triluminos Display. The BRAVIA X9300D draws inspiration from the Slice of Living design concept and comes with clever cable management keeping the wires out of view and mounts it close on the wall like a picture frame. The sleek, flat bezel accentuated with a Champagne Gold strip creates a visual link between all sides, framing and emphasising the ultra-slim nature of the TV. The beautiful design the X9300D boasts an elegant, tapered front plate that lifts and angles the TV to create a sense of lightness while also ensuring stability. Finished in aluminium, the warm silver tone of the stand perfectly complements both the TV and living space. The sound is enhanced with ClearAudio+ which fine-tunes TV sound for an immersive experience.Hear music, dialogue and surround effects with greater clarity and separation. Also, with Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) technology, lost frequency components (especially high frequencies) are restored for natural sound with a more spacious feel. The series is powered with Android TV and delivers a unique value proposition to its customers. BRAVIA X8500D: 4K HDR Picture in a unique Design The BRAVIA X8500D is Sonys entry level 4K HDR model and is a simple combination of aluminum framed panels. The picture quality of this series is a treat for the eyes and delivers an amazing 4K HDR experience with 4K Processor X1, 4K X-Reality PRO & Triluminos Display. The series sets a benchmark in the entry level range of 4K TVs available in the Indian market by creating a remarkable TV viewing experience with the best of clarity, colour, contrast and more. Keeping up with the Slice of Living concept, the TV is beautifully designed ensuring its stunning contours arent compromised by cables or clutter. The clever cable management keeps wires hidden as much as possible. The sound is enhanced with ClearAudio+ which fine-tunes TV sound for immersive experience. Hear music, dialogue and surround effects with greater clarity and separation. Also, with Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) technology, lost frequency components (especially high frequencies) are restored for natural sound with a more spacious feel. The series is powered with Android TV and delivers a unique value proposition to its customers. All the products will be available in all Sony Center and major electronic stores across India. European equity markets were little changed on Friday, struggling for direction as oil prices fell back and investors awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1%, while Germanys DAX and Frances CAC 40 were both flat. At the same time, oil prices were on the back foot after Brent crude breached the $50 a barrel mark on Thursday for the first time since November. West Texas Intermediate was 0.8% lower at $49.09 a barrel and Brent crude was down 1.1% at $49.05. Markets here, and in the US and Asia have lost momentum after big gains midweek, said Lee Wild, head of equity strategy at stockbroker Interactive Investor. A drop in oil prices back below $50 and caution ahead of Fed chair Janet Yellen's speech tonight will make it difficult for them to make much headway, especially ahead of a long weekend in the UK. Revisions to US first-quarter GDP later could also fuel another dollar rally. A Fed rates meeting next month, the EU referendum and weak corporate earnings make this a tricky time for investors, and many are sitting on cash. Market participants will be watching out for Yellens speech at Harvard at 1530 BST, as they look for further clues on the timing of the next Fed rate hike, although there is a chance she may not address monetary policy at all. Societe Generale said: Little emphasis on the monetary policy outlook is expected at this event. The appearance to look forward to will be the Chairs speech in Philadelphia on June 6, the Monday following the May employment report and a day before entering the blackout period for the upcoming FOMC meeting. In corporate news, Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche rallied after announcing positive results from its trial of drug Gazyva. Spains Banco Popular was under the cosh again a day after it announced a rights issue. AstraZeneca nudged lower after the phamaceuticals giant announced positive results for its Faslodex drug for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, but also said US regulators will not currently approve its new drug for high potassium levels because of a manufacturing issue. Investors were also digesting headlines from the Group of Seven meeting in Japan, where political leaders warned of rising risks to the global economy. Coming up, the second release of first-quarter US GDP is due at 1330 BST, while University of Michigan consumer sentiment is at 1500 BST. UK stocks were flat on Friday as traders looked ahead to data on US economic growth and a speech from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen. The US first quarter gross domestic product report at 1330 BST is expected to be revised up to an annualised 0.8% from an initial estimate of 0.5%. A report from the University of Michigan at 1500 GMT, on the other hand, is forecast to reveal a downward revision to the consumer confidence index to 95.7 in May from 95.8 previously. All this will put pressure on Yellen to offer some indication of what way the Fed is heading going into its June meeting next month, though the central bank president may be reluctant to offer too much guidance before she gets a look at next weeks non-farm jobs report, said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex. Yellen is due to speak at Harvards Radcliffe Day at 1530 BST. Closer to home, a report showed an improvement in UK consumer confidence. GfKs consumer confidence index improved to -1 in May from -3 a month earlier, beating estimates for a reading of -4. It is a relief that consumer confidence was a little firmer in May following Aprils drop to a 16-month low, but the suspicion is that consumers will be cautious in their spending amid heightened uncertainty in the run-up to the 23 June referendum on UK membership of the European Union, said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight. At the same time, a declaration at the G7 meeting in Japan said a vote by the UK to leave the EU would pose a "serious threat to global growth". The group warned in its final statement that Brexit would reverse the trend of increased global trade, investment and jobs. Meanwhile, oil prices fell after reaching the $50 a barrel mark during the previous session as concerns about an oversupplied market resumed. Brent crude fell 1.2% to $48.97 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.91% to $49.03 per barrel at 1209 BST. Among corporate stocks, miners rallied as copper prices rose with Rio Tinto and Glencore among the top risers. Wolseley gained as it said on Friday that Simon Nicholls - the current chief financial officer of Cobham - will not be taking up his role as CFO later this year, as announced back in January. Bodycote declined as it reported a drop in revenue between 1 January and 30 April, but reiterated its expectations for the year. Shire slumped as shareholders approved the companys $32bn merger with US-based Baxalta. Capita dropped as Exane downgraded its shares to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and reiterated its 1,050p target price. Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,267.19 0.02% FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,189.57 -0.02% techMARK (TASX) 3,118.18 -0.11% FTSE 100 - Risers Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,010.50p 2.11% Glencore (GLEN) 137.70p 1.29% United Utilities Group (UU.) 967.00p 1.26% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,094.00p 1.11% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,664.00p 0.99% Next (NXT) 5,495.00p 0.92% Unilever (ULVR) 3,154.50p 0.86% CRH (CRH) 2,076.00p 0.78% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,029.00p 0.74% BHP Billiton (BLT) 857.50p 0.67% FTSE 100 - Fallers Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,294.00p -2.40% Capita (CPI) 1,077.00p -1.91% Antofagasta (ANTO) 441.90p -1.34% Shire Plc (SHP) 4,304.00p -1.03% Standard Chartered (STAN) 543.60p -1.02% GKN (GKN) 271.80p -1.02% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 539.00p -1.01% DCC (DCC) 6,285.00p -0.95% Tesco (TSCO) 167.05p -0.92% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 387.20p -0.87% FTSE 250 - Risers Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 887.50p 4.47% Rank Group (RNK) 256.50p 3.51% OneSavings Bank (OSB) 332.40p 3.33% Serco Group (SRP) 106.70p 2.60% Synthomer (SYNT) 352.70p 2.47% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 296.40p 1.96% Restaurant Group (RTN) 360.00p 1.90% PayPoint (PAY) 923.50p 1.88% Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 186.40p 1.86% Aldermore Group (ALD) 221.60p 1.74% FTSE 250 - Fallers Homeserve (HSV) 475.50p -2.70% DFS Furniture (DFS) 291.20p -2.41% Acacia Mining (ACA) 317.10p -2.34% Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 441.90p -2.26% Allied Minds (ALM) 330.10p -2.05% Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 95.85p -1.94% Ibstock (IBST) 199.00p -1.87% Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 322.20p -1.77% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,910.00p -1.75% Bodycote (BOY) 589.50p -1.67% Anglo American has appointed Bruce Cleaver as chief executive officer of its diamonds business, De Beers, following Philippe Mellier's decision to step down after five years. Cleaver was De Beers' executive director responsible for strategy and commercial relationships until 2015. He also served as co-acting CEO for a year prior to Philippe Mellier's appointment in 2011. He was appointed group director of strategy and business development for Anglo last year. Anglo said on Friday that Duncan Wanblad, CEO of the base metals business, will add the strategy and business development portfolio to his responsibilities. The company said both appointments will take effect on 1 July 2016. Mark Cutifani, chief executive of Anglo American and chairman of De Beers, said: " Bruce's leadership of De Beers' strategy and its commercial and government relationships working alongside Philippe and over much of the last decade, combined with his time working with us to shape the new Anglo American strategy, provide strong continuity at an important stage in the diamond market's recovery. At 0822 BST, Anglo shares were up 0.4% to 631.40p. Phoenix Group Holdings has agreed with AXA UK to buy AXA Wealth's pensions and protection businesses, which is the wealth management arm of the French insurer. Phoenix said the acquisition, which comprises a pensions and investments business offering a range of propositions catering to both individual and corporate requirements, would add 12.3bn of assets under management and over 910,000 policies. In addition, it said there would be significant diversification benefits from the deal, resulting in net capital synergies of around 250m within six months of completion, inclusive of the impact of cost synergies of 10m a year. The deal is expected to generate cash flows of approximately 0.3bn between 2016 and 2020 and 0.2bn from 2021 onwards. Phoenix said the consideration would be funded from an equity placing and a new short-term debt facility, which it expects to repay within six months of completion. Chief executive officer Clive Bannister said: "The acquisition of the Embassy and SunLife businesses represents another important step forward in Phoenix's growth strategy. The transaction meets our acquisition criteria and will generate additional cash for the group which supports the proposed increase in Phoenix's dividend. The Group has extensive integration experience and expertise and we believe that both the Embassy and SunLife businesses are a strong fit, benefitting both shareholders and policyholders alike. We will invest heavily to ensure a smooth transition of the two businesses from AXA to Phoenix and we are committed to delivering the highest level of service to both direct and IFA customers, as we do for our existing customers. The FTSE 100 ended the week up 108.45 points to 6,270.79. Equity view Wolseley said on Friday that Simon Nicholls - the current chief financial officer of Cobham - will not be taking up his role as CFO later this year, as announced back in January. Bodycote reported a drop in revenue between 1 January and 30 April, but reiterated its expectations for the year. Shires shareholders have approved the companys $32bn merger with US-based Baxalta Inc. Debenhams has poached Amazon's European fashion boss, Sergio Bucher, to be the department store group's new chief executive from October. Daily Mail & General Trust shares tumbled on Thursday as the company posted drop in first-half profit and warned that a weak print advertising market will hit margins in the media business. Full year pre-tax profits at Tate & Lyle soared to 126m from 25m as revenues rose 1% to 2. 35bn. Pets at Home reported an increase in pre-tax profit for the year as revenue grew and the company lifted its dividend. Full-year profits at Marks & Spencer fell 18. 5% as new chief executive Steve Rowe engaged in what appeared to be some canny 'kitchen sinking', warning that the current year's profits will be hit by his plan to turnaround the clothing business. Shares in Serco surged on Wednesday after the FTSE 250 outsourcing company said it expects underlying trading profit for 2016 to be ahead of current market forecasts following a stronger-than-anticipated start to the year. Royal Dutch Shell has announced it will axe 2,200 further jobs, taking its total 2015-16 job cuts to 12,500. Former Mothercare boss and current chairman of investment group House of Britannia, Greg Tufnell, is reportedly leading a bid to rescue retailer BHS. Water utility Pennon Group reported a slight rise in full year pre-tax profit as a strong performance in its energy recovery business offset lower water prices. Strong half-year results from Zoopla Property Group helped the shares extend their highs, as a powerful performance from new addition uSwitch added to the continued recovery of the core property arm. A trading update from Dixons Carphone revealed annual pre-tax profits are likely to reach top half of its guidance as the retailer gained market share in electricals and mobile in most of its key markets. Concluding its review of the regulation of Royal Mail, the postal regulator has decided not to impose any new price controls on the companys wholesale or retail products but it kept the cap on stamp prices and proposed tightening some rules in the 'access' market. Nationwide Building Society posted a solid jump in full-year profit, with mortgage lending volumes rising to pre-recession levels. Card Factory said like-for-like sales growth slowed as a reduction in footfall at it stores offset continuing growth in average spend per customer. DIY retailer Kingfisher put together a solid start to the year, with 6. 2% like-for-like growth in B&Q and Screwfix stores in the UK and Ireland contributing to 3. 6% group growth to 2. 7bn. Full year pre-tax profits at marine engineering software maker Aveva almost halved to 29. 4m on the back of lower revenue and one-off exceptional costs related to the aborted merger with Schneider Electric.stores in the UK and Ireland contributing to 3. 6% group growth to 2. 7bn. FTSE 250 repair and insurance company HomeServe posted a rise in profit for the year to the end of March as revenue and customer numbers grew. Full year pre-tax profits at storage company Big Yellow rose 7% to 112m against a backdrop of slower economic growth. Full year pre-tax profits at food group Cranswick rose to 58. 6m from 52. 8m on the back of a healthy 7% jump in revenues to 1. 07bn as customers continued to benefit from lower pork prices. Water utility Severn Trent issued what it described as promising annual results on Tuesday, with group turnover down 0. 8% year-on-year to 1. 79bn as a result of a regulated price decrease. Low-cost carrier Ryanair reported a jump in full-year profit but cautioned that profit growth for this year is likely to be modest. Outsourcing company Mitie Group reported a marginal rise in operating profit before other items for the year on Monday, to 128. 9m from 128. 6m, generating a margin of 5. 8% - up from 5. 7%. Economic news UK consumer confidence picked up in May as optimism on personal finances improved, a survey revealed on Friday. Growth in the number of mortgages approved by UK lenders fell surprisingly sharply in April, according to data from the British Bankers' Association (BBA). Data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK gross domestic product increased by 0. 4% in the first three months of the year, in line with the flash estimate and as expected. The proportion of Britons who would rather that the country remains inside the European Union was steady, according to the results of ICMs latest poll of voting intentions carried out over the telephone. UK reported retail sales volumes returned to modest growth in May, according to a survey by the Confederation for British Industry (CBI), but orders have dropped sharply and volumes are expected to fall again next month. Bank of England governor Mark Carney defended his organisation's rhetoric on Brexit in front of the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday morning, and explained why he believes mortgage rates could rise if Britain votes to leave the European Union. Britain would enter a year-long recession with a 3. 6% growth slump and 500,000 jobs lost if it left the European Union, according to a Treasury analysis. International events Consumer sentiment in the US improved less than expected in May, according to the final reading from the University of Michigan. US growth did not slow as sharply in the first quarter as initially estimated, according to data released by the Commerce Department. G7 leaders reached a commitment during their summit in Japan to foster strong global growth while calling attention to the multiple geopolitical risks looming on the horizon, including concerns over North Korea, Russia and the maritime disputes in the South China Sea. Contract activity in the US homebuilding sector reached its highest level in more than a decade in April, according to the results of a widely-followed survey of conditions in the sector. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, according to the Labor Department. New orders for US-made durable goods rose 3. 4% month-on-month in April, the Department of Commerce said, following on from a 1. 9% gain in March. Core durables, which exclude transportation, rose 0. 4%, against a 0. 1% gain in March. Americas trade deficit with the rest of the world did not increase as sharply as expected in April, which might help to boost economic growth in the second quarter of 2016, economists said. Greeces creditors have agreed a deal to unlock a further 10. 3bn in bailout funds to ease the countrys debt burden. 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. The DIGITIMES Research report you are trying to open requires subscription todata services. Please sign in if you wish to continue. Colombian Superstars Carlos Vives & Shakira Go For A Ride On La Bicicleta, Future Latin Number One Hit? [NEW SONG / STREAM] Unfortunately this song doesnt mean Shakiras new album is around the corner. In fact, word in the street is that it wont be out till early 2017. However, this new song titled La Bicicleta (The Bicycle) is indeed new music from Shakira. Well, actually it is the new single from Colombian superstar Carlos Vives but it features fellow Colombian Shakira as a guest. La Bicicleta, which hit all digital platforms today, Friday, May 27th, will be included on Carlos Vives forthcoming fifteenth studio album, simply called Vives, which will arrive in stores in Latin America, the US, and Spain later in 2016. As you can deduce from the title, La Bicicleta is a Spanish song (entirely in Spanish / not even a trace of Spanglish), and in it Carlos Vives and Shakira trade places to sing verses and choruses one each, but come together for the bridge and outro. Never heard the combination of Vallenato (Colombian regional music) and reggaeton? No? Then your ears will lose their virginity in this genre with La Bicicleta (mine too). But keeping it honest, this hybrid has been a bit difficult to swallow. There has been such an anticipation to hear this first collaboration between Colombian stars Carlos Vives and Shakira and honestly Ive been somewhat disappointed. I expected more from the production, and quality of the song. La Bicicleta is way too mainstream, for reggaeton is really the genre that gets all of the attention - as if Carlos Vives had only in mind making this an easy hit while creating it, leaving aside his usual quality work. Lets simply do a quick retrospective of Carlos previous material and you will see all of his singles are well-thought, with soul, and with a believable story. In contrast, La Bicicleta is clearly a decrease in quality - although no doubt it will be a hit, due to the fact its a collaboration between these two stars. In La Bicicleta, Carlos Vives and Shakira sing about a couple of Colombians, who have experienced heartbreak, whose roads have crossed, theyve fallen in love, they feel like destiny has given them a second chance, and they say that the only thing they want to do is get their bicycles and explore the beautiful beaches of Santa Marta and La Arenosa in Colombia together. Who wouldnt, right? (lol). Theres no doubt Shakira participated in the writing of this song as she mentions Barcelona and Pique (the last name of her boyfriend and father of her two sons) repeatedly throughout. Couldnt she have avoided these words, though? I mean, I know that she is free to write what she wants but I dont think its very clever to make so many mentions of these two words in the song as Im sure many of Shakira fans are fans of Real Madrid, the nemesis of F.C Barcelona, her boyfriends soccer club - and I dont think these Madrid fans will be happy to sing about Barcelona and Gerard Pique in "La Bicicleta", ha! Anyway, check out a stream of the future Latin hit La Bicicleta below: Hit or Miss? Donovan Lewis autopsy report shows he was shot once in stomach Donovan Lewis, a 20-year-old Black man killed by Columbus police officer Ricky Anderson on Aug. 30, was shot once in the abdomen, his autopsy shows. Construction Award Public building $10 million-$25 million Photo courtesy of Washington Patriot Construction This naval building houses shop, storage and administrative space. Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor shops building Location: Silverdale, Kitsap County General contractor: Washington Patriot Construction Owner/developer: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Northwest Primary designer: BOE Architects This design-build project provided a new facility to house the relocated naval support operations of three existing Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility shop/storage facilities and an administration facility into one structure. Unique features of the new building included a high-bay bridge crane, an indoor testing tower mezzanine, a level pad for testing requirements, and a secured work yard with lighting and blast-rating structural requirements. The project also included solar-power requirements, off-site parking improvements and off-site stormwater-management improvements. On-site improvements included a change order to revise the culvert system in the original contract to comply with state Department of Fish and Wildlife fish-passage requirements. This included enhancing the overflow/bypass culvert under an adjacent street to make the culvert suitable for fish passage, and rerouting the stream from the existing headwall over to the new overflow/bypass culvert under the street. The project integrated sustainable design strategies and features to achieve LEED silver certification. Other Stories: Construction Award Private building $10 million-$25 million Photo courtesy of Washington Patriot Construction Crews took only six months to complete this Boeing plant building, despite design changes during construction. Boeing 45-335 temporary manufacturing facility Location: Everett General contractor: Washington Patriot Construction Owner/developer: The Boeing Co. Primary designer: Coffman Engineers The Boeing 45-335 project involved construction of a pre-manufactured metal building over an existing concrete slab to provide a facility for working on unfueled aircraft at Boeings Everett plant. The project also included two modular support buildings to house additional workspace and restroom facilities. A substantial amount of scope was added during the construction phase, including an upgrade to the Very Early Smoke Detention Apparatus (VESDA) system in the plane stalls. Steel requirements were changed for structural wind loads and, being unable to tie into existing air systems, compressor scope was added. Additionally, water was not available near the building and had to be pulled in from elsewhere, and a metering system was added to all major utilities going into the building. All this work was on an existing concrete slab, so this additional work and scope required Washington Patriot crews to demolish and replace all the concrete that had been disturbed. Other Stories: Superintendent of the Year Alger Kelly Alger PCL Construction Services Throughout his 16-year career with PCL Construction Services, Kelly Alger has been a leader on the safety front. Time and again, he has demonstrated his commitment to safety by being the first to cross the finish line in many areas. Alger was the first PCL employee to complete all company-required safety training and was one of the first supervisors to achieve the Safety Trained Supervisor designation from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. In the biggest first of all, Alger became the first superintendent in PCL history in the entire country to achieve the Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST) designation. The CHST is normally obtained by safety professionals a few years into their career, not superintendents. Alger began with PCL as a carpenter, then became a crew supervisor, where he joined the district safety committee and became the longest-serving member, with almost seven years of near-perfect attendance. He has inspired others with his vision of an injury-free project by instituting several safety firsts. He started supplemental safety orientations for workers on the central core and open-floor edge perimeters, providing additional instruction on how to eliminate dropped objects. Alger also started holding weekly focus group meetings to have more intensive discussion and training on safety challenges. It takes a leader with vision and involvement to achieve results in any endeavor. Kelly Alger has amply demonstrated these qualities in the area of construction safety. His commitment to injury-free work benefits not only PCL Construction, but all of those who work with them. Other Stories: Subscriber content preview Activists blame worsening flooding on unrestrained development that has swallowed up 15,000 acres of water-absorbing wetlands since 1992. By FRANK BAJAK Associated Press HOUSTON A citizen's group and homeowners who have recently suffered repeat flood damage sued Houston in federal court Wednesday, alleging the city backed improvements at a commercial development they say were made without putting in adequate drainage. Residents Against Flooding and five individuals filed the suit against Houston and two quasi-governmental authorities created at the turn of the century to better infrastructure around the Memorial City complex. . . . Subscriber content preview SEATTLE (AP) Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has donated $500,000 toward Seattle public radio station KEXP to help it pay for its new home at Seattle Center. The money pushes the station's fundraising campaign beyond its goal. KEXP moved into its new home this spring, before it was finished with its fundraising campaign. . . . Maruti unveils LCV Super Carry for exports to South Africa Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has unveiled its Super Carry light commercial vehicle (LCV), to be launched in South Africa in June. The Super Carry, with a payload capacity of 750 kg, will be produced and exported from India. Maruti Suzuki, which had last year planned to make a big splash into the LCV market, is likely to introduce the Super Carry in India later this year. Instead the Super carry will now be launched in South Africa. Suzuki Auto SA will launch the Super Carry in the South African market in June this year. The India made LCV has been priced at Rand 1,29,900 (approx Rs5,58,000). The LCV measures 3.8-metres in length, 1.56 metres in width, while the loading bay measures 2.18 x 1.49 metres and has a payload capacity of up to 750 kg. The model comes with a ground clearance of 175mm. Suzuki South Africa is aiming to attract small business owners with the new Super Carry. The LCV's interiors remain basic with a three-spoke steering wheel, twin trays on the dashboard and a basic instrument cluster. There is a slot for an infotainment system, which we presume will be optional. In terms of power, the Suzuki Super Carry will draw power from a 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in South Africa that is tuned to produce 72 hp of power at 6000 rpm and 101Nm of torque at 3000rpm. The motor comes paired to a 5-speed manual gearbox that sends power to the rear wheels. Wheelbase and suspension are modelled on MacPherson Struts, with rigid axle and leaf springs at the rear. Suzuki is offering a three-year or 1,00,000 km warranty on the LCV, which it claims to be the most fuel efficient vehicle in its class by the company. The Super Carry for the domestic launch is expected to come with LPG/CNG variants. The 0.8-litre twin-cylinder diesel engine that made its debut on the Celerio last year will also power the LCV. Prices can be expected to commence around 4 lakh (ex-showroom) for the Super Carry, when it goes on sale. North Korea linked to hack attacks on Asian banks Security researchers have linked the recent raft of hack attacks on Asian banks to North Korea, in what they say appeared to be the first known case of a nation using digital attacks for financial gain. According to researchers working for the digital security firm Symantec, in three recent attacks on banks, a rare piece of code had been deployed, which was earlier seen in only two previous cases: the hacking attack at Sony Pictures in December 2014 and attacks on banks and media companies in South Korea in 2013. US and South Korean government officials had blamed those attacks on North Korea, though they had not provided independent verification. Symantec researchers yesterday said that they had uncovered evidence linking an attack at a bank in the Philippines last October with attacks on Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam in December and one in February on the central bank of Bangladesh which led to the theft of over $81 million. ''If you believe North Korea was behind those attacks, then the bank attacks were also the work of North Korea,'' said Eric Chien, a security researcher at Symantec, who found that identical code was used across all three attacks, www.nytimes.com reported. ''We've never seen an attack where a nation-state has gone in and stolen money,'' Chien added. ''This is a first.'' Meanwhile, investigators are examining possible computer breaches at as many as 12 banks linked to Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift)'s global payments network that had irregularities similar to those in the theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank, according to a person familiar with the probe, Bloomberg reported. The expansion of the investigation four months following the Bangladesh attack, the biggest known cyber-heist in history, pointed to a campaign to breach the international financial system, according to commentators. ''The emergence of new possible instances of compromise is not entirely surprising given that banks should now be undertaking rigorous reviews of their environments,'' Swift said in a written statement. ''Many may turn out to be false positives and or have nothing to do with Swift messages, but it is key that these reviews take place and banks' environments are secured.'' One of the most magnificent cruise ships in the world, the Cunard Line's "Queen Victoria", will visit Killybegs at the end of May, 2018, it has been confirmed. The 90,000 tonne vessel, which is just under 300 metres long, will have about 3,000 people on board between passengers and crew and will be the largest vessel ever to berth in Killybegs. Said Ann Dorrian, at the Killybegs Information Centre: "We are over the moon. This is great news. It is a tribute to all the volunteers who work so hard in this office to welcome cruise passengers and to the whole community who do so much to present the town at its best." News that the ship was confirmed for the 2018 season was broken on Monday (May 23) by Sinbad Marine Services Ltd., ship's agent in Killybegs. The company's Facebook page stated: "We are delighted to announce that the longest vessel ever to berth in Killybegs, cruise ship MS "Queen Victoria", will arrive on 20th May, 2018. "At 294 metres, this ship is twice the length of Croke Park and carries nearly 3,000 people. A big day to look forward to!" The vessel is one of the Cunard Line's fleet of "queens", with "Queen Elizabeth" and "Queen Mary 2". With a draft of eight metres, there should be no problem bringing the "Queen Victoria" alongside in Killybegs. The Smooth Point pier has 300 metres of berthage with a depth of 12 metres and a further 150 metres at 9 metres, making it one of the best berthages in Ireland. The "Queen Victoria" has a total of 16 decks and rises to 205 ft. She can travel at just under 24 knots and has a capacity for 2,014 passengers and a crew of 900. Pictured: Cunard Line's "Queen Victoria", 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. A Florida businessman testified on Day Three of House Speaker Mike Hubbards public corruption trial that his political advertising company felt it had to use Craftmaster Printers for the production of ALGOP fliers or it would not be able to do business in the state of Alabama a directive he said came from the embattled speaker. Under questioning by Special Prosecutor Matt Hart, Randy Kammerdiener, co-owner of Majority Strategies, told the court Thursday morning that he felt his business was required to used Craftmaster for its printing needs. Majority Strategies was hired by the Alabama Republican Party, which in turn subcontracted printing work with Auburn-based Craftmaster in which Hubbard holds partial interest during the 2010 and 2014 election cycles. Kammerdiener said that his business partner Brett Buerck, who handled finances, believed that Craftmasters pricing was too high for the products it turned out. In an email exchange between Kammerdiener and Buerck, Kemmerdiener said that Majority Strategies client, the ALGOP, was essentially the printer, and urged Buerck to treat Hubbard and Craftmaster personnel as clients when discussing cost issues because of Hubbards ability to bring the company more future business. In an email, Buerck wrote, I think if Mike knows theres more opportunities to make money, his greedy (sic) will be our ally. Majority Strategies made a lower profit than normal on the ALGOP projects, Kammerdiener said, but wrote in one email that he would rather us swallow our pride and also make a lower profit margin in order to keep the client rather than getting black-balled in a state. Kammerdiener said he certainly believed that the party wanted us to use Craftmaster, but upon cross examination from defense attorney Lance Bell, he said he could not recall a specific instance in which Hubbard told him he had to use Craftmaster. Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of illegally obtaining over $700,000 from transactions he made as chairman of the ALGOP with Majority Strategies. The defense also argued that the ALGOP used Craftmaster before Hubbards tenure as chairman. Clouse: Hubbards vote on APCI budget language probably a conflict of interest Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who served as acting chairman of the House General Fund Ways and Means Committee during the 2013 legislative session, took the stand for the prosecution next. Clouse was questioned by Deputy Attorney General Van Davis about his knowledge of language Hubbard is accused of attempting to insert into the 2014 General Fund budget that would have essentially made the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. a consulting client of Hubbards with the Auburn Network the only agency with the ability to bid on a pharmacy benefit manager related to Medicaid, and then voting for that budget. Prosecutors say both actions violated the state ethics law. Clouse testified that he didnt know at the time the language was temporarily inserted that APCI was a client of Hubbards. He said that Hubbards vote on the budget was probably a conflict of interest. Clouse said he was approached by APCI lobbyist Farrell Patrick during the 2013 legislative session about adding the APCI language to the budget. He testified that he later attended a meeting in the speakers office with Hubbard, Hubbards former chief of staff Josh Blades, lobbyist John Ross and Patrick. The speaker presented me with a hypothetical question, if Farrells group had an agreement with Medicaid for a PBM that would save $10 million from Medicaid, Clouse said, which would have then provided about $10 million to be allocated to the court system. But Clouse had concerns about the proposed APCI language, he said. I had a couple concerns, he said. I wanted to be sure wed be able to move $10 million from Medicaid without losing the federal 2:1 match. Clouse said he conferred with then-Legislative Fiscal Office Director Norris Green about the numbers. It verified what I was thinking; itd cost us $20 million in federal funding, he said. Asked how the language ended up in the budget bill, Clouse said Rep. Greg Wren had advocated on its behalf. Wren resigned from office and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor ethics charge involving misuse of his public office in 2014. Williamson: It was Wrens language Things got testy between Hart and lead defense attorney Bill Baxley during the testimony of former Medicaid director Don Williamson on Thursday afternoon. Williamson answered questions pertaining to how the APCI budget language would have affected Medicaid, as well as when and how he learned about Hubbards outside consulting contract with the APCI. He said the pharmacy benefit manager program was being considered during the 2013 legislative session as a way to save the state money, as much as $30 million to $50 million, depending on bidders. The language Hubbard is accused of attempting to insert would have made APCI the only agency with the ability to bid on the contract. Williamson recalled a phone call he received from Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar on April 18, 2013. He said Azar had seen the proposed APCI language and was alarmed. Williamson said he met with Medicaid staffers to discuss the issue. Thats when Medicaid Pharmacy Director Kelli Littlejohn Newman told him and others she was certain only one entity in the entire state could meet the PBM language criteria as written: APCI. Williamson and Azar arranged a meeting with Hubbard the next day. At the meeting, Hubbard claimed that he didnt know that the language would essentially create a monopoly, Williamson testified. He said, I am angry. Farrell (Patrick) should have told us that. I took that to mean Farrell should have informed him it would limit Medicaids choices to one provider, he said. He was very clear this was Rep. Wrens language, said Williamson. Hubbard committed to getting the language out and to making sure Wren wasnt on the conference committee that would be tasked with stripping it from the budget, Williamson said. On that same occasion, Williamson claimed Hubbard told him of his contract with APCI. Hubbard allegedly reiterated that the contract was for out-of-state business only. Upon further questioning by Hart, Williamson said he came away with four key takeaway points from the meeting. I just remember in reconstruction that I had four takeaway points: that was it was Wrens legislation, that the speaker said Farrell (Patrick) should have told us about it, the APCI contract was for out-of-state work and he was supposed to be getting language out of the legislation and he would not put Wren on the committee, he said. It appeared that Williamsons testimony might not have been exactly what the prosecution was expecting. Hart asked Williamson if hed ever heard that Hubbard had a consulting contract with APCI before Hubbard told him. Williamson said he had heard rumors, but was surprised to find that it was true. Hart asked Williamson if this meeting with Hubbard was the first instance in which hed been told that it was Wrens language versus the speakers. Williamson said yes. Hart revealed that Williamson and Wren were once close friends, and asked how the APCI language affected their friendship. Obviously, this has created a fairly large chasm in that relationship, Williamson said. He told Hart that Hubbard instructed himself and other Medicaid officials to meet with Wren to work out alternative language regarding the PBM. On April 25, Williamson said he and Azar met with Wren, Clouse, Patrick and others. They tried to convince us of the wisdom of their language, which we couldnt live with, he said, adding that Mr. Wren became almost extraordinarily angry ... yelling that the language was his and he had written it. Seemingly taken aback by Williamsons testimony, Hart asked him if he felt awkward about testifying against the current speaker of the house as a lobbyist for the Alabama Hospital Association, where Williamson erves as president and CEO. Baxley raised several objections to Harts questions and assertions. In cross examination, Baxley focused on the fact that Hubbard did not place Wren on the conference committee. Azar: I dont recall Hubbard changing his mind Azar, the prosecutions last witness of the day, offered a slightly different account of the meeting with Wren. In the meeting, she said Wren did become unreasonably angry when Medicaid officials said they wanted to change the language and that he refused to consider the alternative options they brought forth, but she didnt recall Hubbard changing his opinion. I dont recall anything about Hubbard changing his mind, she said. She implied that mediating by Sen. Greg Reed, R-Jasper, aided the situation. Testimony was also heard Thursday from Legislative Fiscal Office officials Mary Lawrence and Rachel Riddle, who both testified they attended a meeting about the APCI language. Medicaid Pharmacy Director Kelli Littlejohn Newman testified about the implications the pro-APCI language would have had. Southeast Alabama Gas District Clouse was also asked about Hubbards work with the Southeast Alabama Gas District, a supplier of natural gas in the Wiregrass area. The SEAGD operated a satellite office out of Ozark, Clouse said. He said Hubbard had never spoken to him about his consulting contract with SEAGD, and that he only found out about Hubbards contract at a meeting among local officials in Ozark in which the mayor informed him that Hubbard was working with SEAGD via the Auburn Network for economic development. Asked what he thought when he learned of the contract, Clouse said, I didnt know what to think, really. Clouse recalled attending a meeting with Hubbard, Gov. Robert Bentley, Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield and Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, regarding Commercial Jet. The subject of the meeting, he said, was that a plan to get Commercial Jet a Miami-based aviation maintenance, repair, conversion and overhaul company to relocate to Dothan seemed to be lagging. Locals were encouraging Bentley and Canfield to do all they could to provide whatever incentives they could to bring Commercial Jet on board to enhance local economic development. Clouse said Hubbard was encouraging Bentley and Canfield to do all they could. The attorney generals office accuses Hubbard of using his position to obtain a monthly $12,000 consulting contract with the Southeast Alabama Gas District. He also is accused of lobbying Bentley and Canfield for initiatives related to the organization. Several witnesses called to testify today are expected to provide insight into Hubbards involvement with the SEAGD. Testimony will begin at 9 a.m. Witnesses expected include Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz, Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell, APCI lobbyist Kenny Sanders, Ozark Mayor Billy Blackwell, Rep. Paul Lee, R-Dothan, Majority Strategies consultant Brett Buerck, Matt Parker, Nancy Chandler and Tim Hamrick. 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 would be removed from office if convicted of any of the charges. Hubbard has long maintained his innocence and continued to serve as speaker of the house during the 2016 legislative session. A Dothan man convicted of two armed robberies now faces more felony charges, including the burglary of his fathers home and felony assault on a Dothan police officer. Dothan Police Sgt. Lynn Watkins said police investigators arrested Karey Denzell Godwin, 24, of Dothan, and charged him with felony second-degree domestic violence burglary and felony second-degree assault. Watkins said police charged Godwin with damaging property in the living and bed rooms of his fathers home during a burglary. When the police arrived he was attempting to flee out the back door, Watkins said. Watkins said as police arrived, Godwin charged them and began fighting one of the officers, causing an injury which required several stitches to mend a wound. Watkins said the officer was treated and released at a local hospital. Godwin was taken to the Houston County Jail and held on bail totaling $45,000. Court records show Godwin to be a two-time convicted felon. He pleaded guilty to two felony armed robbery charges in Houston County in February 2010, and received a 20-split sentence with five years to serve. You may have more in common with Ambrosia Starling than you think. Born and raised in Dothan, Starling grew up on sweet tea and good manners. She went to Stringer Street Elementary School and graduated from Dothan High School. No stranger to hard work, she spent about seven years working in retail at Wiregrass Commons Mall and three years as a cook in a Chinese restaurant. I worked two jobs because thats the only way you could get it, Starling said. Starling also happens to be a drag queen who has been a thorn in the side of Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. Starling, 45, is a gay male who prefers female pronouns when performing in drag. Starling prefers to use her drag name in public, citing safety concerns about her mother, who is 71 and resides with Starling. Starling has received a flood of attention for her role in efforts to oust Moore from office regarding his directive to probate judges to ignore a U.S. Supreme Court ruling and deny same-sex couples marriage licenses. Starling has been active in efforts by a coalition of organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with others, to remove Moore from office, speaking at rallies across the state. Moore is suspended from office, awaiting a trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary concerning whether his actions were a breach of judicial ethics. Starling said her role in opposing Moore reminded her of when she had to fight off bullies in her youth. I was lucky enough to be quick and fast, she said. They usually walked away shortly after something got started. Moore singled out Starling in a press conference, naming her as part of a group seeking his ouster. Moore also said that Starling would have been considered mentally ill by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. Starling laughs off Moores criticisms of her and says that, for her, the issue boils down to having good manners and respecting the rights of people to live as they choose. I really and truly believe that we are better people than this, she said. Starling also said she found laws enacted by several states regarding the transgender bathroom issue to be absurd. Are we really going to secede over toilets? she said. If that doesnt make sense coming out of a drag queens mouth, it doesnt make sense coming out of anyone elses. Starling said shes considering a run for governor next year if Moore gets in the race. She said her activism has brought her a lot of attention, but she hasnt had any opportunities develop as a result of it yet. Rachel Maddow has mentioned me on her show, but she hasnt called me, she said. Starling started performing in drag in the 1990s after watching a show in Florida. I just got to sit in a room and breathe and laugh with people who were having the same fun that I was, she said. None of them was thinking about worries or the pressure. For a while, all of their problems went away. Starling built a career as an entertainer but considers herself semi-retired from it today. Preparing to go out in drag takes three to five hours for Starling. Im 45. Ive got to pull a Cher and turn back time, she said. Starling said shes always been active in her community and has raised money for Montgomery Medical AIDS Outreach by participating in the annual Labor of Love pageant and other fundraisers. Starling has a good sense of humor. It comes with the territory of being a drag queen who has become the chief justice of the state supreme courts high-heels-wearing nemesis. Starling can remember being pulled over for speeding by a police officer who had pulled her over a few days before while wearing mens clothing. I told him Its a recession, everybody has to have a second job, she said. A Haitian native apparently influenced by both education and helicopters, Army 2nd Lt. Alix Schoelcher Idrache has spent most of his seven years in the United States serving in the nations military. Perhaps the opportunity he will have to train as an aviator at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker, beginning this summer, is what led to Idraches emotions that were captured in a widely shared photograph taken at his May 21 graduation at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. Idrache is seen with tears in his eyes in multiple photos taken that day by Army Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant. One of the photos, which shows a stream of tears falling from Idraches eyes as he stands with other cadets, had thousands of views and shares on Facebook alone. There were also several thousand views on YouTube of interviews Idrache had around his graduation time. Bryant wrote in the cutline of one of the photos he took that Idrache shed tears of joy as one of 953 cadets who graduated after entering West Point in the summer of 2012. According to the Maryland National Guard in which Idrache joined before attending West Point, Idrache migrated from Port-au-Prince to America in 2009 after his father, Dieujuste, came to the country earlier to find a better life for his family. In 2010, hundreds of thousands of Haitians were reportedly killed and millions impacted by a earthquake near Port-au-Prince. Idrache, who is a top-ranking West Point graduate in physics who served as a regimental commander there, told the Guard he was fascinated by the Chinook and other military equipment used in humanitarian missions in Haiti when he was young. While the Guard article stated becoming a pilot appeared an outlandish dream in Haiti, Idrache was quoted stating he pursued becoming a pilot from the time he first visited the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office to complete the required paperwork for the Selective Service System. According to the Guard, Idrache credits his father for playing the main role in his academic success. My dad always said, education is the only gift I can always give you, because I dont have any anything material to give, Idrache was quoted as saying. The Dothan Eagle reached out to Idrache through social media, but Bryant said Idrache was enjoying family and would likely not be available anytime soon. Bryant described Idrache as an exceptionally humble individual who didnt want anything to detract away from his duties in the military, or that made him appear separate from those with which he serves. Bryant described Idrache as an exceptionally humble individual who didnt want anything to detract from his duties in the military, or that made him appear separate from those with whom he serves. "When I interviewed the regimental commanders at the start of the academic year, his was the only one missing because he didn't want to be placed into the spotlight," Bryant said. "He simply wants to be a Soldier and a member of the team. Alix has consistently told me that his story is only one of the 953 that graduated last week and that each of those stories are just as important as his. He is the true embodiment of a quiet professional." 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. Volkswagen has shown off the interior space for its upcoming V6 diesel-powered Amarok ute, with a clear intention of pushing the humble hay hauler upmarket. Having confirmed a new 165kW/550Nm 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 model will land in Australia at year's end, the German manufacturer has splashed out on upgrading the dual cab's cabin space. There's a decidedly SUV appearance to the fettled Amarok, with the very latest high-definition infotainment system, better plastics and, for some derivatives, a 14-way power-adjustable Nappa leather-trimmed front seats. Also housed within the updated dashboard is a 3D colour display between the dials. This feature is spruiked within the 'Aventura' launch model not yet confirmed for Australia. The upgraded Amarok will be available with a reversing camera, 'park pilot' parking assistance system, Bluetooth connectivity and up to four 12-volt power supply sockets. Volkswagen's automatic post-collision braking system will also be fitted to updated models. Spotted in these photos, for the first time in an Amarok, are steering wheel mounted paddle shifters linked with the utility's eight-speed automatic transmission. The Amarok will purportedly have plenty of muscle to back up its new look, with the V6 engine carrying a 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity and an ability to notch 100km/h in just 7.9 seconds. This is despite a fuel claim close to the existing Amarok, at 7.6L/100km on a European cycle. Volkswagen Australia will release pricing and specification details closer to the Amarok's launch at year's end. Great Wall will return to the Australian market later this year under a new factory-backed distribution arrangement. The first Chinese car manufacturer to set up shop in Australia will return in October following 18 months of hibernation within the local marketplace. Great Wall Motors Australia (GWMA) has confirmed overnight that it will release a new ute to market now that it has ended a protracted dispute with form independent Great Wall importer Ateco Automotive. Simply known as the 'Great Wall ute', the lone model range will be based on China's Wingle 6, and will be topped by a turbo diesel-driven dual cab flagship. GWMA promises the Great Wall ute will deliver "a combination of outstanding value and great reliability". The replacement to the V200 ute will feature a six-speed manual transmission only and a robust Borg-Warner all-wheel drive system with Eaton differential lock. Stakeholders have also promised "high levels of safety", with stability control and six airbags as standard. GWMA managing director Parker Shi pledged ongoing support to existing Great Wall customers and dealers. The new arrangement will see GWMA share its national headquarters with sister company Haval Motors, out of Melbourne. "Great Wall will focus solely on light commercial vehicles, with HAVAL concentrating on SUVs," Shi said. "We are confident this strategy will allow both companies to dedicate their resources into the two fastest growing segments in the Australian automotive market." Irish forecourt convenience retailer Maxol announced on Monday that the company is supporting DKITs Global Project for the second successive year. DKITs Global Project is a comprehensive 12-week student programme, which involves marketing students from Dundalk IT and universities in the USA and Melbourne joining together to work as part of an integrated team on a commercially focused brief. The students have been working on the project over the past three months and have just arrived in Melbourne where they will present their proposal Melbourne as a knowledgeable city to the client at Melbourne RMIT University. The students have put their efforts into encompassing a global communications strategy, which solely focuses on representing Melbourne as a Knowledgeable City for product launches, business summits and conferences. The students will also travel to Sydney for a weekend before returning to Ireland on 30th May following a ten-day trip. John Sisk, Marketing Lecturer, and Programme Director at DKIT commented on Maxols support of the Global Project: We are extremely grateful and appreciate the support that Maxol and CEO Tom Noonan has given our Global Project. This innovative approach to real and meaningful learning is an example of how technology connects global businesses through different time zones. Students get to experience stringent deadlines, which will prepare them for real life situations in the future. Tom Noonan, CEO, The Maxol Group added, As DKIT is situated opposite the brand new Maxol forecourt convenience outlet on the Dublin Road, Dundalk, we saw the opportunity to give something back to our young customers who come into our store everyday. These bright students are the future of creativity and we wish them the very best of luck with their presentation and trip to Australia. A man who admitted being involved in a number of crimes in the Dundalk area including several burglaries, and an incident in which a garda was injured last summer, was sentenced to a total of 16 months at the local district court last week. Judge Flann Brennan imposed consecutive eight month sentences in some of the charges, which related to offences committed while Tyrone Byrne of Anne Street, Dundalk was on bail. The court heard last Wednesday that the 22 year old resisted and obstructed gardai, when they took possession of a Blue Saab in the Cedarwood Park area of Dundalk on August 24th last year. A female officer was injured when the car was being moved. Tyrone Byrne did not have a driving licence or insurance. Insp. Martin Beggy said the garda has been on sick leave since then and is not expected to return in the immediate future, and while the defendant was not prosecuted for inflicting the injury, he was charged with obstructing. Just over three weeks before that a car was seen entering the car park of a B&B on the Dublin Road, the accused was driving and returned to the vehicle with a number of buckets of paint. On July ninth last, he left without paying for 10 worth of petrol at Tesco filling station on the Ramparts. In September 2014 the accused burgled an address at Park Street. The occupant woke up to find him there and chased him - and was able to identify him to gardai by his nickname. The court heard that an address on Anne Street was broken into the previous month, and 320 mobile phone cases worth 10 euro each were stolen. Seven of them were found in a search of Tyrone Byrne's home in a KFC box along with a KFC cap, which belonged to the victim who worked in the fast food outlet. The court was also told he was found slumped over the lap of a passenger, when gardai came across a car, with its lights on and engine running at Heynestown on January 21st last, and a Michael Kors bag was recovered along with a 22 tablets and a powder, which proved to be Diamorphine. Tyrone Byrne admitted the handbag had been stolen from The Crescent. The accused was also prosecuted for dangerous driving, following an incident last October. He further admitted stealing a 32 inch flat screen TV after the door of a home on Chapel Street was kicked in, and taking a mobile phone from a display in Tesco in 2014. The Defence solicitor said his client was a serious heroin addict and on un-prescribed drugs at the time, but has been in custody since March, awaiting a place in a treatment centre which became available the day before court and was anxious that this cycle would stop. However, Judge Flann Brennan said there was an incredible litany of offences and a garda was injured in the course of one of the driving offences. He imposed sentences totalling 16 months For organisations, the decision to go green and actively seek ways to conserve the environment goes beyond the warm, fuzzy feeling of being a good corporate citizen it also makes good business sense. Just ask Richard Fine, founder of BioPak. Hailing from South Africa, Richard worked in his familys plastic packaging business for 15 years before relocating to Australia in 2003. Powered by the dream of providing sustainable and rapidly renewable plant-based alternatives to plastic food packaging, Richard started BioPak in 2006. In the ensuing ten years, the company has not only disrupted the packaging industrys status quo, it has helped other businesses and the end consumers to reduce their environmental footprint. Now the leading supplier of plant-based, single-use disposable packaging in Australia and New Zealand, the companys products are certified carbon neutral, rapidly biodegrading so as not to pollute the natural environment. The triple bottom line Richard told Dynamic Business that BioPaks philosophy, from the outset, has been to embrace the triple bottom line. Also known as the Three Ps (People, Planet, Profit), this business model recognises that economic, social and environmental factors cannot be considered in isolation; rather, as Richard explained, a holistic approach is necessary if a business is to be sustainable. By striving to foster healthy ecosystems and strong communities, in addition to creating economic value, Richard said BioPak has been able to attract and retain talented employees as well as build a loyal and rapidly growing customer base. Through purchasing BioPak products, our customers have been able to offer a point of difference in a crowded and competitive market and appeal to a growing audience of socially and environmentally responsible consumers whilst reducing their environmental impact, Richard said. There are many cheaper alternatives available for businesses whose only concern is profit. Our customers understand that in order for them to build a business or brand with longevity they need to conserve the planets natural resources and partner with companies that are able to offer innovative ways for them to reduce their environmental impact. For a business to remain relevant in peoples lives, it has to play a more meaningful role. Being sustainable has gained traction Where BioPak was once the only food packaging company on the scene focusing solely on bioplastic and plant-based packaging, Richard said that increasing consumer awareness has seen the companys peers adopt plastic alternatives in more recent times. Today, consumers understand the impact of their choices and support business that are able to demonstrate that they have a higher purpose other than only financial gain, he said. A big part of our marketing strategy has been educating consumers and business about the environmental impact of single use disposables packaging. Measurable environmental benefits As part of its commitment to delivering social and environmental benefits, BioPak donates 4.5% of its profits to community charities. In addition, Richard said the companys partnership with non-profit organisation Rainforest Rescue has led to significant, visible and measurable benefits to fauna and flora in the Daintree Rainforest. We partnered with Rainforest Rescue in 2011 and produced paper cups that raised awareness and funds for their Save the Cassowary Campaign, he said. The following year we were looking for a way to thank our customers and decided to plant trees on their behalf Rainforest Rescue was the perfect organisation to assist us with this initiative. Since 2014 we have committed to donating 1% of profits to support the organisations efforts to protect and rehabilitate areas of the Daintree Rainforest. To date we have purchased 2 hectares of land and planted 6000 trees. The fact that Rainforest Rescue operates locally was important to us. How can your business go green? The challenges of developing a sustainable business are no different to those faced by other entrepreneurs building other businesses from the ground up, according to Richard. Determining the right product for the market was the first challenge, he said. We invested significant effort and financial resources testing and refining different materials before we were able to identify and develop a product range suitable for the local market. The next hurdle was a combination of higher cost and, as a newcomer to the industry, a lack of trust. Through perseverance we have been able to overcome all challenges. Richards advice to small businesses, including startup founders, is to look at what they can do for society, rather than what society can do for them. The traditional way of doing busy is changing, the demand for new products and services that deliver both profit and purpose is growing, he explained. Businesses that are able to provide products or services sustainably will be the corporations of the new millennium. It takes, passion, vision, courage and hard work, the right tools and partners and perseverance. Get involved with Rainforest Rescue If you would like to learn more about Rainforest Rescue, head to www.rainforestrescue.org.au Dynamic Business invites it readers to join the cause by making donations towards protecting half a hectare of the Daintree. Click here for more details. The end of financial year can be a hectic time, particularly for SME business. With books, budgets and tax time on the mind, its easy for business owners to cast recruitment plans aside to focus on other aspects of the business. The truth is that end of financial year extends well beyond inventory and overheads, and is actually one of the best times of the year to review workforce planning and lock in recruitment plans. Similar to months like December and January, business owners incorrectly believe there is a lull in candidates looking for work and as a result dont pre plan and become stuck when employees suddenly move on. From the beginning of June marketing becomes saturated with EOFY jargon which triggers something in individuals to start reassessing their own plans. The June/July period is a time when people sit down with their partners, look at their income, and set new goals. This can often result in new financial year resolutions and job seeking. The impact for business owners is twofold. Firstly, now is a great time to recruit if you have an immediate spot to fill because there are plenty of candidates looking for work. Secondly and most importantly, the EOFY is also the perfect time to review your workforce plan to determine when you next expect a spot to open up in your team, and work backward from there, as to when you should advertise. Here are a few tips to make workforce planning an easier task for hiring managers and business owners in the coming month. 1.Talk to your team Do you know what your employees future plans and expectations are? Do you know which, if any, might plan to leave in the next year? Uncovering the desires and interests of your staff can allow you to identify areas for professional development and upskilling to better use their talents, while also keeping them engaged and motivated to stay with you well into the future. 2. Ask your employees to refer their friends No matter what you do, employees will eventually move on. If you have a particular culture you want to keep alive, tell your staff about your recruitment plans the type of roles and people you want to hire and when, this will encourage employees to refer likeminded people to your business. 3. Talk to a recruitment consultant For many business owners, recruitment is only one of many hats that has to be worn every day. It can save time and money to outsource recruitment to an industry professional. Around the end of financial year recruiters and advertisers will often offer EOFY discounts or pre-purchase options without expiration dates to allow you to lock in your recruitment plans and not be caught off guard when someone does leave. 4. Use social media to engage future candidates A strategy in its own right, social media is a prime place to capture future candidates. Create your mud map for when and if, employees will leave your team and account for planned attrition. If you know how many times you had to recruit last financial year get on the front foot this year with a similar number in mind and set scheduled posts every month to educate candidates on what roles youll be looking to fill so youre front of mind when good candidates do want a new opportunity. There is little room for error when SMEs recruit because resources are often short and time is precious. If you dont want to be caught off guard in the new financial year, be open and honest with your team and yourself, and add recruitment to your EOFY checklist. About the author Here is some must-know advice for Australians who find tax a handful and want to put more money back in their pocket. Tax time is great for one thing: the money you get might back from the Australian Taxation Office. The process itself isnt always a joyride, and while everyone wants to know how they can keep more of their hard-earned money in their pocket, their record keeping sometimes lets them down. Claiming deductions is usually the best way to reduce the overall amount of tax you need to pay (and boost your refund), but to legally claim your deductions you need evidence such as receipt to back up your claim. So what can you do to help get the best possible tax refund (even in those cases where the receipt is long gone)? Switch to an online tax agent Old school tax agents often suggest keeping folders, diaries and logs of what you spend and how much of your expenses are work-related. This is hard work and a nightmare to sort out at tax time. But its no longer the 1990s and some tax agents have moved with the times offering simple, easy to use online tax return and tracking tools. The most popular online tax returns are mobile friendly and allow you to snap a photo of your receipt on your phone, and attach it right onto your tax return. Some even have an app allowing you to save receipts year round so theyre ready to go at tax time. No more lost receipts and missed deductions which means more money in your pocket at tax time. Cash in when you work at home Do you ever work from home out of hours? What about check your work emails from home of an evening or on the weekend or make work related calls on your mobile? If so, its likely you can claim at least some your home internet and personal phone expenses as a deduction. For example, if you pay $60 per month for your internet, and you estimate that 40 per cent of your internet use is for work purposes, that adds up to $24 per month ($288 per year) that you can claim as a deduction on your tax return. Just remember, if you share the costs with a spouse, partner or roommate, you can only calculate the part of the bill that you actually pay for. Similarly, if you make work related calls on your mobile phone, estimate the work percentage following the same calculations as above and youve got another deduction to boost your refund! Sweat the small stuff While a $5 or $10 purchase here or there doesnt seem like much as the time, it can really add up over the course of the year. Snap a photo of your receipts for that trade journal, hammer, new work shirt (with a logo) you buy during the year. Then at tax time you have a bunch more deductions ready to add to your return! Dont forget if you pay to be part of a professional industry body or union, you can claim the total cost of these fees on your return as well. Consider using a tax agent These days, nearly 70% of Australians use a registered tax agent to help prepare their tax return. Whether you decide to go in-store or online, when you work with an agent, you get the peace of mind knowing a professional has helped you get the best possible refund plus, the fees you pay are tax deductible. On your tax return, simply add in the amount you paid your tax agent last year into section D10 Cost of Managing Tax Affairs. So if tax is a headache for you, save this article and consider using a tax agent to help make your tax return easier and stress-free this year. About the author Simone Gielis is a Senior Tax Agent and General Manager at Etax.com.au, Australias number one online tax agent service. Specialising in online taxes since 1998, Etax.com.au enables most Australians to complete their tax return in under 15 minutes. Marco Pierre Whites Steakhouse Bar and Grill at Cadbury House launches new menu Diners at Marco Pierre Whites Steakhouse Bar and Grill within the DoubleTree by Hilton, Cadbury House hotel in Congresbury are set to be spoilt for choice, as the popular restaurant has unveiled its brand new menu. Designed by Marco himself, the new menu features classic dishes made using a range of seasonal ingredients. Known for his love of simple traditional cooking, diners can explore a new range of starters, main courses and desserts. Steak remains at the heart of the new menu, all sourced from Royal Warrant appointed butcher, Campbell Brothers. Alongside classic cuts including fillet, rib-eye and Chateaubriand, Cote de Boeuf from the Duke of Buccleuch Estates is a brand new sharing option for diners to enjoy. Inspired by classic British dishes and reflecting Marcos passion for simplicity, theres also a range of exciting new main courses aside from steak. From Pork Belly Marco Polo, to Seared Yellowfin Tuna Steak and The Steakhouse Burger, the new menu is filled with favourites designed to always stand the test of time. Elsewhere on the menu, diners can choose from an extensive range of starters, including Marcos Lobster Macaroni, Welsh Rarebit with Poached Egg and Creme Du Barry, whilst a selection of sides, including Wilted Baby Spinach and Garlic Button Mushrooms, provide the perfect accompaniment. For those with a sweet tooth, the new menu also delivers an exciting selection of new desserts, including Mr Whites Rice Pudding and The Box Trees Eton Mess. Not forgetting the old favourites, the Classic Knickerbocker Glory, Cambridge Burnt Cream and New York Baked Cheesecake also feature on the refreshed menu. Rebecca Bozeat-Manzi, business development manager at Marco Pierre Whites Steakhouse Bar and Grill, said: We are thrilled to launch our brand new menu, which combines some of our most popular dishes with a host of exciting new additions, all reflecting Marcos passion for classic food done well. A new menu gives our returning diners something else to look forward to on their next visit, as well as giving people who have never joined us before the perfect excuse to plan their visit. The new menu is now available at Marco Pierre Whites Steakhouse Bar and Grill. Book your table now at mpwrestaurants.com. Sometimes you just have to ask How much money and greed is enough? NOTE: This post has been updated HERE. Meijer, Inc. is one of the largest privately-owned companies in the country. When he died, Frederick Meijer, the son of the founder of the company, was worth $5 billion. The stores pioneered the concept of one-stop shopping, a shopping center where you could buy everything from car batteries to fresh broccoli. This past year, Meijer, Inc. has been challenging its tax assessments around the state, saving itself millions and millions of dollars, money that is coming, in large part, directly from the coffers of the municipalities and schools where their stores are located. The Lansing area seems particularly hard hit: The Meijer store at 2055 W. Grand River was extensively remodeled and reorganized last year to maintain its footing in the lucrative Okemos market. Yet, the Michigan Tax Tribunal has accepted an agreement between Meridian Township and the retailer to value the store for property tax purposes between 2010 and 2012 as if it were dark, meaning it was closed and for sale during that time. The settlement means Walker-based grocery and general merchandise chain Meijer Inc. will receive refunds totaling $320,165 from several public agencies, including Okemos Public Schools and the Okemos Downtown Development Authority. And its not an isolated case. The DDA will be required to refund around $86,000 in taxes. The financially-stressed Okemos School District must repay $130,332. Meijer has successfully challenged assessments at dozens of other stores, including one at 1350 W. Lake Lansing Road in East Lansing. There, the taxable value was reduced a total of $1.4 million for 2011 and 2012, resulting in $203,000 cut in property taxes, said David Lee, tassessor for the city and Meridian Township. Meijer has appealed property tax values for 97 of its 140 stores dating back to fiscal year 2009, Michigan Tax Tribunal chief clerk Peter Kopke said. Thirteen cases are pending. Meijer isnt the only big box store doing this. Home Depot and Lowes are, too. The result is that these profitable companies are extracting money from schools and the local government at a time when both have already coughed up significant funds in terms of reduced funding to pay for corporate tax breaks these same companies are already enjoying. This only serves to compound a financial catastrophe already in progress around our state. I understand the desire to maximize profits. All companies have that as their overarching aim. But when you help to destroy the cities in which you operate and the schools of the kids that live in the community that your PR people brag you are so concerned about, the rest of us really begin to wonder just how much money is enough and just how greedy do you have to be before you get labeled as evil. It looks very much to me like Meijer, Inc. is trying to find out. [Public domain image credit: Mrmiscellanious | Wikimedia Commons] Ken Cuccinelli, former Attorney General of Virginia, has a national reputation for outrageous extremism which he paints himself with as a morality suit of clothing. Here in Michigan, our current AG, Bill Schuette, is equally extreme but seems not garner quite so much attention. But the similarities are there. Cuccinelli fought to overturn Obamacare in the courts and lost So did Bill Schuette. Cuccinelli signed on to an amicus brief opposing the federal governments lawsuit challenging Arizonas racist immigration law So did Bill Schuette. brief opposing the federal governments lawsuit challenging Arizonas racist immigration law Cuccinelli is a raging homophobe who used his office to fight marriage equality and adoption rights for LGBT couples every step of the way So did Bill Schuette. Cuccinelli sided with Big Business to fight regulations to protect our environment So did Bill Schuette. The similarities are actually a bit creepy. Lets take a closer look at some Schuettes more extreme behavior and actions. DRUG MAKER IMMUNITY LAW Back in 1995, Bill Schuette co-sponsored a bill that later became law that made Michigan the only state in the country that prevents lawsuits against drug companies whose drugs were found to harm or kill people who used them if they had been approved by the FDA. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development, he made sure the bill made it to the full Senate where it was passed. This bill is little more than a wet kiss to the pharmaceutical industry but has had little impact with major pharmaceutical companies pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere anyway. Not only that, Schuettes law resulted in Michigan losing out on $20 million settlement when the drug Vioxx was pulled from the market. Schuette was still defending the law during his last reelection campaign. Then he had the hypocritical gall to pretend to show leadership when a drug compounders error resulted in meningitis deaths in Michigan, calling himself a voice for the victims, angering many of them. IMMIGRATION Schuette led a coalition of nine state AGs in supporting Arizonas odious and racist show me your papers law and then bragged about it in a press release on the state of Michigan website. ENVIRONMENT When the Environmental Protection Agency took steps to clean up pollution flowing into the Chesapeake Bay, Bill Schuette took it upon himself as AG of Michigan to file an amicus brief opposing the EPAs clean-up plan. Schuette also led a coalition of state AGs trying to overturn EPA rules about mercury emissions from power plants. A federal appeals court smacked down Schuette and his corporatist AG pals just yesterday: A federal appeals court upheld the Environmental Protection Agencys first-ever limits on air toxins, including emissions of mercury, arsenic and acid gases, preserving a far-reaching rule that the White House had touted as central to President Barack Obamas environmental agenda. In a 2-1 decision yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found that the rule was substantively and procedurally valid, turning aside challenges brought by Republican-led states that had argued it was onerous and environmental groups that had contended it did not go far enough. The EPA called the decision a victory for public health and the environment. Another example of Bill Schuette wasting Michigan taxpayer money. MARRIAGE EQUALITY & ADOPTION RIGHTS FOR LGBT COUPLES Regular readers of this blog know that Schuette has the most regressive views on rights for LGBT people of nearly anyone in our state government. Even as I type this, he is using Michigan tax dollars to overturn a federal judges ruling that struck down Michigans ban on same sex marriage, a decision stemming from a lawsuit that would give same-sex couples equal parenting rights. One of his outrageous arguments is that marriage is for regulating sexual relationships between men and women. Im not kidding. Finally, Schuette attempted to strike down a provision in the contract state workers have with the state of Michigan that allows for domestic partners benefits. He was sent packing by the Michigan Court of Appeals, another waste of taxpayer funds. A similar case is being heard in U.S. District Court. Schuette is fighting an injunction put in place last summer of a law that bars partners of employees in public schools and local governments from receiving domestic partner benefits. The judge in that case said that Schuettes argument had the force of a five-week-old, unrefrigerated dead fish. I cant think of a more mean-spirited piece of legislation, said Michael Steinberg, legal director at the Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. Yet the attorney general continues to fight for the states ability to discriminate. Its very troubling. The law was passed in 2011 by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Snyder, also a Republican. It says schools and local governments cant offer health insurance or any benefits to the unmarried partners of employees gay or heterosexual. Universities are exempt, as well as most state workers whose benefits are set by the Michigan Civil Service Commission. Private businesses also are not affected. A handful of school districts offered the benefits, along with Ingham and Washtenaw counties and the cities of Ann Arbor, East Lansing and Kalamazoo, according to the ACLU. That case is being heard in court this week. THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT or OBAMACARE Bill Schuette hates the Affordable Care Act so much that he joined a federal lawsuit that would block the tax credits qualifying citizens would receive to purchase health insurance. In our state, this would cost nearly a half million Michigan residents as much as $5,000 a year in additional taxes. From the very beginning, Schuette has vowed to repeal Obamacare and said so on the state of Michigan website. CONSUMER RIGHTS Back 2011, 37 state Attorneys General signed a letter supporting Richard Cordray to head up the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As their states top law enforcement officials, they were in full support of both Cordray and the new bureau itself. Not among those signing the letter was our own AG, Bill Schuette. ANTI-LABOR, PRO-RIGHT TO WORK Bill Schuette was highly supportive of the lame duck ramming through of legislation that turned Michigan, the birthplace of organized labor and collective bargaining for workers, into a Right to Work state, calling himself Michigans Right to Work Attorney General on his Facebook page. When a federal judge upheld the new law, Schuette called it a great victory for workers, a positively Orwellian statement. When unionized state workers filed suit arguing that they are not covered by the legislation because their employment is covered in the state constitution by the Civil Service Commission, Schuette filed a brief with the state Supreme Court in opposition, saying that there is no need for this courts review. ZOMBIE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT LAW AND DETROIT When voters overturned Public Act 4 Michigans anti-democratic Emergency Manager Law in 2012, Bill Schuette stepped in to say that, rather than Michigan no longer having an Emergency Manager Law, he was resurrecting the previous version, Public Act 72, effectively raising it from the dead like a zombie in contradiction of MCL 8.4 which prevents such an occurrence. I came up with this handy flow chart to help my readers and AG Schuette to understand the situation: However, in an election season effort to garner goodwill with Detroiters, Schuette magnanimously intervened on behalf of Detroit city pensioners to represent them in protecting their pensions from being reduced by the agreement worked out by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, a political move so transparent it had to frighten the pensioners themselves. CONTRACEPTION COVERAGE UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT THE HOBBY LOBBY CASE Earlier this year, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. went before the U.S. Supreme Court to avoid having to offer health insurance coverage for specific types of contraceptives to their employees. Bill Schuette was there to file yet another amicus brief on the side of the plaintiffs, fighting to deny female employees of these for-profit corporations access to these contraceptives. Its a long list of extreme positions held by Bill Schuette, most of which we fund daily with our tax dollars. Fortunately Michigan has an exciting Democratic candidate for Attorney General: Mark Totten. Totten threw his hat into the ring in the early part of 2013 and has been campaigning tirelessly since then. He has been pushing back against Bill Schuettes out-of-touch positions and actions, holding him accountable for wasting taxpayer money and for his support of ultra-conservative issues and corporate interests. Democrat Mark Totten, candidate for state Attorney General, photo by Anne C. Savage, for Eclectablog Despite Schuettes good name recognition he was a state House Representative, a state Senator, a state Appeals Court judge, and the director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture before becoming AG in 2011 Totten is in a statistical dead heat with Schuette according to the latest poll by PPP. He has a wide array of endorsements in a race that the National Review is calling one of the top AG races in the country. Just today, Totten was endorsed by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy: Mark understands the challenges I face fighting crime in Wayne County. Hes protected Michigan families from violent criminals, child predators, and predatory lenders. And hell always protect the most vulnerable among us including foster and adopted kids. Totten will keep us safe and wont let politics get in the way Ken Cuccinelli left office in Virginia after a failed run for Governor, being beaten by Democrat Terry McAuliffe in 2013. Here in Michigan, we have an opportunity to shed ourselves of our own version of the extremist Cuccinelli by defeating Bill Schuette in November of this year. It may not be the highest profile race on the ticket this year but, in terms of its impact on the everyday lives of every Michigan resident, it may be one of the most important. The following guest post was written by Ned Staebler, founder of the Michigan Talent Agenda. Ive hesitated to write this for several reasons, not the least of which is that I hoped it wouldnt be necessary. I hoped that, at some point, Republican Party voters would come to their senses. I hoped that GOP leaders would step up and be brave, risking (at least in perception) their own political futures in a real attempt to stop Donald Trump. In my heart, I knew that this hope was unfounded, but without hope there is only despair. I choose hope, even in the face of long odds. Heck, I root for the Lions! Ive also been hesitant to write this because I knew that some people would dismiss it out of hand. Theyd say this is the usual name-calling and demonization of those with opposing political views that weve all come to despise in politics. I assure you it is not. I have many, many friends that have voted for and vociferously supported those with political opinions diametrically opposed to my own. While I might vehemently disagree with their support of those candidates and have on numerous occasions debated them vigorously on the merits of the objects of their support, I have always respected their right to a difference of opinion. I would never reject their friendship or company based on their political predilections or beliefs. After all, before party and before politics, we are people. But, as you have heard many times in the past 6 months and are likely to hear many more before November, Trump is different. Why is he different? Not for any of the ridiculous reasons he would give. He is not great. He is not terrific. He is not an outsider or a winner. I guess he is rich, but clearly not as rich as he makes himself out to be. Besides, many of his predecessors as nominees have been wealthy. He is a liaragain, not novel in politics. He is a bully, brash and unpredictable, and his control of the nuclear codes would greatly endanger our way of life. These are undesirable traits in a leader for sure but, again, not unheard of. He is an unabashed self-promoter, clearly egotistical, potentially pathological, and certainly more concerned with his own image than the well-being of those he seeks to serve. All of this is true and would be reason enough not to vote for him. But, none of these is sufficient to merit special treatment either for him or his supporters. So, why then do I feel obliged to speak up, and why is right now the time to do so? Trump is different because he has placed hate and bigotry at the centerpiece of his campaign. His support does not come from policy or political ideology. Hes barely outlined any and hes often immediately backtracked on even those brief forays into policy. His rise is almost completely based on his willingness to blame those people for the ills faced by ordinary Americans. Sometimes he is vague about who those people are and who he means by ordinary Americans, hearkening back to the dog whistle days of previous elections. But Trump is not as refined as those other politicians who made references to welfare queens, states rights, and inner city culture. Instead, Trump lashes out at the political correctness that is ruining America, and he plays upon the racist, bigoted, misogynistic fears of a group of largely older, under-educated white males who feel that life hasnt dealt them a fair hand. In his willingness to exploit this powerful emotion, Trump has attacked Muslims, Hispanics, the LGBT community, the disabled, and women. In the past, he had said and done things that are insulting to blacks and Jews. It works, and he knows it works. When asked why they like Trump, the most common reason his supporters give is some variation of: He says what he thinks. So, does my 5-year old. But, I wouldnt vote for him (yet). Sometimes they talk about taking back America. From whom exactly? If pressed for a policy that they like, they usually fall back to The Wall. I dont think I need to elaborate on the stupidity or the racist undertones of The Wall. On Twitter and Facebook, his acolytes barrage his critics with tirades of racist, anti-Semitic, bigoted, misogynistic hate. And, Trump knows that this is the secret of his success. When asked to disavow support of white supremacists, he balks for fear of alienating his base. Herein lies the ultimate difference between Trump and past candidates and, by extension, my treatment of his followers. Previous candidates certainly derived support from the racist element of society that now supports Trump, and they sometimes knowingly fostered that support with their dog whistle tactics. However, mostly their campaigns were based not on hate but a differing policy vision for our country. Some of my friends on the Left might argue that their policies had racial implications that were deep and discriminatory, but I think its fair to say that they always had at least the pretense, however thin, that hate was not the driving force in their candidacy. Though almost all of these candidates would seek to restrict a womans access to reproductive healthcare or prevent the LGBT community from equality, there was plausible deniability for those of their supporters who claimed to be with you on those issues, but were more moved at the polls by taxes, the economy, foreign policy, or education policy. With Trump that is nonexistent. His candidacy is about hate, pure and simple. If you support him, you are either motivated by that hate or are at the very least excessively comfortable with it. You cant justify hate and bigotry with: but I got a tax cut. I just got off the phone with a Republican friend who said: Its what politicians do. They say wild things in primaries and then tack back to the middle during the general. Hell moderate. No! I reject this. You cant walk back hate. It must remain unacceptable to mainstream racism and bigotry. Our country was founded on the premise that we were all made equal by our creator and our political system was built upon this foundation. Any attempt to normalize the notion in politics that we are not all equal is an existential threat to our democracy. Words have meaning and power. When it becomes acceptable to assign inferior status to a group of people because of their sex, race, religion, or heritage when its politically expedient and then to simply tack back, we have entered uncertain and dangerous waters for our Republic. Therefore, I want to make it clear. If you want to support Donald Trump, I will not associate with you. I wont do business with you, and we certainly will not be friends socially. I have a great deal of tolerance. But I will not tolerate bigotry and hate. Please know that if I see you with a Trump sticker or posting pro-Trump propaganda on social media, I will not hesitate to call you out on your support of bigotry. I intend to respond to each instance with the question: Are you a bigot or are you just excessively comfortable with bigotry? I urge others to do the same. We need to make an unambiguous statement that hate is not acceptable as a political platform. Also, this is not a temporary thing. There is no statute of limitations on bigotry. If you can get comfortable with the hate that is Trump, you deserve to wear the appropriate shame (#TrumpStink) in perpetuity. I know I will upset some people with this post. I know I will lose some friends and business associates. Thats OK. I have plenty of friends who dont support bigotry. I have plenty of work to do with people who arent misogynists. Please understand, I dont say this lightly or without the realization that there will be repercussions. I fully expect many of my moderate Republican friends to fall in line and support their candidate. It is a testament to how strongly I feel about this that I am willing to speak my mind and face the consequences. I was brought up to believe that if we are silent in the face of injustice we are supporting it, and so I refuse to be silent. [CC image credit: Thomas Hawk | Flickr] The following post was written by Sean McBrearty, Campaigns Organizer for Clean Water Action. Flint Rising, the coalition of community groups who have been combating the water crisis, has officially launched its website, FlintRising.com. The site is packed with stories from Flint residents and continues the great work that local activists have been doing on the ground to meet the needs of the community. It was a dark, cold January day, shortly after the state had finally admitted that the people of Flint had been exposed to poisoned water running through their taps. We drove from Lansing to St Michaels Church in Flint for an organizing meeting. Local activists on the ground in Flint were there along with people from the non-profit community. Even experts who had run door-to-door canvasses in response to Hurricane Sandy were there to do something about the water crisis that is still being ignored by our state government. It is hard for me to write about what happened in Flint. The most important voices of this tragedy are those that have for so long gone unheard; the voices of those who have the least access in our society and always seem to be the first impacted by things like the Flint water crisis. I dont live there and my daughter wasnt exposed to lead poisoning. But I have listened to people who live there and heard their stories. Ive canvassed neighborhoods with Flint Rising and have seen some of the effects. Every door you knock on in Flint seems to be opened by a person standing in front of a mountain of bottled water. Its not just for drinking. Its for bathing, washing dishes, washing clothes, cooking, and all the other things that the rest of us do in our homes without thinking twice. Some people Ive met in Flint dont have bottled water. Ive met seniors who insisted that bottled water should go to younger people and have persisted in drinking the poisoned tap water. Ive met young pregnant mothers, home with children, without reliable transportation, who had to ride busses to the firehouse where bottled water is distributed, with three little kids in tow, to carry as much water as she could back home. She made this trek multiple times a day in the dead of winter. People in Flint have been living with poisoned water for over two years. Many still get skin rashes and have hair falling out from exposure to the water. Nobody has a clear picture yet on how many children have been poisoned. As of this post, 239 days have passed since Governor Snyder first acknowledged that the people of Flint are living with poisoned water. 239 days, and the state has done nothing to solve this problem, or mitigate this disaster. The State of Michigan is responsible for the Flint water crisis. Theyve tried blaming local government, but Flint was under the control of a state appointed emergency manager. Snyder also tried to blame the Environmental Protection Agency, and though the EPA should have forced the state to act sooner, it was an emergency manager who gave the order, and state DEQ officials who failed to enforce Safe Drinking Water Act standards. Clean Water Action has been talking to our members across the state about the Flint crisis for months. Our field canvass went out through the dead of winter and on into the spring, gathering over 5,500 letters from Clean Water Action members in 44 State House districts calling on their representatives to fund replacing the lead service lines in the city of Flint. Our phone canvass called our members and over 1,500 members emailed their representatives in 85 out of 110 state house districts in Michigan. In Flint local activists came together and kept the pressure on, leading the fight for the restoration of clean water to their city. Last week, we had the opportunity to partner with Flint community activists to deliver constituent letters from Clean Water Action members across the state with a clear and resounding message; the people of Michigan stand with Flint. That it is a moral obligation to restore clean drinking water regardless of the cost. That even if their constituents werent directly impacted, we will still hold our lawmakers accountable. Sadly I was not surprised to hear the State House may not vote for emergency funds until after summer recess this September. Or they may vote before summer break begins on June 16th, but that passing emergency funds for Flint will be difficult and require significant compromise. I think back to the people in Flint and wonder what not fully funding this crisis will mean to the families there. We must stay engaged in this struggle until the people of Flint have the basic dignity of clean water flowing from their taps. Follow this link to contact your representative today, and demand that they pass emergency funding for Flint its been too long already. Michigan Attorney General has a long history of being on the wrong side of issues that matter most to the citizens of our state, something I have documented extensively here at Eclectablog (HERE and HERE, for example.) This week, hes back in the news with more of his hypocrisy and wrong-headedness. First, Schuette issued a press release saying that hes going after the people running the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans where scandalous treatment of aged veterans made news last year: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette today encouraged people who have resided in the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans during the last several years, or who may have otherwise been witness to patient mistreatment, to come forward with information that could help his ongoing investigation into the treatment of patients in the facility. Schuette confirmed that his Health Care Fraud Division has been conducting an investigation into allegations of improper care at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans since February 23, 2016. This followed the February 18, 2016 Michigan Auditor General report that indicated the facility was allegedly not properly taking care of the veterans residing in the home. This move represents a big turn around for Schuette. Back in 2011, Anthony Spallone, a Vietnam veteran and resident of the facility, filed a lawsuit on behalf of veteran residents of the home, aimed at stopping further privatization of the homes health care staff. In his complaint, Spallone detailed a wide array of abuses of the Homes residents by staff hired by the for-profit company to which some services had already been privatized. Back then, Schuette supported the private company over the complaints of their victims. You can read the legal brief he submitted HERE. In his defense of the company reaping a profit from our tax dollars, Schuette claimed that residents could simply leave any time, despite the fact that this was actually impossible for many residents due to their physical condition. Residency at the Home is completely voluntary, and the residents are free to leave at any time they wish, wrote Schuette. The fact that some residents may not be physically or mentally able to leave without assistance, does not change the voluntary nature of their residency at GRHV. Two years later in 2013, the Michigan Democrats called on Schuette to open an investigation into the GRHV after the privatization scheme had been expanded and the complaint continued to pile. He completely ignored them. The problems with privatizing the nursing staff at the facility were not only predictable, they were predicted. Even after the scathing Michigan Auditor General report that was released in February, the abuses have continued. This week a nurse at the facility was arrested for arrested for stealing credit cards and cash from residents. Now that he has decided to run for governor and its clear that the privatization scheme has proven to be a colossal failure that has resulted in further harm to the Homes residents, Schuette has done a complete one-eighty. Its pure political expediency at its most ludicrous. By the way, Schuette says that people like me who are calling him out on his hypocrisy are negative and trying to take political potshots. Nah, dude. Were just trying to make sure that a corporatist hypocrite like you never gets a chance to be the governor of our state. Eight years of that is plenty, kthxbai. In other news, Schuette has sided with the transphobic bigots in our country and is asking the federal government rescind its guidance on making public schools safe and inviting for all students, including transgender students: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is calling the Obama administrations directive that U.S. schools allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity federal overreach. Schuette wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Secretary of Education John King on Thursday, May 26, requesting the Obama Administration immediately retract its Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students that was sent to schools that are recipients of federal funding subject to the requirements of Title IX. Bill Schuette calls a directive regarding transgender bathrooms in schools federal overreach and he is reviewing all options related to the issue, according to a spokeswoman. This top-down attempt to control local decision-making failed to involve all parents, who must be involved in decisions involving their children at school, Schuette said in a prepared statement Here in Michigan and across our country, we must not exclude parents. Andrea Bitely, spokeswoman for Schuettes office, said The Attorney General is reviewing all options when asked if Schuette was considering joining 11 other states in a federal lawsuit over the directive. Bill Schuette issues weekly press releases about going into classrooms to read to school kids. However, his concern for the safety and well-being of those students appears to end at staging photo ops to gain good will. Trans kids face outrageously high levels of bullying, physical and mental abuse, and violence. Yet Bill Schuette is on a campaign to ensure they remain ostracized and under constant threat. Progress Michigan Executive Director Lonnie Scott issued this statement: Bill Schuette is sending a strong message to everyone in Michigan that he is more concerned about waging another right-wing crusade against progress than protecting students. Michigan Republicans like Bill Schuette have fought equality at every turn rather than working to solve Michigans real problems. Schuette is standing on the side of bullies and abusers who want to demonize and ostracize transgender students because of fear and ignorance. All students deserve respect, safety and equal treatment. Our Attorney General has the wrong priorities. He waited until the national television cameras were rolling to take action on the Flint Water Crisis and reluctantly begun looking into abuse of veterans at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, but hes wasted no time using his power to punish young people for the simple act of being who they are. Michigan does not need a hate-filled crusader policing our kids bathrooms. The last time I checked, the Attorney General is supposed to protect Michigan citizens not monitor school bathrooms. Bill Schuette needs to end this political crusade and get to work protecting Michigans citizens. Co-sign that. 100%. Google last week announced the Tensor Processing Unit, a custom application-specific integrated circuit, at Google I/O. Built for machine learning applications, TPU has been running in Googles data centers for more than a year. Googles AlphaGo software, whichthrashed an 18-time international Go champion in a match earlier this year, ran on servers using TPUs. These server racks house the TPUs used in the AlphaGo matches with Lee Sedol. TPU is tailored forTensorFlow, Googles software library for machine intelligence, which it turned over to theopen source community last year. Moore Still Rules For machine learning, TPUs provide an order-of-magnitude better-optimized performance per watt, Google said. Its comparable to fast-forwarding technology about seven years three generations of Moores Law. That claim is misleading, according to Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research. It only works on 8-bit math, he told TechNewsWorld. Its basically like a Z80 microprocessor in that regard. All that talk about it being three generations ahead refers to processors a year ago, so theyre comparing it to 28-nm processors. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reportedly has been working on a 10-nanometer FinFET processor for Apple. By stripping out most functions and using only necessary math, Google has a chip that acts as though it was a more complex processor from a couple generations ahead, Krewell said. Moores law focuses on transistor density and tends to be tied to parts that are targeted at calculation speed, pointed out Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. The TPU is more focused on calculation efficiency, so it likely wont push transistor density. I dont expect it to have any real impact on Moores law. Still, the board design has a really big heat sink, so its a relatively large processor. If Im Google and Im building this custom chip, Im going to build the biggest one I can put into the power envelope, Krewell noted. Potential Impact Clearly, hyperscale cloud operators are gradually becoming more vertically integrated, so they move more into designing their own equipment, said John Dinsdale, chief analyst atSynergy Research Group. That could help them strengthen their game, he told TechNewsWorld. The processor could make Google a much stronger player with AI-based products, but could and will are very different words, and Google has been more the company of could but didnt of late, Enderle told TechNewsWorld. The TPU will let Google scale up its query engine significantly, providing for higher-density servers that can simultaneously handle a higher volume of questions, he said. However, Googles efforts tend to be underresourced, so its unlikely to meet its potential unless that practice changes. There Isnt Only One The TPU isnt the first processor designed for machine learning. Intels Xeon Phi processor product line is part of that companys Scalable System Framework, which aims at bringing machine learning and high-performance computing into the exascale era. Intels aim is to create systems that converge HPC, big data, machine learning and visualization workloads within a common framework that can run in either the cloud or data centers, the latter ranging from smaller workgroup clusters to large supercomputers. A Case of Overkill? While the TPU will have a big effect and impact in data-intensive research, most business problems and tasks can be solved with simpler machine learning approaches, Francisco Martin, CEO ofBigML, pointed out. Only a few companies have the volume of data that Google manages. Traditionally, custom chips for machine learning algorithms never turned out to be very successful, he told TechNewsWorld. First, custom architectures require custom development, which makes adoption difficult, Martin noted. Second, by Moores law, standard chips are going to be more powerful every two years. TPU is tailored to very specific machine learning applications based on Googles TensorFlow, he said. Like other deep learning frameworks, it requires tons of fine-tuning to be useful. That said, Amazon and Microsoft will probably need to offer something similar to compete for customers with advanced research projects. A coalition of technology companies and advocacy groups earlier this week wrote to the Federal Communications Commission, urging it to open a public investigation into zero-rating practices, in which mobile providers allow some video or music providers to be excluded from data caps. The group, which includes Common Cause, Etsy, Foursquare, Mozilla and Upworthy, called on the FCC to examine the zero-rating practices of AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon to determine whether those practices harm competition. Zero rating profoundly affects Internet users choices, the letter stated. Giving ISPs the power to favor some sites or services over others would let ISPs pick winners and losers online precisely what the open Internet rules exist to prevent. The FCC is evaluating how to apply net neutrality rules to zero-rating practices, as the open Internet rules did not explicitly extend those rules to zero-rating policies. Over the past year, a number of major carriers have developed zero-rating plans. Ruling Expected FCC Chairman Wheeler was aware of the concerns raised in the letter, he said. I hope no one has a doubt in where we stand on a fast, fair and open Internet, and the inquiry continues, he said. At the root of it all is the question of the open Internet order and the scope of the open Internet order, Wheeler said. Hopefully we are moments away from the courts decision on that. He was referring to alawsuit filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2015 challenging the FCCs open Internet rules. The shift back to common carrier regulation and the classification of broadband Internet as a public utility would stifle innovation, lead to higher consumer cost and chill investment, the suit alleged. A ruling in that case is expected any day now, according to FCC spokesperson Kim Hart. The FCC sent letters to AT&T, T-Mobile and Comcast seeking information about their respective plans, such as T-Mobiles successful Binge On plan, which offers several major content providers, including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and HBO Now, that dont count against the cap. Kicking the Can The controversy has emerged because the issue of zero rating was not addressed directly during the debate on net neutrality, Jeremy Malcolm, senior global policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The FCCs rule-making on net neutrality didnt place an outright ban on zero rating, and frankly that was the safest option for an agency previously known to have overreached its authority, he told the E-Commerce Times. But by holding back from regulating zero rating, it also left some real harms unaddressed. An example is the pay-for-play zero-rating schemes that charge content providers to zero rate their content, Malcolm noted. Verizons FreeBee Data 360 program, which launched in beta earlier this year, allows content providers to offer some or all of their content without applying data caps. The plan operates on a per-gigabyte pricing model. It is open to anyone and is nondiscriminatory, Verizon spokesperson Rich Young told the E-Commerce Times. A second FreeBee plan that started earlier this allows content providers to offer free mobile video clips, audio streaming or app downloads on a per-click basis. That beta launched with Hearst, AOL and Gameday providing per-click content to 1,000 test subscribers. Microsoft seems to have gone off the deep end with its tricks to get unwilling customers to upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8 to Windows 10. Doesnt the company realize this will hurt it? Does Microsoft think it can be abusive and win? Users are complaining loudly. Why doesnt Microsoft care about the disruption it is causing? A slice of the Microsoft marketplace wants to move to Windows 10. Fine. Many of them absolutely love it. That is not the problem. The problem is that many of those who liked things the way they were have been tricked into upgrading. They may not have been ready to upgrade for one reason or another, but they were hoodwinked into doing so. A new operating system takes time and effort to learn. Many users dont want to learn Windows 10 they want to keep their Windows 7. Microsofts Key Marketing Mistake What gives Microsoft the right to put users through this kind of hell? Perhaps some users simply like Windows 7, just as many liked XP and stuck with it as long as they could. Windows 7 still has years of useful life before its retired. Perhaps some users dont have the time to learn a new OS. Perhaps they dont want to go through the process of backing up and upgrading everything they do on a regular basis. Perhaps they have a life to live or a business to run and simply dont have time for a major unwanted distraction. Whatever the reason, they should be allowed to decide the course of their computing lives, dont you think? Thats especially true since Microsoft can continue to market both versions until such a time when Windows 7 and 8 expire. That was how Microsoft always used to do things. That would have been the right way for the company to make the transition to Windows 10. That would have kept customers happy without upsetting the apple cart. Instead, Microsoft started by pestering users with daily reminders to upgrade to Windows 10 immediately after it launched. There is a way to remove its pestering message, but it means going into the registry and making changes something most people should never attempt. One wrong step, and you could turn your computer into a useless brick. Lately, Microsoft took its Windows 10 pestering one step further. Without permission, it began upgrading some users computers to Windows 10. Who Does Microsoft Think It Is? Yes, I understand the Terms of Service. Yes, I understand the software and operating system are not owned by the user. Yes, I understand that Microsoft has the legal right to do whatever the hell it wants to with its operating system. And yes, I understand that Microsoft has the right to take actions that really tick off its users. However, why would Microsoft want to do that? The fact is, it never has been a user-friendly organization. It has focused on itself and its investors not the users. That is the difference between Apple and Microsoft. That is Microsofts mistake, because the bottom line is that without happy customers, a company is dead in the water. Now Microsoft is taking customer abuse to a higher level. It is hurting customers for its own selfish benefit. It is tricking susceptible customers into getting a Windows 10 upgrade. How can the company believe it can get away with such barbaric behavior? Many Microsoft users are complaining loudly. Microsoft must understand the damage it is doing to its relationships with its user base. It is shooting itself in the foot. Users Make Their Own Decisions OK, I understand. Microsoft firmly believes Windows 10 is better. Its more secure. It has new features, like a touchscreen. It works more seamlessly with other devices. All of that may be true. However, that does not give Microsoft the right to make decisions for people. People want to make their own decisions. Users are reporting all sorts of problems everything from the newly upgraded system not working correctly to existing software no longer working. Even if everything works correctly, making the change means enduring a huge learning curve and taking time to adjust. Thats something many users simply dont want to do. Microsoft Crossed the Line I have heard many users complain that Microsoft has hurt them with its behavior. Many are very angry that they now have to spend time sorting through this mess. For some, certain programs wont work, and in some cases, data has been lost. Ive heard many stories from everyday people who feel abused by Microsoft. Among those affected are nurses, school teachers, sales people, store owners, students and many other innocent and trusting users. Companies have been affected as well, large and small. Some have likened their experiences to being in an abusive relationship. Many simply chose to walk away. They switched and moved to an Apple MacBook or another OS. Many of those users who switched said they are glad they did. Now their MacBook, iPad and iPhone all talk to each other without problems. Sure, it took a while to master OS X, but they would have had to learn Windows 10, so a decision had to be made. Is this the end result Microsoft really wants? Microsoft Must Stop Being Abusive Microsoft could end up losing more customers than it expected to. That may be the only thing that will get its attention and make it realize it overstepped the bounds of acceptable behavior. Maybe Microsoft never had to worry about the customer before, so taking this to the next level didnt seem to pose a problem. However, it is a big problem for so many of its customers that it makes you wonder how Microsoft became so successful in the first place. Will this bad behavior bite Microsoft in the rear end? I dont want anything bad to happen to any company or anyone, but it might take something bad to shake up Microsoft enough to stop the abuse. It will be interesting to see what kind of price the company eventually will pay. 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Coinciding with the UN's International Day of Action for Women's Health, the project is the first to be launched under the new CmiA Community Cooperation Programme (CCCP). (Photo: WCC / Paul Jeffrey)People pray of all faiths pray at a memorial in Hiroshima, Japan for the victims of the atomic bombing of the city by the United States and its allies in 1945. A delegation of pilgrims from the World Council of Churches was in Hiroshima for the commemoration , and they are building a movement to rid the world of nuclear weapons. People from all around the world in the Japanese city of Hiroshima have commemorated the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped on a city, by a U.S. aircraft during World War II. Christian and other faith leaders had a strong presence at the commemoration of the bombing, leading a campaign for nuclear disarmament that political leaders in many countries support. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended a ceremony at Hiroshima's memorial park before thousands of lanterns were released on the city's Motoyasu River, the BBC reported. After the nuclear bombings that are believed to have led to the deaths of around 150,000 in Hiroshima and 75,000 in Nagasaki, but were preceded by fire-bombings of all Japanese main cities beforehand, Japan surrendered. Japan's surrender brought an end to World War II, but was followed by a nuclear arms race through the Cold War in the second part of the 20th century. Abe addressed 40,000 people who attended the commemoration ceremony near the epicenter of the 1945 attack and called for worldwide nuclear disarmament. Abe said that that atomic bomb not only killed thousands of people in Hiroshima but also caused unspeakable suffering to survivors. HIROSHIMA REVIVED "Today Hiroshima has been revived," the prime minister said, "and has become a city of culture and prosperity. "Seventy years on I want to reemphasise the necessity of world peace." A U.S. B-29 bomber called the Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb, exploding around 600 meter (1,800ft) above the industrial city, at around 08:10 on August 6, 1945. (Photo: WCC) Japanese paper cranes have become a known symbol of the movement for a world without nuclear weapons. Every year thousands of students across the globe fold paper cranes to honor the children who died in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Three days later Nagasaki was bombed with a nuclear weapon. "We stand in awe of the nuclear destruction wrought by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the suffering endured by the victims," said World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit. "We resolve to continue to press mightily for the outlawing and elimination of these weapons. "The members of our delegation represent the whole fellowship of churches in the WCC, working and praying for a world without nuclear weapons." His call was supported by Rev. Sang Chang, WCC president for Asia in an address to the Nuclear Disarmament Symposium held in Hiroshima, August 6. "Religious leaders must provide leadership. People of faith from every walk of life must take action," said Chang. "Nuclear disarmament now on the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings requires us to focus faith, ethics and morality on the need for an urgent new international law. That law is a legal ban on nuclear weapons, achieved with the widest possible international backing." Chang, from the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, was speaking at the event's session titled "Actions for Nuclear Disarmament Hereafter: War Never Again." (Photo: REUTERS / Kyodo)People wait in queue to offer prayers for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, in the rain at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, in this photo taken by Kyodo August 6, 2014, on the 69th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing. President Barack Obama's visit to the Japanese city of Hiroshima comes at a time when signs of peace are sorely needed, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit has said in a letter to the U.S. leader. "We pray that you will be able to talk with the aging survivors of the atomic bombing the hibakusha who live to tell their story in the determined hope that no one will ever again suffer their fate," Tveit wrote to Obama noting his May 27 visit to the city in western Japan. "They speak for the hundreds of thousands of people from Japan, Korea and other countries whose lives were shattered by the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." A U.S. B-29 bomber called the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic ordinance, a uranium bomb, exploding around 600 meter (1,800ft) above the industrial city of Hiroshima at around 08:10 on August 6, 1945 in the final days of the Second World War. Three days later Nagasaki was bombed with a nuclear weapon. Japan surrendered after the nuclear bombings that are believed to have led to the deaths of around 150,000 in Hiroshima and 75,000 in Nagasaki, but were preceded by fire-bombings of all Japanese main cities beforehand. Speaking in Hiroshima Obama said, "The World War that reached its brutal end in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was fought among the wealthiest and most powerful of nations," The Washington Post reported. Obama said, "We must change our mindset about war itself - to prevent conflict through diplomacy, and strive to end conflicts after they've begun; to see our growing interdependence as a cause for peaceful cooperation and not violent competition; to define our nations not by our capacity to destroy, but by what we build.." Tveit urged Obama to share his vision of a world without nuclear weapons. "The World Council of Churches was founded in 1948, in the shadow of the atomic bombings," Tveit wrote. "We believe that the case for the elimination of nuclear weapons is grounded in the responsibility to protect and care for goodness of all that God has created and for the dignity of all human beings, made in the image of God." Using the energy of the atom in ways that threaten and destroy life is a sinful misuse of the fundamental building blocks of God's creation, Tveit noted in the letter. "Churches in every region of the world refuse to accept that the mass destruction of other peoples can ever be a legitimate means of protecting one's own people." (Facebook/PrisonBreak)Official trailer shows Lincoln Burrows reunited with Michael Scofield in Morocco. Ever since the first trailer of "Prison Break" season five dropped, fans have been wondering how in the world Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) will ever meet, especially since Michael appears to be somewhere on the other side of the globe. Despite the questions that keep lingering regarding the trailer, new reports suggest that there is a good chance the star-crossed lovers will meet...before the end. This is because there are still many stories to be discussed in the reboot and a reunion for the two might not be too helpful if it happens once the show premieres. According to Melty, it is unlikely that Sara will fly to Yemen after she discovers that Michael is alive and well. The outlet further notes that filming is on the way in Morocco and it appears that there are only scenes for Michael, C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), and Sucre (Amaury Nolasco), meaning Sara's reunion with Michael might not come in the early episodes. Dunbar has shared a photo of him in Morocco, hinting that production is definitely on fire in the hot region. I Love Morocco and the people are a blessing. Pic by Dominic Purcell Prison Break 2016 @PrisonBreak @PBWritersRoom pic.twitter.com/yJC5AjfnNs Rockmond Dunbar (@RockmondDunbar) May 22, 2016 On the other hand, there is still a possibility for the two to meet and greet after seven years since everything can happen in television and this is the first "Prison Break" season in many years. The International Business Times suggests that Sara may actually be working on a plan with Lincoln regarding Michael's escape. In the trailer, it seems as if Sara has not moved on from Michael's memory, despite having been married and giving birth to a son she named Michael Jr. Meanwhile, another character that fans would love to see in the reboot is Alexander (William Fichtner). It has not been confirmed if he will be in the upcoming season but according to Digital Spy, Alexander has played an important role in Michael and Lincoln's journey that has yet to be explored. "Prison Break" season five is slated for release sometime in 2017 on FOX. (Facebook/starwarsrebels) "Star Wars Rebels'" second season somehow left fans with a lot of questions, especially after the cliffhanger finale. In the finale episode, fans saw Ahsoka Tano having a heated encounter with Darth Vader. The Togruta's fate hangs in a balance and fans are anxious to know if she is still alive and will appear in season 3. "Star Wars Rebels" executive producer and co-creator Dave Filoni recently shared details about Ahsoka's fate and what fans should expect from the next season. When asked whether or not Ahsoka is still alive, Filoni didn't give a concrete answer, but he noted that "Rebels" is not a story about Vader or Ahsoka. Ahsoka could still have her own story told, but it won't happen in "Rebels." Given that Ahsoka, by her own, is already a tough and strong warrior, she could still be alive. At this point, no one knows if Ahsoka made it out of there. "It's one of those mysteries then where maybe, beyond hope, maybe there is a future, but we'll have to wait and see," Filoni said in an interview with IGN. The finale also revealed the return of Darth Maul, which led to speculations that there could be an epic battle between Maul and Vader, which a lot of fans have hoped for. However, Filoni already made it clear that this epic battle might not happen. "I wouldn't count on that," he said in the interview. He did share that Maul is aware of Vader and fans will get to see more of him in season 3. The new season will also answer some of the questions about Maul including what he has up his sleeves or how he ended up on the planet. The duel part, howerver, has yet to be confirmed. There are just a lot of possible stories to be told in season 3 and that should give fans something to look forward to. A release date for "Star Wars Rebels" season 3 has not been announced yet, but it is expected that new episodes will be released sometime this year on Disney XD. DETROIT The 2016 GMC Yukon SLT Premium Edition, an appearance package designed to give the full-size SUV a custom look, will arrive at GMC dealerships this summer. The SLT Premium Edition will be offered at "a special package price around $3,000," GMC spokeswoman Kelly Wysocki told Edmunds. Full pricing will be announced later. The package will be offered on Yukon and Yukon XL models. Chrome-trimmed details on the SLT Premium Edition include unique 22-inch chrome wheels, a chrome grille, bright chrome body-side moldings and a polished exhaust tip. The Yukon and Yukon SLT models are equipped with a 5.3-liter V8 engine. Key competitors to the Yukon include the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition and Toyota Sequoia. Edmunds says: SUV shoppers looking to spice up the 2016 GMC Yukon will want to take a closer look at this special model when it arrives in showrooms. Update: A federal judge in Texas granted a preliminary injunction Aug. 21, halting the application of the Obama administrations guidance on transgender students nationwide while he considers a lawsuit brought by Texas and 12 other states about the rules. The U.S. Supreme Court is also considering hearing a case centered on restroom access for a transgender Virginia boy. The Obama administrations guidance to schools on the rights of transgender students has provoked protests from conservative governors and drawn two forceful multi-state legal challenges from a total of 23 states that are seeking to block the directive. The U.S. departments of Justice and Education assert that, under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational settings, schools must allow transgender students to access restrooms, locker rooms, and sex-segregated classes that align with their gender identity, even if it differs from their sex at birth. Their opponents argue that the federal agencies overstepped their authority, improperly creating a new rule rather than interpreting an existing one. Answers to some common questions on the guidance: How many transgender students are there? No data sources track how many students gender identity differs from their sex at birth. At the urging of student-advocacy groups, federal agencies have worked in recent years to improve data collection on school climate for gay and lesbian students, but information on transgender students still lags. In fact, little official data exists on the size of the transgender population as a whole. The Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, has estimated that about 0.3 percent of U.S. adults are transgender. Transgender-advocacy groups have speculated that greater awareness of gender issues may lead to more children coming out or expressing interest in transitioning at earlier ages. Regardless of the size of the transgender-student population, all schools are required to adhere to the administrations Title IX guidance. How should schools identify when a student needs these accommodations? The guidance says schools must ensure that a students treatment aligns with his or her gender identity when a student or the students parent or guardian, as appropriate, notifies the school administration that the student will assert a gender identity that differs from previous representations or records. The Justice and Education departments did not provide further advice for how this process should work. In most schools that had transgender-student policies before the guidance was issued, accommodations generally started after notification from parents. But many schools allow exceptions for students who decide to transition on their own, without support from their parents or guardians, because they view it as a civil right. Schools can only require an assertion of gender transition. Requiring a diagnosis or treatment before a student is considered transgender may be unfair to lower-income students without access to such options, advocacy groups say. Are restrooms really that big a deal? Transgender students say they need a range of supports to feel safe and supported at school, including being called by proper pronouns and ensuring privacy about their transition unless they choose to share that information with their peers. Using the appropriate restrooms and locker rooms is a key part of successfully transitioning between genders, the American Psychological Association has said. And facilities are a central issue, students say, because they can amplify existing issues like bullying. Transgender girls, for example, often report feeling unsafe using boys restrooms. And many transgender students say that when a school restricts facilities access, it can feel like it is condoning bullying. Before North Carolina passed restrictions on school restroom and locker room access in March, Sky Thomson, a 15-year-old transgender boy, said in a legislative hearing that forbidding him from using the boys restroom gives bullies all the more reason to pick on us. Thomsons mother said some transgender students shes met refuse to drink water at school to avoid using a restroom that doesnt align with their gender identity. Why cant schools just send transgender students to single-stall or faculty restrooms? Some schools that have rejected the federal interpretation of Title IX have argued that providing transgender students access to staff or single-stall facilities is an adequate solution. But federal agencies argue that treating a transgender boy differently from a boy who is biologically male in any way is a form of discrimination. And students whove fought for access in state courts say it is stigmatizing to use separate facilities from their peers. What if students are uncomfortable sharing restrooms with transgender students? Some schools that have implemented transgender policies have made a single-stall or staff restroom available for students who are uncomfortable sharing facilities with their transgender peers. What about this bill my state is considering? What if the governor is telling schools to defy the Obama administration? Federal civil rights laws supersede state-level statutes and regulations. If courts uphold the federal assertion that Title IX requires schools to respect a students gender identity, its unlikely a state law could counteract that. Is this guidance the final word on Title IX and transgender students? No. The future of the guidance is in the hands of the federal courts, including one considering a challenge by 11 states, which will soon decide whether to uphold or overturn the federal interpretation of Title IX. A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over five states, has previously ruled that Title IX could apply to either biological sex or gender identity and that a lower court should have deferred to the federal interpretation, gender identity, when it ruled on a Virginia students restroom-access case. But the school district at the heart of that case has appealed the ruling to the full court. Soon, a federal court in Illinois will hear the case of suburban Chicago parents who argue that their childrens school violated their privacy rights when it allowed a transgender girl access to the girls locker room in compliance with a federal order. If two appeals courts issue different rulings on the issue, it could be bound for the U.S. Supreme Court, school law experts have said. And, as a dissenting judge in the 4th Circuit case noted, a future presidential administration may interpret Title IX differently. Todo lo que necesitas saber para comenzar tu dia Suscribirse implica aceptar los terminos y condiciones 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 New Lieutenant Governor to be sworn in The Island's new Lieutenant Governor will be officially sworn-in today. Sir Richard Gozney will attend a special ceremony at the Isle of Man Courts of Justice before hosting a reception at Government House. This will be followed by an official visit to Castletown in the afternoon. The Lieutenant Governor is appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as the representative of the Crown on the Island. Teen admits dangerous driving after crashing at Creg A teenager from Peel who crashed his car after "showing off" to his passengers will be sentenced in July. 18-year-old Nicholas O'Dell came off the road at the Creg Ny Baa on January 8th - at Douglas Courthouse this week he admitted dangerous driving. He'd given two female friends a lift to Ramsey from the Isle of Man College in his Ford Fiesta - on the way back they travelled along the Mountain Road. During this journey he overtook a bus and taxi and was driving on the wrong side of the road when approaching corners - his driving was described as "dangerous and unsafe". On the approach to the Creg Ny Baa O'dell was said to be travelling at 95 miles per hour - his passengers were shouting at him to slow down when his brakes locked and he crashed. The girls in the car - who were 17 at the time - were both injured; one had to spend five days in hospital with 'snapped tendons' in her neck. Social enquiry reports have been requested before O'dell is sentenced on July 4th - he's been bailed in the meantime. Despite the large number of positive court judgments in favour of Muslim women in India, the media prefers to endorse the view that once the husband pronounces talaq, the wife is stripped of all her rights. Similarly, articles by experts, while focusing on the need to declare instantaneous triple talaq invalid, pay little attention to the rights laboriously secured from the trial courts, the high courts and even the Supreme Court, by many Muslim women. Shayara Bano faced severe domestic violence for nearly 15 years (she is 35 years old) that, apart from physical assaults, included demands for dowry, prevention from meeting her family, and forced-multiple abortions leading to health problems and depression. After she was sent back to her parents home by her husband, he sent her a talaqnama by post. Why did Shayara Bano accept this torture for 15 years? Why did she not secure her rights while she was living in her husbands home or soon thereafter, by approaching a trial court in her vicinity and availing of the remedies which are open to her under a secular statute, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 whereby she could obtain reliefs such as maintenance, child custody/access and protection from future violence? Drinking water, sanitation and hygiene behaviour, referred to as the WASH variables by the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund, are acknowledged as the three main determinants of diarrhoeal diseases. But the impact of their complementarities on disease incidence remains understudied. This study uses state and household level data to examine the determinants of child diarrhoeal incidence. It introduces indicators of WASH quality and combined presence, both at the household and state levels. It combines them in a novel analysis to understand their roles. In the Indian states, with the worst WASH infrastructure, these variables are strategic substitutes, but as WASH infrastructure improves, they become strategic complements. Thus, resource allocation to lower diarrhoea incidence must take into account the complementary rather than individual presence of these focal variables. Further, the quality of WASH also matters. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, targeting universal sanitation coverage, is unlikely to be effective unless it breaks the Gordian knot of complementarities and WASH quality holding up the burden of childhood diarrhoea. Dear Reader, To continue reading, become a subscriber. Explore our attractive subscription offers. Click here Hospital alarms are 'alarmingly' ineffective and inefficient, so researchers are working to create optimum alarm systems for the future WASHINGTON, D.C., May 27, 2016 - Hospital alarms are currently ranked as the "top medical technology hazard" within the United States. On average, there are about 480,000 patients in hospitals -- each generating about 135 clinical alarms per day. But studies show that more than 90 percent of these alarms result in no action. Alarm errors -- either alarms that sound and receive no response or alarms that fail to sound when they should --occur roughly 8 million times per day. During the Acoustical Society of America's Spring 2016 Meeting, May 23-27, in Salt Lake City, Ilene Busch-Vishniac, an acoustical consultant, will present a model that predicts how often alarm errors will occur based on several recent studies of hospital alarms. The error model she developed is rudimentary -- either alarms sound or they don't. "In each case, alarms reflect a medically urgent situation or they don't," she explained. "For each situation, the response is either appropriate or inappropriate. This means there are eight possible scenarios associated with alarms, so we can estimate how often each occurs and how often errors occur." In current studies, "the fraction of alarm errors reported as adversely affecting patients is extremely low," said Busch-Vishniac. "But alarms often don't serve the purpose for which they're intended: to alert medical staff to urgent situations. Instead, alarms go off all the time and rarely indicate truly urgent situations. And while the focus has been on ensuring that the hospital staff responds to all alarms, studies show that it's more common for alarm errors to occur because alarms that should sound fail to do so. This means that responding to all alarms won't eliminate most alarm errors." There's also concern that alarms within hospitals have a negative impact on patient recovery, she pointed out, although insufficient data is available at this time to really answer the question. Since 2014, hospitals within the U.S. are required to develop and review their alarm management policies on a regular basis. "Our work suggests that it's time to rethink alarm strategies entirely -- with a goal of reducing the number of alarms to those that truly reflect urgent situations, while balancing the need to alert staff with the need to establish quieter hospital environments," she added. Busch-Vishniac has outlined an "alarms of the future" research program she intends to pursue. "The first task is to compare the medical outcomes of patients when alarms sound within their area vs. when alarms are intentionally muted and sent to staff via pagers or cell phones," she said. "This will help to establish whether alarms potentially harm patients, as well as save lives. We'll also explore when alarms should sound, which sounds should be used, and ways to make alarm systems more intelligent by combining information from multiple medical devices." Her goal is to design optimum alarm systems for hospitals that can be integrated into hospital equipment within 20 years. Presentation #5aAA8, "Death by alarm: An error model of hospital alarms," by Ilene Busch-Vishniac will take place on Friday, May 27, 2016, at 9:50 AM MDT in Salon I. 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. 250 methane flares release the climate gas methane from the seabed and into the Arctic Ocean. During the summer months this leads to an increased methane concentration in the ocean. But surprisingly, very little of the climate gas rising up through the sea reaches the atmosphere. "Our results are exciting and controversial", says senior scientist Cathrine Lund Myhre from NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, who is cooperating with CAGE through MOCA project. The results were published in Geophysical Research Letters. The scientist performed simultaneous measurements close to seabed, in the ocean and in the atmosphere during an extensive ship and air campaign offshore Svalbard Archipelago in summer 2014. As of today, three independent models employing the marine and atmospheric measurements show that the methane emissions from the sea bed in the area did not significantly affect the atmosphere. "This is an important message to bring to the debate on the state of the ocean and atmospheric system in the Arctic. It is also important to emphasize that the Arctic has in recent years experienced major changes and average temperatures well above normal values. A thorough description of the present state of the Arctic environment, possible only with adequate measurements, is essential to the detection of future changes of potentially global significance." says Lund Myhre. Methane increase since 2006 Levels of methane in the atmosphere have risen by an average of 6 parts per billion (ppb) globally per year since 2006, and slightly more over the Arctic and Norway. Since methane is the most important greenhouse gas after CO2, it is very important to explore why. Vast quantities of methane gas are stored under the seabed in ice-like substances called methane hydrates. One possible explanation for the increased methane concentration in the atmosphere is that these hydrates dissolve as the oceans become warmer. Methane gas leaks from the methane hydrates under the seabed, and rises through the water. The scientists want to find out if these emissions are increasing, and just how much methane is reaching the atmosphere. "Estimates on how much methane gas is stored beneath the seabed as hydrates vary enormously. A recent calculation suggests that we are talking about 74 000 gigatonnes, and one gigatonne is a billion tonnes", says professor Jurgen Mienert, director at CAGE. If any of the methane stored in the Arctic hydrate reservoirs is released into the atmosphere as a result of climate change, this could have a global impact in terms of further climate warming, in addition to what human activities are already contributing. Why is methane not released to the atmosphere? Sea ice, the obvious obstacle to such emissions, is not found here in the summer. So what is stopping the methane? Emissions from the sea bed are after all clearly visible both on the seabed and in the water column. "We are talking about 250 active methane seeps found at relatively shallow depths: 90 to 150 meters" says oceanographer Benedicte Ferre from CAGE. According to her, it is the sea itself that adds obstacles to methane emissions to the atmosphere in the summer. The weather is generally calm during summer, with little wind. This leads to stratification of the water column whereby layers of different density form, much like oil over water. This means there is no or low exchange of water masses between the surface layer and the layers below. A natural barrier occurs, acting as a ceiling, preventing the methane from reaching the surface.But this condition does not last forever: wind blowing over the ocean can mix these layers, causing this natural barrier to disappear. Thus the methane may break the surface and enter the atmosphere. "There is still a lot we do not know about seasonal variations. The methane can also be transported by water masses, or dissolve and be eaten by bacteria in the ocean. Thus long term observations are necessary to understand the emissions throughout the year. The only way to obtain these measurements are to use observatories that remain on the seabed for a long time", says Benedicte Ferre. CAGE set out two such observatories last year, which have been retrieved in May with data waiting to be analysed. Unique research collaboration To determine if methane from these subsea sources actually reach the atmosphere, a unique Norwegian cooperation was established in 2013. Scientists from NILU, CAGE and CICERO made extensive studies of gas emissions from the seabed west of Svalbard in the period June to August 2014, and modelling the fluxes. - To investigate the methane emissions and their fate, we performed observations on the seabed, in the water column, on the ocean surface, and in the atmosphere from ships, aircraft and land-based stations, says Cathrine Lund Myhre. Through cooperation with partners from the universities of Cambridge and Manchester, the scientists got access to one of the world's best-equipped research aircrafts. The scientists then used different models to calculate the highest possible methane emissions from the area, and estimate the maximum possible methane release consistent with observations. ### One of Zika's mysteries is how the virus passes from an infected mother, through the placenta, to a developing fetus. The route may not be direct either -- transmission via multiple cell types may be necessary. A study appearing May 27, 2016 in Cell Host & Microbe supports the possibility that placental immune cells called Hofbauer cells, which have direct access to fetal blood vessels, are one cell type involved. "One group has recently discovered viral antigen in Hofbauer cells collected from placental tissue of a fetus that unfortunately died as a result of Zika virus infection," says senior author and Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine, Mehul Suthar. "Our study indicates that this cell type may be a target for Zika virus in the placenta and replication in these cells may allow the virus to cross the placental barrier and enter the fetal circulation," adds co-author Rana Chakraborty, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, also at Emory. The researchers studied a small sample of donated full-term human placentae to identify cell types that might be vulnerable to Zika virus infection (using a strain that is currently circulating in the Caribbean). In addition to Hofbauer cells, which are placental macrophages that originate from the connective tissue (mesenchymal) stem cells of a developing fetus, infection was also detected to a lesser extent in cytotrophoblasts -- cells found in the middle layer of the placental barrier. One explanation for how the virus crosses the placental barrier is by initial infection of syncytiotrophoblasts, the outermost layer of cells that surrounds and nurtures the fetus. However, earlier work (10.1016/j.chom.2016.03.008) has shown that these cells can resist the virus. The work from the Suthar Lab shows that the less-differentiated cytotrophoblasts are permissive for Zika virus infection, suggesting that if the virus is able to cross the syncytiotrophoblast layer, the virus has access to target cells where it can replicate. While Hofbauer cells were identified over a century ago, very little is known about them. Overall, the Zika epidemic has helped to reveal that the placenta is one of the most understudied human organs. One interesting observation from the study is that the placental cells from the five donors showed different levels of viral replication over time. "A concept that is emerging is how host genetics or other non-viral factors, including nutrition and microbiota, influence your immune response," Suthar says. "What our study suggests is not everyone is predisposed to having the virus replicate in the placenta, but the full meaning of this needs to be explored further." ### This work was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory Vaccine Center, the Georgia Research Alliance, the Multi-Center NICHD International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network, and the Center for AIDS Research at Emory University. Cell Host & Microbe, Quicke and Bowen et al.: "Zika virus infects human placental macrophages" http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/fulltext/S1931-3128(16)30211-6 Cell Press Statement on Data Sharing in Public Health Emergencies The Cell Press family of journals is committed to ensuring that the global response to public health emergencies is informed by the best available research evidence and data, and as such, we will make all content concerning the Zika virus free to access. We will work in partnership with reviewers to fast-track review all submissions concerning Zika. We will adapt the editorial criteria that we apply to Zika submissions by asking reviewers to evaluate only if the research methods are sound and support the conclusions and if the work will contribute in some way toward resolving the immediate challenges. We will expedite publication of papers that meet these two criteria. Cell Host & Microbe (@cellhostmicrobe), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that publishes novel findings and translational studies related to microbes (which include bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses). The unifying theme is the integrated study of microbes in conjunction and communication with each other, their host, and the cellular environment they inhabit. Visit: http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com. RICHLAND, Wash. - Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are playing a central role as the nation devotes more than $500 million to understand communities of microorganisms and their role in climate science, food production and human health. Scientists Janet Jansson and Ljiljana Pasa-Toli are part of a core group of scientists advising the White House on issues related to research around the microbiome, a term that describes a community of microbes in a given environment. Both Jansson and Pasa-Toli are leaders of broader scientific teams at PNNL. Jansson is chief scientist for biology in the Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate at PNNL, while Pasa-Toli is lead scientist for mass spectrometry at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science User Facility at PNNL. Earlier this month, the two took part in a White House briefing as the president's advisers announced more than $121 million in new funding from federal agencies for the National Microbiome Initiative. That's in addition to more than $400 million from foundations such as the Gates and Kavli foundations, organizations such as the American Chemical Society and the American Physical Society, and companies, universities, and other laboratories. That's big money to study tiny organisms with a big impact. Microorganisms have huge sway over environmental happenings in soil, groundwater, the ocean, the atmosphere, and our own bodies. They determine in large part how the planet stores carbon, when and how carbon is released into the environment, and what happens to contaminants and other compounds. They're important for knowing how plants take up nutrients, for helping crops sustain or develop resistance to conditions like drought, and for overall crop productivity. Microorganisms also play a huge role in human health and disease - not just infections but in conditions like obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and diabetes. In toto, the little buggers make up an estimated one-third of all the biomass on Earth. A lot to learn Just a teaspoon of soil has tens of thousands of different microbial species present. While scientists have made strides sorting out which species are present in such complex samples, how those species interact remains a hugely daunting problem. Jansson and Pasa-Toli ask the same sorts of questions that an anthropologist might ask when encountering a new community. Who is present? What business do they transact with each other? What is the currency they use to get things done? What does their trash tell us about their way of life? "We want to know not just who's there, but what they're doing," said Jansson, an expert on the role of microbes in the environment. "We are getting pretty good at identifying some of the microorganisms present in samples, and some of what they do, but completely understanding a single microbial community, even a tiny one, is a future challenge to solve," added Jansson, president of the International Society of Microbial Ecology. Think of an analyst confronted with the following disparate array of data: Loud buses, thousands of people, ubiquitous fast food, diesel fuel, cars, loud noises, and lots of bickering and jockeying for position. What does it all mean? The scene might be - an airport, a sporting event, a concert, an ordinary big-city work day, or an evacuation after a major disaster. So, too, scientists like Jansson and Pasa-Toli are presented an array of data about complex microbial communities, but it's very difficult to put the information together to create a coherent picture of the activity they're seeing. They can identify some microbial species; they can detect microbial nutrients and their byproducts; they see signs of their molecular doings; but putting together the big picture remains tremendously difficult. PNNL colleague Richard Allen White III, who is working with Jansson on a project to disentangle the information about microbes that live in soil from the Kansas prairie, puts it this way: "Imagine taking a thick book written in hundreds of different languages, chopping the book up into pieces the size of grains of rice, and then having to put it back together again," said White. "That's not unlike the challenge we face when we try to understand what's going on in even a handful of soil." Past successes and a roadmap Last year, Jansson and Pasa-Toli were part of an elite team of scientists who, in a paper in the journal Science, called for a Unified Microbiome Initiative to understand and harness the capabilities of Earth's microbial ecosystems - a call that has largely been answered with the new White House initiative. Last year, Jansson used an array of technologies to show the versatility of microbes that live in permafrost, which is a reservoir for a huge amount of carbon. The fate of that carbon as the climate warms and permafrost thaws is a huge issue for scientists trying to understand the planet's future. The work, published in Nature, yielded one of the most detailed looks ever at the microbes active in permafrost. Earlier this year, Jansson and PNNL colleague Aaron Wright were among the authors of a paper in ACS Nano that discussed the technologies needed to explore the world's microbiomes. Among the technological challenges are several related to understanding the "omics" of organisms - information related to genes, protein coding and activity, and metabolism. While DNA sequencing has become very quick and relatively inexpensive, the other measurements currently take longer and are more costly. In this month's issue of Nature Microbiology, Jansson and PNNL chemist Erin Baker discuss the importance of understanding such communities as whole entities. The pair calls for strides in technology, optimized protocols, improved databases, speedier analysis, larger sample sizes, and international collaborations. Currently, Jansson is heading a major initiative at PNNL looking at Microbiomes in Transition, known as the MinT Initiative. More than two dozen researchers are involved in the five-year effort focusing on environmental issues, exposure science, and computational biology. Last year, one of the first actions of the MinT team, in conjunction with EMSL scientists including Pasa-Toli, was to bring together nearly 200 microbiome experts from around the world to discuss the future of microbiome studies and the technologies necessary for scientists to develop to make further discoveries. ### The team encountered the first individual, a beautiful meter-long silvery female, climbing in a Silver Palm tree near the water's edge on a remote island in the southern Bahamas. As dusk approached, Harvard graduate student and team member Nick Herrmann called out on the radio: "Hey, I've got a snake here." The rest of the team came crashing back to his position, and collectively gasped when they saw the boa. Expedition member Dr. Alberto Puente-Rolon, a professor at Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Arecibo and global expert on West Indian Boas, remarked that this animal appeared unlike any species of boa yet known. The group then set about a systematic survey to locate additional animals, turning up four more individuals by the middle of the night. After recording data from these specimens, the team had lain down on the beach to rest until dawn. During the night, as Dr. Reynolds slept, a boa crawled down from the forest, across the beach, and directly onto his head. This caused him to awake with a start, and upon realizing what had happened, he awoke the others to inform them that they had found their sixth animal. After returning to Harvard, the team quickly set about analyzing the data they had collected from the new snakes, including genetic data from tissue samples they had obtained. These analyses demonstrated that this unusual silvery boa was indeed a new species, having diverged from other boas in the last several million years. They named it the Silver Boa, Chilabothrus argentum, based on its silver coloration and the first specimen's location in a Silver Palm (Cocothrinax argentata). Dr. Reynolds led a second expedition to the islands in October 2015, directly after Hurricane Joaquin had slammed the Bahamas. That expedition yielded an additional 14 captures despite the hurricane damage and loss of most of the leaves off of the trees. These animals were measured and sampled, as well as permanently marked with internal electronic tags so that they will be easily identifiable. Importantly, the team discovered that feral cats also roam the island, and as major reptile predators their presence is almost certainly threatening these newly discovered boas. Dr. Reynolds and his co-authors have also determined that the Silver Boa is Critically Endangered based on Red List Criteria proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and hence is one of the most endangered boid snakes globally. Conservation measures are being put into place with the cooperation of local organizations such as the Bahamas National Trust. The hope is to protect these new animals, and to prevent them from going extinct not long after having been discovered. Robert Henderson, Curator of Herpetology Emeritus at the Milwaukee Museum of Natural History, and one of the world's experts on boas, said: "Worldwide, new species of frogs and lizards are being discovered and described with some regularity. New species of snakes, however, are much rarer. Graham Reynolds and his co-authors have not only discovered and described a new species of snake, but even more remarkable, a new species of boa. That's rare, exciting, and newsworthy. The beautiful Bahamian Silver Boa, already possibly critically endangered, reminds us that important discoveries are still waiting to be made, and it provides the people of the Bahamas another reason to be proud of the natural wonders of their island nation. The paper is currently in press at the journal Breviora. ### Image File Download: http://www.rgrahamreynolds.info/silver_boa/ Image Credit: R. Graham Reynolds Contact Information: Graham Reynolds, https://biology.unca.edu/faces/graham-reynolds-phd, 828-232-5153 Jonathan Losos, jlosos@oeb.harvard.edu, 617-495-9835 Amy Jessee, University of North Carolina at Asheville, ajessee@unca.edu Reference: Reynolds, R.G., A.R. Puente-Rolon, K.J. Aviles-Rodriguez, A.J. Geneva, and N.C. Herrmann. Discovery of a remarkable new boa from the Conception Island Bank, Bahamas. Breviora. 32 percent of Americans age 50 or older say that it's likely they will outlive their savings May 25, 2016, Chicago--About a third of Americans age 50 or older expect to outlive their retirement savings, according to a recent survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A majority of older Americans have multiple retirement income sources, but over half say they feel more anxious than secure about the amount of savings they have set aside for retirement. A third of those who are still working are not currently saving for their retirement, and many have financial obligations that make saving a challenge. This survey comes at a time when the size of the older population is larger than ever and aging rapidly. There is also high reliance on Social Security. According to the Administration on Aging, by 2040, there are expected to be 82.3 million people age 65 and older, which is more than double the age group's population in 2000. Based on 2014 data, the Social Security Administration reported that 61 percent of Americans age 65 and older receive at least half of their income from Social Security, and nearly 20 percent receive all of their income from Social Security. "Most low income older Americans expect to have to rely heavily on Social Security to fund their retirements, far more than higher income Americans," said Trevor Tompson, director of The AP-NORC Center. "But it is worth noting that a full quarter of upper-income Americans, those with a household income of $100,000 +, already count on or expect Social Security to be their biggest source of retirement income." Key findings from the survey from adults age 50 and older: When it comes to specific aspects of retirement, about half of Americans age 50 and older say they feel mostly anxious when it comes to the amount of savings they have for retirement (53 percent) and being able to pay for major unexpected medical expenses (50 percent). Four in 10 older Americans feel more anxious than excited about retirement. Those with lower household income levels, who sometimes lack the resources to pay their bills on time and/or carry personal debt, are more likely to say that they feel more anxious than those who are in better shape financially. Older Americans with lower incomes are more likely than higher earners to say that they feel more anxious than secure about several specific aspects of retirement, including the size of their retirement savings and their ability to pay for housing and health care expenses in the future. For example, a majority of those with household incomes under $50,000 (58 percent) say they feel more anxious than secure about the amount of savings they have for retirement. But even among those with incomes of $100,000 or more, 40 percent are anxious about the overall savings. Two-thirds of working older Americans are currently saving money for retirement. Those with lower incomes are less likely to say that they are saving money for retirement than other older Americans (47 percent for those earning less than $50,000 vs. 90 percent of those earning $100,000 or more). Most Americans age 50 and older report that they have multiple sources of income for retirement, but a substantial minority (44 percent) expect that Social Security will provide the biggest portion of that income. Those who have lower incomes are more likely to plan to rely heavily on Social Security (54 percent for those with incomes of less than $50,000, compared with 25 percent for those with incomes of $100,000 or more) and also tend to report fewer sources overall. Only a third of older Americans who have retirement accounts or other retirement investments have high levels of confidence in how those investments are being managed. Confidence is low across the board no matter if people are managing their investments themselves, relying on a financial advisor, or having family help to manage their investments. The 2016 study on working longer is a continuation of and expansion on a 2013 survey from The AP-NORC Center. The 2016 study extends the 2013 research and examines new topics, including older workers' efforts to improve their career skills and their plans to adjust the parameters of work in the later stages of their working life. The survey also tracks a number of attitudes and behaviors that were examined in 2013 surrounding issues facing older workers. ### About the Survey This survey, funded by The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, was conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research between the dates of March 8 and March 27, 2016. Staff from NORC at the University of Chicago, The Associated Press, and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation collaborated on all aspects of the study. This work is part of The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Journalism Fellowship on the Economics of Aging and Work. The current fellow is journalist Adam Allington. Survey Methodology A total of 1,075 interviews were conducted for this survey with adults age 50 and older representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The majority of the data were collected using AmeriSpeak, which is a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. The combined response rate is 14.2 percent. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.9 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, including the design effect. The margin of sampling error may be higher for subgroups. About The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taps into the power of social science research and the highest-quality journalism to bring key information to people across the nation and throughout the world. http://www.apnorc.org The Associated Press (AP) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. http://www.ap.org NORC at the University of Chicago is an independent research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, NORC has conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with NORC to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge. http://www.norc.org The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals. About AmeriSpeak NORC's AmeriSpeak Panel is the most scientifically rigorous multi-client household panel in the United States. Panelists are interviewed online and by phone. AmeriSpeak households are selected randomly from NORC's National Sample Frame, the industry leader in sample coverage. The National Frame is representative of over 99 percent of U.S. households and includes additional coverage of hard-to-survey population segments, such as rural and low-income households, that are underrepresented in other sample frames. More information about AmeriSpeak is available at AmeriSpeak.norc.org. Contact: For more information, contact Eric Young for NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell); Ray Boyer for NORC at boyer-ray@norc.org or (312) 330-6433; or Paul Colford for AP at pcolford@ap.org or info@apnorc.org. Medical societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, recommend that patients with advanced cancer receive palliative care soon after diagnosis and receive hospice care for at least the last three days of their life. Yet major gaps persist between these recommendations and real-life practice, a new study shows. Risha Gidwani, DrPH, a health economist at Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Economics Resource Center and a consulting assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and her colleagues examined care received by all veterans over the age of 65 with cancer who died in 2012, a total of 11,896 individuals. The researchers found that 71 percent of veterans received hospice care, but only 52 percent received palliative care. They also found that exposure to hospice care differed significantly between patients treated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and those enrolled in Medicare. In addition, many patients who received palliative care received it late in their disease's progression rather than immediately following diagnosis, as recommended by ASCO. Gidwani is the lead author of the study, which will be published online May 27 in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. The senior author is Vincent Mor, PhD, a professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown University. Differences between hospice, palliative care Hospice and palliative care are often confused, but they are two distinct services, Gidwani explained. Palliative care is intended to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life, and is appropriate for all patients with serious illness, not just those who are at the end of life. Conversely, hospice care is end-of-life care, which can also provide social support for family members. Physicians can recommend hospice care only if they believe the patient has fewer than 180 days to live. "The main lesson learned is we need to improve exposure to palliative care, both in terms of how many patients receive it and when they receive it," Gidwani said. The team's analysis of palliative care focused on care provided by the VA because palliative care is not coded consistently in Medicare. However, the researchers could examine hospice care in both environments. When they compared the timing and provision of hospice care between patients treated by the VA and those who received care paid for by Medicare, they discovered differences that could not be explained by cancer types. For example, patients receiving VA care were less likely to receive hospice care for the minimum recommended three days compared with those in Medicare or in other contracted care paid for by VA. VA patients first received hospice care a median of 14 days before death, compared with patients in VA-contracted care who entered hospice a median of 28 days before death. "Ideally, there shouldn't be any difference in timing of this care," Gidwani said. "Patients should receive a service based on their clinical need, not due to health-care system factors." Hospice care policies differ Interestingly, Medicare and the VA have different policies on the use of hospice care; VA cancer patients can continue receiving curative treatment while in hospice care, but Medicare patients must stop any chemotherapy or radiation before beginning hospice. However, nearly 70 percent of VA patients stopped curative treatment before entering hospice, even though they didn't need to, Gidwani said. She and colleagues are planning future research to understand why. The team also found differences in the use of hospice and palliative care between cancer types and ages. Patients with brain cancer were more likely to receive palliative care than those with kidney cancer, for example. In addition, patients older than 85 were less likely to receive palliative care than patients between the ages of 65 and 69. But patients older than 80 were more likely to receive hospice care than younger patients. Those with brain cancer, melanoma or pancreatic cancer were more likely to receive hospice than patients with prostate or lung cancer. "Our work indicates palliative care needs to be better integrated into standard oncological care and that there is wide variation in receipt of hospice care. The VA is strongly supportive of palliative care and hospice, so it's possible that other non-VA environments are performing even worse with respect to appropriate receipt of hospice and palliative care for cancer patients," Gidwani said. The research did uncover some positive findings, said VJ Periyakoil, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford and director of the Stanford Palliative Care Education and Training Program, who was not involved with the study. "The authors found that 85.6 percent of veterans had some exposure to hospice care or palliative care in the approximately 180 days before death. This is a much higher percentage than what we see in the community," Periyakoil said. The higher number is likely due to the size of the VA and its commitment to improving the care for seriously ill veterans, she said. However, the study highlights opportunities to improve access to care for patients older than 85, who are likely to have several medical ailments, Periyakoil said. In addition, the study's findings on palliative care are worrisome. "We know that early palliative care increases both longevity and quality of life. It is really puzzling as to why patients are referred so late despite compelling data to do otherwise," she said. "Some doctors may say that they are unsure about the prognosis and that is why they refer patients late. However, that argument does not hold water as earlier referrals are better, and at worst we would be guilty of referring a patient a little earlier in the trajectory." ### Another Stanford-affiliated co-author of the study is Todd Wagner, PhD, a fellow at Stanford's Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research. He is also the associate director of the VA Health Economics Resource Center and of the VA Center for Innovation to Implementation. Researchers affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, Providence VA Medical Center, Philadelphia VA Medical Center and Eastern Colorado VA Healthcare System and Brown University also co-authored the study. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu. Print media contact: Becky Bach at (530) 415-0507 (retrout@stanford.edu) Broadcast media contact: Margarita Gallardo at (650) 723-7897 (mjgallardo@stanford.edu) A University of Houston physicist has been recognized by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) for pioneering work in extracting useful information from seismic data. Arthur Weglein, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Chair in Physics, will receive the societys highest honor, the 2016 Maurice Ewing Gold Medal, in recognition of his work on the inverse scattering series and his writing and teaching. The idea for removing multiple reflections without subsurface information wasnt accepted when Weglein first suggested it in the 1980s. It was originally considered controversial, he said. It was unorthodox. Now its become fully mainstream. Weglein came to the UH College of Natural Science and Mathematics in 2000 following a career in industry and heads the Mission-Oriented Seismic Research Program, which includes a research professor and eight graduate students, in addition to himself. The lab, a petroleum industry consortium and research program, works to identify and solve the highest priority seismic exploration and production challenges, whose solutions will have the biggest positive impact on our ability to successfully drill exploration and production wells. Paula Myrick Short, UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the award is evidence of Wegleins success in the field. I am happy to see this recognition of Dr. Wegleins work on the inverse scattering series, she said. It offers an important validation of his perseverance in the field, as well as of the translational value of research performed on university campuses. Weglein said the one-in-10 success rate of drilling frontier exploration wells in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico is evidence that fundamental new and more capable and effective concepts and methods of processing seismic data were needed. Every seismic method is based on and makes assumptions, he said. When these assumptions are satisfied, the methods work and are effective. If they arent satisfied, they dont. His research group works to identify assumptions and requirements behind current seismic methods that can contribute to drilling a dry hole. They then develop methods that either help to better satisfy and provide those requirements and prerequisites or develop entirely new concepts and methods that do not make those assumptions and do not have those requirements. Working with the inverse scattering series, he developed a way to process seismic data that did not require any knowledge about the subsurface to achieve any seismic objective, including not needing information above the reservoir to locate and to delineate a reservoir. Weglein describes it this way: Someone bouncing a ball against a distant wall can determine how far away the wall is if they know the velocity of the ball, as well as how long it takes for the ball to travel to the wall and back. Substitute knowledge about the subsurface for velocity, and you have Wegleins discovery. Its a way of understanding the math-physics, the single message and promise in the inverse scattering series that others did not, he said. All seismic processing objectives can be achieved directly and without subsurface information. That's acceptable today for removing multiples, but other and more ambitious processing objectives, that derive from the same exact logic and math, remains elusive and difficult for many to grasp. In the near future, it will bring new concepts and methods and the needed next generation of seismic imaging and inversion capability and effectiveness to address current outstanding issues and meet pressing and prioritized challenges. Weglein received the Townsend Harris Medal from CCNY in 2008 and the SEG Reginald Fessenden award in 2010 for this work; the Maurice Ewing Medal recognizes the positive impact of his research, along with his writing and teaching. ### CAMBRIDGE, MD (May 26, 2016)--An expansive bed of underwater grass at the mouth of the Susquehanna River has proven it is able to "take a licking and keep on ticking." A recent study has found that the submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) bed at Susquehanna Flats, which only recently made a comeback in the Chesapeake Bay, was not only able to survive a barrage of rough storms and flooding, but it has proven a natural ability to protect and maintain itself. "It's proof that restored SAV beds have the capability to be resilient," said study author Cassie Gurbisz of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Horn Point Laboratory. "They can stick around for a while if you give them the right conditions." Some 40 years ago, Tropical Storm Agnes wiped out the Susquehanna Flats SAV bed, which had already been weakened by decades of nutrient pollution. In recent years, however, the bed made an incredible comeback, and today it is one of the biggest and healthiest in the Bay, spanning some 20 square miles. It has been projected that climate change will bring increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme storm events, which leads to the question of whether or not these ecosystems can withstand or rebound from such events. Scientists studied how the bed at Susquehanna Flats responded to the one-two punch of major storms in 2011 (Hurricane Irene and the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee) to find how resilient the underwater grasses are in the upper Chesapeake. Sea grasses are essential to the Bay ecosystem. They pull harmful nutrients out of the water, cause sediments to settle to the bottom so sunlight can reach plants, protect the shoreline by reducing the impact of waves and currents, and provide habitat and food for a host of important organisms, including baby crabs. The team of scientists looked at time series datasets to explore how extreme events impacted the Susquehanna Flats and to understand the factors that drove loss and resilience in this large, dense and continuous meadow of grasses. They found that the storms in 2011 did some damage to the bed at Susquehanna Flats because the rush of the water from the Susquehanna River tore up plants around the edge of the bed and deposited sediment that blocked the sunlight, limiting photosynthesis. However, the bed was able to reduce the force of high flows sufficiently to prevent plant erosion at its inner core. In addition, although the floodwaters dumped a lot of sediment onto the SAV bed, it also dampened the waves driven by the winds. This decreased the amount of sediment that was later churned up and, as a result, increased water clarity. In fact, clear water spilled over into adjacent regions during ebb tide, further improving the bed's capacity for renewal by creating more favorable growing conditions in areas where plant loss had occurred. "Although there was substantial SAV loss in response to a major flood event, the system was also remarkably resilient, apparently owing to strong biophysical feedback processes carried out by a large, dense, healthy SAV bed," said Gurbisz. It's called a positive feedback process. The plant beds alter physical conditions in ways that enhance their own growth - and it may help plant beds absorb the harmful impacts of storms. For instance, the plants create clear water in the middle of the bed, which promotes more plant growth, further improving water clarity, and so on. When that clear water spills out of the plant bed into the surrounding water, more light is available for new plants to grow. Together, these processes create conditions that allow the bed to resist damage and recover more quickly from the rush of water and sediments from storms. "The SAV bed modifies its environment in ways that improve its own growth and likely serve as mechanisms of SAV resilience to flood events," said Gurbisz. ### The study, "Mechanisms of storm-related loss and resilience in a large submersed plant bed" by Cassie Gurbisz, Michael Kemp, and Larry Sanford of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Robert Orth of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science was published in Estuaries and Coasts. UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE For 90 years, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science has led the way toward better management of Maryland's natural resources and the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. From a network laboratories located across the state, UMCES scientists provide sound advice to help state and national leaders manage the environment, and prepare future scientists to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. A University of Texas at Arlington aerospace engineer has won an Air Force Research Laboratory grant to improve the ability of unmanned vehicle systems to work together and better analyze data collected within an environment. Kamesh Subbarao, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has received a three-year, $201,000 grant from the Air Force Research Laboratory to create an algorithm that will allow cooperative control of multiple spacecraft and address uncertainties and time delays in the information received. If successful, Subbarao's work would allow the Air Force to assign multiple satellites to an object and collect information about it, such as its size, chemical makeup, atmospheric conditions and other data. It also would allow for "smart" deployment that would increase efficiency, yield the most pertinent information and reduce mission costs. "If a single spacecraft is observing an object in orbit, its coverage is limited because once the object goes out of view the spacecraft can no longer observe it. We are working to create an algorithm that will allow multiple satellites to be assigned to observe an object, keeping it in constant view and eliminating interference and time delays that cause uncertainties in the data," Subbarao said. This particular grant applies to spacecraft, but the algorithm Subbarao develops ultimately could be used on any unmanned platform. For instance, teaming unmanned ground, air and space vehicles to collect information on disaster site monitoring, forest fires or hurricanes from three different viewpoints would give rescuers or scientists the most complete data possible. Subbarao's research is an example of UTA's work in data-driven discovery, as outlined in the University's Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact. Efficient, precise analysis of data is becoming more important in today's world, said Erian Armanios, UTA Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department Chair. "As humans continue to use increasingly complex data to explore and interpret our world, it is imperative that we ensure that the data used is as precise as possible. Dr. Subbarao's work could have an effect on multiple areas of data-driven discovery by allowing better analysis of data, especially when it comes to forecasting. Planning based upon projection of needs is as good as the quality of collected data," Armanios said. Subbarao and his students will work with the Air Force Research Laboratory to refine simulation models to make sure that his results are reliable. The grant also provides funding to test findings of a prototype algorithm on rover platforms. Subbarao joined the UTA faculty in 2003 and is a leader of UTA's Aerospace Systems Laboratory, which conducts research in modeling, simulation and control of mechanical and aerospace systems from a dynamic systems perspective. He is part of a team that is developing safety systems for unmanned aircraft. Subbarao's own research focuses on position determination of UAVs using sensors, tracking them for conflict prediction and collision avoidance. He also is developing systems to use existing cellular infrastructure and the Internet to provide locations of UAVs, especially in non-GPS areas. UTA's research into unmanned vehicles received a boost in 2014 when the UTA Research Institute received an FAA Certificate of Authorization that allows UTARI to fly and test unmanned vehicles. The College of Engineering offers interdisciplinary certificate programs in unmanned vehicle system technologies and applications. ### About The University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington is a R-1 Carnegie "highest research activity" institution of more than 53,000 students in campus-based and online degree programs and is the second-largest institution in The University of Texas System. U.S. News & World Report ranks UTA fifth in the nation for undergraduate diversity. The University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is ranked as the top four-year college in Texas for veterans on Military Times' 2016 Best for Vets list. Visit http://www.uta.edu to learn more, and find UTA rankings and recognition at http://www.uta.edu/uta/about/rankings.php. Stefan Jansson, a professor at Umea University in northern Sweden has been appointed 2015 Forest Biotechnologist of the Year by the Institute of Forest Biosciences (IFB). IFB is an international organisation working towards healthier and more productive forests. "It feels great to be given this award!" says Stefan Jansson, Professor at Umea Plant Science Centre (UPSC) at the Department of Plant Physiology at Umea University. Stefan Jansson was nominated because of his ground-breaking work on the use of gene editing tools (CRISPR) in plants that pushes the boundaries of forest biosciences while forcing much needed dialogue around the classification of what constitutes a genetically modified (GM) plant in Europe and around the world. Michele Garfinkel, Vice Chair of the Institute of Forest Biosciences Board (IFB), notes, "Dr Jansson is an excellent choice for Forest Biotechnologist of the Year. He works in a dynamic area of research using an important emerging technology that allows for extremely rapid advancements in understanding and application of knowledge in genomics and related areas. His further contributions to public audiences and to the scientific community have been invaluable." Stefan Jansson's scientific career has been highlighted by several foundational efforts in forest biotechnology. He was involved in the sequencing of the first tree genome (Populus) and has been leading the work to sequence the first conifer genome (Norway spruce). His group has developed tools and databases used widely by the forest genomics and biotechnology community, and he is responsible for a large fraction of the field experiments with transgenic trees in Europe. He is vice-director of the world-leading UPSC Berzelii Centre of Forest Biotechnology, is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA) and has published over 120 scientific articles. According to Adam Costanza, President of the IFB, "Dr Stefan Jansson's research and outreach efforts have been pivotal in proving that regulatory systems based on decades old technology are in dire need of updating. I'm happy to see his peers selected him to receive this award because his work exemplifies the science, dialogue, and stewardship in forest biosciences that we strive for at the IFB." Dr Stefan Jansson has integrated studies on natural variation in trees and genomics, and forest biotechnology. He conducted a large field experiment with transgenic trees aimed at quantifying unintentional changes in important ecological traits such as growth, phenology, pathogens attack, and herbivore preference in transgenic trees, as compared to the natural variation of the same traits. Stefan Jansson's work has contributed to the European debate about GM plants in general and GM trees in particular. He has in numerous articles, debates, information meetings, lectures, science shows, blogs, web-portals and interviews in newspapers, on TV, radio and on the Internet communicated with society - from school kids to ministers - about biotechnology. He has also written a book on the subject and organised open letters from prominent researchers both in Sweden, and in Europe. Dr Wout Boerjan, Professor at the University of Ghent and past Forest Biotechnologist of the Year, highlighted Professor Jansson's impressive record as a scientist and as a science communicator. "Stefan Jansson is one of the few scientists who devote a significant portion of their time to the GM debate and to science communication in general, while still combining this with excellent science." Stefan Jansson is trained as a school teacher but started a career in science instead. He earned his doctorate from Umea University in 1992 in Plant Molecular Biology before becoming a professor at the same university in 2002. Stefan Jansson is Head of Department, President of the Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society, and has received several awards for his outreach activities. Stefan Jansson is the seventh scientist, and the first Swede, to win this award. ### About the Institute of Forest Biosciences (IFB): The Institute of Forest Biosciences (IFB) fosters the use of science and technologies that create healthier and more productive forests now and for the future. The IFB strives to accomplish this mission by establishing dialogues with diverse stakeholders, assessing risks and benefits, providing objective and accurate information, and promoting actions for long-term forest stewardship that meet human needs in environmentally responsible ways. About Umea Plant Science Centre: Umea Plant Science Centre (UPSC) is one of Europe's strongest research centres in the area of experimental plant biology. The centre consists of two departments, one at Umea University and the other at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. UPSC has nearly 200 staff members, including approximately 40 research groups. Read more about Umea Plant Science Centre May 27, 2016 - Simultaneous transplantation of a "composite" skull and scalp flap plus a kidney and pancreas--all from the same donor--provided excellent outcomes for a patient with a non-healing scalp defect and declining organ kidney and pancreas function, according to a report in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The experience may open the way to further procedures combining "vascularized composite allotransplantation" (VCA) with organ transplants, in patients who have already accepted the need for lifelong immunosuppressive therapy. "Hopefully, this case and others like it will help to widen the narrow indications for this fascinating new field of reconstructive surgery," write Dr. Jesse Creed Selber of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and colleagues. Combined Transplants Are New Option for Organ Recipients Who Already Need Immunosuppression Vascularized composite allotransplantation refers to transplant procedures combining different types of tissues, such as skin, muscle, blood vessels, nerves, and bone. Face transplantation is the best-known type of VCA; hand transplantation is another example. Other types of VCA flaps offer a potentially new approach to reconstruction for patients with major skull and facial defects. But they also have a major drawback--the need for immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the recipient's immune system from rejecting the transplant. Patients who also need or have already undergone organ transplantation have already accepted the risks of lifelong immunosuppressive therapy. Dr. Selber and colleagues outline their experience with combined VCA and organ transplantation in a 55-year-old man. Two decades earlier, he had undergone kidney transplantation for diabetic kidney disease, but that kidney was now failing. He also had a large, unstable wound of the scalp and skull--a complication of surgery and radiation therapy for a scalp tumor. (An increased risk of cancers is one of the risks of long-term immunosuppressive treatment.) Because the patient was already receiving immunosuppressive therapy and would need another organ transplant in any case, doctors suggested a procedure in which a VCA of scalp and skull would be performed at the same time as a kidney/pancreas transplant, with all transplants coming from the same donor. After weighing his alternatives and discussing the risks and benefits with the surgical team, the patient opted for this combined procedure. After 18 months on the waiting list, a suitable deceased donor became available--providing not only basic immunologic compatibility but also a match in terms of skin color and quality, hair pattern, and head size. The combined VCA and double-organ transplant procedure required 20 physicians and 15 hours in the operating room. At the end of the procedure, both transplants were receiving good blood supply and the transplanted organs were functioning normally. An episode of rejection of the scalp/skull transplant occurred after a few months, but was successfully treated. One year after the procedure, the patient was doing well, including good cosmetic appearance of the transplanted scalp. In this case, the patient's pre-existing organ transplant and immunosuppressive therapy opened the way for VCA to reconstruct a serious scalp/skull defect. The fact that both the composite transplant and organs are from the same donor minimizes the risk of rejecting tissues stimulated by a second donor's tissue. As the experience with VCA continues to evolve, combining composite reconstruction of complex skull and facial deformities plus organ transplantation presents a unique opportunity to solve difficult clinical problems while avoiding some of the complex ethical choices involved with VCA. Dr. Selber adds, "Our experience is a first step toward widening the narrow indications for VCA to patients with pre-existing immunosuppression." ### Click here to read "Simultaneous Scalp, Skull, Kidney, and Pancreas Transplant from a Single Donor." Article: "Simultaneous Scalp, Skull, Kidney, and Pancreas Transplant from a Single Donor" (doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000002153) Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is published by Wolters Kluwer. About Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery For 70 years, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (http://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/) has been the one consistently excellent reference for every specialist who uses plastic surgery techniques or works in conjunction with a plastic surgeon. The official journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery brings subscribers up-to-the-minute reports on the latest techniques and follow-up for all areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery, including breast reconstruction, experimental studies, maxillofacial reconstruction, hand and microsurgery, burn repair, and cosmetic surgery, as well as news on medico-legal issues. About ASPS The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the world's largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons. Representing more than 7,000 Member Surgeons, the Society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the Society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. ASPS advances quality care to plastic surgery patients by encouraging high standards of training, ethics, physician practice and research in plastic surgery. You can learn more and visit the American Society of Plastic Surgeons at http://www.plasticsurgery.org or http://www.facebook.com/PlasticSurgeryASPS and http://www.twitter.com/ASPS_news. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information services. Professionals in the areas of legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance and healthcare rely on Wolters Kluwer's market leading information-enabled tools and software solutions to manage their business efficiently, deliver results to their clients, and succeed in an ever more dynamic world. Wolters Kluwer reported 2015 annual revenues of 4.2 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, and employs over 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY). For more information about our products and organization, visit http://www.wolterskluwerhealth.com, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter, like us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms on YouTube. Do a search for 'short term health insurance' and plenty of sites come up.The coverage is not as good as comprehensive insurance but it is certainly better than none and can be taken out for as short a time as three months I believe.Also go to :(government exchange under 'obamacare' as this too offers short term coverage.Better to put your savings into getting insurance coverage than chance having to pay out thousands for medical treatment. You can get an idea about apartment costs in Santa Clara by browsing the real estate ads of the San Jose Mercury News (the area newspaper). There is also a site called Apartmentguide.com that is popular. Be ready for a bit of sticker shock - and be ready to consider nearby towns like San Jose or Cupertino, though the prices are pretty much the same in that general area. When you get an offer, you may also want to talk to some of your co-workers to be to find out where they live in the area and what opportunities there may be for flat-sharing. Cheers, Bev My soon to be wife (residing in BC) and I (currently in UK) are getting married in October in Canada. I am flying to Canada at the end of August. I will be flying on a one way ticket, as it is my intention to remain in Canada after marriage and my wife will sponsor me. I do have enough money for a return flight to prove to the authorities if need be. My question is, how long roughly does it take for a temporary SIN from submitting the paperwork for my wife to sponsor me? Thanks in advance for any replies. Danny Hi guys, tried a search on here and online but cannot find a definitive answer If we, as a family, apply for express entry, do we all require to do the English test? (myself, wife, kids 14,12). Or is it only the adults or only the lead applicant? We are looking at Toronto area. Thanks New York mutual fund company Gamco Asset Management Inc. is suing local radio operator iHeartMedia Inc. for improperly diverting revenue from subsidiary Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings to its corporate parent. Gamco, which owns almost 10 percent of the outdoor-media subsidiarys publicly traded shares, accused Clear Channel Outdoors board of violating its duty to protect its shareholders by always acting in the best interest of the parent company at the expense of the subsidiary. Gamco, founded by famed investor Mario Gabelli, particularly complained about an agreement that automatically routes daily revenues from Clear Channel Outdoor to help pay down debt run up by San Antonio-based iHeartMedia. The deal leaves the outdoor unit unable to exploit business opportunities and with a virtually uncollectible receivable from its parent company of $640 million, Norman Monhait, Gamcos lawyer, said in Thursdays filing in Delaware Chancery Court. The outdoor-media companys board considers Gamcos suit to be without merit and takes seriously its responsibilities to the company and to all CCOH stockholders, iHeartMedia spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said in an emailed statement. The board established a special committee of independent directors in 2013 for the specific purpose of monitoring the intercompany note between CCOH and its parent. Gamco backed iHeartMedia in the recent San Antonio trial between the company and some of its senior lenders, who lost a battle to declare defaults on about $6 billion of notes after iHeartMedia shifted 100 million Clear Channel Outdoor shares to a unit beyond the lenders reach. The judge agreed with iHeartMedia and Gamco that the share transfer was permitted under company loan terms. But, in a separate filing in the San Antonio case, Gamco said iHeartMedias valuation of that deal at $500 million was wrong. IHeartMedia, the largest U.S. radio-station owner, has scrambled to stay current on roughly $20.8 billion in debt accumulated in 2008, when the company was acquired by private equity giants Bain Capital Partners LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP. Almost $8.5 billion of these debts will come due in the next three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, leaving iHeartMedia in financial desperation, Monhait said. IHeartMedia lawyers told the judge in the San Antonio case that the lenders default threats could have triggered immediate calls on as much as $12 billion in borrowings, potentially tipping the company into bankruptcy. While iHeartMedia insists it hasnt missed any debt payments, Monhait said it is alarming that the company recently added a pair of turnaround specialists to its board. It appears that the iHeart defendants are already preparing for bankruptcy, which would freeze iHearts ability to repay the money it owes the outdoor media unit, Monhait said in asking for a speedy trial. IHeart is abusing its position as CCOHs controlling stockholder in an attempt to stave off its own financial demise and avoid forcing the private equity defendants to infuse iHeart with new equity capital. Gamco asked the Delaware court for a September trial of the complaint, which also names the companys individual board members, Bain Capital and TH Lee as defendants. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. CORRECTION: This article was updated to correct Gamcos shareholdings. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Low fuel prices are projected to boost Memorial Day weekend travel across the nation but not necessarily to the Alamo City, which may lose Texas visitors to cheap airfares that lure them elsewhere. Sometimes, when gas prices are down, it can be helpful and hurtful, said Casandra Matej, executive director of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau. In some sense, when gas prices are up, people still find it very affordable to drive to San Antonio. Now that gas prices are not as high, they may choose to fly somewhere. Its all about what they view as a value. Almost 3.1 million Texans are expected to drive or fly during the Memorial Day travel period from Thursday through Monday, the second-highest recorded travel volume over Memorial Day and largest volume since 2005, estimates from AAA Texas show. Low gas prices are enticing more people to hit the road, the Texas auto travel group says. The average statewide cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline hovered at $2.08 per gallon Thursday, o AAAs Daily Fuel Gauge Report showed. Nationwide, prices for regular gasoline averaged $2.31. Although gas prices have surged from as low as $1.50 a gallon in San Antonio in February, theyre still near historic lows. Its going to the cheapest Memorial Day weekend for gas prices since 2005, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service based in New Jersey. Prices arent likely to fluctuate more than 10 cents a gallon for the rest of the driving season, Kloza said. Job cuts in the oil and gas industry also likely will limit the amount of tourism dollars coming to San Antonio. The industry laid off almost 118,000 workers from the beginning of 2015 to March, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said in April. Hotels in the area are seeing lower occupancy rates and higher nightly room prices heading into the Memorial Day holiday weekend, said Bill Petrella, executive director of the San Antonio Hotel & Lodging Association. The general feeling is the economy, with whats happening in oil and gas and Houston and some of the other feeder markets, is preventing people from traveling as robustly as they were last year or the last year before, Petrella said. The broader economic malaise didnt show in hotel receipts for April when revenue rose 4.5 percent year-over-year, said Bruce Walker, president of consulting firm Source Strategies Inc. That compares with a 1.5 percent drop in hotel revenue during the first three months of the year. A lack of large-scale conventions in June also likely will contribute to fewer bookings and higher room prices in downtown San Antonio. Thats not likely to pick up until late July when more highly-attended citywide conventions come to the area, Matej said. In the meantime, the citys theme parks and other popular tourist destinations hope new attractions will help boost attendance, Matej said. Earlier this month, Six Flags Fiesta Texas unveiled a trio of new rides dubbed the Triple Threat of Thrills including the Fireball, Hurricane Force 5 and Spinsanity with plans to launch the Superman Virtual Reality Coaster, a virtual reality experience synced with the parks Superman Krypton Coaster, in June. Also this month, SeaWorld San Antonio launched its Discovery Point attraction, which allows visitors to view and swim with dolphins in a more natural habitat thats nearly twice the size of the parks previous enclosure. The San Antonio Zoo expects to see strong summer attendance based on the first three months of the year, CEO and executive director Tim Morrow said. Voter Guide: What to know for the midterm election Your guide to the Texas and San Antonio races and candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot. The zoos new giraffe feeding exhibit and renovations to various exhibits totaling $4 million are drawing higher attendance, he said. The zoo is on track to break its all-time annual attendance record of about 1.16 million visitors in 2016, Morrow said. This weekend also marks the first Memorial Day holiday since UNESCOs World Heritage Committee designated the Alamo and the citys four other Missions as World Heritage sites. Alamo Director Becky Dinnin said its not clear how the status will affect traffic to the Alamo but expects attendance figures over the weekend to reach 15,000. About 211,000 Texans are projected to fly to other travel destinations over the weekend, AAA estimates. Passengers may have to contend with long waits to check in and clear security while flying this weekend, especially at some of the nations largest airports in Chicago, New York and Atlanta ahead of the summer season. Thousands of passengers at Chicagos OHare International Airport missed flights because of long waits for security screenings. San Antonians who choose to fly to their vacation destination over the weekend should arrive at the local airport two hours early if their flight departs before 7 a.m. and 90 minutes early for all other departure times, said Robert Salluce, spokesman for the San Antonio Airport System. OXON HILL, Md. - Alex Iyer, a Boerne seventh-grader who reached the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, said he expected to be back on the neon-lit stage next year after tripping up Thursday on the word hypopus - a mite larva that attaches itself to animals. I have another year. I knew that if I didnt get it this year, its not a big deal, he said, exhibiting the carefree attitude that separated him from some of the ultra-serious contestants. Moments before, Alex had erred h-i-p-p-o-p-u-s, he spelled triggering the bell signifying his exit. Spellers who hear that dreaded sound have been known to stamp their feet and dash from the stage in tears. But before Alex departed, he spoke graciously to the judges and audience. Im really glad I got out on such an interesting word. And I wouldnt have done it without my dad. So thanks, dad, he said, triggering applause. Alex, 13, the son of Rajesh and Reena Iyer, is a student at the Geneva School of Boerne. He had reached the final group of 45 spellers out of 284 elementary-school and middle-school students who arrived in suburban Washington, D.C. as local champions. He was sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News. From the start of the final round, it looked as though organizers were intent on winnowing the field swiftly. Three of first four spellers stumbled on the words Cheltenham, psyllium and bouleuterion. By the time Alex stepped up, 18 of 38 spellers were gone after misspelling an array of words that seldom sound in normal conversation. Then he and the next four other spellers went out consecutively. Throughout the day, nervous spellers walked to the microphone, many breathing so hard they seemed on the verge of hyperventilating. Seeking every advantage, they asked announcer Jacques Bailly the 1980 national spelling champ for their words definition, language of origin, alternate pronunciations and sometimes to be used in a sentence. To reach the finals, on Wednesday Alex had spelled kamaaina, a longtime resident of Hawaii, and hydrophore, an instrument for obtaining samples of water. When it was his turn on Thursday, Alex, clad in a bright red V-neck T-shirt, khaki shorts and green running shoes, requested all the information. He asked several more questions, but his flustered look presaged what was to come. Its the luck of the draw, he said afterward. It was really fun, but it was also intense and nerve-racking. Now I get to relax, he said. For him, that meant swimming in the hotel pool and hopping on the Ferris wheel situated along the Potomac River at National Harbor, venue for the competition. Every weekday, hed studied spelling for two to three hours, and then from two to five hours on Saturday and Sunday. But, he observed, some of the would-be champions told him this week they studied five hours on weekdays and as much as nine hours each on Saturday and Sunday. Alex said he took solace in knowing that hed gotten national level serious only this school year. His father, Rajesh, an executive at EXL Service, a New York-based operations management and analytics company, said Alexs tribute to him from the stage was unexpected. He attested to his sons dedication. He has to train us to train him, he said. Were absolutely expecting him to be back next year. bill.lambrecht@hearstdc.com A petition drive led by the citys firefighters union opposing San Antonio Water System rate increases had less than half the signatures needed, SAWS officials said in a Friday legal filing. In March, several San Antonio firefighters union members led by union consultant Greg Brockhouse submitted more than 6,300 signatures to the Public Utility Commission of Texas. The signatures purportedly came from SAWS customers outside the city limits. State law only allows customers served by a municipal utility to challenge rate increases before the PUC if they live outside the citys political jurisdiction. After City Council approval in November, SAWS raised rates for most customers in January to pay for a plant to treat salty groundwater now under construction in South Bexar County, the 142-mile Vista Ridge pipeline project, and sewer improvements required by the federal government. The increase raised the average customers monthly bill from $51.75 to $58.60, with projections to rise to $81.73 by 2020. Over 10 days in March, Brockhouse, several firefighters and other volunteers knocked on doors and approached people to collect signatures challenging the rate increases. They hired Austin attorney Roger Borgelt, who has experience in utility rate cases, to file an appeal saying SAWS rates are unreasonably preferential, prejudicial, and discriminatory. This was the first time SAWS customers have challenged the utilitys rates before the PUC, SAWS Vice President Mary Bailey said. Bailey said the utilitys staff went through the petition signature by signature. She said they cross-referenced the names and addresses in the petition with those in SAWS databases and maps of the utilitys service area. The review found 2,646 invalid signatures, leaving only 3,680, the SAWS filing states. Under state law, a petition must include signatures from at least 10 percent of eligible ratepayers. SAWS said they would have needed 7,603 signatures for the petition to qualify for 10 percent of the 76,030 customers outside city limits. We feel they didnt even meet the 10 percent threshold, SAWS President and CEO Robert Puente said. Even if 100 percent of the signatures were valid, they wouldnt meet the 10 percent requirement. On Friday, Brockhouse said he and the other petitioners believed there were about 56,000 SAWS customers outside city limits, based on information he obtained from SAWS in a January open records request for customers names and addresses. He said the utilitys response counted SAWS customers from customers of the former BexarMet utility, which integrated with SAWS in 2011. Former BexarMet customers will continue paying slightly different rates than the rest of the SAWS customers until January. Bailey said she and five of her staff, SAWS internal auditors and geospatial mapping staff spent 500 work hours going through the signatures looking for those that did not qualify. Some of them were really obvious, she said. In the filing, SAWS said 796 were multiple signatures for one account, 648 had no qualifying address outside city limits and 1,202 did not match the customer name on the SAWS accounts. In a Friday news release, Puente said, This attempt to challenge our rates has proven to be an expensive maneuver by the fire union to distract attention from their issues with city management. For two years, the citys public safety unions have been locked in negotiations and litigation over their contracts. In March, Mayor Ivy Taylor criticized union leadership for the stalled talks. District 9 Councilman Joe Krier also released a statement in March criticizing the union for attacking SAWS Vista Ridge project, which would pipe up to 16.3 billion gallons of water per year from Burleson County. Once again, union leaders are trying to divert the publics attention from the fact that they refuse to sit down and bargain for a labor contract thats fair to their members and to taxpayers, Kriers statement read. Brockhouse said Friday that the rate challenge is not about the unions contracts. Instead, police and fire unions are opposing rate increases by an appointed board to pay for a project most San Antonians do not support, he said. These people do whatever they want to do without government oversight, he said of SAWS. Brockhouse said the petition drive was not an official union function, and other volunteers joined union members in their petition drive. While they used some money from the unions political action committee to pay volunteers either a flat rate or per signature for their efforts, other payments to volunteers came from donations, he said. Brockhouse said the union will have to discuss how it will pay for attorneys fees in the months ahead. Union political action money can only be spent after a union committee vote, he said. The honest, upfront truth is we havent yet discussed where the money will come from, he said. The petitioners and the PUC staff have until June 17 to file a response to SAWS rate analysis, PUC spokesman Terry Hadley said. If applicable, SAWS can file a motion to dismiss the case by June 24. If that happens, the petitioners and PUC staff will have until July 1 to respond, he said. If this petition fails, Brockhouse said he would consider leading another petition drive in January when BexarMet customers rates increase. This is also going to be a learning lesson, he said. If we get potential to come back and do it in January, we will. bgibbons@express-news.net, Twitter: @bgibbs Plans to expand two major San Antonio highways without tolls received the official stamp of approval Thursday after some debate over whether other projects would be delayed as a result. Parts of U.S. 281 and Interstate 10, originally slated for tolls, will now be expanded with high-occupancy vehicle lanes instead. The Texas Transportation Commission approved the switch at its meeting in Austin, where more than 20 officials and planners from San Antonio appeared to express their support for the projects. For 15 years Ive had the anti-toll people ready to string me up, and Im glad we wont have any (of that) today, said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. HOV lanes are reserved for transit vehicles and cars with more than one occupant, usually two or three. Theyll be built in place of the toll lanes once planned for I-10 between La Cantera Parkway and Ralph Fair Road and U.S. 281 between Loop 1604 and the Comal County line. Now, the Texas Department of Transportation plans to expand that part of U.S. 281 into a six-lane freeway with one HOV lane in each direction. And it will widen that part of I-10 by adding one HOV lane and one general purpose lane in each direction. The change in plans illustrates a statewide shift in perspective on toll lanes following two legislative sessions that focused heavily on finding more funding for highways. State lawmakers capped the Texas Mobility Fund, the states last source of highway bonds, and voted to stop using some gas tax and vehicle registration fee revenue for projects other than road building. They also created Propositions 1 and 7, two ballot measures that voters overwhelmingly approved in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Both established new funding streams for non-toll highway projects. Starting in 2018, Prop. 7 will add about $2.5 billion to the State Highway Fund each year, and after 2020, it will add a projected $430 million in vehicle sales tax revenue. Prop. 1 is expected to add $1.1 billion in severance tax revenue to the fund this fiscal year, but future payouts depend on the cost of crude oil. The promise of more funding moved the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to rethink the use of tolls for the U.S. 281 and I-10 expansions, both of which are partly unfunded. At last months meeting, Transportation Commissioner Jeff Austin cautioned that if San Antonio chose to fill those gaps with its Prop. 1 or Prop. 7 allocations, it might have little new funding left for other projects. He expressed particular concern about the I-10 project, which the commission discussed at length. If everything goes in on just this one project, whats going to happen to the other projects down the road? he asked. Commissioner Jeff Moseley said he supported the new funding structure for the I-10 project, but he echoed Austins words of caution. He said he hoped residents in San Antonio and other areas of the MPOs jurisdiction understood that other projects could be impacted by the shift away from tolling. The MPO has enough funding to expand U.S. 281 between Loop 1604 and Stone Oak, which will cost about $228 million. But it lacks the $300 million needed to fund the expansion to the county line. It approved the non-toll plan for the project last year in the hope Prop. 7 dollars could close the funding gap. In January, the Transportation Commission offset some of that cost by allocating about $81 million for right-of-way acquisition on the northern half of the project. The non-toll I-10 expansion wont require any new funding sources yet. The MPO has enough money to pay for the four new lanes, which will cost about $70 million. But it has just over half of the funding needed to build direct connectors between La Cantera and Loop 1604, a $130 million undertaking included in the original toll plan. The HOV plan eliminates that shortage by removing the direct connectors from the project, enabling the MPO to fund the new lanes without tolls. The director connectors are now included in a plan to expand Loop 1604 between Texas 16 and Interstate 35 on the North Side, a project currently slated for tolls. While the types of funding have changed over the years, it does not remove tolls from the toolbox, said Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, vice chairman of the MPO. Theyre still there, and we might have to use them one day. Until then, several San Antonio officials emphasized that HOV lanes are needed to help mitigate congestion, incentivize transit and carpool use and improve air quality in a rapidly growing city that is poised to breach federal ozone limits by the end of the year. We cannot build roadways long enough or wide enough to build our way out of congestion, said Hope Andrade, who chairs VIA Metropolitan Transits board of trustees. I must say, HOV lanes are long overdue for the city of San Antonio and Bexar County. kblunt@express-news.net Twitter: @katherineblunt San Antonio will salute Americans who have died fighting in the nations wars with two major events over the long Memorial Day weekend, both of them at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Veterans from the American Legion will gather around the cemeterys Shelter No. 3 at 8 a.m. Saturday to read a roll call of the dead, an event that is in its seventh year. Like Ive told many, many people, the reason we do this is because as far as were concerned theres no better way to honor a veteran than publicly read his or her name to let them know theyre not forgotten, Robert Masten, commander of the American Legions 20th District in Bexar County, said of the groups roll call. On Monday, the cemetery will host its Memorial Day remembrance, starting with a musical prelude at 9 a.m. That event will occur in the cemeterys assembly area. Similar events will take place at 134 national cemeteries, one national veterans burial ground, and 33 soldiers lots and monument sites in 40 states and Puerto Rico. Once known as Decoration Day, the holiday was initially created to honor Union and Confederate soldiers after the Civil War, with the first ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868. It became a widespread tradition by the end of the 19th century and was expanded after World War I to commemorate U.S. troops who died in all conflicts. Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday in 1971. This years roll call of the dead will see American Legion members read off the names of 2,500 veterans who have been buried at Fort Sam over the past 12 months through Friday. The idea originated on the West Coast and began here in 2010. Legionnaires took turns reading 76,000 names of those whove been at rest at Fort Sam since the Civil War. I had seen something on TV that this was being done at Riverside National Cemetery in California and so I mentioned it to the director of the Fort Sam cemetery at that time, and he said he wouldnt have any trouble with it, said Masten, a retired Army sergeant major who organized the event. A speech from Sara Elton, the National Cemetery Associations Continental District chief of operations, will follow the reading of names. People have asked me before why we do this, said Masten, who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. When youre out there, and you see the tears of family members or friends reading the names of the lost veteran, or you see a grandchild thats just read the name of a grandparent and you see the solemn look on his or her face, to me thats what this is all about. sigc@express-news.net Quick question: Who has been the most impactful third-party presidential candidate of the past 100 years? I got to asking myself that question in the wake of two new polls that show likely Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson registering 10 percent of the vote in a hypothetical general-election contest with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Its an early but surprising show of strength from a party that has never exceeded 1.1 percent of the vote in a presidential race. If you simply looked back at popular-vote totals, the answer would be easy enough. In 1992, Texas billionaire Ross Perot drew 19 percent, and nearly 20 million total votes, in a three-way contest with Republican incumbent George H.W. Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. But Perot didnt win a single state that year, and finished higher than third in only one (Utah). If youre looking for someone who altered the electoral map, your best bet would be George Wallace, the segregationist former governor of Alabama, who carried five Southern states and ended up with 46 electoral votes. The correct answer, however, would focus on a candidate who received less than 3 percent of the vote and didnt come close to carrying any states. Thats because Ralph Nader picked the right year to be a marginal candidate. With 97,488 votes in Florida, the Green Party nominee easily siphoned enough progressives away from Al Gore to allow George W. Bush to carry the state by a chad-thin margin of 537 votes. For good measure, Nader cut off an alternate victory route for Gore by drawing 22,198 votes in New Hampshire, which Gore lost by 7,211. The point is that if youre an independent candidate, its not how many votes you get, but when and where you get them. Thats why Johnsons recent surge in the polls is noteworthy. Under no scenario (not even a Hillary Clinton indictment or a Trump debate rant about his penis size sorry, that already happened) will the former New Mexico governor finish any higher than a very distant third in November. And its worth remembering that hes not yet guaranteed the nomination of his party. But Johnson, like Nader, could register just enough support to alter the math in some key swing states (think Ohio, Florida, Colorado and Nevada). What we dont know yet, however, is whose slice of the pie hell cut into the most. The obvious answer would be Trump. Movement conservatives who are turned off by Trumps loose-cannon pronouncements and his iffy commitment to conservative principles might want to send a never-Trump message by voting for Johnson. On the other hand, if bitter Bernie Sanders devotees are looking for an alternative to Hillary, they might get a natural high from Johnsons support for the legalization of pot, his non-interventionist foreign policy and his outsider status. At the moment, I think Johnson is pulling from Republicans, said John Wilford, the state chairman of the Libertarian Party of Texas. We saw an explosion right after (Texas Sen.) Ted Cruz dropped out of the Republican race. But I expect to see the exact same thing on the Democratic side if Bernie Sanders doesnt get the nomination. Back in 1992, a popular assumption was that Perot a fiscal conservative who bemoaned the growing federal debt pulled most of his votes from George H.W. Bush, the Republican incumbent. Exit polls later revealed, however, that 38 percent of Perot voters said they would have voted for Clinton in a two-way race, while an identical 38 percent said they would have voted for Bush. In other words, Perots presence was a wash, except for one key factor: His anti-incumbent message put Bush on the defensive, and his willingness to defend Clinton for skirting the Vietnam-era draft took all the steam out of Bushs strongest debate attack line. If history is any indication, Johnsons numbers are likely to drop between now and November. Perot was running first with 39 percent of the vote in early June of 1992, but started fading as voters gave him a closer look. The same thing happened to Wallace in 1968, with his poll numbers dropping in the final months from 20 percent to the low teens. But in a year when the two major-party nominees will bring unprecedented negatives to the dance, Johnsons strongest selling point is sure to endure: His name is neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton. ggarcia@express-news.net Twitter: @gilgamesh470 By Marvin J. Folkertsma The news could not have been worse. Starvation, malnutrition, diseases such as typhoid, smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia, along with freezing temperatures that assaulted thousands of shoeless feet bloodying the snow, attached to bands of walking skeletons exposed to the elements by threadbare garments. They all combined to claim 2,500 lives from General George Washingtons army of 12,000 Continentals, who struggled through their encampment at Valley Forge during the 1777-78 winter. One bitter soldier wrote, Poor foodhard lodgingcold weatherfatiguenasty cloathsnasty cookeryvomit half my timesmoakd out of my sensesthe devils in itI cant endure itWhy are we sent here to starve and freeze? Why, indeed? Desertions were rifeastonishing, according to one observerand mutterings of mutiny escaped from cracked lips of desperate, shivering volunteers, many of whom vowed to liberate themselves from their confinement as soon as their enlistments were up. Rumors of replacing General Washington were whispered in some earswas there a conspiracy lurking in this misery? Finally, a detachment from the Continental Congress showed up to query the good general about what was going on. Washington exploded: Ive been leading this band of rabble under the worst conditions imaginable against the most powerful country the world has ever seen, and you have the unbridled impudence to question my leadership? Thats it, Im done, I resign! And he stomped off in fury, mounted his horse, and galloped away. Within three months, the British attacked what was left of the garrison, and the Americans aborted attempt to gain their independence and secure their rights for themselves and their posterity was quashed. History took a different and very uncertain turn. That is not what happened, of course; but Valley Forge is just one instance representing many scores of crucial What If experiences in American history, involving the battles, agonies, and wartime hardships that American soldiers have endured on behalf of their country, often receiving due credit for their sacrifices, and, to our countrys shame, occasionally not. Indeed, who can plunge into the soul-numbing specifics of any combat in Americas wars without being humbled by accounts of bodies blown to bits, of mortally wounded soldiers still leading charges, of bravery so profound that it mocks our efforts to describe it? But describe such bravery and sacrifice, we must. And remember, we must. Indeed, who could forget? Who could forget a What If scenario of the Normandy invasion, to cite another instance? What might have happened if Erwin Rommel had persuaded Hitler and General von Rundstedt to alter the Reichs Festung Europa defense in ways that would have slaughtered Allied forces on the beaches? A re-energized Germany is one answer, perhaps in a position to bolster its position on the Eastern front and fight the war to a stalemate with the Soviet Union, leaving the continent enslaved by two totalitarian powers while a demoralized United States, Great Britain, and Canada contemplate another invasion attempt in a year or so. All the while Americans at home wonder why we got into that war to begin with, as they read about General Dwight Eisenhower getting sacked and President Roosevelt dying even more prematurely from a heart attack. Indeed, the What Ifs about the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives for our country fill books, all of them fascinating, all of them disturbing. One last point needs to be made. Ive had the privilege of visiting the Normandy American Cemeteryseveral times, in factbereft of speech and breath as my lonely steps walked softly and lightly among those perfectly aligned rows of crosses, with a scattering of tiny flags fluttering here and there. Then you come to a particular cross and stop. And read: HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY A COMRADE IN ARMS KNOWN BUT TO GOD I ponder this, of course. Silently. Reverently. I think of those intrepid 18, 19, and 20-year-olds storming the beaches of Normandy, facing murderous volleys of German machine-gun fire from MG-34s, and the terrifyingly high muzzle reports of Maschinengewehr 42s. Then my thoughts wander from those young heroes to some of their counterparts on American college campuses today, clamoring for safe spaces, demanding trigger warnings for speech that hurts their feelings, and sobbing about micro-aggressions that make them uncomfortable. I, for one, love the America that has survived all those horrible What Ifs of our history. I love the America where our fallen heroes are revered and our serving men and women are held in the highest esteem. Let us all thank God that He has blessed the America that we have, and always remember those courageous men and women who sacrificed their lives to secure it, for us and future generations. (Dr. Marvin Folkertsma is a retired professor of political science and fellow for American studies with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania. The author of several books, his latest release is a novel, The Thirteenth Commandment.) WOOSTER, Ohio Grain entrapments are not a common occurrence in John Fitzpatricks four-county region, but he recognizes just how quickly accidents can happen on the farm. As an Ohio Farm Bureau organization director for Ashland, Wayne, Holmes and Medina counties, Fitzpatrick was happy to present equipment to local fire departments to handle farm accidents. With the help of the Trent Insurance Group, a Nationwide Insurance affiliate, the Wayne County Farm Bureau was able to give four local fire departments grain bin rescue tubes. It used to be, by the time a squad arrived (at the scene), it became more of a recovery than a rescue, said Fitzpatrick. Now, with many farmers carrying cell phones on them and rescue tubes stationed at various departments, firefighters can respond more quickly. Apple Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Orrville Fire Department, Town and Country Fire Department (West Salem) and Clinton Township Volunteer Fire Department (Shreve) each received a donated tube, making six rescue units total in Wayne County. Smithville and New Pittsburg Fire Departments also have rescue tubes. The presentation of the tubes completes a joint Farm Bureau effort in Ashland, Holmes, Medina and Wayne counties to strategically place the equipment within minutes of every grain farmer in those four counties. Trapped When a person becomes trapped in a grain bin or gravity wagon, they begin to sink into the grain, similar to being stuck in quicksand. Pressure from the grain pressing against the body makes it hard for the person to breathe, causing them to suffocate. The five-panel, aluminum rescue tube can be quickly assembled, making it easy for the rescue team to get it around the victim. Once assembled, the tube is put over the victim and pushed down into the grain, creating a dam that prevents the grain from continuing to flow around the person. An auger, powered by a drill, is positioned on top of the tube to push the grain out of the tube and relieve the pressure, explained Fitzpatrick. Once the pressure and grain is removed from the tube, the person can be pulled to safety. Budgets Unfortunately, many local fire department budgets are tight and equipment like grain rescue tubes are not placed high on the priority list. For us, its a piece of equipment that is seldom used, that I probably wouldnt budget for on my own because of the cost, said Bob Ballentine, chief of the Orrville Fire Department. Fitzpatrick noted a rescue tube costs around $2,000 to purchase. Its a low response they dont come up very often but its a high risk thing when it does happen, so to have the proper equipment to address that and help save that life is going to be a great plus for the whole county. Rescues While Ballentine said they have never had to deal with a grain bin rescue in their department, Lois Welch, chief of the Town and Country Fire Department, has. We (had a grain bin rescue) about 25 years ago, and at that time these (rescue tubes) were not invented. We used plywood and had to drain the corn out of the bin to get the person out, and he did survive. David Compston, of the Apple Creek, East Union Township Fire Department, said he has not had to deal with a grain bin rescue in his department but, right now our area farmers are getting out of dairying and getting into crops. He understands the high risk involved with grain farming and is glad to have the equipment to handle an entrapment situation. Other uses The Apple Creek Fire Department and Kidron Fire Department are a part of a trench rescue team and Compston said it will be beneficial to have equipment like this along with the trench rescue equipment. Mike Kauffman, Wayne County Farm Bureau president, added, its not just grain bins that pose a risk, but large grain carts as well. Were seeing more and more, the use of the large grain carts transporting grain from field to semi, said Kauffman. Pitching in Paul Trent, of Trent Insurance said, when John approached us about contributing to the project we said whatever we can do to help. As a Nationwide affiliate, Nationwide Agribusiness is the largest writer of farm insurance, said Trent, Farming is one of the highest safety risk (occupations), said Kauffman. I am looking forward to seeing how the fire departments use them. Although both Kauffman and Fitzpatrick agreed, We hope they never have to use them. Ever heard of Japanese knotweed? The Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists it as one of the states top invasive species, among the ranks of Japanese honeysuckle, garlic mustard and purple loosestrife. The shrub-like herb can grow up to 10 feet tall, its underground root system can grow up to 60 feet in length and its not exactly easy to control. Japanese knotweed originated in parts of Asia Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan and was introduced in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century as an ornamental plant, according to the Indiana Plant Species Assessment Working Group (IPSAWG). What does Japanese knotweed look like? Japanese knotweed has reddish-brown hollow, smooth stems and swollen nodes, the Ohio Invasive Plants Council explains. The plants leaves are pointy and can be oval-shaped or triangular, and they are about 4 to 6 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide. Japanese knotweed flowers in late summer. The plants flowers are small and green-white in color. Where does Japanese knotweed grow? Japanese knotweed grows in open areas, according to ODNR. You can find it along roadsides, riverbanks and woodlands. The plant grows in moist environments. Japanese knotweed typically emerges and begins to grow in early spring. Its underground rhizomes grow quickly, allowing the plant to expand into dense thickets, according to The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Does Japanese knotweed grow in Ohio? Japanese knotweed is pretty common in the Buckeye state, especially in eastern Ohio. The Ohio Invasive Plants Council offers a map that shows the counties in which Japanese knotweed was reported, as of 2010. Can you eat Japanese knotweed? Surprisingly, you can. In Pittsburgh, knotweed grows in abundance in empty lots and along the citys rivers. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how the invasive weed is being used in culinary creations at local restaurants and urban farms. So far, knotweed has been used in sauteed dishes, honey, beer, ice pops and even desserts. How do I control Japanese knotweed? If Japanese knotweed has made a home on your property, you can control it mechanically or chemically. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources explains that cutting off the aboveground portion of the plant doesnt really solve any problems, as it will continue to grow from its underground roots. The plants energy comes from its rhizome. However, weekly mowing of the plant can wear down on its energy reserves, helping to eradicate the plant. If Japanese knotweed has become widespread and thick, digging up each plant will be time and energy-intensive. The Ohio Invasive Plants Council says that if there are only a few plants, consider digging them up, making sure to remove underground rhizomes. Dispose of the plant in plastic bags. Physical removal of the plant may have to be repeated in a single season. As for chemical control, the Ohio Invasive Plants Council says that spot application of products like Roundup or Habitat, along with repeated cuttings, can help to get rid of Japanese knotweed. Read more about chemical applications here. ODNR recommends spraying leaves, cutting the stems and spraying the plant with herbicide. A full how-to that combines mechanical and chemical control can be read on this Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources guide. Have any other tips for Japanese knotweed control and removal? Let us know in the comments section. Shropshire A Full-Time position is available for an assistant herdsperson on a family dairy farm in mid Shropshire. We have a 250 dairy herd rearing own replacements together with a b... The winners of a 'Dream Machine' competition will be taking a trip to Kuhn Farm Machinery's global headquarters and manufacturing plant in France, the company announced. Held in association with the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs (NFYFC), the Dream Machine competition was designed to encourage young farmers to design an innovative and imaginative new piece of farm machinery that would benefit modern farming systems. The four winners were announced on 7th May at the AGRI (Agriculture and Rural Issues) Forum as part of the NFYFCs Annual Convention 2016 in Blackpool. They will be taken on an expenses-paid trip to KUHNs French headquarters and manufacturing site at Saverne near Strasbourg during October, where the winners will have the opportunity to present their Dream Machine concepts to the companys head designers. They will be taken on an expenses-paid trip to KUHNs French headquarters and manufacturing site. Ben Robinson of Great Smeaton YFC in North Yorkshire won the Junior (under 16) category with his design for a trailed disc and tine cultivator for use on stony land. Bens design emphasis was to reduce cultivation costs by negating the need to power harrow. His machine is designed with two rows of sub-soiling tines, the second of which targets soil compaction caused by tractor wheels. Bens design also incorporates a final set of hydraulically operated press wheels which can double-up as transportation wheels. In the Intermediate (under 21) class, Benjamin Sell from Brentwood YFC in Essex designed a bale spike capable of safely and securely loading or unloading between one and four mini Hesston bales. Having struggled to unload several hundred bales during last years harvest with an inadequate bale spike, Ben designed the new machine to make the loading and unloading process more efficient. Bens machine features two lower rows of tine spikes, plus a third, hydraulically operated upper pair of tines which grab and secure a third row of bales. Ben intends to build his first prototype which features an anti-topple frame for when the grab isnt in use ahead of this years harvest and hopes that his design will go on to help other livestock farmers and bale contractors. In the Senior (under 26) class, Caroline Baker of Stockton YFC in County Durham designed a bale wrapper with an automatic film loading system. As a newly trained tractor driver, the weight of replacement film tubes prevented Caroline from operating a conventional bale wrapper. Her design solves this problem by using a revolving film storage conveyor with spring- loaded film holders to make films easy to load. An automated tube replacement system negates the need to load the film tubes into the wrapper by hand, with empty cartridges being automatically discharged and replaced by a full tube from the storage conveyor. In the Associate (27 years and over) category, Daniel Webber from Withleigh YFC in Devon designed a Rapid Wrap baler and wrapper combination. Daniels machine combines a conventional large square baler with an adapted version of KUHNs SW 4004 bale wrapper to produce one machine which bales and wraps in one. Daniels design is aimed at farmers and contractors looking to reduce the costs and time entailed in producing square bale haylage and silage, with an emphasis on maintaining bale quality and shape as part of a non-stop baling and wrapping process. Sian Pritchard, Managing Director of KUHN Farm Machinery (UK), said: "We have been very impressed by the amount of thought and reasoning that went into the winning entries and look forward to welcoming all four winners to our factory in Saverne. "All four of the winning Dream Machines show some excellent design features, and it is clear that the winners have a real understanding of the mechanical needs of modern farming systems. Sam Dilcock, Chairman of the AGRI steering group, expressed the NFYFCs appreciation for KUHNs sponsorship of the competition. "On behalf of the NFYFC and AGRI Forum, Id like to thank KUHN for their kind sponsorship. The competition is a great example of the way the NFYFC works to provide young farmers with opportunities to learn more about the agricultural industry and for members to share their ideas for the future with industry leaders who can bring their ideas to life. "The trip to Saverne is a fantastic opportunity for the four winners to learn more about the design and manufacturing processes involved in getting a piece of farm machinery from a design concept to a working piece of equipment. Conflicting issues around whether glyphosate is a carcinogenic hazard arose from a report in March 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which concluded that it was probably carcinogenic to humans. Andrew McShane, managing director of Hutchinsons, looks at how the role farmers are playing in the process to maintain glyphosates approval by lobbying their MEPs, has had a positive impact on the decisions made in Strasbourg. However in November 2015, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its own findings concluding glyphosate was unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard to humans. On 13th April the European parliament debated whether the glyphosate approval should be renewed although the actual decision rested with the EU Commission. UK growers were urged by the NFU to contact their MEPs to speak out on the importance of glyphosate to their businesses in the fight against yield-robbing weeds such as blackgrass, and for crop desiccation before harvest. Hutchinsons mobilized the support of their agronomy teams and their customers to also lobby extensively in support of a science based debate when reviewing the evidence regarding glyphosate. The 13th April outcome was a resolution passed in Strasbourg by 374 votes to 225 (102 abstentions) with MEPs recommending that the European Commission renew glyphosates marketing authorisation for another seven years, rather than the 15 originally proposed. Subsequently however, the EU Standing Plant Animal Food and Feed Committee (SCPAFF) could not reach a qualified majority when they voted on the re-approval of glyphosate and it now remains to be seen whether a vote will take place in the coming weeks, or whether the commission will be required to cast the deciding vote. Mr McShane outlines that the next stage of this review process is unclear. However even if the glyphosate approval lapses after 30th June, there is normally a considerable use-up period for revoked products to allow the supply chain and growers stores to be cleared in the unlikely circumstance that glyphosate was eventually revoked. Industry collaboration As a business Hutchinsons has been very committed to industry stewardship to keep what are extremely important, scientifically proven and tested products available for UK growers. It is vital to highlight the scientific evidence supporting agrochemicals. Glyphosate is a key component of the arable farmers toolbox and we have been trying hard to help industry influencers understand what impact the loss of glyphosate as a broadspectrum herbicide would have on our clients and our advisors ability to produce financially viable crops. Mr McShane points out that whilst playing an active lobbying role with fellow advisory businesses through the trade association AIC, Hutchinsons also wrote to their farmer clients to encourage them to lobby their MEPs. It is important for politicians and regulators to hear both sides of the argument on these issues and we wrote to growers to help ensure that the voice of the British farming community would be heard. Tom Bradshaw, NFU regional crops board chairman for East Anglia, received one of these letters and is delighted that Hutchinsons have actively engaged in the process. He said: This is an excellent example of the whole industry working together on a vitally important issue. We are doing all we can with the NFU to encourage members to get involved and it is reassuring that companies such as Hutchinsons are taking the matter so seriously as well and doing something about it. One farmer not only wrote to his MEP he also visited him in Brussels. Mr Sandy Wade-Gery - who runs an all arable farming estate in Bedfordshire - believes that the loss of glyphosate is one of the biggest threats to his business that he has ever faced since starting farming back in the 1970s. "It is the most valuable product on our farm and I dont think we could continue to farm without it. So we wrote to and visited our MEP for the east of England, Geoffrey van Orden, to make sure that he clearly understood what was at stake. "He took on board our concerns and he did understand them. It was reassuring to hear that the UK was better represented by bodies such as the CPA and NFU than many other countries in Europe." Mr Wade-Gerys agronomist Phillip Styles, questions if environmental groups are aware of the implications of the loss of glyphosate on current farm practices. "We would be driven to increasing our cultivations in order to manage weeds and there are all sorts of environmental issues associated with that, contributing to more greenhouse gases and soil erosion. "We would be forced to return to using older chemistry and we really dont want to do that as thats a step backwards in sustainable farming." Whilst good work has been done at this stage, the threat of glyphosate revocation has not gone away Mr McShane highlights. "We absolutely cannot afford to lose our single most important active ingredient at any level, for example, it is still unclear how pre-harvest uses will be legislated. "Hutchinsons, together with its clients and others in the agricultural community, must continue to argue the case for the retention of this essential active ingredient." Northern Ireland farmers could have the possibility of tariffs being introduced on agricultural produce if the UK voted to leave the European Union. The report, compiled by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, identifies the potential impact of a Brexit in key areas such as the economy, agriculture and the border with the Republic. It said that a post-Brexit deal between the EU and World Trade Organisation would be "hugely damaging" to farmers in NI. "No one can say for certain what our trade arrangements with the EU would be or how border arrangements with the Republic of Ireland would change, if at all," said Committee Chair Laurence Robertson. "Nor, of course, do we know what the EU will look like in, say, five or ten years time, or what the depth of the UKs involvement with the EU will be by that time." Tariffs on the scale of those currently imposed by the EU under the WTO's Most-Favoured Nation conditions would be hugely damaging to Northern Ireland farmers, the report said. "Trade within the UK would be enhanced if substantial tariffs on EU imports into GB were put in place, but exporters in sectors such as dairy would be badly affected, especially in the context of a continued global oversupply. Agreeing a free trade deal that includes agriculture would need to be a priority for the UK Government in the event of a Brexit. "That deal would need to recognise that the profile of agriculture in Northern Ireland is different from the UK as a whole and should include tariff-free exports of dairy and beef." Robertson said "voters will therefore have to make up their own minds based on whether the potential benefits of leaving the EU outweigh the perceived risks. "As we say above, it was not the Committees intention to make a recommendation either way. However, we do hope that this report will help the electorate of Northern Ireland make an informed decision." Cattle supplies are tightening and the base price for both steers and heifers is rising, according to Irish Farm Association National Livestock Chairman Angus Woods. He said factories are having to pay more to get cattle and they are prepared to do deals which include payment for transport and other bonuses. On steers, he said 4.00/4.05 is common and 4.07/4.08 has been paid. On heifers he said, 4.15 is now the common base and prices of 4.20 have been paid. He said prices for young bulls have also increased with U grades making 4.15 to 4.20 and R grades on 4.00 to 4.05. He said cows are making from 3.25 to 3.70. Angus Woods said market demand has picked up and our exports to all main markets in continental Europe are stronger for the first quarter of this year. In addition, he said international exports are up 60% with Hong Kong, the US, Switzerland and the Philippines doing well. Sales of steak cuts are doing particularly well with strong demand and reports of prices up by 1/kg on this time last year. On the live export trade, Angus Woods called for a diplomatic initiative at the highest level to conclude the negotiations on the opening of the live export trade to Turkey. He said there is a real urgency that there are no further delays in re-opening this important market. Hundreds of farmers gathered at Newford Suckler Demonstration Farm in Athenry, County Galway for an Open Day showcasing the achievements and learnings of the farms first full year of operations. The farms breeding policy is successfully producing calves which gain weight rapidly and will deliver carcass sizes that meet market requirements. Cow type at Newford differs from the norm, comprising mainly first-cross Aberdeen Angus cows, bred from the dairy herd for their excellent milk yield potential off grass, thereby minimizing the need for use of bought in concentrates. This years crop of 90 calves is on track to reach 50% of their mothers weight within 6 months, with performance helped by the recent improved weather and a surge in grass growth at the farm. Farm Manager Matthew Murphy said: The Newford system is all about driving efficiency and reducing reliance on factors farmers cannot control, like the price of bought-in feed. Encouraging farmers to focus on profitability "Everyone visiting the farm today has been impressed by how well the calves are looking and their rapid weight gain. "We are encouraging farmers to focus on the profitability and efficiency of their farm system rather than showcasing what might be a very good looking animal, but one that isnt what the market is looking for and cannot be reproduced consistently. What farmers may lose in carcass size they will more than make up for through the lower cost of production. The 56 hectare farm was established by Dawn Meats and Teagasc in 2015, with support from McDonalds and the Irish Farmers Journal, to demonstrate best practice in sustainable suckler beef production. Newford has ambitious targets to improve profitability of the herd of 100 cattle over a 5 year plan. Key targets include: - Improved profitability: Increase gross margin by over 130% in 5 years, from 495/ha in 2015 to 1,170/ha in 2020. This is more than double the 532/ha average for suckler farms according to the Teagasc eProfit monitor survey in 2014. - Reduce variable costs: Newford aims to reduce variable costs as a percentage of total output from 74% in 2015 to 45% in 2020 - Ambitious weight gain: Increase carcass weights of heifers from 280kg in 2015 to 330 kg in 2020, and from 295kg to 365kg for steers - Maximise grazing: Targeting over 200 days on grass based on a high stocking rate of 2.7 livestock units per hectare Areas for discussion The Open Day offered guided walking tours of the farm every half hour from 2pm to 7pm giving visitors the chance to see the production system in action and learn how it dealt with the impact of a difficult Spring. Representatives from key industry organizations including Bord Bia, the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, along with experts from Dawn Meats, Teagasc and the Irish Farmers Journal on site to answer farmers queries. Key areas for discussion included: - Cow Type: Cow type at Newford comprises mainly first-cross Aberdeen Angus cows, bred from the dairy herd, with a small percentage of Hereford-cross-Friesian cows. The cow type has strong maternal traits and is an efficient converter of grass to milk, resulting in good daily live weight gains in the calf crop. - Grassland Management: The high stocking rate of 2.7LU/ha puts pressure on grass demand, and attendees discussed the approach used at Newford, where growth rates hit over 100 kg DM/ha (dry matter per hectare) last week, with the farm divided into 72 grazing divisions and grass growth rates closely monitored. - Herd Health: Newfords comprehensive herd health plan was explained in detail, given the high stocking rate puts extra pressure on the herd. Given the high number of visitors to the Newford farm the importance of a good biosecurity protocol is critical. - Breeding Approach: Breeding performance is the foundation for high herd output, with Newford targeting the herd to produce more than 0.95 calves/cow/year through careful sire selection. A seven-week Artificial Insemination cycle kicked off on the 30 April. Sires are selected to achieve the right balance between calving ease and good carcass growth. - Planning and Data Gathering: Newford is working to a 5 year farm plan and careful gathering and analysis of data is a key component of successful implementation, with particular attention paid to the potential to operate the farm as a one-man unit Key Technologies Niall Browne, CEO of Dawn Meats: "The idea to establish the Newford Herd was all about sharing best practice and developing practical examples to improve the profitability and sustainability of Irish beef farming. "Dawn Meats is delighted to have supported this initiative, and the high turnout today proves that Irish farmers are not only willing to look at alternative production models, but have a real appetite to adapt their farms in order to deliver the type of animal that will give them the best return on all their hard work and investment. Professor Gerry Boyle, Director of Teagasc, said the "open day on the Newford herd at Teagasc, Athenry provided beef farmers with a great opportunity to see how the application of key technologies in relation to grassland management and best breeding management practices have on the performance of suckler beef herds. "Today farmers will get the chance to get updated on both the physical and financial performance of the Newford farm and see how, over the past 12 months, the farm has invested in infrastructure and livestock which will allow the farm achieve the ambitious targets set out in the farm plan. Adrian Crean, Managing Director of McDonalds Ireland said: At McDonalds we have a clear and ongoing commitment to responsible and sustainable sourcing globally and we aspire to be leaders in this regard. "We have bold targets agreed with our key suppliers which require active collaboration in order to reach our sustainability goals. Through the establishment of this farm at Newford, McDonalds is again demonstrating our role as an industry leader and our commitment to work with others in the industry to share best practices, collaborate and learn leading to better outcomes for farmers, our customers, local communities and the environment. Justin McCarthy, Editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, said: The Newford Herd is an excellent example of how a well run demonstration farm can promote the uptake of best practice principles among farmers. Today's farm walk has allowed farmers from across the country see a herd of cows and a beef production system that in many ways challenges the traditional approach. The openness and transparency around both the physical and financial performance of the farm will allow farmers over time to assess the merits of this system and its suitability to their own farms and also look at potential ways that labour can be taken out of the system. A series of summer arable demo days at Syngentas Innovation Centres offer an opportunity for growers and agronomists to attend and get in-field experience on the latest technical developments in the pipeline. Throughout June and July Syngenta will be opening their Innovation Centres and multiple trial Platform Sites to give people the chance to see first-hand multiple new varieties up close and in comparable situations, as well as viewing the latest new and exciting developments in the Syngenta product portfolio. Jason Tatnell, Syngentas technical indication expert, explains why this year the demo days are a must attend event. Within the arable sector there are increasing challenges that growers are coming up against. Our Innovation Centres are designed to give people the opportunity to see first-hand, new technology that can deliver at a farm level. The trial work carried out at our trial sites across the country, are designed to answer the questions growers want answered, enabling them to make informed decisions alongside their agronomists. And this year, we will be previewing our exciting, new SDHI cereal fungicide, Solatenol, which is an opportunity not to be missed, he adds. Solatenol was first discovered as a compound with huge potential in 2005. Since then its passed through a rigorous testing process, including extensive formulation testing, microscopy and biokinetic studies, and hundreds of field trials. The tremendous research and development investment has given us a complete understanding of how Solatenol works, and why in trials it consistently outperforms current market standards as a T2 fungicide, says Mr Tatnell. Trials in the UK and across Europe show very consistent results. Weve seen exceptional control of Septoria and rust across various varieties, disease pressure scenarios and geographical locations, and this is down to the technical credentials of the product. Attending one of our Innovation Centres, will allow growers to see for themselves how well Solatenol is performing at a local level, and have any questions answered by your Syngenta area manager. Average Pig Price is up 1.34p and at 119.05 is going to break the 120p barrier in the next week. German prices have just risen significantly too, even though the euro is weaker. The average European Union pig price is continuing to rise in response to seasonal influences and is within reach of last year's level. Although this is an encouraging trend, most continental producers are still operating in the red and significant contraction of the European Union breeding herd is essential in the second half of the year, if British producers are to enjoy improved returns in 2017. Russia may be poised to send a list of conditions to Brussels, for easing its phytosanitary embargo on European Union pigmeat products. If this quid pro quo approach is successful it could mean a resumption of exports of cheaper pigmeat products, such as fats, which are covered by Moscow's African swine fever ban, but are not by its broader geopolitical embargo. A rapid reduction in the volume of milk on a European level is needed, according to experts in the EU Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. Criticism was aimed at the Council and the Commission: the 500 million aid package had fizzled out completely. Instead of earmarking these funds to reduce the volume, they had pumped the money into the sector aimlessly, the European Milk Board said. Simply twiddling thumbs and hoping for a miracle was not enough to stabilise the sector, said MEP James Nicholson. Similarly the measures adopted in March by the Council for Agriculture were manifestly unlikely to encourage the member states to implement a reduction in volumes. Call for a European solution The tenor of the meeting was that a common European solution was lacking. EMB President Romuald Schaber: We in the European Milk Board are for a voluntary restraint on supply compensating less production with 30 cents a kilo from EU funds. With such backing the measure could function on a voluntary basis and would have a swift impact. The financing was not a problem, because if the intention was to cut the volume of milk by 3%, as calculated by the EU Commission, the funds required would equate roughly to the total of the super-levy in the last two years of the quota system. Via Campesina, on the other hand, called for a compulsory reduction in volumes, but likewise stressed the necessity of financial compensation for the producers. The lively discussion in the well-attended hearing room made it very clear that in view of the disastrous market situation no more time was to be lost, and instead the job had to be done properly at last. With all the criticism levelled at them, Joost Korte from the EU Commission and Minister Van Dam representing the Council also had to concede that now something had to be done quickly. Van Dam announced new measures for the next summit of the Ministers of Agriculture that could possibly be financed with further money from the Crisis Fund. Adam Siekierski, Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, summarised the hearings demands: We call on the Council and the Commission to take measures based on Article 222 to reduce volumes and back them up with funding. This he intended to present at the next plenary session and to demand from Commissioner for Agriculture Hogan. Scientists at the John Innes Centre have discovered an important component in the process of nitrogen fixation in plants. They have identified a key protein that facilitates the movement of calcium in plant cells. This movement of calcium signals to the plant that nitrogen-fixing bacteria are close by and triggers the development of nodules on its roots to house these bacteria. Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere and legumes are able to take nitrogen out of the air and incorporate it into their cells. This is possible because legumes have developed a symbiotic relationship with a particular type of soil bacteria that are housed within their roots. These bacteria take up (or fix) the nitrogen and pass it to the plant in exchange for sugars and other nutrients. This function enables legumes to grow with less nitrogen fertiliser. Professor Giles Oldroyd leads a research group at the John Innes Centre that aims to transfer the ability to fix nitrogen to other types of plants, like wheat or barley. This would increase growth and yield for these crops - particularly in developing countries where farmers have less access to nitrogen fertilisers. It has long been known that the interaction between plants and bacteria depends on movement of calcium in plant root cells. This movement of calcium takes place in the central nucleus of plant cells. New research from the John Innes Centre lead by Dr Myriam Charpentier and Professor Giles Oldroyd discovered a set of critically important proteins, called cyclic nucleotide gated channel 15s (CNGC15s), which are essential for the movement of calcium into the nucleus. They found that the CNGC15s facilitate the calcium movement into the nucleus allowing the plant to transfer the information that the nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria are nearby. This enables the plant to initiate the cellular and developmental processes that facilitate bacterial accommodation, allowing establishment of the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis and thus nitrogen fixation. Although this calcium movement is limited to the nuclei of plant cells, it has a large impact on how the whole plant will grow. Professor Oldroyd said: "This discovery demonstrates that there is a CNGC protein located at the edge of the nucleus in plant cells which controls the movement of calcium into the nucleus. This is an important step towards understanding nitrogen fixation in legumes and this understanding will help us to develop more efficient crops. Dr Charpentier said: "Although the presence of nuclear calcium signals in plants was demonstrated more than a decade ago, the exact identity of the nuclear calcium channel has remained a mystery. This research identifies the first nuclear calcium channel in plants. "Calcium signalling is not only important for symbioses but also for many other processes happening in the plant during development and in response to the environment. "Knowing the identity of the nuclear calcium channel will now enable us to better understand how plants use nuclear calcium signals to grow and respond to their environments. The paper "Nuclear-localised cyclic nucleotide gated channels mediate symbiotic calcium oscillations" is published on Friday 27 May in the journal Science. It was carried out in partnership with the University of Montpellier in France and was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the European Research Council. AHDB agrees to transfer surplus levy funds to new horticultural body Officials say the countys water plays a big part in its success By Diego Flammini Assistant Editor, North American Content Farms.com Mason County in Illinois is ranked number one in the United States when it comes to producing some specialty crops. According to the 2012 Censes of Agriculture, 583-square-mile county is ranked number one when it comes to producing popcorn (18,552 acres) green beans (3,907 acres) and vegetables (10,013 acres). The county is home to farmers who produce crops for companies including Del Monte and Weaver Popcorn, and are proud of the designation. Me, my wife and kids eat popcorn every night, Adam Shissler, who farms on 2,000 acres between Havana and Manito, and serves as the Mason County Farm Bureau president told The State Journal-Register. Some years, the popcorn wont yield that well, and whenever I feel like quitting, I think, Yeah, wed better do it, because we are No. 1 in the nation. I enjoy doing it. According to officials, its the countys water that helped it get the distinction. Doug Bailey, chief program specialist with the USDAs Farm Service Agency in Illinois said the Mahomet Aquifier, an underground water source, helps farmers irrigate fields. Sandy soil found in the county drains well and the irrigation allows more water to be added when rain isnt in the forecast. The new facility is one of only three in Australia, which allows for the export from an integrated facility of retail-ready products to consumers around the world. "In the context of this trial, growers would, at different times, be moving in and out of all of the different treatments - for example growing a number of wheat crops in a row (monoculture wheat), then switching to another cereal such as barley or oats (continuous cereal) and then a break crop or two, perhaps including a fallow (maximum diversity/maximum profit)," he said. 7 things to know about Wawa as it plans a Fayetteville location Wawa, the convenience store chain eyeing Fayetteville, has a cult-like following. What's so special about it, and what is it known for? The Legend of Tarzan is set to hit the big screen this summer as Alexander Skarsgard takes on this iconic role for the very first time. The Legend of Tarzan The Legend of Tarzan is based on the Tarzan stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and has been adapted for the big screen by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer. The movie also sees David Yates back in the director's chair. Yates is no stranger to the big budget blockbuster with Harry Potter films under his belt, but this is his first feature film since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 back in 2011. Skarsgard is set to take on the role of Tarzan and is joined on the cast list by Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Jim Broadbent, and Djimon Hounsou. It has been years since the man once known as Tarzan (Skarsgard) left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life as John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie) at his side. Now, he has been invited back to the Congo to serve as a trade emissary of Parliament, unaware that he is a pawn in a deadly convergence of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian, Leon Rom (Waltz). But those behind the murderous plot have no idea what they are about to unleash. The Legend of Tarzan is released 8th July. by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Prince Philip attended a military event in his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines yesterday (26.05.16). Prince Philip The 94-year-old royal made the short trip to Horse Guards Parade in London to attend Beating Retreat, which involved Massed Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines performing a precise drill and a musical spectacle. He took on the role as Captain General in 1953 and sources told the Daily Mail newspaper that he is "proud" his uniform still fits from that day. Celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls was among the star-studded attendees at the event, and the former territorial army member took to his Twitter account to praise the Royal Marines. He wrote: "Amazing time with the Royal Marines - so proud to be part of the family & to share today with Marmaduke as well. "Yr work is inspiring & important helping veteran & serving Marines & families. Keep going! Together we can help many (sic)" Money raised at the event goes to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity. A tweet on their official Twitter account read: "Inspired by what you saw tonight? Donate 5 by texting RNRMC to 70500 and help us to help them. Thank you! #BR16" Performance CDs were also on sale at the event for 10. Britain's Queen Elizabeth marked the 300th anniversary of the Royal Artillery on Thursday (26.05.16). Queen Elizabeth The 90-year-old monarch was greeted by a 21-gun salute as she attended the Royal Regiment of Artillery's headquarters on the edge of the Salisbury Plain, southern England. Elizabeth also praised the British Army Gunners, saying they should be "proud" of all the work they put in. She said: "In all the theatres of war and in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions throughout the world, you have served with great distinction, especially so in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. "It has indeed been a demanding period, for Gunners of all ranks and for your families who have so closely supported you. You should be rightly proud of your achievements." The queen was treated to several weaponry parades while sitting in her custom-build Range Rover alongside the Master Gunner General Sir Timothy Granville-Chapman. She was driven past armoured vehicles and other Royal Artillery equipment used in combat. The monarch also took in a cascade of rifle fire known as a "feu de joie" which was performed by six AS90 self-propelled guns. Such an event is usually performed by a line of soldiers. The Duchess of York enjoyed a relaxed ride on the London Underground this week. The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson - the ex-wife of Prince Andrew - was spotted riding on the Bakerloo Line section of the city's Tube network, and appeared to be deep in thought or even possibly asleep as she travelled on the train. Some eagle-eyed royal fans spotted the 56-year-old royal and snapped a picture of her with her eyes fairly closed. However, she was standing up, reducing the likelihood that she was following in many a commuter's footsteps by catching 40 winks on the Tube. Sarah was also clutching a handbag with her daughters' Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie's faces emblazoned on the material. And in her other hand she held onto her mobile phone. Sarah, who is affectionately known as Fergie by the British public, was recently said to have split from her Spanish internet entrepreneur boyfriend Manuel Fernandez, 48, two months ago. The duchess recently praised Queen Elizabeth, saying the 90-year-old monarch has been a "wonderful grandmother" to her daughter. Sarah said: "She's the most incredible lady I have ever met in my life. "She's the best read person, and the most wonderful grandmother to the girls." Royal fans can pay 175,000 to stay in Princess Diana's childhood home for the weekend. Princess Diana Guests will be able to sleep in the late princess' old bedroom at the Althorp estate in Northamptonshire, central England, but it will set a party of up to 18 back around 175,000, while a couple will have to fork out around 25,000 for the weekend. The home is owned by Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, and his wife, Countess Karen Spencer, came up with the idea of letting the 90-room mansion out to raise money for her charity Whole Child International. In an episode of NBC News' 'On Assignment' show, which is scheduled to air on Sunday night (29.05.16), he said: "I've always thought of this house as contributing. It's not just a little bastion or fortress of privilege." The abode has around 30 bedrooms and has been open to the public for day visitors since 1998, one year after Diana sadly died in a car crash in Paris aged 36. The late royal was buried on a small island on the 13,000-acre estate's Oval Lake. There is also a memorial nearby where visitors can pay their respects to Princes William and Harry's mother. Alesha Dixon has allegedly been banned from performing during the 'Britain's Got Talent' live final this weekend. Alesha Dixon The 37-year-old judge - who has featured on the panel since 2012 - was hoping to perform her new track 'Stop' during the show on Saturday (28.05.16) in a bid to relaunch her pop career but producers have reportedly turned her down after she sparked uproar earlier this week over "racist" remarks. A source told The Sun newspaper: "Alesha is disappointed but appreciates she can't complain too loudly. "She knows how fortunate she is being on a show of 'BGT's size so would never want to put that at risk." The brunette beauty came under fire, with some fans claiming she should be sacked, on Wednesday night (25.05.16) when she referred to Vox Fortura as "four sexy chocolate men" following their impressive performance in the semi-final heat. She said at the time: "Four sexy chocolate men, with amazing voices, polished to perfection, that was sensational." However, the quartet - which is comprised of two English men and two black Americans - were quick to jump to Alesha's defence after social networking sites blew up with uproar. The group wrote to Alesha on Twitter: "If you think we are 'four beautiful chocolate men' can't get any better than that (sic)." Vox Fortura were later dropped from the competition after losing out to the dance act Balance Unity and Beau Dermott. The 'Britain's Got Talent' final will hit screens this weekend. Mamata Banerjee was sworn in today as West Bengal's chief minister for a second term, in the biggest oath ceremony the city has seen. Political heavyweights flew to Kolkata to attend the ceremony and of course, it trended on Twitter. We take a look at five times Mamata Didi broke the internet. When she told us why rapes happen In a shocking statement in 2012, Mamata Banerjee attributed the increase in incidents of rape in the country to more free interaction between men and women. She said, Earlier if men and women would hold hands, they would get caught by parents and reprimanded, but now everything is so open. Its like an open market with open options. When she created a Facebook page for APJ Abdul Kalam In June 2012, she launched a Facebook page to gather support for APJ Abdul Kalamher partys (Trinamool Congress) choice for the presidential elections. The ruling party, UPA, had not included him on their list of proposed candidates and it came as a shock to them. After a lot of hue and cry, she finally gave her support to Pranab Mukherjee for the post. When she got someone jailed for making cartoons of her In 2012, Ambikesh Mahapatra, a professor of Jadavpur University was assaulted, arrested and forced to spend a night in police custody for allegedly circulating defamatory cartoons of Mamata Banerjee. The country erupted in his support, but Mamata Didi defended his arrest in public! She apparently said that the cartoon contained the word 'vanish' that points to a murder conspiracy and a plot supported by the CPI-M. When she called a student Maoist During a television program broadcasted by a media house in Kolkata, a student from Jadavpur University asked her about the above-mentioned professors arrest. She lost her cool and asked the student if she was a Maoist. Mamata later stormed out of the stage without answering any questions from the audience. When she protested at Jantar Mantar Mamata Banerjee took on Congress for fuel price hike and other controversial decisions by starting her agitation at Jantar Mantar in October 2012. Last year, Tamil author Perumal Murugan announced his death on his Facebook wall. The message read, Author Perumal Murugan is dead. He is no God. Hence, he will not resurrect. Hereafter, only P Murugan, a teacher, will live. The note thanked all those who had supported him and asked his publishers not to sell his books. This post came soon after protests by local Hindutva groups against the publication of his novel One Part Woman, a touching love story of a peasant couple and their struggle to bear a child. Now, the award-winning writer is back in the news with the recent translation of his 2013 novel Pyre. A poignant love story, Pyre takes us to rural Tamil Nadu where newlyweds Saroja and Kumaresan are heading to Kumaresans village after having recently eloped. The only problem: theirs is an inter-caste marriage. While Kumaresan is sure the villagers will come to love Saroja as he has, the couple soon find out that the suspicious villagers, including his own family, arent willing to let the issue lie. This is primarily a story of love struggling against intolerance. But its also a story about life in rural Tamil Nadu. From the rocks to the neem trees, Murugan vividly describes the dusty, beautiful landscape and through his characters gives us city-folk a peek into the daily struggles and joys of a different kind of life. But like all translated works, you are often left wondering if the nuances of the local language are lost in translation, a point that translator Aniruddhan Vasudevan points out in his introduction to the novel. Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts While Caitlyn Jenner sparked a global movement toward trans-acceptance, India has not lagged far behind. Just last year, the transgendered took on key roles in local politics, academia and the police force. To represent a people coming into their own, we asked Naina Singh, a 16-year-old who recently transitioned from male to female, to play muse to designer and iconoclast Manish Arora. Excerpts from our shoot. I never understood the norms that defined a distinct gender identity. I started dressing up secretly. At a young age, I learned to deceive and keep secrets. I lived in a fantasy world where I was a girl. - Naina Singh Metallic leather armour blouse, Embroidered crepe skirt and blouse, Platform wedge heels, leg harness, all Manish Arora Paris; Metal headgear, Bead-embroidered leather skull bag, both Indian by Manish Arora At a massive rally to mark the NDA government's second anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the retirement age for government doctors would be raised from 60-62 years to 65 in a bid to address the country's shortfall in trained medical practitioners. "It's difficult to make doctors in two years but poor families cannot be forced to live without them. Therefore, from Uttar Pradesh, I want to tell my countrymen that this week our Cabinet will raise the retirement age for doctors to 65, instead of 60 or 62 in some states," Modi said while emphasising the pro-poor initiatives of the his government. The rally, billed as an early start to next year's UP campaign, was the first of four planned in the state. The PM also made a strong claim to delivering a government free of corruption, as king: "Earlier, would anyone have dared stand before a crowd of lakhs and claim to be free of corruption?" There was no respite from corruption under the previous Congress governments, he said in this populous western UP town, seen as a nerve-centre for Jat and Muslim politics, the latter influenced by the famous seminary of Darul Uloom Deoband in the district. The PM's announcement on the age cap came after he appealed to doctors to attend to poor pregnant women for free on the ninth day of each month. He said this would contribute to his government's efforts to deal with illness among the poor. If you look at my work of two years, you will see one decision after the other was taken to empower the poor to fight against poverty so that they can defeat it," PM Narendra Modi said. Healthcare experts were quick to welcome the move."India has one doctor for every 1,600 persons, while WHO recommends one per 1,000 at the very least. Availability of doctors in rural areas is a bigger problem. Increasing retirement age of medical professionals is a welcome step to tide over this crisis," said K Srinath Reddy, president of Public Health Foundation of India. While Modi presented what amounted to a report card of the past two years, noting that it was around two years ago that he had taken oath of office, home minister Rajnath Singh, who accompanied him, sounded the poll bugle for the state which will see assembly elections in 2017. "For UP, 14 years of 'vanvaas' (exile) are over. Now is BJP's time," he said. Asserting that a "mood of development and hope" pervades the country , replacing what he called the "hopelessness" seen under the UPA rule earlier, Modi pitched his government as one "dedicated to the poor and farmers". Modi reached out to the local electorate, calling himself a "UP wala" who cared for farmers. He said his government had taken a series of measures to help repay the dues of sugarcane farmers, a politically important constituency in this belt of western Uttar Pradesh.His choice of words was of significance at the venue. Times View Given the severe shortage of doctors that India faces, it makes eminent sense to raise the retirement age of government doctors. In any case, in a society in which the average age and life expectancy are rising, it would be sensible to prolong the working age so that the most experienced hands in every field are not lost to the work force. But that logic applies particularly strongly in area with a shortage of skilled manpower. Next Story : Not Your Average Gift: Our Handpicked Thoughtful Diwali Gifts Ahead of an International Labour Organization (ILO) conference, a campaigner for higher wages in Asia has stressed that global clothing brands must take responsibility for the millions of workers in the continent who are poorly paid by suppliers and ignored by governments.Asia accounts for more than 60 per cent of the world's garment production, with the industry employing more than 15 million people directly, most of them women. Ahead of an International Labour Organization (ILO) conference, a campaigner for higher wages in Asia has stressed that global clothing brands must take responsibility for the millions of workers in the continent who are poorly paid by suppliers and ignored by governments. Asia accounts for more than 60 per cent of the world's garment production, with the# Anannya Bhattacharjee, a coordinator with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), a supply chain lobby group, said workers deserve a living wage because the minimum wage set by most Asian countries is inadequate to keep them out of poverty.AFWA, along with other campaigners, will lobby the ILO at its conference in Geneva next week to move forward on setting a global standard for supply chains, including for wages."The complexity of the supply chains is often used as an excuse for brands having no control over paying a living wage," Bhattacharjee told the Thomson Reuters Foundation."But brands have so much leverage with governments and suppliers, and they have the power to set prices," she said.Higher wages in China, the world's largest clothing exporter, are driving brands worldwide to seek cheaper alternatives in countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Suppliers in these countries are under enormous pressure to reduce costs and produce garments as quickly as possible.Wages in the garment industry are "structurally failing" to meet workers' basic needs, leading to excessive overtime, ill health and workers being forced to live apart from their families, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, which is a member of AFWA.Activists are calling for a living wage, which an employee earns in a standard working week and is enough to provide for a family's basic needs, including housing, education and healthcare, with some income left for emergencies.The ILO defines a living wage as a "basic human right". Yet minimum wages across Asia are well below a level that a person could live on, and are revised by governments too rarely to reflect escalating living costs, campaigners say."Global brands cannot wait for governments to raise the minimum wage to an acceptable level. They must pay the difference between the minimum wage and the living wage, as most of their profits comes from production in Asia," she said.Garment exports from Asia are worth more than $200 billion annually.Many garment workers in South Asia tend to be landless laborers or lower-caste workers who are particularly vulnerable to discrimination and are often in debt bondage.In Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the minimum wage is a fifth of the living wage estimated by AFWA, based on purchasing power parity.Working conditions and wages in South Asia's garment industry have come under greater scrutiny since the Rana Plaza disaster in April 2013 in Bangladesh, in which more than 1,100 workers died. UK's leading multi-channel brand, Debenhams has announced the appointment of Sergio Bucher, Vice President of Amazon Fashion Europe, as its new CEO with effect from October 2016. Bucher will be succeeding Michael Sharp, who will step down from his current role of Debenhams' CEO on June 24, 2016. Bucher has been serving at Amazon since 2003. Prior to this, he was the general manager retail and e-commerce of Puma. He has also served at top retail positions at Nike and Inditex. UK's leading multi-channel brand, Debenhams has announced the appointment of Sergio Bucher, Vice President of Amazon Fashion Europe, as its new CEO with effect from October 2016. Bucher will be succeeding Michael Sharp, who will step down from his current role of Debenhams' CEO on June 24, 2016. Bucher has been serving at Amazon since 2003.# Following a rigorous recruitment process with some exceptional quality candidates, Sergio's wealth of e-commerce expertise, international experience and clear leadership qualities stood out, Ian Cheshire, chairman of Debenhams commented on the appointment. I am confident we have the best possible person to realise the potential of 'new Debenhams' as a leading international multi-channel retailer with a bright future, he added. (MCJ) Fibre2Fashion News Desk - India Inkjet ink manufacturer Bordeaux will be presenting a wide range of printer specific inks and solvents at hall 5 stand B39 of the printing trade fair, Drupa to be held in Germany from May 31, 2016 to June 10, 2016, in view of its aim to offer solutions for all types of textile printing along with other applications. Bordeaux will be presenting its strategic vision of developing ink based on application needs at the fair, contrary to printing being done from ink capabilities. The company's showcase include ink solutions for all digital printing segments, ink solutions for expanded UV capabilities and solvents, UV and water based inks. Bordeaux will be presenting a wide range of printer specific inks and solvents at hall 5 stand B39 of the printing trade fair, Drupa from May 31-June 10, 2016, in view of its aim to offer solutions for all types of textile printing along with other applications. Bordeaux will be presenting its strategic vision of developing ink based on application needs.# In addition, it will also exhibit new scented coatings for document finishing, industry's first textile pigment ink for printing any type of fabric, etc. It is the first time at Drupa that Bordeaux will present a novel new product for each segment of digital printing housing all inkjet solutions under the same brand, Guy Evron, marketing director of Bordeaux said. Bordeaux is bringing a new vision and concept to Drupa. As part of our new vision to offer solutions based on the market needs, we are presenting a full range of possibilities, Evron added. (MCJ) Fibre2Fashion News Desk - India The Pakistani government has expressed concern at the huge decline in cotton crop this year which has eroded the country 's GDP growth rate for the financial year 2015-16 by 0.5 per cent.At a high-powered meeting in Islamabad to review the alarming situation, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar urged the agencies concerned to investigate the reasons for declining crop production and draw a comprehensive road map and co-ordinate efforts for achieving higher production in future.At the meeting, renowned international cotton expert Neil Foster made a detailed presentation on the cotton production potential of Pakistan. According to Foster Pakistan has the potential to achieve a production level of 20 million bales.Foster listed five major irritants in realizing the potential of cotton production in Pakistan - seed quality, disease, pests, weed and water. Urging the government to take necessary steps to remove these irritants, Foster advised the government to put in place a regulatory mechanism and legal framework for seed production and dissemination. Increasing yield was key to achieving higher level of production, he added. The Finance minister on his part assured implementation and early enactment of the Plant Breeders Rights Act and urged the concerned agencies to formulate further amendments in Seed Act in order to encourage the private sector companies. He directed the Ministry of National Food Security & Research to revitalize the Directorate of Plant Protection to ensure supply of quality pesticides in cotton growing areas. He also directed Ministry of Climate Change to strengthen the National Bio-safety Committee and its secretariat. The provincial governments were advised to swiftly implement their plans to constitute 'Pink Bollworm Strike' force well in time to ensure plant protection. The massive shortfall of cotton has forced Pakistani textile mills to import much of its requirements of cotton from various countries, including India. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Egypt and China signed a framework agreement earlier this week on to establish a zone for textile industries in the Egyptian governorate Minya.The agreement was signed between Egyptian Textile Industries Council and China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), according to Egyptian news portal Amwal Al Ghad. Egypt and China signed a framework agreement earlier this week on to establish a zone for textile industries in the Egyptian governorate Minya. The agreement was signed between Egyptian Textile Industries Council and China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), according to Egyptian news portal Amwal Al Ghad. Egypt's Industry and Foreign# Egypt's Industry and Foreign Trade Minister Tarek Qabil asserted that establishing a comprehensive zone for textiles is an important step for Egypt to reclaim its leading position in Middle East and North Africa since it has potential and wide expertise in the field of weaving and textiles.The minister made these remarks during his meeting with a delegation of Chinese businessmen headed by CNTAC's Vice-President, Gao Yong. The Chinese mission and Qabil also discussed means of enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries in textile field as well as future visions for such important industry in Egypt.Building the new zone is set to participate directly in achieving strategy of trade ministry to develop textile industry in Egypt besides enhancing the process of economic and social development by attracting more local and foreign investments.Qabil added that the Ministry agreed with Minya governor to allocate around 1.2 million square meters of land to establish the zone.He noted that the Egyptian government is paying great attention for this large project and committed to support it.Textile industries contribute 3 per cent to Egypt's GDP and accommodate around 1.2 million workers and engineers which is 30 per cent of industrial labour in Egypt, the minister said. Qabil pointed out that that the textile industry contributes 16 per cent of Egypt's non-petroleum exports with a revenue of $2.6 billion.CNTAC delegation head Gao said the visit of the Chinese mission to Egypt targets boosting mutual cooperation between two countries in the field of textiles field as Chinese firms keen on expanding their footprints. Chinese investments in Egypt's textile market are expected to increase, he said. (SH) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) programme recently announced the development of ZDHC Chemical Registry, a new online portal for chemical companies to assess a product's compliance against ZDHC's Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL). The Chemical Registry will include a comprehensive list of chemical products and an MRSL, a listing of chemicals banned from use in facilities processing textile materials and trims in apparel and footwear, conformance assessment for each. The online Registry will map products against existing chemical accreditation such as Bluesign, GOTS or OEKO-Tex STeP, and provide textile manufacturers with documentation to determine the level that a chemical product conforms with ZDHC MRSL. Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) programme recently announced the development of ZDHC Chemical Registry, a new online portal for chemical companies to assess a product's compliance against ZDHC's Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL). The Chemical Registry will include a comprehensive list of chemical products and an MRSL, a listing of# ZDHC will be working with chemical companies around the world to include their product lists in the Chemical Registry. In turn, the platform will pave the way for textile manufacturers to get clear MRSL conformance information on the chemical products they are purchasing. We're excited to be announcing the development of an open, flexible data portal to assist brands, suppliers and chemical companies assess a chemical's compliance against the MRSL. Without this type of portal, each textile manufacturer would need to assess every product from each of their chemical suppliers against the ZDHC MRSL to ensure conformance, said Frank Michel, executive director, ZDHC. The online portal will be released in August 2016. (HO) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, recently shot for Anurag Basu's Jagga Jasoos in Morocco. The ex lovers were spotted posing with their body doubles on the sets of the movie. And we must say, this is the first time Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif were spotted happy together after their break-up. See it yourself by clicking on VIEW PHOTOS below. Jagga Jasoos is produced by Anurag Basu and Ranbir Kapoor. The film revolves around a teenage detective in search of his missing father. Katrina Kaif is playing the role of Ranbir's girlfriend in the movie. Ranbir also revealed some interesting things about the movie, in an interview to a daily, "With Jagga Jasoos, Anurag Basu is trying to bring in a new genre of films to Bollywood.'' Also Read: First Birthday Picture! Shahrukh Khan's Son AbRam Celebrates His Special Day 30,000 ft In The Air! Ranbir Kapoor further added, ''And it's very interesting for me as an actor to play a young detective who stammers and is on his way to find his stepfather. It's on the landscape of an adventure film like Indiana Jones or Tintin." Coming back to Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, many people were expecting that the two would resolve their differences on Jagga Jasoos's sets. But reportedly they both don't even talk to each other. Not just that, both Ranbir and Katrina stayed in different hotels in Morocco to avoid each other. The news of their break-up came out in January this year but no official confirmation has been made yet. Picture Courtesy-Katrina Kaif Fans.org It is known that Mahesh Babu prefers to go on a holiday with his family, whenever he finds time; even if it is for a couple of days. Apparently, the Superstar has flown for a long holiday this time to UK, to make the most of his free time as well as to spend the kids' summer holidays, at a perfect destination. "The plan was etched even before the release of Brahmotsavam and it is not an escape vacation like a few media houses quoted", said a source close to the actor. PHOTOS: Mahesh Babu Holidaying In Goa With Family Since Brahmotsavam failed to perform as expected and is struggling to spin money at the ticket window, it is rumoured that Mahesh Babu is trying to ignore the distributors. "Don't blame the director for the failure, as I want to take the responsibility. It was my choice to pick director Srikanth Addala for the film and it's my error of judgement," Mahesh Babu reportedly said to his close quarters, before heading for a vacation. Mahesh will be back in the city on 20th June and might immediately shift on to the sets of his next film with A R Murugadoss. Stay tuned to this space for more updates. Holiday Diaries: Adorable Pictures Of Mahesh Babu & Family From Their Swiss Vacation After the humongous success of Baahubali The Beginning, the craze of Prabhas has spread across the boundaries. The producers are queueing to present his immediate release, after Baahubali The Conclusion. However, Prabhas has already committed to do a film for UV Creations, his home production, under the direction of Run Run Raja fame Sujeeth Sign. It is learnt that Prabhas will be playing a cop in the movie and it will be the first time we see Prabhas in a Khaki dress. PRECIOUS! 35 Rare And Unseen Pictures Of Baahubali Prabhas "While Sujeeth is preparing the script, the producers are being approached by various production houses from Mumbai and Chennai to execute the project in their respective territories," said a source quoted by a leading daily. Earlier, rumours were rife that Karan Johar has approached Prabhas to play the baddie in the franchise film, Dhoom 4. However, nothing as such shaped up. If the recent reports are any true, Prabhas and Sujeeth's movie will be made in multiple languages, which includes Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. Stay tuned to this space for more updates. Team Baahubali 2 Wrapped Up Their Latest Schedule In Kerala, See Latest Pictures Of Prabhas The City of London cemented its status as Europe's leading renminbi centre on Thursday after China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) raised Rmb3 billion ($458 million) through a three-year bond deal. The deal size may have been small by eurobond standards but the transaction was a meaningful one for both China and the UK. For China, it marks a new step in the internationalisation of its currency given the MOF has only ever issued once offshore before; in Hong Kong back in 2009. For the UK, the deal should help ensure the City of London remains the pre-eminent global financial centre at a time when financial power is shifting progressively eastwards. Bank of China and HSBC were the two lead managers for the offering, which was announced on Wednesday. In a break with recent precedent, it was also syndicated like a standard eurobond rather than priced via an auction process. The leads began securing indications of interest during Asian hours on Thursday, building up a peak order book of Rmb9.5 billion based on an indicative yield of 3.4%. Demand then fell back to Rmb8.5 billion by the time the book closed after guidance was narrowed to the final issue price of 3.28%. Pricing was benchmarked on the MOF's outstanding 2.6% June 2019 dim sum deal, which was trading on a bid/offer yield of 3.45%/32.5% on Thursday. Bankers said this price did not move during the course of the day as the deal is now fairly illiquid. Bankers said the MOF had two objectives when it came to distributing this deal. Firstly, they wanted to make sure it was allocated to international accounts and secondly they want it to remain liquid rather than become a "museum piece". They added that Chinese banks placing orders were required to specify which branch they were coming from so the ministry could pinpoint which countries bonds were being allocated to. As a result, 58% of the deal was placed into EMEA and 42% into Asia. By investor type, banks took 55%, central banks and other official institutions 41%, fund managers 3% and private banks 1%. The strong showing from central banks is also a reflection of the renminbi's growing international presence. The currency will be formally included in the IMF's basket of reserve currencies from October, which means more central banks are likely to start holding it as part of their reserves. Last month, HSBC published a survey of 77 central banks, which revealed that 56% are now holding renminbi as part of their reserves, up from only 5% four years ago. Within 10 years, reserve managers said they expect the currency to account for 10% of overall holdings. In a further sign of the currency's growing international acceptance, the deal will also be classified as Level B collateral for repo purposes under the Bank of England's Sterling Monetary Framework. The only non-European countries that also classify are Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The MOF deal follows in fairly quick succession from a debut offshore renminbi-denominated offering by the People's Bank of China, which was timed to coincide with President Xi Jinping's visit to the UK last October. That Rmb5 billion deal had a much shorter one-year tenor but built up a much bigger Rmb30 billion order book. Pricing was fixed at 3.1% compared to an indicative yield of 3.3%. The leads were HSBC and ICBC. London still has a long way to go before it can rival Hong Kong as the premier offshore renminbi centre. But it has recently managed to overtake Singapore as the world's second largest Rmb FX hub. According to Swift figures, London accounted for 6.3% of offshore activity in March, compared to 4.6% in Singapore and 72.5% in Hong Kong. However, Swift data also shows that the renminbi may be on a bumpier and longer march to global domination than the government is hoping for. Its data for April also showed that the renminbi had dropped down one place in the global rankings as a payments currency, swapping places with Canada and falling to sixth place on a market share of 1.82%. CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/26/16 -- Formation Fluid Management Inc. ("Formation Fluid") (TSX VENTURE: FFM) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") with respect to a proposed business combination with Robix Environmental Technologies, Inc. ("Robix") (CSE: RZX)(FRANKFURT: R0X). The purpose of the LOI is to reflect the desire of both parties to effect a business combination pursuant to which Robix will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Formation Fluid through a share exchange, amalgamation, plan of arrangement or such other comparable form of transaction as determined by Robix and Formation Fluid following a review of all relevant tax, corporate and securities law considerations and a due diligence review (the "Transaction"). Pursuant to the Transaction and subject to adjustment prior to the execution of a definitive agreement setting out in more detail the proposed terms of the Transaction (a "Definitive Agreement"), each outstanding Robix common share will be exchanged for one common share of the combined entity existing after completion of the Transaction (the "Resulting Issuer") and every two outstanding Formation Fluid common shares will be exchanged for one common share of the Resulting Issuer. Upon completion of the Transaction, it is anticipated that the Resulting Issuer will be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. "Combination of Formation Fluid's technology with Robix will increase the opportunities for deployment of our technology both geographically and in job scope," commented Ken Rose, President and CEO of Formation Fluid. "Our wastewater treatments technologies are cost-effective and innovative ways of delivering a new source of water, which meets or exceeds regulatory and operational requirements for reuse, surface discharge, or aquatic release. It is a perfect fit with the Robix P Series oil production platform, as energy customers are looking for a turn-key solution for their oil water separation needs and to meet regulatory specifications for engineered water." The proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to: (1) approval of the Transaction by the board of directors of Formation Fluid and Robix and any requisite shareholder approval, and (2) approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, Canadian Securities Exchange and all other regulatory bodies having jurisdiction in connection with the subject Transaction. As announced April 11, 2016 Formation Fluid has undertaken a strategic review process with Canaccord Genuity Corp., this process will continue. The Corporation cautions that there is no guarantee that the strategic review or the LOI will result in a transaction or if a transaction is undertaken, as to its terms or timing. About Formation Fluid: Formation Fluid Management Inc. has developed a three stage waste water treatment plant (Hydro-Cycle) that uses a proprietary process to clean waste water. Each plant is mobile and can process up to 1000 m3 of water per day. This system treats water to meet or exceed CCME Guidelines (Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines), resulting in reusable water that can be used for: Boilers, Frac Water, Water Floods, and Drilling Operations. Formation Fluids has identified commercial applications for the Hydro-Cycle system within the oil and gas industry. The waste water treatment system has a primary use to reduce producers' costs of dealing with produced water. The system also satisfies the need to reuse and recycle an increasing valuable resource. About Robix: The Corporation is an "industrial products/technology" company, offering to investors a unique opportunity to participate in a leading company in the business of ownership of patents, and their development from commercialization to worldwide expansion through various business arrangements. Robix owns a Clean Ocean Vessel ("COV") patent, which is an oil spill recovery vessel design with the capability to recover oil in rough and debris laden sea conditions. Robix has recognized a worldwide market opportunity for effective containment, recovery and disposal equipment, particularly in the oil spill protection industry, and it proposes to develop a business model as a service provider, and/or equipment provider under licensing agreements with other industry participants, wherein Robix will use its COV patented design solution. No stock exchange or any securities regulatory body has reviewed the contents of this news release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements in respect of the completion of binding documentation to effect the Transaction. There is no certainty that the Transaction contemplated in the non-binding LOI will be effected by a final and binding Definitive Agreement. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Corporation can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the risk that the formal documentation effecting the Transaction is not completed or accepted. There is no certainty that a Definitive Agreement effecting the business combination will be completed or accepted. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Contacts: Formation Fluid Management Inc. Ken Rose President & CEO 403-550-4421 ken.rose@fftinc.ca Formation Fluid Management Inc. Brian Anderson Chief Financial Officer 403-803-3013 ba@fftinc.ca www.fftinc.ca 2016 Japan Excellence Awards to be Presented at Annual Award Banquet on June 2, 2016 TOKYO, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Frost & Sullivan today announced the final recipients of its annual 2016 Japan Excellence Awards on May 27, 2016. This year's recipients will be honored during a reception to be organized on June 2,2016 at Tokyo American Club. Robin Joffe, Partner and President of Frost & Sullivan Japan, said that 2016 Japan Excellence Awards have identified and honored best-in-class companies that have demonstrated excellence in their respective market. "We are excited to host the annual Japan Excellence Award Banquet in Tokyo. We hope that the awards will continue to be an industry event to be looked forward to by companies based in Japan," Joffe said. "Frost & Sullivan endeavors to identify and spotlight companies that have delivered excellence in their respective industries. We believe it is important to highlight industry best practices and honor those who have accomplished remarkable achievements. We hope that the recognitions will spur companies to share best practices and strive for greater heights as well as help them continue to do their best in growing their business," Joffe said. The recipients of the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Japan Excellence Awards were selected based on in-depth research and a rigorous methodology conducted by Frost & Sullivan's analysts. The award categories offered each year are carefully reviewed and evaluated to reflect the current market landscape and include new emerging trends. The short-listed companies for the 2016 Frost & Sullivan Japan Excellence Awards were evaluated on a variety of actual market performance indicators which include revenue growth; market share and growth in market share; leadership in product innovation; marketing strategy and business development strategy. 2016 Japan Excellence Award Recipients: Recipient Company Award Title Shift Co. Ltd. 2016 Japan Logistics and Tagging Solutions Technology Innovation Leadership Award Spiber Inc. 2016 Japan Advanced Biomaterials Technology Innovation Leadership Award Chitose Laboratory Corp. 2016 Japan Clean Energy Technology Leadership Award Euglena Co., Ltd 2016 Japan Biotechnology Visionary Innovation Leadership Award DENSO CORPORATION 2016 Japan Medical Service Robots Enabling Technology Leadership Award Fujitsu Limited 2016 Japan Human-centric IoT Solutions Product Leadership Award LAC Co., Ltd. 2016 Japan Managed Security Service Provider of the Year Fortinet Japan K.K. 2016 Japan Network Security Vendor of the Year NEC Corporation 2016 Japan Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award For Software Defined Network Secure Sky Technology, Inc. 2016 Japan Growth Excellence Leadership Award for Web Application Firewall NTT Communications Corporation 2016 Japan Unified Communication-as-a-Service Provider of the Year Cisco Systems G.K. 2016 Japan Video Collaboration Vendor of the Year V-cube, Inc. 2016 Japan Web Conferencing Service Provider of the Year Panasonic System Networks Co., Ltd. 2016 Japan Competitive Strategy Innovation and Leadership Award For Video Conferencing NEC Corporation 2016 Japan Contact Center Applications Vendor of the Year Transcosmos Inc. 2016 Japan Contact Center Outsourcing Service Provider of the Year P&W Solutions Co., Ltd. 2016 Japan Workforce Management Application Vendor of the Year Spread Co.,Ltd. 2016 Asia Pacific Vertical Agriculture Visionary Innovation Leadership Award Toray Industries, Inc. 2016 Asia Pacific Smart Textile Enabling Technology Leadership Award About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. Our "Growth Partnership" supports clients by addressing these opportunities and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure. The Integrated Value Proposition provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation. provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation. The Partnership Infrastructure is entirely unique as it constructs the foundation upon which visionary innovation becomes possible. This includes our 360 degree research, comprehensive industry coverage, career best practices as well as our global footprint of more than 40 offices. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact Us: Start the discussion Join Us: Join our community Subscribe: Newsletter on "the next big thing" Register: Gain access to visionary innovation Media Contact Anna Tsuji Frost & Sullivan Japan K.K. Corporate Communications Tel: +81-(0)3-4550-2215 Email: anna.tsuji@frost.com URL: www.frostjapan.com MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - A federal jury found Google's use of Oracle Corp.'s (ORCL) Java software in its mobile products didn't violate copyright law. Oracle said it will appeal to the US Supreme Court. Oracle argued that Google had infringed its copyright and had sought almost $9 billion in damages. Oracle sued Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL, GOOG), in 2010 for using parts of Java without permission. A federal appeals court later ruled that Oracle could copyright the Java parts, but Google argued in a new trial this month that its use of Java was limited and covered by rules permitting 'fair use' of copyrighted material. 'The verdict represents a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products,' Google said in statement. 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. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese yen weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday. The yen fell to 2-day lows of 123.08 against the euro, 111.18 against the Swiss franc and 74.26 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 122.86, 110.92 and 73.97, respectively. The yen dropped to 161.42 against the pound, from an early 2-day high of 160.71. Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the yen edged down to 110.00 and 79.49 from yesterday's closing quotes of 109.76 and 79.30, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 126.00 against the euro, 113.00 against the franc, 76.00 against the kiwi, 163.00 against the pound, 113.00 against the greenback and 82.00 against the aussie. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. CUPERTINO (dpa-AFX) - Taiwanese electronics assembler Foxconn Technology Group has replaced 60,000 workers at a factory in China with robots, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. However, the company, which is a major supplier to Apple and Samsung, expects to maintain a significant workforce in China. Foxconn reportedly said it is applying robotics engineering and other innovative manufacturing technologies to replace repetitive tasks previously done by employees. The company expects the move will enable its employees to focus on higher value-added elements in the manufacturing process, such as research and development, process control and quality control. According to the South China Morning Post report, about 600 companies in the Kunshan region in China's Jiangsu province are looking to cut their workforce with robots in order to cut costs and accelerate growth. Many Taiwanese manufacturers, including Foxconn, have factories in the Kunshan region. Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., has been replacing employees with robots as part of its efforts to save money and increase profits. However, the company has also been criticized for inadequate working conditions and high rate of worker suicides at its manufacturing facilities. More companies are expected to follow Foxconn in replacing workers with robots across the globe as automation is being increasingly adopted by large corporations. Robots have replaced humans in performing repetitive and dangerous tasks. But there are widespread concerns about the increasing use of robots and their role in society. Robots are being blamed for rising unemployment as they replace workers in increasing numbers of functions. In June 2015, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and Foxconn said they have agreed to each invest 14.5 billion yen, or $118.3 million, in Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank Corp.'s (SFTBF, SFTBY) robotics business. 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. Regulatory News: Elior Group (Paris:ELIOR), one of the world's leading operators in the contracted food industry, has signed a definitive agreement through its US subsidiary, culinary management leader Elior North America, to acquire Preferred Meals, an Illinois-based provider of meals, fresh-prepared snacks and frozen-prepared snacks, entrees, and complete meals for contract catering and home delivery. In operation since 1967, Preferred Meals, which serves over 130 million meals annually in 30 states across the US, provides affordable and nutritious foodservice to niche markets, primarily those serving the education and senior markets. The company generated revenue of c. $225 million in FY 2015. "This acquisition is part of the company's 2016-2020 strategic plan to accelerate development within growing markets," said Philippe Salle, Elior Group's Chairman and CEO. "The US contract catering market offers significant opportunities, notably in the four niche segments in which we are currently positioned; the corrections, education, healthcare including seniors and premium business and industries. We intend to continue to expand there both organically and through acquisitions, and Preferred Meals fits perfectly into this strategy." Preferred Meals will continue to operate under its current brand as part of the Elior North America family of companies, and will be led by George Chivari, its current President and CEO, who will report directly to Brian Poplin, Elior North America President and CEO. All Preferred Meals' 1,600 employees will remain part of the team going forward. "The addition of Preferred Meals to our portfolio takes us deeper into markets we currently serve and expands our offerings into new areas," said Brian Poplin. "In the education market, we will now be able to supply smaller schools, many of which have no kitchen or cafeteria, with prepared meals that do not require full kitchen facilities. And in the senior market, the addition of Preferred Meals strengthens our ability to provide prepared fresh and frozen meals for senior living facilities and expand our home meal delivery distribution." The acquisition greatly enhances Elior North America's production and distribution channels, adding six strategically located production kitchens and 13 distribution centers across the US. "We are looking forward to joining the team members at Elior North America, bringing our best practices, and our shared commitment to the clients," said George Chivari. "For our employees, there is now tremendous opportunity throughout the family of companies we're joining, and for our clients, access to additional resources will allow us to invest in our infrastructure, giving us the ability to enhance our operations with new technology and culinary innovation." The transaction is expected to close in the coming days, subject to customary closing conditions. About Elior Group Founded in 1991, Elior Group has grown into one of the world's leading operators in the catering and support services industry, and is now a benchmark player in the business industry, education, healthcare, and travel markets. In FY 2014-2015, it generated 5,674 million in revenue through 18,600 restaurants and points of sale in 13 countries. Our 108,000 employees serve 4 million customers on a daily basis, taking genuine care of each and every one by providing personalized catering and service solutions to ensure an innovative customer experience. We place particular importance on corporate social responsibility and have been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2004. The professional excellence of our teams, as well as their unwavering commitment to quality and innovation and to providing best-in-class service is embodied in our corporate motto: "Time savored". For further information: http://www.eliorgroup.com Elior Group on Twitter: @Elior_Group About Elior North America Elior North America enhances the lives of the people we serve through culinary innovation and a commitment to providing exemplary service. The family of companies, with over 13,000 employees, provides food services and catering to more than 1,100 client accounts in five industry segments across the continental US. For further information: http://elior-na.com/ @Elior_Group TimeSavored View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160526006584/en/ Contacts: Press: Anna Adlewska Caroline Guilhaume, +33 (0)1 47 03 68 10 anna.adlewska@fticonsulting.com / caroline.guilhaume@fticonsulting.com or Investors: Marie de Scorbiac, +33 (0)1 40 19 51 09 marie.descorbiac@eliorgroup.com or Media: Debbie Albert, 215.283.6006 ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Ithaca Energy Inc. (TSX: IAE) (LSE: IAE) Not for Distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for Dissemination in the United States Ithaca Energy Inc. (TSX: IAE) (LSE: IAE) ("Ithaca" or the "Company") announces that the Company's Annual General Meeting ("AGM") of shareholders is to be held on 22 June 2016 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Mr Jack Lee, Non-Executive Chairman, will be retiring from the Board following the AGM, as will Mr Frank Wormsbecker (Non-Executive Director). Mr Brad Hurtubise, currently a Non-Executive Director of Ithaca, is proposed to succeed Mr Lee as Chairman. These changes will result in the number of Directors on the Board reducing from nine to seven. Les Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Jack and Frank have been on the Board of Ithaca since 2008 and 2006 respectively. Their counsel and contributions have been significant in the successful transformation of the company from a small North Sea start-up to one of the leading independent operators in the basin today. On behalf of all of the Board I would like to thank them for their contributions and wish them both the very best for the future". Annual General Meeting Notice The Company confirms that the AGM Information Circular, dated 20 May 2016, has been mailed to registered shareholders. The AGM will be held on Wednesday 22 June 2016 at 3:00pm (Calgary time) in the Strand/Tivoli Room at the Metropolitan Conference Centre, 333 - 4th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A copy of the Information Circular is available on the Company's website (www.ithacaenergy.com) and on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). About Ithaca Energy Ithaca Energy Inc. (TSX: IAE) (LSE: IAE) is a North Sea oil and gas operator focused on the delivery of lower risk growth through the appraisal and development of UK undeveloped discoveries and the exploitation of its existing UK producing asset portfolio. Ithaca's strategy is centred on generating sustainable long term shareholder value by building a highly profitable 25kboe/d North Sea oil and gas company. For further information please consult the Company's website www.ithacaenergy.com. Not for Distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for Dissemination in the United States Enquiries: Ithaca Energy Graham Forbes gforbes@ithacaenergy.com +44 (0)1224 652 151 Richard Smith rsmith@ithacaenergy.com +44 (0)1224 652 172 FTI Consulting Edward Westropp edward.westropp@fticonsulting.com +44 (0)203 727 1521 Tom Hufton tom.hufton@fticonsulting.com +44 (0)203 727 1625 Cenkos Securities Neil McDonald nmcdonald@cenkos.com +44 (0)207 397 1953 Nick Tulloch ntulloch@cenkos.com +44 (0)131 220 9772 Beth McKiernan bmckiernan@cenkos.com +44 (0)131 220 9778 RBC Capital Markets Daniel Conti daniel.conti@rbccm.com +44 (0)207 653 4000 Matthew Coakes matthew.coakes@rbccm.com +44 (0)207 653 4000 In 3 months of the year 2016, the Latvijas Gaze sold to the consumers 516 million cubic meters of natural gas. In comparison with first quarter of 2015 the amount of natural gas sales was 22% higher. The year 2016 saw a substantial price drop in the global oil markets, with influence on both the average natural gas purchase price and the annual income of Latvijas Gaze. In 3 month of 2016, the consumers were sold natural gas and provided services for 153 million EUR (previously 158 million EUR). Despite the decrease in income caused by the price drop, the EBITDA of first quarter of 2016 have substantially improved against the respective period of the previous year and amount to 41.0 million EUR (previously 31.6 million EUR). Vinsents Makaris Phone + (371) 67 369 144 E-mail: IR@lg.lv Attachment: https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=573521 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. PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX.L) announced its subsidiary, Pearl Life Holdings Limited, has entered into conditional agreements with AXA UK plc to acquire AXA Wealth's pensions and protection businesses. Phoenix said the consideration for the acquisition will be satisfied by the payment of 375 million pounds in cash, funded through a combination of the net proceeds of a placing of 22,542,000 new ordinary shares in the company and a new short-term debt facility. The acquired businesses consist of over 910,000 policies and have gross assets of 12.3 billion pounds as at 31 December 2015. Taking into account the expected cash generation from the acquisition, Phoenix expects 2.3 billion pounds of cash generation over the years 2016-2020, up from 2.0 billion pounds. Cash generation from 2021 is expected to increase to 3.4 billion pounds, up from 3.2 billion pounds. 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. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L, AZN) said that the US Food and Drug Administration has issued a Complete Response Letter or CRL regarding the New Drug Application or NDA for sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (ZS-9), the investigational medicine being developed for the treatment of hyperkalaemia (high potassium level in the blood serum) by ZS Pharma, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca. The CRL refers to observations arising from a pre-approval manufacturing inspection. The FDA also acknowledged receipt of recently-submitted data which it has yet to review. The CRL does not require the generation of new clinical data. AstraZeneca and ZS Pharma are evaluating the content of the CRL and will work closely with the FDA to determine the appropriate next steps for the NDA. AstraZeneca said it remains committed to the development of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate as a treatment option for patients with hyperkalaemia. Interactions are ongoing with other health authorities in the European Union and Australia, where sodium zirconium cyclosilicate is currently under separate regulatory review. In a separate press release, AstraZeneca announced positive results from the Phase III FALCON trial comparing Faslodex 500mg (fulvestrant) to Arimidex 1mg (anastrozole) for the treatment of locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer, in post-menopausal women who have not had prior hormonal treatment for hormone-receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer. Faslodex 500mg demonstrated superiority compared with Arimidex 1mg in FALCON, and met its primary endpoint of extended progression-free survival. The trial showed an adverse event profile generally consistent with current knowledge of the safety profile of the medicines. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Goldman Sachs (GS) is changing the way it reviews the performance of its some 36,500 employees, media reported Thursday, citing two company wide memos. The bank, considered to be a forerunner in formulating employee compensation policy, is looking to scrap a system that rated employees on a scale of 1 to 9. The system is considered to grind down employee morale. Instead, the bank is contemplating adoption of a review system focusing more on strengths and weakness. The bank is reportedly experimenting with an online system, which will serve to provide and receive continuous feedback regarding employee performance in a more timely manner. As per the memos, Goldman staffers in internal surveys requested more frequent and constructive feedback. Edith Cooper, the bank's global head of human capital management, reportedly stated that the bank will now focus on giving employees specific directives on improving their work rather than grading their previous year's performance. Goldman follows other large companies, which have shifted recently the way they track and grade workers' performance. Accenture PLC recently scrapped annual performance reviews, and opted for more-frequent check-ins between managers and employees. General Electric Co. is also testing a similar system. Gap Inc., Adobe Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have also reportedly abolished numerical ratings. 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. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Ultra Electronics Holdings plc (ULE.L) said that it agreed to sell its global ID business, Ultra Electronics ID, to private equity firm LDC, for an initial cash consideration of 22 million pounds. Additional payments of up to 3 million pounds will be made subject to earnings growth over the next two years. The proceeds will be used to reduce group indebtedness. All of the ID management team will transfer with the business. Following the divestment Ultra Electronics ID will operate as Magicard Ltd. Based in the UK with additional sales offices in US, Dubai and China, ID designs and manufactures proprietary, instant issuance card printers and associated consumables. Its products, which include direct-to-card and reverse transfer printers, are capable of printing and encoding all types of card format. The company sells its products internationally through a broad distributor network. ID will continue to operate from its existing facilities and all employees will transfer with the business. For the year ended 31 December 2015, the ID business had revenues of 19.3 million pounds and operating profit of 4.0 million pounds. The transaction is subject to US regulatory approvals. Assuming satisfaction of all closing conditions and approvals, the transaction is expected to close towards the end of the second quarter of 2016. 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. Company announcement no. 27/2016- 27 May 2016At Royal Unibrew A/S' Annual General Meeting on 27 April 2016 a resolution was adopted, following a proposal by the Board of Directors, to reduce the Company's share capital by a nominal amount of DKK 2,785,000 from nominally DKK 110,985,000 to DKK 108,200,000 by cancelling 1,392,500 treasury shares of a nominal value of DKK 2 each.The capital reduction has been implemented and registered with the Danish Business Authority today. After the reduction the Company's share capital is nominally DKK 108,200,000 divided into shares of DKK 2.The revised Articles of Association can be found on the Company's website www.royalunibrew.com under Investor, Corporate Governance.The reduction of the share capital will not affect Royal Unibrew A/S' share buy-back programme which will continue as previously announced, cf. company announcement No. 10/2016 of 1 March 2016.After the cancellation of treasury shares, the Company's holding of treasury shares represents 636,483 shares, corresponding to 1.2%.Please direct any queries to the undersigned at tel +45 56 77 15 05.Yours sincerelyRoyal Unibrew A/SLars JensenCFOAttachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=573583 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. AMMAN, Jordan, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A consortium led by Siniora Food Industries Company, a subsidiary of APIC and a leading and fast growing regional meat processing company, and Emerging Investment Partners (EIP) a Guernsey private equity fund acquired Diamond Meat Processing L.L.C (DMP) in the UAE in a deal worth USD 17 million. Prior to this acquisition, DMP was part of the Emirates Trading Agency (ETA) Star House Group, a multi-dimensional and diversified organization as a joint venture with UAE's Al Ghurair Group. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160519/370006LOGO ) Chairman of APIC and Siniora Tarek Aggad stated that this acquisition came as part of Siniora's expansionary strategy to increase its regional market share, with a focus on the GCC. Aggad added that this move is also in line with APIC's expansion and development strategy to target new markets, while simultaneously upgrading the products and services of its subsidiaries. Siniora's CEO Majdi Al-Sharif stated that there is an intention to invest in upgrading the current production lines of DMP, keep the brand name "Al-Masa" unchanged, while Siniora's brand name will be added to some products. This deal, Al-Sharif stated, is the result of close ties between Siniora and EIP's management. Siniora is a public shareholding company listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE:SNRA). Siniora enjoys dominant market shares in Palestine and Jordan and also has leading market share in Saudi Arabia. It also markets its products in the United Arab Emirates and other twelve countries in the Middle East. Siniora has two state-of-the-art factories in Jordan and Palestine, and holds international certifications for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems OHSAS 18001:2007 and Environmental Management Systems ISO14001:2004. http://www.siniorafood.com DMP is one of the UAE's leading meat processing companies based in Dubai with more than 15 years of experience and well-established local brands. The company produces more than 80 varieties of processed meat and holds both the ISO 9001:2008 and HACCP quality certifications. http://www.almasadubai.com For more information, please contact: Fida Musleh/Azar Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Manager Phone: +970(or 972)-2-297-7040 Email: fida@apic.com.jo Website: http://www.apic.ps 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. 27 May 2016 Acron Holds Annual General Meeting on 26 May 2016 The shareholder meeting approved Acron's 2015 Annual Report, accounting (financial) statements and profit and loss distribution. Acron's RAS net profit for 2015 was RUB 14,363 million. The shareholders resolved to pay (declare) dividends at the rate of RUB 180 per ordinary share. The total amount of dividends is RUB 7,296 million or 51% of RAS net profit. The record date is set for 14 June 2016. The shareholders elected Acron's Board of Directors as follows: 1. Nikolai Arutyunov 2. Vladimir Gavrikov 3. Georgy Golukhov 4. Alexander Dynkin 5. Yuri Malyshev 6. Alexander Popov 7. Vladimir Sister Three independent directors will sit on the newly elected Board of Directors - Yuri Malyshev, Vladimir Sister and Nikolai Arutyunov, who was named senior independent director. The general meeting also set the amount of remuneration to independent members of Acron's Board of Directors. Along with that, the shareholder meeting approved: Baker Tilly Russaudit as the auditor to approve accounting (financial) statements prepared in accordance with the accounting laws of the Russian Federation KPMG as the auditor to approve financial statements prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The general meeting elected the internal audit team consisting of Valentina Aleksandrova, Elena Zubrilova, Irina Klassen, Tatiana Strigalyova and Tatiana Khrapova. The annual general meeting approved amendments to Acron's Charter proposed by the Board of Directors, changing the Company's name to Public Joint Stock Company Acron. Therefore, from the date of state registration of the amended Charter and entering relevant details in the Uniform State Register of Legal Entities, the Company's name will be changed to Public Joint Stock Company Acron. Along with the Charter, the shareholders approved amended Regulation on Acron General Meeting, Regulation on Acron Board of Directors, Regulation on Acron Managing Board and Regulation on Acron Internal Audit Team. The Charter and other internal documents of the Company were amended to comply with provisions of the Civil Code and Federal Law On Joint Stock Companies. The amendments to the above documents include recommendations of the Corporate Governance Code approved by the Bank of Russia for public joint stock companies. The general meeting also resolved to approve several related-party transactions, which may be executed in future in the course of Acron's business. On the subsequent meeting of the newly elected Board of Directors Alexander Popov was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors, Vladimir Gavrikov was elected Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors, Vladimir Kunitsky was appointed CEO. The Board of Directors also formed the Managing Board consisting of Vladimir Kunitsky (Chairman of the Managing Board), CEO Adviser Ivan Antonov, Senior Vice President Oscar Valters, Finance Director Alexey Milenkov, Vice President for HR and Special Projects Irina Raber and Vice President Overseas Dmitry Khabrat. Media contacts: Tatyana Smirnova Tel.: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (Ext. 5196) Public Relations Investor contacts: Ilya Popov Tel.: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (Ext. 5252) Investor Relations Additional information: Acron Group is a leading global vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally with a diversified product portfolio consisting of complex and straight nitrogen-based fertilisers, as well as industrial products. In 2015, the Group's sales volume was 6.3 million tonnes. Acron sells its products in 60 countries. Russia and China are its key sale markets. In 2015, the Group posted consolidated revenue under IFRS of RUB 106,055 million (USD 1,740 million) and net profit of RUB 16,706 million (USD 274 million). Acron's shares are listed on the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs over 13,000 people. A high degree of vertical integration, including three chemical production facilities, a phosphate mine, a potash-mining project, wholly owned transport infrastructure and an international distribution network, create a platform for the Group's dynamic growth. Further information is available on our website at www.acron.ru/en. This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: ACRON via GlobeNewswire [HUG#2016074] B3BS5Q4R6 Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de The first operator ever to receive the prestigious award * Award is for surpassing 100,000 hours, or 50 years, of flying without an accident * Highlights company's commitment to safety and security May 27, 2016 VistaJet, the global leader in business aviation, is pleased to announce it has been honoured at the European Business Aviation Association's (EBAA) Safety of Flight Awards, where it was awarded EBAA's Diamond Safety of Flight Award. VistaJet is the first operator ever to receive the accolade, which is given to companies that surpass 50 years, or 100,000 hours, of flying without an accident. The company was recognised during a ceremony at the 2016 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2016) in Geneva, Switzerland. The achievement highlights the business' continued commitment to safety, and to putting the security and wellbeing of its customers and staff above all else. Ever since it was launched in 2004, VistaJet has placed the utmost scrutiny on operational and flight safety, in which it has continued to invest since moving its headquarters to Malta, where it provides world-class training for all of its 400+ crew members and operational staff. Since it was founded, VistaJet has actually achieved over 200,000 hours of safe operations, having flown over 210,000 passengers on more than 80,000 flights to destinations worldwide. VistaJet CCO Ian Moore receives the EBAA Diamond Safety of Flight Award from EBAA President, Brian Humphries VistaJet Chief Operating Officer Nick van der Meer said: 'Ensuring the safety of our customers is at heart of everything we do at VistaJet. We have an industry leading training programme for all our staff, and regularly review our processes to make sure we are implementing best practice. We encourage a constant dialogue between our pilots, cabin crews, operations staff, and senior leadership team, and work hard to create a culture in which people feel comfortable raising any concerns. We also place a heavy emphasis on safety through our recruitment process, and provide flight data monitoring on all of our flights, even though this is not required by law. Nothing is more important to us than the wellbeing of our customers and staff, so we are incredibly proud to be receiving the EBAA Diamond Safety of Flight Award today.' EBAA President Brian Humphries said: 'Safety is the number one priority in our industry. That's why, for several years now, we've been recognizing companies that have made safety a continuing mission, as demonstrated by outstanding, accident-free records' said EBAA President Brian Humphries. 'We extend our sincere congratulations to VistaJet for exceeding 50 years or 100,000 hours of flying without an accident, as recognized by the presentation to them, for the first time, of the EBAA Diamond Safety of Flight Award.' About VistaJet Founded in 2004 by Thomas Flohr, VistaJet has established itself as the global leader in premium long-range private jet travel by consistently providing excellent service and unrivalled quality to its fast growing clientele, connecting them to every corner of the world with point-to-point coverage. VistaJet operates a young fleet - total fleet average age is under two years - of over 60 Global(*) and Challenger(*) business aircraft and offers the industry's largest service area, covering all major markets. The Company's unique and successful business model provides all the benefits of owning a personal jet without the responsibilities or asset risk of personal ownership. News and information are available at www.vistajet.com. Information Katie Read James Leviton VistaJet International Finsbury M: +44 (0) 7834 335505 +44 207 251 3851 katie.read@vistajet.com VistaJet@finsbury.com Ian Moore receives EBAA Diamond Safety of Flight Award: http://hugin.info/172518/R/2016013/747603.jpeg Press Release (PDF): http://hugin.info/172518/R/2016013/747604.pdf This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: VistaJet International via GlobeNewswire [HUG#2016013] N Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The euro weakened against the other major currencies in the early European session on Friday. The euro fell to a 2-day low of 1.5468 against the Australian dollar, from an early high of 1.5504. Against the pound and the yen, the euro dropped to 0.7612 and 122.58 from an early 3-day high of 0.7640 and a 2-day high of 123.08, respectively. Against the U.S. dollar and the Swiss franc, the euro edged down to 1.1175 and 1.1063 from early highs of 1.1200 and 1.1079, respectively. If the euro extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.51 against the aussie, 0.74 against the pound, 121.00 against the yen, 1.09 against the greenback and 1.09 against the Swiss franc. 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. Eimskip has decided to alter its organizational structure in order to align it to changes in the company's operational environment and increased international activities. The changes will be effective as from 1 June 2016.Eimskip has in recent months invested in companies both in Iceland and abroad and therefore it is essential to adapt the company's structure to new times and increased growth. At the same time as investments are made, it is necessary to secure efficiency of the companies that Eimskip has invested in, by increasing focus on harmonizing the human resource policies and the corporate culture within Eimskip.The main alteration is the creation of a new division of Human Resources, intended to coordinate the company's human resource strategy and corporate culture in all countries where Eimskip operates. Human Resources will be managed by Elin Hjalmsdottir, who will become a member of the Executive Management of the company.The executive management of International Operations and Logistics, managed by Bragi or Marinosson, will move to the Netherlands in order to follow up on the investments that have been made, along with the ones that are pending.The Ship Management will be incorporated into the Finance and Operation. Asbjorn Skulason will continue as a managing director of the German company Eimskip & KCie with residence in Germany. Eimskip & KCie is responsible for ship operation, maintenance and renewal of Eimskip's vessel fleet.The Corporate Office will be responsible for legal matters, marketing, communication and events, along with investor relations and integration of projects related to possible investments.The company will be divided into these five main divisions, managed by the President and CEO, Gylfi Sigfusson:Finance and Operation where Hilmar Petur Valgardsson is Executive Vice President. Finance and Operation is responsible for financial management of Eimskip internationally, insurances and properties, operation of information systems, along with ship management which will now be a part of this division.North Atlantic Container Liner Services where Matthias Matthiasson is Vice President. North Atlantic Container Liner Services is responsible for sales and services related to the container liner services, as well as production management.Iceland Domestic Operations and Services where Gudmundur Nikulasson is Vice President. Iceland Domestic Operations and Services is responsible for operation of the domestic system in Iceland, i.e. offices around Iceland and operation of ports and terminals, trucking system, warehouses, cold storage facilities and ferries.International Operations and Logistics where Bragi Thor Marinosson is Executive Vice President. International Operations and Logistics is responsible for operation of Eimskip companies outside of Iceland and transport services worldwide. Its head office will be located in the Netherlands.Human Resources where Elin Hjalmsdottir will become a new Vice President. Human Resources is responsible for strategic planning, execution and follow up on Eimskip's Human Resource matters worldwide.Elin has been working for Eimskip since 2004 and started with matters relating to remuneration and later recruitment. She was appointed manager of Human Resources in 2006 and in 2008 she became senior manager of Human Resources in Iceland. Following organizational changes in 2009 she became senior manager of Human Resources of Eimskip.Elin received a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration in 2002 and an MBA degree in 2005 from Reykjavik University.Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=573592 ST. ANTHONY, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- The Ministerial Advisory Panel is holding a public consultation meeting in St. Anthony to gather public opinion on the Last In, First Out (LIFO) policy for the Northern shrimp fishery. Date: May 28, 2016 Time: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion #17, 37 East St. Paul Sprout, Chair of the Panel, will be available to media onsite at the conclusion of the meeting. External Review of the Last In, First Out Policy on Northern Shrimp Contacts: Paul Sprout Chair, Ministerial Advisory Panel 250-618-9035 SES S.A. (Euronext Paris:SESG) (LuxX:SESG) announces the completion of the capital raising to fund the acquisition of the remaining shares in O3b Networks, as announced 26 May 2016. The total gross proceeds from the capital raising amounts to EUR 908.8 million. SES will issue 39,857,600 million new Fiduciary Depositary Receipts (FDRs) at a price of EUR 19.0. The number of new FDRs represents 11.6% of the existing number of total Class A shares. The Private Placement ("The Placement") is part of a capital increase in which the existing Class B shareholders (Banque et Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat, Societe Nationale de Credit et d'Investissement and Etat du Grand-Duche de Luxembourg) have agreed to subscribe for 19,928,800 newly-issued Class B shares, pro rata to their existing holding of Class B shares, as is necessary to maintain the ratio of 1:2 with the Class A shares, as provided in SES's articles of association. These new shares will rank pari passu with the existing A-shares and B-shares. Class B shares have 40% of the economic rights of Class A shares. As a result of the capital raising, the total number of shares will increase from 515.40 million to 575.19 million, and the total number of economic shares will increase from 412.32 million to 460.15 million. SES will use the proceeds raised to fund the total consideration of USD 730 million to increase its ownership of O3b to 100%. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals which are expected to be completed during H2 2016. SES will also use around USD 300 million to repay O3b's most expensive debt facilities, leading to a reduction in annual financing costs after initially covering any repayment charges. The settlement-delivery and the admission of the new FDRs on Euronext Paris and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (on the same line as SES's existing shares, ISIN Code: LU0088087324) is expected to take place on 31 May 2016. A Listing Prospectus is expected to be approved by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in advance of settlement. Disclaimer "Safe Harbor" Statement This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities referred to in this press release have not been, and will not be, registered under the US Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under such Act. This press release does not, in any jurisdiction, and in particular not in the U.S., constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, any offer for sale of, or solicitation of any offer to buy, or any investment advice in connection with, any securities of SES nor should it or any part of it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or commitment whatsoever. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made by SES, its directors, officers or advisors or any other person as to the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the information or opinions contained in this press release, and any reliance you place on them will be at your sole risk. Without prejudice to the foregoing, none of SES or its directors, officers or advisors accept any liability whatsoever for any loss however arising, directly or indirectly, from use of this presentation or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. This press release includes "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding SES's financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development plans and objectives relating to SES products and services) are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of SES to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding SES and its subsidiaries and affiliates, present and future business strategies and the environment in which SES will operate in the future and such assumptions may or may not prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. SES and its directors, officers and advisors do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005178/en/ Contacts: SES Mark Roberts Investor Relations Tel. +352 710 725 490 Mark.Roberts@ses.com or Markus Payer Corporate Communications Tel. +352 710 725 500 Markus.Payer@ses.com ST HELIER, Jersey, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Consmin, a leading manganese ore producer with mining operations in Australia and Ghana, announces its first quarter results for the period ending 31 March 2016. Commenting on the results, David Slater (CFO of Consmin) said: "During the quarter Consmin's operational performance was adversely impacted by a 45% reduction in Group production compared to the corresponding period in 2015.This was driven by an 81% reduction in Australian ore production as a result of the Company's decision to suspend operations at the Woodie Woodie mine with effect from 2nd February 2016 and commence the transition into care and maintenance. The manganese C1 unit cash cost for the quarter was $1.74/dmtu, an improvement of 12% from $1.97/dmtu for Q1 2015, which was largely driven by the Group C1 cash unit cost only including Australian C1 cash unit costs for the period up to 2nd February 2016. The company's manganese ore shipments totalled 490k dry tonnes during Q1 2016, a decrease of 15% compared to Q1 2015. Shipments of Australian manganese ore in Q1 2016 were only 72k dry tonnes, a decrease of 80% compared to Q1 2015 due to the company's decision to suspend operations at the Woodie Woodie mine at the beginning of February 2016 and due to the poor pricing levels seen during the first quarter. Sales tonnes from Ghana were however 97% higher than in Q1 2015, which had been negatively impacted following the termination of the TMI contract in the second half of 2014. The quarterly average price for manganese lump (CRU, 44%Mn CIF China) in Q1 2016 was $2.07/dmtu, a decrease of 46% from $3.83/dmtu in Q1 2015 and also down 17% from $2.48/dmtu in Q4 2015. By the end of April, manganese prices had more than doubled compared to February 2016 prices as supply curtailments and reduced imports led to a very substantial drawdown of China's port stocks. This along with a moderate improvement in steel prices gave traders and suppliers the ability to push up prices aggressively due to a shortage of immediately available ore in China. The company has taken this opportunity to contract its stockpiled Australian manganese ore for Q2 shipments at substantially increased prices from that seen during Q1 2016. Despite the recent improvement in manganese ore prices the pricing outlook remains unclear due to the uncertainty over whether the recent improved steel performance will continue, and whether major seaborne ore suppliers continue to show supply discipline. The company continues to believe that prices seen in January and February 2016 were too low to be sustainable, however, the Company remains cautious about the current strength in ore prices which may entice marginal suppliers to re-enter the market, exerting downward pressure on prices. Although the Company ended 2015 with net cash and cash equivalents of $76 million, the weakness of pricing for manganese ore in the first quarter, as well as the costs associated with placing the Woodie Woodie mine into care and maintenance have put further pressure on liquidity, with the Company's net cash and cash equivalents having reduced to US$39 million at 31 March 2016. As a result of the level and speed of depletion of the Group's cash balances during Q1 2016 the Company announced on 8 March 2016 that it anticipated discussions with holders of the 8.000% Senior Secured Notes due May 15, 2020 regarding these Notes. Discussions with the noteholders representatives commenced in April 2016 and are continuing with a view to implement a solution to improve the Company's liquidity." About Consolidated Minerals Limited Consmin is a leading manganese ore producer within mining operations in Australia and Ghana. The principal activities of the Company and its subsidiaries (the "Group") are the exploration, mining, processing and sale of manganese products. The Group's operations are primarily conducted through four major operating/trading subsidiaries; Consolidated Minerals Pty Limited (Australia), Ghana Manganese Company Limited (Ghana), Manganese Trading Limited (Jersey) and Pilbara Trading Limited (Jersey). Consolidated Minerals Limited is headquartered in Jersey and the address of its office is Commercial House, 3 Commercial Street, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, JE2 3RU. Company Information For further information, please visit our website http://www.consmin.com The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a report calling for specific measures to encourage renewable self-generation and consumption. Delivering a New Deal for Energy Consumers highlights the obstacles that prevent consumers from taking full advantage of the ongoing energy transition to better manage their consumption and lower their energy bills. As a solution, it outlines a three-pillar strategy to overcome the hurdles: To provide clearer information on energy bills (prices, consumption and taxes); improve price comparison and encourage people to switch suppliers. It also calls for facilitating demand response by making energy markets send stronger price signals to consumers; fostering decentralized power generation; guaranteeing consumer protection from unfair commercial practices; and tackling the problem of energy poverty.To make smart homes and networks a reality by, among other things, deploying an advanced metering infrastructure (smart meters) as a necessary first step towards integrated smart home energy management systems that make full use of smart appliances. The EU has a role to play here in ensuring common standards, technical interoperability and consumer access, as well as financing research on smart energy systems and new technologies. To pay special attention to data management and protection ... 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. Exclusive Privileges for Expanded 2018 Show at MITEC KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF), Southeast Asia's largest annual industry trade show, returns from March 8-11 next year and exhibitors taking part will enjoy exclusive privileges for the bigger 2018 show at the newMalaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC). Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372910 Logo- http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121014/HK92339LOGO-d Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372911LOGO The 2017 fair will be held again at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) and Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC) marking the 23rd year of MIFF in business and continued growth as the region's most prominent global furniture sourcing centre for buying professionals from 140 countries and regions. Highlights of MIFF 2017 include the designation of its office furniture segment as MIFF Officeto underline its status as the largest one-stop showroom for office furniture in the region, according to show organiser, UBM Malaysia. In 2018, MIFF willexpand by25% to 100,000 square metres with MITEC as a co-venue with PWTC. The show is traditionally held in March. Dato' Dzulkifli Mahmud, CEO of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, welcomes MIFF's expansion. "MIFF is the longest serving international furniture fair and recognised as the largest furniture related industry event in the region. The MIFF brand has become synonymous with international buyers to Malaysia. MIFF has been taking place at PWTC, and for over a decade also at the current MATRADE venue, indoor and outdoor. We look forward to MIFF 2018 expanding further in March, by occupying the exhibition space at MITEC as soon as the new venue is ready," he said. MIFF General Manager Ms Karen Goi said with MITEC, the show will finally be able to offer larger booth space and even better facilities to exhibitors and visitors in 2018. "As a thank-you for their continued support, exhibitors taking part in 2017 stand to receive priority in selecting their location and special booth package in MITEC in 2018. Our hard work to make the show even better every year is rewarded by the high 80% rate of returning exhibitors and very good number of first time buyers." MIFF achieved record sales of US$908 million this year with 500 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions, and a turnout of nearly 20,000 trade visitors. The show was also the launch platform for the UBM-Alibaba B2B strategic alliance to start a new generation of O2O (online-to-offline) trade experience for global furniture buyers. Booking of exhibition space and more information on MIFF are available on www.miff.com.my Notes to Editors About MIFF (www.miff.com.my) Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) is an export-oriented furniture trade show held annually in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is also a global leading trade show approved by UFI, The Global Association for Exhibition Industry. Since 1995, MIFF has nurtured invaluable partnerships between thousands of buyers and furniture makers across the globe. 27 May 2016 GB00B28PL749 Early Equity PLC ("Early Equity" or "the Company") Board Appointment Early Equity is pleased to announce the appointment of Tee Lian Hing (Barry) as Sales and Marketing Director of the Company. Barry, aged 53, has over 25 years experience in corporate marketing having worked with UMW Equipment Sdn Bhd and other large international companies across diverse industries. Barry will work closely with Yicom Global Sdn Bhd (Yicom), in which Early Equity has a stake of 32.14% and develop a closer working relationship between the companies. Barry will help to develop sales and marketing strategies, brand planning and business-development strategies for Yicom Global Sdn Bhd to further expand the sales volume for their health supplement products and drive revenue growth in Malaysia and the Asia Pacific Region. Tee Lian Hing does not hold any directorships and has not been a partner in any partnerships within the five years prior to the date of this announcement: The directors of Early Equity Plc accept responsibility for this announcement. For further information please contact: Greg Collier Tel: +44 7830 182501 ISDX CORPORATE ADVISER: AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX) - Philips Lighting, the splinter group of Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips (PHG), saw its shares rally around 8.50 percent on its debut on Friday at the Amsterdam stock exchange. The shares are currently at 21.70 euros, above its set pricing of 20 euros per share. Philips raised around 750 million euros in the initial public offering of its lighting business. The 37.5 million share IPO was planned after an unsuccessful bid to close a private sale of the whole business. While setting the IPO price, Royal Philips Chief Executive Officer Frans van Houten said in the statement, 'I am pleased with the response of investors towards Philips Lighting and the successful pricing of the IPO. This strategic milestone will allow Royal Philips to focus on the fast-growing health technology market.' The offer price of 20 euros per share implied a market capitalization of 3 billion euros for the Lighting division as a standalone company, or an enterprise value of 4.5 billion euros including debt, the statement read. The offer price was slightly below the mid-point of the 18.50 euros to 22.50 euros range set earlier. Shares began trading on the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam on Friday under the symbol 'LIGHT.' Following closing of the offering and assuming full exercise of the over-allotment option, Philips will retain 71.25% of the Shares. The IPO announced on May 3rd consisted offering of existing shares only held by Philips, the current sole shareholder of Philips Lighting. The lighting division, which dates back to 1891, reported 547 million euros in profit in 2015 and had 7.47 billion euros in sales. Philips Lighting, which produces conventional lights and light emitting diodes, or LEDs, competes with Osram Licht AG, spun off from Siemens AG, and General Electric Co. After the IPO Philips Lighting reportedly will be the world's largest independent lighting maker. Closing and settlement of the offering and the start of unconditional trading in the Philips Lighting shares is expected to take place on May 31. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de NEW YORK, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the latest market report published by Persistence Market Research, Global demand forbromine marketwill reach 483 kilo metric tons (KMT) in 2016, up from 470 KMT in 2015. Demand will be impeded by growing regulation and legislation, especially in the European Union (EU), where the use of certain brominated flame retardants is banned or restricted. Flame retardants will continue to remain the largest application segment, accounting for 203 KMT volume in 2016, a y-o-y increase of 2.8% over 2015. Use of bromine in oil and gas drilling will continue its upward momentum in 2016, growing at 4.3% in terms of volume - the fastest among all the application segments. The chemicals industry will remain the largest consumer of bromine, accounting for 292 KMT volume in 2016, representing market value worth 1,284 Mn. Use of bromine in the oil and gas sector will also continue to witness steady growth, as clear brine fluids gain traction for drilling purposes. Demand will be offset by sluggish adoption in the electronics industry, as use of brominated flame retardants continues to face stricter regulations. Demand for bromine from electronics sector will witness a growth rate of 2.1% in 2016 over 2015. To View Full Report with TOC: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/bromine-market.asp Asia Pacific will remain the largest market for bromine, representing annual revenues worth US$ 1,087 Mn in 2016, up from 895 Mn in 2015. This is primarily due to expansion of end-use industries such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and electronic in APAC. Latin America will continue to offer growth opportunities to manufacturers, with global demand witnessing a 2.0% volume growth in 2016 over 2015. Demand will face constraints in the mature markets of North America and Western Europe in 2016 as well. Israel Chemicals Limited, Chemtura Corporation, Albemarle Corporation, Gulf Resources Inc., Tosoh Corporation, Tetra Technologies Inc., Tata Chemicals Limited and Hindustan Salts Limited are the key players in the market. Top players are continuously focusing on expanding their product offerings, especially in flame retardants segments. Collaborations and joint ventures are key business strategies to develop green brominated flame retardants. To Get Free Brochure of the Report:http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/4274 Long-term Outlook:PMR projects the global bromine market to witness moderate growth during the forecast period 2016-2024. APAC will continue to remain the largest market for bromine, growing at 4.1% revenue CAGR during the forecast period. Related Report: Global Market Study on Bitumen -http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/bitumen-market.asp About Us: Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance. To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes. 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 TUSTIN, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Premier Holding Corporation (OTCQB: PRHL) today announced that its subsidiary, The Power Company (TPC), set a record for the number of people completing its sales training program in the month of April. TPC experienced a 50% increase in trainees over the same time last year. Managing Director, Patrick Farah, said: "We have always been proud of the quality of people we attract and the level of detail of our sales training. Now apparently the word is out, because there has never been a greater demand for a sales position within our company. All sales are personal, and it begins with the relationship between the company and its team. When that relationship is solid, it cannot help but show up in the quality of life of the staff, and in the level of their performance." Salesperson Emma said: "I love the fact that the hours here are flexible & that what you put in is what you get out. I started working here a little bit over a year now. I honestly love my job; never was I ever able to make as much money as I do now. This job has helped me so much financially." Giovanni said: "I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to make the money that I am making and do the things that I am doing. Outside of making money, working here has improved me as a person. I always wanted to travel and The Power Company has given me the chance to pursue that dream. I have been to Miami and Las Vegas in the last two years; prior to those two trips I had never stepped foot in an airplane." Louis said: "I can provide a lot more for my family now compared to how it used to be. I know with The Power Company that they can help me provide even more for my family in the future. This business and company can be life changing. I'm in a position where I thought it would take me many years to get to, but yet I accomplished so much in this year and a half. I've said it once and I'll say it again, this career path that I'm on with The Power Company is a blessing." Jasmine said: "Since working here I have grown financially and it allows me to help take care of my household. TPC has helped me fund a one-on-one mentoring girls program. I touch on topics on how to be virtuous young lady, and empower them about being a leader in the corporate arena. Also, I bought new car last year, and I am currently in the process of buying a new home for myself." Chairman and CEO of Premier, Randall Letcavage, adds: "The wonderful corporate culture we have built is most obvious within the sales organization at TPC, but it is equally true throughout our organization from our offices in California, across the country to our offices in New York. And as we expand into Canada and deeper within the US we expect our culture of cooperation, professionalism, and compassion to grow as our company grows." Premier Holding Corp. Safe Harbor This press release contains certain statements that may include "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "anticipate," "optimistic," "intend," "will" or other similar expressions. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Company's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website at http://www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements. About Premier Holding Corporation The Company provides financial support and management expertise, which includes access to capital, financing, legal, insurance, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and management strategies. The Company's mission is to acquire clean technology companies and/or green products and services that are accretive and that can be seamlessly integrated and utilize the overall economics of such products and services for the benefit of its customers. Through subsidiaries we offer renewable energy production, energy efficiency products and services to commercial middle-market companies, Fortune 500 brands, developers and management companies of large-scale residential developments. Additional integrated business offerings include direct energy services as power purchase agreements (PPAs), energy financing and leasing of generation programs in urban and rural real estate environments, lighting efficiency systems and refrigeration systems. For more information, visit PRHL Investors Relations: www.prhlcorp.com. About The Power Company (TPC) The Power Company USA, LLC is a professional energy services firm offering brokerage and consulting services with a progressive and unique perspective on energy management based in Chicago, Illinois. Their mission is to assist companies in reducing and managing their electricity expenses. Their diverse portfolio of energy providers, transparent pricing, and unparalleled industry experience offers customers the freedom of exploring all of their options for choosing the best plan and provider. Operating in all currently deregulated states, including Texas, New York and Illinois, TPC and its partners/suppliers have provided an invaluable service to its clients. Their team has consulted and/or serviced such prominent companies, organizations and governmental entities such as: The City of Dallas, Ralcorp, Choice Hotels, Apex Hospital Systems, Mercedes Dealerships, Leona's Restaurant Group, McDonald's, and many others. Because of the large amount of business transacted and their long-standing relationships with Regional Energy Suppliers, TPC is assured to provide the most competitive prices in the industry. For more information, visit: www.thepowercompany.com Contact Information For more information contact: Megan Samson (949) 260-8070 msamson@prhlcorp.com NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- On Wednesday, June 1, PVBLIC Foundation, in conjunction with the United Nations Office for Partnerships, will host the third annual Media for Social Impact (MFSI) Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The 2016 Media for Social Impact Summit aims to promote cross-sector collaboration across media organizations and industries in order to tackle the world's most critical issues. The distinguished guests of the 2016 Summit will engage in a series of keynotes, panel and roundtable discussions, and interviews, directed toward using media to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This year's summit will unite top executives of leading media companies, advertising firms, and creative agencies with UN delegates and communications experts. MFSI will address an array of topics and speakers through interviews with top media specialists Jacki Kelley and Terre Blair of Bloomberg L.P. and transgender fashion model Geena Rocero, as well as a number of case studies on media campaigns including Love has no Labels, AngryBirdsHappyPlanet, UNICEF's campaign for ending violence against children in Malawi, and Youth 4 Global Goals. This year's Media for Social Impact Award will be presented to the Ad Council for their Love has no Labels campaign as well as to the filmmakers of the Under the Gun Film. The 2016 Media for Social Impact Summit is invitation only, and registration will close at 6pm EDT on Sunday, May 29. To request an invitation or learn more about the Media for Social Impact Summit and how you can use media to impact the world, please visit: http://www.mediaforsocialimpact.org. About PVBLIC Foundation: PVBLIC Foundation is an innovative non-profit media agency that harnesses the power of media to drive social change. An aggregator of media across all platforms, PVBLIC works strategically to pair media space with key non-profits at the local, national and global levels. We utilize existing and emerging technologies to increase issue awareness around important causes and help non-profits amplify their message. At PVBLIC, we believe that media is the new currency. @PVBLICF or visit www.pvblic.org ** News, Media, PR and Content distribution provided by 1-800-PublicRelations, Inc. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3013884 Media contact: Karolina Piotrowska Communications and Media Relations PVBLIC Foundation Press@pvblic.org VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 27, 2016) - LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. (TSX VENTURE: LMD) (OTCQX: LEDIF) (FRANKFURT: LME) ("LED Medical" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, reported in United States dollars and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). The Company's results are presented in comparison to the first quarter ended March 31, 2015. All balances are expressed in United States dollars unless otherwise stated. Financial Highlights Net revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $2,153,250, which is a decrease of 12% from the three months ended March 31, 2015. This revenue decrease was largely due to timing of when imaging orders were received and could be shipped partially offset by higher demand for VELscope and VELscope Vx consumable sales. The net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2016 was $2,051,827 compared to the operating loss for the three months ended March 31, 2015 of $1,489,924. The increase of operating loss is mainly attributable to higher sales and marketing expenses than in 2015, higher stock option expenses resulting from the February grants and the absence of gains on the fair value of Canadian warrants. The Company had cash of $1,184,912. Cash flow used in operations was $684,826 during the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared to cash flow used in operations of $3,268,976 during the three months ended March 31, 2015. There were no inflows from financing for the three months ended March 31, 2016 as compared to $2,070,229 of cash inflows from the financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2015. Financial Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis Please see the interim condensed financial statements and related Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) for more details. The interim condensed financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and related MD&A have been reviewed and approved by the Company's Audit Committee and Board of Directors. The Company has prepared this truncated news release to alert investors to its results and that a more detailed explanation and analysis is readily available in the MD&A. These reports have been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and also posted to www.ledmd.com. About LED Medical Diagnostics Inc. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, LED Medical Diagnostics Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiaries LED Dental Inc. and LED Dental Ltd, provide dentists and oral health specialists with advanced diagnostic imaging products and software, in addition to the award-winning VELscope Vx tissue fluorescence visualization technology. Backed by an experienced leadership team and dedicated to a higher level of service and support, LED Dental is committed to providing dental practitioners with the best technology available by identifying and adding leading products to its growing portfolio. The Company is currently listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol "LMD", the OTCQX under the symbol "LEDIF", as well as the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "LME". For more information, call 844.952.7327 or visit www.leddental.com/investor-relations. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains statements which, to the extent that they are not recitations of historical fact, may constitute forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements or information include statements regarding, but not limited to the Company's future growth strategy, its distribution strategy and product offerings, potential expansion of the Company's technology to other medical applications or markets, or the potential introduction of new technologies by the Company. Persons reading this press release are cautioned that such statements or information are only predictions, and that the Corporation's actual future results or performance may be materially different. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to competition risks, distributor risks, product development risks such as regulatory, design, intellectual property and other factors described in the Corporation's reports filed on SEDAR including its Annual Information Form and financial report for the year ended December 31, 2015. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by this cautionary statement and there can be no assurance that actual results or developments anticipated by the Company will be realized. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Investor Relations: Bristol Capital Glen Akselrod Phone: 905.326.1888 ext 10 Email: glen@bristolir.com Media Contact: LED Dental Chris Koch Phone: 678.293.9413 Email: chris.koch@leddental.com Corporate Contact: LED Medical David Gane CEO Phone: 604-434-4614 x227 Email: david.gane@leddental.com Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE /Euronext Paris: PM) announced today a major new initiative "PMI IMPACT" to help confront smuggling and related crimes. The centerpiece of PMI IMPACT is a prestigious council of external independent experts whose seven members have impeccable credentials in the fields of law, anti-corruption and law enforcement. The experts will oversee grants to enable innovation in three key areas in the fight against smuggling and related crimes research, education and awareness, and action. PMI IMPACT will issue a request for funding proposals later this year. Proposals can come from private, public, or non-governmental organizations. PMI has pledged USD 100 million to fund the first three rounds of grants. "Progress against illegal trade requires ideas, resources, and actions and that's why we're excited to launch PMI IMPACT. We're especially grateful that distinguished experts have agreed to guide this effort and look forward to broad response to the upcoming request for proposals. In parallel, PMI is continuing to control its own supply chain and to support international protocols against illicit trade," stated AndreCalantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer of PMI. Illegal trade is an entrenched phenomenon that depends on and sustains extensive criminal activity. Estimates put the total retail value of illegally traded goods at USD 650 billion, with active black markets for countless products, ranging from pharmaceuticals, food, and tobacco to weapons and wildlife. The most atrocious of all illegal trade, human trafficking, is beyond any financial estimate. Commenting on PMI IMPACT, expert council member and former Senior Prosecutor for the US Department of Justice, Suzanne Hayden stated: "Illegal trade thrives today, in part, because of a loose alliance of criminal networks that operate with impunity and take advantage of open borders, corrupt officials, disparate legal systems and under-resourced enforcement. We on the Council look forward to reviewing proposals for innovative and creative solutions from public and private alliances to tackle the problems created by global illegal trade." Despite much progress, there is still significant illegal trade in many types of tobacco products. For criminals, there is often more profit and less risk in smuggling tobacco than, for example, illegal drugs. According to PMI IMPACT council member Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was the first Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court: "Tobacco is controlled by state regulations; stopping smuggling is the way to enforce the regulations." PMI IMPACT is one of several major programs that the company supports to promote sustainable business practices and address complex social problems. The company is also a signatory of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. More information on PMI IMPACT is available online at http://www.pmi-impact.com/. About Philip Morris International Inc. ("PMI") PMI is the world's leading international tobacco company, with six of the world's top 15 international brands and products sold in more than 180 markets. In addition to the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, including Marlboro, the number one global cigarette brand, and other tobacco products, PMI is engaged in the development and commercialization of Reduced-Risk Products ("RRPs"). RRPs is the term PMI uses to refer to products with the potential to reduce individual risk and population harm in comparison to smoking cigarettes. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities, and industry-leading scientific substantiation, PMI aims to provide an RRP portfolio that meets a broad spectrum of adult smoker preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. For more information, see www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005273/en/ Contacts: Philip Morris International media office T: +41 058 242 4500 E:media@pmi.com SIMPONI Recommended for Sixth Indication in Europe and First in Pediatric Population LEIDEN, Netherlands, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Janssen Biologics B.V. (Janssen) announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the use of subcutaneous SIMPONI (golimumab) in combination with methotrexate (MTX) for the treatment of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) in children with a body weight of at least 40 kg, who have responded inadequately to previous therapy with MTX. Based on the CHMP's positive opinion, a final decision from the European Commission is expected in the coming months. If approved, SIMPONI will become available for the treatment of patients with active pJIA, the most common type of arthritis in children under the age of 17 in which the predominant symptoms are persistent joint pain, swelling and stiffness. It is estimated that nearly 60,000 Europeans are affected by juvenile idiopathic arthritis.1 "Despite advances in biologic treatments in rheumatologic disease, there remains a need for effective and well-tolerated therapeutics for patients with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a complex and debilitating inflammatory arthritis," said Alberto Martini, M.D., Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Genoa, Founder and Chairman of the Pediatric Rheumatology International Trial Organization (PRINTO). "On behalf of PRINTO and the pediatric rheumatology community, we applaud the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency on today's recommendation of SIMPONI for the treatment of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis." The CHMP adopted the opinion based on a review of data from the Phase 3 GO KIDS trial, a Janssen-sponsored program conducted in collaboration with MSD (known as Merck in the United States and Canada), that evaluated the efficacy and safety of SIMPONI in 173 children (2 to 17 years of age) with pJIA and active arthritis in at least five joints that had poor response to MTX. Part 1 of the study consisted of a 16-week open-label phase, in which enrolled patients received SIMPONI 30 mg/m2 (maximum 50 mg) subcutaneously every four weeks and MTX. The 154 patients who achieved an American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Pediatric (Ped) 30 response at week 16 entered Part 2 of the study, the randomised withdrawal phase, and received SIMPONI 30 mg/m2 (maximum 50 mg) and MTX or placebo and MTX every four weeks. The primary endpoint, the proportion of patients who achieved ACR Ped 30 response at week 16 and who did not experience a flare between week 16 and week 48, did not reach statistical significance, as the majority of patients did not experience a flare between week 16 and week 48 (59 percent in the SIMPONI and MTX and 53 percent in the placebo and MTX groups, respectively; P=0.41). However, pre-specified subgroup analyses of the primary endpoint by baseline CRP (1 mg/dL vs <1 mg/dL) demonstrated higher flare rates in placebo and MTX compared to golimumab and MTX treated subjects among subjects with baseline CRP 1 mg/dL (87 percent vs 40 percent,p=0.0068). In this study, the type and frequency of adverse events reported were generally similar to those seen in adult RA studies. "We commend the European Medicines Agency, the Pediatric Rheumatology International Trial Organization and the Pediatric Rheumatology Collaborative Study Group, for a concerted and collaborative review of data and supportive analyses from the SIMPONI Phase 3 GO KIDS study to arrive at today's positive opinion," said Newman Yeilding, M.D., Vice President, Head of Immunology Development, Janssen Research & Development, LLC. "We believe the totality of data from the GO KIDS study supports the efficacy and safety of SIMPONI in the treatment of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis and look forward to the European Commission's decision." About Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, also known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, is a type of arthritis characterised by persistent joint pain, swelling and stiffness.2The disease can cause serious health complications, such as growth problems and eye inflammation.3The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) defines seven subcategories of pJIA, with most forms more common in females than males.4While the cause of pJIA is unknown, heredity and environment are both thought to be factors.3 About SIMPONI(golimumab) SIMPONI is a human monoclonal antibodythat targets and neutralises excess tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, a protein that when overproduced in the body due to chronic inflammatory diseases can cause inflammation and damage to bones, cartilage and tissue. SIMPONI is approved in more than 85 countries for rheumatologic indications including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis. In the European Union (EU), SIMPONI received European Commission approval in October 2009 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe, active RA in combination with methotrexate, for the treatment of active and progressive psoriatic arthritis alone or in combination with methotrexate and for the treatment of severe, active ankylosing spondylitis. In September 2013, SIMPONI received European Commission approval for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis in adults. In June 2015, SIMPONI received European Commission approval for the treatment of adults with severe, active non radiographic axial spondyloarthritis with objective signs of inflammation. SIMPONI is available either through the SmartJect autoinjector/prefilled pen or a prefilled syringe as a subcutaneously administered injection. Janssen Biotech, Inc. discovered and developed SIMPONI and markets the product in the United States. The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies market SIMPONIin Canada, Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. In Europe, Russia and Turkey, Janssen Biotech, Inc. licenses distribution rights to SIMPONI to Schering-Plough (Ireland) Company, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. In Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan, Janssen Biotech, Inc. licenses distribution rights to SIMPONI to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation and has retained co-marketing rights in those countries. Important Safety Information (EU) In the European Union, SIMPONI is contraindicated in patients with active tuberculosis, severe infections such as sepsis, opportunistic infections, in patients with moderate or severe heart failure (NYHA Class III/IV), as well as in patients who are hypersensitive to SIMPONI or any of its excipients. Serious infections, including sepsis, pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB), invasive fungal and other opportunistic infections have been observed with the use of TNF antagonists including SIMPONI. Some of these infections have been fatal. SIMPONI should not be given to patients with a clinically important, active infection. Caution should be exercised when considering the use of SIMPONI in patients with a chronic infection or a history of recurrent infection. Patients must be monitored closely for infections including TB before, during and after treatment with SIMPONI. If a patient develops a new serious infection or sepsis, SIMPONI therapy should be discontinued and appropriate antimicrobial therapy should be initiated until the infection is controlled. Patients should be advised of, and avoid exposure to, potential risk factors for infection as appropriate. For patients who have resided in or traveled to regions where invasive fungal infections such as histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, or blastomycosis are endemic, the benefits and risks of SIMPONI treatment should be carefully considered before initiation of SIMPONI therapy. All patients must be evaluated for the risk of TB, including latent TB, prior to initiation of SIMPONI. If active TB is diagnosed, SIMPONI must not be initiated. If latent TB is suspected, a physician with expertise in the treatment of TB should be consulted. The benefit/risk balance should be very carefully considered for the following: treatment of latent TB infection must be initiated prior to therapy with SIMPONI. Antituberculosis therapy prior to initiating SIMPONI should also be considered in patients who have several or highly significant risk factors for tuberculosis infection and have a negative test for latent tuberculosis. Patients receiving SIMPONI should be monitored closely for signs and symptoms of active tuberculosis during and after treatment, including patients who tested negative for latent tuberculosis infections. The use of TNF blocking agents including SIMPONI has been associated with reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in patients who are chronic carriers of the virus. Some of these cases have been fatal. Patients should be tested for HBV infection before initiating treatment with Simponi. Carriers of HBV who require treatment with Simponi should be closely monitored during treatment with, and for several months following discontinuation of SIMPONI. In patients who develop HBV reactivation, SIMPONI should be discontinued. Lymphomas have been observed in patients treated with TNF blocking agents, including SIMPONI. The incidence of non-lymphoma malignancies was similar to controls, and lymphoma is seen more often than in the general population. The potential role of TNF-blocking therapy in the development of malignancies is not known. Cases of leukaemia have been reported in patients treated with SIMPONI. Based on an exploratory clinical trial in patients with COPD using another anti-TNF agent, caution should be exercised when using any TNF-blocking therapy in COPD patients, as well as in patients with an increased risk for malignancy due to heavy smoking. Rare post-marketing cases of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HSTCL) have been reported in patients treated with other TNF-blocking agents. This rare type of T-cell lymphoma has a very aggressive disease course and is usually fatal. Malignancies, some fatal, have been reported among children, adolescents and young adults (up to 22years of age) treated with TNF"'blocking agents (initiation of therapy 18years of age) in the post marketing setting. It is not known if SIMPONI treatment influences the risk for developing dysplasia or colon cancer. All patients with ulcerative colitis who are at increased risk for dysplasia or colon carcinoma, or who had a prior history of dysplasia or colon carcinoma should be screened for dysplasia at regular intervals before therapy and throughout their disease course. Melanoma has been reported in patients treated with TNF"'blocking agents, including SIMPONI. Merkel cell carcinoma has been reported in patients treated with other TNF"'blocking agents. Worsening and new onset congestive heart failure (CHF) and increased mortality due to CHF have been reported with another TNF blocker. SIMPONI has not been studied in patients with CHF. SIMPONI should be used with caution in patients with mild heart failure and must be discontinued if new or worsening symptoms of heart failure appear. TNF-blocking agents, including SIMPONI, have been associated in rare cases with new onset or exacerbation of demyelinating disorders, including multiple sclerosis. The benefits and risks of anti-TNF treatment should be carefully considered before initiation of SIMPONI therapy in patients with pre-existing or recent onset of demyelinating disorders. There is limited safety experience of SIMPONI treatment in patients who have undergone surgical procedures, including arthroplasty. A patient who requires surgery while on SIMPONI should be closely monitored for infections, and appropriate actions should be taken. The possibility exists for TNF-blocking agents, including SIMPONI, to affect host defenses against infections and malignancies. Treatment with SIMPONI may result in the formation of auto-antibodies and, rarely, in the development of a lupus-like syndrome. There have been postmarketing reports of pancytopenia, leukopenia, neutropenia, aplastic anemia, and thrombocytopenia in patients receiving TNF blockers. Cytopenias including pancytopenia, have been infrequently reported with SIMPONI in clinical trials. Discontinuation of SIMPONI should be considered in patients with significant hematologic abnormalities. The concurrent administration of TNF-antagonists with anakinra or abatacept is not recommended. Concurrent administration has been associated with increased infections, including serious infections without increased clinical benefit. The concomitant use of SIMPONI with other biological therapeutics used to treat the same conditions as SIMPONI is not recommended because of the possibility of an increased risk of infection, and other potential pharmacological interactions. Patients should continue to be monitored when switching from one biologic to another. Patients treated with SIMPONI may receive concurrent vaccinations, except for live vaccines. In postmarketing experience, serious systemic hypersensitivity reactions have been reported following SIMPONI administration. Allergic reactions may occur after first or subsequent administration of SIMPONI. If an anaphylactic reaction or other serious allergic reactions occur, administration of SIMPONI should be discontinued immediately and appropriate therapy initiated. The needle cover on the syringe in the pre-filled pen is manufactured from dry natural rubber containing latex, and may cause allergic reactions in individuals sensitive to latex. SIMPONI also contains sorbitol; patients with rare hereditary problems of fructose intolerance should not take SIMPONI. Patients should be given detailed instructions on how to administer SIMPONI. After proper training, patients may self inject if their physician determines that this is appropriate. The full amount of SIMPONI should be administered at all times. Mild injection site reactions commonly occur. Women of childbearing potential must use adequate contraception to prevent pregnancy and continue its use for at least 6 months after the last SIMPONI treatment. Women must not breast feed during and for at least 6 months after SIMPONI treatment. The most common adverse drug reaction reported from clinical trials through week 16 was upper respiratory tract infection (12.6 percent of SIMPONI-treated patients compared with 11.0 percent in control-treated patients). In the controlled periods of pivotal trials, 5.4% of golimumab"'treated patients had injection site reactions compared with 2.0% in control patients.The majority of the injection site reactions were mild and moderate, and the most frequent manifestation was injection site erythema. The SIMPONI Patient Alert Card provides safety information to the patient. It should be given and explained to all patients before treatment. Patients must show the Alert Card to any doctor involved in his/her treatment, during and up to 6 months after SIMPONI treatment. For complete EU prescribing information, please visit: http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/medicines/000992/human_med_001053.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058001d124 About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies At the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, we are working to create a world without disease. Transforming lives by finding new and better ways to prevent, intercept, treat and cure disease inspires us. We bring together the best minds and pursue the most promising science. We are Janssen. We collaborate with the world for the health of everyone in it. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JanssenGlobal. Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding product development including expected availability. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Janssen Biologic B.V., any of the other Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges inherent in product research and development, including uncertainty of clinical success and obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; manufacturing difficulties or delays; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2016, including in Exhibit 99 thereto, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies or Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments. References 1 Thierry S, Fautrel B, Lemelle I, Guillemin F. Prevalence and incidence of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a systematic review. Joint Bone Spine. 2014 Mar;81(2):112-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jbspin.2013.09.003. 2 Sherry, D. (2016, March 3). Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Medscape. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1007276-overview Accessed May 12, 2016. 3 Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The Mayo Clinic website. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/juvenile-rheumatoid-arthritis/basics/definition/con-20014378. Accessed May 12, 2016. 4 Musculoskeletal Health in Europe Report v5.0. The European League Against Rheumatism website. http://eular.org/myUploadData/files/EU_eumusc.net_Report_final.pdf Accessed May 12, 2016. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - AstraZeneca (AZN.L, AZN) announced positive results from the Phase III FALCON trial comparing fulvestrant 500mg to anastrozole 1mg for the treatment of locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer, in postmenopausal women who have not had prior hormonal treatment for hormone receptor positive or HR+ breast cancer. The company noted that Fulvestrant 500mg demonstrated superiority compared with anastrozole 1mg in FALCON, and met its primary endpoint of extended progression-free-survival. The trial showed an adverse event profile generally consistent with current knowledge of the safety profile of the medicines. A full evaluation of the data is ongoing and the results are expected to be presented at a medical congress in 2016, the company said. Aromatase inhibitors (such as anastrozole) are a standard of care in first-line treatment for postmenopausal women with advanced HR+ positive breast cancer. 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. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502) today announced that the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a negative opinion, recommending against the authorization of NINLARO (ixazomib) capsules, an oral proteasome inhibitor for the treatment of patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma. Takeda intends to appeal this opinion and request a re-examination by the CHMP. "We are disappointed by the CHMP's opinion. With the support of European key medical experts, we will continue our efforts working closely with the CHMP to make NINLARO the first oral proteasome inhibitor available for patients in Europe," said Christophe Bianchi, M.D., President, Takeda Oncology. "Despite recent progress, myeloma remains an intractable disease, and patients suffering from multiple myeloma and their treating physicians need more options to improve outcomes. We stand behind the TOURMALINE-MM1 trial data, which were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine and demonstrated a significant extension in progression-free survival for NINLARO lenalidomide and dexamethasone vs. placebo lenalidomide and dexamethasone and a favorable benefit-risk profile." "After years of treating patients, I have yet to see two people whose diseases are exactly alike. The diversity of patients with multiple myeloma demands a wide range of innovative treatment options that offer efficacy, tolerable safety profiles and convenience, which are especially important benefits for elderly populations," said Philippe Moreau, M.D., University of Nantes, France. "In Europe, where no oral proteasome inhibitor is available, NINLARO would fill a noticeable void and enable the first all-oral triplet combination therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma." NINLARO was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2015 following a priority review. In the U.S., NINLARO is indicated in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. The FDA approval of NINLARO marked the first global regulatory approval of ixazomib. Takeda also has submitted applications for approval of ixazomib to additional regulatory authorities around the world. In addition to the TOURMALINE-MM1 trial that is forming the basis of these global regulatory submissions in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma, ixazomib is being investigated in a number of other multiple myeloma treatment settings. There will be no significant impact to Takeda's fiscal year 2016 financials due to the CHMP opinion. About NINLARO (ixazomib) NINLARO(ixazomib) is an investigational oral proteasome inhibitor which is being studied in multiple myeloma and systemic light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. It was the first oral proteasome inhibitor to enter Phase 3 clinical trials and to receive approval. Ixazomib was granted orphan drug designation in multiple myeloma in both the U.S. and Europe in 2011 and for AL amyloidosis in both the U.S. and Europe in 2012. Ixazomib received Breakthrough Therapy status by the U.S. FDA for relapsed or refractory systemic light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, a related ultra orphan disease, in 2014. The comprehensive ixazomib clinical development program, TOURMALINE, further reinforces Takeda's ongoing commitment to developing innovative therapies for people living with multiple myeloma worldwide and the healthcare professionals who treat them. TOURMALINE includes a total of five ongoing pivotal trials four investigating every major multiple myeloma patient population and one in light-chain amyloidosis: TOURMALINE-MM1, investigating ixazomib vs. placebo, in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma TOURMALINE-MM2, investigating ixazomib vs. placebo, in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma TOURMALINE-MM3, investigating ixazomib vs. placebo as maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma following induction therapy and autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) TOURMALINE-MM4, investigating ixazomib vs. placebo as maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who have not undergone ASCT TOURMALINE-AL1, investigating ixazomib plus dexamethasone vs. physician choice of selected regimens in patients with relapsed or refractory AL amyloidosis In addition to the TOURMALINE program, a large number of investigator initiated studies are evaluating ixazomib for patients globally. About Multiple Myeloma Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells, which are found in the bone marrow. In multiple myeloma, a group of monoclonal plasma cells, or myeloma cells, becomes cancerous and multiplies. These malignant plasma cells have the potential to affect many bones in the body, possibly resulting in compression fractures, lytic bone lesions and related pain. Multiple myeloma can cause a number of serious health problems affecting the bones, immune system, kidneys and red blood cell count, with some of the more common symptoms including bone pain and fatigue, a symptom of anemia. Multiple myeloma is a rare form of cancer, with approximately 39,000 new cases in the EU and 114,000 new cases globally per year. Important Safety Information (U.S.) WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS Thrombocytopenia has been reported with NINLARO. During treatment, monitor platelet counts at least monthly, and consider more frequent monitoring during the first three cycles. Manage thrombocytopenia with dose modifications and platelet transfusions as per standard medical guidelines. Adjust dosing as needed. Platelet nadirs occurred between Days 14-21 of each 28-day cycle and recovered to baseline by the start of the next cycle. has been reported with NINLARO. During treatment, monitor platelet counts at least monthly, and consider more frequent monitoring during the first three cycles. Manage thrombocytopenia with dose modifications and platelet transfusions as per standard medical guidelines. Adjust dosing as needed. Platelet nadirs occurred between Days 14-21 of each 28-day cycle and recovered to baseline by the start of the next cycle. Gastrointestinal Toxicities , including diarrhea, constipation, nausea and vomiting, were reported with NINLARO and may occasionally require the use of antidiarrheal and antiemetic medications, and supportive care. Diarrhea resulted in the discontinuation of one or more of the three drugs in 1% of patients in the NINLARO regimen and 1% of patients in the placebo regimen. Adjust dosing for severe symptoms. , including diarrhea, constipation, nausea and vomiting, were reported with NINLARO and may occasionally require the use of antidiarrheal and antiemetic medications, and supportive care. Diarrhea resulted in the discontinuation of one or more of the three drugs in 1% of patients in the NINLARO regimen and 1% of patients in the placebo regimen. Adjust dosing for severe symptoms. Peripheral Neuropathy (predominantly sensory) was reported with NINLARO. The most commonly reported reaction was peripheral sensory neuropathy (19% and 14% in the NINLARO and placebo regimens, respectively). Peripheral motor neuropathy was not commonly reported in either regimen (< 1%). Peripheral neuropathy resulted in discontinuation of one or more of the three drugs in 1% of patients in both regimens. Monitor patients for symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and adjust dosing as needed. (predominantly sensory) was reported with NINLARO. The most commonly reported reaction was peripheral sensory neuropathy (19% and 14% in the NINLARO and placebo regimens, respectively). Peripheral motor neuropathy was not commonly reported in either regimen (< 1%). Peripheral neuropathy resulted in discontinuation of one or more of the three drugs in 1% of patients in both regimens. Monitor patients for symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and adjust dosing as needed. Peripheral Edema was reported with NINLARO. Monitor for fluid retention. Investigate for underlying causes when appropriate and provide supportive care as necessary. Adjust dosing of dexamethasone per its prescribing information or NINLARO for Grade 3 or 4 symptoms. was reported with NINLARO. Monitor for fluid retention. Investigate for underlying causes when appropriate and provide supportive care as necessary. Adjust dosing of dexamethasone per its prescribing information or NINLARO for Grade 3 or 4 symptoms. Cutaneous Reactions: Rash, most commonly maculo-papular and macular rash, was reported with NINLARO. Rash resulted in discontinuation of one or more of the three drugs in 1% of patients in both regimens. Manage rash with supportive care or with dose modification. Rash, most commonly maculo-papular and macular rash, was reported with NINLARO. Rash resulted in discontinuation of one or more of the three drugs in 1% of patients in both regimens. Manage rash with supportive care or with dose modification. Hepatotoxicity has been reported with NINLARO. Drug-induced liver injury, hepatocellular injury, hepatic steatosis, hepatitis cholestatic and hepatotoxicity have each been reported in 1% of patients treated with NINLARO. Events of liver impairment have been reported (6% in the NINLARO regimen and 5% in the placebo regimen). Monitor hepatic enzymes regularly during treatment and adjust dosing as needed. has been reported with NINLARO. Drug-induced liver injury, hepatocellular injury, hepatic steatosis, hepatitis cholestatic and hepatotoxicity have each been reported in 1% of patients treated with NINLARO. Events of liver impairment have been reported (6% in the NINLARO regimen and 5% in the placebo regimen). Monitor hepatic enzymes regularly during treatment and adjust dosing as needed. Embryo-fetal Toxicity: NINLARO can cause fetal harm. Women should be advised of the potential risk to a fetus, to avoid becoming pregnant, and to use contraception during treatment and for an additional 90 days after the final dose of NINLARO. ADVERSE REACTIONS The most common adverse reactions (= 20%) in the NINLARO regimen and greater than the placebo regimen, respectively, were diarrhea (42%, 36%), constipation (34%, 25%), thrombocytopenia (78%, 54%; pooled from adverse events and laboratory data), peripheral neuropathy (28%, 21%), nausea (26%, 21%), peripheral edema (25%, 18%), vomiting (22%, 11%), and back pain (21%, 16%). Serious adverse reactions reported in 2% of patients included thrombocytopenia (2%) and diarrhea (2%). SPECIAL POPULATIONS Hepatic Impairment: Reduce the NINLARO starting dose to 3 mg in patients with moderate or severe hepatic impairment. Reduce the NINLARO starting dose to 3 mg in patients with moderate or severe hepatic impairment. Renal Impairment: Reduce the NINLARO starting dose to 3 mg in patients with severe renal impairment or end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis. NINLARO is not dialyzable. Reduce the NINLARO starting dose to 3 mg in patients with severe renal impairment or end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis. NINLARO is not dialyzable. Lactation: Advise women to discontinue nursing while on NINLARO. DRUG INTERACTIONS: Avoid concomitant administration of NINLARO with strong CYP3A inducers. Please see NINLARO full U.S. Prescribing Information: https://www.ninlarohcp.com/safety. About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited is a global, R&D-driven pharmaceutical company committed to bringing better health and a brighter future to patients by translating science into life-changing medicines. Takeda focuses its research efforts on oncology, gastroenterology and central nervous system therapeutic areas. It also has specific development programs in specialty cardiovascular diseases as well as late-stage candidates for vaccines. Takeda conducts R&D both internally and with partners to stay at the leading edge of innovation. New innovative products, especially in oncology and gastroenterology, as well as its presence in emerging markets, fuel the growth of Takeda. More than 30,000 Takeda employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients, working with our partners in health care in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit http://www.takeda.com/news. Additional information about Takeda is available through its corporate website, www.takeda.com, and additional information about Takeda Oncology, the brand for the global oncology business unit of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, is available through its website, www.takedaoncology.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005319/en/ Contacts: European Media Kate Burd, +44 7974 151510 kate.burd@takeda.com or Japan Media Tsuyoshi Tada, +81 (0) 3-3278-2417 tsuyoshi.tada@takeda.com or Media outside Japan/EU Amy Atwood, +1-617-444-2147 amy.atwood@takeda.com NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Aurora Solar Technologies Inc. ("Aurora")("Company") (TSX VENTURE: ACU)(OTCBB: AACTF)(FRANKFURT: A82), a leader in inline measurement and control technology for the photovoltaic manufacturing industry has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a major solar panel manufacturer. The MOU formalizes the relationship between the parties and allows the solar manufacturer to integrate Aurora's Decima 3T measurement system with Veritas software into their existing production line and evaluate its performance for their current and new production lines. The ninety day paid assessment period is slated to begin in July. "When we install our Decima 3T sensor with Veritas software on an existing production line, we give cell manufacturers the ability quickly find and correct the major causes of underperforming cells in their process," said Steve McDonald, Vice President of Business Development. "Since cell manufacturers have not had the ability to reliably measure inline after the emitter formation process, the evaluation process is necessary to demonstrate how much better our system performs than anything in the market." He continued, "Once we are installed, the performance and value of our system becomes immediately clear. We stay installed and we win future business." About Aurora: Aurora Solar Technologies Inc. produces measurement and control solutions which allow solar cell producers to improve manufacturing yield, lower costs, decrease waste and attain higher margins. Headquartered in North Vancouver, Canada, and founded by experienced leaders in process measurement, semiconductor manufacturing and industrial automation, the Company's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and trade under the symbol "ACU". The Company was formerly "ACT Aurora Control Technologies". For more information, Aurora's website is located at www.aurorasolartech.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Contacts: Michael Heaven, P.Eng., MBA President & Chief Executive Officer Aurora Solar Technologies Inc. +1 (778) 241-5000 info@aurorasolartech.com Investor Relations contact: Nina Lafleur +1 (604) 679-9964 info@aurorasolartech.com www.aurorasolartech.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Atlantic Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: AGB) ("Atlantic" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it, through its wholly owned subsidiary D.D.V. Gold Ltd., has executed a definitive Master Lease Agreement with Caterpillar Financial Services Limited ("Cat Financial"), in respect of the previously announced $20 million mining fleet equipment lease facility (the "Equipment Facility") to fund the Company's acquisition of Cat mining equipment to be supplied by Atlantic Tractors & Equipment Ltd. (authorized Cat dealer for Nova Scotia), for the Company's Moose River Consolidated Project ("MRC Project") in Nova Scotia. The terms of the Equipment Facility are substantially the same as previously disclosed in the News Release dated February 22, 2016. The Equipment Facility will be utilized towards the acquisition cost of the primary mining fleet and ancillary equipment (the "Mining Fleet"). Deliveries of the Mining Fleet are expected to commence arriving at site in mid-2016 and be completed in late 2017, in keeping with the Company's existing mine plan. The term of the Equipment Facility will be 5 years from delivery, and will be secured by the Mining Fleet. Title to the Mining Fleet will transfer to the Company at the completion of the Equipment Facility. On behalf of the Board of Directors, Steven Dean, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements and information are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this press release, and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding discussions of future plans, guidance, projections, objectives, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the activities contemplated in this news release and the timing and receipt of requisite regulatory, and shareholder approvals in respect thereof. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, without limitation, statements related to proposed exploration and development programs, grade and tonnage of material and resource estimates. These forward looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results may vary. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary include without limitation, the timing and receipt of certain approvals, changes in commodity and power prices, changes in interest and currency exchange rates, risks inherent in exploration estimates and results, timing and success, inaccurate geological and metallurgical assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral reserves and resources), changes in development or mining plans due to changes in logistical, technical or other factors, unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications, cost escalation, unavailability of materials, equipment and third party contractors, delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), political risk, social unrest, and changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets. In making the forward-looking statements in this press release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, the assumptions that: (1) market fundamentals will result in sustained gold demand and prices; (2) the receipt of any necessary approvals and consents in connection with the development of any properties; (3) the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of any mineral properties; and (4) sustained commodity prices such that any properties put into operation remain economically viable. Information concerning mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates also may be considered forward-looking statements, as such information constitutes a prediction of what mineralization might be found to be present if and when a project is actually developed. Certain of the risks and assumptions are described in more detail in the Company's audited financial statements and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2015 and the quarter ended March 31, 2015 on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. The actual results or performance by the Company could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements relating to those matters. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what impact they will have on the results of operations or financial condition of the Company. Except as required by law, we are under no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update, alter or otherwise revise any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Contacts: Atlantic Gold Corporation John Morgan President and COO +1 604 689-5564 Atlantic Gold Corporation Chris Batalha CFO and Corporate Secretary +1 604 689-5564 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Big Data Analytics company, AnalytixInsight Inc. (the "Company" or "AnalytixInsight") (TSX VENTURE: ALY) this week reported solid first quarter performance on the back of continued growth in the business operations of its subsidiaries CapitalCube Corp. ("CapitalCube") (www.capitalcube.com) and Marketwall S.r.L. ("MarketWall"). Key highlights for Q1 2016 include the following: -- Revenue of CAD $0.49 million or 69% growth year-over-year, or 24% growth compared to Q4 2015. -- Gross profit of CAD $0.33 million compared to loss of $0.12 million in Q1 2015 and gross profit of CAD $0.2 million in Q4 2015. -- EPS improved to CAD $(0.01) compared to CAD $(0.02) in both Q1 2015 and Q4 2015. -- Intesa Sanpaolo has acquired a 33% ownership of MarketWall and the Company has commenced receipt of an annual license fee of CAD $2 million per year as part of the multi-year license fee from Intesa Sanpaolo. -- Traffic in the Company's CapitalCube.com portal was up by more than 16,000% in Q1 2016 compared to Q1 2015 and now attracts over 2 million unique visitors per month. -- CapitalCube has started publishing unique earnings analysis of micro-cap and pre-revenue companies publicly listed in North America as well as analysis of ETFs based on the performance of all of the underlying constituents - analysis that is not available elsewhere. -- CapitalCube now publishes approximately 2,500 auto-generated articles daily - more than double the amount published in the previous quarter, yet only 30% of its total publishing capacity. During the first quarter, the Company announced that Intesa Sanpaolo acquired a 33% share in the Company's mobile subsidiary, MarketWall. The Company continues to make significant progress in the multi-year strategic partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo, wherein MarketWall will be integrated with Intesa Sanpaolo's retail banking portals for a minimum annual licensing fee of CAD $2 million. CapitalCube now attracts over 2 million unique visitors per month. This increase in traffic reflects the advances made in Search Engine Optimization and in publishing CapitalCube's content through leading distribution partners like Yahoo! Finance and The Wall Street Journal. CapitalCube's unique Big Data Analytics and auto-language generation platform creates and publishes a large volume of insightful financial content with speed and scale, and has made the Company a valuable partner to leading financial portals globally. Access from mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) continues to be strong and remains a fast growing segment. CapitalCube continues to publish its unique earnings analysis on approximately 25,000 publicly listed companies in 14 countries, including analysis on publicly listed equities in North America. Due to strong demand, the Company is expanding the countries and companies covered, and expects to begin publishing earnings analysis on Japanese stocks shortly. CapitalCube has started publishing unique earnings analysis of micro-cap and pre-revenue companies publicly listed in North America. In addition, CapitalCube now also publishes analysis of ETFs based on the performance of all of the underlying constituents of each ETF - enabling users to uniquely compare ETFs within a particular asset class and even across asset classes. The Company expects the unique nature of this content to further drive traffic and users to its portal. The Company also expects to start publishing high quality content in other languages shortly to help further increase traffic and user engagement. In addition, the Company's platform is now mature and applicable to other verticals - including non-financial applications such as healthcare, as well as in related financial applications like the robotic advisory space. The Company anticipates new business opportunities with robotic advisory services as well leading hedge funds and stock exchanges in 2016. The Company also closed a non-brokered private placement raising gross proceeds of CAD$1,090,000 during the first quarter. On behalf of the Board of Directors of ANALYTIXINSIGHT INC. Prakash Hariharan, Chairman ABOUT ANALYTIXINSIGHT INC. AnalytixInsight Inc.'s technology platform helps transform data into narratives. The Company's online portal www.capitalcube.com and mobile platform Marketwall www.marketwall.com provide high-quality financial research and content for investors, information providers, finance portals and media. The Company's disruptive technology algorithmically analyzes market price data and regulatory filings to create insightful, actionable narratives and research on approximately 45,000 global companies and ETFs - all available as a cloud-based, SAAS offering. This platform capability is extensible to other asset classes and sectors to generate insightful research reports. CapitalCube and Marketwall have existing business relationships with leading global financial and media institutions. For more information about CapitalCube visit www.capitalcube.com. For more information about Marketwall visit www.marketwall.com. Regulatory Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's ability to increase traffic to its CapitalCube portal; the Company's ability to publish content in different languages and apply its platform to different business verticals; the growth of the Company's business operations; the licensing revenue stream to be received by the Company; the use of the Company's content by various parties; and the use by certain parties of CapitalCube and Marketwall App. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of AnalytixInsight Inc., as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the Company's technology and revenue generation; risks associated with operation in the technology sector; ability to successfully integrate new technology and employees; foreign operations risks; and other risks inherent in the technology industry. Although AnalytixInsight has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. AnalytixInsight does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with 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. Contacts: AnalytixInsight Inc. Scott Koyich +1.403.262.9888 BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Commerce Department is set to release its preliminary estimate of first quarter GDP at 8:30 am ET Friday. Economists expect an upward revision to GDP growth estimate to 0.9 percent. Ahead of the data, the greenback showed mixed trading against the other major currencies. While the greenback rose against the franc and the euro, it held steady against the pound and the yen. The greenback was worth 1.1168 against the euro, 109.65 against the yen, 0.9911 against the franc and 1.4646 against the pound as of 8:25 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. SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- California Water Service Group's President and Chief Executive Officer Martin A. Kropelnicki received the Naval Heritage Award from the United States Navy Memorial Foundation at a dinner last night in Honolulu, Hawaii. California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) is the parent company of Hawaii Water Service Company, which provides water and wastewater utility services on the islands of Maui and Hawaii. "The U.S. Navy Memorial is honored to bestow our Naval Heritage Award on Marty Kropelnicki. Marty not only comes from a family that has served in the sea services, but he has tirelessly supported Navy, Marine, and other armed forces personnel in numerous ways, including Disabled Veterans Outreach, job training, and mentorship through California Water Service Group," said John Totushek, VADM USN (Ret), President and CEO of the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation. The award reflects Kropelnicki's support and dedication for the Lone Sailor Memorial, to be erected at Pearl Harbor, in honor of the brave men and women who fought unselfishly on December 7, 1941. Twenty-nine years ago, the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation established two awards to honor the men and women of the sea services. The Naval Heritage Award is given to distinguished Americans who have supported the sea services while displaying honor, courage, and commitment in their lives. The Lone Sailor Award recognizes men and women who have served in the sea services and gone on to make significant contributions to our country. "I'm honored to receive this award on behalf of the hundreds of employees and retirees who faithfully and unselfishly served our country in the Navy and other armed forces," Kropelnicki said. "We have had a long and successful track record of employing veterans who have helped make our company what it is today," he said. "I know I speak for all of our employees when I say we greatly respect, admire, and appreciate the sacrifices made by all those who have served, and we are all proud contributors to the U.S. Navy Memorial fund and Lone Sailor Memorial for Pearl Harbor." California Water Service Group is the parent company of California Water Service Company, Washington Water Service Company, New Mexico Water Service Company, Hawaii Water Service Company, Inc., CWS Utility Services, and HWS Utility Services, LLC. Together, these companies provide regulated and non-regulated water service to approximately 2 million people in more than 100 California, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii communities. Group's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CWT." Additional information is available online at www.calwatergroup.com. 1720 North First Street San Jose, CA 95112-4598 Contact: Yvonne Kingman (310) 257-1434 VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 27, 2016) -Luna Gold Corp. (TSX: LGC), ("Luna" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an exploration agreement with AngloGold Ashanti Limited for the Company's greenfields mineral claims that surround its past-producing Aurizona Gold Mine in northern Brazil. The terms of the agreement require AngloGold Ashanti to invest US$14 million in exploration expenditure over a four year period to earn a 70% interest in the mineral claims. The joint venture will not include mineral claims that correspond to the Aurizona Gold Mine, the nearby Tatajuba orebody extension and other brownfields properties, or the Touro greenfields property. Should AngloGold Ashanti not fund the US$14 million in exploration over the 4-year earn in period, then they will not receive any interest in the mineral claims. Marc Leduc, President and CEO, stated, "We are very happy to have one of the largest gold producers in the world, AngloGold Ashanti, join us in this exploration project. This clearly demonstrates the outstanding geological potential of the greenfields claims. In the current difficult market of the gold industry, AngloGold Ashanti has committed a considerable amount of funds to our exploration areas and our prospective ground. We are happy to team up with AngloGold Ashanti who have considerable exploration experience in similar Precambrian geological terranes and an outstanding track record as one of the best mine operators in Brazil." He also added, "This exploration agreement will also allow Luna to focus on the redevelopment and restart of the Aurizona Gold Mine while maintaining a significant exploration program in the greenfields areas." The agreement currently covers an area of 1,702 square kilometres, which may be increased to 2,387 square kilometres subject to governmental approvals on certain greenfields claims. AngloGold Ashanti is required to spend a minimum of US$2 million during the first year of the earn-in period, and can withdraw from the agreement at any time after spending US$2 million. After expenditure of US$2 million in the first year of the agreement, AngloGold Ashanti can spend an additional US$12 million over the next three years to vest at 70% in the mineral claims. Following AngloGold Ashanti vesting, Luna will thereafter be obligated to fund future joint venture expenditures on a pro-rata basis. In the event Luna elects not to contribute its pro-rata share of future joint venture expenditures and its interest in the joint venture were to fall below 5%, Luna would be required to transfer its joint venture interest to AngloGold Ashanti in exchange for a 1% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR") on the greenfields properties. The joint venture agreement will provide AngloGold Ashanti with a one-time option to purchase the 1% NSR for US$8 million. If AngloGold Ashanti elects to sell its interest in the joint venture, Luna has the option to purchase AngloGold Ashanti's pro-rata interest in any gold resources identified in a National Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for US$10 per ounce. About Luna Gold Corp. Luna is engaged in the exploration and redevelopment of its past producing Aurizona Gold Mine, which was placed on care and maintenance in 2015. The Company expects to publish a National Instrument 43-101 compliant pre-feasibility study development plan for the Aurizona Gold Mine in 2Q 2016. On behalf of the Company LUNA GOLD CORP. Marc Leduc P.Eng. -- President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Website: www.lunagold.com Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to exploration results, future gold production and/or the results of analysis on gold production. Forward-looking statements are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors identified in Luna Gold Corp.'s periodic filings with Canadian Securities Regulators. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other exploration data, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in production and operations, fluctuating metal prices, unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability, competition, loss of key employees, and other related risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. For further information contact: Investor Relations +1 (720) 414-2852 TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- KGIC Inc. ("KGIC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: LRN) is pleased to announce that, following a previously announced MOU, it has completed an Education Collaboration Agreement with Guru Kashi University (GKU) in Punjab, India. The collaboration provides Guru Kashi University with an ESL-Pathway Center facility in India, under the aegis of KGIC, to begin the integration and transition to KGIC's offerings early in the student's enrollment cycle. Under the exclusive agreement, KGIC will provide integrated ESL courses to existing students of GKU as well as provide the requisite ESL-Pathway education to graduating students who are eligible for admission into Canadian Universities and Colleges. This unique relationship is material to the Company's operations and will provide KGIC with immediate access to student bodies of 18,000 to 20,000 in India. It will also provide access to approximately 2,000 students expected to enroll in KGIC's ESL-Pathway courses in Canada. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any of the securities in the United States. The securities 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 state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. About KGIC Inc. KGIC Inc. KGIC is an educational organization that provides premium education services at its private English as a Second Language ("ESL") Schools, High School, Career Colleges and Community Colleges, High School in Ontario and British Columbia. The Company owns and operates twenty-one (21) campuses across Canada and enrolls approximately 20,000 students yearly in various English language and career training educational courses. KGIC has established approximately twenty-five (25) ESL-Pathway agreements with Colleges and Universities in Canada Forward-Looking Information and Statements This news release includes certain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information and statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken, "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information contained herein includes information concerning the ability of Company to continue as a going concern. By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and 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 the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results including, but not limited to, risks relating to: the Company's ability to raise sufficient additional capital, including the completion of all or any portion of the Offering, prior to December 31, 2015 in order to allow it to continue as a going concern on terms acceptable to the Company or at all; the Company's ability to service its outstanding indebtedness and the impact of that indebtedness on the Company's ability to raise additional capital, fund and maintain operations or meet business objectives; the Company's ability to comply with the terms of the amended forbearance agreement with Bank of Montreal and the consequences of any breach or default thereunder; the Company's ability to successfully exit forbearance; the Company's ability to negotiate, enter into and execute a definitive agreement with Bank of Montreal on terms acceptable to the Company or at all to remove the Company's debt facilities from forbearance and convert the facilities into a term loan; the fact that new management and directors of the Company, including the recently appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, have had limited experience with the Company and its operations and have not had sufficient time to fully analyze all facets of the Company's business; the impact of negative or unfavourable rumours in the marketplace on the Company's brands and student enrollment; any of the Company's announced or proposed acquisitions failing to close or becoming delayed before closing; carrying on business and activities in international jurisdiction where Canadian laws do not apply; any loss of certain key personnel; levels of student enrolment; delays in rolling out online education programs; delays to the completion of any planned initiatives or the inability to complete those initiatives; competition in the educational services market; and currency fluctuations. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information and statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking information or statements contained in this press release. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information that is contained or referenced herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. 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: Dr. Alex MacGregor KGIC Inc. (416) 969-9800 amacgregor@loyalistgroup.com 27.05.2016As at the end of first quarter of 2016, AS Trigon Property Development owned one property development project involving 32.8-hectare land plot in the City of Parnu, Niidu area. Trigon Property Development AS considers expansion of business activity and analyses acquisition opportunities for different new projects.Condensed consolidated statement of financial position as of 31 March 2016 delivered by the present announcement completely reflects the assets, liabilities and equity capital of AS Trigon Property Development.According to the condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income the net loss for first quarter of 2016 of AS Trigon Property Development is -13,091 euros and the earnings per share is -0.00291 EUR.As of 31 March 2016 the consolidated assets of AS Trigon Property Development were 2,403,564 euros. The consolidated equity of the company was 2,402,018 euros, corresponding to 99.94 % of the total balance sheet.Condensed consolidated statement of financial positionEUR 31.03.2016 31.12.2015 ------------------------------------------------------ Cash 93 130 100 540 ------------------------------------------------------ Receivables and prepayments 434 17 004 ------------------------------------------------------ Total current assets 93 564 117 544 ------------------------------------------------------ Investment property 2 310 000 2 310 000 ------------------------------------------------------ Total non-current assets 2 310 000 2 310 000 ------------------------------------------------------ TOTAL ASSETS 2 403 564 2 427 544 ------------------------------------------------------ Payables and prepayments 1 546 12 435 ------------------------------------------------------ Total current liabilities 1 546 12 435 ------------------------------------------------------ Total liabilities 1 546 12 435 ------------------------------------------------------ Share capital at nominal value 2 699 437 2 699 437 ------------------------------------------------------ Share premium 226 056 226 056 ------------------------------------------------------ Statutory reserve capital 287 542 287 542 ------------------------------------------------------ Retained earnings -811 017 -797 926 ------------------------------------------------------ Total equity 2 402 018 2 415 109 ------------------------------------------------------ TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY 2 403 564 2 427 544 ------------------------------------------------------Condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive incomeEUR I Q 2016 I Q 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------- Expenses related to investment property -5 609 -5 382 ----------------------------------------------------------- Gross loss -5 609 -5 382 ----------------------------------------------------------- Administrative and general expenses -7 485 -7 441 ----------------------------------------------------------- Operating loss -13 094 -12 823 ----------------------------------------------------------- Net financial income 3 -892 ----------------------------------------------------------- NET LOSS FOR THE PERIOD -13 091 -13 715 ----------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE LOSS -13 091 -13 715 -----------------------------------------------------------Joakim HeleniusChairman of the Supervisory Board+372 667 9200Attachment:https://cns.omxgroup.com/cds/DisclosureAttachmentServlet?messageAttachmentId=573647 WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Donald Trump has outlined his 'America First' energy plan while speaking at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, after clinching the GOP nomination for President of the United States Thursday. During his speech, Trump outlined a 100-day action plan, which according to him, will make America wealthy again. Trump said that under his administration, American energy dominance will be declared a strategic economic and foreign policy goal of the United States. 'We will become, and stay, totally independent of any need to import energy from the OPEC cartel or any nations hostile to our interests. At the same time, we will work with our Gulf allies to develop a positive energy relationship as part of our anti-terrorism strategy,' Trump said. Trump said he is going to ask Trans Canada to renew its permit application for the Keystone Pipeline project. Moratoriums on energy production in federal areas will be lifted. Policies that impose unwarranted restrictions on new drilling technologies will be revoked. Trump made it clear that the Paris Climate Agreement will be canceled and all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs be stopped. 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 vehicle security system market, in terms of value, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% from 2016 to 2021. The market is estimated to be USD 7. 57 Billion in 2016, and is projected to reach 10.75 Billion by 2021. Asia-Pacific is estimated to be the largest market for vehicle security systems, followed by North America and Europe. The growth of the vehicle security system market is fueled by increasing vehicle production, growing awareness regarding vehicle safety, and increasing installation of safety features in automobiles. The vehicle security system market has been segmented on the basis of product, technology, and vehicle type (passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and off-highway vehicles). In terms of product type, the remote key-less entry and immobilizer markets are set to grow at the highest CAGRs from 2016 to 2021. The report provides insights about the following points: 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. OSLO (dpa-AFX) - Norway's central bank re-appointed Oystein Olsen as its chief for a second six-year term on Friday. Olsen was appointed as Governor of Norges Bank by the Council of State for a second six-year term, the bank said in a statement. He first became the Governor of the Norwegian central Bank in January, 2011. 'I look forward to a new term as Central Bank Governor,' Olsen said. 'Together with Norges Bank's highly competent and engaged staff, I am delighted to undertake our important public tasks both within the central bank's core areas and investment management.' The central bank left rates unchanged at a record low 0.50 percent this month after reducing it by a quarter basis points in March. The bank has said that the rate may be cut further this year to as low as zero, adding that a negative level was also possible if major shocks threatened the economy. 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. BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 10 am ET Friday, the University of Michigan is scheduled to release its final U.S. consumer sentiment index for May. The consensus estimate calls for a small downward revision to the mid-month reading to 95.5. Ahead of the data, the greenback advanced against the other major currencies. The greenback was worth 1.1146 against the euro, 109.71 against the yen, 0.9916 against the franc and 1.4636 against the pound as of 9:55 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. DUBLIN, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Electronic Warfare Market by Category, Platform, Product, Technology, Portable, and Region - Global Forecast to 2021" report to their offering. The market size of the electronic market (EW) market is estimated to be valued at USD 20.55 Billion in 2016 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.29% during the forecast period, to reach USD 25.36 Billion by 2021. The market demand is projected to be driven by ongoing technological advancements in the electronic warfare systems, which would improve the performance and efficiency aspect of these systems to a great extent. On the other hand, the market players are also making enormous amount of efforts to provide additional features to the system to meet the clients' requirements in a better way. These factors are expected to result in increased demand for electronic warfare systems during the forecast period at a rapid pace. In this report, the electronic warfare market has been categorized into three key segments, namely, category, product, platform, technology, and portable electronic warfare systems and region. The category segment has been further categorized into electronic attack, electronic support, and electronic protection. The platform segment includes air, land, naval, and unmanned. Whereas, on the basis of region, the market is classified into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East Latin America, and Africa. Among the three categories covered in the report, the electronic warfare market is dominated by the electronic support category. It plays a vital role in immediate threat recognition. ESM is used for intelligence gathering in tactical environments. The segment is also expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The report provides insights on the following pointers: Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on electronic warfare systems offered by the top 13 players in the global electronic warfare market Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product launches in the electronic warfare market Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets - the report analyzes the markets for electronic warfare systems across regions Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the global electronic warfare market Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of leading players in the global electronic warfare market Companies Mentioned: Airbus Group N.V Alliant Techsystems, Inc. BAE Systems PLC. General Dynamics Corporation Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. Lockheed Martin Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation Rockwell Collins, Inc. SAAB AB Teledyne Technologies, Inc. Thales Group The Raytheon Company Report Structure: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insight 5 Market Overview 6 Industry Trends 7 Electronic Warfare Market, By Category 8 Electronic Warfare Market, By Platform 9 Electronic Warfare Market, By Product 10 Electronic Warfare Market By Technology 11 Electronic Warfare Market, By Portable System 12 Regional Analysis 13 Competitive Landscape 14 Company Profiles 15 Appendix For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hhgzj3/electronic 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 OAKLAND PARK, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- BioStem Technologies, Inc. ("BioStem" or the "Company") (OTC PINK: BSEM) today announced the appointment of David Wolfe and Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith to its Advisory Board. The Advisory Board of the Company provides advice and guidance to the Board of Directors of the Company, but Advisory Board members are not Directors of the Corporation. Mr. Wolfe and Dr. Beckwith are both well-known opinion leaders in their respective fields. David "Avocado" Wolfe is a leading educator and 22-year promoter of superfoods that impact longevity, and he has consulted for the world's top CEOs, ambassadors, celebrities, athletes, artists (and Moms, of course). He is the co-developer and spokesperson for the NUTRiBULLET, which is now the nation's #1 selling kitchen appliance. He is also the co-founder of TheBestDayEver.com online health magazine and the Founder and President of the non-profit The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation charity (www.ftpf.org), which has a mission to plant 18 billion fruit, nut, and medicinal trees around the world. Reverend Michael Beckwith has authored eight books, produced three movies, and co-authored 120 songs. Dr. Beckwith's notoriety climbed through the production of the very successful film The Secret (2006). He was a regular guest of the Oprah Winfrey and Larry King television programs, and his weekly Friday afternoon radio program on the Los Angeles station, KPFK, is hugely popular. Dr. Beckwith's humanitarian efforts have attracted numerous awards including the 1999 Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Compassion and Justice, the 2001 Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award from Morehouse College, the 2004 Africa Achievement Peace Award, the 2006 Black Aids Institute Hero Award; and in 2009, the Ebony Magazine's 150 Award. In 1999 he was inducted into the Assembly of the Parliament of the World's Religions. Henry Van Vurst, BioStem's CEO went on to say, "We could not be more pleased to have Michael Beckwith and David Wolfe joining the team. I strongly believe that the addition of these world-renowned thought leaders will further insure BioStem Technologies' mission of being the Global Leader in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. Both of these individuals bring a sense of enthusiasm and depth of understanding for the overall wellness of people that is imperative at BioStem Technologies." About BioStem Technologies, Inc. (OTC PINK: BSEM): BioStem Technologies (OTC PINK: BSEM) is in the business of regenerative medicine and antiaging strategies throughout the United States, Europe, and Mexico. The Company's mission is to conquer the effects of biological aging (and related acute disease), and its strategy is to discover, develop, produce, and deliver the most effective stem cell and wellness products in the world. The Company is comprised of a diverse group of scientists, physicians, and industry visionaries who are creating innovative products for helping customers live their best, feel their best, and be their best. The company operates four strategic business units - BioStem Cell Therapy, BioStem Wellness, BioStem Pharmaceuticals, and BioStem International - providing a diversified line of products and services that include: clinical stem cell therapy, stem cell R&D, state-of-the-art laboratory services, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, API Repackaging, and medical tourism. Forward-Looking Statements Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "future," "plan" or "planned," "expects," believe" or "projected." These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors include, among others, limited operating history, difficulty in developing, exploiting and protecting proprietary technologies, intense competition and additional risks factors as discussed in reports filed by the company with OTC Markets. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3014041 Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3014043 Contact: BioStem Technologies, Inc. Phone: 954-380-8342 Website: http://www.biostemtech.com Email: info@biostemtech.com Twitter: @Biostemtech Facebook: Biostem Technologies Solar energy proponents in Germany are up in arms after the Ministry of Finance proposed a renewable energy tax of $0.02 per kilowatt-hour on power generated by solar systems used for self-consumption. Across the pond in Florida, a homebuilding company Stellar Homes Group has introduced PV panels as a standard feature on all of its new homes in what could be a sign of the free market meeting growing demand for solar energy. In Pennsylvania, PJM, the largest U.S. grid operator, reported a significant fall in its capacity auction price this week. The auction for capacity -- firm power to meet reliability needs -- for the 2019-2020 year resulted in a 40% fall in price to $100 per megawatt-day for the ... 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) - Police arrested rapper Roland Collins, popular as Troy Ave, following a shooting incident at T.I.'s New York concert at Irving Plaza on Wednesday night. One man was killed and three others injured shortly before the start of the concert in Manhattan. Ave, 33, has been charged with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon, New York Police said on Twitter Thursday. NYPD released a surveillance video via Twitter, which shows the shooting incident. 'A preliminary investigation revealed that the shooting took place at the third floor green room area,' according to Chief of Manhattan South Detectives William Aubry said at a press conference. Maino and another rapper, Uncle Murda, were performing before an audience of about 1,000 at the Irving Place club when gunfire erupted at about 10:15 p.m, he told reporters, adding that it is unclear what led to the shooting. 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. JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - A US appeals court has ruled that the New Jersey government's $10.6 million grant to two religious schools, including one of the largest ultra-Orthodox yeshivas in the world, are unconstitutional. The ACLU of New Jersey, national ACLU, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State had challenged New Jersey's grants of $10.6 million to the all-male Beth Medrash Govoha, an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Lakewood, and $645,323 to Princeton Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian seminary. The complainants allege that both of these schools are dedicated to religious training and engage in discrimination. This decision by the Appellate Division represents the first major state court precedent in almost 40 years concerning New Jersey's prohibition on using taxpayer funding to support a religious ministry. 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. AMSTERDAM, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine sampling some of the world's finest Scotch Whiskies with the opportunity to purchase rare blends available nowhere else. Imagine access to highly skilled and knowledgeable whisky ambassadors taking you on a multi-sensory journey, all cocooned in a luxurious and sumptuously designed gallery and private bar. Now imagine the opportunity to experience this while waiting for your flight. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372931 ) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372932 ) (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372933 ) Passengers travelling through Lounge 2 of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will now be welcomed into Europe's firstJohnnie Walker House'- a luxury Scotch Whisky embassy launched by Diageo Global Travel together with Schiphol Airport Retail. Designed to inspire travellers by bringing to life the history, provenance and pioneering spirit of theJohnnie Walkerbrand, theJohnnie Walker HouseAmsterdamAirport Schipholfollows successful airport launches in Singapore, Mumbai and Taiwan. Open to all travellers passing through the lounge, the House allows guests to explore the craftsmanship and exceptional quality ofJohnnie Walkerand its liquids through a unique sensorial journey to touch, taste and smell the rare elements that make up the famous blends. Doug Bagley, Managing Director, Diageo Global Travel and Middle East, said: "Over the past few years, we've had exceptional success and fantastic consumer feedback from ourJohnnie Walker Houseopenings in airports across Asia. Now we are bringing this unique experience to Europe for the first time, and we're confident it will similarly surprise and delight consumers in this market. Our aim is to immerse visitors in something totally different from the norm in travel retail, giving them an exclusive insight into theJohnnie Walkerstory and access to some of the world's finest Scotch Whiskies." Peter-JanRozenberg, Managing Director,Schiphol Airport Retail, added: "TheJohnnie Walker HouseAmsterdam Airport Schipholis a fantastic addition to Lounge 2 and a great opportunity for both whisky lovers and novices alike to learn more about the world's bestselling Scotch in an unique luxury lifestyle environment with ultimate customer service. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is a key hub for travellers in Europe, and we're delighted to bring them theJohnnie Walker House experience as part of our ongoing ambition to create a memorable and captivating travel retail environment." Built over two stories, theJohnnie Walker HouseAmsterdam Airport Schipholfeatures copper, water, barley, peat and oak in its design, immersing travellers in a part gallery, part museum experience which encapsulates the rich history of the whisky making experience. Key features include a 'whisky constellation wall' dedicated to theJohnnie Walkerart of blending, and providing a comprehensive index for Single Malt Scotch Whiskies and a 'flavour wall' showcasing the meeting of science and art in the blending process. Guests also have the opportunity to purchase select tasting sessions in the private, luxury bar and lounge on the 1stfloor, open year-round toJohnnie Walker Housemembers, and purchaseJohnnie Walker Houseexclusive products available nowhere else. To celebrate the opening of the House, a limited editionJohnnie Walker House' Blue Label' Casks Edition - Schiphol Limited Edition, is available exclusively to visitors. Illustrated by local artist Merjin Hos, the bottle shows the iconic Striding Man travelling from Scotland to Schiphol in a large wooden clog surrounded by iconic tulips, windmills and bicycles. For the first time in Europe, Johnnie Walker HouseExclusive Collections will also be available at retail, through theJohnnie Walker HouseAmsterdam Airport Schiphol. These Collections include:John Walker & Sons' Master Blenders Collection, Johnnie WalkerEpic Dates Collection,andJohnnie Walker House' Zodiac Collection. Please drink responsibly, visithttp://www.DRINKiQ.com TheJohnnie Walker,Master Blenders Collection, Epic Dates Collection, Zodiac Collection, Blue Label' Casks EditionandKeep Walkingwords, the Striding Figure device and associated logos are trademarks John Walker & Sons 2016. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Speaking at the site of the world's first atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Japan, U.S. President Barack Obama urged humanity to learn from the mistakes of the past in an effort to make war less likely and cruelty less easily accepted. Obama on Friday reiterated his call for a world without nuclear weapons but noted that even the crudest rifles and barrel bombs can serve up violence on a terrible scale. 'We must change our mindset about war itself,' Obama said. 'To prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after they've begun. To see our growing interdependence as a cause for peaceful cooperation and not violent competition.' 'To define our nations not by our capacity to destroy but by what we build,' he added. 'And perhaps, above all, we must re-imagine our connection to one another as members of one human race.' Obama's remarks came as he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where an estimated 140,000 people were killed in the bombing on August 6, 1945. The president did not apologize for the U.S. attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki but said he came to mourn the thousands of deaths caused by the 'terrible force unleashed in a not-so-distant past.' 'Their souls speak to us,' Obama said. 'They ask us to look inward, to take stock of who we are and what we might become.' Obama mourned all the innocents killed during World War II as well as in the wars that came before and the wars that followed and said the world has a shared responsibility to ask what must be done to curb such suffering again. While some in Japan felt Obama should apologize, that would likely have angered Americans who credit the bombings with ending the war. 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. NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Breathe eCig Corp. (OTCQB: BVAP) ("Breathe" or "the Company"), a U.S. publicly traded company, today announced the decision recently ratified by its Board of Directors ("Board") to officially change its name to "White Fox Ventures Inc." ("WhiteFox" or "WFV") to better reflect the new direction of the business. Simultaneously the Company will shortly file with FINRA requesting a new ticker symbol as well as a 100:1 Reverse Stock Split designed to improve the capital structure of the Company. The Company's new core focus is the establishment of business academies throughout Japan. The Company is launching its operations throughout Japan: Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Matsumoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Okoyama, Kumamoto and Fukuoka. The Company also plans to launch its academy via online throughout Japan. White Fox is currently developing its online proprietary application to be exclusively utilized by its academy members. This application shall be available for direct downloading onto smartphones, such as: iPhones, Android as well as iOS and Tablet devices. The Company expects to launch this application sometime during autumn of 2016 (4th Quarter, 2016). The Company is currently evaluating possible investment banking relationships in Japan as well as in New York for the purpose of securing additional working capital and further corporate advice. Management expects to start generating revenue by Q4 2016. Breathe's CEO Mr. Shinsuke Nakano expressed, "White Fox Ventures is building a solid future for shareholders by establishing a strong corporate team focused on both the Company's product offering as well as multi faceted support for such offerings. The management team is excited about its ongoing transition as a Publicly Traded Company and will do their best to achieve profitability and maintain stable growth as soon as possible. The Company will continue to update shareholders about important progress being realized." DISCLAIMER -- Caution Concerning Forward Looking Statements This press release contains statements that are "Forward-Looking" in nature (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). All statements regarding the Company's financial position, potential, business strategy, plans and objectives for future operations are Forward-Looking statements. Many of these statements contain words such as "hopefully," "attempt," "goal," "aims," "may," "expect," "believe," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "would," "exceed," "should," "steady," "plan," "potential," "dramatic," and variations of such words and similar expressions identify Forward-Looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not a Forward-Looking statement. Because Forward-Looking statements involve future risks and uncertainties, there are many factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The Company cannot predict the actual effect these factors will have on its results and many of the factors and their effects are beyond the Company's control. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or otherwise. Given these uncertainties, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements. For further information regarding these and other risks related to Breathe eCigs business, investors should consult Breathe eCigs' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at http://www.sec.gov. Contact: For Japanese Investors: Mr. Takehiro Abe Chief Operating Officer Tel: +81 (0) 3-5544-8214 Email: Tabe@whitesoxventures.com For United States & International Investors: Mr. Seth M. Shaw CFO Email: sshaw@whitefoxventures.com Tel: +1-917-796-9926 Report Regulatory News: The combined ordinary and extraordinary general meeting of Legrand (Paris:LR) shareholders was held on May 27, 2016, chaired by Legrand Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Gilles Schnepp. Legrand shareholders adopted all the resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors by a large majority. In particular, Legrand shareholders decided: to renew, for a four-year term, the Director's mandate of Ms. Christel Bories , also Chairwoman of the Strategy and Social Responsibility Committee and member of the Audit Committee; , also Chairwoman of the Strategy and Social Responsibility Committee and member of the Audit Committee; to renew, for a four-year term, the Director's mandate of Ms. Angeles Garcia-Poveda , also Lead Director, Chairwoman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Chairwoman of the Compensation Committee and member of the Strategy and Social Responsibility Committee; , also Lead Director, Chairwoman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Chairwoman of the Compensation Committee and member of the Strategy and Social Responsibility Committee; to renew, for a four-year term, the Director's mandate of Mr. Thierry de La Tour d'Artaise , also member of the Nominating and Governance Committee; , also member of the Nominating and Governance Committee; to appoint, for a four-year term, Ms. Isabelle Boccon-Gibod, as an independent Director. From now, out of a total of ten members, the Board of Directors includes: Seven independent Directors , i.e. , a ratio of 70%, which exceeds the 50%-ratio recommended by the Afep-Medef Code of Corporate Governance; , , a ratio of 70%, which exceeds the 50%-ratio recommended by the Afep-Medef Code of Corporate Governance; Five women , i.e. , a proportion of 50%, which exceeds both the requirements of the French Commercial Code (40% as from 2017) and the recommendations of the Afep-Medef Code of Corporate Governance (40% as from 2016); and , , a proportion of 50%, which exceeds both the requirements of the French Commercial Code (40% as from 2017) and the recommendations of the Afep-Medef Code of Corporate Governance (40% as from 2016); and Four different nationalities: Chinese, French, Italian, and Spanish. Membership of the Board of Directors thus reflects a great diversity of talents, nationalities and cultures, in line with the diversity policy advocated by the Group. Meeting immediately after the general meeting, the Board of Directors decided to appoint Ms. Isabelle Boccon-Gibod as a member of the Audit Committee and Ms. Eliane Rouyer-Chevalier as a member of the Compensation Committee. Legrand shareholders also decided to distribute a dividend of 1.15 per share in respect of the 2015 financial year, split into two payments1 0.72 per share from distributable income; 0.43 per share as a repayment of paid-in capital. Ex-dividend date will be May 31, 2016 and the dividend will be paid on June 2, 2016. Presentations to the General Meeting as well as full results of votes on resolutions and the General Meeting webcast are available on the Company's website at www.legrand.com, under "Investors Shareholders Shareholders' corner 2016 General Meeting". Key financial dates Ex-dividend date: May 31, 2016 Dividend payment: June 2, 2016 Investor Day: June 30, 2016 2016 first-half results: August 1, 2016 2016 nine-month results: November 10, 2016 ABOUT LEGRAND Legrand is the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Its comprehensive offering of solutions for commercial, industrial and residential markets makes it a benchmark for customers worldwide. Drawing on a nearly 10-year CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach that involves all employees, Legrand is pursuing its strategy of profitable and sustainable growth driven by innovation, with a steady flow of new offerings-including Eliot* connected products that enhance value in use-and acquisitions. Legrand reported sales of more than 4.8 billion in 2015. The company is listed on Euronext Paris and is a component stock of indexes including the CAC40, FTSE4Good, MSCI World, Corporate Oekom Rating, DJSI, Vigeo Euronext Eurozone 120 and Europe 120 and Ethibel Sustainability Index Excellence (ISIN code FR0010307819). www.legrand.com *Eliot is a program launched in 2015 by Legrand to speed up deployment of the Internet of Things in its offering. A result of the group's innovation strategy, the Eliot program aims to develop connected and interoperable solutions that deliver lasting benefits to private individual users and professionals. http://www.legrand.com/EN/eliot-program_13238.html 1 Indicative split released for informative purposes only and likely to be amended, depending on the change in number of shares entitling their holders to the distribution by the payment date. For more detailed explanations, please refer to pages 314-315 of the 2015 Registration Document View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005525/en/ Contacts: Investor relations Legrand Francois Poisson, +33 (1) 49 72 53 53 francois.poisson@legrand.fr or Press Relations Publicis Consultants Robert Amady/Vilizara Lazarova Tel: +33 (0)1 44 82 46 31 +33 (0)1 44 82 46 34 Mob: +33 (0)6 72 63 08 91 +33 (0)6 26 72 57 14 robert.amady@consultants.publicis.fr vilizara.lazarova@consultants.publicis.fr Regulatory News: The Board of Directors of Legrand (Paris:LR) ("the Company") met on May 27, 2016 and agreed to set up a share buyback program as authorized by shareholders at the Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meeting held the same day. Established in accordance with articles 241-1 and following of the General Regulation of the French Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des Marches Financiers),this description is drawn up for the purpose of setting out the objectives and terms of Legrand's share buyback program set up by the Board of Directors of Legrand met on May 27, 2016 ("the Share Buyback Program"), pursuant to the authorization granted by the above-mentioned General Meeting of Shareholders. I. Number of shares and percentage of capital stock held by the Company On May 24, 2016, the Company's capital stock consisted of 267,021,160 shares. At the same date, the Company held 94,629 of its own shares. II. Allocation by purpose of own shares held by the Company On May 24, 2016, the 94,629 own shares held by the Company were allocated by purpose as follows: 89,500 shares under a contract to ensure liquidity of trading in shares in accordance with the Charter of Professional Ethics recognized by the French Financial Markets Authority ( Autorite des Marches Financiers ) through an investment service provider acting independently; and ) through an investment service provider acting independently; and 5,129 shares allocated for implementation of performance share plans under the provisions of articles L. 225-197-1 and following of the French Commercial Code; III. Purposes of the new Share Buyback Program Legrand envisages conducting or arranging for a share buyback for the purposes of: ensuring the liquidity or active operation of the market in Company shares by the intermediary of an investment services provider, acting independently under a liquidity contract in compliance with the Code of Practice recognized by France's Financial Markets Authority ( Autorite des marches financiers implementing (i) any and all Company stock options plans in accordance with Articles L.225-177 et seq . of the French Commercial Code or any similar plan; (ii) any and all Group employee share-ownership programs in accordance with Articles L.3332-1 et seq. of the French Labour Code ( Code du travail ) or to provide for share allocations for employee profit-sharing and/or in lieu of discount according to applicable laws and regulations; (iii) any and all free share allocations pursuant to Articles L.225-197-1 et seq . of the French Commercial Code; and any and all share allocations for employee profit-sharing, as well as providing cover for such transactions at such times as the Board of Directors or the person acting on its behalf takes action, (iv) allocation of shares to employees and/or corporate officers of the Company or of the Group, complying with applicable laws and regulations; . of the French Commercial Code or any similar plan; (ii) any and all Group employee share-ownership programs in accordance with Articles L.3332-1 et seq. of the French Labour Code ( ) or to provide for share allocations for employee profit-sharing and/or in lieu of discount according to applicable laws and regulations; (iii) any and all free share allocations pursuant to Articles L.225-197-1 . of the French Commercial Code; and any and all share allocations for employee profit-sharing, as well as providing cover for such transactions at such times as the Board of Directors or the person acting on its behalf takes action, (iv) allocation of shares to employees and/or corporate officers of the Company or of the Group, complying with applicable laws and regulations; holding and subsequently transferring shares by way of exchange or payment relating to a business acquisition, merger, demerger, or transfer of assets, it being specified that the number of shares acquired by the Company with a view to holding these and employing them at a later date as payment for or in exchange for a merger, demerger or transfer of assets may not exceed 5% of the Company's capital stock; delivering shares on the exercise of rights attached to securities providing immediate or future access to the equity of the Company, through redemption, conversion, exchange, presentation of a warrant, or in any other way; cancelling all or some of the shares so purchased; or carrying out such other practices as may be permitted or recognized by law or by the Financial Markets Authority, or pursuing any other objective complying with applicable laws and regulations. IV. Limit on the percentage of capital stock that may be acquired and maximum number of shares that may be purchased pursuant to the Share Buyback Program, types of securities that may be acquired under the Share Buyback Program, maximum price and terms of purchase 1. Maximum percentage of capital stock that the Company may acquire and maximum number of shares that may be purchased pursuant to the Share Buyback Program The limit on the portion of capital stock that is authorized for purchase under the Share Buyback Program is 10% of the total number of shares representing the capital stock at the date of the Combined Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held on May 27, 2016, with the proviso that, when shares are purchased to ensure the market liquidity of Legrand stock under the conditions described above, the number of shares used to calculate this 10% limit will be the number of shares purchased less the number of shares resold over the duration of the Share Buyback Program. As provided under articles L. 225-209 and following of the French Commercial Code, the Company may at no time hold, directly or indirectly, Legrand shares representing more than 10% of the total number of shares making up Legrand's capital stock at that date. 2. Types of securities that may be acquired under the Share Buyback Program The only securities that may be acquired under this program are Legrand shares. The shares purchased and held by the Company will be deprived of voting rights and will carry no entitlement to payment of a dividend. 3. Maximum authorized unit purchase price The maximum price that the Company may pay for shares purchased under the Share Buyback Program is 75 per share (excluding fees), it being specified that this maximum price will be adjusted as necessary to reflect capital transactions, in particular incorporation of reserves or free share allotments and/or share splits or reverse splits. The maximum amount allowed for the implementation of the Share Buyback Program is 1 billion. 4. Terms of purchase Shares may be purchased, sold, transferred or exchanged, directly or indirectly, at any time within the limits authorized by law and regulation, except at such times as Company shares may be the object of a tender offer, by any means, on or off any market, including through OTC transactions, trading in blocks of shares or public tender offers, or through the use of any financial instruments or derivatives, including option-based mechanisms such as purchases and sales of put and call options. V. Duration of the Share Buyback Program The Share Buyback Program is to be implemented for a period of eighteen months from the authorization granted by the Combined Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on May 27, 2016, which is to say up to November 27, 2017 at the latest. VI. Investment service provider Implementation of the Share Buyback Program The Company will appoint an investment service provider acting independently to assist it in implementing the Share Buyback Program. Liquidity contract Under a contract signed on May 29, 2007 as subsequently amended, Legrand charged Kepler Cheuvreux with providing for the liquidity of Legrand shares and ensuring more regular trading. This contract complies with the Charter of Professional Ethics drawn up by AMAFI (French financial markets association) on March 8, 2011. The total amount of this liquidity contract is currently 15 million. VII. Transactions made under the previous share buyback program Meeting on May 29, 2015, shareholders at the Combined Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meeting authorized the Board of Directors to implement, or have implemented by delegation, a share buyback program for a period of eighteen months. A detailed description of the program implemented by the Board of Directors on May 29, 2015 within the framework of the authorization mentioned above is published on the Company's website. The Company made no use of derivative products. During the Share Buyback Program, any significant change in any of the information set forth above will be brought to the attention of the public as soon as possible in compliance with the provisions of article 221-3 of the General Regulations of the France's Financial Markets Authority (Autorite des marches financiers Legrand is the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Its comprehensive offering of solutions for commercial, industrial and residential markets makes it a benchmark for customers worldwide. Drawing on a nearly 10-year CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach that involves all employees, Legrand is pursuing its strategy of profitable and sustainable growth driven by innovation, with a steady flow of new offerings--including Eliot* connected products that enhance value in use--and acquisitions. Legrand reported sales of more than 4.8 billion in 2015. The company is listed on Euronext Paris and is a component stock of indexes including the CAC40, FTSE4Good, MSCI World, Corporate Oekom Rating, DJSI, Vigeo Euronext Eurozone 120 and Europe 120 and Ethibel Sustainability Index Excellence. (ISIN code FR0010307819). http://www.legrand.com A French societe anonyme with capital of EUR 1,067,722,408 Registered at 128, avenue du Marechal de Lattre de Tassigny 87000 Limoges, France 421 259 615 RCS Limoges View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005535/en/ Contacts: Legrand VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- First Majestic Silver Corp. ("First Majestic" or the "Company") (NYSE: AG)(TSX: FR)(FRANKFURT: FMV)(BVM: AG) is pleased to announce the voting results for the election of its Board of Directors at its annual general meeting held on May 26, 2016. A total of 83,286,701 shares were represented at the meeting, being 53.37% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares. Shareholders voted in favour of all matters brought before the meeting and the election of directors was approved by a majority vote of shareholders present in person or represented by proxy as follows: Election of Directors Votes Director Nominee Non Votes Votes For % For Withheld % Withheld Keith Neumeyer 32,658,942 50,423,540 99.60 204,219 0.40 Ramon Davila 32,658,942 50,423,150 99.60 204,609 0.40 Douglas Penrose 32,658,942 50,409,784 99.57 217,975 0.43 Robert McCallum 32,658,942 50,319,880 99.39 307,879 0.61 Tony Pezzotti 32,658,942 50,324,057 99.40 303,702 0.60 David Shaw 32,658,942 50,422,456 99.59 205,303 0.41 Executive Compensation Advisory Vote The advisory resolution on the Company's approach to executive compensation as outlined in the Circular was approved by a majority vote of shareholders present in person or represented by proxy as follows: Non Votes Votes For % For Votes Against % Against 32,658,943 48,681,428 96.16 1,946,330 3.84% First Majestic is a producing silver company focused on silver production in Mexico and is aggressively pursuing the development of its existing mineral property assets and the pursuit through acquisition of additional mineral assets which contribute to the Company achieving its corporate growth objectives. FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. Keith Neumeyer, President & CEO SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions, identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things: the price of silver and other metals; the accuracy of mineral reserve and resource estimates and estimates of future production and costs of production at our properties; estimated production rates for silver and other payable metals produced by us, the estimated cost of development of our development projects; the effects of laws, regulations and government policies on our operations, including, without limitation, the laws in Mexico which currently have significant restrictions related to mining; obtaining or maintaining necessary permits, licences and approvals from government authorities; and continued access to necessary infrastructure, including, without limitation, access to power, land, water and roads to carry on activities as planned. These statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in the spot and forward price of silver, gold, base metals or certain other commodities (such as natural gas, fuel oil and electricity); fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso versus the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada, Mexico; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); risks relating to the credit worthiness or financial condition of suppliers, refiners and other parties with whom the Company does business; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining, including those currently enacted in Mexico; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities; diminishing quantities or grades of mineral reserves as properties are mined; the Company's title to properties; and the factors identified under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form, under the caption "Risks Relating to First Majestic's Business". Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements or information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law. Contacts: First Majestic Silver Corp. info@firstmajestic.com www.firstmajestic.com 1.866.529.2807 WINNIPEG, MANITOBA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- The North West Company Inc. ("North West") (TSX: NWC) will hold its annual general meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 11:30 a.m. (Central Time) (the "Meeting") in the Muriel Richardson Auditorium at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 300 Memorial Boulevard, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Shareholders of North West are invited to attend the Meeting, where there will be an opportunity to ask questions and meet management and North West's Directors. North West will also host a webcast of the Meeting. To access the Meeting, log onto http://www.gowebcasting.com/7543. Shareholders viewing the webcast will not be permitted to vote through the webcast, but will be permitted to ask questions of management. The webcast will be archived and available at www.northwest.ca. North West is also hosting a conference call for its first quarter results on June 8, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. (Central Time). To access the call, please dial 416-695-7806 or 866-696-5910 with a pass code of 9790909. The conference call will be archived and can be accessed by dialing 905-694-9451 or 800-408-3053 with a pass code of 1173917 on or before June 15, 2016. Corporate Profile The North West Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading retailer of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighbourhoods in Canada, Alaska, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. North West operates 228 stores under the trading names Northern, NorthMart, Giant Tiger, AC Value Center and Cost-U-Less and has annualized sales of approximately CAD$1.8 billion. Contacts: The North West Company Inc. Paulina Hiebert Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary (204) 934-1756 phiebert@northwest.ca www.northwest.ca VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Reservoir Minerals Inc. ("Reservoir" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: RMC)(OTC PINK: RVRLF)(BERLIN: 9RE), is pleased to advise that the Management Information Circular (the "Information Circular") relating to the arrangement agreement between Reservoir and Nevsun Resources Ltd. ("Nevsun") whereby Reservoir and Nevsun will combine their respective companies (the "Arrangement") announced, on April 24th, 2016, has been mailed and filed on SEDAR. Reservoir shareholders and optionholders ("Reservoir Securityholders") as of the record date, May 11th, 2016, are entitled and will receive copy of the Information Circular and form of proxy in short order. The Information Circular sets out the terms and conditions regarding the Arrangement, as well as voting instructions for the special meeting to be held on June 17, 2016 (the "Meeting"); eligible shareholders and optionholders are encouraged to read it carefully. Reservoirs' Board of Directors and Executive team unanimously supports this transaction and urges shareholders to vote their Proxy FOR the Arrangement. Subject to certain customary conditions, the transaction is expected to close on or about June 23, 2016. At that time, Reservoir Shareholders will receive two common shares of Nevsun and $0.001 in cash (less applicable statutory withholdings) for each Reservoir common share they own. Accordingly, the Reservoir Board of Directors urge you to vote the proxy in support of this transaction. Simon Ingram, President, CEO, and a Director of Reservoir commented: "Nevsun has funded Reservoir US$ 135 million through an equity placement and loan to enable it to exercise its right of first offer for the Timok project, such that Reservoir now owns 100% of the Timok Project high grade copper gold Upper Zone and is the operator of the Timok Project. Nevsun is well funded and its management team has built the Bisha Mine and the associated expansions on time and under budget. This Arrangement presents a low risk option for Reservoir shareholders to continue to participate in the development of the Timok Project to production and benefit in the future value creation we believe exists at this world class deposit." Miles Thompson, Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Reservoir further commented, "On behalf of Reservoir, our management team and the Reservoir Board, I would like to thank all Reservoir Securityholders for their continuing support, and urge you to read below our further comments and to vote in favour of this milestone transaction." As the Arrangement is subject to, among other things, approval by 66 2/3% of Reservoir shareholders, the purpose of this news release is to outline the value, opportunity and upside that this transaction delivers to shareholders, and the reasons why the Board of Directors and management are so enthusiastic about this transaction. In brief, the Company believes this is an excellent outcome for shareholders and a milestone transaction for Reservoir and its Timok project. Reservoir has worked hard to bring Timok to where it is today. Now Reservoir can draw on Nevsun's experience, balance sheet and ongoing cash flow to bring Timok into production, while shareholders benefit from participating in a stronger and better-capitalized company. The Arrangement The proposed Arrangement with Nevsun has elevated the value of Reservoir common shares ("Reservoir Shares") to an all-time high and positions holders of Reservoir Shares ("Reservoir Shareholders") to benefit from the development and long-term opportunity of the Timok project. Based on the closing price of Nevsun common shares on April 22, 2016 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the per share consideration to be paid to Reservoir Shareholders represents a premium of 124% compared with Reservoir's trading price on March 3, 2016, prior to receiving notification of the right of first offer on the Timok project. This is also a premium of 35% compared with the 20-day volume weighted average price (VWAP) on the last trading day prior to the announcement of the combination with Nevsun. Upon closing the combined company will have a 100% stake in the Timok Upper Zone, and the balance sheet strength to move the project forward and expedite it into production, using the ongoing cash flow from Nevsun's 60%-owned Bisha mine. Nevsun's team brought Bisha into production on time and under budget, and in 2015 it generated US$120 million in operating cash flow. At the Meeting shareholders and optionholders as of the record date will be asked to consider and vote upon the Arrangement upon completion of which Reservoir Shareholders will receive, for each Reservoir Share held, two common shares (each whole common share, a "Nevsun Share") in the capital of Nevsun Resources Ltd. ("Nevsun") and a nominal cash payment of $0.001 (collectively, the "Consideration"). Securityholder Approval In order to become effective, the Arrangement must be approved by a special resolution passed by: (a) at least two-thirds of the votes cast by Reservoir Shareholders at the Meeting present in person or represented by proxy voting as a single class; (b) at least two-thirds of the votes cast by Reservoir Securityholders at the Meeting present in person or represented by proxy voting as a single class; and (c) a simple majority of the votes cast by Reservoir Shareholders at the Meeting in person or by proxy, excluding the votes cast in respect of Reservoir Shares held or controlled by "interested parties" or "joint actors" (as defined by Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Completion of the Arrangement is also subject to receipt of certain required regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX"), the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") and the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Court"), and other customary closing conditions, all of which are described in more detail in the Information Circular. All of the directors and senior officers of Reservoir have entered into agreements with Nevsun to vote their Reservoir Shares (including any Reservoir Shares issued upon the exercise of any Reservoir Options prior to the record date) and Reservoir Options in favour of the Arrangement, provided that the arrangement agreement dated as of April 22, 2016 between Reservoir and Nevsun (the "Arrangement Agreement") has not been terminated by either Reservoir or Nevsun in accordance with its terms. The holders of Nevsun Shares (the "Nevsun Shareholders") will be asked to approve the issuance of the Nevsun Shares forming part of the Consideration (the "Consideration Shares") at a special meeting of Nevsun Shareholders to be held for such purpose. The issuance of the Consideration Shares will require approval from a majority of the Nevsun Shareholders. All of the directors and senior officers of Nevsun have entered into agreements with Reservoir to vote their Nevsun Shares in favour of the issuance of the Consideration Shares. "We believe this transaction with Nevsun is an excellent outcome for Reservoir, and that Reservoir shareholders will benefit from the opportunity to participate in the combined company going forward. In reaching a decision to support the transaction, Reservoir conducted extensive due diligence. Our CEO and I visited Nevsun's Bisha mine in Eritrea, and met the operating team and senior government officials. It is an excellent operating mine site, and we are impressed with what Nevsun has achieved and built there. Nevsun brought Bisha, the first modern mine in a relatively undeveloped economy, into production on schedule and under budget. Since it began operating in 2011, the mine has established a track record for safety, environmental performance and community involvement. Nevsun has also provided shareholders with top-tier returns, a regular dividend and a strong balance sheet during a period of weak metals prices. We have confidence in Nevsun's management team, based on its operating track record and its willingness to preserve its cash and wait for the right opportunity while others did not," said Mr. Thompson. Nevsun provided US$135 million in debt and equity funding at a per share price of Cdn$9.40 to enable Reservoir to exercise its right of first offer in respect to the joint venture with Freeport International Holdings (BVI) Ltd. in the Timok Project. This investment represents fair value to Reservoir shareholders. Equity financing for this type of transaction is typically provided at a discount, but Nevsun provided the US$90.3 million equity portion of the funding by acquiring Reservoir shares at premium value. Going forward, shareholders of Reservoir will own approximately one-third of Nevsun's outstanding shares and will therefore benefit from Nevsun's ability to advance Timok to production, from Nevsun's solid, ongoing Bisha operations and from continued exploration and reserve opportunities across the combined portfolio of resource properties. The Reservoir Board has received the opinion of Canaccord Genuity Corp. ("Canaccord") as to the fairness, from a financial point of view, to Reservoir Shareholders, of the consideration to be received by Reservoir Shareholders pursuant to the Arrangement, delivered on April 22, 2016, the text of which is attached as Appendix "C" to the Information Circular, and has unanimously, after receiving legal and financial advice and the unanimous recommendation of the special committee of the Reservoir Board (the "Reservoir Special Committee"), determined that the consideration to be received by the Reservoir Securityholders pursuant to the Arrangement is fair to such holders and that the Arrangement is in the best interests of Reservoir and the Reservoir Securityholders and unanimously recommends that the Reservoir Securityholders vote in favour of the Arrangement Resolution. Accordingly, the Reservoir Board unanimously recommends that the Reservoir Securityholders vote FOR the Arrangement. Shareholder Questions Time is short - please vote your proxy as soon as you are in receipt If you have any questions or need assistance with voting, please contact D.F. King, the proxy solicitation agent, by telephone at 1-866-822-1237 (North American Toll Free) or 1-201-806-7301 (Collect Outside North America); or by email at: inquiries@dfking.com. Site Visit Reservoir and Nevsun are hosting a combined site visit this June, in Serbia to demonstrate the value of the Timok Projects to shareholders. For interest in learning how to participate in the self-funded site visit please contact Rachel Stephenson at rachel@reservoirminerals.com. About the Company: Reservoir Minerals Inc. is an international mineral exploration and development company run by an experienced technical and management team, with a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration properties in Europe and Africa. The Company operates an exploration partnership business model to leverage its expertise through to discovery. For further information on Reservoir Minerals Inc., please consult our website www.reservoirminerals.com. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements or information, including but not limited to those with respect to receipt of the Information Circular and proxy materials, the expected closing date of the Arrangement, the consideration to be received in respect of the Arrangement, beliefs with respect to future value creation at the Timok Project and the outcome of the Arrangement and benefits to shareholders, and the future ownership by Reservoir shareholders of Nevsun Shares, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Reservoir Minerals Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such factors include, among others, (i) the conditions to completion of the arrangement will not be satisfied, including approval by Reservoir's and Nevsun's shareholders, and court approval; (ii) an event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the arrangement agreement will occur; (iii) the retention of employees and other personnel will be adversely affected by uncertainty surrounding the arrangement; (iv) the companies will be unable to successfully integrate their operations following completion of the arrangement; (v) any of the assumptions in the historical resource estimates turn out to be incorrect, incomplete, or flawed in any respect; (vi) the methodologies and models used to prepare the resource and reserve estimates either underestimate or overestimate the resources or reserves due to hidden or unknown conditions, (vii) exploration activities or the mine operations are disrupted or suspended due to acts of god, internal conflicts in the country of Eritrea or Serbia, unforeseen government actions or other events; (viii) operations will be disrupted due to equipment or power failures, uncertainties in the copper minerology, metallurgical recoveries or concentrate grades, or other or other events; (ix) Nevsun is subjected to any hostile takeover or other unsolicited attempts to acquire control of Nevsun; or (x) are associated with the speculative nature of exploration activities, periodic interruptions to exploration, failure of drilling, processing and mining equipment, the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, changes to exploration and project plans and parameters and other risks disclosed in documents filed from time to time with the securities regulators in the applicable Provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: Reservoir Minerals Inc. Chris MacIntyre VP Corporate Development +1.416.703.0010 chris@reservoirminerals.com www.reservoirminerals.com PUNE, India, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Inverter Duty Motors Market Report by Application, by End-User, by Standards, by Construction Material, and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World) - Global forecasts to 2021" published by MarketsandMarkets, The market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 2.58 Billion in 2016 to USD 4.08 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 9.6% from 2016 to 2021. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 73 market data Tables with 52 Figures spread through 156 Pages and in-depth TOC on"Inverter Duty Motors Market Report" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/inverter-duty-motors-market-222093886.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. Increasing need for motor efficiency, growing urbanization and infrastructure developments, and high demand for energy density of motors are driving the Inverter Duty Motors Market across the globe. IEEE standards-based inverter duty motors accounted for the largest market share in 2015 Among different types of international standards, i.e., IEEE, NEMA, UL, and others, IEEE standards-based inverter duty motors accounted for the largest market share in 2015. IEEE specifies inverter duty motors standard under IEEE 841'-2009 standard. This standard implies that the motors should be built with NEMA MG1 compliance, and also should include typical features and testing of IEEE 841'-2009 standard. The additional reliability gained by these tests adds advantage to IEEE-based inverter duty motors over standard NEMA-based inverter duty motors. These motors are mostly used in the North American and European region. Chemicals and oil & gas end-user segment is responsible for the highest demand of inverter duty motors globally Upstream operations of the oil & gas industry, such as drilling, require constant torque and variable speed motor applications. Inverter duty motors are reliable and efficient for such operations. Due to widespread oil & gas operations across the globe, and increasing demand for reliability in operations, inverter duty motors are expected to cater the highest demand from this industry during the forecast period. Metal & mining is another segment contributing to the demand for inverter duty motors. In this segment, inverter duty motors find their utilization in crane & hoists, conveyors, and extruders applications. North America is the dominant market for inverter duty motors In this report, the Inverter Duty Motors Market has been analyzed with respect to four regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World. Rest of the World includes South America, the Middle East, and Africa regions. North America is expected to dominate the global Inverter Duty Motors Market owing to its large unconventional oil & gas industry base, and stringent motor-efficiency regulations in the region. To provide an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes profile of some of the leading players in the Inverter Duty Motors Market namely, ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Nidec Corporation (Japan), Regal Beloit Corporation (U.S.), Rockwell Corporation (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), General Electric (U.S.), WEG SA (Brazil), Crompton Greaves (India), and Havells India Ltd. (India), among others. Dominant players are trying to penetrate developing economies and adopting various methods to grab the market share. Make an Enquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=222093886 Market share analysis by revenue for key companies is included in the report. The scope accordingly aids market participants to identify high-growth markets and help managing key investment decisions. For this report, major players in the Inverter Duty Motors Market have been identified using various primary and secondary sources, which include annual reports of top market players, interviews with key opinion leaders such as CEOs, directors, and marketing people. Based on this research, the market shares have been evaluated and validated. Browse Related Reports: Intelligent Motor Controller Market by Voltage (Low & Medium), by Motor Type, by End User (Oil & Gas, Power & Water, Food, Mining, Chemicals, & Pharmaceutical), by Application (Pump, Fan & Compressor), & by Region - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/intelligent-motor-controller-market-130751591.html Gear Motors Market by Product (Gearbox & Gear Motor), by Gear Type (Helical, Planetary, Helical-Bevel, Worm, & Others), by Rated Power, by Torque (Up to 10,000 Nm, Above 10,000 Nm), by Industry & by Region - Global Trends & Forecast to 2021 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/gear-motor-market-37526037.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. Visit MarketsandMarkets Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/energy-and-power Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets 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: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Russia has increased exports of softwood lumber from seven million m3 in 2000 to 23 million m3 in 2015. In the 1Q/16, shipments declined for the second straight quarter mainly because of less demand in Europe and the CIS countries, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Lumber export prices have fallen 36% the past two years. Lumber exports from Russia have fallen for two consecutive quarters, with the 1Q/16 shipments being almost ten percent lower than in the 3Q/15. Most of the decline has been in shipments to the CIS countries, including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, but trade with Egypt and some European countries were also down, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). Of the major trading partners, it was only Japan (+33%) and China (+10%) that increased their importation of Russian lumber. However, the first quarter shipments this year were higher than they were in the 1Q/15. Russian exportation of softwood lumber has trended upward for over 15 years to reach a record high of over 23 million m3 in 2015 (as compared to seven million m3 in 2000). The dramatic change in shipments has mainly been the increase in demand for lumber in the Chinese market. From 2005 to 2015, exports from Russia to China were up from less than one million m3 to almost ten million m3, a majority of which was pine lumber from sawmills in Siberia and Russia's Far East. Europe has become a less important market for the Russian lumber industry over the past ten years. Not only has the European slice of the total export pie diminished, but the total Russian export volumes the past few years have also been lower than in the past. In 2005, one-third of Russian lumber export volumes were destined for Europe (mainly the UK, Germany and Estonia), while only 12 percent of the total exports entered the European market in 2015. Export prices have fallen quite substantially in US dollar terms the past two years at the same time as values in Ruble terms were close to record high levels in the 1Q/16. The past two years, export prices have declined 36% in US dollars, while they have gone up by about the same percentage in Ruble terms, according to the WRQ (www.woodprices.com). The price range for exported lumber in the 1Q/16 was quite wide with prices for higher-grade pine lumber destined for Japan being close to $250/m3, while lower-grade lumber shipped to China averaging only $92/m3. Global lumber, sawlog and pulpwood market reporting is included in the 52-page quarterly publication Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). The report, which was established in 1988 and has subscribers in over 30 countries, tracks sawlog, pulpwood, lumber and pellet prices, trade and market developments in most key regions around the world. To subscribe to the WRQ, please go to www.woodprices.com Wood Resources International LLC (WRI), an internationally recognized forest industry-consulting firm established in 1987, publishes two quarterly timber price reports and have subscribers in over 30 countries. The Wood Resource Quarterly, established in 1988, is a 52-page market report and includes sawlog prices, pulpwood and wood chip price and market commentary to developments in global timber, biomass and forest industry. The other report, the North Americam Wood Fiber Review, tracks prices of sawlogs, pulpwood, wood chips and biomass in most regions of Canada and the US. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160527005722/en/ Contacts: Wood Resources International LLC Hakan Ekstrom info@woodprices.com info@wri-ltd.com www.woodprices.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- SGX Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: SXR) (the "Company") wishes to provide the following updates. In accordance with Policy 2.5, the Company has not met the requirements for a Tier 1 company. Therefore, effective Friday May 27, 2016, the Company's Tier classification will change from Tier 1 to Tier 2. Further to the Exchange Bulletin dated May 10, 2016, trading in the shares of the Company will remain suspended. The Company also wishes to announce the resignation of Dale Ginn as President and CEO of the Company. A search for a replacement is underway and further updates will be provided as they become available 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 the contents of this News Release. Contacts: SGX Resources Inc. Sethu Raman Director raman321@gmail.com DUBLIN, May 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Industrial 3D Printing Market (3D Manufacturing) - Global Forecast to 2022" report to their offering. The industrial 3D printing market is expected to reach USD 4.75 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 29.2% between 2016 and 2022. The market is expected to be driven by factors such as emerging applications in the manufacturing industry and potential to enhance the manufacturing and supply chain management. Laser metal deposition is expected to be the fastest-growing technology for the industrial 3D printing market. Laser metal deposition technology has the ability to both repair and produce parts, which makes it suitable for use in manufacturing industries. The benefits of laser metal deposition technology such as reduction of material waste, low tooling costs, repair of parts costly to replace, reduction in lead time, and customization of parts according to the requirement are the major factors driving this market. North America held the largest share of the industrial 3D printing market, with the U.S. being the major contributor to the growth of the market in North America. Major industries such as aerospace & defense, automotive, healthcare, electrical & electronics, foundry & forging, and jewelry have started adopting industrial 3D printing for tooling, manufacturing, and repair of machinery parts and for manufacturing parts of robots such as arms and grippers. The market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest rate between 2016 and 2022. Government initiatives, funding in research and development, and extensive industrial base are the major factors that make Asia-Pacific a dynamic market for industrial 3D printing, with Japan and China as the major contributors. Companies Mentioned: 3D Systems Corporation Arcam Group Concept Laser GmbH EOS GmbH Envisiontec GmbH Hoganas Ab Koninklijke DSM N.V. Materialise Nv Oxford Performance Materials Inc. Renishaw PLC. SLM Solutions Group AG. Sciaky Inc Scuplteo Stratasys Ltd. The Exone Company Voxeljet AG Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Market Overview 6 Industry Trends 7 Industrial 3D Printing Market, By Process 8 Industrial 3D Printing Market, By Technology 9 Industrial 3D Printing Market, By Software 10 Industrial 3D Printing Market, By Service 11 Industrial 3D Printing Market, By Application 12 Industrial 3D Printing Market, By End-User Industry 13 Geographic Analysis 14 Competitive Landscape 15 Company Profiles For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/4p938n/industrial_3d 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 BOSTON, MA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Operation Reinvent, a nonprofit organization specializing in transitioning women Veterans to a civilian lifestyle, is working with Fantastic Sams for their upcoming workshops in Kentucky and North Carolina. Operation Reinvent, an organization dedicated to transitioning women Veterans to civilian life through education and empowerment, is hosting workshops at the Kentucky and North Carolina military bases; Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell, respectively. Through these events the women gain confidence personally, socially and professionally as they embark on their next chapter out of the uniform. The workshops are scheduled for June 8 and 9 and the Fantastic Sams Stylists are eager to take part. "At Fantastic Sams our goal is to make the world a more beautiful place and we are proud to extend this service to the women who have boldly served our country. Through our partnership with Operation Reinvent we are so fortunate to have the chance to welcome our female veterans back into their civilian lives and relish the opportunity to bring a lovely smile to the faces that bravely represent our country. Fantastic Sams proudly gives back to those who have already given so much!" said Ruth Swanson, V.P. of Marketing for Dessange Group North America; parent company for Fantastic Sams. Fantastic Sams is honored to be partnered with Operation Reinvent along with other national brands enthusiastic about the workshops. Fantastic Sams stylists will cut and style the hair, as well as consult on color, while their makeup artists will do their magic and provide makeup education, as well. CVS will supply all makeup for the event, and Macy's will be arranging the wardrobe and clothing options for the participating women veterans. The brands, of course, are not the only parties involved in the event. Dick Kauffman, region owner in North Carolina, has been instrumental in coordinating the workshop at Fort Bragg. As team leader, Bonnie Harmon, Director of Education/Operations, is well-versed and experienced in running the seminars with Operation Reinvent and has been a huge support to the Fort Bragg team, as well. At Fort Campbell, Fantastic Sams national educators are working in collaboration with Region Owner Glen Adams and his Region V. P. Helen Lahah to create a life-changing experience for these veterans. Fantastic Sams' lively brand spirit offers attainable beauty that is trending now with easy access to all salons at a fantastic price. Fantastic Sams was the first nationally franchised hair salon, and has grown to more than 1,100 locations over 40 years. Unlike discount haircut franchises, Fantastic Sams offers the full range of salon services, including haircuts and trend-right styles, color and waxing, which helps generate higher tickets and margins. Fantastic Sams invented the no appointment needed hair salon and continues to be an industry leader. For more information on the Fantastic Sams franchise opportunity, visit www.fantasticsamsfranchise.com. Embedded Video Available Embedded Video Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3014202 Contact Lori Merrall Director of Franchise Sales and Development 480-272-3404 lori.merrall@dessange-inc.com CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- New Millennium Iron Corp. ("NML" or the "Company") (TSX: NML) announced today that pursuant to its advance notice bylaw adopted by the Board of Directors effective May 1, 2014 and ratified by the shareholders at the annual meeting held on June 25, 2014, it has received a notice of nomination of directors (the "Notice") from W. Scott Leckie, a shareholder of the Company, in respect of three director nominees who are expected to be nominated by Mr. Leckie at the Company's upcoming annual general and special meeting of shareholders to be held on June 23, 2016 (the "Meeting"). Mr. Leckie has advised that he intends to put forward himself, Daniel P. Owen and Biswajit Chanda for election as directors of the Company (the "Shareholder Nominees"). The Notice was received after the Board had approved the management information circular prepared in respect of the Meeting, with proposed nominees for election as directors. Management of the Company is disappointed that after the special meeting of shareholders held on March 15, 2016, at which resolutions to remove six of the current nine directors and appoint four new directors, which included Mr. Owen, were defeated, the Company will have another potentially divisive and costly contested director election just over three months later. The Company had recently become aware of the intention for new nominations from Mr. Leckie, and had requested information as to the potential nominees, which was not provided with sufficient time for due and proper consideration by the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee and the Board. However, the Company is continuing its Board renewal process and does intend, through its Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee, to consider these nominations after conclusion of the Meeting, along with other existing and new potential director candidates, as part of that process. The Company intends to send the management information circular to shareholders during the week of May 30, 2016, which will include information on the Shareholder Nominees and outline the Company's voting recommendations to shareholders, including with respect to director nominees for election to the Board. About New Millennium The Company is a Canadian iron ore development company with an extensive property position in Canada's principal iron ore district, the Labrador Trough, straddling the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Province of Quebec, in the Menihek Region around Schefferville, Quebec. The Company's project areas are connected via a well-established, heavy-haul rail network to the Port of Sept-Iles, Quebec, where NML is among a group of companies that has advanced funds to secure capacity at a new deep-water iron ore loading dock. In addition to having a management team experienced with the technical, environmental and commercial aspects of Labrador Trough ores, the Company is in a strategic partnership with Tata Steel, a global steel producer and industry leader. Tata Steel owns approximately 26.2% of the Company and is the Company's largest shareholder. Together through Tata Steel Minerals Canada Ltd., which is owned 94% by Tata Steel and 6% by the Company, the two companies have developed a direct shipping ore ("DSO") project that is producing and shipping sinter fines. Beyond the DSO project, the Company offers further development potential through seven, long-life taconite properties capable of producing high quality pellets and pellet feed to service the requirements of steel makers with either blast furnace or direct reduced iron making operations. Two of these deposits -- LabMag and KeMag -- were the subject of large-scale development feasibility studies carried out by the Company and Tata Steel and published in March 2014. With these feasibility study results as a foundation and all seven taconite properties now explored to a NI 43-101 compliant resource, the Company can optimize its taconite development strategy and is currently focused on a smaller market entry project. For further information, please visit www.NMLiron.com, www.tatasteelcanada.com and www.tatasteel.com. Dean Journeaux, Eng., and Thiagarajan Balakrishnan, P. Geo., are the Qualified Persons as defined in National Instrument 43-101 who have reviewed and verified the scientific and technical mining disclosure contained in this news release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward looking statements and forward looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward looking statements. Forward looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "could", "should", "can", "anticipate", "expect", "believe", "will", "may", "projected", "sustain", "continues", "strategy", "potential", "projects", "grow", "take advantage", "estimate", "well positioned" or similar words suggesting future outcomes. In particular, this news release contains forward looking statements relating to the Meeting and the management information circular relating thereto. 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 cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors and risks. Management has provided the above summary of risks and assumptions related to forward looking statements in this news release in order to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the Company's future operations. The Company's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive from them. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Contacts: New Millennium Iron Corp. Robert Patzelt, Q.C. President & Chief Executive Officer (514) 935-3204 ext. 370 New Millennium Iron Corp. Ernest Dempsey Vice-President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs (514) 935-3204 ext. 349 New Millennium Iron Corp. Andreas Curkovic Investor Relations (416) 577-9927 www.NMLiron.com VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: NEE) announces that the Company's unaudited interim consolidated financial results for the third quarter fiscal 2016 ended March 31, 2016 have been filed on SEDAR. The full version of the Financial Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis can be viewed on the Company's website at www.northernvertex.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Financial and Corporate Highlights for the Quarter Ended March 31, 2016 -- For the quarter, net loss was $0.63 million (2015: $0.43 million), excluding a non-cash, unrealized foreign exchange loss of $3.14 million (2015: profit of $3.27 million); -- Net loss for the quarter was $3.77 million ($0.04 per share) due to a $3.14 million non-cash, unrealized foreign exchange loss compared to a net profit of $2.85 million ($0.04 per share), after a $3.27 million non-cash, unrealized foreign exchange gain, for the same period last year; -- Year-to-date net loss, excluding a non-cash, unrealized foreign exchange gain, was $2.57 million compared to a net loss of $1.09 million for the comparative period last year; -- Year-to-date net loss was $1.16 million ($0.01 per share), primarily due to a $1.42 million non-cash, unrealized foreign exchange gain compared to a net profit of $4.99 million ($0.07 per share) that included an unrealized foreign exchange gain of $6.08 million for the same period last year; -- Cash and cash equivalents was $3.52 million at March 31, 2016, compared to $3.18 million at March 31, 2015. The variance was primarily due to cash received from financing activities reduced by legal fees regarding the recent arbitration, consulting fees pertaining to the Macquarie debt financing due diligence, and exploration and evaluation spend at the Moss Mine Project; -- Total costs incurred to March 31, 2016 regarding the Moss Mine Project, including the Silver Creek Project, was $32.59 million, compared to $29.92 million for the same period in the prior year; and -- Working capital increased to $3.24 million at March 31, 2016, compared to $2.83 million for the previous year. Dick Whittington, President & CEO, states, "The Company is entering a transformational phase in its history. Acquiring 100% of the Moss Gold Mine Property (see May 26th News Release) is a significant milestone toward commercial production which, coupled with the recently announced $7.5 Million Convertible Debenture Private Placement (see May 25th News Release), will enable us to advance permitting, mine construction planning and property-wide exploration activities as well as further evaluate the additional 200,000 M&I resource ounces not included in the Feasibility Study. The economics of the Moss Mine project are exceptionally robust as demonstrated by our 2015 Feasibility Study. Our focus remains on finalizing our funding requirements to maintain momentum as we look to build on recent developments and transition the company from a development company to a production company." Cost Management -- The Company has improved its working capital position with the recent non-brokered private placement closings however, the Company continues to be focused on taking substantial measures to reduce its monthly cash burn by eliminating non-essential expenditures and preserving its cash position as it continues to adapt to the difficult market conditions. Operating Results Operations -- Phase I - Pilot Plant Operations continues to be on a scheduled care and maintenance program. Company staff maintain the site Monday to Friday on day shifts, while Mohave Security monitors the site on night shifts, weekends and holidays. The Company continues to safeguard the facilities on site in preparation of a future construction decision relating to Phase II - Commercial Operations. Exploration -- The Company has completed a field geological mapping and sampling program on areas outside of the main Moss vein system, indicating the property wide potential. Exploration potential is considered to be excellent both adjacent to the main Moss vein system, both on strike and to depth, as well as property wide. Feasibility Study -- The economic highlights of the Feasibility Study ("FS"), at prices of US$1,250/oz Gold and US$20/oz Silver, 100% Project basis using a discount factor of 5% in arriving at the Project Net Present Value ("NPV") and recoveries to dore for gold and silver of 82% and 65%, respectively, are summarized in the following table: --------------------------------------------- Pre-Tax After-Tax --------------------------------------------- NPV@ 5% US$75.30 M US$55.30 M IRR% 54.6% 44.3% Payback (yrs) 2.3 2.4 --------------------------------------------- -- The FS is the basis by which the Company is progressing its efforts to transition the Company from a development company to a production company. Debt Financing -- On September 15, 2015, the Company signed an Engagement Letter with indicative terms for Macquarie Bank Limited to provide project finance facilities of up to US$20 million (the "Macquarie Facility") to be used to fund the majority of the projected development costs of the Moss Mine Project. The Company has also received indicative terms for a US$6.5 million Equipment Finance Facility (the "Equipment Facility") from a major US bank. The Macquarie Facility and the Equipment Facility are complementary and together would provide up to US$26.5 million towards the estimated pre-production capital of US$33.0 million required to construct the planned gold-silver mine at the Moss Mine site. Corporate -- On May 25, 2016, the Company announced a non-brokered private placement of unsecured convertible debentures for gross proceeds of up to $7,500,000. Each debenture will have an issue price of $100, a term of five years from the date of issue and bear interest at 5% per annum, payable semi-annually and convertible into common shares of the Company at the price of $0.50 per share. The Company has the option to repay the principal amount of the debentures in common shares in certain circumstances. The funds will be used to advance the Moss Mine to final design and construction planning along with required permitting, additional exploration work to test the potential for further discoveries on the Moss and Silver Creek claims and general corporate purposes. -- On April 4, 2016, the Company closed the final tranche of its oversubscribed February 26, 2016 announced non-brokered private placement. The Company issued a further 500,000 units bringing the aggregate total units issued to 8,474,875 at a price of $0.32 per unit for total gross proceeds of $2,711,960. Each unit consists of one common share of the Company and one transferable share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder to acquire one common share at an exercise price of $0.50 until April 4, 2019. The funds will be used for the advancement of the Moss Gold/Silver Mine along with general corporate purposes. Tax Pools -- As of March 31, 2016, the Company has approximately US$34.3 million in tax deduction pools that can be applied directly to the Company's taxable income from the Moss Mine, to off-set future tax liabilities. Utilizing these tax deduction pools will significantly enhance the Company's economics of the Moss Mine over and above the analysis of the FS. Consolidation of Moss Mine with 100% Ownership -- On May 26, 2016, the Company and Patriot Gold announced the completion of a previously announced agreement, whereby the Company would purchase Patriot Gold's remaining interest in the Moss Gold/Silver Mine for $1,500,000 plus the retention by Patriot Gold of a 3% net smelter returns royalty. The consideration of $1,200,000 cash and $300,000 in the Company's common shares valued at $0.35 per share (857,140 shares) has been paid and the transaction is complete with the Company now owning 100% of the Moss Mine. Strategic Priorities -- The key strategic priorities for the Company are to secure financing and advancing the Moss Mine to the development and construction stage. -- Additional priorities involve the continued exploration of the Moss and Silver Creek properties where the potential exists to make new discoveries and to continue to support the various community related initiatives that the Company has started in both the educational and community development areas. -- Now owning 100% of one of the strongest development projects in the market, the Company is committed to advancing its efforts in moving the mine towards commercial production as expeditiously as possible. The Company's directors and management believe that this priority will provide a solid foundation for Northern Vertex Mining Corp., and its shareholders, as it continues working towards building a prosperous, well-respected and long-term, production mining company. About Northern Vertex Northern Vertex Mining Corp. is a Canadian exploration and mining company focused on the reactivation of its 100% owned Moss Mine Gold/Silver Project located in NW Arizona, USA. 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 acquisition, 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. Qualified Persons: The foregoing technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Mr. L.J. Bardswich, P. Eng., General Manager Moss Project, and a Qualified Person ("QP") for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 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. Cautionary Note About Forward Looking Information This news release contains statements about our future business and planned activities. These are "forward-looking" because we have used what we know and expect today to make a statement about the future. Forward-looking statements including but are not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work and analyses. Forward-looking statements usually include words such as may, intend, plan, expect, anticipate, believe or other similar words. We believe the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable. However, actual events and results could be substantially different because of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business or events that happen after the date of this news release. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. As a general policy, we do not update forward-looking statements except as required by securities laws and regulations. Cautionary Note to US Investors: This news release uses the terms "Measured", "Indicated", and "Inferred" resources. US investors are advised that while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. "Inferred Mineral Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. US investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of Measured or Indicated Mineral Resources will ever be converted into Mineral Reserves. US Investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a Mineral Resource is economically or legally mineable. 2016 number 09 Contacts: Northern Vertex Mining Corp. Investor Relations 604-601-3656 or 1-855-633-8798 www.northernvertex.com AJAX, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- Environmental Waste International Inc. ("EWS") (TSX VENTURE: EWS) (the "Company"), a company specializing in eco-friendly systems with proven patented technology for the breakdown of organic materials, today announced the appointment of Karen Rutenberg as Chief Financial Officer and Michelle McDonald as Corporate Secretary, subject to TSXV approval. Karen Rutenberg (CPA, CA), who has worked with EWS for three years, has extensive experience with public companies for over twenty years, with a broad range of knowledge in financial management, accounting and TSXV compliance. Michelle McDonald has been with EWS for two years. She previously worked with BDO Dunwoody for twelve years and has considerable experience in both accounting and administration. With the Company's increasing focus on commercialization, the Board has asked Mr. Robert MacBean to direct his efforts on business development and operations in his role of Chief Executive Officer. The recent appointment of Glenn Myers as Director supports the Company's emphasis on domestic and international sales and market penetration. With these corporate changes EWS is now well positioned for the next stage of commercialization of its technology. About Environmental Waste International Inc. Environmental Waste International, Inc. specializes in eco-friendly systems for the breakdown of organic materials, including tires. EWS has spent over 15 years engineering systems that integrate the EWS patented Reverse Polymerization process and proprietary microwave delivery system. EWS's unique microwave technology safely processes and recycles waste tires, while creating highly valuable commodity outputs for industry, including carbon black, oil and steel. Each unit is designed to be energy efficient and where possible, create an economically positive model for the recovery of various hydrocarbon oil and gases. For more information please visit, www.ewi.ca. Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations, which involve risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "intend", and similar expressions to the extent they relate to the Company or its management. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future results or events. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including the matters discussed under "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Management Discussion & Analysis, which can be found on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Neither 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: Environmental Waste International Inc. Bob MacBean CEO (905) 686-8689 or (800) 399-2366 Bob.macbean@ewmc.com www.ewi.ca CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/27/16 -- The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) today expressed disappointment with the New Brunswick government's decision to extend the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. "Industry has been working with the government to ensure world-class regulations and environmental protection is in place," said Paul Barnes, manager of Atlantic Canada and Arctic. In March 2015, the New Brunswick Commission on Hydraulic Fracturing was created with a mandate to determine whether it would be possible to meet the five conditions set out by the New Brunswick government in order to lift the December 2014 moratorium. CAPP provided the commission with a written submission to address the five conditions, focusing on social, economic and environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing in New Brunswick. The commission's report was released in February 2016. The report indicates that increased natural gas development is an economic opportunity for New Brunswick. Natural gas will be consumed in large quantities by institutional, industrial and commercial users well into the future. With a moratorium in place, natural gas will likely come from another North American source that uses hydraulic fracturing and New Brunswick will lose the opportunity. "Producing natural gas at home can help the province create economic benefits such as jobs, tax revenue, royalties and the ability to attract other business. The decision to extend the moratorium is a step in the wrong direction and sends a negative message about attracting investment to help grow the economy." Hydraulic fracturing has been done safely for more than 60 years in Canada. Comprehensive government regulations and industry practices are in place in jurisdictions where natural gas is produced, to ensure public safety and protection of the environment. These best practices are the result of collaborative efforts from industry, regulators and governments working together to ensure safe, reliable operations are in place. "We encourage the government of New Brunswick to reconsider the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and to continue to work with industry to meet the five conditions. We have seen progress on this issue in other parts of Canada and we don't want New Brunswick to miss the opportunity." The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) represents companies, large and small, that explore for, develop and produce natural gas and crude oil throughout Canada. CAPP's member companies produce about 85 per cent of Canada's natural gas and crude oil. CAPP's associate members provide a wide range of services that support the upstream crude oil and natural gas industry. Together CAPP's members and associate members are an important part of a national industry with revenues from oil and natural gas production of about $120 billion a year. CAPP's mission, on behalf of the Canadian upstream oil and gas industry, is to advocate for and enable economic competitiveness and safe, environmentally and socially responsible performance. Contacts: Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Chelsie Klassen 403-267-1151 chelsie.klassen@capp.ca Planetary Resources, Inc., a Redmond, Washington asteroid mining company, secured US$21.1m in Series A funding. The round was led by Bryan Johnson and the OS FUND with participation from Idea Bulb Ventures; Tencant; Vast Ventures; Grishin Robotics; Conversion Capital; The Seraph Group; Space Angels Network, a syndication of investors from Angel.co; and Larry Page. The company intends to use the capital to deploy and operate Ceres, an advanced Earth observation business. Founded in 2009 by Eric Anderson and Dr. Peter H. Diamandis and led by Chris Lewicki, President and CEO, Planetary Resources operates Ceres, an advanced Earth observation business that features a commercial infrared and hyperspectral sensor platform to understand and manage humanitys natural resources. Ceres will leverage the companys Arkyd spacecraft to deliver on-demand Earth intelligence of natural resources on any spot on the planet. According to a note, while typical satellite imagery provides only a picture, Ceres will provide actionable data with higher spectral resolutions by measuring thermographic properties and detecting the composition of materials on Earths surface. The imaging technology is integrated onto the Arkyd spacecraft and deployed as a constellation of 10 satellites in low-Earth orbit. The constellation will provide global monitoring capability to benefit multiple industries including agriculture, oil & gas, water quality, financial intelligence and forestry. Ceres can analyze the spectral signatures of crops and provide customized information to growers, identify energy and mineral resources, and monitor pipelines and remote infrastructure. The system can also track toxic algae blooms, monitor global water quality and enable the detection of wildfires in their earliest stages. Planetary Resources is currently testing the sensor platform and will demonstrate the technology in space with an upcoming scheduled launch of the companys Arkyd 6 spacecraft onboard a Space X Falcon 9 rocket. The mission will validate the thermographic sensor and supporting technologies for the Arkyd series of spacecraft. FinSMEs 27/05/2016 Pleo, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based fintech startup, received 500k in seed funding as the winner of the startup competition at Viennas Pioneers Festival 2016. Austrial vc firm Speedinvest will make the investment, whose proceeds will be used to continue to expand operations. Founded in 2015 and led by Jeppe Rindom, Niccolo Perra (ex-employees at Tradeshift), Pleo is developing a new type of spending technology which is offered to employees in companies. The companys instant and on-demand Prepaid MasterCard virtual cards allow users to make online purchases whole physical cards allow them to acquire in-store. Pleo cards come with a mobile and web app, where all company expenses can be followed and users can be managed. Currently in private beta, the company also has offices in London. Karsten Mikaelsen and Alen Cvisic are also part of the team. FinSMEs 27/05/2016 Lime Rock Resources, a Houston-based private equity firm focusing on the global energy sector, closed its fourth fund, at $754m. As with the three previous Lime Rock Resources funds, Lime Rock Resources IV will seek to acquire, improve, and directly operate producing oil and gas properties in the United States. The firms team led by Eric Mullins and Charlie Adcock, co-Chief Executive Officers launched the fundraising process for Fund IV in November 2015, held its first close in February 2016, and its final close in May 2016. The previous fund, Lime Rock Resources III, held its final close in October 2013 on $750 in investor capital commitments. Since inception in 2005, the Lime Rock Resources funds have made 23 major acquisitions in basins throughout the United States, primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and North Dakota. FinSMEs 27/05/2016 Valorem Consulting, a Kansas City, MO-based information technology consulting firm serving globally recognizable brands and other large enterprise clients throughout North America, acquired IdentityMine, a business and technology firm focused on interactive design and user experience (UX). The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The transaction allows Valorem to expand its capabilities and geographic presence with the addition of more than 220 consulting, analytics, engineering, cloud infrastructure, and design professionals worldwide. Co-Founded by Mark Brown and David Meunier, IdentityMine is an expert interactive and user experience company with focus on natural user interfaces (NUI). A Microsoft technology partner with a Gold Certification in Software Development and a Xamarin Preferred Partner, IdentityMine is also recognized as an Elite Ecosystem Insider program partner and a Microsoft Preferred Software Supplier. It combines design with expertise for Universal Windows Platform (UWP), Windows 10, mobile platforms, Surface Hub, Xbox, HoloLens, Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard, SmartGlass, Kinect for Windows, DirectX, Unity 3D, WPF, HTML5 Web, Azure, etc. The company has offices in Seattle, WA, Kochi, India and Herrliberg, Switzerland. Led by Domnick Parretta and Justin Jackson, Managing Partners, Valorem delivers services including cloud platform, custom development, CRM, digital strategy, enterprise social, portals, collaboration, data and analytics. Following the deal, Brown will join Valorem in a key leadership role, reporting directly to Domnick Parretta while David Meunier will join as a strategic consultant. FinSMEs 27/05/2016 New Delhi: The Centre has approved an investment of over Rs 5,530 crore for providing basic infrastructure in over 110 cities across six states under AMRUT scheme for the current fiscal. The cental assistance to these states - Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand and Meghalaya - will be to the tune of Rs 2,453 crore. The funds will used for providing household water taps, improving water supply , sewerage networks/septage management, storm water drains, urban transport and provision of open and green spaces in these cities. "The Apex Committee, chaired by Urban Development Secretary Rajiv Gauba, approved a total investment of Rs 5,534 crore for 111 Atal Mission cities in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand and Meghalaya," an official release said today. A total central assistance of Rs 2,453 crore will be given to these states, it added. For 2016-17, approved investment in 34 mission cities of Madhya Pradesh has been Rs 2,074 crore with central assistance of Rs 862.80 crore, while Rs 1,401 crore investment is approved for 31 cities of Gujarat with central assistance of Rs 599.18 crore. For 29 cities of Rajasthan, investment of Rs 1,120 crore is approved with central assistance of Rs 536 crore; for 9 cities of Odisha Rs 531 crore with central assistance of 265 crore; for 7 cities of Jharkhand - Rs.381 crore with central assistance of Rs 164 crore and for the lone Mission city of Shillong in Meghalaya Rs 26.67 crore with central assistance of Rs 24 crore, the release said. Urban Development Ministry will also convene annual meetings of all states and UTs to review the progress of implementation of various schemes and the first such conference will be held in the next two months. The decision was conveyed to these six states which attended the meeting of the Apex Committee convened for approving annual action plans of States under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the release said. Various stakeholders, including Ministers of Urban Development and Housing of all states/UTs, Mission Directors and Municipal Commissioners of all 500 AMRUT cities will be attending the two-day conference, it added. The six participating states informed the Committee that action is in progress for obtaining credit ratings for over 100 Mission cities and the process would be completed before the end of this year. These six states also proposed a total investment of Rs 43,569 crore by 2019-20 under AMRUT, the release said. Procter & Gamble Co's (PG.N) new chief executive is off to a "nice start" as the company's core sales returned to growth in the second quarter, helped by price hikes and as it shed underperforming brands. Organic sales - core sales that exclude the impact of currency, divestitures and acquisitions - rose 2 percent in the quarter. These sales had dropped 1 percent in the previous quarter, marking its first decline since 2008. P&G has been raising prices more rapidly to offset the stronger dollar's impact. The price hikes helped it boost organic sales in the latest quarter, but led to a drop in volumes across all businesses. P&G also posted a better-than-expected profit by cutting costs, sending its shares up 2.5 percent to $78.79 on Tuesday, outperforming the broader consumer staples index .SPLRCS. "Today's results, along with increased visibility of the new CEO David Taylor, could move the stock into the $80s in the coming months," SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst William Chappell wrote in a note titled, 'Two percent organic growth a "nice start" for new CEO'. Taylor took the helm in November, in the middle of P&G's turnaround plan. P&G is selling unprofitable brands and focussing on core brands such as Gillette, Pampers and Tide to revive sluggish growth, which analysts have blamed on the company's slow reaction to trends in top markets such as China. Taylor has the ability to correct the company's missteps, RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi said. P&G now expects to reduce non-manufacturing costs by 25-30 percent by 2016, a year ahead of schedule, Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller said on a conference call. Moeller said P&G would continue investing despite the strong dollar and expects media spend to increase in double-digits in the second half of 2016. The company, which gets nearly two-thirds of sales from outside North America, also said it would reduce its focus on unprofitable brands in India in favour of higher-margin products. P&G said the strong dollar reduced second-quarter sales by 9 percent and in 2016 expects it to reduce sales by 7 percentage points, more than the 5-6 percentage points it estimated earlier. Overall, full-year sales are still expected to decline in the high-single digits. P&G's second-quarter sales fell 8.5 percent to $16.92 billion, slightly below analysts average estimate. Excluding items, it earned $1.04 per share, beating estimates by 6 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Savio D'Souza) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. U.S. prosecutors investigating allegations of bribery by Wal-Mart Stores Inc across the globe have found little evidence of corrupt practices in China, Bloomberg reported. Investigators interviewing former executives and others associated with the company's Chinese operations over the past few months have been hindered by Chinese laws that prevent disclosure of certain information outside the country, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors may choose to bring only civil penalties imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rather than criminal charges, the report said. (bloom.bg/1Mrx7mj) The U.S. Department of Justice has been conducting a years-long investigation into potential misconduct by Wal-Mart in some overseas markets, including China, Brazil, India and Mexico. The probe found few major offenses in Mexico, but has unearthed evidence of possible misconduct in Brazil, the Wall Street Journal reported in November. The investigation could be completed by the end of the year, Bloomberg said. Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Hitt said in a statement emailed to Reuters that the company was fully cooperating with the government but could not comment further on the process. (Reporting by Abhijith G in Bengaluru and Nathan Layne in Chicago; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. New Delhi: Terming the murder of a Congolese student in Delhi as a "one-off situation", Union minister VK Singh on Thursday refused to call it a case of racial attack even as he asked Indians staying in Africa to be careful, apprehending backlash over the incident. He also said the government will undertake a sensitisation exercise to deal with the issue. Asserting that the government was firmly committed that such incidents "cannot be forgotten", Singh said that Lt Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung has assured that he will see to it that the case gets daily hearing to ensure speedy justice. Singh said the envoys felt the government's actions are very sincere and that's why despite whatever was being said, they were present for the Africa Day event organised by ICCR. "The government of India condemns a heinous crime like this. It was a crime, it is not premeditated, not racial. It has nothing to do with all these things and we assure that based on MEA's immediate action that came through, we rang up the Delhi Police, we rang up the Lt Governor. "Immediate action was taken. Two people were nabbed, one is on the run and the police has assured us that he will be nabbed soon. "The Lt Governor has assured us that he is going to press for daily hearings so that we can finish this case as fast as possible," Singh said. He was speaking on the sidelines of an event "India-Africa: Bound Together" organised by ICCR. Several ambassadors of African nations were also present at the event. He said the incident was a one-off incident and not racially motivated. "This is a one-off incident and not a racially motivated incident. I gave an example of the dentist who was killed (in Delhi). He was playing with his child. Somehow lot of things are happening in Delhi which show absolute intolerance. People are not willing to have something which is peaceful resolution. I won't go beyond that," he added. He also said the Indian community staying in Africa, particularly in Congo, "has been told that they need to be careful". When asked about sensitising programmes demanded by African envoys, Singh said that move has been initiated by the Indian government. "That is what we have told. They have asked us for nothing. We have told them that we will do sensitisation. Yesterday the External Affairs Minister (Sushma Swaraj) tweeted. We will do it as per convenience of our African Heads of Missions, with then taking the administration with us, we will go around talking to people. We will assure them that there safety is our concern," he said. "Any anger outside is natural. They have lost a child. There would be many who feed to a larger number of people. You have demagogues everywhere," Singh said. "The commitment of India is that we do not look at these incidents as something which can be forgotten. We want to look at it as an incident that sternly needs to be taken a note of and acted upon," he said. When asked whether the fear in the African community is legitimate, he said if anything happens to any community they are bound to feel threaten. "The fear is always that it is directed against the community. That's not so. What happened in Bengaluru, we took immediate action. There are people who have different mindsets in society." The minister said the government was concerned over the attacks and added that by and large India is welcome and safe and can be relied upon. "India is home to African students for a long time. There are large number of students who have risen in the ranks of their country. Some are Presidents today. We value that kind of relationship," he said. Diversity is good when it comes to acquiring talent. Flipkart, Indias biggest ecommerce site outside the areas of ticketing and travel, says it is heading for Harvard, Stanford and Wharton for talent from the next placements season. However, the details provided by the company on why it is heading to the US of A to acquire talent are skimpy, making it difficult to fathom why this is such a good or bright idea. For a $1 billion revenue company that derives almost all its income from India (even after the recent acquisition of Myntra, the fashion e-tailer), it is not clear what the Harvards and Stanfords can deliver that an IIM or IIT cannot. The reasoning offered by Flipkarts human resources people is bare. The Economic Times quotes Mekin Maheswari, chief people officer, as saying this: Flipkart has become a brand with visibility and we want to absorb global talent. The awareness has increased and so has inbound requests for internships and hiring from international universities. While there is no gainsaying the difference in the quality of education and learning environment provided by our IITs/IIMs and the Ivy League institutions, there is also the fact that it is far easier to get into a Harvard than an IIM Ahmedabad. In other words, the level of talent getting into Indias top engineering and management institutions may be far higher than the ones getting into American ones, though the end-product may be different. On the other hand, there is also the obvious benefit of recruiting from institutions that are bang in the middle of an internet and ecommerce economy, with their own unique insights into customer behaviour that comes from being part of that culture. India, which is still on the ground floor of the ecommerce experience, is hardly the place to find ecommerce talent beyond the coding and engineering side of things. On the other side of the cost-benefit ledger, an Indian engineer or MBA would have better insights into how the Indian consumer mindset works. Then, there is the cost difference. Average salaries even at a top IIM would be in the range of 12-18 lakh a midpoint of, say, Rs 15-16 lakh per annum, excluding some perks. A Harvard passout would cost four times as much. Are the benefits from having A Harvard alumnus on your payroll four times higher than the difference in the costs? One may point out that McKinsey and Accenture also recruit from the IIMs and pay the same global salaries they dont do it for costs. They are either seeing talent where we dont see it, or they simply like the global diversity it brings to their business. But Flipkart is hardly global. If you are an Infosys or TCS, whose customers are all Americans or Europeans, it makes huge sense to hire locally in those parts. Any customer-facing business needs to have executives who are from that culture. Indians may make for better geeks and nerds, but the customer is not buying only cheap coding skills. He is buying into your story, and this story may often best be told by people who share the customers culture and ethnicity. Its about trust. But this is not the case with Flipkart, which is all about becoming No 1 in India. It may need foreign talent in specific areas, but it needs Indian insight. If the idea is to recruit specific kinds of talent abroad that are relevant to ecommerce, then costs are not material. The key to understanding why a Flipkart would recruit from the Ivy League and Stanford lies in finding out what is the value it seeks from this investment. Is it because most of its fund-providers are from private equity players there, and their comfort comes from having those kinds of people at the helm? Or is it because having a Harvard or Wharton grad on your employee list adds to your companys CV? Is it all about having a trophy employee on the payroll, the way some Indian employers recruit MBAs from the IIMs just to tell outsiders they have the best, even if they cannot always use them well? Or is Flipkart feeling too Indian, now that its main competition will come from the likes of Amazon? The jury will be out on Flipkarts recruitment plans till we know what it wants from its Ivy Leaguers. We can defer judgment till then. 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. The resilience of the Mumbai residents is often celebrated in the media. Every time a crisis occurs, they bear it with equanimity, and look to get on with their lives. Because, they can do little else. It is not their resilience, but their helplessness. They make, and rightly so, a virtue of it. What is the harm if they get stamped that way? The word resilient has a positive ring to it if you go by the dictionary meaning. Merriam-Webster puts it 'as tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change'; Cambridge says it is being able to quickly return to a previous good condition. The latest incident which brought out this characteristic in the Mumbaikars was the disruption of train services for two hours on Wednesday. And its impact spilled over to Thursday, when over 50 train services were cancelled on the Central Railway. They had an explanation for it: "The rakes could not reach their stabling lines on schedule. Besides, train crew staff got stuck because of which trains could not be moved out on time. Moreover, the delay in arrival and departure of long-distance services till Thursday affected punctuality." The railways are stretched, and such consequences are likely to happen when everything is not prim and proper, but run like a jugaad of sorts. No doubt, the platforms are raised after the high court order, or ambulances are placed at some stations or medical aid clinics are opened. If about 10 people die every day across Central, Western, and Harbour lines because of overcrowding, people still have to use them risking their lives, as they are helplessness. They chose the city not because it was a preferred destination for residence, but for employment. Despite that they remain helpless. The point is, the city residents are also averse to an Arab moment as that would disrupt their lives further. Mumbai wants to work like a clock, because the mechanism so decides. The resilience bid is pure poppycock. If resilience it is, then it is because they are forced to spring back into their routines. There was a disruption of electric supply, and everything went haywire and trains stopped on their tracks. No power in overcrowded compartments with no room for passengers to pull out a newspaper to fan themselves, it was a horrific situation. Imagine getting stuck in a train like that inside Parsik tunnel. After the great flood of 25 July almost biblical, isnt it? There was a talk of trying to provide an alternative road route, say between Thane and Kalyan, another distant suburb. Where is the design, plan, and funds, leave alone its building? At that time, the city discovered that what it thought was a drain, was actually a river. And even now, that river which has narrowed because of encroachment, silted by muck from the city residents, and retained there by a callous politician-contractor-bureaucrat system, is not entirely restored. Each stormwater drain, on whose ability, depends the efficiency or punctuality of commuter trains, is taken up for clearing even as the monsoon is in the face. The contractors pretend they cleaned it, hoping the rain would wash away the muck, but no, it doesnt. The roads too whose pre-monsoon repairs had been often directed to be completed by the high court, but the contractors continue to steal on quality, and some have billed the city, despite not carrying out the work. Any number of examples can be cited, which underscore how the city residents are put to trouble. They just bear it, now welcome it. Because, life in Mumbai is one of helplessness. Just nobody bothers, they know, so why make a song and dance of it? An effective treatment for snakebite will run out in 2016, even as more than five million people annually are bitten by venomous snakes, a group of WHO member states said on Friday. An event on the sidelines of the ongoing 69th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) that was co-sponsored by 18 countries, most of them from Africa and the Indian subcontinent, as well as leading NGOs such as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), discussed the urgent need to highlight the global public health problem by including snakebite deaths as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) on WHOs priority list. Sanofi Pasteur, the French pharmaceutical giant, announced in 2014 that it will stop making Fav-Afrique, one of the most effective, polyvalent anti-venoms. The existing stockpile expires in June this year. It cited manufacturing costs for its decision and tough competition from low-cost alternatives from producers in India, Brazil and Mexico. The WHO has said that a shortage of anti-venom will put thousands of lives at risk. India is particularly impacted by the problem, both for carrying a disproportionate burden of the disease and as a leading manufacturer of anti-venoms that is supplied to the African sub-continent. Neglected disease According to the Registrar Generals Million Death Study (MDS) one of the largest studies on premature mortality in the world there are 50,000 snakebite deaths per year in India, as against the global figure of 1,25,000 deaths, and more than 75,000 deaths in Asia annually. India has the worst snakebite problem in the world, said David Warrell, professor at Oxford University, and a leading figure on tropical medicine. This was (50,000 annual deaths) 20 times higher than govt of Indias data, he added. There is one snakebite death for every two HIV deaths in the country. Ninety seven percent of the victims are rural residents making this a rural problem, while 77 percent of the deaths happen outside of health facilities. The MDS states that snake attacks were more common in males compared to females, and deaths peaked at ages 15-29 years, and during the monsoon season snatching away the most productive section of the Indian population in rural areas. It has about 2.97 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) number of years lost due to ill health disability or early death accruing from 50,000 annual deaths. They affected farmers the most, followed by housewives and students. Snakebite is after all a disease of the poor and especially in tropical and sub-tropical regions where venomous snakes are the most abundant, Dr. David Williams, CEO of the Global Snakebite Initiative, a campaign to bring the spotlight on the issue that started in 2008, told Firstpost. This has lowered the profile of the public health failure with sound global data on morbidity and mortality, direly lacking. The concern for governments, however, should not just be the death statistics or the DALYs, but also severe health disabilities in the form of paralysis, disfigurement and disability that produces 4,00,000 victims per year worldwide. It is a public health problem that has lingered on with no interest, Dr. Fernando Lhorca, the health minister of Costa Rica told the gathering. Antidote To make matters dire, effective, affordable and quality anti-venoms are in acute short supply, particularly in the remote corners of Africa and India. Though Sanofis departure is a huge gap in the repertoire of quality anti-venoms, the global shortage has not been caused by Sanofis exit from the market. The company only made a couple of thousand vials each year. Additionally, its products were too costly, anyway, for the profile of people most impacted by this disease the poor. For 99 percent of the people who are going to get bitten by a snake this year, it (Sanofis withdrawal) wouldnt have made a difference, Dr. David Williams told Firstpost. However, it may have an indirect impact in opening up the market to indirect exploitation that will actually make things worse for everyone, he added. When products don't work, the poor get even more discouraged to take the victim to the hospital. Indian manufacturers whose products swamp markets in the South East Asian region and sub-Saharan Africa have un-standardised vials and, often, have venoms from snakes typical to India rendering them ineffective in the African context. About 10 years ago, there were reports of marketing of inappropriate anti-venoms in sub-Saharan Africa, including products manufactured in India and raised against venoms of Asian snake species so they were found to be ineffective in some settings, Dr. Julien Potet, Policy Advisor for MSF told Firstpost. Since then, some companies have changed the recipes of the manufacture of their anti-venom products, he added. Its a major problem. It (African countries) mostly imports products from India that have not been well-standardised. No one knows whether they really work or not. No pre-clinical trials, standardisation or assessments. Some of these products perform so awfully, said Dr. Abdulrazaq Garba Habib, a Nigerian academic, who has been long working on the issue. For instance, the death rates in northern Ghana fell to about one percent when Sanofi vials were used, but spiked up to 12 percent with products from Indian manufacturers, he said. Many of these poor quality products work through weak regulatory agencies, aggressive marketing and quite simply, desperation, to land in run-down African and Asian health centres. It is not, however, only the export of sub-standard anti-venom vials that is a problem, but vials made for domestic use also throw up a number of challenges. There are about six Indian anti-venom manufacturers in India. The big problem in India though is that the anti-venoms are not potent enough. Thats because the standard the government applies is too low, Dr. Williams said. So more vials are required to be administered for most Indian products for reaching adequate potency to have a therapeutic value. Experts told the reporter that the situation in India is compounded by an additional major problem nearly all the snake venom used to make anti-venoms comes from only one part of the country, which is the rural cooperatives in Tamil Nadu. However, snake venom from a viper in Tamil Nadu is different from a viper's venom in West Bengal to a viper's venom in the west of the country. You need to have a collection of snakes from the whole country and the best way to do that is to keep them in captivity, Dr. Williams said. You are better off to have a collection somewhere in the country of a 1,000 snakes, all being well looked after, bred in captivity and you are producing excellent quality venom that is standardised and certified, he said emphasising the need for quality control, both for export and domestic use. Experts have urged Indian producers of anti-venom to generate date of the effectiveness and safety of their products and submit it to the WHO. To overcome the problem of quality control, the WHO started a process of pre-qualification in March this year. This process calls out to manufacturers to submit their products, assess their submissions, suggest changes in quality in some cases, and prepare a list of manufacturers. Countries look at the list and buy from the listed people to ensure that the products actually work. As of now, the manufacturers directly campaign with governments and health workers through aggressive marketing often the health workers are at a loss for differentiating between one product and another. They are complex products to produce which is why quality assurance is absolutely critical, Dr. Sue Hill, director of the department of essential medicines at WHO, said. However, pre-qualifying products by the WHO takes a while. A number of manufacturers (including Indian ones) have submitted their products for assessment. Some of the assessments have identified a number of areas where manufacturing changes need to be made and other products are still under assessment in the present time, Dr Hill told Firstpost. Its a completely new process put in place. These are people who have not worked on anti-venoms. Its difficult to judge. You cannot predict, the UN health agency said on putting a time frame for drawing up this list. No manufacturers product is of pre-qualified standard yet. Moreover, the challenge is to ensure sustainable production of anti-venoms, but few are willing to enter the market viewing it as a not-so-lucrative venture. Additionally, there are no venom standards available with the WHO. Thats a major hurdle to overcome, said Dr. Williams. MSF has been campaigning for acceleration of Sanofis technology transfer and has offered WHO support for clinical trials of anti-venoms. It has urged WHO to set an ambitious target that 50 percent of victims who require anti-venom have access to WHO-prequalified products by 2020. We need the support of the member states to actually take the dossier and present it to the NTD department, Dr. Williams said of their campaign to re-list snakebite as a NTD. Though it was included in the list in 2009, it was suddenly dropped in 2015. The ostensible reason was that the NTD list consists of infectious and parasitic diseases but snakebite is not an infectious disease. But snakebite has all the features of NTD it affects the poor people, it has low priority in research agendas, it causes disability, it causes stigma, and yet it was placed out of the list, Dr Jose M Gutierrez, a professor at the University of Costa Rica who has been researching and producing anti-venom told Firstpost. The racism debate is back again. MK Olivier, a Congolese national, was killed in the Vasant Kunj area of Delhi last week over a minor tiff. As this piece is being written, theres news that Indian establishments in Kinshasa, Congos capital, have been attacked by local goons. During the Africa Day celebration in Delhi, envoys from the continent made a pointed mention to continuing racial prejudice in India against Africans. After similar incidents in Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad and other parts of the country over last many years, the question is whether we should even be discussing whether we are racists any longer. We are racists. If that appears too sweeping, then lets say we have too many people around us who are. Our action or the lack of it after every such attack speaks louder than our words. The argument that Olivier was killed by criminal elements and this could happen to anyone does not wash anymore. When students from African countries say they are more likely to be attacked than others during unpleasant arguments, theres no reason to disbelieve them. That has been the case with students from the North East too. They are not received with the same sense of awe as those from European countries or with specific physical features. Yes, we are selectively racist. Theres little point in getting into why we are so. Born into societies where discrimination of all kinds is institutionalised in the form of social hierarchies, this is in some ways a genetic flaw. We either look up to people or look down upon them. Education and exposure do not do much to change our attitude. If its an outsider, then theres mental judgment whether he is superior or inferior to us. The complexion of the person concerned plays a role here, as does the perceived notion of the quality of their social life. African students feel they are generally perceived as frauds and unruly people by locals. Deep-rooted biases dont go away easily. But the Indian establishment should wake up quickly to the potential damage from it. While African students shunning India as the favoured destination for higher and technical education could be among the immediate ones, the long-term damage could be in the form of deep ruptures in the process of engagement between India and the African countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started engaging the later with a sense of urgency with a view to deepening trade and economic ties. He also needs them on his side to take on rich countries on several issues on the global platform, the most important of them being the WTO talks and climate change negotiations. A country vying to establish itself in the global leadership space can hardly afford to ignore cases of alleged racism at home. Leaders of African countries raised the issue with great passion on Thursday. The envoys and governments of the African countries have to face public opinion at home too. Unless the issue is addressed with seriousness by the government the fallout may be unpleasant. So India, even if it does not accept the existence of racism, has to treat the attacks on students as cases of that nature. The solution does not lie in policing only. While it inspires confidence among outsiders, it does not do much to sensitise the other side. The solution is perhaps more deeper inter-community interaction to dispel the element of distrust. This has to be carried out rigorously as a joint effort between the government and the police. India cannot sit silent and wait for the trouble to pass over all the time. It has a responsibility towards foreigners staying here. The feisty Mamata Banerjee surprised many a political pundit when she emerged victorious in the recently-concluded West Bengal election. In fact, she made a significant improvement in her tally from the previous assembly election, when she had made electoral history. But for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, the battle has only just begun. Will Didi keep her poll promises? Mamata Banerjee had focused on a slew of welfare measures in her campaign for re-election in the state. Her poll promises, which were reminiscent of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, were those of rice for Rs 2 a kilo, free bicycles for girls and healthcare. However, much like Tamil Nadu, her welfare measures will have to weighed in the context of a dire fiscal position. As an article in The Indian Express points out, the debt to GDP ratio in West Bengal is a massive 35.5. percent, and interest payments amount to 22.5 percent of the state's revenue receipts. This is the worst for any state in the country. While the TMC was accused of political violence, what went in the party's favour was economic development and its focus on rural infrastructure. As pointed out in an article in Scroll, the TMC government tripled social sector spending in four years, riding on increasing tax revenues. Further, as pointed out in the article, it cancelled the state's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) policy, in an effort to reach out to the rural population affected by displacement and loss of assets. Till now, she has resisted pressure to do away with the land ceiling. As reported in an article in The Indian Express, she had projected this as the focus of a battle between her and the media group ABP, saying, "They wanted me to remove the urban land ceiling. I cannot do that." However, it remains to be seen whether she will continue to be able to resist pressures which would want her to do so. In her manifesto, Mamata Banerjee had promised to finish all projects that are underway and to introduce new projects, if voted to power. This was a significant promise in a state which has been seen as an economic laggard. However, it will be a challenge to balance demands to shore up industry while ensuring that marginalised sections of society do not lose out in the process. Political violence remains a concern As an article by Gouri Chatterjee on Firstpost points out, West Bengal politics has been marked by political violence for a long time now. This characteristic had acquired even more prominence during the 34 years of communist rule in the state. However, in its five years in power, the TMC has also faced serious charges of political violence during elections as well as at other times. After a CPM polling agent was killed and four party workers were injured in April, the CPM alleged that the TMC was unleashing a "reign of terror" in the state. The TMC has claimed that its reign has put an end the era of violence and intimidation in politics. For example, a statement on the party website had read: "We trust the people of Bengal. We know they will shower their blessings on us. We have restored democracy in Bengal. We have put an end to political violence. We are the party of Maa, Mati, Manush. CPI(M)-BJP-Congress can never defeat us." While the part about emerging victorious against CPM-Congress alliance and the BJP has turned out to be true, the people will now judge whether the claims of having "restored democracy" and having "put an end to political violence" are true. While the state has not been marked by anti-incumbency sentiments similar to those in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the TMC cannot afford to be complacent. Erasing the 'corruption' taint While Mamata Banerjee has a personal reputation of being a clean politician, recent widespread allegations of corruption continue to pose a threat. While the TMC supremo emerged stronger in the election despite charges of bribery against its senior ministers, the opposition is not likely to let the issue rest with the 2016 verdict. A case in point is Madan Mitra, who appears in a sting video in which he is seen accepting bribes. Mitra is one of 11 TMC leaders who are under a cloud due to the allegations. In the run up to the elections, Mamata Banerjee had defended her decision to allot a ticket to him, saying, "If the CBI has got anything against him, let them prove it. At a rally, she had also said, "An illegal company had done this in 2014, why bring this up now after the elections have been announced and candidates declared? Had it been earlier, I would have thought about it. Nothing can be done now. I cannot change candidates after announcing their names." However, as reported the CBI is now close to concluding its investigations against Mitra in the Saradha chit fund scam. If the agency indicts Mitra, who is a senior TMC leader, it would be interesting to see what Mamata's next move will be. From the results of the West Bengal assembly election, it appears that Mamata Banerjee's slogan of 'poriborton' still resonates among the people. However, with another decisive mandate in her favour, her task of consolidation begins now. New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the state government over the incident of a Nigerian student being attacked over a parking dispute in Hyderabad. "On reports of a Nigerian student injured in Hyderabad: EAM @SushmaSwaraj has urgently sought report from State Govt, is monitoring the case", ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. On Wednesday night, a 23-year-old Nigerian student was allegedly beaten by a local over a parking dispute in Hyderabad. The incident comes days after a 23-year-old Congolese national was beaten to death in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area over a minor dispute. The incidents of attacks has angered African envoys in Delhi who have protested to the Indian government, which has assured protection for the thousands of African students who study in India. ISE-SHIMA, Japan Britain is pushing for a global plan to reward drugs companies for developing new antibiotics, while also pledging to cut antibiotic use in England. A review commissioned by the British government and published last week said drug companies should agree to "pay or play" in the urgent race to find new antimicrobial medicines to fight the global threat posed by drug-resistant superbug infections. Former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill, who led the review, said a reward of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion should be paid for any successful new antimicrobial medicine brought to market. British Prime Minister David Cameron will say at the G7 meeting in Japan on Friday that Britain will work with global finance and health experts to develop such as system to bring the new antibiotics to market and make them available to all who need them. "The UK will explore with the international community how these rewards could be financed, including through the use of private sector funding," the government said in a statement. Any use of antibiotics promotes the development and spread of superbugs - multi-drug-resistant infections that evade the antimicrobial and antibiotic drugs designed to kill them. O'Neill has estimated antimicrobial resistance could kill an extra 10 million people a year and cost up to $100 trillion by 2050 if it is not brought under control. Britain will use a 50 million pound ($74 million) investment to start a global innovation fund to help develop new antimicrobials as well as diagnostic tools and vaccines. In England, the government said it will also seek to halve the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics by doctors by 2020 and set an overall target for antibiotic use in livestock and fish farmed for food. (Additional reporting by Kate Kelland in London, editing by Jeremy Gaunt) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. On Friday, US President Barack Obama paid moving tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb, offering a comforting embrace to a tearful man who survived the devastating attack on Hiroshima. In a ceremony loaded with symbolism, the first sitting US president to visit the city clasped hands with one survivor and hugged another, after speaking about the day that marked one of the most terrifying chapters of World War II. "71 years ago, death fell from the sky and the world was changed," Obama said of a bomb that "demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself. Why did we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead". Obama's visit drew raves on social media and from the many of the thousands who turned up to witness the historic event. Obama: 'Sorry, not sorry for vaporizing 100,000 civilians when Japan was already defeated' #Hiroshima pic.twitter.com/YFjTPMr8bk Paul Gottinger (@PaulGottinger) May 27, 2016 @1PhoenixDragon we're in Japan on vacation and we watched the live coverage earlier of Obama in Hiroshima. Heartbreaking. Seattle Lit (@seattlelit) May 27, 2016 As crows called through the hush of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Obama offered a floral wreath at the cenotaph, pausing in momentary contemplation with his eyes closed and his head lowered. It also spawned a huge queue of well-wishers eager to snap a picture of the white-flower wreath. Some posed beside the wreath inscribed with Obama's name, including visitors who had been unable to catch a glimpse of the US president because of the huge crowds. The site lies in the shadow of a domed building, whose skeleton stands in silent testament to those who perished. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe followed by offering his own wreath and a brief, silent bow. After both men had spoken, Obama, whose predecessor Harry Truman gave the go-ahead for the world's first nuclear strike, greeted ageing survivors, embracing 79-year-old Shigeaki Mori, who appeared overcome with emotion. The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged, Mori told reporters afterwards. Obama also chatted with a smiling Sunao Tsuboi, 91, who had earlier said he wanted to tell the US president how grateful he was for his visit. Ball of searing heat The trip comes more than seven decades after the Enola Gay bomber dropped its deadly atomic payload, dubbed "Little Boy", over the western Japanese city. The bombing claimed the lives of 1,40,000 people, some of whom died immediately in a ball of searing heat; others succumbed to injuries or radiation-related illnesses in the weeks, months and years afterwards. A second nuclear bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki, three days later. The visit also marks seven years since Obama's memorable speech in Prague in which he called for the elimination of atomic weapons, a call that helped him win the Nobel Peace Prize. Crowds of young and old gathered to meet the American president, who retains enormous star power in Japan. "We welcome President Obama," said 80-year-old Toshiyuki Kawamoto. "I hope this historic visit to Hiroshima will push for the movement of abolishing nuclear weapons in the world." 'We listen to the silent cry' Japanese and American flags flew on the street in front of the site, with a city official saying it was the first time the Stars and Stripes had been raised there. As expected, Obama offered no apology for the bombings, having insisted that he would not revisit decisions made by Truman at the close of a brutal war. As an eternal flame flickered behind him, however, he said leaders had an obligation to "pursue a world without" nuclear weapons. "This is why we come to this place, we stand here, in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell. We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry." "The world was forever changed here but, today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace," the US president said. "What a precious thing that is." While some in Japan feel the attack was a war crime because it targeted civilians, many Americans believe it hastened the end of a bloody conflict, and ultimately saved lives. Though there had been calls for an apology, public reaction to the visit and the speech was overwhelmingly positive. Megu Shimomura, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, one of the selected guests at the ceremony, told AFP: "I was thrilled to attend the historic event. Obama is someone who lives in a very different world than I do but I felt his humanity." Shinzo Abe praised the "courage" of the visit, which he said offered hope for a nuclear free future. "An American president comes into contact with the reality of an atomic bombing and renews his resolve toward realising a world without nuclear weapons," he said. "I sincerely welcome this historic visit, which has long been awaited by not only people of Hiroshima, but by all Japanese people." ISE-SHIMA, Japan Reuters) - Britain plans to send a navy warship to help battle the smuggling of both people and arms off the coast of Libya, Prime Minister David Cameron will tell G7 leaders on Thursday. The European Union this week agreed to help rebuild Libya's shattered navy and coastguard to tackle migrant smugglers after a plea for aid from the new U.N.-backed unity government in Tripoli. A U.N. Security Council resolution would be needed to go after arms traffickers on the high seas, ministers said at the time. A government spokesman said that during a session on foreign affairs on Thursday evening, Cameron would set out Britain's plans to increase its involvement in the region, where it already has four ships. "(The prime minister will) make the argument it is a global challenge requiring a comprehensive solution, reiterate our determination to work with the Libyan government and help them build the capacity of their coastguard to help them intercept boats off the Libyan coast," the spokesman said. "We will now take an active leadership role in that process ... Once the relevant U.N. security resolutions are in place, we intend to deploy a navy warship to the region to assist in the interception of arms and human smuggling." U.N.-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Seraj, who has yet to establish his government beyond Tripoli, wrote to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to request the naval support, as well as possible training for Libyan security personnel. A British government official said there had not yet been a formal request from Libya to operate within its waters, but one was expected "fairly swiftly". The warship could be operating in the area within weeks, the official added. The EU's "Operation Sophia" mission operates in international waters near Libya but is too far out to destroy boats used by people smugglers, catch traffickers or head off migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea from Libya. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Washington: Hillary Clinton defended her use of a private e-mail server for official correspondence while US Secretary of State, insisting her actions were no different than that of her predecessors. One day after the release of a critical State Department investigation faulting her use of personal e-mail for government business, Clinton vowed that she would not allow the issue to dog her campaign. "There may be reports that come out, but nothing has changed," the Democratic White House frontrunner said in an interview broadcast by CNN on Thursday. "It's the same story. Just like previous secretaries of state, I used a personal e-mail. Many people did. It was not at all unprecedented," she said. The issue has dogged Clinton for months, and has been used by her political enemies, including her presumed Republican opponent in the White House race, Donald Trump, to question her trustworthiness and honesty -- character traits that many voters already had expressed doubts about in opinion polls. Sounding slightly exasperated, Clinton insisted in the television interview that she has done everything possible to help put the controversy behind her. "I have turned over all of my e-mails. No one else can say that. I've been incredibly open about doing that. I will continue to be open. And it's not an issue that is going to affect either the campaign or my presidency," she declared. Clinton's use of a private server for both official and private correspondence first came to light in 2015 during Republican-led congressional investigations into her handling of a militant attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. The assault in 2012 left the US ambassador and three other Americans dead. The FBI has since launched a criminal investigation amid Republican charges that use of the unsecured system endangered national security. Clinton has maintained that none of her emails had been marked "classified" when she sent them and, after her own lawyers had removed mails they deemed purely personal, she submitted 52,000 pages of her emails to the State Department, which has reviewed all the documents. Over several months, the State Department made the official emails public in batches, releasing the final tranche in late February. ABIDJAN Ivory Coast authorities arrested a man on Thursday suspected of transporting weapons for an attack that killed 19 people at the beach resort of Grand Bassam in March, according to national television. "The driver who transported the weapons was arrested Thursday. He is currently being interrogated in the police station," said a presenter on national television. No other details were given. Reuters could not immediately verify the statement and the police were not available for comment. Gunmen shot swimmers and sunbathers before storming into several hotels in Grand Bassam, 40 km (25 miles) from the commercial capital, Abidjan, on March 13. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. About 17 people have been arrested in connection with the attacks, although the suspected ringleader, Kounta Dallah, remains at large. (Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Peter Cooney) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. LAGOS/YENAGOA, Nigeria Nigeria's government needs to address grievances in the oil-producing Niger Delta, its oil minister said on Thursday, hours after a Chevron source (CVX.N) said a militant attack had forced it to shut its onshore operations in the restive region. A militant group called the Niger Delta Avengers, which has told oil firms to leave the Delta before the end of May, said late on Wednesday that it had blown up the Chevron's facility's mains electricity feed. Its attacks have hobbled oil output over the past month. A company source told Reuters that "all activities in Chevron are grounded" onshore while oil industry sources said roughly 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Escravos were gone due to the latest attack and another on Chevron's offshore facilities earlier this month. Planned Escravos exports in the first half of 2016 averaged 167,000 bpd. A Twitter account with the group's name said late on Wednesday: "We Warned #ChevronStandard-Times file
The original Massie Clubhouse at 815 S. Abe St. was demolished in 1960.
SHARE Being a San Angelo native born in 1935, the sphere of my childhood and youth was around Washington Drive and Highland and South Abe streets. Now Bryant Boulevard, South Abe was then a great divided thoroughfare with bluebonnets, bushes and Italian cypress trees down the middle. Well-kept houses, from modest to grand, each with its own worth and history, once lined this tranquil avenue of bygone days. Sadly, the best have disappeared, or gone the tacky way of architectural debasement. On the southwest corner of Abe and Washington towered the 1880s three-story, turreted-and-spired McCarley house, and on the northwest corner was the magnificent Massie Clubhouse, across from the home of our grandmother Payne, where we lived from 1946 on. The stately surroundings of my growing-up habitat were taken for granted. As showpiece mainstays of another era castles of my protected boyhood world they were absolutely and unquestionably permanent and inviolable. My viewing the neighborhood today, even 54 years after its demise, still provokes a feeling of sadness. So many pieces of an earlier life, one by one, have been brutally bitten away, never to grow back: a happy remembrance contaminated with dismal reminders. That such feelings yet linger must mean those cherished environs constituted a rudiment of my personal security in the outer world. Against this backdrop, and of particular importance, is the original Massie Clubhouse, the subject of my story. In 1939, when transferred by the Massie Foundation to the San Angelo Federation of Womens Clubs, the clubhouse became a designated city landmark to be used for the Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, and Social development of San Angelo and surrounding territories. There was the clubhouses main hall. With high, coffered ceiling, Greek revival woodwork and varnished oak floor, it was San Angelos most dignified venue for recitals, readings, art exhibits, receptions and other affairs. Remodeled from the living and dining rooms, and running the buildings full width, a stage and nine-foot grand piano, backed by bay windows, formed the lengthy rooms north end, while a prominent fireplace, high mantelpiece and bronze sconces graced the far-opposite wall. When I was about 9 years old, it was on the Massie Clubhouse stage one night where I proudly exhibited my finest framed-and-matted pastel still life, as art teacher Helen King Kendall extolled its artistic merits. In 1954, the Federation of Womens Clubs started a fundraising campaign for a new clubhouse, and a year later the Massie Foundation board of directors passed a resolution allowing the historic buildings destruction. In 1959, the Massie Clubhouses fate was finally sealed. It being still owned by the Womens Federation, their leaderships intent was now clear to all: demolition and replacement of the stately 70-year-old citadel at 815 S. Abe St. I recall it being fashionable for some young architects of the day (our family knew one) to regard 1880s and 90s houses as Victorian monstrosities. Im told by one then involved (and opposed to it) that grounds for this grievous decision was because they wanted a modern, ranch-style, one-story building ... the old house is impractical and costly to maintain. We want a place you can just walk in to, without having to climb those high front-porch steps. (There were five steps.) The money raised for this abominable feat of destruction and further insult to the neighborhood amounted to $32,000. The old house was sold to a contractor for $1,000 to clear the lot. Some folks in positions of authority, including an engineer, claimed the money at hand (worth $264,000 today) could well go toward a permanent, self-sustaining maintenance fund for the aged mansion. But in 1960, what replaced the city landmark was a paradigm example of pedestrian, cinder-block mediocrity, an alien, lifeless intruder, a visual outcast, a gross affront to many peoples sensibilities. I recall the event being quite lamentable in our family, especially to my mother, the late Marylee Payne Barnes, and her cousins, of whose childhoods the place had been a vital part. Then the home of their uncle and aunt, Mr. and Ms. Robert Massie, the kids played many a day on the capacious half-round front balcony. My own childhood included hearing much nostalgic talk of across the street at Uncle Massie-Bobs and Aunt Marys. And compounding our familys unhappiness was the fact that three of our relatives were on the Massie Foundations board of directors. Many believed they had the power to oppose the houses demolition, since it was a designated city landmark, even though theyd approved its removal in 1955. Discreet calls from family members, and others concerned, only elicited obdurate disregard. The directors felt they couldnt interfere; the Womens Federation Board should act on what it needed to do. There was a significant number of fine-arts patrons and many members of the Womens Federation itself who were opposed to the project, but regarded open disagreement and organized protest to be undignified and in poor taste. If you cause trouble, youre likely branded a misfit, not a team player. People might think youre eccentric, maybe un-American, or even a communist. Rather, it was a facade of stoic acceptance and inward resentment, only discussed privately. Being an activist was unthinkable. All newspaper coverage of the entire happening was objective good press (as it should have been). Ive got the articles. But there werent even any critical letters to the editor, no editorial opinion at all, Im told. So if someone, not knowing otherwise, read the papers, theyd be convinced the whole of San Angelo was favorably disposed to the new Massie Clubhouse venture. Thats the way it was in those days, a half-century ago. I well remember. In his day, Robert Massie, with an 88-section ranch in Crockett County, was one of the most influential men in West Texas. Born in Scotland, his distinct accent was quite novel for those parts. A bank director in both San Angelo and Ozona, many West Texas interests carried his name. The San Angelo residence was well known. I regret the Massie name was ever associated with that dreary thing on the corner of Abe Street and Washington Drive. The callous, economic pragmatism of the 50s and 60s left its scar in many other spots around San Angelo: The reminders are there. Just fancy what precincts of precious 19-century charm San Angelo might treasure today if only they had ... But as reminders go, so goes the Yin, the Yang, and the last of the story: Our daddy, the late Cecil H. Barnes, was a salvage-minded, junk-collecting lawyer, and thanks to him, guess whats now part of my house in Austin a paneled interior door, a ceiling fan, a nickel-plated lockset on my front door, fireplace andirons, and a leather-cushioned swivel chair, all of which had their first life in the Massie House more than a century ago. Across Abe Street from the Massie place was where we lived from 1946 on. When our house was sold to a family in the summer of 1994, my sisters, Ducky and Becky, and I were clearing out grandmother Paynes china cabinet. Stashed away in a dark nook was a dinner plate commemorating the Massie Clubhouse. With the houses picture on it, the plate was commissioned in 1939 when the property was donated to the Womens Federated Clubs of San Angelo. It now hangs on my kitchen wall. Former San Angeloan E. Marcus Barnes III is a retired technical writer, registered engineer and partially active scientist living in Austin. To OUR Gourmet Retailer Readers While Gourmet Retailer no longer exists as a separate print publication and website, Progressive Grocer will continue to feature new content about boutique retailing in our ongoing coverage of Independent Grocers. Please update your Gourmet Retailer bookmark and check our Independent Grocers topic page regularly for updates and fresh content. -- The Progressive Grocer Team by, UTSA Marketing AssociateThe past couple of days were quite a whirlwind.Before we returned home, we had one match scheduled on Tuesday against Club Italia, but on the way to Milan, we had the opportunity to make a pit stop in Venice for about six hours.It was a different feeling when we got off the train in Venice. We all felt a lot more vulnerable than we had previously been. Maybe it was the exhaustion from travel starting to set in, the warnings of pickpockets or the amount of people in Venice in general, but it was overwhelming at first.All of that aside, we had a great time. It's funny what you can fit into your schedule when you know you only have a few hours in a city you may never return to. We quickly hopped on a vaporetto (waterbus) and rode down the river through the city. We got off and grabbed a slice of pizza and then hit up a bunch of shops. The streets are lined with different vendors and setups, which is like a maze.Venice is known for its murano glass and you could find it everywhere. We shopped roughly for about an hour and then hustled over to the Doge's Palace for a tour. The Doge is the elected ruler of Venice. The palace was the venue for its law courts, civil administration, bureaucracy and, before it moved, the city jail. The ceilings and walls were breathtaking. It's hard to imagine the amount of time that went into creating such a masterpiece of a building.Our next stop was Milan. We arrived late Monday evening and were unable to go out, but we did have time to walk around on Tuesday morning before our match. We visited the Duomo Di Milano, which is the Milan Cathedral. Pictures don't do it justice. Seeing this cathedral needs to be on everyone's bucket list. It is the fifth-largest Christian church in the world and has the most statues with 3,500 hand-carved statues, 135 gargoyles and 700 figures that decorate the Milan Cathedral. Above the arch over the alter, there is a spot marked with a red light bulb. It marks the spot where one of the nails of Jesus' crucifixion were placed. Once a year, they bring it down and worship.Once we were done with our walk around town, we headed out to play Club Italia that evening. Word on the street was that the team had not lost a single set in competition all year. Well, the Roadrunners proudly broke that streak and beat them in the first set. We ended up dropping the match, but the team played really well and it was a good way to end the trip.We arrived back in San Antonio late Wednesday night. Everyone had been talking about what they're most excited to get back to America for. It ranged from seeing friends and family, to sleeping in their own beds, to eating Whataburger - naturally.It will take awhile for this trip to really set in.mentioned Tuesday that she was still finding herself stunned and not being able to believe she was in Europe. The gratitude everyone had for this trip to everyone who made it happen really can't be expressed. This really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.Everyone will be putting together a snippet of what they loved most about the trip and they will be posted on the UTSA Volleyball's Facebook page in the coming weeks. A judge reinstated voter-approved limits on the amount of cash Montana political parties can give to candidates on Thursday, nine days after he struck down those limits as unconstitutionally low and less than two weeks before Montana's primary elections.U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell ruled last week that the low campaign contribution limits for political parties, individuals and political committees set by a voter-approved initiative in 1994 restricted speech and did not allow candidates to effectively campaign. As a result, state officials re-imposed the higher limits that were in place for individuals and political committees before 1994.However, the pre-1994 limits on political parties were lower than those approved by voters that year. Enforcing those lower limits would worsen the situation for the political parties that challenged the caps and put the state in the position of enforcing another unconstitutional law, the judge wrote in his order. Mike DeWine, the state attorney general and a former U.S. senator, confirmed Thursday what political prognosticators have reported for months: Hes running for governor.The 69-year-old Republican shared his less-than-secret plans with a Dayton charter school official in a conversation overheard by a reporter. DeWine told the Dayton Daily News the discussion had been confidential but the substance was true.His spokeswoman, Lisa Hackley, said DeWine has not particularly been hiding the fact that he plans to run for governor in 2018. Special Session Begins in Alaska A New Deal in Chicago Boeing's Historic Tax Break Is Even Bigger Than You Thought After failing to agree on a budget for the 2017 fiscal year, Alaskan legislators met this week to begin a special session. The state is one of a handful that has yet to pass a budget for the upcoming year, which starts in five weeks for most. But Alaska is arguably in the toughest position.Lawmakers extended their regularly scheduled session but still failed to decide how or whether to enact fiscal reforms that would close its structural budget deficit. According to Standard & Poors, the continued impasse risks a government shutdown starting on July 1 when the state's new fiscal year begins.The cause of Alaskas woes is simple: The prolonged drop in oil prices has hammered its budget, which largely relies on oil revenue. To meet expenses, the state has drawn out of its substantial rainy day fund over the past two years. As a result, its top AAA credit rating was stripped away in January.The solutions, however, are not so simple. Gov. Bill Walker wants to completely revamp Alaskas revenue system, which includes implementing the states first income tax in more than three decades and significantly reducing the annual stipends that residents receive from oil revenue. Instead Walker wants to funnel more of that revenue into a new state investment fund to support the budget. Still, legislators disagree about how many -- if any -- of those proposals to adopt, and many still want to tap into the state's rainy day fund again to balance the budget.Alaska isn't the only state confronting big revenue questions this year. West Virginia has called a special session to pass a budget, too. Of the 13 states that have yet to enact a 2017 budget , four of them, -- much like Alaska -- are energy-dependent states. (One of them, Oklahoma, did announce a budget deal this week, but it is awaiting the governors signature.) Of course, oil and natural gas arent the only culprits for budget woes. California, which relies heavily on revenue from residents investment earnings, is dealing with a changing revenue picture as the volatile stock market has taken a bite out of its income tax revenue collections this year.Chicago, which has one of the worst funded pension plans in the country, announced a major deal to restore one of its pension funds back to health.The deal would have the city pay about $70 million more per year into the so-called Laborers' fund. In exchange, unions agreed that new employees would contribute more of their salary into the fund, which serves about 5,000 mostly blue-collar workers.Unless the deal is approved by the legislature, the fund is projected to be broke in a little more than 10 years. If it is approved, city officials estimate it will be 90 percent funded by 2057.Chicago has passed pension reforms before -- only for them to be struck down by the state Supreme Court. But this deal differs from the previous reforms because it only applies to future employees.Moodys Investors Services had a tepid review of the plan, noting that the city's funding commitment reduces the risk of insolvency but still doesn't figure out a sustainable way to afford long-term higher pension costs.Accommodating higher pension contributions to all four of its pension plans in annual operating budgets will be an important factor in Chicagos credit trajectory, said the ratings agency, which rates Chicago bonds at junk status.Changes that only affect future workers dont do anything to help lower a pension plans current liability. Still, when a plan is close to insolvency, any long-term change helps, and thats what Chicago has achieved here -- as long as the state legislature approves the plan.The citys largest municipal plan, which serves most white-collar workers, is in worse shape. No deal is in sight, and it has about one-third of the assets it needs to meet its total liabilities. It could run out of money in about 10 years. Chicago will likely use a similar model -- increased city payments/increased future worker contributions -- to tackle that plans funding. But how to pay for it is still a big question mark. Another tax hike seems all but assured in Chicago.New data shows that what was already thought to be the most expensive incentive deal in history actually far surpasses initial estimates.In 2015, Boeing got $305 million worth of tax breaks and credits from Washington state. That's 55 percent more than the state estimated the entire aerospace industry would cash in for that year. Similarly, in 2014, Boeing estimates it got $217 million -- 19 percent more thanthe state's estimated total tax break for the entire aerospace industry.When lawmakers approved the Boeing package in 2013, it was estimated that Boeings tax breaks would total $8.7 billion through 2040. The first two years of tax breaks put Boeing on pace to far exceed that amount.Tax breaks have been a controversial issue as state and local government revenues tighten. Accountability has generally been poor, and governments are inconsistent at tracking them . Boeings figures are thanks to a new regulation in Washington state that requires businesses to report the value of their tax breaks. Nationally, new accounting rules recently went into effect that seek to do the same. Boeings figures have been an eye-opener for lawmakers in Olympia -- and are probably a precursor of things to come for lawmakers across the country. Democrats' Go-To Attorney Gets Busy Mayors Lose Their Jobs A Win for Tax-Raising Republicans Just how much demand there can be for a good campaign lawyer was on dramatic display this week. Marc Elias has been the go-to attorney for high-profile Democrats for years. But he's had a particularly eventful few days.On Monday, he beat back congressional Republicans' attempt to throw out Virginia's court-drawn redistricting maps with a unanimous ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. The next day, Elias scored another big win when a federal judge ruled in favor of his challenge against an Ohio law that rolled back early voting. The changes "will disproportionately burden African-Americans" and violate the federal Voting Rights Act, ruled Judge Michael H. Watson. Then on Wednesday, Elias filed an appeal in a Virginia voter ID case . He was also one of the lawyers who challenged Wisconsin's voter ID law, which went on trial this week in federal court."Before Marc, most voting-rights lawsuits were brought or led by voting-rights groups," said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine. "Marc has come in to bring a Democratic Party perspective to voting-rights suits, thanks in part to funding from George Soros. He has had some good success so far, though it is too soon to tell where things will end up with some of the suits until they work their way through the appellate process."But it hasn't all been good news for Elias this week.On Monday, CNN reported that federal investigators are looking into donations by a Chinese-born industrialist made to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's 2013 campaign and to the Clinton Foundation.As counsel to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Elias has also been busy dealing with legal fires on that front, such as Bernie Sanders' demand on Tuesday that Kentucky recanvass its primary vote."Marc knows more than anyone in any room he stands in, which is an immensely comforting quality in a lawyer," said Jess McIntosh, vice president of EMILY's List, which works to elect Democratic, pro-abortion women.Two mayors were removed from office on Tuesday.Voters in Meigs, Ga., recalled, who had been arrested four times since taking office. Harris has been charged with theft, misspending funds, stalking a former mayor and violating the oath of office.And in Jennings, Mo., which is next door to Ferguson, the city council voted to impeach. The council had investigated 19 instances of alleged misconduct, including using city funds on private property, accessing private personnel records and filing suit against the city. Fountain-Henderson was the city's first African-American and female mayor.When Georgia held its primaries on Tuesday, anti-tax activists were hoping voters would say goodbye to Republican lawmakers who helped pass a transportation package last year that raised taxes. But their efforts fell far short.Despite challenges, a number of incumbents received heavy cover from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Coalition for Job Creation. Most ended up winning their primaries handily. "Tuesday's news: Republican support for transit no longer equates to suicide," read a headline inThe primary didn't produce all good news for incumbents, however.Having failed to win a majority of the vote, three representatives -- Democrat Darryl Jordan and Republicans Tom Dickson and John Yates -- were forced into July runoffs. At the age of 94, Yates is the last World War II veteran left in the Georgia General Assembly.Two other incumbents were defeated. Democratic state Rep. Rahn Mayo lost to Renitta Shannon, who enjoyed the support of unions and other progressive groups. Democratic Rep. Earnest Smith -- who has violated campaign finance laws 88 times, according to the state ethics board -- lost to Sheila Nelson, a community activist and retired postal worker who had the backing of some local officials. The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday dramatically expanded the number of juveniles -- all of them convicted decades ago when the state still had a parole system -- who can now ask a judge to set them free.Ripping the state parole system's treatment of juveniles, the court granted Angelo Atwell of Broward County a new sentencing hearing because he was only 17 at the time he committed murder. Legal experts say the sweeping decision opens the door for juveniles who were eligible for parole for other major crimes to get new sentences."Today is a good day. The Florida parole system simply did not work," said Florida State University law professor Paulo Annino, who filed a brief on Atwell's behalf. "Juveniles in his situation will finally have an opportunity for a fair hearing."Annino estimated that as many as 300 juveniles convicted in murder cases statewide could now receive new sentences.In Atwell's case, he was convicted of gunning down a Wilton Manors school teacher during a robbery in 1990. But the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the old system gave Atwell zero shot of ever leaving prison. The state calculated his release date after the turn of the next century -- December 2130."While technically Atwell is parole-eligible, it is a virtual certainty that Atwell will spend the rest of his life in prison," the justice wrote in a 4-3 decision.Friday's opinion was prompted by two U.S. Supreme Court rulings that shook up how Florida treats juveniles convicted of major crimes.In the 2010 case Graham v. Florida, the nation's high court outright banned life sentences for juveniles in non-homicide cases, saying they amounted to "cruel and unusual" punishment. The reasoning: science has shown that youthful brains are not fully developed, and they are more susceptible to impulses and outside influences.Two years later, in Miller v. Alabama, the court banned mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles convicted of murder. The ruling still left room for life sentences for the most egregious of murderers -- but ordered judges to first hear evidence of a killer's childhood and upbringing.The Florida Supreme Court later ruled that most juvenile killers, no matter when they were convicted, should get new sentences under a new Florida law that allowed for a judge to consider possible release after 15, or 25 years, depending on their role in the crime.In South Florida, a handful of juveniles have been re-sentenced under Miller. That includes Michael Hernandez, who still got life in prison for butchering his classmate inside a middle school bathroom; and Ronald Salazar, who went from life to 40 years for raping and slicing the throat of his sister.But until Thursday, the high court had not weighed in on those juvenile killers facing the parole system.Florida mostly abolished parole in May 1983, although a parole commission still exists to hear cases for people convicted before that date. However, between 1983 and 1994, people convicted of first-degree murder were automatically sentenced to prison for life, with the possibility of parole after 25 years.A jury in 1992 convicted Atwell of the fatal shooting of Margaret Holuczak, a popular economics teacher at McArthur High School in Hollywood. Holuczak, 41, was gunned down outside her Wilton Manors house when she refused to surrender her purse after two men grabbed it. As they grappled for the handbag, one of two robbers shot her in the back of the head.Detectives believed that Atwell, a Dillard High School student, was the triggerman. He was sentenced to two life terms and became eligible for parole after 25 years.But his lawyers insisted that Florida's parole commission was never going to give him -- or anybody really -- a "meaningful chance" to get out, especially because so much emphasis is put on the severity of the crime. They pointed out that in 2014, there were 4,626 inmates eligible for parole, and only 23 actually were released from prison."It is unsurprising that parole is rarely granted given that it is 'an act of grace of the state and shall not be considered a right'" under Florida law, attorney Paul Petillo wrote to the court.The Florida Supreme Court agreed. Justices ruled that the commission's handling of his case violated the "spirit" of the Miller and Graham decisions.The majority concluded that Florida's parole system, which calculates scores based on the severity of the crime and other factors, does nothing to consider how juveniles are different than adults."Importantly, unlike other states, there are no special protections expressly afforded to juvenile offenders and no consideration of the diminished culpability of the youth at the time of the offense," Justice Barbara Pariente wrote.Three justices dissented, saying the "majority reaches too far into the merits of a parole process not at issue in this case because of the majority's unjustified perception and suspicion" of the parole commission.Atwell, now 41, will return to a Broward jail and wait for his new sentencing hearing.The Broward State Attorney's Office declined to comment, saying prosecutors are reviewing the decision. The Florida Attorney General's Office, which argued against Atwell, also declined to comment.Exactly how many more South Florida cases will return for new sentencing remains unknown.Gale Lewis, the head of the Miami-Dade Public Defender Office's "special representation unit," said lawyers are now combing through their files to see who might be eligible for a new sentence."I think it's a wonderful opinion for all the juveniles who were ever sentenced to life in prison in the state of Florida," Lewis said.One Miami defendant who will likely get a new sentencing: Richard Calix, now 45. He was 17 when he fatally shot Michael Scharnowske, 35, during a robbery in Homestead. Scharnowske was one of several founders of the Florida Keys Yellow Pages.Calix was only 17 at the time of the murder in 1988. His lawyer, Philip Reizenstein, said Calix has found religion and repeatedly attempted to apologize to the family, even taking an ad out in the Miami Herald to express his remorse. There's a new movement percolating, a "Blue Lives Matter" push that seeks to raise penalties for violence against police and first responders but that also could serve as a controversial counter to the Black Lives Matter movement.In Louisiana, the legislature has voted to expand its hate crime laws to include law enforcement and first responders, in addition to victims targeted because of race, age, gender, religion or sexual orientation. The governor signed it into law Thursday.Similar proposals are pending in both the U.S. House and Senate and starting to creep into the 2016 campaign, framing a debate over law enforcement and its relationship with minority communities.Police organizations say the increased protections are needed because they are under siege on the streets.Opponents argue that the "Blue Lives Matter" bills and other proposals are election-season messaging that ignores policing issues underscored by incidents in Ferguson, Mo., North Charleston, S.C., Staten Island, N.Y., Chicago and San Francisco."It's an issue that's growing in importance _ and you can't rule out that it will become an issue in the presidential campaign and several Senate races," said G. Terry Madonna, director for the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Pennsylvania's Franklin & Marshall College."There's a clear demarcation line here that emanates from Black Lives Matter. You can't rule out that this will become a clear dividing issue."Polls show it's an issue that has political potential: 58 percent of Americans believe that there's a war on cops in America, according to a September 2015 Rasmussen poll, and 60 percent say critical comments by some politicians make it more dangerous for police officers to do their jobs.Americans are concerned, despite the fact that the number of police deaths in the line of duty is declining.There have been a few highly publicized attacks on police. In December 2014, for example, two New York City police officers were fatally shot execution-style as they sat in their patrol car. The gunman, who took his own life, posted on social media that he was going to shoot officers to avenge the police-involved deaths of two African-American men earlier in the year.But FBI statistics released this month showed that 41 police officers in the United States and Puerto Rico were intentionally killed in the line of duty by suspects in 2015 _ 10 fewer than 2014 and the second-lowest total in 12 years."Any felonious death of a police officer is a tragedy," David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who studies policing, told McClatchy in an email. "But the idea that this is necessary or desirable because there is a 'war on police' is not borne out by the data of the facts."Still, Pennsylvania's Sen. Pat Toomey, one of a half-dozen vulnerable Republican Senate incumbents, has a YouTube ad touting his so-called "Thin Blue Line" act, a bill that would expand death penalty consideration factors if the defendant is proved to have specifically targeted a victim for being a law enforcement officer, firefighter or public official."Police lives matter," Toomey says in the video ad. "I am sick and tired of this narrative across this country that we're hearing from so many political figures that somehow the police are systemically a bunch of racist rogues. The fact is, the vast majority of police are honest, hard-working men and women who don't have a racist bone in their body. And, yet, they are being targeted."Toomey's bill has 23 Senate Republican co-sponsors, including five who are in tough re-election fights: John McCain of Arizona, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Rob Portman of Ohio and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.A similar "Thin Blue Line" act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla., who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla."It is somewhat in response to the political dialog of the last couple of years," Jolly said of his bill. "I wanted to identify a way for Congress, at least those who agree, to say to law enforcement that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them."On the presidential level, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump also has weighed in, saying in January that "police are the most mistreated people in this country."Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, when he was still in the presidential race, accused Black Lives Matter activists of calling for the killing of police officers."They have been chanting on the streets for the murder of police officers," Christie, who is head of Trump's presidential transition team, said in October on CBS's "Face the Nation. "That's what the movement is creating. And the president of the United States is justifying that."Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has embraced the concerns about policing in minority communities raised by Black Lives Matter and other civil rights and civil liberties groups.Clinton has campaigned in several primary states with the "Mothers of the Movement" _ women whose children died by gun violence or in encounters with police.The "Blue Lives Matter" efforts do have some Democratic support.Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards, is a Democrat whose father and brother served as sheriffs. Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, called the Louisiana bill laudable but also a piece of "pandering to those who are anti-Black Lives Matter movement."Law enforcement organizations also support the legislative efforts, arguing they will send a message and make suspects think twice before targeting officers and first-responders."It sends a message to the community ... that blue lives do matter, that assaults against police officers, law enforcement officers, and firefighters are assaults on the most basic, most fundamental level of government," said William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations."The ambush-style assaults, the murders of police officers across the country ... can lead legislators to look at this and say 'Yeah, this is a real problem.'"Critics contend that so-called Blue Lives Matter and Thin Blue Line bills are redundant and that the message behind them is overtly political."When they adopt the Blue Lives Matter movement from Black Lives Matter _ that moniker or brand _ it's like a slap in the face," said Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., a member of the House Judiciary Committee and the Congressional Black Caucus. "Especially when you have not done anything to improve conditions so that black lives are not inordinately lost at the hand of law enforcement."Besides, Hank Johnson and others say, there are already tough penalties and enhanced death penalty considerations for killing law enforcement officers on the books in many states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Texas."Anyone who does harm to a law enforcement officer is treated harshly to begin with, treated more harshly than if they killed someone who was not wearing a uniform," he said. "What more could you do? If people are already getting the maximum in some cases, what more can you do than that?"Still, NAPO's William Johnson said the "Blue Lives Matter" movement and the bill it's spawning are needed. He said that the FBI's figures don't accurately reflect what officers are encountering on the streets. He pointed to statistics by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Officer Down Memorial Page, which independently tracks law enforcement deaths."I understand that people may say 'it's already against the law to assault a police officer ... or shoot a police officer," he said. "But those same arguments were used maybe 10-20 years ago when hate crime legislation was first proposed." On Thursday, in the afternoon, at Parliament House, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC presided at a meeting of the Executive Council, then met students from Maclean Public School, Maclean, NSW, who were touring Parliament House. Description GIS - 27 May, 2016: The fourth edition of the Mauritius Excellence Awards for Cooperatives (MEAC) was officially launched yesterday in Port Louis by the Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, during a press conference. The fourth edition of the Mauritius Excellence Awards for Cooperatives (MEAC) was officially launched yesterday in Port Louis by the Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr Soomilduth Bholah, during a press conference. The model of the Awards, based on international benchmarks, has been designed in line with cooperative principles and values. It is meant to be a long term benchmark for Mauritian cooperative societies and is geared towards performance excellence, using international norms, standards and quality management systems. Mr Bholah underlined that the MEAC are being held so as to encourage cooperatives to continually improve and graduate towards excellence, innovation, leadership and sustainability, adding that the awards aim to recognise cooperative societies for implementing programmes and practices geared towards excellence. The MEAC, he added, also aim to promote best practice and good governance. He appealed to all cooperatives in Mauritius and Rodrigues to participate. The Minister pointed out that for this edition, some new elements have been introduced namely leadership, sustainability, innovation and good governance. The format of the entry documents has also been changed and is now more user-friendly. About the Awards Cooperative Societies in the following sectors are eligible to participate: consumer, finance, fish, food processing, food crop, livestock, sugar, transport, women cooperatives, other services, and Federation. A cash prize of Rs 100 000 and a trophy will be awarded to the category Grand Winner. Winners of the category Sectors and Federation will receive a cash prize of Rs 25 000 and a trophy. A cash prize of Rs 25 000 and a trophy will be awarded to the Best Cooperative Society in Rodrigues. A certificate will be awarded to each participant of the MEAC 2016. The Grand Winner of the MEAC 2013, 2014 and 2015 are not eligible to participate. Winners per sector of the last Awards will be eligible to compete for the Grand Winner Award only. Information kits and participation forms are available in all Regional Cooperative Centres and can be downloaded from the website of the Ministry: http://cooperatives.govmu.org. The deadline to submit applications is 1st August 2016 and the award ceremony will be held on 28 October 2016. DATA Act Difficulties San Francisco Adds Two Companies to its Startup in Residence Program Officials attempting to open federal financial data are encountering obstacles after a pilot program was delayed and Congress and data advocates made allegations of mismanagement.On May 16, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.; Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del, sent a letter to the White Houses Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shaun Donovan requesting answers about the implementation of a pilot for the Data Transparency and Accountability Act . The law, signed by the president in 2014, is the first national open data law that requires agencies to begin reporting financial expenditures online in a machine-readable format by next year.Only according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), it appears that the pilot program that would build the software and data standards for agencies to use is more than four months behind schedule. Further, the report calls into question whether the pilot can meet its objectives at all. GAO analysts expressed doubt that the pilot could be scalable for other agencies, and also indicated that the OMB had not adhered to good management practices.Emails to the OMB for comment on these allegations went unreturned.Despite hardships, transparency advocates in both Congress and the tech sector are determined to see the DATA Act through. On May 26, the Data Coalition, the advocacy group that lobbied for the bill, held its second annual DATA Summit to call for additional funding to implement the act and to gather lawmakers for more dialogue on next steps.Data Coalition Executive Director Hudson Hollister said the event would examine the two major threats facing the DATA Act.1. The danger that OMB and Treasury [the two entities leading the pilot] might continue to maintain legacy reporting systems alongside the new, standardized reporting processes, resulting in a permanent requirement for agencies to report spending information twice;2. And the continued use of the proprietary Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) to identify grantees and contractors. The registration system is owned by Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., and hinders public sharing through copyright law.This week, the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Civic Innovation added two new startups Binti and LotaData to its Startup in Residence Program (STiR) The program, which also includes the cities of Oakland, San Leandro and West Sacramento, embeds entrepreneurs inside city departments for 16 weeks so they can co-develop solutions to challenging civic problems. Binti , a tech company specializing in adoption services, will join San Franciscos Human Services Agency (HSA) to create a mobile app for potential foster care parents. The app will guide citizens through the foster care certification process and eventually be a pipeline for prospective candidates. HSA staff will benefit from the app through its management tools that handle education and communication tasks. LotaData , a platform for spatial intelligence, will provide San Francisco's Recreation & Human Services Department with an analytics app and user ID card that lets staff visualize and track usage patterns for recreational facilities. The analysis is geared to help leaders optimize and improve services.Both of these projects and the 13 others that were announced by the cities on April 19 are scheduled for release in September, when STiR holds a demo day to highlight the innovations. (TNS) -- Forget the Google barge.Nautilus Data Technologies Inc. of Pleasanton, Calif., has built the real deal a barge 235 feet long and 55 feet wide, capable of carrying up to 540 racks of computer servers and wants to bring its floating data center to the port of Stockton.While the Google barge came to Stockton in March 2014 amid a blitz of media scrutiny and speculation it might be a server farm, which it wasnt, Nautilus was quietly building its Eli M vessel at Mare Island.And while Google executives said not a peep about selling their barge, which the new owner towed to Seattle in March to be refitted as a standard freight hauler, Nautilus executives announced their plans at Thursdays meeting of the San Joaquin Partnership.Nautilus Chief Executive James Connaughton said the port can provide the combination of water, electric power and huge fiber-optic data connections the prototype data center requires.Stockton is ideally suited to deliver on that promise, he said.The company and the port are still negotiating a lease that would bring the data center, and about a dozen jobs, to the west end of Rough and Ready Island, and a limited environmental review must be cleared.Im optimistic we can make something work, said Connaughton, who hopes to move in by the fall.Steve Escobar, deputy port director who oversees port real estate and development, said if things go well, he might bring a potential agreement to the port commission sometime in July or August.Were excited about it, he said.Mike Ammann, chief executive of the partnership, which is the countywide economic development agency, said Nautilus venture signals the start of many more technology companies moving into San Joaquin County.I think truly the third wave has rolled in, into the port, he said, referring to futurists Alvin Tofflers description of the information age as the third major wave of human development, following the development of agriculture and, later, industry.Susan DellOsso, partnership vice chairwoman who also has a business interest in a data center company, underscored that prediction.Data service in San Joaquin County is now mostly limited to Comcast and AT&T, which discourages many high-tech companies who seek specialized or custom data services not available from the ISP giants, she said. The Nautilus project potentially opens the door to new data carriers, and their customers may follow.This is a big deal, DellOsso said.She also applauded the Nautilus barges environmental benefits.The company claims its barge will reduce energy consumption and thus carbon emissions, by 30 percent vs. conventional server farms.And by floating on a body of water, whether fresh or saltwater, and using it for cooling, it eliminates the need for evaporative cooling. A typical data center may consumer 80 million to 100 million gallons a year for that purpose, Nautilus officials said.The low impact on the water is the best part of the story, Connaughton said.The data center would pump water from the Stockton Deep Water Channel at a maximum rate of 3,000 to 4,500 gallons per minute and the water would re-enter the river 4 degrees Fahrenheit hotter. The impact would be negligible, Connaughton said.When mixed with the water in the channel, in the lowest flow conditions measured in the last 20 years, the projected maximum temperature difference is 1/10 of a degree Fahrenheit, he said.Bill Jennings, director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, said the one barge might not make a discernable difference in water quality, but the project needs closer scrutiny.It would be one added stress to a waterway where high temperatures now affect many threatened and endangered species.Keep in mind our temperatures are already a limiting factor to salmonid migration, he said.Many of the problems we encounter are the result of a series of small, incremental actions that cumulatively create massive problems. Michael Nutter There are many different ways city leaders can utilize or even define the purpose of data. One could think about performance data as it relates to activities, like the number of potholes filled or arrests made, or how it relates to service outcomes which, like initiatives on obesity or infant mortality, require data sharing across agencies. Then there's open data, which is seen in some localities as an obligatory transparency measure and in others as real way to encourage co-production of governance.Most municipalities have done some work in at least one of these areas. But to unleash the full potential of data, a city needs a coordinated strategy that overcomes procurement obstacles while encompassing each pillar of its data-directed work. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter set out to change the data and performance culture of his city during his two terms, which ended in January.Nutter, who was honored by Governing as a Public Official of the Year in 2014, is now a professor of practice in urban policy at Columbia University, a What Works Cities Senior Fellow and a commentator for CNN. He and I recently discussed his priorities and approach to infusing the culture of municipal government with a steadfast commitment to data and measurable results. Here are excerpts from our conversation:Let's start with the big picture. You get elected mayor of Philadelphia and have a vision. How did you connect that vision with metrics?We needed to transition to a more complete sense of measurement. There was not a whole lot of conversation going on between departments. The impact of the recession forced us in many instances into much more collaborative processes. Mayors and cities learn from each other. Results were starting to be shown from much of what was happening in New York City and other places. Over the next couple of years, it became increasingly clear that we had a lot of data, but we weren't always using the data to maximum advantage. We were collecting data because we are the government so we collect a lot of things. The industry of data analytics was starting to really grow and manifest itself, and we created a data unit with a chief data officer. All of those kinds of things started coming into play between 2011 and 2013. It made a tremendous difference.How did you broaden the attention and use of data in performance management? How did you change the culture of Philadelphia's workforce?We needed to convince employees this is not just our latest greatest idea but that this stuff actually works and we're quite serious about it. And indeed, we made it clear we were going to start measuring employees on how well they are implementing these systems in the government. We changed the name of our IT operation to the Department of Innovation and Technology to drive a message. We started talking about results and who was responsible for them, and really recognizing departments in a very public way. It takes time. Like anything, city government is a big establishment, and we weren't going to turn its direction in a couple of weeks. Public employees came into this work for the right reason, and they want to help people and to see better outcomes. Once they believe that you are really serious about it and committed to it, folks start to come along.When did your performance data meet up with your open data?Open data was in the middle of my eight years when we really got serious and brought on a chief data officer and started releasing these datasets. I think the public was surprised, the press was surprised, our own employees were surprised. I reminded them that part of what I ran on was openness and transparency. There have been other very positive outcomes -- entrepreneurs and the startup community are using some of that data and creating apps or new businesses. A part of this is really all about transparency and openness and integrity, but also a better relationship with your citizens. Initially, people just thought we would do a little bit. But we have hundreds of datasets that have now been released from virtually every department and agency in the government. I'm not sure if we even send out press releases anymore about the release of data. It's become the norm.Did you see any difference in the organization's commitments to data when the open data was layered on top of performance data?It has given people more confidence, a greater comfort level in releasing information, and it has reinforced that we are a large service organization. Our job is to deliver services to the people. And if we aren't measuring ourselves, then what are we even doing? How do we convey to the public that we are doing our jobs? /p>As a What Works Cities fellow, what advice would you give to What Works Cities mayors?The first piece of advice that I always give mayors is: "Have a plan; work your plan; stick to the plan." As a WWC mayor, it is critically important to consistently communicate to your staff, the city workforce and, most importantly, the public, how the What Works Cities goals of using data and evidence to inform decisions fits in the plan and advances the work and issues that you campaigned on to become mayor. You also need to report out to the public on a regular basis with honest assessments of success and efforts that may have fallen short or not worked. Having and maintaining integrity and credibility in this process is critical to the success of the open data movement.If you look back at your last day as mayor, and the data and evidence tools you had then compared to your first day, how do you characterize the change?I think it's light years of difference. This area is only going to grow. It's only going to get better. It's not a fad. And quite honestly it's one of the most essential tools that a mayor or chief executive can ever have in terms of trying to run the city. BUILDING THE ORIGINAL OPENGRID BRINGING OPENGRID TO MARKET . IMPLICATIONS OF OPENGRID FOR SMART CITIES In January of this year, officials at Chicagos Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) launched OpenGrid , a map-based application that provides residents with a way to visually understand complex municipal data. OpenGrids mission is to improve Chicagoans ability to meaningfully use open data beyond the capacity of current data portals. The program is easily accessible via any web browser on desktops, tablets, and phones.The application is calledfor a reason: it is open-source. Since DoITs beginnings several years ago, open source programming has been a core principle of DoITs data and analytics work. That non-proprietary philosophy is also central to the Smart Chicago Collaborative , a civic organization that focuses on improving residents lives through technology, which helped sponsor OpenGrids development. Both DoIT and SmartChicago encourage other cities and organizations to replicate the application for their own use. The source code used to develop OpenGrid is available via code-sharing site GitHub . There, programmers in other cities can freely take Chicagos building blocks and design their own geospatial system that fits their needs.Earlier this month, Chicago partner UTurn Data Solutions launched OpenGrid for Smart Cities (OpenGridSC), a new version of OpenGrid on the Amazon Web Services Marketplace that makes the adoption and maintenance of the application far simpler for other cities.Chicago envisions OpenGrid serving not only as a resource to residents but also as a low-cost business intelligence tool for governments, nonprofits, and corporations that wish to take advantage of its capabilities.OpenGrid utilizes much of the same data that Chicagos WindyGrid application does. WindyGrid, designed to help manage the 2012 NATO summit, is the citys original geospatial situational awareness application, and continues to be regularly used internally. Three years later, OpenGrid was designed as WindyGrids public-facing and replication-minded counterpart.The data that populates OpenGrid is primarily supplied by a resource called Plenario Plenario , developed by the University of Chicagos Urban Center for Computation and Data (Urban CCD), is a cloud-based open-source data hub that allows its users to access, combine, download, and visualize disparate sets of data all in the same place. To make DoITs OpenGrid and UrbanCCDs Plenario interact, additional softwarealso called a service layerneeded to be built. To do so, Smart Chicago commissioned Uturn Data Solutions , a local Amazon Web Services consulting partner that focuses on big data and cloud computing projects, to build the layer prior to OpenGrids launch in January.The consortium of partners that helped make OpenGrid possible developed a strong tool for the residents of Chicago. However, even though the code is open source, cities interested in replicating OpenGrid still face challenges launching and maintaining the technology infrastructure required to serve the OpenGrid web application to public internet trafficTo make OpenGrid more easily replicable, DoIT entered OpenGrid into Amazon Web Services City on a Cloud innovation challenge in late 2015. The competition calls for governments to submit initiatives that use cloud computing to transform the way their programs interact with residents. Shortly afterwards, OpenGrid won the Dream Big award for a large city , helping secure the cloud computing resources needed for OpenGrids next stage. Since Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest and most widely-used cloud computing platform of its kind worldwide, Chicago knew that having OpenGrid available on the AWS Marketplace would make the application easily attainable and adoptable for cities anywhere.With Dream Big AWS resources in hand, OpenGrid partner Uturn Data Solutions optimized and packaged the original OpenGrid as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI), an Amazon web server that has been pre-configured for a specific purpose. Uturn named this custom AMI OpenGridSC and has made it available for one-click deploy via the AWS marketplace. Essentially, Uturn took OpenGrid and made it compatible with Amazons cloud computing platform, so that users would be able to easily run their own version of the application. This means any city with publicly available datasets in CSV or Socrata formats can upload their data to OpenGridSC, and use the application in a way that best fits local needs.If cities and organizations wish to access OpenGrid for Smart Cities via the AWS Marketplace, it is currently $750 a month. This cost includes setup assistance for uploading public datasets into OpenGrid, access to updates and new version releases, and email support.Since the civic tech eras beginnings, the heart of activity and innovation has always been at the local level. Yet these local-level hubs have been concentrated in large, established cities, creating haves and have-nots among residents who are able to enjoy civic techs benefits.The AWS launch of OpenGrid is significant in that any city now has quick access to a massive, comprehensive new tool for visualizing and understanding their own data, without having to go through the years of development that Chicago did to get there. Its the start of a realization that Chicagoand the civic tech field in generalhave long been waiting to see: a true model for scaling the meaningful work being done in this space. (TNS) -- SCHENECTADY The city of Schenectady, N.Y., received $1 million from the state to install high-tech streetlights in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood.Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, announced during a press conference at City Hall on Thursday morning that he secured $1 million in the state Assembly to help the city expand its push for smart technology.Now our efforts are focused on the great neighborhoods of Schenectady, Santabarbara said alongside Mayor Gary McCarthy and ex-GE tech chief Mark Little, who serves as chairman of Schenectadys Smart City Advisory Commission. This project will be just as transformative as what weve seen in downtown.The money will be used for about 38 streetlights, with Wi-Fi, to be installed in Mont Pleasant from Crane Street to Forest Road and from 3rd Avenue to Norwood Avenue, which includes Mont Pleasant Middle School and Pleasant Valley Elementary School.It will make Mont Pleasant a stronger neighborhood, support our school efforts and provide Internet access, he said.The high-tech streetlights have already been installed on Jay Street in front of City Hall along with 38 on lower Union Street recently. The plan is to also install them on State Street in downtown and ultimately citywide.Little said the streetlights have LED bulbs that use less energy. The lights also have cameras, sensors and Wi-Fi to be smart. It is unclear at this time when they would be installed in Mont Pleasant.Were looking to do a full city rollout, McCarthy said. Were putting together the pieces and working with vendors so we have an optimal configuration to serve the needs of Schenectadys residents and set an example for other communities across New York. 1. Forming Partnerships 2. Acknowledging Risk 3. Vetting Major Projects SALEM, Ore. In the private sector, the CEO or board of directors speak and the rest of the company listens. But in the public sector, the chain of command is often splintered among agencies, processes, funding sources and legal limitations.When it comes to making projects happen across silos and unique institutional barriers, this can mean headaches for those pushing from the back end of the project pipeline.While state government is designed to keep the decisions from being made unilaterally, it also limits definitive decision-making throughout the agencies and branches of government. No one person is fully in charge. That makes governance very difficult, said Sean McSpaden, principal legislative analyst with the states Legislative Fiscal Office. And all too often, monies allocated to a government agency is strictly monitored and cannot be reallocated for projects outside of a predetermined scope.But according to McSpaden and a local official in Oregon government, there are some ways around the governance monster and the roadblocks it carries with it. They shared their insights at the Oregon Digital Government Summit held May 24.In Lane County, the Oregons fourth largest county, CIO Michael Finch said partnerships with outside agencies and local governments play an integral role in establishing a chain of governance and making projects more effective.At the operational level, a group of regional information officers meets as part of the Public Agency Network (PAN) on a monthly basis to discuss ongoing initiatives and coordinate among local partners.Within the county government itself, the Technology Management Team meets quarterly with two representatives from the county board of supervisors to discuss the status of ongoing projects and coordinate next steps.We operate governance in a variety of levels there, from an enterprise level down into specific projects or customer relationships, the county CIO said.Understanding and documenting the risk is also a crucial part of engaging with outside partners. While the sharing of resources can help to further cooperative efforts, Finch said it is imperative that documentation and conversations around the risk and responsibility of each partner.Its also, I find, a lot of our challenge is keeping the business side stakeholders, members of your governance, informed about technology. Its moving so fast even technologists have a hard time staying up on it, he said. Its also having them understand once you can educate them, what the risks are and getting them to own the risks. Otherwise your IT department become the department of no, because if they dont want to accept risks, then were certainly not going to do it.At the state level, while there are partnerships among stakeholder agencies, McSpaden said projects are often hampered by their organizational structures and issues as basic as where their funding comes from.McSpaden also pointed to the Joint Stage Gate review process, which the legislative office has been working on in conjunction with the state CIO. The process relies on four major steps to vet major projects and programs from origination, to business case, to planning and execution.The process at its heart is focused on setting up projects for success , he said. [There is] a lot of money, a lot of risk, a lot of complexity, a lot of moving parts. And certainly weve put a concerted effort into this process across the branches.But again, neither one of us fully has the decision-making authority and we need to work with one another to make sure we have checks and balances to accomplish the same objective.The state and local representatives advocated for well-prepared documentation and accountability plans; IT models that align with the organizational and governmental structures; formal status and risk reporting that includes leadership, sponsors and external stakeholders; and the implementation of periodic reviews. (TNS) -- An attempt to protect the business use of drones upended agreement on how best to regulate drones to protect the privacy of state residents.The Senate version of House Bill 602 exempts business use from many of the prohibitions for private and government use of drones, and the bills prime sponsor, Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, wanted the provisions removed.Under the bill, both government- and privately-owned drones would need permission to travel over private property.Law enforcement would not be allowed to fly a drone below 250 feet over private property to collect information without the consent of the owner.Drone owners would be required to follow all federal guidelines within five miles of an airport, weapons of any kind would be prohibited, and they may not be used to harass or stalk anyone.Kurk noted the business exemption would allow a licensed private eye to follow someone with an armed drone almost anywhere, but the Senates chief negotiator, Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, disagreed saying they had to be used for legitimate business purposes, noting they are not allowed to harass or stalk someone.She said she had a number of meetings with business owners who were concerned the House version of the bill would impact their businesses.We want to make sure business is able to do business, Carson said.But Kurk argued while businesses do not have to abide by any of the prohibitions, there are no federal guidelines in place to prevent intrusions.Conference committee member Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton, who worked on the bill for the past three years, said the House was trying to balance the new technology against the privacy of residents.We attempted to deal with the question of trespass in modern America, Cushing said. You can enter someones property in a way that was never done before.He said New Hampshire puts a premium on being left alone by government or someone else.I dont want Home Depot taking a picture of my lawn furniture, Cushing said, and then sending me something saying its time to replace it.The conference committee did not set a time to meet again. (TNS) -- Google scored a major legal victory against Oracle on Thursday when a federal court jury ruled that the search giant was within its rights to use Java programming code to build its Android operating system.While the unanimous decision, reached after three days of deliberation and a two-week trial studded with testimony from tech luminaries, will be cheered by many in the developer community as a triumph for Silicon Valley innovation, Oracle immediately vowed to appeal, ensuring that the epic six-year battle is far from over.The Redwood City-based cloud-computing behemoth claimed Google owed it as much as $9 billion in damages for stealing its software and making billions from it.But Google was able to convince the jury of eight women and two men that it had done nothing wrong when it used some of the Java code to create Android, even though the material was copyrighted. During the case before U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup, Google argued that Sun Microsystems, which created Java in the 1990s long before it was bought by Oracle, had no problem with Google using the code without a license.Dorian Daley, Oracle's general counsel, said immediately after the verdict that the company will continue its fight for Java. "We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market," he said. "Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Google's illegal behavior. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal."Google lawyer Bob Van Nest said he was "grateful for the jury's verdict." In a statement, Google said the result was "a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products."In after-hours trading, shares in Oracle were down 0.2 percent and Alphabet, Google's parent company, were up about 0.2 percent.Thursday's verdict marked the end of a second go-round in the case. In 2012, Alsup ruled that the software could not be copyrighted. But on appeal, a federal court reversed his ruling, finding that Oracle was entitled to copyright protection. When the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take the case up, the dispute returned to Alsup's court for jurors to decide if Google's actions were protected by fair use, which would allow it to freely harness small portions of copyrighted material.Mitch Stoltz, senior staff attorney for the San Francisco-based digital-rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, agreed that the outcome was a win for developers. But he said the verdict does not invalidate the appellate ruling that the Java application program interfaces at the heart of the case can be copyrighted. He said that leaves open "the potential for mischief" in the future.Tyler Ochoa, a law professor at Santa Clara University, said an Oracle victory could have had profound implications for the way Silicon Valley innovates and operates. It also could have spawned a barrage of new legal skirmishes with "software copyright being used as a tool by lawyers for all sorts of companies going after their competitors."During the trial, jurors listened intently to hours of often dry testimony about sometimes esoteric computer language. At one point during deliberations, the panel was stymied by a jury-room computer overwhelmed by the millions of lines of code that Oracle lawyers had included as evidence for them to consider.Along the way, jurors heard from Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google's parent company, Alphabet, Google co-founder Larry Page and, via video link, Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison.Google argued that the company's use of the material was "transformative" because it was used to create something entirely new, a critical point in persuading jurors that Google's actions were protected under the legal concept of fair use."We believed it was permissible to use the language without a license," Google's Schmidt testified. Schmidt, who once worked for Sun, said the two companies had a clear understanding that it was fine for the search giant to copy a series of so-called "labels" in the Java language, which developers then use to make their apps run.But Oracle's lead attorney, Peter Bicks, insisted that what Google had done was just plain wrong. "This is a very important case with a lot at stake and it involves fundamental principles of fairness," he told jurors in his opening statement. "We'll show how Google acted outside of acceptable business conduct."At one point, Bicks told the jurors "three billion phones have been activated with Oracle property inside." He said Google made a "deliberate business decision not to take a license and to copy and use Oracle's valuable software illegally. Why? Huge profits."Telling the jury in his opening statement, and repeating it again in his closing, Bicks said Google "broke a basic rule -- you don't take somebody's property without permission and use it for your own benefit. That's what this case is about."UC Berkeley law professor Pam Samuelson said the litigation was a "very unusual" fair use case, which presented a challenge for Google's attorneys. She cited several reasons why she thought the jury agreed with the fair use defense, including the fact that "Google was the one who made an innovative and highly successful product from Java." The Mugello GP has just concluded and it is this very Italian race that is focused on during the second episode of the web series created by Monster about Valentino Rossi. The Doctor tells us about his Mugello. A Grand Prix that is different from all the rest: it's something special but the price you pay is high, there are so many fans and guests and so much going on. Years ago, I would go into the hills on Friday night, it's like the Woodstock of MotoGP. Mugello is the track of a thousand battles, special helmets, wins and serious injury. There is a different mood at this GP that has its own special history, particularly for the Italian riders. Mugello is also the GP of disappoinment and the episodes finishes with what happened there just a few days ago, when the joy of pole position was quickly followed by the cold shower of an engine breakage during the race. See what everyone has to say about Mugello in the video here below. Toro Rosso is moving to receive up-to-date engines from Ferrari in 2017. This year, after the collapse of the semi-works relationship between team owner Red Bull and Renault, Toro Rosso moved to 2015-spec Ferrari power this year. It means the Faenza team, whilst having one of the best cars on the grid, is being held back by an out-of-date power unit that is not being developed. Despite that, Toro Rosso continues to shine, including on Thursday in Monaco where Carlos Sainz told Spanish reporters: "It's a little surprising to be ahead of teams like Ferrari and McLaren here but it's only Thursday." Keen to keep progressing in 2017, Toro Rosso's technical chief James Key on Thursday admitted the team wants to ramp up its relationship with Ferrari next year. In a new process so that teams are no longer left without engine suppliers, manufacturers have had to indicate early who their customers for the following season will be, and it is understood Toro Rosso is sticking with Ferrari. "As far as what we have for next year, I think we're happy," Key said in Monaco. "Not that there's anything wrong with our current supply but it's not developing, it's a year-old unit. "Ferrari are doing a great job to support us with it," Key added, "but it would be nice to be current and have a developing unit." (GMM) Renault and Red Bull seem poised to extend their engine deal beyond 2016. After the breakdown of their semi-works partnership last year, the parties agreed to enter a customer supply deal for 2016, with Red Bull's Renault engines now branded as Tag-Heuer. Red Bull, however, has rarely been happier with Renault than now. "Everything Renault has promised has been delivered," team boss Christian Horner said in Monaco, where Daniel Ricciardo is setting the pace with his upgraded turbo V6 engine. The two sides have already signalled their intention with the FIA to stick together in 2017, and negotiations are so well advanced that a deal could be struck this weekend. However, it is believed Red Bull is paying a whopping EUR 28 million to Renault this year, with the energy drink-owned team trying to talk down that price. "Red Bull is as usual a tough negotiator, but it is the mutual desire to carry on as we are," said Renault's Cyril Abiteboul. One big benefit for Renault is that, according to Auto Motor und Sport, a new super-simulator went online at Red Bull's Milton Keynes headquarters recently. In one room, the driver works on the simulator while next door an actual car on rollers - including engine, transmission and tyres - is operating thanks to groundbreaking EUR 30 million technology. "They do not yet have such test stands in Viry," observed Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko. Indeed, Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda admits that Red Bull is "one step ahead" in this area compared to any partner or competitor in F1. (GMM) Offering a new type of mobility based on ultra-compact electric vehicles, the service aims to complement Grenobles public transport network with a solution for short-tripsincluding one-way tripsthat can be planned as part of overall city journeys. The vehicles and the charging stations are seamlessly connected to the IT infrastructure of Grenobles transport network, offering both route planning and online/mobile app reservations. The City of Grenoble, France, its metropolitan area Grenoble-Alpes Metropole, EDF and its affiliate Sodetrel, Toyota Motor Corporation and Cite lib officially launched the new Cite lib by Ha:mo electric vehicle car-sharing service. ( Earlier post .) Toyota is providing 35 Toyota i-ROAD EVs, the largest number in service in the world. (Earlier post.) The Toyota i-ROAD is an innovative, fun-to-drive three-wheel personal mobility vehicle equipped with Active Lean technology that emulates the movements of a skier. The i-ROAD is as agile as a scooter with the enclosed-canopy comfort of a car. Toyota is also providing 35 four-wheel COMS vehicles. (Earlier post.) Toyota i-ROAD for use in Cite lib by Ha:mo EV sharing trial in Grenoble, France. Click to enlarge. The 70 Toyota vehicles will be available for short city trips in 27 charging stations installed and operated by Sodetrelincluding for one-way trips from one station to another. A total of 120 charging points for the project and 41 for other plug-in vehicles will be added to the citys transport infrastructure. Toyota i-ROAD and COMS at a charging station for Cite lib by Ha:mo EV sharing trial. Click to enlarge. Each stationwhich is located close to tram, bus or train stopsis equipped with at least four spots for i-ROADs and COMS. Some stations also feature one or two spaces for other EVs and PHEVs. Users can pick-up one of the 70 vehicles and drop it off at any station near their destination without having to return it to the original pickup point. They will only be charged for the ride. The service eliminates the need to look for a parking place. In addition, the compactness of the vehicles makes it easier to plan and build parking and charging infrastructure. Toyota is not only contributing the 70 electric vehicles to the project, but is also responsible for the car-sharing management systemcalled Ha:mo (for Harmonious Mobility)which it has been piloting in its home town of Toyota City in Japan. Toyota considers that electric vehicles are part of the overall solution for low-carbon transport and are especially suited to short-distance, urban journeys, while hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles will prove more practical for longer trips. Having operated a car sharing service in Grenoble for nearly 10 years with 80 vehicles (gasoline, hybrids, CNG and electric), Cite lib will manage the day-to-day operation of the new service. The additional EVs will double its fleet and offer a different type of service to its subscribers. A simple pricing plan dubbed 3, 2, 1 euros for respectively the first, second and third 15-minute increments will be proposed to Grenoble citizens. For annual local transport card subscribers, the price will be reduced, at 2+ 1 euro for respectively the first and subsequent 15-minute increments. Cite lib by Ha:mo will open to the public on 1 October 2014 for a three-year period. The project partners will use this trial to collect valuable data on technical aspects and user behaviors. Porsches Supervisory Board has approved the founding of Porsche Digital GmbH with the goal of further developing Porsche into the leading provider of digital mobility solutions in the premium automotive segment. Managing director of Porsche Digital GmbH will be Thilo Koslowski, who recently joined Porsche from the US IT consulting company Gartner Inc. Koslowski is considered an expert in the automotive as well as Internet and technology sectors. The newly founded company will have its head office in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart. Further sites will be in Berlin, Silicon Valley and China. For Porsche CEO Oliver Blume the new subsidiary is a logical step in order for Porsche to successfully position itself for the digital future. Blume adds that for Porsche digitization has three dimensions: Product, customer and companies. Porsche Digital GmbH will identify digital customer experiences, products, business areas and business processes and further develop them. The Porsche subsidiary will cooperate closely with all departments in testing and implementing new value creation models and innovative product offerings. Among the tasks of the Digital GmbH is also the identification and evaluation of trends which ensures access to relevant technologies. The Digital GmbH considers itself to be an interface between Porsche and innovators around the world. This applies in particular to the areas of connectivity, smart mobility and autonomous vehicles. As part of Porsches digital transformation, the new subsidiary will promote long-term partnerships with suitable partners and in this way create a digital ecosystem. There are also plans for equity holdings in venture capital funds and start-ups which offer opportunities for close collaboration with innovative, high-growth companies, talents and new technologies. The Board of SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) today approved the purchase of 525 40-foot, low-floor diesel-electric hybrid buses via a $411.8-million, five-year contract with New Flyer of America. SEPTA also has an option to purchase up to 25 additional buses. The new vehicles will allow SEPTA to continue the regular retirement and replacement of the oldest vehicles in its fleet with new, more energy-efficient hybrids. The buses will be delivered to SEPTA over the course of the five-year contract with New Flyer. Pennsylvania Act 89 was passed in November 2013 to provide a stable source of funding for transportation improvements statewide, such as infrastructure repairs and replacement of aging vehicles. With Act 89 in place, SEPTA has recently launched dozens of long-needed capital improvement projects throughout the transit system and across all modes of travel. More than half of SEPTA's current bus fleet is made up of diesel-electric hybrids. At the conclusion of the new contract with New Flyer, hybrids will represent approximately 95% of the fleet. Achievers Deyta Analytics has named Hospice of Davidson County as a 2016 Hospice Honors Elite recipient. Deyta Analytics, a division of HEALTHCAREfirst, is a provider of Web-based home health and hospice software, outsourced billing and coding services, and advanced analytics. Hospice Honors Elite is a prestigious program that recognizes hospices providing the highest level of quality as measured from the caregivers point of view. *** Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association and American Stroke Associations Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus. The award recognizes the hospitals commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment using nationally recognized guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence. It is the highest stroke recognition the organizations offer. *** These Triad individuals have successfully completed the Uniform CPA Examination during the January-February 2016 testing window: Jenni K. Middlebrook Case of Gibsonville; Mason Wayne Barringer, Richard Patterson Berlin, Martin William Durrence, Brian James Meyer and James William Parsons, all of Greensboro; Hilary Frances Hughes of High Point; and Sean Michael Willie of Kernersville. *** N.C. A&T has become the 36th and only North Carolina member of the Leadership Alliance, the premiere coalition of the nations top research and teaching institutions committed to diversifying the higher education pipeline into positions in academia, and the public and private sectors. For more than 20 years the Alliance institutions have worked together to train, mentor and support underrepresented minority students from undergraduate through advanced graduate training programs. The primary purpose of the Alliance is to provide quality one-on-one mentoring for students, which has proven to be a critical component of academic and professional success. *** James G. Gouty was sworn in as a member of the Randolph Community College board of trustees on May 19. Appointed by the Randolph County Board of Commissioners, Gouty takes the seat of Jim Campbell, who retired from the board after 20 years of service. Gouty will fulfill the remainder of Campbells last term, which expires June 30, and was appointed for a four-year term ending in 2020. *** The N.C. Institute of Political Leadership graduated its 54th class of Fellows on April 30 at UNC-Greensboro. Local graduates included Austin W. Yow of Asheboro; Ashlie G. Bucy, Channelle D. James and John B. Nosek, all of Greensboro; and Heavenly K. Walker of High Point. The institute is a non-partisan, nonprofit leadership organization founded in 1987 to improve the practice of democracy in North Carolina. *** In a White House release on May 5, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint N.C. A&T alumnus and board of trustee member Janice Bryant Howroyd to serve on the Presidents Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Bryant Howroyd is the founder and chief executive officer of ACT-1 Group, a global organization providing total workforce solutions. *** The UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees has appointed 46 alumni and friends to serve on the UNC board of visitors, one of the most active volunteer groups at Carolina. Appointees, including these local individuals, will begin their four-year term July 1: Louise Brady and Freddy Robinson of Greensboro; Arthur Henley III of High Point; and Talbert Waldrop of Kernersville. Awards Averitt Express recently honored associate Jeffrey McGuire of Kernersville for 20 years of safety. Averitts Greensboro-area facility is located at 8814 W. Market St. in Colfax. *** N.C. A&Ts National Alumni Association awarded the Julia S. Brooks Achievement Award to Betty Watson of Greensboro at the annual alumni awards and class reunion banquet. Watson serves as the coordinator for student loan default management at Bennett College. According to Bennett College President Rosalind Fuse-Hall, Watsons innovative and systemic approach to collecting loan payments distinguishes our institution in a unique position among our HBCU peers, with a three-year default rate of 11 percent. *** Greensboro College named Lisa Gunther, a professor and the chairwoman of the psychology department, the 2016-17 George Edgar and Minnie Moore Professor. The Moore Professor Award recognizes an outstanding accomplishment or set of accomplishments, such as the publication of a scholarly work, the creation or performance of an artistic work, a specific meritorious service to the college or recognition by a professional organization. *** Kevin Ford, an associate professor of physical therapy, received the Ruth Ridenhour Scholarly and Professional Achievement Award during the 2016 High Point University commencement. The award recognizes a full-time faculty member for exemplary accomplishments in their research and creative endeavors. Also, Dan Tarara, an assistant professor of exercise science at HPU, received the Meredith Clark Slane Distinguished Teaching-Service Award during the ceremony. The award is named for Meredith Clark Slane, a friend to the university, and has been given annually since 1973 to recognize excellence in teaching. *** The N.C. Science, Mathematics and Technology Education Centers board of directors named John Phillips, a fourth-grade science and social studies teacher at Brooks Global Studies, as the Outstanding K-8 Educator in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education for 2016. The award recognizes a North Carolina educator who excels in fulfilling the centers mission of improving education as a means of providing all students with the knowledge and skills to have successful careers, be good citizens and advance the economy of the state. *** The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators selected Jeff Karpovich, the security chief and transportation director at High Point University, to receive the 2016 Award for Administrative Excellence. Karpovich will accept the award June 25 at the organizations annual conference in Phoenix. *** The Henry Ford organization awarded the Innovative Nation Teacher Innovator Award to Fabian Reid, an eighth-grade math teacher at Northeast Guilford Middle School. The award recognizes educators with ingenuity and resourcefulness who are using the classroom to inspire innovation, creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking in their students. Reid is one of 10 first-place winners in the country selected by a team of judges based on their original and creative approaches to teaching. As a first-place winner, Reid will receive a week long Innovation Immersion Experience at The Henry Ford, in Dearborn, Mich. *** The UNC School of the Arts awarded the 2016 Giannini Society Award to Doug and Sue Henderson of Winston-Salem. The Hendersons have been passionate supporters of the school for more than 20 years and have been members of the Giannini Society since 2001. The society is a group of individual donors who support the school with a gift of $1,500 or more annually. Military U.S. Air Force Airman Michael C. Blakely has completed basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in San Antonio, Texas. Blakely, a 2015 graduate of Vandalia Christian School, is the son of Mary and Michael Blakely of Greensboro. He is also the brother of Aaron Blakely and Skylar Blakely. *** Lt. j.g. Brian Martin, 2008 graduate of Southeast Guilford High, is serving in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Carney. Martin is the ordnance officer aboard the guided missile destroyer operating out of Rota, Spain. The Carney is one of four destroyers whose home port is in Rota. A Navy ordnance officer is responsible for accounting and maintaining the inventory of all the ammunitions and explosives kept on board the ship. *** Alex Gibson, a graduate Northwest Guilford High, will graduate May 27 from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in systems engineering and a commission as a U.S. Navy ensign. *** Air Force Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Michael J. Mitchell has retired from the U.S. Air Force Air National Guard after serving honorably for 20 years. Mitchell was last serving as a maintenance analyst with 179th Airlift Wing at Mansfield Lahm Airport in Ohio. He earned an associate degree from Guilford Technical Community College in 2001. RALEIGH Two Navy jet fighters crashed off the coast of North Carolina during a training mission Thursday, and their four crew members were airlifted to a hospital with minor injuries after being plucked out of the Atlantic Ocean by a commercial fishing vessel and Coast Guard rescuers, officials said. The F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters, based in Virginia Beach, crashed about 10:40 a.m. off the coast of Cape Hatteras, following an in-flight mishap, said Lt. Cmdr. Tiffani Walker, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. Walker did not have any further details. Earlier Thursday, the Coast Guard had said the two aircraft collided in the air before crashing. Two of the aviators were rescued by the crew of the commercial fishing vessel Tammy, and the other two survivors were hoisted out of the water by a Coast Guard helicopter, the Coast Guard said in a statement. A second Coast Guard helicopter picked up the aviators from the fishing vessel and all four survivors were taken to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital. The sea route is heavily traveled by ships entering and leaving Norfolk, one of the busiest cargo ports on the East Coast. Derick Ansley, an aviation survival technician with the Coast Guard who helped rescue two of the downed aviators, told WTKR-TV that the men had some dings and bruises but were in good shape, considering the circumstances. The guys got pretty lucky, Ansley said. Everything happened exactly the way it should have in that situation, and somebody was looking over their shoulder when it was happening. For people to walk away from that is a pretty amazing thing. Claude Morrissey, another Coast Guard rescuer, told WTKR that the aviators ejected from the jet at a high rate of speed. Ansley said some wreckage from one of the jets was still on the surface of the water when they got to the men. The four aviators suffered minor injuries but are in very high spirits, Lt. Cmdr. Krystyn Pecora told reporters. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said all were alert and talking when they were picked up. Videos taken by WAVY-TV show two aviators getting on stretchers as they exited the helicopter and were taken into the hospital. The other two walked into the hospital on their own, the videos show. Were happy to have brought everyone home safely today, Pecora said. A safety investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the accident, said Navy spokesman Ensign Mark Rockwellpate. The F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather fighter and attack aircraft that operates in tactical squadrons at stations around the world and from 10 aircraft carriers, the Navy says on its website. The Super Hornet, the newest model, has a longer range, aerial refueling capability and improved survivability and lethality, according to the website. Each of the planes costs at least $57 million, the Navy says. The jets were performing training exercises and are not currently assigned to an aircraft carrier, Walker said. The crew is part of Strike Fighter Squadron 211, based in Virginia Beach. A rescue helicopter was dispatched from the Coast Guards air station in Elizabeth City. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY An influx of new residents has arrived downtown as Kennedy Flats ramps up efforts to lease its luxury apartment complex on Main Street. About a year after construction started on the $80 million complex, nearly 100 units have been completed and about 75 percent of those are occupied, according to officials with Greystar, the national development company building the complex. Weve been seeing a lot of working professional from the Danbury area as well as a lot of Westchester residents looking to move into the state, said Justin Gaboury, the senior property manager for the complex. We already have quite a few residents in the buildings. Downtown merchants say they also begun to see new customers from the complex, long touted by city officials as one of the cornerstones to downtown revitalization efforts. Weve been seeing some new faces, and if the complex continues to fill up, it will be a nice boost for everyone in the downtown, said Maurie Samaha, owner of the Danbury Liquor Store on White Street. He said some of the new customers include several tenants of the complex who commute daily to New York City using the nearby Danbury railroad station. One of the guys brought a bunch of friends up from New York City the other day who wanted to check out the area, Samaha said. Thats the kind of thing we like to see. Hopefully this is the start of even better things to come. Plans call for the complex to have 345 units including both apartments and townhomes that should be completed by the end of the year. The amenities at the complex came online earlier this month including an in-ground pool, fitness center, a multilevel resident lounge and even a dog-washing station. Single-bedroom apartments at the complex rent for about $1,800 a month. Gaboury noted that with more people shopping online these days, the complex also offers a concierge package service that will notify tenants by text or email when a package is received. They can then pick up the package at the complex 24 hours a day using a special code theyve been provided. These days people are looking for high-end finishes and heavily amenitized communities, Gaboury said. And what we offer is a full-resort amenity package. P.J. Prunty, the executive director of CityCenter, said hes already met several of the new residents and is thrilled with many of the new faces. What I've seen is a lot of young professionals or married couples without children who have been interested in the complex, he said. I've come across people at the complex who work at Pitney Bowes, who are executives at Boehringer Ingelheim and other area corporations. Its a good demographic. Prunty said hes also spent more time in recent months showing prospective businesses some of the retail vacancies available downtown. There are some entrepreneurs who recognize the opportunity and are trying to take advantage of it, he said. There are also some existing shop owners who are changing around their businesses to better accommodate the new residents. Weve had some good progress so far and its exactly what we were hoping for. dperrefort@newstimes.com GREENWICH Pressure continues to mount on the Board of Education to approve later school start times for secondary students, with some two-dozen speakers at the boards meeting Thursday saying changes were needed to tackle chronic sleep deprivation among local teenagers. "Ever since sixth grade, Ive been exhausted," Greenwich High School ninth-grader Matthew Gesell said at the meeting at Western Middle School. "I dont remember the last time I ever felt fully awake. Honestly, it just makes being successful in school so hard, and it makes my life really hard Please give us later start times because I am just so tired." With the board scheduled to vote June 14 on whether to enact timetable changes, Thursdays session offered one of the final opportunities for community members to weigh in on the issue. Superintendent of Schools William McKersie has recommended three sets of scheduling changes for the 2017-18 school year, which include delaying Greenwich High Schools start by 30 to 60 minutes, having the middle schools start 30 minutes later and shifting most of the elementary schools starts back by 15 minutes. Almost all of the speakers expressed support for a later schedule at Greenwich High, which now starts at 7:30 a.m. "Why are we making high school students get up so early?" said Wendy Reilly Harris, who has a 12th-grade daughter at the high school. "They just cant be as productive then." Many of the speakers said that they would favor a McKersie-backed scenario that would start Greenwich High at 8:30 a.m., which would align the high school with the earliest start time recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The middle schools would keep their current 7:45 a.m. starts, and the elementary schools kick-offs would move from 8:15 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. to 9 a.m., according to that plan. "Later start times for Greenwich High School was an important issue in the last school board election; for me, it was the only issue that influenced my vote," said Sarah Bourgeois, who has children in ninth grade and eight grade. "I ask you to honor those of us who voted in a similar manner by committing to a later start time for Greenwich High School." Several local doctors also spoke in support of later start times for secondary schools, citing their worries about the perils of a persistent lack of sleep among their teenage patients. A mismatch between teens later circadian rhythms and their schools early starts represents a major reason why they are not getting enough sleep, they said. "Almost all the teenagers I see in my office are not getting the 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep that they need," said Dr. Debra Gotz, a pediatrician, who has three children in the district. "I cant even remember the last time a high school kid told me they were getting eight or more hours of sleep." Greenwich High School English teacher Deborah Smith said she was concerned by the many accounts of exhaustion she heard during student focus groups she ran this school year as a member of the schools stress committee. She said she supports an 8:30 a.m. start at the high school. "When it comes to the sleep issue, I think were failing them miserably," Smith said. "It weighs on my conscience. It just shouldnt be that our students are consistently telling us that theyre struggling and were choosing not to listen." Carol Sutton, president of the districts teachers union, discussed teachers misgivings about changing schedules. In a survey last month, 63 percent of certified staff - a group that includes teachers - and 66 percent of non-certified staff said that they strongly supported the existing timetables "One reason (for their doubts) is that they are not convinced that additional sleep addresses the realities of our high-achieving, over-programmed students," Sutton said. "GHS teachers work with these students and see them at their best and their worst. Students tell teachers about the pressure they feel to do everything and to do everything very well. The school boards vote on school start times is scheduled for a meeting starting 7 p.m. June 14 at New Lebanon School. pschott@scni.com; 203-625-4439; twitter: @paulschott GREENWICH Salvatore Corda, a former Norwalk schools superintendent, was voted in 7-1 Thursday by the Board of Education as the Greenwich school districts interim superintendent for the next school year. Im obviously delighted, Corda said in an interview. Im honored to have been selected. Im looking forward to coming to Greenwich and to continue the work thats already begun. I think Greenwich is a very good place in terms of their strategic plan. Thats going to lead, Im sure, to increased achievement. Corda has 20 years of experience as a district schools chief. He led Norwalk schools from 2001 to 2009 and the Peekskill, N.Y., school system from 1989 to 2001. From 2009 to 2013, Corda served as an associate professor in the department of educational leadership and policy studies at Southern Connecticut State University. Since then, he has taught on an adjunct basis at Southern Connecticut and worked as an consultant, assisting districts with superintendent searches. Corda started his education career in 1969, and his record also includes time as a middle school social studies teacher and several other administrator positions. School board members quickly approved Cordas hiring during their meeting Thursday at Western Middle School. The board is pleased to welcome Dr. Corda as interim superintendent, Chairman Laura Erickson said in a statement. Dr. Corda is an experienced superintendent who will be able to lead the district during this time of transition by focusing on and continuing the work of the strategic plan. Peter Bernstein was the sole board member to vote against Cordas appointment. He said Corda was not his first choice, but that he thought Corda would do a fine job. The board chose Corda from a list of about 20 candidates from the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents and a Westchester County, N.Y., superintendents association, according to Erickson. Board members conducted phone interviews with the candidates and interviewed three of them in person, she said. Corda will lead the district in the next school year and then be succeeded by a long-term successor in the 2017-18 school year. Board members also approved a 2 percent increase for the new district leader over Superintendent William McKersies current base salary of about $238,000. Corda will earn about $243,000 in the 2016-17 school year. School board members faced a similar succession scenario in 2011 when the board hired Roger Lulow, a former superintendent, to lead the district on an interim basis in the 2011-12 school year. McKersie started in the district in July 2012. Board members are also moving ahead with their search for the next long-term superintendent. The district sent out last week a request for proposals from firms to help the school board with its search. The bids are due by June 17. The district also needs to hire a successor to Deputy Superintendent Ellen Flanagan, who is scheduled to leave in early August, after 17 years in the school system. pschott@scni.com; 203-625-4439; twitter: @paulschott This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate May has been quite an eventful month for news in southwestern Connecticutand reader-submitted photos. Thanks to readers who were on the scene as news broke, we were able to bring you some incredible images to a few of this month's most read stories. Check out some amazing photos submitted to us from you, the readers, this month in the slideshow above. Here's a rundown of the stories from the scenes above. SHELTON A driver was injured when, witnesses said, his car ran through a stop sign at high speed, then crashed over a cement-block wall, damaging three other vehicles parked in the auxiliary parking lot at the Plumb Library before coming to rest on a fourth car. The incident occurred at about 7:26 p.m. Wednesday, when a four-door Honda was driving east on Wooster Street, which is Route 108. In all, as many as five other vehicles may have been damaged in the incident, according to witnesses. Read more - Ken Dixon DANBURY Great Plain Road was closed near Taagan Point Road after a car crashed into a utility pole Thursday afternoon. Police said the driver did not appear injured, but the pole and car were significantly damaged. Read more - Nelson Oliveira STAMFORD A Stamford police captain got an unexpected backyard visitor Wednesday morning. Capt. Richard Conklin was one of several Norwalk residents who have seen a black bear roaming the Cranbury and West Rocks neighborhoods this week. A Cranbury resident captured a photo of the bear on a wildlife camera, and the bear was later spotted on Half Mile Road on Tuesday. "My wife Laura Jean was having coffee this morning (Wednesday) around 5:50 and as she was looking out the window the bear went lumbering across the back yard," said Conklin, who lives in the West Rocks section of Norwalk. "When I woke up she said, 'you're not going to believe what I just saw.'" Read more - Leslie Lake STAMFORD A well-known doctor was "devastated" when he woke up early Tuesday morning to realize his downtown office was gutted by what officials have called a "suspicious" fire. Dr. Jeremy Bier, director of podiatry at Stamford Hospital, said he was alerted by his alarm company of the fire at the two-and-a-half-story house on Bedford Street about 5:45 a.m. "This is my life," Bier said as he looked at the remnants of his former office. "And my house was demolished, gone." Read more - John Nickerson BRIDGEPORT Still recovering from a massive fire that damaged a railroad trestle in Harlem on Tuesday, Metro-North is getting back on track. While it's still operating on a Saturday schedule, it's adding more rail cars that hopefully will ease some of the problems of crowded trains. Read more - Jim Shay Taste She Wolf Bakerys baguette and feel a pang of nostalgia. Photo: Melissa Hom Its time to talk baguettes, which have improved vastly from the floppy, sad-sack, enriched white loaves that were once turned out of underpowered ovens everywhere. Now that we got that out of the way, here are eight solid options. The Absolute Best 1. She Wolf Bakery This is the sort of baguette that makes you wish you knew a lot more about cheese. To be specific, smell it and you get a whiff of sweet grass, maybe fruit pits. Taste it and feel a pang of nostalgia, even if you never missed a loaf of bread in your life. So it follows that you may spend a long time trying to figure out what, exactly, to eat with it, which looks pretentious in print but makes total sense after consideration of the song, the audible, popping, beguiling crackle a great baguette emits fresh out of the oven. She Wolfs baguettes are great like that. They are brought over the East River bridges, picnic-ready, by the Cargo Bike Collective after they stop singing, to the Union Square Greenmarket Monday, Wednesday and Friday, just after 10:30, as well as in the afternoons to Andew Tarlows Marlow & Daughters. (Tarlows Achilles Heel and Romans, where She Wolf got its wood-fired start in 2009, get the bakerys sourdough.) The dough is a mix of roller-milled white and stone-milled flour. Its hallmarks of excellence include fine alveolage, the holey equivalent of plumage, and orange and brown grignes, the elongated valleys formed by the scores on top. The bakery gives the bread a proper, slow rise that other bakers would qualify as painstaking, or even painful 30 hours, all told. 2. Arcade Bakery 220 Church St., nr. Worth St.; 212-227-7895 The word artisan is these days used to describe patently not-artisan foodstuffs such as cheesy-stuffed-crust pizzas, or whatever thermonuclear fast-food option is being pushed by Dominos. The term never fell out of favor in the bread world, though, in part because its such an apt way of describing people like Roger Gural, as well as his baguettes. The bakers oddball, weekdays-only office-building hallway bakery turns out a spectacular vanilla pear and buckwheat version; his no-frills entry-level loaf is bronzed and crackly. Gurals perfectly misshapen lunch-only pizzas also make great use of the same dough, which means theyre distant cousins to the Arcade baguette, and anyone who shows up around 10:30 a.m. can get in on the spectacle of the house-laminated baguette. Theres no cutesy portmanteau name, and its exactly as it sounds: a chewy loaf baked inside a wrapper of the flaky stuff croissants are made of. In other words, your bread is already buttered. 3. Epicerie Boulud 1900 Broadway, at 64th St.; 212-595-9606 Francois Brunets Instagram feed is replete with shots of his high-gloss viennoiserie and crusty breads. The baby-faced French baker works with stone-ground flour from his homeland to make his baguettes, a few of which have been made seedy with the addition of pepitas, sunflower kernels, and flax. That hes able to pull off a masterful bread when working with nutrient-rich, bluish-gray organic buckwheat its harder to work with makes a visit to the Upper West Side, or to the Plaza Food Hall, where Boulud has a scaled-down, classed-up operation, worthwhile. During the luxe bread service at Daniel, you may encounter a plumped-up miniature version, its ends drawn out into impossibly precise points, like Salvador Dalis mustache. 4. Bien Cuit 120 Smith St., nr. Pacific St., Boerum Hill; 718-852-0200 Your friend goes on about how this baguette is as good as anything hes had in France. He should know, you should listen, all that. First, maybe you should consider punching your friend for such pronouncements, but then maybe head to Smith Street, where Zachary Golper prods white wheat from North Dakota and whole wheat from New York into action with a Boerum Hill microbiota-flavored levain. A wet and spongy poolish is involved, and the proprietor then adds a wee bit of commercial yeast for the 12-hour preferment. The second 12 hours allow for all sorts of enzymatic magic to go down. The finished crust is dark brown and thicker than most; the crumb rips apart in gorgeous tufts, making the pieces perfect for drawing through a saucer of good olive oil. A limited weekday run of around three dozen (60 on weekends) helps Golper maintain consistency. Probably, also, an edge on the better Paris boulangeries. 5. Lafayette 380 Lafayette St., nr. E. 4th. St.; 212-533-3000 James Belisle, Lafayettes boulanger, also starts with two ferments: He mixes white flour and water and leaves it to autolyze, which is a way of saying it sits and daydreams about glutens until a network of them forms. Belisle starts a poolish and a levain separately and brings the two together with some salt in the morning. The resulting loaves are eminently portable. They belong in a canvas bag with a bottle of red. The crust has a crunch but is not too thick, and the crumb is soft with a wonderful smell. 6. Runner & Stone 285 Third Ave., nr. Carroll St., Gowanus; 718-576-3360 Believe Peter Endriss when he says he is on a first-name basis with the people who mill his flour. The former Per Se baker, whose bona fides also include a stint running production at the acclaimed Hot Bread Kitchen, puts in a comparable time researching bread technique as others study religious texts. He knows his glutens and how high the gliadins will take the dough. He is a hydration master and fermentation sorcerer, and his underrated bakery baguettes, which sit among the stockpile of fresh-baked things Endriss sets out each day, have just the right amount of Maillard reaction. Somewhere on Third Avenue, right now, tiny microbes in the dough are feasting and producing boozy belches in advance of the next batch. 7. LImprimerie 1524 Myrtle Ave., nr. Gates Ave., Bushwick; no phone For some time now, Gus Reckel has been turning out an impressive big-and-tall baguette, dubbed the Parisienne, in his easy-to-miss shop under the elevated subway tracks in Bushwick. Cross-cut, the loaf has a network of uneven holes throughout, a sign of superlative form; the crumb is springy, and soft at that. The banker turned baker has gone on record saying he is less interested in expansion than he is in serving coffee and fantastic croissants (also, cookies) to the neighborhood, which is too bad. With its faintly salty exterior and admirable crackle, LImprimeries baguette is the ideal vehicle for ham, cornichons, some mustard, and a slather of butter. As such, it should be everywhere. 8. Maison Kayser 1294 Third Ave., nr. 74th St.; 212-744-3100 The New York City Baguette Battle was a real thing that happened on a blistery night one January, and this bread, the yeasty brainchild of Eric Kayser, won its inaugural edition. The French bakery titan so completely slayed the competition with his Monge, in fact, that it should not surprise anyone if it turned out there had been a glut of 311 calls over the anguished cries of bakers and a heirloom-flour dust emanating from the Sofitel hotel. In recent years, the common refrain from anyone invested in the citys bread-scape is that the number of floppy, achromic, and tasteless baguettes has been the norm for far too long. The rapid proliferation of Maison Kayser locations a dozen and counting may seem a little Starbucksy, but for good baguettes its certainly a step in the opposite direction. Leontis dining room. Photo: Jemma Hinkly/New York Magazine Like a Montrachet or a Sagrantino, a truly great Upper West Side restaurant must have deep roots in its terroir. It is not an offshoot or a clone, and so no matter how wonderful the Mermaid Inn or the Ribbon, for instance, might be, for these purposes, they are hors concours. Here, the very best restaurants on the Upper West Side. The Absolute Best 1. Leonti 103 W. 77th St., nr. Columbus Ave; 212-362-3800 Leontis chicken in pastella. Photo: Melissa Hom In a well-appointed ground-floor dining room that used to be John Frasers Dovetail, longtime Marc Vetri protege Adam Leonti delivers his Northern Italian cuisine in what looks like an Art Deco/Pop Art/Salon del Mobile installation (the design was heavily influenced by Ettore Sottsasss famous 1980s Memphis Group). The neighborhood synergy makes sense. Bergamo, where the young Leonti once lived, is the Upper West Side of Italy: plush, lush, and opulent. As is the food. Beef-bone broth arrives in a delicate Ginori porcelain cup. Bechamel replaces red sauce in a Roman artichoke lasagna, basically an artichoke in a pasta costume. A tortellini pie veal meatballs, bolognese, mortadella-stuffed tortellini is equal parts Medieval Times and GBBO. Though theres no red sauce here, the sourdough-battered chicken in pastella may just be the best fried chicken in the city. Its impossible to leave un-full or unsatisfied. 2. Oxbow Tavern 240 Columbus Ave., nr. 71st St.; 646-490-4075 Photo: Liz Clayman When Tom Valenti closed Ouest in 2016, hair shirts were donned and laments rose to the heavens. The neighborhood bistro was no more. Cue the renaissance tune. Valenti is back with a bistro he calls the Oxbow Tavern. But hes not fooling anyone. This is more Paul Cezanne than Thomas Cole. During happy hour, he does brisk business in gaufrettes and gougeres at the bar, incidentally the longest zinc bar in Manhattan, And the menu is AP Bistro. A coq au vin is offered as dark as night, the chicken-liver mousse as light as air. Valenti gussies up a normcore frisee salad with plump moules. He dusts porcini on cod, and is generous with the lobster that studs his gnocchi. And if theres any chance that duck gizzards and braised tripe can make it on the Upper West Side, this is their best shot. 3. Shun Lee West 43 W. 65th St., nr. Columbus Ave.; 212-595-8895 Its been close to 40 years since Michael Tong opened this Lincoln Center offshoot of his upscale East Side Chinese restaurant, Shun Lee Palace (and thats long enough for us to make an exception to this lists no-spinoffs policy). The sense of time is both seductive and deceiving. There can be little doubt that the restaurant with its bow-tied and vested waitstaff, glowing dragons, and elaborately folded napkins speaks to another era, when knowledge of Chinese regional cuisine was limited by the fact that most Americans werent aware China had regions. At the same time, even in 1981, Tong was channeling the ancient flavors of Yangzhou, Sichuan, and Shanghai, and those delicate balances found in the push-pull of hot-and-sour soup, for instance, or the mellow sweetness of red-cooked short ribs, Hangzhoustyle. 4. Awadh 2588 Broadway, nr. 98th St.; 646-861-3604 Photo: Liz Clayman Lucknow, the capital of Awadh, the state in Uttar Pradesh from whence Gaurav Anand draws culinary inspiration, is renowned for its transcendent taste. In the 18th century, Lucknow was the seat of the Nawabs, an aristocratic bunch whose love of luxury was so great they lost all of their teeth, which good news for us resulted in the development of the galouti kebab, a patty of leg of lamb, minced six times and then tenderized with papaya and mixed with masala. At Awadh, Anands bi-level restaurant on Broadway, the lamb is as tender as the night, manna for the toothless. Among the other revelations at Awadh is dum pukht, a genre of cooking wherein the protein is sealed under a layer of naan, immersed in clarified butter, and cooked slowly. What goes on under there is alchemy, as dishes like Sufiana murgh biryani, a mixture of creamy chicken and aromatic basmati rice, handily prove. 5. Cafe Luxembourg 200 W. 70th St., nr. Amsterdam Ave.; 212-873-7411 Photo: Liz Clayman Balletomanes and boldface names (and Bob and Barbara and everyone else you know) meet at Lynn Wagenknechts excellent bistro. Cafe Lux, to regulars, belongs to the proud lineage of West Side French spots like La Caravelle and Le Poulailler (and Le Quercy and too many too long gone to name). The 90-seat restaurant, on 70th, buzzes with a 1980s New York energy extruded through 1920s Paris. The menu reads like a Sondheim revue of bistro classics, but the greatest hits here are truly great: a perfectly executed steak-frites with an exoskeleton of char, a silky au poivre sauce, and salty fries; garlicky moules marinieres; and a crock of French onion soup that, like the aproned waiters, has a warm heart under a crusty exterior. 6. Boulud Sud 20 W. 64th St., nr. Broadway; 212-595-1313 Photo: Liz Clayman The Lyonnaise chef Daniel Boulud is a shape-shifter: stuffy on the Upper East, transactional in midtown, and here, in the Upper West Side, pure comfort. The space at Boulud Sud gently curved ceiling, colorful banquettes in harlequin stripes, white tablecloths radiates monied calm. The menu, which spans from Arabic flatbread to Iberico ham, is like a Carnival Cruise calling on all Mediterranean ports. And the kitchen is as at ease with the muscular flavors of octopus a la plancha as it is with balancing the subtle flavors of a spring-pea risotto with Maine lobster and lemon verbena. 7. Absolute Bagels 2788 Broadway, nr. 108th St.; 212-932-2052 And then theres Absolute Bagels, the only bagel store worth the line. Let the fancies have Black Seed and Sadelles. Absolute Bagels is a filthy little store with sublime bagels. Owned by Sam Thongkrieng, who emigrated from Bangkok in the 1980s, Absolute channels the recipes of yesteryear (Thongkrieng learned his craft at Ess-a-Bagel) to form bagels of both ineffable softness and satisfying crunch. Their outsides are substantial but ultimately yielding. Their interiors are soft and voluptuous. As for the coffee the Abbott to a bagel places Costello it is widely understood as a waste of time. Go with a Thai iced tea and a fresh egg bagel. 8. Fine & Schapiro 138 W. 72nd St., nr. Columbus Ave.; 212-877-2874 Delicatessen, the art of making tough meat tender, is alive and well at this sliver of a kosher restaurant on West 72nd Street. Though often unjustly overlooked in the mourners kaddish frequently recited over Great New York Delicatessens, this 90-year-old institution quietly doles out towering pastrami sandwiches, tender kreplach, and the elusive tongue polonaise (tongue with a sweet-and-sour raisin sauce) in a no-nonsense dining room where walkers more often than not crowd the linoleum floor. 9. The Milling Room 446 Columbus Ave., nr. 82nd St.; 212-595-0380 Easy to miss until you walk through the narrow hallway and the world opens up to you, the Milling Room is a giant, overlooked jewel of the Upper West. The restaurant, which opened in 2014, occupies the former Palm Room of the Endicott Hotel, a soaring, skylit space thats easier to fill with light than with people. But Im not sure how many patrons know about the almost ridiculous pedigree of chef Phillip Kirschen-Clark (Ducasse, Dufresne, Liebrandt). His studied hand, however, makes itself felt in quietly bold choices that enliven the modern American menu: wild mushroom risotto dusted with cotija and drizzled with balsamic vinegar; a cameo of pickled ramps atop a silken celery-root soup; spicy vongole bucatini with Thai chile and miso. 10. 108 Food Dried Hot Pot 2794 Broadway, nr. 108th St.; 917-675-6878 Like at a Just Salad for the ballsy, diners approach the counter at this Sichuan-by-way-of-Flushing fast-casual joint to contemplate an array of options. Will it be pigs ear, sliced into ribbons like meat fettuccine? Or thin slices of fatty beef? Perhaps shrimp balls or squid balls or duck feet? The spread is astonishing. Choose a number from 1100 (20 is mild; 40 is spicy; 60 is hot; 100 is insane). Weighed in a bowl, these ingredients are then whisked into a kitchen in the back and emerge, mere minutes later, as a delicious dried hot pot. The restaurant no relation to Rene Redzepis 108 is the first one devoted specifically to the Chongqing municipality in the city. It wisely opened near Columbia, where the highest percentage of international students are from China. On a recent afternoon, the bric-a-brac space was full of students staring at their phones, slurping glassine noodles, and thinking of home. 11. Mamas Too! 2750 Broadway, nr. 108th St.; 212-510-7256 Photo: Melissa Hom Much hay has rightly been made of the square pepperoni slice at Mamas Too!, the offshoot of Mamas, a mainstay of slice culture a few blocks south. And rightfully so: That slice crust hard; inside tender, airy and open is like a Clint Eastwood character. The joy is in the physics of heat and meat. The thick-cut slices of pepperoni turn into little cups that hold drops of precious grease, glistening like pork nectar. Little amaryllis of meat, said a friend, who works at a nearby flower shop. But theres more slices at Mamas Too!, and if you cant wait in the pepperoni-slice-only line, youll want to avail yourself of these. Among them are the house slice, grated post-oven with two-year-old parmesan and sprinkled with a greenhouses worth of basil, and the Angry Nonna, made spicy with Calabrian chile oil and soppressata, and sweet with honey. 12. Sushi Kaito 244 W. 72nd St., nr. West End Ave.; 212-799-1278 During the three nightly seatings at this tiny, crazily affordable sushi-ya owned by Yoko Hasegawa, there are but 12 people and then the rest of the world. The menu, a choice between a 12- and a 16-course omakase, leans heavily on nigiri, a sushi high-wire act. Fish. Rice. Basta cosi. With little room to maneuver, Hasegawa et al. rely on virtuosically prepared product, from silvery iwashi (Japanese sardines) and tuna otoro, to ikura (roe) cured in-house and a tangle of uni tongues from Hokkaido. These small bites are often accompanied by only a touch of homemade soy sauce or exotic salt. And, after a long dry spell, sake is now available. 13. Barney Greengrass 541 Amsterdam Ave., nr. 87th St.; 212-724-4707 Photo: Melissa Hom Munificent and nebbishy, a portrait of Barney Greengrass, the original Sturgeon King, keeps watch as a brisk trade is done in Jewish appetizing: silken sheets of nova, sturgeon, chubs, whitefish, sable. Thus has it been for the last century at this Upper West Side institution. No less august a man of letters than Philip Roth extolled the virtues of the lox, eggs, and onion, which the writer called more American than apple pie. That holy trinity fish, allium, zygote has, for years, been an icon of the old Upper West Side, a beacon to which the madding crowd draws every weekend morning for the click-clatter of an old New York brunch. 14. Murrays Sturgeon 2429 Broadway, nr. 89th St.; 212-724-2650 Remus had Aventine; Romulus had Palatine; Barney has Amsterdam; and Murray has Broadway. So the great sturgeon wars of the Upper West Side have panned out. Smaller than Greengrass, Murrays Sturgeon is strictly a takeaway operation, but no less a marvel of mid-century Jewry. In this narrow shop, the walls are ancient tile and the clock works, but, nonetheless, seems stuck in the 1960s. The sturgeon, however, is golden, the schmaltz herring properly cured, and the salmon as silken as a lullaby. Now on its third owner, a guy named Ira, Murrays continues to shine, smaller but no less brilliant. 15. 74th Street Cafe & Steakhouse 2121 Broadway, nr. 74th St.; 212-595-1888 Culinarians in the know may be familiar with Daniel Bouluds Skybox, a four-top tucked above the kitchen at his flagship, Daniel. More democratic but no less a wonder is the 74th Street Cafe & Steakhouse, an anomalous oasis of calm and extremely satisfying chicken-salad sandwiches on the second floor of Fairway. Since it opened in the early aughts, the cafe has drawn from the shelves during the day (silver dollar pancakes, tuna melts) and the meat counter at night (skirt steak Toscana, beef Wellington with foie gras, a panoply of burgers). Like a swan, it glides above the furious action (and jostling old ladies) of the supermarket below. 16. Grays Papaya 2090 Broadway, nr. 72nd St.; 212-799-0243 Photo: Oliver Morris/Getty Images With its garish colors and hard surfaces, the corner that houses Grays Papaya may seem like strange shelter from the storm. But for 40 years, for 24 hours a day, among the snappy hot dogs and frothy papaya drinks, Grays Papaya has given New Yorkers (and temporary New Yorkers) a place to stand and watch life go by. Though future scholars may debate the true victor of the hot dog wars an argument can be made that Papaya King reigns supreme Grays famous Recession Special (now two hot dogs and a drink for $6.45), first introduced in the 1980s, is as delicious as it is sadly eternally timely. 17. Celeste 502 Amsterdam Ave., nr. 84th St.; 212-874-4559 Geodes form in small spaces. They often appear as ordinary rocks, yet, broken open, reveal true beauty. The neighborhood Italian restaurants that dot the Upper West Side Bettolona, Pizzeria Sirenetta, Bella Luna, to name a few are geodic in this regard, perhaps none more so than Celeste. For over ten years, the unfussy Neapolitan spot has been presided over by owner Carmine Mitroni, a man as incandescent as a chandelier. Anything that comes out of the fryer is golden: carciofi, fritto misto, ricotta balls. In a pizza-mad city, these pies rival anything eaten in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. And the tables, though hard to come by, turn often. 18. Ayurveda Cafe 706 Amsterdam Ave., nr. 94th St.; 212-932-2400 Before there were juice bars and millennial cleanse joints like, waaay before there was Ayurveda, an ancient Hindu medicinal system. At the Ayurveda Cafe, owned by legit Indian movie star Tirlok Malik, fully vegetarian set meals called thali, in which each element is calibrated to interact according to Ayurvedic principles, are served to local vegetarians, Buddhists, Jubus, hippies, and the hungry. A typical meal might include banana pakoras, mung daal, alu gobi, fresh pappadam, and broken wheat kheer. The space is akin to a more enlightened Shopsins: handmade, idiosyncratic, with lots of handwritten notes, but perhaps a few more sculptures of Ganesh. *This post has been updated. If you are an HTC fan and are in the market for a new smartphone, here is a deal for you: as part of its Memorial Day Sale, the Taiwanese company is offering an RE Camera unit for free with each purchase of its newest flagship smartphone the 10. Not only this, the RE Camera itself has been discounted by 60%. And if that's not enough, there's a 40% discount on accessories as well. The offer is only available in the US, and valid from 9 pm PT on May 26 to 11:59 pm PT on May 30. Head to the Source link below for more information on the deals. Source Business / Companies by Staff reporter FLAMBOYANT businessman, Frank Buyanga, is eyeing a 40 percent stake in cement manufacturer, Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe, a unit of Lafarge-Holcim, the world's largest building materials producer with operations in 90 countries worldwide employing 115 000 workers.The Financial Gazette's Companies & Markets (C&M) understands that Buyanga has approached Lafarge's executives with his proposal, and is planning to make the acquisition through African Cell (Private )Limited, a subsidiary of South Africa-based Hamilton Capital.Hamilton Capital's interests cut across the hospitality, mining, micro-finance and construction sectors.In a letter to Lafarge's chief executive officer (CEO), Amal Tantawi, dated April 25, 2016, Buyanga said he was interested in "purchasing Lafarge Zimbabwe".The letter, which suggested that an offer had been made earlier, said: "Please kindly note that one of our subsidiaries African Cell P/L will be purchasing and is interested in a major stake in the business."Lafarge is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and publicly trades its shares.Buyanga confirmed to C&M from South Africa that he was planning to buy into Lafarge.He said they were interested in a 40 percent shareholding in the company but could increase their interest to as much as 60 percent if the shares were available.Buyanga, known as a loan shark in Zimbabwe after several property owners, mostly in Harare, allegedly had their properties sold by his firm after they failed to repay loans advanced to them through Hamilton Property Holdings Limited, another subsidiary of Hamilton Capital, relocated to South Africa following alleged political involvement in the dispute between Hamilton Property and ruling party bigwigs and cronies who had borrowed from his firm.Buyanga copied his letter to Lafarge to the National Indigenisation Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB).The letter was received by NIEEB's CEO, Wilson Gwatiringa's office on April 26.A NIEEB official said Lafarge had not fully complied with the indigenisation law which requires foreign-owned companies to cede 51 percent of their shareholding to locals.But he indicated that they were not involved in Buyanga's bid for a stake in the company.Clarifying the indigenisation and economic empowerment policy last month President Robert Mugabe emphasised the need for investors in the resources sector to comply with the indigenisation law saying this was non-negotiable.But he indicated that for existing businesses in which government did not have a 51 percent stake, compliance "should be through ensuring that local content retained in Zimbabwe by such businesses is not less than 75 percent of gross value of the exploited resources"."Local content here refers to the value retained in Zimbabwe in the form of wages, salaries, taxation, community ownership schemes and other activities such as procurement and linkage programmes," he said.Buyanga told C&M: "I am looking to buy a significant stake in the business. I do not have the valuations at hand but my budget is not limited. We have to buy (the shares) at their right market value. The foreign company on the list own 76 percent. That is what I am eyeing."Lafarge-Holcim owns 76,5 percent of Lafarge Zimbabwe through Associated International Cement.In February this year, the company was quizzed by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth and Indigenisation over its failure to meet the December 2015 indigenisation compliance deadline.Tantawi told the committee, chaired by Gokwe Nembudziya MP Justice Mayor Wadyajena, that indigenous partners currently owned 24,9 percent shares, while Lafarge held the remaining 75 percent.She said the cement maker was in the process of implementing its indigenisation plan.Lafarge plans to contribute 10 percent shareholding to community share ownership trusts (CSOTs), seven percent to employee ownership trusts, and 10 percent to NIEEB.Company lawyer, Munyaradzi Nzarayapenga, said Lafarge's indigenisation plan was at an advanced stage with three CSOTs Mabvuku-Tafara, Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe and Goromonzi having benefited to the tune of US$1 068 000.He said US$500 000 had been put into corporate social responsibility projects.As at February 28, 2016, Lafarge had paid the Mabvuku-Tafara CSOT US$333 000, the Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe CSOT had been given US$401 000, while the Goromonzi CSOT received US$333 000.Buyanga's businesses are intricately linked with British tycoon, Nicholas van Hoogstraten, who has a son called Hamilton. Buyanga has said the British property mogul gave him a US$25 million facility in 2008, which he used to build his business.Van Hoogstraten has a 41 million Sussex mansion called Hamilton Palace. British media reported over a month ago that the vast house, near Uckfield in East Sussex, has still not been completed, despite the fact work began on the property in 1985.The target of Buyanga's planned acquisition, Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe, was formerly Circle Cement which is known for its contribution to the construction industry over the years. It's cement was used in the construction of the Kariba Dam, the Kabora Bassa Dam, major bridges in the country and almost all high-rise buildings in Harare. Published on 2016/05/26 | Source Kim Ji-won experienced her huge popularity in Beijing after attending her successfully held signing event on May 21, which was her first international fan signing event. In the revealed image, Kim Ji-won went on the stage sporting the short bob hair and in a cute navy dress. She had a short talk about the hit drama, 'Descendants of the Sun', which also aired in China and received much love. When she reenacted her line from the drama on the stage, the crow responded with big cheers. Advertisement About one thousand fans visited the venue to see Kim Ji-won from all across China. A lot of girl students crowded at the venue proved she's also a girl crush among many female fans in and outside Korea. Kim Ji-won is currently accommodating her schedule to shoot commercials while she is carefully reviewing her options for her next dramas and movies. Published on 2016/05/27 | Source Added new stills for the upcoming Korean omnibus movie "Horror Stories 3" (2015) Advertisement Directed by Baek Seung-bin, Kim Gok, Kim Sun, Min Gyoo-dong With Lim Seulong, Kyung Soo-jin, Park Jung-min, Hong Eun-hee, Cha Ji-yeon, Ji An,... Synopsis "Horror Stories", 2012, was about the four horror stories told by a high school student girl who was kidnapped by a murderer, and 'Horror Stories 2', 2013, depicted horror about death and the world after death. "Horror Stories 3" plays a role as a bridge between the first and second sequels, thus talks about past, present as well as future. The story of the third sequel is delivered in a unique setting borrowing the scientific fiction genre. 'A Girl from Mars' by Min Gyoo-dong A girl makes an emergency landing on a planet ruled by machines. The girl starts revealing her horrible memories about mankind one by one, while she tries to explain to the machines the reasons why she had to leave the people on earth and ended up landing on this planet. Story of the Past - The Horrible tale 'Fox Valley' 'Man is not the lord of creation. In fact, they are a parasite. A scholar Saengwon (classics licentiate) Lee (Lim Seulong) who was heading to his hometown after he successfully finished his Civil Service examination. He is chased down by a gang of robbers all of sudden and finds himself in a remote village after he ran and ran to save his own life. He decides to stay one night at a house, where a mysterious woman and one elderly person reside. However, the place he ended up happens to be the Fox Valley, where people say no one could get out alive! Saengwon Lee is trying to escape the Fox Valley to save his life. Story of the Present - The Horror story of instinct of speed 'Road Rage' 'Why kill people? I don't know' Dong-geun (Park Jung-min) and Soo-jin (Kyung Soo-jin) were driving on a highway late at night. A strange freight truck appears in front of them. As the truck keeps passing their car and blocking them several times, Dong-geun gets angrier each time and tries to pass the truck by driving even more violently. However, the freight truck won't give up either and keeps following them, then threatens Dong-geun and Soo-jin. On a dark night, the horrible speed competition accompanied by rage begins! Story of the future - The Horror story of Artificial Intelligence 'Ghost of Machine' 'We will be together, forever' An artificial intelligence robot, Doon-ko makes the best friend for a young boy, Jin-goo in place of his mom Ye-seon (Hong Eun-hee). Jin-goo and Doon-ko have been together for ten years and promise to be with each other forever. However, one day Doo-ko develops errors and hurts Jin-goo. Jin-goo's mom Ye-seon gets rid of Doon-ko without telling her son and purchases a new robot. But the new robot also develops strange symptoms. And Doo-ko keeps appearing in front of Ye-seon and Jin-goo's eyes. The curse of a promise you can't keep; what will be the end of it? Release date in Korea : 2016/06/01 Published on 2016/05/26 | Source The special requests that "Beautiful Gong Shim" producer Baek Soo-chan made to Namkoong Min have been revealed. Advertisement Namkoong Min is currently starring as Ahn Dan-tae, a lawyer with the supernatural eye speed, in SBS weekend drama, "Beautiful Gong Shim". Namkoong Min already has a tight relationship with producer Baek Soo-chan through his previous drama, 'The Girl Who Sees Smells'. The producer revealed that he had met Namgoong separately before they enter the production of the drama. The producer asked Namkoong Min to begin filming after erasing all the traces of Nam Gyu-man from "Remember". And then he asked the actor, "To erase everything about Nam Gyu-man, 'Do not show your forehead', 'Do not talk slowly' and 'Show clean and innocent smile'". Prior to his new role in "Beautiful Gong Shim", Namkoong Min perfectly brought his villain roles to life in his two previous dramas, "Remember" and 'The Girl Who Sees Smells'. The producer wanted to remove any risks that his previous image may hinder viewers of the new drama from immersing themselves into the new drama. Producer Baek said, "Namkoong Min perfectly followed my requests before he started filming. He has become Dan-tae perfectly, no one else". "Beautiful Gong Shim" airs at 9:55 PM every Saturday and Sunday. Business / Companies by Staff reporter GOVERNMENT says one of the global airlines it is courting to operate direct flights into Victoria Falls will send a delegation to Harare next month to appraise themselves of the route.The Victoria Falls International Airport, which is nearing completion of a US$150 million expansion financed by Chinese banks, has kicked off the search for airlines from key tourist markets to operate scheduled flights and boost tumbling tourist arrivals.At the heart of the crisis rocking the tourism industry has not only been bad publicity and poor marketing, but the absence of direct flights into one of Africa's biggest tourist attractions.The cash-strapped government has resolved this by pouring millions into the development of the airport.Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Annastasia Ndlovu, told an International Air Travel Association conference in the resort town last week that the country had moved a gear up in marketing the new facility, with positive discussions with global airlines."We are talking to airlines such as Turkish Airlines," said Ndlovu in a presentation to the global aviation industry conference."A delegation from Turkish airlines will be coming to Zimbabwe next month. We have taken steps to make sure that Victoria Falls Airport is not a white elephant," she said.Transport Minister, Joram Gumbo, agreed."We are courting a number of airlines (to fly directly into Victoria Falls)," said Gumbo.Issues likely to come under the spotlight with the Turkish delegation include high costs of utilising African airports including Zimbabwe, which have become one of the biggest barriers to attracting global airlines.Industry statistics indicate that airlines landing into Zimbabwe's airports pay far higher than what they pay elsewhere on the continent and in Europe.Reports say government has also been discussing with Emirates.The Victoria Falls International Airport has reached final stages of the multi-million dollar facelift.Its runway has been expanded to four kilometres from 1,5 kilometres, allowing it to accommodate long haul jets and increasing the number of foreign passengers it could handle per annum by threefold to 1,2 million and up to 500 000 domestic travellers.Last year, a tourism industry executive said his company, Legacy Hotels and Resorts, which concluded a multimillion dollar management contract with African Sun Limited, had been assured that arrivals would boom, riding on interest by global carriers to operate scheduled flights into Victoria Falls.Legacy chairman, Bart Dorrestein, said Brainworks Capital, which controls 57 percent shareholding in Zimbabwe's largest hotel chain, had told him that Turkish Airlines and Emirates were already on board.The two were among several leading airlines that the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and local tourism sector players have been targeting.Emirates is already operating daily flights into Harare from Dubai while Turkish Airlines, which says it has the world's fourth largest flight network with 221 flight destinations in 98 countries, would be making its maiden appearance into the country.The introduction of more flights into the resort town would improve accessibility for foreign tourists, riding on their extensive global networks.Emirates operates over 1 800 weekly flights from its hub at Dubai International Airport, with a fleet of modern and efficient all-wide body aircraft, into 144 cities in 81 countries.The big carriers will serve as a vital artery routing Western tourists and travellers from other markets into Zimbabwe without having to go through the burden of switching airlines.This is projected to boost arrivals from markets such as England, which is not served by direct flights from Zimbabwe. Business / Companies by Thobekile Zhou The two month long National Railways of Zimbabwe strike has divided workers with one Union begging management to immediately fire striking workers, Bulawayo24.com heard on Friday evening.Workers downed tools on March 29 after going unpaid for 15 months.Officials revealed this week that the parastatal is losing $250,000 a day in potential revenue.About $14 million has been lost as its workers continue their strike over unpaid wages. Today, insiders said on Thursday, management intended to have a joint meeting with union leaders representing non striking and striking workers.However, non striking worker representatives refused, forcing management to have separate meetings."NRZ board chairman Mr Larry Mavhima invited the striking employees and the Trade unions but the union for non striking workers refused to be in the same meeting with the striking workers representatives .This resulted in two separate meetings with the board chair yesterday in Bulawayo," said an insider."However in the meeting between management and Trade Union leaders, NRZ trade unionist (non striking representatives) advised the NRZ management to fire all striking workers," Added the insider."The board chair acknowledged the striking workers plight and promised to resolute the impasse .Employees are happy that the board chair gave the striking employees a listening ear."Asked why non striking worker representatives refused a joint meeting, the insider said "They fear that the striking employees committee is now a threat to their union positions".Meanwhile, today NRZ paid non striking workers who are on sub grades A1-B4 with the promise of paying all non striking employees by Tuesday . ew report by KPMG for the ASX Corporate Governance Council has revealed that true gender diversity in business remains a long away off in Australia.The report observed nearly 600 entities in Australia during 2015. It divided these entities into three main categories: S&P/ASX 200 (197 entities); ASX 201500 by market capitalisation (200 entities); and ASX 501+ by market capitalisation (200 entities).Among the most telling results is that among the top 200 companies, just 22 percent had female board members. Just one of these ( Medibank ) had a majority of females on its board.The report also showed that in 2016, just 5 percent of CEOs and 10 percent of COOs were women. Women made up just 6 percent of CFOs.The research shows that most Australian companies have a gender diversity policy, but that some companies report progress for appearance's sake only. The report also points out that the vagueness of the language of these policies makes it difficult for genuine progress in terms of gender diversity to be measured.The report said, There continued to be a number of entities reporting more 'aspirational' objectives such as 'achieving a culture of inclusion', making it difficult for these entities to measure progress against their objectives both now and in future years."Also among the key findings was that bigger companies achieve more in the way of gender equality than smaller ones. In the High Country, few men are held in higher regard than Dr. Charles Baker. The kindhearted physician, who began practicing medicine in Avery County more than 30 years ago, was recently honored as a new inductee into the Medical Honor Society Alpha Omega Alpha at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. The Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) chapter was founded in 1902. The societys mission is to be dedicated to the belief that in the profession of medicine, AOA members will improve care for all by: Recognizing high educational achievement Honoring gifted teaching Encouraging the development of leaders in academia and the community Supporting the ideals of humanism Promoting service to others I am truly surprised and humbled that this could happen to a 69-year-old family doctor, said Dr. Baker. Dr. Baker is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. From there, he went on to complete his internship at The University of Vermont Medical Center with a specialty in pediatrics. He then completed his residency at The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine with a specialty in pediatrics. Dr. Baker is board certified in both family medicine and pediatrics. In 2012, Dr. Baker along with the other healthcare providers in his office, decided to join Appalachian Regional Medical Associates (ARMA) to form the Baker Center for Primary Care, a member of Appalachian Regional Healthcare System. The Baker Center for Primary Care is recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a Tier 3 Patient Medical Home (PCMH). The PCMH distinction acknowledges the Centers high-quality of care devoted to emphasizing access, health information technology and partnerships between clinicians and patients. Today, Dr. Baker continues to faithfully serve patients in Avery County. To learn more about Dr. Charles Baker or the Baker Center of Primary Care visit https://apprhs.org/. For more information about Alpha Omega Alphas newest society members, visit http://news.unchealthcare.org/som-vital-signs/2016/march-24/medical-honor-society-alpha-omega-alpha-inducts-new-members. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket How will you spend your Memorial Day weekend? Its a great chance to enjoy a long weekend with your family and friends, but lets remember what its all about paying tribute to the men and women who haven given their lives for our country over the years. Freedom is never free, and these loyal people have made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure we will have it for generations to come. The High Country will play host to a variety of Memorial Day observances throughout the weekend, so take a look at the list below and make plans to celebrate veterans who gave their lives for us. Watauga Community Band Salute: Sunday The Watauga Community Band will honor veterans with their annual Memorial Day Concert Sunday, May 29 at 4 PM. The performance will be held at the Rotary Gazebo in Blowing Rock Park. In the event of rain, the concert will be moved to the American Legion building on the back side of the park. Under the direction of Bill Winkler, the band will play a number of patriotic pieces including The Ultimate Patriotic Sing-Along, a series of familiar tunes arranged by Jerry Brubaker, and two John Philip Sousa marches, The Washington Post and The Stars and Stripes Forever. The band will honor our servicemen and women with the Armed Forces Salute. This piece, arranged by Bob Lowden, features the anthems of each branch of the armed services as well as the Coast Guard. Members of each branch are encouraged to stand and be recognized when they hear their anthem. The Watauga Community Band will also honor its late members with a special ceremony andThe Mansions of the Lord, the theme from the movie We Were Soldiers. This concert is free, although donations to the Watauga Community Band are welcome. Everyone is encouraged to come out and honor our military personnel. Mountain Home Bluegrass Boys Salute: Sunday The Mountain Home Bluegrass Boys were a mainstay for years at the Mountain Home Music concerts held throughout the High Country during its first 20 years, serving as Joe Shannons house band. Back in the day, this quartet made up of some of the High Countrys best nationally recognized pickers were the glue that held Shannons folksy concerts together. This Sundays May 29 Memorial Day Salute marks the return of the original members of The Mountain Home Bluegrass Boys(MHBB) for the first time in three years. Joining them on stage will be their neighbor and musical friend, Willard Gayheart, another JSMHM favorite on guitar and vocals. This much-anticipated show kicks off the JSMHM 2016 Summer Indoor Concert Series at the Harvest House Performing Arts Venue in Boone, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $18 in advance and $20 at the door. Student tickets are $10. Children 12 and younger are admitted free. Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.mountainhomemusic.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the Mast General Store (Boone and Valle Crucis), Freds Mercantile on Beech Mountain, Stick Boy Bread Company(345 Hardin St, Boone), The Blowing Rock Market and Pandoras Mailbox both on Main Street in downtown Blowing Rock. Military Officers of America at Boone Mall: Monday The High Country Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), in conjunction with the Boone Mall, is proud to invite all veterans and the general public to the premier Memorial Day Observance in the High Country. This is the time for all citizens to remember those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and the security of our country. When: Memorial Day, Monday, May 30 Where: The Boone Mall, Blowing Rock Road 10:30 a.m. Medley of patriotic music by Watauga Community Band 11 a.m. Program begins The program will include: Posting of Colors, Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem, Invocation Introduction of Honored Guests Chimes/Memorial Music, Watauga Community Band Guest Speaker Service Theme Songs, Watauga Community Band History and Playing of Taps Retire Colors and Closing Appalachian State University Ceremony: Monday Appalachian State University will hold a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, May 30 at 9:00 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial on the west side of the Dougherty Administration Building. The public is invited to attend. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the Dougherty Administration Building. Activities include a flag-raising ceremony followed by a brief program. A reception will take place in the administration building lobby following the ceremony. At 11:00 a.m. in the Boone Mall, the High Country Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America will hold a ceremony, to which the university community, as well as the public, is invited. For more information, call the Office of the Chancellor at (828) 262-2040. Avery County Ceremony in Newland: Monday The annual Avery County Memorial Day Ceremony and dedication of the new Veterans Monument will be held on Monday, May 30 , beginning at 2 pm on the square in Newland. The program will feature the Avery High School Band, rifle salute and Taps, guest speakers and a ceremonial raising of the flags at the monument. Everyone is invited. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket Business / Local by Staff Reporter The country which is facing a serious unemployment crisis could see another 2 000 employees losing jobs in the next few weeks as Government has started moves to take away a further 4 000 hectares of land from sugar-producing giant Tongaat Hulett.Masvingo Mirror reported that some 2 000 hectares are being pegged out at Hippo Valley and another 2 000 hectares at Triangle. As happened last year, Government officials are pegging out plots in fields that have ripe sugarcane and harvesting is staring this week.The new beneficiaries, most of them party activists are going to take over the new plots together with the ripe sugarcane. Like in previous years this would see the new beneficiaries harvesting the sugarcane without investing a single cent in growing the plants and ironically sell to Tongaat who are the real owner of the crop thereby earning tens of thousands of dollars. They then use the money to buy luxury cars and houses.The Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement, Douglas Mombeshora confirmed the development and said that pegging of the plots has just started.He however, would not comment on the serious losses of jobs that was going to come with the new empowerment programme."We asked our officers in Masvingo to go and peg sugarcane plots in Hippo Valley and Triangle and I dont know how far they have gone so far. We agreed that none should be given an offer letter without being shown the land. As the Minister I only intervened when there were taskcomplaints that the plots are not even and we instructed our officers to peg out equal plots within the plantations," said Mombeshora.The president of the Zimbabwe Sugar and Milling Industry Workers Union, Freedom Mudungwe said, "we are yet to get notification from the employer but we saw land officers pegging. Last time when Mkwasine was taken workers were moved to Hippo Valley and now Section 6, 7 and 9 were all pegged so we don't know what will happen".Sugar Production and Milling Industry Workers Union executive secretary, Adonia Mutero said, "the employer has not yet communicated with us but there is no way that the company is going to keep a surplus workforce. In terms of retrenchment rules these are some of the factors which legally allow employers to lay off workers. The available workforce is not equivalent to hectarage but they will do it after communicating with worker organisations".Sources said it was only President Robert Mugabe who can act to serve the impending job losses whose ripple effects will affect thousands of children and house wives.Tongaat Corporate Affairs and Communications Manager, Adelaide Chikunguru asked The Mirror to put its questions in writing but could not comment by the time of going to Press.The Mirror is informed that Tongaat currently holds 29 000 hectares of land under sugarcane at its three estates Hippo Valley,Triangle and Mwenezana.The company will definitely be unable to pay some of its workers when it loses 4 000 hectares or 14% of its total hectarage plus the cane it had grown.Tongaat currently employs about 19000 employees making it the biggest employer outside Government in Masvingo Province and even the whole country.Government has been hesitating to take over land from Tongaat Hulett years after former Governor for Masvingo Titus Maluleke controversially issued 138 offer letters for sugarcane plots to people without Government approval.Sources told The Mirror that there is no way that company is going to maintain its workforce when 4 000hectares which is under sugarcane is taken and given to new farmers. The sources said that the aim of Government officials is to push out Tongaaat at this time when sugarcane is ripe for harvesting and take over the plants.The same happened at Mkwasine last year when farmers took over sugarcane fields and went ahead and sold a crop they never worked for. Many farmers later failed to maintain the standards and are now struggling."I am sure Tongaat is just in darkness as everyone else on what is happening because there is no communication from Government regarding the latest takeover. "The bottom line however, is that when that happens some workers employed on those fields and downstream will have to go because there will be no revenue for the company to pay them," said a source.Tongaat is one of the few companies that decided to maintain its workforce levels even at the time when most companies took advantage of the Zuva case and fired workers on three-month notice.Chiefs from Chiredzi have however, expressed their displeasure at the new allocation process which they argued was living out the traditional leaders and people from Chiredzi.The Chiefs also said that some people were benefitting several times and are multiple-land owners in Mkwasine and Hippo Valley. News / Africa by Staff Reporter A teacher at Kiserian Primary School in Kajiado North County, Kenya, has been arrested for killing his Class Six pupil.Daily Nation reported that Dickson Isidi allgedly killed 11-year-old Loice Wanjiru after she failed to raise KES 40 tuition fee.Wanjiru collapsed after Isidi caned and pushed her to the wall.She died upon arrival at the Kenyatta National Hospital where she had been referred for treatment.Teachers had been administering capital punishment on pupils even though it was illegal in the east African country.In January, another teacher caned a 14-year-old boy to death for reporting to school late.The school head, however, absolved the responsible teacher of blame, saying the boy was epileptic. Andrew Allen had new charges brought against him A father-of-two is facing trial accused of reckless endangerment by ramming a garda car during a high-speed chase on the M50. Andrew Allen (37) had already been charged with dangerous driving in the incident, but had new charges brought against him at Blanchardstown District Court. Mr Allen is charged with recklessly engaging in ramming a marked garda car at a speed of around 60mph, creating a substantial risk of death or serious harm. He is also charged with two counts of criminal damage, to the rear bumper and passenger doors of a patrol car, as well as uninsured driving. The accused, who is un- employed and has an address in Blanchardstown, had already been charged with failing to stop for a garda and two counts of dangerous driving. The offences are alleged to have happened at River Road and Ashtown Road, both in Castleknock, and other locations last October 7. A garda witness said the accused made no comment when the new charges were put to him before the court. He was handed copies of the charge sheets. Absence A state solicitor said the DPP was directing trial on indictment, meaning the case will be sent to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court when a book of evidence is ready. The circuit court has greater potential sentencing powers on conviction than the district court. Judge David McHugh granted legal aid on the new charges, assigning solicitor John O'Doherty, and adjourned the case to a date next month. Mr Allen has not yet indicated how he intends to plead. Previously, the case was adjourned in his absence. The accused had failed to appear in court when he was due to have the additional charges brought. On that date, gardai had been present to bring the new charges, and Mr O'Doherty had said he had been unable to contact Mr Allen, who "usually does turn up". At Mr Allen's first court appearance last year, Gda Paul Doona said in evidence that he arrested the accused in Leopardstown and took him to Blanchardstown Garda Station. He also made no reply to the initial charges after caution. News / Africa by Staff Reporter Double amputee, Gift Ncube, a Zimbabwean has this week expressed dismay at the acquittal of his shooter, Keitumetse Khunou, by a Francistown High court.The Voice reported that Ncube whose ordeal started three years ago after he was shot four times and had his arms amputated at elbow level, told of how he learnt about the court judgement through the media."I still can't believe my case was handled in this manner. A few years ago I had both my arms and somebody cut them off and admitted to the offense, but I now find out through newspapers that I lost the case. This certainly is not fair," Ncube said as he narrated a chronicle of events that led to his misery.Ncube's sad story made headlines in 2013 when he was shot after demanding full payment for a job he had done for Khunou at his farm in Radisele.Ncube asserts that he had been hired to clear two and a half hectares of Khunou's land for the sum of P2000 a hectre, but he fell out with the employer who was reluctant to pay him in full.After a heated argument, Ncube says he went to the police where he reported the matter."When I got back from the police station I went to my rented room to get the rest of my stuff as I had been in the process of moving out. When I reached for my pocket to get the keys, Khunou opened fire on me," he said.Ncube said he was appalled at the ruling by Justice Zibane Makhwade in a weekly publication that suggests that Khunou opened fire in an attempt to scare him."I was so hurt when I read that article. "The judge also says he could not find as a fact that I was shot four times. Come on, what more evidence does he need. And what kind of a person scares another by dislodging his limbs with gunshots. This is certainly a miscarriage of justice," he said.The anguished Ncube has refutes this judgment and has brought forward medical reports which state that he suffered multiple gunshot wounds to both arms, chest and abdomen.He is of the belief that the course of justice has been perverted and is thus imploring the public to mount pressure on the judicial system in a bid to remedy the situation. RTE presenter Ray D'Arcy's radio show has come under fire for its handling of an interview on the subject of abortion. The show had two complaints against it - one of which was upheld and the other upheld in part by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). The complaint was made in relation to an interview with Father Ted writer Graham Linehan and his wife, Helen, on October 19 last year. Submitted under the BAI Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality in News and Current Affairs, the complaint argued that the presenter "promoted his personal view in respect of abortion" during the discussion. Diagnosis The interview came about on the back of a video of the Father Ted writer and his wife in which they talked about their experience of a diagnosis that their first baby would not survive birth. The complainant argued that D'Arcy "ignored the side effects/harmful effects of abortion" and allowed comments from the interviewees "which should have been challenged". In response, RTE said the show's format "includes human interest interviews" and "does not generally include the hosting of debates between antagonists". It added that the discussion with the Linehans "was conducted in the exploratory, conversational style" which is known and expected by the audience. RTE told the BAI that prior to the interview, it sought statements from the Pro-Life Campaign and Every Life Counts which were read out during the interview. Stance In response the BAI took into account the video for Amnesty International which was discussed on the show and which advocated a pro-choice stance. "Having reviewed the content, the Committee noted that the interviewees made consistent and strong criticisms of the approach of the Irish State to access to abortion and what they saw as the impact of the law on Irish men and women and on the medical profession," the BAI decision read. Another complaint against the same interview was upheld in part on similar grounds, while rejecting part of the complaint which said the presenter (D'Arcy) acted in a manner that amounted to the advocating of a partisan view. The BAI also upheld complaints against the show in December following an interview with Amnesty International director Colm O'Gorman. This complaint also regarded the issue of abortion. Debenhams has paid over 100m in rent to the Roche family over the past decade, documents filed with the High Court reveal. Nearly 94m of that has been paid in respect of leases on just two outlets - the Debenhams stores on Dublin's Henry Street and Cork's Patrick Street. It can also be revealed the Roche family firm that receives the rent paid by Debenhams has also had to re- engineer its own finances. Accounts for that firm, Dooroy, show it had a shareholders deficit of 48m at the end of 2014 - the most recent year for which publicly-available accounts have been lodged with the Companies Office. It had borrowings of 164.7m with Bank of Ireland at the end of 2014 and the loans are secured by the Henry Street and Patrick Street properties, as well as other assets. In 2014, Dooroy negotiated a revised facility with the bank, which expires in June 2017. The Irish arm of Debenhams has gone into examinership, blaming high rents and staff costs here for continuing losses. It's hoping the examinership process will allow it to secure rent and other cost reductions that will make its business here viable. Acrimonious The Henry Street and Patrick Street stores have upward only rent review clauses. In an increasingly acrimonious battle between Debenhams and the Roche family - who sold their Roches Stores business to the British chain in 2006 for 29m - the pair have traded barbs and accused each other of mispresenting facts. Debenhams group treasurer Mike Hazell told the High Court in an affidavit that the retailer's Irish unit has paid the 94m on the two prime leases to the Roche family since 2006, but also "substantial rent" on five other outlets that have now been sold by the Roches. Mr Hazell has also said agents for Debenhams did engage with the Roche family regarding a possible reconfiguration of the Henry Street store and strongly refuted allegations by Richard Roche that the retailer showed no interest in progressing talks. "The proposals were reviewed at length by the company (including a senior management presentation to the company and other group entities)," said Mr Hazell in an affidavit to the High Court. "It ultimately concluded that the proposals were not commercially viable and not in the best interests of the company." He also said he rejected entirely "the inappropriate" claim by Mr Roche to the effect that Debenhams had been merely biding its time on the 'deployment' of examinership. Mr Roche said rent being paid by Zara to Debenhams "goes a long way" to the rent paid by Debenhams on Henry Street. It's all going swimmingly for Dublin area beaches this year after four out of five beaches retained their coveted Blue Flag status. With the beautiful Velvet Strand in Portmarnock as a backdrop, Environment Minister Simon Coveney announced that Portmarnock beach, along with Balcarrick beach in Donabate and Killiney and Seapoint beaches on the south side, have all retained the highest rating for water quality this year. His announcement will come as good news to Dubs looking to soak up some well-deserved sunshine if the summer ever arrives. But there was disappointing news for Fingal County Council, which lost another Blue Flag beach for the second year running. Portrane beach in north county Dublin lost its coveted water quality status this year. Although the standards are deemed to be good, they did not meet the strict new rules that govern awarding of blue flags. It also lost its Green Coast Award status this year due to its "failure to comply with water quality requirements". The awards are given to recognise beaches of high environmental quality. Pride In order to qualify, beaches must attain what is known as "guideline" water quality, which is the highest European standard. The loss follows the loss of Blue Flag status at Skerries beach last year. Fingal County councillor Paul Mulville, who lives in Portrane, said he was disappointed that the beach lost its status. "It's always been a source of pride locally and for the local traders and for tourism in general in north county Dublin," he said. But he stressed that the beach is still perfectly safe for swimming and he anticipates it will continue to attract day-trippers, kayakers and wind-surfers this summer. "The bathing water is totally safe and hopefully it won't have a big impact," he said. He attributes the loss of the award to a torrential rainstorm that hit the area during the August 2014 bank holiday, which caused run-off from local fields to get into the water. The quality is judged over a number of years, so this is what may have caused it to be downgraded, he added. In the meantime, he will be seeking assurances from the council that everything will be done to make sure that the Blue Flag status is returned as soon as possible, he added. Skerries councillor JP Browne said that despite the loss of its Blue Flag status last year, the north and south beaches remain as popular as ever. "It's a much-loved and used amenity," he said. In total, 79 beaches and six marinas around the country were awarded Blue Flag status this year, down one from last year. "While the quality of Ireland's bathing water remains very high, we must not become complacent," the minister said. The Kinahan gang will have "wiped out" the Hutches and taken over Dublin's north inner city within six months unless immediate action is taken, worried residents believe. A politician who was helping Gareth Hutch in the hours before he was gunned down on Tuesday morning said the Kinahan mob is trying to create "a state within the State". Independent councillor Nial Ring also told how Hutch (35) was resigned to being shot dead, but did not want it to happen in front of his seven-year-old son. The dead man spent 90 minutes with Mr Ring on Monday, discussing his fears and how he wanted to move to another flat in the Avondale House complex that would be more difficult to access. "He said to me as he was going out, 'I know the f***ers are going to get me, but they're not going to do it in front of my son," said Mr Ring. Talking on Independent.ie's Floating Voter podcast, the councillor argued that it is unfair for the entire Hutch family to be painted as criminals because most are ordinary people now living in terror. "The likes of the Hutches and other small-time criminals are being wiped out by the Kinahans," he said. "It's an international criminality that I don't think we can grasp the significance or the size of. Ruthless "When Enda Kenny talks about it taking years to sort out the Kinahans, he has no idea. You're going up against huge money and a ruthless mentality that we haven't seen. "This is something I don't think people fully understand. This is like people trying to create a state within the State and to be immune and carry on their business with absolute impunity. "It's not going to be solved overnight, but Enda saying years and years? These guys will have taken over the north inner city drugs trade within six months unless we stop them now." Asked if people in the area have sympathy for the Hutch family, Mr Ring said: "When you say 'Hutch', everybody thinks criminality and 'common decent criminal', but the vast majority of the Hutch family and the vast majority of people in the area are not involved in criminality. They just want to get on with their lives." Mr Ring said people need to realise the crisis is being driven by "international terrorism". "This isn't some sort of family feud being played out. You get the usual, 'Oh, let them all shoot each other', but that's not what's happening here. This is a one-sided massacre," he said. Describing his final meeting with Gareth Hutch, Mr Ring said he had asked for his help in securing another, safer flat. "He was concerned that his back balcony was accessible and it was in an area with no CCTV," he said. "He didn't want anything to happen to him while he was in the flat and his son was with him. "He told me he had direct access to the ERU through the flat. I presume that was some sort of button system or alarm. "I don't believe the gardai are capable of providing 24/7 armed protection for anybody." Since Tuesday's daylight attack, another member of the Hutch family has approached Mr Ring after receiving a warning from gardai that his life is in danger. Checkpoints However, the councillor hit out at the political reaction, saying the 1,000 armed checkpoints in the area "are all optics". "It's not like the one where if you go to dodge a checkpoint there's a guard around the corner. It's the lighthouse in the bog. They're of no use at all. Not doing anything," he said. Mr Ring also claimed that if the gun attacks happened in the constituency of Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald or Taoiseach Enda Kenny "there would be a lot more done about it". "There is that sense of abandonment," he said. "It's the people using drugs in middle-class areas that are partially responsible for this." To hear the full interview with Mr Ring on the Floating Voter podcast, visit Independent.ie. Workplace Relations Commission chief Kieran Mulvey has been asked to step into the row over plans to co- locate the National Maternity Hospital on the site of St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin. New Health Minister Simon Harris has appointed Mr Mulvey as a mediator after hosting a joint meeting with representatives from both sides. The two bodies are at loggerheads because the proposed governance requirements set down by St Vincent's for the new hospital on its grounds in Elm Park will place all services, including tertiary maternity and neonatal services at the National Maternity Hospital, under the control of the St Vincent's board and shareholders, the Religious Sisters of Charity. Under such an arrangement, the role of the Master of Holles Street, currently held by Dr Rhona Mahony, would be replaced by a single clinical director reporting to a CEO appointed by St Vincent's. The dispute has all but derailed the entire process, which was first mooted in 1998. However, Mr Harris told the Herald last night that he wants a speedy resolution. "Expectant mothers and their children absolutely need a new national maternity hospital," he said. "While I cannot impose a solution between Holles Street and St Vincent's, I'm very eager to use my position to bring both sides together and pave a way forward. Positive "I've asked both to engage in a process of mediation. I've been assured by both hospitals that they will approach this in a very positive manner. We need to get on with building this hospital." Holles Street - the biggest maternity hospital in the country, which last year delivered nearly 9,500 babies - describes its current hospital as "antiquated, under-sized and unsuitable for modern obstetric and neonatal practice". The Department of Health said there was "unanimous agreement" that a mediation process would be put in place straight away. News / Africa by Staff Reporter THE woman who accused a councillor of revealing her HIV status has died.The 34-year-old from Belfast in Mpumalanga died on Monday night, just a month after she took Councillor Sonto Radebe to court for allegedly revealing her HIV status to party members at the ANC constituency office.This was allegedly after party members had returned from a voter registration drive.The case was supposed to be heard at the Belfast Small Claims Court on 23 June.daily Sun reported that the dead woman claimed that Radebe first accused her of "gunning for her position" because she had been nominated by her branch to stand as a councillor.Then she allegedly revealed that the dead woman had Aids.Family friend Zodwa Masina said the woman has been depressed since the alleged incident on 4 March, and she believes this led to her death."Her health took a turn for the worst since her status was revealed for all to hear. She felt her whole world had come crumbling down. She died of heartbreak," said Zodwa.Councillor Radebe said she would not comment on the matter as it is being handled by her attorneys. News / Africa by Staff Reporter A SMUGGLER was arrested by Limpopo police while he was transporting drugs worth of millions of rands on Monday.He was arrested near Lephalale.Daily Sun reported that the police, acting after being alerted by border officials, stopped and searched the bakkie and discovered money as well as the load of drugs.Limpopo police spokeswoman Colonel Ronel Otto said the suspicion of officials at Grobler's Bridge, a border post between Botswana and South Africa, was aroused by the bakkie.They alerted the Bulge River police, who chased after the vehicle and ordered the driver to stop."A thorough search of the bakkie followed and cops discovered R139 900 as well as $10 000 in cash hidden in the door panels," Otto said.They also found hidden compartments behind the back seat and in the rear of the Nissan NP200 bakkie."The search revealed a total of 93 bags of heroin valued at an estimated R93 million," she said.The 33-year-old driver of the bakkie is originally from Tanzania.He was arrested and will appear in the Lephalale Magistrates Court soon to face a charge of smuggling and dealing in drugs.Heroin is the most dangerous ingredient of nyaope, but many drug users also take it on its own.On Saturday Limpopo police arrested a 47-year-old Zimbabwean driver transporting illegal cigarettes. He was with an accomplice and they were driving two vehicles loaded with cigarettes worth R6 million.They were cornered by police at a petrol station in Boyne, outside Mankweng, and searched.The second driver managed to escape from the cops. News / Africa by Staff Reporter A SMUGGLER was arrested by Limpopo police while he was transporting drugs worth of millions of rands on Monday.He was arrested near Lephalale.The police, acting after being alerted by border officials, stopped and searched the bakkie and discovered money as well as the load of drugs.Daily Sun reported that Limpopo police spokeswoman Colonel Ronel Otto said the suspicion of officials at Grobler's Bridge, a border post between Botswana and South Africa, was aroused by the bakkie.They alerted the Bulge River police, who chased after the vehicle and ordered the driver to stop."A thorough search of the bakkie followed and cops discovered R139 900 as well as $10 000 in cash hidden in the door panels," Otto said.They also found hidden compartments behind the back seat and in the rear of the Nissan NP200 bakkie."The search revealed a total of 93 bags of heroin valued at an estimated R93 million," she said.The 33-year-old driver of the bakkie is originally from Tanzania.He was arrested and will appear in the Lephalale Magistrates Court soon to face a charge of smuggling and dealing in drugs.Heroin is the most dangerous ingredient of nyaope, but many drug users also take it on its own. News / Africa by Staff Reporter South African police in the Limpopo province last Saturday arrested a Zimbabwean truck driver in possession of cigarettes worth R6 million.Daily Sun reported that the Limpopo police arrested a 47-year-old Zimbabwean driver transporting illegal cigarettes."He was with an accomplice and they were driving two vehicles loaded with cigarettes worth R6 million," reported the Daily Sun."They were cornered by police at a petrol station in Boyne, outside Mankweng, and searched. The second driver managed to escape from the cops."Reports of numerous Zimbabweans smuggling cigarettes into South Africa being arrested have of late been rife. HPD offers reward for information on suspect in slaying The man "should not be approached and is considered armed and dangerous," HPD said in a news release. News / Africa by Staff Reporter A woman from Soweto, Ntsoaki Sefatsa (49) in Rockville claim a pastor has been enjoying her family's house while she lives in terrible conditions."The house belonged to my father. After he died my brother was looking after it but he later bought his own house and we decided to rent it out," she said.In 2012, Pastor Ngubane Majoe moved into the house and signed a contract promising to pay rent every month. However, things didn't go as planned.Ntsoaki's daughter Kutlwano (30) said after a year, the pastor stopped paying rent."He's now telling us he owns the house but how can this be if we never agreed to sell it?"He brags to his congregation that he worked hard to buy the house but he's lying."When we tried to open a case with the cops they tell us they don't deal with housing matters," she said.A copy of the lease agreement was shown to the media and nowhere does it state that the agreement is a rent to buy plan.According to the Sefatsas, the pastor once got into a physical fight with their uncle and they were arrested."But the whole community came to our defence and forced the police to release us," they said. Ntsoaki said the pastor was renting out rooms in the house, making money out of her family's misery.Pastor Majoe told Daily Sun he had a rent to buy agreement and advised the family to open a case at the police station. News / Local by Staff Reporter A CHISUMBANJE man (24) was on Monday arraigned before the courts for allegedly raping a minor (13).The accused, Angirai Tekama of Mabee Village under Chief Garahwa area was not asked to plead when he appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Poterai Gwezhira.He was ordered to apply for bail at the High Court since he was facing a serious offence.The court heard that on May 9, the complainant visited her relative, Tafadzwa Tsumisa of Chipitsaana Village under Chief Tsvovani in Chiredzi who is currently staying at Macdom Estates in Chisumbanje.At around 9pm, the complainant left the compound to fetch for pumpkin leaves in the company of Tafadzwa Tsumisa.Tekama followed the two and proposed love to the complainant who turned down his proposal.Tafadzwa proceeded to fetch the pumpkin leaves leaving the complainant and Tekama behind.Tekama force-marched the complainant to a secluded place in the fields where he tripped her to the ground and raped her twice.The complainant cried for help, but the accused covered her mouth with his hands. After the act, Tekama ran away from the scene and went back to the compound.The complainant went to look for Tafadzwa where she found her in the fields fetching the pumpkin leaves.The complainant advised Tafadzwa about the incident who then advised her not to report it to anyone.On May 13, the complainant reported the rape to her stepmother who made a police report leading to Tekama's arrest.The complainant was medically examined at St Peter's Hospital where penetration was confirmed.Tekama was remanded in custody to May 31.Witness Nyamundaya prosecuted. News / Local by Liberty Dube A 31-year-old male prisoner who was serving an 18-month jail term escaped from Mutare Farm Prison last Saturday and is still at large.Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services, Manicaland Region Principal Prison Officer, Liberty Mhlanga, said Luxon Mutumbu who was working in the piggery section made good his escape at around 8am and could not be located."We have since launched a manhunt to re-arrest Mutumbu who escaped through the farm's piggery section.He was convicted for housebreaking and theft and was serving 18 months with labour. He was due to be released on February 16, 2017," he said."Anyone with information leading to his arrest should contact us or the nearest police station," he said.Last year, fugitive, Kenneth Mubvumbi (29), who is serving two years at Mutare Remand Prison escaped and disappeared into the adjacent Murahwa Hills.Mubvumbi escaped while doing maintenance work with eight other convicts under the guard of two armed prison guards.He tricked one of the guards into believing that he was relieving himself, yet he was scaling the perimeter fence. Aaron Gorovitz named one of the top fundraisers in U.S. Orlando, FL Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed is pleased to announce that long-time partner Aaron J. Gorovitz has been honored with a national STOP Diabetes-SHARE award by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for his outstanding contributions in the fight to stop diabetes. This award is unique, and it has not been given to anyone else in the U.S. during the past 12 months. As the chairman of the local ADA Father of the Year (FOTY) Council and a 2011 FOTY award recipient, Gorovitz has helped grow the FOTY Awards event in Orlando. The FOTY Awards is a fundraising event for the ADA that celebrates family, specifically fatherhood. In the five years since his involvement, Gorovitz has worked tirelessly to raise money and advance the FOTY Awards event in Orlando. To date, Gorovitz has secured many prominent honorees, and along with his efforts, they have raised well over $500,000, including $26,000 the law firm has contributed. As a result, the FOTY Awards event in Orlando is one of the top three events in the country. "Simply put, Aaron's efforts and results are extraordinary," said Jessica Wells, associate director of Development for ADA Central Florida. "His efforts have driven significant dollars raised for the American Diabetes Association." For more than 30 years, Gorovitz's legal practice has centered around large and complex commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate projects throughout Central Florida. He is often involved in site selection and due diligence and is lead counsel in the procurement of Developments of Regional Impact (DRIs), comprehensive plan designations, zonings and other governmental approvals and entitlements. He also formulates public/private partnerships on master plans and takes a lead role in the development, financing and leasing of projects. He recently completed a three-year-term on the International Board of Directors for Meritas, a global alliance of 7,124 experienced lawyers in 175 full-service law firms serving 236 markets-all rigorously qualified, independent and collaborative. In addition to his busy law practice and his work with the American Diabetes Association, Gorovitz is deeply involved in his community. As the former chairman of the Central Florida Partnership (CFP), he traveled to Washington D.C. with other CFP regional leaders to help advance Central Florida's growing industries: hospitality, travel and tourism, research funding, and entrepreneurship. In this role, Gorovitz spent countless hours working side-by-side with community leaders to bring SunRail to Central Florida. Along with forming the CFP's Transportation Task Force, he formed many of the CFP's committees addressing other key regional issues, including capital, homelessness, and water. Gorovitz has received numerous awards and accolades for his contributions to the community, both in business and for his charitable work. He is always raising his hand in service with quiet strength and unwavering commitment. Jonathan Sarna at Brandeis University, his undergraduate alma mater and where he has taught for more than 25 years, May 10, 2016. WALTHAM, Mass. (JTA)-When Jonathan Sarna was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 1999 at the age of 44, it changed his life. Already a highly regarded historian at Brandeis University, Sarna was in the midst of writing his seminal study of American Jewish history when he realized with alarm that he might never finish it. He underwent chemotherapy, radiation treatment and surgery. Though he didn't know it at the time, doctors gave him a one-in-five chance of surviving. Then, slowly, the professor began getting better. After a year, Sarna was writing again with renewed focus and a firm deadline: He wanted to finish the book in time for the 2004 celebrations of the 350th anniversary of American Jewish life. The book, "American Judaism: A History," came out in March 2004. The organization in charge of the 350th celebrations anointed Sarna its chief historian. He traveled the country delivering lectures, and "American Judaism" won the Jewish Book Council's Book of the Year award. "That book was life-changing," Sarna told JTA in a recent interview in his large, cluttered office at Brandeis. "I would say my great regret at the time of my illness was that I had not finished 'American Judaism,' and I promised myself that if all went well I wouldn't take on other things until the book was out," he said. The book was translated into Hebrew and Chinese, sold more than 30,000 copies and became an indispensable resource on the subject. Today, students at the Reform movement's Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Conservatives' Jewish Theological Seminary and Orthodoxy's Yeshiva University don't study the same edition of the Bible, but they all study "American Judaism," points out Sarna, who is working on updating the book for a new edition. "I consider that my most important book. It certainly took me the longest, and it allowed me to put my stamp on the field," he said. "It sold more books than any other I have done. It does change your life a little bit when you realize that you can talk to a broader audience beyond the academy. In the eyes of many people, I became 'the American Jewish historian.' It was a breakthrough." Now 61 and several books later, Sarna is something of a rock star in the world of Jewish academia-though neither he nor any of his colleagues would ever use that term to describe the diminutive professor with sparkling blue eyes and a vocal inflection that often bears traces of his parents' British roots. Sarna is the chief historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, chairs the Hornstein Program for Jewish Professional Leadership at Brandeis and recently concluded a stint as president of the Association for Jewish Studies. He's on the board of JTA's parent company, 70 Faces Media, and too many other institutions to count. He commands $5,000 a speech. Last month Brandeis crowned Sarna, who has taught at the school since 1990, with the title university professor, an exceedingly rare distinction. Brandeis bestows it on faculty whose "renown cuts across disciplinary boundaries" and "who have achieved exceptional scholarly or professional distinction within the academic community." Among journalists, Sarna is known as the go-to scholar for erudite, succinct, quotable analysis on American Jewish history. But he's also a favorite sage for aspiring Jewish academics; more than 30 doctoral dissertations have been written under his direction. That's partly why he decided to make Brandeis, the Jewish-sponsored, nonsectarian university founded in this Boston suburb in 1948, his professional home. "I came to Brandeis not only because I thought that Brandeis should be a major center of American Jewish history, but also because I thought I would enjoy teaching a wide span of future Jewish leaders covering all the movements," Sarna said. Brandeis also was his undergraduate alma mater and until 1985 the professional home of his father, the late Bible scholar Nahum Sarna. In recent years, Sarna has become a sought-after commentator on contemporary American Judaism, too. Though he demurs from offering predictions about American Jewry's future, Sarna draws on his deep scholarship to highlight some of the lesser-noticed trends he believes will play a big role in shaping that future. Those who talk with certainty about where American Jewry is headed based on current trends, such as declining affiliation rates, should remember that the story of American Jewry has been more cyclical than linear, Sarna cautions. In the 1930s, community leaders watching young Jews becoming communists and leaving synagogues predicted the disappearance of American Jewry, but they failed to foresee the great religious revival of the 1950s. American Jewry may be in a "religious recession" today, Sarna says, but that's not necessarily predictive of tomorrow. Among the other trends Sarna says are worth watching: Worldwide Jewry is at the tail end of a great consolidation, with some 80-85 percent of Jews living either in Israel or North America. Even in America, the vast majority of the community lives in about 20 large metropolitan areas. American Jews are now fully mainstream, underscored by the fact that both leading presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have Jewish sons-in-law, something that would have been unthinkable a generation ago. Americans no longer view Jews as a minority. The nature of Jewish intermarriage is radically changing. Once, those who intermarried were thought to be lost to the Jewish community; today, intermarried Jews play a big role in Jewish life. New technologies are having a dramatic impact on religion broadly and Judaism in particular. "These are changes of enormous significance that desperately need to be thought about," Sarna says. "Today there is a massive disjunction between how we think of ourselves and how we actually are." Even as a kid, Sarna seemed destined for academic greatness. His parents were both British intellectuals who immigrated to America in 1951. His mother, Helen, was a librarian at Hebrew College. His father taught at Philadelphia's Gratz College and then JTS before settling at Brandeis, where he achieved wide renown. Jonathan, born in 1955, was the family's first American-born child-he has an older brother, David. When Sarna chose to focus on American Jewish history, it turned out to be one of the few Jewish subjects his British-trained father knew nothing about. His interest in the subject dates back to his teen years. His senior thesis at Brookline High School in suburban Boston was about the history of American anti-Semitism, and even in his driver's education course Sarna went historical, writing about Henry Ford's anti-Semitism for a required car-related essay. He got an A on the paper but failed the road test. "Henry Ford had the last laugh on that one," Sarna said wryly. When Sarna started his career-he earned his doctorate at Yale and then taught at HUC in Cincinnati before landing at Brandeis-the field of American Jewish history was still in its infancy, he says. The challenge of the field was to synthesize not just knowledge of American history and American religion, but of Jewish history and Judaism. Sarna's career has spanned the colonial period to the present, including book-length histories of the Jewish communities of New Haven, Cincinnati and Boston. His most recent books, "Lincoln and the Jews: A History" (co-authored with Benjamin Shapell) and "When General Grant Expelled the Jews," both won critical acclaim. The professor takes particular pride in being something of an insider in each of American Jewry's three main religious denominations. Until the age of 10 he grew up at JTS, the flagship Conservative institution where his father taught. Sarna himself was reared in Orthodox institutions, including a post-high school year at the rigorously Orthodox Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem. And Sarna taught for more than a decade at Reform's HUC. Sarna attends an Orthodox shul, but his wife, Ruth Langer, a theology and liturgy professor at Boston College, is a Reform rabbi. The couple have two children: Aaron Sarna works for Google, and Leah Sarna is studying to be an Orthodox clergywoman at Yeshivat Maharat in New York. "I know the whole spectrum of the American Jewish world as an insider in a way I think few people do," Sarna told JTA. "That's given me a breadth of understanding and even sympathy with each community. I think I'm at my best when I help different groups in American Jewish life understand one another." His most recent book, too, almost didn't happen. In May 2014, during a weekend visit to Yale for his daughter's graduation, Sarna collapsed while walking back from the Hillel center to his hotel and went into cardiac arrest. Because it was Shabbat, he wasn't carrying a phone. Fortunately, a cardiologist happened to be driving by and Sarna immediately was taken to nearby Yale-New Haven Hospital. The speed of the emergency response not only saved Sarna's life but also helped him avoid the irreversible brain damage that often occurs in patients who suffer cardiac arrest. His physicians told Sarna that his heart blockage could be traced back to the radiation treatment he had received for his cancer a decade and a half earlier. Two years on, Sarna has had to slow down a bit-five or six hours of sleep a night is no longer sufficient, he says ruefully-but his rate of production hardly shows it. Before he even left the hospital at Yale, Sarna resumed edits on his Lincoln book. This fall, he'll be going to Jerusalem on sabbatical, where he'll be at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies working on his new book about a little-known 19th-century American Jewish female writer and poet. "This is what I've been put on this earth to do," Sarna said, "to write about and read about the American Jewish experience." One-hundred years ago this month, British colonel Sir Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes and French diplomat Francois Marie Denis Georges-Picot divided the Middle East loosely and arbitrarily between Great Britain and France. Following that division, which became known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, a series of further-and often contradictory-treaties and conferences resulted in power battles, internal uprisings, coups, and revolts. A century later, the Middle East-with an explosive array of conflicts, including an ongoing civil war in Syria that has seen hundreds of thousands of deaths-is still experiencing the aftershocks of the 1916 Sykes-Picot pact. Scholars tackled the subject earlier this month at a conference hosted by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) think tank. Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser-director of JCPA's Project on Regional Middle East Developments, former director general of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs, and a former senior officer in Israeli military intelligence-explained in a policy paper that Sykes-Picot failed because it was drawn up not with the Middle East's interests in mind, but with a mixture of British and French interests. The goals of Mark Sykes and Francois Marie Denis Georges-Picot in dividing the territories had "less to do with establishing peaceful, stable Arab nations and more to do with furthering their own nations' ambitions and strategical interests," elaborated former Israeli ambassador to Canada Alan Baker-director of JCPA's Institute for Contemporary Affairs-in the same policy paper, quoting a 2014 report by the Los Angeles Daily News. "Britain was particularly interested in access to petroleum in Iraq. France, for their part, wanted access to Mediterranean harbor cities like Beirut," noted Baker. The secret map drawn up by Sykes and Picot established the geography for French and British colonial rule and influence. It also established new national borders, failing to take into account the local people, demographics, or socio-cultural and religious aspects of the territories they divided. "Sykes-Picot is the poster agreement for the poisonous legacy of European imperialism in the Middle East," Richard Drake, a professor of history at the University of Montana, told JNS.org. "My conclusion on Sykes-Picot is that it really is the source of many of the ongoing evils in the Middle East." "Sykes-Picot is a sensitive subject that generally cuts across ideological lines in Turkey," said Dr. Ahmet K. Han, an associate professor at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, who spoke at the recent JCPA conference in Jerusalem. "Sykes-Picot for Turkey is...the name of an agonizing process rather than an agreement that marked lines on the sand in the lost Middle Eastern lands of the Ottoman's... Sykes-Picot is an agreement that represents a chain on Turkey's ankles." James A. Paul-author of the 1991 book "Syria Unmasked" and former executive director of the Global Policy Forum, a think tank that monitors the United Nations-told JNS.org that Sykes and Picot did so many things wrong that "it is hard to count them." One of the consequences of those "mistakes," he said, is what is known today as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "While dividing up the Middle East... the British were also promising the Arabs an independent state were they to fight on the British side against the Ottoman Empire," said Paul. "Of course, [soon after] there was the [1917] Balfour Declaration promising the Jews a homeland. Even that was an act of deception. The British knew they were going to take over all of that real estate, they knew they were going to rule that area once the war was over." Another result of Sykes-Picot, Paul explained, was the rise of modern nationalism-the idea that states should be linguistically, ethnically, and perhaps even religiously pure. "When people start talking about fixing Sykes-Picot or the subsequent treaties like the [1920] Treaty of Sevres or the [1923] Treaty of Lausanne, they are often talking about drawing up new borders," Paul said. "It is the idea that the situation could be improved by creating an independent Kurdistan or whatever. But every time you create a state that is supposedly based on ethnic purity, you find within it there is yet another group without a state of their own." Paul contends that too much nationalism is "not a good thing." He said that diverse people need to learn to live together-like in the United States-and that the contemporary scenario of tiny states, states that keep getting smaller, leads to economic instability and flies in the face of today's globalization trends. He offered the example of Iraq, which many in the American political establishment were keen on diving into three segments: Kurdistan (for the Kurdish people), Sunnistan (for Sunni Muslims), and Shiastan (for Shi'a Muslims), so to speak. "For people who have never been to Iraq, this sounds like a good idea," said Paul. "People write about the age-old hatred between Sunnis and Shi'as. But in fact, in countries like Iraq, there are a lot of families with Shi'a and Sunni members, and Bagdad is a mixed city. What do you do with a mixed city?" He continued, "Sometimes people live together harmoniously for very long periods of time and Western culture insists that these people were constantly at war, constantly hating each other, and it is just not true. When we circle back to Sykes-Picot and all these borders, and we say we are going to fix them now, I say, 'Watch out. It could be even worse this time.'" But the alternative might not be any better, according to JCPA's Kuperwasser. While the Sykes-Picot map remained more or less unchanged for 95 years, the "Arab Spring" uprisings of 2011 began to unravel the autocratic systems established in 1916, and religious and primordial loyalties are now competing to fill the void. The most well-known element in this chaotic mix is radical Islam, which adheres to the idea that Islam should erase existing borders in favor of Islamic religious rule throughout the Middle East and beyond. "All factions of radical Islam deny the idea of nationalism in general and of local nationalism in particular," wrote Kuperwasser, noting that all streams of radical Islam are committed to establishing a caliphate (area ruled by an Islamic religious leader) across Muslim-populated areas (including Israel) and later, throughout the entire world. Those who Kuperwasser described as "realists-radicals," however, believe that the time is not yet ripe to establish a caliphate and that some local national identity may actually help in mobilizing Islamic activists. "Realists-radicals" also contend that while the West is continuously losing power, it is not yet weak enough to be defeated. "From Israel's point of view, this new situation is extremely challenging and dangerous," Kuperwasser wrote. "This phenomenon may grow significantly in the future if [Islamists] manage to keep eroding the pragmatic regimes control of their territories." A century after Sykes-Picot, "the only thing we learn from history is that people don't learn from history," said the University of Montana's Drake. "We in the West don't know how to solve the problems in the Middle East-they are beyond our capacity, wisdom, and knowledge," he said. "The drawing and redrawing of borders," said Paul, "is not the way to go." Goldie Michelson in 2008 outside the theater named for her at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. (JTA)-The oldest American is now a 113-year-old Jewish woman named Goldie. After the death of 116-year-old Susannah Mushatt-Jones two weeks ago, the New York Daily News reported that Goldie Michelson of Worcester, Massachusetts, became the oldest living American. Since the death of another Goldie, 114-year-old Goldie Steinberg last year, Michelson has likely been the oldest Jew in the world, too. (The oldest person in the world is now 116-year-old Italian Emma Morano-Martinuzzi, according to the Daily News.) Michelson (nee Corash) was born in Russia in 1902 and immigrated with her family to Worcester at 2. Her father, Max, was a medical student in Russia who opened a dry goods store in Worcester. She attended the Women's College of Brown University, which later became Pembroke University, and received a master's degree in sociology from Clark University in Worcester. Her thesis at Clark was titled "A Citizenship Survey of Worcester Jewry" and examined why many of the city's older Jewish-immigrant residents did not pursue American citizenship or learn English. She told the Worcester Telegram in 2012 that her thesis was inspired by her time working with Jewish women's organizations such as Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. Michelson was also active in other community groups, including one that supported the founding of Brandeis University in Waltham. Michelson has remained in Worcester ever since. She credits her longevity to walking. "It never occurred to me that I would live this long," Michelson told Clark's magazine in 2012. "I just went on and on, and I've loved it." (JTA)Belgium has turned down a request for financial assistance from the daughters of an Israeli couple killed in an attack a year ago on the Jewish Museum in Brussels. Shira and Ayelet Riva were 15 and 17 at the time of the attack in May 2015. Mira and Emmanuel Riva were on vacation and touring the museum when Mehdi Nemmouche, a Frenchman who French authorities believe left for Syria via Belgium to fight with jihadists in 2012 before returning to Europe, opened fire on museum visitors and staff. Along with the Rivas, a French volunteer at the museum and a Belgian employee were killed in the attack. The Riva teens, who live in Tel Aviv, filed an application for the assistance 10 months after the attack. They applied for the usual allocation of 15,000 euros, or about $17,000, which is generally provided without question, according to French-language news reports. The commission that decides on assistance for victims of intentional acts of violence refused to grant the allocation, saying there was no urgent need. Urgent need is defined as a request in the first six months following an attack. TEL AVIV (JTA)-On one hand, most Israelis say their financial situation is good and getting better. On the other hand, they're worried they won't be able to provide for their children. On one hand, they want significantly more government spending in a wide range of public services. On the other hand, they say they pay too many taxes. These are among the confused results of a wide-ranging economic survey obtained by JTA ahead of its publication Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute think tank. The survey results show widespread Israeli positivity when it comes to personal finances, disappointment in government and a desire for a broader welfare state on the Scandinavian model. "These are people who, in the present, have a reasonable situation, but because of all of the change in the global arena, they're very scared of the future," said Tamar Hermann, the study's lead author. "It's not that someone is scared of the future because of his present situation. The situation isn't totally bad; it's pretty good. But we don't know what will be in the future." Israel has had a relatively strong economy in recent years. The country joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of wealthy nations, in 2010. Its unemployment rate is around 5 percent, and its per capita GDP has risen from $26,500 in 2010 to $34,300 in 2015. The economy is growing 3 percent annually, according to the Bank of Israel. But at the same time, Israelis have become increasingly frustrated with their economy. The past two Israeli elections have seen centrist, bread-and-butter-focused parties gain significant followings. In 2011, half a million Israelis took to the streets as part of a summer long protest over the high cost of living. Smaller demonstrations took place the following summer. Study author Hermann said the protests stemmed, in part, from the debt Israelis feel the government owes them in return for their mandatory military service. Most Jewish-Israeli men serve three years in the army, while women serve two. "People say, 'I pay with my life, in years of my life,'" she said. "They say, 'We pay taxes and serve in the army. The state should take care of us.' The feeling is the state isn't giving enough." Recent data, in some ways, depict an unequal economy. According to a report by Israel's Taub Center for Social Policy Studies, Israelis spend more on consumer goods in comparison to the residents of other OECD countries-particularly food. Only three countries in the OECD have greater income inequality, defined by the group as the difference in income between the richest 10 percent and the poorest 10 percent. More than one-fifth of Israelis live under the poverty line. Frustration amid prosperity has resulted, according to Tuesday's survey, in contradictory attitudes. Despite the economic challenges, the majority of both Israel's Jews (59 percent) and Arabs (58 percent) are happy with their financial situation. More than three-quarters of both populations believe their economic situation will improve in the coming years. But at the same time, majorities of Jews and Arabs worry they won't be able to provide for their children or save money for the future. More than a quarter say they have trouble making ends meet each month. Nearly a third of Jews and a majority of Arabs say they will probably be unemployed at some point before they retire. "The work market has changed," Hermann said. "You don't have tenure [anymore]. In high-tech, from age 45 on, you're obsolete. There's an element of fear here. Maybe [difficulties] won't happen, but the fear is it will happen. That's not even to mention wars and things like that." Israeli Jews in particular, according to the survey, look to the government to better their lives. Nearly 60 percent of Jews prefer a "Scandinavian model" economy, with high taxes and a robust welfare state, over an "American model" with lower taxes and fewer government services. Nearly half of Jews (45 percent) say they want more government involvement in the economy. Majorities of all Israelis also want the government to spend more on the following sectors: health, police, education, academia, transit, welfare and housing. But most Jews are critical of their government, according to the survey. Almost 62 percent say their tax burden is unfair. Most rate Israel's civil service "poor" or "very poor" when it came to areas like efficiency, transparency and quality of service. And most say government improves when experts from the private sector join the civil service. "Israelis are unlike some in the U.S. that consider the government part of the problem," said IDI President Yohanan Plesner. "In Israel, people have very high expectations of the government to be involved and take responsibility. It means there's a much greater need to ensure the government is effective in the provision of services." Israeli Arabs, on the other hand, report higher levels of satisfaction with the government than do Jews, but a majority (63 percent) prefer the low-taxes, fewer-services American model of government. Only about a quarter want more government involvement in the economy. While Israeli Jews and Arabs differ on the role of government, neither trusts Israel's political institutions. A 2015 IDI survey found that less than half of Jewish and Arab citizens trust the government, the Knesset and Israel's political parties. Plesner said Arabs may prefer fewer government services because, unlike Jews, they feel the government discriminates against them and is not built to serve their needs. "There is perhaps less trust that if the government has a major role, that [Arabs] as a minority would benefit from it," Plesner said. "Jewish Israelis have low trust, but high expectations." The poll surveyed 500 Israeli Jews and 100 Israeli Arabs from March 29 to April 3, and has a 4.1 percent margin of error. News / National by Nqobile Tshili VICE President Emmerson Mnangagwa has warned wayward Zanu-PF officials that they are carrying out presidential assignments that can be withdrawn at President's Robert Mugabe's perogative. VP Mnangagwa was speaking yesterday at the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) Jotsholo Estate which he had visited to assess the work being carried out at the plantation.The VP was accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Joseph Made; the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Samuel Undenge; the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Sithembiso Nyoni; the Deputy Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Thokozile Mathuthu and Arda board chairperson Basil Nyabadza among other senior government officials.VP Mnangagwa said party members should keep in mind that they are all serving at President Mugabe's pleasure. "Let's remember that these are assignments we get assigned to work on. This can change at any time," VP Mnangagwa said.The VP said he was impressed with the work being done at Arda Jotsholo Estate which is under wheat. Mnangagwa's sentiments on wayward party members came after the party's Secretary for Finance, Obert Mpofu, said he was the fourth in command in Zanu PF's hierarchy."Zanu-PF is very procedural and regimental we follow procedures. We're lucky to be under President Mugabe's leadership who is also First Secretary in Zanu-PF. He is assisted by our Second Secretaries VP Mnangagwa and VP Phelekezela Mphoko, then comes the Secretary for Administration, Ignatius Chombo and myself as the Secretary for Finance I'm the fourth in command. This is not a minor achievement being number four in over 14 million people."When I'm close to these leaders it makes me think that one day I will reach them," said Mpofu. He said those tussling for positions should stop it and follow the party line.Mpofu hailed VP Mnangagwa for not being involved in the quarrels within Zanu-PF saying this has distinguished him from others. Palestinian youths search through rubble in the Gaza Strip in August 2014, during that summer's war between Israel and the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group. When it comes to the security situation at Israel's borders in recent years, no border has been more perilous for the Jewish state as its southern boundary with the Gaza Strip. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and the Palestinian terror group Hamas seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007. Since then, Gaza has given Israel three wars, thousands of rocket attacks, and a network of cross-border terror tunnels that Hamas is now trying to rebuild. Since the conclusion of the latest Israel-Hamas war in the summer of 2014, both Israel and the international community have taken steps to rebuild Gaza in order to ease the humanitarian situation there and prevent another conflict. But over the last several years, chaos in the rest of the Middle East has put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the back burner of regional priorities. An April 2016 report published by the World Bank, titled "Reconstructing Gaza - Donor Pledges," revealed that a number of leading Muslim nations have failed to live up to their pledges for the Gaza rebuilding effort. At a 2014 conference in Cairo, the international community pledged roughly $3.5 billion over three years for Gaza. But as of the end of March 2016, only $1.4 billion had been delivered compared to the scheduled $2.7 billion. Several Arab states have fallen significantly short of their stated pledges for Gaza. Qatar, which promised the most aid at $1 billion, has so far only donated $152 million, the World Bank said. Saudi Arabia, the second-leading pledger, has delivered only 10 percent of its promise of $500 million. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has sent 15 percent of its pledge of $200 million. Turkey, which is one of Hamas's top international supporters, has delivered one-third of the $200 million it pledged. By contrast, the United States has sent all of its pledged $277 million and the European Union has sent nearly three-quarters of its $348 million commitment. "The Arab states are notorious for failing to deliver on the aid they promise to the Palestinians. This is a longstanding issue and one that has ultimately led the U.S. to remain as one of the leading donors to the Palestinians," Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank, told JNS.org. Following the World Bank report, the U.S. in May announced a new $50 million aid package for Gaza. According to American officials, the aid-which will be distributed by the U.S. Agency for International Development in conjunction with Catholic Relief Services-will be dispersed over five years to provide basic humanitarian assistance and to create jobs. Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank and a former advisor to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, told JNS.org that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is "extremely dire, with no light at the end of the tunnel." He cited a 2015 World Bank report that characterized Gaza's economy as being "on the verge of collapse," with an unemployment rate of 43 percent and 39 percent of the territory's residents living in poverty. According to a 2015 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report, Gaza could become "uninhabitable" by 2020. Gaza's reconstruction has been limited by a long list of factors, including a divided Palestinian movement, inter-Arab rivalries, regional turmoil, and the security blockade maintained by Israel and Egypt to prevent rockets and other weapons from reaching Gaza-based terror groups. "Gaza reconstruction is one of those line items that is a certainty in wasting funds," said FDD's Schanzer. "The Hamas-led government starts to rebuild areas destroyed by Israel in the last conflict, then Hamas or some splinter group launches a war against Israel, prompting an Israeli reprisal. Anyone who looks at this as an investment would see it as a rather poor one, so there is that concern." Arab states' support for the Palestinians "has often been generous but unpredictable," al-Omari said. "This unpredictability is often related to competing priorities and political considerations," he said. "In the case of Gaza, there are economic, regional, and political factors. The drop in oil prices has limited the availability of assistance funds in many Gulf states. Other regional humanitarian crises, especially the Syria refugee crisis, are seen by regional countries as a more pressing, immediate priority." Inter-Muslim and regional rivalries, particularly relating to the Shi'a Muslim power of Iran, have also played a role in slowing Gaza's reconstruction. "Iranian influence [in the Middle East] is looked at with disdain by most of the Arab actors, and Iran continues to hold sway with Hamas at some level," Schanzer said, adding that Sunni Arab states have natural "reservations about funding an Iranian proxy." Additionally, Hamas's ties with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood-from which the Palestinian terror group originated-is a concern among Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE, which have all declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organization. "The conflict between Egypt on the one hand, and Qatar and Turkey on the other hand, over the latter's support for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas has slowed down reconstruction assistance. In the case of Turkey, aid to Gaza has been an issue in the ongoing Turkish-Israeli reconciliation talks," al-Omari said. Finally, disunity among the Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah-the political party that controls the West Bank-based PA-has hindered the flow of goods and services into Gaza. Due to Hamas's control over Gaza, which it violently took from the PA in 2007, delivering aid to the coastal territory is complicated. According to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism that was established in 2014 between the United Nations, Israel, and the PA, reconstruction is supposed to be carried out by the PA, international bodies, and the private sector. While Hamas and other Gaza terror organizations-including Islamic Jihad and Islamic State-inspired Salafi groups-continue to threaten Israel, the Israeli military, through the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), has been working to support the rebuilding of Gaza. According to COGAT's January and March 2016 Gaza reconstruction reports, more than 3.4 million tons of goods have entered Gaza since the end of the 2014 war. "In 2015, there was a 108-percent increase in the number of trucks entering Gaza and an increase of over 120 percent in the amount of goods entering Gaza. In 2015, 139,364 trucks of goods entered Gaza carrying construction materials (over 3.7 tons), medical equipment, and other good for the benefit of Gaza's civilian population," COGAT said. "The entrance of merchants from Gaza into Israel has grown by 325 percent in the last year. In addition, over 11,500 tons of agricultural goods from Gaza were distributed in Israel, Judea and Samaria, and abroad in 2015," the Israeli agency added. Israel has also facilitated a number of building projects in Gaza, including housing, schools, and other infrastructure projects that are mostly funded by international organizations, foreign countries, the PA, and private donors. Most recently, the Israeli government extended the maritime zone for Palestinian fishermen from six to nine nautical miles and decided to reopen the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, the latter move intending to ease the flow of goods into Gaza. Yet Israeli concern about Gaza remains high, with the Israel Defense Forces recently uncovering at least two cross-border Hamas attack tunnels. Following the discovery of the second tunnel in May, Israel and Hamas engaged in renewed exchanges of fire, putting Israelis living along the Gaza border on alert. "The Israelis are still very concerned and alarmed about Hamas's continued military buildup of rockets and tunnels or other materials that have been smuggled into Gaza," Schanzer said. But Israelis also view the reconstruction of Gaza as a possible way to prevent future conflict. "They also understand that the failure of allowing Hamas to rebuild could lead to a new conflict," said Schanzer, explaining that Israel "is working through Turkey and Qatar, the primary state sponsors of Hamas right now, to ensure that rebuilding takes place primarily under the watchful eye of the Israelis at a measured pace-one in which the Israelis can feel comfortable about what is allowed into the Gaza Strip and who the end users are." At the same time, by working with Turkey and Qatar, Israel might be undermining its own goal of ridding Gaza of Hamas. "It is very interesting because they are working with the Qataris and Turks, which is a very awkward partnership, and they are working seemingly against their own goal of weakening the Hamas government over time," Schanzer said. Israel's rationale, he explained, could be that Hamas rule in Gaza may be preferable to a takeover there by actors such as Islamic State-affiliated terror groups. "The broader issue is that Israel appears to be content to leave a weakened and hobbled Hamas in place," Schanzer said. "Israel seems to have adopted the policy of the devil they know." WASHINGTON (JTA)A bill unanimously approved by the U.S. House of Representatives would extend religious protections to advocates of circumcision and ritual slaughter as well as atheists, addressing what its sponsors describe as an increase in religious persecution in recent years. The bill, passed Monday, would broaden the definition of violations of religious freedom in the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the persecution of advocates of male circumcision or ritual animal slaughter. Atheists would become a new protected class. The measure, which moves to the Senate for consideration, was named for retired Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a long-time champion of human rights who authored the 1998 law. The world is experiencing an unprecedented crisis of international religious freedom, a crisis that continues to create millions of victims; a crisis that undermines liberty, prosperity and peace; a crisis that poses a direct challenge to the U.S. interests in the Middle East, Russia, China and sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who authored the bill, said in a statement. There have been increasing calls in recent years in northern European countries for an end to circumcision and ritual slaughter, spurred in part by anti-Muslim hostility, U.S. government and European Jewish officials have said. The bills tier system for how well or poorly countries protect religious freedom would be similar to the one used in the annual State Department report on human trafficking. That report is influential, and countries seeking the good graces of the United States strive to improve their ranking by cracking down on the practice. Smith is the chairman of the House subcommittee on human rights, and as a co-chairman of the Helsinki Committee, the congressional panel that monitors human rights overseas, has made the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe a focus. Smiths office, announcing the passage of the bill, headlined the statement Combating Persecution of Christians and Anti-Semitism, although many of its protections would extend in the current climate to moderate Sunni Muslims and non-Sunni Muslim sects in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Myanmar. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., the bills lead Democratic sponsor, said in the same statement that the bill would better address the religious freedom and violent extremism problems being experienced in the 21st century. The bill integrates the 1998 laws protections into U.S. national security priorities, mandating that the ambassador at large for religious freedomcurrently Rabbi David Saperstein, a veteran Reform movement leaderreport directly to the secretary of state. It also adds new requirements for presidential reporting to Congress on religious freedom violations and training for diplomats in identifying violations of religious freedoms. Everyone goes through transitions at some point in their lives. Transitions are part of life, whether it be divorce, losing a loved one, empty nesting, retirement, aging or any number of life changing events. Jewish Family Services is offering a Life Transitions Support Group to help people learn coping skills to navigate through life changes. The Life Transitions Support Group meets on Thursday evenings, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., through June 23, at the Roth Family JCC, 851 N. Maitland Ave., Maitland. For registration or information, call Jeanette Brownstein, JFS Orlando director of Programs, at 407-644-7593, ext. 232. Sessions will be led by a licensed mental health professional. A 45 per session contribution is suggested. This program is made possible in part by a grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando. Heritage Florida Jewish News is accepting nominations for the 2016 Heritage Human Service Award, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando on Aug. 17. For almost 30 years, individuals who have made major, voluntary contributions of their talent, time, energy and effort to the Central Florida community have been honored with the selection and presentation of this award, said Jeff Gaeser, editor and publisher of the Heritage. Last years recipient was Berny Raff. Former recipients have included Wolf Kahn (1999), Robert Petree (2007), and Loren London (2014). According to Gaeser, Each recipient chose their own path, but made considerable and long-lasting contributions to the Jewish community. Nominees for the 2016 award are individuals who do not look for recognition, but perform tikun olanrepairing the worldout of internal motivation. Nominations should be emailed to news@orlandoheritage.com with the subject Human Service Award, or typed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and sent by mail to Heritage Florida Jewish News, Human Service Award, 207 OBrien Road, Suite 101, Fern Park, FL 32730. Included should be the name and phone number of the nominee, a documented list of his or her accomplishments, and the name and phone number of the nominator(s). The Heritage is accepting nominations until Friday, June 3. Austrian far-right pols narrow loss in presidential runoff provides wake-up call, Jewish groups say (JTA)European Jewish groups reacted with relief to the victory by a left-wing politician over a far-right candidate in Austrias presidential elections. Alexander van der Bellen, an environmentalist with a pro-refugee agenda, won with 50.3 percent of the vote on Sunday, despite early reports predicting victory for Norbert Hofer of the Austrian Freedom Party party, or FPO, in the runoff, the BBC reported. Hofer had 49.7 percent of the vote. While we are certainly satisfied with the result, there is little room to celebrate the high level of support for someone with such extremist views as Norbert Hofer, European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor said in a statement Monday. Unfortunately, the dissatisfaction with the moderate mainstream parties is providing oxygen to those like Hofer and the Austrian Freedom Party. We are seeing signs of these trends across Europe, so it is incumbent on the more centrist parties to use this as a wake-up call and listen to the grievances of the people, he said. The Jewish Community of Vienna has shunned the Freedom Party, which it regards as having problematic ties to neo-Nazis. Party Chairman Heinz-Christian Strache has denied the allegations and recently visited Israel, where he met with Likud arty officials. In 2012, Strache apologized for posting on Facebook a caricature depicting an obese, hook-nosed banker wearing star-shaped cufflinks. Striking a more optimistic note, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, the president of the Conference of European Rabbis, said the result is a clear sign that Europe is beginning to realize that hate and fear politics are not the answer to the many challenges we are facing as a continent. The Freedom Party has campaigned hard against the admittance of migrants from the Middle East, including refugees, citing their religion, Islam, which the party says is irreconcilable with European values. Austria has taken in 100,000 migrants from the Middle East over the past yearaction that commentators say has generated a backlash of discontent that is helping the far right. Oskar Deutsch, president of the Jewish Community in Vienna, told JTA: I am very happy that van der Bellen won the election. He happens to be a good friend for many years to the Jewish community and a very good friend of the State of Israel. He also said he is happy the other candidate didnt win. Many Austrians voted for Hofer out of protest against the government and not because they are sympathetic to the FPO, Deutsch said. Amsterdam to pay Jewish community $11M for Holocaust survivor taxes (JTA)The city of Amsterdam will give its Jewish community $11 million as compensation for taxes imposed on Holocaust survivors who returned home to the Dutch capital following World War II. Upon their return, according to an article in The Telegraph on Monday, the survivors were made to pay a tax because their homes were left empty during the Holocaust. They also had to pay back taxes for the years they had been taken away from the city, as well as insurance fees. The taxes were discovered by a student in 2013, and that year, Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said the city should put it right, according to The Telegraph. On Friday, the city said it would pay the $11 millionan estimate of the total taxes paid by survivors following the war. Amsterdam has 5 million to 10 million euros in its coffers that it doesnt want, and we have no right to it, so we want to give it back to the Jewish community to be used for important projects, a spokesman for the mayor said, according to the Telegraph. Finding the individual people or their relatives would be very costly and complex, and that is not the idea. The city has suggested the money be put toward a Holocaust memorial monument or community programs. US will work with new Israeli defense minister, State Department says JERUSALEM (JTA)The appointment of hard-liner Avigdor Liberman as Israels new defense minister will not affect security coordination between Israel and the United States or the military aid package being negotiated, an unnamed U.S. government official said, according to an Israeli television report. The report by Channel 10 on Sunday came hours after another Israeli TV station, Channel 2, reported that the U.S. warned Israel that the appointment of Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, would cause problems for the defense talks. Liberman in the defense post will succeed Moshe Yaalon, who resigned from his ministerial position as well as the Knesset on Friday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was immersed in talks to replace him with Liberman. We appreciate Mr. Yaalons leadership and partnership as defense minister and we look forward to working with his successor, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Friday, Reuters reported. Our bonds of friendship are unbreakable, and our commitment to the security of Israel remains absolute. Yaalon said in leaving that the Likud party had been taken over by extremist and dangerous entities, and that Likud is no longer the movement I joined. Bringing Yisrael Beiteinu into the government coalition increases the one-seat majority to six. On Saturday night, several hundred protesters gathered in Habimah Square in Tel Aviv to protest the new political coalition. Protesters chanted slogans such as Bibi you failed, Bibi go home and We dont want more victims, Liberman is a minister of war, The Jerusalem Post reported. Netanyahu said Sunday morning during the weekly Cabinet meeting that from the time the government was formed, he planned to expand the government coalition. A government that is as broad as possible is the best thing for the State of Israel. We are in the midst of moves to expand the government. I think that a broader coalition will help us meet the many challenges facing us and also take advantage of the opportunities, Netanyahu said. I would like to make it clear that a broad government will continue to strive for a diplomatic process with the Palestinians and we will do so with the assistance of elements in the region. I personally deal with this a lot, in many places and I intend to continue to do so. French pol probed for no dogs and Jews allowed Twitter feed (JTA)A municipality in southern France alerted prosecutors to a local politicians Twitter account featuring remarks on banning Jews and dogs along with imagery from the Holocaust. Montpelier prosecutors were notified Monday of the statement attributed to Djamel Boumaaz, a Muslim former member of the far-right National Front party, the Liberation daily reported. Boumaaz, who quit the party last year over what he termed anti-Muslim sentiments by party leader Marine Le Pen, said the remarks were made by an identified person who had hijacked his Twitter account, the news site Infos H24 reported. The account, which was closed Monday, informed readers and subscribers that entering it was forbidden to dogs and to Jews, Liberation reported. Another tweet dated Sunday featured a black-and-white picture of corpses and the text OK, lets make up besides I have a heap of Jewish friends. A third tweet read: My son has nightmares from your Holocaust. I told him not to be afraid of imaginary things. Boumaaz, a known associate of the Holocaust denier Alain Soral and anti-Semitic comedian Dieudone Mbala Mbala, was the No. 2 man on the National Front list for the municipal elections in Montpelier in 2014. Gilles Clavreul, Frances interministerial delegate for the fight against racism and anti-Semitism, said on Twitter that he had contacted the social medias French office demanding the closure of Boumaazs account for hate speech, which is illegal in France. Earlier this month, Halles de Lyon, a co-op that operates a major market place in that city in eastern France, fired an employee who wrote on Facebook: If there was one word I could have removed from the dictionary, it would be Holocaust. He was fired on May 7, according to Radio Scoop. Separately, Frances Union of Jewish Students, or UEJF, and the anti-racist organization SOS Racisme have taken Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to court for not complying with their obligations to moderate or delete hate material on social media, Le Parisien reported last week. The two groups, together with SOS Homophobie, said that March 31 and May 10, they had found 586 examples of content deemed as racist, anti-Semitic, pertaining to Holocaust denial, homophobic, or justifying terrorism or crimes against humanity. However, the groups reported, only 4 percent of these messages were deleted by Twitter, 7 percent by YouTube and 34 percent by Facebook. Forward hires digital strategist as its new publisher (JTA)The Forward, the English-language newspaper and website founded as the Yiddish Daily Forward in 1897, has named a veteran digital media strategist as its new publisher. Rachel Fishman Feddersen, founder of the digital strategy firm RFF Consulting and former general manager of digital at The Week and MentalFloss.com, will begin her new position in June, the Forward announced Monday. Rachel brings tremendous expertise and leadership skills to the Forward, Samuel Norich, the current publisher, said in a statement. She has a strong record of achievement in journalism, and she understands what it takes to build a first rate 21st century media organization. Norich will remain as president and CEO of the Forward. According to the statement, Feddersens appointment comes as part of a strong push by the organization to become a digital-first source for Jewish news, which included in 2015 a rebranding and a new website. A print edition appears weekly. In March, Norich announced an aggressive series of changes and staff layoffs, mostly on the business side, as part of a strategy for growth that will set us on a strong course for the years to come. Prior to her work at The Week and MentalFloss.com, Feddersen oversaw digital news operations as chief content officer at Patch.com, a hyperlocal news operation formerly run by AOL, and worked in the online and news operations of The Parenting Group, LadiesHomeJournal.com and Disneys Family.com. I am deeply committed to the Forwards unique mission: to be the leading news organization for American Jews, and to embody the best in independent enterprise and cultural journalism, Feddersen said in a statement. The Forward is an icon, but one thats evolving, and embracing its role as the leading voice for progressive Jews in this generation and those to come. A Yiddish-language edition of the Forward appears biweekly and has its own daily website. Georgia candidate apologizes for highlighting opponents religion as not Christian (JTA)An attorney running for a judgeship in Georgia apologized for referencing his Jewish opponents religion as not Christian in his campaign literature. Roderick Bridges apologized on Saturday to Dax Lopez, the incumbent on the DeKalb County State Court, for literature that listed Bridges as Christian with a thumbs-up sign and Lopez as not Christian with a thumbs-down sign. Bridges also included party affiliationhes a Republican and Dax is a Democratin what is supposed to be a nonpartisan race. Bridges would be the first African-American to hold the position; Lopez is Hispanic. Including religion on the checklist was intended to highlight his own commitment to his faith, Bridges said. I wasnt talking about him, I was more so talking about myself, he said, according to the Daily Report, a publication that covers Georgias courts. We werent trying to offend anybody, especially the Jewish population. Genesis Prize/JFN award grants $3.3M to programs for intermarried families (JTA)Some 28 projects to increase outreach to intermarried families will receive funding under a matching grants program between the Jewish Funders Network and the Genesis Prize. The $3.3 million in grants for the Avenues to Jewish Engagement for Intermarried Couples and their Families program were announced Sunday in New York at the Jerusalem Post Conference. The program was launched in honor of Academy Award-winning actor Michael Douglas, the recipient of the 2015 Genesis Prize for his commitment to Jewish values and the Jewish people. He pledged then to use the $1 million prize money to reach out to other Jews from intermarried families seeking a connection to the Jewish community, and announced grants to Hillel and the Jewish Funders Network for programs that reach out to intermarried children and couples. As someone who is not always welcomed in the Jewish community because my mother was not Jewish, I want to make sure that all those who desire to connect with Jewish culture and heritage have that opportunity, Douglas said in a statement when the grant program was announced in August. This fund will allow many organizations to continue, or to initiate, important work to engage intermarried couples and their children. Douglas prize was matched with a $1 million gift from philanthropist Roman Abramovich, creating a matching grant initiative that was administered by Jewish Funders Network. Among the programs that received funding were Honeymoon Israel, which offers subsidized trips to Israel for couples with at least one Jewish partner early in their committed relationship; Jewish ArtEck, a summer camp in Berlin, Germany, open to Jews from intermarried families, and JCC Manhattan, which will establish Circles of Welcome, a program to engage intermarried couples and their families in Jewish life and community through mentor-led learning groups. The 28 recipients are from the United States, Israel, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and China. Each project will run for up to two years. British Jewish groups call on Labour Party to suspend lawmaker (JTA)British Jewish groups and lawmakers have called on the Labour Party to suspend a Parliament member who compared Israel to the Nazis. The party said last week that Afzal Khan had been reminded of his responsibilities as a Labour representative, but that he would face no disciplinary action, the Jewish Chronicle reported Thursday. Kahn tweeted in August 2014, during Israels war with Hamas in Gaza, The Israeli government are acting like Nazis in Gaza. Khan in 2008 received a high national honor, the CBE, for his community and interfaith work, and is co-founder of The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester. It is staggering how often Labour politicians casually reference the Nazis when discussing the worlds only Jewish state, Parliament member Andrew Percy told the Telegraph. This is deeply offensive, causes a great deal of hurt to the Jewish community in the UK. Labour should move to suspend Afzal Khan immediately and start to take the issue of anti-Semitism more seriously. Eric Pickles, the UKs special envoy for post-Holocaust Issues, told the Telegraph: Another day, another Labour anti-Semite caught red-handed. Jeremy Corbyns failure to even suspend this MEP makes an absolute mockery of his promise to tackle anti-Semitism within his party. Concerns about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party surfaced last summer when Corbyna left-wing politician who called Hezbollah and Hamas activists his friends in 2009was elected to head the party. The anti-Semitism scandal began in earnest early this year amid claims that Jews were targeted at its chapter at Oxford University. Since then, at least 19 Labour officials have been suspended from the party for making statements deemed offensive to Jews or vitriolic about Israel. Republican Jews reportedly planning Donald Trump Israel trip WASHINGTON (JTA)Sheldon Adelson and the Republican Jewish Coalition reportedly are planning to bring Donald Trump to Israel. The Guardian over the weekend quoted what it said were sources close to the casino magnate as saying the RJCone of Adelsons major beneficiarieswas planning the trip at Adelsons behest, although nothing has been finalized. The RJC declined to comment and Trumps campaign did not return a request for comment. Trump, the real estate magnate and presumptive Republican nominee, has said he would visit Israel soon. Adelson, a leading pro-Israel philanthropist and a kingmaker among Republicans, recently endorsed Trump and reportedly has pledged to spend more than $100 million to elect him. Many Republican Jews are wary of Trump because of his equivocations on whether he would be neutral in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and would continue defense assistance to Israel. Also troubling to moderate Republicans are Trumps broadsides against Muslims, Hispanics and women. Trump canceled a planned trip to Israel in December after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the candidate for pledging to stop allowing Muslims entry into the United States. Adelson emailed top Republican Jewish leaders last week in an appeal to join him in backing Trump, saying he would be a better president for Israel than Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee. Bernie Sanders wants Dem platform to better reflect Palestinian aspirations WASHINGTON (JTA)Bernie Sanders wants to make Palestinian rights more of a priority in the Democratic Party platform, according to a report. The Washington Post reported on Friday that Sanders, the Vermont Independent senator seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, wants to see changes to the platform to better reflect Palestinian aspirations for statehood. Sanders, the only Jewish candidate to ever have won major party nominating contests, throughout the campaign has defended Israels right to security, but also has called for an end to settlement expansion and criticized what he has said has been Israels disproportionate response to Palestinian attacks. The platform as approved in 2012 refers to aspirations for a just and lasting agreement that would result in two states. Much of its 300 or so words are otherwise given over to protections for Israels security and a demand that Palestinians recognize Israels right to exist, reject violence, and adhere to existing agreements. Its only allusion to longstanding American calls on Israel not to prejudice a two-state outcome through settlement building is to encourage all parties to be resolute in the pursuit of peace. The party platform stirred controversy during the 2012 convention when a vote to insert language affirming Jerusalem as Israels capital was met with boos. Sanders is trailing front-runner Hillary Clinton in delegates, and the former secretary of state appears to have all but clinched the party nomination. Separately, Sanders told CNN in an interview that he was backing Tim Canova, a primary challenger to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who in her separate capacity as Democratic National Committee chairwoman has feuded with Sanders campaign. He also said he would not reappoint Wasserman Schultz as party chairwoman were he elected president. Sanders has said the DNC has rigged the election through its administration of its rules and by a debate schedule that at first appeared aimed at burying news coverage with placement in low-viewing time slots. The DNC added debates and Wasserman Schultz has said the rules were in place for years. Wasserman Schultz, one of the most prominent Jewish members of the partys congressional caucus, told The New York Times that she remained neutral in the race between Sanders and Clinton. Genesis Prize billionaire co-founder will leave his money to charity, none to 4 kids (JTA)Russian-Jewish billionaire Mikhail Fridman has announced plans to leave his entire fortune to charity, not leaving a single kopek for his children. Fridman, Russias second richest man, according to Forbes magazine, said Friday that he believed his children would be better off without his money, the Times of Israel reported, citing a translation of Russia Today. Forbes valued his worth as of Monday at $14.2 billion. Im not a big fan of such public statements, but I can say that I am going to transfer all my money to charity. I dont plan to transfer any money to my children, said Fridman, who is one of the founders of the Genesis Philanthropy Group. The Ukraine-born Fridman, 52, has four children, the youngest of whom is 10. He said they would be better off earning their own money. Fridman, co-owner of the Alfa Groupthe biggest financial and industrial investment group in Russiasaid his business partners also made the same decision about who would inherit their fortunes. Fridman has devoted much of his giving to Jewish culture and right-wing Israeli politics. According to the Jewish Press, he is a major patron of Jewish programs in Russia and throughout Europe, and is one of the founders of the Russian Jewish Congress. In 2012, Genesis created an annual prize informally referred to as the Jewish Nobel. Its recipients have been New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Hollywood actor-director Michael Douglas and Israeli-American violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman. Our forbears have left us something far more valuable than land, castles or titles, Fridman said, according to the Times of Israel. They left us the word, the book and a set of values and rules which, if understood correctly and applied diligently, lead to the ultimate reward in lifea sense of fulfillment and self-actualization. TEL AVIV (JTA)He was an outspoken politician with little military experience, appointed by a rival and promising to bring a new approach. Current and former officials at the Defense Ministry called his appointment an enigma, fretting that it will take some time until he understands how things work and that hell have to undergo basic training. The subject of that criticism wasnt Avigdor Liberman, the hard-line nationalist with scant army experience who was offered the defense portfolio in a surprise move Wednesday. It was Amir Peretz, the last non-general to hold the post, briefly, from 2006 to 2007. Peretz and Liberman dont actually have much in common. Before serving as defense minister Peretz, who hails from the Gaza border area, was the head of the Labor Party and the chairman of Israels Histadrut Labor Federation. Hes known as a dove who supports Israeli-Palestinian peace. Liberman, who lives in a West Bank settlement, is head of the hawkish Yisrael Beiteinu party. His peace plan includes drawing Israels border to exclude a large portion of its Arab citizens. But Liberman would do well to avoid the mistakes of Defense Minister Peretz, who is remembered for alleged mismanagement of the army and helping to launch a controversial war. Peretz campaigned in the March 2006 election on his forte, social and economic issues, but took the defense post after his party finished second at the ballot box and joined a coalition led by the centrist Kadima party. He was challenged immediately when Hamas kidnapped Israeli solider Gilad Shalit on the Gaza border that June, and Hezbollah kidnapped and killed two soldiers on the Lebanese border in July. The 2006 Lebanon War that followed saw 165 Israelis die in what was seen as a poorly executed campaign. Peretz resigned after a government-commissioned report in 2007 blamed Israels leadership for serious failings and flaws in the lack of strategic thinking and planning. One of the lasting images of his tenure was an infamous photo of Peretz surveying troops through binoculars with the covers still on the lenses. Liberman is a brash hawk who has inserted himself into Israels security discourse by lambasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for allegedly hesitating during the 2014 Gaza war and by calling for instituting a death penalty for terrorists. In March, he came out in support of Elor Azaria, the soldier who shot and killed an immobilized terrorist in Hebron. Just as defense officials challenged Peretz, the current defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, has not been afraid to suggest concern about his apparent replacement. On Thursday, he said Israel had lost its moral compass. Yaalon, a former left-winger who shifted right, has alienated his base by criticizing Azaria and defending an Israel Defense Forces official who compared Israel to 1930s Germany. But few doubted Yaalons security credentials. Liberman and Peretz arent the only defense ministers to take the post sans senior combat experience. Shimon Peres wasnt a general, and neither was Moshe Arens, both of whom served in the 1990s. But Peres served as director general of the Defense Ministry in the 1950s, while Arens held a senior post in Israel Aircraft Industries, which supplies the military. Despite his dearth of military chops, Liberman has already won words of welcome from right-wing politicians, but will now face the challenge of proving he can handle Israels top security post. On Wednesday, Bar-Ilan political science professor Shmuel Sandler told JTA Liberman will have to be flexible to gain the trust of the army. The current American presidential campaign features candidates who seem all too willing to set aside ethics for the sake of greater profits. One presumptive nominee proudly made large donations to politicians so they would do what I want to facilitate his business goals. The other took actions that benefited special interest groups, which then coincidentally donated large sums to her familys private foundation. Its clear that their approaches to accumulating wealth have worked. According to Forbes, Donald Trump is worth more than $4.5 billion, and the Clintons have made $230 million since the husband of current Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton left the White House. But is the quantity of their profits matched by the quality of their character? I wonder what Harold Jacobs would have thought of all this. Jacobs (1912-1995) served as president of the Crown Heights Yeshiva, the Orthodox Union, and the National Council of Young Israel; he also chaired the New York City Board of Higher Educationa first for an Orthodox Jew. But his remarkable resume began with a string of business successes achieved by dint of hard work and determination. He built Precisionware, Inc. into the second-largest manufacturer of kitchen cabinets in the United States, along the way serving as a leader of the Commerce, Labor, Industry Corporation of Kings County (which rebuilt the Brooklyn Navy Yard) and on governor Nelson Rockefellers advisory committee on small business. While working on a biography of JacobsBuilding Orthodox Judaism in America: The Life and Legacy of Harold M. Jacobs, published last yearI came across a remarkable speech that he gave to a group of Jewish businessmen in Allentown, Pa., in 1964. The topic of Jacobss talk that day was business ethics. His words were at once a stinging rebuke to his professional colleagues and an inspiring insight into the theme of his professional life: morality, not profit-making, as the true key to business success. Most American businessmen were clever, energetic, and efficient, Jacobs acknowledgedbut they were losing their insight into the moral sources of American economic strength and thus were in danger of being defeated by the competitor of us all, moral decay. The American economy would never have succeeded had it not been guided by men more concerned with the betterment of the human spirit than the comforts of the body, Jacobs insisted. Human history is studded with the ruins of empires and nations [that were] wrecked because they lacked an overriding moral goal to which individuals could commit themselves...when we become success-dominated, we lose sight of our real reasons for living. What were the signs that American (and American Jewish) businessmen in the 1960s were losing their way? The vulgar ostentation all around us; the sexual laxity of the times; the widespread defiance of the law; and a general toleration of wrongdoing. Traditional religion, once a formidable barrier against immorality, now tends to be superficial...for many laymen it consists of writing an occasional check and sporadic attendance at synagogue, rather than in personal commitment, said Jacobs, who bemoaned what he called the dearth of saints in this world. The modern executives business ethics were a conspicuous failure, Jacobs continued. A young executive rapidly moving up the financial ladder unequivocally stated in private conversation with me, It is impossible to conduct business in the U.S. today without breaking the law, he said. Many businessmen kept an equal variety of balance sheets. Information on many tax returns constituted outright perjury. Suppliers bribed purchasing agents, industries bribed state legislators, and businessmen bribed witnesses or paid off policemen in order to ensure protection of some dubious enterprise, lamented Jacobs. Certainly competition was the bedrock of the free enterprise system, Jacobs said. But competing in ways that are designed to destroy someone else is very different from competing in terms of doing better than your rival, he argued. Cutting down ones rival does not make a person taller, Jacobs admonished his listeners. To seek a crippling advantage over another company, he said, is hardly fair competition and is certainly miserable ethics. But what should be done about this? The American businessman should literally place ethics on the agendafor himself at home and in the office, and at home, he needs to emphasize moral values, said Jacobs. Even his conversation at the table [can] serve the vital end of character education for himself, his wife, his children, and his guests...The stories he tells, the gestures he makes, the conversation he chooses and avoids, can all show that he has at least some notion of what life, America, and freedom are about, he said, adding that in the office, a businessmans decisions should be based on expert advice on ethics, and that he should put moral health on the same level as mental and physical health, indeed above them. Jacobs concluded by alluding to the reluctance of Moses to assume the burden of leadership. The American businessman, who at his best embodies man of the Prophetic virtues, must also shoulder a unique burden of responsibility, Jacobs told his audience. The fate of the world hangs on his decisions, for above all the world needs ethical leadership from those it respects as supremely practical. Certainly Jacobs would not have seen anything wrong with admiring people who are successful. His quarrel would have been not with the acquisition of mansions and private jets, but rather the ways in which they were acquired. And the ways used by some of todays political leaders seem questionable at best. Dr. Rafael Medoff is the author of 16 books about Jewish history. Despite leaving the world an unsafer place than when he found it, President Barack Obama isnt shying away from busting those foreign policy taboos. The president who brought us a nuclear deal with the Iranian mullahs, and who gave Cubas fossilized communist regime a new lease on life, is about to fly to Japan. Once there, he will highlight the grave dangers of nuclear war in the city that has become a synonym for Armageddon: Hiroshima. Today, May 27, Obama will become the first president to visit Hiroshima since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city on Aug. 6, 1945, claiming up to 150,000 lives. On Aug. 9, a second bomb hit Nagasaki, killing up to 80,000 people. As a result, the war in the Pacific against the Japanese Empire ended with Tokyos full surrender just six days later. The human toll was dreadful and the attacks on Japan remain the only concrete example we have of the kinds of horrors that are visited by nuclear weapons. In that sense, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings urge both grief and moral reflection. Its expected that Obama will use his trip to Hiroshima to repeat the recent call of his secretary of state, John Kerry, to create and pursue a world free from nuclear weapons, issued during Kerrys own visit to the Japanese city last month. There has been much debate over whether Obama will offer an explicit apology for Hiroshima. For whatever its worth, the White House is currently denying that the president will do so. Yet the very prospect of Obamas presence in Hiroshima is troubling, because of the enormous distance he has put between his own foreign policy and that of many of his predecessors. Several commentators have correctly pointed out the rich irony of an American president presenting a chastened account of Americas wartime actions when, in our own time, Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons and North Korea already has them. Not to mention that the threat of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and East Asia looms larger now than ever before. On top of the burdens of the present, though, there are the burdens of the past. The problem with turning Hiroshima into a universal symbol is that the historical context around the tragedy is removed. We have to remember that Japan was still fighting fiercely in August 1945, after its Nazi German ally had been defeated, and was prepared to sacrifice its entire population to counter the Allies. A land invasion in this environment would have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops. That was a key consideration behind the decision to end the war by dropping the bomb. Nobody should celebrate that decision. But it is reasonable to say that any contrition on the part of America and its Western allies should be matched by equal, if not greater, contrition by the government of Japan. After all, Japan launched the war on America in 1941. Its subsequent treatment of the peoples in Japanese occupied territories as well as Allied prisoners of war is, alongside the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in the history of World War II. But post-war Germany has faced up to its past, has paid reparations to survivors, and continues to memorialize the 6 million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazis. Nothing remotely similar has taken place in Japan. The catalogue of Japanese atrocities is long and grim. There was the massacre in the Chinese city of Nanking in 1937, in which up to 300,000 died. That was part of a reign of terror in China in which civilians were turned into slave laborers and poison gas was used by the Japanese military to quell resistance. Thousands of women in Japanese occupied territories from Korea to the Philippines were used as sex slaves by Japanese officers, who referred to them insultingly as comfort women. Around 13,000 Allied POWs and 100,000 local slave laborers died during the construction of the death railway connecting Burma with Thailand, or Siam as it was then known. Thousands of American and Filipino POWs lost their lives during the infamous Bataan death march that ended at Japanese prison camps. And that is only a partial list. Japan never paid meaningful reparations to the survivors of the imperial atrocitiesa marked contrast not just in relation to Germany, but also to America that, under the Ronald Reagan administration, paid out $20,000 to the families of Japanese Americans unjustly interned during the Second World War. In 1998, when Emperor Akihito visited London, surviving British POWs used the occasion to point out that they had received a paltry $200 as compensation for the torture and incarceration they endured at the hands of the Japanese. Thousands more victims in Asia received exactly nothingno recognition, no compensation, and no apology. Just last month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received harsh criticism for sending a ritual offering to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, where some of Japans worst war criminals are honored. Abes spokesman defended his boss by saying that he had used his own funds for the offering, rather than public money, but when you consider who is commemorated at the shrine, you have to ask whether Japans elected leader really grasps the nature of his countrys wartime atrocities. Those commemorated at Yasukuni include 14 Class A war criminals convicted by the International Tribunal after the war. Among them you will find Heitaro Kimura, who bore prime responsibility for the death railway; Seishiro Itagaki, who commanded Japanese troops in China at the end of the 1930s; and Akira Muto, a former military attache to Nazi Germany who oversaw the Nanking massacre. Hearing the names of these men should arouse the same kind of revulsion we feel when we hear the names of Nazis like Eichmann or Goebbels. But it seems that we have largely forgotten their Japanese counterparts and their appalling crimes. As of this writing, President Obama has not yet departed for Japan, and his Hiroshima remarks are, presumably, still to be written. If he does decide, in the end, to offer an apology for the nuclear strike on Hiroshima, perhaps he might also have the courage to demand that Japans present leaders engage similarly with their countrys own gruesome record. Perhaps... Ben Cohen, senior editor of TheTower.org & The Tower Magazine, writes a weekly column for JNS.org on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics. His writings have been published in Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. He is the author of Some of My Best Friends: A Journey Through Twenty-First Century Antisemitism (Edition Critic, 2014). There is a war going on in the United States. It is being fought on college campuses across the nation. This battle is not about Affirmative Action or the ridiculous costs of a college education. Not even about Bernie and Hillarythats a different one with its own dynamics. No, this is about a well-funded, well-organized movement to discredit the State of Israel and by proxy every Jew in the world. Of all the injustices piled upon the peoples of the world, why should so much attention be paid to tiny Israel? Why not Russia with its abysmal human rights record? Why not Saudi Arabia with its Wahhabism and the rights of its women? Why not Miramar or Uganda or Iran? Its the money. Arab money has paid for most of the hatred, misinformation and pure anti-Semitism heaped upon the homeland of the Jewish people. When Israel declared its independence 68 years ago, all the Arab nations, most of whom had been well trained by the British Army, came to destroy a new nation located on less than one percent of the land of the Middle East. A nation with no oil, no diamonds, no hostile army. Just Jews. They failed, of course. As they did in 1957, 1963 and 1967. So, the new tactic does not require armies or air forces or naval vessels. It is a battle for minds and hearts. It is not being fought in the newspapers or on television; it is being fought on college campuses across the country. It is called BDS (boycott, divest and sanction the State of Israel). It seeps into the classrooms of gullible students. It takes advantage of the lack of education and vulnerability of the millennials. And it is really well-funded. Arab governments are funding organizations on campus of which BDS is the most visible. It is creating a mindset on campus that moves swiftly from anti-Israel to anti-Jew. Arabs have money. Every time you fill up your gas tank, you see to that. And they have never spent significant funds to better the lives of fellow Arabs in Gaza, the West Bank or in the squalid refugee camps that have lingered for four generations. One of the mantras of BDS is about settlements being built on Palestinian land. No. First of all, very little of the land of Israel, Gaza or the Palestinian territories ever belonged to Palestinians. It belonged for generations to absentee landlords in Turkey or elsewhere. Over many years most of it was purchased by the Jewish National Fund to settle Jews not welcome in other peoples countries. Matter of fact, the JNF still owns about 17 percent of the land of Israel. BDS is trying to put Jews out of business. Adolph Hitler and his minions started by putting Jews out of business before he started slaughtering us. Casting us as The Other has been the weapon of choice of many groups, organizations and governments since Roman times. The head of BDS is a man named Omar Barghouti. He is an activist born in Qatar and educated in the U.S. Right now, and you will find it hard to believe thisthis guy who wants to ban all Israeli products in the world is in the PhD program at Tel Aviv University. He finds himself as an Arab in the middle of a large Jewish University, with all the benefits of the State of Israel. He who claims that Israel not only discriminates, but practices Apartheid against Arabs. He buys Israeli clothing, eats Israeli food products, buys everyday necessities made in Israel and wants the rest of the world to stop buying them. About three months ago, Rachel and I, along with son Tom and daughter Robin were in South Africa. We visited the notorious township of Soweto, a black Township where, during Apartheid, black Africans in their own country were forced to live. We met people who lived under it or observed it as white citizens. Barghouti who is taking his PhD in philosophy would do better to go to Joberg and learn some history. Apartheid does not let the citizens against whom it discriminates sit as Judges or members of the government, much less attain a PhD at one of its universities. BDS is paid for by Arab governments who use Anti-Semitism to take attention from their overt discrimination, funding of extremist mosques and participation in horrific terror acts around the world. If BDS were to be followed, inventions from voice mail to breakthrough medical research would be gone from our lives. BDS was in part responsible for Soda Stream leaving the West Bank, costing over five hundred Arabs their jobs. Give up the wonders that the Jews bring to the world. But dont call it justice. Call it what it is. Anti-Semitism in yet another cloak. PITTSBURGH (JTA)As a U.S. immigrant and a parent, Im somewhat fanatical about my kids appreciation for their citizenship. Last year I organized what I hope will be an annual second-grade field trip to our local swearing-in ceremony for new American citizens. As a result of that experience, I discovered the students at our childrens Orthodox day school werent reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every day. I just assumedlike a lot of parents at the schoolthey did. Years ago, when the school had a PA system, the pledge was recited to the whole school. But when it became the decision of individual teachers whether to say it in the classroom or not, some did and some didnt. And over the years fewer and fewer teachers did. Ive successfully pushed the school to get back into the habit of a daily recitation. Saying the Pledge of Allegiance daily is an important action for all kids, not just for those of immigrants. Taking American citizenship for granted, which is what can happen when you dont establish a daily reminder like the pledge, is a big step toward ignorance, and that can result in the inability to fully participate in or defend our republic. But theres good news for Jewish day school students: The daily recitation of the pledge should be easy to implement. Theres terrific symmetry between the American pledge and the Jewish traditionJews, as it happens, already have a pledge of allegiance that is recited daily: the Shema. The Shema opens with what is the basic statement of Jewish belief: Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. The twice-daily recitation of this affirmation of Jewish principle is commanded in the Bible, but it is separate from the obligation to pray. The bulk of the Shema is made up of three biblical textsDeuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41and discusses some of Judaisms basic principles: love of God, Torah study, the concept of divine reward and punishment, and the exodus from Egypt. Since ancient times, it has been recited consistently and without editorial changes. The Pledge of Allegiance is slightly younger, having first been published in 1892 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. In their 2010 book, The Pledge: A History of the Pledge of Allegiance, authors Jeffrey Owen Jones and Peter Meyer explain how the author, Francis Bellamy, wanted the pledge to be a vehicle for expressing intelligent patriotismmeaning not only love of country, but awareness of the nations ideals. The pledge was recognized officially by Congress in 1942 and the words under God were added by President Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954. From this day forward, the millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty, Eisenhower declared at the time. Yet as commonplace as it may have been to recite daily this affirmation of fidelity and loyalty to our country, it isnt common practice today. The Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that no one could be forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and, due to objections to the phrase under God, public schools have either stopped having students say it or allow those who object to remain silent. Some 43 states have legislation requiring daily recitation of the pledge at public schools, but enforcement of such rules is another story. Only Wisconsin requires that the pledge also be said by private school students. With day schools, it is difficult to get a full accounting of any policies on saying the pledge -- suggesting, perhaps, where it falls among school priorities. Most, however, recite the Shema daily. Virtually all Jewish community day schools have daily tefillah in which Shema is said, explains Dr. Marc Kramer, co-executive director of Ravsak, the Jewish community day school network. We do not have data on which U.S. schools also call upon students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The story was the same when I spoke to Bradley Solmsen, head of the Progressive Association of Reform Day Schools. It is likely the vast majority are saying Shema as part of daily tefillah, he said, adding he would be very surprised if there are Pardes schools where the pledge is a regular part of their day. I could not find any Orthodox, Chabad or haredi Orthodox schools where the Shema is not recited dailybut there is an equal and opposite lack of information on recitation of the pledge. Rabbi Shmuel Klein, director of publications and communication at Torah Umesorah, an organization of haredi schools, said it was a reasonable assumption that some schools said the pledge, though he also said that some did not. The issue has never been raised, Klein said. Theres no conscious decision to remove it from the daily regime, but theres so many things in the daily schedule that it hasnt been a priority. The one exception was the response from the executive director of the Schechter Day School Network, Jon Mitzmacher. Schechter schools engage their students in daily prayer and participate in patriotic rituals such as offering the Pledge of Allegiance [if based in the States], he said. This is exactly right. Not only should Jewish day school children be reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, but teaching the symmetries with the two would go a long way toward generating a proper understanding of the importance of each. The Talmud (Brachot 13a) describes reciting the Shema not as tefillah (prayer) but as kabbalat ol malchut shamayim, which can be understood as the daily renewed acceptance of Gods authority on ourselves as individuals. Rabbi Daniel Yolkut, spiritual leader of Pittsburghs Poale Zedeck Orthodox congregation, sees the parallels between the Shema and the Pledge of Allegiance. The idea [of the Shema as a pledge of allegiance] is particularly provocative as it implies that there is a need for human buy-in even to the absolute rule of God, he said. Similarly, we need to buy in to the notion of pride in our American citizenship. Valuing and appreciating that gift of Americanness does not happen by osmosis or accident. The responsibilities and rights that come with being an active, engaged American need to be taught and transmittedjust as Jewish laws, traditions and values are central to a day school education. Instructing students as to why they should know our unique history and system of governmentalong with pledging fidelity to both our country and our religionshould be common to all day schools, regardless of affiliation or pedagogic outlook. A daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance as well as the Shema would reinforce these parallels and, more important, serve as a daily reminder of our gifts and responsibilities both as Jews and as Americans. Abby W. Schachter, a Pittsburgh-based writer, is the author of No Child Left Alone: Getting the Government Out of Parenting to be published by Encounter Books in August. News / National by Patience Mutsiwi A PIRATE taxi driver who sped from a roadblock after hitting a traffic police officer and was arrested following a 31km high speed chase has been jailed for 10 years.Elisha Chidhimiri, 26, of Mucheke Suburb in Masvingo, was asked to produce his driver's licence at the 222 km peg along the Harare-Masvingo highway, but sped-off, hitting a cop in the process.The cop somehow managed to jump onto the vehicle's bonnet where he clung for five metres, before falling off and suffering some injuries.Police gave chase, only to apprehend Chidhimiri in Mvuma some 31 km away.Chidhimiri was yesterday jailed 10 years by Gweru Regional Magistrate Morgan Nemadire for attempted murder.He had pleaded guilty.Chidhimiri will, however, serve an effective eight years in jail after two years were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.In passing sentence, Nemadire said Chidhimiri had disrespected a lawful police order and therefore deserved to be punished severely.He said a deterrent sentence would send a message to would be offenders who disrespect the police performing their lawful duties."You disrespected the police officers at a roadblock. You were supposed to stop and negotiate with them but you decided to run over a police officer.You were ordered to stop but you refused until they followed you up to Mvuma and therefore you deserve to be given a very long custodial sentence so that other drivers will learn a lesson from you," said Nemadire."You're sentenced to 10 years in prison of which two years of your sentence are suspended on condition of good behaviour."Prosecuting, Andrew Marimo said on March 25 this year at around 4PM, four traffic police traffic officers were deployed at the 222 km peg along the Harare to Masvingo road for road block duties."Chidhimiri arrived driving a Toyota Granvia registration number ADP9512 at the check point fully loaded with passengers," said Marimo.He said Chidhimiri was stopped by one of the police officers who then asked him to produce his driver's licence.The court heard that Chidhimiri only flashed the licence and refused to hand it over to the cop.Marimo said another officer was standing in front of the commuter omnibus."Chidhimiri drove his vehicle towards the police officer who was standing in front of the vehicle, hit him and dragged him for about five metres while he was hanging on the bonnet of the vehicle."The police officer landed on the tarmac and was injured in the process," said Marimo. He said Chidhimiri did not stop and sped away before he was caught in Mvuma, some 31 km away from the scene. News / National by Staff reporter Zanu-PF Secretary for Finance, Obert Mpofu has declared himself fourth in command in Zanu-PF's hierarchy.The declaration drew an indirect attack from Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday in Jotsholo. Mnangagwa warned 'wayward' Zanu-PF officials that they are carrying out presidential assignments that can be withdrawn atPresident's Robert Mugabe's perogative". Chronicle reported that Mpofu said he aspire to one day scale up the leadership ladder 'and reach them".Said Mpofu : "Zanu-PF is very procedural and regimental we follow procedures." We're lucky to be under President Mugabe's leadership who is also First Secretary in Zanu-PF. He is assisted by our Second Secretaries VP Mnangagwa and VP Phelekezela Mphoko, then comes the Secretary for Administration, IgnatiusChombo and myself as the Secretary for Finance I'm the fourth in command."This is not a minor achievement being number four in over 14 million people."When I'm close to these leaders it makes me think that one day I will reach them," said Mpofu. News / National by Stephen Jakes The former ZBC radio two presenter Eric Knight through his Facebook post mocked at the poor Zanu PF youth members who travelled all the way from various parts of the country enduring hectic traveling conditions to conduct a march at President Robert Mugabe's door steps in Harare.He said then that the march was over and the poor youths must go back to their poor homes using challenging transport means, while president and his close cabals continue to live a lavish life at their expensive houses.Zanu PF youth on Wednesday conducted what they called a one million men march in Harare in solidarity and support of Mugabe's leadership where provoking remarks were made by Grace Mugabe that her husband will rule from his grave."Mugabe back to Borrowdale, Grace back to Singapore, Saviour (Kasukuwere) back to his mansion, (Vice President Phelekezela) Mphoko back to Sheraton. Now march back to Murehwa and kwa Kitsiyatota. God bless Zimbabwe! God bless Africa!," Knight said.Most of the youth members from distant places had to travel over night to their homes while the leaders like Mugabe were already sleeping in their homes. News / National by Staff reporter Police have appealed to people not to keep large amounts of money at their homes as they risk being robbed by criminals that are targeting cash movers.In one of the latest incidents, a person was shot and killed by two armed robbers who raided a house in Gwanda and got way with $1 500 in cash.In a statement Thursday, chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said this following three recent cases in Harare and Gwanda where several people were robbed of more than $8 000 in property and cash."On May 19, 2016 at around 0100 hours, four male adults entered a beer hall in Glen Norah A, Harare using an unlocked kitchen door and found a security guard resting."The quartet assaulted the guard, ransacked the bar and stole 95 crates of assorted beer valued at $4 390 and disappeared," she said.She said on May 21, two men were robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash and two cellphones worth over $1 000 while they were walking along Simon Mazorodze Road."On the same day at around 1930hours in Gwanda, two male adults went to a house in the area and demanded cash and gold from the four occupants."The accused persons produced a pistol and forcibly took $1 500 from them. As the robbers were leaving, the victims gave chase and the armed robbers shot one of them in the stomach. The victim died on admission at Gwanda General Hospital," Snr Asst Comm Charamba said. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ They have met over a cup of tea, strolled at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and declared Indo-US ties to be stronger than ever before. But when President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet on June 7, the messaging should now be more than photo-ops or that they are on first-name terms. As leaders of major democracies with global influence, they should have a serious conversation about how they can work towards protecting human rights. They have a lot to say to each other. Read | Modi, Obama to meet in Washington on June 7: White House Anxiety over stability in the Middle East and North Africa region is immediate for India because of its large number of migrant workers and significant fuel requirements. The US has contributed to the turmoil in the region, including with military support and weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, which has led a year-long air campaign in Yemen resulting in thousands of civilian deaths. The US airstrikes on a hospital in Kunduz in Afghanistan has refocused attention on US violations of the laws of war in the region and the lack of accountability of US forces. And the US has done little to address serious human rights violations by key allies such as Bahrain, Israel and Pakistan. India should press the US to make sure its actions reflect its human rights pronouncements in the region. Read | Modis US visit during Obamas last year will advance shared objectives When Modi addresses the US Congress, he should also be clear that the Obama administration still has to meaningfully address serious allegations of illegal detentions and torture as part of the US war on terror. Widespread invasion of privacy by the US through global Internet surveillance remains a key concern. India, too, has some serious problems that need to be addressed during the dialogue. India wants an increasing role in global affairs, and President Obama has backed its claim for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. Read | Defence deal likely before PM Modis US visit in June However, although it maintains a close security relationship with neighbouring Bangladesh, India is silent while the Bangladesh government carries out a campaign of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and intimidation of media and civil society groups. It says little and does less to play a role in finding a solution to end the slaughter of civilians in Syria. Read | Terrorism will not stop by lighting candles Domestically, the Modi government has focused on the economy, promoting India as an attractive trade partner because of potential of a vast market, the promise of liberalising reforms, and its democratic institutions. Yet those values being severely challenged. Critics of the government are accused of sedition and anti-nationalism, prosecuted under repressive laws, and have to endure arrests or harassment. Civil society groups that play a crucial role in highlighting shortcomings in policy implementation are starved of funds under the harsh and vaguely worded Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, even as the reason for the original law to prevent Indian political parties from taking foreign funds has now been relaxed. Vigilante groups that claim to be supporters of the ruling party have engaged in violent attacks on minorities to enforce their agenda, whether it is the consumption of beef, inter-religious marriages, or religious conversions. Dalits have come under attack, and ambitious policies to protect the rights of women and girls are yet to have impact. Both the US and India need to face these shortcomings squarely. Modi and Obama should make a public pledge that power should be used to protect the human rights of populations at risk not just strategic interests. India and the US should set a global example that democracies can act in their own interests while ensuring a diversity of opinions and protecting peaceful dissent. They should not miss this chance to encourage each other to uphold those principles both at home and abroad. Meenakshi Ganguly is South Asia director at Human Rights Watch The views expressed are personal Twenty-four hours after the mutilated bodies of Bhopal lawyer Naveen Agrawal and his hotelier brother Sudhir were found near a canal in a village in adjacent Hoshangabad district, Harda superintendent of police (SP) has been removed from the post. The abduction and murder of the brothers over a land dispute had triggered huge agitation in the state capital and Harda, with over thousand lawyers, traders and Agrawal community members demanding the removal of the SP. Naveen Agrawal, 45, and Sudhir, 51, were allegedly attacked and abducted from the Hardas Mohanpur village by the aides of Jagdish Rajput over land dispute on May 23. Their bodies were found on May 26. According to sources at state police headquarters in Bhopal, SP Prem Babu Sharma has been shunted and attached to the police headquarters in Bhopal as an assistant inspector general of police (AIG), while 13th Special Armed Force (SAF) battalion commandant Aditya Pratap Singh has been appointed the new Harda police superintendent. On Thursday, Sirali police station in-charge sub-inspector VS Ghuraiya was suspended for failing to take timely action in the case. An inquiry was also ordered against him. People close to the Agrawal family told HT on Friday that the order to shift the Harda SP to Bhopal was issued a few hours after Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke to the bereaved family members over phone late on Thursday night. The chief minister had also assured Naveens widow Sarika that immediate action would be taken against officials concerned for slow investigations in the matter, they said. Speculations were rife that the family may take the bodies to neighbouring Betul district, ahead of the May 30 Ghoradongri assembly bypoll. Apprehensive that the protests may mar the BJPs poll prospects could have hastened the action against the Harda SP, sources said. However, the family cremated the bodies of the Agrawal brothers in Harda on Friday. Harda SP already on possible transfer list Harda SP Prem Babu Sharma was already on the transfer list that the district police chief was expected to issue next month, sources in the PHQ said The Harda double murder only hastened the IPS officers transfer Meanwhile, Hoshangabad range inspector general of police SK Saxena has declared a reward of `5,000 each for information on the five other accused in the kidnapping and murder case. The others on run include four sons of prime conspirator Jagdish Rajput and his nephew Lallu Till now seven accused, including Rajput, his wife, two sons, two nephews and Indore resident Nikhil Tiwari have been arrested for the brutal killing of the Agrawal brothers. It is Shah Rukh Khans youngest AbRams birthday today and the doting dad is busy looking for a cake. The Bollywood superstar, who was in London to celebrate director-producer Karan Johars birthday, tweeted while on his way to India: Birthday celebrations on the plane to India with 2 of my Minions. Hope we get a cakeotherwise Kinder eggs will have to do. Birthday celebrations on the plane to India with 2 of my Minions. Hope we get a cakeotherwise Kinder eggs will have to do. Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 26, 2016 Read: As Shah Rukh watches cricket, AbRam fights it out with Parineeti Chopra AbRam who has a huge fan following across the world -- turns three on Friday. Shah Rukh also posted an image with daughter Suhana and AbRam. However, as the actor has been banned by his family for posting their pictures on social media, he took some precaution... A photo posted by Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) on May 26, 2016 at 1:32pm PDT Keeping up with the no photo diktat, mom Gauri also made a special wish. Happy bday my darling AbRam.... A photo posted by Gauri Khan (@gaurikhan) on May 26, 2016 at 1:25pm PDT However, Karan Johar was far more forthcoming when he posted picture of AbRam at his birthday party. my favourite boy celebrating my birthday!! #abram A photo posted by Karan Johar (@karanjohar) on May 25, 2016 at 7:35am PDT Model-turned-nun Sofia Hayat, or Mother Sofia as she prefers to be called now, has piqued the interest of many with her turn to spirituality. In a recent interview to Times of India, she claimed she had a renaissance of sorts, through which she realised she had a special gift. I was in a verbally abusive relationship, where I once tried to kill myself. It was then that I realised that I had almost died, as I could feel myself come out of my body. After coming back to my senses, I went to a healer, who realised that a person, whose body was made of sun, came out of me. I became weak and could only feel pure love in my body. It was then that I realised that I had a gift. I was the mother and daughter of the Holy Trinity, Sofia Hayat reportedly said in the interview. Best known for participating in the seventh season of Bigg Boss, Mother Sofia was a wild card entry that year. Early this April, she announced she had given up her materialistic life for a simpler one. The transformation, she shared, began two years ago when she was struggling in the abusive relationship. A most sacred reason is what nudged her towards her new life as Mother Sofia. Sofia had announced she had given up her materialistic life for a spiritual one. Now, the former model has decided to give up the material trappings of life. I will never have sex, get married nor have children. Since I am the holy mother, everyones my children. I have to look after everyone and make sure they know there is no hell. It is heaven that they are living in, she said. Makeup is fake and an effort to make us look like what we are not. The same is relevant for acting, which is all about pretending. I will not act anymore in my life, as acting is a false reality, she further added. Read: Meet Mother Sofia Hayat Sofia claims to have also healed several people post the incident, including helping a woman conceive, the English daily reported. Apart from that, Mother Sofia claimed that several Hindu gods came to her. Rama, Krishna and Ganesha have come to me and told me that the earth is heaven and there is no hell. I wish to make the earth more heavenly, she said told the interviewer. Follow @htshowbiz for more News / National by Staff reporter First Lady Grace has come under fire for declaring that President Robert Mugabe "will rule from the grave" during the Zanu-PF million-man-march in Harare on Wednesday.Analysts and opposition parties said the message was a clear sign the 92-year-old leader wanted to die in power. MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora said the decision on who rules the country lies with the people.Political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya said Grace appeared to have an idea of when Mugabe was likely to go and was preparing the nation for that eventuality.He said the fact that Zanu-PF failed to mobilise a million people showed that people had at best resisted Mugabe's overtures. As Queen Elizabeth II and Winnie-the-Pooh turn 90 this year, the honey-loving bear meets her highness and a little boy, who greatly resembles her great-grandson Prince George, in a new story published on Thursday. AA Milnes beloved bear, who first appeared in a story in 1926, the year of the queens birth, travels to London with Christopher Robin, Piglet and Eeyore the gloomy donkey to give the monarch a birthday hum or poem. They meet her by chance outside Buckingham Palace, where she is holding the hand of a unnamed young boy, described as almost as bouncy as Tigger and looking remarkably similar to Prince Williams son George. Winnie-the-Pooh famously tried to see the king in the poem Buckingham Palace, but he was much too busy a-signing things. They watched the changing of the guard, and then went home for tea. Read: Dan Brown wants your kids to read Da Vinci Code, announces YA version Winnie-the-Pooh and the Royal Birthday was written by Jane Riordan with illustrations by Mark Burgess, who also drew the pictures for Return to the Hundred Acre Wood in 2009, the first authorised book since Milnes death. It is free to download from the Disney website and there is an audio version narrated by Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent, who said it had been an honour to record. I have been a fan of Winnie-the-Pooh since I was a boy, in fact I named my very first and much loved teddy Pooh, and that can only have been after the AA Milne character, he said in a statement. The queen was also said to enjoy the Pooh tales as a child. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more. Indias chaotic political battles often hide a more fundamental reality of systemic stability. The achievement becomes more obvious when you look around the region. Pakistans constitutional journey has often been interrupted by military rule. The country witnessed the first smooth transfer of power through democratic elections only in 2013. Nepal has had six constitutions in as many decades. Its 2015 constitution has triggered deep political unrest. The 1972 and 1978 constitutions in Sri Lanka entrenched majoritarianism, unleashed a bloody ethnic conflict and the country has only now initiated a constitutional review process. Political forces in Bangladesh are unable to agree on the basic rules of the electoral game. Myanmars constitutional order has either been undemocratic, or exclusionary, and often both. An enduring constitutional order distinguishes India, not only from its neighbours but also many other post-colonial developing countries. Read:Document for all ages: Why Constitution is our greatest achievement The Indian Constitution is among the most ambitious experiments in global democratic history. To explain the extraordinary achievement, and ensure it finds its due place in international scholarship on constitutionalism, we finally have an extraordinary book comprehensive in its scope, rigorous in its analysis, original in its research, scholarly yet accessible in its writing, and relatively affordable in its pricing. The centrality of the constitution As the editors of the Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution note, the constitution was the framework through which democracy came into being. It was the charter laying out a path to modernity and radical social reform. It was meant to help manage and accommodate the most complex ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity of any modern nation-state. It has been the normative and legal framework through which the worlds largest democracy contests its own future. Over 55 chapters, the Handbook examines the historical roots of the constitution, and its foundational moment. It explores the interplay of law and democracy. It takes a detailed look at the separation of powers and architecture of the legislature, executive and judiciary. Federalism is central to Indias political construct - and the book has seven chapters delving into its mechanics. It deals with both the structure of rights, and the substance of each right. It explores the interplay between administration and law, a critical issue shaping governance. A general view of the Constituent Assembly. The session is being held in the Constitution Hall which was formerly the Library of the Council House. File photo dated December 10, 1946. (Photo Division/PIB) The timing of the volume seems just right, for the constitution has become even more important in the day-to-day practice of politics. As Harvard University scholar and one of the editors of the book, Madhav Khosla, puts it, So much of Indian life is now constitutionalised. Every conflict, from Uttarakhand to reservations to religious freedom to Aadhar, can be framed as a constitutional controversy. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research and a co-editor of the book, agrees. There is now no public policy matter that is not mediated by the law. He attributes this to three factors - the complexity of the administrative state; the spread of the vocabulary of rights; and the gridlock in legislative functioning and erosion in the credibility of other state institutions. Read:Their greatest work: How Indians made Constitution a success What helped the editors pull the volume together is the emergence of a new pool of scholars. As Khosla says, We now have an incredibly exciting group of people who work at the intersection of law, policy and academia. The idea behind the volume was also to create a sense of an academic field. The contributors came together for an intensive four-day workshop to share their work, and receive feedback, which refined their chapters. What worked, what did not In the introduction, the editors speak about the idea of constitutional morality, which in some ways underpins the Indian project. Mehta explains its essence. Constitutionalism is a certain commitment to living together with differences. It is the opposite of violence. It is also the opposite of excessive ideological narcissism. It is based on the recognition that what may come out in society may not necessarily be of ones own preference, but one can live with it. But while this provided a degree of constitutional stability, it remains deeply contested. One of Indias most marginalized sections, Dalits, are attached to the constitution both because of BR Ambedkars role in its drafting and because they see in it safeguards and a pathway to mobility. But there are others be it in Kashmir, or Nagaland, or tribals now with Maoists in central India who fiercely object to the constitutional framework. When asked to explain this paradox, Mehta says, It is not necessarily a paradox. Wherever the constitution has tried democratic incorporation, India not just the constitution has endured. Whenever we have put the weight behind authoritarian incorporation, there has been a backlash. Read: Ambedkars approach towards social change shaped Indias character The other source of challenge for the constitution has come from both the extreme-right and the extreme-left. The former is uncomfortable with its emphasis on pluralism; the latter with its conception of democracy and the class character of the state. But over the years, while the right has come to largely accept the constitutional framework, the far-left has stayed away from it. Mehta offers some explanations. The right has the advantage that it can piggy-back on majoritarianism to push through its agenda. The far-left, by its very ideology, is dismissive of bourgeoisie rights. The left has a problem with the theory of the state; the right has a problem with the theory of the nation. This makes the nature of the challenge from the right somewhat different; take the rise of the nationalism campaign. Nationalism plays on fear which leads to the strengthening of the power of the executive. It also legitimizes the suppression of civil liberties. This is a danger right now, not just in India but globally, to constitutionalism, says Mehta. The Handbook offers insights into precisely this kind of interplay between Indian democracy and constitution. It tells us how current state institutions have evolved, and the relationship between the state and citizen and among citizens. It is a valuable resource for politicians, bureaucrats, judges, lawyers, scholars, journalists and students. The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution Edited by Sujit Choudhry, Madhav Khosla, Pratap Bhanu Mehta Oxford University Press 1195, PP 1048 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Paytm, the countrys largest mobile wallet company, has said it will evaluate the resumes of 18 IIM-A graduates, after Flipkart deferred their joining by six months. IIM-A and Flipkart are locked in a face-off with the e-commerce major refusing to honour its job commitment to students of the prestigious institute until December, as against June promised earlier, but offered a compensation for the intervening period. We have received mails from the placement cell of IIM-A and we will look at hiring these graduates, but only after interviews, said Amit Sinha, vice-president, Paytm. On Wednesday, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) had sent the 18 resumes to Paytm. IIM-A placement committee chairman Asha Kaul was also marked on the e-mail. Read | Firm on IIM grads joining by Dec, Flipkart offers Rs 1.5 lakh compensation The interviews will be over the next couple of weeks. Paytm has already hired 50 graduates from IIMs and other business schools. We have a lot of positions, so we were already exploring hiring options, Sinha said. Around 10% of IIM-A graduates are hired by e-commerce companies every year. Flipkarts move to postpone the hiring is expected to impact its relation with IIMs. Some of the affected students had individually approached ShopClues, another e-commerce company. IIM graduates who have been hired by Flipkart have reached out to us. I have had two emails so far, said Radhika Agarwal, co-founder of ShopClues. Read | Flipkart defers joining date of IIM graduates by 6 months When contacted, the IIM-A spokesperson said: If a firm delays the date of joining, the students are free to look for alternatives. The placement committee does assist students in such situations on a case-by-case basis. Meanwhile, the placement cell of IIM-A has asked Flipkart to confirm these students will be absorbed by December. We will get more clarity on the placement next week, probably by Tuesday, after which we will decide the plan of action, said K Sanjay Koushik, media secretary, students affairs council at IIM-A. He however, denied reaching out to Paytm or any other company for hiring of the students. Even after seven years, India and Latin America are still to expand their trade relations. Despite both the previous and the current governments laying stress on the need to enhance export footprints in the South American region, talks for increasing the scope of the already existing preferential trade agreement (PTA) have not yet concluded. According to a senior commerce ministry official, connecting India with the Latin American region is the top most agenda on the strategy to revive the falling exports. Talks have been on for quite sometime and are still underway. Experts say that the delay in closing the trade deal is making India lose a major and strong market. Latin America, which is the new destination of our exporters including the ones in automobiles, pharma, handicrafts, was termed to be the saviour for arresting the decline in exports in the country foreign trade policy (FTP) unveiled in 2009 as well as in the FTP of 2015. The Mercosur region which includes Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is the third largest integrated market after the European Union (EU) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which includes USA, having huge potential for our exports. The long pending PTA once get expanded will lead to a healthy growth in trade, said SC Ralhan, president of exporters body, FIEO. Apart from the traditional markers like the US and the EU, Latin America region has huge demand that India can cater to. Indian automobiles, drugs, textile, are a huge hit in the region. Though current share of region in overall exports basket is less than 3%, but it is expected to increase to close to 10% with the desired policy push, the official said. Indias exports to Latin America in FY15 stood at $11.5 billion and in FY16 slipped by 34% to $7.5billion. What gets advertising? Eyeballs. That is why news media outfits newspapers, magazines, television get advertising. They aggregate eyeballs for advertisers to tap. There are others that get advertising: non-news television, YouTube, Facebook, roadside hoardings. People look at those. Another group has emerged in recent years that gets a lot of eyeballs: e-commerce sites. According to a Flipkart communication of March 3 this year, the countrys largest e-commerce player, with 50 million registered customers, gets 10 million visits a day. That will translate into a huge readership for a newspaper, a huge viewership for a television show, and a huge population for a city. Logically, it should also translate into huge advertising. Naturally, Flipkart wants this number to do something for it, maybe earn some more money. So, in March, it launched its own advertising platform, Brand Story Ads, with more than 50 brands on board. The brands included Yes Bank, LOreal, Micromax, Gillette, Datsun, and Sony. The same day, Mint newspaper reported that Flipkart was making $1 million every month from selling advertising space. Ravi Garikipati, head of its advertising business, did not confirm the number, but told Mint about his plan to make Flipkart the largest digital advertising platform in the country in three to five years. Digital advertising in India is projected to cross Rs 6,500 this year, a 40% increase. The lions share of it goes to Google and Facebook. Flipkart will use data about its customers to help brands target whom they want. That makes its advertising platform more dynamic than the traditional media, which is more like starting a giant shower in a stadium, and pray that a lot of people get wet. Flipkart will target the jets of water to whomever the advertisers want to drench. It is dynamic in more ways than that. The Economic Times reported that in April Flipkart sued Western Digital, a United States-based data storage company, in the Delhi high court for not paying up for its advertisements on the e-commerce site. The newspaper also reported that Flipkart was going to sue 20 others, which had unpaid bills running into crores of rupees. Now, wherever Flipkart goes, Snapdeal follows (no, not the Delhi High Court). Snapdeal this month launched an updated version of its advertising platform, the very-imaginatively-named Snapdeal Ads. The company, according to reports, says 10% of the 300,000 sellers on its online market place use Snapdeal Ads, and these have seen their business double. If ever there was a subtle pitch to attractive advertising, this is one. Both Flipkart and Snapdeal can easily find a role model in this context. Alibaba, Chinas largest e-commerce company, which holds a chunk of equity in Snapdeal, earns a large portion of its revenue from advertising. On May 5, Alibaba reported higher revenue than analysts expected for the three months to March mainly by selling more advertising space to the merchants on its platform. Of course, Indian e-commerce companies, to become one of the largest digital advertising platforms, will also need to get advertising from brands that are not necessarily their sellers. Flipkarts and Snapdeals restructuring may be designed to get them. Paytm, too, is in the midst of an upgrade. Online retailers are structuring as market place, so they are getting third-party merchants who, in turn, will pay for ads, says Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Paytms founder and CEO. We always had third-party merchants and our ads platform is now upgrading to accommodate preferred merchants and promoted products kinds of features. The online market places can surely do with a bit of additional revenue from advertising. They have built themselves up through deep discounts thats never good for the bank balance. Of late there has been pressure on them to show higher revenues, and maybe a bit of profit, too. Besides, funding has not been coming as easily as it used to. But Sanjay Sethi, a founder of ShopClues, and its CEO, has a word of caution: advertising must not be done at the cost of the core business. There has to be a balance, he says. Advertising cannot be allowed to cannibalise the core business. It is important to be clear which is the cart and which the horse. Putting the wrong one in front will cause damage. Sethi worries about ShopClues sellers, most of whom are small- and medium-sized businesses. They are not very savvy with advertising, may be at a loss to figure out where to advertise and how much, and how to calculate the return on advertising expenses. We have to take care of our sellers. For every Rs 100 they spend on advertising, they must earn Rs 300. Now, if only traditional media, like newspapers, could convince advertisers they get that kind of returns on their advertisements. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Indians are accustomed to a political landscape dotted with parties that flourish in the fertile soil of fissures be those of the regional, religious, caste or class variety. For those following the results from the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections last week, for instance, each alliance appeared to consist of more acronymed parties than there are parts of the alphabet soup of the US security establishment. Most Western democracies do not sport such a multiplicity of political outfits. Their wardrobes are more spare. Canada, for example, has three major national parties. Further south, it becomes even more bare. The voter has two choices Democrat blue or Republican red. Never was there an opportunity to add some more colour to the terrain. Some may recall that in the distant past, before the primaries began in February, there was much consternation within Republican ranks that Donald Trump would raise just such a hue and cry. The magnate, if miffed, would go about an Independent run, was the fear that ran through the Grand Old Partys establishment and they made him sign a pledge to remain reined in even if the voter rained on his parade. Never mind. Trump is now the establishment, and we could face the prospect of a duochrome contest as November. Read | Trump-Clinton battle is all about who is more unfavourable It isnt as if America hasnt seen multiple names on a Presidential ballot in this century, just that beyond the brawn on top were contenders who couldnt even be considered featherweight, at least in terms of probability of electoral success. In 2012, for example, the Libertarian Party fielded Gary Johnson and the Green Party nominated Jill Stein. Between them they totalled less than 1.5% of the votes polled. They created as many ripples in that poll as a skipping stone in an ocean. But recent history reminds us of those also-rans who made waves. In 2000, activist Ralph Nader captured a little less than 3% of the vote although the nearly 100,000 he managed in Florida may have, along with those chads that hung, spoiled that race for Al Gore. Billionaire businessman Ross Perot made his own runs. In 1992, he received nearly 20% of the vote. Four years later, he polled just 8%. For those who wish to see the United States join the rest of the democratic world and make their elections even more intricate by adding a few wild cards in the mix, there may still be slender hope. There remains chatter about Mitt Romney, the man from central casting for Presidents-to-be, taking the disaffection among conservatives with Trump to the hustings. As in the case of much electoral coverage, this is a study in advanced speculation, as some are even guessing who his running mate may be. Read | Stop worrying and get to know the real Donald Trump Then, of course, theres the candidate who was actually an Independent just a year ago. That would be Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Senator, whos only started flying the Democratic flag for this operation against Hillary Clinton. Sanders is obviously irate at the Democratic establishment as he fundraises for an insurgent to unseat the partys chair (and Hillary acolyte) Debbie Wasserman Schulz from her House seat in Florida. Sanders and his millennial cohorts have just about as much regard for the party brass as Trump does for illegal immigrants. Both scenarios, however, are long shots just as such candidacies would be. But its for the first time this century that such a possibility has even projected itself upon a political culture thats so predictable. While the two presumptive nominees, Trump and Clinton, could feature in posters for Americas Most Unwanted, given they are engaged in an unpopularity contest, theres an opening as large as the Grand Canyon for a third option. Perhaps when Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Washington in June (on the day of the final Super Tuesday of the primary season), he can bring the gift of multi-polar match-ups for American politicians to compensate for their continuing largesse to Pakistan, a country that keeps hosting Americas Most Wanted. Read | US elections: In for a purple reign Anirudh Bhattacharyya is a Toronto-based commentator on American affairs The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 16-year-old boy was allegedly beaten up five men for sitting on a parked two-wheeler belonging to one of the accused. The incident was reported from Inderpuri market in south-west Delhi on Monday. Police arrested four of the five accused on Thursday. The video of the five men thrashing the teenager was allegedly uploaded on social media. The victim told a television channel that the five removed his undergarment, hit him with beer bottles on his genitals and inserted chilli power on his private parts. He told the police that after he was thrashed, he had gone to the nearby railway tracks to commit suicide. Police denied any such allegations and said they were informed of the incident two days later. DCP (South West) Surender Kumar said the five had beaten him but none of them disrobed him. Kumar said, The victim was examined. There was no such evidence. He did not mention anything in his statement recorded on the day of the incident. Based on the nature of injuries, we registered a case of voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation against the five, of whom four have been arrested. Kumar said the five men had recorded a video of them thrashing him. The video is in public domain and we have seized it. Nowhere in the video does it show the victim being disrobed or sexually assaulted. I request everyone not to go by rumours, he said. NEW DELHI: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal raised the statehood issue again on Thursday after visiting AIIMS to meet the 13-year-old rape survivor, who is battling for life. He said statehood would ensure better policing in the National Capital. The girl, who was left for dead on the railway tracks in southeast Delhi, has got multiple injuries. Such crimes are cropping up repeatedly. It once again highlights why the elected government should be able to restore the law and order in the Capital. It makes it easier for the enforcement agencies to work in close co-ordination with people, Kejriwal told reporters. Kejriwals comments came a week after his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government unveiled a draft bill seeking full statehood for Delhi and requesting the BJP and Congress to back the move. The National Capital is governed under a complex pattern with key departments such as law and order under the lieutenant general who reports to the Union home ministry. Kejriwal, who had made statehood one of his major poll planks, has repeatedly demanded control over the Delhi Police. He also accuses the BJP-led Centre of using the lieutenant general to play vendetta politics against his government. Speaking to reporters after his interaction with the survivors family on Thursday, Kejriwal also demanded a joint working mechanism with the Centre within the existing system to check such crimes. SONIA VISITS AIIMS Cong ress president Sonia Gandhi met the 13-year-old differently abled girl who is undergoing treatment at AIIMS here on Thursday. She was brutally raped and dumped near a railway track last week. Sources said Gandhi reached the hospital around noon and met the victim. NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for an aid of ` 4,087 crore for the local bodies (municipal corporations) in Delhi. In his letter to the PM, Kejriwal has said that the 14th Central Finance Commission allocated a grantin-aid of ` 2,87,436 crore to all the local bodies for 2015-2020. However, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territories have been omitted from this grant-in-aid altogether on the argument that only states were covered under the award scheme of the Central Finance Commission. The grant-in-aid of ` 2,87,436 crore works out to be ` 488 per capita per annum. Delhi with a population of 1.675 crore, as per the 2011 Census, should be provided ` 4,087 crore, at the base rate of ` 488 per capita per annum, in the 14th Central Finance Commission grant in aid for the local bodies, reads the letter. Kejriwal said that the argument that only states are covered under award schemes of the Central Finance Commission is completely unfair as the municipalities in Delhi perform the same functions as the municipalities in other states. Further, the taxation and other fiscal powers of the Government of NCT of Delhi are also similar to other states, he said. The letter said local bodies in all the states are under financial crunch and depend on relief from such grant in aid. Lack of fuel and not engine failure may have forced the Beechcraft King Air C-90 plane to make an emergency landing in Najafgarh, initial investigations into the accident has revealed. The aircraft, operating as an air ambulance, crash landed in Najafgarh around 10 kilometers short of Delhis Indira Gnadhi International Airport on Tuesday. The aircraft was carrying a critically ill patient from Patna. Luckily, all seven passengers on board the aircraft survived the crash. The aircraft did not have enough fuel, not even enough to reach the Delhi airport. The initial theory of both engines failing does not seem to be true, said an official. The aviation ministry has handed over the probe to Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and a team headed by assistant director Raje Bhatnagar and consisting BSF Inspector General Bindu Sethi and air safety officers Dinesh Kumar and Shilpy Satiya will carry out the inquiry. Pilots carrying less fuel points to a serious safety lapse, said officials. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation regulations an aircraft should carry fuel for the flight duration, plus fuel for taxiing, waiting time in case of congestion over the airport and enough fuel to fly to the nearest alternate airport, which in this case was Jaipur. An alternate airport was not planned for in the flight plan, where the flight could have been diverted in case of bad weather, despite it being an air ambulance, said another official. News / National by Staff reporter MDC-T yesterday rallied Zimbabweans to join its anti-Zanu-PF government demonstrations in Bulawayo tomorrow.The demonstrations come two days after the million man march.MDC-T organizing secretary Abednico Bhebhe said the main opposition party will not allow the continued abuse of citizens by the Zanu-PF government. NEW DELHI: Troubled by his alcohol addiction, a man murdered his 45-year-old father at his Sagarpur house in west Delhi on Thursday morning. The police said that it received information from Bhagat Chandra Hospital about Virendra Kumars death, who was brought there by his relatives. Kumar worked as a supervisor for a MCD contractor. A police team that visited the spot learnt that Kumar was stabbed by his son Nitin. Nitin is aB Tech student at a private institute in Haryana. We have arrested Nitin but are probing the involvement of his mother too. Virendras wife, Pushpa, was also at home at the time of the incident, said a police officer. According to the police, prima facie, it appears Virendra was stabbed on Wednesday night and that the family stayed with his body for a few hours before going to the hospital. Doctors at the hospital told police that there were several injury marks on his body. Police said Nitin confessed that he was angry with his father for abusing them after getting drunk. Nitin alleged that his father threatened to throw him out of the house. The family had fights very often. He has also alleged that he and his mother were beaten many times by his father, said an investigating officer. The investigating officer said that they are waiting for the post-mortem report for more clarity in the case. Police said Pushpa has been giving contradictory statements regarding the sequence of events. Virendra is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. A short spell of rain wreaks havoc on the Capitals roads, leading to long traffic snarls. However, this weeks rains did not cause any major waterlogging in the city and residents heaved a sigh of relief. With no complaints so far, particularly from south Delhi, the civic agencies are a contented lot. Still, the wet weather condition has set the alarm bells ringing for South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), Public Works Department (PWD) and other agencies to complete the desilting of drains before the onset of monsoon. The Met department has predicted monsoon reaching the city by June end. Deadlines, targets for desilting The SDMC is responsible of cleaning drains that run parallel to roads with a maximum width of 60 feet and a few big drains, such as Kushak Nullah, Chirag Dilli Nullah and Maharani Bagh Nullah. The PWD maintains drains which run parallel to roads which are 60 feet wide and above. The Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) department is responsible for larger drains. The PWD has set a deadline to clean all drains by June 10 and I&FC department plans to complete the work by May 31. A senior SDMC official said the agency has completed about 90% desilting of drains. As per SDMCs Annual Action Plan report, 27,400 metric tonnes of sludge was to be taken out this year from 265 drains (deeper than 4ft). This also includes a few big nullahs. To complete the task within a stimulated time, the civic agency has deployed wheel mounted excavators and loaders. Similarly, for the 18,194 small drains of 4ft (or lesser) sanitation staff has been engaged to take out a total of 22, 500 metric tonnes of sludge. So far, 19,000 metric tonnes has been taken out. The SDMC is responsible for the cleaning of the drain in Maharani Bagh which flows through the colony. Officials claim the desilting has been completed here. (S Burmaula / HT Photos) Taking account SDMC commissioner Puneet Goel said, The silt collected from the drains is sent to sanitary landfill sites where each tonne is measured to ensure that the targeted amount is actually met by the department. Zonal officials conduct weekly inspections to review the work done by the staff. Periodic inspection is done by SDMC engineer-in-chief and his team. The engineer and sanitation officials have created a group on a mobile messaging app, wherein updates are shared along with photos, said a senior SDMC official. PWD officials are monitoring the task at each level. The engineers have been asked to submit the photo of each lane after the desilting and submit a weekly report. The priority of the local MLA is being discussed simultaneously to deal with critical places on time. The department has started uploading the desilting programme on its official website. It provides the details of officials (executive, assistant and junior engineer) assigned for the task for cleaning drains at different roads, along with their contact numbers. Residents can file complaints online, at toll-free numbers of the PWD control room. I&FC department is also posting regular updates on its website about the amount of silt removed and the disposing plan. DDA is responsible for the cleaning of the drain in Defence Colony. The agency will soon hire a contractor to begin desilting here. DDA aims to finish cleaning work of all drains by June 15. (S Burmaula / HT Photos) Methods & progress The SDMC has made a comprehensive plan to deal with waterlogging during monsoon. Besides the SDMC control room, the staff will be present at 25 pumping stations in four zones round the clock to take action on residents complaints. The staff will also handle overflowing of mix (sewage) waste and storm water drain, said Goel. Further, 25 mobile pumping stations with high-discharge pumps will be installed at critical places to stop waterlogging. PWD has opted for the manual cleaning of drains located at the arterial roads in residential colonies. Earlier we had planned to clean all drains, small and big, mechanically and use vacuum cleaning machines. But after understanding the hitches in the process we went back to the traditional method, said SK Rampal, chief engineer, PWD. However excavators and loaders are still engaged for big drains. The agency has assigned a private contractor to do the job and about 30% of the job has been done. At present, the agency is covering the main drains on Outer Ring Road and Inner Ring Road. Work is also in progress near Chirag Delhi. After covering them we will take up colony drains. More attention will be given to the cleaning of drains with mix sludge (sewage and storm water drain) near unauthorised colonies. Though we de-silt them throughout the year, during monsoon situation become critical and we have to take measures in advance, said a senior PWD official. Out of 3,38,132 cubic metres of sludge targeted to be taken out from big drains in Delhi, 2,02,313 cubic metres was de-silted, till May 16 by I&FC department. Work is going on at war footing at major drains in south Delhi like Bijwasan drain where out of 2,415 cubic metres of waste 800 cubic metres has been taken out. In case of Asola Nullah, out of 2,820 cubic metres of silt, 1,000 has been taken out. Similarly, at Sarita Vihar drain out of 700 cubic metres 175 cubic metre has been taken out, said an official. Residents wary of claims Despite tall claims by officials, residents are still not confident about the monsoon preparedness in the city. One heavy downpour and one-third of the city is deluged with water. The authorities are not equipped to deal with such emergencies, said Anil Gupta, of Lajpat Nagar. Gupta said lack of coordination between various government agencies is another reason for the problem. However, to sort out inter-department issues, a meeting was called on May 4. Senior officials from PWD, DDA, Municipal Corporation, Flood and irrigation control department, Northern Railway and BSES attended the meet, said a senior SDMC official. Meanwhile, SDMCs ongoing drive to clean and fumigate Narouji Nagar drain failed to appeal residents. Only cosmetic cleaning was done at the site while we were looking for deep de-silting, said Pankaj Aggarwal, general secretary of Efforts Group. Residents living close to the Defence colony nullah have also complained of foul smell from the drain as de-silting was not done here. The site is covered and it obstructs the cleaning of drains. I have not seen any staff cleaning the nullah, said Maj (Rtd) Ranjit Singh, vice president of Defence Colony Club. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON GURGAON: Before boarding the air ambulance that crash-landed in Delhi on Tuesday, little did Juhi Roy know that she would have a close brush with death while sitting next to her 62-year-old unconscious father. The presence of mind that the 23-year-old Roy showed, while risking her life, has certainly given her father another chance to fight the battle of life. An MBA graduate living in Noida, Juhi accompanied her ailing father on the Beechcraft King Air C-90 twin engine air ambulance coming to Delhi from Patna with six other persons including two pilots. The plane, transporting Juhis father to a Gurgaon-based private hospital, crash-landed in Najafgarh. As the plane was nearing Delhi, the pilot suddenly informed the on-board doctor that the engine was lost. I did not know what to do. I just sat next to my father praying, Roy said while recalling the ordeal that she faced. In no time, the plane touched the bumpy ground, throwing all on board off their seats, and halted abruptly, she recalls. I had lost hopes as we bounced of f our seats. Suddenly the plane halted with a screeching sound. Before I could understand the situation, the pilot shouted and asked the passengers to evacuate immediately, she said. The pilot opened the doors and all the passengers, except Juhi and his stretcher-ridden father, started crawling out. Everyone else was moving out slowly, trying to escape. But my eyes were stuck on my father, she said. Due to the impact of the crash, Juhis father, had fallen from the stretcher. I stood up and held his stretcher tightly, she said. As the pilot warned of an explosion due to fuel leakage, everyone else wanted to save their lives. Juhi stood next to her father till a pilot came to her rescue. After shouting loud, one of the pilots came. He helped me pick up the stretcher and place it safely on the ground, she said. The two then managed to take the patient out. Despite being warned to stay away from the plane, which could have exploded any time, Roy again took a risk and fetched the life-saving oxygen cylinder for her father. I wanted to save my father. Everything else was irrelevant. I was told later that the plane could have even blown up after the crashlanding, she recalled. Kair village in southwest Delhis Najafgarh has become a picnic spot with people clicking selfies and vendors selling snacks near the area where a plane crash-landed on Tuesday afternoon. Though police have cordoned off the area, people from Haryana too are coming to catch a sight of the air ambulance that made an emergency landing. Three police control room (PCR) vans, a reserve battalion and 30 personnel from the local police station are guarding the plane. Both the engines of the Beechcraft King Air C-90 failed when it was just 10 minutes away from the Delhi airport. The pilot-in-command, Amit Kumar, saved the lives of seven people on board, including a critically ill patient and his relatives as well as a doctor, by strategically landing the plane in a field. According to police, they already have a shortage of staff and the delay by the company that owns the plane has put work of police station on hold. This is not our job as the plane belongs to a particular company. The staff, which is supposed to investigate cases of murder and theft, are here guarding the plane. If we leave the site, there will be a law and order problem, a policeman said. Read: Najafgarh crash-landing: Pilots managed to avoid casualties, say eyewitnesses After repeated reminders, Alchemist Airways finally sent a team of technicians to dismantle the plane on Friday morning. The technician will dismantle the plane and it will take two more days to complete the process. Once the plane is dismantled, it will be taken to the Delhi airport for repair, a person involved in the operation to move the aircraft said. Locals said they dont have a problem with the plane sitting in the area as people coming to see it are boosting business. Read: Had just 15 secs to think about landing: Pilot of Najafgarh air ambulance On Thursday the pilot, who had saved the plane from crashing, had visited the site and people rushed to get pictures with him. Otherwise too, throughout the day people from outside visit the site. We dont have any problem with it as locals have opened shop and getting good business out of it, Rajesh, a local resident, said. The civil aviation ministry has ordered an inquiry into the matter though the pilot claimed that plane was maintained properly. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court allowed on Thursday an Italian marine accused of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012 to go home until an international tribunal decided on a dispute between New Delhi and Rome over which country has jurisdiction in the case. The ruling was expected as the UNs Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague had asked New Delhi and Rome to approach the Supreme Court early this month, saying Sergeant Salvatore Girone be allowed to go home until the dispute is resolved. Girone is out on bail but lives in the Italian embassy in Delhi because of travel restrictions. He and fellow marine Massimiliano Latorre are accused of shooting the fishermen off the Kerala coast while protecting an Italian oil tanker. Latorre was allowed to go back to Italy in 2014 after he suffered a stroke. The top court relaxed Girones bail conditions on Thursday after the Centre backed the marines plea, saying he should be granted relief on humanitarian grounds. Given that the tribunals order is binding on India under international law, India conveyed its no objection to Italys application subject to certain additional bail conditions, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. For his return to his homeland, the court suggested certain conditions. For instance, Girone must report to a police station in Italy every month. Also, he has to submit an undertaking to remain under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Italy must return him within a month in case India gets jurisdiction over the marine, the court ruled, referring to a condition set by the UN tribunal. Girone will be home next Thursday, Italys Republic Day, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tweeted. The arrest of the two marines on February 15, 2012 strained ties between the two countries, with Italy insisting the shooting happened in international waters and so the sailors should be tried at home. Rome went to the UN tribunal after repeated trial delays in India. India says it has the right to try the two men as the fishermen were killed in its waters. The marines defended the shooting, saying they mistook the fishermen for pirates. We confirm our friendship with India, its people and its government, said Renzi, who has been under pressure to secure the provisional liberty of both marines. Girones unconditional bail spurred the opposition Congress, during whose rule the shooting happened, to criticise the Narendra Modi government for not opposing his release. The party alleged a secret deal between the NDA government and Italy. As the Italian marine goes to Italy, one remembers Modi in 2013-14 spewing invective over it, said party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. Would like to ask Modi, which jail those marines are in now? Why did his government not oppose the release in SC? What deal was struck? Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan too protested the Centres move. But the widow of one of the slain fisherman welcomed the Supreme Courts decision. Let him join his family. We have forgiven both marines long back, said Dora Jelestine in Kollam. She thanked the Italian government for helping her pick up the pieces and carry on. (With inputs from HTC, Thiruvananthapuram) NEW DELHI: Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who were rusticated from JNU, have moved the Delhi high court seeking the same relief that was extended to JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others against whom disciplinary action was taken by the varsity for a controversial event there on February 9. Justice Manmohan on May 13 had put on hold the decision of the Jawaharlal Nehru University(J NU) till the appeals of Kanhaiya and the other students, against the disciplinary action, were decided by the appellate authority of the varsity. The court had issued the direction after Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) undertook to immediately withdraw its hunger strike and not to indulge in any further agitation. Anirban and Umar, who along with Kanhaiya have been accused of sedition for what happened during the February 9 event, had moved the court on May 9 against their rustication from the varsity, a decision which was taken on the basis of recommendations of a high level enquiry committee (HLEC). While Umar was rusticated for one semester and slapped with a fine of R20,000, Anirban was rusticated till July 15 and after July 23 he was barred from the university campus for five years. Anirban was only given a week between July 16-22 to complete his thesis. However, on May 10 when their matter was taken up, JNU had agreed in court to extend the date of deposit of fine, by Umar, to May 30. Racist attacks on Africans in India are not exactly new but the manner in which events have unfolded over the past week show a serious rot that needs to be addressed comprehensively. Otherwise, we risk damage to our civility and economy. On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modis second anniversary in power, which also coincided with a cultural event to mark Africa Day, the continents envoys sent a grim, collective reminder seeking to postpone the event after a Congolese student, Masunda Kitada Oliver, was beaten to death by an unruly mob in Delhi . They eventually did attend the event, but their message was clear. Whats more, they threatened to stop sending new students to India. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs quick promise of security to African nationals in India was at best a band-aid, because the wounds run deep. There has been a backlash against Indians in Congo, taking matters from bad to worse. Read | African nations unite against racism in city Much has happened to strengthen an increasingly prevalent perception that Indians are racist. Much is at stake for India and it cannot treat the safety of Africans as just a law and order issue. What is needed is an outreach to Indias own citizens. The tourism ministry tried to make Indians sensitive to foreign tourists with a series of advertisements on the theme of Atithi Devo Bhava (Treat the guest like a god). It is time to do something similar to prevent commonplace racism that seems to have ebbed in the formerly imperial countries but sadly persists in India. Ironically, this is the land of Mahatma Gandhi , whose politics to free India was shaped in a struggle against racism in South Africa. Read | Shops of Indians in Congo attacked after murder of African man in Delhi It is important for India to court Africa beyond the razzmatazz of the India-Africa Forum Summit that we witnessed last year. Africa is today a continent on the move. Democracy and economic reform in many African countries are throwing up opportunities for India. Indian entrepreneurs including public sector giants are shaping businesses in Africa while Indian teachers are at work in the continent, shaping minds. African students bring in valuable foreign exchange through a growing number of private universities in India. Indias soft power is most visible in education and cinema. As a leader of the Non Aligned Movement, India was once considered the voice for Africa. It is time to revive that spirit. What we need most of all is a campaign to tell Indians not to fall for stereotyped and xenophobic ideas about Africa and Africans. This job is not just for the External Affairs Ministry but also for the Home Ministry to take up in coordination with other departments. The North Block and the South Block need to talk to each other on this. Police have arrested eight employees of the examination department of University of Mumbai (MU) for allegedly helping students to tamper with their answer sheets a day or two after the examinations were over. At present, after a student appears for an examination, the answer sheet stays in transit or is stored at the examination house for two-three days. In the case of engineering students, they are scanned after three days and the digital version is finally assessed by the examiner. According to police, those arrested made use of these three days to steal the answer papers of a few students so that they could write the answers to the questions they did not attempt and put back them in the original stack for assessment. This is the second such incident in less than two months after a betel leaf seller and four MU employees were arrested for their involvement in a fake mark sheet scam. We have found out about this modus operandi for the first time and it just goes to prove that we need to keep updating the (security) system in place, MU vice-chancellor, Sanjay Deshmukh, said. Deshmukh added that strict action will be taken against the culprits. Police investigations have revealed the names of two more university employees involved in the case and those of close to 90 students who benefited from this. Read more: Mumbai University to allow students pick subjects across disciplines A parallel inquiry is also being conducted by a specially appointed fact-finding committee of the university. As a precautionary measure, MU has decided to start frisking employees in the examination house at the time of entry and exit and to install CCTV cameras across the two buildings that house all important documents including the answer sheets. Senior educationists have pointed at the laid back attitude of the university, which they say has led to these scams. Loopholes in the MU security system have been highlighted time and again and the same precautionary measures were noted down even three years ago, when a series of MU question papers were leaked, Madhu Paranjape, a former member of the MU Senate, said. The fact that in these many years, the authorities still ignore such basic details show their apathy towards the system altogether and this needs to be changed immediately, Paranjape added. In 2011, a similar racket was busted by police who arrested the two peons for stealing answer sheets from the central assessment centre at the universitys Kalina campus. The accused, who were working as temporary staff at the university, were caught trying to leave with eight engineering answer sheets tied to their legs. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The University of Mumbai (MU) has decided to introduce Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS), which allows students to study subjects across disciplines, in the post-graduation courses from the coming academic year. CBCS is a common practice of the universities in United States and other western universities. The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the varsity academic council. The varsity is likely to implement CBCS in the undergraduate programme as well, although the council is yet to take a final decision in this regard. University Grants Commission (UGC) had recommended the universities across the country to bring in CBCS. Besides, a perspective plan for higher education in the state, prepared by committee educationist Narendra Jadhav emphasised the need of inter-disciplinary studies. We live in an inter-disciplinary world. None of the worlds problems can be solved by studying only one discipline.Thats the reason, we want students to study various subjects,, Vivek Belekar, an assistant professor from MUs psychology department. The university is planning to introduce CBCS in its UG and PG programmes in a phased manner. While, the current batch of students will continue to study as per the present curriculum, the students who will be admitted in the academic year will be able to choose subjects outside their area of expertise. Read more: End Mumbai university malpractices or lose autonomy According to a member of the academic council, the university is planning to change the syllabus of all the programmes in order to allow implementation of CBCS. During first year of the undergraduate courses, the students will have to study subjects belonging to their own field. However, in the subsequent years, they will be able to earn credits by taking up subjects from other departments as well, he said. The university has already moved from marking system to a credit-based grading system. But, allowing students a choice to pick subjects will require more preparation. While, the UGC has released some guidelines on implementing CBCS, the university may not be able to adopt them completely as we have a semester pattern in place. Managing the logistics of implementing choice-based system will be a challenge, said Belekar. On the initial level, the university has created a basket of subjects from different departments. The post graduate students opting for an inter-disciplinary course will be able to pick subjects from this basket. More such baskets may be created in the future. Not all are convinced on the need to bring CBCS to the Indian universities. Gopakumaran Thampi, principal, Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, suggested that the CBCS is not aligned with the realities of Indian educated system and even the market requirements. Majority of the students in India dont perform well even when it comes to subjects from their own areas of expertise. Besides, heres a huge gap between the curriculum taught in the universities and the practical life. Instead of bringing CBCS, the varsity must address these fundamental issues, he said. Thampi suggested that MU and UGC are merely trying to ape the west when it comes to reforming higher education. Perhaps, the move is aimed at easing the entry of foreign universities in India, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The annual Scripps Spelling Bee ended in a tie for the third consecutive year with two Indian-Americans declared joint winners in a victory for children from the community for the third time running. At 11, Nihar Janga also became the youngest to win the Bee since 2002 . Im just speechless. I cant say anything. Im only in fifth grade, he gushed at the presentation ceremony. The victory of Jairam Hathwar, 13, was equally remarkable: his elder brother Sriram Hathwar is also a bee winner, from 2014, and also a joint winner. I wasnt expecting this, Hathwar, who is from New York state, said, adding, I dreamed about winning this bee and it finally came true. Its just amazing. Hathwar and Janga competed as equals despite the age gap, cheered each other on in the sudden-death rounds when they were the only ones left, duelling one obscure word after another. In the final round, when either could have lost with a wrong spelling, Hathwar got his word Feldenkrais right; its a method of education named after its Israeli founder. Janga, a Texan who became a crowd favourite with a commentator calling him The Machine for his cool demeanor, won with gesellschaft, a German-origin word for community, society. Each of them won a trophy and $45,000 in cash and prizes. Indian Americans have won the contest nine years running now, and three times jointly in consecutive years, and 14 times in all, since the communitys first in 1985, Balu Natrajan. Some Americans perturbed by the stranglehold of the Indian American community over the contest vented with racists remarks on social media in 2015, to widespread condemnation. There has been no offensive backlash this year so far, not any that were reported or noticed. There were only some attempts to understand the tiny ethnic minoritys spate of bee wins. A countrywide spelling competition modelled on the Bee and popular among Indian Americans is often cited as the reason why children from the community are doing so well. The parallel bee is run by a non-profit, North South Foundation, co-founded by Indian American Ratnam Chitturi, who uses part of the enrolment fee to sponsor needy students in India. As Hathwar and Janga celebrated on Thursday night, Chitturi said in a mail: Both co-champions are North South Foundation children! Nine-year winning streak for NSF kids. Nihar dazzled the audience by his grasp of words. When given biniou, he asked pronouncer Jacques Bailly, Is that a Breton bagpipe? then whizzed through it with head down, hands at side and shifting slightly foot to foot. Given taoiseach, he said, Is that an Irish word for prime minister? and nailed it, bringing cheers from the crowd. Jairam created an opening for Nihar when he stumbled on draathaar, a king of dog, wincing when he realised his mistake. Nihar then bobbled ayacohuite, a Mexican tree, giving Jairam new life. Spellers Nihar Saireddy Janga (second right) of Austin, Texas and Jairam Jagadeesh Hathwar (second left) of Painted Post, New York celebrate with family members after the finals of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday. (AFP) Hello again, Jairam said to Bailly when he stepped up to the microphone. Even as the boys battled head to head, they gave each other encouraging hand slaps as they returned from the microphone. After several more rounds, Jairam misspelled mischsprache, a fused language. Nihar failed again to knock him out by missing on tetradrahm, a kind of coin. Read more: Indian-origin boy Anirudh wins Australian spelling bee One more round, and Bailly said, This is a beautiful moment. If you both spell the next word correctly, you will be declared co-champions. They did, and the room erupted in confetti and cheers. The finalists were winnowed from more than 280 spelling whizzes after two days of written and oral tests in a Washington suburb. (with inputs from Reuters) News / National by Staff reporter PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's administration could be preparing for a major security sector shake-up after gazetting new defence regulations that set fresh retirement ages for personnel serving in the uniformed forces, the Financial Gazette can report.The Ministry of Defence, working in consultation with the Defence Forces Service Commission, has recommended amendments to the Defence Act, which will see all soldiers now retiring at the age of 50 years, down from the previous 60 years, unless if one has been asked to continue serving at the recommendation of the defence minister.That ministerial approval only comes at the request of the commander of the defence forces.This is likely to affect scores of top army chiefs and their subordinates who are still serving after attaining the new retirement age.Last week, government gazetted Statutory Instrument (SI) 50 of 2016 titled Defence (Regular Force) (Officers) (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (No. 7).The SI repeals the Defence Regulations SI 135 (No.6) of 2014.The SI serves as much as the law for six months, subject to its renewal or annulment.It's gazetting could be one of the many cost-cutting measures being employed by President Mugabe's financially hamstrung administration.Government is currently grappling with an unsustainable wage bill taking away more than 80 percent of its income.The civil service is seeking to lay off a significant chunk of its bloated workforce, totalling an excess of 550 000 employees, at the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).IMF Zimbabwe chief of mission, Domenic Fanizza, has warned government that it would need to balance its primary accounts, chiefly by cutting the wage bill to below 52 percent of expenditure.Government has responded to the advice by instituting a civil service audit to weed out ghost employees.Public Service Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Prisca Mupfumira, claimed last week that the audit was already bearing fruit, with government now expected to save about US$300 million this year from job cuts.Until now, government has ca refully avoided tempering with the security sector, preferring to hit softer targets such as teachers, nurses and other organs of the civil service.But it appears there would be no sacred cows this time around for a government desperately seeking fiscal space from anywhere to wiggle out of the socio-economic muddle it finds itself in.Reads the notice published in the Government Gazette: "The Defence (regular force) Regulations, 1988, published in Statutory Instrument 152 of 1988, is amended in section 15 (retirement) by the repeal of subsections 4, 5, 6 and 7."The amendment to subsection 4(a) reduces the retirement age for all army officers to 50 from 60."A permanent service officer shall, whatever the length of his or her pensionable service, retire on attaining the age of 50 years. If the minister (of defence), on recommendation of the commander, considers that it is desirable in the public interest, he or she may allow that officer to continue for a period of five years until she attains the age of 55," reads the amendment.Thereafter, the officers would serve at the mercy of the commander and the minister and can be dismissed on notice immediately after being reappointed."If that officer is allowed to continue to serve, the commander may, on giving 12 months written notice to the officer of his or her intention to do so, require him or her to retire before he or she has served that period," it further reads.Those who would have attained the age of 55 will only be allowed to continue serving on presidential approval.An amendment to subsection five of the Defence Act reads: "A permanent service officer who has continued to serve in terms of subsection 4(a) (that is after attaining the age of 50) shall retire on attaining the age of 55 years unless if the President, on recommendation of the minister, considers that it is desirable in the public interest. He (the president) may allow that officer to continue to serve for a period of five years until he or she attains the age of 60 years."Under the new regime, only war veterans will be allowed to serve after attaining the age of 60."If the President, on recommendation of the minister, considers that it is desirable in the public interest, he or she may allow an officer who is a war veteran as defined in the War Veterans Act (Chapter 11:15) to continue to serve for a period of five years until he or she attains the age of 65 years." Students of the APJ Abdul Kalam University in Indore will make a statue of the former President from plastic waste that they are collecting from local shops and dumping yards. The students plan to unveil the statue on the World Environment Day on June 5 to send a message to the society. Also, their plan is to grab a spot in the Limca Book of Records. We wanted to do our bit and follow the thoughts of our idol Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. It has been more than a month now that we are collecting plastic bags from markets and dumping yards, said Nihal Manwatkar, a third year mechanical engineering student. The group of 12 students from pharmacy and engineering streams also educates people about the harmful effects of polythene on environment. Polythene pollution negatively affects health of humans, animals and plants but unfortunately, not much is being done to control it in Indore, said Manwatkar. The students decision came at a time when the university is planning to set up a Kalams statue. A special class was arranged by the college where these students put forth their idea. Our vice chancellor Deepika Pathak told us that the idea was quite noble but would require a lot of guidance. It was then that we started going for special classes wherein the net amount of plastic was calculated to build a statue, said Shivani Mali, another student at the institute. The students collect plastic waste from 9am to 4pm daily. Dr Kalam talked about innovation, and hence, we did not want to invest so much metal for a statue. The idea of recycled materials then came, she said. Johnny Depp and Amber Heards short-lived marriage is heading for an acrimonious end. Amid rumours that there was a full-blown feud between Amber and Johnnys family, questions are being raised over the timing of the divorce -- three days after his mother, Betty Sue Palmer, died. The Pirates of the Caribbean star broke the silence on the issue on Friday. Heard, 30, filed for divorce earlier this week citing irreconcilable differences after the two were married for a little over a year. Read: Johnny Depps wife Amber Heard files for divorce Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of his mother, Johnny will not respond to any of the salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life. Hopefully the dissolution of this short marriage will be resolved quickly. said the Depps representative in a statement. In this file photo, US actor Johnny Depp and Amber Heard arrive at Haneda international airport in Tokyo.The pair were married in February 2015 and have no children together. (AP) Meanwhile, there are rumours that there was a full-blown feud between his (Johnnys ) family and Amber, reported TMZ. A source said that Johnnys two children, two sisters and his mom hated Amber and believed that she treated [Johnny] like crap. Ambers team, however, has said that she terms the marriage as a mistake on her part. Depp, 22 years older than Amber, apparently fell off the wagon during their short marriage and even made drunken public appearances. As the couple didnt sign a prenuptial agreement, Amber has already asked for spousal support in her divorce papers. She has also asked that he pay her legal bills. Depps lawyer is fighting all this tooth and nail. It is thought that Amber will end up with between 10 million and 35 million a sizeable dent in Depps 270 million fortune, Daily Mail reported. The actor will surely not forgive the fact that his wife has launched these proceedings three days after the death of his mother, Betty Sue Palmer, at the age of 81. He was so close to her that he had her name tattooed inside a heart on his left arm. It has been claimed that his relationship with Heard further deteriorated after he moved his ailing mother into their Los Angeles compound. This will not be Depps first divorce. He married make-up artist Lori Anne Allison in 1983 but they went their separate ways two years later. He also split from French actress partner Vanessa Paradis, who he has daughter Lily-Rose, 16, and 13-year-old son Jack with, in 2012 after 14 years together. Heard was in a three-year relationship with girlfriend Tasya van Ree until 2011. The couple wed in February, 2015, after meeting on the set of 2011s The Rum Diary. They have no children together. (With inputs from PTI) The US has asked Pakistan to co-operate with India in the 26/11 investigations and have appealed it to check all terror groups operating on its soil. We continue to urge the Pakistani government to cooperate with the Indian authorities to fully investigate these attacks, state department deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Thursday. It (Mumbai terrorist attack) was a terrible tragedy. We want to see justice done and we continue to urge Pakistani cooperation, he said. The US, he said, is having a conversation with the Pakistani authorities that they need to address all groups operating on their soil and their territory including the Taliban groups. Weve urged them to do so in the past. We continue to urge them to do so and have worked with them on addressing the very real threat on their own soil, Toner said. At a time when RSS affiliates have ratcheted up the Ayodhya temple issue ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early next year, the BJP on Friday sought to distance itself from the issue, citing its stand in the 2014 manifesto about exploring all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution. If you read it (manifesto), you will find that it is mentioned there as to how we intend to work on them, BJP president Amit Shah said on Friday in response to queries about the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and abrogation of Article 370 providing special status to Jammu & Kahsmir. Home Minister Rajnath Singh told a TV channel that the issue of Ram Mandir is sub-judice amd we should wait for the court judgement. Read:Bajrang Dal is not BJP, listen only to your government: Amit Shah The partys measured stance on this issue comes in the backdrop of a renewed campaign by Sangh Parivar affiliates, as also BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, for the construction of the temple. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which had earlier put a moratorium on this issue, has changed stance and is collecting stones for the construction of the temple. Swamy has approached the Supreme Court with a plea to intervene with the government to allow the Hindus to re-build the temple. Last month, an organization founded by late VHP leader Ashok Singhal went ahead with a seminar on Ram Janma Bhoomi Temple at Delhi university and despite protests by a section of students. On Friday, Amit Shah evaded giving a definitive reply on how the long-standing demand for a temple in Ayodhya will be met. He chose to refer to the last party manifesto, which was rather ambivalent about the partys future course of action (see graphics). During the previous NDA regime, BJP leaders used to argue that it was not able to implement its Ram temple agenda as it didnt have a majority and was heading a coalition government. Narendra Modi government has skirted this issue choosing to go to electorate on development plank. Shah on Friday also sought to distance itself from the Bajrang Dal, which has triggered a controversy by releasing a video on self-defence training showing terrorists in skull caps and robes. Asked about this, the BJP president said, People should focus on what the government has to say. The Samajwadi Party, which the BJP sees as its prime contender in UP has been accusing the BJP of using outfits like Bajrang Dal to cleave the electorate on the basis of religion. Read:Will ensure Ram temple construction begins by Dec: Subramanian Swamy Read:Simhastha: Ram temple, Dalit votes back on agenda Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Friday pointed towards the negative campaigns that took place in the lead up to the Tibetan general elections held in March, cautioning the community-in-exile against sectarian divide. He was speaking at the swearing in of Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay, who took the oath of office for his second term as PM. At the event, Sangay said he hoped that the half- a- century old Tibet issue will be resolved peacefully during the lifetime of spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The danger of regional and sectarian divide loomed large during the elections. I was pained to see degradation of morality and overtones of regional loyalty. It is very unfortunate, Dalai Lama said in his speech at the swearing-in ceremony. Unity of the three traditional provinces of Tibet is of primary importance. We have preserved our traditions over centuries and our culture is based on this unity. Therefore, we should do away with this warped sense of loyalty to regions and move on as one, he added. Being followers of Buddha, the spiritual leader said, we should be embarrassed at we happened during the election campaign. I dont blame the majority. However, there are some fringe elements within the community who take pleasure in dividing the society on regional lines, he noted, urging Tibetan leaders, staff and public to keep unity of Tibetan people in mind. The most important aspect of the Tibetan movement, he further said, should be to fulfill the aspirations of Tibetans who continue to remain in Tibet and the Tibetan movement should be based solely on the principle of non-violence. I have worked wholeheartedly for the Tibetan cause for over 57 years, the spiritual leader said, adding that although he has devolved his political responsibility he would continue to work for Tibets culture and religion. With our hard work and the generous assistance of the Indian and other foreign governments and organisations, the Dalai Lama said, we have reached a stage where we are unique among equals. He further called for a renewed emphasis on holistic education for Tibetan children. There are over 1.5 lakh Tibetans in exile. We should not just be satisfied with a successful livelihood. We should focus on a holistic education of our children, he said. Despite the great heights that modern education has reached, it is still inadequate when it comes to inner values. Dalai Lama also traced the roots of Tibetan Buddhism to the Nalanda tradition of India and said it was among the best in the world, primarily for being based on scientific analysis and logical study. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Special Judicial Magistrate Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of Teni Yadav, who is named in the FIR of the Aditya Sachdeva murder case. Teni, who is a cousin of Rocky the main accused, surrendered before additional chief judicial magistrate Om Sagar who remanded him to 14 days judicial custody last week. Teni was allegedly travelling in the SUV with Rocky and bodyguard Rajesh Kumar, when Aditya was shot dead near police lines under Rampur police station area after Rockys vehicle was overtaken by the car in which Aditya and his friends were sitting. Earlier, a local court Gaya rejected the bail petition of Bindeshwari Yadav, alias, Bindi Yadav, father of Rocky Yadav, who is the main accused in the teenager Aditya Sachdeva murder case. 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. In a separate development, suspended JDU MLC Manorama Devis, bail plea was rejected yet again by the District Judge in Gaya today. Devi, who is accused of violating prohibition law, was last week sent to 14-day judicial custody. Earlier, Manoramas bail petition was rejected by the additional chief judicial magistrate. Devi is the mother of Rocky Yadav, the main accused in the sensational road rage killing of a Class 12 student on May 7. Read: Bail petition of Rocky Yadavs father rejected Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, who was quizzed by CBI in a sting video case, has accused the Centre the agency to target him after losing the political battle in the state and said he is not afraid of going to jail. BJP and the Modi government at the Centre are using CBI as a tool to settle scores with political adversaries. We will have to respond to this politically and go to people to expose BJPs sinister design, Rawat said addressing his party leaders in Dehradun on Thursday. I am not afraid of going to jail. I have fought all along my political career. My station in politics today is due to the blessings of the people. I leave it to them and party workers to give a reply to the injustice of the BJP, he said. If going to jail or making any other sacrifice is the precondition for working in the interest of the people of the state, I would not hesitate doing that, he added. Rawat asked his party workers to reach out to people and expose the BJPs conspiracy against democratic forces. The chief minister alleged that BJP had no faith in democratic institutions or the judiciary and had resorted to the CBI to take on him after losing the political battle against him. We dont need to fear any probe. We have to act with restraint and keep ourselves awake to the conspiratorial moves of the BJP, he said. Rawat was examined by CBI for nearly five hours on May 24 in connection with a preliminary inquiry into a sting operation purportedly showing him offering bribes to rebel Congress lawmakers to support him during a floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly. Former Union Minister of State for Home and Defence Jitendra Singh, also present at the gathering, said the manner in which Uttarakhand government had saved democracy had given a new lease of life to opposition governments in several states. Pradesh Congress President Kishore Upadhyay claimed the party had emerged stronger out of the political crisis created by the BJP in the state. We unitedly faced the challenge thrown by BJP and won finally. We have emerged stronger out of the crisis. We have to go from village to village and booth to booth to expose the BJPs unholy intentions, he said. Facing allegations of high-handedness and stifling the media, Chhattisgarhs BJP government headed by chief minister Raman Singh has cracked down on inefficient and corrupt officials to brush up its bruised image. Some 110 officials were suspended and many others served with notices during a month-long drive to reconnect with the people. Lok Suraj Abhiyan that began on April 27 saw the chief minister and all other ministers crisscrossing the state, reviewing development work and cracking the whip on erring officials in public. While Singh suspended seven officials during the drive, PWD minister Rajesh Munat suspended five senior engineers during a trip to Sarjuga district over irregularities to the tune of Rs 5 crores. Agriculture and water resources minister Brijmohan Agarwal suspended an agricultural officer and panchayat secretary in Mahasamund for alleged negligence while forest minister Mahesh Gaghda suspended three after their relatives were found to be illegally occupying government accommodation in Dhamtari. Other ministers chose to give senior officials a dressing down when found wanting. Women and child development minister Ramshila Sahu chided the collector of Kanker, Shammi Abidi, for trying to defend some officials. Are you not willing to work here? the minister asked the bureaucrat in the presence of others. Urban administration minister Amar Agarwal berated officials accused of unauthorised payments to contractors. Is the state your territory where you rule, he angrily asked, before ordering the Balod district collector to suspend them. The tongue-lashing and whip-cracking, the government, hopes, will help in repairing its image that many believe has taken a beating. Singhs administration has particularly come in for criticism for alleged police excesses and the jailing of at least four journalists. Activists say free speech is under attack in the state. The people-centric policies can best be formulated not sitting in the state secretariat but by undertaking ground assessment and feedback from the masses. Such approach fixes the accountability on officials and enables the schemes to succeed. We tried to directly ask the people what they want, Singh told HT. The chief minister visited each of the states districts during the month, travelling 8,000 kms and attending over two dozen choupals (village gatherings). But superior efforts were appreciated too. Officials were equally praised for good work and capabilities, a senior bureaucrat said. Pusao Ram, a farmer in Mungeli district, who attended one of the village gatherings, hoped the crackdown may bring about positive changes. Political analyst Parivesh Mishra was more circumspect. To ensure accountability on governance there has to be consistency. How the processis going to impact the working of the bureaucracy remains to be seen, he said. The opposition Congress, however, dubbed the exercise as hollow. The actions against the officials were to cover up the failures of the Raman cabinet, state Congress president Bhupesh Baghel said. There is little difference between Hindu and Muslim families when it comes to marrying off their daughters at an early age. One in three married women from either community tied the knot well before their 18th birthday, making them vulnerable to not just higher maternal mortality rates but also domestic violence. Official statistics on married Indian women released on Friday show 31.3% Hindu women and 30.6% Muslim women were 17 or younger at the time of their wedding. Many of them hadnt even turned 10. The legal age for marriage is 18 for women and 21 for men. Any marriage below the stipulated age is considered child marriage under the law. Read | Minors becoming a major voice against child marriage in MP Sikh, Christian, Buddhist and Jain women fared far better, the census report on the decadal headcount in 2011 said. Only 6% of men were married before 18. It is shocking that decades after having laws prohibiting child marriage, the practice is still so rampant, said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Delhi-headquartered Centre for Social Research. Data released by the home ministrys census commissioner revealed 6% of all Hindu women were married before they turned 10. The corresponding figure for Muslim women was 5%. But the silver lining is that the practice is on the decline. The 2001 census found 43% of women were married before 18 years of age. In 2011, the figure stood at 30%. And the proportion of women wed before 18 years of age between 2001 and 2011 was 20%. In absolute terms, this still means there were 15 million child marriages in the last decade. Kumari said the decline would have been sharper if the law on child marriage was strictly enforced. In 2014, for instance, police registered only 280 cases across the country under the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. Of the 103 cases decided by courts the same year, convictions were secured in only 15 or 14.6% cases. Read | Poverty, violence, child marriage end when women own land: World Bank India has long outlawed child marriage but was unable to enforce the law that was first enacted by the British in 1929. The Child Marriage Restraint Act fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14, and boys at 18 years. It was last raised to 18 years for girls in 2006. The Unicef calls child marriage a death sentence for young girls as they are more likely to bear children before they are physically ready. Studies show girls who give birth before turning 15 and the infants of child mothers are at greater risk. Moreover, underage marriages typically interrupt education and most child brides are unable to negotiate with their spouses and in-laws, making them more liable to domestic violence. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON News / National by Staff reporter PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will be the only head of state attending the 8th summit of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) in Papua New Guinea next week.Fifty delegations from the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states have confirmed their attendance at eighth leaders' summit in Port Moresby next week.The 50 heads of delegations include a president, four vice-presidents, 13 prime ministers, one deputy prime minister, one speaker of the national parliament, 14 ministers and 16 ambassadorsMinister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration Rimbink Pato said the president was Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe.Pato said the meeting would be held at the National Convention Centre and chaired by Prime Minister Peter O'Neill."We may be looking at an attendance of around 500 people, meetings will take place at different venues in Port Moresby, mostly at the convention centre and at the national parliament and Sir John Guise Stadium," Pato said."We are very excited."Some of them (ACP leaders) are coming to PNG for the first time."Let us show them the hospitality and sell our country to ensure that this is the first of many more of them to keep coming."The country's ambassador to Belgium and the European Union Joshua Kalinoe said he was satisfied with preparations made by the organising committee.Kalinoe said: "On the prepatory work in Brussels, one of the reasons why we are hosting this type of forums, is to improve the profile of PNG in the ACP regions."Not many people in Europe know where PNG is because they think it's part of Africa."Six advanced teams from the ACP nations are already in the country in preparation for their delegations' arrival from the weekend. The National/ PNG Today Terming the killing of a Congolese national in the capital as unfortunate, Mahesh Sharma, tourism and culture minister, said that even African countries are not safe. India is a large country and such incidents will give a bad name to India. It is an unfortunate incident. However, even Africa is not safe, Sharma told IANS in an interview. Such incidents happen in other parts of the world too, he added. Read: Shops of Indians in Congo attacked after murder of African man in Delhi He narrated how he had to cut down his morning and evening walks during a visit to South Africa because of safety concerns, and said that it is unfair to paint India as an unsafe country. When I went to South Africa, I was stopped from going for a morning walk at 6 a.m. by the hotel people citing security reasons. My post dinner walk was also dropped for the same reasons. Its not fair to say that India is unsafe, said the minister. Read: Congolese mans murder: Govt faces tough questions from African diplomats The murder of the Congolese youth has snowballed into a diplomatic issue as the envoys of the African nations initially expressed apprehension about attending the Africa Day celebrations on Thursday. Later, they came around after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj gave an assurance about the safety of African nationals. The Congolese youth was beaten to death last week in Vasant Kunj area over a petty dispute. Sharma added that the tourism ministry has introduced measures to ensure safety of foreign nationals in the country. Read: Congolese man killed in Delhi: For African students, racial taunts never end The tourism ministry has introduced a helpline no 1363 for foreign nationals who visit India. We also issue certain dos and donts for them here, said the minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the BJPs election campaign for Uttar Pradesh from Saharanpur, timing it with the NDAs second anniversary on Thursday. The Congress though is still scrambling to put in place a strategy for the crucial assembly polls that sends the highest number of MPs 80 to the Lok Sabha. The problem seems to be with their poll strategists suggestions not going down well with party workers, and the central leadership in some instances. To turn its electoral fortunes following its recent abysmal performance, the Congress roped in Prashant Kishor, the man widely believed to be behind Modis and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars electoral success. However, Kishor is struggling to get all his ideas cleared by the grand old party. Read | UP polls may be Prashant Kishors toughest test yet A few of his suggestions that Rahul Gandhi be declared the partys Uttar Pradesh chief ministerial candidate and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lead the campaign were outright rejected. Kishor is also facing resistance to replacing the partys state chief, Nirmal Khatri , with a Brahmin leader, for a wider electoral appeal. Madhusudan Mistry, the Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, has countered it, arguing that there is little time left to the 2017 elections to bring in a new person. Read | Congress may carry out rejig to stop its descent in Uttar Pradesh A section of the state unit also complained of Kishors unsolicited interference in orgnisational matters, citing his unilateral decision to summon office bearers for a meeting in Lucknow recently. The Congress clarified that Kishors role was limited to making relevant suggestions for the election manifesto and campaign in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. A senior central functionary, though, insisted that the strategist was being provided with all the help and logistics to spruce up the campaign. Read | Give list of workers for tickets: Prashant Kishor to UP Cong leaders Kishor has been provided with 1,500 names of Congressmen in Uttar Pradesh, 20 from each of the 75 districts, as per his request. He wanted to see the organisational strength of the Congress at the district level, said a Congress leader. The party, which was thrown out of power in Uttar Pradesh in 1989, has often blamed its organisational weakness for the drubbing. It now desperately seeks a renaissance in the state. Sources said Kishor has thus far verified 800 of the names. Read | Team Kishor at work, Rahul too gets an image makeover Another strategy being shaped up is the identification of potential winnable seats. Though the Congress is likely to fight on all the 403 seats after it ruled out any pre-poll alliance, it is zeroing in on about 150 constituencies where their good fighting chances are high. Rahul Gandhi had led the 2012 poll campaign from the front, addressing 211 public meetings across the state in just 45 days. But the party won only 28 seats, just six more than its tally in the 2007 elections. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The blast in a chemical factory in Dombivli that killed six so far, has brought the debate over shifting hazardous industries out of residential areas back in focus. On Thursday, a pharmaceutical unit exploded in the residential area near Thane, causing damage within a 1.5 km radius. More than 100 people were injured as windowpanes in buildings around shattered from the blast impact. Read | Blast at Dombivli chemical factory The factors that led to the mishap are many industries located too close to human settlements, lack of buffer zones, expanding cities and a disregard for security norms. Following the blast, industries minister Subhash Desai announced that steps would be taken to avoid similar tragedies in the future. To start with, the state government is planning to bring in a new policy to shift these industries out of city limits. However, those who have handled the issue before say the ground realities will make this a tough task. The plan looks possible on paper but it is very complex to implement. Before relocating these companies, the government will have to check if the new location is suitable for business of the manufactures. Is it possible to shift the existing workers to new location? In addition, it will have to provide infrastructure like power and water supply in the new area. Availability of land, raw material, and connectivity will remain big issues to sort out while pursuing the plan, said a former planner with state governments planning and development body, City and Industrial Corporation (CIDCO). While moving industries is one part of the problem, expanding residential areas is another. Many chemical industries in Navi Mumbai were shifted beyond Panvel, but residential colonies have sprung up here as well, another CIDCO officer said. Even if the government manages to shift these industries to new areas, it will have hard time ensuring that the required buffer area between industries and human settlement is maintained, the official said. Besides buffer zones, basic safety procedures are also not followed within companies nor are they enforced by civic bodies. As per the rules, there should not have been residential development in at least 1-km radius of the chemical companies in Trans Thane Creek (TTC) industrial belt. As there were no checks, ancillary companies and labourers camps, residential buildings mushroomed in the area. We have seen (that) except (for) very few companies, which are giants in the business, no company took safety measures seriously, said Satish Deshmukh, a former deputy manager at a chemical manufacturing company. Environmentalist D Stalin blames officials of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for not ensuring this. The National Green Tribunal has observed that the safety norms were not followed by these companies. MIDC and MPCB were silent on this, despite declaration of Dombivli MIDC as major polluted area by the Union environment ministry in 2009, he pointed out. A soldier and six militants have died in two separate gunfights in north Kashmir since Thursday. A gun battle broke out on Thursday near the Line of Control in north Kashmirs Nowgam sector in Kupwara district when a group of militants attempted to infiltrate into the Indian side. A soldier and four militants died in the encounter. Four heavily armed terrorists were eliminated by the alert troops operating in the area. Bodies of these terrorists were recovered from the site along with four AK-47 Rifles, ammunition and other warlike stores, an army spokesperson said. In Tangmarg area of north Kashmirs Baramulla district, two militants were gunned down after security forces cordoned off a village to corner them. An official said police and the armys Rashtriya Rifles launched a joint operation around 6:30 am on Friday after receiving information about militants being present in Khochipora village of Tangmarg. A soldier was wounded in the action.Reports said that security forces blasted through the house using explosives, though Joshi refused to comment on it. One soldier got minor injuries in the encounter which is still going on, he said. The encounters come days after three policemen were killed in Srinagar in two separate militant attacks. Two suspected militants of the banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad were also gunned down in a gun battle with security forces on Monday. Read | J-K up for hot summer, says top army officer after Srinagar attacks Such has been the spate of conflicts that the chief of the armys Northern Command raised concerns over the recent militant attacks in Srinagar, voicing fears that Jammu and Kashmir could be set for a tumultuous summer. According to the army, infiltration figures for 2016 touched 45 for the first four months, a sharp spike from the 35 terrorists who crossed the Line of Control in 2015. Moves to form an anti-BJP federal front gained momentum on Friday, as prominent regional leaders backed the idea at Mamata Banerjees swearing-in ceremony as West Bengal chief minister. Taking the lead was former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (Dal) chief Lalu Prasad who said opposition unity was imperative. All like-minded parties will sit together to resist the spread of the BJP. If we dont come together now, BJP and the Sangh Parivar will end up dividing the country, he told journalists after the oath-taking ceremony. Yadav made the remarks in the presence of several leaders who could make up and also perhaps lead such a front. They included Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and Akhilesh Yadav -- the chief ministers of Bihar, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh -- respectively. M Kanimozhi, the daughter of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, was also in attendance. The idea comes ahead of crucial polls early next year in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is hoping to use Prime Minister Narendra Modis popularity to ride to power for the first time in about 15 years. Regional parties also feel that they stand a better chance to defeat the BJP in the 2019 general elections following the triumph of state-level heavyweights such as Banerjee, Jayalalithaa, Prasad and Kumar. Read: Mamata takes oath as Bengal CM, Nitish, Lalu, Jaitley attend event Banerjees swearing-in was attended by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who insisted such a coming together was a failed idea. The federal front is a testing, trying and failed idea. There have been talks of federal front before. Small parties have tried for that. But lack of leadership has made it unsuccessful. We are not thinking anything about it, he told reporters at the Kolkata Press Club. But Jaitley was conspicuously absent when the regional leaders were seen posing for photographs with leaders of Banerjees Trinamool Congress. After the ceremony, Prasad found ready support from host Banerjee, who welcomed the idea of a federal combine. The federal front is a good idea. I will help in it if anybody seeks it. But I dont want anything (read, leadership position) as I am too tied up in Bengal, she said at a press conference. Farooq Abdullah, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, also supported the initiative. Various parties working to ensure a united India have to come together. We need to discuss it with different parties, and of course, Mamata Banerjee is one of them, he said. Last year, Prasads Rashtriya Janata Dal and Kumars Janata Dal (United) buried differences and put up a united front to stop the BJPs impressive run in state elections. The combine, Mahagathbandhan, crushed the saffron alliance in the Bihar polls. With 35 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 11 in Rajya Sabha, the Trinamool can become an important component of any anti-BJP front. The Left parties have been a part of such initiatives before but the leaders of any such emerging front will have to choose between the Left and its arch-rival Trinamool. The Left boycotted Banerjees swearing-in ceremony. A Rs 1,000 note, the largest denomination issued by India, is 17.7 cm long. You will need 3.05 billion such notes to pay off the total debt of the West Bengal government. If one puts those many bank notes end to end, it can reach the moon from the earth and return 40% of the distance. The length of the notes can also go round the earths equator more than 13 times. If these comparisons are mind-boggling, remember that these numbers convey the enormity of debt that will keep gnawing at Mamata Banerjees brains as she takes oath as chief minister on Friday. She also has a few other things like attracting investments and getting a grip on the law and order situation on her agenda, but nothing will be a bigger immediate constraint than the fiscal problem. It is quite disturbing to suggest that debt obligations will consume 77% of a governments own tax revenue, or worse, that the amount it spends on debt repayment will be 3.5 times what it spends on building income-generating assets such as roads, power plants, irrigation canals, transport systems, etc. But thats precisely what happened in Bengal in 2015-16. Significantly, Mamata Banerjees brand of politics thrives on generously loosening the purse strings. Read: How Mamata Banerjee scripted the decimation of Left in West Bengal In the first term, she tossed criticisms out of the window to spend on grants to neighbourhood clubs, fares concerning almost everything under the sun apart from politically prudent projects such as giving cycles, shoes, doles to girls. She also spent a lot on roads, electrification and water supply. They have paid off handsomely, and it is quite likely the chief minister will not abandon the successful formula. This is precisely where the huge debt repayments will hurt. The debt obligation can come in the way of building more hospitals and schools, and appointing doctors and teachers in those already built. It will halt building new roads, digging new tubewells and providing assistance to farmers and unorganised labourers, sections close to Mamatas heart. The government paid Rs 33,067 crore towards clearing the debt last year which was stood at Rs 3.05 lakh crore. It will rise to 36,869 crore in the next (2016-17). Mamata will perhaps continue to incur the wrath of the government employees who lag behind their central counterparts by as much as 50% in DA payments. Significantly, experts warn that the crisis will reach a crescendo before the current term of the government ends in 2021 as the market borrowings, typically 10-year loans, will mature for payment of the principal amount. Since she assumed power on May 20, 2011, Mamata has been acutely conscious that the debt will become the millstone around her neck. For the first three years after taking over, the chief minister met all those who mattered at the Centre Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to extract a fiscal relief package, the principal element of which was a three-year moratorium on interest payments and a debt recast. She met each of them a number of times, badgering them with her demands. Her key argument: The profligate Left government left her under a mountain of debt that was close to Rs 2 lakh crore, and she was being unfairly penalised. But each time she was refused with the finance ministry arguing that the Constitution does not provide for discretionary powers that can be used to bestow interest moratorium on a single state. Read: Ex-cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla among new faces in Mamatas 42-member cabinet After the change of guard at the Centre in the summer of 2014, Mamata renewed her quest for fiscal breather, but so far the search has been fruitless despite senior ministers such as Rajnath Singh publicly saying they will consider her demands sympathetically. Critics have pointed out that in her second term, the chief minister cannot just go on pointing fingers at the Left for the fiscal mess. According to the budget estimates presented to the assembly by Amit Mitra, the debt will stand at Rs 3.34 lakh crore at the end of the current financial year, which means in six years, the Trinamool governments contribution to the debt figure is about Rs 1.34 lakh crore. (It was about Rs 2 lakh crore in March 2011, when the Left went out.) The Reserve Bank of India suggests, as a classical measure, to improve tax revenue and bringing down non-plan expenditure. But with Amit Mitra improving the tax revenue considerably in the past five years, there are hardly any easy options left on that front. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The body of an Indian climber was found on the upper slopes of Mount Everest, raising the death toll on the worlds tallest mountain since it was re-opened to expeditions this spring to four. Sherpas searching for two Indian climbers missing since May 21 located the body of Paresh Nath, 58, above the South Col (7,900 metres), hiking officials said on Friday. Goutam Ghosh is still missing. They are bringing the body down while the search for another Indian climber is continuing, said Wangchu Sherpa of the Trekking Team Nepal company that organised their expedition. Nath was part of a four-member group that went missing on May 21. Sunita Hazra was located the next day but Subash Paul died while being rescued. Read | Three deaths in three days: Everest challenge proves deadly for climbers About 400 climbers have reached the top of Everest this month, the first time they were on the mountain after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake set off an avalanche that killed at least 18 people at Base Camp a year ago. On Friday, a rescue helicopter brought the body of Australian climber Maria Strydom from Everest to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu. Strydom, 34, was nearing the 8,850-metre (29,035 foot) summit when she fell ill with altitude sickness and had to turn back. She died last Saturday. Her body has now been brought to Kathmandu from the mountain, said Phu Tenzi Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks that organised her expedition. Read | Missing mountaineers: WB to send team to coordinate rescue operations Strydoms husband, Robert Gropel, who was in her team and also suffered altitude sickness, was airlifted to Kathmandu early this week. Arnold Coster, who led the expedition, said Seven Summit Treks was as prepared as any. The Dutch mountaineer said he had personally selected climbers, and Strydom and Gropel had three experienced sherpas between them. Gropel said the pair began their summit bid on Friday night in clear weather, departing from Camp 4, but at the South Summit at nearly 8,000 metres, Strydom slowed, stricken by altitude sickness. Gropel also began to suffer from a lack of oxygen, hampering his thought processes. It took a while for me to register that I had medication, and so as soon as I realised I gave her a dexamethasone injection, Gropel told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. With the medication and more oxygen brought up by sherpas, Strydom improved and was making her way down. She then collapsed suddenly and could not be revived. Read | Indian Army team among more than 150 climbers on top of Everest On Thursday, rescuers brought down the body of 36-year-old Dutchman Eric Ary Arnold, who died last Friday while on descent from the summit. Everest has been climbed by over 7,300 people since 1953 when Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary made their pioneering ascent. The deaths this month take the toll to at least 283. A father of two in Dewas allegedly impersonated the Islamic State terror group and wrote a letter to his childrens school, saying that the institution will be bombed and the principal set ablaze if outstanding fees werent waived. Police booked Usmaan, the father of a boy and a girl, for allegedly writing the letter and posting it to the principal of BCM school, Verges Joseph. The letter was hand-written and in Hindi. Joseph said Usman hadnt paid Rs 44,000 as his three childrens fees. Joseph said he wrote to Usman to pay the amount the childrens father threatened murder last month. When Joseph complained to the police, Usmaan again allegedly threatened him. It seems that the letter is written to threaten the principal and in no way is IS involved in this act, said Thana in-charge Nahar Darwaza RR Gautam. We are taking samples of writing of each and every student of school including the teachers. The samples of handwriting of Usmaan will also be taken to investigate the matter. Police have registered a case for criminal intimidation and obscene use of words in public. But Usman denied all charges and said someone was misusing his name. It is true I have not deposited the fees of my kids this year because I am suffering from financial crisis but I have no issues with the principal. I will deposit the fees soon, he said. A 23-year-old Nigerian student received head injuries after a man in his neighbourhood hit him with a rod following a dispute over car-parking in Banjara Hills area in Hyderabad, police said on Friday. According to the police, on Wednesday night, argument broke out between a Nigerian national Ghazeem, a third-year degree student in a city college and a resident of Singadabasti locality in Banjara Hills, Mohd Gafoor, after the former parked his car in front of Gafoors building, despite being told to park in his own apartment complex. However, Ghazeem allegedly refused to remove his car after which a scuffle broke out. Gafoor hit him on his head with a rod, resulting in injuries, a senior police officer said. The incident occurred on Wednesday night after a dispute over car-parking. Following a complaint by the Nigerian student, a case was registered against Gafoor and he has been taken into custody. We have started investigations into the matter, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Banjara Hills Division) Uday Kumar Reddy said. A counter-complaint was lodged by Gafoor, however no case has been registered, the ACP added. Minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj has sought a report after the incident. On reports of a Nigerian student injured in Hyderabad: EAM @SushmaSwaraj has urgently sought report from State Govt, is monitoring the case, ministry spokesperson Vikas Swaroop tweeted in the morning. The incident comes days after Masonda Ketada Oliver, a 29-year-old Congolese national, was beaten to death in south Delhis Vasant Kunj area. He was murdered by three men in an altercation over hiring an autorickshaw. The murder resulted in a full-blown diplomatic disaster for India with African nations threatening to boycott the Centres showpiece Africa Day celebrations. Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj moved swiftly to reassure African envoys of the safety of their nationals, including students studying in the country. The African diplomats later agreed to participate in the feat but raised tough questions. There were also reports of some Indian shops being attacked in Congo, possibly a backlash against the Delhi murder. (An earlier version of the report wrongly identified the victim as girl) Indo-Pak ties can truly scale great heights if Pakistan removes the self-imposed obstacle of terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he asked Islamabad to play its part by putting a complete stop to any kind of support to terrorism - whether state or non-state. In my view, our ties can truly scale great heights once Pakistan removes the self-imposed obstacle of terrorism in the path of our relationship. We are ready to take the first step, but the path to peace is a two-way street, Modi told The Wall Street Journal, in comments posted on its website on Friday. He said he has always maintained that instead of fighting with each other, India and Pakistan should together fight against poverty. Naturally we expect Pakistan to play its part, he said. But, there can be no compromise on terrorism. It can only be stopped if all support to terrorism, whether state or non-state, is completely stopped. Pakistans failure to take effective action in punishing the perpetrators of terror attacks limits the forward progress in our ties, said the Prime Minister. Modi said his governments proactive agenda for a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood began from the very first day of his government. I have said that the future that I wish for India is the future that I dream for my neighbours. My visit to Lahore was a clear projection of this belief, he said. Ruling out a change in Indias decades-old policy of non-alignment, Modi said that despite the border dispute, there have been no clashes with China, pointing out the new way in todays interdependent world unlike the last century. There is no reason to change Indias non-alignment policy that is a legacy and has been in place. But this is true that today, unlike before, India is not standing in a corner. It is the worlds largest democracy and fastest growing economy. We are acutely conscious of our responsibilities both in the region and internationally, he said. Modis significant comment on Indias Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which many now also prefer to call as strategic autonomy, came in response to a question on Chinas assertiveness. The US is very keen on India, the rising power that India is, to be part of, if not an alliance, then at least a grouping that can stand up to some extent to China. Where do you see India taking a position on the global stage? he was asked. We dont have any fighting with China today. We have a boundary dispute, but there is no tension or clashes. People-to-people contacts have increased. Trade has increased. Chinese investment in India has gone up. Indias investment in China has grown, Modi said. Despite the border dispute, there havent been any clashes. Not one bullet has been fired in 30 years, he said. News / National by Staff reporter Indications are that the MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai is set to skip his party's Saturday demonstration in Bulawayo or if he attends, he will not have a meaningful role to play as Thokozani Khupe will give the keynote address after the demo.In a press release the MDC-T advised that, "All roads lead to Bulawayo tomorrow (Saturday, 28 May 2016) for the Provincial Protest March against poverty, joblessness, corruption, misgovernance and human rights abuses. The MDC Vice President will thereafter give a keynote address."About 10 000 people are expected to take part.Tsvangirai issued a statement Wednesday updating "fellow Zimbabweans" on his condition.He is 'recovering' in South Africa from undisclosed ailment."I may be indisposed, but I am more worried about my country and its economy that seem to be in a far much worse state than my personal state of health."He added "Rest assured, I am on the path to full recovery and I will be joining you soon to continue with the struggle for freedom, peace, democracy and national prosperity".MDC-T officials in Bulawayo said the their ailing leader will lead Saturday street protest in Bulawayo from the front.Addressing a press briefing this afternoon, MDC T National Organising Secretary, Abedinico Bhebhe said Tsvangirai would be available."I assure you all MDC-T leadership including myself and president (Tsvangirai) will lead from the front. Mark my words," said Bhebhe.Some officials think Tsvangirai's absence 'could take off some shine' on the demonstration."Morgan is the single face of the party. His absence will definitely affect the spirit of the demo" said one official.He however questioned his boss choice of traveling to South Africa for treatment, shunning local health facilities."He is just the same as his rival (President Mugabe)."Morgan always complain that Mugabe is seeking treatment in Singapore yet he is in South Africa. What is he saying about local health care?". Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said his trust in Pakistan on the issue of fighting terrorism has been completely shaken, since the kind of support India expected from it was not coming. As the Modi government completed two years in office, Singh also made it clear that not allowing an NIA team to probe the Pathankot terror strike will amount to betrayal. In interviews to news channels, the Home Minister touched upon various issues including the 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and threats from the dreaded terror outfit ISIS. My trust has been completely shaken. The kind of support which we should be getting from them(Pakistan) on the issue of terrorism, that is not happening. I do not have any hesitation in saying this, he said. On Pathankot, he said it was mutually agreed informally by the two countries that once Pakistans Joint Intelligence Team would visit India, an NIA team would be allowed. We are awaiting that NIA team is allowed to visit Pakistan, he said. It is unfortunate (no action on the Pathankot terror case). Those connected with the Pathankot terror case must be punished, he said. I will not have any hesitation in saying that if our NIA team does not get permission to visit Pakistan then it will be betrayal. They should be allowed, he said. This has been discussed at Secretary level also and this is the proposal from this side also that your team has come, our NIA should also go. We are waiting for response from Pakistan. Let us see what is the response from Pakistan, he added. Two villagers from insurgency-hit Bastar region of Chhattisgarh were murdered allegedly by Maoists in separate incidents, police said even as 14 Maoists were arrested in Sukma district. While an 18-year-old youth identified as Kandru Patel, was murdered in Kondagaon district, another villager Joga Madvi was killed in Dantewada district, a senior police official said. A native of Balasar village under Kondagaon police station, Patel had arrived at Heeramandla village on Thursday along with his father and a younger brother to visit a local fair, he said. As per preliminary information, when he was sleeping alone in the courtyard of the house of a relative in the village, a group of armed Maoists stormed the place late in the night, attacked him with sharp weapons and subsequently shot him dead, the official said. The exact reason behind his killing was not yet known. However, the Maoist pamphlets dropped at the spot claimed that he was acting as a police informer, he said. The body of the victim was handed over to his relatives after the postmortem. In the second incident, Jogas body was found on Thursday morning in the hills adjoining Cholnar village under Kirandul police station in Dantewada. He was kidnapped by the rebels from his relatives house in Cholnar on Wednesday night, the official said. The relatives of the victim said in their statement that Joga, a native of Jagargunda region of neigbouring Sukma district, was staying in Cholnar from the last few days, he said. The cause behind his killing was also yet to be ascertained. Meanwhile, 12 Maoists were apprehended on Thursday from a jungle under Gadiras police station limits. Two Maoists were from Tongpal police station limits of the district, additional superintendent of police Santosh Singh said. A joint team of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the district police force had launched a combing operation in the interior of Gadiras, around 400 km away from Raipur. While cordoning off Pariya village forest, they nabbed nine suspects, the ASP said. Those arrested have been identified as Madavi Somda (25), Madvi Hadma (40), Madvi Budhra (27), Madkam Deva (25), Madvi Somda (27), Madvi Deva (22), Podiyami Budhu (30), Madvi Budhra (22) and Madvi Raja (30). All of them were allegedly involved in damaging a water pipeline of a private steel plant on the intervening night of May 19 and 20 in Gadiras area, he said. In separate incidents, three other rebels were arrested from Gadiras area and two from Tongpal region, Singh said. India will procure 400 fighter planes by 2030, Union rural development minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said on Friday. The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is concerned over the countrys security. India is going to procure 400 fighter planes by 2030, Singh told reporters in Bhopal while highlighting the achievements of the BJP government in its two years in office. He said the previous UPA regime in its 10 years rule did not pay attention to the countrys defence needs and preparedness despite the fact that the country has neighbours like Pakistan and China. Singh recalled that India had 500 fighter planes 40 years ago. But, the arms and ammunition dwindled under the UPA dispensation. He said that under Modi, the long awaited one rank one pension (OROP) scheme has been cleared and is being implemented. The army men desperately needed it. It has boosted their morale, he said. Referring to Congress leader Girija Vyas, who, in Bhopal on Thursday, accused Modi government of rechristening UPA governments schemes, the minister said that their opponents intention and implementation of the schemes were not right. UPA government failed to achieve the aims of these schemes and that why we have reformed them, he said. We have completely transformed Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and made it foolproof. Now we are making payment through direct benefit transfer (DBT) to 94% beneficiaries under MNREGA, he said. Meanwhile, on fresh controversy over the sudden transfer of MPs Barwani district collector Ajay Singh Gangwar to state secretariat on Thursday, over his Facebook post for praising former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he said everyone has the right to freedom of expression. Singh, however, added that the officer might have been shunted out for some other reasons. Kancha Ilaiah, one of Indias most prominent Dalit thinkers and author of Why I am not a Hindu, has come under attack for allegedly calling Brahmins lazy and gluttons. Ilaiah, who says he has changed his name to Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, was repeatedly threatened and insulted on the phone, social media, the streets and in TV studios after he delivered a lecture at the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) conference in Vijayawada. When Hindustan Times last met him on May 16, two television crews and a large, angry group from a state-level Brahmin association were camped outside his chamber at the Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad. They all wanted to know why he had called Brahmins lazy and gluttonous, with the ringing landline phone repeatedly interrupting the commotion of a dozen people shouting. Who is calling? Are you a terrorist? Can you at least tell me which terrorist organisation you belong to? he asked an anonymous caller before turning to the men crowding his office; No, I did not call brahmins lazy or gluttonous. But things only got worse. The professor says he changed his name to highlight his castes productive capability as a shepherd and break away from the oppressiveness of caste-based hierarchies. But that hasnt dampened the attacks. Prof Shepherd, as he now likes to be known, tells Hindustan Times he is facing the most significant attack on his scholarship. The episode is eerily reminiscent of the campaign against Perumal Murugan, who swore off writing after right-wing controversy and intimidation over his book last year. Q: What happened? On May 14, I was invited to deliver a lecture at Vijayawada by the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU). I spoke on the origins of labour and the history of production in India. There I said that the organised labour of the Adivasis and the Dravidians started in the Indus Valley civilisation. They transformed mud into bricks, wood into houses and furniture. They built intricate canals and drainage systems. This advancement continued till the Aryan invasion and Vedic writing started. Slowly, as the Vedas grew in influence, labour became delegitimised. And in the realm of God, those who do labour work started getting called Chandalas, Shudras and anti-God. This entire anti-labour theory was built by Brahmin writers later the priests who organised the Vedic religion. This continued till the 6th century BC until Buddha burst on the scene and propagated Sramana philosophy that encouraged hard labour as the duty of every human. The Sramana culture continued until the counter-revolution of the Shakracharya that destroyed Buddhism in large parts of India. Muslim and later Christian rulers interrupted this Vedic reign until independence. And since independence, the Brahmin hegemony has continued. The critical point I made in my lecture is that historically Brahmins never participated in any production. But a newspaper twisted my point the next day and wrongly quoted me as saying Brahmins are lazy and gluttonous. Read: Rohith Vemula, death of a philosopher to purify higher education Q: Your house was ransacked in 2010. Right-wing groups have been targeting you for several years now. How is this different? In the past, I was targeted only by lowered-caste members of organisations headed by Brahmins such as the RSS and the VHP. This is the first time that Brahmins have come out in the open to target me. They have been emboldened by the support they have received from both the Telangana and the Andhra governments. After coming to power both K Chandrasekhar Rao and Chandrababu Naidu have allocated Rs. 100 crore each for the welfare of Brahmins. Headed by retired IAS officers from the Brahmin caste, welfare corporations have been started for the community. They used an image of Parasurama, with a large axe on his shoulder, as their icon. By showing the axe, they are trying to threaten somebody. This is really scary for Dalit Bahujans and minorities because these groups are state-sponsored. Q: What kind of threats have you received this time? On May 16, I got a call from somebody saying they are representatives of IYR Krishna Rao, the former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh (and the present chairman of the Andhra Brahmin Welfare Association). The same man had made a public statement the previous day that I should be punished for my statement at the CITU conference. His statement triggered hysteria, my effigies were burnt. Somebody put up my office number on Facebook and abusive calls started pouring in. I asked them for statistics to show how Brahmins had contributed to production. How many of them are employed as cobblers, potters, construction workers, agricultural labourers, sanitation workers? How many of them are registered under the NGREGA programme? I argued that we live in a society where people who turn mud into food are called muddy people and considered inferior. How will the country progress like this? Not only did they turn the debate into a shouting match, they went out of my room and told the media that I had apologised for my statement. Why would I apologise for a statement i never made? From this, it is clear that they are trying to provoke people against me. Q: But how did this lead to the change in your name? I have explained this in my poem. By changing my name I am owning up to my ancestry. My caste, the shepherds, is called by different names in different parts of the country; Kurubas in Karnataka, in Telangana they are Kurumas. Whereas Brahmins have their names in a Sanskritic, pan-Indian forms such as Sharma and Shastri. But we could not get a pan-Indian name in the Sanskritic tradition or in any language derived from it. Now, I have adopted English as the language to identify my ancestry. When I take on a name that symbolises my productive capacity, I am getting out of the caste system. I am taking pride in my productive contribution. I am a shepherd and my job is to look after sheep. You know, the image of God as a shepherd is popular in many cultures. Why is this? It is because a shepherd treats every individual in his flock equally. I am a follower of that democratic and powerful Shepherd God. Because of the Vedic, anti-labour philosophy, our people have never been able to see the power of a good and inclusive God. I call upon all SC/ST, OBC people to adopt their caste occupations as their surnames in English. Potter, Butcher, Tanner, Cobbler, Tiller, Gardner. So you have an all-India name which incidentally connects to the rest of the globalised world. Q: Why do we need a new God? Because the Constitution protects only our political democracy and has no influence over spiritual matters. Things will not change unless we campaign in a big way for spiritual democracy. Gautam Buddha did this. Jesus and Prophet Muhammad, who came later, did the same thing. I have now realised, in my 64th year, that God is not regional or national. God is universal. God is now active in the world and is working toward creating oneness, including in language. Once upon a time, Greek and Latin were considered Gods language. In Israel, Hebrew was considered Gods language. In West Asia, it was Arabic and in South Asia it was Sanskrit. My feeling is now English has become Gods language. This language is reforming religions and taking God to the people. Dalits, Adivasis and backward classes have to start learning English in a big way. They need to adopt universal identities such as Potter, Shepherd, Weaver and Sweeper. This way, they will be able to connect to international sub-populations that have been excluded. Read: If Sardar Patel was PM, India wouldve become Pakistan: Kancha Ilaiah Onion prices are again making people cry. Only this time, its not the consumer but the farmer who is shedding tears. A bumper production this year in Maharashtra and other states has sent crashing the wholesale prices of onions at vegetable markets across India. This is the worst year for onion growers as the prices have fallen to Rs 4-6 a kg from Rs 15-20 a kg. The loss is huge, lamented Jagmal Kamboj, a farmer of Ratangarh village of Haryanas Yamunanagar district. There are no buyers of onion in the markets of Kurukshetra and most of the farmers are selling onion in villages like vendors at Rs 200 per bag of 50 kg, he added. Ironically, prices of onions have periodically skyrocketed in the past and often caused distress to consumers and politicians. Abnormally high price of the staple triggered an uproar in the late 70s and was said to have contributed to the fall of the Charan Singh-led Lok Dal government. In 1998, a similar outcry over rising onion prices hastened the fall of the then BJP government in Delhi. Earlier this month, a farmer in Pune made headlines after he claimed to have made a net profit of only R1 by selling 950 kgs of onions in the wholesale market. There is a slump in the market and customers are expecting that prices will fall further, hence they are not placing big orders, said Balbir Singh, chairman of Chandigarhs Sector 26 market association. Onions are selling for Rs 17-18 a kg in Chandigarh. The prices are far less in places such as Madhya Pradesh, where onions were selling for just 20 paise a kg last month at the Ratlam mandi. In Bhopal, good-quality onion is being sold at Rs 7 to Rs 8 a kg while small onions cost Rs 2 to Rs 3 a kg. A farmer packs onions for sale in market in a field some 30km north of Chandigarh. (AFP) The low prices have landed farmers in debt as they are unable to recover even their input cost. But some farmers say it is the result of an artificially created scarcity. The prices have not crashed and these rumours are being spread by traders. A week ago, I sold my crop of medium quality at Rs 9.50 a kg, said Patiala farmer KVS Sidhu. The traders know that farmers have grown the crop on a large scale this year, and now the traders are exploiting the farmers by creating panic and spreading the word that rates have crashed so that farmers sell the produce in distress, he said. For the past four years, prices of onion touched triple digits and Rs 40-Rs 50 a kg was the average cost. So this year, farmers gave preference to sowing only onion. Hence, farmers themselves are responsible for this situation, said Hariom Khatik, a retailer of Bittan market in Madhya Pradeshs Hoshangabad district. We are storing as much onion as we can so that during the rainy season we can at least realise the production cost, said a farmer at the Bhopal mandi. (With inputs from Chandigarh, Karnal, Pune, Chennai and Bhopal) Gujarat Lions have been in this situation twice before. With this IPL showing a trend of successful chases, Gujarat had failed to put up a strong score against Sunrisers Hyderabad on the two previous occasions they have met. Both times Hyderabad won convincingly, first by ten wickets and then by five. Facing the same opponents for the third time on Friday, Lions failed once again in a bid to bat Hyderabad out of the match. The 162/7 is Gujarats best score against Hyderabad. But on a Kotla wicket, defending such a total looked a tough ask. Sunrisers ran away with a four-wicket win with skipper David Warner leading by example. The Australian opener hit a 58-ball unbeaten 93 with 11 fours and three sixes. They will take on RCB in the final on Sunday. What went wrong for Gujarat For starters, Lions did employ a different strategy. They sent uncapped Eklavya Dwivedi to open alongside Brendon McCulllum hoping to have more experienced hands during the slog overs. Dwivedi jumped out to Bhuvneshwar early on to indicate Lions were looking to get off to a flier in the Powerplay. But in a bid to be brave, the Lions were reckless in their shot selection. Dwivedis upper cut off Bhuvneshwars short delivery went straight into thirdmans hands. On a day when Hyderabad missed the services of Mustafizur Rehman due to a hamstring niggle, Trent Boult, who got his first game this year, proved expensive but removed Raina in the fourth over. Taking chances McCullum was taking his chances and if he had support at the other end, Lions would have certainly scored much more than the 38/2 after six overs of Powerplay. For a brief period, Dinesh Karthik batted alongside the former New Zealand captain and the two of them took the score from 19/2 to 63/2. A little more patience could have had the Lions in a different situation. Just as when the Lions started to look settled Karthik ran himself out. Another big blow came in the 18th over when Aaron Finch, batting on 50 off just 31 balls failed to make contact with a full tossed delivery and lost his timber. He and Ravindra Jadeja had literally lifted the innings at the end and had 51 runs in the bag. Finch, unlike his Hyderabad innings, where he had to change his game, batted freely and picked and chose bowlers. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS Direction: James Bobin Actors: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska Rating: ** An underwhelming sequel to Tim Burtons 2010 take on Lewis Carrolls trippy childrens story, Alice In Wonderland, hurtles the headstrong heroine (Australian actress Mia Wasikowska, reprising her role) back into the fantastical realm of Underland (why, for heavens sake, change the name?). Read: 5 big questions about the Wonderland sequel Having returned from sailing the pirate-infested high seas, Alice right away embarks on a new mission. She must now win a race against the Lord of Time (Sacha Baron Cohen, suitably wacky as the part-human, part-clock character) in order to help Mad Hatter (Depp, much too mannered) reunite with his estranged family. Read: Mischief on the red carpet, courtesy Depp and Baron Cohen The script also sees the return of several illustrious cast members from the earlier iteration, including Anne Hathaway (White Queen), Helena Bonham Carter (the rival sibling, Red Queen) and Lindsay Duncan (Alices widowed mother). The script sees the return of Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Helena Bonham Carter as the rival sibling, Red Queen, and Lindsay Duncan as Alices widowed mother. More crucially, the late Alan Rickman once again voices the Blue Caterpillar. Alas, this would be the final performance of the British thespian, to whom the film is dedicated. Read: Alan Rickman, RIP Incoming director James Bobin (of the two Muppets movies) isnt as fanciful or visually imaginative as his celebrated predecessor, Tim Burton. Thankfully, Burtons regular collaborator Danny Elfman provides a wondrous background score. Curiously lacking a sense of the uncommon nonsense and freakish fun of the source novel, Alice Through The Looking Glass falls short of its potential. Phobia review Director: Pavan Kriplani Cast: Radhika Apte, Ankur Vikal Rating: 4/5 Pavan Kriplanis Phobia has all the elements of a racy thriller -- surprise, fear, mystery and shock. What it doesnt have is the background music and actors preparing you for a surprise. In Phobia, the unexpected does happen. And, the film wouldnt have been the same were it not for Radhika Aptes powerful performance that will give you goosebumps. The protagonist, Mehek Deo (Radhika Apte), is an artist who has Agoraphobia, an irrational fear of open spaces, and spends months inside her house before moving to a new one. Sexual assault at the hands of a cab driver triggered her condition. Even as she fights her fear, she starts hallucinating that the previous occupant of her flat was murdered and was seeking help. Despite the element of horror, director Pavan Kriplani manages to keep the supernatural, religious drama at bay and opts for a psychological mayhem that makes for an impressive viewing experience. Radhika Apte in a still from Phobia. The symbolism and subtle but strong message make Phobia Kriplanis best film till date (he has Ragini MMS and Darr @The Mall to his credit). Though the film is fast-paced, it voices the concerns of women in a male-dominant society. There are even references to the 19th century English literature where a woman questioning the male supremacy is declared crazy and locked up -- much like Mehek. A still from Phobia. Her angry conversations with her male friend are aimed at the patriarchal society that takes pride in protecting the woman and keeping her confined to home. The fear of open spaces is as much about the sexual assault as it is about men preying upon women. Read: Radhika Apte, from theatre actor to poster of thinking cinema There are a few flaws in Phobia but Apte excels. Except for Manu (played by Ankur Vikal), people around Mehek are weak characters, which have not been thought through. Their lack of common sense is jarring which halts the pace of the film. Read: More movie reviews Watch the trailer Follow the author @swetakaushal Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON MUMBAI: Five people died and 129 others were injured in a blast at a chemical factory at MIDC area in Dombivli near Thane on Thursday. While the state government ordered a probe into the incident, it also plans to shift chemical factories out of Dombivli as they were proving to be a safety hazard for the residents. According to witnesses, a boiler in the factory exploded around 11.30am leading to a major fire. More than five fire engines were rushed to the spot. The companies in the vicinity felt the vibrations, while locals said window panes of their homes were shattered. Fearing more blasts, many residents came out on the streets. The police. meanwhile, asked people in the area to wear masks as a precautionary measure, as many in the area complained of nausea. While chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered speeding up of relief operations, Eknath Shinde, guardian minister of Thane, said strict action would be taken against those guilty. Saddened to know about the unfortunate & tragic incident that took place at Dombivli. Spoke to police officials & local authorities and asked them to speed up the relief operations. We are constantly in touch with the local administration and we would leave no stone unturned in our efforts & relief operation, Fadnavis tweeted. We will thoroughly inquire into the incident and action will be taken against those responsible for the incidents, said guardian minister Eknath Shinde, after visiting the gutted factory. He also announced that the cost of treatment of the injured would be borne by the state government. Aditya Patwardhan, a resident, said, We thought it was a bomb explosion. I was shocked to see the window panes broken and the cracks in the wall. A police i nspector f rom Manpada police station said, We have sealed the area around the company. We have asked for more force to control the public and at the same time there have been traffic diversion to avoid any further problems. Investigation is going on to know more about the incident. Despite several state measures to prevent farmer suicides including food security for distressed farmers, farmer suicides continue in the killing fields of Vidarbha with five more suicides reported in the past 48 hours. Among the farmers who have killed themselves because of agrarian crisis include: three from Amravati and one each from Yavatmal and Chandrapur district. They were identified as Subhash Satpute of Sirajgaon, Parasram Wankhede, Jalka, Satish Sahebrao Patankar of Warud (all from Amravati), Rajeshwar Khandate, Satgaon (Chandrapur) and Yadavrao Somnake of Shirola in Yavatmal district. These five debt-ridden farmers ended their lives by swallowing pesticides, said Santosh Netam of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti that has been documenting farmer suicides in the Vidarbha region since 2001. The news of farmer suicides from Vidarbha, a region which previously emerged in the national media for being the dark spot of agrarian crisis, appeared at a time when the government boasted of a drop in suicides by farmers after the BJP-led government came to power at the Centre and state. Kishore Tiwari, chairman of the special task force appointed by the Maharashtra government to address the agrarian crisis, urged the government that it should ensure fresh loans to all loan defaulters for the kharif season that begins next month. Crippled with debts, farmers could not repay the crop loans this season owing to crop failure and are apprehensive that they would not get fresh loans in the ensuing kharif season. This frustration led them to take such an extreme step, Tiwari said. He said that the banks in rural areas are not cooperating and are not keen to give fresh loans to farmers. The situation would be more alarming in coming days if the government fails to intervene into the matter, he said. I am perusing with the government to provide fresh loans to all bank defaulters in the ensuing kharif season. But bankers are not responding positively in this regard, he said. Nationalised banks in Maharashtra have disbursed barely 10% of the crop loan targets issued by the state government for the kharif season of 2015-16. This finding came to light after a review meeting of bankers held by the state-sponsored Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavalambi Mission in Pune. If any farmer commits suicide because of not getting crop loans, the Mission will treat the case as culpable homicide and seek action against the concerned officer, Tiwari said. Former Shetkari Sanghatana president Vijay Jawandhia said that farmer suicides are continuing despite many promises by the new government. Farmers are depressed and distressed as they have realised that they would not get better prices for their produce and not get fresh crop loans from the bank. These factors pushed them to take such drastic steps, he said and demanded immediate loan waiver for farmers. Former head of the department (economics), Nagpur University, and a well-known agro-economist Dr Shrinivas Khandewale alleged that the number of farmer suicides has increased in the region after BJP came to power at the Centre as well as in state. The agriculture sector is not a priority area for the new government as it emphasizes on big industries and smart cities, Khandewale said and alleged that the government did nothing when the region was reeling from an unprecedented drought this year. He alleged that the farmers and farm labourers in the region were not getting adequate employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in this crucial period that also aggravated the situation. With the deaths of these five farmers, the toll has risen to 27 this month alone while as many as 149 farmers have committed suicide because of the agrarian crisis since January this year. The figure was 738 last year. News / National by Stephen Jakes The Zimbabwe Peace Project has said the political affiliation for a majority of political violence victims for April at 57.9 % was unknown.The orgisanisation said the MDC-T had 22.6 percent of the victims, while ZimPF made up 7.5 percent of total victims and seemed to be neck and neck with Zanu PF which stood at 7.2 percent."As the figure above shows, most of the perpetrators of political violence for April, as is the case with all other months, were from Zanu-PF at 81.6 % of the incidences. This number increased slightly from March figure of 80," said ZPP."Next was MDC-T with 7 %, then War Vets with 4.5 % of the perpetrators, while Zimbabwe Republic Police also had incidences they perpetrated at 3.5%. Like previous months, April showed the number of male victims of violence being more than that of women."ZPP said male victims were 213 down from last month's figure of 222; while female victims were 79 a considerable decrease from last month's The number of male perpetrators of violence for April at 180 is significantly less than that of 218 last month."Women stood at a fraction of that at 21 for April this figure was slightly higher than the figure for women perpetrators in March which stood at 17. This shows that men were more likely to perpetrate violence than women; and thatthere was decrease in women perpetrating violence," ZPP said."As in all other months, April showed the most common type of violence being intimidation and harassment. For the month under focus the figure for that type of violation stood at 87 out of 138, which are more than half the violations." A case of disproportionate assets was registered against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal and 11 others by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Thursday. Apart from the former minister, several of his family members are named in the charges, including his wife Meena, his son and MLA Pankaj, his daughter-in-law Vishakha, and nephew and former MP Sameer Bhujbal. Investigations were conducted by the ACB on the assets owned by Chhagan Bhujbal, Pankaj Bhujbal, Sameer Bhujbal and other family members. It revealed that they had assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Money was routed through companies with other co-accused by way of share subscription at high premium against cash, read an ACB statement. Read | Money laundering case: PMLA court rejects Chhagan Bhujbals bail plea Also accused are chartered accountants Sunil Damodar Naik and Chandrashekhar Madanlal Sarda, hawala operator Suresh Jajodiya, controllers of various companies Pravinkumar Jain and Jagdishprasad Bhalchandra Purohit, Sanjeev Bimalkumar Jain, a financial consultant from Kolkata, and Kapil Rajprakash Puri, chief managing director of Spanco Limited. All the accused were named based on the money-laundering investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in which the agency alleged that finances were arranged for Bhujbal-prompted companies by way of share subscription at high premium against cash and certain operators. Read | Chhagan Bhujbal: The man who got Bal Thackeray arrested Claiming the information was based on Naiks testimony, the agency further claimed that the operators controlled a number of companies which had dubious people as directors and fake addresses. Naik had said these front companies would take cash and transfer equivalent funds to customer companies using a cheque, depending on the finance required. In return, the operators charged a commission ranging from 1% to 3%. Bhujbal, who is in jail at Aurthur Road with his nephew Sameer, has been facing charges of money laundering in connection with the Maharashtra Sadan scam. Bhujbal allegedly received kickbacks from the contractor for constructing the Maharashtra Sadan building in Delhi at a cost of Rs 100 crore. Five people died, scores were injured and more than 40 buildings were damaged by the boiler blast in Dombivli on Thursday. People up to six kilometres away reported hearing the explosion. A fire broke out after the blast, around 11.30am, and was doused in a couple of hours by seven fire engines from Dombivli MIDC, Ambernath, Navi Mumbai, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli and Badlapur. More than a dozen private tankers were also used to put out the fire and for the subsequent cooling operation. Another minor explosion took place at 1.45pm but no casualties were reported. One of the five people killed was yet to be identified as of Thursday night. The remaining four are Dnyaneshwar Hajare, Mahesh Kode, Raju Shingare and Neelam Dhete, according to the Manpada police. After the initial explosion, local residents rushed to the spot along with employees of companies in the area to help take the injured to hospital. Some residents offered to drive the victims to hospitals in their cars. Amit Vengurlekar, a resident of the area, said, After taking a bath, I went near a window in my house to pray. The moment I closed my eyes I heard a loud explosion, which caused the window pane to shatter, injuring my hands and legs. I woke up my family members immediately and told them to rush downstairs. Priti Pagare, a resident of Dombivli MIDC, said, I was cooking when explosion took place. I heard a loud blast and before I knew what was happening, my family members started shouting at me to get out of the house. Soon, the area was covered in thick smoke. We rushed downstairs, but a few people were injured on the crowded staircase. Once downstairs, we stood at a distance from the building as we feared it would collapse. Meanwhile, few of us called the police and fire brigade. A police official from Thane commissionerate said more than 40 residential buildings were damaged by blast, and scores of vehicles too. We have taken note of this and are in the process of registering a case against the owner of the factory, he said. Rajesh Vaishampayan, a resident of Kopar, around 6km from the blast site, said, We heard the explosion but thought it had come from a construction site. Aditya Patwardhan a resident of Dombivli MIDC, who also works there, said, For a moment I felt like I had gone deaf. I was working in a lab at the time, and the explosion caused test tubes to shatter. We were evacuated immediately and told to stand in an open space, away from buildings. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will order the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) to investigate into the allegations made against state revenue minister Eknath Khadse over his alleged links with fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Following a request by revenue minister, ATS chief Atul Kulkarni will now probe the matter, Fadnavis said while confirming the development with HT. This move follows fresh claims made by ethical hacker Manish Bhangale about seven calls allegedly made on Khadses phone from the Karachi residence of the fugitive gangster. The revenue minister, who has been facing a series of allegations, had himself asked the chief minister to order the ATS to look into the allegations. Bhangale and AAP leader Preeti Menon claimed that the calls were made from Dawoods residence on Khadses number between January and March 2015. They have has also claimed that the call of the longest duration was made on March 23, 2015. To corner the state government further over allegations levelled against one of its senior-most ministers, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday demanded Centres intervention to find out the truth. The allegations are very serious in nature. The Central government must investigate the matter and come out with the truth, Chavan told HT. The NCP had demanded National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe in to the allegations. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was questioned by the Bombay high court on the work permits given to contractors facing criminal charges over irregularities and the delay in taking action against them. The court has now stayed the contracts of four bridges in the city until June 9. A division bench of justice Bhushan Gawai and justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi, hearing the Public Interest Litigation on the irregularities in awarding contracts to defaulting contracts, noted that even though the police had registered a case on April 27 against several defaulting contractor, the officers of the department concerned took action only after 21 days. The court noted it was only on May 16 that the department issued show-cause notices to these contractors for blacklisting them. The court also noted that in the meantime, a few of the contractors who have already been made an accused, were given fresh contracts for the construction of four bridges Hancock bridge, a bridge across Mithi river, a bridge at a junction at Yari Road and Lokhandwala back road and an ROB at Vikhroli railway station. The court asked the municipal commissioner to hold an inquiry to ascertain why there was a delay in the issuance of the show-cause notices. When the commissioner has found serious irregularities, they should not have been issued fresh contracts. We leave it to the municipal commissioner to inquire as to whether the order issued for show-cause notice to defaulting contractors with delay had some ulterior motive for protecting these contractors, observed the court. The court has now stayed these four contracts and asked all the parties to submit their replies in the meantime. The PIL was filed by Jayshree Khadilkar, the editor of a regional daily. In her plea, Khadilkar had brought to the courts notice that two contractors RPS Infraproject and J Kumar Infraprojecthad been blacklisted by the BMC commissioner on April 20 this year over substandard road repair works across the city and over fabricated documents. However, on May 4 this year, the standing committee of the corporation approved a decision to award work contracts worth Rs176 crore to the two firms. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called himself a UP-wala and said his government had set the poor on the path to progress as he virtually launched the BJPs poll campaign for Indias most populous state on Thursday. At a rally in western Uttar Pradesh s Saharanpur to celebrate two years of the NDA administration, Modi announced an increase in the retirement age of government doctors to 65, saying the move will bridge a shortage of medical professionals. I am a UP-wala... I am your pradhan sewak, he said. Elections are scheduled in UP early next year. He also appealed to doctors to serve poor pregnant women for free on the ninth day of every month, a significant move in a region with poor health indices. For the better part of the hour-long speech, Modi focussed on social and pro-poor schemes to woo voters in a state with dismal literacy, health and infrastructure indices. He promised power to all UP villages and repeated a pledge to double farm incomes by 2022, key promises in a state where over a third of the population lives under the poverty line. When I took oath two years ago, I said my government will work for the poor. Today, I have come to give an account of my work, he said. A win in UP that sends the largest number of lawmakers to Parliament will cover the BJP in mid-term glory. But a defeat in the 200-million strong state could prove costly for the BJP and galvanise the Opposition in Parliament. Governments are formed to fulfil dreams. When I was elected leader of house, in my first address, I said my govt will be govt for the poor, I have taken up those programmes which help poor fight poverty, Modi said. The BJP first came to power in the state on the back of the Ayodhya Ram mandir movement in 1991 but has struggled to keep pace with regional rivals Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party in the last decade. Buoyed by its impressive Lok Sabha show it won 71 of the states 80 seats the BJP is eyeing power in UP but has a fight. Saharanpur is dominated by Muslims, Jats and Dalits and sits in the middle of a sugarcane belt that is a BSP stronghold but might prove crucial in the assembly polls. Read | A mixed message from Muslims Three years ago, Hindus and Muslims clashed violently in the town, leaving a trail of destruction and polarising votes that was said to have helped the BJP. The Prime Ministers speech sounded as if it were a refrain from 2014, when he stirred hopes for the farmers and middle-class in his poll campaign. No parent wants his offspring to get poverty as inheritance. He stressed on accountability, another major theme of his campaign two years ago. There should be accountability of every penny, every moment. In these two years, did you hear any news of corruption involving my government? he asked. Helped by lower oil prices and an increase in foreign investment, the government posted a decent economic growth last year. However, what will count in popular perception are millions of jobs that need to be created, better infrastructure and rural prosperity, where half the country resides. Thursdays gathering ran into thousands, mostly cane-growers who were responsible for the BJPs strong showing in the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Read | PM Modi tries to woo UP through Saharanpur rally: Top quotes The town was awash in saffron flags, festoons and airbrushed photos of small-time BJP leaders next to Modis on large printed hoardings. Busloads of people from nearby districts poured into the town dotted with Muslim seminaries and mosques. Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke before Modi and invoked Ram to plead to voters. Even Rams exile was over after 14 years. I am sure you will end the BJPs exile from government in this state this time, Singh said. Four of this sugarcane-growing regions seven legislators belong to the BSP. Asked which way the political winds were blowing, 60-year-old Ram Autar Singh, a cane grower, said, Modi will ensure all our dues are cleared. For that we need to bring BJP to power. Yet, analysts say, in UPs casteridden politics, the path to power isnt easy for any one party. MUMBAI: Most of the students allegedly involved in the engineering answer sheet scam are from institutes in Navi Mumbai, Sanjay Deshmukh, vice-chancellor, University of Mumbai, said in a statement issued to the media on Thursday. We admit there has been a lapse of security. Our aim right now is to take all measures possible to avoid such instances in future. We have already started physically frisking and checking ID cards of employees, including those of senior officials, who enter or exit the Examination House, said Deshmukh. He said that at present, while one of the two buildings of the Examination House has 20 CCTV cameras, the second building, where the assessment finally takes, place has none. We are finalising how many CCTVs will be needed and accordingly will begin work on installing the cameras. By frisking employees, we will cut down the chances of such instances by almost 80% to 90%, he said. To create a foolproof system, the university said it has also approached the commissioner of police, Mumbai, to form a security committee and review the system at MU. This process could take about 6 to 8 weeks. We are hoping to get recommendations from the police on how to put in place a better security system, said Deshmukh. MUMBAI: The Bhandup police have received a list from the Mumbai University (MU) comprising the names of 87 students, whom they suspect were beneficiaries of the engineering answer sheet scam. The police, who have recovered 97 answer sheets so far, are yet to identify the names of the other 10 alleged beneficiaries. According to a source, the police will first approach the students parents as they want to record the students statements. We will have to carefully approach this as they are students, said an officer. The police have so far arrested eight staffers of MU. We have issued a notice to one Deepak Gamre asking him to record his statement. Preliminary investigations revealed Gamre was involved in taking answer sheets from the arrested accused, Siddheshwar Jadhav, 26, who had access to the storeroom where the answer sheets were kept, and handing it over to the students, he said. MU employees found guilty of involvement in the scam will be dealt with stringently, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON SRINAGAR/FEROZEPUR: The young man shot dead in Handwara on Wednesday was working as a porter with the Army. He was killed in the cross-firing between Army and militants on Wednesday morning. An inquiry has been initiated in this regard, says a statement issued by the Army. According to police, the man identified as Liyaqat Ali Joo, 25 was shot dead by the unidentified gunmen. On the intervening night of May 24-25, a joint search operation was carried out for movement of terrorists in the Watsar forest. Ali who has been working as a porter with the Army, accompanied the search, the army statement said. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Army officials further clarified that the porters were walking at a safe distance from the troops and the militants had fired from a height, which directly hit him. CENTRAL TEAM VISITS The Centres high-level committee for security assessment in the border states visited Ferozepur on Wednesday and suggested deploying almost four times the number of guards. The civil, police and Border Security Force BSF officials escorted the six-member team led by former Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta to the forward areas of Hussainiwala, where it inspected gaps and vulnerability and took inputs from the BSF jawans and the border villagers. NEW DELHI: As Rs 2,000 crore Nirbhaya Fund remains unutilised, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to formulate a national policy for proper rehabilitation of rape survivors, saying the fund amounted to just a lip service. Announced by the UPA government in its 2013 Union Budget, Nirbhaya Fund was started with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore to support initiatives towards protecting the dignity and ensuring safety of women in India. Since then the fund has become fatter but mostly remained unutilised. Issuing notices to the Centre, states and union territories, a vacation bench headed by justice PC Pant asked them to spell out within six weeks the steps taken for effective implementation of a provision of the Criminal Procedure Code on victim compensation, other such schemes and the number of women compensated. Different states have different schemes. There is no national plan as to how rape victims are to be compensated. Setting up of the Nirbhaya Fund is not enough and it is just paying a lip service. The Union of India must ensure that adequate relief is being provided to the victims of sexual offences, it said. The SC was hearing a batch of petitions filed during 2012-13 after the December 16 gangrape in Delhi in 2012 demanding measure for safety and security of women. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who was assisting the bench as a friend of the court (amicus curiae), said the implementation of the Victim Compensation Scheme was a matter of concern as only 25, out of 29 states, had notified the scheme. The states were supposed to set up one-stop crisis centres in each district. As many as 653 such crisis centres were supposed to be in place across the country, but they have not provided information whether they had done so, Jaising said. There is complete lack of uniformity in the said schemes and the States have not yet indicated whether appropriate funds have been allocated in pursuance to the notification of the said schemes, as well as the number of rape victims that have been compensated under the said schemes, she said. Some states pay ` 10 lakh as compensation while few others pay as less as Rs 50,000 to such survivors, she added. Pointing out that there were some states which provided compensation to victims of sexual offences just on registration of FIRs, the bench said there has to be some national model on this. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The police have lodged an FIR against two persons for their alleged involvement in submitting a fake police verification form with the details of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. On Thursday, a police verification form, verifying Rahul Gandhi as a domestic help at three houses in HRC Professional Hub apartments in Vaibhav Khand, Indirapuram had surfaced. It had a stamp of the Ghaziabad police, along with Rahul Gandhis photo, name, address, occupation and fathers name. According to the police, the employer, Arun Kumar Sharma, whose details were mentioned in the form said that he had given his original form to two housekeeping staff persons who might be involved in manipulating it. The resident told us that he had given the verification form to two housekeeping staff of the society, Raju and Akash, for submission. Investigations have revealed that it is these two who must have manipulated the form. An FIR under section 420 (punishment for fraud) has been lodged against the two, said Gorakhnath Yadav, station house officer, Indirapuram police station. However, the police said that no arrests have been made in the case so far. Investigations are still going on and action will only be taken after things are clearer. Along with the housekeeping staff, the representatives of the apartment owners association of the society and other residents are also being questioned, he added. Sources had said on Thursday that the form bearing Rahul Gandhis photograph was used by the police nearly one-and-a-half years ago. The photograph seemed to be pasted after the police seal was stamped, they said. On their part, officials from the Indirapuram police station said they found out about this form through the social media. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The district police on Friday claimed to have cracked the murder case of law student Manpreet Singh alias Manna by arresting two brothers and recovering the weapon used in the incident. Old rivalry and fight for leadership among students were the main reasons behind the murder, the police said. Police said brothers Karan and Ravi, residents of Tarn Taran were arrested during a checking and over 1-kg of narcotics was seized from them. Police said they were travelling in the same Hyundai Verna car (PB 56-B-3901) that was used by the assailants the day Manna was killed. Son of a police assistant sub-inspector, Manna was killed outside the Punjab Universitys regional campus in Bajwara on May 21 by about a dozen assailants. He was assaulted with sharp edged weapons and also shot at. The police had earlier denied that firing had taken place, but the post-mortem report had confirmed bullet injury. The police now claimed to have recovered the .32-bore US made weapon from the arrested youth. Read: 20 masked men murder Jalandhar college boy At a press conference, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kuldip Singh Chahal said the murder had been executed by the Kala Falahi gang that was involved in several criminal activities. It is surprising that they were travelling in the same car that was used for committing the crime, with original registration number, he said, when media pointed out this rather incongruous lead. Sources, however, said the brothers were arrested from Zirakpur on Thursday. The SSP said a hardcore criminal Binny Gujjar, who is currently lodged in Amritsar jail, was one of the main conspirators behind the murder. We will bring him on production warrant to get more information. We have identified a number of other accused and hope to nab them soon, the SSP said. He said the police had tightened the noose around Kala, who was involved in drug trade also. On the day of the crime, all the accused had come to Kala and together they went to the university campus to kill Manna. Some college students are known to have coordinated with the accused by giving information about Mannas movement. We have almost identified them, the SSP said. He said Kala was a proclaimed offender and wanted in several cases by Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar police. After the murder of the law student, he committed a dacoity in Nangal, he said, adding two cases of petty crime were also registered against Manna in the city. The SSP did not comment on the involvement of the three youth in the crime who were allegedly kept in illegal custody for interrogation. They were got released by a warrant officer of the Punjab and Haryana high court. We will present our point of view in the court, he said. News / National by Staff Reporter Outspoken politician Temba Mliswa has been ordered to go for a paternity test before a decision for access to his two minor children can be determined.Harare magistrate, Barbra Mateko said since it is clear that Temba had doubts about the paternity of the children, a DNA test was necessary."In order for the court to reach a clear determination a paternity test is necessary. The court will only reach a determination after the results are produced. Only then can the court decide on the issue of access. The issue of dirty hands does not apply in this matter as it is a High Court matter and should be dealt with there," she said.Temba, through his lawyer, S.C Tembani, had applied for access to his two minor children he sired with his estranged wife, Cynthia Mugwira.Temba indicated that he has been denied access to his children and wants the court to help him have access.He told the court that his relationship with Cynthia Mugwira was broken and she was denying him access hence applying for reasonable access to his children.Temba highlighted that it was in the best interest of the children for him to be given a chance to bond with his children.Cynthia, through her lawyer, N.M Masunda, argued that Temba was not fit to have unsupervised access to the children as he was violent and had dirty hands.She said, he had once abducted the minors and had a history of doing the same with his other children thus it was not possible for him to be granted two alternative weekends with the children.Source- H-Metro A 60-year-old man was shot dead outside a hospital in the busy 100 Feet Road area late on Thursday evening. The deceased, identified as Surinder Singh of the Chheherta area, was on his way to the hospital to see one of his relatives when an unidentified youth came from behind and fired gunshots. He was referred to another hospital where he died. Police officials led by police commissioner Amar Singh Chahal rushed to the spot after the incident. A closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage showed a man firing at Surinder. On Friday, Surinders family members and area residents staged a protest and sought arrest of the accused. A case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused. When contacted, the police commissioner said: We have examined the CCTV footage and we have got vital clues. It seems to be a case of personal enmity. Two persons were chasing the victim and one of them fired at him from a close range. We will crack the case soon. Read: HT Spotlight: Why Punjab Police cant cope with crime In a dramatic development, a team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), New Delhi, raided its offices in Sector 30 here on Wednesday evening and arrested an inspector posted with the special crime branch wing on the charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy. Ravinder Kumar Singla and his private associate Gautam Sharma, a Delhi resident, are accused of taking away the Honda City (CH01BC0169) registered in the name of Nectar Life Sciences Limited, Sector 9, in July 2015 and later threatening the assistant general manager TN Sharma to transfer the ownership of the car to them. The agency claims that the accused even prepared a fake inquiry report to intimidate and extort money and vehicles from industrialists. The accused, now remanded to CBI custody for four days, had previously too fooled other businessmen using a similar modus operandi. It is still a matter of investigation whether the duo functioned alone or had other people to help them in the racket, a CBI source said. July 2015 taking away of car The complainant Sharma had alleged that the accused inspector Singla just walked into his office in Sector 9 in July 2015 and asked for his companys vehicle to go to a CBI meeting in Delhi. Later, he refused to return the vehicle and started pressing Sharma to transfer the car in his name. Acting on his complaint, the CBI arrested his accomplice Gautam Sharma from Delhi on Wednesday and also recovered cooked-up and false CBI inquiry reports that incriminate the duo. During Singlas arrest too, the CBI recovered papers on inquiries that had never been started by the agency. Singla and Gautam have been booked Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and a case has been registered in Delhi. Sources in the CBI claimed that Singla was not even deployed in the anti-corruption wing or the economics offences wing and was not authorised to investigate any case related to financial crime or corruption. He was deployed with the special crime branch in which all cases were referred from Punjab and Haryana high court or the states. He was not even supposed to generate sources and investigate cases. His mobile call details reveal that he was in touch with several businessmen and others and openly sought favours in cash or kind. Singlas counsel AS Sukhija told the court that the case must be dealt with by the police and not by the CBI, as his client had been booked under wrong sections. Singla can be at most be booked for breach of trust as he allegedly did not return the car that he had borrowed. My client could be the victim of somebodys enmity, the lawyer pleaded in court. Formed three months after the Pakistani terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase, the Centres high-level committee for security assessment in the border states visited Ferozepur on Wednesday and suggested deploying almost four times the number of guards. The civil, police and Border Security Force BSF officials escorted the six-member team led by former Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta to the forward areas of Hussainiwala, where it inspected gaps and vulnerability and took inputs from the BSF jawans and the border villagers. Every BSF jawan has a kilometre of the border to guard, which is difficult during rain and fog, said a senior officer accompanying the team, adding: The team has suggested one jawan for every 250 metres. It asked the army, BSF, and police to improve coordination. In February, a 31-member parliamentary standing committee on home affairs had also visited the border areas of Punjab to study the gaps in security and the challenges of rough terrain and harsh conditions before guards. Bathinda Zone inspector general of police Jatinder Kumar Jain, Ferozepur range BSF deputy inspector general RK Thapa, Ferozepur DIG Yurinder Singh Heir, senior superintendent of police Manminder Singh, and additional deputy commissioner (development) Vineet Kumar accompanied the central team. Thapa confirmed the visit but declined to share details with the media. Lok Sabha member from Patiala Dr Dharamvira Gandhi on Friday dared deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal to come clean on the alleged land scam running into hundreds of crores of rupees involving real estate companies, in the garb of housing schemes for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in the state. Dr Gandhi was elected to the Lok Sabha on an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket but was suspended from the party in August 2015 for anti-party activities. Political bigwigs such as chief parliamentary secretary N K Sharma and Mohali mayor Kulwant Singh are among the main culprits in the scam and they did so under the patronage of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Badal, Dr Gandhi said at a press conference here on Friday. Dr Gandhi also accused local government minister Anil Joshi of conniving with the realtors and land mafia, saying the municipal committees of various towns have no record related to such housing projects. The nagar councils of towns, including Kharar, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Lalru and Banur, have no record related to the upcoming or commissioned housing projects and, thus, the entire real estate business in their respective notified areas is going on unchecked, said whistleblower and AAPs Mohali media coordinator Satnam Daun, who was with Dr Gandhi at the press conference. The Scam Dr Gandhi accused the senior officials of Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), and such authorities of Ludhiana, Bathinda, Jalandhar and Amritsar zones of illegally facilitating private builders by collecting money from the applicants under the EWS category and selling the units to private people, ignoring lakhs of EWS applicants. The companies have been getting land at highly subsidised rates for building up to 10% houses for the EWS category in their housing projects as per Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995, he said. In a glaring example, he said, TDI Homes Pvt Ltd had collected Rs 15,000 each from about one-lakh EWS applicants in 2009, promising them flats at subsidised rates on Mohali-Kharar road. But the company neither allotted them a house nor returned the application fee. The GMADA in this particular case was the nodal agency to implement and facilitate the EWS scheme, but it never took any action against the TDI, said Dr Gandhi. In Mohali, GMADA had taken a damage control measure by sending notices to 11 real estate companies for retrieval of 102 acres in all. The land is being retrieved, but there has not been any punitive action for this criminal neglect on the part of these builders, Dr Gandhi pointed out. Daun also said he had received threats to his life in Mohali and was also offered bribes in crores in lieu of withdrawing pleas seeking information under the RTI Act about various such shady projects. Daun was also attacked near the Mohali SSP office in December 2014 for which an FIR was registered against unidentified persons, even as Daun had named a Kharar builders. Accountability to Parliament Dr Gandhi, who is also a member of the parliamentary committee on housing and urban development, told reporters that the Punjab chief secretary had assured the committee in August last year that the state government would look into the matter and take measures to come clean on the entire matter. But we (the parliamentary committee) are still waiting for the states reply to certain aspects raised with chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Dr Gandhi said. He said the report of the parliamentary committee was yet to be made public. Land retrieved, punitive action missing As per the information given under the RTI Act, the GMADA has so far retrieved 102 acres in all from 11 erring companies for not allotting houses to the EWS applicants. These included Country Colonisers Pvt Ltd (12.34 acres), Janta Land Promoters Ltd (9.81 acres), MRMGF (15.52 acres), Omaxe Pvt Ltd (10.7 acres), PACL (18.31 acres), Ansals Group (4.03 acres), DLF (5.78 acres), TDI Housing Pvt Ltd (4.5 acres), Unitech Homes (12.5 acres), Panchsheel Cooperative Society (1.32 acres) and Bajwa developers (7.15 acres). Now, the GMADA would be making the houses for the EWS applicants on these chunks of land, bailing out the builders without any punitive action against them, Dr Gandhi said, explaining the connivance of the senior officials concerned. Police on Wednesday killed an alleged liquor smuggler in an encounter on the Jeeda-Dabrikhana road in Faridkot district, though his family claims he was a victim of mistaken identity. At about 11pm on Wednesday, Ajmer Singh (24) of Thandewala village in Muktsar district was with Muktsars Mandeep Singh on their way back from Bathindas Jeeda village when police shot the former in the chest. From the Bathinda Civil Hospital, the body was moved to Faridkots Guru Gobind Singh Medical College for autopsy that the family didnt allow. A police party noticed armed men in a car that matched our input about liquor smugglers in the area. We alerted Faridkot police, who laid a trap, said Bathinda senior superintendent of police Swapan Sharma. Faridkot SSP Sukhmandar Singh said the men in Maruti Suzuki Swift car had fired first at the police party led by Jaitu SHO Lachhman Singh, whose security guard fired in self-defence when Ajmer trained his rifle on him. We allowed Ajmers family to take him to hospital on humanitarian grounds. We found no case against him, so far, but have seized a 0.12-bore rifle and a live bullet after killing him, said the Faridkot SSP. Police took Ajmer for gangster Devinder Bambiha and admitted to it when they asked us to take him to hospital, said victims brother-in-law, Gurtej Singh of Jeeda. Mandeep Singh, who was the other man in the car, said: Police flagged us down and when Ajmer stepped out, bullets came at him from a jeep, at which I got out and fled. The vehicle from which the Jaitu police shot at Ajmer belongs reportedly to a Bathinda liquor company. A liquor trader is believed to have played informer. Four men who moved Ajmer to Bathinda hospital were also detained but police deny it. They say two of these men Ranjit Singh of Muktsar and Devinder Singh of Badewala (Muktsar) had helped gangster Rajiv Kumar Raja flee police custody in March 2014 in the same Swift car. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Punjab government on Friday told the Punjab and Haryana high court its intent to drop state traffic adviser Navdeep Asija, whose series of reports have put the SAD-BJP government in the dock. State advocate general Ashok Aggarwal told the high court bench of justice Surya Kant and justice Ajay Tewari that Asijas appointment was not done under the rules for public appointments. Hence, state would advertise the post afresh. During the hearing, Aggarwal said Asija thought that he was a tribunal in himself and would not report to anybody. Such terms and conditions are not acceptable to me., Aggarwal told high court bench during the hearing of traffic-related issues of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Asija, who has been assisting the high court on traffic-related issues for over four years now, was appointed traffic adviser by the state government in September 2015. The high court had made suggestion in this regard in 2014. Asijas reports had been embarrassing the government in the court as well as in public. The big-ticket project of the Samrala-Ladowal elevated road was stayed by high court in April this year on Asijas report. On Friday, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had to field senior advocate of Supreme Court Gopal Subramaniam and Aggarwal represented the state to defend the project. It was also on Asijas report of that high court had ordered that the SAS Nagar administration should not spend more on foot overbridges as they were not constructed in keeping in view road traffic engineering. The foot overbridges were cleared in a meeting chaired by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. In another embarrassment to state government, Asija had alleged lapses in award of contract for bus shelters in Ludhiana. How do you make your appointments in advocate general office? We are aware of it. He is here for a public cause and has been doing so for years. We have not stopped anybody (from assisting court in public interest matters). Let your experts also come here, the high court bench observed clarifying that Asijas name was suggested by the court as he was assisting court in traffic-related issues for four-five years. Later, the court said that the state should not make a big issue out of it and could amend terms of engagement with Asija, if desired so as it was state that had employed him. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON High drama was witnessed at Punjab and Haryana high court when a 20-year-old rape victim and her relative thrashed an advocate on Thursday afternoon after the court declined the bail to the rape accused. Earlier in the day, the victim had given a statement in favour of the accused. When the court declined the bail, the girl and her relative Zafar Ahmad, residents of Nuh, Haryana, started thrashing advocate Abdul Hamid, also a resident of Nuh, as they blamed the lawyer and started thrashing him with slippers. The girl was allegedly raped after being kidnapped in Nuh. The accused was arrested following her complaint. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has sought an apology from the Union government for Operation Bluestar and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. In a statement issued in Amritsar, the apex gurdwara body chief Avtar Singh Makkar said the union government should show tender an apology to the Sikh community in the Parliament on the issue. Such a move will be historical and strengthen mutual brotherhood. It should follow the Canadian government which has created history by apologising for the Komagata Maru episode, he said. Read: Apology for Komagata Maru incident: SGPC welcomes Canadian PMs decision Read: Trudeau apologises: Making common cause of Komagata Maru Makkar also demanded that the government should also set up a truth commission comprising three judges of the Supreme Court to ensure justice for the innocent Sikhs victimised in 1984 episode as well as Pilibhit fake encounter case. As Chandigarh firmly moves on the path of turning smart with Tuesdays announcement of having made it to the coveted list, it is interesting to note that one of the oldest heritage buildings in town the four-storeyed, glass-facade Government Press Building in Sector 18 has been chosen to help carve part of the future for young entrepreneurs and the city. Envisioned to act as an incubation centre for young professionals in information technology, and art and culture, youngsters will be given space for business at the 2.48-acre sprawling building that, today, stands like an unkempt and uncared for guardian at the Sector 18/9 light points. The story of the building is a fascinating tale in itself. HT takes you on the journey of the building that could, in five years, be the most modern office complex in the city, if not the region. 63-year young Built in 1953, the building has seen the city grow and has several scars, strains and moments to show for it. Designed by Edwin Maxwell Fry, an English architect, who was part of Chandigarh Capital Project Team headed by Pierre Jeanneret, the building was in a sense, ahead of its time. In addition to the glass facade, the entire building is fitted with louvered sunshades an attractive method to obstruct undesired sun and heat gain while allowing natural light to stream through. Most buildings built, even today, do not think so far ahead. First change In 1956, the 72-room building was handed over to printing and stationary department of the UT administration with machines imported from Germany. In its youth, the building remained full of vigour. In the early 70s, 1,800 employees worked to fulfil orders from various departments of the administration. Over time, recruitment was frozen and now the press has 321 employees working in a single shift. Ram Lal Paul, deputy controller of printing and stationary, who is working here since 1976, told HT, The building fell into disuse after several administration departments started taking their printing jobs outside. Now, we are in business again after former UT adviser Vijay Dev ordered all departments to get their work done from here. A dust-laden view, not enough staff Even as the city has changed, the dirt and grime on the glass facade acts as an eyesore, a signal, perhaps of the time-worn nature of the building. When questioned on this, Paul blamed the engineering department, claiming that in spite of several requests to clean the glasses, nothing had moved. The printing machines were replaced around three years back and the building did a turnover of around `12 crore in the last fiscal. Problems though remain We are short of staff, but officers have always maintained that there is ban on recruitment. Posts are not even being filled on contract, an employee told HT on the condition of anonymity. When contacted, Varinder Chaudhary, controller of printing and stationery, said, We are using the latest machines that have cut down on manpower. We are working to fill vacant posts required for administrative functioning. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A Ludhiana-based truck driver was shot dead by unidentified assailants on Grand Trunk (GT) road near Uksi Jattan village in Rajpura, on Thursday. The attackers also took away Rs 2,000 cash from his possession after killing him. The deceased was identified as Surmukh Singh, a resident of Khatra village near Samrala town of Ludhiana district. The incident took place at around 2 am when he stopped his truck at an isolated place to answer the natures call. He was heading towards Haridwar for the delivery of some consignment from Ludhiana. The police confirmed that the assailants were on a car and shot the driver in his chest. It is learnt the injured driver informed the owner about the incident over mobile phone and urged him to save him, as his life was in danger. The body was handed over to the relatives after the postmortem. A case has been registered under Sections 302 (murder), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Rajpura Sadar police station. Howeverm no arrest has been made so far. Station house officer (SHO) Harvinder Singh said the investigations were on to nab the culprits and it might be an incident of highway dacoity. News / National by Staff reporter Fifteen people died following an accident that occurred close to Kandava Secondary School near Dema along the Chitungwiza-Hwedza road when a haulage truck rammed into a commuter omnibus near Dema Police Station last night.Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the accident and said 12 people died on the spot while three others died on admission at Chitungwiza Hospital.She urged motorists to desist from travelling at night saying the nation is losing a lot of lives as a result of road traffic accidents that occur during the night.Eye witnesses told reporters that the driver of a titan truck which was coming from Hwedza and transporting bales of tobacco lost control of the vehicle and encroached into the other lane resulting in the head-on collision.The eye witnesses added that the truck's head lights appeared faulty, a situation which might have impaired the vision of the driver.The injured are recuperating at Chitungwiza Hospital while the deceased's bodies were also sent to the hospital's mortuary.Meanwhile, police have released the names of some of those who died in the accident.They are Ben Mugaba (55), Elijah Nyabadza of Number 1074 Mbuya Nehanda Street Cherutombo- Marondera, Michael Fata (50), Getrude Mugocha (40), Tinashe Bakasa (27) Regina Madziwa (62) Sean Madziwa (4), Wain Madziwa (2), Lesley Ropafadzo Muteweyi (6) and Fabber Mawire (27). Well-known filmmaker Shekhar Kapur on Thursday launched his new documentary on Mata Amritanandamayi, the humanitarian spiritual leader who is better known as Amma to millions of her devotees. He described it as spiritual search and scientific quest. The 50-minute documentary entitled The Science of Compassion investigates the source of human compassion and creativity of Mata Amritanandamayi, who is based in Keralas Kollam district. Shot at her ashram for four days during her 60th birthday celebrations in September 2013, it includes a rare private interview with Amma, Nobel laureate scientist Leland Hartwell and other celebrities who discuss her unique approach to life and how love transformed their lives. Read: Nandita Das on San Sebastian film fest jury Director Shekhar Kapur during the release of a documentary The Science of Compassion in Mumbai. (IANS) The search for what lies beyond our own individuality has been with me since I was 15 years of age. I have been grappling with questions -- What is the true nature of love, is there love beyond ownership, what is compassion, said Kapur at the launch. He wondered whether if a person becomes more compassionate, does it alter his/her physiology, make them more intuitive, and is it an act, state of mind or state of being. Read: Jamshed Mahmoods Moor is Pakistani entry for Oscars It is not only a spiritual search for me, but a scientific quest. Meeting Amma on her 60th birthday was a huge opportunity to investigate these deeper truths, Kapur said, describing the unique experience of being in her presence and feeling the energy radiating from her. When you ask infinite questions, you cannot expect answers in finite ways -- in fact, there are no answers. There is only experiencing. When you go to Amma, you go for the experience of her -- I have not remained unaffected, he added. Mata Amritanandamayi Math vice chairman and Ammas seniormost disciple, Swami Amritaswarupananda lauded Kapur for capturing her unique combination of beauty, grace, humility and wisdom through the biopic. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop The names Bond. Jane Bond. Britains MI6 spy agency is wooing middle-aged women to bring more inclusivity to its ranks. The UKs Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) is even advertising on popular parental website for women called Mumsnet to widen its recruitment network. The move is part of a drive to recruit more mid-career women, which includes offering more flexible hours and support for those returning after having children. British Parliaments Intelligence and Security Committee had called on the security services to create a better gender balance among their employees and the latest report released this week looks to address that. SIS has also begun to recognise and reward officers who demonstrate inclusivity and is publicising this across the organisation, the report said. Women make up just over 38% of all MI6 staff and 41.6% at MI5, where 46% of new employees were female, a rise of 5%. At the spy listening centre based in Cheltenham, GCHQ, changes to maths recruitment saw the number of applications from women rise to about 40%. The Iranian ambassador to Pakistan on Friday said the Chabahar port agreement between Iran, India and Afghanistan is not finished and not limited to these three countries, in an attempt to ease tensions over the agreement. Speaking on Pakistan-Iran relations, Mehdi Honerdoost, Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, according to Dawn online, revealed that the offer to cooperate had first been extended to Pakistan and then China, implying neither had expressed interest. The ambassador added that both are sister ports, and Chabahar port authorities would extend cooperation to Gwadar. The deal is not finished. We are waiting for new members. Pakistan, our brotherly neighbours, and China, a great partner of the Iranians and a good friend of Pakistan, are both welcome, said the envoy. India was a good friend during the sanctions, the only country to import oil from us during sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday signed a three-way transit agreement on Irans southern port of Chabahar. India said it will invest up to $500 million in a deal to develop a strategic port in Iran and both countries planned a number of projects they say are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The development of the Chabahar port expands a trade route for the land-locked countries of central Asia bypassing Pakistan, and represents a missed opportunity for Pakistan as post-sanctions Iran opens up. China risks creating a Great Wall of self-isolation through its continued military expansion in the South China Sea and its hacks on US companies, Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Friday. Carters remarks came ahead of his trip next week to an Asian security summit in Singapore, where Chinas actions in the contested waterway will likely dominate discussions. Countries across the region - allies, partners, and the unaligned - are voicing concerns publicly and privately at the highest levels, Carter told graduating officers at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Read: US could lift arms embargo on Vietnam amid China tensions China has in recent years dredged reefs, islets and other maritime features and built these up into larger islands capable of sustaining a military presence. For instance, the Fiery Cross Reef Outpost, located between the Philippines and Vietnam, has since 2014 been converted from a sandy speck in the ocean to an island stretching more than three kilometres, complete with a lengthy runway. Read: Pentagon: China jets intercept US military plane over South China Sea Chinas actions (in the South China Sea) challenge fundamental principles, and were not going to look the other way, Carter said. The United States disputes Chinas sovereignty in the region and has conducted several freedom of navigation operations in which it deliberately sails close by the islands, attracting the ire of Beijing. Carter also blasted Chinese cyber attacks on US companies. Chinas cyber-actors have violated the spirit of the Internet - not to mention the law - to perpetrate large-scale intellectual property theft from American companies, he said. A village in Chinas mountainous west where schoolchildren must climb an 800-meter (2,625-foot)-high bamboo ladder secured to a sheer cliff face may get a set of steel stairs to improve safety. The concerns arose after striking pictures were taken of the children climbing the ladder in Sichuan provinces Zhaojue county, in a scene that underscores the vast gap in development between Chinas prosperous, modern east and parts of the remote inland west that remain mired in poverty. Children carry their school backpacks as they climb a cliff on their way home from school. (AP) The ladder is the only access to the village of Atuleer to which the children return every two weeks from the school at which they board. The 72 families who live there are members of the Yi minority group and subsist mainly by farming potatoes, walnuts and chili peppers. The ladder is the only access to the village of Atuleer to which the children return every two weeks from the school at which they board (AP) A news release on Friday from the Liangshan prefectural government that oversees the county said a set of stairs would be built as a stop-gap measure while officials consider a longer-term solution. It quoted local residents as saying that in addition to the safety issue, the ladder-only access exposed villagers to exploitation because traders knew they would be unable to carry unsold produce back up the cliff. A child with her school backpack takes a rest on a cliff as she and other children return home from school. (AP) The most important issue at hand is to solve the transport issue. That will allow us to make larger-scale plans about opening up the economy and looking for opportunities in tourism, county Communist Party secretary General Jikejingsong was quoted as saying in the news release. A Chinese detergent commercial showing a black man stuffed into a washing machine and transformed into a fair-skinned Asian has provoked outrage, although more so overseas than at home, where it was greeted with apparent acceptance. The commercial for the Qiaobi brand shows a black man whistling and winking at a young Chinese woman, who calls him over, puts a detergent packet into his mouth, and forces him headfirst into a washing machine. She sits on the lid while the man shrieks. Moments later an Asian man emerges in clean clothes, and the woman grins. The advertisement has provoked an uproar on US news websites, which cited it as an example of racist attitudes towards black people in China. This ad is blatantly racist... its also a reminder that attitudes over race and skin colour in China can be very bad, said Vox.com But it has attracted little attention in its home country, with few comments on social media, and fewer than 2,000 views of the same ad on popular video-sharing site Youku. China has historically experienced almost no migration by people of African descent, although the population has grown in recent years as China has risen to become the continents biggest trading partner. Traditional attitudes prizing white skin in women have contributed to bias against dark-skinned people. The Shanghai Leishang cosmetics company, which produces the gel-capsule product, did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. The advert, which was reportedly shown in cinemas earlier this month, uses the same music and sound effects as a previous Italian commercial showing a white man forced into a washing machine and transformed into a black man. The Italian advert was followed by the slogan, Coloured is better. Barack Obama made history on Friday, making the first ever visit by a sitting US president to Hiroshima, where he emphathised with the victims of atomic bombing but left the city reduced to rubble by an American bomber almost 71 years ago without offering an apology. Years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed, Obama said at the city where 140,000 perished in the first ever use of nuclear bomb on August 6, 1945. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city, and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself, the commander-in-chief of US armed forces said about the event, which still remains in the realms of unsettling history and unresolved debate. As expected, the Nobel peace prize winner called for an end to nuclear weapons, something he tried hard during his Presidency with some amount of success. Writing in the guest book at the Hiroshima peace park, he urged for summoning the courage to spread peace and pursue a world without nuclear weapons. Many visitors swarmed around the Hiroshima park to meet Obama, who was accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and senior officials such as US national security adviser Susan Rice. Obama paid tribute to the dead at the cenotaph in the park. Their souls speak to us. They ask us to look inward, to take stock of who we are and what we might become, Obama said during his 20-minute speech. It is not the fact of war that sets Hiroshima apart. Artifacts tell us that violent conflict appeared with the very first man. Our early ancestors having learned to make blades from flint and spears from wood, used these tools not just for hunting but against their own kind, he said. And at each juncture, innocents have suffered, a countless toll, their names forgotten by time. Days after the Hiroshima attack, a second US atomic bomb in Nagasaki killed a total of 80,000 which led to the surrender of Japan and end of second world war. Discussions on various themes had raged in Japan and US ahead of Obamas much-anticipated visit. That (nuclear bomb) was weapon of war. I thought it saved my life, and I think it saved millions of Japanese lives, Jerry Yellin, the US fighter pilot who flew the last combat mission during the Pacific war, told Japan Times on Thursday. Obama said that the wars of the modern age teach technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us. The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well, he said. We stand here in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell ... we listen to a silent cry, said Obama, who also visited the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni, south of Hiroshima, before arriving at the peace park. US Presdent Barack Obama (2nd R) comforts A-bomb survivor Shigeaki Mori (C) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) looks on after laying a wreath in front of the cenotaph to offer a prayer for victims of the atomic bombing in 1945 at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshim. (AFP) Abe called Obamas visit courageous and long-awaited. He said it would help the suffering of survivors and echoed the anti-nuclear sentiments. At any place in world, this tragedy must not be repeated again, Abe said. The visit presented a diplomatic tightrope for a US president trying to make history without ripping open old wounds. Critics believe Obamas mere presence in Hiroshima will be viewed as an apology for what they see as a justified attack. But he has also drawn praise from those who see it as a long overdue gesture for two allies ready to bury a troubled past. Obamas remarks showed a careful awareness of the sensitivities. He included both South Koreans and American prisoners of war in recounting the death toll at Hiroshima a nod to advocates for both groups that publicly warned the president not to forget their dead. Obama spoke broadly of the brutality of the war that begat the bombing, but did not assign blame. After his remarks, he met with two survivors, but his remarks to the aging men were out of ear shot of reporters. At one point, Obama could be seen laughing and smiling with 91-year-old Sunao Tsuboi, and he embraced Shigeaki Mori, 79, in a hug. But mostly, Obama just listened the men as they spoke through an interpreter. The visit was meant to demonstrate the strength of the US-Japanese alliance, and Obama and Abe took each step together. The men walked along a tree-lined path, past an eternal flame, toward a river that flows by the domed building that many associate with Hiroshima. They went to the lobby of the peace museum to sign the guest book: We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons, Obama wrote, according to the White House. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, delivers a speech next to US President Barack Obama at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan. (AP) The presidents call for a nuclear-free world was a far cry from the optimistic rallying cry he delivered as young, newly elected president. Obama did not employ his campaign slogan Yes, we can as he did in a speech in Prague in 2009. Instead, the president hoped for the courage to escape the logic of fear and spoke of diligent, incremental steps. Those who come to ground zero at Hiroshima speak of its emotional impact, of the searing imagery of the exposed steel beams on the iconic A-bomb dome. The skeletal remains of the exhibition hall have become an international symbol of peace and a place for prayer. Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, 82, paid her own respects at the cenotaph on Friday morning, well before Obama arrived, lighting incense and chanting a prayer. Tears ran down her face as she described the immediate aftermath of the bomb. I could hear schoolchildren screaming: Help me! Help me! she said. It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion. Han Jeong-soon, the 58-year-old daughter of a Korean survivor, was also at the park Friday. The suffering, such as illness, gets carried on over the generations that is what I want President Obama to know, she said. I want him to understand our sufferings. Obamas visit is a moment 71 years in the making. Other American presidents considered coming, but the politics were still too sensitive, the emotions too raw. Jimmy Carter visited as a former president in 1984. (With inputs from AP) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON India and China should appropriately address their differences and consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communications between the top leaders, Chinese leaders said in their meetings with President Pranab Mukherjee, state media reported on Friday. The two sides should appropriately address our differences, President Xi Jinping told Mukherjee during their meeting here yesterday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Describing Mukherjee as a seasoned statesman and an old friend of China, Xi pledged to boost the strategic and cooperative partnership with India and proposed that the two sides consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communication between state leaders and making use of various bilateral dialogue mechanisms. In his meeting with Mukherjee, Premier Li Keqiang said the two countries development constituted opportunities for each other. Li suggested the two sides align Chinas Made in China 2025 campaign and Internet Plus initiative with Indias Make in India and Digital India campaigns, Xinhua said. The cooperation and development of China and India will not only benefit one-third of the global population, but also help global economic recovery and growth, Li said. Mukherjees four-day visit to China ended today with a meeting with State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who is also Chinas Special Representative for boundary talks with India. Briefing media on Mukherjee-Xi talks, Director General of Asia department of the foreign ministry Xiao Qian said the two leaders agreed to work to resolve differences by every effort but at the same time, be realistic. It means they will manage well, the issues that cannot be addressed in a very short time so that these disagreements will not stand in the way of our development and cooperation, Xiao said yesterday. The two leaders also agreed to further advance the boundary negotiations under the framework of special representatives so that the tranquillity and peace of the boundary region will be maintained, he said. The boundary issue is a legacy question from history. We have agreed on advancing the boundary negotiations under the framework of our special representatives mechanism. But before the final settlement of the boundary question, we will take actions to maintain the peace and tranquillity in the boundary region, he said. Hailing the development of the bilateral ties in recent years, Xi told Mukherjee that the two sides should stick to the theme of neighbourly friendship and reciprocal cooperation to cement the China-Indian relationship and benefit the people of the two countries, the Xinhua report said. Xi also proposed to tap the potential for practical cooperation between India and China on railways, industrial park, smart city, new energy, environmental protection, information technology, human resources, industrial capacity, investment, tourism and services. An Indian-origin man who ran a parking company at Heathrow airport and was found to use customers cars for personal use has been sentenced to jail and fined after he pleaded guilty to the scam. Devinder Singh, 30, pleaded guilty to the three offences of driving while disqualified; driving without insurance; and taking a motor vehicle without the owners consent. He was interviewed by the police after one of his customers complained about the use of her car while away on holiday. When the customer collected the vehicle, she noticed it was clean, the setting was in the "off-road" position - which was never used - and there was less fuel. Also the mileage had changed significantly, Scotland Yard said. A tracking device was fitted to the vehicle which showed the car being parked at various addresses including Singh's home while the customer was away. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to all the offences at Ealing Magistrates' court and was sentenced to six weeks prison, suspended for a year, a five-year disqualification from driving and ordered to pay 350 costs and an 80 victim surcharge. Singh had previously been convicted of similar driving offences in relation to his business and has received a number of suspended sentences. Detective Inspector Ian Robinson of Aviation policing said: "This was a betrayal of his customer's trust by brazenly using their cars while they were away on holiday without their knowledge. He would have continued to do this had he not been caught. The travelling public must be careful to use reputable companies when leaving their motor vehicles whilst travelling from Heathrow Airport. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The United States has said the new Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, is not on its list of designated terrorists. The surprise move came hours after Akhundzada rejected peace talks as a viable solution to bring an end to the insurgency and vowed to continue fighting. No, hes not. You asked if he was on the designated terrorist (list), hes not, US state department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner told a news briefing. Last week, a US drone killed Haibatullahs predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a remote area of Pakistans Balochistan region. On Monday, the Taliban elected their new chief. We would hope that he would seize the opportunity. He does have an opportunity in front of him to choose peace and to work towards a negotiated solution. We hope that he makes that choice now, Toner said. US President Barack Obama said in a statement that Mullah Mansour was killed because he had rejected efforts to seriously engage in peace talks and end the violence that took the lives of countless Afghan men, women and children. Obama said Mullah Mansours death had created an opportunity for peace and 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. 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. (AFP) When asked if another drone attack is in store for the new Taliban chief if he rejects the peace process, Toner said: Im not going to predict who we might target in the national security interests of the United States. Reports say that Akhundzada never assumed a combat role during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Akhundzada, a religious scholar, was a senior judge who had issued many of Taliban harsh verdicts. Akhundzada went on to become the groups chief justice before a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government in 2001. He was a close ally of Mansour and was one of his two deputies. He is said to have issued many of the groups rulings on how Muslims should comply with the Talibans extreme interpretation of Islam. News / Regional by Staff reporter FOUR men from Bulawayo have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of Air Zimbabwe public relations executive, Mrs Shingai Dhliwayo, who was killed in Botswana last month.The four - who have criminal records in Zimbabwe and Botswana - were picked up at various locations around the city by detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Homicide section between Monday and Tuesday night.Mrs Dhliwayo was found dead in a bush about 5km from Ramokgwebana Border Post on April 30. She was tied to a tree with her feet and hands bound while a piece of cloth was stuffed in her mouth.She had been strangled and was bleeding from the nose when a herd boy found her body, a week after she went missing just after attending the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.She had travelled to Botswana on personal business intending to come back the following day, but she failed to make it back home alive.Yesterday, a court heard how detectives swooped on three men from Cowdray Park suburb and another one from Sizinda and found the suspects with some of Mrs Dhliwayo's personal possessions.Artwell Ndiweni, Godfrey Mavhurafero and Mgcini Xaba, all from Cowdray Park suburb together with Dumisani Ncube of Sizinda appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa facing murder and robbery charges.They were not asked to plead and were remanded in custody to June 7.Prosecuting, Jeremiah Mutsindikwa alleged that the four lured Mrs Dhliwayo to Botswana on the pretext that they wanted to hire some decoration material and services for a wedding to be held in that country."Upon her arrival in Botswana on April 30, she notified the accused persons who met her. They robbed her of valuables, an undisclosed amount of cash, a laptop, electronic gadgets and a cellphone," said Mutsindikwa.He said the four took the deceased, gagged and strangled her to death."The crew left her body tied to a tree trunk in a bushy area between Jackalas Village 1 and Gatswane River, about 5km from Ramokgwebana Border Post," Mutsindikwa said.He said the body was discovered by a Botswana national on May 7 who made a report to the police. A post mortem was later conducted at Nyangabgwe Hospital in Francistown."Botswana consultant forensic pathologist Doctor Mugoma concluded that Mrs Dhliwayo died due to strangulation and gagging. After a series of investigations, the four were found in possession of her grey pouch," Mutsindikwa said.He said Mrs Dhliwayo's ZTE phone was recovered from Ndiweni's wife."Cellphone records show Ndiweni as the person who lured her to Botswana pretending to be a client," said Mutsindikwa as he opposed bail as the four are known criminals who have been arrested countless times for robbery in both Zimbabwe and Botswana. Barack Obama becomes on Friday the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, site of the worlds first atomic bombing, a gesture Washington and Tokyo hope will highlight their alliance and breathe life into stalled efforts to abolish nuclear arms. Even before it occurs, though, the visit has stirred debate, with critics accusing both sides of having selective memories and pointing to paradoxes in policies relying on nuclear deterrence while calling for an end to atomic arms. The two governments hope Obamas tour of Hiroshima, where an atomic bomb killed thousands instantly on Aug. 6, 1945, and some 140,000 by the years end, will highlight a new level of reconciliation and tighter ties between the former enemies. Aides say Obamas main goal in Hiroshima, where he will lay a wreath at a peace memorial, is to showcase his nuclear disarmament agenda, for which he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Obama has said he will honour all who died in World War Two but will not apologise for the bombing. The city of Nagasaki was hit by a second nuclear bomb on August 9, 1945, and Japan surrendered six days later. A majority of Americans see the bombings as having been necessary to end the war and save lives, although some historians question that view. Most Japanese believe they were unjustified. Im coming, first and foremost, to remember and honour the tens of millions of lives lost during the Second World War. Hiroshima reminds us that war, no matter the cause or countries involved, results in tremendous suffering and loss, especially for innocent civilians, Obama said in written responses to questions published in the Asahi newspaper on Friday. The White House debated whether the time was right for Obama to break a decades-old taboo on presidential visits to Hiroshima, especially in an election year. But Obamas aides defused most negative reaction from military veterans groups by insisting he would not second-guess the decision to drop the bombs. I will not revisit the decision to use atomic weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I will point out that Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe and I coming to Hiroshima together shows the world the possibility of reconciliation - that even former adversaries can become the strongest of allies, Obama told the Asahi. A Japanese and a US flag are seen next to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. (AFP) Read: Hiroshima trip will underscore real dangers of warfare: Obama Atomic bomb survivors have said an apology from Obama would be welcome but for many, the priority is ridding the world of nuclear arms, a goal that seems as elusive as ever. Not all agree. I want Obama to say Im sorry. If he does, maybe my suffering will ease, said Eiji Hattori, 73, a toddler at the time of the bombing who now has three types of cancer. If Obama apologised, I could die and meet my parents in heaven in peace, he told Reuters at the peace park, from which ordinary citizens were later ejected amid tight security ahead of the presidents visit. World War Two flying ace Dean Diz Laird, 95, who shot down Japanese fighters and dropped bombs on Tokyo, said he was pleased Obama was making the visit but glad he wasnt apologising. Its bad that so many people got killed in Hiroshima, but it was a necessity to end the war sooner, he said. Critics argue that by not apologising, Obama will allow Japan to stick to the narrative that paints it as a victim. Abes government has affirmed past official apologies over the war but said future generations should not be burdened by the sins of their forebears. China and South Korea, which suffered from Japans wartime aggression, often complain it has not atoned sufficiently. It is worth focusing on Hiroshima, but its even more important that we should not forget Nanjing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters, according to the ministrys website. China says Japanese troops in 1937 killed 300,000 people in its then-capital of Nanjing. A postwar Allied tribunal put the death toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese politicians and scholars deny a massacre took place at all. The victims deserve sympathy, but the perpetrators can never escape their responsibility, Wang said. Pakistani media and activists poured scorn Friday on a suggestion from an Islamic religious body that men should be allowed to lightly beat their wives, made in their draft of a womens protection bill. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) released a draft of the bill on Thursday, their response to progressive legislation giving women greater rights and protection in the province of Punjab. Local media quoted the draft as saying: A husband should be allowed to lightly beat his wife if she defies his commands and refuses to dress up as per his desires; turns down demand of intercourse without any religious excuse or does not take bath after intercourse or menstrual periods. The proposal was met with a wave of mockery in the media and online Friday. The countrys biggest and most influential newspaper, the English-language daily Dawn, published a satirical article with a list of things people could beat other than their wives -- including eggs, the bottom of ketchup bottles, and the Michael Jackson hit Beat It. The article was a rare example of the media mocking those claiming to speak in the name of religion in conservative Muslim Pakistan. - Council of zealots - The draft was also slammed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which condemned its recommendations as ridiculous and called for the council of zealots to be disbanded. It is difficult to comprehend why anyone in his right mind would think that any further encouragement or justification is needed to invite violence upon women in Pakistan, the HRCP stated. Online in Pakistan, the bill was met with derision. This body should be dissolved, preferably in acid, wrote one Twitter user, as others expressed bafflement and anger. Women in conservative Pakistan have fought for their rights for decades, in a country where so-called honour killings and acid attacks remain commonplace. But the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Bill redefines violence to include any offence committed against a woman including things like domestic or emotional abuse, stalking or cybercrimes. The bill, which was passed in February, also provides for a universal toll free help line for the women, and establishes district protection centres and residential shelters under a phased programme. It also allows courts to order a GPS tracker installed to monitor a defendants movements. The CII, formed in 1962 to advise parliament on the compatibility of laws with Sharia, has previously spoken out against the bill. The councils recommendations are non-binding, and it has drawn widespread criticism in the past for other rulings -- including in 2013, when it suggested making DNA inadmissible evidence in rape cases, instead calling for the revival of an Islamic law that makes it mandatory for a survivor to provide four witnesses to back their claims. CII chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani emphasised to AFP that the bill is still being drafted. Islam does not allow violence against women, he said. There may be a dispute between husband and wife but that is something separate from torturing wives. Gary Russell was a mile deep in a Kentucky cave, leading a group of geology students on a five-hour tour, when he turned a corner and saw water rushing by where water wasnt supposed to be. He had no way to communicate with the outside world Thursday afternoon. He had no idea that a flash flood was pouring through the caves passages toward them, or that dozens of rescuers were already gathering at the entrance to begin a perilous hours-long journey to rescue them. All he knew was that water wasnt supposed to be this deep in the cave and that meant trouble. Rescued people walk out of the entrance to Hidden River Cave on Thursday, May 26, 2106, after 18 people on a cave tour were trapped due to flash flood waters in Horse Cave, Kentucky. (AP) Russell and his group were among 19 people who escaped the flooded Hidden River Cave. They navigated neck-deep water, rushing currents and mud so thick it sucked off the police chiefs boot. It was pitch black. It was shooting waterfalls out of the ceiling. The walls were thundering, there was so much water moving through it, said David Foster, the executive director of the American Cave Museum at Horse Cave and a guide for 30 years, who rushed into the darkness to help with the rescue. You just dont know what Mother Nature is capable of. Theres only so much cave, and theres way more water. The group that spent more than six hours inside the cave included Clemson University students, four tour guides and two police officers who got trapped when they tried to rescue the group, Kentucky State Police Trooper B.J. Eaton said. There was no communication between the stranded cavers and the more than 150 emergency personnel at the scene. Authorities didnt know exactly where the missing cavers were underground, and the only light the group had came from headlamps they wore. Becca Dozier, middle, takes off her helmet after having been rescued from Hidden River Cave on Thursday. (AP) Heavy rains began pouring down hours after the group ventured inside, Foster said. The storm hit earlier and harder than expected, and Foster grew so worried that he decided to call authorities and trek inside to get them. The cavers were a group of college students from Clemson University in South Carolina on a field trip to explore the water system in the cave. Russell led four of them on what was supposed to be a five-hour trip beginning at 10 a.m., and another guide had a dozen. Until Russell noticed the water, they were unaware of the rising waters threatening to block the caves entrance, which is the lowest point and first to flood. Hidden River Cave begins at a sinkhole, 150-feet deep, in the center of downtown Horse Cave. It has two subterranean rivers that flow more than 100 feet below ground. As Russell tried to lead his group out, the mist grew so thick it kept fogging up one students glasses. He could barely see and kept stumbling. Just imagine going hiking in the mountains at night during a rainstorm and a mudslide, Russell said. Thats what this feels like. The water was so loud, it was like a jetliner; it was roaring. Rescued people at house next to Hidden River Cave on Thursday, May 26, 2106, after 18 people on a cave tour were trapped due to flash flood waters in Horse Cave, Kentucky. (AP) Russell and his group were surprised to find the rescuers at the caves mouth. But the other guides group was still unaccounted for. Foster and Police Chief Sean Henry began working their way deeper into the cave. The water was waist high in places and rising. Theres only one way out, and they knew theyd have to come back out the way they came in. At one point, Henry said he saw the water closing in behind him and wondered if hed ever leave. He held his flashlight in one hand and radio in the other, though his radio stopped picking up a signal shortly after they entered. They could hear nothing over the roar of the water. Foster started to doubt hed come down the right passage. He said anxiety built like a rock in his stomach. Then they heard it: Were here. Were OK! The students had shouted after seeing their flashlights. Tour guide Peggy Nims hugs a friend after she made it out of Hidden River Cave on Thursday, May 26, 2106, after 18 people on a cave tour were trapped due to flash flood waters in Horse Cave, Kentucky. (AP) The way out was the most precarious, when they had to wade and swim through high water, Foster said. But they all made it through. They emerged about 4:30 p.m. Everyone lost was accounted for and uninjured. When they came out of the cave, they were neck-deep in water, Hart County Emergency Management Director Kerry McDaniel said. Ive never been more happy to see the sunlight, Foster said. Its such a good feeling when you get around the corner and you see the light, and you know youre going to make it out. What a relief. People who were rescued from Hidden River Cave celebrate on Thursday. (AP) Abby Harmon, 27, of Knoxville, Tenn., checks her phone after being rescued from Hidden River Cave on Thursday. (AP) Rescued people take photos together after being rescued from Hidden River Cave on Thursday. (AP) Donald Trump has threatened to undo or cancel practically every policy or action undertaken by President Barack Obama on climate change, including the historic Paris accord. And all of it within the first 100 days of taking office if elected, the Republican presidential candidate said in a speech unveiling his America First energy and environment policy on Thursday. Were going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of US tax dollars to UN global warming programmes, Trump said on an issue being followed closely in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi played a leadership role in the signing of the Paris accord in December, and launched a global solar alliance with French president Francois Hollande. Trump said: President Obama entered the United States into the Paris Climate Accords unilaterally, and without the permission of Congress. This agreement gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use right here in America. And his plan to stop contributing to UN programmes threatens the very basis of the accord, which enjoins developed countries to defray technology costs for developing nations. If Trump is elected and sticks to his threats, India and the US could end up revisiting the whole climate change issue, and look it from a completely different perspective. The United States itself would be reconsidering the whole global warming question entirely as he plans to rescind all of Obamas actions, including the Climate Action Plan. He also plans to save the coal industry and other industries, which face closure because of the focus on cleaner sources of energy hundred of coal mines have closed in recent years. He will take another look, he said, at a controversial pipeline project planned by a Canadian company to transport crude through the US for export. Obama had rejected the plan. In general histories of the war, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry is usually presented as being the first African-American regiment in the Union Army to experience the trial of combat. In fact, the 54th Massachusetts assault on Battery Wagner took place almost two months after the Louisiana Native Guards had stormed a similar Confederate fortification at Port Hudson, Louisiana. They were the first officially mustered black regiment to fight for the Union, as well as the only unit in the Union Army to have black officers as well as white. Owing to the fact that they were far from the spotlight of media attention, their accomplishments were never fully recognized during the war. The men of the Native Guards came from the New Orleans region. Most were free men of mixed-race bloodlines whose families had been given their freedom by the Federal government when New Orleans became an American possession through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. When the Civil War broke out, a number of the prominent free blacks of New Orleans met to discuss their course of action, and decided that they should support the new Confederate government and volunteer for military service. At first, Confederate authorities lauded their offer, and their patriotism was praised in local newspapers. On March 2, 1861, a month before the firing on Fort Sumter, the Shreveport Daily News ran a story about a very large meeting of the free colored men of New Orleans taking measures to form a military organization, and tendering their services to the Governor of Louisiana. Praise was one thing; acceptance was quite another. Confederate leaders who had initially welcomed the prospect of black troops changed their stance in light of the growing influence of the abolitionists over the Federal government. In defending the propriety of slavery, Southern officials pointed to their long-standing argument that blacks were inferior to whites. Enrolling black troops on the same level as whites would tend to refute that argument to all the world, and the Confederacy opted to deny the Louisiana Native Guards the privilege of fighting for their new country. A combined U.S. Army and Navy expedition accepted the surrender of New Orleans on April 26, 1862. But the capture of the city and the sealing off of the mouth of the Mississippi was just the beginning for the Federal army of occupation. The Union force, under the command of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Franklin Butler, needed reinforcements. A Massachussetts politician with abolitionist leanings, Butler knew that the resources of the Federal government were stretched, and forwarded a request to Washington for permission to raise regiments of local black men. It was not the first time the idea had been proposed. Black troops had been raised by the Union from among freed slaves in the Port Royal, S.C., area after it was occupied by Federal troops, but that experiment had met with less than desirable results. The ex-slaves were badly treated, did not get paid and received little or no military training. Butlers experiment would be different. Washington did not officially respond to the request, so Butler decided to proceed with the recruitment on his own. He approached several of the prominent black men of New Orleans to learn their feelings about joining the Union Army. The men were the very same individuals who had offered their services to the Confederacy only a year before, receiving a humiliating snub in the process. They were still willing to fight, and they desired to show the world that they were the equals of any soldiers. The Louisiana Native Guards would indeed enlist in Ben Butlers army. On August 22, 1862, General Butler issued a general order authorizing the enrollment of black troops. The blacks of New Orleans responded with enthusiasm. Within two weeks he had enlisted more than 1,000 men and could form his first regiment. Orders stipulated that only free blacks were to be enrolled in the regiment, but the recruiting officers were extremely lax in enforcing this rule, allowing many runaway slaves to be entered on the rolls with no questions asked. On September 27, 1862, the 1st Regiment, Louisiana Native Guards, officially became the first black regiment in the Union Army. The 1st South Carolina held the distinction of being the first black regiment to be organized, but it had never been officially mustered into the army. The astounding response to Butlers call continued. Within a few short months, enough black men from the area had volunteered to form four full regiments, thus augmenting Butlers force by more than 4,000 men and helping to solve his shortage of manpower. Many of the prominent black citizens of New Orleans had been appointed officers in the regiments, and they were itching to disprove the slanders that the Confederacy had used to keep them out of the army. One such example was Captain Andr Cailloux, of Company E. Cailloux was an esteemed and wealthy resident of New Orleans who liked to boast that he was the blackest man in America. He had been formally educated in France, including instruction in the military arts. The captain was a born leader and presented a striking martial presence while drilling his troops, issuing orders in both English and French. White officers with Butlers army were rapidly won over to the idea of serving with blacks. It was generally noted that the blacks took to soldiering more readily than their white counterparts, and that they were easier to train and discipline. One white officer serving with the Native Guards sent a letter home that expressed his admiration: You would be surprised at the progress the blacks make in drill and in all the duties of soldiers. I find them better deposed [sic] to learn, and more orderly and cleanly, both in their persons and quarters, than whites. Their fighting qualities have not yet been tested on a large scale, but I am satisfied that, knowing as they do that they will receive no quarter at the hands of the Rebels, they will fight to the death. Though they were proving themselves model soldiers in camp, the members of the Native Guards were denied the chance to prove themselves on the field of battle. Instead, they found themselves relegated to performing manual labor on defensive fortifications or guarding those same fortifications once they were completed. For the moment, whites were still considered the exclusive combat element of Butlers army, and the Louisiana Native Guards would have to bide their time. In May 1863, Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant were trying to wrest the stronghold of Vicksburg, Miss., from the Confederacy. Major General Nathaniel P. Banks was ordered to coordinate his efforts so as to assist Grant and keep potential reinforcements from being sent to Vicksburg. Banks decided the best way to do that would be to assault Port Hudson, a Confederate stronghold located 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The Louisiana Native Guards were by then under Banks command, and he fully intended to use them in his coming offfensive. Just before the operations against Port Hudson began, the Louisiana Native Guards were presented with their regimental banner. When Colonel Justin Hodge handed the flag to Color Sgt. Anselmas Plancianois, he cautioned him that he was to protect, even die for, the flag but never surrender it. Plancianois responded, Colonel, I will bring these colors to you in honor or report to God the reason why. His words were met with wild cheering from the ranks. The men finally had a flag of their own, and they were about to follow it into battle. Port Hudson was a formidable stronghold. It crowned an 80-foot-high bluff along a bend in the Mississippi and was virtually unassailable from the river. The only possible way to attack it was by land, storming the defenses from the rear, but the Confederates had taken every precaution to guard against that eventuality. A line of abatis, felled trees with the branches sharpened, ran the entire length of the perimeter. Behind this were rifle pits and outworks. Finally, there was the main earthwork fortification, with 20-foot-thick parapets, protected by a water-filled ditch 8 feet wide and 15 feet deep. All the fortifications had been constructed using slave labor. Behind the works, the Confederates had mounted 20 siege guns and 31 pieces of field artillery. Though confirmed totals are not available, it is known that the Confederate garrison numbered more than 6,000 men. Dislodging them from such a strong position would have been a difficult undertaking for seasoned troops. It would seem far too much to ask of untried soldiers, but the Native Guards were eager for the opportunity. Union artillery shattered the early morning calm on May 27, 1863, as the fort came under a heavy cannonading, intended to soften its defenses before the infantry was sent in. For four hours, Union guns hammered the fort. The Native Guards, 1,080 strong, had been placed on the extreme right of the Union line. At 10 a.m., a bugle call signaled the attack, and the Guards surged forward with a yell. Between them and the works lay one-half mile of ground broken by gullies and strewn with branches, but the Guards advanced on the run. As they neared the fort, they were met by blasts of canister, fired almost into their faces from the works to their front. Artillery also fired into both flanks, and the carnage was terrific. Yet the Guards still pushed forward, unaware that something had gone wrong in the Union attack plan, and that they alone were taking on the forts garrison, a force six times their number. Captain Cailloux urged Company E to keep pushing forward. As the color company for the regiment, his men drew unusually heavy fire from the Confederates, and a bullet shattered Caillouxs left arm. He refused to leave the field and continued urging his men onward till they reached the edge of the flooded ditch. Follow me! he shouted just before being hit by a shell that took his life. With their commander dead, the troops of the color company halted momentarily at the ditch, and the Confederate defenders raked them with musket fire at point-blank range. To attempt a moat crossing in the midst of such galling fire seemed suicidal, so the men fell back to re-form for another attack. Once again they charged the works, reaching a point 50 yards from the enemy guns, but the result was the same. By now, the Guards right wing was the only Union force engaging the fort. Unsupported and facing the entire weight of the Confederate defenses, they continued to press forward in a futile assault. A number of soldiers from E and G companies jumped into the flooded ditch and tried to reach the opposite bank, but they were all shot down by the forts defenders. A white Union officer who witnessed the charge said, they made several efforts to swim and cross it (the ditch), preparatory to an assault on the enemys works, and this, too, in fair view of the enemy, and at short musket range. The courage of the Guards was inspiring. Doctors in the field hospital reported that a number of black soldiers who had been wounded in the first assault left the hospital, with or without treatment, to rejoin their comrades for the second attack. Dr. J.T. Paine recorded that he hadseen all kinds of soldiers, yet I have never seen any who, for courage and unflinching bravery, surpass our colored. But courage alone could not overcome the extreme odds the Native Guards were facing. Rebel muskets and artillery were too much for them, and the ever-mounting casualties they were suffering were beginning to take the fight out of the men. Once again, they were forced to fall back, but not before several efforts were made to recover Captain Caillouxs body, all ending in failure. Incredibly, the Union high command still seemed to believe that the Native Guards could do the impossible. The Guards re-formed, dressed their lines and started forward at the double quick for the third time. They were met with the same galling fire that had doomed the two previous assaults, but still they rushed onward. Color Sergeant Plancianois had advanced the regiments colors to the enemy works when he was struck in the head by a 6-pounder shell. In all, six color-bearers were killed trying to advance the flag before the Guards were ordered to withdraw. With deliberation, they re-formed their ranks and marched off the field, as if on parade. Of the 1,080 Guards who took part in the battle, 37 were killed, 155 wounded and 116 captured. Their conduct had made converts of most of the doubters in Banks army and proved that black troops could play a pivotal role in suppressing the rebellion. Their courage helped to pave the way for the more than 180,000 black troops who would don the blue and fight for the Union Army. Captain Caillouxs remains were not recovered until Port Hudson fell on July 8, at which time they were sent home to New Orleans for burial. His funeral was attended by both blacks and whites. Cailloux may have boasted that he was the blackest man in America, but heroism knows no color line. This article was written by Robert P. Broadwater and originally appeared in the March 2004 issue of Americas Civil War. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Americas Civil War magazine today! Should a Texas Ranger Expect Justice or Death From His Union Captors? BY DANIEL E. SUTHERLAND Ephraim Shelby Dodd sat in his Knoxville jail cell and scribbled a note to a local volunteer who was taking care of him and some other Rebel prisoners. He made a modest requesta piece of soap, towel, needles, threada curious order for a convicted spy awaiting execution. Later that day Ellen House packed up the items and had them delivered the next morning. She wrote in her diary: I was very much afraid he would be gone before I sent them. A native Kentuckian, Dodd moved to Texas in 1857, at age 18, and started a new life brimming with enthusiasm fueled by the lofty dreams and untainted optimism of youth. Then came the Civil War. Dodd, like his family back in Kentucky, opposed secession, but when his adopted Texas joined the Confederacy, he followed. He enlisted in the 8th Texas Cavalry, a regiment raised in August and September 1861 by Kentucky-born sugar planter Benjamin Franklin Terry and South Carolina-born merchant Thomas S. Lubbock. The unit, nicknamed Terrys Texas Rangers, quickly gained a reputation as a crack mounted regiment. Whether, as one general thought, they were the equal of the Old Guard of Napoleon, or, as another maintained, they constituted a damned armed mob (they were probably a bit of each), Terrys Rangers became one of the most storied units in the Confederate army. Leaving Houston, where the regiment was mustered in, the Rangers joined General Albert Sidney Johnstons command at Bowling Green, Kentucky. Johnston, himself a naturalized Texan, knew and respected Terry. So he made the Rangers an offer they could not pass up: come to Kentucky and receive the best mounts in the state and answer to no one but him. Bound for Virginia, Terrys men changed plans and headed to Kentucky in October. There they saw their first real action in mid-December, when in their maiden charge their beloved namesake colonel was killed. They went on to serve valiantly at Shiloh a few months later, but when Johnston died on the first day of fighting, the Rangers lost their brief career as an independent command. The unit was combined with the 4th Tennessee Cavalry and the 1st and 2d Georgia Cavalry in July 1862 to form a new brigade under the command of Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Dodd witnessed all of it, and in December 1862, he began keeping a diary of events and adventuresa diary that even today reveals a literate, observant, and devout young man. He apparently spurned liquor and gambling, favorite pastimes for many rowdy cavalrymen. On one occasion, while part of a procurement detail in Lewisburg, Tennessee, Dodd visited a prayer meeting, attended a worship service, and purchased four religious books: Mormons at Home, Pilgrims Progress, Bayard Taylors Travels, and The Bible Union Dictionary. He did, however, have an eye for the ladies. Came out on a reconnoitering expedition, he recorded on January 11, 1863. I stopped on return and saw Misses Mollie and Alice. In Lewisburg, Dodd met several young ladies, among them Lou Hill, whom I prize highest, he said. When he was about to leave town, he spied a couple of young lady equestrians riding along. I jumped on E. Emnoffs horse and overtook them, rode out a mile with them and turned off pike, he wrote. If I should ever get back to L[ewisburg] I intend seeking them and make their acquaintance. When the regiment moved to Rome, Georgia, in July 1863, Dodd sparked some Georgia girls. I made the acquaintance of Miss Maggie Ezzell, Miss Mattie Sommers, Miss Fannie Summers, and Miss Mollie Roberts and enjoyed myself with them finely, he reported. When the time for military action came, no one responded more swiftly than Dodd. Met the Yankees and skirmished with them all day, falling back gradually, he recorded near the end of December 1862. Their cavalry charged us once but paid dear for it. On March 21, 1863, he noted, Brigade went out on scout. Our Company supported battery, drove the Yanks back to their main camp and returned. Ten days later, he saw action again: Went on a scout out to Eaglesville. Met a Yankee scout just this side of E. We charged them and run them one and a half miles, capturing six and wounding several. At other times, when assigned to picket duty or reconnaissance in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, Dodds objective was not to fight but to avoid capture or detection by the Federals. Even so, he remained in the thick of the action. Bushwhackers attacked us, killed my horse, stampeded all, Dodd reported while on a scout in Allen County, Kentucky. Back in Tennessee, he reported, Came up near Epperson Springs, found the Yanks were there and at Scottsville too strong for us. Dodds undoing came a few months after the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, in September 1863. With Union Major General William S. Rosecranss Army of the Cumberland held at bay inside Chattanooga by General Braxton Braggs Army of Tennessee, and with Union Major General Ambrose Burnside strengthening his hold on Knoxville, the Rangers returned to eastern Tennessee in November to join Major General William T. Martins cavalry division. Their mission, as part of General James Longstreets Corps, was to help invest Knoxville and recapture it from Burnside. Although they spent most of their time on picket, shielding Longstreets infantry and disrupting Union supply lines, they did join in some real fighting near Dandridge and Mossey Creek. One Ranger recalled engaging in a half-dozen skirmishes during November and December. Dodd missed all this action, for he did not accompany the Rangers immediately to eastern Tennessee. His horse had stumbled and broken a leg during a retreat the previous summer, and he had been unable to find a replacement. He spent the late summer and autumn on detached duty in Georgia, searching for a dependable mount. He finally found one in December, while traveling south of Knoxville with a horse requisition party. He bought it for $200.00. As he and his companions tried to rejoin the army, they found themselves cut off by Federal troops heading north from Chattanooga to relieve Burnside. The Rebels problems were compounded in mid-December when Longstreet abandoned his siege of Knoxville and withdrew his corps. The 10-man detail, eager to rejoin the army, tried to dodge the Yankees by taking a circuitous route southeast of Knoxville. They had easy going at first, but things took a nasty turn. Dodd and two other men, named Alexander and Smith, became separated from the main detachment on the rainy night of December 13. The next day Dodds group encountered a Yankee patrol at Maryville. The outnumbered Rangers ran for it, but Dodds saddle turned and he lost his horse. Alexanders mount was shot from under him, and Smith, unwilling to abandon his comrades, released his horse. The three men escaped into the woods. The horseless Rangers finally came to the home of a Mr. McClaine. McClaine had stood by the Union when Tennessee seceded and wanted nothing to do with the desperate Rebels. So the Rangers hid in some timber until dark. The next day they reached the house of Hiram Bogle. Bogle gave them something to eat, but he had taken the Union loyalty oath and did not want to jeopardize his property by helping the fugitives. He did, however, point them in the direction of the home of Timothy Chandler, a Southern sympathizer in Sevier. Traveling by night on December 16, the Rangers passed within sight of some pro-Union home guards patrolling along their route, but they safely reached Chandlers house at 1:00 a.m. on December 17, exhausted and soaked by rain. Like the other citizens, Chandler hesitated to give the men any information that would help them escape, but he did feed them and let them sleep in his barn. The manhunt ended that day. This morning the Home Guards got on our tracks and by the aid of Citizens found us, Dodd recorded later. The next day a military guard escorted the three men to Knoxville, where the Rangers joined dozens of other Confederate prisoners, mostly Georgians and Texans. Alexander, apparently having had enough of the war, took the loyalty oath and was released. Dodd never considered taking the oath. Instead he decided to rely on the intervention of his fellow Masons. I sent out a summons to the Lodge for assistance, he revealed on his second day in the Knoxville jail. Two members call on me and promise to attend to my case. He was confident they would secure his release. As the days passed, however, it became clear the Masons could not help him. Christmas Day passed uneventfullydull was how Dodd described it. Conditions in the prison were harsh, Dodd wrote, no wood hardlyfreezing and starving by inches. Fortunately there was hope for the Rebel captives. They had been told they would soon be transferred to Northern prison camps, most likely to Camp Chase in Ohio. As late as New Years Day, Dodd thought he would be among the prisoners sent north the next day. Suddenly the unusual clothing he had been wearing when taken captive became an issue. Like many Confederate soldiers, Dodd wore a captured Yankee overcoat. He also wore blue pants, which he claimed were part of his regular uniform. Completing the outfit were a Mexican serape, which he donned throughout the war, and a broad-brimmed Ranger hat, which prominently displayed the star of Terrys Texas Rangers. Curiously, no one mentioned Dodds eclectic outfit during the first fortnight of his captivity. Perhaps that was because the Rangers were famous for their colorful dress, as one Ranger observed, Some in Red, some in BlueBrown, Green, yellow. The odd attire gained new meaning after Federals found his diary. They discovered that many entries referred to the placement of Union pickets (natural enough comments for a scout to record) and, more importantly, to an occasion earlier that month on which Dodd had passed himself off as a Yankee when traveling through Loudon County. Dodd probably wrote the remark with a gleeful touch, delighted to have outwitted a pro-Union civilian and ensured safe passage. His comments were made in reference to securing his escape, not to acquiring military information. However, when Federal authorities read the entries with his blue pants and coat in mind, the words took on new meaning. It probably did not help Dodds cause to have mentioned that before his detachment broke up, it had stolen horses and weapons and released slaves from households. Convinced a spy was in their midst, the Yankees moved swiftly. Official records show that Dodd was tried on or before January 5th. In fact, the charges, findings, and sentence of his court-martial were not announced until January 5, 1864. But new evidence shows clearly that Dodd was rushed before a tribunal on New Years Day, the date of the diarys last entry and the day Federal authorities discovered and confiscated the pocket volume. Word spread through Knoxville of Dodds January 1 trial, but the verdict attached to the spreading gossip was acquittal. Dodd himself wrote to his father, I was tried by the court-martial as a spy, but the charge and specifications could not be sustained. Not until 11:00 a.m. on January 6 did Dodd learn he was to be hanged. Up to that time, he still thought that he was destined for Camp Chase. Ellen House, a young pro-Confederate woman who had been supplying clothing to Dodd and other prisoners, received Dodds request for toiletries and assorted small items on January 5. It was after dark when I got [the letter], House recorded in her diary. So I will have to wait till tomorrow morning. The next morning snow fell on Knoxville. House sent the requested items before breakfast. By the time the toiletries reached Dodd, he probably had been given the grim news: he would be hanged on Friday, January 8. Oh it is terrible, terrible, so totally unexpected, House wrote. If I only could do something for him. Were he a spy, badly as I would feel about it, I know it would be perfectly useless to do anything. But for an innocent man to die such a death is awful beyond conception. House concluded her daily diary entry still in shock, but on a hopeful note: Oh! I cannot, cannot believe that they will hang him. Something must stop it. Other Knoxville Confederates shared Houses sentiments. Many immediately mobilized to save Dodd. The Reverend Joseph H. Martin, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, visited Dodd regularly, as did three Federal chaplains. All four ministers believed Dodds steadfast claim of innocence, as did his prison guards. The Masons, having failed Dodd once, renewed their campaign for his release. Prominent citizens, including some Unionists, petitioned Brigadier General Samuel P. Carter, a native Tennessean who served as provost marshal in Knoxville, to intercede. As late as Thursday night, January 7, people saw hope of saving Dodd. Through it all, Dodd remained serene. He spent much of his time on January 6 and 7 writing letters to relatives and friends to inform them of his misfortune. He maintained his innocence. I feel prepared to meet my fate as a soldier and firmly rely on Gods promises to save the penitent, he told his father and stepmother in Richmond, Kentucky. Do not grieve for me, my dear parents, for I am leaving a world full of crime and sin for one of perfect bliss. Dodd sent notes also to people in Knoxville who had worked on his behalf and tried to ease his suffering. Several local Masons spent two hours conferring with him on Thursday evening, and they continued to petition Federal authorities through that night. Masons among the Federal officers in Knoxville, themselves thoroughly convinced of Dodds innocence, sought clemency for him. By Friday morning, a blanket of snow covered the city. It soon became clear that Dodds execution would proceed on schedule. Pastor Martin left the prison with Dodd at 10:15 a.m. A detachment of the 100th Ohio and 74th Illinois Infantry greeted the two men and ushered Dodd onto a waiting wagon. The cavalcade moved with slow and measured tread along Gay Street, the citys principal thoroughfare. Armed soldiers flanked the wagon, and an accompanying fife and drum detail played the Death March. A growing crowd joined the procession as it moved toward the gallows erected near the north end of Gay Street and the railroad tracks. Some people, including Federal soldiers, turned away from the passing wagon, teary-eyed and unable to watch. Dodd, seated on his coffin, occasionally surveyed the crowd, but, reported one witness, he generally preserved a downward look, as if in deep meditation. Underneath the Mexican serape he wore to ward off the cold, Dodd was dressed in Rebel gray and butternut. He also wore his sombrero with the Texas star. With General Carter viewing the scene from across the tracks, Dodd ascended the gallows. While the condemned mans hands were being tied behind his back and the rope was being placed around his neck, a Union officer who had visited the prison the previous night approached. Like everyone who spoke with Dodd, the officer had been deeply impressed by his apparent calmness and his continued professions of innocence. So now, in Dodds final moment, he looked him in the eye and asked again if he was a spy. Dodd returned his gaze and replied, I die innocent of the charge against me. A tragic farce followed. At 11:00 a.m., the drop fell, Dodd plummeted, the rope snapped tightand broke. Dodd sprawled on the ground, severely shaken but conscious. A gasp, followed by mingled murmurs of pity, horror, and disgust, ran through the crowd. Release me quick, Dodd groaned as soldiers rushed to assist him. Fifteen minutes passed before he was fully revived. His head bobbed in agony from the effects of an injured neck, but he had recovered sufficiently to mount, with assistance, the gallows steps once more. The hangman placed a new rope, with a double noose, around his neck. This time it held. An army surgeon pronounced Dodd dead at 11:30. At eleven oclock I heard a gun fire, House reported. At the sound my blood seemed to freeze in my veins. A short time after I heard another. Hearing the signal guns is how most of Knoxville learned of Dodds execution. A few people followed the body as it was carried to a local burying ground. At one citizens insistence, a head board was left to mark the grave site. Someone else retrieved Dodds hat and sent it to a friend at Camp Chase. A Yankee soldier had already stolen its Texas star. Some Confederates vowed vengeance. Oh! my God it was terrible, an innocent man to die such a death, House anguished. It will not bring him back to life, but the Yankees must suffer for it. Even after six weeks had elapsed, when House read an article about the execution in a Louisville newspaper, she fumed, They murder a man and then cry over him. It has made me feel so miserably. I try not to think of him and his cruel fate. It makes me most unhappy, but I feel perfectly fiendish. I believe I would kill a Yankee and not a muscle quiver. Robert F. Bunting, chaplain of the Rangers, voiced similar anger. Bunting kept Texans informed about the regiments activities by sending regular reports to the Houston Telegraph. On March 4, writing from Rome, Georgia, Bunting aroused the entire state with a highly charged account of Dodds fiendish murder. The execution, insisted Bunting, as he spoke on behalf of the Rangers, brings to the heart more bitterness than any calamity which has overtaken us. Even some Northern newspapers, including the New York Tribune, expressed outrage. Why did the Federals execute Dodd? Bunting thought he knew the answer. He insisted some rabid eastern Tennessee Unionists, notable among them William G. Parson Brownlow, were seeking revenge for the hanging deaths of several bridge-burners early in the war. The bridge burners were Unionists who had attempted to disrupt Confederate communication and supply lines by destroying railroad bridges in eastern Tennessee. The gallows where one or more of them died was supposedly the one used to execute Dodd. Here was a Texas Ranger in their power, reasoned Bunting, and it would be double gratification of fiendish delight to execute him. Perhaps, but House noted in her diary on January 1 that Brownlow, for one, had been keeping very quiet at the time of Dodds arrest and trialhave not seen or heard anything of him. Of course, there are other possibilities. It seems that when Longstreet aborted his siege of Knoxville, he left in his abandoned lines two Yankee spies dangling at the ends of hanging ropes. It never ought to have been done, House wrote. They ought to have been quietly buried and not left hanging to taunt the Yankees. House also thought the Federals in Knoxville were anxious because of Longstreets continued presence northwest of the city, especially in light of his ongoing raids against Federal patrols and supply trains. They are frightened here, House reported. I think they are expecting him [Longstreet] in here and that is one reason that Mr. Dodds sentence is to be carried into execution so soon. They are afraid of his being rescued. Finally, addressing Houses last observation, and touching on a point suggested by Bunting, Major General John G. Foster, commanding the Department of the Ohio and the Union garrison at Knoxville, believed it was time to crack down on Rebel spies in eastern Tennessee. On January 8, the day of Dodds execution, Foster complained about the large number of Union pickets and outposts recently overpowered and captured by the enemys troops, disguised as Federal soldiers. He ordered all corps commanders to cause to be shot dead all the rebel officers and soldiers (wearing the uniform of the U.S. Army) captured within our lines. Furthermore, on January 17, Foster took the extraordinary step of forwarding a copy of the proceedings and findings of Dodds trial to Longstreet. He clearly intended this as a warning to the Rebels. Dodd seems to have been a classic victim of circumstance, a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was sacrificed to make a point: the new, tough Federal policy in eastern Tennessee was for real. His misfortune made him one of just 19 Confederates to be hanged legally as spies during the war. Whatever the reasoning of Federal commanders, Dodds execution, save for the death of Benjamin Terry, himself, lives as perhaps the saddest moment in Texas Ranger historyand one of the more poignant personal tragedies of the war. Daniel E. Sutherland, a history professor at the University of Arkansas, is the author of several books about the Civil War. His most recent work is Seasons of War: The Ordeal of a Confederate Community, 1861-1865. Under the stern but sympathetic gaze of Lt. Col. Louis Wagner, some 11,000 African-American soldiers trained to fight for their freedom at Philadelphias Camp William Penn. Three Medal of Honor recipients would pass through the camps gates. Major Louis Wagner of the 88th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment knew that his situation was desperate when a Confederate bullet shattered his right shin at the Second Battle of Bull Run on the afternoon of August 30, 1862. The fight had been raging ferociously since noon, with Southern fire slamming relentlessly into Union soldiers commanded by Major General John Pope. That night the defeated Northern army retreated toward the safety of Washington, leaving behind some 16,000 casualties. One of those casualties, 24-year-old Louis Wagner, would be taken prisoner by the victorious Rebels and later paroled to his Philadelphia home. The German-born Wagner, despite his youth, had been a shining star ever since he enlisted at the outbreak of the war, rising steadily in rank and prestige. By the time he was wounded at Second Bull Run, he had already fought valiantly at Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap and Groveton. Before his wound had sufficiently healed, Wagner returned to the front in preparation for the Battle of Chancellorsville. His hasty return aggravated his wound, and Wagner returned home to Philadelphia, unfit for further field duty. The determined young officer did not return to his civilian occupation of lithographic printer. Instead, in early 1863 he volunteered to take command of Camp William Penn, the first and largest Federal training facility for African-American soldiers. When President Abraham Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves held in Confederate states took effect on January 1, 1863, thousands of free blacks and ex-slaves rushed to enlist in the Union Army. Many poured through the gates of Camp William Penn, about 10 miles north of downtown Philadelphia in the rolling, green Pennsylvania countryside. First Lieutenant Oliver Willcox Norton of the camps 8th United States Colored Troop (USCT) Regiment, formerly a private in the 83rd Pennsylvania, later described the enthusiasm of the black recruits. Our camp thronged with visitorswho wanted to enlist, he wrote. There are hundreds of them, mostly slaves, here by now, anxiously waiting for the recruiting officer. The boys are singing: Rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, shouting the battle cry of freedom; down with the traitor, up with the star.' Despite the lingering pain of his injury, Wagner took command and personally helped drill the camps first new recruits. Although unable at times to walk, the newly minted lieutenant colonel had himself lifted into the saddle on his horse as he readied the 3rd USCT for what he knew would be a soul-testing career in the Union Army. Not only would the new troops have to face battle-hardened Confederate veterans, but they would also encounter the resistance of racially motivated opponents at home. Although Philadelphia was a stronghold for abolitionist activities, many eastern Pennsylvanians harbored deep-seated racism. More than two decades earlier, in 1842, the great African-American orator Frederick Douglass had been pulled from his train seat by an irate white passenger after giving a speech in nearby Norristown. Trains and streetcars were segregated then, and blacks were not allowed to sit inside the vehicles. Instead, they had to stand outside between the cars. After reaching the state capital at Harrisburg, Douglass was attacked by a white mob and barely escaped with his life. Camp William Penn had been formally mandated by the federal government after state and local authorities had refused to start their own camp for black troops. An estimated 1,500 African-American volunteers from the Philadelphia area had traveled north to enlist in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first famous black regiment, because of racist opposition in the so-called City of Brotherly Love. Sometimes black soldiers from Camp Penn were beaten unmercifully by white mobs if they were caught in the wrong part of town. At the same time, racist Copperheads nearly burned down Philadelphias Union League, a Republican institution with many anti-slavery members. Copperheads were Southern sympathizers who did not appreciate the leagues role in raising funds to organize and train black troops in the city. One prominent Union League member was Chelten Hills resident Jay Cooke, a multimillionaire who sold so many bonds to finance the Union war machine that he became known as the financier of the Civil War. Another member was Edward M. Davis, son-in-law of the famed Quaker abolitionist and womens rights advocate Lucretia Mott, whose family leased the land to the federal government to erect Camp William Penn. The petite Mott often spoke to the troops at the camp while standing on a drumhead, and she baked cakes and pies for the men. When Frederick Douglass entered the grounds of Camp William Penn on the afternoon of Saturday, July 18, 1863, he was greeted by a disturbing sight. As the legendary black leader prepared to speak, he saw a number of black recruits standing atop barrels with rails over their shoulders as punishment for various military infractions. Douglass was clearly angry when he began to address the troops of the 3rd Regiment because he had learned that some of the menmany bearing the scars of slaverywere giving their white officers plenty of trouble. One disgusted officer condemned the ability of the black recruits to become good soldiers. The fortunes of the whole race for generations to come are bound up in the success or failure of the 3rd Regiment of colored troops from the North, Douglass told the troops. You are a spectacle for men and angels. You are in a manner to answer the question, can the black man be a soldier? His confident voice rising, Douglass continued, That we can now make soldiers of these men, there can be no doubt! The imposing Douglassstanding more than six feet tall and weighing about 200 poundsknew all too well how much the destiny of blacks in America rested on the shoulders of newly enlisted black soldiers. That very evening, one of Douglass own sons was putting his military training to good use by taking part in the bloody assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina as a member of the 54th Massachusetts. The 54th would be repelled and suffer terrible casualties, but the regiment proved conclusively that blacks were brave warriors. Douglass knew that skeptical local antagonists would still closely scrutinize events at Camp William Penn. For that reason, the rebellious attitude of some of the black soldiers in camp worried him greatly. Although he realized that some of their defiant actions were at least partially justified due to abuse by whites at the camp, he also knew that there was much at stake for the soldiers and the local abolitionists who had stuck their necks out for them. Douglass would temporarily stop recruiting due to the abuses and meet with President Lincoln about the problem, but he wanted the new black soldiers to look at the larger picture while fighting in a constructive way for their human rights. Right in the Chelten Hills community where they were pre-paring for war, abolitionists such as Mott, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison and others were helping to lay the groundwork that would lead to the expanded emancipation of black Americans. Standing near the camps white commander, Louis Wagner, Douglass replied to white pessimism about the black troops. His African brethren were ready and willing to fight and die for their emancipation, he insisted. But Douglass also said that the black recruits should not defy government authority. Addressing the black troops, he told them, It is for you to justify that reply, which I certainly believe you will do, but in order to [do] this you will have to prove that you cannot only parade and drill, but equal the white soldiers in deportment, in neatness of person, in the brightness of your arms, in orderly deportment, and scrupulous obedience to orders. It was not that he did not understand the soldiers problems. Douglass had a special respect for the men standing before him, many scarred and mangled for life by years of slavery. He had shared their agonizing past and knew their pain. Underneath his garments, on his back, he wore a stark reminder: horrible scars caused by the flesh-slicing whip of a Maryland slave overseer. It was not long before the black men standing at arms before Douglass would prove themselves quite worthy of carrying the U.S. flag into battle. But they still had to face trouble at home first. In fact, before leaving the Philadelphia area on September 18, 1863, the 3rd Regiment would endure further humiliation. Because of continuing racism, the regiment was not allowed to parade in the city. The August 8, 1863, edition of the Christian Recorder, a black newspaper published in Philadelphia by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, explained the situation: At the latter part of last week several of our daily papers published the gratifying intelligence that the Third Regiment of Philadelphia Colored troops would come into the city from Camp William Penn, to go through the evolutions of a street parade. The day came, but with it also came the postponement of the promised treat indefinitely. This has been a source of grievous disappointment to a great many, both colored and white. The Christian Recorder noted the 3rd Regiments great anger about not being able to parade shortly before it departed. [N]ot only were the friends of the regiment disappointed, but when the intelligence reached the encampment it caused a great commotion amongst the men, amounting, as we have been told, almost to a state of mutiny, which had been the consequences of so frequently disappointing the men on this account, the Recorder report said. What right any man has to interfere with colored, more than with white troops, we cannot conceive. Does the government want to get them up in some dark corner, and prepare them to do just what white men are prepared to do in the dark? It should be remembered, that these men are human beings, and have their five senses, and feel just as well as the whites do. They are not ignorant of the manner in which they are treated; and of course they know what they are, and the kind of treatment they deserve. And the men who would interfere with, or molest them in any way, deserve the severest punishment. We, therefore, hope that both the Government and Philadelphia will redeem themselves from last weeks doings. The disappointed 3rd Regiment, under Colonel Benjamin C. Tilghman, eventually marched off to war, participating in the siege of South Carolinas Fort Wagner and in several important Florida battles. One black soldier, upset with unfair treatment in the Philadelphia region and especially at Camp William Penn, wrote a moving letter to President Abraham Lincoln complaining about his treatment. His white officers, the soldier explained, would not let him vote and would not let him go home when he was sick. We had boys her that died and wood gout [would have gotten] well if thy could go home, the soldier said. [They] can come back as well as a white man. The camps white officers and recruits elsewhere were allowed to go home to recover when they were severely ill, he complained, but not the black recruits. Another camp recruit also complained of his unsympathetic officers. My left leg is very badley afected from an old cut and the surgent here have bin giving meLeinament to rub it with and it is well mixt with turpentine, he wrote. I hav bin useing it until I have almost lost the use of my leg.I have tole him often that it was getting worse, but he will driv me off like a dog and say that he cant do anything for me. Although soldiers sometimes complained about receiving harsh treatment, some members of the local community recognized that Camp William Penn symbolized an important advancement for the African-American community. For instance, Lucretia Mott wrote about the camp in a letter to her sister in 1863. The neighboring camp seems the absorbing interest just now, Mott wrote, although she was a staunch pacifist who claimed to support the necessity of combating pro-slavery forces via preaching and advocacy but not by resorting to physical violence. Is not this change in feeling and conduct towards this oppressed class beyond all that we could have anticipated, and marvelous in our eyes? Camp commander Wagner supported his black troops, despite frequent public pressure. Local newspapers wrote several accounts of a black soldier guarding the post who shot a belligerent white man intent on entering the camp without permission. Although the white community became enraged and demanded the black soldier be brought to trial in nearby Norristown, the Montgomery County seat, Wagner refused to hand him over. Wagner also insisted that his black soldiers ignore segregationist policies and ride beside him on local trains. Braving opposition, he also paraded the next regiment to leave the camp for battle, the 6th USCT, right down Philadelphias main thoroughfare, Broad Street, and past the Union Leagues front steps filled with dignitaries and top military brass. There was an immense crowd of white and colored [who] followed them through the streets, the Christian Recorder reported. We were somewhat amused while standing on the corner of Third and Walnut to hear some person remark, Here comes the flag of distress. Some white men were in the crowd, and one well-dressed heavy-set gentleman, whom we took to be a German, although he spoke good English, exclaimed, What did you say, sir? Ill let you know, sir, that it is the American flag, and it is time you had learned enough to that effect, and if you dont know it, I can quickly teach you. The poor fellow looked bad and hung his head when he saw those who stood around him look upon him with contempt; but the gentleman who addressed himself to him looked with as much indignation as to say if the poor ignorant fellow would have said so again he would have felled him to the ground. Another eyewitness gave an account of the 6th Regiments parade: Walnut, Pine and Broad Streets listened to the measured tread of the dusky soldiers and the staccato of a full drum corps. The Union blue, the white gloves and the glint of fixed bayonets contrasted sharply with the dark faces perspiring under the rays of a warm October sun. As the regiment passed the Continental Hotel, a city tough ran out from the crowd and snatched the color away from the sergeant, who knocked the intruder down, rescued his flag, and resumed his place in the ranks, to the cheers of many of the spectators. The units regimental flag, designed by the famed black artist David Bustill Bowser and depicting the Goddess of Liberty holding a flag while exhorting a freedman dressed as a soldier to do his duty, would soon face other such tests during the heat of battle. Almost a year after marching down Philadelphias Broad Street and then sailing south by boat, Nathan H. Edgerton was among more than 350 soldiers in the 6th Regiment to run into a deadly hail of Confederate bullets at the Battle of New Market Heights (Chaffins Farm) in Virginia on the chilly and foggy morning of September 29, 1864. More than 60 percent of the regiments men, trained at Camp William Penn, would die in that battle. That morning, the 6th USCT had rushed toward a line of Rebel fortifications manned by the hardened veterans of Colonel Frederick M. Bass Texas brigade. Dozens of Edgertons comrades had been hit and had fallen, including most members of the color guard, when Lieutenant Frederick Meyer of Company B seized the colors and a bullet slammed through his heart and killed him. Meyer, however, maintained a death grip on the staff. I took it from him and pushed forward to bring up the colors to their proper place, Edgerton later recalled. All at once I went down, but jumped up immediately and tried to raise the flag, for I thought I had fallen over the dewberry vines which grew thickly there, but finding it did not come, I looked down, after trying again, to see why I could not lift it, and found my hand covered with blood, and perfectly powerless, and the flag-staff lying in two pieces. I sheathed my sword, took the flag with its broken staff and reached the abatis. When Edgerton began to reel and stumble due to the loss of blood, Sergeant Alex-ander Kelly of Company F grabbed the flag and carried it from the field. Edgerton mi-raculously survived his wound. Under similar conditions that day, Sgt. Maj. Thomas Hawkins of Company C also retrieved the flag. All three eventually received the Medal of Honor for their bravery. Major General Benjamin F. Butler was thoroughly impressed with the black troops bravery at New Market Heights. Better men were never better led, better officers never led better men, Butler said. A few more such charges and to command colored troops will be the post of honor in the American armies. The 6th Regiment was not the only Camp William Penn regiment to fight courageously in bloody campaigns. The 22nd and 8th USCT regiments also lost many men during the New Market Heights fray. Six months earlier, on February 20, 1864, the 8th had lost a huge share of its men in an engagement at Olustee, Fla. At the time, the regiment had little battlefield experience, being barely a month out of Camp William Penn. At Olustee the 8th, commanded by Colonel Charles W. Fribley, suffered terrible casualties, including 343 killed, wounded or missing in action. A letter written by 1st Lt. Oliver Willcox Norton detailed what happened when troops of his Company K marched near a strategic railroad line. The skirmishing increased as we marched, but we paid little attention to it, Norton wrote. Pretty soon the boom of a gun startled us a little, but not much as we knew our flying artillery was ahead, but they boomed again and again and it began to look like a brush. An aide came dashing through the woods to us and the order was double quick, march! We turned into the woods and ran in the direction of the firing for half a mile, when the head of the column reached our batteries. Military men say it takes veteran troops to maneuver under fire, but our regiment with knapsacks on and unloaded pieces, after a run of half a mile, formed a line under the most destructive fire I ever knew. We were not more than two hundred yards from the enemy, concealed in pits and behind trees, and what did the regiment do? At first they were stunned, bewildered and knew not what to do. They curled to the ground, and as men fell around them they seemed terribly scared, but gradually they recovered their senses and commenced firing. And here was the great troublethey could not use their arms to advantage. We have had very little practice in firing, and, though they could stand and be killed, they could not kill a concealed enemy fast enough to satisfy my feelings. After seeing his men murdered as long as flesh and blood could endure it, Colonel Fribley ordered the regiment to fall back slowly, firing as they went. As the men fell back they gathered in groups like frightened sheep, and it was almost impossible to keep them from doing so. Into these groups the rebels poured the deadliest fire, almost every bullet hitting some one. Colonel Fribley was shot and killed after his order to retreat. We were without a commander, wrote Norton, and every officer was doing his best to do something, he knew not exactly. There was no leader. Norton later noticed that he had five holes in his hat, which he claimed were caused by a single bullet. My hat was cocked up on one side so that it went through in that way and just drew the blood on my scalp, he wrote. Of course a quarter of an inch lower would have broken my skull, but it was too high. Norton noted that Company K went into the fight with fifty-five enlisted men and two officers. It came out with twenty-three and one officer. Of these but two men were not marked. That speaks volumes for the bravery of Negroes. Several of these twenty-three were quite badly cut, but they are present with the company. Ten were killed, four reported missing, though there is little doubt they are killed, too. Confederate soldiers hated commanders of black regiments such as Wagner and Fribley. If such Union leaders were captured during battle, they were often slaughtered along with their black troops instead of being taken prisoner. When Confederate Brig. Gen. William Gardner decided to send some of Fribleys personal belongings to his widow, he noted, That I may not be misunderstood, it is due to myself to state that no sympathy with the fate of any officer commanding negro troops, but compassion for a widow in grief, had induced these efforts to recover for her relics which she must naturally value. Less than a month after the September 29 engagement at New Market Heights, future Medal of Honor recipient Nathan H. Edgerton lay recovering in the Chesapeake Hospital near Fort Monroe. In a letter sent on his behalf to the surgeon generals office, Edgerton asked to be transferred to one of the hospitals in Philadelphia, because his parents reside in Philadelphia, and are very anxious to have him near them. The correspondence also stated that Edgerton was wounded severely in the right handwhile carrying the colors of his regiment, and acting as adjutant. He has been recommended for promotion for gallantry in the field, and will shortly receive his commission as 1st Lieutenant. The order to send Edgerton back to Philadelphia came just two days later, on October 23. He was quickly promoted, and he later served as adjutant. As the Civil War drew to a close, a charismatic black woman strode in front of hundreds of black soldiers at Camp William Penn and delivered a stirring speech. She was the well-known ex-slave and freedom fighter Harriet Tubman, who had come to inspire the black soldiers of the 24th Regiment, the last of Louis Wagners regiments to leave the camp for war. Tubman was a wanted woman by Confederate authorities. She had made many trips into the Deep South and escorted hundreds of runaway slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad that extended through Chelten Hills, Pa. There was a $40,000 reward on her head. Like Douglass and many of Camp William Penns soldiers, Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave with the scars of slavery on her body. Although she spoke a slave dialect and not standard English, she greatly inspired the men that day, according to a Christian Recorder article. The camp, said the newspaper, had a very entertaining homespun lecture from a colored woman known as Harriet Tubman. It was the first time we had the pleasure of hearing her. She seems to be very well known by the community at large, as the great Underground Rail Road woman, and has done a good part to many of her fellow creatures, in that direction. During her lecture, which she gave in her own language, she elicited considerable applause from the soldiers of the 24th Regimentnow at the camp. She gave a thrilling account of her trials in the South, during the past 3 years, among the contrabands and colored soldiers, and how she had administered to thousands of them, and cared for their numerous necessities. Around the time that Tubman spoke to the 24th Regiment, the camps 43rd USCT joined the pursuit of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, after participating in the capture of Petersburg, Va. The 43rd, along with other black regiments trained at Camp William Penn, finally caught up with Lee and were present during his April 9, 1865, surrender at Appomattox Court House. Meanwhile, the 22nd USCT, which also hailed from Camp William Penn, helped to corner President Lincolns assassins along the eastern shore of Maryland and the lower Potomac after a lengthy pursuit from April 15 through the first part of May 1865. The war was finally over. After the great conflict, Benjamin F. Butler, who had pushed from the start for black men to fight with Union forces, spoke for many when he said the African-American soldiers had with the bayonetunlocked the iron-barred gates of prejudice, and opened new fields of freedom, liberty, and equality of right. La Mott, Pa., journalist Donald Scott lives in the same neighborhood where Fort William Penn once was located. For further reading, see: The Negros Civil War, by James M. McPherson; or The Negro in the Civil War, by Benjamin Quarles. This article was originally published in the November 1999 issue of Americas Civil War magazine. Our democracy can only work when there is confidence in our leaders. Now that Chuck Hagel has officially been nominated by President Obama as his Defense Secretary, the focus of both politicians and media have turned to the Republican Nebraska Senator, especially his views as they pertain to the military. The two-term Republican senator from Nebraska drew the ire of his party and the Bush administration when he raised objections to Iraq and Afghanistan war policies before choosing not to run again in 2008. Today, Hagel remains an important voice on domestic and foreign policy as chairman of the Atlantic Council, co-chair of the Presidents Intelligence Advisory Board and in other advisory roles across Washington. His views on war have been shaped by his own experience in combat as a rifleman with his brother Tom in Vietnam in 1968. In this interview with Vietnam editor Roger L. Vance, Hagel recalls that experience and its impact on his views. Did you grow up thinking you would be in the military? Growing up in a little Nebraska town in the 50s, with a father whod served overseas in World War II, and where the VFW and American Legion clubs were the center of activity, there was an expectation that each has a responsibility to serve. How it would play out was uncertain. Id never focused on being a soldier or in the military, but as events unfolded, Vietnam came along when I was at draft age. Why did you enlist rather than remain in school? Id been in and out of a few colleges when I was informed by my draft board in early 1967 that levies were coming down and they were taking everybody. They said they would give me six months to get myself back into college. I told them: I think Id like to volunteer for the draft. How soon can I go? They said, The next bus leaves for Omaha in 30 days and we could probably get you on it. I said, Put me on that bus, and they did. That was in April 1967. And your brother Tom wasnt far behind? Tom graduated from high school two weeks later, and two weeks after that he was on the same bus. He was a couple of months behind me everywhere I went. But you still were not Vietnam bound? After Fort Bliss for Basic Training and Fort Ord for Advanced Infantry Training, I was selected for the first class trained to use the Armys newest top-secret weapon, the first shoulder-fired heat-seeking missile, the Red Eye. We were to be placed in units in Europe to bring down low-flying Soviet aircraft. We trained at White Sands missile range, and I was among the trainees to demonstrate the Red Eye for President Lyndon Johnson. What was that like? Well, I missed the first target. The generals and colonels couldnt believe it. An idiot should be able to hit the target; after all, it was heat-seeking. I did hit the second one. How did you get to Vietnam instead of Germany? I knew the Red Eye wasnt for Vietnam but I thought the training would be helpful. So I knew that when I got my orders for Germany I had to make a decision. I left White Sands for two weeks at home before shipping out, but I figured if I said then that I wanted to go to Vietnam, it was very likely they would not let me go. So I waited until we were back at Fort Dix, and about two hours before the bus was to take us to catch the plane for Germany, I took my orders and quietly slipped out of the barracks and went to the orderly room. I told them that I had orders for Germany but wanted to volunteer to go to Vietnam. The room went silent as everybody turned and stared at me. They said, Wait a minute, and came back with a captain. They thought something was wrong with me, that I was loony, on drugs or had committed a crime and was running away. They sent in a chaplain, then a counselor. After about 90 minutes, they took my orders and sent me back to the barracks. When I got there, I lay down on my bunk. All the guys were saying: Whats wrong with you? What are you doing? The bus is coming! I said: Im not going; I just volunteered to go to Vietnam. My buddies thought Id lost my mind. One of the guys gave me his wristwatch, saying his brother had worn it the whole time he was a rifleman in Vietnam and nothing ever happened to him. It kept my brother safe and I want you to have it, he said. It will keep you safe. I still have the watch, but I have never been able to track down the guy who gave it to me. I waited at Dix for about two weeks until they gave me new orders, and on Dec. 4, 1967, I left for Vietnam. And Tom had a similar adventure? After training, he went to cooking school and had orders for Germany. We didnt confer on this, but at the last minute he volunteered for Vietnam, too. What motivated you to volunteer? Were you big supporters of the war? In 1967 neither of us was really analyzing the causes and ramifications of the war. We were inculcated with the idea that you had faith in your leaders and accepted things. We felt that if youve got to be in the Army and theres a war on, you go to the war. Before long, you were both in the same unit. How did you pull that off? Tom got to Vietnam in January 1968, a month after me. I went to the Mekong Delta with the 2nd Battalion (Mechanized), 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, and he went with the 11th Armored Cavalry near the DMZ. We both put in transfers for each others units, figuring it would never happen, but by the end of January, Tom showed up at our base camp and for the next 10 months we served side by side. What about the Sullivan brothers rule? Because we both volunteered to be in a combat zone at the same time, the Army didnt resist. I know of a similar situation while we were there, but it was very rare. So you were just in time for Tet? We were called up for security at the rubber plant around Long Binh as Tet broke out. Our company was the first into Long Binh. Nobody knew what was going on when we got in around 6:30 a.m. The place was blowing up everywhere. Two tracks right in front of me just vaporized. Nearly every officer and most senior enlisted men were killed or wounded by the end of the first day. I was a private, but for about a month I was one of the companys acting sergeants while we did a lot of the house-to-house fighting before moving back to the delta. And you and Tom were soon on track to rack up a combined five Purple Hearts. The first time we were wounded was in March on a search and destroy mission in the jungle. Tom and I walked point most all the time. We just thought we were a bit sharper than the other boys. Did your mother know about this? She knew we were together, but she didnt know a lot of the stuff. No point in burdening her with a lot of that. Well, another squad took point to give us a break. We were following a waterway in thick jungle where we knew the VC were. The guys walking point hit a trip wire that detonated big Chinese mines in the trees, killing three guys and wounding a bunch more, including Tom, who got shrapnel in his neck and arms, and me, who got it in the chest. Then the VC opened up on us. When the situation stabilized, medevacs came in and dropped baskets through the canopy for the dead and wounded. It was getting dark and we needed to get out of there fast, so the captain asked Tom and me to get back on point. It was then that Tom found another grenade, hidden in another tree, that we damn near activated. Your second wounds were more serious? In April we went into a village where we knew the VC were. My track was the first in. We swept the village, had a little firefight and took some prisoners. My track was also the last going out, and we hit a land mine, killing one guy and wounding others. Tom was unconscious. I knew the track itself was going to blow, so I started throwing everybody off. Tom and I had our eardrums blown out, and I had bad burns on my face. We were dusted off and spent a few days in a field hospital. I had bandages on my face for six weeks. Soon you were back in Saigon? In May, during mini-Tet, Tom was wounded a third time. During a firefight, our battalion commander, Lt. Col. Frederick Van Deusen, was above in his bubble chopper when he was shot down over the Saigon River. When Tom swam into the river to rescue him, he was shot. Van Deusen, who was General William Westmorelands brother-in-law, drowned. That was the only time Tom and I were ever separated during a firefight. Thankfully, his wounds were not life-threatening. After getting his third Purple Heart, wasnt Tom headed home? He didnt want to go. But as our time grew short, they didnt want to take a chance with us; they didnt make us go out on any more patrols. So, at Dong Tam, I was put in charge of the enlisted mens cluba tent with a little sandbag barand Tom was put in charge of the PX. I got home in December 1968 and Tom in January 1969. And you two stuck together after the war. Id been to three colleges before Vietnam. Tom hadnt been to college at all. We decided to go to school at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, one of the premier bootstrap universities in the country. A lot of active duty guys were finishing their school there. We worked full timeI tended bar and worked at a radio station, Tom worked as a postman. We lived together for the first year. Tom graduated in three years and went on to get his masters degree at Ohio University and then went to law school at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He was a public defender in Lincoln for three years before going to teach at Temple University law school. This year marks his 30th year as a law professor at the University of Dayton, where he is also a municipal court judge. What was your area of interest in college? Before Vietnam I had majored in history and taken journalism courses and had attended a radio and television school in Minnesota, the Brown Institute. I finished school in May 1971. Because Id gone to so many other schools and got credits for serving in the military, I ended up getting a bachelors degree in general studies. Could you tell how the country had changed when you came back? I knew what America had just gone through in 1968 when we were in Vietnam: the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the riots and upheaval. It was a different place. But we didnt have it as bad in Nebraska as on the East or West coasts. I never experienced the same kind of treatment as others did, but I read and knew what was going on and heard from buddies who were treated badly. Did people understand what was actually happening in Vietnam? It is astounding. Today I cant fathom that this country would allow something like that to happen16,000 young men killed in one year. I think America was confused and off balance. People didnt know what it was about, why we were losing so many kids. Unlike today, it was a draft war, and that draft seeped out into all of society so it forced people to deal with it. I dont think most people were concerned with the whys and the whats; it just got to the point where enough was enough, lets just get out. After college you worked at a radio station, then found your way to Washington. I was always interested in journalism and that led me toward politics and government. When I first went to Washington, Congressman John McCollister from Omaha, whom I had interviewed on the radio, was the only person I knew there. He let me job-hunt out of his office. Through him I probably visited 100 offices, but nobody had any openings. Finally, Congressman McCollister made me a deal: Hed give me a part-time job, pay me 200 bucks a month and let me live in his basement while I looked for a job. So I loaded up my 57 Chevy and moved to D.C. A year later I was Congressman McCollisters chief of staff, the youngest on Capitol Hill. I worked for the congressman for five years, until he ran for the Senate in 1976 and lost. I then went to work for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, where I was the youngest manager of government affairs of a major corporation in D.C. I was very lucky. But you had caught the eye of some top Republicans and were pulled back into politics. In 1980, Sen. Bill Brock of Tennessee asked me to a take leave of absence from Firestone and help out with the Ronald Reagan presidential campaign. That is when I became acquainted with Reagan and his top people. After the election, in 1981 I was asked to serve as deputy commissioner general of the Knoxville worlds fair. Later in 1981 I was nominated by President Reagan to be deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration. Your tenure there was cut short by a disagreement you had with the Reagan administration? I resigned in July 1982 because I had a significant disagreement with the administration on veteran programs. They wanted to cut Agent Orange studies and programs, and they wanted to do away with the veterans centers that had been started by former VA Administrator Max Cleland. I thought they were going in the wrong direction. The VA administrator at the time was Bob Nimmo, a fine man, World War II vet and a friend of Reagans from California, but he was not sympathetic to Vietnam veterans. He went on a morning news show and called them crybabies over their claims about Agent Orange. I didnt want to cause problems for the president, so I resigned. And thats when you left politics for the business world? I was offered some other positions in the administration, but turned them down. I really had no prospects; I just jumped. After a couple of months, some old friends who were in the cable TV business wanted me to join them in this new technology called cellular telephony. I had to cash in my life insurance policy and sell my 1978 Buick Skylark to come up with the $5,000 to make my investment. Three years later the company was one of the largest nonwire cell telephone companies in the country. So your success with Vanguard Cellular allowed you to pursue other opportunities? I was serving on the world USO Board of Governors. The organization was going bankrupt and the board asked me to take over as president in 1987. It took about three years, working full time, but we turned the USO around. I was still on the Vanguard board, but wanted to take some time off. Thats when Brent Scowcroft called me to the White House to meet with President George H.W. Bush and James Baker. They asked Republican Party official Fred Malek and me to put together the G-7 economic summit in Texas in July 1990, pro bono of course. It was great fun. Then I was named president of the Private Sector Council in 1991, and in 1992 I moved back to Nebraska to be president of McCarthy Company, a private investment banking firm. And a few years later, you took the leap to run for the Senate. I ran for the Senate in 1996. I was not supposed to win the primary, or the race against two-term Governor Ben Nelson, but I won the election by 14 points. In the 2002 election, I won with the highest percentage of victory in Nebraska history, with 84 percent of the vote. Why did you decide not to run again in 2008? I did not run for a third term partly because I had said I would only serve two terms. I had a lot of encouragement to run, but by then I also felt I was out of step with my own Republican Party. I saw where it was going and I didnt like it. I decided I could do more good on the outside. Serving in the Senate was the greatest honor and privilege of my life. I enjoyed it, but enough was enough. So Im doing other things now and have never been happier. I have been very lucky in my life. You also spoke out about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a way that was not particularly popular within the Bush administration and your party. Unfortunately, much of what I warned about is coming true. I said early on that Iran would have more influence in Iraq than the U.S. does and there would be a tendency toward dictatorship. The fact is we didnt need to invade, Saddam didnt control 60 percent of his country, he was withering on the vine. Im not sure we enhanced the situation in Iraq in any way although we paid a terrible price and undermined our influence in the Middle East, and our standing after the invasion was the worst ever. When you add it all up, Im not sure how we made it better, other than for Iran. But the history is not completely written yet. We do know that it is not at all what the Bush administration and those who were for the war told the people and Congressnot even close In Afghanistan, we lost our way. The reason we are losing Afghanistan is that it wasnt ours to win or lose. I even question the concept of winning or losing in that situation. The whole frame of reference was wrong, and then we invaded Iraq and mindlessly took our eye off ball in Afghanistan and took all of the resources and focused on Iraqbefore the mission in Afghanistan was done. But we hung on and had to reinvest and come back in and it was a mess by then. Trying to run two wars, when so much was beyond our control, ended in disaster for both. After 10 years in Afghanistan, what are we going to have when we get out? What have we done here? So far more than 2,100 dead and thousands wounded, spent a trillion dollars, and we undermined ourselves and enhanced Iran. The secretary of defense recently tapped you to serve as chairman of the Vietnam War Commemoration Advisory Committee. How important is that to you? I am honored by the appointment and looking forward to doing all I can to help the effort. While in the Senate I cosponsored the bill creating the commemoration and brought it forward. It will be a formal, official recognition of a war we cant celebrate, that people dont like to talk about except as an example of a failed decision or failed experience. So it is a way to acknowledge those who sacrificed and unflinchingly served their country. It is overdue and it is important to do now. What should Vietnam vets think as the nation begins to mark the 50th anniversary of the war? They need to recognize that ones service to country always counts, even when there is a lack of clear purpose and agreement. That personal sacrifice and commitment still matters, and it is the mark of character to honor out nations commitments with service. And yes sometimes its fair and sometimes its unfair, and thats why there must always be a national debate before going to war. But we should never diminish ones service to his or her country. Vietnam vets did their duty honorably and well. Those who went to Vietnam had no voice in forming the policy. They did what the policy of their country asked them to do. Later we found out that policy was often dishonest and misguided, but our democracy can only work when we have confidence in our leaders. We must never again let our leaders fail our country that way. That is what drove me so much on the Iraq and Afghanistan debate. I was involved in big decisions on war, and I didnt want ever to be accused of having failed to speak up and question these decisions. Vietnam veterans must do the same. Challenging, probing and questioning is what is patriotic. Not to question is unpatriotic. After Vietnam you had an extraordinary business and political career. How did your experience shape your thinking? We are each a product of our experiences, and my time in combat very much shaped my opinions about war. Im not a pacifist; I believe in using force, but only after following a very careful decision-making process. The night Tom and I were medevaced out of that village in April 1968, I told myself: If I ever get out of this and Im ever in a position to influence policy, I will do everything I can to avoid needless, senseless war. I never forgot that vow I made to myself, and I tried to live by it during my time in the Senate. This interview appeared in the December 2012 issue of Vietnam magazine. www.vietnammag.com When Mindy Besaw left the Whitney Western Art Museum in Cody, Wyo., last year to become curator for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., she moved to the East, but she didnt leave the West behind. Artists like Charles Bird King, John Mix Stanley, Frederic Remington and Georgia OKeeffe werent just Western artists, they were American artists, explains Besaw, who also focused on Western art while curating at the Denver Art Museum. Among the first exhibits Besaw helped curate at Crystal Bridges was the recently ended Changing Perspectives of Native Americans, and museumgoers will find works by King, Stanley, Remington and OKeeffe, as well as Albert Bierstadt, George Catlin, Thomas Cole and Worthington Whittredge. Their Western portraits and landscapes hang alongside the canvases of such masters as John James Audubon, Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol. Opened in November 2011, the museum is the dream of Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. It sits on 120 acres and is named for a nearby spring and the on-site bridges that span spring-fed ponds. Israeli-born international architect Moshe Safdie designed the main building, and Arkansas architect Marlon Blackwell designed the museum store, both of which are visually arresting. Walking trails connect the museum grounds with downtown Bentonville. The museum is a repository of art research and masterworks. Its library houses more than 50,000 volumes, while its permanent galleries present a chronological history of American art that spans five centuries and shows the transformation of artistic styles. Take, for example, the draped robes and Greek and Roman stancesThe classical idea of beauty, Besaw notesin Kings oil on panel portraits of an Otoe chief (circa 1822) and a Sauk chief (circa 1824). Between 1822 and 1842 King rendered more than 140 portraits of Indians for Thomas McKenney, the first superintendent of Indian Affairs. An 1865 fire at the Smithsonian Institution destroyed most of the artists original portraits. Compare Kings romantic vision of the Westor George de Forest Brushs The Indian and the Lily, Catlins Indian Encampment or Stanleys The Buffalo Huntwith, say, Remingtons nocturnal 1906 oil on canvas Cowpunchers Lullaby or the 1914 bronze On the Warpath, by Cyrus Edwin Dallin, a Utah native who drew his inspiration from watching Buffalo Bill Codys Wild West traveling show in Paris in 1889. Or skip several steps ahead to the photo-realism of Cobi Moules Untitled (Avalanche Lake), a 2012 oil on canvas. The oldest painting in the museum collection is James Wooldridges Indians of Virginia, which Wooldridge painted circa 1675. The artists vision of Virginia is pure fantasy. He was a British painter, Besaw explains, who never came here. Among other early treasures is a Charles Wilson Peale portrait of George Washington. Waltons dream is far from realized, as the museum regularly acquires new works, including a set of more than 700 Edward Curtis photographs and OKeeffes 1932 oil-on-canvas Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1. The museum also co-owns (with Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.) the Alfred Stieglitz Collection, featuring 101 works, including OKeeffes oils-on-canvas Radiator BuildingNight New York (1927) and Flying Backbone (1944), both of which the artist painted while married to Stieglitz. With 500 years of art already to choose from, can Besaw pick a favorite work? Thats like choosing a favorite child, says the curator. But it depends on the day. If its a day like today, I might choose The Indian and the Lily. But tomorrow? Meanwhile, Crystal Bridges continues its eclectic mission. American Made: Treasures From the American Folk Art Museum, a collaborative exhibit between Crystal Bridges and New Yorks American Folk Art Museum, is scheduled to run July 2 through September 19. The Art of American Dance: 18301960, organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts as the first major traveling exhibition focused on visual art related to American dance forms, is scheduled to run October 22 through Jan. 17, 2017. WW In a country whose citizens, politicians and institutions proudly proclaim their unswerving support and reverence for the men and women it sends off to fight its wars, the proof of their proclamation is best tested when those same troops come home. More often than not in America, weve failed the test. And while that failure manifests itself across a broad spectrum of realms from the economic to the social, it is perhaps the repetitive failure to recognize what happens when we turn men and women into killing machines that is the most egregious. In a brilliant documentary film from HBO that aired on the cable channel last fall and is now available on DVD, executive producer James Tony Soprano Gandolfini and an A-team of award-winning film makers comprised of Jon Alpert, Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Matt ONeill tackle the tough issue of post-traumatic stress. In the film, the New York Times headlines scream: Veterans Suicide Averages Two a Day; Wars Nerve Cases Difficult to Treat; 76,688 Veterans Have Nervous Ills. This sobering news is hard to reador was hard to read when published in 1920. Wartorn 1861-2010 vividly reminds us that what we now call PTSD didnt just slowly evolve into a major malady with the Vietnam War. Indeed, the film takes us back to our nations deadliest war. Through battlefield photography of the day and letters written by Pennsylvania rifleman Angelo Creapsey, we learn about the condition then called hysteria or melancholia, which is overtaking the young man as he goes from gung-ho to scared to depressed, describing suicides in camp, desertions, hundreds of dead and finally his own despair, acknowledging he is clear off the hooks. Creapsey wrote, Many of times I saw things that will be remembered unto death. Sent home, unfit to fight, Creapseys family and friends needed no physicians diagnosis to know what had caused his paranoia and violent behavior, and why, as they eloquently wrote after his suicide, He seemed to worry that everybody hated him because he killed people. After the Civil War, it was reported that half of all people in mental institutions were war veterans. As the newspapers reported, World War I brought the shell-shocked Doughboys home to America in troubling numbers. In the December 1921 Atlantic Monthly, one such soldier lays bare his horrific story of terror under the malicious scream of a big shell and of coming home filled with misery and mental anguishclosed like an oyster, back but not yet back at all. In a film replete with intimate and moving testimonies to the pain of the psychologically wounded and their families, it may be the group of stooped World War II veterans who, after nearly 60 years of suffering, are finally confronting their combat fatigue that hits hardest. As one of them weeps, Theres an awful lot of guilt, thinking you should have done better.I still have nightmaresand it takes all goddamn night to kill somebody, you realize for them the war didnt end in 1945 but rather was a life sentence of torment. Perhaps it is engrained in humans, the self-deception that somehow exposure to barbarity is something a normal person should be able to withstand. In the films cold and clinical footage of WWII soldiers being questioned in the field by psychiatrists, interlaced with the images of battlefield reality, their exchange says all you need to know: Whats your trouble? barks the doctor. I cant stand seeing people killed. Did you see people being killed? Lots of em. What does that do to you? Scares me. As it goes on, Wartorn is a mesmerizing experience, not just because of the old war footage or informative history the film imparts, but rather because of how it puts to us the stark reality that in a century and a half weve barely moved off the dime to address this issue squarely. With the films rending stories from Iraq and Afghanistan that mirror Angelo Creapseys sad Civil War saga, our epic failures ring loud as a failure shared by our military leaders, politicians and all of us. Gandolfinis questioning of enlisted men and leaders, including General Ray Odierno at his Iraq headquarters, offers insights into how, in the real time of war and the stress of multiple deployments, the Army is attempting to deal with PTSD. But the tragic story of a clearly suicidal Marine in Iraq who was denied treatment and accused of faking it demonstrates the gross inadequacy of efforts to date. The experience of Vietnam War veterans and their courage to come forward and demand that PTSD be treated seriously did transform treatment and educate broadly. But heavy resistance remains to be overcome, culturally and institutionally. The Wartorn DVD includes as an extra an illuminating panel discussion that was held at the movies Pentagon premiere last fall. Included are General Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, and Tammy Duckworth of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Also on the panel was Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Paul Buddy Burcha, who after 40 years of denial finally admitted to himself he suffers from PTSD. I think for the first time we are doing an honest solid effort, but it wont change, it wont be successful until we acknowledge that it is 100 percent of combat veterans who have this problem. It doesnt matter if you have four stars, Silver Stars or no stripes, man or woman. You dont know when it will manifest itself, but it will. The problem is, how do we remove the stigma. I believe thats the biggest obstacle. As with Burcha, Vietnam veterans who have struggled to deal with PTSD can play an important role for their younger comrades by stepping up in the battle to break down the stigma. With tens of thousands of veterans coming home afflicted after multiple combat tours, America has a clear choice: openly and aggressively attack the problem, or pay the dear consequences in shattered lives, broken families and troubled communities. Wartorn beautifully puts the approaching storm into stark relief and is an essential film for all who truly want to support our troops. As an emotional Burcha told the Pentagon audience: The most important words, that we all run away from, was said to me as I stepped off the plane from Vietnam by a young specialist 5, Welcome home sir, I love you. That compassion, that love, is what has to drive us. News / Regional by Staff reporter VICTORIA FALLS - Council is planning to rename all its 86 roads to get rid of colonial names.Town clerk Christopher Dube said a committee has been set up to spearhead the renaming process to be concluded next month.Two major roads have already been renamed, although the local authority is still waiting for the green light from government before pulling down old sign posts and erecting new ones bearing the names of the country's 1970s liberation war guerilla fighters.Livingstone Way, which connects the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls road to the border post as well as Park Way, which branches from Livingstone Way in town to the Zambezi National Park, would be renamed Robert Mugabe Way and Joshua Nkomo Way respectively."A committee has been assigned to mobilise people to think about other possible names and submit to us," said Dube."We are not concentrating on colonial names, but will be renaming every street. Right now we have 86 streets that have no names and we need to be pro-active," he added.Some of notable names that will be changed are Emadonkini Road in Chinotimba's Railways section, which residents have said is offensive.Clark, Reynard and Pioneer Roads, named after some of the first settlers in Victoria Falls, are also set to be renamed.Dube said each name should be accompanied by a brief background of the person so that the council sends the information to a committee of elders' who will sit and decide on the names.Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association chairperson, Morgan Dube, told a residents' meeting recently that the name suggestions was a matter of urgency."We have been directed to work on renaming of streets and let us go and think about names of people who have made an impact in our community, who we can name our streets after. These could be liberation war heroes or individuals such as chiefs whose contribution is tangible," he said. Nearly two months after the battle of Gettysburg 24-year-old Isaac Dunsten of the 105th Pennsylvania Infantry lay on officers row at Camp Letterman, the large tent hospital established just east of the town. On July 2, 1863, the second day of the battle, a bullet had shattered the lieutenants right thigh. A splint was applied to the damaged limb, and for weeks a variety of tonics, stimulants and astringents were administered with little effect. Eventually Dunsten began to slip in and out of delirium, sleeping only after heavy doses of morphine were pumped into his system. At one point the tormented officer tore off all the bandages within his reach. By the evening of August 26, the end seemed imminent and the sacrament of Holy Communion was performed at Dunstens request. Following the solemn service, those gathered around the bedside watched intently as he remained perfectly still, apparently on the verge of death. About that time a glee club from Gettysburg paid a visit to the hospital. Without knowing what was transpiring inside, the carolers paused by Dunstens tent and belted out the opening lines of George Frederick Roots popular ballad: Yes, well rally round the flag, boys, well rally once again, Shouting the battlecry of freedom. Nurse Anna Holstein recalled the electrifying effect the song had on Dunsten: The words and music seemed to call back the spirit to earth, and forgetting his crushed limb and intense suffering, he sprang up, exclaiming: Yes, boys, we did rally round the flag; and you will rally oft again! then sank back exhausted, and soon was at rest. In an era dominated by real-time intelligence, stealth fighters and special operations forces, it is difficult for modern Americans to comprehend the deep reverence Dunsten and his comrades held for their battle flags. But as historian Robert Krick points out, soldiers on both sides died by the thousands around and for their flags during the Civil War. What powerful mystique did these banners hold that caused ordinary men to perform almost superhuman deeds? And why did men vie for the honor of carrying them when death or serious injury was often the result? For soldiers in both blue and gray, regimental flags or colors served as powerful visual icons of the ideals and values they fought to upholdgovernment, family, community and the concepts of duty, honor and courage. Veteran units proudly displayed their battle honors upon their flags, and the more tattered, bullet-torn and bloodstained they were, the more cherished they became. These swaths of fabric told a regiments history more forcefully than words ever could. Battle flags also served an important utilitarian function. The Civil War was the last major conflict fought with Napoleonic tactics, which dictated that soldiers stand nearly shoulder to shoulder in well-ordered lines to deliver a heavy volume of fire. After the exchange of a few volleys, a battlefield often became shrouded in a low-lying cloud of whitish smoke. Hoisted on wooden staffs at least 8 feet long, the large, brightly colored regimental banners were sometimes the only visible elements of the contending forces, thus allowing rear-echelon commanders to monitor the movement of troops from a safe distance. Flags were even more vital to frontline infantry officers and the men in the ranks. As a regiment advanced in line of battle, the color-bearer, positioned near the center of the formation, stepped off several paces ahead of the other troops. It was his duty to preserve the proper length and cadence of the march while orienting the line in the proper direction. In the deadly close-quarters combat that ensued, the sight of the flag floating above the chaos steeled the resolve of the men. If the line gave way, the men usually could be counted on to rally around the colors. Physical stamina and unflinching courage were requisite qualities of a good color-bearer. One former soldier described another vital attribute: I resolved my very best to be a leaderfor a good color-bearer must at times be that regardless of personal consequences. Remarkably the color-bearer did not carry a weapon. His protection, and that of his flag, were the sole responsibility of the color guard, which usually ranged in size from two to nine men. Like the bearer, these soldiers were chosen for their bravery and steadiness. If the color-sergeant was shot down, a member of his escort immediately picked up the standard. Since flags were the focal point of 19th-century combat, the casualty rate of the color party and the companies in the closest proximity to it was often extremely high. Because of a stand of colors vital function and its emotional appeal, losing one was considered a terrible disgrace. As a result, Civil War soldiers often resorted to drastic measures to save their flags from being seized, exposing themselves to great risk of death, injury or capture. At Gettysburg the men who advanced the colors found themselves embroiled in some of the fiercest fighting of the three-day conflict. Some of these incidents have become legendary, such as the story of Color-Sergeant Benjamin Crippen of the 143rd Pennsylvania defiantly shaking his fist at swarming Southern soldiers before falling dead in the folds of his flag. Many other dramatic incidents, however, have been relegated to obscurity. The following stories are drawn from four small-unit actions that occurred across different days and sectors of the battlefield. The 147th New York vs. the 55th North Carolina Early on the morning of July 1, 1863, the advance elements of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia collided outside Gettysburg. Both sides rushed reinforcements to the scene, and the fighting escalated. The Union I Corps defended the western approach to the town. Confederate troops from A.P. Hills and Richard Ewells corps converged upon the area from the west, north and northeast. As part of Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutlers brigade, the 147th New York was among the first Union infantry regiments to arrive. Near the McPherson farm, the 380 New Yorkers crossed the Chambersburg Pike and formed up near the bed of an unfinished railroad cut. Recruited in Oswego County the previous summer, The Plowboys of the 147th had yet to experience major combat. Soon after taking position, the 147th and two sister regiments engaged in a sharp fight with a Confederate brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Joseph Davis, a nephew of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The 55th North Carolina worked its way around the right flank of the Union line and poured in a murderous fire. To avert disaster, orders were sent forward directing the troops to fall back to a more secure position. The commander of the 147th was severely wounded before he could transmit the command to his men. As a result, the New Yorkers stood alone against three Confederate regiments. The fight was fierce and hot, recalled Lieutenant J. Volney Pierce, the boys were falling like autumn leaves; the air was full of lead. Finally, after a half-hour of this unequal contest, a courier rode into the maelstrom and delivered the retreat order. The men rose up and dashed eastward through the open fields and along the railroad cut. Color-Sergeant John Hinchcliff, whom a fellow soldier described as a Swede, six feet two, fair haired, blue eyed, offered a conspicuous target as he attempted to escape with the flag. He was struck by several bullets and killed instantly. Sergeant William Wybourn, known as a brave Irish lad, rushed back and pulled the blood-soaked standard from underneath Hinchcliffs lifeless body. Lieutenant Pierce narrated the remarkable conclusion of the incident: I climbed up the rocky face of the cut, on the south side, and made my way with many of our men across the meadow between the railroad cut and the Chambersburg Pike, crossed the pike into a small peach orchard, and I overtook the colors in the hands of Sergeant William A. Wyb[o]urn. Just as I joined him he received a shot, and fell on the colors as if dead. I tried to remove the colors, but he held to them with true Irish grit. I commanded him to let go, and to my surprise he answered, Hold on, I will be up in a minute, rolled over and staggered to his feet and carried them all through the fight, and was commissioned for his courage. Like the 147th New York, the 55th North Carolina marched to Gettysburg as an untried unit. Nonetheless its commander, Colonel John Kerr Connally, a former attorney and U.S. Naval Academy midshipman, had already earned a reputation for his impetuous behavior and fierce unit pride. A year earlier Connally had challenged a fellow officer to a duel over a disputed report that censured the conduct of his regiment. As Davis men confronted the 147th New York and other Union infantrymen in the ripening grain fields north of the pike, the Confederate battle line advanced steadily up the slope. Because of the undulating nature of the ground, the Tar Heels popped into view moments before the two Mississippi regiments advancing on their right, and thus drew the first infantry volley of the battle. Connally soon realized that his battle line extended far beyond the right flank of the Union position. To maximize this opportunity he ordered the 55th to execute a right wheel. This maneuver would allow his soldiers to fire directly down the length of the Union formation, thus exposing the Yankees to a deadly crossfire. Several color-bearers of the 55th were shot down during the movement. At this critical juncture, the regiments colonel seized the battle flag and rushed out several paces in front of his men. The rash move attracted the fire of the enemy, and Connally fell to the ground after sustaining wounds to his left arm and right hip. Major Alfred Belo rushed over to his superior and asked if he was badly wounded. Yes, but pay no attention to me! came the reply. Take the colors and keep ahead of the Mississippians. As his men rushed after the now-fleeing bluecoats, Connally was borne to the rear on a stretcher. The colonel would never again be well enough to resume command of his unit. After a successful postwar career as a lawyer and politician, Connally developed into an eloquent preacher in Asheville, N.C. In 1904 the United Confederate Veterans awarded him the Cross-of-Honor for his bravery at Gettysburg. The 13th Massachusetts vs. the 5th Alabama Later on July 1, during the sanguinary struggle for Oak Ridge north of the unfinished railroad bed, two beloved color-bearers fell within a hundred yards of each other. The 13th Massachusetts was organized in the Boston area during the summer of 1861 as patriotic fervor swept through the North. Roland Morris, a 22-year-old Nantucket native, was studying in Germany when the war broke out. He immediately rushed home and joined the 13th. Young, attractive and highly popular with his comrades, the former scholar was a natural choice for the position of color-sergeant. As the I Corps marched through Maryland en route to Gettysburg, Morris left the ranks without permission to visit some friends he had made there during the regiments early service. After he was discovered missing, Colonel Samuel Leonard punished him for the infraction by taking away his flag. On the morning of July 1, with tears in his eyes, the sergeant begged the colonel to return his colors. The wish was granted after Morris promised not to repeat his transgression. In a postwar reminiscence, Lieutenant William Kimball narrated the tragic ending of the story: The writer will ever remember how our beloved comrade, Color-Sergeant Morris, on the morning march from Marsh Creek was the life of the company, full of fun and making us all feel gay and happy with his jokes and high spirits.As we approached Gettysburg we could hear firing ahead of us.We reached an oak grove near the Mummasburg Road. Across the road was a barn occupied by some of the rebels who made us their mark; and it was here and from one of their sharpshooters that Morris received his mortal wound. I saw him when he was shot; he leaped into the air and fell to the ground, struggling and crying in agony. The rebel bullet passed through his breast apparently. I detailed two comrades to take him to the rear, and I never saw him again. In 1885 the veterans of the 13th Massachusetts erected a granite monument surmounted with a likeness of Morris upon the spot where he fell on that memorable July afternoon. The 5th Alabama was originally held in reserve but later joined in the attack on the Union forces occupying Oak Ridge. As the regiment rushed down the lane of the Moses McClean farm, it was subjected to volleys from the front and blasted by musketry and artillery fire from the left. Caught in a deadly crossfire, the men fell back after an action that lasted only about 15 minutes. In the short but spirited encounter, Company D lost one killed, five wounded and three captured. The lone mortality devastated the tightly knit Greensboro Guards. As the attack ground to a halt, the regimental color-bearer, Private George Tone Nutting, shouted Come on boys! to encourage his faltering comrades. Shot down almost immediately, he died on the field moments later. Corporal Samuel Pickens, who had left the field to assist a wounded comrade, received the sad news later in the day. He recorded in his diary that his friend and messmate died with the colors, and that a nobler, more generous boy never lived. He was a great favorite & will be much missed. A few days later a grief-stricken Lieutenant E.P. Jones wrote his sister: Our loss was not heavy compared to what the loss was in some other companies of the regiment; but still we feel deeply and mourn much the death of poor Tone. I know of no one in the company who would have been missed more and talked of as much as he, in fact, he was the life of the company, always in a good humor, full of fun and as brave as a lion. Every one in the company liked him, and feel that we have not only lost a brave soldier, but a friend whose place cannot be filled. The 1st Texas vs. the 99th Pennsylvania By the evening of the first day, the Union forces had been driven through the streets of Gettysburg. During the night and throughout the next day, the remainder of both armies streamed into the area. The new defensive line of the Army of the Potomac stretched from the wooded Culps Hill, just southeast of the town, around Cemetery Hill, down the spine of Cemetery Ridge and to the base of Little Round Top. Encouraged by his success on the previous day, General Robert E. Lee planned to dislodge the Union army from its strong position. He ordered Lt. Gen. James Longstreet to strike the Federals left flank with his veteran First Corps and roll it up with successive attacks spreading northward. But delays hampered Longstreet, and by the time he maneuvered his troops into position, Union Maj. Gen. Daniel Sickles had placed his two III Corps divisions directly in the path of the Confederate assault. The vital assignment of leading Longstreets attack on the Union left fell to the nearly 8,000 combat veterans of Maj. Gen. John Bell Hoods Division. About 4:30 p.m., following a sharp artillery exchange, Hood rode along his front line before halting near his old command, the Texas Brigade. The general stood majestically in his stirrups, and gesturing east toward Little Round Top, he shouted, Fix bayonets, my brave Texans; forward and take those heights! In response, Lt. Col. Phillip A. Work, commander of the 1st Texas, pointed to his units flag and urged his men to follow the Lone Star Flag to the top of the mountain! Early in its history the regiment received the nickname the Ragged First because of its shabby appearance and lack of discipline. Despite that less than flattering sobriquet, the regiment knew how to fight. As Colonel Work later asserted, The success of the Texas regiments was not due to the training of Hood or any other commander, but that they were composed of an intelligent, educated, adventurous and high-spirited people. Color-Sergeant George A. Branard of the 1st Texas certainly fit this description. Originally the fourth corporal of Company L, The Lone Star Rifles, and a member of the color-guard, Branard was promoted to color-sergeant on May 11, 1862, after bravely bearing the flag during the brigades first experience under fire at Elthams Landing along the York River. While Branard was home on furlough in December 1862, six Houston ladies presented him with a miniature First National pattern flag measuring 634 by 1312 inches with a single star in the canton. Against army regulations, the independent-minded Texan affixed the smaller flag to the staff of his Southern Cross standard, and it was carried this way throughout the rest of the war. Sergeant Branard and his flags would be in the thickest of the action at Gettysburg. After descending a gradual slope, the 426 men of the 1st Texas emerged at the base of a rock-strewn, triangular-shaped field. Looming ahead of the Texans on a narrow elevation known as Houcks Ridge stood four cannons supported by a line of blue infantrymen. At the southern end of this elevation lay a massive outcropping of huge boulders. The geological oddity known as Devils Den was aptly named considering its eerie appearance and the savage, chaotic nature of the fighting that erupted there. The 1st Texas charged up the slope only to be repulsed twice by Union counterattacks. One Texan described the seesaw battle as one of the wildest, fiercest struggles of the war. The timely arrival of Brig. Gen. Henry Old Rock Bennings brigade of Georgians tipped the scales in favor of the attackers by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Following behind the first wave, Benning threw his fresh troops into the heated contest. At first, confusion reigned as the various regiments became intermingled in the rough terrain. Some of the Georgia infantrymen mistakenly fired into the backs of the Texans. To halt the friendly fire, Branard stepped into the open and vigorously waved his flag. Afterward Branard and the color-bearer of the 15th Georgia engaged in a footrace for the summit. The Texan opened up a lead on his competitor and found himself well in advance of the main body. His gallantry apparently elicited the approval of the Union infantrymen on the ridge as some of them shouted, Dont shoot that color-bearerhe is too brave. When Union troops finally withdrew from the area, they left behind three guns from Captain James E. Smiths 4th New York Independent Battery. Sergeant Branard sought out the largest rock on the crest near the guns and planted the flag of the 1st Texas. His moment of triumph was short-lived. A nearby Union shell burst splintered a large portion of the flagstaff and hurled the hero unconscious down the slope of the mountain. After reviving a few moments later, the incensed color-bearer was determined to whip the whole Yankee nation by himself. Obviously Branard was in no condition to attempt such an ambitious task, and for now capturing Devils Den would have to suffice. Among the Union troops defending Devils Den were the members of the 99th Pennsylvania, who would later point with pride to the heroism of their own color-bearer, Harvey May Munsell. When the regiment was organized two years earlier, no one would have looked to the scrawny 18-year-old recruit for inspiration. His fellow soldiers admired his pluck, however. A native of New Yorks Steuben County, Munsell was managing a lumberyard for an uncle in Oil City, Pa., when the war broke out. His opposition to slavery drove him to enlist. Thwarted in his efforts to join a local company, the patriotic youngster traveled to Philadelphia to sign up with the 99th. Through hard work and perseverance, Munsell was promoted to corporal, then to sergeant. The honor of carrying the state colors was bestowed upon him in August 1862. At Fredericksburg, he rushed forward impetuously in the face of an enemy attack, an act that inspired his own unit and adjacent regiments to charge into the onrushing Southerners and push them back. His bravery at Chancellorsville earned him the Kearny Cross, a medal awarded to select III Corps soldiers for gallantry. As he watched the dark masses of enemy infantry heading toward Devils Den, Munsell studied the countenances of his companions, noting their ghostly appearance. The color-sergeant realized that all of them thought he was the only man in the regiment not frightened half out of his senses. However fearless he looked outwardly, Munsell later admitted, I mechanically prayed as I never prayed before or since. My heart was in my mouth. Frightened almost to death, and not a soul in the regiment knew it but myselfI would have sooner died two hundred thousand times than to continue in the terrible suspense when seconds seemed hours. When the fighting erupted, the soldiers of the 99th looked to Munsell and his flag as a guide. The sergeant inspired them to stand as firm as the rocks beneath their feet as he took his accustomed place at the front of the line. Munsells clothing was rent by 11 bullets, but he remained unharmed. The worst was yet to come. During the Union retreat from the area, the color-bearer navigated the first several hundred yards without incident. Suddenly shells whizzed past him. One struck near his feet, and the concussion sent him tumbling to the ground on top of his flag. Several nearby comrades thought he had been killed instantly by the blast. Munsell was merely playing possum, however. Later, when the coast was clear, he jumped up and skedaddled to the rear. Upon reaching his regiment, he quietly took his place in line and nonchalantly unfurled the standard. Such a shouting I have never heard before or since, recalled Munsell. Men who saw me fallcame up and looked at the flag, and felt of me to see if there wasnt some mistake or humbug about it The veteran soldier thought he had accomplished more during that one eventful afternoon than he previously had in his entire life. Major John W. Moore, commander of the 99th, agreed, writing that the sergeants courageous conduct was worthy of the most decided approval. Munsell would later receive the Medal of Honor for his efforts. The 28th Virginia vs. the 1st Minnesota Unable to break through the main enemy line during the fighting on July 2, Lee eventually opted for an all-out assault upon the Federal center on the third day. Following a massive artillery barrage to soften the enemy position, more than 12,000 infantrymen stepped out from behind Seminary Ridge and advanced briskly across a mile of open terrain to punch a gaping hole through the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. A low stone fence that originated near a copse of trees and ran northward to the Abraham Bryan farm offered some protection for the blue-coated defenders. Just north of the copse, the fence abruptly turned east for a short distance before resuming its northerly course, forming a sharp angle in the line. Major General George E. Picketts Division of Longstreets corps, about 6,000 strong, was a logical choice to spearhead the infantry attack, since it had been held in reserve following its arrival on the field on July 2. Picketts three fresh brigades formed up on the low ground near Spanglers Woods. At about 3 p.m., after a cannonade that lasted roughly two hours, the Southern infantrymen rose to their feet and marched briskly toward Cemetery Ridge. As the soldiers of Richard Garnetts Brigade closed in on the Nicholas Codori farm along the Emmitsburg Road, they entered the most lethal phase of the attack. One officer recalled that the storm of lead and iron seemed to fill the air, as in a sleet storm, and made one gasp for breath. He noticed that many of the men bent over in a half stoop as they marched up the slope. Garnett shouted above the tumultuous roar: Faster, men, faster! We are almost there! An instant later, he fell dead from his horse. Color-Sergeant John Eakin of the 28th Virginia received three wounds as he rushed toward the stone fence near the Angle. After a bullet struck him in the upper arm, he finally relinquished the flag to a comrade, who advanced only a few steps before being shot dead. Colonel Robert C. Allen, commander of the 28th, picked up the standard only to be knocked down with a mortal head wound near the fence. Somehow he handed off the flag to Lieutenant John A.J. Lee of Company C. After receiving the colors from the dying Colonel Allen, the 24-year-old farmer from sparsely populated Craig County, Va., earned the distinction of being the first man from Picketts Division to enter the Union lines. As the 28th Virginia forged ahead of the other regiments in Garnetts Brigade, the Union defenders in their front pulled back and re-formed a short distance to the rear. Lieutenant Lee sprang over the low stone fence and struggled forward until a shell knocked the flag out of his hands. After he fell with a slight wound, the dauntless officer retrieved the broken standard and attempted to break his sword to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. A Union soldier described as a big burly German commanded Lee to surrender, but a nearby comrade stabbed the would-be captor with his bayonet. Another Yankee soon stood over the Confederate officer. Lee must have been shocked by the bedraggled appearance of the man who placed the tip of his bayonet just inches from his chest, demanding, Throw down that flag, or Ill run you through. Although Confederate soldiers were habitually destitute, the grueling campaign also had been hard on their Union counterparts. Barefoot and wearing a torn and soiled frock coat and trousers, Private Marshall Sherman of the 1st Minnesota could not pass up the opportunity of depriving the Rebs of the stimulus of their colors. The ragged and blackened private received the wild applause of his comrades as he passed to the rear with the captured banner of the 28th Virginia and his prisoner. As Lee was being led away, Colonel Allen took his last breath. His final thoughts concerned the fate of his flagWhar was the colors? he asked. Actually, a portion of the 28th Virginias flag would continue to see service. During the close-quarters fighting the staff of the 1st Minnesotas flag had also been shattered. After the Southern attack had been repulsed, the Minnesota infantrymen used a splintered section from the Virginia flagstaff to repair their own. To one of the men this event fore-shadowed the time when Union and Confederate should unite in upholding the colors of the old Union forever. During the 50th anniversary celebration of the battle, a former member of the 28th Virginia was attempting to locate his quarters when he stumbled into the tent occupied by Captain Thomas Pressnell and several other veterans of the 1st Minnesota. After learning of the Confederates unit affiliation, Pressnell informed him that they had captured his regiments flag at Gettysburg and that it was now in St. Paul. They invited their former adversary to spend the night with them. Before departing the next morning, the Virginian remarked, Im sorry we lost that flag, but if we had to lose it, Im glad it was you fellows who got it. Michael Dreese is the author of Never Desert the Old Flag! 50 Stories of Union Battle Flags and Color-Bearers at Gettysburg and This Flag Never Goes Down! 40 Stories of Confederate Battle Flags and Color-Bearers at Gettysburg. For additional reading Richard A. Sauers Advance the Colors!, two volumes. This article was written by Michael Dreese and originally published in the July 2007 issue of Civil War Times Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to Civil War Times magazine today! At the beginning of The Personal Experience: Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam, a documentary created by writer-producer Richard Jellerson and producer-cinematographer Jamie Thompson, the film notes that the conflict was frequently referred to as the Helicopter War. Although the sobriquet did not necessarily mark the first time a war had been so closely associated with the technologies supporting it, the role played by Huey slicks and gunships grew in critical ways as the Vietnam War unfolded. Relied on at first primarily as evacuation vehicles, the medevac came of age in Vietnam. Helicopter units soon became hunter-killer teams or lift-and-assault units, crucial supplements to and protectors of the ground force. The Personal Experience, which debuted in June 2001, is a remarkable film, not only for its exhaustive historical and technological examination of helicopter warfare in Vietnam, but also for its thoughtful, far-reaching look at the conflicts personal and social contexts. The filmmakers methods are deceptively simple: Interviews with veteran helicopter pilots were combined with stock footage, as well as home movies taken by soldiers and a voice-over narration. What raises the film above its modest methods is the quality of those ingredients and the insightful ways in which they are assembled into a narrative arc. The participants are eloquent and, at times, breathtakingly candid. In one instance, Brig. Gen. Ezell Ware, who is an African American from the South, comments that it was almost as fearful to be in Mississippi as in combat in Vietnam. The home movies offer a rare personal view into life as a soldier, from induction into the military to homecoming, from leisure time at the officers club to stereo wars in the barracks, to the smoking monkey that became a unit mascot. That the film is both historically thorough and socially sensitive is no doubt due, at least in part, to the fact that Jellerson was himself a helicopter pilot who, as a W-1, then a W-2 warrant officer, flew two tours in Vietnam. In turn, the film has influenced Jellerson to pursue other Vietnam-related film projects, including a possible Personal Experience series, as well as the development of an archive for the home movies and other artifacts taken and saved by Vietnam veterans. Jellerson recently sat down with Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, who interviewed him for Vietnam Magazine in Los Angeles. Vietnam: Would you begin at the beginning where you grew up, school, going into the military, etc.? Jellerson: I grew up in Southern California, went to college at Pasadena City College and Cal State L.A. I was drafted. I went to live in Hawaii, but forgot to tell the draft board that I had left just slipped my mind [laughs]. I told them after I got my notice, but then they said, Okay, but now youre on Hawaiis draft situation, which gave me a year to go shopping to see which service would teach me to fly. The Army was the only one with just two years of college [required] at the time. I had a year of flight school and then was in Vietnam for a year, first tour, flew in combat. I extended for one tour. The second tour, I went back and flew General [Creighton W.] Abrams, the man who was in charge of the whole war. It was an amazing view, the yin and yang of the whole war right down in there with the troops the first time, and the second time talking to four-star generals and presidents. VN: What did you do after you got out? Jellerson: I went to law school, decided I didnt want to be a lawyer, went into advertising. Id always wanted to get back to my roots, which was writing. So I wrote a book on marketing, a lot of short stories and a screenplay. Then I did a documentary film on a gentleman named Valentin Berezhkov, who was Joseph Stalins wartime interpreter and was actually at the Yalta Conference, at Potsdam. He lived only 20 minutes from me, in Claremont. [As for] Jamie Thompson, whos my partner in Storyteller Films, he and I did this, but we couldnt find a market for it. So I was meeting with a film distributor that I knew we started talking, and he came up with the idea of doing a helicopter story. VN: Just as you went shopping for a branch of the military that would let you fly, most of the people in your film also commented, I just wanted to learn how to fly. Jellerson: That was interesting. I wrote the base line for this script before we interviewed anybody, thinking that once we got through the interviews, it would change dramatically. It didnt. We could have called it The Common Experience. It was amazing how many of us had felt exactly the same were not sure about that war, but we do know that were probably gonna end up going, and Ive always wanted to be a pilot [anyway]. It is the best way, far better than learning to fly in civilian life. Of course, theres the price. In civilian life, you just pay cash; with military, theres a higher price. But its a far better education for a pilot. VN: How so? Jellerson: Its more intense, theres more depth. Nothing is taken for granted. They actually teach you in military flying that, even though the odds are against an engine failure, youre to expect one at any time. During flight training, without telling you in advance, they would just turn the engine off. What are you going to do? Oh, you hadnt counted on this? Thats too bad, because now your engines dead. Statistically the engines almost never fail, but its that constant If theres anything to go wrong, its gonna happen now; what would you do? I dont think civilian pilots get that. I knew Id have to go once I got my notice, but I went to the Air Force and the Marines and the Navy to see if they would teach me to fly. They all required four years of college at that time. The strange thing is, because of the demands of that war, about three or four weeks after I got into the Army, the Marines and Navy dropped their requirements to two years, too, so I could have flown fixed-wing. VN: Were you disappointed that you were going to learn to fly helicopters? Jellerson: At the time but like a lot of things that happen in life, it was far better for me. Its much more difficult to fly helicopters, so if you learn to fly that first, flying fixed-wing later is very easy. VN: Tell me about your experience with flight school. Jellerson: Well, we were trained to be officers and pilots at the same time, so we were simultaneously taking flight training and officer training. But the officers we were designed to be were warrant officers, which is a very specific duty. Youre not in command of anything but a helicopter or a flight; you cant be in charge of anybody outside your aircraft, so your flight crew is your command. The warrant officers were created because they needed so many pilots over there that it was the best way to fill that need. VN: Where were you trained? Jellerson: At that time, basic flight school was at Fort Walters, Texas. Everything is done now at Fort Rucker, Ala. As a matter of fact, Fort Rucker trains helicopter pilots from all corners of the world.I think our Navy has the only helicopter pilots in the military, anywhere, that arent trained at Fort Rucker. VN: Tell me about your Vietnam experience. Jellerson: I flew in the 116th Assault Helicopter Company at Cu Chi in 1969. Cu Chi, about 20 flying minutes north of Saigon, was in the III Corps. Combined with the IV Corps, these two areas consisted of roughly the southern half of South Vietnam. We were what they call a lift and assault helicopter company. The Hornets the 116th flew Bell D and H model Hueys as slicks or troop carriers. We had the slightly smaller B and C model Hueys as gunships. As the flight of four to nine slicks would begin their combat insertion, carrying six or so infantry each, a solo D-model flew in, laying down a layer of smoke against the tree line to hide the landing. This was the Smokie. The four- to nine-ship flight of slicks, plus two to three gunships flying cover and Smokie, worked together every day inserting and extracting troops. We were what they referred to as a bastard outfit. We didnt have higher-ups, so we would fly every mission that came down the pike. One day wed be flying for the 1st Cav, cause their ships were down, the next day wed be flying for the Navy, picking up some of their people. Wed fly a lot of single-ship missions. We flew long-range patrols out into the middle of the bush, in the middle of the night. We flew Cambodian mercenaries, 12-year-old kids and 80-year-old men with some of the oldest rifles Ive ever seen and sticks! No matter what the mission was, we would fly it. Most units over there flew the same group every day; we were just constantly doing something new. And it was pretty nasty; I dont remember but maybe two days in a row when we didnt take fire. We lost a lot of people, a lot of ships. The next time I came back, like I said, I was General Abrams pilot. He lived in downtown Saigon, so did I. It was very nice, actually. I met all the heads of state, the vice president. I flew everybody who came into the country except Nixon and Bob Hope. VN: These sound like two wildly different experiences. Jellerson: Ill tell you, I think all the militaries on the planet count on this: Once you get into the situation of being in combat, the politics go away and it becomes personal. The first time you see a friend of yours shot or they start shooting at you, it is no longer a political war. You lose sight of whats going on and why youre doing certain things. Like you fly guys into an area, and they would secure that area. Wed go pick em up, take em back, give it back to the enemy, and go in to get it back three days later, a week later. Those things made no sense. But keep in mind, I had my 20th birthday during my first tour. [At that age] you dont go into depth that much. But the second tour, while I was flying Abrams many of the missions I flew were just picking him up at his headquarters and flying him to the roof of the embassy in downtown Saigon. VN: What do you remember most about being General Abrams pilot? Jellerson: He would go down and see Ambassador [Ellsworth] Bunker to get his orders from the United States. And every time, without fail, he came back up and would strap in, fasten his seat belt, hook up his intercom and tell me where he wanted to go. And his next comment, every time, was, The blankety-blank politicians got my hands tied. Without fail, every time he got in the ship. At that point, Im a little older, been around, had a chance to go back home, see whats going on, came back, and Im privy to this. And Im thinking: You know what? I was right the first time; they arent trying to win this war. Heres proof. The man in charge of the war is not allowed to fight it. So that bothered me a lot. VN: What helicopters did you fly? Jellerson: I was trained on, and then flew in Vietnam, the UH-1 Huey, the workhorse of that war. When you see pictures of Vietnam, normally what youre looking at is the Huey. Theyre in every war movie about that era, and theyre still common today over L.A. Its the noisy one; its the one that really, really hacks into the air and makes that whomp noise. It was an amazing machine. We had 18-, 19-year-old kids that kept them together, working all night on them. It was like a truck; it was easy to fix and could take any amount of punishment. Some of them came back with so many holes, you just wouldnt believe theyd ever fly again [laughs]. As a matter of fact, some of them didnt fly again but they did land, and the crew walked away. Holes everywhere, in the rotor blades, just amazing how much damage they could take. Hueys, the first ones, were a little underpowered, which made you really have to learn how to fly, cause if you were hauling American troops, they would have 40 or 50 pounds on their backs, and they each weighed 180 to 200 pounds and the temperatures were very hot, very humid which are two factors that make an aircraft very difficult to fly. So you really had to get some finesse in order to keep those things going; it was quite an education to figure out how to fly them. VN: Your film really integrates historical and technical material into a social and personal context. In a very steady narrative, too you went from getting into the military to homecoming. Tell me about writing it. Jellerson: I think for a writing assignment, this was probably one of the easiest and toughest at the same time. Even the History Channel at one time said, Maybe youre too close to this. And maybe I was. But [they] did feel that the best way to start it was to write my experience. We interviewed some heroes, a couple of Medal of Honor winners, but basically I always felt that the story was the boy next door who grew up watching Vietnam on television and realizing hed have to go, wanting to learn how to fly. You saw five or six guys in the film, but we interviewed about 35 or 40. The story was so consistent, it was amazing. The only separation was between the guys who were kids coming in and the elders who were already seasoned Army aviators who broke us in. It was very much a father-son type of relationship. Its like a guild, where the elder passes down his craft, if you will not just flying, but flying in combat. VN: How did you find your subjects? Jellerson: That was interesting. A friend of mine joined me up, paid my dues, in an organization called the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association. Im not a joiner, but he said, Dont worry, this will be important to you someday. And sure enough, when this film opportunity came up, I put an ad in the newsletter and a lot of people contacted me. I also called Fort Rucker, and they were having [an annual reunion of the] W-4s the most senior warrant officers, many of them retired. I figured that would be the time to go back and talk to the cadre, the older guys who taught us how to fly. That turned out to be really excellent.We went through California and then through Washington state, because the Washington National Guard was doing some exercises up there with the ROTC. We thought since several of the pilots in the Guard were Vietnam vets that would be a way to secure some of their stories. VN: Can you tell me more about the found footage and the archival footage? Jellerson: At that time we only had about seven hours of the Super-8 film. Butit was the first and last war where, legally, a soldier could take pictures and everybody had cameras. We are continuing to collect film [from veterans]; we will archive it and I think there are productions down the road where we might represent it for the vets who send it in. I have a coffee can on my desk with nine rolls of Super-8 footage taken in Vietnam. It has been in that coffee can for the last 10-25 years. The guy [who made the film] just sent it in and said, Yeah, take good care of it. Almost nobody has a Super-8 projector anymore, and the film, of course, doesnt last that long.So were going to try and collect as much of it as we can also stills, artifacts, souvenirs, anything people are tired of hanging onto. VN: What did you find among those home movies? Jellerson: I had one amazing piece of footage where a helicopter pilot is coming in on final to a combat zone. The rule in everybodys unit was that during final approach, both pilots had their hands on the controls in case one got hit. Its time for him to put his hands on the controls, so he puts the camera down. The triggers stuck. What its showing now is the grunts in the back seat, getting ready to jump off the ship upside down. Anyway, it lands, the camera jiggles a little bit, these guys jump off the ship, upside down, and the helicopter takes off. And, I guess, at 500, 600 or 700 feet, he reaches down and picks up the camera its been on the whole time. We couldnt use that, but theres some amazing footage, and some thats pretty graphic that we couldnt use at all, even though we didnt want to shy away from that. But there are some horrible pictures. VN: Its not rare for a Vietnam documentary to address political issues. It is rare for a Vietnam documentary to address economic issues. That was a really interesting aspect of the film, the economic motivations behind the war. Can you speak to that a little? Jellerson: One of the interviews in the film did that really, really well. [He talks] about Lady Bird Johnson owning stock in Bell while her husbands running a war thats sending Bell helicopters into action, and they were constantly getting blown up. That was part of what we felt was an unhealthy alliance. VN: How often do you fly now? Jellerson: Last year I did a lot of flying because of the film, and that was the first time Id been in a helicopter in quite a long time. Fixed-wing I flew up until about four or five years ago, and then, when I decided to become a filmmaker, I had no discretionary income to rent airplanes. Now that Im hanging around with a bunch of guys who never gave up flying, its real easy. I still feel so at home in helicopters. VN: Whats next? Jellerson: Well, we are currently talking to the National Guard about doing their entire history. We flew with the Guard last year, and Jamie, who is Australian, kept asking, Who are these guys? And I couldnt tell him. They have a history going back all the way to 1636, they are so thoroughly entwined with the growth of this country. We are also presenting several different broadcast outlets with a series called The Personal Experience, but on other missions the long-range patrol mission, what the grunts did, what the medics did, what the Red Cross did, all of that. But we would do it in the same way, get past the faade of what a lot of media people go after, to tell a more salient story of what really took place over there. VN: Do you think that this film is so different because its made by someone who lived it? Jellerson: I think to a degree, but I have to say that it also has a great deal to do with Jamies sensibilities. He absolutely refused to do this like everybody else, and he stuck to his guns and made me pay attention. Ive had a lot of compliments about the film from people who havent talked to their families about [their Vietnam experience], and it touched them somehow or allowed them to talk to them. Maybe its because its 30 years later, but there was a dynamic that took place during the film process I think guys are starting to finally see that we can talk about it, that its okay to talk about it. One of the gentlemen we interviewed said, You know, I dont even care if you use this, it just felt good to talk about it. Oddly enough, his brother had been a grunt in Vietnam and this is still startling to me he said, My brother and I only started talking about this war two years ago and they were both there at the same time. I had one very touching e-mail from a guy who never even knew his dad. He said he just wanted to thank me for letting him understand what the last few months [of his dads life] were probably like. The things that have been happening because of the film, the way people have responded to it and said thank you for telling the story as it really happened maybe that was because, yeah, I was there, so nobody could snow me on what it was like, and also because of Jamies conviction that it had to be done better and different. At one point he said, You know, what we need to do is to get out of the way of this story, let the story tell itself. Its such a powerful story. We did ask them, What was it like to go in? Why did you go in? What was it like coming back? And what they said was amazing. This article was written by Hazel-Dawn Dumpert and originally published in the August 2002 issue of Vietnam Magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Vietnam Magazine today! In 1869, John Wesley Powell defied the myth of the Colorado Rivers invincibility and led the first expedition to navigate through the Grand Canyon. by Carolyn J. Hursch On my return from the first exploration of the canyons of Colorado, wrote John Wesley Powell in a memoir published in 1895, I found that our journey had been the theme of much newspaper writing. A story of disaster had been circulated, with many particulars of hardship and tragedy, so that it was currently believed throughout the United States that all the members of the party were lost save one. A good friend of mine had gathered a great number of obituary notices, and it was interesting and rather flattering to me to discover the high esteem in which I had been held . . . . The notion that Powell and his party had met an unfortunate end during their 1869 expedition did not strain the imagination. They had, after all, undertaken what is now considered one of Americas great adventure stories. The mighty Colorado Rivers course had, until then, been a mystery even to Native Americans of the region, a blank space on the best maps available. Powells expeditions in 1869 and 1871-72 revealed the Colorados secrets, as well as some of the most remarkable terrainincluding the magnificent Grand Canyonto be found anywhere on earth. Wes, as he was known, was born on March 24, 1834, at Mount Morris, New York, to Joseph and Mary Dean Powell. The family traveled west, living first in Ohio and then in Wisconsin. Joseph, a tailor and lay preacher, intended that his son follow in the footsteps of his namesake, John Wesley, the Methodist minister. But while his father was off saving souls on the frontier, Wess imagination was fired more by a neighbor versed in geology and natural history than by Josephs religious tracts. At age 16, Wes rejected his fathers offer to educate him in the ministry, choosing instead to attend a school in Janesville, Wisconsin, twenty miles from home. He supplemented the schools disappointing curriculum with books on geometry, history, and geology, which he borrowed from a friend in the town. When Reverend Powell sold the Wisconsin farm in 1851 and purchased 320 acres in Illinois, he ordered his son home to help break the new sod. Wes reluctantly complied, but a year later, he packed his clothes and books and left for Jefferson, Wisconsin, to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. In addition to instructing his students in the basic subjects, Wes led them on field trips to collect specimens and explain to them the geology of the area. Finally, at the age of 21, Powell was able to pursue his education by enrolling in Illinois College at Jacksonville. Before beginning his studies, however, he ventured out on his first exploring expedition. In a small skiff, he rowed up the Mississippi River to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he sold the boat and set off on foot through the forests of Wisconsin and Michigan. His travels ended in Detroit, where he stopped to visit his mothers brother, Joseph Dean, and his family. Introduced to his 18-year-old cousin Emma, Wes soon found himself in love. In 1858, Reverend Powell, accepting that his son was adamant in his refusal to study for the ministry, gave Wes the money to attend Oberlin College for a year. A teaching post in Hennepin, Illinois, followed, with Wes using the summer months to explore the Illinois and Des Moines rivers. When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Powell joined the Union forces as a private, rising to lieutenant within one month, and then became a captain when he recruited a company of artillery. He married Emma in March 1862, and a few days later moved with his company into some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. At the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee, a bullet ripped through Wess right arm, which had to be amputated below the elbow. But the Army needed every man, and Powell was soon reactivated, with special orders from General Ulysses S. Grant for Emma to accompany him. She was never far away when the newly promoted Major Powell returned to duty. On January 4, 1865, with a Union victory imminent and the pain from his wound constant, Wes requested and received an immediate disability discharge. Taking a job at Illinois Wesleyan University, a Methodist college in Bloomington, Powell lectured on botany, cellular histology, physiology, zoology, geology, and mineralogy. A year later, he became professor of geology at the Illinois State Normal University in Normal. In 1866, while secretary of the Illinois Natural History Society, Powell approached the state legislature for money to house and care for the societys collections. His skills as an orator and his aptitude as a negotiator gained for the Society $2,500 earmarked for the salary of a commissioner and curator and for buying needed books and equipment. In appreciation for his efforts, the Society named Powell curator. Turning his oratorical skills onto the Society itself, Powell requested $500 to fund the exploration of the mountain-park country of Colorado. The journey, he told the Society, would provide its museum with fabulous natural specimens that would add significantly to its collections. The Society voted unanimously to underwrite Powells trip with half of the money that the legislature had allocated for books and equipment. With this backing, Powell traveled to Washington, D.C., where he asked the assistance of his friend and old commanding officer, General Grant, then temporarily acting as secretary of war. Grant signed an order allowing Powells expedition to purchase rations at cost. Heading next to the Smithsonian Institution, Powell convinced its secretary, Dr. Joseph Henry, to provide all the scientific instruments needed for the undertaking in exchange for topographic measurements of the western mountain region. Emboldened by his powers of persuasion, Powell visited several railroad companies, suggesting that they trade good publicity for free transportation for the men in his party. By the time he got back to Normal, Wes had passes worth $1,700, together with the understanding that his equipment and specimens would be shipped free of charge. He also had convinced the Illinois Industrial University (later the University of Illinois) and the Chicago Academy of Sciences to contribute money for scientific instruments in return for specimens collected along the way. Accompanied by a band of amateur scientists, Powell finally set out in June 1867 to explore the mountains of Colorado. His Army career may have cost him an arm, but it also taught him how to handle men. Despite standing only five and a half feet tall, he possessed a presence that enabled him to lead men over the forbidding terrain. Emma, who again accompanied her husband, kept notes of the expedition, helped collect and catalog specimens, and became an expert on alpine plants. Mrs. Powell and the rest of the party of flatlanders soon became familiar with the hazards of mountain climbing. In July 1867, she shared the partys triumph when she became the first woman to climb Pikes Peak. The views that rewarded the groups perseverance in reaching the 14,110-foot summit were more wonderful than had been imagined, with peak after glowing peak piercing the bluest of skies as far as the eye could see. After this adventure, a grander scheme began to take shape in Powells mind; he would conquer the mile-deep Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. He was undeterred by the Native American belief that the gods had purposely made the river impassable and that harm would befall anyone who tried to enter the canyon. Once again Powell traveled to Washington, D.C., to secure financial assistance. Although unable to acquire as much money or as many supplies as he had for his first expedition, he did persuade the railroad and express companies once again to issue passes and to transport the equipment and supplies free of charge. Powells companions on the trip would be his brother, Walter; J. C. Sumner, an experienced traveler and hunter in the wilds of the Mississippi Valley and the Rocky Mountains; O. G. Howland, a printer, editor, and hunter; his brother, Seneca Howland; Billy Hawkins, an ex-Union soldier who traveled west after the war and who served as the expeditions cook; William Dunn, a hunter, trapper, and mule-packer in Colorado; an Englishman by the name of Frank Goodman, who had come west seeking adventure and who was a skilled boat handler; Andrew Hall, a husky, cheerful 19-year-old, already experienced in hunting, trapping, and fighting Indians; and G. Y. Bradley, a Union lieutenant during the Civil War and until recently an orderly sergeant in the regular army. Three of the groups four boatsthe Maid of the Canyon, Kitty Clydes Sister, and the No Namemeasured 21 feet in length, were built of oak, and were strengthened by bulkheads that divided each into three compartments, one of which was watertight. The fourth boat, the Emma Dean, a 16-foot, pine pilot boat, was lightweight, built for fast rowing, and also was divided into compartments. The craft carried rations to last for ten months; tools; nails and screws; two sextants; four chronometers; an assortment of barometers, thermometers, and compasses; ample supplies of clothing; and several guns and large quantities of ammunition. Powell and his party planned to travel first down the Green River to where it meets the Colorado, then proceed down that great river to the Grand Canyon. When several months of preparation for this next adventure were completed, he and his companions took to the waterwith Powell in the Emma Deanat Green River Station, Wyoming Territory, on May 24, 1869. No one knew how long it would be before they reached their destination in Arizona; the rivers curves and twists made it impossible to estimate the length of the journey they were undertaking. On June 9, at a canyon they named Lodore, Powell spotted rough water ahead and, intending to look for a way to set up lines and portage around the rapids, pulled his boat ashore. He signaled for the others to do the same, but the crew of the No Name failed to understand the signal and continued on ahead. Powell leaped onto a rock and gestured frantically for the men to pull the boat to shore. But it was too late. The little boat was already caught in the current. The Howland brothers and Goodman pulled furiously at the oars and the rear sweep that guided the boat, but to no avail. The boat hung briefly at the head of the rapids before being swept in. Making it through the first falls, it roared on, then struck a boulder and heaved up at one end, tossing three men into the raging current. When the boat jammed against a rock, the men grabbed the gunwale and managed to climb back on board. But the current again caught the boat and tossed it down to the next series of rapids. Only the watertight compartment kept the small craft afloat. Roaring down the next set of falls, No Name slammed broadside into the rocks and broke in two. Meanwhile, Powell and the others, watching in horror as their three comrades disappeared into the foam, scrambled down around the bend. To their relief, they saw O. G. Howland, who had made it to a sandy bar, extending a pole to Goodman, who clung to a rock near the shore. Finally able to grab on, Goodman was hauled from the water. Farther downstream, Seneca Howland, although battered by his experience, had also managed to pull himself to safety. Lost, along with the boat, were the mens clothes, guns, and belongings, as well as a large store of provisions and, most distressing of all, the barometers, which foolishly had all been stored together. Without these instruments, it would be impossible to determine the altitude of the mountains through which the party would pass. Determined to recover the lost barometers, Powell set off the next day to search for the wreck, which he found only fifty or sixty feet from their camp. Sumner and Dunn volunteered to retrieve the instruments and whatever was left of the provisions. The watertight compartment had been smashed, but the men were able to bring back the barometers, a package of thermometers, and a three-gallon keg of whiskey that had been taken aboard without Powells knowledge. That night the bruised and tired explorers made good use of the keg. It took days to portage past these rapids. The craggy shore offered no good place to camp, nor protection from the rivers constant spray. In addition to being tired and wet, the men had to endure clothing full of sand carried by the spray and food that had begun to spoil. About a week after the loss of the No Name, another accident occurred that nearly finished the expedition. While portaging around another set of rapids, the Maid of the Canyon broke free of the ropes and went hurtling out of sight into the mist. The loss of this boat would mean that the two remaining would be overloaded, and the party could not survive the loss of this second boatload of provisions. Luck was with them, however. The men, gripped with despair as they raced down the shore, soon were shouting triumphantly at the sight of the boat whirling upright and unharmed in an eddy. They snagged her in and continued on, emerging finally in a park-like area where the Yampa River flows into the Green. There they camped on a grassy spot to take stock and to rest after their ordeal. Hawkins killed a buck, which provided the men with the first fresh meat they had eaten since the start of their journey. On June 28, Powell and his party reached the mouth of the Uinta River, in Utah. From here, they were able at last to communicate with the outside world. Frank Powell and Andy Hall went to the Uinta Agency, thirty miles away, to dispatch letters from the men and to collect any mail that had arrived there for them. Goodman, the adventure-seeking Englishman, announced that he has seen danger enough and was leaving the party. When Powell and Hall returned, the rest of the expedition moved on, up barrier canyons, over unexpected rapids, and down rushing waterways, assigning names to each feature as they passed it. Each of the names they chose told a storythe Canyon of Desolation, Dirty Devil River, Sumners Amphitheater, Gray Canyon, Stillwater Canyon, Whirlpool Canyon, and Bright Angel Creekand many remain on maps to this day. Always, Major Powell stood on the prow of the Emma Dean, trying to peer around the corners of blind canyons. At every stop, he investigated the geological formations and collected shells to ship back to his mentors. On one occasion, the one-armed explorer climbed a cliff to peer downriver. Near the top, he suddenly found that he could proceed neither up nor down. I find, he wrote, I can get up no farther and cannot step back, for I dare not let go with my hand and cannot reach foothold below without. Having found a way to climb to a flat rock above Powell, Bradley could see the majors toeholds weakening. With no time to run back to the boats for a rope and no stick or tree limb to pass down to Powell, Bradley took off his trousers and lowered them toward the man marooned on the cliff below. Powell could just barely reach the trouser leg as it brushed his hand: I hug close to the rock, let go with my hand, seize the dangling legs, and with [Bradleys] assistance am enabled to gain the top. While all this was going on, the nations newspapers anxiously awaited news of the expedition. As the weeks passed without word of its progress, stories began to surface about the fate of the explorers. On July 2, the Omaha Republican reported that a disaster had befallen the Powell party. A trapper, the paper said, claimed that, while at Fort Bridger, he met Sumner, who told him that he had watched helplessly from the shore as all four boats went over a 12-foot-high waterfall and were destroyed in the rapids below. The story swept eastward and soon appeared in the Chicago Tribune and other Illinois newspapers. A man named John A. Risdon claimed to be the only survivor of the Powell expedition. He recounted the disaster of May 8, when the expedition had been lost, and his own desperate struggle to find his way out to civilization. This brought a letter to the Detroit Free Press from Emma Powell accusing Risdon of being a liar. No such person had been with her husbands party, she stated. Moreover, she had received letters from her husband dated May 22, two days before the departure from Green River. Despite her refutation, the story flourished in midwestern and eastern newspapers. Risdon was feted and given free accommodations in return for his tearful rendition of the demise of his comrades. Then the Rocky Mountain News ran two letters, both written in June, from its former editorial employee, O. G. Howland. Finally, the Chicago Tribune printed a letter from Major Powell himself, in which he recounted how the party had come down the Green River, passed through all the canyons previously considered impassable, and camped in the Uinta Valley of Utah. Newspapers all over the country eagerly printed the good news. Although the expedition had traveled that far safely, much danger still lay ahead. As they made their way down the Colorado, Powell, from his vantage point on the Emma Deans prow, would peer ahead, wary of the sound of water rushing over a falls. Whenever he sensed danger, Powell would call to his oarsmen to pull the pilot boat over and would motion the others to do the same. Once ashore, he would climb a cliff to evaluate the degree of difficulty they would face. If the falls seemed impassable, the men would lower each boat down with ropes tied fore and aft. As laborious as this task was, it was considerably safer than letting the boats careen over the rocky falls to become caught in the current below. For the majority of the men, only the occasional exhilaration of running the rapids relieved the monotony of endless days on the river. But to Powell, every moment was exhilarating. His diary describes in poetic detail, the colors of the rocks, the magnificence of the cliffs, and the majesty of the waterway itself. By July 18, the men rested before undertaking the most harrowing part of the journey. The glassy granite canyon walls would soon squeeze ever closer to the turbulent river. In some areas, cliffs overhung the water, threatening to decapitate a man if his boat slid under the jagged rock. And, from here on, maps were useless; mapmakers had merely guessed at the points where rivers poured into the canyons. The boats left the Green River on July 21, and headed down the Colorado. As they navigated the wide, deep, cocoa-colored river, they passed canyon walls that reached almost 1,500 feet in height. The rapids they had encountered so far, though they seemed fearsome at the time, were trifling by comparison. Portaging too was more dangerous; often there were no footholds, no way to line the boats down. Boats had to be unloaded and carried through boulders and talus in 120o temperatures on some days, chilling rains on others. But with each passing day, the scenery became more and more magnificent: Powell noted in his diary for August 9 that The walls of the canyon. . . are of marble, of many beautiful colors, often polished by the waves, and sometimes far up the sides, where showers have washed the sands over the cliffs. . . . A moving entry in his diary on August 13 recorded that We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, chafe each other as they are tossed by the fretful river . . . . We have but a months rations remaining. The flour has been resifted through the mosquito-net sieve; the spoiled bacon has been dried and the worst of it boiled . . . . We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we known not. Ah, well! we may conjecture many things. Two weeks later, mutiny threatened as the bone-weary men faced mile-high cliffs, short rations, and rushing water. Powell wrote in his diary that Captain Howland sought to remonstrate against my determination to proceed. He thinks that we had better abandon the river here. . . . [H]e, his brother, and William Dunn have determined to go no farther in the boats. Powell spent the night thinking, recalculating the distance ahead, the amount of rations remaining, and the chances of getting through the desert if they did succeed in climbing out of the canyon. Desperately wanting to continue the expedition, he woke the others one by one to ask if they would stay or go. His brother Walter agreed to stay, as did Billy Hawkins, Andy Hall, Sumner, and Bradley. At breakfast, knowing there were some who would stay, he put the choice to the whole group. O. G. Howland and Dunn were adamant in wanting to leave. Seneca Howland tried to persuade them to stay, but finally agreed to go out with them. The party named the point of the trios departure Separation Rapid. Powell gave them guns and offered them part of the miserable rations, which they refused. With a solemn parting, the group broke in two, never to see each other again. Before moving on, Powell decided to leave the Emma Dean behind. The boat had taken such a beating in the rapids that it was no longer watertight. Besides, there were now fewer men to handle the oars and few supplies left to be carried. The trip at this point was no longer the scientific expedition Powell had intended. All of the instruments had been lost or broken, or had been left behind with the fossils and minerals they had collected. Yet, if they succeeded in making it through the granite-walled rush of water, they would have accomplished something no others had. So down they went, fighting the rapids, sleeping at night in wet clothing on ledges so narrow that to roll over might mean plunging into the thundering river below. Finally, on August 29, some 13 weeks and 900 miles from the start of their journey, they drifted out from between the Grand Wash cliffs of the Grand Canyon to rolling, mountainous country. Elated, Powell wrote: The river rolls by us in silent majesty; the quiet of the camp is sweet; our joy is almost ecstasy. We sit till long after midnight talking of the Grand Canyon, talking of home . . . . Two days later, the bedraggled, starving group came to a wide spot in the river. There they saw three white menMr. Asa and his two sonsand an Indian hauling a seine. The white men were Mormons sent to the river by Brigham Young to look for debris that could have come from the Powell party, now reported as having been lost weeks ago. The Indian was immediately dispatched to the Mormon town of St. Thomas to fetch any letters that might be waiting for members of the expedition. The news of the partys survival brought a wagon filled with foodbread, butter, cheese, melonsfor the explorers. And the telegraph wires hummed with the news that the party was not only safe, but had indeed conquered the Colorado River. The intrepid group soon disbanded. Sumner, Bradley, Hawkins, and Hall continued down the Colorado in the boats. Their aim was to travel to Fort Mojave, and then possibly continue overland from there to Los Angeles. Major Powell and his brother headed for St. Thomas, on their way to Salt Lake City. They inquired repeatedly about the three who had left the group at Separation Rapid. When the news finally came, it was not good. The Howland brothers and Dunn had made it up out of the canyon to the top of the plateau, but no farther. A party of Shivwit Indians, mistaking them for another group of white men who had murdered one of their women, killed all three. When Powell reached Salt Lake City in September, newspaper reporters were there to greet him and hear his account of the fantastic adventure. Back in Normal, a heros welcome awaited him. A flurry of lecture invitations and receptions engulfed Powell for a while, but then he began making plans for a second trip down the Colorado River. Much of the data of the early part of the 1869 trip had been lost along the way, and during the latter part, the party had been more concerned with survival than with science. Powell knew that in order to accomplish his original purpose, he must undertake the trip again. This time, he would be fortified by knowledge instead of folklore; knew that he could not carry provisions for the entire trip, but instead should store caches of goods at points along the way; and planned to devote two or three years to the expedition. Interaction with the Native Americans in the West was precarious in those years, and Powell wanted to make sure that he would enjoy good relationships with any whom he encountered. To this end, he visited Indian camps, learning their languages and their lore. In May 1871financed by a small congressional appropriationthe second Powell expedition rolled down the river toward the Grand Canyon. Wanting to be more comfortable this time, Powell acquired a sturdy armchair and had it tied to the middle bulkhead of the pilot boat. From this perch, he could watch the river ahead. In addition to a brand new crew, Powell was accompanied by a photographer and an artist. This genuine scientific expedition would fill in the blanks left in the records of the previous trip. When the journey, which was much less nerve-wracking than the first, was completed to his satisfaction, Powell went to Washington and fought for a single agency to sponsor the scattered explorations of the West that had been going on for some time. He brought earlier studies of Americas indigenous people together; started a systematic study of Indian life; and published a series of pamphlets on their vocabularies, mortuary customs, sign language, medical practices, tribal governments, and mythology. His interest in the American Indian and his records of their ceremonies, culture, and folklore contributed toward the establishment in 1879 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, with Powell as its first director. He also helped to found the United States Geographical and Geological Survey, serving as its director from 1881 to 1894. By his death in 1902 at the age of 68, Powell had become a leading authority on the American Westa distinguished geologist, scientist, and ethnologist, as well as the man who directed the path of development of the immense semiarid area of the country. But with all his achievements, he is still primarily remembered as an adventurer who explored and conquered the last unknown region within the continental United States. Dr. Carolyn J. Hursch, now deceased, taught psychology at the Universities of Colorado, Vermont, and Florida, and with her husband, wrote a number of books about computers. This article originally appeared in the July/August 1996 issue of American History Sacagawea, the 19-year-old Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied Merriwether Lewis and William Clark on the first American expedition across the Continental Divide to the Pacific Coast, might be the most famous American Indian woman of all time. Well, either her or Pocahontas. Its too close to say. You may as well flip a coin, preferably a Sacagawea dollar. Maybe thats your answer right there. Pocahontas has never appeared on any currency. And neither has Marie Dorion. Marie who? you ask? Her name is hardly known today, but just six years after Sacagawea made her trek, a 21-year-old Iowa Indian woman named Marie Dorion went with the expedition that made the second such crossing to the same destinationthe mouth of the Columbia River. The stories of Sacagaweas trials, courage and endurance during her 1805-06 journey are well known. But Marie Dorions nearly forgotten trials were even more difficult. Marie Dorion was the only woman on the 1811-12 overland expedition financed by John Jacob Astor, to establish a fur trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. That second American crossing of the continent was the result of Astors competition with the British Hudsons Bay Company. Astor, after having made a fortune on the fur resources about the Great Lakes, planned to establish a trading post on the coast of Oregon, to control the fur trade with the Orient. It was Astors plan to trade Western furs in the Orient, receiving cargoes to exchange in England for manufactured goods needed in America. The overland expedition was to identify locations where fur trading posts could be established that also would serve as way stations to expedite communications between Astors Eastern headquarters and the Western trading posts, a forerunner of the pony express. The overland expedition was only half of Astors detailed plan. The other half was to send the ship Tonquin around Cape Horn, carrying the people and merchandise for the trading post. Tonquin, a strong ship of 290 tons, with 10 guns and a crew of 20 men, was captained by Jonathan Thorn, a navy lieutenant on leave of absence. Tonquin sailed from New York Harbor on September 8,1810 and arrived at the mouth of the Columbia River seven months later, after passage around Cape Horn and a stopover in the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii). By that time, Thorn, who was a strict disciplinarian, was thoroughly disliked by the entire crew. Feelings for him did not improve after he lost eight seamen when he insisted on trying to cross the sand bar at low tide. The site selected for the trading post, Astoria, was on Point George on the southern shore of the Columbia. It was not far from the location of Lewis and Clarks 1805-06 Fort Clatsop winter camp. Soon, the first major setback to Astors plan occurred. After unloading people and supplies in Oregon, Thorn took his ship on a trading mission to Vancouver Island. There disaster overcame him after Salish Indians crawled aboard. The Salish were outraged by his insolence and massacred all but one man, an interpreter, who got away. Another wounded sailor ignited the powder magazine and blew up the ship, himself, and about 200 Salish. The overland expedition was led by an inexperienced St. Louis merchant named Wilson Price Hunt. He was believed to be about 29 years old in 1811. Although he had become a successful merchant since coming to St. Louis in 1804, he had no experience that would qualify him for the task ahead. Hunts party left St. Louis on October 21, 1810, six weeks after Tonquin sailed from New York. After traveling 450 miles up the Missouri River in three boats, they camped a month later 150 miles above Fort Osage, which had been established two years earlier at a site recommended by Lewis and Clark. They were to winter there at the mouth of the Nodaway River to avoid the expense of staying in St. Louis and to remove his crew from the temptations of that city. After camp was established, Hunt went back to St. Louis, as he still needed to hire additional men, one being a Sioux interpreter. For that position he obtained the services of Pierre Dorion Junior. Dorions mother was a Yankton Sioux and his father, Pierre Dorion Senior was an Indian trader from Quebec, whom Lewis and Clark had engaged as an interpreter to the Yankton Sioux. The elder Dorion remained with the Yanktons to promote Lewis and Clarks Indian policy, which was to end intertribal wars, encourage some chiefs to go as ambassadors to Washington, and for the tribes to accept trade with Americans, rather than with their usual Spanish and French traders. When Lewis and Clark continued up the Missouri River, Pierre Dorion Senior was to gather a delegation of Sioux chiefs and escort them to Washington. Pierre Dorion Junior had been hired the previous year by the Missouri Fur Company, based in St. Louis. That company, formed in 1808 by Manuel Lisa, Andrew Henry, Pierre Chouteau and others, sent its first fur trapping expedition up the Missouri River the next year. Lisa was the most prominent Indian trader in St. Louis, as the Spanish had granted him a monopoly of trade with the nearby Osage Indians. He had been the principal supplier for Lewis and Clark. As Lisas employee, Dorion had gotten in debt for liquor at the Fort Mandan trading post and was looking for a way to avoid paying. Hence, Hunts offer of employment was a welcome outlet. Lisa was eager to keep Dorion away from Hunt, because Astors new Pacific Fur Company, chartered in 1810 as a subsidiary of the American Fur Company, would be in direct competition with his company. Dorions wife, Marie, and their two sons ages 2 and 4 were with him in St. Louis and all four left with Hunt in the spring. It is believed that Dorion had taken the young Iowa Indian woman for a wife about 1806, after abandoning a Yankton woman named Holy Rainbow. En route up the Missouri River Dorion learned that Lisa intended to have him arrested at the frontier town of St. Charles, in western Missouri. That news prompted Dorion and family to leave the boat. After Hunt had departed from St. Charles, Dorion rejoined him, but without his family. All were not contented in the Dorion family. Pierre and Marie had quarreled; he had beat her, causing her to flee into the woods. Not wanting to delay, Hunt shoved off without her. The next morning, though, Marie and the children voluntarily rejoined them. The party continued upriver to Fort Osage, where they stayed three days. Again the Dorions quarreled. Marie wanted to stay with new-found friends, so Pierre had to physically place her in one of the boats. Maries desire to not undertake the journey may have been influenced by the fact that she was then about three months pregnant. There is no record that she ever again rebelled and the couple remained together until Pierres violent death. Nine days after the Tonquin party established Astoria, Hunts party left their winter camp on April 21, 1811. At that time, the expedition was composed of 60 persons, five of whom were partners of Astors Pacific Fur Company. With Hunt were two English naturalists, John Bradbury and Thomas Nuthall. The employees were not mountain men but were mostly French-Canadian river-men, similar to those that Astors American Fur Company employed in the Great Lakes region. The armament on their four boats consisted of two howitzers and a swivel gun. They were not the only expedition on the river. Behind and gaining on them was Lisas party, which had left St. Louis on April 2. Lisa was going up the Missouri to collect the furs his trappers and traders had obtained during the winter and to search for his partner Andrew Henry, who had not been heard from for two years. Blackfoot Indians had dislodged Henry from a post that he had tried to establish at the Forks of the Missouri River in what would become western Montana. That was at the junction of the three rivers that Lewis and Clark had named the Jefferson, the Madison, and the Gallatin, with the Jefferson leading them southwest toward the Lemhi Pass and across the Continental Divide. Most of Henrys men had returned to St. Louis, but Henry and a few others had crossed the Continental Divide and built Fort Henry near the headwaters of the Snake River (in present-day southeast Idaho). Lisa was not only in a competition race with Hunt, but he was also trying to catch up with Hunt so they could pass through Sioux country together. The word was out that the Sioux were upset, insisting on collecting a sizable payment from all river-men. Lisa sent a message to Hunt to wait up, but Hunt pressed forward. On May 26, 1811, Hunt met up with three veteran hunters, who were on the way to St. LouisEdward Robinson, John Hoback and Jacob Reznor. They had been with Henry the previous year and had spent a few months at Fort Henry. Although they were headed back to Kentucky, Hunt persuaded them to join him and go all the way to the Pacific Ocean. They in turn persuaded Hunt to change his route. Instead of following Lewis and Clarks path to the Forks, through Lemhi Pass, and north to the Lolo Trail, they told him he should take a southern route to avoid the Blackfeet. Those three were about Hunts only experienced mountain men, although one of the partners, Ramsey Crooks, had been trading up the Missouri. Lisa caught up with Hunt just below the Arikara village, near the northern border of present-day South Dakota, and together they reached that Indian village at the mouth of Grand River on June 12. Hunts new plan called for him to leave his boats there and go overland, but his departure was delayed until July 18, because of the difficulty of bargaining for horses. When at last his party left, he had only 82 horses, most of which were used as pack animals. The partners, plus Pierre Dorion and the two children, rode, but Marie walked until after additional horses were obtained from the Cheyenne and Crow Indians. Lewis and Clark had wintered with the Mandans, just upriver from the Arikaras (in present-day central North Dakota). They started out early in the year, when the ice melted, reaching their goal in early November. Hunt wintered in Missouri, did not reach the Arikaras until June, 1811, and did not get underway overland until the middle of July. Thus he was forced to spend the following winter trying to get through the mountains, not reaching Astoria until February, 1812. Hunt left the Arikaras moving west and southwest, crossing into present-day Wyoming near its extreme northeast border. They skirted the northern side of the Black Hills, within view of Devils Tower, continuing in an approximate straight line to cross the Powder River just south of its junction with Crazy Woman Creek. It was a few miles south of that area, near present-day Kaycee, where 65 years later the Battle of Powder River and the Battle of Dull Knife occurred. Cheyenne chief Little Wolf was camped there when General George Crooks forces under J.J. Reynolds attacked on March 17, 1876. Both Little Wolf and Dull Knife were there when Colonel Ranald Mackenzie struck on Thanksgiving Day that same year. Between the Powder River and the Big Horn Mountains to the west, Hunts party bisected the region where the famous Bozeman Trail was to run along the foot of the Big Horn Mountains from Fort Laramie north to Montana Territory. That first attempt to create a road in the Powder River country sparked the Red Cloud War of the 1860s. The point at which the Bozeman Trail intersected with Hunts route was very near where Fort McKinney would be erected in 1877. Just to the north was where Fort Kearny would be built and where the Fetterman Fight and Wagon Box Fight would take place. While with the Arikaras, Hunt had employed a veteran mountain man named Edward Rose, although Hunt did not trust him. Rose had been an employee of Lisa, and he had lived with the Crow Indians. Before abruptly leaving the Astoria Expedition, Rose and some Crow friends helped Hunt and the others make two difficult mountain crossings, showing them the Powder River Pass in the Big Horn Mountains of north-central Wyoming. That 9,666 foot pass, which was previously unknown to them, is between the 12,420 foot Mather Peak and 10,555 foot Hazelton Peak. The expedition reached the Bighorn River probably north of present-day Worland. They followed it south to the Wind River, and proceeded up near its headwaters. There they crossed the Continental Divide at Union Pass, which separates the Wind River and Gros Ventre ranges. They sighted the Grand Tetons, calling them the Pilot Knobs. Union Pass had been recently discovered in 1807-1808 by John Colter, then an employee of Lisa and formerly with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Colter was also the first white man to see Jackson Hole, Pierre Hole, the Teton Range and the Yellowstone Park area. The Grand Tetons and Pierres Hole received their present names in 1818-19 by a party of the Hudsons Bay Company headed by Donald McKenzie. After passing through Teton Pass, Hunts party proceeded northwest to the abandoned Fort Henry, near present-day St. Anthony in southeastern Idaho. Their journey that far had been aided by the guidance of the three hunters Robinson, Hoback and Reznor. At that point, along the headwaters of the Snake River, Hunt made a nearly fatal error of judgment. He abandoned his horses and constructed 15 dugout canoes. Since the Snake was a contributory of the Columbia River, Hunt assumed that the remaining 1,000 miles could be made by water. They soon found out differently. At Fort Henry, the party divided. Some men, including the three new hunters, were dispatched on trapping expeditions, to make their separate way to Oregon. After leaving Fort Henry on October 18, 1811, the rest of the Hunt party soon encountered a series of rapids, where portages had to be made along high bluffs. While attempting to run one set of rapids on October 28, about 340 miles below Henrys Fort, a canoe wrecked and one man drowned. After some of the men scouted the river ahead, they were forced to recognize the futility of trying to travel by water. The river was declared unnavigable. Now without horses, it became necessary to cache a large part of their supplies and continue on foot. To increase the chance of obtaining game to supplement their meager supply of food, the party again split, with half traveling on each side of the river. One party of 18 men, under Ramsey Crooks, walked along the south bank of the barren, rocky Snake River. Another 18 led by Hunt, including the Dorion family, stayed on the north side. A third small group, giving up, left to retrace their steps. Upon encountering a small Indian band on November 17, Hunt succeeded in buying a horse to use as a pack horse. Two days later, he obtained a second horse for his personal use. At the next Indian camp that they stumbled on, an Indian claimed that Hunts second horse had been stolen from him. Hunt was forced to give it up, but he was able to buy two others. Pierre Dorion was also able to buy a horse for his family, so that Marie and the two children were again able to ride. They had been walking since leaving the canoes. Since the children were presumably ages 2 and 4, Marie must have carried the younger one on her back most of the time, even though she was by then eight months pregnant. Near the end of November, Hunts party was forced to start killing their few horses for food. Dorion resisted all efforts to kill his horse, even though it was almost starved. Having been away from the river for some time, they did not reestablish communication with Crooks until early December. Finding Crooks party in worse physical condition for lack of food, Hunt was forced to spend much time and effort getting some horse meat across the river. Twice in November and December they had to stay in Shoshone Indian camps for a short time because of the heavy snow and their lack of food. One time, they came upon a Shoshone camp that had a small herd of horses. The temptation was too great. They scared the Indians away and seized five mounts. Marie Dorions third child was born on December 30, 1811, but the baby died about eight days later. Apparently, Hunts concern for Maries welfare was not comparable to the concern Sacagawea had received from Lewis and Clark, for Marie gave birth to the child alone and caught up with the party the next day. It was another five weeks before Hunts party struggled into Astoria on February 15, 1812. A party of hunters under Mackenzie, one of the partners who had separated at Fort Henry, had arrived a month earlier. Because of Crooks poor health, Hunt was forced to leave him with an American hunter named John Day and four Canadians to rest on the north side of the Snake River. They stayed there three weeks before continuing, arriving at Astoria on May 11, 1812. Crooks and Day had been picked up by David Stuart, one of the partners, who was leading a small canoe party up the Columbia River. Altogether, only 45 of the original 60 men reached Astoria, compared to Lewis and Clark, who had only one death (it was due to appendicitis) on their entire expedition. In July 1813 the Dorion family left Astoria on a beaver trapping trip. The party, led by John Reed, established their base of operations for the winter up the Snake River, at the mouth of the Boise River in present-day southwest Idaho, beyond the area now called Hells Canyon. There, the party was divided into smaller units with Pierre Dorion, Giles Le Clerc, and the Kentucky hunter Jacob Reznor assigned to trap along the Boise River. Marie and the children remained at the base camp. In January 1814 she learned from friendly Indians that a band of Bannocks were burning other camps, so she set out on a horse with her two children to warn her husband. Three days later she discovered their hut and found Le Clerc wounded. They had been ambushed that morning, while on their trapping line, and Pierre and Reznor were killed. Marie got Le Clerc on the horse with her children and set out for the base camp, but he died two days later. At the base camp she found Reed and all the men in camp killed and mutilated. Leaving immediately, Marie headed back, seeking refuge with friendlier Indians along the Columbia River. After nine days of struggling through snow, Marie was forced to halt and build a crude hut. Living on horse meat and melted snow, the three of them stayed there for 53 days. In mid-March, Marie and the children set out on foot. She was wandering partially snow blind, when rescued by Walla Walla Indians and taken to their village. There she was found in April by members of the Astoria group who were on their way back to St. Louis. They took her to Fort Okanogan, a Canadian fur station owned by the North West Company, located in the northeastern part of present-day Washington. Marie lived at Fort Okanogan for several years, with a French-Canadian trapper named Venier. Their daughter, Marguerite, was born about 1819. Marie later lived with Jean Baptiste Toupin, who was a French-Canadian interpreter at Fort Nez Perce (later called Fort Walla Walla), another North West Company trading post, at the juncture of the Columbia and the Walla Walla rivers. It had been constructed in 1820 and lasted until it was burned by Indians in 1855. By Toupin, Marie Dorion had two more children: Francois (born about 1825) and Marianne (born about 1827). In 1841 the Toupins settled on a farm in the Willamette Valley near Salem, Oregon and on July 19 of that year, they were formally married in a Roman Catholic ceremony. Marie died in 1850 and was buried at the parish church of St. Louis, 12 miles northeast of Salem. The officiating priest recorded her age as about 100, which was in error by about 40 years. Marie Dorions story became well known in her lifetime through the published recollections of Astoria pioneers and through Washington Irvings book Astoria. Since then, her name has been largely forgotten. Astors entire endeavor to control the northwest fur trade came to an end soon after the beginning of the War of 1812. When a supply ship failed to arrive and news that a British warship HMS Raccoon was approaching, the partners were forced to sell Fort Astoria to the North West Company of Montreal. It was renamed Fort George. Astorias legacy was that it was the first permanent American settlement in the Pacific Northwest, and it became a strong argument in the United States claim for that land. The immediate result of Astors presence was that the North West Company had hastened to take control over the area. Representatives of that company arrived in the area just four months after Tonquin. Hunt was not present when Astoria was sold. He had left Oregon on August 4, 1812 on Beaver en route to New Archangel, Alaska, to negotiate trade with the Russian-American Company. He sold a cargo of supplies for sealskins that he took to the Orient by way of the Sandwich Islands, where he left the ship. After learning of the declaration of war, he chartered Albatross and returned to Astoria, arriving after his partners had already arranged to sell out to the North West Company. Before learning of the beginning of war, some of the Americans made plans to return to the East overland, carrying dispatches. One group of six men, led by Robert Stuart, left in June 1812, the month war was declared. Both Stuart and his uncle, David Stuart, were partners who had traveled west on Tonquin. With Stuart were both Ramsey Clark and John Day, who had had such a bad experience traveling with Hunt. Their route took them much farther south than Hunts westward expedition and was extremely difficult, causing them to go many miles out of the way. In the process they discovered a pass through the Rockies in what would become Wyoming. At an elevation of only 7,550 feet, South Pass was later to become the preferred route for the Oregon Trail. The Bonneville Expedition took the first wagon through South Pass on 24 July 1832. A large portion of Hunts route along the Snake River became part of the Oregon Trail. This article was written by Wayne Jewett and originally appeared in the October 2000 issue of Wild West magazine. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Wild West magazine today! Nigger in Uniform! Nigger in Uniform! screamed the agitated Baltimore crowd of Southern sympathizers. They had been angry enough when Pennsylvania militiamen had detrained at Bolton Street station and began marching down Eutaw Street toward Camden Station on April 18, 1861, but when they saw Nicholas Biddle, an African American in uniform who was treated as an equal by his white comrades, their blood lust only increased and their calls grew louder. Poor Nick had to take it as the mob closed in like wild wolves, Captain James Wren, Biddles commander, later recorded. Biddle soon was the target of more than just oaths, as salvos of bricks pried loose from the streets began to fly through the air. One struck Biddle in the head, knocking him to the ground and leaving a wound that reportedly exposed bone. Many of the Pennsylvanians present that day believed Biddle was the first man to be struck down by an enemy combatant in the Civil War. Regardless of who shed first blood in what would be the bloodiest of all Americas wars, it seems strange that Biddle remains an overlooked and almost entirely forgotten figure in the Civil Wars rich history. At the time, however, Biddle received the attention even of Abraham Lincoln as the president visited the militiamen being billeted at the U.S. Capitol on April 19. Lincoln wanted to thank the men who had arrived to defend Washington only four days after he called for 75,000 volunteers to quell the rebellion that began with the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12. The president learned the Pennsylvanians had been attacked while traveling through Baltimore en route to the capital. Private Ignatz Gresser, a native of Germany, suffered from a painful ankle wound, and Private David Jacobs had a fractured left wrist and a few broken teeth. But it was the frail 65-year-old Biddle, wearing the uniform of the Washington Artillery, his head wrapped with blood-soaked bandages, who especially caught Lincolns attention. Biddle refused the presidents advice to seek medical attention, insisting that he preferred to remain with his company. The Pennsylvanians were the first of the volunteers to arrive in the District of Columbia and would thus go down in history as the First Defenders. Their Baltimore injuries occurred as the men arrived for the final leg of their journey from Pennsylvania to Washington. The entire Baltimore police force had been summoned to escort the volunteers through the streets, but even the police had a difficult time controlling the raucous crowd of 2,000, which jeered the anxious militiamen while hurrahing for Jefferson Davis and the Southern Confederacy. As the volunteers arrived at Camden Station, they were pelted with stones, bricks, bottles and whatever else the local mob could reach; some were even clubbed or knocked down by a few well-landed punches. A few bolder Confederate sympathizers lunged at the unarmed Pennsylvanians with knives and drawn pistols. First Defender Heber Thompson wrote that one man was caught dumping gunpowder on the floor of one of train cars in the hope that a soldier carelessly striking a match in the darkened interiormight blow himself and his comrades to perdition. For the idealistic volunteers from Pottsville, Allentown, Reading and Lewistown, the ordeal quickly erased any romanticized notions of soldiering they might have had. BIDDLES INJURIES WERE THE MOST SERIOUS, an irony considering he wasnt technically a soldier since the Federal government would not muster him in because of his race. Biddle, however, had willingly marched off to war as the orderly of Captain Wren, the Washington Artillerys commanding officer. He had been associated with the company since its formation in 1840 and was so highly regarded by the members of the unit that they considered him one of their own and issued him a uniform. Little is known about Biddles life, except that he was born a slave in Delaware about 1796 and later escaped. But exactly when he slipped the chains of human bondage is not known. Nor is it known where Biddle first settled in Pennsylvania. One account has him settling in Philadelphia, where he possibly was taken in by abolitionists. He reportedly soon found work as a servant in the lavish home of Nicholas Biddle, the wealthy financier and longtime president of the Second Bank of the United States, whose name the escaped slave adopted as his own. According to this account, Biddle, along with his servant, traveled to the Schuylkill County seat of Pottsville in January 1840 for a celebratory dinner at the Mountain House hotel in the nearby village of Mount Carbon. Along with 80 industrialists and capitalists, they celebrated the success of William Lymans Pottsville Furnace, the first in the United States to smelt iron by an anthracite-fired blast furnace continuously for 100 days. For whatever reason, the servant Biddle remained behind in Pottsville when his employer returned to Philadelphia. Another story, perhaps more plausible, has the escaped slave settling in Pottsville itself and becoming a servant at the Mountain House hotel, where he was employed during the January 1840 dinner. If this is true, then, as Schuylkill County historian Herrwood Hobbs wrote, something of financier Biddle rubbed off on him, and he adopted the capitalists name. Whatever the truth, by 1840 Biddle had made Pottsville his home, taking up residence in a modest dwelling on Minersville Street. He took an active interest in the citys two militia companies, the National Light Infantry and the Washington Artillery, whose members he quickly befriended. When news of President Lincolns call to arms spread throughout the North in April 1861, both the National Light Infantry and the Washington Artillery were quick to tender their services. Departing Pottsville on April 17, 1861, they reached Harrisburg late that evening. The following morning, the two companies, along with the Ringgold Light Artillery from Reading, the Logan Guards from Lewistown and the Allen Infantry of Allentown, boarded the North Central Railroad and began their journey to Washington via Baltimore. Before setting out from the Pennsylvania capital, the soldiers of the five companies took the oath of allegiance and were all sworn in as soldiers of the United States. All of them except Nicholas Biddle, of course. The term of service for the initial 75,000 Northern volunteersincluding those in the ranks of the First Defender companieswas for three months, and in late July 1861, the soldiers were mustered out. But most of the First Defenders were quick to reenlist, this time for three years, or the course of the war. Almost to a man, the National Light Infantry became Company A of the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry, while most members of the Washington Artillery reenlisted into the ranks of Company B, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry, with James Wren remaining as captain. Nick Biddle, however, did not accompany Wren when the 48th left Schuylkill County in September 1861. He remained in Pottsville, still nursing the painful head wound he had suffered in Baltimore. Biddle spent the rest of his life in Pottsville, performing odd jobs until he began to suffer from rheumatism. As he grew older and more infirm he couldnt perform any labor. Despite being a wounded veteran, he could not draw a Federal pension because he had never mustered in. Impoverished in his final years, he walked the streets of Pottsville seeking charity. Pottsvilles leading newspaper, The Miners Journal, appealed to the community for help. If poor old Nick Biddle calls on you with a document, as he calls it, dont say you are in a hurry and turn him off, but ornament the paper with your signature and plant a good round sum opposite your name, the paper implored. Nick has been a good soldier and now that he is getting old and feeble, he deserves the support of our citizens. Nicholas Biddle died in his home on August 2, 1876, at the age of 80. Before he died, the proud figure claimed he had enough money saved up in the bank for a proper funeral and burial, but upon his death it was discovered that there was not a penny to his name. The surviving veterans of the Washington Artillery and the National Light Infantry once again answered the call. Agreeing to pay for the costs, they arranged Biddles funeral, which took place just two days after his death. A large crowd gathered in front of Biddles home and then, as a drum corps played, began the solemn procession up Minersville Street to the colored burying ground adjacent to the Bethel A.M.E. Church. AFTER THE SERMON AT THE CEMETERY, a number of uniformed First Defenders carried the simple coffin to the burial site and laid Nicholas Biddle to rest. The surviving First Defenders contributed $1 each to pay for a tombstone, upon which was inscribed: In Memory of Nicholas Biddle, Died August 2, 1876, Aged 80 Years. His Was the Proud Distinction of Shedding the First Blood In the Late War For the Union, Being Wounded While Marching Through Baltimore With the First Volunteers From Schuylkill County 18 April 1861. Erected By His Friends In Pottsville. On April 18, 1951, the 90th anniversary of the First Defenders famed march through Baltimore, the people of Pottsville dedicated a bronze plaque for the Civil War Soldiers Monument in Garfield Square. In Memory of the First Defenders And Nicholas Biddle, of Pottsville, First Man To Shed Blood In The Civil War. April 18, 1861, it reads. Since that time, remembrance of Biddles role in the Civil War has faded almost to the point of oblivion, and, shamefully, his tombstone has been destroyed by vandals. John D. Hoptak works as a ranger at Antietam National Battlefield. He is the author of First in Defense of the Union: The Civil War History of the First Defenders, and maintains a Web site on the 48th Pennsylvania at 48thpennsylvania.blogspot.com. Read the poem The Grave of Nick Biddle, a stirring ode written in 1876 about April 18, 1861, the day In Baltimore City, where riot ran high. The purpose here is to deprive the Viet Cong of this area for good At dusk on October 8, 1965, barely 90 days after the U.S. Armys 1st Infantry Division began arriving in Vietnam, three of its infantry companies trudged out of a heavily forested area. The soldiers mounted trucks to return to their base, eagerly anticipating showers, hot food and rest after three weeks of chasing the elusive Viet Cong. However, in the gathering darkness, shots suddenly rang out and a desperate and chaotic firefight erupted as the startled Americans poured fire at muzzle blasts coming from the dense foliage. Then, as the Viet Cong (VC) shooting gradually diminished, their mortar rounds began falling among the trucks. When it was all over, six men of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry lay dead and 40 more were wounded. At dawn the next day, no VC bodies were found, but there was evidence some had been carried away. The vicious fight was just 30 miles north of Saigon in a 115-square-mile patch of jungle ominously known as the Iron Triangle. The Iron Triangle was so heavily defended, forested and fortified that it would be another 15 months before there were enough U.S. troops in-country to field a force adequate to successfully assault this VC bastion. Operation Cedar Falls, the largest U.S. operation in the war to date, would have a number of significant results. It would validate the effectiveness of a new intelligence methodology; ignite disputes among U.S. military leaders; expose serious weaknesses in South Vietnams ability to care for refugees and the need for a better organization for U.S. pacification assistance agencies; and produce fodder for the nascent antiwar movement at home. Most critically, Cedar Falls would demonstrate that General William Westmoreland was not wholly devoted to the big-unit war, as his detractors claimed. Alsoand often overlookedCedar Falls directly contributed to the tepid South Vietnamese response to North Vietnams call for a General Uprising during the Tet Offensive. At the same time American military leaders grappled with how to deal with the Iron Triangle, a serious argument over North Vietnamese strategy roiled Hanoi. General Vo Nguyen Giap, commander of the Peoples Army of Vietnam (PAVN), had been convinced in late 1965 that his troops could not sustain the large losses they were suffering in the South against superior U.S. firepower and mobility. Through 1966, Giap pressed for a reversion to guerrilla warfare methods instead of continuing the main force struggle between his regulars and allied forces. Giap lost the argument to Hanois commander in the South, General Nguyen Chi Than, who not only favored the big-unit war, but also believed Southerners would join in a revolt against the Americans and their puppets in Saigon. In April 1967, Hanoi secretly directed preparations for an all-out offensive and general uprising in the South. During the last days of 1966, when the Giap-Than controversy was still going on in Hanoi, General Westmoreland settled a similar argument among his generals. I witnessed this when I accompanied my commander, Maj. Gen. Fred Weyand, leading the 25th Infantry Division, to Lt. Gen. Jonathan Seamans II Field Force headquarters at Long Binh, 22 miles northeast of Saigon. We were first briefed on pattern activity analysis, the intelligence technique that was being used to pinpoint the several segments of a Viet Cong headquarters and logistical complex in the Iron Triangle, Military Region IV (MR4). Then Seaman, a tall, dour 55-year-old veteran of both the European and Pacific theaters in World War II and recent commander of the 1st Infantry Division, recommended that Westmoreland revise the timing of a long-planned operation against enemy main forces in War Zone C, 60 miles northwest, in order to throw a two-division force against the Iron Triangle. The mission would be to destroy this base and the local and guerrilla forces thereunits that had recently conducted guerrilla actions in and around Saigon. Major General William DePuy, leading the 1st Infantry Division, objected to Seamans proposal and strongly advocated striking a VC main force unit instead. A rising star in the U.S. Army, the 48-year-old DePuy, described by one observer as a small, tough, battle-wise, brainy and innovative leader, had a formidable reputation and had recently served as Westmorelands operations officer. Seaman expected Westmoreland would side with DePuy, but surprisingly, Westmoreland told Seaman, You are the commander, the decision is yours. Operation Cedar Falls, named for the hometown of 1st Division Medal of Honor recipient Robert John Hibbs, who had been killed in March 1966, would involve a massive sweep of the Triangle by two brigades of DePuys division, plus an airborne brigade, elements of a cavalry regiment and an Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Ranger battalion. Meanwhile, Weyand, employing two brigades, would sweep through wooded areas west of the Saigon River and block any enemy escape attempt to avoid DePuys assault. Units on the sweeps were given a VC Installations List detailing the location, unit or office designations of all facilities, depots, communications centers and expected positions of three local force VC battalions and two separate companies. No enemy main force units were expected to be in the Iron Triangle. All of the estimated 6,000 inhabitants of the Triangles one village and several outlying hamlets would be assembled, screened and relocated. The plan called for the destruction of all enemy installations within a two-week period, after which the Triangle would be publicly designated a free-fire zonewhere any inhabitant would be considered hostile. Ben Suc, the Triangles main village of about 3,500 people, already had a martial history and unfortunate experience with political coercion. A sprawling collection of houses, rice paddies, orchards and shops, Ben Suc had been fortified as far back as the late 18th century, when it was the base for operations against rebellious northern tribes. The village had been the site of an ARVN outpost until the Viet Cong overran it in 1964, executed the village chief, blocked the roads and organized the population into youth, women and farmers associations and indoctrinated them on National Liberation Front (NLF) goals and laws. The villagers were told the Americans were evil, that they killed pregnant women and ate their victims. They were required to pay taxes in rice and other foodstuffs or money, supply recruits for VC units, transport supplies and clear battlefields of the dead. The civilians also supplied the labor to dig fighting trenches and bunkers for combat units and tunnels to shelter political, medical, communication and other such stationary facilities. The ARVN had attempted to recover Ben Suc before, but it and the Iron Triangle had been in VC hands for about two years. At the direction of General Seaman, who believed VC agents had penetrated several ARVN headquarters, Cedar Falls was held in strict secrecyeven from some of the participating ARVN alliesuntil the day before its January 8 launch. On January 7, six newsmen were given a briefing on Cedar Falls, including 24-year-old Jonathan Schell of the New Yorker, who recorded the briefing by Major Allen C. Dixon. Pointing to a map, the major began: We have two targets, actually. Theres the Iron Triangle, and then theres the village of Ben Suc. Dixon called the village a solid VC political center. We know theres important VC infrastructure there, he said. What were really after is the infrastructure. Weve run several operations in this area before with ARVN but its always been hit and run. You go in there, leave the same day and the VC are back that night. This time were really going to do a thorough job of it; were going to clean out the place completely. The people are all going to be resettled in a temporary camp near Phu Cuong, the provincial capital down the river, and then were going to move everything outlivestock, furniture and all of their possessions. The purpose here is to deprive the VC of this area for good. Dixon told the reporters that 500 1st Division troops would land in 60 helicopters around Ben Suc at 0800, to avoid mines and booby traps that were on the villages approaches. A helicopter with loudspeakers would instruct villagers to assemble at the village center and inform them that anyone attempting escape would be considered Viet Cong. Safe conduct pass leaflets would be dropped for any VC desiring to defect. Dixon said the villagers would be evacuated and cared for by incoming ARVN unitswhich would be briefed on their role shortly before they were brought to the Triangle. The next morning, January 8, reporter Schell joined troops of the 1st Divisions 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, under the command of Lt. Col. Alexander Haig at Dau Tieng, 11 miles north of Ben Suc. They flew due south at 2,500 feet, within sight of the village but on a path that appeared well to the west of Ben Suc. Gradually losing altitude, the 60 helicopters disappeared from the villages view, and then turned toward it at treetop level, roaring forward at 100 mph. Flaring out at precisely 0800, the helicopters drifted down on three landing zones around Ben Suc. Surprise was complete and the village was quickly surrounded. Sporadic firing faded away. After the helicopters left to pick up more troops, a lone Huey circled above, giving instructions to the inhabitants through a loudspeaker. Well to the north, U.S. artillery fire began hitting designated landing zones in preparation for helicopter-borne assaults into the nearby wood. Within an hour, as they had been ordered to do, about 1,000 villagers had gathered at Ben Sucs school. South Vietnamese police and ARVN troops then arrived to screen the villagers and cull males between 15 and 45. A 1st Division field kitchen was set up and a medical tent was erected so U.S. medics could offer treatment to the waiting inhabitants. A detailed search of the villagers homes by ARVN soldiers began. By midafternoon, some 3,500 dejected and unfriendly villagers had been assembled. It was looking like Cedar Falls might be a textbook piece of allied military precision. Thats when things soured. While New Yorker reporter Schell was observing the operation around Ben Suc, he came on an ugly scene of ARVN officers interrogating some young males. The suspects, who failed to answer questions to the officers satisfaction, were repeatedly beatenall this, Schell wrote, under the eyes of a very fat American with a red face and an expression of perfect boredom. When a U.S. Army captain arrived on the scene, he took Schell aside and said, You see, they do have some, well, methods and practices that we are not accustomed to, that we wouldnt usebut the thing youve got to understand is that this is an Asian country, and their first impulse is force. Soon, the evacuation plan for the families quickly unraveled. While Seamans secretive planning yielded a thoroughly surprised enemy, it also produced distrust between the allies, an agonizing delay in the operation, and perhaps worse. All of the military-age males were flown to Phu Cuong for interrogation in the afternoon, but the unexpected and hasty effort to round up enough ARVN landing craft to transport the families, their animals and possessions on the Saigon River from Ben Suc to Phu Cuong broke down. South Vietnamese authorities, angry with their pushy, inconsiderate American allies, simply had not had the time to identify, plan, assemble and supervise a flotilla, resulting in a two-day delay. On January 10, General DePuy, disgusted and impatient with the handling of the refugees, took charge. He organized truck convoys to transport some families to the provincial capital and ordered the landing craft be used to bring the rest of the villagers and the farmers water buffalos. Meanwhile, searching and fighting was progressing in the woods surrounding Ben Suc. Since landing, 1st Division troops had discovered several tunnel complexes and stores of foodstuffs, ammunition and other supplies. Some of the surprised Viet Cong fought back, and early fighting left 40 dead, while the Americans were initially free of battle deaths. The biggest fight of the entire operation took place across the river in the 25th Division area when a 2nd Brigade unit made an unexpected, sharp contact with a battalion-size enemy force during an air assault. This bloody action continued for most of the day with men of the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry breaking up the enemy battalion and chasing down groups of its survivors. In this hot, deadly fight, six Americans died, while the VC left 100 bodies of their outgunned battalion on the field. As the sweep of the Triangle continued for two weeks, many smaller actions took place, but the main role of U.S. forces became locating, searching and destroying hundreds of tunnels. The GIs soon learned how to spot a tunnel entrance, entice any enemy out of it, and then send a pistol-armed volunteer, or tunnel rat, inside with flashlight, compass and field phone, to explore and retrieve documents, weapons and ammunition. The tunnel would then be destroyed by explosives or by pumping acetylene gas into the passageways and igniting it. A notable exception to the largely passive response to the U.S. sweep of the Triangle came when the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, entered the woods just northeast of Ben Suc, looking for a previously identified VC installation. The facility was a camouflaged medical supply depot with a tunnel being used as a hospital, where Dr. Vo Hoang Le, his wife and several assistants were tending to 60 patients. Alerted by the Ben Suc attack, Dr. Le decided to ignore instructions to flee or hide from the Americans and opted to arm his staff, prepare concealed firing positions and defend his hospital with four rifles, a Thompson submachine gun and his own .45-cal. revolver. The next day, at 1230, Dr. Le saw three American soldiers approaching. When they were within 20 feet, he began firing, killing all three. Les wife scurried through a blizzard of American bullets to the American bodies and returned with their M-16s and some ammunition. Spotting a GI crawling forward to retrieve one of the bodies, Le killed him. The Americans called in artillery and an airstrike with napalm. In the afternoon, the Americans launched three attacks, each pushed back by Le and the defenders. The doctor later recalled: That night, I raised the question of withdrawing. Some of my comrades were against the idea.I told them if we stayed, we would not be able to withstand the next days assault.We left six of the wounded behind in secret tunnels; they had lost legs or had head wounds and could not walk. Two nurses stayed to look after them.We went through the shell fire.Two men were wounded during the journey, but none were killed. On January 11, an argument about the treatment of the refugees arose among U.S. and South Vietnamese leaders. It involved General DePuy and the head of the regional U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) office, John Paul Vann. An ex-U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, Vann was a courageous, intelligent 43-year-old former Ranger who had been an adviser in Vietnam in 1962-63, and had keen insights into Vietnamese culture. The dispute began with DePuys quick inspection of the Phu Cuong reception camp and his outrage at the lack of adequate organization, sanitation, shelter, food and medical services for the refugees. DePuy complained about the abysmal conditions to General Seaman and suggested that he take charge of the camp, as hed taken charge of the evacuation. Seaman reaffirmed his desire to have the Vietnamese take care of their own people with Vanns assistance in supplying resources. Vann phoned DePuy to see if he could relieve the generals concerns and got an angry response: Vann, your lousy organization has fallen flat on its face and I am going to move in and do the jobas usual! Vann countered that the Vietnamese authorities were responsible for the camps shortcomings and the reason behind that stemmed from their belief that the refugees had no loyalty to the Saigon government. Within a few days, the refugees plight was somewhat eased with the arrival of tents, clothing, food and water and sanitary facilitiesmuch of it coming from the 1st Division. Five months later, under Vanns hand, the refugees were living in concrete block buildings with metal roofs, fairly well supplied and maintaining the same standard of living as the dependents of ARVN soldiers. However, no one involved in the evacuation dispute was truly satisfiedleast of all, the refugees themselves. Up in the Triangle and the 25th Divisions search area, the destruction of Military Region IV facilities continued until January 26, when Operation Cedar Falls ended. Vietnamese paratroopers assumed the search of Ben Suc and made the most stunning find yet. The VC had taken advantage of the allied proclivity to avoid hitting villages with artillery and airstrikes, and had dug a vast, three-story-deep complex of tunnels and chambers covering several acres underneath the village. There were offices, medical facilities, storage bins and spaces for the manufacture of clothing, munitions and footwear, even special defense capabilitiestunnels leading to surface observation and firing positions. Elsewhere, other facilities were found, including several underground VC provincial and district government headquarters. MR4s signal and cryptographic center was located, along with files and code books. Its intelligence section contained a trove of documents, including more than 200 personal history sheets on cadre and a notebook of names of ARVN officers who were supplying the VC with information and U.S. ammunition. The postal, communications and transportation section was found with extensive records, and an operations office was also identified, yielding campaign plans and maps. A number of camouflaged, aboveground rice storage facilities were also found, shielding hundreds of tons of bagged rice. The results of Operation Cedar Falls were impressive, as more than four square miles of jungle had been cleared. The allies had captured 578 weapons and 3,700 tons of riceenough to feed five regiments for a year. Eleven hundred bunkers, 424 tunnels and 509 structures were destroyed. The effectiveness of pattern activity analysis had been confirmed. Viet Cong losses included 723 killed and 213 taken prisoner, among them 12 high-ranking officials and MR4s talkative operations officer, who was caught trying to spirit away two pounds of documents and maps. More than 500 enemy personnel defected and some 500,000 pages of documents were seized. Within a few days, police and ARVN counterintelligence authorities began picking up enemy agents and traitors, and breaking up underground networks throughout the region and in Saigon. Almost immediately, incidences of assassination, sabotage and guerrilla actions in the region dramatically dropped. The cost included 72 American and ARVN battle deaths. However otherwise impressive, the results also lent fuel to a growing chorus of American rejection of U.S. war policy and a belief among some critics that the operation had failed, since it had not completely and permanently removed the enemy from the Triangle. But the spark for widespread public unease did not come until reporter Schells New Yorker article appeared in July, telling the sad fate of Ben Sucs hapless refugees. Within a year, Schells entire report had been published as a book, The Village of Ben Suc, that was widely referenced by opponents of the war. Some Viet Cong did return to the Iron Triangle after the operation, but keeping them out would have required a defending force of considerable size, which the allies believed to be an unwise use of scarce soldiers. The Viet Cong who did return found life in a free-fire zone perilous and challenging without villagers to supply labor, recruits and food. Cedar Falls yielded two positive results that leaders could not have envisioned when they planned the operation. The evacuation and settlement of the Triangles refugees was so flawed that the Civilian Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) organization was created three months later. An ambassadorial-level civilian, reporting to the commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, led the organization. This integrated military-civilian structure proved superior and gave Westmoreland the authority to direct U.S. pacification support along with military advisory and combat operations. The other unanticipated achievement was the massive collection of documents that led to the arrests of key Viet Cong agents and officials in Saigon and its environs. Although unknown to the American planners of Cedar Falls, the subsequent weakening of the National Liberation Front infrastructure in the Saigon region would diminish the chances for success of the General Uprising then being secretly planned by COSVN. Later, in confidential documents that circulated among Communist leaders, the Viet Cong admitted that Operation Cedar Falls had, for them, been a great disaster. Rod Paschall, editor-at-large for MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, was a Special Forces detachment commander in Vietnam in 1962-63, served in Laos in 1964 and returned to Vietnam in 1966 as a company commander and staff officer until 1968. He finished his Southeast Asian service in Cambodia in 1974-75. Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie never achieved the worldwide fame accorded Amelia Earhart, but she certainly ranked in the upper echelon of women fliers who did their utmost to focus the nations attention on aviation. She also contributed more than a little to the struggle for gender equality. Born in 1902, shortly before Wilbur and Orville Wright made history at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Fairgrave was raised in St. Paul, Minn. In high school she fell hopelessly in love with the thought of flying. A visit by President Woodrow Wilson to Minneapolis to promote interest in the League of Nations triggered her aviation love affair accidentally. As his motorcade proceeded to the capitol, National Guard airplanes flew overhead. Phoebe was in physics class when the procession passed her high school. While the other students looked down at the parade, Phoebe gazed up at the spectacle in the sky. Thats what Im going to do! she shouted, waving toward the planes. Im going to fly. After graduation, two weeks of work as a stenographer convinced the 18-year-old to turn her back on humdrum office life. She headed for a Minneapolis airfield operated by Curtiss Northwest Flying Company and started pestering pilots to take her aloft. After several days one finally agreed, thinking he would frighten her out of the notion permanently. The pilot, at the instigation of the airfield manager, gave the persistent teenager the works a few loops, some rolls and a nose dive or two hoping to make her good and sick. Fairgrave, however, was not dismayed. The trip had quite the opposite effect. She demanded more. After her fourth flight, she plunked down $3,500 her late grandfather had left her and became the proud owner of a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. While learning to fly her plane, Fairgrave began to consider the possibility of performing acrobatics on the wing with a seasoned pilot at the controls high in the sky, a dangerous-looking stunt then coming into vogue. She soon developed a routine that included performing the Charleston and hanging by her teeth while the plane flew several thousand feet above the crowds that invariably gathered to watch. Often she would end her performance by leaping from the wing and falling for several hundred feet before opening her parachute. After some months spent honing her skills, Fairgrave announced that she would set a worlds record for womens parachute jumping. She proposed to leap from the dizzying height of 15,000 feet nearly three miles above the astounded citizens of Minneapolis. Today, when space walks and sky-diving former presidents are a matter of routine, that sounds like small potatoes, but in 1921 it was a bold move particularly for a teenage girl. Flying and acrobatics were not the only skills Fairgrave had been practicing during those months between high school graduation and her record-breaking parachute jump. She had also been learning to impress the press. After she informed her cronies at the flying field about her new objective, she stopped by the St. Paul Pioneer Press and let them in on her plans a pattern she was to repeat in coming years. All the coverage she garnered in this and later stunts enhanced her reputation as a daring angel of the skies. Fairgraves regular pilot may have thought the proposed jump was too dangerous, forcing her to find another flier. Whatever the reason, she asked pilot Vernon C. Omlie to fly her to the unprecedented altitude (for a parachute jump) of almost three miles. On July 10, 1921, as thousands lined the fence around the Curtiss Flying Field, according to the Pioneer Press,she stepped nonchalantly off the wing of the airplane. Twenty minutes later, motorists who had watched her descent as they drove toward the landing spot picked up the smiling teenager in New Brighton, Minn., some miles from the flying field. The Minneapolis Sunday Tribune blared Fairgraves accomplishment from its front page. The lead paragraph made the most of her daring leap: [Going] from a frigid Alaskan atmosphere of 10 degrees below zero back to the torture temperature of 98 degrees in the shade, all in 20 minutes, Phoebe Fairgrave of St. Paul said, today was the most thrilling experience she enjoyed yesterday when she shattered altitude records with a leap of 15,200 feet. Today Miss Fairgrave was packing her grip, preparing to leave for Iowa to join a flying circus. Emboldened by the critical acclaim her feat commanded, Fairgrave and Vernon Omlie set off on a barnstorming tour. As the tour progressed, so did their romantic liaison. Although it was a constant struggle to make ends meet in the frenetic world of 1920s aviation, they had, in the vernacular of the time, gotten mashed on each other. In early 1922 they married. Omlie was a lean and lanky aviator who had served in the Army Air Corps in World War I and was highly thought of by his colleagues. His pilots license was signed by no less an aviation notable than Orville Wright. He was skillful, careful and very steady. As the barnstorming tour expanded, he and Phoebe took on another pilot as partner Glenn Messer, an established barnstormer from Des Moines. Vernon insisted on planning and practicing every stunt over and over on the ground before they performed it in the air.Theirs was one of the first teams to transfer a beautiful young girl from one plane to another while both were flying a mile above ground. Vernon found a barn in Iowa with a long runway from front to back where they could practice the stunt. They rigged a trapeze from the roof, in the middle of the runway, so that when Messer hung by his knees from it, his hands would be at the same height as Phoebes when she stood on the seat of a buggy on the ground. After Phoebe and Messer became comfortable with the necessary handclasps and movements required for her to transfer safely from the buggy seat to the trapeze, Vernon attached horses to the buggy and slowly approached Messer, who was hanging from the trapeze. He gradually increased the speed of the buggy until Phoebe and Messer could make the change smoothly even when the horses were at a gallop. The first time they tried it in the air, Messer hung from the axle of the upper plane. But that clearly brought the planes propeller much too close to Phoebe. They solved the problem by hanging a rope ladder from the axle, which allowed Phoebe and Messer to climb into the receiving plane after the transfer. As Charles E. Planck wrote in his book Women With Wings, This act became one of their most spectacular and caused many a yokel to sunburn his tonsils watching it. The daring stunt was originally perfected for movie makers, who were looking for such acts to provide ever greater thrills for motion picture fans. Early on, Phoebe began a series of speaking engagements at the Princess Theater in Memphis, describing her life in aviation and in the movies. Her stunts soon helped make Pearl White famous in such 20th Century Fox films as The Perils of Pauline. In the 1920s, barnstorming was perceived very much as movie stardom was in the 30s and 40s as an instant ticket to wealth, fame and adulation. Thus, many were called, but few were chosen. In reality, most barnstormers found slim pickings in the wealth department. And the rewards were certainly not commensurate with the risks involved. Vernon and Phoebe suffered their share of financial woes. Once a hotel owner in a small Illinois town even impounded Phoebes luggage during a tour while they scrounged for money to pay the bill. Somehow they managed to keep going. The format was simple. They would follow the country fair circuit through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, going south as the weather cooled, eventually ending on the Gulf Coast. An advance man would precede them, prevailing on local merchants to let them install posters in their shop windows touting the flying circus. The quid pro quo was a free airplane ride for the cooperating merchants. There was no realistic way the Omlies could charge admission to watch Phoebe perform her high jinks in the sky. But by the time most people saw that slip of a girl dancing the Charleston, hanging by her teeth or changing planes in midair, hundreds of feet above ground, the public was hooked. Most were also eager to pay handsomely for the thrill of an airplane ride, during which they could see their own homes from high in the sky. The young couples perseverance and practice paid off eventually, and they hit the big time. According to Charles Planck, they sometimes received as much as $2,000 for an appearance, never less than $500. Yet for the daring performers, the barnstorming mystique was beginning to pale by the end of 1923. What had started out as glamorous fun began to look and feel very much like work. Vernon was convinced that aviation could and would become an integral part of everyday 20th-century life. Phoebe, who had become a skillful pilot in her own right by that time, agreed completely. Yet it was still a time when most rural residents were advising stranded motorists to get a horse. Many Americans could hardly bring themselves to take aviation very seriously. As they tried to figure out how to turn their act into a serious vocation, Vernon and Phoebe focused more and more on Memphis, which they believed might make a good base of operations. In 1925 the flying circus finally arrived for a brief stay in that city. Then it moved along to the next location without the Omlies. Overcoming resistance to change in Memphis proved to be no easy task, however. In the first place, the airshow had been conducted at the fairgrounds horse track, and the Omlies hoped to keep it as their base. But an equestrian group that trained valuable racers at the track demanded that they get their airplane contraptions out of there. So Phoebe and Vernon were forced to find another field in the area to set up shop. They offered Memphis citizens flying lessons, along with mechanical services, but they also continued to barnstorm the hinterlands, saving such attractions as car-airplane races for the folks who came to Memphis Driving Park to see their aerial shows. Vernon and Phoebe quickly became paragons of aviation in the mid-South, of which Memphis was the unofficial capital. They were attractive, energetic, intelligent and convivial and both were excellent pilots. Moreover, Phoebes skills in dealing with journalists continued to generate publicity. When they organized the Memphis Aero Club, scions of locally prominent families joined in droves. They were the talk of the town and the area. The flood of 1927 offered the Omlies their first real opportunity to render service to the local citizens. During the crisis they flew from sunup to sundown for eight days straight, working on their planes at night and snatching a few hours of sleep before rising the next dawn. They delivered mail and medicine all over the mid-South, landing on any available strip of ground. Their work was warmly praised by city, state and federal officials. More important, it demonstrated the value of aviation so graphically that the city began work on a metropolitan airport. The aero service and flying school prospered, too, as a result of their high-profile service. Vernon stayed busy teaching and operating the business, while Phoebe continued flying and making public appearances throughout the area. In 1927 she became the first woman to earn a transport pilots license. By that time, her fame as an aerial acrobat and movie stunt flier had been eclipsed by her business reputation. She was also the first woman to cross the Rocky Mountains in a lightplane, a feat she accomplished during the Edsel Ford Air Tour. In 1930 Phoebe was the winner of a race for women in cabin planes in Chicago, piloting an airplane she called City of Memphis. She also became the editor of Aero Digest. The stock market crash and ensuing Depression brought the Omlies the same problems everyone else in the world faced, but they managed to cope. Phoebe had evolved from a devil-may-care young nymph who defied death while cavorting on the wing of an airplane to a responsible pilot, flying her plane around the country on behalf of Monocoupe, a company that specialized in small planes with medium-power motors. She also participated in races and competitions such as the annual National Womens Derby, which ran from Santa Monica, Calif., to a city in the Midwest, usually Cleveland. She won the first such race in 1929, and in 1931 she took the National Closed Course Sweepstakes prize, $12,000 and a new Cord automobile. Through it all, Phoebe was a popular subject for newspaper columnists. These hard-boiled men of the Fourth Estate maintained an attitude of male condescension toward women pilots. For example, they dubbed the Aerosol Trophy Race the Powder Puff Derby a term that remained prominent in the journalistic lexicon throughout the decade. Phoebe may not have had the polish of Amelia Earhart, a Smith College alumna, but she was a bright, articulate, attractive woman who was also an excellent pilot. The cynics in the nations city rooms were convinced that ordinary people loved reading about the paradox of a slip of a girl excelling in a field thought to be a male preserve. By 1932 Phoebes feats had received so much publicity that she was asked by the Democratic National Committee to fly a woman speaker around the country, stumping for Franklin D. Roosevelt. She flew her assigned speaker 5,000 miles during the campaign, and often joined her in a ringing personal endorsement of Roosevelt. After FDR won the election, Phoebe flew to Warm Springs, Ga., and asked the vacationing president-elect for a job. Soon thereafter she moved to Washington, D.C., and became the first woman government official in aviation. In 1935 Eleanor Roosevelt named her one of the 11 women whose achievements made it safe to say the world is progressing. Phoebes job with the Roosevelt administration was acting as a technical adviser, serving as liaison between the National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics and the Bureau of Air Commerce. In this position she worked with Amelia Earhart to come up with an air grid to cover the nation, making flying safer. For his part, Vernon Omlie kept a much lower profile, but he was just as busy and active, staying in Memphis teaching and running the flying service. His skill as a teacher was widely acknowledged a reputation that was enhanced by his emphasis on air safety and meticulous flight plans. More and more successful young business and professional men joined his legion of students. In 1933 one of his students was author William Faulkner, whose reputation as a writer would wax and wane several times before he achieved icon status two decades later. Faulkner was already a local celebrity at the time, and his choice of Vernon as a flying mentor must have enhanced Vernons franchise in the eyes of other students. Faulkner and Vernon became good friends in the process, and the writer may have used Vernon and Phoebe as very loose models for the protagonists in his novel Pylon. Although Phoebes governmental duties meant she was based in Washington and had to travel throughout the country, she and Vernon remained a devoted couple. When in Memphis they would often dine in the Venetian Room at the Peabody Hotel. From contemporary accounts, it seems they were as dazzling a pair as any F. Scott Fitzgerald could have wished for. In 1936 Phoebe left government service and rejoined Vernon in their expanding aviation operation. Tragedy struck a few months later, on August 5, when Vernon was killed in the crash of a commercial airliner in which he was flying as a passenger to Chicago. The fatal crash occurred near St. Louis in an airplane owned by Chicago & Southern, an airline that had never before had a fatality. It seems ironic that Vernon was killed in an airplane he was not flying himself. Vernon, who had died at age 40, had always flown with the utmost caution never flying at night and, if unsure of the length of a field, getting out of his plane to pace the distance. Phoebe, who was devastated by Vernons death, never remarried. In the years that followed, she busied herself operating the aviation club and service business Vernon had worked so hard to nurture during the depths of the Depression. One of her most successful extracurricular efforts helped persuade the Tennessee Legislature to enact a law allocating a small amount of the aviation tax collected by the state to aviation instruction in Tennessee schools. The basic idea of that law was soon copied by many states, but Tennessee was the first to have it, due in large part to Omlies lobbying efforts. A few years later the federal government assumed exclusive responsibility for pilot training. In 1941 Phoebe Omlie sold her interest in the business and returned to Washington as a coordinator in the research division of the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). The CAA and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) cooperated with the Office of Education in the training of airport personnel, preparing the people who handled the planes and performed other work at the airports for the special problems of the flying fields. Omlies long experience as a manager and co-manager at Memphis meant that she was eminently qualified to organize these classes. By the end of the year she had started programs in 46 states, through which several hundred men from the ranks of the WPA had been trained. Eleven years later Omlie resigned, fearing the governments ever-increasing role in aviation was stifling the industry. She came back to Memphis a far different woman from the vivacious 23-year-old wing-walker who had barnstormed into town back in 1924 along with her pilot husband. After she returned, Phoebe cast about for something to challenge her spirit of enterprise. She bought a cattle ranch in north Mississippi, about as far from aviation as one could get. Her lack of experience was a problem, and after five years of unsuccessful effort at ranching, she traded it for a hotel and cafe in Lambert, Miss., south of Memphis. Sadly, Omlie proved equally inept in that businessor unlucky. Demand for hotel rooms in tiny Lambert was none too great in the late 1950s. She gave up the hotel in 1961 and returned once again to Memphis, this time broke and living off the bounty of friends much of the time. She remained interested in aviation and appalled at the ever-growing federal legislation restricting it. Omlie had maintained a few press contacts and was able to find a small audience to address in many of mid-Americas cities. For nine years she made sporadic trips to address meetings, usually railing against the CAA. But her audiences continually declined in size, and she made her last speaking trip in 1970 to Indianapolis. Five years later, on July 17, 1975, Phoebe Omlie died, and her friends arranged for her to be buried beside Vernon at Forest Hill Cemetery, in south Memphis. She had spent her last years in an alcoholic haze in a seedy Indianapolis flophouse, in utter seclusion, refusing to see anyone for any reason, and suffering from lung cancer. She was not to know that the central tower at Memphis International Airport, erected in 1982, would be named to honor her and Vernon. Ironically, while Phoebe Omlie was being buried in the quiet, green hills of Forest Hill, just a few miles to the southeast entrepreneurs were starting to build a corporation now known throughout the world as Federal Express. When you pass by Memphis International Airport and see all the orange and purple planes parked there, ready to fly around the world, remember Phoebe Omlie, who used to love dancing on aircrafts wings. Without the Omlies contributions to the aviation industry, such a company might not exist today. This article was written by George T. Wilson and originally published in the June 2002 issue of Aviation History. For more great articles subscribe to Aviation History magazine today! Stonewalls Cavalry Chief In an army not lacking for larger-than-life heroes, Confederate cavalry leader Turner Ashby had already become a legend by the time of his premature death in June 1862. As Stonewall Jacksons cavalry chief in the Shenandoah Valley, the Virginia-born Ashby naturally took on some of the glamour of the Souths most-vaunted warrior. Like others around Jackson, he grew in stature from close proximity to the famous Stonewall, whose star shone brightest in the Valley Campaign of 1862. But Ashby was very much his own man, as his subsequent quarrel with Jackson revealed. Following the Battle of Kernstown in March 1862, Jackson took steps to chasten Ashby for the undisciplined state of his cavalry. In particular, Jackson was nettled that Ashby had let some of his horsemen wander fruitlessly around Kernstown on the mistaken notion they would not be needed until the next day. Dividing Ashbys regiment in half, Jackson assigned a part to each of his two infantry commanders. It was his intention, said Stonewall, to have the cavalry of this district more thoroughly organized, drilled and disciplined. Surprised and mortified, Ashby considered challenging Jackson to a duelindeed, only Jacksons superior rank prevented the two men from coming to blows. Instead, Ashby announced his intention to leave the army. But if Jackson had thought he was disciplining Ashby, he was wrong. The hard-riding horsemen of Ashbys 7th Virginia immediately let it be known that if their longtime leader left the army, they would leave with him. Their loyalty went back to the formation of the regiment as a body of mounted rangers two years before the start of the war. It was a tribute to Ashbys hold over them that the notably fractious cavalrymen would not serve under anyone else. Jackson quickly reinstated Ashby to full command, thus averting a calamitous mutiny. In the ensuing weeks, the cavalry served gallantly as a spearhead of Jacksons marauding army, although the abstemious Stonewall occasionally had to turn a blind eye to his looting and carousing horsemen. Ashby was promoted to brigadier general in late May 1862. Jackson noted that as it seems you are now to command a brigade, perhaps the country may now hope for less exposure of your person. It was well-considered advice, but Ashbyas usualdid not heed it. Instead, on the afternoon of June 6, 1862, while leading a counterattack during a skirmish with Union cavalry around Harrisonburg, Va., Ashby was killed instantly by a bullet to the heart. Impetuous, undisciplined, but brave to a fault, Ashby became even more of a legend after his death. Said a grieving Jackson: As a partisan officer, I never knew his superior; his daring was proverbial; his powers of endurance almost incredible; his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the movements and purposes of the enemy. Such a description might have fit Jackson himself. [ Top | Cover Page ] Though sectional tensions had been building within the United States for several years, the outbreak of the Civil War found both the Union and the Confederacy largely unprepared to fight a major war. Both sides had to scramble to build up their military forces. For example, in April 1861 the Union Navy consisted of about 9,000 men and 89 vessels, many of which were not in commission. By 1865, it had grown to some 670 vessels, and more than 118,000 men had been in naval service at some point during the war, a tremendous buildup in such a short time. Those thousands of Northern sailors performed myriad shipboard tasks, some more glamorous than others, but all requiring hard work and skill. By examining how the crew of one ship, USS Constellation, functioned, one can get a sense of the work performed by the men who served aboard warships in that conflict. Although the wind-powered ship lacked the engineering department found on a steam-powered vessel equipped with engines, her other shipboard duties were essentially the same as most Navy ships. Constellation was a relatively new ship in 1861, having only been commissioned in 1855, and was the last sail-powered vessel built for the U.S. Navy. The three-masted ship was considered a sloop-of-war, or corvette, though at 186 feet in gun-deck length she was the largest ship of that class built by the U.S. Navy to date. Prior to the war she had patrolled the Mediterranean region and African waters, enforcing the 1808 law that made the importation of slaves to the United States illegal. During the conflict Constellation took part in no major fights; she served the dull but necessary duty of guarding Northern merchant ships against Confederate commerce raiders and performing blockade duty. In order to staff ships like Constellation and meet the increased need for manpower, the U.S. Navy accepted men of all backgrounds. A naval recruit had to be 18 or older, stand at least 4 feet 8 inches high, and pass a brief physical examination before signing hisshipping article, or enlistment papers. Recruits under 18 had to have consent of parents or guardian, and the average age of a Union sailor was 25. The usual term of enlistment was three years or one cruise, and a Jack Tar or Webfoot, as sailors were known in the slang of the day, could expect to be at sea much of that time. According to an old Navy adage, it took six years to make a fully capable seaman. At that rate, a typical recruit would be well into his mid-20s before attaining the necessary proficiency. The apprentice or boy rank was a means for the Navy to allow youths between ages 13 and 18 to join so they could be developed into fully trained sailors at a younger age. Also, every port had many orphans and runaways eager to volunteer, and some as young as 11 found their way aboard ships of war. By regulation, sailors under 18 could make up no more than 5 percent of a ships crew, and Constellations muster roll shows that 17 boys shipped out in March 1862. They learned seamanship while acting as messengers, cooks helpers, sick bay attendants and officers servants. In combat or during drill, the boys carried powder cartridges to the guns. Because many small things aboard ship were referred to as monkeys, the boys hazardous duty earned them the nickname powder monkeys. The Navy, unlike the Army, accepted men of African descent before the Emancipation Proclamation became effective in 1863, although their numbers, like those of boys, were restricted to no more than 5 percent of a crew. In further contrast to the U.S. Army, black sailors received the same pay as their white shipmates. Those who enlisted at the start of the war were mostly free men living in Northern port cities. As the war progressed, the need for manpower led Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to suggest to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron commander that he open stations ashore for recruiting contrabands, as blacks who fled slavery for the protection of Union forces were called. By the end of the war, African Americans accounted for more than 10 percent of the Navys enlisted strength. Constellations muster rolls show that 15 blacks served aboard her during the Civil War. The most experienced was James Evans. A free man, he enlisted in Boston on November 15, 1861, as a seaman, indicating that he had previous naval experience. By March 1863 he had been promoted to the petty officer rating of coxswain, one of seven authorized for the ship. A raw recruit, white or black, over 18 years of age was given the rank of landsman. Sixty-nine of those greenhorns were on Constellations muster roll in 1863, and they performed the dirtiest, heaviest and most menial shipboard tasks and endured the harassment of their mates. With at least three years experience, or upon re-enlisting, a landsman could be promoted to ordinary seaman. The skill and knowledge required of an ordinary seaman included handling and splicing ropes and lines and working aloft on the lower mast stages and yards. When fully rigged, a ship of Constellations size had some five miles of rigging, so ordinary seamen had quite a bit to learn. Constellations March 1863 roles listed 82 men of that rank. Seaman, the next step up, required the sailor to have at least six years experience and instinctively know all the ropes by name and use. Fifty-seven seamen were on Constellation in the spring of 1863. The captain rated or promoted the most reliable and experienced seaman as petty officers to occupy positions of intermediate authority, and he relied on them for advice on the safety, operation and maintenance of the ship. The skipper also rated petty officers based on previously acquired skills or training. Constellation had 59 petty officers to help supervise the ships 283 enlisted crew members. The leading petty officers were the Navy equivalent to Army and Marine Corps sergeants. The master-at-arms, the highest-ranking, was responsible for discipline. The yeoman was in charge of storing and issuing the material for ship maintenance and operation and keeping the account books of the various departments. Leading petty officers known as mates assisted the master, boatswain, gunner, sail maker and carpenter. Others known as stewards could serve on the staffs of the paymaster and surgeon. Those with the lesser petty officer ratings, equal to corporals, saw duty as quartermasters, who steered the ship and assisted with navigation and signaling; quarter gunners, who helped maintain the cannons and trained the gun crews; and armorers, who took care of the cutlasses, pikes, battle-axes, pistols and shoulder weapons that constituted the ships cache of small arms. When a ship went to battle stations, every gun had at least one petty officer acting as its gun captain. Lesser petty officers could also be coopers and painters in the carpenters department, cooks and cabin and wardroom stewards, and the master-at-arms corporals, or assistants. The lower grade petty officers of the boatswains department supervised the sailing deck. They were known as captains of the forecastle, the forward area of the spar, or top, deck; the tops, or masts; the afterguard, or aft area of the ship; and the hold. Moses A. Safford, a Kittery, Maine, attorney when the war began, accepted an appointment as one of Constellations yeomen on December 26, 1861. Saffords 186265 shipboard diary provides a petty officers perspective on life aboard a Union man-of-war. John Glenn of Troy, N.Y., who was said to have once been a prizefighter, was appointed Constellations master-at-arms in November 1861. Yeoman Safford was Glenns messmate and described him as a very jolly, good-natured man although he has a reputation of having been `on his muscle, due to his tendency to resort to brute strength to enforce discipline and the rules of the ship. Most Navy ships had a contingent of Marines aboard, who functioned as shipboard infantry during a fight. They helped the captain maintain order, assisted in repelling enemy boarders, climbed into the rigging to act as sharpshooters and spearheaded boarding parties against enemy vessels and landing parties ashore. Like the other branches of service, the Marine Corps expanded during the Civil War, growing from 1,800 officers and men to approximately 4,100. Constellations records indicate that 45 men served in the Marine Guard from 1862 to 1865 and were commanded by 2nd (later 1st) Lt. Robert ONeil Ford. In descending order of rank, his detachment included one lieutenant, one orderly sergeant, one sergeant, three corporals, 36 privates and three musicians. Marine Orderly Sergeant William P. Schwartz wrote in a letter to his brother that hespent much of the time exercising the large guns and preparing everything for action in case of need. When the ships company was called to General Quarters, some Marines could be distributed among the gun divisions, or could make up an entire gun crew. Schwartz stated he was particularly busy drilling the Marines on both large and small arms. The Marines were usually formed into a single division on the spar deck. From there, the captain could order them where they were needed most. Although they participated in few major land battles, Marines from the blockading squadrons conducted numerous raids along the Confederate coastline throughout the Civil War. Constellations leathernecks regularly practiced launching such operations. Yeoman Safford commented on an 1862 practice landing: All our boats are put over and completely armed and equipped, and are landed through the surf. Everyone gets wet, but the imitation of landing an armed expedition was really very credibly done. Marines also provided a force capable of stopping fights and other disturbances among the sailors. As Sergeant Schwartz explained in another letter, the Marines were charged with keeping order in the ship. They guarded the captains cabin; the spirit room, where paint and other combustible liquids were kept; and the brig, or disciplinary holding cells. Sailors resented the police function of the Marines, fueling a service rivalry. Constellations complement of officers, aside from the captain, usually numbered about 20. Line officers were responsible for sailing and fighting the ship and commanded the crew when at quarters, or battle stations. A first lieutenant was the senior line officer and was a vessels executive officer (second-in-command) until the Navy created the rank of lieutenant commander in July 1862, which then became the rank of Constellations executive officer. Civil, or staff, officers were in charge of specialized departments. The surgeon managed the medical department. The paymaster, formerly called the purser, accounted for the crews payroll, purchased supplies and equipment, and sold comfort items and sundries to the crew while at sea. The captains secretary served as the ships administrative officer, while the master, formerly called the sailing master, was responsible for navigation. Master was also the title of the transitional rank for line officers between midshipman and lieutenant. Midshipmen were junior line officers who had passed their academic work at the naval academy but were waiting for their final examination for commissioning. Once a midshipman passed his exams, he became a passed midshipmen until promoted to master or lieutenant. In 1862 the Navy created the rank of ensign to replace the grade of passed midshipman. Unexamined midshipmen and theshipped masters mates, who assisted the master, were consideredsuperior warrant officers. Clerks were civil officers, equivalent in grade to midshipmen. The four inferior warrant officers were the technical experts responsible for sailing, fighting and maintaining the ship and its equipment. They managed sailing and deck operations. The gunner supervised the training of gun crews, the maintenance of the guns and small arms, and preparation and storage of the ammunition. The inferior warrant officers and the gunner were on the line side. The carpenter and sail maker were on the staff side and supervised the craftsmen who maintained the ships wooden structure and mended sails. Men of long experience in the ranks, they represented the lowest links in the officer chain. Captains could also appoint deserving petty officers to acting warrant officer billets. No one exerted more influence on the mens lives and morale than did the captain, who sat at the top of the ships chain of command. He was ultimately responsible for the training, health, welfare and discipline of the crew and for transforming the men from a collection of veterans and recruits into an efficient team. Each gun crew had an even number of men, with titles reflective of their duties, plus a powder monkey. The gun crew functions had a first andsecond man assigned to each position. The petty officer who served as the first gun captain gave commands, primed, aimed and fired the weapons. Spongers swabbed the tubes to extinguish burning embers left from the previous shot, and rammed home the new powder cartridges and projectiles. Loaders assisted the spongers by placing ammunition in the muzzle. Shot- or shellmen procured the projectiles and passed them to the loaders. Handspikemen raised the breach of the gun so the quoin, or wedge, could be moved forward or backward under the barrel to adjust the range by elevating or depressing the muzzle. Train and side tacklemen hauled on the ropes that ran the guns in and out of the gunport, and adjusted the weapons train, or direction left and right. If a first became disabled, his second assumed his duties. If the ship had to fight on both sides, the first crew captains, spongers and loaders of each gun would man one gun, while their respective seconds served the gun on the opposite side of the deck. The powder monkey and tacklemen were consideredshifting men and moved as required to serve both guns between shots. Two rifled cannons, mounted on pivot carriages located on the spar deck, formed the 3rd Division on Constellation. The pivot mounts permitted the rifles to fire at greater elevations and on a wider arc than did those on the gun deck, and with fewer crewmen. A 30-pounder Parrott rifle was located on the forecastle, near the bow. Serviced by a crew of nine, it fired a 29-pound conical shell to a maximum range of 6,700 yards. A crew of seven worked the stern-mounted 20-pounder Parrott rifle. That gun could fire its 19-pound shell 4,400 yards. Three bronze, 12-pounder Dahlgren boat howitzers, each manned by eight sailors, complemented Constellations heavier guns. Those weapons could fire exploding shells and canister and were used with the ships boatsrow-powered cutters with auxiliary sails large enough to transport a landing party or attack enemy vessels in shallow water. Upon landing, the crew could mount the piece on its wrought-iron field carriage and move the gun with drag ropes. A small wheel at the end of the trail eased movement and was turned up when the gun went into action. The field carriage also allowed the howitzers to be used on the spar deck in an emergency. While the gun crews assembled at their guns and prepared them for firing, the rest of the ships company reported to their stations. The 4th Division, also known as the Masters Division, was composed of 24 enlisted men who were stationed in the mast tops and those who attended to the rigging, sails and steering of the vessel as well as to the ships signals. The executive officer, the vessels second-in-command, controlled the 4th Division from the quarterdeck. The location of the ships wheel on the spar deck allowed the executive officer to assume command immediately if the captain was wounded, thereby preventing any confusion or delay in the passing of the orders. The master, who also took station on the quarterdeck, and the boatswain, who positioned himself on the forecastle, assisted the executive officer. The assignment of the line officers to divisions by their descending order of seniority was done to place the least experienced lieutenants closest to the quarterdeck, where they could be observed, supervised and mentored by the warships captain and executive officer. A midshipman commanded the 5th Division, also called the Powder Division. It supplied the gun crews with ammunition and consisted of men whose routine duties were below deck. The gunner took charge of the large magazine and forward shell rooms; the gunners mate supervised the smaller magazine and aft shot locker. Three chains of sailors passed the powder cartridges in leather passing boxes upward through scuttles, or holes, in each deck until the boxes reached the gun deck, where powder boys carried them to their guns. The empty passing boxes were returned through canvas chutes to the magazines, where they were reloaded, and the process repeated. Shells and solid shot were placed in wooden boxes and hoisted up through hatches to the appropriate deck. The projectiles were then placed in racks or boxes near the guns, while the empty boxes were returned below and reloaded in a continuous process. The officer in charge of the Powder Division also saw to lowering the wounded to the hold and conveying them to the surgeons station. During battle, men of the carpenters and sail makers departments reported to the Powder Division but worked under the direction of their respective warrant officers. They removed nonload-bearing stanchions (support columns) and bulkheads (interior walls) and placed gratings over the hatches to facilitate handling of guns and passing of ammunition and to minimize the effects of flying splinters. They then secured all portholes, prepared the pumps for controlling leaks, rigged the fire engine and checked the flood cocks. During a fight, they stood by with plugs and patches to repair shot holes, clear wreckage and fight fires. The master-at-arms and his corporals extinguished galley, fires and all unauthorized lights and ensured the safe use of lamps where they were required. They had loose gunpowder swept from the deck or dumped into tubs of water to prevent accidental ignition. The surgeon, along with the assistant surgeons, surgeons steward and nurses, established an aid station in the cockpit, a section of the after orlop deck below the waterline. They prepared tourniquets and distributed them to the divisions. While the various divisions were forming for battle, the paymaster secured the cash, books and stores in the wardroom, while his steward safeguarded the property in his custody and kept an eye on the spirit room. The Marines formed ranks on the quarterdeck, loaded their muskets and fixed bayonets. Under the command of their lieutenant, they stood by to execute the captains orders. Pistols, cutlasses, muskets, boarding pikes and battle-axes were distributed to sailors from the armory. In addition to their duties on the guns, each member of a gun crew was designated a member of either the 1st or 2nd division of boarders. In a close-in fight, the secondary member of the gun crew of each piece, and all petty officers on the spar deck except those at the wheel and overseeing the direction of the ship, were with the first group of boarders and were armed with pistols and cutlasses. The primary members of each gun crew went with the second wave of boarders, if necessary. When the order to board the enemy was given, the gun crews blasted away at the enemys gun deck and hull. The spar deck guns and the howitzers were loaded with grapeshot or canister to sweep the enemys deck. The Marines and musket-equipped seamen fired at visible enemy personnel. After gunfire had effectively raked the deck of an enemy ship, grappling hooks would be used to pull the ships together, and the boarders would leap onto their opponents deck and take the fight to the enemy. Conversely, the order prepare to repel boarders was issued when a ship was threatened with an enemy assault. One-fourth of the men in each gun crew and the remainder of the Masters Division, except those designated as boarders or on the wheel, were assigned as pikemen. They formed behind those crewmen armed with cutlasses. The Marines, with bayonets fixed, formed behind the pikemen to cover them. At the command repel boarders, grape and musketry were brought to bear upon the enemy as they prepared to attack. Men remaining on the broadside guns continued to fire, and stood by with pikes to repel enemy attempting to enter through gun ports or quarter galleries. The howitzers, charged with canister, stood ready should the enemy gain a foothold on the spar deck. When the emergency became desperate enough to call all hands from below, the pikemen took up muskets and left their pikes for the members of the Powder Division to use as they came on deck. One member of each gun crew was designated a fireman and equipped with a fire bucket and battle-ax to extinguish flames and clear wreckage. All members of the spar deck gun crews, except the first captains, spongers, loaders and powder boys, were also assigned as sail trimmers. Besides reinforcing the Masters Division in trimming sails, they also supplemented the firemen and pumpmen, or assembled to be armed with muskets for use as a landing force, and were usually crew members of the ships boats. Each gun crew also furnished one man for the pump. Yeoman Safford remarked, Our men have been doing some really extraordinary work at target practice. As their proficiency grew, he added, Both our Captain and Executive have the confidence of the men. As an ultimate testament to their readiness, while recognizing the limitations of their vessel, Safford proudly proclaimed: Our men were very eager for a fight. I do not know what we could have done with a steam ship, but before she had finished us they would have known they were in a fight! Had they been in a fight, the men of Constellation would have had to instinctively perform in the chaos and confusion of battle the skills they had mastered. As the gun decks filled with choking smoke and deafening noise that made sailors ears bleed, men often stripped to the waist. Shot, shells, shrapnel, musket balls and splinters swept across open decks and pounded into the sides of ships, adding to the unholy din. Men would soon begin to fall, and they would be taken to the cockpit as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, amputating a mangled limb was usually the only hope for saving a wounded mans life. One sailor on USS Hartford wrote of his experience in a naval battle: Shot after shot came through the side, mowing down the men, deluging the decks with blood, and scattering fragments of humanity so thickly that it was difficult to stand on the deck.A solid shot coming through the bow struck a gunner on the deck, completely severing his head from his body. One poor fellow lost both legs by a cannon ball; as he fell he threw up both arms, just in time to have them carried away by another shot. Constellations crew did not see any fighting, but the hard work and drill of her sailors and Marines epitomize the efforts of all those who secured the seas for the Union. President Abraham Lincoln summed up the value of the Federal naval contribution when he said: Nor must Uncle Sams web feet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Wherever the ground has been a little damp they have made their tracks. Glenn F. Williams is the former curator and historian for USS Constellation.He currently works for the American Battlefield Protection Program. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Americas Civil War magazine today! Health is not a free market commodity, like a car. People will spend everything they have and whatever they can borrow for health. An Interview With Medical Historian James Mohr Q. Is government involvement in health care un-American? A. There is a long American tradition of public responsibility for health. In the 19th century, for instance, states devoted as much as 30 percent of their budgets to public mental health care. And when it became clear that vaccination actually worked against smallpox, state after state created labs to provide vaccines free of charge to citizens. So to say its un-American is profoundly wrongheaded. Is the current system broken? It cant be sustained as it is right now if we care about the publics overall health. We cant afford it. The World Health Organization ranks the U.S. 38th in health-care quality, below Dominica and Costa Rica and above Slovenia and Cuba. Meanwhile, per capita were spending half again as much as our nearest competitor. Whats the key problem? Nowhere else are doctors paid the way they are here, or allowed to have such absolute autonomy. Decisions made in the 19th century created an occupation that almost guarantees a handsome income and high status, but offered few incentives to be rigorous about internal discipline: Its still almost impossible to lose a medical license. As a result, medical mistake rates are stupefying: Hundreds of thousands of Americans die annually from medical errors. You sound like an anti-doctor muckraker. Im not. I believe most physicians are caring professionals. But because of the way our health-care system evolved, bad doctors are rarely held accountable for their mistakes. Under 5 percent of doctors account for roughly a third of malpractice suits, yet the system lets them keep their licenses. How are doctors regulated? Historically there has been very little regulation. By the 1880s, the doctors who graduated from a medical school were pushing to upgrade the profession. They wanted licensing laws at the state level and tighter educational requirements, and got them. But unlike elsewhere, American licenses came with no strings attached. What was the result? The heightened educational standards began reducing the number of medical school graduates, thereby reducing the number of license-able physicians. And so their power and prestige in society increasedalong with their incomes, which was the bottom line. Meanwhile, the situation priced many Americans out of health care. What about early efforts to provide national insurance? In 1915 and 1916, bills were introduced into Congress that would have produced a structure similar to those in place today throughout Western Europe. Initially the AMAthe American Medical Associationwas all for it. After all, doctors had been accustomed to collecting only 50 percent of their bills, so 100 percent looked like a good deal. National insurance seemed inevitable. But the AMA soon began to shift its position. Why? The leadership was afraid: If the government became the principal payer, doctors might lose their autonomy and become government employees at fixed salaries. So they hunkered down behind the concept of fee-for-service: direct payment by the patient. They actively opposed doctors who hired out to group practices, and ostracized doctors who signed contracts with labor unions on a per-head basis, similar to modern HMOs. World War I brought new arguments: National insurance was Prussian, socialist, un-American. What resulted? Doctors incomes and medical costs continued to rise steadily in the 1920s. In 1932 the Committee on the Costs of Medical Care, a national blue ribbon panel that included the AMA, again recommended a national insurance program. But a committee minority said that would destroy the medical profession. The AMA claimed this minority represented the majority of physiciansalthough no one could ever calculate whether that was trueand killed that initiative too. Were there any alternatives? The Depression forced the medical profession to tolerate some medical cooperatives, like the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser. These were large, powerful operations that could withstand pressure. Some local groups also developed co-op plans, but they were generally in areas where there wasnt much money at stake, like coal-mining regions, so the AMA let them go. What about Medicare and Medicaid? The AMA initially fought the proposals, calling them a government takeover. But this timein the progressive 1960sthey lost. Ironically, they realized, Wow, were we ever wrong! Now we have this government spigot of money pouring into the largely unregulated world we created in the 19th century. Thats where the real acceleration of medical costs started. What changed? That much money without much regulation attracts people who know a lot more about running major enterprises than individual doctors do. So there was an explosion of major medical for-profit corporations. Today, doctors find themselves more concerned about falling under the control of corporate medicine than the government. Thats one reason so many physicians are reconsidering health-care reform. Can the free market fix the system? No. Health is not a free market commodity, a good you can choose, like a car. People are willing to spend everything they have and whatever they can borrow for health. Would a public plan lead to rationing care? We ration it already, on an ability-to-pay basis. Yet we also pay for those who cant, in subtle and indirect ways like soaring emergency room expenses charged to taxpayers, and a less healthy and productive citizenry overall. We need to adjust this malfunctioning distribution system to make our health-care dollars go much farther. How? For one thing, by not doing tests for which theres little demonstrable payoffexcept for the test providers. These hidden costs riddle the system. For example? A 60-year-old woman complains her knee has been hurting. The orthopedist says, It could be this or that. The patient wants an MRI to settle the uncertainty, even though its costly. The doctor is willing; he might even own 50 percent of the MRI lab. The MRI shows tears in her meniscus. She wants scope surgery, and the doctor has a financial incentive to agree. Its the orthopedic operation most commonly performed on women in this country. But half of all women 60 and older have these tears. If theres some pain, its most likely arthritis. This whole costly process probably wont make much difference. Whose fault is this? Theres no bad guy here. The patient wants it. Because of the systems structure, the doctor has incentives to do it. It probably wont hurt. But its not money well spent. How do we fix it? Doctors have a vested interest in you getting sick. They are paid to get you betterand generally the more that costs the more they make. We need to change that incentive. If doctors were salariedand we can afford handsome salariesto maintain peoples health in the most effective, not most expensive, manner, we would have a far better structure. Around the country there are plenty of small practices and some big ones that do that and work very well indeed. Whats the biggest worry? No change. Making no progress. We wont revolutionize the system overnight. Change will be incremental on myriad fronts. But we have to be world leaders instead of lagging. We have to find ways to combine what is positive and unique about our system while eliminating the historical anomalies that make it unsustainable. James C. Mohr is a professor of history at the University of Oregon and editor of New Perspectives on Public Health Policy (Penn State Press, 2008). News / Regional by Staff reporter The First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe says the declaration of Bulawayo as special economic zone was a government deliberate effort to increase economic activity in the city and a strategy to revive industries that were hit by the economic challenges.In a speech read on her behalf by the Minister of State for Bulawayo Metropolitan Eunice Sandi Moyo at the 2016 inaugural Provincial ZIM ASSET Stakeholder Conference in Bulawayo, the First Lady said regional linkages through good road and rail network, place the city as a perfect regional manufacturing hub under the special economic zone status.She said Bulawayo will have a competitive advantage leading to competitively priced goods due to flexible laws that go hand in glove with the status.Amai Mugabe said the new status will boost the local economy of Bulawayo by attracting companies to invest and produce in the city, thereby creating employment and generating economic activity.The First Lady also commended Bulawayo for embracing STEM saying this will ensure that students benefit from science and technology for global competitiveness in production.She further implored government ministries and departments to work closely with the people and attend to their needs on time in line with government policy and President Mugabe's 10-point plan.Bulawayo was further challenged to be innovative and come up with strategies to improve the local economy.The conference has attracted a number of government ministers who will present various papers, among them Zimbabwe's economic recovery plan in the local and external market. A deep-sea expedition dating back to 2015 led to the discovery of an extremely large sea sponge the size of a minivan, making it the largest ever recorded. The unique sea creature was discovered near Hawaii 7,000 feet below the surface, and since its discovery, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been examining it closely. "The largest portion of our planet lies in deep waters, the vast majority of which has never been explored," said Daniel Wagner of the NOAA and first author of the study. "Finding such an enormous and presumably old sponge emphasizes how much can be learned from studying deep and pristine environments such as those found in the remote Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument." Extremely large sea sponges are not uncommon, and numerous different types of these creatures serve important ecological functions in the ecosystems that they inhabit, including providing habitats for other smaller creatures. The newly discovered Hawaiian sea sponge is more than 11 feet long, 6.6 feet in height and nearly five feet wide. Sea sponges are capable of growing to extremely large sizes, and Wagner believes that the sponge in question "is likely a very old sponge on the order of century to millennia." However, exact age determination is difficult because "sponges don't have things like growth rings that can be used to estimate age." The team discovered the sponge during an expedition on the R/V Okeanos Explorer using remote-controlled diving vehicles (ROV), which allowed them to explore the deepest areas of the sea around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The discovery provides researchers with more reason to continue investing in and using ROV for deep-sea exploration. "The finding of such a large organism as that reported here highlights the value of using deep-diving technologies in surveying the deepest parts of our oceans, which remain largely unexplored," the authors wrote. Furthermore, the discovery highlights the need for conservation efforts in the area. "The finding of such an enormous and presumably old sponge inside the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument underscores the need to protect this area using the highest conservation measures available," the authors wrote. The findings were published May 24 in Marine Biodiversity. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits. Tuesday, October 25, 4:30 7 p.m. Orr Area EMS Open House Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798. Orr Fire Hall 4540 Lake St., Orr Tuesday, October 25, 12 6 p.m. Essentia Health Job Fair Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org. 901 9th St. N., Virginia Opinion / Columnist QN Discuss the relationship of Kings and prophets -pt 31A level Divinity Revision Question|27 May 2016 |COMMENT OVER VIEWThe old testament deals with number of so many prophets and one should note these prophets prophesied during the reign of different Kings. The first prophet to anoint a king was Samuel, he anointed Saul after the elders of Israel had gathered at Ramah and requested for a King,this is indicated in 1st Samuel 8:4.The relationship of kings and prophets in Ancient Israel was characterized of hostility and friendship, this cannot be denied. This will be demonstrated on the ongoing article.I usually emphasize on the issue of trying to ask yourself different fundamental questions before attempting to answer the whole question. This will help you to understand the question at the same time remembering vital points which should not be ignored. The writer will do justice and assist you.~What is a King?~What is a prophet?~Who was the first King?~What was the relationship of Kings and prophets?~Why the relationship was characterised of amicable or hostility?ANSWERS The fact that the question doesn't indicate the exact place where we must focus on,this will lead one to include Pharoah the Egyptian. Moses was commissioned by Yahweh to free the Israelites which were under the hands of Pharoah who was oppressing them on daily basis. The task of Moses was political, hence, he was suppose to negotiate with Pharoah. Unfortunately, Pharoah did not understand this, as such leading him to view Moses as an enemy instead of friend. This is the reason why Pharoah sent soldiers to stop the Israelites with Moses to move to the promised Land and this might be the reason why Moses badly treated the King (Sending locust) As such, this will justify that the relationship of kings and prophets was far from being friendly, hence, hostile. Samuel as a prophet anointed the first King Saul,initially they were friends this is even evidenced by Samuel directing Saul where there was band of prophets, this is recorded in 1st Samuel 10:5 "After that you shall come to Gibeathelohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines; and there, as you come to the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming.." And also the fact that Samuel and Saul offered sacrifices together this proves to us that initially the relationship was sweet. However, it is prudent at this stage to remember that the relationship changed from being sweet to sour as when Saul hijacked the duties of a priest, as such leading Samuel to dethrone him, this is recorded in 1st Samuel 13:13. Therefore, this indicate that the relationship of Samuel the prophet and King Saul in early days it was amicable whilst in the last days it was hostile. The King David had his two courts prophets, Nathan and Gad. These prophets played different roles, but one should note that they all advice the kings. Nathan advice David to extent of being involved in the establishment of the Davidic covenant, this is recorded in 2rd Samuel 7:12-16. As such this indicates that Nathan had amicable relationship with the King. The prophet Gad, David's seer who is recorded in 2rd Samuel 24:11, advised the King, he went on to extent of advising the King to built the alter, this is evidenced 2rd Samuel 24:21. These two court prophets received a remuneration fee from the King this has led number of scholars to regard them as "civil servants". As such this indicate that the two prophets had amicable relationship with the King. The Tishbite prophesied during the reign of The Omri candidate, Ahab.The second action of Elijah was to challenge Ahab with his wife, this is evidenced by the action of Elijah commanding Ahab to gather the Baal prophets. Ahab went on to regard Elijah as the "troubler". After sometime Elijah went on to confront the King over Naboth's vineyard, this is recorded in 1st Kings 21:17. Soon after the event Elijah went on to prophesy the death of Ahab, this is recorded in 1st Kings 21:19 "..dogs will lick your blood". Such evidence will lead the writer to suggest that Elijah the prophet with King Ahab had hostile relationship. The Ramoth Gilead incident is known by number of students. The King of Israel says that he hates Micah Ben Imlah for his message, this is recorded in 1st Kings 22:8 "And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil" The point at this stage is the word "hate", there is no element of friendship or amicable, hence, this shows us the relationship between Ahab and Micah Ben Imlah.N.B There are so many examples which can be added. For instance~Ahaz with the Prophet of Jerusalem Isaiah~Hezekiah with prophet Isaiah~Jeremiah the prophet of Judah with Josiah~Amos the country prophet with Jeroboam 2QUESTION DEMANDS~Discuss the relationship.CONTACTS+263777896159 (WhatsApp)Witness Dingani (like Facebook page)witnessdingani@gmail.com (E-mail)"Success and failure are not matters of chance but choice"Unkown The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to announce the election of Andrew Jones, Guardian Sanctuary Resorts, Hong Kong SAR, as Chairman of the Association's Executive Board. He replaces Kevin B Murphy who was elected Chairman in April 2015 and who remains a member of the Executive Board as Immediate Past Chairman. Andrews Jones said, "It is especially meaningful to me to be elected to the position of Chairman of PATA during this 65th anniversary year of the Association. During this time, after a long career in hospitality, I also celebrate my 65th year on the planet. In leading and guiding PATA in the coming year, my focus will be on the continual and future enhancement of the Association. In taking on this role I commit to pro-actively working with the Executive Board, management team and our members to continue the good work of PATA. I want us to deliver on our promised advocacy themes, especially Human Capital Development, and to encourage membership development and involvement while supporting the responsible and sustainable growth, value and quality of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region and globally for the betterment of our communities and society." Over the past 45 years he has worked in numerous senior management and corporate positions for prestigious hotels, resorts and management companies in London, Bermuda, Canada, Hong Kong SAR and across Asia. In 1996 he founded and became the Guardian of Sanctuary Resorts, a resort management company creating responsible and sustainable tourism experiences where people can balance their body, mind and spirit in an environmentally friendly space. A Certified Hotel Administrator of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, Andrew was previously a member of the Board of the Indian Ocean Tourism Organization and Director, Asia Pacific Affairs for the International Hotel and Restaurant Association. Andrew is a leading proponent of Corporate Social Responsibility and Wellness in Tourism and is a knowledgeable keynote speaker, moderator and panelist on matters of responsible and sustainable tourism at many hotel, environment and social enterprise forums and conferences as well as at universities and vocational schools. He believes in contributing directly to the community in which he lives and is Chairman Emeritus of the KELY (Kid's Everywhere Like You) Support Group, a Past President of the Rotary Club of Kowloon, and a supporter of numerous other charitable organisations and social ventures in Hong Kong SAR. During the PATA Annual Summit 2016 in Guam, USA, PATA also elected a new Executive Board comprising Sarah Mathews, Head of Destination Marketing Asia Pacific TripAdvisor based in Hong Kong SAR; Stephen Pearce, Vice President Marketing at Tourism Vancouver; Hiran Cooray, Chairman Jetwing Hotels Sri Lanka; Mark Clarkson, Director Business Development Asia Pacific, OAG Singapore; Anthony Lau, Executive Director Hong Kong Tourism Board; Vikram Madhok, Managing Director Abercrombie & Kent India, Ltd.; Chris Bottrill, Dean at the Faculty of Global and Community Studies, School of Tourism Management Capilano University Canada; Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director Macao Government Tourism Office, Macao SAR; Pilar Laguana, Chairperson, PATA Micronesia Chapter, Guam; and Ben Montgomery, Director of Business Relations Management, Centara Hotels & Resorts, Thailand. On the election of the new Executive Board PATA CEO Mario Hardy said, "PATA is committed to ensuring diversity, equality and empowerment in the workplace and I commend our members in electing a diverse Executive Board in representing them. It is important that we lead by example as we want to show our partners and industry colleagues what leadership is truly about and encourage them to follow suit. I congratulate our new Executive Board members on their appointments and I look forward to working with them in creating a better organisation for our members that can make an even greater impact on the travel and tourism industry." Sarah Mathews was elected as the new Vice Chairperson. Stephen Pearce was elected Secretary/Treasurer in place of Basant Mishra, Executive Chairman Temple Tiger Group of Companies in Nepal who had held the position since April 2014. Read more at http://www.etbtravelnews.com About PATA Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for-profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, which including government, state and city tourism bodies; international airlines and airports; hospitality organisations, and educational institutions, as well as thousands of young tourism professional (YTP) members across the world. The PATA network also embraces the grassroots activism the PATA Chapters and Student Chapters, who organise numerous travel industry training programmes and business development events across the world. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 32 local PATA Chapters worldwide, while hundreds of students are members of the 28 PATA Student Chapters globally. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members' desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA's Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing and London. Visit www.PATA.org. MASON CITY, Iowa and MCLEAN, Va. -- Hilton Worldwide's (NYSE: HLT) Hampton by Hilton brand, the global mid-priced hotel that serves value-conscious and quality-driven travelers around the world, today announced the opening of its newest property, Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Mason City. The 83-room hotel joins the Hampton by Hilton family of more than 2,100 Hampton by Hilton and Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton hotels. The hotel, located at 2111 4th Street SW, is managed by Kinseth Hospitality Company. Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Mason City is conveniently located off Highway 18, one mile from North Iowa Mercy Health Center and near 25 industrial offices and manufacturing plants. Visitors interested in learning more about the area's local attractions can visit the Meredith Wilson's "Music Man" Square or the Charles MacNider Art Museum. "On behalf of the Mason City staff, we are pleased to welcome visitors to "River City," said Brandy Smith Branstad, general manager. "The brand's signature Hamptonality customer service will be extended to each and every guest with the goal of making their stay with us a memorable one." The hotel provides guests a fresh start to each day with On the House hot breakfast which includes eggs, oatmeal and waffles. In addition, the hotel provides Hampton's On the RunTM Breakfast Bags filled with a multi-grain bar, an apple, an artisan breakfast bread loaf and a bottle of water with a flavor packet. Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Mason City also offers amenities, such as free Wi-Fi, a 24-hour business center with complimentary printing, two meeting spaces with combined 905 square feet, an indoor pool and hot tub and fitness center. Each guestroom includes high-quality amenities, including the brand's signature Clean and fresh Hampton bed, 40" LCD TV, microwave, refrigerator and coffeemaker. Designed as an extension of the guestroom with a variety of seating and lighting options for both leisure and business travelers, the new hotel features the Perfect Mix Lobby. Within the lobby, guests can find TREATS, a food and beverage shop filled with snacks, toiletries, local merchandise and drinks for purchase. Each guest is guaranteed to be satisfied with every stay, or they don't pay, and that's the 100% Hampton Guarantee. Hampton by Hilton team members proudly exhibit a unique culture described as Hamptonality. This term describes each hotel's approach to friendly customer service and anticipation of guests' needs and providing travelers with helpful suggestions about area attractions, historical facts and fun things to do around town. Hampton by Hilton hotels are infused with local photography and artwork, highlighting each property's connection and support to its own community. Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Mason City participates in Hilton HHonors, the only hotel loyalty program that allows members to earn Points & Miles on the same stay and No Blackout Dates on reward stays. HHonors members always get our lowest price with our Best Price Guarantee, along with HHonors Points, digital check-in and no booking fees only when they book directly through Hilton. For more information or to make reservations, please visit Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Mason City or call +1 614 435 7500. Read more about Hampton by Hilton at www.hampton.com and news.hampton.com. About Hilton Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 18 world-class brands comprising more than 6,800 properties and more than 1 million rooms, in 122 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed more than 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, earned a top spot on the 2021 World's Best Workplaces list and been recognized as a global leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for five consecutive years. In 2021, in addition to opening more than one hotel a day, Hilton introduced several industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the nearly 128 million members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can't buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit newsroom.hilton.com for more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. Jennifer Hughes Director, Brand Public Relations - Hilton Worldwide +1 901 374 6518 Hilton Bulgari Hotels and Resorts signed an agreement today with Russian investor Alexey Bogachev to bring the luxury hospitality brand to Moscow. Moscow-based real estate development company Storm Properties is developer of the project. Plans for the Bulgari Hotel in Moscow have been announced, and it is expected to open in 2019. It will stand as the world's seventh Bulgari Hotel, following the opening of Milan in 2004, Bali in 2006, London in 2012, and the Shanghai, Beijing and Dubai Hotels anticipated for 2017. The agreement was signed in the presence of Alexey Bogachev, investor of the project, and Jean-Christophe Babin, Chief Executive Officer of Bulgari Group, in Moscow. The Hotel will be located in a prestigious luxury area, just 300 meters from the city's landmarks such as the historic Kremlin and the Red Square. As well, it will be adjacent to the Moscow State Conservatory P. I. Tchaikovsky, one of the most important music universities in the world. The Hotel will comprise 65 rooms and suites, including an extraordinary 300-square meter Bulgari Suite with a unique 600-square meter rooftop terrace and will offer magnificent views of the Moscow rooftops and of the Kremlin. A full range of luxury facilities, such as the signature Bulgari restaurant and bar and a 1600 square meter Spa with 25 meter swimming pool, will be at the disposal of the hotel guests and residents. The hotel building is part of a full block development between Bolshaya Nikitskaya and Sredniy Kislovskiy, which will comprise luxury residences and townhouses as well. The Bulgari Hotel in Moscow has been designed by the Italian architectural firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Partners in collaboration with ATRIUM, a renowned Russian architectural bureau with more than 20 years of experience. It is planned to offer a mix of traditional and contemporary themes, and juxtapose new and conventional architecture through the conservative restoration and harmonization of variously dated facades, thereby aptly reflecting the design and style of the surrounding area. The internal building will be totally renovated to incorporate the highest standards of luxury facilities and offer the contemporary style and outstanding service and design for which the Bulgari Hotels are famous. The internal courtyard inspired by the traditional patios of the Italian Renaissance Palaces will offer the hotel guests an exclusive outdoor living space during the warm season. The former residence of a noble family, and later home to the musicians from the Conservatory P. I. Tchaikovsky, the Bulgari Hotel will convey Bulgari's core aesthetic values of contemporary design, magnificent craftsmanship and artistic detail. Commenting on the announcement, the investor of the project Alexey Bogachev said: "I am very excited about the opportunity to cooperate with Bulgari Hotels and Resorts, which is the world's synonymous of outstanding quality and sophisticated taste among the most exacting clients. The combination of Bulgari Hotel and the residences will create a new level of quality for the Moscowmarket." Bulgari's CEO Jean-Christophe Babin said: "We are extremely proud to be able to announce the Bulgari Hotel in Moscow, as it will be another important step for the Bulgari Hotels & Resorts project. Of course, it also is a precious occasion of visibility in such a strategic market for luxury goods, and follows the opening of the Bulgari flagship store in Petrovka. There is a reason these two industry areas (jewellery and hotels) combine perfectly: Bulgari's clients expect a high level of service they can get not only in the brand stores, but also when staying in an extraordinary location with luxury services, in an environment that reflects the Bulgari spirit. In addition, the partnership on this extremely exciting project is with Storm Properties, a leading company in the real-estate field in Russia, and will ensure once again the highest levels of quality and innovation." Antonio Citterio said: "The reconstruction of a whole block in Moscow's historic centre is an operation of great cultural and economic value to the city. The project will consist of the conservative restoration, the harmonization of variously dated facades, the renovation of the internal buildings and the valorisation of the splendid internal courtyard." Opinion / Columnist Mugabe is renowned for his long winded speeches "full of sound and fury but signifying nothing" as Shakespeare would say. When he addressed the one million man march crowd he did delivery another long winded speech with even more sound and fury and signifying nonsense."I belong to my people, my people say stay here, I'm not a Britain, I don't like it, I'm not America n, I'm not a Yankee, I'm not Britain, I told Blair to keep his England so I can keep my Zimbabwe," he said at one point. (The speech would not be complete if he left out bashing the British and the Americans)."So I belong to Zimbabwe, so they say I must go, but within the party, the outsiders why do they want Zimbabwe,to stand down, to resign, retire?"Vanhu vanguka, ndovangati aah, chiretireyi. Ko MDC shungu, itsitsi here dzekunzwira VaMugabe kuti vaneta kana kuti kutya VaMugabe, kutya VaMugabe? So tell the paper that VaMugabe says no, you go hang, hang yourself.""Anyway tiri tese, I am at the service of the people. If the people tell us to go I will go, but as long as I feel I should serve the people and I will do my best as I have done in the past, I will do my best and when time comes I go."Mugabe is fooling no Zimbabwean with all his metaphors! He is saying here and has said the same thing on countless other occasions that it is the British and American who him to go, want regime change. And he is telling them the usual answer "Go hang!"What makes all his panted up anger against the British and American such a phony is that neither the British nor Americans have a democratic say in who governs Zimbabwe; they never had such a say or sought to have it. It is the people of Zimbabwe who should have the democratic say but have never exercised it as Mugabe has systematically deny them the free vote by rigging the elections. It is in reality the people of Zimbabwe who often risked life and limp to try to end his incompetent, corrupt and tyrannical rule. It is the people of Zimbabwe Mugabe has said "Go hang!" repeatedly in the past and is telling on this occasion.It is absolutely imperative that there is a thorough judiciary investigation into Zimbabwe's past elections to establish the historic facts of whether or not President Mugabe has ever rigging elections. If the investigation found that he has indeed rigged elections, then it is in the country's political interest to punish all those responsible for treasonous crime.By rigging elections the criminals were telling the people of Zimbabwe "go hang!" Out of their own mouth comes the nation's judgement; we must hang them instead!--------------Wilbert Mukori Dangerous Woman has replaced Lemonade on the rundown Ariana Grande's new album Dangerous Woman has shot straight to the top of the Irish chart. Her rather excellent LP very impressed in HP, so we are knocks Beyonce's Lemonade from the summit at the first time of asking. Bey still hangs onto No. 2, despite the attention of Christy Moore's Lily, which enters the rundown in third spot. There's another new entry at No. 5 in the shape of Bob Dylan's new effort, Fallen Angels, just behind Drake's Views. And while mainstays Walking On Cars see their Everything This Way staying well within the top 10, the results of Springsteen fever are plain to see both The River (No. 6) and his Greatest Hits (No. 8) climbing the ladder ahead of his Croke Park appointments. Future, Present, Past was released yesterday. The new EP from The Strokes is now available to stream in full. The EP consists of 4 tracks, three new songs written by the band as well as a remix of one of the songs by their drummer Fabrizio Moretti. The new material consists of the tracks, 'Drag Queen', 'OBLIVIUS' and 'Threat of Joy'. Moretti's remix of 'OBLIVIUS' is fourth on the track listing. Future Present Past was revealed on frontman Julian Casablancas' radio show on Sirius XM yesterday evening. Casablanca also gave 'OBLIVIUS' its debut on the show. Listen to the EP in full now. The Strokes have also appeared in a new video interview uploaded to Casablancas' Cult Records YouTube channel. This was uploaded prior to the release of the new record and features no hints towards it. Fans have also been giving their reactions on social media. I want to thank not only god but Jesus for the strokes new song sarAAAAH (@saraaahjohnston) May 27, 2016 The Strokes new song, awesome!! #not Moon Mirror (@lirolmolky) May 27, 2016 Advertisement The Limavady weekender has unveiled its first batch of musical acts Stendhal Festival of Art has unveiled an impressive opening batch of acts for their August weekender. Northern Irish alt rock legends Therapy?, the sensational DJ Yoda, the hottest new act in folk, Lynched, bluegrass heroes Hayseed Dixie and the Mercury Prize-winning Badly Drawn Boy are all headed to the Limavady event in August. There's plenty more top-notch names on the bill too, with a special focus on acts from Norn Iron; the likes of The Bonnevilles, The Emerald Armada, Ports and Ryan Vail will also be strutting their stuff. Others playing a part are deep breath The Pat McManus Band, Paddy Nash and The Happy Enchiladas, Jealous of the Birds, Brand New Friend, Joshua Burnside, Antidote Emcee Showcase, Homespun Soundsystem, Andy The Doorbum, Emma Lusby, Connla, Chris Madden, Lore, Jessica Doherty, Limavady Big Band, Sons of Burlap, The Woodburning Savages, Furlo, Luke Clerkin, Wolves of Youth and The Whereabouts. The festival, winner of Irelands Best Small Festival for three years running, takes place in the beautiful surrounds of Ballymully Cottage Farm, Limavady, on August 12 and 13, and with lots more acts to be confirmed as well as a jam-packed bill of comedy, poetry, theatre, art and family programmes it's shaping up to be another sterling year. Tickets will be available from next week. A shooting at a south Houston apartment complex left one person dead and sent two others to the hospital, authorities said. Houston police homicide detectives have launched an investigation at an apartment in the 5900 block of Selinsky. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As thousands of agriculture professionals descend on Houston next week for the rice industry's annual conference, farmer Wayne England will be busy tending to his 325 acres. England's family has grown long grain rice in Brookshire, just west of Katy, since 1940, when his uncle bought the land and planted his first seeds. Now 65, England will be the last rice farmer in his family line, in a region that was home to thousands more acres of the crop before development turned Katy in a suburban residential direction. His fields produce 14,000 pounds of rice per acre between planting in March and the last harvest in August each year. "I've never really had a summer vacation," he said. For those in the rice industry who aren't tired from back-breaking labor or encroaching suburban sprawl, the business is still challenging. Many of those professionals will be in Houston next week for the Rice Market Technology Convention. The conference, scheduled to bring 500 attendees from 33 countries to Houston Tuesday through Thursday, comes at a time when production costs are higher than the price of rice. Farmers are getting $10.45 per 100 pounds of rough rice, compared to a peak of $16.60 in 2013. Some of that deficit is offset by government subsidies, but farmers still typically need prices of about $14 to break even. Oil prices, too, are making it difficult for U.S. rice producers to find buyers. Countries like Venezuela that rely on oil exports and typically import U.S. rice are buying less of the product during the downturn. Meanwhile, the strength of the U.S. dollar is making American rice more expensive for other countries. Half of all rice grown in the United States is expected to be exported. The upcoming conference will cover niche topics like rice markets in Peru and Colombia, the role rice will play in feeding India's booming population and U.S. agriculture policy. Many in the U.S. rice industry are focused right now on opening up markets in Cuba and increasing exports to onetime big buyers Iraq and Iran. This will be the conference's first year in Houston. Previously, it's been held in Miami, Mexico and Costa Rica. Many of the attendees, from Latin America and Asia, are excited to gather on the Gulf Coast, with rice farms and rice mills just outside the city. England is the only farmer left in his family, though others still help out. One cousin does the books, one works for the farm part-time and the rest of the family pitches in during harvest and planting. England discouraged his two children from entering the farming business. "You make a living, but you don't have a pension," England said. "You have what you make. It's hard work." Long legacy The work has a long legacy in the region. Rice made its way to Houston from the East Coast in the mid-1800s. The crop really took off after 1892, with the launch of the Beaumont Rice Mill, the oldest rice mill in Texas. It's still in operation today, run by the great-grandson of its founder, Joe Broussard. "The soil, the weather, the landscape along the Gulf Coast was found to be ideal for farming rice," said Dwight Roberts, president of the Houston-based U.S. Rice Producers Association, which is hosting the conference. "It's relatively flat, we have a lot of water, it's warm and there's plenty of sunshine. The heavy clay subsoil is good for holding a flood. Things flood easily here, and rice likes to be flooded." When rice prices were at their peak in the 1970s and '80s, Texas dedicated 500,000 acres to it each year, all concentrated in the eastern part of the state. The crops started in Victoria, southwest of Houston, and continued along U.S. 59 into Louisiana. The land is too wet for any other grain. Much has changed in recent decades. Less rice from Katy "Katy was one of the largest, most important rice-growing countries in the world at one point," Roberts said "Now it's mostly shopping malls." The rest of the rice in the United States is grown in Arkansas, California, Mississippi and Missouri. U.S. farmers, like those in Texas, mainly grow long grain rice, which is often used in dry cooking, and doesn't stick. At his Brookshire farm, England grows 723, a hybrid long-grain seed produced by RiceTec. (The farm has always grown long-grain rice, except for a short-lived experiment with soybeans.) This year has already seen Houston's heavy rains wipe out the fields' levees, and the rice needs more water still. "There's a lot of satisfaction in seeing rice grow," England said. And he'll be making sure it does grow, while economists, scientists and agriculture professionals discuss what lies ahead. Opinion / Columnist This week ends with yet another insulting joke for Bulawayo citizens with a much publicised meeting to be addressed by the First Lady under the theme "Consolidating Bulawayo Growth through Zim-Asset. Just the topic alone tells of how Zanupf defines words and situations. Bulawayo is indeed growing according to them and the First Lady is coming to hear or talk of how that growth has been taking place through or by government ministers. How can one really describe such abnormality?The biggest institution that has ever been built in the last 20 years in Bulawayo is the National University of Science and Technology popularly known as NUST. It is said to be only 30% complete. For 20 years! What growth is there to consolidate? The once worldwide acclaimed Cold Storage Commission that supplied meat to Europe and America is a pathetic site. It is now one evidence of destructive policies. No violent action to destroy it whatsoever, not even a peaceful strike and yet it has been dilapidated.Like elsewhere in the whole country, Bulawayo no longer has a viable transport system as it had in the past. Perhaps the first lady is coming to hear or talk about how the police officers have taken over this economic aspect by filling up the roads with their small private cars that are plying as unregistered taxis. Maybe this is the only growth that Zanupf ministers dream of in their consolidating of growth in Bulawayo.Factories were forced to move out of the city to Harare specifically to avoid the frustrations of endless bureaucratic hurdles. Many just shut down as government policies drove away investors by persistent threats. The people of Bulawayo have not seen any construction or opening of a factory in many years. They only saw the Vice President Mphoko opening his Choppies and some super markets. Is that the growth that the First lady and the ministers are coming to consolidate?Recently, a giant project to build an infrastructure at Egodini was stalled by a Government Minister. Just talking of growth, without building anything is ridiculous. This is simply an economic hallucination! Minister Sandi Moyo refused to cooperate with the people of Bulawayo when they requested her to intervene during the innovation of the Luveve ground. They were protesting against the importation of trench diggers from Harare just to dig or cut grass. She vehemently rejected the people of Bulawayo and insinuated that those who raised the issue were tribalists. It is not a surprise that she claims pride of this economically meaningless gathering. Zanu-PF has neither will nor have the capacity to change the economic situation in Bulawayo or anywhere in Zimbabwe. Their aim is to just loot. That is what they know best. The people of Bulawayo are living with this painful experience of seeing their city dying steadily and surely.An appropriate title would be "Dreams and Efforts to Economically Revive Bulawayo". How does a dying city grow? Death and growth of one living thing cannot occur at the same time.----------------Mkhululi Zulu is the ZAPU Bulawayo Province Secretary for Information and Publicity. WASHINGTON - For decades, natural gas flowed into New England through a pipeline owned by Houston-based Spectra Energy with little notice from anyone. Then, three years ago, Spectra announced an almost $1 billion expansion of its Algonquin line to accommodate increased demand for the cheap gas from shale fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The pipeline soon become a target of protests and Web campaigns urging residents to call their congressmen, and attorneys working to block the project in government agencies and the courts. Dozens of infrastructure projects are facing similar challenges as efforts to move the glut of natural gas to new markets here and abroad run up against an environmentalist movement that has seized on pipelines and LNG export terminals as the next frontier in their battle to shift the world away from fossil fuels. And they're gaining traction with politicians. Last month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo rejected a 124-mile pipeline to transport gas through his state from western Pennsylvania to New England. Kinder Morgan, another Houston pipeline company, pulled out of its plans to build a pipeline across Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire after a swell of opposition that included U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a New Hampshire Republican in a tough re-election campaign. "I call it Keystonization," said Marty Durbin, executive director for market development at the American Petroleum Institute, the industry trade group. "In New England, it's gotten to the point they want to stop every pipeline project up there." A new environment While far away from Texas, where oil and gas projects largely get built without so much as a raised eyebrow, growing opposition in other states poses a long-term threat to one of Texas' major industries. From Kinder Morgan to Plains All American, most of the biggest companies that build pipelines, storage and other energy infrastructure either call Houston home or house major operations there. Pipeline companies alone employ more than 10,000 workers in the metropolitan area, according to the Greater Houston Partnership. For years, environmentalists have fought to stop oil and gas drilling on the grounds the greenhouse gases it produced were causing the earth's climate to warm. Last year, the movement scored a historic victory when President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone pipeline on the grounds it would undercut America's position as a leader in the fight against climate change. Now, environmental attorneys are in federal court arguing that any pipeline project must be considered in that same vein, challenging earlier decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "The Sierra Club's view is we need to be transitioning off natural gas as quickly as possible. Whether FERC and Department of Energy agrees or not, (federal law) requires all agencies to look at the environmental impact of their decisions," said Nathan Matthews, a staff attorney at the environmental group. "That requires them not just to look at the direct impacts of their decisions but the indirect effects as well." Decisions on some of those cases are expected from federal appellate judges any day, lawyers said. Industry lawyers said the courts are unlikely to break with long-established protocol that projects are judged on their local environmental impact, not whether they are contributing to climate change. But the sheer volume of challenges from environmental groups, both in court and at FERC, has increased the average the time it takes to permit a project and start construction from three to four years, said Don Santa, president of the pipeline trade group Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. "Historically, pipelines have dealt with affected landowners and communities that are acutely affected by a pipeline, but now you have these anti-fossil-fuel groups jumping in," he said. How to meet demand? The holdups come as natural gas drillers are desperate to find new markets for their product. With the advent of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the United States continues to produce more and more gas - 27 trillion cubic feet last year, about 50 percent more than in 2005. As a result, natural gas is trading at historic lows and almost everyone wants to use it. Petrochemical facilities are opening in and around Houston. In the frigid Northeast, homeowners and businesses are switching heating systems from fuel oil to natural gas. And as coal and nuclear power plants shutter, new gas-fired generators take their place. Growing overseas demand, meanwhile, is creating opportunities for U.S. exports to places like Europe and Southeast Asia, where gas has historically sold at a premium. The challenge for industry, however, is getting it from shale fields in Texas, Pennsylvania and other states to domestic and international markets. Last year, FERC approved the construction of 47 new pipelines, enough to move close to 16 million cubic feet of gas a day - three times what the agency approved in 2012. And plants to liquefy natural gas for export are starting to come online, including Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass terminal on Louisiana's Gulf Coast earlier this year. But many of those projects are in court. The Sierra Club has sued to block further construction at Sabine Pass as well the Freeport LNG terminal scheduled to open in 2018 abut 50 miles south of Houston. Customers are worried about delays to the projects. In the Northeast, for example, grid officials are trying to avoid a repeat of the winter of 2013-14, when a shortage of natural gas caused average wholesale power prices to spike to almost twice their normal rate. What's the alternative? Many natural gas advocates, such as U.S. Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land, said they don't understand environmentalists' opposition. Natural gas produces only half as much carbon dioxide as coal and has played a major role in reducing greenhouse gases releases, they said. For example, the shift from coal to natural gas power plants has contributed to a 10 percent decline the the U.S. energy sector's carbon emissions - a drop of more than 650 million tons between 2007 and 2014, according to the Energy Department. A bill passed by the House last year, which still awaits a vote in the Senate, would give FERC more authority to get pipelines and other energy infrastructure built. "Groups like the Sierra Club have taken a leading role in shutting down coal plants. If they also block pipelines needed to move natural gas to market, they are cutting off one of the few remaining affordable forms of (reliable) power," Olson said. "Wind and solar are great and important in Texas, but they are not ready to power the entire grid." But for a growing numbers of environmentalists, there is no compromise. The latest studies by international scientists say that if current warming trends continue, oceans could rise up to six feet by 2100, inundating coastlines around the world. Those within the pipeline sector, however, worry that if environmentalists continue to gain momentum, their projects will become too difficult to build. A jury ruled in favor of Google on Thursday in a long-running legal dispute with Oracle over software used to power most of the world's smartphones. Oracle contended that Google used copyrighted material in 11,000 of its 13 million lines of software code in Android, its mobile phone operating system, and asked for $9 billion from Google. Google said it made fair use of that code and owed nothing. The victory for Google will cheer many other software developers, who operate much the way Google did when it comes to so-called open-source software. Unlike the traditional software created by corporations and tightly held, open-source products are released, often with some restrictions, for anyone to use and modify. The decision, delivered in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, means that for now Oracle cannot collect anything from Google's use of Android. Android relies in part on Java software, an open-source language that Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion in 2010. Oracle argued that Google executives violated Oracle's copyright by using aspects of Java without permission. William Fitzgerald, a Google spokesman, said the verdict "represents a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products." Dorian Daley, Oracle's general counsel, said the company planned to appeal. "We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market," she said. "Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Google's illegal behavior." While there is an expectation in open-source projects that the software tweaks of others will be given back to the community working on the software, open source often requires a license as well. Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, Google's parent company, testified in court that Sun knew Google was using Java and approved of that use even though Google did not obtain a license. Jonathan Schwartz, who was chief executive of Sun before Oracle bought it, backed up that view, and a blog post he wrote praising Android was a major piece of evidence in the trial. Oracle provided a convoluted series of emails and meeting documents that went against that view, suggesting that Larry Page, co-founder of Google and chief executive of Alphabet, had pressed the Android team to develop the product quickly. Page denied this on the stand. Declaring code The particular areas of copyright protection in Java involved the so-called declaring code in application programming interfaces, or APIs, which have become the common way that networked programs on the Internet share data. Declaring code establishes standards and meanings by which future lines of software, the actual effects the software seeks to create, will operate. This distinction compelled the 10 jurors - eight women and two men - to understand extensive testimony by engineers and economists about the nature of code, and the copyrightable implications of this type of creativity. Silicon Valley history In addition to weighing an extended dispute over software copyright, the trial offered spectators a rare look at Silicon Valley history. Not only did Schmidt work at Sun and Google, he sat on the board of Apple when Apple was developing the iPhone, leading him to testify that he had recused himself from board discussions about the iPhone when it was clear Android would be a competing product. Andy Rubin, who led the Android project at Google, worked at Apple early in his career and later developed a type of multifunction phone, which had a Java license. Oracle's executive chairman, Lawrence Ellison, who appeared in video testimony, was friends with Steve Jobs, who led development of the iPhone, and Scott McNealy, a co-founder and the chief executive of Sun before Schwartz. The oil bust has been hard on thousands of families who've lost their livelihoods to a layoff notice. But it's been particularly cruel to a particular type of worker: Those whose right to stay in the United States depends on having a job. Since at least 2010, Houston has been the second-largest requester of workers on H1-B visas, which allow companies to bring in skilled foreigners for a period of up to six years. In fiscal year 2015, the federal Department of Labor certified 30,886 requests by Houston employers for those visas. Not all of those were granted; actual visas are allocated by lottery, since there's a hard cap on the total given out. Further muddying the picture, the actual location of the worker is not disclosed. But the number is a useful proxy for demand over time, and relative to other cities. While the vast majority of H1-B visa holders work as computer programmers, systems analysts, and software developers, many of them work for outsourcing firms that contract with energy companies. And over the past year, they've been let go in droves. Dakshini Senanayake, the head of a Houston law firm that specializes in visa cases, says five or six H1-B oil and gas workers a day walk through her door after being told they're out of a job. "Sometimes I myself feel depressed. It's very sad," Senanayake says. The pain may be worse, she says, for people who've been in the United States for as long as a decade, which is allowed under visa extensions while a green card application is being processed. It can be even longer, if they went to school on a student visa before getting a job. If the worker's employment terminates before permanent residence is granted, he or she is out of luck: Their permission to stay in the country technically ends the day they're no longer receiving a paycheck. That can leave families who bought houses and raised children here in a terrible position, as American Public Media's Marketplace illuminated in a radio segment last week. It's not just H1-B workers. Part of Houston's expatriate community is composed of people on L-1 visas, which are also granted to executives at foreign companies that transfer them to the United States temporarily. Awty International School, where 40 percent of the student body is made up of non-U.S. citizens, has a mix of both. On account of the oil bust, Awty's head of school Lisa Darling says there's been more churn than normal. Over her three years in the position at the largely Francophone private school, she's had to learn the energy industry lingo, since the market determines where her next batch of applications might come from. "Upstream, they're just not bringing the number of expats they normally do, and some people have pulled up for sure," says Darling, referring to international companies in the exploration and extraction part of the oil business. "But downstream is thriving, and bringing lots of people to work on projects." For Awty, while enrollment has been steady, there's a higher degree of anxiety in the hallways lots of kids have parents in the industry who've just been laid off, or have been called back to their home countries, or sent somewhere else. "Absolutely we've seen the impact," Darling says. "A number of our current families are really up in the air, out of work. It's definitely painful for a number of people here." Those in the higher ranks of a company usually have more flexibility, or at least cushion, to figure out what they're doing next. Those on H1-B visas, especially those working for an industry that by and large isn't hiring, have few good options. The fortunate have spouses who still have jobs, which means they can become dependents. Sometimes, Senanayake can help her clients 90 percent of whom are Indian, she says transfer to a student visa, if they can manage to enroll in a degree program. Occasionally, they can find work with another company. But time is not on their side, and expedited processing fees can mount into the thousands of dollars. "Nothing is fast," Senanayake says. "The only thing that is fast is that pink slip." Ultimately, the oil downturn may not knock Houston too far down in the ranks of H1-B users. The medical and educational fields have also requested thousands of them. But that doesn't do much good for the oil and gas workers whose skill sets are not longer needed. The water in the normally empty reservoir had dropped only a few feet by the time we stood on the earthen dam looking down at the dark, opaque blue-gray surface. After almost a month, the rippling water below was still some 23 feet deep, and extended as far as we could see along the thirteen-mile long dam and far into the thousands of acres of flooded woods. It had taken only a little more than 24 hours for the rains that began on April 18 to fill the vast flood control reservoirs in west Houston with a record amount of water: a total of more than 206,000 acre feet, a massive amount of water. Imagine 206,000 acres covered in a foot of water. Enough to cover more than eight times the acreage of both reservoirs to a depth of one foot. That much water would take an estimated four weeks to drain, according to reports at the time. But that was only if there was no more rain. There was more rain, and it was taking much longer. The reservoirs, vast wooded parks with recreational facilities and nature paths, are still draining. As of May 24, the combined total of the two reservoirs was still about 90,000 acre-feet, down to a little less than half. Susan Chadwick And Buffalo Bayou was still flowing high and fast, higher and faster for longer than ever before. Property owners upstream had flooded and property owners downstream who had hoped for more moderate flows were instead seeing long-standing trees falling into the fast-flowing stream, banks eroding, sediment collecting, debris causing water to back up onto their property. Why was this happening? And is there a way out of it? Rapid to rise. Slow to drain. Not since 1992 had the water been so high behind the two federal dams that protect the city of Houston from catastrophic flooding downstream on Buffalo Bayou. In fact, until recently, most Houstonians, even those who grew up here, were probably unaware or only vaguely aware that there are dams that prevent the center of the city, including downtown, from massive flooding. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which built the dams in the 1940s, claims that without the dams, the April 18 Tax Day flood would have caused $5 billion in damage and flooded 24,000 homes and businesses. That's according to Richard Long, the supervisory natural resources manager for the Corps Galveston District, during a recent visit to Barker Dam. Both dams were built in response to major flooding in downtown Houston in 1929 and 1935, flooding that also prompted the creation of the Harris County Flood Control District. Interestingly, the reservoirs were not excavated, pointed out Long. The land is naturally, if slightly, slanted towards the gulf. From the western edge of government-owned land in Addicks Reservoir to the bottom of the dam outlets, the drop is 35.5 feet. The drop in elevation in Barker Reservoir is 25.2 feet. A tilted tabletop. With gulleys and ravines, creeks, rivers, wetlands, and some precious remaining riparian forests. Buffalo Bayou, which originates west of the dams in the Katy Prairie, flows for 53 miles through Barker Reservoir, through parks and well-to-do neighborhoods and downtown Houston, past more parks and much older, working class neighborhoods and industrial areas, becoming the Houston Ship Channel and eventually entering Galveston Bay. Along the way, numerous creeks and large streams flow into the 18,000-year-old bayou, known as the Mother Bayou. These tributaries include Mason, Stoney, and Spring Branch creeks, and Niemans, White Oak, Brays, Sims, Hunting, Greens, and Vince bayous. Bear Creek, South Mayde Creek, Langham and Horsepen creeks flow through the Addicks Reservoir and join Buffalo Bayou below Barker Dam. The original 1940 plan was not just for two dams on Buffalo Bayou, however. There was also to be a dam on White Oak Bayou and a levee on Cypress Creek to the north, where there was major flooding on April 18. There were also to be two major canals: one on the north feeding into the San Jacinto River and another on the south that emptied into Galveston Bay. The plan was ignored, wisely or not. It wasn't the first plan Houston had ignored. Before, there had been a 1913 plan created for the Houston Park Commission by landscape architect Arthur Comey (see page 53). Rather fantastical by today's standards, it called for woodland parks along all the bayous parks extending some four to six miles from the banks. Then again, that plan might have been more practical. And beautiful. And healthy. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Probably get worse The dams enabled development close to the bayou. The charming meanders and majestic trees that naturally flourish along the banks attracted developers who built residential subdivisions, as well as office buildings, highrise towers, and parking lots. Development on the bayou and in the prairie upstream and downstream has also increased impermeable surface, causing faster, more concentrated runoff into the reservoirs and into the bayou. (Flooding below the dams now happens because of that fast, heavy runoff from streets, buildings, parking lots, and other paved or hardened surfaces. And mostly its flooding that happens before the stormwater gets into the bayou.) Heavier, more concentrated rains, dumping more water in one place all at once, also have been increasing and are expected to continue increase, according to Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon. There will be more water rising faster. And that's plain flooding, not related to hurricanes. Hurricanes have not really been what has hit us over the years, said Long, who was wearing a long-sleeved oxford blue shirt embroidered with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in red over the pocket. A civilian employee like many of the staff, Long has been working for the Corps for 38 years 35 of those years at the dams. Houston does not have a dry season, he said. The Tax Day Flood The water rose high enough in the 13,108-acre reservoir behind Addicks Dam that by the afternoon of April 21 it was backing up into the streets of Bear Creek Village, the residential neighborhood built rather unwisely close to the reservoir in the 1970s, some twenty-five years after Addicks Dam was completed. On April 18 the heavily burdened skies had dropped some 17.5 inches of rain in 24 hours on parts of northwest Harris County above the dams. Wild animals deer, coyote, alligators, snakes were fleeing the rising waters in the forests of both reservoirs, some 25,000 acres of federally-owned land in total. Harris County workers were attempting to rope and rescue Buffy the Bison, swept up in the impounded waters that flooded the 2,154-acre Bear Creek Park and its small zoo and community center inside Addicks Reservoir. Harris County Flood Warning System By the evening of April 21 the rains had stopped, at least temporarily. Staff of the Corps of Engineers walked out to the dams and onto the gray metal platforms jutting out over the reservoir lakes and began pushing the green buttons that open the gates five in Addicks and six in Barker that release water held back behind the dams. Water that smelled like sewage, though its not. The putrid smell from the bottom of the reservoir pools is natural. Its decomposing vegetation, said Long. Its just a natural process. Balancing act And thus began a lengthy and complicated balancing act: releasing enough water to drain the reservoirs fast enough to make storage room for future, perhaps imminent storm water that had to be impounded to prevent flooding downstream (the primary purpose of the dams), while not flooding homes upstream and yet without releasing the water so fast that it causes more flood damage to homes and property downstream. Monitoring the weather. Closing the gates when its raining; opening them when the rain stops. Dealing with complaints from property owners up and downstream. One might expect the control center for the dams to look like NASA, with big colorful high-tech screens for monitoring the weather, the rising waters, the submerged conduits. It doesnt. The Addicks Field Office on Highway 6 South is a small, modest building, though strongly barricaded, with ordinary long tables, simple portable computers, dry erase boards, old maps, and a coffee room. The parking lot floods in the rain. Inspectors in red Army Corps T-shirts whove just been patrolling and checking the dams in a truck (the dams are inspected 24/7, said Long) were sitting together at a table looking at small laptop screens. We are talking to the National Weather Service and Flood Control hourly, said Long. Around the time of the Tax Day rains there were maybe thirty people from the Galveston District office crowded into the small building, he said. Long has also been talking to reporters, answering emails and phone calls, and even talking to people knocking on the locked door of the office wanting to know what was happening with the dams. The known unknowns Theres also the unknown of having the reservoir levels rise higher than they ever have before. The maximum pool level of Barker Reservoir the level at which water begins to spill around the ends of the dams is 104 feet above sea level, or about 34 feet above the bottom of Buffalo Bayous streambed and the gate outlets. The Barker pool of record in 1992 is 93.6 feet, and on April 21 the reservoir hit 95 feet. The maximum pool of Addicks is 108 feet above sea level or 40.5 feet above the bottom of the outlets. On April 21 the level of Addicks reservoir hit 103 feet. The 1992 pool of record was 97.64 feet. It was a record pool by far, said Long. It doubled the record of acre-feet from the prior pool of record in Addicks. In 2009 the dams were labeled extremely high risk, a classification based in large part on the fact that the dams protect so many homes, businesses, and people in the nations fourth most populous city. The Corps identified two areas of concern: voids under the conduits and seepage around the conduits and ends of the dams. The Corps did some repairs, and the dams are now operating normally, said Col. Richard Pannell, district commander, in a March 9, 2016, public meeting. But the plan is to build entirely new conduits for the dams, a $72 million construction project that has been delayed by the rains. Potential for failure Much attention has been focused on the extremely high risk designation and the seepage problems. Seepage is in fact a major cause of dam failure. Long, during a truck ride down the gravel road on top of Barker Dam, pointed out the many small pipes stuck in the ground on and around the dam. They were piezometers that measure changes in the pressure of the groundwater and detect seepage through the dams. But seepage is only one cause of dam failure. Overtopping, water flowing over the top of a dam, is the most frequent cause of dam failure in the United States. Long said the Houston dams were designed not to overtop. They will never overtop, he said. Water instead flows around the ends of the dams and the emergency spillways. So far the reservoirs have never done that. Operational failure, including debris blockage, gates getting stuck, and a reluctance to open the gates and flood people out are other frequent causes of dam failure. When to open the gates Property owners on Buffalo Bayou downstream were hoping for a moderate release rate from the dams after the Tax Day rains that would spare their trees and banks (and parks) from further damage. Something that did not exceed 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured by the US Geological Survey gauge at Piney Point. It was not to be. On April 18, during the height of the storm, when the dam gates were closed, the flow in Buffalo Bayou reached nearly 7,000 cfs, as measured by the gauge at Piney Point. (The Memorial Day flood on May 26, 2015, exceeded 7,000 cfs and reached 8,500 cfs, according to the Harris County Flood Control District, page 9.) As of this writing, combined releases from the dams, measured by the Piney Point gauge, have exceeded 3,000 cubic feet per second for longer than even after the Memorial Day flood, the first time the Corps deliberately raised the release rate to 3,000 cfs, and frequently have reached 3,700 cfs. Homes downstream are expected to flood above 4,000 cfs. Don Jones lives on the bayou downstream and lost trees during the 3,000-plus cfs releases that continued for some eleven days after the Memorial Day floods. (Overall it took seven weeks to drain the reservoirs of water from the Memorial Day rains, page 10). Jones was one of those who hoped the releases from the dams following the Tax Day rains would not exceed 2,000 cfs, which is the Corps normal maximum release rate. Like many others Jones was disappointed. Right now I have a tree that is still standing in the bayou 30 feet from dry land, he wrote in a comment to our website. It wont be there for long. When the Corp is finished releasing water we will see a lot more erosion than last year. Long said the Corps normally tries to limit releases to a maximum of 2,000 cfs. But at 2,000 cfs it would have taken forever to get rid of the water behind the dams, he said. To be exact, without any further rain, it would have taken 52 days and perfect weather to get rid of 206,000 acre feet of water behind the dams. But there was more rain, which causes the Corps to close the dam gates and adds more water to the reservoirs. So instead we have seen flows above 3,000 and up to 3,700 cfs in Buffalo Bayou for nearly five weeks. Our goal is to keep the reservoirs empty, said Long. Susan Chadwick Somebody is going to be inconvenienced On the afternoon of April 21 the Harris County Flood Control District issued a warning to residents in the Bear Creek Village subdivision adjacent to Addicks Reservoir that rising water from the reservoir would likely flood their streets. Streets and homes did flood. But Long insisted that the flooding of homes was not caused by water from the reservoir but by poor drainage. We did not put any water in any houses anywhere, he said. All the flooding in houses up there was the result of heavy rains and runoff trying to get into the reservoir. Richard Hyde, a geologist who lives in the neighborhood, agreed. His home and garage were badly flooded, along with many others, by a storm drain belonging to Utility District 6, covered in rebar, chicken wire, and debris, that blocked rainwater in the drainage ditch from getting to the reservoir. That was the responsibility of the utility district, said Hyde, and he wasnt happy about it. As a result of the blocked utility district drainage ditch, there was waist-deep water in the street in front of his house during the height of the flooding, and water in the street for a week, he said. His backyard adjacent to the reservoir remained dry. We never were flooded by the reservoir, he said. James Nielsen/Houston Chronicle The future It will keep raining. Developers will keep developing. Drains will be blocked. And the waters will keep rising. Eventually the limits will be tested. Whats the solution? The Corps is planning to study these issues in whats called a Section 216 study. Though the study is required by law, it is also contingent on federal funding from Congress. Among other things, the study is expected to address the eventuality of the reservoirs reaching maximum capacity and flowing around the ends of the dams, as well as non-breach flood risk and potential operational concerns upstream and downstream. (Page 30.) The first thing theyve got to do is look at the big picture, said Long as we drove back to the field office. Theres not going to be one solution. Theres going to be multiple solutions that we have to look at, he said. We have put ourselves in a situation here that forces some drastic action each time we have a big rainfall, said Long. Somebody is going to be inconvenienced. Either the people upstream or the people downstream. And the answer will also be an inconvenience. Susan Chadwick is executive director of Save Buffalo Bayou. This article first appeared on the group's website. Bookmark Gray Matters. One might expect the control center to look like NASA, with big colorful high-tech screens for monitoring the weather, the rising waters, the submerged conduits. It doesn't. Montgomery County has released a list of roads left flooded or impassable by heavy rains Thursday night and Friday morning. County emergency management officials said that the storms dumped 2 to 10 inches of rain on the suburb north of Houston. County officials warned motorists not to drive around barricades or road closures, noting that a car can be swept off a road by as little as 1 foot of water. The Conroe and Willis school districts were closed Friday, while there were 2-hour delays in the Magnolia and Montgomery school districts. County Judge Craig Doyal said non-essential personnel and those not responsible for flood response did not have to report to work today due to the flooding. Here is the list of roads the county identified as flooded or impassable as of late Friday morning: Rose Road just north of 1484 high water FM 1486 / Friar Tuck high water Roberts Cemetery Road/ Charles Circle @ Spring Creek Bridge high water Rolling Hills /Crystal Court high water Valleywood Road & Borough Park high water Sawdust Road & S. Millbend Drive high water FM 2978 at Egypt Lane high water FM 2090 west of Morgan Drive high water 23747 FM 2090 in front or near Splendora High School high water FM 1488 / FM 1774- Several spots between 1774 & Old Hockley high water Spring Branch Rd between Tri-lakes Rd and Landrum Village is closed due to the road being washed out, barricades in place. The bridge at Buffalo Springs between Lone Star Pkwy and FM 1097 is out, road has been closed Information: www.mctxoem.org This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The way state Sen. Rodney Ellis sees it, a public accusation deserves a public response. So when a conservative Harris County commissioner suggested at a meeting this week that Ellis should "shut up or state the right facts" about incarceration rates in Harris County, the Democratic legislator fired back. "In an outburst more in the style of Donald Trump rather than the more staid Commissioner's Court, Commissioner Radack called me out by name and told me to 'shut up' about criminal justice reforms in our community," Ellis retorted in a statement Thursday, challenging Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack to a public debate. "As long as I have the privilege of public service, I'm not going to shut up." The exchange this week between Ellis, a former Houston City Council member who was elected to the state Senate in 1990, and Radack, a former county constable first elected commissioner in 1988, is a far cry from traditional discourse on commissioners court. Political observers said the spat could be a preview of things to come if Ellis is chosen in June as the next Precinct 1 commissioner."Traditionally, you see a lot of agreement in the court, at least public agreement in the court," said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist. "This is much more unique." Because longtime Precinct 1 Commissioner El Franco Lee's name remained on the March primary ballot even though he died in January, it will fall to 125 Democratic voting precinct chairs to pick the party nominee for his seat, which covers much of urban Houston. Many see the race as one between Ellis and Gene Locke, who was appointed to the Precinct 1 seat following Lee's death. On Thursday, Locke came to Ellis' defense. "Commissioner Radack should back down and treat Sen. Ellis with the respect his office deserves," Locke said in a statement. The disagreement between Ellis and Radack, both of whom have a reputation for outspokenness, can be traced to the senator's recent assertion that Harris County has "some of the highest jailing and incarceration rates in the U.S. and the world." The county has been the target of much criticism over criminal justice issues, including crowding in the jail, and officials in recent years have stepped up initiatives to reform bail practices and divert inmates out of jail, among other efforts. Radack read aloud Ellis' statement at the commissioners' meeting on Tuesday. Radack then pointed out that Harris County's incarceration rate is in the middle of the pack in Texas, an assertion supported by figures from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "We need serious people to deal with serious problems," Radack said in an interview Thursday. "When you go out and say things that just aren't true, you're not helping the situation, you're hurting the situation." He noted that he was not telling Ellis to shut up about criminal justice reform, as Ellis said in his statement, but specifically any misinformation about incarceration rates. Ellis said he stands behind his statement, noting that he did not say Harris County had the absolute highest rate and that his use of the word "some" gives him latitude. He said Harris County is No. 1 among large, urban counties. Rottinghaus said that regardless of the specifics of the argument, the back-and-forth itself could give Ellis a boost in his bid for commissioner. "If we consider this a partisan fight, then he is doing the right thing to frame this as an issue which requires a firmer hand on the tiller to ... address the issue," he said. Both Radack and Ellis played down whether the disagreement would negatively affect work on commissioners court if Ellis is elected. "I'll try to work with anybody that the voters send to work with me," Radack said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Tom Morgan was on Saipan on Aug. 6, 1945, practicing combat drills for the anticipated invasion of Japan when a B-29 Superfortress called the Enola Gay dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Within two weeks - after "Fat Man," a second atomic bomb, was dropped on Nagasaki - Japan capitulated and Operation Downfall, as the invasion would have been called, became a footnote in military history. Morgan, who retired from the oil business and remains a reserve deputy with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, remembers when word of Japan's surrender reached him and his fellow Marines a couple of days later. "I was delighted. I knew that my chances of surviving (the invasion) were pretty slim," he said. "I didn't know what an 'atomic bomb' was. All I knew was that a big bomb had gone off and it was pretty powerful." During his trip to Japan, President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Hiroshima on Friday, the first sitting U.S. chief executive to step foot there since the bomb killed 140,000 people and devastated the city. His predecessors, both Republicans and Democrats, avoided such a trip for fear it would be seen as an apology. 'Everybody was going' Obama has made clear he is not apologizing. Still, his trip has touched off controversy - but not for several "Greatest Generation" combat veterans who would have faced Japanese soldiers on their own territory if not for the atomic bombs. "I think it's a nice gesture and it's not a gesture of weakness. I don't think anybody in the world doubts our strength," said Bob Cook, 91, who spent two years fighting in the Pacific as a Marine. "I never felt badly toward the Japanese. I didn't have any hatred toward them." Both Morgan and Cook said the 1945 decision by President Harry S. Truman to order the bombing of Japan was the only way to end the war quickly. "They loved (Japanese Prime Minister Hideki) Tojo and they loved their emperor," Morgan said. "As long as he was telling them to fight, they were going to fight." However, neither man disagreed with Obama's unprecedented visit to Hiroshima, which has rekindled the long-running debate over the choice to drop the bombs. Truman had become president just a few months earlier, when Franklin Roosevelt died; until then, Truman had been kept in the dark about the Manhattan Project, the top-secret program to develop the atomic bomb. Within weeks of Roosevelt's death, the war in Europe ended and the nation's full attention turned to defeating Japan. The number of soldiers required to invade the island country would have dwarfed even the Allies' D-Day landing in France in June 1944. "A lot of the troops that were in Europe were training to be shipped to the Pacific. Everybody was going to go," said Jeremiah Ross Dancy, a military historian at Sam Houston State University. U.S. officials expected up to a million Allied casualties from the landings on Kyushu and Honshu, Japan's two main islands. They ordered Purple Heart medals in the hundreds of thousands in anticipation of vast numbers of killed and wounded. "It's still the supply of Purple Hearts that we use today," Dancy said. Morgan, 95, had no illusions about the tenacity of the Japanese soldiers he would have faced. He had been fighting them since the Guadalcanal Campaign, the first major ground offensive against Japan. Their troops came endlessly at the Americans, like waves crashing on a beach. "We strung out our barbed wire, but they would just come right over the wire," he said. "They just kept coming until we killed them all. That was about as bad as it gets." 'Children with spears' Cook, who owned an electrical repair shop until he retired, was on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands when news of the atomic bombs came over the shortwave radio. He had also expected an invasion of Japan to be a bloody struggle. "We heard they even armed their little children with spears," Cook said. "We would have suffered a lot of casualties." Morgan landed on dozens of Pacific islands, each of which was defended stubbornly by Japanese soldiers. "They all fought to the death. We didn't take any prisoners," he said. "I never let my mind dwell on being killed. If it had, I'd have been a psycho case." The Japanese grew more relentless the closer the Allies got to their homeland, Morgan recalled. A kamikaze suicide airplane struck his transport ship, the USS Hinsdale, soon after it dropped anchor for the invasion of Okinawa - about 400 miles south of the Japanese mainland. He eventually linked up with other Marines and landed on the island. The final campaign of the war, the Battle of Okinawa took three months and left 14,000 Allied troops dead. A debated decision To Morgan, the fierce fighting there was a clear indication the Japanese would not easily submit to an invasion force on their homeland. "They were going to put their farmers and womenfolk and everyone on the front line. I figured we were going to have to go in and kill every one of them," he said. Dancy cited several reasons he believes Truman decided to use the atomic bombs: Japan could have held out against an invasion force for at least a year, resulting in unacceptably high Allied casualties. In that case, the country could have looked like divided Germany, with half the country under the control of the Soviet Union, which entered the war against Japan at the 11th hour, he said. "It would have been a giant mess," Dancy said. The decision to use the atomic bombs on Japan was popular with an American public tiring of the long war. Some of those who helped give birth to the "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" bombs had concerns about their use, however. "It ushered in a new era. They knew that the character of warfare was going to change," Dancy said. "The scientists understood that a new arms race was going to take off." But for Morgan and others who fought in the Pacific, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki meant they would finally be able to continue their lives. "I really just wanted to go back home," he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jason Perry recalls that when he was a student at Pearland High School, classmates held him down and urinated on him, part of a pattern of cruelty that led him to attempt suicide twice. One day he drove his car into a fuel tanker truck - to his chagrin, it didn't explode "like in the movies" - and another time he took pills. After the collision with the tanker, Perry recalled, "I was crying because I was still alive and that meant I had to go to Pearland High School tomorrow and get called a name that rhymes with maggot." Some 15 years after Perry graduated, the superintendent of the Pearland school district, John Kelly, responded publicly to federal government guidance urging local school districts to permit students to use restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. "In my personal opinion, this is one more example of unconstitutional interference and social engineering by the federal government," Kelly said in a written statement to the Pearland Journal for a May 17 article. "When the Supreme Court redefined marriage and invented new constitutional rights, the door was opened for redefining all social norms, now including executive branch dictates about bathroom and locker room rules in local schools." There's a lot to unpack in that verbiage, but Kelly was just getting warmed up: "A hostile vocal minority now rules in America aided by an apathetic, unengaged majority," his statement continued. "What's next? Legalizing pedophilia and polygamy? Unless we return to the biblical basis on which our nation's laws were established, we are in serious trouble - and cannot expect God's continued favor." Perry and other speakers responded at a school board meeting Tuesday. Some called for him to apologize or resign; at least one speaker supported him. The following day, leaders of Texas and 10 other states sued the federal government challenging the transgender guidance; like Kelly, they spoke of executive overreach. Kelly declined through a spokesman to comment. Asked recently what he'd say to a transgender student or parents offended by his remarks, he told the Chronicle's Glynn Hill, "We love and respect all the children in Pearland ISD." It doesn't feel that way to Erica Ciszek, an assistant professor in the University of Houston's communications school. She and her wife live in Pearland and have a preschool-age daughter. In an essay for the Chronicle's Gray Matters website, Ciszek wrote that Kelly's comments "make Pearland feel unwelcoming and unsafe for our family." Ciszek told me that she and her wife are concerned about the environment that a child of same-sex parents might face in a school system whose leader believes the Supreme Court "invented new constitutional rights" when it sanctioned gay marriage. "We're very actively considering private school," she said. Pearland has changed a lot since Jason Perry went to school there. Its population has roughly tripled, to more than 103,000. Many of the new residents are migrants from other parts of the country, like Ciszek, who says she grew up on the East Coast and moved to Pearland from Eugene, Ore., to take the UH job. A little country town in Houston's shadow has become a diverse, rapidly growing city with increasingly urban sensibilities. As Pearland has grown, its leaders have tried to tamp down perceptions of a cultural divide between "old Pearland" on the east and "new Pearland" on the west. But Ciszek sees this schism in Kelly's comments and the reaction to them. "The superintendent is representative of the east side of the city," she said. The growing pains of a booming suburb, though, are not the only dynamic at work here. More broadly, the debate and litigation about who uses which bathrooms reflect a struggle to expand our collective vision of social justice. Opponents of the Obama administration's directive question whether federal civil-rights laws extend to transgender people. During a news conference announcing the lawsuit against the administration, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton refused to answer when he was asked if he believes transgender children exist. Against this backdrop, consider the plight of a teenager standing between doors marked "boys" and "girls" in a Pearland school hallway. This student was born with the anatomy of one gender but feels like the other, and now may feel a stab of fear while considering which door to choose. Jason Perry deserved better years ago, and so does that kid in the hallway. Pearland ISD Superintendent John Kelly drew some sharp responses to his comments about federal guidance on issues related to transgender students, as I explored in my Friday column. The column quoted at length from Kelly's statement to the Pearland Journal, but it didn't include his description of the district's policy regarding bathroom access. Here's what he said about that: It has been the position of Pearland ISD administration that children whose parents declare them "transgender" must go to the bathroom for the sex indicated on their birth certificate. Such student(s) have also been allowed to use a private bathroom (such as in the nurse's station) if they are so inclined. That's essentially the same policy adopted Monday by the 100-student Harrold Independent School District in North Texas, a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and leaders of 10 other states. The suit challenges guidance from the Obama administration urging districts to permit students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. The policy in Harrold, as Andrea Zelinski of the Chronicle's Austin bureau reported, states that "every multiple occupancy bathroom or changing facility shall be designated for and used by only individuals based on their biological sex." The policy allows for "reasonable accommodations" when needed. After the suit was filed, Paxton urged local school district administrators to take no immediate action on their policies while the lawsuit proceeds, Zelinski reported. A couple of other points that didn't make it into the column: An online petition calling on Kelly to apologize for his remarks had drawn 485 signatures by Friday morning. The full audio of public speakers at Tuesday's Pearland ISD board meeting can be heard here. Most of the speakers focused on Kelly's transgender remarks. The Menninger Clinic announced Thursday that $1 million would be provided to boost mental health initiatives in after-school programs across Houston. The money will go toward Connect to Character After-School and Summer Program, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, Breakthrough Houston, the Pasadena Independent School District, Project GRAD, Workshop Houston and, in collaboration with ProUnitas, Inc., Kashmere Community BridgeUp Model, according to Texas Medical Center News. Opinion / Columnist In 1983 the government of Robert Mugabe, the then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe started mass killings in Matebeleland and Midlands, which international organisations have now certified as genocide against the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe. The physical genocide stopped in 1987 when Dr Joshua Nkomo signed the humiliation document, known as the Unity Accord.People were not allowed to mourn their loved ones and were also not allowed to bury them according to their customs, which in actual fact means that their loved ones' souls haven't rested in peace.Many organisations have tried to institute commemorations for the genocide and to initiate proper mourning and reburial programs; however, the Zanu-PF government is not interested and uses its police to stifle the progress towards psychological healing of the victims of the genocide.From nowhere God has sent a Theatre Group of young visionary, fearless and vibrant youth from South Africa to tell the forbidden story. The Siphesakhe Theatre Group has come up with a play called Uloyiko a Xhosa word for fear.The creators of uLoyiko have explained that they chose the title uLoyiko (The Fear) due to psychological scars which were inflicted by gukurahundi genocide on the surviving victims, the scars which are still very evident today. They went on to say that they were aware that the Zimbabwean government was not giving any room in Zimbabwe for victims to talk about their plight which took many forms, including psychological trauma.To kick the ball rolling, the Group will hold a Gukurahundi Commemoration on the 4th June 2016 at Samora Machel Community Centre Hall, Cape Town, South Africa.On the 25th June 2016 the Loyiko gukurahundi play will be officially launched in Johannesburg at Hilbrow Theatre. This event promises to be one of the biggest events so far regarding the genocide as the Siphesakhe Youth Organisation unleashes its talent in telling the untold story of gukurahundi genocide. The event will mark the proper start for the internationalisation of the plight of the gukurahundi victims, as it is hoped that the group will start touring every width and breadth of South Africa and other African countries showcasing their play.Many people who were not aware of the genocide will start to look at the government of Robert Mugabe in a different light and this will force the South African government to re-assess its relationship with the Zimbabwean government.For those willing and happy to support the work of this enterprising group, they can go to their crowd funding page: https://www.gofundme.com/24vhdd74 and make their donations, already people have started donating, the fundraising campaign was started yesterday the target is to raise 600 and already over 100 has been raised.You can also contact them directly at: loyikotheatreplay@gmail.com or call 0027717548206/0027627649602 and 0027849603154 KENTUCKY College students avoid cave tragedy HORSE CAVE - A group of college students trapped for hours by rising water in a Kentucky cave waded through neck-deep water to get out, authorities said Thursday. The 19 people trapped included two police officers who tried to reach them, Hart County Emergency Management Director Kerry McDaniel said. The students from Clemson University in South Carolina were exploring the cave when torrential rains hit the region, he said. UTAH Velesto 13/13 odit vel utat at nit acipit praessim A father of two in Clinton, Utah, said a trip to Walmart turned violent for him this Sunday. Christopher Adams was shopping for spring cleaning storage bins with his 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. When both children needed to use the bathroom, Adams had a choice to make: he could either leave his daughter alone while he accompanied his son into the men's bathroom, or take both kids into the men's bathroom with him. Adams decided on the latter - but this touched a nerve in another patron, who began using expletives, he told KSL. The men then scuffled and Adams was punched. His assailant was arrested on disorderly conduct charges. NORTH CAROLINA Crews rescued after Navy jets crash off coast RALEIGH - Two Navy jet fighters crashed off the coast of North Carolina during a training mission Thursday, and their four crew members were airlifted to a hospital with minor injuries after being plucked out of the Atlantic Ocean by a commercial fishing vessel and Coast Guard rescuers, officials said. The F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters, based in Virginia Beach, crashed about 10:40 a.m. off the coast of Cape Hatteras, following an "in-flight mishap," said a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. THAILAND Man bests snake that attacked him while on toilet BANGKOK - A Thai man is recovering from a bloody encounter with a 10-foot python that slithered through the plumbing of his home and latched its jaws onto his penis as he was using a squat toilet. Attaporn Boonmakchuay was smiling as Thai television stations interviewed him, and doctors said he would recover. The 38-year-old told Thai TV Channel 7 that he struggled to remove the snake for 30 minutes Wednesday before he managed to free himself with help from his wife and a neighbor. From wire reports Just days after the U.S. military and an alliance of Kurdish and Arab groups announced the beginning of their offensive to retake Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, images have emerged of what appear to be U.S. Special Operations forces fighting near the front lines. The pictures, as distributed by Agence France Presse, indicate that the troops were identified as American by the group they are supporting, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The troops have all the hallmarks of America's clandestine warriors: low profile helmets, a smattering of non-traditional small arms and camouflage patterns consistent with special warfare units. In one image a trio of U.S. forces are clustered around what appears to be an advanced Mk 47 automatic grenade launcher. The system, built by General Dynamics, is primarily used by Special Operations units and has not been widely sold outside the United States. In one image, someone who appears to be an American is wearing a Kurdish People's Protection Unit patch on his left arm. Known as the YPG, the Kurdish units form a large majority of the SDF and have been critical to almost all of the victories against the Islamic State in northern Syria. The YPG has long been branded by the Turkish authorities as the Syrian arm of Turkey's Kurdistan's Workers Party, known as the PKK. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist group by the United States, but U.S. officials dispute the Turkish claim that the PKK and the YPG are one and the same. But the appearance of a YPG patch on a U.S. soldier's arm will likely inflame tensions with Ankara as well as some Arab groups aligned against the Kurds, including components of U.S.-backed Syrian rebels. When embedded with a partner country or ally, U.S. Special Operations forces often wear the patch or sometimes even the uniform of those they are supporting. Showing solidarity with allies is an essential component of one of Special Operation's key missions, known as Foreign Internal Defense, or FID. "They are basically on the front lines, backing up the local SDF forces with artillery and targeting assistance. It's unclear how many there are," said Wladimir Van Wilgenburg, a researcher based in the Kurdish northeast with the Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies. "They can be found on every front line, but in the northern Raqqa operation there is a much bigger concentration." Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, confirmed in an email that U.S. forces are "providing advice and assistance to the Syrian Democratic Forces," but would not go into further detail. An original force of 50 special operators was bolstered by the arrival of an additional 250 troops in April. After the troops deployed, a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss military plans, said their primary focus would be to train more Arab forces in the Raqqa area, and bring them into the SDF. BISMARCK, N.D. - Donald Trump traveled Thursday to the heart of America's oil and gas boom, where he called for more fossil fuel drilling and fewer environmental regulations while vowing to "cancel" the Paris Agreement, the 2015 accord committing nearly every nation to taking action to curb climate change. Laying out his positions on energy and the environment at an oil industry conference in North Dakota, he vowed to rescind President Barack Obama's signature climate change rules and revive construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring petroleum from Canada's oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries. It was the latest in a series of recent policy addresses, including on Israel and foreign policy, designed to position Trump, the bombastic real estate mogul and reality show star, as credible on substantive issues now that he is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Experts remain skeptical of Trump's command of the complexities of the global energy economy. He made claims, such as a promise to restore jobs lost in coal mining, that essentially defy free-market forces. "Many of his proposals thus far don't seem to appreciate the complex forces that drive the energy system," said Richard G. Newell, director of the Duke University Energy Initiative who has closely followed Trump's remarks. Will 'rescind' EPA regs Trump's decision to set his speech in North Dakota was politically strategic. He began the day fewer than 30 delegates shy of clinching the nomination, and on Thursday, he reached the 1,237-delegate threshold with the help of unpledged delegates in the state who moved to support him. Trump asked North Dakota's Republican congressman, Kevin Cramer, to suggest energy policies before the speech. A central question confronting the next president will be how to address climate change. Trump, who has repeatedly denied the established science that climate change is caused by humans, vowed in his speech to undo many of Obama's initiatives. He did not explicitly address the scientific legitimacy of human-caused climate change, but said, "We're going to deal with real environmental challenges, not the phony ones we've been hearing about." Trump said that in his first 100 days in office, he would "rescind" Environmental Protection Agency regulations established under Obama to curb planet-warming emissions from coal-fired power plants. "Regulations that shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants and block the construction of new ones - how stupid is that?" Trump said. However, the next president will not have the legal authority to unilaterally rescind the climate rules, which are being litigated in federal courts. If, as is widely expected, the case goes to the Supreme Court, the justices, rather than the president, will determine its fate. But if elected, Trump could nominate a new Supreme Court justice to help strike down the rule. Emissions pledges Trump's threats to unravel the Paris Agreement could carry more weight. In his speech, he complained, inaccurately: "This agreement gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use on our land, in our country. No way." In fact, at the heart of the Paris Agreement are voluntary pledges put forward by the governments of more than 190 nations, laying out plans to lower emissions. No government has control over the emissions-reduction plans of other governments. Once the accord is ratified by 55 countries responsible for 55 percent of global emissions, it will enter into legal force, and any country wishing to withdraw would have to wait four years to do so. However, if the deal has not been ratified by January 2017, a new American president could withdraw immediately. For that reason, many countries, fearful that a President Trump would do just that, are racing to ratify the deal this year. But there would be no legal consequence if the United States, the world's second-largest greenhouse gas polluter, simply did not follow through with the Obama administration's pledge to cut emissions up to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. In an even more potent threat, Trump declared that the United States would "stop all payment of U.S. tax dollars to global warming programs." But developing nations, including India, have made clear that their ability to cut emissions depends largely on financial help from other countries. And as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton pledged that rich countries, including the United States, would commit $100 million annually by 2020 to help poor countries adapt to the ravages of global warming. A clear signal that the United States would back down from its commitments to reduce emissions and provide financial assistance could undermine the political will in other countries, such as India and China, to take action. Restoring lost jobs Other elements of Trump's energy proposals appear less viable. As coal mining jobs have declined, Trump has vowed to fully restore their numbers. "We're going to bring back the coal industry, save the coal industry," he said. "I love those people." It is unclear how Trump could restore lost jobs in the coal industry. As domestic coal demand has declined, companies have laid off thousands of miners. Economists say that shift is driven by market forces: The natural gas boom led power companies to buy cheaper gas rather than coal. Trump's speech, drew a large, cheering crowd to the conference. Steve DeWacht, 45, a district manager at Colter Energy, a company in the fracking industry, said he liked what he knew of Trump's energy policy. "I'm hoping he's going to support the oil industry, open up some new plays - in Pennsylvania, maybe - keep Texas going and help out in North Dakota," he said. "He's got to get us off the OPEC train and help us make our own train." The threat of the Zika virus has plenty of public health experts warning people to stay away from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. How long until someone makes a similar warning about the upcoming Super Bowl in Houston? The mosquito-borne Zika virus is associated with severe brain defects in newborn children and there's a serious threat of a Gulf Coast outbreak. But instead of responding with an urgency befitting this slow-motion epidemic, our elected officials in Washington are treating Zika just like any other issue and have exploited the growing crisis to further a political agenda. Back in February, the White House asked Congress to appropriate $1.9 billion to battle Zika. It took until last week for the Senate to approve $1.1 billion in emergency funds and the House voted to shift $622 million away from other programs, such as anti-Ebola efforts. People on the front lines of fighting Zika, from scientists working on a vaccine to Mayor Sylvester Turner, have all agreed that the House bill simply isn't enough money. It is, however, a political maneuver to undermine the Clean Water Act. Instead of working to fight Zika, House Republicans cynically repackaged an old bill called the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act and slapped the word "Zika" on it. Pesticide fans in Congress have been working for years to pass that bundle of anti-regulation rules, which would relax permitting requirements on using certain chemicals near water. However, if Washington politicians listened to the public servants charged with fighting Zika, they wouldn't hear too much talk about regulatory burdens. They would hear calls for more federal funding. Most mosquito control agencies already have the authority to use pesticides without permits to fight infectious diseases. There's no similar emergency mechanism to ensure that the National Institutes of Health has enough money to develop a Zika vaccine. Instead, scientists have been forced to cannibalize other important programs, like fighting malaria and tuberculosis. Meanwhile, the city and county have to face the specific challenge of fighting the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito. The usual strategy of spraying pesticides at night won't work on a species that bites during the day. Local officials instead have to confront the insects more directly, either by eliminating the standing water where mosquitoes spawn or distributing mosquito repellent. Those two options are labor intensive and expensive. People in the most vulnerable neighborhoods, where garbage-heap breeding grounds are common and all-day air conditioning is a luxury, lack the resources to afford the most basic protection against the Zika-carrying mosquitoes. If the government doesn't step in, we risk poor neighborhoods becoming hot zones for viral oubreaks. We've faced this challenge before, tropical disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez wrote this week in the scientific journal PLOS. Back in 1965, the federal government launched a mosquito-eradication program that was administered through local and state health departments. It was difficult and often involved house-to-house source reduction and spraying, but the program worked. Now, in the face of a new challenge, our elected officials seem unwilling to muster the political will our nation demonstrated decades ago in the fight against tropical diseases. Zika is coming to Houston. Maybe those first pictures of a newborn baby's misshapen skull at Texas Children's Hospital will scare our elected officials into action. By then it will be too late. Through decades of neglect, Houston's leaders have failed the Northside. Poor public services, inadequate infrastructure and a growing homeless population have created challenges for this historic neighborhood just north of Houston's downtown. Last week, the consequences of these collective failures became painfully and devastatingly clear when 11-year-old Josue Flores was murdered as he walked the seven blocks from Marshall Middle School to his Northside home. While the assailant remains unknown and at large, we're left to wonder why anyone would do harm to an innocent little boy. Beyond that, we're left to reflect on our neighborhood's unmet promise and why, years after our residents launched an ambitious community improvement effort, our streets are still unsafe for our children. Homeless men urinate on the street by Ketelsen Elementary. People drink alcohol and abuse drugs at bus stops and light rail platforms in broad daylight. Mothers are harassed by aggressive panhandlers as they walk their children home from school. An environment of lawlessness permeates our community. We shouldn't have to live this way. Houston's Northside, much like young Josue, is a humble, hard-working community with big dreams. It is a community of caring residents who take pride in their neighborhood and celebrate its rich history and cultural diversity. In 2009, the Northside was selected by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Greater Houston as one of two pilot Great Opportunities neighborhoods. Through the GO pilot, and with the support of Avenue Community Development Corp., community leaders developed a plan - our "Quality of Life Agreement" - to achieve our vision for a safe, diverse, vibrant and connected community. Among the challenges we identified to address in this plan were a lack of quality affordable housing, inadequate infrastructure, homelessness and crime. We created a safety leadership team to proactively address crime reduction. Since the launch of this effort, we have completed 50 projects to reduce crime, including safety audits, neighborhood clean-ups, partnerships with law enforcement and initiatives with civic clubs. Thanks to the work of community leaders and police, crime in the Northside has declined more rapidly than the citywide average; between 2010 and 2014, the Northside experienced a 22 percent decrease in crime, compared to the citywide decline of 10 percent. However, despite the community's efforts, the violent crime rate in Northside remains above the city average. Josue's brutal murder is a reminder of the urgent need for change. The worsening homelessness crisis is seen as a chief cause of our neighborhood's crime problem. We are told that there has been a decline in homelessness in Houston; this has not been our neighborhood's experience. We believe that homeless individuals are being pushed out of downtown into low-income neighborhoods like ours. We believe that a Salvation Army shelter and numerous boarding houses in our midst attract homeless men and troubled individuals to the neighborhood, where we don't have adequate services to meet their needs or a way to hold these individuals accountable for their sometimes-destructive behavior. We are frustrated by inadequate police enforcement around Metro's new light rail line. We are concerned about illegal drug use and the consequences of untreated mental illness among those who are homeless, as well as those who are housed. In our updated 2015 Quality of Life Agreement, Northside leaders again laid out strategies to improve safety in our neighborhood. We are working to strengthen the relationship between our community and law enforcement. We are working to obtain better lighting and improvements to neighborhood locations perceived to be unsafe. We are implementing initiatives to reduce illegal dumping, littering and other nuisance activities. We are seeking to partner with homeless-services organizations to develop housing and employment programs to reduce our homeless population. Now we ask Houston's leaders to do their part to improve safety in our community. We need an increased police presence on our streets and better coordination between police agencies. We need more protection against nuisance loitering on our streets and sidewalks. We need strict enforcement of laws against illicit drug and alcohol use. We need effective treatment options for those who are mentally ill. We need justice for Josue: His murderer must be found. Throughout the Northside, there are countless children like Josue filled with promise and hope for a better tomorrow. Josue was shy but beloved by his classmates for his good nature. He won the first-place trophy last year at his elementary school for solving math word problems at the annual Math Rumble. His classmates and family were ecstatic for him, a young man who dreamed of becoming a doctor and helping his family and community. Now, one year later, Josue's dreams have come to an abrupt, brutal end. His family and our community are left in mourning, but we are even more determined to continue our fight and to press city leaders to help us improve the quality of life for our community, our children, our future. Trevino and Pfeifer are Northside residents and members of the Northside Great Opportunities Neighborhoods Leadership and Advocacy Team. Three healthcare professionals, including a new pulmonologist, are joining Texas County Memorial Hospital this summer. Board members heard at the May monthly meeting that office space is being remodeled for Juan F. Mella, MD, Cory Offutt, MD, and Sheena Painter. The threesome will join the hospital in June and July. Mella, a pulmonologist, will work part-time as a clinic-based pulmonologist and oversee the hospital sleep studies lab. He has more than 30 years of experience and is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonology and sleep medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians. Mella has practiced in Florida, Michigan, Ohio and most recently at Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains. We have a large number of patients with pulmonary conditions, said Wes Murray, CEO at TCMH. Access to a pulmonologist has been a major problem for many of our patients. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly referred to as COPD, is one of the top admission diagnoses at TCMH. The hospital has a cardiopulmonary department that is staffed 24/7, providing breathing treatments, managing ventilators, and performing outpatient pulmonary testing for a variety of issues. The cardiopulmonary department performed 105,156 procedures in 2015 an increase of almost 2,000 procedures from 2014. A two-bed sleep studies laboratory is also part of the department. The TCMH sleep studies lab operates three nights each week. With Mellas help, TCMH hopes to grow its availability. Dr. Mella is very passionate about a sleep issues, and he looks forward to working with our medical staff and their patients in identifying and treating sleep issues, Murray said. TCMH is also pursuing a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health to start a pulmonary rehabilitation program for patients with moderate to severe lung disease. According to Murray, approximately 10 patients have a pulmonary function test done at TCMH each month. Over half the patients receiving pulmonary function tests at TCMH in the past year would qualify for a pulmonary rehabilitation program because they have moderate to severe lung disease. The grant would help start the pulmonary rehabilitation program, and qualifying patients would participate in the 12-week program that would help patients improve lung function and activities of daily living. If we are able to start a pulmonary rehab program, Dr. Mella will also be an asset to the program and the patients involved with it, Murray explained. Mella will see patients in the TCMH Medical Complex, located next to the hospital in Houston, beginning in mid June. Mella will not be part of the hospital call group, but he is willing to do consultation work with patients in the hospital as needed. This is a great opportunity for us to work with a specialist physician that wants to continue to work in the area without call responsibilities or full-time employment, Murray said. Offutt, family medicine and obstetrics physician, is joining TCMH after he completes residency at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Offutt just completed a surgical residency rotation at TCMH working with Dr. Linda Milholen, TCMH general surgeon. Offutt began moonlighting shifts in the TCMH emergency department in May, too. Offutts final residency rotation is also at TCMH a clinical rotation with Dr. Jonathan Beers, TCMH internal medicine physician at the TCMH Medical Complex, the same clinic where Offutt will be based. In late June, Offutt and his wife, Samantha, are relocating to a home they have purchased in Texas County. Offutt begins working full-time at TCMH in mid-July. He will be based in the TCMH Medical Complex, too. Offutt will see patients of all ages. He will deliver babies at TCMH as part of his practice. Dr. Offutt received word this week that he passed his board certification exam, Murray told board members. He is very eager to start his new practice with TCMH. Painter, a TCMH nurse and an instructor for the Cox College of Nursing program in Cabool, has completed her family nurse practitioner program at Frontier Nursing University in Hyden, Ky. After completing her board examination, Painter will continue to work part-time for TCMH as a family nurse practitioner. Sheena will be primarily based in the TCMH Walk In Clinic, but we may also utilize her in other clinics, too, when needed, Murray said. Recruiting efforts are also underway for an additional full-time general surgeon and an additional full-time family medicine or internal medicine physician. With the addition of Mella and Offutt and the growing popularity of the TCMH Walk In Clinic, remodeling work is being done to the TCMH Medical Complex. We are going to rearrange the flow of some parts of the clinic to make the clinic space more user friendly for our staff and for our patients, Murray said. The hospitals maintenance department is doing the remodeling work in-house. The project will centralize some administrative offices and add more patient exam rooms. NURSING DEPARTMENT FILLS UP Doretta Todd-Willis, TCMH chief nursing officer, reported the hospital does not have any full-time or part-time registered nurse vacancies at the hospital with the recent hiring of eight graduate registered nurses that recently completed RN training. All of these nurses are graduates of area nursing programs, and prior to full-time employment, they worked part-time or did nursing rotations at the hospital, Todd-Willis said. Nursing students from Missouri State University in West Plains, Cox College/Drury University in Cabool and Texas County Technical College in Houston do clinical rotations at TCMH during their training programs. Having these area nursing programs nearby gives us an opportunity to show off our hospital to area students, Murray said. Many of them look forward to working full-time in their community after completing their education. HOSPITAL SCORES Amanda Turpin, quality management director at TCMH, presented updated quality measurement information to board members. According to Turpin, the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) will soon make public hospital data for readmission and mortality rates for stroke, pneumonia, heart failure, COPD and heart attack. All of the TCMH scores are risk adjusted for specific patient demographics by CMS before they are reported Overall, our scores were good, and even with the risk adjustment by CMS, TCMH ranks better than the state and national averages for these quality measures, Turpin said. Cost per patient episode is also part of the information to be released by CMS. Turpin noted that TCMH averages about $2,000 less per patient episode than state and national averages. We make a lot of efforts to control costs at TCMH, and I think we should be very proud that our costs are significantly lower than state and national averages, Murray said. FINANCIAL UPDATE Linda Pamperien, TCMH chief financial officer, said inpatient and outpatient volumes were above budgeted expectations in April. She said contractual adjustments were at normal levels for the month, and overall expenses were down for April. TCMH ended the month of April with a positive bottom line of $58,343.46 and a year-to-date bottom line of $22,346.72. Present at the meeting were Murray; Pamperien; Todd-Willis; Turpin; April Steele, administrative secretary; Dr. Jonathan Beers, TCMH chief of staff; and board members Dr. Jim Perry, OD, Mark Hampton, Omanez Fockler and Janet Wiseman. Board member Russell Gaither was not present. Dora Meier, 76, of Licking, passed away Wednesday, May 25, 2016. She was born Dec. 30, 1939, in Light, Ark., daughter of Ray and Cullen Faulkner Sturkie. She earned an associate degree from Southern Baptist College in Walnut Ridge, Ark., bachelors degree from Arkansas State College in Jonesboro, Ark., and master degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She taught 36 years in the Licking School District four in high school and 32 in elementary. She especially enjoyed kindergarten students. Before Licking, she taught English and journalism four years at Alton High School. She and her husband, Paul, enjoyed road trips to various parts of the country. She loved visiting Silver Dollar City to hear the Kruger Brothers perform. She professed her faith in Christ at the age of 9 and was an active member of the First Baptist Church. She attended regularly as long she was able. She enjoyed her Sunday school class and the WMU missions group. She strongly supported mission offerings. She volunteered at the Licking United Community Help Center. She supported organizations that helped hungry children and rescued abused animals. She loved meeting with members of the Licking Tops Club, the Texas County Retired Teachers and her tablemates at P.J.s Cafe. She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Rodger Barrow. Survivors include her husband, Paul Meier of Licking; a brother, Danny Sturkie of Paragold, Ark.; and other family members. Services are 2 p.m. Thursday, June 2, at First Baptist Church in Licking with Pastors Rob Lilly and Raymond Atwood officiating. Burial will be in Licking Cemetery under the direction of Fox Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to The Animal Shelter of Texas County or Salvation Army. Online condolences may be made at www.foxfh.net. Opinion / Columnist The recent announcement by Clerk of Parliament, Mr Kennedy Chokuda that Members of Parliament (MPs) will soon declare their assets as a way of increasing transparency and the trust of citizens in public administration in them is a noble idea which needs to be fully implemented. Disclosing information on assets by government officials will make them accountable to the public.There have been different perceptions from the public that MPs and other public officials were abusing public funds for their personal gains. In order to prove the public views wrong, parliamentarians should disclose their assets without hesitation. Additionally, section 198 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe stipulates that, An Act of Parliament must provide measures to enforce the provisions of this Chapter , which includes (a) requiring public officers to make regular disclosures of their assets.As a measure of preventing corruption among the legislators, there is really need for them to declare each and every asset they own as stated by Mr Chokuda. As much as government's efforts of uprooting corruption is commendable there is also need for government to consider justification of those properties. Declaration of assets on its own is not adequate and complete. The responsible authorities must also consider a follow up proof on how those assets were acquired.Also, declaration of assets should also be done by Ministers, Permanent Secretaries in different Ministries, Chief Executive Officers of all parastatals, board members of State enterprises and parastatals as well as top government officials since they all handle public funds.Corruption is a key threat to good governance, democratic processes and fair business competition. Corruption by government officials has negative impact on the end result of their work.In other countries, declaration of assets by both parliamentarians and civil servants has always been there. For instance, in Pakistan, members of the parliament and civil servants are required to declare their assets, according to the 1976 Representation of People Act and the 1964 Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, respectively. Also, in Afghanistan, public officials are required to declare their assets and income upon entry into the public service, annually and upon leaving office.The principal goal of income and asset disclosure systems is to combat corruption. Moreover, this encourages foreign investment. Foreign investors prefer doing business with a well performing and transparent public sector. By declaring assets, publicDisclosure of assets will also allow a public official's wealth to be monitored. In the case that periodic disclosures show an unusual increase in assets or extravagant expenditures the employee can be asked for an explanation.In addition, when government knows what assets its employee owns, for instance some will have interests in firms or real estates, they can determine when the employee's participation in a decision may be highlighted by his/her personal interests and when he/she should be excluded from the decision-making process.However, they must be laws that enforce the disclosure of assets or finance by public officials. Prosecuting and convicting the corrupt officials will also be easier when there is a financial or disclosure law. When suspicions about an individual are raised, investigators can review the person's income and asset disclosure statement. Thus, if it is consistent with bank account records and what one can observe of the person's lifestyle?------------sibusisiso ndlamini 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. On April 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule addressing conflicts of interest in retirement advice. The new rule requires those who provide retirement investment advice to abide by a fiduciary standard and put their clients best interest before their own profits. The rule also prohibits fiduciaries to plans, plan participants, and individual retirement account (IRA) owners from receiving payments creating conflicts of interest unless they comply with conditions designed to minimize the potential effects of a conflict. According to a White House press release, the rule defines fiduciary investment advice, while the accompanying exemptions allow advisers and their firms to continue to receive common forms of compensation if they put their clients best interest first. The rulemaking package also includes a regulatory impact analysis outlining the monetary harm caused to retirement investors from conflicted advice and the expected economic impacts of the rule. Who Is a Fiduciary? Under the rule, a person is a fiduciary if he or she receives compensation for providing advice with the understanding it is based on the particular needs of the person being advised or that it is directed to a specific plan sponsor, plan participant, or IRA owner. Such decisions can include what assets to purchase or sell and whether to rollover from an employment-based plan to an IRA. The fiduciary can be a broker, registered investment advis... 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Last month, Trudeau called on Liberals to be courageous in doing something that he said would move the party and the country forward. He urged them to show, once again, that the Liberal party wasnt afraid to challenge the status quo by doing away with party memberships. Advertisement Our proposed new Liberal constitution represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize, strengthen, and open up our movement for the 21st century, Trudeau said. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in the National Prayer Breakfast in Ottawa, May 19, 2016. (Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/CP) The new constitution calls for the adoption of a no-fee Registered Liberal designation. Party president Anna Gainey told The Huffington Post Canada that the move wont cost the party a dime and will open the partys doors to people reluctant to spend $10 for a membership. Advertisement The objective is really to open up the party and have more registered Liberals and more people engaged, and more volunteers, and ideally more donors and less restrictions to entry, she said. The party points to its adoption in 2012 of a supporter class category that allowed non-members to vote for the party leader, a decision credited with bringing 300,000 people to the party, helping beef up the Grits membership database and electoral machine, and increasing fundraising. The proposed new constitution does more than eliminate paid memberships, however, it also centralizes decision-making, taking it away from the riding associations by, for example, eliminating various committees and giving the leader more say on election readiness. It also seems to prevent riding associations from raising and spending their own money without the central partys approval. And it would prevent local ridings from suggesting amendments to the partys constitution. Reasons for changes unclear: riding president Tom Addison, the riding president for Kingston and the Islands, told The Hill Times in an article published earlier this week that he believes the proposed constitution is an attempt to centralize power within a small circle around the leader. In a phone interview from Winnipeg, Addison told HuffPost he doesnt really know why Trudeau and his team are suggesting this document now, without a real chance for membership input, and why it needs to be done right away. Advertisement I hear the talk what I can only describe as spin the talk about modernization, and inclusiveness, and all these marketing words, but Im not hearing substantive reasons why this needs to be done, he said. Obviously, we were doing things pretty well if we could win a national election, so Im not sure what needs to be changed so quickly and urgently. We just won a national election coming from the worst showing in our partys history the first time weve ever been a third-place party, he added. We won in ridings weve never won before, and I dont see the justification, at this point, [for] changing the constitution and changing the way the way everything is done. Obviously, we were doing things pretty well if we could win a national election, so Im not sure what needs to be changed so quickly and urgently. Addison, who is campaigning against the proposal at the convention and is handing out buttons that read No constitution without consultation, said he hopes the party will withdraw the proposed constitution rather than have a battle on the convention floor. Advertisement I am concerned about the potential scars that could be left in the party if we get into a fight, he said. That is not my desire in any way, shape, or form. Ive been a Liberal since 1972. The new constitution is thin and tasks the National Board with establishing bylaws for how the party is run without having members, as a whole, ratify the new rules until the Liberals next convention scheduled for 2018. Something that also troubles, Addison who feels members are given an opportunity to vote on only half the document. Liberal president Anna Gainey speaks at the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention Winnipeg, May 26, 2016. (Photo: John Woods/CP) Advertisement Gainey, for example, told HuffPost that the partys intent isnt to neuter riding associations and that the board will enact bylaws to ensure that doesnt happen. Measures dealing with financing, she said, are designed to ensure that special accounting teams fulfil the riding associations obligations regarding financial returns. Its not in any way to direct or collect [the ridings] independently raised funds, she said. We are not taking anything away from the riding associations on financing. The new document moves the Liberals from 18 constitutions and an 82-page national constitution, to a single constitution, currently at 13 pages, that allows the party to respond more nimbly, she said. Multiple constitutions have overly complicated decision-making, sucking up time and resources on interpreting documents and lining them up against each other to figure out simple things, such as when a nomination meeting should be held, she said. We are constantly looking at two or three documents to figure out process. We could be doing other things. I have enough faith in the people who will be elected to the national executive." Some in the party have no problem with new proposal. Charles Bird, president for Toronto-area riding of EglintonLawrence, readily acknowledged that he doesnt know what the constitution will end up looking like, with the yet-to-be formed bylaws, but he said he isnt concerned. I have enough faith in the people who will be elected to the national executive, he told HuffPost. There is a lot riding on this, in terms of our ability to function as a modern effective party, he said. Advertisement Is it about getting behind the prime minister? Yes, absolutely. But does the package make sense to me as a Liberal? Yes, indeed it does. Also on HuffPost: Liberals are hoping Canadians who attend or catch a glimpse of their partys convention in Winnipeg over the next two days see a modern, open, diverse and transparent organization. More than 2,400 delegates, former election volunteers, candidates, MPs and the new cabinet, are expected in Manitobas capital for their first get-together since the party formed government last fall. Much of the weekends agenda is geared towards explaining to the partys grassroots what their team is doing in Ottawa. More than 12 hours have been set aside for sessions dubbed real change at work, at which caucus members will explain to party faithful how they are implementing the partys platform. Advertisement In contrast, for example, only 6 hours have been set aside for policy discussion. The plenary hall is prepared for the opening ceremony of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention in Winnipeg, Thursday, May 26, 2016. (Photo: John Woods/CP) Liberal party spokesman Braeden Caley said the real change at work sessions will be a Canadian first delegates will be able to question MPs and cabinet ministers at length in the presence of the media. That is going to be an incredibly open component of this convention that I dont think has much precedent among political conventions in Canadian history, he told HuffPost. Advertisement This is part of new trend, Caley said, to have more, and more open dialogue about the future direction of the party. The Liberal party of Canada is open to engaging Canadians and their ideas, to considering a wide variety of perspectives and contributing those new ideas to a more open, accountable and responsive, democratic process. That is what those real change at work session will highlight, he said. Proposed constitution creating divides His comments are in sharp contrast to the big policy discussion threatening to overshadow the Liberals convention the Grits proposed new constitution. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in April that he hoped delegates would approve a new constitution in Winnipeg that eliminates party memberships completely. It also, however, centralizes and streamlines decision-making, taking it away from unwieldy committees at which riding associations have more input and moving it towards the leader and a smaller leadership team. Some members, such as Kingston and the Islandss riding president Tom Addison are actively campaigning against the new constitution because it was presented, he said, with very little grassroots input. Advertisement Caley, however, notes that more than 2,100 Liberals provided their input when the party asked in an email for their thoughts. The national board considered it. Five provincial conventions discussed it and two national telephone town halls were also held, he said. Before the vote on the constitution takes place on Saturday, party president Anna Gainey will hold a question and answer session on Friday afternoon. Liberal caucus members enjoy the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Liberal Biennial Convention Winnipeg Thursday, May 26, 2016. (Photo: John Woods/CP) Before she speaks, however, Trudeaus chief of staff, Katie Telford, will take the stage to explain, in her capacity as former co-chair of the national election campaign, how the Liberals won the last election and how they plan to do it again. Advertisement Liberals will discuss U.S. digital campaign tactics and there will be training sessions aimed at campaigning to young Canadians and to residents in rural or remote areas. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Heritage Minister Melanie Joly and environmentalist Steven Guilbeault are also scheduled to give speeches. Friday evening, delegates will have 1 hours to approve new policy resolutions. Caley stressed that approximately one-fifth of resolutions at the convention in Winnipeg are focused on support for indigenous peoples and indigenous rights. Other interesting resolutions include calling for: The federal government to develop with the provinces a a poverty reduction strategy aimed at providing a minimum guaranteed income; A new national program to approve universal palliative and home care in each province; Access to safe drinking water to be listed as a human right; A task force for the elimination of all forms of Islamophobia; The establishment of national standards for carbon pricing within which provinces and territories can establish a price on carbon in the best way for their regions; The formation of a panel to study how to improve the prevention, reporting, and the prosecution of sexual assault; The immediate repeal of bill C-51; The voting age to be lowered to 16. While the Conservatives are debating matters that I think most Canadians think were settled a number of years ago, like same sex marriage, Caley said, in our speakers, in our featured guests, in our policy resolutions, and our real change at work session, [we have] a really forward-looking agenda that is focused on growing the economy, supporting middle class Canadians and on making government more open and accountable. Advertisement PM to review government's progress Trudeau will address delegates on Saturday when he arrives from Japan where he is attending the G7 meetings. Caley said Trudeau would be thanking Canadians who got involved with the Liberals campaign, especially the organizers who spent hundreds of thousands of hours knocking on doors across the country. Hell be reviewing progress on the platform since the 2015 campaign[and] hell also be speaking about how the Liberal party of Canada needs to keep opening itself to Canadians ideas; how it needs to modernize itself, and [how] unifying its constitution [is] one significant way that it can continue building up to an effective campaign once again in 2019. The vote on the constitution will take place after Trudeaus speech Saturday afternoon. A two-thirds majority is needed for it to pass. Also on HuffPost: Grizzly Paw Brewery/Facebook Albertas small craft breweries have been prospering ever since the provincial government made a change in the budget to promote local brews. In late 2015, Alberta lowered the mark-up and liquor tax on local, small brewers which could allow the craft beer industry to grow past 20,000 hectalitres per year, The Canadian Press reported. Advertisement The change upset out of province producers, but made small, relatively unknown Alberta brews a seriously appealing option for consumers looking for a cheap drink. Not only are these Alberta brewers inexpensive, but they've got uniquely delicious draughts. It looks to be a record-breaking hot summer what better time to relax on a patio and sip a tasty local lager. Here are nine Alberta craft breweries worth checking out: (Photo: Alley Kat) Alley Kat is a beloved Alberta staple, and for good reason. The Edmonton micro-brewery's Scona Gold Kolsch took home gold in two categories at the Canadian Brewing Awards, bringing home the title of beer of the year for the province. The kolsch is described as a barley ale that's less hoppy than an IPA, with a crisp finish. Advertisement (Photo: Dandy Brewing Company) Dandy is a Calgary nano-brewery that focuses on the science behind the brew. The company's ales are living, unfiltered and unpasteurized, which means they continue to ferment right up until the first sip. The Dandy in the Underworld is described as a dark coloured but light bodied stout, with notes of coffee and chocolate. Grizzly Paw was the first brewpub in Canada to start canning it's beers, and they are continually pushing boundaries. Advertisement Rundlestone Session Ale, pictured above sitting on the top of Rundle Mountain, is a light, bitter pale ale. The ale, like all of Grizzly Paw's brews, is made with glacier water. (Photo: Tool Shed Brewing Company) Though Tool Shed is a small brewery, it definitely punches above its weight. The Calgary company is run by two best friends with a taste for good brew and a great sense of humour. "Our friend Joe taught us that not everyone is born with People Skills so thankfully it now comes in a can," writes Tool Shed. People Skills lives up to the name it's a smooth, dare we say "friendly" cream ale. Advertisement (Photo: Troubled Monk Brewery) Troubled Monk is the newest brewery on the list, but its made a grand entrance. The Red Deer brewery recently took silver at the World Beer Cup in its category, beating out 81 other international beers. It also netted a gold, silver and bronze at the 2016 Canadian International Beer Awards. (Photo: Village Brewery) Yes, that's a photo of a beer float. Calgary's Village Brewery partnered up with local gelataria Fiasco Gelato to release a beer and sorbetto pairing. The Village Squeeze is a golden lager with notes of malt, lemon and fresh raspberries. Fiasco Squeeze sorbetto shares the same flavours if you've got a sweet tooth, this is worth a try. (Photo: Jasper Brewing Co.) Jasper Brewing Co. was the first brewery to open in a Canadian national park. It's one of four brewing companies owned by Bearhill, a local chain that also has locations in Banff, Wood Buffalo and Calgary. Advertisement Jasper's lineup features delicious stouts and ales, and their beautiful labels are seriously cool.. They feature photos of landscapes around the area taken by Albertans (like the one pictured above). A New Hope with Dark Side Schwarzbier from Something Brewin out of Red Deer pic.twitter.com/5YsYlLC2UF Devin Frebrowski (@drgoodandsexy) December 15, 2015 Something is brewing in Red Deer. Something Brewing's Dark Side beer definitely lives up to the name the German black beer has some deep and intense flavours. Despite the name, the force is definitely with this brew. Ribstone Creek Brewery might be located in the tiny village of Edgerton, but it's beers have made a splash all across Alberta. Advertisement Their award-winning drinks are canned with gorgeous images of Alberta prairies, bison and cowboys on the label. The Old Man Winter Porter has been a particular hit, taking home a silver medal at last year's Calgary Craft Beer Festival. Like these picks? Think we missed one? Let us know in the comments! Also on HuffPost: When British-Thai actress Araya A. Hargate dominated the Cannes red carpet, she turned heads with several flawless looks. Chief among them was a pink tulle dress from Ralph & Russo with ruffles for days. Hargate, nicknamed "Chompoo" for her work as a L'Oreal Paris spokesperson, wore it for the premiere of "Cafe Society" at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, before slipping into another outfit. Advertisement Thai model Sine Benjaphorn loved Hargate's strapless frilly fashion on the red carpet so much that she had to have it. But rather than buying haute couture, Benjaphorn got shellfish. Taking inspiration from the colours and textures of Hargate's peachy-pink Cannes apparel, Benjaphorn blessed the Internet with her own recreation, using a cheap local snack delicacy: bags of shrimp crackers. A photo posted by Sine Benjaphorn (@framsook_lek_lek) on May 12, 2016 at 4:58am PDT Advertisement "When I saw Chompoos dress, I immediately thought of my mums crackers," she told Yahoo UK. "My mum has a street food stall selling snacks like this and it reminded me of them." Her low-key photoshoot on the streets of Bangkok shows Benjaphorn looking pretty in pink (seafood crunchy goodness). After posting her crunchy Chompoo tribute on Facebook and Instagram, Benjaphorn's dress went viral online and hit national airwaves on Thailand TV. Benjaphorn, a 28-year-old model and clothing shop owner, has a knack for mimicking celebrity fashion with ingeniously used household items and low-cost clothing. " " # # #framsookhusky #framsookleklek # # #roar #katyperry A photo posted by Sine Benjaphorn (@framsook_lek_lek) on Apr 6, 2016 at 6:27am PDT Advertisement VS # # # # # A photo posted by Sine Benjaphorn (@framsook_lek_lek) on Apr 22, 2016 at 4:33am PDT She's even brought food into her past photoshoots, posing effortlessly with a KFC value meal and going so far as to taping seaweed to her hair. lowcost KFC # # #KFCMyBox #99 # # # A photo posted by Sine Benjaphorn (@framsook_lek_lek) on May 11, 2016 at 6:05am PDT Her creations may not be winning the red carpet, but they're definitely winning over the Internet. Here's hoping she doesn't sell her dress to a prawn shop. Advertisement Follow Huffington Post Canada Style on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! Also on HuffPost VANCOUVER Conservative MP Jason Kenney says he will decide whether to jump into the partys leadership race by the end of the summer. Kenney told reporters he has never supported the partys decision to call an 18-month leadership race but he thinks most serious candidates will have made their minds up before the fall. Advertisement @jkenney is weighing several factors including whether he wants to make this kind of commitment for 10 years or so pic.twitter.com/7x1WglqfNG Althia Raj (@althiaraj) May 27, 2016 Earlier this year, the Conservative party set May 27, 2017, as the contest date. Weighing on his mind, Kenney said, was whether he wants to extend his political career by at least another decade. Ive been in politics for 19 years, and whoever steps forward for this leadership has to be prepared to put in probably a decade or more of commitment, and thats a long time. And so, one has to be absolutely sure its the right thing to do, he said, noting the possibility that the Conservatives may not win the next election in 2019. Im not driven by ego or some kind of empty ambition. Jason Kenney Kenney said he wants to ensure he is making the maximum contribution I can to the Conservative movement and to the country and he could be dissuaded from running if an impressive candidate stepped forward. Advertisement If I found somebody that I thought was a better candidate, I would support them, he said. Im not driven by ego or some kind of empty ambition. If I were to run, it would be because I think I have the best package of skills and the most relevant experience and convictions. Its not just because I want to see my name on the ballot. Kenney said he also supports a bid by some in the party to change the rules to allow interim the leader, Rona Ambrose, to run for the permanent leadership if she wished. She has so far said she is not interested. Peter MacKay poses for a photo at the Conservative party convention in Vancouver on Thursday. (Photo: Althia Raj/HuffPost Canada) Former Conservative cabinet minister Peter MacKay, who is also mulling a run, seemed surprised by Kenneys timeline. Advertisement Between taking pictures with young supporters in the conventions main hall, he told The Huffington Post Canada that he wont be rushed into making a decision. Not to sound selfish, but it will be my timeline, he said. Im not dropping any time bombs. MacKay is talking to people and gauging levels of support for his candidacy, but what he is also trying to figure out, he said, is if I have the fire to do it. Family considerations I have talked to my family, of course, over the last little while, but Im not there yet, in terms of making such a life-altering decision to come back to politics after what is a relatively short time. Its been seven months. Last year, MacKay announced he was stepping down from politics to spend more time with his family. He has two young children, at home, a baby daughter and a three-year-old boy, and is currently, he said, trying to balance his new job at a Toronto law firm and the demands of family life. I admire the prime minister for taking on that kind of leadership role when you have little kids. You dont have to look far at my biography to see that I grew up in a political family that didnt make it. So its a big decision. Advertisement Conservatives need a big name Paul Forseth, a former Reform, Canadian Alliance, and Conservative MP who served from 1993 to 2006, told HuffPost he hopes that either one, if not both both, joins the race. I am impressed with Jason Kenney. He has never been stumped by a television camera. Never, Forseth said. I remember when Jason joined our caucus as this young whippersnapper and everybody is looking down the table saying who is this young kid who is a little bit full of himself and what not, but Jason has matured into being a very good speaker, Forseth said. But I would also like to see Peter MacKay join the ranks. The Conservative party needs a big name and someone who can communicate well, he said. Noting the U.S. Republican race, Forseth said Donald Trump had really shaken up the old attitudes and the way things are done. We need somebody that is the real deal, and maybe people will respond to it. Kevin O'Leary is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 4, 2014 in New York City. (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images) Advertisement On Friday, several Conservative leadership candidates and potential candidates will be featured in convention programming. Ambrose is holding a sit-down chat with the three official candidates MPs Kellie Leitch, Maxime Bernier and Michael Chong. But Kenney, MacKay, and MP Lisa Raitt as well as TV personality Kevin OLeary will also take part in a session on the future of the Conservative party. OLeary, who suggested a few months ago that he might also be interested in running for the Liberal leadership, recently bought a Conservative membership. One party insider noted that OLeary had bought his membership after the price had dropped. Like a true Conservative or a businessman, the Tory said with a laugh. Some leadership contestants, and several potential candidates, including Kenney, Chong, Maxime Bernier and Tony Clement, have organized hospitality suites Friday evening hoping free booze will help attract support. Former prime minister Stephen Harper waves as he steps away from the podium after addressing delegates during the 2016 Conservative party convention in Vancouver on Thursday. (Photo: Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press) Advertisement In a speech to delegates on Thursday, former prime minister Stephen Harper the only since the amalgamation of the Progressive Conservative and Reform parties urged members to unite behind the next leader. The past is no place to linger; now is the time to look forward, he said. In 2019, perhaps more than we understand even now, our country will need a strong, united, Conservative party, ready to govern, Harper said. Also on HuffPost Shopping for clothing marketed to women is an impossible task. Pants with pockets are mythical creatures and tank tops that don't show bras are so rare they become urban legends in shopping malls. Clothing retailers are especially guilty of "vanity sizing," which is the practice of inflating the size on a garment's label in spite of the actual measurements staying the same. Advertisement Missy Rogers, a 19-year-old swimming instructor from New Jersey, made a Facebook post taking clothing retailers to task for failing to regulate a universal size system, even within their own store. In her post, Rogers compares two pairs of shorts she had purchased from American Eagle Outfitters. Missy had tried on a pair of maroon shorts in the store, and was dismayed to find her usual size could barely be pulled past her knees. Although the shorts appear to be proportionately the same, their sizes are drastically different: one pair is a size four, the other a size 10. Advertisement "Having to go up to a size 10 made me question just how much weight I gained, but once I brought the shorts home and compared, I realized that size is literally just a number," Rogers wrote. Since posting, her photo has been widely shared online, with over 74,000 shares on Facebook. For Rogers, her shorts prove that one size does not fit all, and in fact can be the root for self-esteem issues for young women. "If a size 10 is what a size 4 use to be, what message are you implying to younger girls?" Rogers asked. "In women's clothing, you can be a size 0 in one store and a size 12 in another. You can try on the same clothes in a different color and be another size." In response to Rogers' post, American Eagle Outfitters sent a statement of support to TODAY. "We agree fully with Missy that women are so much more than numbers, which is why we are so strongly committed to body positivity," Chad Kessler, the company's global brand president, said in the statement. "Like every retailer, we strive for consistency and clarity to help our customers make decisions. We've reached out to Missy to get her feedback on her shopping experience and look forward to engaging in a discussion around this important issue." More and more people are speaking out about the ridiculousness of clothing sizes. Comedian Amy Schumer blasted clothing stores for having no idea what to do with sizes above eight in an episode of her TV show, "Inside Amy Schumer." Advertisement Sizing is a problem frustrating men, too. One man wore his girlfriend's dress, to prove a point about how women's XXL clothing was perpetuating body shaming. Historically, clothing for women was sized higher. Marilyn Monroe wore a size 12 (a size eight, by today's standards.) Advertisement The yo-yoing of women's clothing sizes can be traced back to the Great Depression. As European made-to-fit tailoring become passe, the demand and industrialization of mass fashion led the U.S. government to survey women's sizes. The study failed to catch success (which could be due to the study only interviewing white women, Slate reports). Until clothing sizes become standardized, Rogers has a message for fellow women. "Find clothes that make you feel confident, comfortable, beautiful, and most importantly yourself rather than worrying about the size," she wrote. "You are more than a number." Follow Huffington Post Canada Style on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! Also on HuffPost LOS ANGELESAVN Award winner Vicki Chase is headed to the East Coast for the Third Annual Cam Con Show. The show runs May 31 to June 3 in Miami Beach, Fla. Cam Con is the platform where models, mobile apps, websites, studios, agencies, fans and all overlapping businesses come together annually to collaborate, network, share ideas to improve and grow our industry, while ensuring a positive evolution of the worlds fastest growing content driven segment. Im excited to have fun and network and looking forward to meeting the fans at Cam Con, Chase said. I can't wait to be in Miami!" Follow Chase on Twitter @vickichase. Caitriana Nicholson Since 2005, National Trust for Canada has been publishing an annual list of the country's most endangered places. The charity releases the list to raise awareness of the "value that historic places bring to quality of life, local identity and cultural vitality." In choosing the sites for the list, the organization measures a place's significance, the severity of the threat it faces and how much work has been done to protect it. Advertisement This year's list, released on Thursday, includes Vancouver's Chinatown, which the organization says is at risk of losing its unique character. "Relentless development threatens the physical fabric of this nationally significant urban cultural landscape," the charity states on its website. It adds that "intense speculation" has raised rents and displaced long-time residents. Check out the full list in the slideshow below: How did this even happen? A new ad from Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi has to be the most racist ads of 2016. In the video above, a young woman is seen seducing a black man, who's painting in her home, only to trap him in a washing machine with Qiaobi's detergent pods. But what happens next is even worse. The black man comes out of the laundry machine as a fair-skinned Asian man wearing a clean white T-shirt. Advertisement The slogan at the end of the commercial, Whats on Weibo notes, says, "Change begins with Qiaobi." But Asia's obsession with fair and white skin and this obsession is spread over many countries is nothing new. As Global Post points out, skin whitening, skin whitening products and skin lightening treatments are all part of a larger profit-making industry. And it's not just Asia people in North America are just as concerned about having darker pigmented skin. And as CNN points out, this Asian ad was inspired by an older Italian ad with the same concept it even has the same music. In this ad, a skinny, hairy white man is put into a laundry machine only to come out as a buff hairless black man. The slogan for this commercial ends with, "colour is better." Advertisement Qiaobi has not made a public statement on their advert. Also on HuffPost Getty Its hard to keep anything a secret in Hollywood, which is why its always an impressive feat when a celebrity manages to keep their pregnancy under wraps. Most recently, it was revealed that Gilmore Girls star Alexis Bledel kept her pregnancy and baby a secret for over six months after she gave birth! The 34-year-old and her husband, actor Vincent Kartheiser, welcomed their first child last fall. Advertisement But before Bledel, there were plenty of other famous parents who kept their babies under wraps, too. From Ryan Gosling to Kerry Washington, here are all the celebs who kept their baby news top secret. Torontos Trump Tower has seen one disaster after another since it opened four years ago, but its latest debacle may be its last. The Globe and Mail reports that the Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto is on the verge of being sold to an unnamed new owner after its current one failed to pay back a $260-million construction loan last year. Advertisement The sale will likely mean the Trump name will disappear from the building. Donald Trump himself doesnt own the Toronto tower it belongs to Talon Developments, which licensed the Trump brand for the skyscraper, and hired a Trump-owned company to run the property. Talons clients are no longer interested in the Trump brand because Trump himself has damaged it, company lawyer Symon Zucker said. Its more important for him to be president than run a successful business, Zucker told the Toronto Star last month. Advertisement Evidently sensing that Talon wanted to ditch his brand and axe the contract, Trump took the company to court last December in an effort to stop the move, the Star reported. Rocky start The billionaire businessman made numerous appearances in Toronto to promote the 65-story hotel and condo tower in its early years, but the project was problematic from the get-go. A year after it opened, hotel room occupancy was at 50 per cent, and rooms were only fetching half the expected rate. That was a problem for the investor-owners who bought individual hotel rooms in the tower as investments, and ended up losing the equivalent of about $175 a day. Advertisement Soon enough there was an investor revolt, and Talon revealed that fewer than 20 per cent of investors had closed on their units. Banks wouldnt offer mortgages on the properties. Naturally, it all ended in litigation. There were also construction issues, from glass panes falling off the building to an unstable antenna that forced the closure of busy downtown streets for almost two days. Its more important for him to be president than run a successful business. Talon lawyer Symon Zucker Both the Toronto Trump Tower and the Vancouver Trump Tower were the target of protests following Trumps controversial remarks about Mexican migrants, as well as the presidential candidate's call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Advertisement At least in the case of the Toronto tower, their wishes look likely to be granted. Also on HuffPost: John Lund via Getty Images Rippling water over map of globe Medecins Sans Frontieres' recent decision to pull out of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) has certainly garnered much public attention. The agency pulled away from the Summit on the premise that the inaugural gathering would "not address the weaknesses in humanitarian action and emergency response, particularly in conflict areas or epidemic situations." This was unquestionably, a bold move and position that should be applauded. But the world is still witnessing the highest level of human suffering since the Second World War. So, what did walking away really accomplish? Advertisement Refugees line up to register for relief aid in Mahama refugee camp (Photo: Plan International) The world's problems will not be resolved overnight, which is why we shouldn't expect a definitive resolution on how to better address humanitarian emergencies to stem from a two-day gathering of like-minded global humanitarian advocates. However, part of being a responsible member of a global coalition of the willing is having the fortitude to keep participating in challenging, and even frustrating, conversations. In advance of the recent Summit the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, tabled a highly ambitious vision for change, within its Agenda for Humanity. Humanitarian advocates across the international development sector would have been remiss if concerns about the premise of the Summit's agenda weren't vocalized, particularly given that conflicts and crises continue to wreak havoc on the lives of the world's poorest citizens. Advertisement Tuareg girls fetch water from a water hand pump in Mentao camp for Malian refugees (Photo: Mike Goldwater) The Summit was held against a backdrop of unprecedented humanitarian needs and challenges. Today, approximately 60 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Violent conflicts, forced displacement and an upsurge in climate-related disasters are fuelling these needs. According to the World Health Organization, more than 80 per cent of countries that did not achieve the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals - the world's quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty - have endured a recent conflict, a natural disaster or both. As a global collective grounded in humanity as a common value and fully aware that millions of people in humanitarian crises and conflicts worldwide are in need of solutions, now is the time to put differences aside and begin to address the suffering of millions of people affected by humanitarian crises -- particularly young girls. Advertisement Panelists discuss the importance of investing in women and girls at Women Deliver in Copenhagen (Photo: Leila Lahfa) On the heels of the recent Women Deliver conference, which I recently attended in Copenhagen, and the G7 Summit in Japan, the WHS was a welcomed platform to further reinforce the Sustainable Development Goals' commitment of leaving no one behind - particularly for the millions of girls in fragile settings who remain invisible and often overlooked by humanitarian aid and international assistance. Adolescent girls (ages 9-15) increasingly face some of the most extreme risks and challenges during disasters and crises. They are also among the groups most frequently missed by international assistance. While the rights and needs of women and children are recognized in emergency policy and planning, the specific needs and rights of adolescent girls are all too often ignored. As an organization focused on the needs and rights of girls, boys and youth from the most vulnerable groups and communities, Plan International welcomed the high priority, accorded by the Secretary General, to reach the most vulnerable, echoing the 2030 Agenda and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. In fact, Plan International, along with sector colleagues, is currently working to develop a revolutionary data tracker that will monitor the impact of the Sustainable Development Goals, track progress that holds all stakeholders accountable, and put adolescent girls' and women at the forefront of humanitarian response while empowering them to contribute to the decision-making processes of their communities and their society. Advertisement Girls learning at a temporary learning centre in Nepal built by Plan International (Photo: Plan International / Max Greenstein) On a broader scale, the WHS was an opportunity for Canada to re-establish its leadership on the protection of children in armed conflict, through reaffirmation of the rights of children under the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Security Resolutions on children and armed conflict including the rights to assistance and care, rapid identification and family reunification, as well as education, which becomes much more acute in emergencies. The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau's announcement on the final day of the WHS, of an additional $331.5 million in humanitarian assistance funding to help meet immediate life-saving needs and address unprecedented humanitarian challenges, is a welcome step in the right direction. As the Minister acknowledged, women and girls, who are often the most vulnerable in crises, should be at the heart of Canada's humanitarian response. With the safety and dignity of millions of people at stake, it's time to take the high road for humanity and collaboratively commit to action to address human suffering in real-time and help make their impossible choices a thing of the past. Advertisement Tetra Images via Getty Images Man lying on sofa and smiling By Craig and Marc Kielburger A twenty-something slacker lounges in his parents' basement, beer in one hand and TV remote in the other. We've lost track of how many times we've seen this cliche character in television shows and movies. The media loves to heap scorn on prodigal youth who return home to live with their parents. An avalanche of articles offer up tips for moms and dads dealing with the dreaded "failure to launch syndrome." Advertisement But where others see a problem, we see an opportunity: a multi-generational living trend that looks a bit different in each household but benefits everyone. Take our own example. In his 20s, Marc couldn't wait to leave the nest. Fast forward more than a decade and Marc is raising a family of his own. He and his wife not-so-subtly hint that they would love to live with our parents--in Marc and Roxanne's house--so their daughters can have the same experience of living with their grandparents as we did growing up. Some of our happiest childhood recollections come from when our grandfather lived with us. He'd greet us at the door after school; then it was PB&J sandwiches and chats around the kitchen table. You can't put a price on memories like that. Multigenerational families living together like ours were very much the norm up until the baby boomers turned that trend on its head. Just three per cent of Canadian households now have family members from three or more generations living under one roof, according to the most recent Census of Canada. The majority of these households are immigrant and aboriginal families. Advertisement That's about to transform. Millennials are growing up and facing a world where well-paying jobs are fewer; even a starter house is beyond their means. So a bulk of this cohort is choosing to move back in with mom and dad. From 1981 to 2011, the number of young adults ages 20 to 29 living in their parents' homes rose to 42 per cent from 27 per cent. Contrary to popular perception, these youth and their parents are savvy not stuck, says David Stillman, co-author of The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace (HarperBusiness, 2010) and an expert on generational relations. If young people pay a modest rent to their parents, it's still a smart way to live and mom and dad get a financial benefit that could allow them to travel, pay off the mortgage, go back to school, or retire earlier. When young people "living at home" start having families of their own, the benefits multiply. Grandparents can help out with childcare at a time when daycare costs have soared and spots are scarce. And listening to stories about family history from their elders promotes a stronger sense of identity in children, leading to better overall mental health, says Andrea Breen, an associate professor in the University of Guelph's department of family relations. Having been cared for by their grandparents, these children will be more likely to pay it forward and look after aging family members, adds Breen. Housing companies and real estate agents are waking up to the multi-generational living trend, building and promoting homes with features like in-law suites that accommodate a variety of families while still offering some alone-time and independence for all family members. Advertisement Breen says Canada lags behind most other countries in supporting young people who are caregivers to elderly family. So a logical next step is for workplaces and governments to get behind multi-generational families by better accommodating their needs. Let's ditch the stereotypes and ingrained ideas of what independence and having a home mean. Prodigal youth haven't failed to launch and their parents haven't failed to parent. They're both flying in a smarter direction. Canada's Role At The World Humanitarian Summit, And Beyond When I met Nasr at the Za'atari Refugee Camp last month, he showed me a picture of his house back in Syria. Two storeys high and with ornate window work, he had been living there with his extended family -- twenty people in all -- before the bombing started. When they decided to make the 10-hour trek to safety in Jordan, they thought they were just coming for a few weeks. That was three years ago. Most of the people I met in Za'atari were like Nasr: they arrived at the camp, now home to nearly 80,000 refugees, thinking it would be just a few weeks before they could go back home to Syria. As a result, many didn't even bother enrolling their children in school. But the camp has slowly grown into a city, and the idea of returning home has become a distant dream. More than 250 million children live in areas affected by conflict. The Syrian conflict, now in its sixth year, has contributed to the highest level of human suffering the world has seen since World War II. In Za'atari, I met just a few of the 37 million children of primary and lower-secondary age who are out of school in crisis-affected countries. Advertisement The impact of those numbers is far-reaching and leaves children in a cycle of crisis. When children are out of school not only are they not learning, but they are easy targets of abuse, exploitation and recruitment by armed groups. They lose out on the stability, structure and skills that can help them cope with the trauma of conflict, and move on to new opportunities. Education is a lifeline -- without it, their futures and the futures of their societies -- are at risk. Canada can leverage its global reputation to help lead meaningful humanitarian reform. Recently, Canada took significant steps to help turn the tide for these most vulnerable children. The Government's announcements in February of $840 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the Syria crisis, and in April of more than $34 million for UNICEF's response in Syria and the surrounding region (the bulk of which is for education) will be life changing for millions of children. The generosity of Canadians from coast to coast, who not only opened their hearts and homes to Syrian refugees here, but who also donated to help us reach Syrian children with things like life-saving immunizations and treatment for malnutrition, formal and informal education and protection from violence, is also helping save countless lives. Advertisement This week, history was made in Istanbul with the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit. World leaders discussed concrete actions to better address crises, deliver assistance and build resilience by reducing risk and vulnerability. Commitments to help end conflicts, alleviate suffering and reduce crisis risk build on the new Global Goals for sustainable development and the Paris Agreement to address climate change. Together, these form a blueprint for change. The Government of Canada, with its commitment to renewed engagement on the global stage, was a key actor at the table. Canada is respected worldwide as a defender of children's rights. Beyond the Summit, Canada can leverage its global reputation to help lead meaningful humanitarian reform -- building upon the leadership it has demonstrated in response to the Syria crisis. Canada's support for the Education Cannot Wait Fund, a flexible funding mechanism to help prioritize education in emergencies, would be a welcome step towards building more prosperous and resilient societies. It is this resilient development that will help prevent slipping backwards on progress made. Advertisement More than 250 million children live in areas affected by conflict, and more than half a billion live in areas at risk of natural disasters, including those caused by climate change. This Summit was just one piece of the puzzle. Canada's leadership, values, and commitment are what's needed to ensure no child is left behind. if we continue our history of championing principled humanitarian action, of investing in humanity, and of ensuring the education and protection of our most vulnerable children in emergencies, we will be building a Canada -- and a world -- that we can be collectively proud of, a world we all want, a world where we all do our part. Stockbyte via Getty Images the flag of Ontario After being shamed into action by media reports and letter writing campaigns, the Ontario Liberals have finally introduced an election financing reform bill. Unfortunately, it doesn't go far enough in cleaning up the fundraising mess at Queen's Park. The changes move the dial in the right direction -- by banning corporate and union donations, for example. But privileged hands can still find their way into the cookie jar. Advertisement The bill must do more to lower spending and contribution limits. Otherwise, it won't get the corrosive influence of big money out of Ontario politics. Under the new rules, deep-pocketed donors can still contribute up to $7,750 to a political party, its local associations and candidates. Is this real reform when so few Ontarians have that kind of money to donate to a political party? High limits mean high-end donors can still buy access. And since the Liberal bill doesn't ban cash-for-access events, government ministers can still shake down big donors. What kind of influence will that much money buy the 1 per cent? At a minimum, the annual contribution limit should be capped at $1,500 total to a party, including its associations and candidates. The GPO would like to see that limit lowered even further over time. Advertisement Quebec, by contrast, has an annual donation limit of $100. Parties fund their operations and campaigns with these low contribution limits because Quebec has lower spending limits for parties than Ontario. Quebec has also decided that publicly funding parties through a per vote allowance, instead of donations from high rollers, is more democratic and fair. The Liberal's draft bill does not change Ontario's political party spending limits, currently $0.80 per elector. That means a party's total campaign spending limit is around $7.4 million based on the 2014 voters list of 9,248,764 electors. Quebec's limit is $0.68 per elector. In Ontario, that would give parties a campaign spending limit of around $6.3 million. Taking over a million dollars out of a party's potential maximum budget would reduce the pressure to raise big bucks. Political parties do need money -- hearing from parties about where they stand on issues is part of a healthy democracy. (It would be nice to see less of the negative attack ads that seem so frequent these days, but lower spending limits should help with this.) That's why a per vote allowance, as proposed in the draft bill, is a good thing when combined with lower spending and contribution limits. Advertisement Consider this. Right now we have a pay-to-play system. If you have money, you can gain access to parties, MPPs and even the Premier through exclusive fundraising events. This pay-to-play system currently provides around $13.4 million of public funding to political parties through generous tax credits for their donors. For example, a person who donates $2,500 to a party will receive a refundable tax credit of approximately $1,150. This is a public subsidy that benefits deep-pocketed donors and the parties who seek their money. We also provide a public subsidy to parties by reimbursing 20 per cent of a candidate's campaign expenses if s/he receives at least 15 per cent of the vote. This reimbursement encourages candidates to spend more and should be eliminated. But what if we move to a vote-to-play system? This means that your vote would be worth about 2 bucks a year to the party you choose to support. This enables everyone, not just the wealthy, to direct donations to a political party. The estimated cost of the per vote allowance is $10.9 million. This is not only more democratic -- every vote counts -- this public funding model is also less expensive! Advertisement Quebec has already replaced the pay-to-play funding system that enables insiders to buy access with a more democratic vote-to-play funding system. The per vote allowance should enable the government to go further in lowering spending and contribution limits. We know the political cookie jar is tempting -- that's why we need to put pressure on the Liberals to make real, transformative change, not just to take a few steps in that direction. Committee hearings on fundraising reform will begin in June. Let the Premier and your MPP know that you want big money out of Ontario politics now. Members of the international community have issued a joint letter to the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Calling for the Release of Salim Alaradi, Kamal and Mohamed Eldarat. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan President Ministry of Presidential Affair May 27, 2016 Re: Letter from the International Legal Community Calling for the Release of Salim Alaradi, Kamal and Mohamed Eldarat Advertisement Your Highness, We, the undersigned, are calling upon you as concerned international lawyers and legal to use the full power of your office to demand the immediate release of dual Canadian-Libyan citizen Salim Alaradi and American-Libyan citizens Mohamed and Kamal Eldarat, who have been detained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for over 620 days and are in present danger of serious medical complications. All of the victims in this case have lived in the UAE for many years, were law abiding residents, and loved their lives in the UAE until the day they were arbitrarily arrested in August 2014 by UAE State Security agents. They are currently detained in Abu Dhabi Al Wathba prison and have suffered from mistreatment by State Security officials. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that no one may be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or imprisonment, and prisoners have the right to be free from torture or mistreatment. In addition, international human rights standards require that detainees be charged and tried promptly and afforded a fair trial, pursuant to laws in force at the time of the alleged offence, all of which did not take place. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in December 2014 that these rights have been violated and called upon the immediate release of Salim, Kamal and Mohamed. In February 2016, United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Torture, Health and the Independence of Lawyers and Judges have all condemned these violations and have also called for their immediate and unconditional release. Advertisement The families report that the individuals' health situations are grave and urgent. Consular officials have confirmed that the individuals have been denied medication and medical visits. The families are concerned that if the men remain in prison and denied appropriate medical care they will have further permanent health effects. The families report that Mohamed has already lost full hearing in his left ear, Kamal is suffering from spinal injury and loss of motion in his body, and Salim is suffering from serious heart, kidney and prostate complications. This case has received significant public and political attention in the last year. Its facts have become a matter of public record. On May 30, 2016 a final verdict will be made without right of appeal. As members of the international legal community we call on you to take prompt and meaningful action to ensure due process and a just result is offered to these victims. We have many hopes for the United Arab Emirates to live up to its commitment to human rights. We respectfully request that you intervene on behalf of the wives and young children of these victims. They have every expectation that you will recognize this case as a miscarriage of justice and do everything in your power to secure their immediate return and reunite them with their families. Sincerely, International Defense Team for Salim Alaradi, Kamal and Mohamed Eldarat Mustafa Almanea, Lead lawyer on case (Libya) Paul Champ, Canadian Legal Councel to Salim Alaradi (Canada) Greg Craig, US Legal Councel to Kamal and Mohamed Eldarat (United States) International Lawyers Amir Attaran, Professor, Faculty of Law & Faculty of Medicine University of Ottawa (Canada) Anil K. Kapoor, Kapoor Barristers (Canada) Arghavan Gerami, Barrister at Law and Managing Director Gerami Law (Canada) Audace Gatavu, Human Rights Lawyer (Burundi) Ezieddin Elmahjub, Professor of Law University of New England (Australia) Christine Johnson, Associate Lawyer Champ & Associated (Canada) Clayton Ruby C.M., Bencher, Law Society of Upper Canada. (Canada) Craig Brannaganm, Assistant Crown Attorney - Ministry of the Attorney General (Canada) Craig Forcese, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa (Canada) Craig Scott, Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University (Canada) Dr Curtis FJ Doebbler, Professor of Law (Sierra Leone) Daniel Carey, Associate Solicitor, Deighton Pierce Glynn (UK) Daniel Machover, Partner, Hickman and Rose (UK) David Watkinson, Barrister (non-practising) and Mediator, Garden Court Chambers (UK) Dennis Edney QC, Lawyer (Canada) Ebad Rahman, Lawyer Torys (Canada) Eeva Heikkila, UK Human Rights Lawyers (UK) Faisal Kutty, Counsel to KSM Law and Law Professor, Valparaiso University and Osgoode Hall Law School of York University (Canada/US) Fahd Gamal Ismail, Lawyer (Libya) Francois Larocque, Counsel (Canada) Helen Mountfield QC, Barrister, Matrix Chambers (UK) Hugh Southey QC, Barrister, Matrix Chambers (UK) Idris Ahmad AlTalbi Alidrisi, Lawyer (Morocco) Intisar Alaqili, Lawyer (Libya) Jane Deighton, Senior Consultant, Deighton Pierce Glynn (UK) Joseph A. Irvine, Giesbrecht, Griffin, Funk & Irvine LLP (Canada) Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chair of Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (UK) Mahdi Ibrahim, Lawyer (Libya) Marc Willers QC, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (UK) Maureen Whelton, Partner at Stevenson Whelton MacDonald & Swan LLP (Canada) Michael Bossin, Lawyer, Community Legal Services Ottawa Centre Michael Fisher, Lawyer Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP (Canada) Moiz Alwarashfani, Lawyer (Libya) Pearl Eliadis, human rights lawyer; President Quebec Bar Association Human Rights Committee (Canada) Professor Sara Chandler QC (Hon), Vice President, European Bars Federation (UK) Richard Hermer QC, Barrister, Matrix Chambers (UK) Richard J. Lane, Barrister and Solicitor (Canada) Said Eldin Alhadi Mohamed, Legal Consultant (Libya) Saimo Chahal QC (Hon), Partner, Bindmans LLP (UK) Sarah Aradi, Lawyer (US) Sue Willman, Partner, Deighton Pierce Glynn (UK) Tim Otty QC, Barrister, Blackstone Chambers (UK) Tim Owen QC, Barrister, Matrix Chambers (UK) Cory Wanless, lawyer, Klippensteins Barristers & Solicitor (Canada) Yavar Hameed, Barrister and Solicitor Hameed Law (Canada) cc: H.E. Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations Twitter: @UAEMissionToUN H.E Ambassador Obaid Salem Saeed Nasser Al Zaabi Ambassador/Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations in Geneva Twitter: @UAEMISSIONGENF H.E. Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States Twitter: @UAEEmbassyUS H.E. Ambassador Mohammed Saif Helal Al Shehhi Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Canada Twitter: @UAEembassyCA H.E. Abdulrahman Ghanem Almutaiwee Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United Kingdom Twitter: @UAEEmbassyUK H.E. Said Mohamed Al Kaabi Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Libya H.E. Sohail Matar Al-Ketbi Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Morocco H.E. Dr. Obaid Al Hairi Salem Al Ketbi A young girl at school in Lamahi district, Nepal (Photo: Plan International / Peter de Ruiter) Education is every child's right, including children affected by conflict, disaster, and other emergencies. When a child's life is uprooted and turned upside down in times of crisis, they can lose their home, their friends, and even their loved ones. To ensure these children don't also lose out on their chance at a better and brighter future, education must become a priority during emergencies. In adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) last year, governments, including Canada's, pledged to ensure that all of the world's girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education by 2030. However, without increased action and funding to reach and teach children affected by crises, the world will fall far short of this goal. Advertisement The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau's announcement, on the final day of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, of an additional $331.5 million in humanitarian assistance funding to help meet immediate life-saving needs and address unprecedented humanitarian challenges, is a welcome step in the right direction. However, as the world looks forward to the United Nation's General Assembly in September, Canada should boldly pledge to meet its fair share of the current $8.5 billion annual funding gap for education in emergencies. Boy salvages a book from his collapsed school in Suspachhayabati (Photo: Plan International / Peter Bregg) Why are children in emergencies out of school? Currently, there are 75 million children, aged three to 18 years, living in 35 crisis-affected countries and in desperate need of educational support. This includes 17 million refugees and internally displaced children who are fleeing disaster and conflict. Ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, South Sudan and Central African Republic have forced a generation of children and young people out of school, with little hope of returning. Advertisement In Syria, six years into the conflict, two million children are out of school, as are over half of the 1.4 million refugee children and young people who have fled into neighboring countries. When I visited the Turkish-Syrian border earlier this year I was outraged, though perhaps not surprised, to learn only 25 per cent of Syrian refugees living outside of refugee camps are attending school. The reasons for this are complex and varied: Syrian children don't speak Turkish and face difficulty integrating into the Turkish school system. As a result of their country's civil war, many have already missed two or three years of school and don't have the support they need to catch up. Girls are often married off to Turkish men, as their families think this will protect their daughters and better integrate them into Turkish society. Boys, often the only males left in the household, are expected to provide for the family and stop attending school. Why does education matter? Despite the fact that children themselves consistently prioritize education above all else, when asked about their greatest needs during times of crisis, less than two per cent of humanitarian funding currently goes towards education. There is still a very narrow perception that when a crisis hits, education is simply a nice to have, rather than a need to have. Food, water, shelter and sanitation always seem to take precedent. And although all of those things are essential, I reject the notion that education is not equally as important. Maya learning in class at a Plan-supported school in Cairo (Photo: Plan International / Plan International / Eman Helal) Advertisement It is incomprehensible that education is often a humanitarian afterthought, despite the fact that it has been demonstrated as the most effective way to normalize children's lives, help them recover from trauma, teach them how to stay healthy and safe, and ensure they don't become a generation lost to early and forced marriage, sexual exploitation, radicalization and a myriad of other dangers. For girls, who are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation during times of crisis, education not only provides protection but also hope and opportunities for the future. The Government of Canada has a long history of supporting and advocating for education in emergencies. It has been instrumental in developing the Education Cannot Wait Fund, which has bold and ambitious targets to enable adequate delivering of educational supports and learning opportunities for children during and after emergencies. I sincerely hope to continue to see Canada playing a leading role in ensuring all girls and boys affected by crisis are able to learn and thrive. Learn more and take action. KazanovskyAndrey via Getty Images Huge Double hamburger with fresh grilled beef isolated on a black background with pistachios Meticulously searching for the perfect burger restaurant in each Canadian province and territory was no small feat, but the Deal Experts at Travelzoo have done it. The restaurants on this list elicit pride in their province or territory, uniting their patrons through their different takes on the hamburger and their dedication to great food and great service. Whether they offer a classic burger, an innovative burger, or an "I can't believe someone came up with this recipe" burger, most of these places are award-winning, and have even garnered international media attention. In honour of Hamburger Day 2016, here is a list of some amazing burger joints from coast to coast, and our top picks from each menu. Advertisement Warning: These images may cause mouth-watering or sudden cravings for burgers. Alberta - Naina's Kitchen, Calgary Since 2013, Naina's mouth-watering burgers have been winners or runners-up at the Alberta Burger Fest (formerly known as YYC Burger Week). This burger joint was also mentioned on "The Social," and was featured on the popular show "You Gotta Eat Here!" Every week, Naina's Kitchen features a "Stuffed Burger of the week" including the Pancake Breakfast Stuffed Burger, Donair Stuffed Burger, and Spaghetti Stuffed Burger. And if their burgers aren't enough to make your mouth water, you should check out their poutines... Our pick: Badass Berry Burger A lb of lean beef stuffed with local Saskatoon berries, cayenne candied bacon, creamy Havarti cheese and then topped with more candied bacon. Dressed with lemon-minted mayo and a house made berry quark. British Columbia - Romer's Burger Bar Advertisement Romer's prides itself on its local cuisine, sourcing its organic meat and most of its other ingredients locally. All their draft beers come from the best Vancouver micro-breweries. With four popular locations in BC, Romer's was featured on "You Gotta Eat Here!" Our pick: Jimmy's All Day Breakfast Burger Housemade pork sausage patty, maple-smoked bacon, fried egg, crisp iceberg, sweet onion, vine-ripened tomatoes, bacon and chipotle aioli. Manitoba - Nuburger, Winnipeg Trying #Nuburger for the first time! This is the #ShangAwesome #burger! #food #foodporn A photo posted by Belinda Grift (@belindagrift) on Jun 18, 2015 at 3:35pm PDT Nuburger (Formerly Unburger) is a burger joint on the quest to eliminate the "Burger Hangover" (the guilt and the gut that ensue after eating a greasy burger). Nuburger focuses on balance and nutrition. They created their own tasty sauces with less oil, salt and sugar, while still piling on fresh, wholesome toppings and using locally raised grass-fed cattle. Clearly their formula has been a hit, as they now have two locations open in Winnipeg. There were also featured on "You Gotta Eat Here!," AND won the Le Burger Week competition in 2013, 2014 and 2015! Our Pick: Shang-Awesome Burger (2013 Le Burger Week Winner) Homemade Asian slaw, goat cheese, "hot damn!" mushrooms and low fat sweet chili mayo. Yukon - The Gr8ful Spud, Whitehorse Advertisement The Gr8ful Spud is known for its wholesome comfort food, particularly their specialized poutines, but the quality of their burger is not up for debate either. The atmosphere is welcoming and alternative, and the place is known for the servers' friendliness. Check it out and try some of their poutine too! Our pick: JR's Juicy Burger Juicy six-ounce house-made burger topped with mayo, burger sauce, oyster sauce, pickles, tomato and onions. Newfoundland and Labrador - Relish Gourmet Burgers, St. John's Can't beat the classics. Say hello to The Simpleton! #burgers A photo posted by Relish Gourmet Burgers (@werelishlife) on Sep 8, 2015 at 9:26am PDT This gourmet burger brand prides itself in giving its customers the "burger experience," while being innovative and using French culinary techniques to offer great flavours. Each Relish location has a featured burger on the menu that is unique to that community. Not in New Brunswick, but want to relish these delicious burgers? There are also locations in Vancouver, Edmonton, Halifax and St. John's. Advertisement Our pick: The Bullet Fried bologna, pickle chips, sauteed onions and mustard. New Brunswick - Tide and Boar, Moncton #tideandboar #burgertime A photo posted by Chad Steeves (@tideandboar) on Mar 6, 2015 at 2:46pm PST This Moncton gastropub, named one of Canada's Top 50 restaurants by Maclean's Magazine, and featured on "You Gotta Eat Here!", offers a lot more than just burgers, but The Burger is a big hit. Our Pick: The Burger House-ground brisket and bacon, brioche bun, dijonaise, tomato, pickle, old cheddar and caramelized onion. Nova Scotia - Darrell's Restaurant, Halifax Peanut butter burger meets vanilla-peanut-butter milkshake #hfxburgerweek #darrells #peanutbutter #killercombo A photo posted by Amanda Nahas (Mina) (@amandanoellemina) on Mar 23, 2016 at 2:59pm PDT Plain and simple, Darrell's is a family run restaurant with a strong presence in the Halifax community, serving everyone including students, professionals and families. Since 1992 Darrell's has been a Halifax staple for excellent food, service and atmosphere. It is no wonder that the restaurant and its food have won so many awards! Advertisement While you're there, treat yourself and order one of their award winning milkshakes. Our pick: The Peanut Butter Burger (The Coast "Best of Food" Award Winner) A traditional BLTCM burger with that "stick to the roof of your mouth" difference. The Great Wall of China is no longer the only man-made structure visible from space. #TheBurgersPriest A photo posted by The Burgers Priest (@theburgerspriest) on Aug 10, 2015 at 9:08am PDT The Burger's Priest calls itself a classic American cheeseburger joint "redeeming the burger one at a time." They believe in keeping it simple and fresh, and griddling their burgers to perfection. Their menu offers the tasty, good-quality basics, but if you're looking for something that goes above and beyond, make sure to check out their Secret Menu... You won't be disappointed. Our pick: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (from the Secret Menu) Rather than being sandwiched between two regular buns, this four-patty burger is held together by two grilled cheese sandwiches. Enough said. Prince Edward Island - Brickhouse Kitchen and Bar, Charlottetown It's perfectly OK if you want this #BrickMac in and around your mouth... It wants you, too. #PEIBurgerLove A photo posted by The Brickhouse Kitchen & Bar (@brickhousepei) on Apr 17, 2015 at 11:29am PDT Brickhouse Kitchen and Bar created PEI Burger Love's Most Loved Burger 2016! Brickhouse aims to support local while ensuring the sustainability of the island and its surrounding waters. The architecture of the Brickhouse is also worth checking out, built in the mid-1800s by Daniel Brenan, one of PEI's best-known citizens at the time. Advertisement Our pick: Brick Mac Burger PEI beef patty, Glasgow Glen gouda, double-smoked bacon, mac and cheese patty, and Jalapeno remoulade Quebec - Jukebox Burgers, Montreal Jukebox Burgers prides itself on exceeding the expectations of a typical burger joint, with daily in-house, freshly ground beef, fresh buns baked daily and hand-cut potatoes. Their hard work has earned accolades and features from Today's Parent, Epic Meal Time, Global news and more. The restaurant's fun, vintage decor makes you feel like you're in a classic burger shack, but the service and quality of food are far from ordinary. Our pick: Poutine Brgr Mayonnaise, lettuce, fries, homemade gravy, cheese curds. How could we feature Montreal without mentioning poutine? Saskatchewan - Harvest Eatery and Fresh Market, Shaunavon Going to have the best burger in Saskatchewan A photo posted by Colin Powers (@colinpowers1) on Jul 18, 2015 at 3:41pm PDT Advertisement With 24 per cent of the votes, the Harvest Eatery and Fresh Market won CBC Saskatchewan's poll for the best burger in Saskatchewan. Harvest Eatery is known for its friendly owners and unique twists on some classic dishes. Our pick: The Harvest Burger (No. 1 burger in Saskatchewan) Ranch-house, all-beef burger, Harvest Sauce, aged white cheddar, vine-ripened tomato, butter lettuce, pickled red onions, maple bacon, sesame brioche bun. Krista Pereira is a Travelzoo Deal Expert based in Toronto. Travelzoo has 250 deal experts from around the world who rigorously research, evaluate and test thousands of deals to find those with true value. Jupiterimages via Getty Images Woman comparing dresses in store By Rachel Schrader, World Vision Canada If there's a mall nearby, you'll likely find me in it. I'll admit it. I love to shop, and quite often I do. I don't tend to spend above my means, but I do purchase items based solely on how they make me look or feel, and rarely give a second thought to how that piece of clothing or shoes came to be. Where were they made? Who made them? And under what conditions? Those questions have occasionally popped into my mind, but I'm usually in too much of a rush to stop and think about it. I'm a busy mom of two, after all. These days, if I'm not picking out clothes for myself, I'm shopping for my children, fulfilling their needs and of course, oohing and aahhing over how cute they'll look in whatever outfit I spotted on the rack. Advertisement Products made by children However, it wasn't until recently that I reminded myself that perhaps the items I was purchasing for myself and my children were made by children themselves. It's a stark reality for far too many children around the world. More than 85 million children are forced into jobs that are dirty, dangerous and degrading. That figure is almost 15 times the number of children living in Canada today. This work can rob children of an education, as they leave school to work long hours in fields or factories. The work can also be devastating to a child's physical, mental, and social development. Here in Canada, my children are free to be just that -- children. However, children who are forced into work that is detrimental to their well being grow up way before their time. Their childhoods are lost. Advertisement In Armenia, Liza (who can't be identified) helps make 500 pairs of shoes per day. The shoes are sent to Italy, where they're labelled "Made in Italy" and shipped to malls in countries like Canada. At age 17, Lisa gave up her dream of an education long ago. Photo/World Vision A challenge to be a Conscious Consumer It's a devastating reality, but it's also a reality that we can help change, one purchase at a time. That's what World Vision Canada's new "Conscious Consumer Challenge" is all about. Those who click to accept will be challenged over a two-week period to take a closer look at their shopping habits and make adjustments. Participants receive an email every few days, each with a new challenge. Some examples: Buy a fair trade coffee instead of your usual Do an online ethical scavenger hunt Take a quiz and see how you rank as an ethical consumer Go online to goodguide.com and see how the products you typically buy "rate" Use social media to reach out to two major coffee chains on their ethical coffee sourcing Pick up vegetables from your local farmer's market, instead of the grocery store Challenging myself to change I decided to take up the challenge myself. Shopping required a bit more thought, but I was happy to check labels before I pulled out my wallet. I was certain I would fail the quiz that ranks how well of an ethical consumer you are, but it turns out, I scored better than I thought. I mostly felt good about myself. But there were moments when I didn't. Like the moment a co-worker pointed out that a row of chocolate bars in the vending machine were all fair-trade - but that's not the row from which I had selected my afternoon treat. It was disappointing that I hadn't made an ethical purchase, but a good reminder that I am, like many others who accepted this challenge, a work in progress. Meeting a fellow traveler As I moved through the challenges, I, found a World Vision colleague - Joanne Doyley - who was also putting herself to the test. Joanne was feeling the same way I was: "The challenge is something that I want to grow over time and I try not to be too hard on myself," she said. Joanne shared that the challenge encouraged her to take a longer, harder look at labels. She wanted to find out what the supply chain process was and if the ingredients or materials used were free of child labour. Advertisement "I asked a waiter at an all-you-can-eat buffet where the shrimp had come from", she told me. "It was the beginning of a dialogue with my friends and colleagues about the whole business of shopping ethically - and the challenge of forming positive habits." Those conversations and decisions can help improve the lives of children who are forced to go to work every day in unimaginable conditions. In Mozambique, Yohane's dream of becoming an agricultural technician has been replaced by long days working on a small-scale gold mine. The 11-year-old child works all day under the hot sun, with no breaks for rest or food. Photo/World Vision A step in the right direction Joanne admits that the changes weren't easy. "The difficult part is putting in the time to make choices, budgeting and seeking out products that are ethically made. But I found that the Conscious Consumer Challenge allowed me to go at my own pace, and helped me understand the reasons why it was important to get started. It provided a strong foundation to make better choices". Advertisement It may seem daunting at first. But once you get going, you may be surprised to find that shopping ethically isn't as hard as you think. Each conscious decision you make moves us closer to a world where children aren't forced into child labour. And like Joanne, you may find that your habits are forever changed for the better. "I want to be more conscious of the choices I'm making in the future," she said. "The connection between our dollars and children's lives is something we can't forget. It's important to be conscious and to think about those that are harmed". Take up the challenge today I invite you to take up the Conscious Consumer Challenge yourself. It's never too late to start. How have you changed? What did you learn about yourself and the world? Tell us about your experiences in the "Comments" section of this page. Ask yourself the questions I forgot to ask myself for so many years. Click the link today, and take a small step toward making sure no child is for sale. So much weight is put on us needing to be greener and more efficient with how we produce our power. Fossil fuels are depleting, the world is changing and the focus now needs to be on living sustainably. In steps solar, wind, hydro and a whole host of other renewable sources, but how effective are they? Our methods of creating green energy have advanced leaps and bounds over the last few decades. Even the most eco-cynical people out there can't deny that. They haven't peaked yet though. Well, obviously, look out the window, do you see vast swaths of futuristic wind turbines giving us more clean energy that we could shake a stick at? No, we still have a long way to go. Advertisement If you go to google and type in renewable energy or something along those lines, you're bombarded with drawings and concept art of how we should live sustainably. These images, while fascinating to look at, are more at home of the cover of a science fiction magazine than on an engineer's CAD software. These sorts of images contribute to us placing a lot of stock in the hope that wind turbines, bio-oil and hydrogen power are the sources of our salvation, probably too much so. So what are the numbers? What facts and figures are there to shake us out of the ideology and stare down the barrel of the problem facing us? Well, with wind turbines, there are facts and figures so readily available that it's not hard to find them at all. From various sources, credible and, errrm, less so, figures point to averages of about 40% efficiency. That of course varies with the strength of the wind, which raises another issue. Advertisement Most windfarms only start to operate once the wind speed eclipses about 10mph, and most shut down again when it eclipses 50mph. In addition, their optimum operating wind speed is around 40mph, meaning that they work at their best not far off the limit of when they shut down. While that makes perfect sense, it doesn't give you a lot of scope for consistent energy production. But hey, that's the nature of the wind right! We hit upon a crucial factor then, putting them up isn't enough. While WHERE they're placed is obviously important, it's worth considering that our ever changing and far more volatile climate and weather might make it more difficult to select one location that will have good consistent wind for the 25 year lifespan of a turbine. Can we really rely on our changing climate to provide that? That remains to be seen. In their current form, millions of wind turbines aren't the best of options. But the fact that they are an option at all means they're constantly being developed and we do hear stories of the good affect they have. For example, Portugal ran its entire country for four days just recently solely on renewable energy, much of which was sourced from wind farms. Some ideas for a better wind system include this new design for wind turbines from wonderfulengineering.com. The article claims that this design is over 600% more efficient than current turbines and a far better option for producing our energy. Have a read and see for yourself. You'll have to forgive the slightly boring nature of this next sentence but here goes. Essentially, this new design captures wind instead of it just floating past and moving the mechanism as it goes. It diverts into the mechanism and speeds it up, powering the coil and producing the energy before the wind then finds its way out of a chute and off it flies. It's a way of getting more for your money, in wind terms anyway. Advertisement In their current form, the use of wind farms is summed up quite well in this quote from an unknown source: "At the least, they provide us with jobs for putting the things up and then jobs for our kids who have to take them down again after they didn't work as well as we hoped." When it comes to wind farms we need to understand a simple fact. Yes they're good, and yes they're a step in the right direction, but they haven't peaked. Yet. Solar energy is getting close attention and praise at the moment, with the high profile flight of the Solar impulse plane making its circumnavigated trip around the world. The plane, powered entirely by energy from 17,000 solar cells absorbing sunlight, landed in America last week to tremendous applause and praise and hurrah. Now, before we label this as the future of air travel, let's consider something. A Boeing 747 flies at 614mph, which is pretty quick and means that the movement of people and goods can be done promptly and easily. The Solar Impulse flies at 30mph. The show of technology that this stunt advertises is worth celebrating, but it should be celebrated more if it was replacing technology that has been made obsolete. As it doesn't, it's not quite the glorious advert for solar energy that you'd hope. Advertisement Commercial Solar Panels operate at around 22% efficiency on average. That makes them disappointingly low and only just worth the effort. To the average household in the UK, solar panels on the roof don't pay for themselves for between 10 and 13 years, that's assuming they work perfectly throughout and you have good weather for that period. That initial investment is still in the thousands of pounds too, making that first step difficult in itself. Are they the answer? Possibly. Are they the answer right now? Afraid not. The intention article of this is not to undermine all that happy feeling people have about using solar and wind power and that belief that it could help save the planet. It's more about learning to walk before trying to run. Of course there are people sitting out there right now working to improve the design, so let's learn the lesson we didn't when we put them up to begin with. Let's make them work before we go ahead and try another save the environment experiment. So far we've tried to make them save the environment, and they're just not ready. The seal has been broken, and we've proven we can make them work. The real progress comes with making them work better. So let's develop it and make solar and wind energy something that is actually a viable solution instead of a stunt of 'Jesus is coming look busy.' Advertisement By Guy Bezant - Online Journalism Intern Frontier runs conservation, development, teaching and adventure travel projects in over 50 countries worldwide - so join us and explore the world! Whether you suffer from acute anxiety disorder or a more generalised form, you'll know the symptoms like the back of your hand. That familiar feeling of dread, fear and panic... and all for a reason that your conscious mind knows is totally ridiculous. Anxiety can rear its head in so many different ways. From insomnia to fully blown panic attacks, days spent hidden away in bed due to the sheer pressure it drowns you in and a sudden loss of control over your thoughts and actions. However your body reacts, one thing is for sure: it isn't nice and it isn't pretty. For the longest time I refused to accept its presence. I would give in to its destructive hold whenever it decided the "time was right" and simply accept that it was a part of my life. Sometimes it would only last a few hours... heart palpitations, sweaty hands. Other times it lasted days and kept me totally detached from reality. Advertisement It was only when I found myself in a month long bout of anxiety so bad it left me seeing no other option than medication that I realised it was time I took charge. It was time to take control over the disorder that had controlled my thoughts, emotions and actions for so long. And that's where yoga came in. Yoga and its focus on mindfulness, wellbeing and anchoring yourself in the moment. After fighting against it for so long, yoga taught me how to deal with it. How to escape it before it dug its claws in too deep. How to be bigger than it. But don't just take my word for it. Check out these 10 tips on why yoga really is anxiety's best medicine. Advertisement 1.It teaches you techniques for breathing In yoga, you have to be conscious about your breathing. One of the common side effects of anxiety is panic attacks: aka, the inability to control your levels of breathing. Take yourself back to your Pranayama when you start to feel anxiety's prickling hand. 2.It allows you to be present in the moment Yoga is demanding. If you aren't present in the moment, if you aren't really concentrating on what you are doing, you're going to lose the balance or position. So you need to be anchored in the present, pulling all your focus onto your body. Anxiety is defined as "a persistent, excessive and unrealistic worry about the future." The ability to draw your mind back to the present is therefore an incredibly useful way to steer away from those toxic thoughts about the future. 3.It gives you control Whilst your instructor can assist you with your poses, ultimately yoga is all on you. It's up to you, your mind and your body what you can and can't do. You control every moment. Anxiety often feels like a lack of control. Putting yourself in a state where you are able to take that control back reminds you that you are in charge... not your anxiety. 4.It raises your self confidence Ever felt the joy of finally nailing crow pose? Or that very first, unaided headstand? Yoga is amazing as your progress is plainly obvious. And that progress? It's a huge confidence boost! When anxiety leaves you with low self esteem, turn to those poses you know you absolutely nail. Show yourself how powerful you and your body are. 5.Redirects thoughts back to your physical self More often than not, anxiety is the fear of something that is either a huge exaggeration of a situation or something that hasn't even happened yet... it isn't even "real". It can feel near enough impossible to rationally look at the situation and why you are reacting in such an extreme way. Yoga forces us to look at every single part of our body, from the top of our heads right down to the tips of our toes. It is one of the most crucial elements of the practice. This technique helps you to break down your physical self when anxiety strikes. You can engage in introspection in a calm and collected way. Advertisement 6.Releases tension Anxiety can cause your body to tense up, particularly in the neck, shoulders and back. Yoga helps you release that tension, allowing your body to become freer and more open... and as a result? Your mind is sure to follow. 7.Aids insomnia It's a known fact that exercise helps disrupted sleeping patterns, and yoga is no exception. The steady, conscious breathing is also a strong force against anxiety when it strikes at night as it steadies your heart and allows you to breathe through the panic, moving you away from a mind in overdrive. A gentle sequence before getting into bed works wonders for putting you in a more relaxed state of mind ready for sleep. 8.Improves digestion Many yoga poses focus directly on stimulating the abdominal region, aiding digestion. Stress (brought about by anxiety) has a negative impact on our digestion; finding ways to counteract that impact is paramount in the fight against anxiety. 9.Stimulates blood flow Upside down poses increase and stimulate blood flow to the head, resulting in a detoxification of our adrenals. Adrenals are known to decrease in depression - an illness that can go hand in hand with anxiety. They are vital to our wellbeing as they produce the hormones we need to deal with stress. So healthy adrenals = healthy you! 10.Evokes peace and calm In Student Unions across the country, discontent with the "National" Union of Students continues to grow. In Exeter, despite a narrow defeat, the Leave campaign managed to attract more than 2,000 votes compared with only around 200 in the previous referendum - and recently Hull joined Newcastle and Lincoln in disaffiliating altogether, with the former two votes being by crushing majorities of around two to one. It is frankly not hard to see how we got here. Beyond the scandalous election of Malia Bouattia as President by a small cabal of a fraction of a percentage of students nationally - over the objections of dozens of Jewish Societies which were inadequately addressed to be kind - what we see in the NUS today is a body increasingly cut off from the millions it alleges to speak for. It claims to represent "the definitive national voice of students", yet ordinary students are ignored at best, and perhaps held in contempt at worst. It should also be obvious why the NUS often appears fundamentally disconnected from the students which they are supposed to be representing and for whom they allegedly speak. In the first instance, the NUS is increasingly open about how it would rather spend its time and money taking divisive, and often fringe, party-political stances in the name of all students rather than debating and passing proposals to help the students they allegedly speak for. This is firstly evident by the speeches of the group's leaders, with VP Shelly Asquith openly rejecting the idea that the NUS shouldn't be political and, worse still, Malia Bouattia declaring that the NUS Conference wasn't about students (but rather it seemed to be about everyone else, except, of course, anyone vaguely right-wing), before the delegates proceeded to elect her President. But it is perhaps more evident still in the motions proposed and passed - which have included official opposition to UKIP, a snap condemnation of the campaign against ISIS in Syria without consulting a single student, and notably its obsession with passing motions in favour of "free education" - an idea that, even if implemented, would be unlikely to affect a single one of the current students the NUS purports to represent given that we have already signed our loan contracts. When Conference time is already at a premium, it would not seem unreasonable for the NUS to decline openly party-political motions in favour of those which actually have relevance to our student experience. Advertisement However, the NUS has even gone one step further than this, and endorsed motions that appear to actively harm student interests. Infamously, for instance, it supported a marking boycott by lecturers, and even to endorse all future industrial action by default - rather than perhaps supporting the students whose exams, and even degree classifications, risked being left in limbo because of this. Then we have the NUS's more recent fiasco concerning proposals to cut Coca-Cola entirely from its Purchasing Consortium because the NUS supports BDS - because, when many students complain about a cost of living crisis, the best way to help them is to cut out a large company whose products are popular from the Consortium which allows SUs to offer competitive prices. Perhaps most pernicious is the recent revelation that the NUS spent more than 54,000 - more than the affiliation fee for either university I have attended - on party-political campaigning, and has set aside a staggering 4 million for this purpose over the next 4 years. It is surely not a stretch to suggest that this is the Platonic form of the NUS's actual conception of itself today - not as the "definitive national voice of students", but as a generic far-left protest group, where the ordinary student appears only relevant in order to calculate for how many people the all but self-anointed NUS leadership can claim its fringe opinions speak. Surely, a body called the "National Union of Students" should instead be helping the masses of ordinary students who would likely rather the NUS debated increasing their contact hours than encouraging a ballot for a "student strike" from what few contact hours some already have, or who would rather see the money sent to the NUS be reinvested in student services rather than in party-political smear campaigns against the Liberal Democrats. Apparently not, however, certainly not according to a bizarre piece by a former SU Officer which to me exemplifies everything wrong with the pro-NUS attitude to its opponents. Firstly, and perhaps most bizarre, is the allegation that all such students are conservatives, and are in fact part of some sweeping political conspiracy to advance the government's agenda. The latter idea is self-discrediting and deserves no further ink wasted on it, and the former is little more than a partisan caricature. In a radio debate on the NUS this term, my fellow Leave campaigner voted Green in the last election, and our campaign was supported by Liberal Democrat and Labour students, including those who had campaigned for a Stay vote in 2014. More ironic than bizarre is the claim that it is anti-NUS campaigners that are paternalists, when that honour surely belong to the NUS which continues to have a No-Platform policy and attitude which has even started to affect veteran civil rights campaigners like Peter Tatchell, and recently - in its "opposition to UKIP"; condemning of the Syria campaign; and obscene party-political spending - seems determined to tell us how to think. Advertisement But this contempt for ordinary students goes far deeper than personal opinion pieces from its supporters. It goes even deeper than a member of NUS NEC mocking the idea that NUS money should be spent on students rather than protests to laughter from delegates. Indeed, it is perhaps best represented by, for example, the ridiculous allegation by a Stay campaigner at Exeter at the start of campaigning that we were "the Islamophobic campaign against democracy and students" (because, you know, having a referendum when there is clear demand for one is extremely anti-democratic) and the obscene suggestion in a piece in Yes to NUS Oxford that the leader of the No campaign - a long-time mental health campaigner - was somehow being deceptive on the issue. These are only two examples of the relentless drive by some supporters to characterise all those who oppose it as stupid at best, and evil at worst. Below is a message sent to a student at Birmingham when they were voting on whether to have a referendum at all; space precludes further commentary from me to explain how it is reprehensible, which I would hope is not needed in the first instance. A few days ago, I listened to a radio interview with a man from Iran who had immigrated to the UK some three decades ago. He suggested that the UK was now flooded with EU (and non-EU) migrants and advocated that the British people should reboot the system by 'brexiting' the EU. The journalist argued that surely an immigrant would be more accommodating of the critical challenges facing migrants in Europe and across the MENA today. The man remained unconvinced and added that the UK had changed dramatically and was no longer the way he had come to know it some thirty years earlier. So the interview tapered off with the journalist expressing his astonishment and puzzlement. I, on the other hand, was really neither astonished nor puzzled since this man is not the only immigrant to suggest those ideas. And like him, by the way, I too am someone who was not born in the UK but was happy to find myself here and to enjoy the hospitality of this country. So why was I not as surprised or puzzled like the journalist? Some two decades ago, I chose to make the UK my home for two key reasons. On the one hand, I decided to exit a region - the MENA - where human beings might be born in the image and likeness of God but they certainly are not free or equal. Fundamental freedoms and civil liberties were - and still are to a large extent - in short supply. Men and women are subject to their rulers' whims, to their brutality, arrogance or mercy, despite the huge potential and resourcefulness bottled in those young societies. No wonder so many men and women have been fighting for dignity and bread - for recognition of their humanity - since 2010. And no wonder the pushback by vested powers has been ferocious too. Advertisement The second reason was because I believed that Europe - and certainly the UK - provided a more level playing field in professional terms. In the MENA region, it is often a question of whom you know rather than what you know, whereas my experiences have taught me that things are far more merit-based in Europe despite the subtle albeit noticeable changes sweeping across European societies too. Fast-forward to 2016! The two macro-issues that are being peddled by the Stay and Leave groups today are immigration and the economy. The Stay group has a distinct edge over the economic arguments, with numerous studies corroborating their analyses, whilst the Leave proponents are able to exercise emotions over immigration numbers. However, and as 23 June (date of the referendum) draws nearer, the gloves are coming off with increasing celerity. Having established the key arguments of economy versus immigration in the minds of would-be voters, both sides are now increasingly evoking a range of micro-issues and personal considerations. Everything from the cost of our properties, holidays or food staples to the very survival of the NHS are being clumped together into the confusing jargons of 'hope' and 'fear'! It is true that things have changed quite dramatically in the UK over the past few decades. I still treasure my first memories when I arrived into England to study Law. My evening 'tea' in a bedsit often consisted of boiled meat and boiled cabbage whilst an open and smoke-emitting fireplace in the corner warmed the dining room. I do not need to highlight how our palates have changed alongside our travelling habits and social attitudes. Our country is now far more multi-cultural, more inclusive, varied, colourful or even eclectic, with a babel of languages to be heard on most high streets. So no matter the happy benefits or somewhat fewer unhappy challenges of this transformation, we are now willy-nilly part of a larger world - call it EU, EEA, Single Market or even the much-touted global village. Advertisement It seems to me that what worries many people today is not solely the broad issue of immigrants taking our jobs (quite untrue) or of milking our welfare benefits (cautiously untrue too) but equally those secondary issues attributed to the social and religious changes in our midst that are not their 'cup of tea' and do not tally with how they define the GB brand in their minds. But is this not a simplified way of looking at 2016? Whether we accept those changes or feel uncomfortable with them, we have to realise that there are bigger issues. Today, the stakes are higher with terror organisations menacing our way of life. This is not a cliche: terrorists - and not only ISIL - are trying to break our security and cohesiveness in order to lunge us back into the ribald rivalries and bitter dissensions of the past. And although we could struggle alone against those perils, is it not also the EU - alongside NATO on a more international level - that has helped nudge the odds in our favour? Is it not the joint cooperation and intelligence-sharing - no matter how wobbly at times - that reduce the menaces lurking at every corner? Do I really wish to turn my back on this Club of 28? Do I really wish to run the risk that we might be better off on our own? Am I ready to take a leap in the dark simply because I do not like the EU sense of tutelage, its con concomitant changes or even its regulations on the shape of bananas and the texture of cucumbers? I know this might sound a tad flippant, since one can subsume them under the unattractive rubric of harmonisation, but so are some of the arguments being highlighted by those advocating an exit. Is it not better to improve things from within instead? I want to debunk a myth. The myth that our membership of the EU somehow limits our engagement with the Commonwealth. I will argue that it enhances it. Some have asserted that if we left the EU, UK-Commonwealth trade would increase and migration flows rebalance in favour of Commonwealth countries. I maintain this is wishful thinking. Others suggest that we should choose between the two institutions. I maintain that they are complementary. It is not an either-or choice. The UK needs and can have both. This Government has made clear that the Commonwealth is of immense importance to the United Kingdom. No matter how you look at the relationship - historic, cultural, or our personal ties - our connection with the Commonwealth is stronger now than ever. The fact that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK have the right to vote in the forthcoming referendum shows just how close that connection is. Our commitment to the Commonwealth is clear. A large part of the UK's aid budget is spent in Commonwealth countries - 1.88 billion in 2013-14. We remain the largest contributor to the Commonwealth Secretariat. And we are looking forward to hosting the first ever meeting of Commonwealth trade ministers in 2017 and the next Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM) the year after that. Advertisement And the Commonwealth itself is thriving. From eight member countries in 1949, it has grown to 53. It now covers nearly a quarter of the world's land mass and more than a third of its people. It boasts a combined Gross National Income of 10.7 trillion dollars, and a youthful population, of whom 60 per cent are under the age of 30. The Commonwealth thrives because of its great diversity. Whether large or small, developed or developing, from Canada's glaciers to the African plains or tropical beaches of the Pacific - the Commonwealth has it all. But it also thrives because, at heart, we have so much in common. Trade, for instance, is on average 19% cheaper between Commonwealth countries due to similarities in our legal systems and language. Being a core part of it is clearly in our national interest. So, if we value the Commonwealth, and know that it is going from strength to strength, does this mean we should focus on it - to the exclusion of the EU? First, there's the argument on migration. Some in the leave campaign have made the argument that leaving the EU would allow greater migration from the Commonwealth. But I have not seen Nigel Farage use this argument in public. It wilfully misrepresents the political reality and, to be honest, it is irresponsible and misleading. Frankly, I believe it is naive to think that the same people campaigning for Brexit would welcome this. Advertisement And what possible basis do they have for making such an assertion? Because - let's remember - it is already up to the United Kingdom, not the EU, to decide who is allowed to come to this country from outside the EU. Our membership of the EU does not prevent Commonwealth citizens from coming to the United Kingdom. Anyone suggesting that it would be different or easier is just raising false hopes by suggesting we would water down those criteria. Nor should we forget that, if we did leave the EU, keeping full and meaningful access to the Single Market would also mean accepting significant trade-offs, including the continued free movement of people. No other country has managed one without the other. Secondly, there is the creeping narrative promoted by the Brexiteers that somehow the Commonwealth can replace the EU as the UK's major trading partner. That is a leap of faith with no basis in fact. Access to the Single Market is a cornerstone of the UK's prosperity. 44% of what we export goes to the European Union, with 3 million jobs in the UK dependent in some way on trade with the Single Market. And it ignores what our EU membership does to facilitate trade with the Commonwealth. Access to the Single Market doesn't just matter to UK businesses and the UK's economic future. It matters to the Commonwealth too. As businesses up and down the country will attest, we are a gateway to trade with the EU, as well as an important market in our own right. It's the reason why Australia is a disproportionately large investor in the UK for the size of its economy. India too sees this gateway role as vital. Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK last November said "As far as India is concerned, if there is an entry point for us to the European Union that is the UK". And the head of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry agreed, adding that: "we firmly believe that leaving the EU would create considerable uncertainty for Indian businesses engaged with the UK and would possibly have an adverse impact on investment and movement of professionals to the UK." Advertisement A third argument centres around the idea of a Commonwealth Free Trade Area. It is certainly a fine aspiration. Ultimately, as a Conservative, I believe that free trade is the engine of global growth - and that a rising tide lifts all ships. But it is quite wrong to suggest that Commonwealth trade might be a substitute for the EU Single Market. Rather than harking back to the days of Imperial Preference, we should remind ourselves why the Commonwealth benefits from our close relationship with the EU. Our seat at the table gives the Commonwealth a voice - and it is a voice which brings results. UK membership of the EU is creating jobs and driving growth, in Britain and across the Commonwealth. That's why our Commonwealth allies want us to stay in the EU. But don't just take my word for it. A host of Commonwealth leaders have come out and said so. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Britain's clout is "obviously amplified by its strength as part of the EU". New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has said: "We see Europe as an extremely important continent that needs strong leadership. We think Britain provides that leadership". Whilst his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull said: "Britain's involvement in the European Union does provide us - and Australian firms particularly, many of whom are based in the UK - considerable access to that market. From our point of view it is an unalloyed plus for Britain to remain in the EU". Let's look at the reasons why they feel so strongly. Beginning with trade. Today, the EU has, or is negotiating, trade deals with over 80% of Commonwealth countries. The benefits of these deals are significant for both the Commonwealth and the UK. Canada is expected to benefit to the tune of 5.5 billion a year from CETA - the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the EU - and the UK by 1.3 billion. The United Kingdom has been at the forefront of efforts to deepen the EU's trading relationships with Commonwealth countries. We were instrumental in getting the Commission's agreement to begin negotiations on FTAs with Australia and New Zealand. We continue to push for an ambitious Free Trade Agreement with India. And the UK has consistently advocated a pro-development trade policy, arguing for generous access to the EU market for developing countries in the Commonwealth and beyond. Advertisement We strongly supported the granting of GSP+ status to Pakistan - which reduces duty on exports in exchange for progress on governance and human rights; Pakistan's exports to the EU rose by 20% in the first year of this scheme. The United Kingdom is working with our EU partners to successfully conclude Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations in West Africa and with the East African and South African Development Communities. The EU is Ghana's 2nd largest trading partner after China. And in South Africa the EU accounts for a quarter of total exports, and is its largest foreign direct investor, with 2,000 EU firms credited with creating 350,000 jobs. And 14 Commonwealth Least Developed Countries benefit from the EU's "Everything but Arms" arrangement, which gives them duty-free and quota-free access to the EU for - as it says on the tin - all exports but arms and ammunition. Just think of the overall leveraging effect of all these deals - this isn't just access to the UK, but to the whole EU, for all 2.1 billion citizens of the Commonwealth. And the benefits of our influence go well beyond trade. The EU is the world's largest aid donor, promoting stability, human rights and good governance. The UK is seen by EU Member States as the expert on development, which gives us significant influence over EU development policy. And let's not forget, a proportion of EU aid money comes from the UK contribution to the EU budget. We have used the powerful voice this gives us to shape EU development programmes and reinforce our own support for our Commonwealth partners. Contributing through the EU scales up our impact, as every pound of aid the UK spends through the EU institutions is matched by around seven pounds from other member states. You only have to look at the numbers to see what this means in practice. Advertisement The EU is one of the biggest development partners in Nigeria, with nearly 700 million euros committed under the last five year development programme, a further half a billion euros under the regional programme, and millions more to support peacekeeping, elections, vaccination programmes and communities affected by Boko Haram violence. In Kenya, it spends about 80 million euros a year to support job creation and governance. It is South Africa's main aid partner, accounting for 70% of development assistance and it complements our own cooperation, tackling climate change and sustainable development. In South Asia too, the EU reinforces UK human rights objectives - lobbying in Bangladesh on child marriage and restrictions on the media and civil society, and in Sri Lanka on the death penalty and LGBTI rights. In Australia, EU research funding has helped UK researchers to collaborate with Australian and South African counterparts on the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope, worth 5 million euros. The EU recently established dialogues with Australia on Counter Terrorism and peacekeeping. On climate change too the UK has used its influence within the EU to the benefit of the Commonwealth. Adapting to and preventing climate change is, of course, a core development issue. It is also an existential threat to some members of the Commonwealth. You only have to look at some of the Pacific island states like Tuvalu, Kiribati or Vanuatu to see how vulnerable they are to global warming. Advertisement The EU has been at the forefront of action on climate change - and the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of the EU, helping to ensure greater momentum on the issue and a better outcome at the Paris conference. We led the way with climate legislation in 2008 and have blazed a path for others to follow - between 2000 and 2014 UK GDP grew by 27%, while carbon dioxide emissions fell by 20%. Acting as part of a 500 million-strong EU bloc increases our global influence. This benefits the entire Commonwealth, in particular Commonwealth Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. So it is clear that, right across the Commonwealth, the EU is deploying its significant resources to good effect. And it is just as clear that the United Kingdom has played and continues to play a vital role in pivoting the EU towards the Commonwealth. All these examples demonstrate what our Commonwealth partners have to gain from the United Kingdom remaining an active member of the EU: defending open markets and pushing for effective action on poverty, climate change and other shared challenges. So the outcome of the referendum will affect the lives and futures not just of British citizens, but of Commonwealth citizens too. Those of them with leave to remain in the UK have the right to vote in the referendum, and a say over that future. So my message to the 200,000 South Africans and Nigerians, the 160,000 Jamaicans and the 126,000 Australians - not to mention the more than 3 million members of our British South Asian communities - my message to you is: this referendum matters to you as well as to us. Your vote will make a difference: unlike in a general election, every vote will have equal weight. Please exercise your right. Please register to vote by the seventh of June deadline. Please get out and vote. To sum up, the United Kingdom is, and has always been, a nation of traders, reaching out to all corners of the world. The Commonwealth is a vibrant, impressive institution, with 2.1 billion people and enormous potential. The EU is a global trading powerhouse, with significant economic muscle. Our Commonwealth allies know that the United Kingdom - together with the other Commonwealth members of the EU - Malta and Cyprus - are influential partners within a powerful organisation. This has been reinforced to me throughout my travels across the Commonwealth. We are their voice on the inside. Advertisement I have the words used by the Roman statesman Cicero inscribed on my pen: cui bono - to whose profit? And here I readily admit that I leave myself open to accusations of pretentiousness but it is useful to pause and think before signing anything. And so I ask you - who would profit from the United Kingdom leaving the EU? Certainly not either the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth. Because far from conflicting, the EU and the Commonwealth are different but complementary institutions for the United Kingdom. Far from solving problems on trade and migration, leaving the EU would create them. Far from having to make a compromise - we should be in both. As I have said many times - there is no need to choose. Margot Robbie Nude For Red Nose Day Trending News: Margot Robbie Celebrates Red Nose Day By Getting Naked Why Is This Important? Because it's for a good cause. Long Story Short To promote Red Nose Day, Suicide Squad actress Margot Robbie (rightly) decided her talents would best be used by encouraging participation from her bathtub. She is not wrong. Long Story You've probably seen a whole lot of stuff online today about Red Nose Day, and if you're like me you're probably wondering if it's some kind of oddly public celebration of clown fetishism. It's not! It has... something to do with kids (the website is suspiciously void of explanation), I think? Thankfully, Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie is here to explain it to us. And, even more thankfully, she had the good sense to assume that we'd be much more likely to pay attention if she's naked in a bathtub. There you go. Not unlike how she explained subprime mortgages in The Big Short, Robbie uses the bathtub to explain to us that Red Nose Day raises money for children's charities both national and international, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Save the Children. Neat! Margot Robbie is everywhere these days, and plan on seeing a lot more of her. Suicide Squad hits theaters August 5, and it was recently announced that she signed on to a larger Harley Quinn project. She also stars alongside Alexander Skarsgard as Jane in the upcoming The Legend of Tarzan, in theaters July 1. What else could be explained from the bathtub? Climate change? The Electoral College? The possibilities are endless. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question Do donors get to choose where their Red Nose Day donations go? Disrupt Your Feed Margot Robbie could read me the phone book as long as she's naked. Drop This Fact The first Red Nose Day telethon was held in the UK in 1988. A few weeks ago I was in the Central African Republic, one of the most complex humanitarian crises I have experienced. 420,000 people are internally displaced and over 2.3 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. This is about half of the population of the CAR.On top of going through numerous coup d'etats since its independence, this war-torn country also has some of the lowest human development indicators in the world. While it's evident that this country is in desperate need, the reality is that the challenges within CAR vastly exceed the humanitarian assistance received. The current UN appeal for 2016 is funded at less than 2%. As a result, we are seeing a shortage of food, water, shelter, protection and peacebuilding efforts. While humanitarian actors continue to provide the aforementioned interventions on the ground, the families of CAR are receiving far less than what they need. The history of CAR tells us what the war-torn country needs is long-term sustainable assistance combined with peacekeeping and emergency aid. Unfortunately, this essential combination is one which the international community often struggles to deliver. Advertisement In Bangui, I met with community leaders who were perpetually faced with challenges while trying to support their loved ones in their neighbourhood. They were dependent on the UN peacekeepers for security, as well as on aid agencies for immediate medical care and sanitation. Yet, what they craved was a plan which will help them map out a future- things such as education for their children and employment opportunities. At the moment, not only are humanitarian aid agencies struggling to meet the needs of those who stayed behind during the conflict, but they are also wondering how they will be able to meet the needs of the hundreds and thousands more refugees who will eventually return home. The challenges above are sadly not unique to CAR, but also exist in other protracted crises such as Syria, South Sudan and Burundi. Across Southern Africa, for example, on top of dealing with issues such as peace and security, families are now trying to cope with the effects of El Nino and rising food prices. As discussed at World Humanitarian Summit this week, it's great to see delegates committing to do more in tackling some of these problems. Too often, emergency responses have been described as either too little, too late or ineffective or uncoordinated. The Summit aimed to create better ways of doing this; of ensuring that where possible, communities can be prepared to cope with disasters beforehand by building resilience and mechanisms to handle change. This in effect will ensure that when disasters do strike,local communities can activate their own emergency response capabilities while also receiving effective support of international agencies as required. Three issues that World Vision has flagged ahead of the summit were education in emergencies, funding system reform and developing more innovative technologies with private partnership. Although the summit was a positive step forward as it provided space and opportunities for delegates to critically engage in these topics, it was disappointing to see that issues facing the world's most vulnerable children were left out of the agenda. Global decision-makers need to prioritisechildren who are living in conflict. They are the ones who often pay the price. Advertisement In the end, the test of success of the Summit will be judged on whether affected families living in crises are getting the assistance they need. I forgave my friends at first, I could understand it, here was a man that seemed at face value to represent 'old', 'pure', Labour traditions. Here was an unreconstructed socialist who was kicking it to the elites and stirring us in our seats. During my teens I looked on the Labour Party as a maligned status quo, more grey than red. The sense of disappointment at the New Labour project burned in me; why didn't they do more, why didn't they go further? I wasn't the only liberal-leftie of my generation to feel this way. I can see how easily it was to become blinkered. So many friends had so much invested in the Jeremy Corbyn project, to begin to question his allegiances and his hypocrisy would be to unravel their whole worldview. But by continuing to support Jeremy Corbyn, the liberal-Left, the decent Left, have turned a blind eye to his squalid support of reactionary movements, and so have betrayed the values of internationalism that they claim to uphold. Truth be told, Jeremy Corbyn should have never have got close to the Labour leadership. The man should be a pariah to the British Left. In 1941, George Orwell described a part of the Left as "sometimes squashily pacifist, sometimes violently pro-Russian, but always anti-British." I guess some ideas do die-hard. An unwieldy man, Jeremy Corbyn has rarely left his echo chamber long enough to contemplate a different viewpoint. He has over several decades, indulged himself with the most reactionary of individuals and regimes. He has done so in the attempt to perpetuate his simplistic world-view that the West is the darkest, most malevolent force in global politics. Advertisement Jeremy Corbyn was the chairman of the Stop the War Coalition up until his Labour leadership bid. I've since written at length about the squalid nature of this group. When you think they couldn't sink any lower, they do. Stop the War are a group that has apologized and praised Baathist fascism. That has blamed America for 9/11. That has repeatedly toed the line of Putin's kleptocracy, and even promoted the antisemitic blood libel that Jews murder children for blood to bake in their matzah. In December, Jeremy Corbyn attended a Stop the War dinner at which he praised the organisation as "one of the most important democratic campaigns of modern times". Just a month earlier, Stop the War proclaimed that "Paris (in the wake of the terror attacks) reaps whirlwind of Western support for extremist violence in Middle East". He had ignored an open letter signed by 500 Labour members which urged him to reconsider attending the event: "We believe that Stop the War Coalition stands apart from the Labour movement's values of internationalism, anti-fascism and solidarity," it read. "We urge you to distance yourself from this organisation. We believe that Labour party unity, and electoral credibility in the face of a Conservative government that is pursuing a rightwing domestic agenda, would be advanced if you pulled out of this event." Any democratic socialist and anti-racist worth their salt would have balked at Jeremy Corbyn's warm words about Hamas and Hezbollah. Hezbollah, that anti-Semitic goose-stepping 'Party of God' who persecute liberals and democrats in Lebanon. Hamas, the terror groups those charter states that 'Islam will obliterate Israel' and includes the Hadith: 'The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.' When Jeremy Corbyn praises Hamas and Hezbollah for their "dedication to peace and social justice", does he think of the trade-unionists they have murdered in Lebanon and Palestine? Advertisement When Jeremy Corbyn says he wants to toast a Jew-hating zealot in the Commons bar and splutters; "I look forward to giving you tea on the terrace because you deserve it!' -- the decent Left were filled with disgust. If I was to raise these questions at my next CLP meeting most members would simply look at their feet, as if too polite to shout "Red Tory" to my face. I won't have too many allies in my local Labour Party, as those repelled by Jeremy Corbyn have already slipped out of the door. Behind the wave of thousands of new members flooding the party, a small but noteworthy minority have cut up their membership cards, appalled at the hypocrisy and moral blindness engulfing the Left. Some liberal friends have said that my questions are founded on baseless smears. When I quoted Corbyn's words back to them, they simply shaked their heads and walked away. Some gave me Corbyn's line of defence, that his meetings with Hamas and Hezbollah were his part in the Middle East peace process. This is little more than thin spin. Sharing a platform with those who want the violent destruction of Israel, and those who promoted terror in Northern Ireland as way of bringing about a unified Ireland, while never once sharing a public platform with Israeli Nationalists or Ulster Unionists, reveals Corbyn to be what he is... an ignorant political partisan. I am tired of seeing footage of Jeremy Corbyn on Russian state television toeing Putin's line. Does he see that he is yet another useful idiot justifying the expansionist jaunts of a reactionary power? When he sits on Iranian state TV praises the Islamic revolution there, does he think of the gay people hung from cranes and women stoned to death by its regime? Is he a traitor to the values of internationalism and liberalism, or simply an old fool 'playing with fire without knowing fire is hot'? Personally I believe it's the latter, but that doesn't console me. Advertisement We must beware of those on the Left who are comfortable attacking the disgraceful mayoral campaign run by Zac Goldsmith, but remained silent when Ken Livingstone threw his dogwhistle to the ground and argued Hitler was simply a Zionist when he wrote Mein Kampf. We must beware those metropolitan liberals who wear their anti-racism so proudly on their sleeve, but who will dig through the gutter of conspiracy theories and historical quackery, to rationalise, apologise and justify antisemitism. This week the Psychoactive Substances Act came into force, banning the production and distribution of all new psychoactive substances (NPS) in the UK and shrouding the subject of substance use in deeper mystery. Some of the homeless young people we work with at Centrepoint use drugs, and a small number of them report problems with so-called legal highs. We work with young people to reduce the harm they can cause; sharing information about risk, providing advice about accessing treatment and addressing the underlying reasons for problem use. There has been a spate of high profile cases of the dangers of using legal highs, each of them echoed by young people in our services who use them. These stories have drawn attention from press and Parliament - causing public alarm and leaving lawmakers with little choice but to act decisively. The Conservatives and Labour both used their general election manifestos to call for prohibition. Advertisement Their response meant key questions, about the availability of treatment and the provision of education, were side-stepped with promises of tough legislation. So, following the lead of Ireland and others, where research has shown law-enforcement alone to be ineffective, leading to increased use, the government chose to emphasise policing and criminal prosecutions. A blanket ban in itself is perhaps not a bad thing. But placing the burden wholly on the police to eradicate NPS use is unlikely to yield results. The government must do better and it could start by increasing the paltry 180,000 it currently spends on educating young people about drugs. To their credit, some members of Parliament sought to complement the Bill by improving the information communicated about substances whose effects and dangers are still relatively unknown. But parliament voted down amendments to include NPS in personal, social and health education (PSHE), and to make PSHE a core subject in the National Curriculum which would compel the government to report on its quality. It was not too long ago that we were all expecting the Turkish state to be accepted into the European Union. While President Erdogan and his party AKP had the majority of the governmental power, the economy grew rapidly in the country. But the stability and safety of the people, which was also included in their manifesto, has not been seen through unfortunately. The persecution of journalists, the war against the Kurds, and the dangerous security situation along the Syrian border has scared away foreign companies and thousands of tourists. Russia has also imposed sanctions and trade between the two unravelled after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet in November. Throughout the years, allegations of Erdogan's power madness has always been in the background of his leadership. It was especially evident during the Turkish elections not too long ago. Naturally, Erdogan's party were anticipating to have a complete AKP government as they had campaigned for. This did not follow through, when the pro-Kurdish party HDP came into the parliament and AKP's dreams of having its own Sultan rule was destroyed. However, we now know that this factor would not have been and was not an obstacle to Erdogan when he re-launched the election shortly after to regain votes. The plan to run another election occurred alongside attempts to throw their own country into turmoil and chaos, to turn the people against HDP through scaremongering and then, hopefully, win the election. HDP was presented as a party founded from a violent ideology and the Turkish government put a blanket of fear over civilians as they kept promoting huge terrorist threats in the country as being the direct result of HDP. Advertisement Over time, Turkey has transformed from a vacation paradise for many into a cold-blooded country where IS (Islamic State) wreak havoc on freely; the conflict with the PKK has risen all over again in which Kurdish civilians are being killed, singled out as terrorists and executed without trial or evidence. Recently, the attacks against the Kurdish population have been ruthless and barbaric. The affected civilians in the supposedly progressive country has only been the minority population - which are mostly the Kurds. A mere few days ago, the country's parliament voted to strip all of pro-Kurdish politicians of their immunity from prosecution which could pave the way to trials of the president's political foes. Erdogan has accused its representatives of supporting the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). He is expected to sign the move into law almost immediately, dealing a significant victory against his opponents. He just recently stated: "It's a historic vote. My people do not want to see guilty criminals in this parliament." It was only around 20 years ago during the 1990's that the then Turkish government also removed immunities and prosecuted four Kurdish politicians. History is repeating itself while the world sits and watches each time. However, Erdogan is not speaking on behalf of the entire Turkish population as I have met and seen many young Turks who support the Kurds in the region. They do not all support the authoritarian ways and excuses of their president's attempts to stop Kurds from gaining basic human rights. Advertisement HDP's two leaders, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, now face possible prosecution for making statements last year in support of calls for Kurdish self-rule in south-eastern Turkey. In terms of 'self-rule', Demirtas was referring to the idea that an autonomous region in the South East could help relations and lessen conflict - as was the case in Iraq. However, it is now being labelled as 'inciting hatred' and 'supporting a terrorist group.' To some it may be justified, and to others it becomes clear how far they will reach to try and alienate Kurdish people from politics. This entire fascistic move is widely seen as targeting only the pro-Kurdish, Peoples' Democratic Party. There is also something really unpleasant in the relationship between Europe and Turkey. The country's unpredictable President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has now also made it clear that he refuses to change the country's terrorism laws that the EU demanded. In Turkey, both journalists and human rights activists are sentenced for terrorism if they bring the country's assault on minorities into the spotlight. It is something that often happens - Turkey has the most imprisoned journalists in the world. Erdogan also become increasingly authoritarian and provokes an ongoing low-intensity civil war in the south eastern provinces. Turkey systematically violates human rights and Amnesty International recently revealed that refugees are being forced to return to Syria. Nevertheless, the EU has had, for some time, an agreement with Turkey in which they play the role of border guard - and in this role people fleeing to Europe are sent back to where they came from. An amendment to the terror laws is a requirement of the EU to grant Turkey visa-free travel in Europe. Visa freedom is, in turn, a requirement by Erdogan to stop the refugees. Turkey is among one of the countries that have received the most Syrian refugees so far and the EU have given millions and millions to Turkey to prevent the refugees getting to Europe. The refugee crisis has become the EU's excuse of obscuring the serious human rights violations taking place inside the country, such as those reported by Amnesty International. The fear of having to accept even more refugees seems to be more important than the quality of life of refugees fleeing persecution on grounds of ethnicity, political opinion and more. We are speaking of refugees as if they are objects, objects for us in the west to control, limit and toss around as we wish. The EU's desperation to stop the increasing flow of refugees to Europe suggests its moral compass has malfunctioned. The EU has entered into an agreement with Turkey and given them huge financial contribution for dealing with the refugee situation at home and also to prevent people from coming to Europe. How the European Union's financial contributions are used by the Turkish state, however, is highly questionable and my fear is that Sweden is now also guilty in the crimes and hideous war taking place against civilians, refugees and minorities. In remaining complacent, the EU is guilty too in Turkey's crimes and they are putting blood on our hands too - it is, after all, our tax paying money that is used to fund Turkey. Advertisement The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is marked on the 29 May each year. To honour this, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Ministry of Defence attended a memorial service at the Cenotaph on the 25 May, as part of global events to mark the occasion. We welcomed the opportunity to pay tribute to the men and women from around the world who have given their lives in the name of peace. This year's event resonates all the more following the Prime Minister's decision to deploy 70 British military personnel to Somalia and up to 300 to South Sudan as part of UN peace support operations. The first members of those deployments are already on the ground in Somalia, proudly wearing their blue berets. The UK troops will complement the existing UN personnel in Somalia and South Sudan by bringing expertise in areas such as engineering, medical and logistical support. Advertisement These new commitments double Britain's contribution of military personnel to UN peacekeeping missions. There are now more than 300 UK Armed Forces personnel supporting UN peacekeeping missions overseas, including in Cyprus, and we would like to express our thanks to every one of them. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that 2016 marks a turning point for the UK's involvement in global peacekeeping operations. Looking back, it's been more than twenty years since the UK was able to withdraw its peacekeepers from Bosnia. Four years after that, our troops would deploy in support of the UN operation in Sierra Leone. Since then, peacekeeping missions have expanded. In 1994, there were around 75,000 peacekeepers in the field. The UN now has approximately 105,000 personnel, including troops and police. These personnel are currently deployed in 16 peacekeeping missions across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. UN peacekeepers' blue berets are a symbol of reassurance for the people they protect. They identify peacekeepers as protectors of civilians, something which has become a central task of the majority of peacekeeping missions. Advertisement The UK is committed to working with partners to further strengthen the UN's capability to end conflict and support global stability. Our goal is to improve the UN's ability to deploy efficiently the right people and equipment to the right place at the right time. This means focussing on three priority areas: better planning; encouraging pledges; and improving performance. UN peacekeeping needs to be ready to tackle tomorrow's challenges if it is to remain a guarantor of safety to the most vulnerable. To achieve this, the UK will campaign to make peacekeeping more effective. For example, we will harness initiatives make the most of opportunities such as such as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's Panel on Peace Operations. There may be obstacles on the way to reaching our peacekeeping goals, but we are more committed and determined than ever to overcome them in order to ensure peacekeeping delivers for the UK and the wider world. Baroness Anelay is the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and a minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Last Saturday, Grace Dent caused a bit of a stir on my Twitter timeline with this article. At first, I passed it off as clickbait. But on reflection, after reading the article again, I concluded that the point that Dent is very clumsily making is that feminism has bigger battles to fight. And I get it. I get the point that feminism has so many big issues to deal with. I've seen the challenges faced by a friend in being a woman running a motorbike garage. I work in a sector where, although mostly staffed by women, men are still more likely to be better paid and reach positions of management. Try working daily in healthcare with the indomitable woman interviewed here for the Huffington Post last year; I get it, I really do. And like Dent, I hold my own views on the campaign regarding high heels, and on make-up (long story short - heels bad, make up good! - But I won't criticise anyone else for what they think on this as the point is it's an individual choice. But then Dent further states her disdain for people arguing against groping at gigs, because "getting titted (sic) up wildly in the melee at the Glasgow Barrowlands really was the best part" for her. To belittle the experience of women, like myself, who have experienced sexual harassment at gigs is something I don't get, won't ever get and can't ever be okay with. Fast forward 24 hours and I go online and I find the artwork for a campaign initiated by myself being shared by one of my idols, Frank Turner, and this campaign being the subject of a blog he has written, after being contacted by numerous people saying they had experienced harassment at his last London gig. That's numerous people at one gig, at one single venue; one night only. If numerous people at one gig at one single venue are reporting this as an issue, then surely this isn't something we should be taking lightly? Advertisement We all exaggerate in interviews. Whether it's claiming that your worst trait is your perfectionism when actually it's your lack of punctuality or taking sole credit for a team effort. It's what makes internal interviews harder - you can't bullshit. The interviewers already know it wasn't you who introduced that new initiative and that you leave slightly too early at the end of the day for their liking. So you have to feel sorry for Boris Johnson- he's currently in the middle of the most important interview he'll ever have and it's internal. You see Boris Johnson wants to be Prime Minister. Boris has decided the best way to become Prime Minister is to try and get people to vote to leave the EU in the Referendum. Boris Johnson is a very clever man. Boris knows that lots of members of the Conservative Party want out of the EU and he hopes that by campaigning for Brexit those members will vote for him. Boris' friend David is campaigning to Remain in the EU and Boris knows he needs to oppose the Prime Minister to have a chance of becoming the Prime Minister. Boris Johnson does not care whether we are members of the EU. Boris Johnson cares about being Prime Minister. Advertisement Boris Johnson is a very clever man. He knows that a lot of people who want to leave the EU want to do so because they believe it will reduce immigration. Boris knows that people who are scared of immigrants will be reassured by a well-spoken man in a suit confirming that they are right to be scared of immigrants. He knows that people who are scared of immigrants want a well-spoken man in a suit to confirm that immigrants ARE causing the hospital waiting times and the lack of school places. Boris Johnson knows that immigration is not the reason for hospital waiting times or the lack of school places. He also knows that most people will have forgotten about that time in 2013 when he claimed to be the "only British politician who will admit to being pro-immigration". Boris was born in New York. His Grandfather was Turkish and his Grandmother was Swiss. Boris Johnson does not care about immigration. Boris Johnson cares about being Prime Minister. Boris Johnson is a very clever man. He knows the things that he has to say to make people vote for him. In his speech yesterday Boris Johnson tried to distance himself from the "Fat Cats" on the Remain side. Boris tried to present himself as a regular, normal-sized cat. Boris Johnson doesn't care about fat cats. He also doesn't care about thin cats. And he really doesn't care about poor cats or stray cats. Advertisement Donald Trumps campaign staff is becoming increasingly paranoid, and when you consider what Hillary Clinton did to Vince Foster, can you blame them? The Trump-Sanders debate won't happen, even though the one they had during a 2008 fever dream we suffered was absolutely stellar. And Monday is Memorial Day, when Trump will try not to think too much about all those loser fighter pilots whove been shot down. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, May 27th, 2016: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY MIGHT END PEACEFULLY - Greg Sargent: "Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the Democratic conventions Platform Drafting Committee, stressed that he understood the imperative of reassuring voters about the legitimacy the process, but vowed a level of openness, inclusiveness, and integrity that would succeed at that goal. Cummings said that he had had private conversations with Sanders, in which the Vermont Senator laid out his hopes for how this all will unfold. 'I have talked to Bernie,' Cummings said. 'I told him that the process would be a fair one. He said, "Elijah, with you being the chairman, I know thats what is going to happen. And Im satisfied that thats going to happen."'" [WaPo] IT'S ALMOST IF PEOPLE AROUND DONALD TRUMP AREN'T THE MOST STABLE INDIVIDUALS - Which is weird considering their boss can literally fix any problem in the world. Ashley Parker and Maggie Haberman: "A constant stream of changes and scuffles are roiling Donald J. Trumps campaign team, including the abrupt dismissal this week of his national political director. A sense of paranoia is growing among his campaign staff members, including some who have told associates they believe that their Trump Tower offices may be bugged." [NYT] Advertisement Former Jeb guy Tim Miller, @Timodc: In addition to bugs I have reason to believe they should also be worried about moles. JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF TRUMP LOVING WOMEN - Andrew Kaczynski: "When Donald Trump publicly floated the idea of running for president in 1999, his ex-wife Marla Maples made it clear she would spill the beans on her ex-husband if he were to make it to the general election. 'If he is really serious about being president and runs in the general election next year, I will not be silent,' Maples told London Telegraph. 'I will feel it is my duty as an American citizen to tell the people what he is really like.' The reaction from Trump and his attorney was swift and brutal. They launched a full court effort in the press to discredit Maples and withheld an alimony payment to 'send a message.' The episode illustrates how Trump uses character assassination and threats to quash any opposition. Maples has largely remained silent on Trumps 2016 candidacy." [BuzzFeed] Advertisement President Obama paid tribute to the city of Hiroshima. JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF TRUMP BEING A GREAT BUSINESSMAN - Drew Griffin, Nelli Black and Curt Devine: "The ads for his university were classic Donald Trump -- Trump stares into the camera and proclaims: 'We're going to have professors and adjunct professors that are absolutely terrific people, terrific brains, successful. We are going to have the best of the best... and these are people that are handpicked by me.' But a CNN investigation finds that Trump and others involved in the school admitted under oath that some promises made to students just didn't happen. In Trump's own deposition this past December, Trump failed to recognize the name of a single presenter or teacher at his real estate seminars. He also confirmed he had nothing to do with the selection process of instructors who taught at the school's events or mentors for the school's 'Gold Elite' programs." [CNN] Greetings from the Libertarian Party convention, which is occurring next door to Megacon. DELANEY DOWNER - Have a great weekend! Cell phones cause cancer. Josh Harkinson: "It's the moment we've all been dreading. Initial findings from a massive federal study, released on Thursday, suggest that radio-frequency (RF) radiation, the type emitted by cellphones, can cause cancer. The findings from a $25 million study, conducted over two-and-a-half years by the National Toxicology Program (NTP), showed that male rats exposed to two types of RF radiation were significantly more likely than unexposed rats to develop a type of brain cancer called a glioma, and also had a higher chance of developing the rare, malignant form of tumor known as a schwannoma of the heart." [Mother Jones] DOUBLE DOWNER - The District finally has a plan to shutter a decrepit, filthy, dangerous and inhumane family shelter in an abandoned hospital and some upper northwest residents are worried about "the negative impact on home values" caused by a small number of homeless families relocating to their ward. And get this: "Homeless lives matter; the lives of community homeowners matter too." Sad! [GreaterGreaterWashington.org] Advertisement Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill PERFECT - What about the affluenza kid? Benjamin Siegel: "Controversial former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli will support Donald Trump for president in a matchup against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a tweet sent out Thursday night...The 'Pharma Bro' criticized by members of Congress for his behavior during a February congressional hearing on drug prices, had previously supported Sen. Bernie Sanders for president and claimed to have contributed to his campaign." [ABC News] ADMINISTRATION TOTALLY SCREWING AMERICAN SAMOANS - Pema Levy: "[T]he Obama administration's top lawyers [have taken an] awkward, even embarrassing position: embracing a racist, century-old precedent in order to deny birthright citizenship to people from the territory of American Samoa. American Samoans are the only people born on US soil who are denied birthright citizenship. Five people from the island territory are suing the federal government, arguing that this deprivation violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship to "[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof...On the opposite side is the Obama administration, which urged the Supreme Court not to take the case in a brief earlier this month. In doing so, the government offered a full-throated endorsement of a set of Supreme Court rulings known as the Insular Cases, which are notorious today for espousing antiquated ideas about colonialism and white supremacy." [Mother Jones] IN OTHER CITIZENSHIP NEWS - Ed O'Keefe: "Applications for U.S. citizenship soared in the first three months of the year compared with 2015, appearing to confirm the predictions of several Democratic-leaning groups that the numbers would climb in response to the presidential campaign of Republican Donald Trump. If the trends continue, activists now expect nearly 1 million new applications this year roughly 200,000 more than the average in most years. That uptick would be just the latest signal of how Trump's campaign has fundamentally reshaped the American electorate. Figures released this week by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services show 249,730 new citizenship applications were submitted from January to March, a 28 percent jump from last year and a 34 percent increase from last quarter." [WaPo] Advertisement BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a chipmunk who regrets its behavior. OH BY THE WAY - Another clue in the mystery of what makes Trump supporters tick, via Yamiche Alcindor: "Victor Vizcarra, 48, of Los Angeles, said he would much prefer Mr. Trump to Mrs. Clinton. Though he said he disagreed with some of Mr. Trumps policies, Mr. Vizcarra said he had watched 'The Apprentice' and expected that a Trump presidency would be more exciting than a 'boring' Clinton administration. 'A dark side of me wants to see what happens if Trump is in,' said Mr. Vizcarra, who works in information technology. 'There is going to be some kind of change, and even if its like a Nazi-type change. People are so drama-filled. They want to see stuff like that happen. Its like reality TV. You dont want to just see everybody be happy with each other. You want to see someone fighting somebody.'" [NYT] COMFORT FOOD - The best Photoshops of Donald Trump's mid-air McDonald's. - The hydraulic press meets its match. - Now watch this middle school choir whip, now watch it nay nay. TWITTERAMA @DouthatNYT: People who think it's easy to be a "keyboard cowboy" have never tried to rope a steer with nothing but a MacBook Air. @MEPfuller: Hello @realDonaldTrump do you think we should allow "co-champions" at the spelling bee why is our nation so pc make them spell. @paulwaldman1: I don't agree with Honey Boo Boo on all the issues, but I like how she tells it like it is and challenges the status quo. Advertisement I joined about 6000 other delegates from around the world this week for the first ever World Humanitarian Summit. While 350.org doesn't provide humanitarian aid, we're increasingly concerned with just how hard climate change is biting, and committed to supporting people-oriented responses to the impacts of climate change. With 2016 already carrying a 99 percent chance that it will be the hottest year on record and is close to breaching 1.5 degrees C of warming, we've now moved beyond the early stages of dangerous climate change. That's being acutely felt by those in Pakistan facing deadly heatwaves, to the tens of millions in need of food aid in Ethiopia. It's widely recognised that the current humanitarian system is not adequately resourced or structured to meet the current crises, let alone future ones. In 2015 alone, manmade and natural disasters left 130 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, costing a record $28 billion. Alarmingly, there is an estimated annual shortfall of $15 billion in funding that aid. Photo credit: World Humanitarian Summit As actress Ashley Judd said at the opening of this week's World Humanitarian Summit, the 'way we respond to crisis is itself a crisis'. So as I walked the halls over two long days at the crisis of crises summit, I was curious to see the trends and initiatives emerging that will shape the future of how we respond to the impacts of climate change. Advertisement With a focus on climate change, here are four key trends and outcomes that emerged through the summit: 1. Rebalancing of power to local actors The humanitarian system has been widely criticised for keeping resources and power vested within large UN agencies and NGOs, rather than local communities or local governmental players. Globally, just 2% of humanitarian funding on average goes to such local responders. Some NGOs are showing leadership in rebalancing this. For example, Oxfam recently committed to increase the amount of its funding that goes to local actors to 30 percent by May 2018. While the summit was an important focal point to progress the decentralisation of power to local actors, it remains critical that this continues. The Overseas Development Institute provides a recipe for the continued letting go of centralised power in the humanitarian system, calling agencies to work toward the letting go of power and control, perverse incentives, and divisions to embrace differences. 2. People-powered disaster response in the age of smartphones The rebalancing of power toward local actors is also being rapidly driven by the burgeoning age of smartphones. Paramount in any disaster response situation is the ability to communicate, collect information about who is affected, how, and where, and manage response logistics. In the age of smartphones, many of these basic needs can be increasingly deployed by local actors, while supported by global agencies and networks. Advertisement The Innovation Marketplace was full of interesting examples of new technologies and systems that can empower responses that are 'as local as possible, and as global as necessary'. Here are three examples. When it comes to building infrastructure in response situations, from shelter to toilets, a new tool called HHOT provides step-by-step practical guidance on how to build structures that are accessible by all. Anyone can download the information and follow the steps. Recognising the gap in funding systems that are needs orientated and rapidly deployed, group of international NGOs have banded together to form the Start Network. Amongst other things, the Network provides "small-scale grants for small to medium scale emergencies that often receive little funding. Projects are chosen by local committees, made up of staff from Start members and their NGO partners, within 72 hours of an alert." In the case that cellphone networks are taken out in a disaster situation, a smartphone app in development at the moment, called Firechat Alerts enables people in high density situations to create their own communication network. It uses the radios already in smart phones to connect directly with one another. This app carries the caveat that it only works if there is a suitable density of people with the app using it. So in rural settings, it is unlikely to be of use. These are just a few of the innovative technologies that are emerging to empower local people and organisations as first responders, while being supported by networks of people and organisations around the world. Advertisement 3. The global architecture for responding to the impacts of climate change While much of the work around adaptation and redress for loss and damage from climate change has developed through the United Nations climate talks, the summit progressed some global mechanisms that are critical for confronting the impacts of climate change. During the summit, a collection of governments launched the Platform on Disaster Displacement, which aims to address the protection needs of people displaced across borders by disasters and climate change impacts. This platform will provide important support to governments to adequately prepare for such displacement. The launch of the platform still avoids the sticky issue that people displaced across country borders by climate change impacts cannot be considered refugees under international law, and resultingly are not provided the same protections as a refugee is. During the summit, Tuvalu's Prime Minister, Enele Sopoaga called for a UN resolution to put in place a framework to recognise and provide legal protection to people displaced by climate change. It remains to be seen if that call will be taken up. Photo credit: World Humanitarian Summit 4. Political will is missing A key blockage to the success of the summit and the future of humanitarianism itself is, as one presenter said, "the erosion in compassion, which means the protection space is shrinking in most parts of the world." From numerous world leaders shunning the summit, to the billions of missing finance for humanitarian relief, there is a distinct deficit of political will to ensure that all people are protected and supported in times of crisis. The UN and humanitarian organisations have reached their capacity with current resources. Taking stock of these four trends and outcomes, we can start to get a sense of how to move forward. I left the World Humanitarian Summit with the clear sense that we're entering an age where the impacts of climate change (on top of conflict-driven crises) are too big for the UN and humanitarian NGOs to handle alone. It needs movements of people who campaign, who get involved in owning and creating the compassion needed to bring humanitarianism strongly into the 21st century. Much like the climate movement has campaigned hard to weaken the power of those blocking mitigation action on climate change, we need to find new ways to hold accountable those who have profited while causing loss and damage for hundreds of millions around the world. By doing that we can start to rebuild a sense of political will to protect people at the frontlines of climate change, and especially those in places where they have done so very little to cause the damage. Advertisement East Hampton, NY -- Today ... early in the week. Or it could have taken place 25 ... 50 years ago. Circumstances change, certain needs do not. A refined, yet understated restaurant. I had just ordered. I am the only person in this section of the room. A middle-aged man enters with a young woman. They sit in the corner near a partition to the front hall, opposite each other. His energy absorbs the room like a vacuum -- he leaves no space for anyone else but this girl and himself. Her long brunette hair falls in untrained curls past her shoulders stealing down her back. Her skin is pale, untouched. Her face is barely visible, her profile hints at a natural prettiness. Her arms are bare. His voice is brash, oblivious, with a sharpened tone. He makes no effort to speak discreetly. I am sitting two tables away. He wants to be noticed, he wants to be seen with her. His graying hair pokes awkwardly out of his closely shorn head in mismatched sections. His features are indistinguishable, no real character to his nose, his eyes are dull, his eyebrows hang suspended, his tanned cheeks oddly lifeless and unformed. The dark hair on his beefy lower arms telegraphs more about his character than any other physical aspect. His voice, hardened and thickened by years of meat eating and social drinking, consumes the room. Advertisement He fidgets insecurely. Their cautious, superficial banter reveals that intimacy has not yet been breached. They brush the surface of one another with furtive sentences back and forth. Her voice, lead by a set Russian accent, lilts in melodic, practiced, buttery tones. What she says is not important yet, but how she says it affirms everything. She carefully begins to wrap her voice around him in small, vibrational circles. I am quickly drawn into their conversation, an unwilling silent witness. He talks rapidly and loudly to the waiter, "We usually eat in the dungeon below - I like it up here. But I like dungeons also -- don't you?" She acquiesces, "I like dungeons ..." with a soft, childlike laugh. The waiter nervously laughs. The man looks at her, "You'll always know when I like something. I hold nothing back." Uncomfortable silence. Advertisement His compliments spill forth in layer after layer of clumsy sweetening. "You're so pretty ... Do you know that? You must know that ..." She leads with conversation about her family. She mentions her mother whose husband is not working. "Was he laid off?" "I don't really know what is going on -" she vaguely replies. She shows him photographs of them on her phone. "You look like your grandmother... What a handsome boy he is, I would take him out on my boat, if you'd like that." "You like oysters?" he suggests. "Oh, yes..." she quietly giggles. "We'll have twelve oysters. Start with that." I roll my eyes. 12 oysters, no less. I shake my head with a slight smile and shift uncomfortably in my chair. Oh, this is painful. There is no ease, no breath. He keeps pushing through the air at her, testing her, prodding her, trying to court in agitated bursts of energy. She holds back, keeps him at arm's length, revealing small bits of herself, one peek at a time. Advertisement "I tried for three days to send you flowers. You know the flowers I sent you? At every turn there was a problem but I wasn't going to let anything stop me. I was going to get those flowers to you no matter what. That's who I am." "God, you're so beautiful, you know that?" She doesn't thank him. She silently absorbs it. The waiter returns. "She'll have the haddock with no sauce, no dairy, no wheat berries -- do I have it right? I'm trained well, aren't I?" he boyishly prods. "Yes ..." she playfully laughs, "And mushrooms on the side," she adds, "No dairy at all, nothing on the haddock, no butter? Just plain greens, yes?" prompting the waiter. "Look at her. Then look at me. I eat steak everyday. I need to make a change. I mean, will you look at her? She is onto something looking like that. I'll have the haddock, sauce on the side. I'll try to be good..." he chuckles carelessly. She laughs, pleased. She begins to open up to him. "... I want a career. I want to be successful," she stresses. "You MUST pursue your career. You don't want to be 50 with two kids and nothing else to show for yourself ... You know I'd love to take you up into my arms and take care of you for the rest of your life, you wouldn't have to worry about anything, you know that ..." She sits silent. "Material stuff is easy. Nothing to it. Money is not a problem." Advertisement More people filter into the room. I try to escape, block his voice out, read text on my phone aloud to myself, mindlessly Google. Nothing works. I search for my IPod, it isn't in my bag. Good God, I'm a prisoner, a captive audience. I try to distract myself, lose myself in the food, the taste and texture of the meaty wheat berries kissed with butter ... The table between us remains empty. "But we are just friends --" she demurs. "Yes, of course, just friends. I don't want anything from you. I am here for you no matter what. I will never be angry with you, no matter what you say or whatever happens. I will never get angry with you." "Yes, please, no anger ..." she gently purrs. "Even if you said you were in love with Ian and decided to go off with him I would not be angry. Nothing you say could make me angry." "Do you work all week? Is there any day you have free if I take the boat out? I've missed you these last three weeks ..." "I really like you. I know I am 52, you are 25. I'm sure you've thought about that. When I am 72, you'll be 45 -- that's not too bad ... I am here for you, you know that?" Advertisement On and on. Their conversation has consumed me, the waiter, even the hostess on the other side of the partition, we have become mute participants in the escalating drama. Like a whirlpool, we are all caught up in it. "God, you're so beautiful." She again remains silent. "My skin was not so good, I had acne," she draws him to her. "Cystic acne?" "No, not that bad. But I had trouble with it." "Well, now it is perfect, smooth as glass ..." He continues to press. "You know, some people you have chemistry with in life are not good for you. And then there are some people you don't realize you have chemistry with --" You've got to be kidding. The desperation rises in his voice throughout dinner -- instead of becoming more relaxed, he grows more anxious, overreaching, direct. "You need to take that call? Is that the woman with the apartment? Take the call, go ahead. I can help find you an apartment." He turns his attention to the waiter, trying to talk him up, win him over as she speaks on her cell phone. Advertisement "What's your name? ... Oh, that's my son's name. Well, you'll be seeing a lot of us this summer. A lot." The waiter leaves. Everyone has left the room except for the three of us. An unwitting menage. Now he goes full throttle, he squarely faces her and starts telling her how he feels directly. She has rendered him powerless yet he still thinks he is in control, that he's the one who is driving the conversation and blossoming connection. I blank his words out, buck my head back on an unchecked impulse, cringing, have a quick fantasy about pulling him aside and telling him to STOP, just stop trying so damn hard. But he is already lost. I rush through my gelato. "We're friends, yes?" she softly rebuffs him. "Oh, yes, you know that. No matter what." The tension is palpable, the atmosphere tight and restricted. A painful silence follows. I am right over here, people! I can viscerally sense his overwhelming need to penetrate into her, her nubile, supple body, into the mystery of her. He can't think about anything else. Someone from the front hallway overhears him say, "I would divorce my wife for you -" Then, "... Why would he leave you? Why would anyone be that crazy?" "I don't know," she almost whispers. Two nights later. Same restaurant. Much warmer night. Summer has arrived with a swift push. Its glow spills into the dining room. The side door is open this time. A fresh breeze. Advertisement I am at the same table. I'm almost through with my dinner when the same man with the same young woman enter. I look up in horror and disbelief with huge eyes at the waiter who recognizes the unbelievable coincidence and drops his mouth. They sit at their table in the corner. The energy between them has inexplicably changed. They sit next to each other this time, knees within touching distance. They are happy, conversing brightly and excitedly. The room is noisier, filled with diners. His voice still stands out. "I have to warn you my "ex" wife is going around harassing people. She has heard I'm having an affair and she has been showing up at places around town. She might show up at the spa ..." "Some people are so unhappy, why do they live that way? I could never live like that," she responds. No mention of being "just friends" tonight. The noise in the room envelops them. He leans into her. They speak closely now. "I would never, never, NEVER let them send you back to Russia. Vladimir Putin would have to shoot me himself first." The waiter goes to their table and lightly greets them. "We'll have the same thing, I know what we want. She's trained me well! She'll have exactly what she had before -- the haddock with no dairy or wheat berries, no butter, no sauce, greens with nothing on them." Advertisement "And mushrooms on the side," she playfully consents. "I'll have the haddock again as well. Just the way she's having it. It's the best way. Amazing." She talks rapidly now, taking hold of the conversation. He sits forward content, pleased to listen to her speak. She spins and spins the melody of her conversation around him. He smiles, blissful and unaware. And happy to stay exactly where he is, no matter what. He is just about to blow his life up. Why Is Everyone Willing To Help The Sick But Not The Unemployed? Trending News: Why It's Better To Get Sick Than Lose Your Job Why Is This Important? Because it might help explain why unemployment costs are kept in line while healthcare costs continue to climb. Long Story Short Illness and unemployment are two types of everyday risks that have the potential to affect everyone. From a historical perspective, though, theyre very different, and this is reflected in current-day political attitudes. Long Story How do you feel about helping out someone who is sick? I dare say its with little hesitation. After all, the sick cant help being sick, right? But what about someone who is unemployed? For many, its the same situation you reach out and lend a hand in some way. But thats not the case for everyone. And two scientists wanted to know why. People across countries are very positive towards the healthcare sector, but are not necessarily that inclined to give money to the unemployed, said Carsten Jensen and Michael Bang Petersen of Aarhus University, Denmark, in a press release on their paper for the American Journal of Political Science. Why do people generally prefer helping the ill and not the unemployed? And while theyre two risks that affect everyone or nearly everyone, in the case of unemployment from a historical perspective, theyre very different types of risks. Unemployment is something that only really emerged after industrialization, whereas illness has of course affected human beings for millions of years. Its a difference that seems to be reflected in current day political attitudes. Using techniques to uncover peoples implicit intuitions, Jensen and Bang Petersen explored the fundamental differences behind our attitudes towards unemployment benefits and healthcare, and discovered their roots may be found in evolutionary history. In some ways the difference makes sense. People intuitively think of sick people as being unlucky, and the researchers found this held true across different cultures. Still, in modern societies, more people die from lifestyle diseases than they do broken legs or random infections. And yet we continue to think of illness as random; its a trait that generally applies across the political spectrum. When it comes to healthcare, everyone seem[s] united in the belief that people who are ill are unlucky and need help, Bang Petersen says. This means that the policies in the areas of health care and unemployment are very different, as we all more or less agree on the goal in healthcare, while we deeply disagree on whether or not unemployed people deserve help. The jobless frequently have the responsibility of their predicament laid at their own feet. This often remains the case even when theyre the victim of wider economic trends. Jensen and Bang Petersen offer no solutions to the riddle. At this stage their research is only an observation. But delving into the psyche of these sorts of judgements is important in shaping public policy for the better. Its no secret that in the United States, support for the unemployed is paltry compared to other OECD countries. Own The Conversation Ask The Big Question: Why do people remain disengaged from helping the unemployed, particularly after the disasters of the GFC? Disrupt Your Feed: Remind me never to lose my job. Drop This Fact: In 2014 the United States total social spending was equivalent to 19.2 percent of its GDP, compared to France which spent the equivalent of 32 percent of its GDP. What truly is a social enterprise? To me, a social enterprise is one that prioritizes serving a purpose or fulfilling a need over financial gain. Rebel Nell was established as a result of living next door to a women and family shelter. While taking my dog on walks, I would stop to chat with the residents of the shelter. Over the course of many months, they shared their courageous stories about the challenging situations they left behind in hopes of a fresh start. It was a light-bulb moment for me and my business partner to start Rebel Nell. Our business model is mission driven, with our priority being the empowerment of the women in Detroit. All of our employees are, or were once, transitioning from women's shelters in Detroit. We teach them how to make jewelry from fallen graffiti as a way to repurpose the city. When the graffiti would otherwise seep into the ground, we give it a second life. Our profits earned directly impacts our programs and services that help our community of women to lead self-sufficient lives. At Rebel Nell, we operate under the "teach a woman to fish" mentality. A post shared by Rebel Nell (@rebelnell) on Apr 26, 2016 at 9:51am PDT Advertisement Sustainable and ethical fashion brands are few and far between in a multi-billion dollar industry that prides itself on creating trend-driven clothing for a low price. In a recent article on Business of Fashion, writer Lucy Siegle explains that, "we are, after all, children of the fast fashion revolution, and breaking away from this phenomenon seems impossible." At the intersection of social enterprises and the fashion industry are brands working hard towards moving the needle and changing the standards of what is considered ethical. This type of change is long-term and challenging, but doable. Traversing the path of social enterprising has brought forth plenty of hiccups and roadblocks, but along the way I've developed three useful tips that are the backbone of the company. Educate yourself. Marketing schemes can be very powerful and persuasive. Sometimes you find that promotions are actually causing more harm than good. I always tell my employees to be smarter than the average bear. Be weary of the brands that slap on descriptors like "sustainable" or "consciously made". It is our job as the consumer to ask questions and follow up. For example, when you're purchasing a necklace that raises money for a charity or is socially conscious, are you asking how much of the purchase goes to benefit the charity? Checking the labels? How was it made? Where is the change happening when you make the purchase? Who is it directly impacting? As a consumer, you have the control to know what you're doing when you're buying. Granted, not every decision we make is going to be 100% ethical. The more we challenge the fashion industry's practices, the more we continue to raise the standard for ethically made fashion. Advertisement If your employees are happy, your business is happy. It's important that you understand your employees' background. When we sit down and talk with our ladies (most of whom are mothers,) they inform us of their past jobs that didn't provide them with any flexibility. Previously, if a disruption like the flu hit their household, they would be out of a job as a result of staying home to take care of their loved one. With child care services being unaffordable for many it left them with little or no choice. At Rebel Nell, we decided it was important to offer our employees flexibility because we understand the importance of family. The gratitude for allowing them to put their family first is reflected in their work ethic. Don't just invest in your product, invest in your employees. A post shared by Rebel Nell (@rebelnell) on Apr 21, 2016 at 8:08am PDT Be a conscious capitalist. Owning a social enterprise is not only about capital return, it's about the social return. We could be more profitable if we didn't take care of the people we hired. Our value proposition lies within the women behind our jewelry. When you buy a piece of Rebel Nell jewelry, your contribution is helping women receive a good living wage and resources to become financially independent, like the financial literacy courses we offer. Financial stability is important, but it's not the only way to become empowered. Last December, I wrote a post on my blog called "Three Big Signs a Destination Wedding is Right For You." Now that I've had my own destination wedding, I think it's only fair that I update you on my experiences. In April, my husband and I dragged 50 of our closest friends and family to Now Larimar, a beautiful property on Bavaro Beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Did we have an amazing time YES! Did we learn a lot? DOUBLE YES! Truthfully, a Destination Wedding isn't right for everyone! It is a huge undertaking, one that I honestly underestimated. In the end, it was worth every bit of time, energy and dollar spent. Now that I'm an experienced travel agent AND an experienced Destination Bride, here's my list of insider tips! 1. Put Your Guests Comfort Before Your Own. This is a controversial statement, but this part of the process is not about you. If you are asking your friends and family to spend thousands of dollars and travel for hours for your wedding, shouldn't their comfort be considered? When choosing a location, think about your guest list and ask yourself these questions: Do my guests have a budget? Are my guests experienced travelers? Does everyone have a passport (or can they reasonably get one?) Will they be comfortable with a language barrier? Will they be comfortable with a large resort that involves lots of walking, or is a smaller resort a better option? Will they want lots of entertainment options nearby? Will children attend? This eliminates "adults only" resort options How LGBT friendly is the country we are considering? This one is especially important for some guests as certain countries can still be very discriminatory. Does anyone in my group have any travel restrictions? Note on this one: This was actually a concern for us and one not to be taken lightly. Many of our guests (including my husband!) are active duty military. At times, the military can place restrictions on where service members can travel. In our case, this eliminated some parts of Mexico and eventually led us to Punta Cana. 2. Consider How Far Your Guests Will Travel. For our wedding, we had guests flying in from eight different cities across the US. Eight! We chose Punta Cana because it was a direct flight for many of our east coast guests and a short layover away from our Kansas City guests. 3. Don't Forget the Drive Time. This is one that most people forget, even when planning a "regular" vacation. When you arrive at your destination airport, how fast do you want to get to the fun? Do you want to be near the airport, or is a more remote location preferred? For example, we only considered resorts that were under 30 minutes from the Punta Cana airport. This helped ease the travel burden on our guests and helped everyone start their vacation as quickly as possible. 4. Plan a Group Excursion to Break the Ice. I cannot recommend this one enough. Weddings are wonderful because they bring lots of different people and personalities together. Sometimes those personalities mix well, sometimes they don't! Our solution was to plan a group snorkeling trip on the Sanael, a catamaran in Punta Cana. This was our gift to our guests for traveling so far to celebrate our marriage. For three hours, our guests drank, snorkeled and got to know each other on an entirely different level. After all, it's hard to be shy when you're all wearing flippers and masks! The excursion was the highlight of our trip (after the actual wedding of course!) It was so good, we received thank you notes from our guests! Imagine that! By the time our wedding reception rolled around, everyone was great friends and had a fantastic time. 5. Stay Longer Than Your Tribe. This is the single best advice I can give you. When your guests are with you, you will be running around, attending to their needs, answering questions and enjoying their company. You'll also be meeting with the wedding coordinator, the photographer, the hair and makeup person, etc. It's busy and you may not have a lot of time to relax. Advertisement Near the end, you'll start to crave some downtime. I recommend that you and your partner stay for a few extra days after your friends and family depart. Better yet, move to a new resort and see a new place! This will give you some separation between "wedding" and "honeymoon," which offers a chance to relax. This word is over used, but our wedding was amazing. At many points during the week, I teared up thinking about how much effort everyone made to be there for us. I also have some hilarious memories, such as my dad zooming down an inflatable water slide with my best friends! Are you considering a destination wedding? Are you overwhelmed by the details? Did this post make you break out in a sweat? Working with an experienced travel agent will pay back tenfold in saving you time, money and stress. This is the most important day of your lives, not something you want to DIY. An aging global population has numerous implications for what it means to retire. People are living longer, having fewer children, remaining in the workforce, transitioning careers later in life, etc. But there are some other key points I'd like to highlight based on research and conversations we've had with global experts: 1. Retirement today is about much more than money. That's always been sort of true, but it's even much truer now. Increased longevity has changed everything. In most ways, living longer is a boon. Who wouldn't want an extra ten--or 20, or 30--years? But it presents new challenges. For instance, the issue of long-term care affects health, finance, technology and public policy in ways that can only be effectively addressed when all are approached in concert. The experts have barely started to come together and think through all these challenges and how they interact. We at BlackRock are starting a conversation but we're only in the beginning stages. One thing we do know: Our expertise in helping people save and invest, but we need to be thinking about many other issues, and working with other experts. 2. "Retirement" is outdated. The expectation that people should want (or be forced) to stop working at age 65 no longer makes sense in a world in which people live longer, live healthier as they age, and the ratio of old to young is considerable and growing. Yet as longevity has increased over the past century, we've tacitly tacked all the added years on at the end. Apart from the undesirability of making "old age" the longest phase of one's life, it's unrealistic to expect that most workers will be able save enough over the course of a 40-year working life to fund a possible 30-year (or longer) retirement. There should be no hard boundary on where work ends and retirement begins. In particular, mandatory retirement ages at the employer level need to be re-thought and in most cases reconsidered. Instead, we need to think in terms of a new "life script" that allows for greater flexibility, time off or part time work mid-career, more opportunities for education and retraining across our life course, and "phased retirement" in which people reduce their hours, shift into less demanding roles, and so on, but do not abruptly leave the workforce at some pre-set (and arbitrary) age. Advertisement 3. Longer lives require better savings habits. If you want any shot at a decent retirement, you're going to have to save more. It's just that simple. Defined benefit pension plans are in decline and aren't coming back. Government programs like Social Security can help finance part--but by no means all--of tomorrow's lengthy and expensive retirements. While the ultimate responsibility to save more is on participants, companies have a role to play, too. While the financial services industry has long been skeptical that better communications can raise savings levels, we now know from several real-life examples that improved communications can work. We need to re-establish trust with potential investors who may avoid investing for retirement in the belief that the financial system and participating firms are rigged against them. Common threads to building a connection are simplicity; direct, jargon-free language; and speaking to people in different ways depending on what stage they are at in life. For instance, it's counterproductive to talk to young workers about "retirement," a goal that seems to them impossibly distant. Language around "savings" works better. Older workers closer to retirement age respond well to messages that speak directly to their concerns about retirement. This will be a challenge for the financial services industry which, historically, has been technical, product-focused and accustomed to dealing with large institutions. For more themes and additional insights, visit the BlackRock Retirement Institute. Christopher Columbus was cruising around the eastern Caribbean in 1493 when he spotted a bunch of islands so pristine he's said to have thought of the 11, 000 virgin handmaidens of the legendary St. Ursula. He named the lovely dots in the blue-green waters "Las Virgenes," a tag known today as the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Some of the 100-plus U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Look close, and you'll see St. Ursula's name in a lot of other places. For instance, churches named after her show up in cities around the globe, from Cologne, Germany, to a village up in the Mexican Sierra Madres to a little town on the island of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. Church of St. Ursula in Cosala, Mexico. Among other landmarks tagged for her is Cape Virgenes at the entrance to the Straights of Magellan in eastern Chile. What's more, she's the patron saint of students, which sparked the Order of Ursulines (founded in 1535) and its worldwide work to educate young girls. And there's a St. Ursula Academy for young girls headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. Her legacy goes on and on. Advertisement But just who was St. Ursula? Other than a few words on the Basilica of St. Ursula in Cologne, no official records show she existed. Nor are there any records of the adventure said to have led to her death and martyrdom in the Roman Catholic Church. All we really have about the legendary lady are, legends. The stories generally agree that she was a 4th (or 5th) century British princess who was engaged to a pagan nobleman from a kingdom now part of France. But from there the legends greatly differ. Some say Ursula and her staffers drowned while crossing the channel for the wedding ceremony. Another version has Ursula and her virgins successfully making it to Europe, but after landing taking a little pre-wedding trip to Rome to visit the Pope. Along the way, Ursula and her ladies were said to have been killed by the Huns. Another twist on the latter tale has it they all made it to Rome, then talked the Pope into joining them for a trip to Cologne, where they were all beheaded by the Huns. (The story doesn't say whether the Pope kept his head or not.) But what about those 11,000 virgin handmaidens? What in the world did they all do? And how did Ursula find 11,000 virgins? Advertisement Many people who are sensitive to gluten claim they can eat all the bread and pasta they want when traveling abroad. How could this be true? When I was in law school, a professor made a startling pronouncement that captured my attention and remained with me throughout my professional career: "There is no such thing as good writing. There is only rewriting." Today, I am almost prepared to concede that only the first of those two sentences is accurate. Good writing - clear, concise, and informative - is increasingly hard to find. More people are communicating more words at a faster pace than ever before in recorded history, but the quality of those communications is terrible. We could use more rewriting. In this regard, consider a recent facsimile publication of the manuscript of "Swann's Way," the first volume of Marcel Proust's monumental novel, "In Search of Lost Time." This large and costly volume represents rewriting carried to an extreme: marginalia headed in every imaginable direction, with snippets of paper affixed to and folded over the original manuscript page. Proust was an editor's worst nightmare, but he demonstrates what rewriting by a perfectionist can mean for a text. Advertisement Proust's rewriting resembles an obsessive compulsive disorder, like repeatedly washing one's hands until they become raw. Proust's perfectionism, however, also produced a remarkable masterpiece. One can admire his search for both clarity of expression and clarity of feeling. He was not just telling a story. In fact, his massive novel lacks a traditional linear plotline. He was trying to say something important about the human condition, and the "plot," such as it is, only emerges towards the end of the 3,000-plus pages of text - and then doubles back on itself in what today's tech specialists might call an endless "feedback loop." Words convey practical information, as well as thoughts, impressions, memories, and feelings. For a serious writer, it is important to get the communication just right. Studying Latin, for example, sensitizes one as to how sentences sound - how they scan - as well as how they read. Occasionally, I will change an otherwise correct word in a draft not because it is wrong but because it sounds odd. Words are like notes in a musical score. Not all prose has to read like poetry, of course, but sometimes paying attention to the lyrical qualities of words can enhance the persuasiveness of even the most mundane prose. And mundane prose abounds these days. In recent weeks, I have encountered some remarkable combinations. One information technology professional told me about the importance of "enterprise learning transformation." What's wrong with "teaching"? Another person employed the euphemism of "justice involved individuals." What's wrong with "criminals" or "convicted felons"? The context of the last example had to do with the rights of felons. "Justice involved individuals," however, could encompass the Attorney General, the Chief Justice of the United States, the policeman patrolling a city block, a prison guard, a law clerk, or a jaywalker. Is it political correctness or fuzzy thinking that explains this corruption of basic, straightforward usage? The information-technology world, which presumably aspires to connect us in new, interesting, and meaningful ways, actually makes true communications more difficult. "Techie talk" suggests specialization and precision when, on occasion, the opposite is true. This language often obfuscates and misdirects. Advertisement We now live in a world of endless "functionalities," where experts operate in delineated "space," as in higher-education space or "collaboration space." I've encountered references to "new functionality and growth," plus activities intended to "boost sales enablement." A recent study reported that the third largest cause of deaths in America is from medical errors. How many of these tragedies resulted from communications failures? When hospital shifts change and one weary resident transfers a patient to the incoming resident, errors can occur that harm patients. Words, it turns out, can be weapons; their use and misuse can inflict serious harm. I am not an anti-tech Luddite, but I fear that technology designed to speed up communications is simultaneously slowing it down by fostering confusion, vagueness, imprecise shortcuts, euphemisms, and sloppy thinking. More communications do not necessarily mean better communications. Is it not possible that our technology sectors can find better ways to raise the quality of communications throughout American society? The Austrian-English philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, noted that "whatever can be said at all can be said simply." Simple does not have to mean simple-minded. Today, we seem to seek complexity for its own sake, when simpler, more direct words and phrases would be better. There are two short publications that every American high school student should be required to read and master before receiving a diploma. The first is "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk and E.B. White. This short volume is perhaps the best writing style guide ever published for the English language. Its origins go back almost a century, but its guidance ("Omit needless words.") remains relevant today. Advertisement The second publication is a short, brilliant essay by George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language," originally published in 1945. Orwell makes his points about good writing by comparing a beautifully written passage from "Ecclesiastes" with how the same passage might be written in modern English. Orwell warns against dying metaphors, pretentious diction, and meaningless words. He also offers us the following observation: "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink." Orwell wrote to help citizens sort through much of the nonsense and sloppy language that one often finds in political discourse. We can only wonder what he would have to say about the current state of political language in America some 70 years later. Why does the word "insincerity" come to mind? Checked bag fees provide $25 worth of reasons to pack light. If you can carry onto the airplane all you'll need for your next trip, you'll not only save money, you'll be assured the bag will arrive when you do. A new study from the aviation technology company, SITA shows that six and a half of every 1,000 checked bags fail to arrive at their proper destination so the odds are with us. Still, on my last few trips, I squandered more than an hour waiting for my stuff at the claim carousel. Either of the suitcases I carried with me, one on a trip to Italy, the other to Australia, and both on United, could have fit in the overhead bins. That's the first reason I'm enthusiastic about the two I'm reviewing here. As for the Lenovo Yoga 900 laptop, well that's a travel-unfriendly product, I'll save for last. After raving about the ECBC knapsack last year, the company let me test drive its 22 inch Falcon Wheeled Duffle. My month-long trip to some out of the way places in Australia required clothing for several different climates and activities and a small stash of gifts for folks I would be seeing with during my stay. Super capacious, I had no trouble getting everything in. The large zipper pull made it easy to close without breaking fingers in the process. Advertisement I did a direct comparison of the ECBC with a similarly-sized Pacsafe wheeled carry-on. The Toursafe EXP 21 model is also roomy and equally easy to close with large tabs on the zip pulls. Where it differs from the Falcon is that it is designed for travelers worried about pilfering or theft. When closed, the Pacsafe zipper tabs lock together and slide over a bar that then gets covered by a fabric panel. No one is easily going to get into the compartments on this bag. The locking tabs also prevent the inadvertent sliding open of the zipper, which I noticed on my ECBC Falcon. Since it only happened once, I can't say for sure, it might have been traveler error. On the downside, it takes longer to reopen the Pacsafe once you've closed it up if you then remember you need something stashed inside. I also found the Toursafe's flaccid side panels made it more difficult to pack than the ECBC, which had a more rigid case-like structure. Both bags have a large, padded exterior pocket (locking on the Toursafe, TSA friendly on the ECBC) for placing laptops, tablets and other gear for working-from-the-road. Toursafe includes a cable lock so you can leave the bag unattended but locked up. How brilliant is that? The ECBC includes a 5V/1A portable charger in a self-pocket so you can give your gizmos a charge while they're packed. Both bags are two-wheeled, not four, and rolled surprisingly easily considering how much I had in them, on all kinds of terrain. Both come in colors other than black, separating them visually on the claim belt. But then again, we're not checking these bags are we? Advertisement On my trips I tucked my Lenovo Yoga 900 laptop into the front pocket. This is a solution I like as it takes the weight off my back and puts it on wheels. But the laptop! Oh my! For years I've been working and traveling with a Lenovo computer. My affection and appreciation for this rough-and-tumble laptop with the stamina and features suitable to using it full time as a desktop reached its zenith with the X220, a laptop with an ingenious hinge that enabled me to use it as a tablet for reading documents, or working in confined spaces, like on an airplane. The slim and stylish Yoga 900, I have now doubles down on that convertibility with fancy watch band-inspired, stainless steel hinges, weighs considerably less with a wider and more beautiful monitor. I've grown accustomed to its ginormous 213 gigabytes of storage and the intel Core i7 processor that really makes doing anything on the computer rapid quick. But like the hunky boyfriend who is irresistible in the early stages, my shiny Yoga lost its luster quickly. I'll gloss over the fact that the first Yoga 900 that arrived was infected with a terrible virus that caused it to freeze at the most inopportune times. The machine was quickly replaced with apologies from the PR folks at Lenovo. Advertisement Other issues are, unfortunately, built into the design. It has a scant three USB slots, one of which is used for the power cord, so when working in the office it has effectively only two slots which are gone once I turn the laptop into a desktop and add the auxiliary keyboard, mouse and printer. The solution to the shortage of USB ports would be a docking station but Lenovo doesn't offer one. Which makes it even more curious that one usb slot is dedicated for the power supply. And this leads to the oddest design decision of all. Lenovo has redesigned the power pack creating a wide, heavy, 2 pronged brick that can be used to charge any portable device. The problem is the size and weight of it. It is so wide that it eats the outlet space on either side. It is so heavy , it often falls onto the floor if plugged into a wall outlet. I've taken to traveling with strapping tape so I can tape the brick into position over the outlet. The silver matte cover and black textured interior are easy on the eyes as is the beveled sides. Again form separates from function, it is extremely difficult to pry the two sides apart. Opening one's laptop should not be a test of manual dexterity. All of this I have learned to deal with but I've had the laptop for six months now and the keyboard continues to flummox. While some reviewers love it, I cannot get get away from the double and triple letters it inserts every seeentence. (Intentional, but seeee what I mean?) The touch screen also seems to have a mind of its own. Advertisement Some of the most poetic, prophetic, and truthful words ever written about war can be found in the lyrics of Bob Dylan's Masters of War. It sums up the differences between the people who fight our wars with the people who receive the untold benefits. As I write this post, the song swirls in my mind with incessant ruthlessness. I suppose I just know too many victims to be able to ignore this imbalance of power. War is a spectacle of killing, horror, injury, and death. This is what criminal defense attorney Colby Vokey said during a recent conversation - and he should know. As a retired Lt. Colonel from the Marine Corps, he has been at the forefront of military justice cases that have gone down in the annals of history. One such case was that of Omar Khadr, a 15-year-old Canadian national who was arrested and held at Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) for years. Khadr, the youngest prisoner on the infamous island, was tortured mercilessly before he eventually confessed to killing an American soldier. As Khadr's lead attorney, Vokey recounted the abuse on NPR. His description of Khadr being chained to a floor in a stress position that caused him to fall over repeatedly, is heart wrenching. After many hours of this, the boy urinated on himself. His guards squirted Pine-Sol on the ground and used Khadr as a human mop before walking away and leaving him in the mixture of his own urine and Pine-Sol. I know there will be some people who will read this and say "So what? He's a terrorist." But think about this; how believable is his confession when it was made under torturous conditions? Advertisement This incident, along with countless other military justice situations, including the trials following the Haditha Massacre, are characterized as "shams" by Vokey and prompted him to retire. Imagine that - a combat seasoned Marine with 20-years under his belt (not to mention being the Chief of all Corps defense attorneys of the Western United States) left the Corps he loved rather than continue to be part of a system he felt was ethically compromised. Today, he spends the majority of his career defending service members in deep trouble with the military and facing a public who only wants them to be locked up and forgotten. I normally advocate for bereaved military families, but knowing Colby Vokey has broadened my view to other types of victims. These "others" were blinded in the fog of war, where the line between right and wrong is not so visible. They made poor, split second decisions, and committed crimes that landed them in jail and with permanent stains on their records; not to mention their souls. Some of these service members were diagnosed with severe PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries, yet were deployed anyway. One young soldier, PFC Cory Clagett, joined the army in search a stable life. In 2007, his squad took a few insurgents prisoner during Operation Iron Triangle. But the command operations center radioed the message that they didn't want them captured, they wanted them killed. As a result, Clagett's sergeant ordered him and a fellow soldier to release the prisoners and then shoot them as they ran away. Clagett was convicted of murder and spent almost 10-years in prison, until Vokey helped him get paroled in March 2016. By the way, Clagett's sergeant received a slap on the wrist and was returned to duty. This leads to the question: Just how fair was the judicial process? The Combat Clemency Project The Combat Clemency Project (CCP) at the University of Chicago School of Law is seeking an answer to this question. The CCP is led by Professor Mark Heyrman and a team of law students. They have put together clemency petitions for seven combat veterans convicted of crimes and submitted them to the President for consideration. Vokey is the attorney for four of the seven cases. He is careful to point out that going strictly by the rule of law; they were guilty and rightfully tried and convicted. However, according to the findings of the CCP the methods in which these convictions were obtained raise concerns that should be taken seriously. Advertisement Many of our clients were suffering from severe PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and other mental health issues at the time of their crimes. Some of our clients maintain their innocence, while others accept their guilt. The seven include: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, PFC Corey Clagett, SPC Franklin Dunn, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, First Lieutenant Clint Lorance, Sgt. Derrick Miller, Infantryman/Ranger Michael Williams. And yes, the first name listed above is the same Robert Bales who killed 16 Afghan villagers in 2012. However, it is important to note that not all of the clients are seeking pardons. For example, Robert Bales is asking for mental health treatment, and either life with the possibility of parole, or reduction to a term of 99 years. Bales' case is perhaps the most widely known and disturbing because of the sheer number of innocent people who were killed during his rampage. But, according to CCP, most people are not aware that Bales was proven unfit for combat before he was deployed for the fourth time. Even his jury was not informed of his mental health and brain injury. These petitions for clemency are not about excusing the crimes, forgetting about the victims, or passing the blame. They are about forgiveness and closing a chapter on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I must admit, with some of these cases, I don't believe forgiveness is necessary. These are not cold, calculating killers. They are victims of a systemic problem involving a lack of accountability for poor leadership and poor medical care. Closing the Gitmo Chapter As promised, the long awaited closing of Gitmo is underway at this writing. When President Obama presented his plan in February 2016, he stated: "This is about closing a chapter in our history." Advertisement Gitmo has been mired in controversy, lies, and deceit from the outset. So much so, that it is hard to know fact from fiction. Were all the detainees wrongly accused? Were they all guilty of terrorism? I believe it is a blurry mixture of both scenarios, but I don't believe we can cite the fog of war for the colossal mess that was/is Gitmo. The difference between broken soldiers in battle, and the people responsible for Gitmo comes down to intent and awareness. The masters of war pulling the strings at Gitmo weren't dealing with issues like PTSD or a TBI. They weren't staring down an enemy soldier as they sat in the comfort of their plush and air-conditioned offices where clear and legal agendas should have been easier to put into place. So, if the masters of war can forgive themselves and close the Gitmo chapter, as President Obama stated, there is no viable reason as to why they can't forgive these seven soldiers and grant their clemency petitions. We can't just lock them up and throw away the key. Likewise, we can't continue to ignore the imbalance of power between the masters and the servants of war. As a writer and journalist in her 20s, I suppose I fit the description of "social media obsessed" that comes with my age bracket. The latest Snapchat filters? I've amused myself with them for hours. Where do I find out about current events most of the time? Twitter. How do I show people when I reunite with friends or make homemade pastries? Instagram. But a funny thought occurred to me recently, and I feel like I'm not the only one who's thought it: I've become part of a generation that is forgetting how to feel spontaneous joy because we're too busy trying to prove it. It occurred to me last weekend when some plans fell through and I found myself doing an activity most of us consider normal: decompressing by sitting on the couch and scrolling through social media. Checking Snapchat, I saw friends zip lining on vacation and drinking champagne; Instagram showed me some young writers celebrating a book deal with perfectly-frosted desserts; Facebook basically displayed a never-ending slideshow of acquaintances that were purchasing homes, getting married, and having babies. And despite being illogical, after about 20 minutes I felt pretty badly about myself. About nothing. About seeing wonderful things that somehow left a weird taste in my mouth. Social media is overtly a place where people post their shiniest achievements and best moments. It's not (usually) the place where people admit that they don't know what they're doing with their life or that they got in a fight with their spouse. Nobody's putting their bad day on social media. And when we sit alone with our phones, on the other side of this experience, this blatantly curated perfection can make us feel isolated and lonely, no matter how grateful we are for own blessings. It's not a real interaction. It's you with your screen, watching a highlight reel of someone's life, not what's been left on the cutting room floor: anger, sadness, confusion -- all the emotions that are part of human existence that co-exist amongst joy and gratitude and contentment. Advertisement On the flip side, when I'm celebrating an achievement or vacationing in a beautiful place, I feel the strong urge to document it, too. Tell me if this sounds familiar: when you're hanging out with a group of friends, are you thinking of how to "capture" the moment on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat? I realized I usually am, and that kind of disturbs me. When I'm at a concert with friends, I'm watching the concert through my Snapchat camera. When I'm at brunch, I'm Instagramming my Belgian Waffle. Social media platforms have become a part of our daily lives, but it seems like they're also disrupting our ability to find joy and meaning in the present moment. Why do we feel the need to broadcast our positive experiences instead of living them? What are we trying to prove? To preserve? No one's life is perfect, but social media allows us to pretend that ours just might be, at least for today. I know this isn't just happening to me. In a larger sense, I feel a cultural shift: most of my friends are at least aware of the effect social media has on their lives. A slew of studies have shown that social media can contribute to depression and anxiety, and it's definitely not a helpful pastime if you're feeling down about yourself on any given day. We're all getting a little fed up with the emotional and mental side effects of social media, whether we're voyeuristically checking our Instagram feeds alone on a Friday night or we're out on that Friday night having the time of our lives -- through our viewfinder. Where I live -- Minnesota -- summers are short. They are 3-4 months at best of the most perfect weather you can imagine, blue skies and days spent at the lake jumping off docks, drinking sangria and counting constellations at night. As the first few days of summer rolled into my little corner of the world, I realized I didn't want to spend the next few months comparing my good times to someone else's. I didn't want to show off my cabin days or happy moments; I wanted to live them. Advertisement By Julia Abbiss Competition is a tricky concept. As a core American value, competition is an embedded part of our social and economic makeup. From a young age, we're taught that getting ahead means being the best, without however, taking into account the various factors that may prevent certain demographics from achieving such success. Regardless, competitiveness often runs through our blood, affecting our attitude and relationships with people. That's why when I saw this Gif on my newsfeed, it made me stop and think. This simple animation sends a powerful message: As women, we should be empowering, not competing with each other. This notion is one that I feel is often lost with Western millennial women today. As equality is earned, the pressure of "having it all" rises. There is no doubt that women can have it all, however, in the pursuit of this, I think we forget that achieving "all" doesn't mean achieving "more" than the woman next to you. This Gif is so poignant because it quietly points out that the success of one woman only assists the success of another. I read this great quote recently that said, "Behind every successful woman, is a tribe of other successful women that have her back." It's important to recognize that this tribe is not just populated by the women in your immediate circle. Instead, I believe that women are at their strongest when they consider every woman from every walk of life as a member of their tribe. Advertisement This is a belief that is shared by Humanity Unified International, a nonprofit that empowers women to rise out of poverty through education, food security programs, and economic opportunities. Their latest project has them partnering with Aspire Rwanda, a woman-led Rwandan organization, in an effort to empower the lives of 100 Rwandan women. Together they developed a farming cooperative project that aims to triple the women's agricultural yields over the course of one year, starting in July 2016. They plan to do this by equipping the women with the management skills necessary to run the cooperative as a team. Additionally, the program enrolls the women in courses that teach business skills, women's rights, and provides information about mental and physical health. Male sensitization trainings and workshops are conducted alongside these courses to foster male engagement, with the goal of building strong, harmonious families. You can become part of this story of empowerment by joining the Humanity Unified International family in their efforts to end poverty. To watch their latest video, learn more about the initiative and to donate, visit: humanityunified.org Have you ever stopped mid-bite and wondered if what you are eating affects Earth? I'm sure we have all thought about how a particular food or meal might affect ourselves, but when we think of Earth, we think of a planet that sustains life, our life, animal life, and plant life, and will always do so, because it has always done so. Yet, scientists know that there have been mass global extinctions. Five. There have been five times in Earth's history where there have been mass die-offs of species. Scientists now believe we have entered the sixth mass extinction. The difference this time is that this extinction is instigated by humans. In the past 150-200 years, humans have changed the evolution and ecosystems of our planet through development, industrialization, economic and population growth, and greed. Advertisement This sixth extinction has been coined: "The anthropocene-era extinction." According to this paper by Harvard's Center for Health and the Global Environment, in a natural state of homeostasis, Earth loses approximately 1 species per million species per year. Currently, however, Earth is losing somewhere between 100 and 1,000 times this level each year, possibly more, as this is only an estimate based on "known" extinctions. Our world and its species depend on a web. Animals and their ecosystems have evolved co-dependently to feed off each other and from each other. So, losing one species will directly, and indirectly, impact the lives and survivability of other species. INCLUDING OUR OWN. After all, we are just another species. The loss of species occurs for a myriad of reasons: 1) Loss of Habitat: Humans rapidly cut down thick and luscious forests, natural reservoirs of life, home to hundreds of thousands of species, many likely still unknown, to create monoculture farmlands to grow crops such as soy, corn, wheat, or alfalfa for agricultural animals such as chickens, cows, and even fish. Advertisement Unfortunately, cutting down forests destroys animals' food and habitat, displacing them, perhaps starving them or outright killing them. Even in our oceans, habitats in the form of coral reefs are rapidly disappearing, dying, or destroyed as a result of climate change (more below) and other man-made degradation. Similarly, dams negatively affect the ability of fish (example: Chinook Salmon) to reach their spawning grounds. This reduces their population, viability, and longevity. This also negatively affects some of their major predators, such as orca, killer whales. Near Washington State, the Southern Resident Killer Whale population is critically endangered, with around 85 individuals left due to the loss of this primary food-source. 2) Overconsumption: Whether it is overfishing, by-catch, trawling, or simply overhunting (on land), humans consume far too many animals, at far too fast a rate, and their numbers are being irreparably depleted. Blue-fin Tuna, for example, are a highly endangered species of fish (according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature-IUCN), which have been overfished to satisfy our gluttonous appetite. In some areas, only 4 percent of the Blue-fin tuna population remains, as outlined in this Guardian article. Similarly, elephants have been hunted on land for their ivory tusks to the point where they may go extinct in the wild within the next ten years. It is estimated that 30,000 elephants are killed each year for their tusks, and only 300,000 remain. You can find more information on this BBC website here. Advertisement 3) Trade of endangered species and blackmarkets: Similar to elephant tusks, rhinoceros populations are on the brink of extinction due to the blackmarket sale of horns. In fact, in some parts of Africa, rhinoceros's are tranquilized so their horns can be cut off by conservationists to protect their lives. In other countries, manta-rays, sharks, and even dolphins are brutally murdered or left to die at sea for their fins or gill rakes. These "commodities" are used in shark-fin soup, as meat, or in Eastern medicinals; again, placing these animals at risk for extinction. For a much more in-depth expose on the trade of endangered species, please see the movie "Racing Extinction" movie or website. 4) Global Climate Change According the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), humans have caused more damage to the climate in the past 150 years than has been seen since the last extinction, of the dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago. We have nearly doubled the amount of carbon in our atmosphere in this time period, with the vast majority of this increase occurring in the last 50 years. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 10 hottest years on record have all happened since 1998, with 2015 being even warmer than 2014. Advertisement There are a myriad of reasons for this. The primary reasons however include fossil fuel use and animal agriculture/animal husbandry. However, that will be a post on its own. But to sum it up: Humans are the number one cause of these extinctions. Humans are the number one cause of most (but not all) ecological and environmental problems seen in this world. While we may have evolved to be able to consume "everything," planet Earth and its environment have not evolved for more than 7-Billion humans to consume "everything." I highlight the word consume, because humans do not only eat. We consume. We consume resources faster than they can reproduce or regenerate. We consume lives, animal lives, plant-lives (trees), irreparably. We consume carbon and create twice as much through agriculture. We take, and take, and take. It is time, starting TODAY to take the first step in giving back. It is time starting TODAY to consume less, to use less, to kill less. Advertisement The Earth is not here just for the taking. Earth is not just a resource. It is our home, our one and only home. We are supposed to be Earth's stewards, we are supposed to take care of the land and the seas, so that this generation of animals (and humans) is not the last, so that we do not look back 50 years from now and say to our grandchildren, "There was a time when elephants roamed the Earth." Get ready for the red carpet, Cleveland, because now that Donald Trump has taken over the party that he was not invited to, the only way to put his indelible stamp on the upcoming GOP convention is to turn it into a glittering reality show with a parade of B-list stars. So expect Bobby Knight to be the co-chair thrower and get ready for a passionate invocation from Mel Gibson (wearing a Pope hat made out of tin foil) followed by fiery endorsement speeches from Dennis Rodman, Rod Blagojevich (live from prison) and Meat Loaf. Gary Busey will be speaking at the Democratic convention by mistake. I mean Philadelphia and Cleveland sound so much alike. There will be no doubt, a swimming suit contest as well. Personally I will be rooting for Miss New York, Melania Trump who will surely have all the answers on how to create world peace. Advertisement Immediately after the show, there will be a clothing optional champagne brunch for all the contestants to sit around and come up with a foreign policy that highlights the best places to shop in their individual countries. The announcement of Trump's running mate will be a big part of the show too. The short list at the moment includes Ivanka, Tiffany, Barron and Donald, Jr. They will all sing Oscar nominated songs. A Bush will show: Billy, who will become Donald's press secretary. Since Donald has no experience whatsoever in the world of politics on any level, the office previously known as President will be known as The Appresident. The Golden Globes, the single most meaningless awards ever, will be presented as well. A surprise appearance former Golden Globe winner Pia Zadora will be a highlight. Advertisement There will be platform speeches on facial spray tanning, Botox injections, hair weaving and late night braiding, word repetition, exaggeration, pathological lying, pandering and misinforming the uneducated masses, the art of bankruptcy, university scamming, outsourcing your clothing companies while condemning air conditioner companies who do the same thing and the super positive side of sexist remarks. Cartoon legend Speedy Gonzalez (Marco Rubio in a regrettably oversized sombrero) will make a bilingual appearance to lure in the Latino vote. Sarah Palin will show clips from her Alaska based reality show which will include segments where the entire Palin family hunts scientists and Ivy League graduates in the wild. Out of wedlock children will be celebrated as well. Sadly the Democratic convention will not be able to compete with these smoke and mirrors (At the Donald's request, the GOP ceiling and walls will be covered in them). The Democrats will instead focus on all those other boring things like truth, empathy, human decency and compassion for the poor and middle class. Advertisement Which one you watch will be entirely up to you. But be forewarned: on the night of the GOP convention, when it comes to the competition, there will be nothing on. The U.S. Department of Education announced today it has "accepted" the law firm Squire Patton Boggs as the new "independent monitor" for Zenith Education Group. Zenith is a division of the non-profit debt collection company ECMC, which, with Department approval, last year took over many Everest College and WyoTech campuses of the now-defunct, notoriously predatory for-profit Corinthian Colleges. The Department told the Associated Press today that it picked the firm from among seven candidates proposed by Zenith. A partner at the firm, Clark Kent Ervin, is slated, according to the Department, to "lead the independent oversight of Zenith." Ervin had a reputation for diligence and independence as the inspector general at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and, earlier, at the State Department, in the George W. Bush administration. Advertisement But, as I said this afternoon to the AP, would it be possible for Zenith to find an independent monitor that did not work for Corinthian? The firm Patton Boggs, which later became Squire Patton Boggs through a merger, represented Corinthian in at least one litigation: a Texas state court lawsuit brought by student Dana Garcia, who claimed that Corinthian made unlawful misrepresentations and omissions to induce students to enroll. A brief filed in the case by lawyers from Patton Boggs' Dallas office, asking an appellate court to push the case out of court and into arbitration, is dated November 1, 2011. Clark Kent Ervin apparently joined the firm's Washington DC office the day before -- October 31, 2011. There's no reason to believe Ervin ever represented Corinthian. But the entire law firm is designated the independent monitor, and that firm represented Corinthian. In addition, two Patton Boggs lobbyists, former Senators Trent Lott (R-MS) and John Breaux (D-LA), were paid $1.44 million over four years, ending in late 2015, to lobby for the for-profit college industry's main trade association, APSCU -- of which Corinthian was a very active member (Corinthian's CEO headed APSCU's PAC) -- including on efforts to defeat the Obama Administration's gainful employment rule, which is aimed at holding predatory schools accountable. Another current lobbying client of the firm is the group Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, which includes Keiser / Everglades colleges, whose troubling conversion from for-profit to non-profit has made national headlines and whose president, Arthur Keiser, has long been a driving force within APSCU. Advertisement There were many problems with Zenith's arrangement with the previous "independent" monitor, the law firm Hogan Marren Babbo & Rose, amid a larger group of troubling aspects of the Zenith operation generally, as a powerful AP investigative series earlier this year revealed, and as Republic Report also had previously addressed. The AP investigation found that Zenith was using Corinthian-style telemarketing and the exact same TV ads as Corinthian had used to lure students. Many of the key Zenith staff members were hired to do the same jobs they had at Corinthian. As to the supposedly independent monitor, two Hogan Marren lawyers with expertise in for-profit college matters, Charles Rose and Dennis Cariello, each had previously worked at law firms with thriving higher education practices -- Drinker Biddle & Reath until November 2014 for Rose, and DLA Piper until February 2015 for Cariello -- that were apparently retained by Corinthian; both firms are listed as creditors in Corinthian's bankruptcy papers. Those lawyers declined to answer the AP's question as to whether they had personally represented Corinthian. The public was entitled to be concerned when the Department of Education approved as the independent monitor -- the entity charged with making sure that Zenith did not act like the predatory Corinthian -- a firm whose key higher education lawyers had previously worked at firms that represented Corinthian. In addition, although Hogan Marren was designated "independent," its deal with Zenith created a privileged attorney-client relationship with the company, which shielded information from the Department of Education. Advertisement In the wake of the AP probe, the Department dismissed Hogan Marren as the Zenith monitor, and in a statement today, the Department seemed to commit to correcting deficiencies in the relationship this time: "The agreement requires that Ervin's findings be reported to the Department with full independence from Zenith, and makes clear that he is not serving as an attorney to Zenith. To enhance his independence, the agreement requires that Ervin do no work for Zenith for two years after the monitoring agreement concludes. The Department will have access to any documents and materials obtained or generated by Ervin." But the Department failed to correct the other big problem -- that the monitor law firm was connected to the same deceitful college that it is supposed to prevent Zenith from emulating. Given the new company's executive makeup -- mostly ECMC officials with no college operating experience, crossed with former Corinthian executives who presided over a shameful operation -- and the entity's track record so far, I genuinely doubt that it is the national interest for the Department of Education to keep sending students and taxpayer dollars to ECMC/Zenith-run schools. A Tampa TV report this week is more evidence that the new Everest is same as the old. In that light, the independent monitor may simply be someone who makes sure the deck chairs on the Titanic are upright. I also don't question Clark Kent Ervin's integrity in any way. But he does not appear to have an education law background, so who else at the firm will be assisting him? If the Department is trying to regain trust with the public after allowing, and indeed funding, decades of abuses of students by for-profit colleges, could it not have insisted on a monitor law firm, from somewhere in these United States, that didn't represent Corinthian Colleges? It is that time of the year... When jubilant high school seniors receive their diplomas and look forward to attending the college of their choice -- a few perhaps hoping to be accepted by one of our U.S. Service Academies. When more reflective college graduates flip their tassels from one side of the mortarboards to the other and look forward to their first employment -- some nervous, hoping to be able to pay off the mountains of college loans; some more confident, anticipating a "big bucks" job. When Service Academies and College Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) graduates proudly render their first salute as commissioned officers, equally jubilant toss their hats into the air, but even more reflectively consider the solemn oath they have just taken: Advertisement [to] support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; [to] bear true faith and allegiance to [that] Constitution; ...[to] well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which [they are] about to enter. So help [them] God. They will in fact go on to serve and defend the Constitution in a changing nation and globe. Many will lead men into battle in distant places and, sadly, some will make the ultimate sacrifice. More than 950 cadets in the U.S. Military Academy's Class of 2016 receive their Bachelor of Science degrees at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y., May 21, 2016. Vice President Joe Biden gave the commencement address. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant) My commissioning ceremony was relatively simple. No hats tossed into the air. No President, vice-President or Secretary of Defense delivering an earth-shaking commencement address. Advertisement We did get our shiny second lieutenant bars pinned on by girlfriend, bride or mother. We did get to kiss girlfriend, bride or mother -- but not more than two of the three -- and we did give out a (silver) dollar to the first uniformed military to salute us. I did go on and did my best to protect Country and Constitution, sometimes performing hazardous duties, but never in combat and, thank God, still here to write about these other more fancy, more jubilant, more solemn graduation or commencement ceremonies. I regularly write about these inspiring ceremonies. Not being "an Academy Graduate," I do so perhaps with a little envy, perhaps because I only went through six months of hell instead of four years, but I always do so with the highest respect for these young men and women who survive the hell and go on to become our future military leaders. That respect goes out to every one of those graduates, including the traditional "Goat,"(below), as someone has to be last even in such a distinguished group. Keep in mind, even the last one in the cream of the crop is still the cream of the crop. Vice President Joe Biden smiles as Army Cadet Alex Fletcher celebrates being named the Goat of the U.S. Military Academy's Class of 2016, in West Point, N.Y., May 21, 2016. The Goat is the last-ranking cadet to graduate and usually receives the loudest applause from the class. Biden delivered the speech at the academy's commencement ceremony. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant Advertisement Talking about a changing nation, a changing world, two graduation events corroborate that. First, for the first time in more than 40 years after ROTC programs left Yale University amid protests over the Vietnam War, 18 men and women received their commissions in a ceremony at Yale's New Haven, Connecticut, campus. Defense Secretary Ash Carter administers the oath of office to Air Force and Naval ROTC students during a commissioning ceremony at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., May 23, 2016. DoD photo by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz Addressing the 10 new Navy ensigns and eight new Air Force second lieutenants, Defense Secretary Ash Carter, himself a Yale graduate, commended the new graduates for helping "bridge a divide that has persisted for too long," noting that some of their classmates had not met members of the military before. "People think differently about the world when a former roommate is managing the nuclear reactor on a submarine, or a former organic chemistry classmate is serving as a combat medic, or a fellow programmer is defending our nation's cybersecurity," Carter said. Finally, in another sign of a changing world and a changing threat, the U.S. Naval Academy, on May 27, will graduate the first 27 cyber operations majors as part of the class of 2016. Advertisement "These cyber operations majors have the technical understanding of what's happening behind the screen, and additionally they understand the broader implications of what a cyber act's effects can be," Paul Tortora, director of USNA's Center for Cyber Security Studies. "I think that USNA is on the leading edge of this at the undergraduate level." Vice Adm. Walter E. Carter, superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, observes a team of midshipmen during the 15th annual Cyber Defense Exercise hosted by the National Security Agency. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyler Caswell) According to the U.S. Naval Academy, "After completing USNA's cyber operations program, future officers can enter advanced study or potentially choose assignments with various military cyber-related forces in support of national security." Our congratulations to all the graduates and Godspeed. CODA: The graduation ceremony for the United States Air Force Academy Class of 2016 will take place at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Thursday, 2 June 2016. The commencement speaker will be President Barack Obama. Below, the U.S. Air Force Academy's Class of 2015 tosses their hats in celebration as the Thunderbirds roar over Falcon Stadium, May 28, 2015. Over 800 cadets graduated and became second lieutenants. Advertisement Lead photo: The U.S. Coast Guard Academy Class of 2016 graduates and receives their commissions as officers from DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson during their commencement ceremony May 18, 2016. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory J. Mendenhall. Back in 2008, I joined Facebook. It was a hoot at first because it was crazy to connect with all the old friends from grade school, high school, and college that I had lost touch with. But I had to admit, I didn't really understand it at first. If you are over the age of 30 or 35, you know what I mean. In fact, I still have some friends and family who not only refuse to get on Facebook, they don't even have a clue what I'm talking about when I use the terms "write on someone's wall" or "tag them in a photo." They just look at me with a blank stare and then I launch into a long, detailed explanation. But I think they are the minority. Most people I know are not only on social media (mostly Facebook), but some of them are quite frankly addicted. Some of my friends on Facebook post about 10 times a day on average (obviously, not all of the). And for some of these people, most of the posts are either selfies or group selfies of them and their kids, spouse, or friends. Advertisement Sometimes I look at these people who are excessive-picture-takers-and-posters-on-social-media and think, "What ever happened to just simply enjoying the moment? Why do we feel the need to constantly document our lives for everyone to see?" For example, many people constantly upload pictures and updates when they are on vacation. And I wonder if they are actually paying attention to and appreciating what they are experiencing. Or are they just lost in the social media posting? I mean, let's say you're visiting Stonehenge. I would be the person who would get lost in the awe of the moment and forget to take pictures - let alone put it on Facebook. But I think some people are so busy documenting on social media that maybe they miss the magic of the experience. Don't get mad at me for saying that. I'm not saying anything bad about people who do this, but I do think about this stuff a lot. I even teach about this kind of stuff in my classes. I talk about the concept of social media's "status update," and I explain how it's inherently narcissistic. It's like saying "Look at me! Look at me!" Don't get me wrong - it's not like I've never posted an update. Quite to the contrary. But when I do, I try to make it motivational and have it add value to someone's lives. Somehow I just don't think anyone cares what I'm eating for dinner or when I'm going to the bathroom. But maybe I'm the weird one. Regardless of what you post, I teach my students that everything you put on social media is constructing what is called your "online identity." Most people don't know how often companies stalk potential employee's social media profiles to see the "real person." And so if you have beer bong photos up from your spring break trip senior year of college, your employer is going to see it. Even if you have your security tight, many companies still know how to get around it (or at least that's what I've heard). Advertisement And it's not just an issue in people's personal lives. For example, the use of technology and social media is becoming a problem even with doctors in operating rooms. Apparently, that was a big problem with Joan Rivers' death. Allegedly, the doctors were taking photos of her during surgery and weren't paying enough attention. And as a result of that surgery, she somehow died. Was it because the doctors were being neglectful because they were more concerned about posting on social media? I'm not saying they posted on social media. Because no one really knows what happened that day except for them. But it does raise a lot of questions. Here's another example. A week or so ago, I saw a story on the Today Show about the Miami-based plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Saulzhauer. He has become pretty famous lately. Why? Because he does Snapchat whenever he is in the operating room. Apparently, it's almost like he's on TV when he's operating. The viewers can see every bloody detail that happens. The Today Show was asking him some very real questions about the ethics of his choices. He defended himself by saying that being on Snap Chat is an option for his patients -- he doesn't force them. And he says most of them want to do it and think it's cool. Call me crazy, but if I was having surgery, the last thing I would want is for it to be blasted out to the whole world live via the internet. But hey, maybe I'm just old-fashioned. The much-ballyhooed "anger" of primary voters who cheer Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders is not just the usual election-season revival of contempt for the powers-that-be. Their anger reflects an understanding that they are done for. Many in those raucous crowds know that the America they expected to provide them some prosperity and security is dead and gone. And with it, their vision and hope. More to the point, that America will never return again in ways that will magically reinstate their original pursuit of happiness. Not in their lifetimes. Not ever. Their loss is terminal. Nobody knows this better than unemployed and unemployable coal miners who recently voted in West Virginia. The myriad changes such angry Americans have experienced are all too well documented: the wholesale departure of manufacturing jobs sent offshore to low-wage countries, robotics and a digitized workplace here at home, economic and environmental obsoleting of fossil-fuel jobs, the disappearance of pensions and healthcare benefits, the stagnation of middle-class wages, the sudden revolution in sexual expression and relationships, the browning of America--the list goes on and on. Advertisement Sadly, America has shown little knack for designing and implementing long-range strategies and programs--and even less for dealing with the unintended consequences they might yield. For all the gains produced by huge initiatives like Emancipation or the New Deal or the Great Society, they also yielded byproducts which reflected our inexperience with trying to engineer social change, that least understood and most slippery of all good intentions. Worse, proposals for mitigating the impact on these individuals through things like job-retraining, community college investments, portability of retirement plans, tax credits for manufacturing communities, and expanded credits for child care have largely gone down to defeat. Most cruelly, change-victims' hope is devastated when mass media misinform the public about proposals to help them. A classic example: Hillary Clinton's proposed $30 billion program to support and re-train coal miners is the best-kept secret in America, because the media relentlessly repeated word bites out of context to make it sound like she personally was out to kill their jobs and companies. In reality, she offered a far-sighted, sympathetic, multi-faceted program of support for them precisely because (as she said), in America's massive shifts in energy choices "...we are going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business." The "we" is all of us, but you'd never know that from the media coverage. (The media are equal-opportunity distorters of fact and truth, also misrepresenting Republicans' words and stances in their never-ending quest to inflame audiences' volatile emotions.) Advertisement Few of the angry voters asked for these disruptive changes that seem to doom them. Change has been imposed--some would say inflicted--by forces well beyond their control. When individuals are caught up in change that shakes their foundations, five gnawing questions spring forth: Why did we have to change? What exactly is going to change, and what is going to stay the same? Will there be a place for me in the new order? Will I be supported to succeed and prosper in this changed situation? Will I be honored for my contributions in the past that helped us get this far? In the absence of answers, those who have lost vision and hope now know the truth: they are dying of a terminal condition. They are dead people walking. And that is the real cause of their anger. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross sought to explain this for us in her classic 1969 book On Death and Dying. When confronted with a terminal illness, she noted, the dying typically experience a series of reactions: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Sometimes the stages evolve in just that sequence, sometimes they overlap, sometimes they recur--but all are nearly inevitable. She later came to recognize that these same confounding mindsets take root in people who aren't themselves physically dying but are experiencing other kinds of loss: a loved one dies, or a marriage ends, or a harsh rejection occurs, or one loses a job or economic security. This is not to overlook the fact that some are, indeed, physically dying of this terminal loss of vision and hope. Recently, stunning research by Professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton of Princeton University revealed the significant increase over the past fifteen years in mortality rates among middle-aged white non-Hispanic Americans ostensibly in the prime of life--a trend that is to be found among no other cohort in the U.S. or Europe. These Americans are dying at accelerated, disproportionate rates--an unexpected half million deaths of those 45-54, especially among the less-well educated--from self-controlled causes like suicide, alcoholism, and drug addiction (the latter two having been dubbed "chronic suicide" by Karl Menninger). The self-inflicted mortalities documented by Case and Deaton have properly been described as "deaths of despair". http://wws.princeton.edu/faculty-research/research/item/rising-morbidity-and-mortality-midlife-among-white-non-hispanic With the loss of vision and hope comes depression, the completely predictable and inevitable consequence of such loss. Is it any wonder, then, that many of the terminally afflicted seek solace from mind-altering substances or credulously swallow miracle cures from candidates who confidently promise simplistic solutions. Is it any wonder that they also get angry. It is not only the elderly who may rage, rage against the dying of the light. Our fellow Americans' howl of anger is a national alarm, if we but listen to it. They are the canaries in our darkened mineshaft. For too many, the vaunted American pursuit of happiness is a bitter impossibility. And with the tumultuous changes that will continue to remodel America in the next few decades, benign neglect and economic Darwinism will be both economically and morally intolerable. By Marcelo Cabrol Marcelo Cabrol is the manager of all external communications for the Inter-American Development Bank Group. His portfolio includes Demand Solutions, a business model that applies entrepreneurial thinking to solving persistent development problems in fields such as health, transportation, and energy. Coding is basic literacy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is an integral part of the digital age, which in turn has ushered in that revolution. As popularized over the past year or so by the World Economic Forum and others, this revolution is based on the arrival of new, emerging technologies that are intersecting at exponential rates of speed and scale, dramatically increasing productivity and economic growth, and creating better jobs and entirely new industries. Code powers this digital world. Every website, smartphone app, computer program, calculator and even microwave oven relies on code to operate. This makes coders the architects and builders of the digital age. So, what better way for Latin America and the Caribbean to be part of this revolution than by giving its children the tools that they need to be digital citizens? Other countries have already started. In the United States, Code.org is a non-profit committed to introducing American schoolchildren to coding. The United Kingdom has launched a new computer curriculum for kids as young as 5. Even developing countries are active in this endeavor: the Ghana Code Club wants to take coding to all Ghanaian children. It's a not-for-profit started by Ernestina Edem Appiah, a former administrative assistant who admired IT professionals and became a self-taught coder. Advertisement International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/R. Farrell All these initiatives face a similar challenge: girls are underrepresented among their students. And this fact has spurred other ideas: girlswhocode and blackgirlscode, for example, have the shared mission to close the huge gender gap in technology in the United States. Achieving gender balance is important: knowledge of coding increases the numbers of girls in classes and schools dedicated to STEM--science, technology, engineering and math--allowing for a dramatic improvement in a nation's capacity to innovate and to improve productivity and equality. Laboratoria: Coding for young women in Peru This is where Peru's Laboratoria comes into play. Laboratoria, the brainchild of Mariana Costa, Herman Marin, and Rodulfo Prieto, was launched in 2013 as a "tech social enterprise that empowers young women by giving them access to education and work in the digital sector." Mariana and her team provide hands-on training to women who could not enroll in a university because of lack of income, or responsibilities as young mothers. Laboratoria's business model is simple but effective: after a meticulous selection process, it provides beneficiaries with two months of training in mathematics and programming aimed directly at placement in companies demanding those skills. More than 70 percent of Laboratoria graduates are employed after completing their course. This success rate is explained not only by the quality of the training, but also by Laboratoria's many partnerships with private companies, including Google and Peruvian businesses Telefonica - Peru and Liderman, one of the biggest private security companies in the country. [Full disclosure: the Inter-American Development Bank is exploring the possibility of partnering with Laboratoria in an effort to scale up opportunities to provide training in coding.] Laboratoria also seeks sustainability: in addition to its educational component, it sells tech services to support itself. Advertisement Using this model, Laboratoria combined coding, inclusion, and employment for 130 young women last year. This sounds like a small number. But what would happen, for example, if the Peruvian government dared to adapt this model to its secondary schools throughout the country, benefiting all students, both girls and boys? The implied change in curriculum would be demanding--we all know the difficulties of scaling up small solutions in educational settings, but imagine the potential comparative advantages for the country's workforce and competitiveness. Furthermore, Laboratoria has expanded and now also operates in Mexico and Chile. This idea of "democratizing" coding is no doubt a tall order. But it would also be inspiring: a local solution, oriented toward equitable outcomes and opportunities, propelled by a new cadre of entrepreneurs who are able to design and implement high value-added programs. Coming back to the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for Latin America and the Caribbean, countries like Peru face the challenge of preparing as many of their students as possible to be digital citizens, thereby improving their employability and promoting educational inclusion. The ability to join the revolution and benefit from it, and to meet many other emerging challenges, can come from Laboratoria and other unexpected places. French President Francois Hollande (C) speaks at the 'Grande Mosquee de Paris' after a ceremony to unveil a memorial plaque to pay homage to Muslims who died in World War I , at the 'Grande Mosquee de Paris' on February 18, 2014, in Paris. Hollande said France 'owed a debt' to Muslim soldiers who died in World War I and pledged a tough fight against racism and discrimination. Hollande was speaking at a ceremony in Paris's main mosque, which he visited for the first time since being elected president in 2012. AFP PHOTO/POOL/IAN LANGSDON (Photo credit should read IAN LANGSDON/AFP/Getty Images) To fight racism and antisemitism, not just with nice sentiment, but with real public policy, defined by clear priorities and backed up with human resources and funding -- this was what the President of the Republic promised at the end of 2014 when he mobilised the Nation and declared this fight a "major national cause in 2015". An ambitious challenge: regularly over the years the threat has been rising and mobilisation falling. Faced with soaring violence and the propagation of identity ideologies, whether from the extreme right or radical Islam, the number of defenders of the values of tolerance, liberty, equality and secularism have slowly but surely been shrinking. The more meritorious the antiracist cause became, the more it lost support; a huge challenge needed to be met. Advertisement The aim of the governmental plan to fight racism and antisemitism presented a little over a year ago by the Prime Minister was to rise to this challenge by defending three simple ideas: in order to fight hate, we need to clamp down, educate and mobilise. This cannot be done by the State alone, but is basically the duty of every citizen. Firstly, clamp down, in the name of one simple principle: racism is a crime, and racists are criminals. To increase the crackdown, the Ministries of the Interior and of Justice multiplied their instructions calling on stricter enforcement from Prefets, prosecutors and the police forces. To fight more effectively against the increasing flood of hate on the internet (26,000 notifications last year, up by 100 percent), a specialist unit was created by the Ministry of the Interior within the PHAROS platform. Since June, DILCRA has referred 38 cases to prosecutors, obtaining a commitment to prosecute in almost all of them, with exemplary convictions - most recently, a persistent negationist was sentenced to two months in prison by the Paris courts (TGI). Still more needs to be done: as part of the equality and citizenship law to be examined soon by Parliament, the law governing the repression of racist speech will be simplified and strengthened. Secondly, educate. Education and transmission, as other eras have shown, are not impassable barriers against rejectionist ideologies and the prejudices they feed. But they are undoubtedly the strongest. For this reason, most of the Plan's efforts focus on education. Mobilising schools to defend the values of the Republic, undertaken by the Ministry of National Education, such as the setting up of moral and civic education (EMC), are significant drivers for learning and for forming critical thinking. Had the week of awareness against racism been abandoned? We brought it back to life, with more than 500 initiatives throughout the country. New educational resources have been made available to teachers, concerning history and news about racism and antisemitism, and to the media, essential in the fight against conspiracy theories. Advertisement Education also means education of the public and access to culture, and major memorial institutions such as the Cite de l'Immigration, the Camp des Milles, the Shoah Memorial or the MActe in Guadeloupe, that we have mobilised by means of a "History and Memory Fund" designed to enable them to welcome more public, train teachers and managers and develop citizen projects. Thirdly, mobilise. Two national communication campaigns, one backed by antiracist associations, the other by the Government, have been launched. But above all mobilisation needs to be vigorous in the field. The State has accepted its responsibilities. The State means political and administrative leaders, but mostly its agents who deal directly with the difficulties and tensions of living together. Politicians are also getting involved, such as Helene Geoffroy, then deputy-mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin, who initiated the first municipal plan against racism, antisemitism and discrimination, or Loic Gachon, the mayor of Vitrolles who has just adopted his plan in a town hugely symbolic in this combat to restore shared republican values. Civil society has also stepped up. 35 associations nationally and 218 locally were accompanied following the DILCRA call for tenders. A network was quickly formed, a sign that the will for action was indeed present, a desire which had to be encouraged and supported. To bring all these actors together, operational antiracism and antisemitism committees (CORA) have been set up in each department, with a simple roadmap: act, deal with concrete situations, provide solutions to actors in the field. All this to which effect? Facts first: in the last twelve months, racist acts in all categories, have fallen by 35 percent, and by 80 percent in the first quarter of 2016. This fall concerns all categories of acts including anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim acts and other racial offenses. Following the worrying rises in 2014 and the start of 2015, this shows a net stop. Advertisement Of course, these figures need to be put into perspective, and we need to remain humble: just one event could awaken tensions and reverse the trend. Above all, the statistics for the acts do not reflect real discrimination, this silent killer of the republican promise. For too many of our citizens, in particular the youth, racism is not an insult: they are doors that only open for others. For this reason, the Prime Minister made the fight against discrimination a priority for government action at the last inter-ministerial committee for equality and citizenship (CIEC) in Vaulx-en-Velin. So, very much more remains to be done. Nothing will be easy as there is turmoil in French society, where some cannot find their place and others fear their place will be taken from them. To deny this turmoil is to allow the identity crisis to take over; to exaggerate it is to misunderstand that the French, beyond their origins and condition, are mostly tolerant and wish to live together. But they expect everyone to be considered alike, with just as must consideration and just as much exigency. In fact they are not looking for less Republic: they are demanding more Republic. Gavel close up. Conceptual image of law and justice. According to Rosalynn Carter, There is nothing more important than a good, safe, secure, home. In Mental Health Court, where jail diversion is regarded as a matter of human rights, the need for expansion of community based housing is also a homecoming. A nostalgic reference to Malcolm Gladwell, who spoke eloquently about community reentry and the need to consider how communities will respond to people at the bottom and those interested in reducing criminalization and poverty. According to a recent report on homelessness by J.B. Wogan, while national data indicates that overall homelessness is trending downward, several cities, one county and one state, have declared State of Emergencies due to rising homelessness. One may ask, why would leaders within a city, county or state declare a homeless state of emergency? Particularly when declaring a state of homeless emergency is not regulated by the state or national government. Yet, as noted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, for policy makers it offers an opportunity to establish a sense of urgency to prioritize the crisis, reduce bureaucratic and zoning barriers, expand shelters, and enhance collaborative efforts. Advertisement In my view, the declaration of a homeless state of emergency is a bold and compassionate move. A policy decision most cities, counties, or states will probably not make. Maybe they should? For example, a recent article in The Kansas Star speaks to the illusory nature of local homeless hotlines and referral sources, where due to scarcity of resources there are no beds or housing available. Without stable housing, people with mental illnesses and other disabilities continue to revolve through costly emergency rooms, psychiatric receiving facilities and jails. As noted by Lois M. Davis of Rand Corporation, successful reentry from a public health perspective requires clearly defined pathways to integrated health care and a variety of socio-economic services, including educational/vocational programs and supports. For Jail diversion to be successful, public health and behavioral health services can only be effective if a person has a place to live. According to The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, housing is fundamental to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title II and Olmstead v. L.C. As cited by Bazelon, "...Remedies for the segregation of individuals in institutions or large congregate facilities {and jails} should include providing these individuals with opportunities to live in their own apartments or family homes with necessary supports." "Floridian Partners knows how to get marinas built," said board member Richard Lydecker, senior partner of the Lydecker-Diaz law firm and member of the Waterfront Committee. Floridian Partners assisted in establishing the deep-water dockage on Watson Island, he noted. "Brian has those relationships," Mr. Lydecker said. "He can contact elected officials and bird-dog it, bring it from the back of the desk to the front." by Dawna Jones, author of Decision Making for Dummies on Steve Denning's (Forbes) list of 8 Noteworthy Books for 2014 Making money in business isn't what it used to be. Exponential entrepreneurs move an idea from startup to billion-dollar company in short order. Business models are easily rendered irrelevant. Why are so many companies sticking to routine business making decisions as if nothing has changed, as if complexity has no impact? What do upstart startups, select mid-sized companies and agile business units of large companies see others don't? Is Profit the Result or the Means for our Business to Achieve Bigger Goals? On every executive decision maker's list of priorities you will find three priorities: increase revenue, mitigate risk and cut costs. Yet, hidden decision-making habits sabotage achievement of those same goals. Advertisement That is exactly what is happening when decisions are based on one glaring and flawed assumption: profit is the purpose of a business. A narrow focus is too narrow a frame in the context of complexity, where relevant data exists beyond view. Companies restrict and limit growth, leaving employees disengaged, but busy. Without a wider lens to see the big picture, the default is to solving problems and putting fires out. Instead, converting problems into business opportunities inspires engagement. Assumptions are beliefs, sometimes rigidly held, assumed to be true but they might not be. While useful to compensate for insufficient information, left unexplored or unnoticed, assumptions increase risk and obscure clarity. In the traditional way of thinking, profit is the result of a company's endeavour. In the contemporary mind, profit is the support a company needs to achieve something bigger. Fulfill a vision. Contribute something significant to the world. If making grand assumptions is one risky routine habit, what else sabotages profitability? Risk Mitigation Risk has always been a matter of perception. When tainted meat gets recalled, the problem to the consumer isn't the same as the problem as viewed by marketing or by executives. Forecasting risk, is sabotaged by one of many cognitive biases: "What is closer is more real than what is further away." Mitigating risk is achieved by designing the decision making process to reduce or remove built-in cognitive bias. Not attending to cognitive bias in hiring, project management, sales and other key functions, exposes your reputation and weakens business sustainability. Self-awareness alone does not remove cognitive biases. Designing decision-making to mitigate the effects of bias can reduce risk of self-sabotage. Cognitive bias applies to hiring, sales, management decisions, or promotion for example. In fact, as long as you are human bias actively distorts perception. Advertisement What if companies asked themselves? What is the impact of this decision on the customer? Red Bull paid the price, $13 million to be exact, when customers found the advertising promise didn't match the experience. Consumers are calling for companies to be transparent and trustworthy and expect them to tell the truth. What if management learned to work with employees as peers rather than control them? Would the costs of stress related illness be as high as $190 billion USD annually? What if decisions were checked against one ethical principle: Do No Harm? For instance, "How will 'this decision/action negatively impact the psychological safety employees feel? Or the health of the communities we live-work-serve in?" Costs of unethical behavior are largely hidden hence the need to raise leadership awareness. Cutting Costs A funny thing happened on the way to becoming a business decision maker. Fear. Nothing sabotages decisions faster. Fear of losing market share or fear of failing. The good news about fear is that it motivates action. The bad news is, the action tends to be risk avoidance rather than growth. As a decision maker, knowing you're in a fear-based environment gives you control over avoiding costly mistakes. Biologically, growth is impossible if you are protecting yourself from perceived threat. From a neuroscience point of view, the brain interprets negativity as a threat. The organizational brain sees 'Cutting costs' as threatening. The company heads smack into desperation and survival mode. Forget innovation, engagement or creativity. Pivot language to the positive. Find cost savings. Besides being more inspiring, you will achieve serious returns to the bottom line, more so if you've built high trust into your culture. Advertisement Pivoting Decision Making to Support Business Adaptability 1) Focus and Oversight: Notice the underlying driver of the decision. Is it negative or positive? Limiting or Inspiring? Narrow or do you have the big picture in plain sight? 2) Relationships and Difficult Conversations: Can you have the difficult conversations in your company without making it personal? Or spiralling down into destabilizing conflict? How good are you at hearing bad news? If your people can't give you bad news without retribution, you are creating risk. You want your people to be on your team, not to be afraid of the team leader. Fear is not a management strategy. 3) Diversity of Perspective: Engage more people in the decision-making process. Diversity in this context refers to diverse perspectives found in all layers of the organization. You can achieve this through decentralizing decision-making or by reaching out to the collective intelligence to significantly increase accuracy. 4) Foresight and Strategy: In the good old days, strategy making relied on forecasting the future by extrapolating based on what happened in the past. Linear thinking. Today, nothing about the past defines the future. As a leader, your effectiveness relies on gaining comfort with working with what emerges. As a decision maker, you gain greater accuracy by engaging diverse perspectives (Reference point 3). Advertisement Software that uses collective intelligence to crowd source accuracy in future forecasting is out in beta. Test trials of Percypt show 94-97% accuracy. Try it out; tell me what happens. Reach beyond the executive level otherwise you'll be consulting with yourselves. The true power lies in the diversity found in every corner of the company. 5) Purpose with Wider Benefit: When it comes to the environment, do no harm isn't good enough. The effects of global climate change impact business and all life. The growing millennial workforce, at least, expects business to act as responsible global citizens. Present a challenge for the company to aspire to that is far bigger than itself. For instance, Novo Nordisk is about achieving 'systemic health'. Aim for regenerating the natural life support systems. Doing less harm isn't good enough. Courage and expanded awareness is essential to engage the deep intelligence residing in the ecosystem of relationships in and beyond the company. Decision-making is the obvious place to start pivoting to a better position. Dawna Jones knows business can transform itself to be better for society and the ecological community we depend on to sustain life. Collectively making better decisions based on expanding body-mind-spirit awareness asks for deep commitment to realizing potential. Contact Dawna to learn about custom designed experiential learning programs to integrate personal and collective multi-dimensional knowledge. 'Subject: House of cards made of European flags, signifying the economy and the debt crisis of the European countries.' Last week's political drama in Israel once again proved that in coalition government systems, there is no business like the show-business of politics. Weeks of behind closed door maneuvering by Tony Blair, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi attempted to bring together a centrists' coalition government comprised of Netnayahu's Likud and the opposition Labor Party. Advertisement And why you may ask would international leaders get involved in coalition building? Logic goes as follows. In a post Arab-Spring era, Sunni Arab nations share multiple interests with the small Jewish nation, chief among them, countering Iranian hegemony. Thus an historic opportunity was identified by the ever optimistic John Kerry and his European colleagues who never gave up on the idea of resolving the Israeli--Palestinian conflict via a two state solution. As such, Issac Herzog put his reputation and Labor Party leadership on the line by reaching out to his political opponent, with a belief that together, they can lead a bold game changing regional peace initiative. Just as soon as Herzog was preparing to take on the role of foreign minister in a broad coalition government, Netanyahu soon delivered his rival (as well as the Americans and the Europeans) a trick, straight out of political playbook of Frank Underwood, of the television show House of Cards. Instead of building a centrist coalition that would open a new page in regional diplomacy, Netanyahu invited the controversial Avigdor Lieberman and his far right Yisrael Beytenu Party into what may now seem as the furthest to the right Israeli government to date. Advertisement This maneuver surprised many political analysts, journalists, and diplomats alike. Herzog along with many western pundits argued that Bibi passed up "an historic chance" to reach a breakthrough in a regional peace process. Netanyahu's critics are correct to suggest that the new coalition places Netanyahu's government away from the political center, and towards the far right. Yet, anyone who suggests that Bibi's coalition reshuffle was a function of ideology, may indeed be missing the real story. Over the past two decades, Bibi consistently demonstrated that any relationship between his political behavior and ideology is as disparate as the relationship between Kim Kardashian and the current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Netanyahu's preference of Lieberman as defense minister over Herzog as foreign minister supported the old cliche that all politics are local. Far more concerned with his own political future than any pie in the sky regional peace process, Bibi was as determined as ever to undermine his true political opponent. Advertisement This is where the political plot thickens. Netnayahu's political checkmate more than likely ended Herzog's reign as the leader of the Labor Party. Yet, no one ever suspected that the non-charismatic Buji Herzog could pose a legitimate threat to Bibi's leadership. The true explanation for Netanyahu's maneuver was his fear of the growing popularity of his own defense minister Moshe Ya'alon. Highly independent, trusted by the Israeli center-right, and respected by the Americans, Europeans, and Sunni leaders, Ya'alon is the only member of the Likud Party who could threaten Netanyahu's role as the leader of the Likud party. While Bibi embodies the showmanship of an American television star, Ya'alon is as organic to the Israeli ethos as a humus filled falafel sandwich on a Tuesday afternoon. Borrowing a page from the political gamebook of Tayyip Erdogan who fired the widely respected Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Netanyahu solidified his control of the Likud by getting rid of Ya'alon. Only time will tell if Netanyahu's political maneuver was an act of genius or a short-sighted move that will ultimately end his political career in the next general election. Advertisement Israeli pundits and political insiders are already fantasizing about a new center right "Likud Light" coalition led by Ya'alon and other disenfranchised Likud pragmatists. Several public opinion polls conducted in the past week indicate that the majority of Israelis disapprove of Ya'alon's dismissal, and of the new coalition government. Yet, this government will likely hold on to power as long as the political interests of its key partners will align. Bound for Cairo in Egypt to the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, EgyptAir's Flight MS804 lost contact with the aviation authorities on 11 pm this Wednesday, 10 miles into Egyptian airspace. It disappeared from the radar at a height of 37,000 feet, and with nothing but speculation to guide their search, the authorities began a gruesome expedition to track the fate of the missing airplane. According to records, the plane was carrying a total of 66 passengers, of which 10 were crew members. 30 of these passengers were Egyptians, while 15 others were French nationals. Two Iraqis, one Briton, one Belgian, one Sudanese, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Algerian, one Canadian, one Kuwaiti and one Saudi were also on board. It has been stated that the plane had been properly checked before takeoff, and a mechanical failure scenario is highly unlikely, and with reports of automatic messages transmitted by the plane detecting smoke in the cabin just moments before the crash, the horror of a terrorist attack seems more and more probable. The Egyptian government has, however, tried to dissuade the people from making any premature conclusions. Advertisement Initial searches have revealed debris and personal belongings from the aircraft about 180 miles north of Alexandria. Further, the U.S. Navy's Sixth Fleet has contended that one of its patrolling aircrafts supporting the search had spotted more than 100 pieces of debris identified as having come from an aircraft. Now, the Egyptian authorities are bent on ensuing a much deeper search of the waterspace by employing deep sea search in order to retrieve the black box of the aircraft, which could provide clues as to what happened the night of the crash. It is in this regard that the Egyptian authority has decided to deploy a submarine robot in order to search for the missing black box, which could seriously aid in the investigation on the crash. In the words of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: "They have a submarine that can reach 3,000 meters under water. It moved today in the direction of the plane crash site because we are working hard to salvage the black boxes." The robot submarine, originally used to maintain offshore oil rigs, would be used to locate the missing black box, which is presumably sunk far beneath in the deep sea. How the robot submarine is going to aid in this search remains unclear, although with the given success of robots in almost every industry in the world, there might be hope for those who must cling to it. Advertisement Vintage American history print of the first twenty-one Presidents of The United States seated together in The White House. It reads, Our Presidents. 1789 - 1881. Included presidents are from right to left, James Madison, James Monroe, Martin Van Buren, Ulysses S. Grant, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Pierce, George Washington, Zachary Taylor, John Tyler, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Chester Arthur, James Buchanan, John Adams, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, Millard Fillmore, John Quincy Adams, and Rutherford B. Hayes. Let's imagine the unimaginable: Donald Trump was elected president in November. Yes, president of the United States. Let's imagine the impossible: he forced Mexico to build a border wall. Let's imagine the unthinkable: he deported millions of Latino/as. Let's imagine the unconscionable: he ruthlessly terrorized Muslim Americans and #Black Lives Matter activists. Let's imagine the unacceptable: middle and low income people suffered horribly under the weight of this billionaire's policies. Advertisement Let's imagine that he did not moderate on his campaign pledges and he carried them out as president. Would a President Trump go down in the annals of American history as one of the most racist presidents ever? He certainly would face a substantial amount of competition on the racist front. There have been many frightfully racist U.S. presidents in American history. Here are the 11 most racist U.S. presidents of all time. 11. George Walker Bush ~ 43rd President (2001-2009) Not only did President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) in 2003 increase the stranglehold of standardized testing on America's children--tests antiracists have long argued were racist. NCLBA more or less encouraged funding mechanisms that decreased (or did not increase) funding to schools when students were struggling or not making improvements on tests, thus privately leaving the neediest students of color behind. Then two years later, President Bush's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) publically left thousands of stranded Black folk behind after Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005. While reporters quickly reached the Gulf Coast, federal officials made excuses for their delays, quickening the death spiral in New Orleans, ensuring that President Bush would land on this list of the most racist presidents of all time. And to top it all off, President Bush's economic policies--his lax regulation of Wall Street loaners and speculators--helped bring into being the Great Recession, bringing about the largest loss of Black and Latino wealth in recent history. Advertisement 10. John Calvin Coolidge Jr. ~ 30th President (1923-1929) President Bush's FEMA response to Hurricane Katrina seemed prompt when compared to President's Coolidge's handling of the Great Mississippi (River) Flood of 1927. While most White communities were saved, riverside Black communities were flooded to reduce the pressure on the levees. And then these thousands of displaced Blacks were forced to work for their rations under the gun of the National Guard and area planters, leading to a conflagration of mass beatings, lynchings, and rapes. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, who President Coolidge eventually appointed to head the relief efforts, capitalized on southern segregationists' support for his flood mismanagement and succeeded Coolidge in the White House. President Coolidge also signed arguably the most racist and ethnocentric immigration act in history, an act championed by Republican eugenicists and Democratic Klansmen. The Immigration Act of 1924 was co-authored by Washington Congressman Albert Johnson, well-schooled in theories of "yellow peril" that had rationalized discrimination against west coast Asians for decades. The bipartisan measure further restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe, severely restricted African immigrants, and banned the immigrations of Arabs and Asians. "America must be kept American," President Coolidge had said during his first annual message to Congress in 1923. 9. Dwight David Eisenhower ~ 34th President (1953-1961) Most presidents made this list for what they did. President Eisenhower made this list for what he did not do. He made this list as a representative of all those U.S. presidents who did nothing to stop the trepidations of slavery and segregation and mass incarceration. When NAACP lawyers persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to rule Jim Crow as unconstitutional in 1954, President Eisenhower did not endorse Brown v. Board of Education and dragged his feat to enforce it. At a White House dinner the year before, President Eisenhower had told Chief Justice Earl Warren he could understand why White southerners wanted to make sure "their sweet little girls [are not] required to sit in school alongside some big black buck." He reluctantly sent federal troops to protect the Little Rock Nine who were desegregating an Arkansas high school. He considered that act to be the most repugnant of all his presidential acts. During those critical years after the 1954 Brown decision, this former five-star World War II general did not wage war against segregation. And he remains as much to blame as anyone for its persistence, for the lives lost fighting against it. 8. James Knox Polk ~ 11th President (1845-1849) In the 1840s, western expansion of the U.S. was uniting White Americans, while the western expansion of slavery was dividing White Americans. Months after President Polk took office, John O'Sullivan had imagined White Americans' "manifest destiny...to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us." President Polk leaned on this racist idea when his administration waged the Mexican American War (1846-1848). War propagandists framed the U.S. as bringing freedom and civilization to the backward Mexicans. From the war spoils, the U.S. seized from Mexico nearly all of what is now the American Southwest--a gargantuan land seizure that mirrored the ongoing violent seizures of Native American land and the ongoing violent seizures of Black labor. President Polk led the fight against those politicians and activists pressing to ban slavery in the new southwestern territories. This lifelong slaveholder was angrily hated by antislavery Americans as the leader of the western marching "Slave Power." Indeed, President Polk wanted slavery to extend to the Pacific Ocean. He looked away as White slaveholders (and non-slaveholders) danced around the legal protections for Mexican landowners inscribed in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and went about illegally stealing the lands of the new group of Mexican American citizens. President Polk started a forgetful history of the Mexican southwest--and the long history of racism against Mexicans inside and outside of the border--a history of racism that is now fueling the campaign of Donald Trump. 7. Thomas Woodrow Wilson ~ 28th President (1913-1921) The same reasons why antiracist students have been pushing recently for Princeton University to take Wilson's name down from campus buildings are the same reasons why he made this list. President Wilson never turned his back on the racist ideas he produced as a Princeton political scientist. President Wilson oversaw the re-segregation of the federal government. Black federal workers were fired, and those that remained faced separate and unequal workspaces, lunchrooms, and bathrooms. He refused to appoint Black ambassadors to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as was custom. Professor Wilson and then President Wilson unapologetically backed what he called the "great Ku Klux Klan," and championed the Klan's violent disenfranchisement of southern African Americans in the late 19th century. President Wilson began the brutal two-decade U.S. occupation of Haiti in 1915, preventing Haitians from self-governing. And possibly most egregiously, at the Versailles Convention settling World War I in 1919, President Wilson effectively killed Japan's proposal for a treaty recognizing racial equality, thus sustaining the life of European colonialism. Advertisement 6. Franklin Delano Roosevelt ~ 32nd President (1933-1945) Eleanor Roosevelt's storied life of activity on the civil rights front could not save her husband from making this list. Neither could the storied life of activity on the racist front of his uncle Theodore Roosevelt save him. FDR's racism was even more impactful that his uncle, Teddy. President Roosevelt's executive order in 1942 that ended up rounding up and forcing more than 100,000 Japanese Americans into prisons during World War II is arguably the most racist executive order in American history (He thankfully spared German and Italian Americans from the military prisons, but that showed his racism). And while some of the White American competitors in the 1936 Berlin Olympics received invitations to the White House, Jesse Owens did not. President Roosevelt's snub of the U.S. four-time gold medal winner came around the same time he was pushing through Congress all of the job benefits in his New Deal, like minimum wage, social security, unemployment insurance, and unionizing rights. Farmers and domestics--southern Blacks' primary vocations--were excluded from the New Deal and federal relief was locally administered, satisfying southern segregationists. Northern segregationists were also satisfied by the housing discrimination in New Deal initiatives, like coding Black neighborhoods as unsuitable for the new mortgages. As such, Black communities remained buried in the Great Depression long after the 1930s while these New Deal policies (combined with the GI Bill) exploded the size of the White middle class. 5. Thomas Jefferson ~ 3rd President (1801-1809) By the time President Jefferson took office in 1801, his "all Men are created equal" was fast becoming a distant memory in the new nation's racial politics. President Jefferson had emerged as the preeminent American authority on Black inferiority. His racist ideas ("The blacks...are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind") in his perennially best-selling Notes on the State of Virginia (1787) were that impactful. His Notes were useful for powerful Americans rationalizing slavery after the American Revolution. In the book, Jefferson also offered the most popular race relations solution of the 19th century: the freeing, "civilizing," and colonizing of all Blacks back to "barbaric" Africa. Advertisement President Jefferson should be applauded for pushing Congress to pass the Slave Trade Act in 1807. Then again, a new evil replaced the old. The measure closed the door on the nation's legal participation in the international slave trade in 1808, and flung open the door on the domestic slave trade. Large slaveholders like President Jefferson supported this law since it increased the demand and value of their captives. They started deliberately "breeding" enslaved Africans to supply the demand of planters rushing into the Louisiana territory, which President Jefferson purchased from Napoleon in 1803. "I consider a woman who brings a child every two years as more profitable than the best man on the farm," Jefferson explained to a friend on June 30, 1820. 4. James Monroe ~ 5th President (1817-1825) If Jefferson was the brainchild of the colonization movement, then President Monroe was its pioneering initiator. Weeks before he was elected, candidate Monroe watched and supported the formation of the American Colonization Society. Presiding over the first meeting, House Speaker Henry Clay tasked the organization with ridding "our country of a useless and pernicious, if not dangerous" population, and redeeming Africa "from ignorance and barbarism." By 1821, President Monroe had seized a strip of coastal West African land. This first American colony in Africa was later named "Liberia," and its capital was named "Monrovia." But it was another namesake that really thrust President Monroe onto this list. "We...declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portions of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." Thus said President Monroe during his seventh annual message to Congress in 1923. Several U.S. presidents used this "Monroe Doctrine" as a rationalizing cord for U.S. intervention into sovereign Latin American states, including the toppling of governments unfriendly to U.S. interests. This Monroe Doctrine was as racist and devastating to Latin American communities abroad as the doctrine of Manifest Destiny was to indigenous communities at home. In 2013, President Obama's Secretary of State John Kerry declared to the Organization of American States the "era of the Monroe Doctrine is over." 3. Ronald Wilson Reagan ~ 40th President (1981-1989) The arbiter of the "welfare queen" myth who evoked the old slaveholder and segregationist mantra of "states' rights" perfected President Richard Nixon's infamous "southern strategy" that actually worked nationally. President Reagan attracted voters through racially coded appeals that allowed them to avoid admitting they were attracted by the racist appeals. He stood at the head of a reactionary movement that undid some of the material gains of civil rights and Black power activists. During President Reagan's first year in office, the median income of Black families declined by 5.2 percent and the number of poor Americans, who were disproportionately Black, increased by 2.2. million--a sign of things to come under Reaganomics. Then in 1982, President Reagan announced his War on Drugs at an inauspicious time: when drug use was declining. "We must mobilize all our forces to stop the flow of drugs into this country," Reagan said. Advertisement President Reagan surely did not mobilize any of his forces to stop the CIA-back Contra rebels of Nicaragua from smuggling cocaine into the country to fund their operations. But he surely did mobilize his forces to draw media attention to their spreading of crack cocaine in 1985. The media blitz handed his slumbering War on Drugs an intense media high in 1986. That fall, he signed "with great pleasure" the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established minimum sentencing for drug crimes and led to the mass incarceration of Black and Brown drug offenders over the next few decades. Like his campaign strategies, President Reagan took President Nixon's racist drug war to a new level, and the mass incarceration of Black and Brown bodies accelerated under the Bush (times two) and Clinton administrations, especially after Clinton's 1994 crime bill. White drug offenders, consuming and dealing drugs at similar or greater rates, remained disproportionately free. Reagan stands on this list as the representative of all these mass incarcerating presidents in the late 20th century. 2. Andrew Jackson ~ 7th President (1829-1837) Yes, the president the U.S. Treasury is planning on putting on the back of Harriett Tubman is the second most racist president of all-time. Ironically, he attracted the same demographic groups (less educated, less affluent White men) that Trump is attracting these days. Jackson stepped into the U.S. presidency as a wealthy Tennessee enslaver and military general who had founded and spearheaded the Democratic Party. Jacksonian Democrats, as historians call them, amassed a winning coalition of southern enslavers, White working people, and recent European immigrants who regularly rioted against abolitionists, indigenous and Black communities, and civil rights activists before and after the Civil War. When the mass mailings of antislavery tracts captured national attention in 1835, President Jackson called on Congress to pass a law prohibiting "under severe penalties, the circulation...of incendiary publications." And the following year Jackson and his supporters instituted the infamous "gag rule" that effectively tabled all the anti-slavery petitions rushing into Congress. Advertisement And yet, it was his Indian removal policies that were the most devastating of all on the lives of Native Americans (and African Americans). Beginning with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, President Jackson forced several Native Americans nations to relocate from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States to areas west of the Mississippi River--all to make way for those enslaved Africans being forcibly hauled into the Deep South. President Jackson help forge this trail of Native American tears out of the Deep South, and this trail of African tears into the Deep South. 1. Andrew Johnson ~ 17th President (1865-1869) This Democrat from Tennessee was sworn into the presidency after John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln days after the Civil War ended. When President Johnson issued his Reconstruction proclamations about a month later on May 29, 1865, he deflated the high hopes of civil rights activists. President Johnson offered amnesty, property rights, and voting rights to all but the highest Confederate officials (most of whom he pardoned a year later). He later ordered the return of land to pardoned Confederates, null and voided those wartime orders that granted Blacks forty acres and a mule, and removed many of the Black troops from the South. Feeling empowered by President Johnson, Confederates instituted a series of discriminatory Black codes at the constitutional conventions that reformulated southern states in the summer and fall of 1865. The immediate postwar South became the spitting image of the prewar South in everything but name--as the law replaced the master. These racist policies caused a postwar, war, since an untold number of Black people lost their lives resisting them. Congress stepped up to unravel the reemergence of the southern Confederacy in everything but name. But President Johnson vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau Bill and Civil Rights Bill of 1866, compelling Congress to pass them over his veto. President Johnson also opposed the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. constitution, and in 1868 became the first American president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He remained in office, after being acquitted in the Senate by one vote. But President Johnson has never been acquitted in the annals of history. He still makes those lists on the worst presidents of all-time. He tops this list as the most racist president of all time. From warheads to textbooks for young hopefuls at Annapolis -- from MRE sandwiches that can last two years in the Afghan desert to the decision about how many troops will go overseas -- the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, is the book of books when it comes to defense spending. And the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) is the first body in Congress to craft the annual defense bill into what will become passable legislation. The HASC met on Wednesday, April 27th to mark up the 2017 iteration of the NDAA. The proposed bill, which was released that Monday by Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), authorizes the United States' $610 billion in defense spending, to be split between the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), or wartime funds, and base funds. But this annual authorizing of every missile, aircraft, soldier, and bullet never goes without scrutiny. The moment the bill was released members on both sides of the aisle were ready with proposed amendments. As the bill moves through Congress, as prior NDAAs show, it will likely see upwards of 100 changes. Here's a look at the most interesting of those proposals: Base Closings: Ranking HASC Democrat Rep. Adam Smith from California spoke of the "complex threats" we face around the globe, but went on to say that bases could abruptly run out of cash: Advertisement "We do not have the money in the short term or the long term to meet all of those complex threats...that's why we are unwilling as a Congress to provide the money that is necessary..." Defense News also reports that under this funding plan, halfway through the year, troops could suddenly run out of money. In the past, Congress has expanded funds -- as in 2008 -- but with the Budget Control Act now in place, military personnel could this time around face extreme cuts. It will be up to Congress to pass (and the President to sign off on) supplementary OCO funds. In their defense spending plan, Democrats argue against leaving crucial military operations and lives in the hands of Congress. Smith (D-Calif.) proposed that if we are not going to raise taxes or repeal the Budget Control Act, that Congress should allow for a new round of base closures or BRAC. Base Realignment and Closures (BRAC) is a process used by the DOD to improve military efficiency after the Cold War. Smith offered his own BRAC plan but withdrew the amendment in the face of opposition. In the coming months, Democrats are sure to continue pushing for a BRAC plan. Women and the Draft: When Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) proposed an amendment that would require women to register for the draft, he did so sardonically. As has been reported, Hunter is in fact against women in combat positions. As Hunter argued, Advertisement "I've talked to coffeehouse liberals in San Francisco and conservative families who pray three times a day. And neither group wants their daughter to be drafted." His symbolic measure backfired when Democrats and a number of fellow Republicans actually voted this dramatic measure into the bill, which passed with a vote of 32-30. If the NDAA is passed in its current form, for the first time in American history, women will be required to register for the draft. Truly historic if this were to move ahead. The Confederate Flag: Rep. Smith proposed an amendment that would prohibit the funding of military educational facilities which fly the confederate flag. This measure was aimed at the Citadel in South Carolina, where the state legislature has so far failed to vote to take this flag down. The amendment passed, but only with an exception protecting the Citadel. Iraq and Syria: Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) proposed a three-year authorization on the use of military force against ISIS. The plan was withdrawn for procedural issues and will be reintroduced in the House. The Committee did pass an amendment requiring the Pentagon to define what actually constitutes a "defeated" ISIS, and it asks for language to define exactly what would be necessary to prevent a successor terrorist organization from taking the place of ISIS. The Committee also passed cuts to funding for the training and arming of Syrian Rebels by the President. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) introduced an amendment to stop this flow of funds completely, which would greatly mitigate the U.S. Military's role in Syria, but her provision was blocked by the Committee. Rep. Gabbard was one of only two Committee members to vote against the entire NDAA. The de factional in Syria continues in this version of the bill. Advertisement Aircraft and Arms: The Committee rejected many proposals regarding nuclear arms spending cuts. Those rejected proposals included Rep. Loretta Sanchez's (D-Calif.) amendment to cut $317 million in spending on nuclear arms. The voting records show little hope for any substantial change in US nuclear policy. Some of the most heated debate arose when the Committee discussed fighter-jet models and Air Force spending. Those in favor of more planes won the day. The Committee rejected a plan to retire the aging Vietnam-era A-10 jet, revived a failed F-22 jet program, and approved a $95 million purchase of a single Northrop Grumman Triton drone. Indefinite Detention: Finally, the 2017 NDAA reaffirms the right of the President to hold any US citizen indefinitely without charge or trial. Many critics see this as by far the most important and potentially devastating portion in the entire bill. The United State's continued funding and protection of indefinite detention has caused the acronym, NDAA, to be synonymous with anti-liberty in many circles. Since 2013, the bill has included language that alarms civil liberties groups and commentators. In the latest iteration, the controversial sections 1021 and 1022 are left unchanged. The sections read, "Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons." A "covered person" includes, "a person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act..." The law allows for "Detention under the law of war without trial until the end of the hostilities..." Naomi Wolf warned in a 2012 article for the Guardian that in regards to American citizens, the NDAA destroys their due process rights and journalist Chris Hedges filed a lawsuit against this clause at that time. Under the act, anyone can be described as a 'belligerent' -and therefore subject to indefinite detention. Many other journalists also oppose this language. While supporters claim its use is intended for specific and necessary purposes, the text itself is difficult to reconcile with that reading. As attorney Glenn Greenwald notes, there is no getting around this essential "codification of indefinite detention" and complete attack on habeas corpus. The Committee rejected the measures to begin the closure of the U.S.'s Guantanamo Bay facility, as Congress has every year of the Obama presidency. Time is winding down on the President's promise to close the detention center. The HASC passed the NDAA, and the vote was an almost unanimous 60-2. This bill has a long road ahead of it, as it goes through the Speaker Ryan's desk and on through the legislative process. Apart from the obvious outliers -- the ongoing unconstitutional attack on US citizens' due process, and the striking inclusion of the draft for women, this could be seen as a moderate bill. Last year's Paris Climate Agreement at COP21 marked a paradigm shift in the international response to climate change. Skeptics argue the targets aren't ambitious enough, but few can deny that COP21, thanks in part to Europe's leadership, achieved the first multilateral climate agreement since the Kyoto Protocol. In April 2016, with Earth Day as a backdrop, 175 parties accounting for 94% of global emissions reconvened to sign the Paris Climate Agreement. But only 15 countries--mainly small island nations like Maldives, Fiji, Samoa, Palau and Tuvalu--formally ratified. They represent a minuscule 0.4% of global carbon emissions. Ratification represents a serious hurdle to climate treaties. The Kyoto Protocol required more than seven years to come into force. For the Paris Agreement to come into effect, at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions need to ratify. Advertisement However, the fate of the Paris Climate Agreement largely rests in the hands of the big four emitters--China, US, EU and Russia. According to the World Resource Institute's Paris Agreement Tracker, in order to reach the 55% emissions thresholds, ratification by at least one of these four is essential. Without it, the Paris Agreement just doesn't mathematically work. Which of these four big emitters can we count on to ratify? In the COP21 afterglow, ratification felt like a sure thing, but now cracks are beginning to show. For the US, the hope is to ratify by not defining the Agreement as legally-binding, but this robs the accord of its potency. Regardless, a partisan Congress that's already obstructing President Obama's Supreme Court nomination will be an obstacle. And if Donald Trump--who now polls ahead of Hillary Clinton and has disavowed support for climate change--wins the presidency, it could mean the US tries to renegotiate the Paris Agreement for more favourable terms. China, who accounts for 20% of global emissions and has already signalled its intent to ratify before COP22, would clearly raise expectations for an early start to the Paris Agreement. But it would also be out of character for China who hasn't played a leadership role in climate negotiations and has tended to protect its economic interests over environmental concerns. Russia has never been a first mover on climate change issues. That leaves the European Union. Given its climate change leadership and heavy investment into a low-carbon economy, the EU is a natural cornerstone of the Paris Agreement. There's no lack in ambition from the EU either. A recent communications release highlights the European Commission's urgency to ratify. Indeed, Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission Vice-President for Energy, has indicated the EU's desire "to be in the first wave of ratifying countries." Advertisement But can the EU still be part of the first wave? Because it represents 28 different member states in the emissions reduction plan submitted at COP21, the EU faces the enormous task of dividing the burden among states while trying to keep them unified. At the same time, economic and political circumstances are driving some EU states to pursue their own interests or defer to their own national approval process. The EU's balancing act has traditionally been an economic one. It's had to weigh each state's unique energy production mix against longer-term, EU-wide climate change ambitions. For example, where nuclear power accounts for 75% of energy in France, coal comprises nearly 85% of Polish power generation. Poland has typically backed domestic labour interests--the coal industry provides roughly 100,000 jobs--over EU climate policies, even vetoing the EU's Low Carbon 2050 Roadmap and the Doha Amendment under its new president, Andrzej Duda. But while there are solutions to economic problems, the political climate is now the bigger worry for the EU. In June, the UK votes on Brexit, a near-existential referendum that will determine its membership in the EU. Considering the UK accounts for 13% share of EU emissions and is set to hold the EU presidency next year, the electoral result carries significant implications. "Referendums like Brexit expose the EU to the risk of becoming the next Australia on climate change, who ended up doing a hard reverse on its climate commitments and carbon tax," said Cary Krosinsky, Lecturer at Yale College. Less obvious is how the EU reconciles its COP21 climate pledge with the domestic parliamentary decision-making process. France, for instance, advocates for expedited EU ratification with national-level discussions to follow, but Italy wants national parliamentary discussions before agreeing to support EU ratification. The Belgian legislative process, as Ian Duncan, MP to the Scottish Parliament, comments, requires an arduous approval process by seven independent national and regional parliaments. And many EU states have just begun developing their own national energy and climate plans. So, it's reasonable to assume that some states hold off on EU ratification until they understand exactly what it means for them. The EU needs to move quickly before ratification devolves into a conflict of national interests. According to Artur Runge-Metzger, climate change head for the European Commission, the Commission is even exploring ways to go around Poland if necessary. "As one member state is not ready, there is a discussion that we need to have at the political level in terms of how to take the whole element. In reality, I think that in the past we have seen pieces of legislation where not all member states did their own ratification." Advertisement If these intra-EU issues weaken efforts to ratify the Paris Agreement, some states will proceed on their own but at the loss of a unified Europe. Of course, there will be early adopters. France was the first EU state to ratify on May 17, and others including the UK are adopting stronger national climate policies like carbon price floors to compensate for shortfalls at the EU level. But there will also be climate laggards who offsetting this progress. If laggards like Poland do hamstring the process, the EU needs to consider forcing through ratification on a top-down basis so that it continues to push the climate change policy agenda forward. Critics insist this top-down approach widens the democratic deficit. But, with the EU focused on the refugee crisis and the economy, allowing national parliaments to delay or undermine ratification will jeopardize the EU's role. It may even downgrade the EU to observer status at COP22 in November, depriving the summit of a negotiating leader and large-bloc signatory. The possibility of Bernie voters becoming Trump voters was first thought to be because of their common critical positions on free trade agreements which have hammered working people. Bill Clinton as president was responsible for the passage of the Republican-initiated North American Free Trade Agreement. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State promoted free trade agreements with Colombia and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hillary Clinton as candidate has reversed herself but is not trusted. Barack Obama after all ran against NAFTA in 2008 and then as president promoted free trade agreements. Donald Trump as candidate seems to have learned from Obama that free trade agreements are unpopular with voters and has implied opposition. As president, though, I have no doubt that he would bend to the Republican orthodoxy and support them. If there's one thing the corporate elites are unified in wanting strongly, it's more free trade agreements which they see as padding their bottom lines. And they expect presidents, whether Republican or Democrat, to get them for them. Advertisement Now it appears that there will also be Bernie voters who spurn Hillary for Trump simply because they like him more than her or dislike him less. For them voting is less an act of rational choice than a personality contest. Throw in a dose or more of misogyny and you see some of the problems confronting Clinton's campaign staff as they transition from beating back an unexpectedly strong primary challenge to her left to confronting another unexpectedly strong challenge, this time to her right in the national election. It's difficult to estimate how big a percentage of voters choose primarily on likeability, but it only takes a small percentage to swing national elections when the electorate is fairly closely divided as is the U.S. one. Ronald Reagan, the actor and corporate spokesman turned politician, had personal attributes that made him likeable, a crucial asset that helped him to win elections despite poll after poll showing that voters disagreed with his policies. George W. Bush, despite being a nondrinker, was the guy you'd like to have a beer with rather than his opponents. Trump is liked for his perceived decisiveness, no matter that he has never held political office or whether the positions he decisively pronounces make sense or are held consistently. He is often wrong, objectionable, or inconsistent but never indecisive at any particular moment. Advertisement "I vote for the person not the party" is frequently stated by those who vote on the basis of likeability as if it demonstrated profound wisdom or character. Or, a slightly more involved superficiality: "I don't believe in isms." But parties and "isms"--liberalism, conservatism, socialism, etc.--are much more important for informed political choices than how likeable candidates are. What counts is what politicians are going to do with the power that voters entrust them to exercise; and the only way to determine what candidates are likely to do if elected is to critically and rationally examine what their parties stand for, what the candidates have done in the past, and the ideas they put forth. Sanders supporters who move to a third party candidate such as Jill Stein of the Green Party are a different matter. They are choosing on the basis of who they perceive to embrace more strongly the issues they care about. It is a rational choice in terms of issues but not strategy. There is nil chance Stein would win but a real chance of the spoiler effect where those votes would benefit Trump in battleground states. Rejecting Clinton for Stein or another third party candidate is an example of what classic German sociologist Max Weber called rejecting an ethic of responsibility for an ethic of ultimate ends. In the former, decisions are measured in terms of their consequences; in the latter all that counts is the purity of the motive regardless of the outcome. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) If Donald Trump wins and pulls the U.S. out of its climate change commitments, some countries wonder, why should they keep their own? Donald Trump first shared his analysis of the climate crisis in a now infamous 2012 tweet-rant: "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," he claimed. Advertisement The Republican presidential hopeful has since dialed back the rhetoric, calling that earlier claim a joke. But -- as in other areas of critical domestic and international concern -- he's fallen short when pressed for specifics on what a Trump presidency would mean for energy and the climate. It seemed his oft-repeated phrase "trust me, I'll get the best people" was as close as the American public was going to get to details. Until now. The best Trump could find turns out to be climate denier and staunch fossil fuel backer Kevin Cramer, a two-term Republican congressman from oil- and coal-rich North Dakota. As a newly tapped energy adviser, Cramer recently handed the Trump campaign a four-page policy paper urging the candidate to scrap the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan, among other regulations introduced by the EPA to curb pollution from the energy sector. According to an interview with Cramer, his plan also calls for ramping up energy production using an "all of the above, America-first" approach. The plan recognizes the growing commercial importance of wind and solar, but keeps oil, coal, and gas squarely in the mix. Sound familiar? That's basically what the Obama administration's been peddling, urging subsidies for wind and solar even as it opens up new offshore drilling sites. Advertisement Taking It Global But the Obama administration also pledged that the United States would cut its emissions as part of the Paris climate deal, a treaty painstakingly negotiated with 194 other nations to avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change. Cramer says he'd "just pull out" of the Paris accord, which aims to keep planetary warming as close to 1.5 degrees Celsius as possible and to provide funding to developing countries to support their transition to clean energy. And as world leaders met in May for the first time since Paris to nail down specifics on implementing the agreement, Trump agreed with Cramer that at a minimum he'd renegotiate the climate deal. "At a maximum," the candidate asserted with characteristic ambiguity, he "may do something else." The problem with the Paris deal, according to Trump, is that it's "one-sided" and that no other countries yet adhere to it (never mind that countries only started officially signing the accord in April). He singled out China, which eclipsed the United States in 2007 as the world's most climate polluting country, for not adhering to the Paris agreement. Actually, China has promised to peak carbon emissions by 2030, restrict its coal consumption, and lower the intensity of its carbon pollution by up to 65 percent. That's not ambitious enough to meet targets in the Paris agreement, but according to experts that track countries' climate action, those commitments actually rate well above the U.S. plan. And because the Chinese government still follows comprehensive five-year plans, we can feel fairly confident they'll do what they say, even if that falls short of what's needed. Given the widespread climate denialism of the Republican Party, that may be more than the U.S. itself can boast. Advertisement Ironically, Trump's worry that the U.S. will forge ahead alone comes at a time when the keystone of our own carbon-cutting commitment, the Clean Power Plan, is frozen in the courts. Indeed, the U.S. may be the only country legally barred -- for now -- from delivering what it promised in Paris. It gets better. Among the power utilities, industry associations, and fossil fuel-rich states suing the EPA to dismantle rules for the energy sector is North Dakota. Yes, the same North Dakota that Trump's new energy adviser represents in Congress -- and where Trump was scheduled to address a petroleum conference shortly after Cramer released his plan. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Worryingly, Trump's circular logic may ultimately prove itself right. If Washington reneges on the Paris deal, it could irreparably harm the delicate balance achieved between China, the United States, small island nations, and major oil-producing countries in the final hours of negotiations. No wonder leaders abroad have watched Trump's rise with dismay. Laurent Fabius, for example -- the former French foreign minister and president of last year's climate talks -- pointed out that there are "risks associated with reluctant countries." One such risk? Other large emitters may hold back on implementing their own climate commitments before learning the fate of clean energy regulation in the United States, which could hinge on our presidential elections. Advertisement After all, if the United States -- the largest historical emitter and today's wealthiest economy -- halts the main program it planned to use to keep its word, why should we be surprised if other countries pull back, too? This hasn't happened yet, but you can bet it's the topic of many corridor conversations in foreign capitals. Whether Trump wins in November or not, his "evolving" views on climate suggest that even as the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly evident, the American electorate is divided on how to make sense of the transition needed. For now, other countries are moving forward with the implementation of the global climate treaty, with all the political maneuvering one might expect. But the looming specter of a climate denier in the White House is certainly casting a noticeable shadow. This post was originally published by the Institute for Policy Studies. Colorado Republican Party Chair Steve House has booted Republican activist and blogger Kathryn Porter from the group of Colorado Republicans who are going to the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland July 18 because House thinks her blogging poses a "risk" to the Colorado delegation. Porter, whose work appears on the Politichicks blog and was among the first to report details on efforts to oust House as GOP chair, was slated to attend the RNC as a guest of delegate Mike McAlpine, Porter said, under rules which allow each delegate to take a guest. But in an email to Porter, House wrote it's his "job to protect the delegation" and Porter's "actions as a media representative in the past year and especially the past month and a half clearly represent risk to this delegation that we do not need to take at this critical convention in Cleveland." Advertisement In a subsequent statement, Colorado GOP Executive Director Shana Banberger said, "Mrs. Porter has explicitly declared herself to be a member of the media and has been acting in that capacity for more than a year. After consulting state party and RNC rules we determined that should Mrs. Porter wish to attend the convention as a reporter she is required to be credentialed as press by the RNC." Porter had told House in an email that she wanted to attend the convention "so I can support our delegation and offer email updates on the presidential nominee, platform items, proposed rules changes, etc." And Porter cites RNC rule 28, which she believes allows RNC delegates to bring any guest they want, with no veto power allowed by Republican officials or conditions on who the quest is. Porter also points out that she was credentialed as a "guest" for a summer, 2015, RNC meeting. Her credential identified her as associated with Politichicks. Porter says it's likely that guests of other delegates have media ties. In fact, KVOR radio host Jeff Crank, is a guest of another Colorado delegate. Advertisement Asked via twitter if he plans to do "any radio work or blogging or tweeting from the RNC in Cleveland, Crank replied, "No. I am just going as the father of a delegate." . In a May 24 email, Porter told House that she, too, would not be representing Politichicks at the convention. House replied, "As far as I am concerned you can't turn media on and off. You are either with the media or you are not and you have demonstrated and claimed specifically over the past year that you are with the media." In a post on her GoFundMe page, where Porter is raising money for her trip to the RNC in Cleveland, Porter wrote: The real risk is a chairman who behaves like a dictator, usurping authority that does not belong to him.... As an elected member of the Colorado GOP State Central Committee, I voted for Steve House. I have been critical of House, but at times I have also defended him. I will defend the GOP when they are right, but I will not hesitate to call out my party when they are wrong. Integrity matters. Because of this, our chairman is using me as an example in order to silence others who dare speak up. I will not be intimidated. I will not be silenced. I will not be marginalized. I will be in Cleveland. Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer season. People open beach houses, put boats in the water and head to campgrounds to celebrate the arrival of the warm weather. But the real purpose of Memorial Day is to remember the sacrifices of the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. The origins of this holiday stretch back to the years following the Civil War, when local townspeople would plant flowers and decorate the graves of soldiers who had died in those battles. Ultimately, the U.S. government standardized the date and, over the years, the tradition expanded to honor soldiers lost in subsequent wars. Our focus on the start of summer, the joy of a long weekend and the opening of the backyard grill means we often lose sight of the purpose and origins of the holiday. The wars that we have been fighting since 9/11 have been fought by volunteer armies and by technological advances that help insulate many of us from direct impact. Advertisement My father, who was a young boy during World War II, grew up in an environment where the whole country was consumed with the war. For his generation, the impact was very personal. His teenage brother was drafted out of high school and sent to the Pacific. His father, who had been pulled out of school in 1918 to join the Army during the First World War, was sent to manage shipments for the Navy from a mid-Atlantic port, far from their home. Their situation was not unique to the families in their neighborhood. And, certainly, there were families who sacrificed more, but for my dad and my grandmother, the importance of people sacrificing their hopes, dreams, careers, families and sometimes lives was part of what it meant to be an American. So a few years ago, when my father said he wanted to visit Normandy, I knew it was an important trip to take. He is a teacher and a historian who would start every dinner conversation with the question, "What happened today in history?" As a kid, he would post maps of Europe and the Pacific on the wall of his bedroom and insert thumbtacks to indicate the locations of battles he'd read about in the daily newspaper. My mother said, "John, graveyards and battlefields are not my area of interest. You take your father." So Dad and I planned out a trip to follow the Allied armies who landed in Normandy in June of 1944 and fought their way across northern France into Germany. The tour was run by a retired Vietnam-era U.S. Army colonel who'd taught at West Point. Not only did this tour guide provide the perspective of a history professor, but we got the added perspective of a U.S. Army colonel who had lost two brothers in Vietnam. I said to him at one point, "Your family has sacrificed so much for this country." Advertisement The cemeteries overlooking the beaches at Normandy are breathtaking. They are shrines to the sacrifice of so many soldiers who died on those beaches and bluffs, and a solemn reminder of young lives cut short moments after their feet hit European soil. The only remarkable sounds at these vast cemeteries were birds and the occasional lawn mower, staffed by a grounds crew who honored the deceased with their impeccable attention to the landscape. My father had come with a list of people he wanted to look up at the numerous cemeteries we visited. They were friends of his elder brothers, people he knew from his hometown and, in a few cases, people he'd read about in the paper whose relatives had never been able to visit their graves. Each marble cross or star marked a unique life, interred forever on foreign soil but never forgotten. In honoring these soldiers who fought so nobly in service of our country, my father left an indelible mark on me. His actions reminded me that we stand here today because of the sacrifice of so many veterans who never came home. In my hometown, there will be a parade this weekend honoring the deceased war veterans, and wreaths will be placed on the war memorials around the town square honoring those lost in the each of the wars over the past few centuries. In attendance will be my friends from town who attended the service academies; they never forget the purpose of Memorial Day. I will also see the veterans from our town who served overseas, some for multiple tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. We felt their absence when they had to step down from leadership roles in our community in order to answer their country's call. And current soldiers from the nearby military base will attend, and they often march in lock step with aging veterans who come to honor those from our town, but also from thousands of other towns around the country who never made it home. I often write about how my interactions with my children help prepare them to become financially savvy consumers and better investors. I learned a lot from my folks about saving, budgeting and investing, but more importantly, I learned about honor, respect and commitment. Along with the tidbits of financial advice I pass along to my kids, I hope they'll retain some of these more important values as well. This weekend, as we all enjoy time with family and friends, let's take a few minutes to remember the sacrifices that make it possible for us to enjoy our freedoms. Bring your children to a Memorial Day parade. Visit a war memorial. Read the names on the plaque and think of the families that were forever changed by the loss of that individual. It's important that we remember why we have a Memorial Day holiday and honor those who fought for our freedom and who, by their sacrifice, have earned our eternal gratitude. About the author: John Sweeney is executive vice president, Retirement and Investing Strategies for Personal Investing, a unit of Fidelity Investments, in Boston. Follow him on Twitter @SweeneyFidelity. Fidelity Investments and Fidelity are registered service marks of FMR LLC. The Blackwall Hitch 400 Sixth Street 410-263-3452 theblackwallhitch.com/annapolis The odd name comes from a special mariner's knot used to hitch ships quickly and securely upon arriving from London's Blackwall Port at docks in Maryland and Virginia. Thus, there are maritime echoes in the decor of the Annapolis unit (the first, of three unirts, opened two years ago, owned by local James King), along with Colonial-style high-backed chairs, tufted black booths, and hanging Edison lights, with a large, well-lighted bar to the rear of the very comfortable main dining room. Executive Chef Zachary Pope has a long resume with the awards to prove his rep as a chef adept in a wide range of cuisines, with stints in Washington restaurants like Vidalia, Vintage Wine Bistro and Red Sage. The menu, therefore, offers fine Chesapeake fare like lump meat crab cakes with sweet-tangy roasted corn salsa, cherry pepper remoulade and rosemary-scented French fries ($35) and wonderful shrimp and cheddar-laced grits with andouille sausage, tomatoes and a white wine sauce ($27), along with seared ahi tuna dusted with sesame seeds, served with seaweed salad, hot wasabi, Sriracha and avocado cream as an appetizer ($16) and six really exceptional fire-roasted flatbreads ($13-$16) that can be shared at the table. Then there are a slew of salads--the one with steak and blue cheese is delicious--burgers and sandwiches, and main courses like succulent pork osso buco ($28). Right now the soft-shell crab season is in full swing. Like many restaurants around town, they serve the dense, mile-high Smith Island chocolate cake ($9), along with Key lime panna cotta with strawberry sauce ($9), and a warm pineapple upside down skillet cake with brown butter and caramel ($9), along with housemade chocolate truffles ($2.50 each). The wine list is pretty extensive and includes many bottles under $50, though they should have more Maryland and Virginia wines on the list. The Blackwall Hitch is, as I said, ambitious, but I found the quality of everything I tasted consistent and made from very fine ingredients. That, and a lively bar crowd and music, are what keeps the place packed with people willing to pay good money for very good food. Open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. IRON ROOSTER 12 Market Space 410-990-1600 ironroosterallday.com Iron Rooster proudly boast that it serves "Breakfast All Day," and many loyal patrons take advantage of that. I would most certainly join them any time over a big plate of fried chicken breast and waffles with cream gravy and very good stone-ground grits ($9.95), and the omelets make for a hearty meal from 7 a.m. onward. The eggs Benedict are sensationally good--there are five variants--and I, of course, went for the "Benny," with that sweet Maryland blue crab meat, a poached egg, tomatoes and micro greens atop an English muffin (a steal at $17.95). The breakfast taco ($13.95) includes scrambled eggs, fat pork belly, green chili salsa, pico de gallo, queso fresco and home fries ($13.95). There's a great deal more, all of it made fresh to order, including fine flaky biscuits, and the signature, much-too-sweet pop-tarts ($5.95). For supper you can have the smoked brisket chili ($4.95-$7.95), chicken pot pie ($22.95) that will feed two people, and a meatloaf of daunting proportions, with black pepper pan gravy and poached egg, fried leeks and broccoli ($21.95). The colorful two-tiered eatery, with a lot of farmhouse decor and Mason jars on the wooden tables, is set right on the City Dock, so it's a swell place to take your time and watch the boats come and go along with the people. Advertisement Open Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun. 7 a.m.-8 p.m. VIN 909 909 Bay Ridge Avenue 410-990-1846 vin909.com You can't believe everything you read on the Internet. That's a lesson I learned long before testifying in 2000 at the trial of a man who'd sold 10,000 fake luxury goods through a website, including counterfeit Rolex, Cartier, and Movado watches. I am a private investigator in New York. He later became the first criminal ever convicted on federal charges of selling counterfeit merchandise online. He certainly wasn't the last. This week the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its annual report, tallying record-setting losses of $1 billion reported by 288,000 consumers in 2015. The IC3 notes that less than 15 percent of fraud victims report their crimes to law enforcement. Unfortunately, these numbers are not even close to describing the true extent of the problem. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a multi-agency task force formed partnership by the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). It serves as a central repository for receiving and reviewing cyber-crime complaints, referring them for further investigation and prosecution. That's how it's supposed to work. Many people approach my investigative firm after already reporting the crime to IC3 and receiving no response. I receive dozens of inquiries each year from people reporting romance scams, cyber-bullying, phishing attacks, online auction fraud, child pornography and other Internet-based crimes. In one case, a woman in the Midwest reported losses of $230,000. She believed she'd made a series of legitimate loans to the offshore oil business of a Florida businessman she'd met at a dating site - when in truth she had been victimized by an organized crime gang in Africa. Her six-figure losses were nearly 30 times higher than the average loss ($8,421) reported last year to IC3, but she never received a follow-up call or any notification from law enforcement indicating that they were investigating - or were even interested in - her claim. Advertisement The FBI describes IC3 as the "front door" for reporting Internet crime. My client knocked, and waited, but it seemed nobody was home. Fewer people will bother reporting crimes to IC3 in the future unless they have reason to believe law enforcement will take action on their behalf. The FBI appears to finally be taking steps to address this deficiency when it launched 'Operation Wellspring' with a single Cyber Task Force (CTF) in Salt Lake City 2013 to integrate state and local officers into Internet-facilitated criminal cases that do not meet thresholds for federal prosecution. The operation has expanded to eight FBI field offices, but that still leaves 48 field offices without equivalent capabilities. In terms of broader analyses, there are serious shortcomings in relying on self-reported complaints to describe the full extent of online crime, because many victims don't realize they have been attacked. Even if they do recognize something is wrong - an unauthorized charge on their credit card, for example - they often can't connect the dots to determine if the original exploit occurred on the Internet. They don't know how their bank records were compromised, their identities stolen, their healthcare records leaked. Consumer-focused crimes like advance-fee frauds, fake lotteries, and social media scams are rampant. Yet the most serious Internet crime does not focus on specific individuals: it focuses on high-value corporate and government targets containing aggregated data on millions of people. At insurance giant Anthem, for example, hackers used a stolen password to steal 78 million records in 2015. In prior years, well-publicized breaches at Target and Home Depot compromised more than 90 million credit and debit card accounts; an attack at JPMorgan Chase & Co. affected financial accounts of 76 million households; and personal data on up to 145 million people was stolen from eBay. Nearly half (47%) of all U.S. residents had their personal information compromised in 2014 as a result of these kinds of mega-breaches, according to one study. Advertisement By now, you've probably received an apologetic form letter from some data-looted corporation. Today's post-intrusion protocol usually involves mailing out a few million mea culpas with an offer of free credit-monitoring services. Yet people who've been duly advised they are potential victims of a malicious corporate intrusion don't step forward to re-report these crimes to IC3, which means they are not counted in the organization's annual report. There are other conspicuous omissions from the IC3 report, which does not mention exploits of government systems. In 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) paid $3.1 billion in fraudulent tax returns due to identity theft, after cyber-criminals accessed 390,000 taxpayer accounts through an unsecure IRS web portal. In a separate incident, confidential information on 21.5 million federal employees was stolen - including fingerprints of 5.6 million people, many with secret clearances - after a malware attack allowed hackers to open a backdoor into the network of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The labor union American Federation of Government Employees filed a class action suit against the OPM for $1 billion, but so far, there has been no final accounting of the financial losses related to the OPM attack. For a problem of this magnitude, it is almost impossible to predict what price the nation will ultimately pay. Yet clearly there's been no attempt to factor these attacks on the government into the IC3 accounting - we don't even get a guesstimate. There were at least 780 publicly reported data breaches in the U.S. in 2015, exposing 169 million records. The biggest breaches were directly attributed to hackers. By that basis, IC3 data - with 288,000 total complainants - represent less than 0.2 percent of all incidents and victims. That's probably still far too generous, since most breaches are never reported. The IC3 group is not a representative sample, which makes it effectively useless for identifying the most significant threats and trends. Advertisement The FBI is certainly aware of these breaches and their broader implications. Successful and sophisticated investigations by the FBI Cyber Division have led to numerous convictions of hackers and the Bureau actively pursues perpetrators of other Internet-facilitated crimes such as economic espionage, state-sponsored attacks, and online recruiting by terrorist organizations. They recognize that much of online crime is organized crime, and requires the kind of sophistication, resources and dedication that were once used to disrupt and dismantle the Mafia. Cybercrime costs the United States more than $110 billion each year according to analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. This emerging criminal industry - which didn't even exist 25 years ago - has already grown larger than the illegal market for cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine. Drug enforcement has its own federal agency, countless task forces and undercover operations at the state and local level, and a combined policing budget in the billions. When are we going to get equally serious about online crime? For over four decades, leaders from the worlds major advanced economies have gathered to discuss pressing global challenges at the annual Group of Seven (G7) Summit. Historically speaking, the informal, non-bureaucratic nature of the G7 has not lent itself to a well-structured relationship with civil society groups. Japans decision to invite 100 NGOs to be present near the International Media Center (IMC) at the 2016 G7 Summit in Ise Shima, however, represents a significant recent shift in that relationship setting the stage for increased collaboration and accountability for the G7's actions. This level of civil society media access has not been available since France hosted the G7 and G20 summits in 2011. Unfortunately, as mentioned, this year civil society is located near but not in the IMC, making it more difficult for journalists to locate civil society representatives. The relationship between the G7 and civil society has gone through a number of stages from 1975 to present. Initially, the G7 recognized as the G8 until 2013 and civil society organizations interacted little, perhaps due to a lack of recognition of the potential for mutual benefit. Advertisement In 1984, the G7 expanded its agenda and focus areas beyond economic policy development to include sustainable development therefore opening the door for civil society organizations to lobby the increasingly influential G7 on more issues. However, many G7 scholars credit The Other Economic Summit (an alternative civil society summit) and the 1991 Environment Summit in London as the first manifestiation of issue-specific civil society activity in the G7 sphere. In 1995, the G7 communiques officially discussed civil society and NGOs, therefore highlighting civil societys vital role in the global development sector. This is not the first time Japan has pushed for greater civil society engagement with the G7. As the first G7 host nation to formally establish a space for civil society and NGO engagement in the G7 process at the Okinawa Summit in 2000, Japan deserves significant praise. It recognized the importance of multi-sectoral engagement in addressing global concerns. For InterAction the largest alliance of NGOs and partners in the U.S. and the G7/G20 Advocacy Alliance (U.S.) this is a victory and a far cry from the attitude of non-recognition which was the norm only 20 years ago. The active engagement of the G7/G20 Advocacy Alliance (U.S.) in issue-specific lobbying and policy writing on a year-round basis is a vital part of encouraging continued development of the the G7-civil society relationship. The impact of this growing relationship has led to a number of effective policy outcomes across the development sphere. The 2009 LAquila G8 Summit resulted in the establishment of checks and measures for G7 accountability. Three reports on this have been published to date, including the most recent published by the government of Japan last week. This years accountability report touched on 51 commitments across 10 sectors; three of which are relevant to the G7/G20 Advocacy Alliance (U.S.) policy recommendations: health, food security, and equality. Advertisement Health in particular has seen some success. The commitments made to funding contributions to the eradication of neglected tropical diseases, Polio, AIDS, TB, and vaccine-preventable diseases have seen significant progress towards achieving the goals set at previous G7 Summits. G7 nations also continue to contribute heavily to the Global Fund and the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI). The commitments made at the 2010 Muskoka G8 Summit regarding the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are now approaching the final stages of implementation despite ongoing challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I've enjoyed the last months where I pushed away from the computer when tempted to blog on the education reform dispute of the day and focused on coalition-building in Oklahoma City, as well as big picture analyses such as Thomas Frank's Listen, Liberal. But the open conflict among reformers prompted by Robert Pondiscio is too valuable to waste. I've communicated with enough reformers to know that their coalition is fraying. They've pushed an edu-politics of destruction based on the punitive use of test results in order to keep score in their competition-driven movement. Now, it is obvious that value-added teacher evaluations and their one-size-fits-all micromanaging have failed. Many or most, however, are still committed to high-stakes testing in order to speed up their rushed effort to close schools in mass. Other corporate reformers seem to believe they can use their (admittedly brilliant) high-dollar public relations campaigns to drive the expansion of charters. They've finally realized that parents are preoccupied with what's best for their own children, not education policy. They are marketing to parents who can't stop the damage that the extreme proliferation of choice does to children left behind in weakened neighborhood schools, but who ignore test scores and seek safe and orderly schools for their own kids. Advertisement (By the way, teachers have been forced to do the same thing. Reform imposed an irresolvable dilemma. We can't just refuse to commit education malpractice and simply place our education values over the needs of our students to pass primitive high-stakes tests in order to graduate. So, to greater or lesser extents, we give into demands for nonstop remediation and try to minimize the amount of soul-killing, bubble-in malpractice that is required to keep our kids from ending up on the streets without a diploma.) Being a classroom teacher, I always appreciated the way that my job forced me to make an extra effort to not judge patrons and other stakeholders who have different beliefs about education policy and other issues. Being a liberal in a conservative state, I've always sought compromise and incrementalism. And, that explains much of the reason why I feel more comfortable around conservative reformers as opposed to liberal and neo-liberal corporate reformers who demand that we progressives must all be "on the same page" in pushing "transformative" reform. What I can't grasp, however, is liberals who assail other liberals because we won't use the stress of high stakes testing to overcome the stress produced by generational poverty. I still can't understand civil rights advocates who condemn other civil rights advocates because we oppose school segregation as a means of reversing the legacies of segregation. Had the technocrats spent more time in the inner city classroom, and in the homes, hospital rooms, the streets and, yes, the funerals of our kids, they'd have known we needed more "disruptive" innovation like we need another gang war. Had they shared the joy of teaching and learning for mastery that builds on the strengths of our kids, they would not have dumped reductionist behaviorism on children. But, because teachers saw things differently, we were condemned as the "status quo," which accepted "Excuses!," and renounced "High Expectations!" Advertisement School reform has always been as anger-driven as it has been output-driven and market-driven. Even so, Pondiscio's hate-filled response to his erstwhile allies was shocking. It prompted a reply by Justin Cohen, who I believe has supported egregious policy errors, but who has belatedly acknowledged the nature of the "complex intersections of issues that most affect communities of color." In a reply signed by 75+ reformers, Cohen admitted to "the extraordinary flaws and shortsightedness in our own leadership for letting the field become so lopsidedly white through the early 2000s." Corporate reformers under-represented the communities that they hoped to serve. In doing so, they once again proved: A movement of innovators and technocrats will never have the intellectual and moral power of a movement created by, and led by, the communities most affected by inadequate public schooling. And while there is an important role for allies to play in advancing the work of school improvement for poor students and students of color, an unrepresentative group will lack the critical insight and creativity that diversity and inclusivity bring to addressing complex problems. A wiser response was issued by Patrick Riccards, aka Eduflack. He writes, "Pondiscio is correct in one important regard. Education reform is stronger when it has all political views and all ideological perspectives on the team." Riccards also admitted that, real world, reform is about: Taking financial resources from already under-resources public schools to give them to charters who had previously promised to deliver a better education for fewer dollars. It's about attacking teachers unions, while trying to enlist parents who themselves are in labor unions and trying to convince good teachers to go to the very schools we've labeled as failing and hopeless. Riccards nails it. Reform has been a "hearts versus minds phenomenon." Also, all of our kids deserve classrooms where the clash of ideas is promoted not prohibited. I would add that reformers assumed that we who believe that teaching is an act of love and must be built on kids' moral, creative, and full intellectual consciousness, not an unremitting focus on measurable outcomes, must be vilified. Jeh Johnson, U.S. secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), listens during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. Johnson and Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro 'Ali' Mayorkas were leading architects of Obama's recently announced policy protecting as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images "As I have said repeatedly, our borders are not open to illegal migration; if you come here illegally, we will send you back consistent with our laws and values." Donald Trump? Nope, that was the first sentence of a January 4th statement by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson after the RAIDS he ordered on unaccompanied minors were executed days earlier. The RAIDS, having been announced at the apex of the Holiday Season, created a tsunami of fear after the New Year that crashed upon families already living in anxiety. Johnson's statement later went on to talk about priority deportations but how can you get past the bully-posturing of Johnson's opening line. He meant it - ICE detained 121 mothers and children, mostly from regions boasting anemic success rates for asylum cases. Since then, more than 330 people have been apprehended and DHS is saddling up for another set of raids which will be much larger in scope, as reported by Reuters, taking place over an entire month, not a couple of days like before. The RAIDS are now being called "Operation Guardian." Advertisement Guardian? From what? Traumatized children in tattered princess t-shirts having survived a perilous obstacle course through Mexico from Central America's dangerous Northern Triangle? (The past year, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have tallied 17,422 murders which was an increase of over 10 percent since the year before). Guarding us from desperate youth and families looking for empathy from the "nation of immigrants" as America has been known? For God's sake, even the first president George Washington presciently said over 200 years ago, "I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind." Yeah, me too. In this case, the "virtuous and persecuted" are terrified children and mothers looking for refuge because, well, they are refugees and should be treated as such. Families don't want their children to go back to life-threatening situations in the home countries, and neither would any American. According to an investigation by The Guardian, from January 2014 to October 2015, up to 83 people the US deported back to Central America were killed. But because of DHS' calloused approach to the unaccompanied minors' crisis, which is expected to rise this summer, a different shroud of terror follows them here in the US - ICE agents. The Southern Poverty Law Center found the raids from earlier this year "trampled legal rights, subjected mothers and children to terrifying and unnecessary police encounters, and [tore] families apart." Stories swirled across communities of ICE agents picking up youth on their way to school or luring them out of churches, which has caused widespread panic among families afraid to leave their homes. Churches, schools, places of work, and health clinics have all seen a drop in certain communities. Advertisement This is a humanitarian issue, not an immigration issue. Yet it's being portrayed as an immigration problem which feeds into the anti-immigrant rhetoric in this preposterous election. Mexican/Latinos, Muslims here or abroad, and other refugees are in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and others who see the traction they can get from the hate-speech. But the Trump-induced fantasies of impossibly high fences along the border and mass deportations are just talk at this point while the DHS RAIDS are action. I have seen the outrage against Trump's abhorrent talk but where is the outrage against DHS's insidious actions? I applaud the lawmakers, activists and recently youth who have condemned the RAIDS. Amplify the protest. We need to increase the national pressure on DHS, which has frankly been sporadic, to STOP THE RAIDS. We need to push for asylum, which is what you should provide children and families trying to survive and looking for the "lamp beside the golden door" as the pedestal of Lady Liberty states so warmly as she has to countless people over history ... "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" That statement is absolutely "consistent with our ... values," Sec. Johnson. washington dc may 1 yakelin ... On May 12, Reuters revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is poised to undertake a 30-day "surge" in deportations. The label for the operation suggests a military-like endeavor--the stated goal of which is to arrest and deport hundreds of single adults, mothers, and children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who arrived after January 1, 2014, have been ordered to leave the country, yet remain in the United States without authorization. According to Reuters, it will constitute "the largest deportation sweep targeting immigrant families by the administration of President Barack Obama this year." Reports of the looming surge have led to protests, with many asserting that the would-be targets of the operation are in fact refugees, as defined by international law. They are individuals who have a "well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion" and can't rely on their national governments for protection. As such, the critics (who range from immigrant rights advocates to Bernie Sanders to mainstream Democrats) argue that the women and children from Central America's "Northern Triangle" who are said to be in the United States "illegally" have a right to stay--even if only temporarily. Advertisement While this argument certainly has merit, their critique of Obama administration policy accepts the narrow international definition of who is and isn't "deserving" of asylum. The result is that the criticism can only bear fruit to the extent that U.S. authorities accept and acknowledge that the humans they prey upon are under extraordinary threat in their countries of birth. Under this framing, would-be deportees do not have a right to stay in the United States because of who they are--as human beings--but because of a determination as to what nefarious forces have done to them, or may do to them, should they be deported. By merely asking that Washington be more inclusive in its classification of those under threat, the critique, one supported by many progressives, allows the U.S. government to remain the arbiter of who belongs and who does not, thus ensuring future waves of deportation. Moreover, it disregards an expansive notion of human rights, particularly a human right to mobility. Even if one refuses to accept such a right, a basic concept of justice demands recognition that migration involving the movement of people from exploited and relatively impoverished parts of the world to countries of relative wealth and privilege, is, or at least should be, a right born of debt--an imperial debt. The right to migration, in other words, is a form of reparations. Take the case of just one of the Central American countries from where the targeted individuals have fled: El Salvador. As Elise Foley and Roque Planas have pointed out, although the Obama administration contends that the country is sufficiently safe for deportees, it considers El Salvador too dangerous for the U.S. Peace Corps. Due to "the ongoing security environment" in El Salvador, the Peace Corps suspended its operations there in January. Advertisement There's no doubt that El Salvador is very dangerous--not least for deportees from the United States, many of whom have been killed upon their forced return. The country's murder rate is 22 times that of the United States. The first three months of 2016 saw nearly one murder per hour, making the country one of the most violent in the world. As in Guatemala and Honduras, criminal gangs plague the country, and the boundary between them and the police and the military is often quite fuzzy. But horrific violence in El Salvador is not new, nor is its making limited to the country's territory. As is the case for all too many countries in Latin America, the roots of El Salvador's violence are tied to Washington's longstanding project of domination of the hemisphere. During the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans fled the terror associated with their country's brutal civil war and headed to the United States--typically entering clandestinely as the Reagan administration, with rare exceptions, refused to grant them refugee status. It wasn't until 1990, with both the war in El Salvador and the Cold War winding down, that the U.S. government granted Temporary Protected Status to Salvadorans living in the United States--placing them in what sociologist Cecilia Menjivar has characterized as "legal limbo." Life in the neighborhoods where Salvadoran refugees settled helped to give rise to El Salvador's contemporary gang problem. As anthropologist Elana Zilberg writes in her book, Spaces of Detention: The Making of a Transnational Gang Crisis Between Los Angeles and El Salvador, many of the young people were products of the very violence they were fleeing: Many Salvadoran youth had lost family members to the Salvadoran civil war, or were left by parents on the run from political persecution or for reasons of mere economic survival. They had seen tortured corpses and severed body parts on their way to school. While in school or out on the streets, boys no more than twelve years old were forcefully conscripted into the army. Children joined the guerrillas--in the early years, sometimes by force. Some learned to make Molotov cocktails, to kill and to torture. This was the history that followed them . . . a history funded by the United States: "Once in El Norte, a lot of them, particularly those residing in and around Los Angeles, found themselves living in poor, often destitute communities in which gangs already had a strong presence. The marginalized conditions in which many Salvadoran refugee youth subsisted, along with the violent histories they embodied, led many to join and form gangs--not least for reasons of self-protection." Advertisement As Zilberg suggests, the United States funded much of the terror associated with the civil war--in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid--to prop up El Salvador's right-wing government and the grossly unjust political-economic order it defended. The Pentagon, via the infamous School of the Americas, also trained some of El Salvador's most notorious military officers--ones found to have committed some of the worst atrocities associated with the civil war. This included the assassination of Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero and the massacre of several hundred civilians, many of them young children, in the village of El Mozote. In addition, Washington sent what were euphemistically referred to in official circles as "advisers" to help El Salvador's brutal military establishment in its fight against the guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). It was later revealed that these "advisers"--members of the U.S. Special Forces, who, over the course of the war, numbered in the thousands--actively engaged in combat operations (and presumably some of the associated war crimes as well). According to El Salvador's official truth commission, more than 75,000 Salvadoran civilians lost their lives during the civil war (1980-1992)--this in a country of about five million people at the time. The commission's report attributed 85 percent of the deaths to the U.S.-backed state (in the form of the country's military, paramilitary forces, and "death squads"), and five percent to the FMLN. Since the 1992 Peace Accords, which marked the end of the civil war and a transition to democratic elections, the U.S. government has deported gang members--real and imagined--to El Salvador in large numbers. This, combined with the country's legacy of violence, its impoverished state, and the dislocating effects of a neoliberal "free trade" agreement (known as DR-CAFTA) imposed by the country's conservative elites and heavily pushed by the United States more than a decade ago, is what has given rise to El Salvador's present-day gang crisis and the marked increase in out-migration. All this manifests U.S. culpability for much of El Salvador's past and inextricably-tied present-day plight. It illustrates how deeply interconnected, and unjustly so, U.S. and Salvadoran societies are, a reality that strict boundary and immigration policing, which the deportation "surge" embodies, disguises and works to erase. It also should negate any justification by the United States government to deport and deny rights of residence to people of Salvadoran origin. Advertisement Donald Trump's promise to engage in mass deportations if and when he becomes president has given rise to much concern and derision. The reaction to Trump, however, has often served to mask the fertile soil from which the reality TV star's ugly dreams bloom. As the threatened surge demonstrates, it's soil that the Obama administration has played a large a role in producing, having deported more individuals than any previous administration and almost as many as all those of the 20th century combined. The roots of this deportation regime must be eradicated and replaced. But this will not occur by asking the federal government to be more "humanitarian" in carrying out its regime of immigrant and territorial exclusion. It will only come about by demanding--and fighting for--a very different world, in which the U.S. government does not undermine the very conditions that make life viable for the majority in migrant-sending countries. This would be a world in which the U.S. state does not block those fleeing the ravages Washington has helped to produce from seeking a better life in U.S. territorial confines--if not for reasons of common humanity, then, at the very least, as compensation for the conditions it created. As far as I know, none of the skyscrapers overlooking the Bund were bathed in purple the night of April 23. At least no more so than usual. I awoke to news of Prince's death that Friday morning (still Thursday in the U.S.) in a hotel room about as far from Minneapolis as you can be. I reacted with a combination of sorrow and homesickness, tempered by words of mourning that I shared with friends, the tributes and essays that appeared in the press, and the trove of mesmerizing live performances that breached Prince's legal firewall. I half-expected my VPN to cancel my subscription for all the megabytes I was downloading. One of the images that got to me most was that of a bepurpled City Hall in Los Angeles, my hometown. There was the world's most star-studded city paying tribute to arguably the world's greatest star. Advertisement As night fell in Shanghai, the digital billboards and architectural light shows went on as usual, a ironically psychedelic sight in a largely conservative country. *** I would never claim to know China well. I can't imagine that a place of 1.3 billion can ever be known "well," even by its own natives. But, in advising Chinese students on U.S. college applications over the past few years, I've gotten an intimate look at a narrow, if fascinating, look into the Middle Kingdom. The students with whom I tend to work have legitimate shots at many of those schools, surely not because of anything I do but because they are innately brilliant and diligent. Like other diligent, brilliant people, they thrive on collaboration, second opinions, and the occasional nudge. I have worked with students who have done original research in quantum physics, won math contests and debate tournaments (in English), and written essays that have left me breathless with their eloquence. They have excelled in some of the most rigorous high school curricula imaginable. And yet, something is missing. Not from my students individually, but from their world. Last November, I met with 15 prospective students in the course of two days. They all went to the same high school, mostly in the same grade. That meant 15 accounts of the same schedules. Fifteen accounts of the same extracurricular activities. Fifteen accounts of nearly identical likes (physical education) and dislikes (ancient Chinese). Fifteen students who were, as far as I could tell, from identical backgrounds: educational, ethnic, linguistic, national, familial (determined by the One-Child Policy), and religious (meaning none). Advertisement *** As everyone knows, Prince was deeply religious, following not just the tenets of the Jehovah's Witnesses but also a theology all his own. Toure masterfully describes Prince's spirituality as a connection between life, death, love, loss, carnality, morality, sex, and celibacy with an exuberance -- with a disregard for contradiction that only he could manage. The earthly endeavors at which Prince excelled, and redefined, include singing, fashion, showmanship, composing, and, of course, guitar-playing, among so many others. Of course, Prince could be a bit much. I blush at the mention of used Trojans as much as I marvel at the description of sideways parking jobs. I'd hardly recommend all of his songs to high school kids. And yet, in his embrace of sexuality, celebration of his ethnicity, rejection of gender norms, and in all the talents that make him so beloved, Prince is the very embodiment of diversity. America has always reveled in freedom of choice. Prince made our choices infinitely more vast: musically, stylistically, lyrically, sexually, racially, spiritually. And they are just that: choices, which we can accept or reject as we see fit. Humming "Starfish and Coffee" while I make breakfast doesn't require me to sing "Darling Nikki" in the shower. Which brings me back to China. *** I give my students a lot of advice. I recommend books. I help them investigate colleges. I give them writing exercises. Normal stuff. But I really wish they had something that I cannot give them: diversity. Americans celebrate diversity so often, it sometimes feels like a cliche. We approach it inconsistently, embracing it one moment, fleeing from it the next, and never quite knowing how to make the most of it. But make no mistake: despite offensive stereotypes about "real Americans," we have diversity in abundance. Prince is just the most extreme example. Advertisement What does diversity mean when you grow up in its midst? It surely means that you may lack the sense of distinctiveness, unity, and history you'd get in, say, tribe or ethnic enclave. But diversity comes with so many benefits. It means getting used to people who look different from you. It means you're exposed to different perspectives based on different life experiences. It means that ideas get to clash, change, and mature. It means getting to appreciate different styles. It means learning without even knowing that you're learning. It means getting comfortable with the "other" rather than fearing it. It means you empathize. The unusual becomes normal. Life becomes richer. (Granted, plenty of Americans think that diversity is a bad thing. They are wrong, of course. But they are entitled to their opinions.) My students attend Chinese schools in Chinese cities with Chinese kids. They speak the Chinese language, learn the Chinese curriculum, are taught by Chinese teachers, and live under one-party rule. They grow up under a Chinese family structure: only children, no aunts, no uncles, no cousins. Those who apply to Chinese colleges do so by taking a single exam. They are not themselves diverse; moreover, they are not even exposed to diversity. All of this is in the wake of the Cultural Revolution, which took place but two generations ago and wiped out entire belief systems and collective identities. *** When Chinese students apply to American colleges, many have a hard time distinguishing themselves. Few of them can refer to distinctive ethnic traditions, religious beliefs, challenging encounters with prejudice, or enlightening discoveries of difference. None of this is their fault. None of it constitutes a moral failing. And none of it has anything to do with their academic potential or work ethic. They simply have few of the chances to pick up new ideas, appreciate different styles, be challenged by different perspectives that their American counterparts take for granted. I think of Prince because he represents a world that my students cannot readily experience. For them, single song -- a single sly smile, even -- can be an unburied treasure. Advertisement I'm not saying that anyone needs to learn about the world through pop music. Nor am I saying that Americans can't stand to learn more about the rest of the world -- or that we too can't learn from outsiders' perspectives. Fortunately, cultures reveal themselves in many ways. The world has writers, artists, filmmakers, and scholars and, yes, musicians whose gifts extend as far as the Internet, and the firewalls, will allow. It has telephones and airplanes too. If I have one wish for my students, it's for them to discover difference, embrace provocation, and have chances to consider other ways of learning, feeling, and being than the ones that they encounter regularly. For students who have been immersed in a single culture, these epiphanies can be more powerful than anything that the typical cosmopolitan American might ever experience. We've seen it all. As long as they are aware and open, my Chinese students get to discover the world afresh. Last week's Curios covered the most isolated cave in the world, cat fancies, and the unlikely history of military camouflage. Curio No. 1039 | Life in a deadly cave A poisonous cave? 30 years ago, workers in Romania were searching for a good place to build a power plant when they stumbled upon one of the strangest underground environments in the world. Named the Movile Cave, the network of tunnels is pitch black and filled with hot, toxic air. At the central cavern, the passageways give way to a large lake that is teeming with more than 40 lifeforms, 30 of which exist nowhere else in the world. Translucent and eyeless spiders, snails, worms, and centipedes survive by eating a thick layer of bacteria atop the lake. The bacteria survive by using chemosynthesis--a variation on photosynthesis that uses energy from inorganic chemical reactions instead of solar energy... keep reading. Curio No. 1038 | Bach and Handel had a terrible eye surgeon George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach have a lot in common. They were both born in 1685. They grew up just 50 miles away from each other, in the German towns of Eisenach and Halle. And they have gone down in history as the two greatest baroque composers of all time. And, amazingly, both were also blinded by the same quack eye surgeon. He was called "The Chevalier" John Taylor--a title he gave himself, meaning "knight" or "chivalrous one." Taylor practiced ophthalmology before the field had a name. Although he studied at a hospital under an eye surgeon, his practices were not very scientifically sound--even by 17th century standards.... keep reading. Advertisement Curio No. 1037 | Before LOL cats there was this guy Harrison Weir was the original crazy cat lady. In the late 19th century he founded the National Cat Club, wrote a book entitled Our Cats and All About Them, and created the first cat show. In other words, Weir earned his nickname of "The Father of the Cat Fancy." Weir was a member of Victorian-era London high society. At the time, most people saw cats only as rodent deterrents, not house pets. But Weir identified in cats "an elegance and wit that useless dogs lacked." In 1873, he founded the Crystal Palace Cat Show. Cats were graded on fur, color, shape, and build using Weir's "Standards of Excellence"... keep reading. Curio No. 1036 | The saddest bowling story ever told Strike! In bowling league play, a perfect game score of 300 is amazing but not that rare. What is elusive is a "900 series"--recording strikes in all three games of a league match, 36 in total. The United States Bowling Congress has certified only 28 "900 series" in 34 years of tracking. On the night of January 18, 2010, at the Plano Super Bowl in Texas, Bill Fong was almost number 29. Bill had bowled a 300 game before, but never two in a row. Bill began by hitting his first 24 strikes to record two perfect 300 games in a row. In game three he picked up speed and recorded his first nine strikes easily... keep reading. Curio No. 1035 | Making babies without daddies Hey ladies--if only! There is a species of North American lizards that is entirely female. The New Mexico whiptail lizard propagates without males, through asexual reproduction. But unlike other living things that reproduce asexually, the New Mexico whiptail lizards produce genetically unique offspring. This is because they have double the chromosomes of their lizard relatives. Biologists don't understand how or why, but this bizarre adaptation eliminates the major problem with asexual reproduction.... keep reading. Curio No. 1034 | Cannes-ing fascism with a film festival The Cannes Film Festival is a great way to spend a fortune watching independent films in luxury. But it was conceived in 1932 as a way to fight fascism. Jean Zay, a French politician, founded the film festival after hearing Mussolini intended to establish an Italian film festival as a fascist propaganda machine. Mussolini's Mostra del Cinema was held the same year in Venice. At first it included American films like It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable. But only two years later, the top award was renamed the Coppa Mussolini and pro-fascist Italian films dominated the competition... keep reading. Advertisement Curio No. 1033 | The art of military camouflage Today is Armed Forces Day here in the US. So we're honoring another military innovation that has found its way into popular culture: camouflage. While other animals have had camouflage for eons, humans weren't afforded the same biological advantage. So we have to make ours. Most experts agree the 19th-Century American artist Abbott Thayer is the "father of camouflage." Thayer, originally known for painting young women with angel wings, became infatuated with camoufler, French for "to conceal." He wrote a book, Concealing Colouration in the Animal Kingdom. ... keep reading. This has been an election season filled with extremes--some believe that it's one of the craziest, nastiest, and most vitriolic elections we've seen in decades. And it's (potentially) about to be one of the loudest. Last night, Democratic contender Bernie Sanders challenged presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to a debate before the yuge California primary coming up on June 7th. Trump, who knows a ratings coup when he sees one, accepted at once. Or DID HE? The Challenge Last night, Donald Trump was a guest on Wednesday night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live." In the middle of the segment, Kimmel presented Trump with a hand-written letter from Bernie Sanders, who is slated to appear on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" tonight. Sanders wrote: Advertisement "Hillary Clinton backed out of an agreement to debate me in California before the June 7th primary. Are you prepared to debate the major issues facing our largest state and the country prior to the California primary?" The Acceptance Trump was quick to accept--and quick to bring money into the equation. He quipped that Sanders should pay him an appearance fee because of the debate's guaranteed monster ratings. Trump said: "If I debated him, we would have such high ratings and I think I should take that money and give it to some worthy charity. If he paid a nice sum for a charity I would love to do that." Trump was bold to bring up charitable donations, given the recent revelations that he didn't donate as much as he'd promised, or said he did, to military veterans that time he skipped a Republican debate and held a charity event for vets instead. Trump says he'll debate Sanders "for charity." Who did he pick to not get the money this time? James Morrison (@JamesPMorrison) May 26, 2016 Trump made another bold claim on "Kimmel": He believes he'd probably have an easier time beating Bernie than Hillary Clinton, even though Sanders beats Trump in most polls. Both Trump and Sanders have complained about the unfair, rigged election process. On "Kimmel," Trump repeated his claim that the system is also unfairly rigged against Sanders, saying that on that score, he feels some solidarity with Bernie. Trump said that it's "very unfair" that Sanders is losing because of the delegate system--although it's worth pointing out that Sanders has also lost the popular vote to Clinton over the course of primary season. Advertisement Two entitled white men talking about how the system is rigged against them.I love the smell of patriarchy in the morning.#BernieTrumpDebate Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) May 26, 2016 The Confirmation Immediately after Trump's segment, Sanders took to Twitter to say he's in: Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 26, 2016 Trump and Sanders have a surprising amount in common Many say Trump and Sanders share some beliefs--like the need to change our political system--and have a similar style. What will #BernieTrumpDebate even debate? They have about 60-70% overlap on ideas. Inez Stepman (@InezFeltscher) May 26, 2016 Advertisement Of course, there are some yuge differences between them. Sanders' vision is rooted in socialist democracy and reining in Wall Street and campaign finance, while Trump's campaign focuses on American greatness and domination as well as a tough stance on immigration and Muslims. But a debate between just the two of them could highlight their surprising similarities. But ... will #BernieTrumpDebate actually happen? So far, the two campaigns haven't confirmed anything. Even so, people are pretty darn excited. The #BernieTrumpDebate hashtag is blowing up on Twitter. It's a meme goldmine out there. The #BernieTrumpDebate is so insane it was parodied before it even happened. @trumpvsbernie pic.twitter.com/fXeRxvaMLw Ang Ferraguto (@MagnaFarta) May 26, 2016 How Sanders and Trump supporters are reacting Bernie believers think this debate could boost their candidate and give him positive exposure. Some polls show Sanders beating Trump handily, and Sanders supporters think this could be a moment to showcase their candidate's strength against the Republican nominee. Especially because new polls show he's pulled up to Clinton in California. Could debating Trump put him over the top? Advertisement The reason #ImWithHer is so mad about #BernieTrumpDebate is that it will expose how Bernie is a much better candidate to face Trump. L. (@leslieleeiii) May 26, 2016 You had your chance @HillaryClinton. Time to see what the Americans really want. #BernieTrumpDebate pizza (@Sentient_Pizzaa) May 26, 2016 Of course, Trump supporters also think it's a brilliant idea because it could make Hillary Clinton appear weaker. Clinton's debate absence could highlight the lack of Democratic unity. And third party candidates want in! Advertisement Does this mean trouble for Clinton? In February, Clinton and Sanders agreed that they would add four debates to the primary season, including a debate in May. But Clinton now feels she has the nomination locked up and is eager to turn her attention to Trump. Team Sanders accuses her of reneging on their deal. Clinton's campaign communications director said that she would rather spend her time in California campaigning and shaking hands than debating Bernie yet again. Two old men collaborating, in the hopes one can beat out a more qualified woman for a job. How unusual. #BernieTrumpDebate #ImWithHer Foxy the Cat (@DBBeem) May 26, 2016 California is a high-stakes state, with 546 delegates up for grabs. Clinton was heavily favored in Cali two months ago. Now, however, she's practically tied with sanders. Polls that include independent voters show Clinton with 46% of the vote, and Sanders at 44%. With an error margin of plus or minus 5.7 points, this means it really could go either way. It's worth noting that to participate in California's semi-closed Democratic primary, voters must register as Democrat or with "no party preference." In polls of registered Democrats only, Clinton leads by eight points. But if enough pro-Sanders independents registered as Democrat or "no party preference" by the May 23rd deadline, Bernie may very well win the nation's most populated state. In the days leading up to the deadline, Sanders' volunteers voraciously called up and down California reminding supporters to properly register for the June 7th primary. It probably won't hurt Clinton in the grand scheme Even if Clinton loses California, she pretty much has the nomination locked down at this point. June 4th is the US Virgin Islands caucus and June 5th, is Puerto Rico's primary. And Cali isn't the only state holding a primary on June 7th--there's also New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, and North and South Dakota. Finally Washington, DC, votes on June 14th. - Delegates needed for the nom: 2,383 - Delegates at stake on June 4th and 5th: 79 - Delegates at stake on June 7th: 806 - Delegates at stake on June 14th: 45 - Clinton's pledged delegates: 1,768 - Clinton's superdelegates: 537 - Clinton's total delegates: 2,305 - Counting only pledged delegates, number Clinton needs to win: 615 - Counting total delegates, number Clinton needs to win: 78 Advertisement - Sanders' pledged delegates: 1,497 - Sanders' superdelegates: 42 - Sanders' total delegates: 1,539 - Counting only pledged delegates, number Sanders needs to win: 886 - Counting total delegates, number Sanders needs to win: 844 Clinton leads Sanders by 271 in pledged delegates, and seriously leads in superdelegates, 537 to 42). It's a virtually insurmountable lead. So it makes sense that she wants to focus on the general election. Is #BernieTrumpDebate all a joke? Multiple sources tell @Cbsnews that Trump was kidding about debating Sanders & it will never happen. (H/t @stevechaggaris and @MajorCBS) Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) May 26, 2016 There are now rumblings that Trump was kidding when he agreed to debate Bernie Sanders. That certainly isn't outside the realm of possibility--the Republican nominee isn't exactly known as the most truthful player in the election. Advertisement #BernieTrumpDebate is all about ratings. They seem to think this is a joke. I'm glad Hillary realizes how serious it is #ImWithHer AutumnResists (@AutumnNAlston) May 26, 2016 Meanwhile, Sanders claims the challenge is totally serious. This is how you negotiate #bernietrumpdebate pic.twitter.com/mgQIfeC0yA People For Bernie (@People4Bernie) May 26, 2016 If the debate doesn't happen, don't despair! We'll always have the memes. This week, I visited central zoo in Lalitpur, the only zoo of Nepal. Visiting a zoo is an amazing experience for me. I always prioritize bird-section during my zoo visit. You must always do what gives you pleasure and birding always gives me pleasure during zoo visit. Bird watching gives me a reason to spend time into zoo. Birding is Nature's Yoga because birding is peaceful, meditative, and restorative. Colorful birds are jewels of the zoo and I love to capture them into my camera. I have tried to capture some birds' gestures at central zoo of Nepal. If you are bird lover, watch these pictures and try to understand the bird's language. VENTURA, CA - MAY 26: Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) speaks at a campaign rally at VenturaACollege on May 26, 2016 in Ventura, California. The California primary is June 7. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) Poll after poll shows Bernie doing better, much better, against Trump than Hillary. May 26 California Clinton 49, Trump 39:Clinton +10 Sanders 53, Trump 36:Sanders +17 May 25 North Carolina Clinton 43, Trump 47Trump +4 Sanders 48, Trump 44Sanders +4 May 25 New Jersey Clinton 48, Trump 37: Clinton +11 Sanders 57, Trump 33: Sanders +24 May 22 General Election Trump 43, Clinton 46: Clinton +3 Sanders 54, Trump 39: Sanders +15 May 17 Arizona Clinton 41, Trump 45: Trump +4 Sanders 45, Trump 44: Sanders +1 May 15 Georgia Trump 45, Clinton 41: Trump +4 Trump 42, Sanders 47: Sanders +5 Are these numbers meaningful? The most common response is that Bernie as yet has not been tested by the Republican's slime machine. If he becomes the nominee they would red-bait him to death. After all, in the person of Ted Cruz, they already have a Joe McCarthy look-alike more than willing to play the part. We are told red-baiting will work because there is so much to attack -- Bernie's kind words for Cuba, his so-called honeymoon to the Soviet Union, and, of course, all his socialistic big government programs that he wants to foist on freedom-loving Americans. Advertisement This meme is repeated so often (especially by Hillary surrogates) that it has taken on the status of conventional wisdom. It must be true or why would everyone be saying it? But, where is the evidence to show that Sanders has been hurt or would be hurt by a bombardment of red-baiting and other kinds of negative attacks? The People's Republic of Vermont Vermont is part of the evidentiary base. It is so liberal, we are told, that Bernie's many campaign victories are irrelevant for how he would fare across the country. But Vermont cast its electoral votes for Republicans from 1980 to 1988, and during that time Sanders was repeatedly elected mayor of Burlington, its largest city. By 1990 he was Vermont's lone congressman and in 2006 he won the Senate race. In 2012, he even bested Obama's 66 percent landslide by garnering 71 percent of the vote. Advertisement The 2006 Senate race is revealing. Republican businessman Richard Tarrant spent $7 million of his own money to blast Bernie on everything from being soft on Osama Bin Laden to supporting child molesters. It didn't work. Bernie won 65 percent of the vote. Did his Republican opponents simply forget the art of red-baiting during all those years when the state voted Republican in national elections? Why was the millionaire Tarrant unsuccessful in pinning the commie label on him? What does it mean when an overt socialist wins 65 percent and 71 percent of the vote? At the very least it means that in Vermont red-baiting did not work, and does not work. What about in the neighboring Granite State? OK, maybe you can claim that Vermont really was extremely liberal even while casting its votes for Reagan and Bush 1. But you can't say that about New Hampshire and its electoral support for Ford, Reagan, Bush and Bush. It's no left-wing haven. New Hampshire also shares many media markets with Vermont so its voters know all about Bernie and his democratic socialism. It should be a good barometer of how deeply red-baiting has influenced a more conservative state. It hasn't. New Hampshire voters greatly prefer Sanders over Trump, and Sanders runs far ahead of Clinton's marginal two point lead. How do Hillary supporters write-off these results? Advertisement Wednesday, May 18 New Hampshire Clinton 44, Trump 42: Clinton +2 Sanders 54, Trump 38: Sanders +16 Who you going to believe, the polls or your lying eyes? Hillary supporters frequently downplay these polls. This is especially true for older voters who have witnessed the destructive power of red-baiting. In fact, during this their entire adult lives, the political spectrum has shifted to the right, and any national candidate, like George McGovern, who tried to buck that trend was roundly defeated. This age cohort also watched Bill Clinton triangulate to regain the presidency for the Democrats. He moved to the center by declaring that the "era of big government is over" and by "cutting welfare as we know it." Obama also never strayed far from this neo-liberal elite political consensus. He even bought into the austerity myth and cut government jobs during the aftermath of the Great Recession. So we boomers seem immune to data that challenges our deeply held beliefs (near religious in intensity) that a socialist just can't win. "This is America -- the capitalist center of the universe. Of course a socialist will get trumped. The polls must be wrong. Red-baiting will work. Why? Because it always has." Unfortunately Hillary supporters have no current evidence -- none at all -- for this claim. Don't Trust Anyone over Thirty Bernie is doing remarkably well with independents and young people. Recent polling suggests that socialism is not a bad word among these voters. Those under thrity years of age favor socialism over capitalism by 43 to 32 margin according to a January poll by yougov.com Overall Americans today seem much less uptight about socialism than a generation ago: "Only 18% of Americans say it is specifically the "democratic socialist" label that would make them less likely to vote for the Vermont senator. The number is lower among Democrats and Independents (15%) than Republicans (25%). 23% of Democrats even say the phrase makes them more likely to back Sanders. But most Americans say the label makes no difference - 39% wouldn't support Sanders anyway, and 13% would support him regardless." The Honeymooners Sure, sure, young folks love him, but the media has yet to focus on the many ways Sanders remains an unrepentant 1960s Marxist. When they do, his poll numbers will plummet. As one columnist recently put it, "The news media, too, has been languid about highlighting the weird aspects of his background (like a post-wedding celebration in the Soviet Union) since no one has ever expected that President Sanders would be choosing a Cabinet." Lindsey Graham was more direct when he declared to the roar of the Republican crowd that "The number two guy [running for the Democratic nomination] went to the Soviet Union on his honeymoon, and I don't think he ever came back," Wow! How do explain why those two lovebirds were frolicking away in the Soviet Union in 1988 just before the collapse of the communist evil empire? What the hell was Bernie thinking? Well, it was a funny kind of honeymoon because 10 other people went along. It turns out the two Sanders lovebirds weren't there for connubial bliss. They were there because of a sister city program set up by that great communist sympathizer, Dwight D. Eisenhower. As In These Times reports: Advertisement "In 1956, President Eisenhower launched the program that a decade later would be called Sister Cities International, a program still in existence today. The idea was to promote peace and understanding through connections between cities in the United States and, at first, Western Europe. The program soon spread. In 1973, Seattle became a sister city of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, then under Soviet rule. Other U.S.-Soviet sister cities soon followed despite the tensions of the Cold War. In 1988, Burlington sistered with Yaroslavl, a city 160 miles north of Moscow." The Slime Machine Already at Work The last part of the argument against Sanders' electability is that the Republicans have not as yet done him damage. But that's not from want of trying. The Soviet honeymoon myth has gotten quite a bit of play by George Will, CNN's Anderson Cooper, the New York Post, and the National Review . What has been the impact? Bernie's poll numbers are rising. So what? In response to these points, Hillary supporters often throw up their hands and say, it's too late! It's mathematically impossible for Bernie to win. Hillary has secured the delegates fair and square. She has received 3 million more votes (not counting any of the caucuses.) Bernie should quit and get behind her now before he damages her even more. Here's what! For the good of the nation, Hillary supporters need to break free from their own red-baiting fears. Instead they should fear the Clinton-Trump match-up. It's time to stop debunking the polls and start thinking hard about how best to defeat Trump. Hillary's e-mails, the Clinton Foundation, her Wall Street speeches will do much more damage to her than the alleged red scare will do to Bernie. Advertisement But, if you still believe Hillary is the stronger candidate against Trump, then try to make the case without resorting to unsubstantiated fears of red-baiting. If you can peel away your preconceptions, it should become clear that that Hillary is in deep trouble, and that Bernie is the stronger candidate. It's not too late to switch to Sanders before Clinton leads us to President Trump. (Like Runaway Inequality on Facebook.) Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses a rally with supporters in Anaheim, California, U.S., May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump has just clinched the number of delegates to become the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. His de facto nomination has dismayed the so-called media establishment in the United States, which represents an ideological spectrum that includes conservatives. Political pundits have rushed to decry the alleged Europeanization of American politics or the appearance of fascist populism. The notion that the American political tradition has always been characteristically middle-of-the-road liberal and lacked ideological contestation is of course an argument that consensus historians like Louis Hartz and Richard Hofstadter made a long time ago. To paraphrase Werner Sombart's famous query, "Why is there no Fascism in the United States?" To understand the Trump phenomenon, political commentators have pointed to the rise of Hitler and the recent growing political strength of the far right in the continent. In fact, they should be looking closer to home. Advertisement The history of American democracy has been marked more by contestation, including a bloody Civil War in which over 700,000 Americans lost their lives, than consensus. The founding of the American republic on egalitarian principles and a constitutional order did not prevent the rise of the forces of political reaction. Slaveholders used the Constitution to protect their property rights in human beings and expand the system of racial slavery in the guise of "states' rights." Their ideas on inherent racial inferiority and the dangers of socialism, feminism, and abolitionism anticipated the golden age of free market capitalism, imperialism, Social Darwinism, and scientific racism at the turn of the nineteenth century. As Senator James Chesnut of South Carolina put it, "red republicanism" in America had merely "blacked its face." Proslavery ideology rather than the abolition of slavery, gave birth to colonial ideas that viewed entire groups of people and nations as unfit for democracy. As the political theorist Corey Robin has argued, a reactionary mindset, committed to racial hierarchy and undemocratic values, has long been alive and well in the western world, especially in the United States. Indeed the history of the American republic has never been the mythic story of linear progress toward greater freedom whose boundaries have inexorably expanded to include the disfranchised. Nearly every period of democratic expansion of civil and political rights has been hard fought for and given birth to formidable opposition to change. With the fall of Reconstruction, America's first experiment with interracial democracy after the Civil War, the nation plunged into a racial nightmare of Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement, debt peonage, and unprecedented violence, lynching and pogroms against black communities. Mainstream politicians capitulated to racial demagogues, who incited their constituencies with fantasies of black rapists and criminals. When it comes to Mexican immigrants, Trump has used that playbook word for word. America's home grown brown shirts, dressed in the long flowing white gowns of the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups, long preceded the rise of fascism in the twentieth century. It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump's father, a New York real estate magnate known to draw the color line in his properties, was arrested in a Klan riot in 1927 or that he has been endorsed by David Duke, a grand wizard of the Klan and erstwhile Republican candidate for the governorship of Louisiana, among other assorted white supremacists. The Klan's anti-Catholicism and anti-semitism has morphed into a blanket condemnation of all Muslims in Trump's hands. It has already involved him in a war of words with London's newly elected popular Mayor. Advertisement The Grand Old Party of the Republic, the party of Lincoln, ironically has its political base in the former states of the Confederacy today, states in which Abraham Lincoln did not receive a single electoral vote. Ever since the overthrow of Reconstruction, when the Republican party was transformed from the party of antislavery to the party of big business, the GOP has moved steadily to the right encompassing nativist, racist, as well as anti-women's rights and anti-labor positions. The United States witnessed its own profoundly anti-democratic historical moments when civil liberties were violated with impunity during the Red Scare that followed the First World War and the McCarthy era after the Second. The rush of the Republican establishment to embrace Trump, while holding their noses, is indicative of the extent to which the party has been undone by its far right core constituency. On its 150th anniversary, it would serve us well to learn the historical lessons of the overthrow of Radical Reconstruction, when African Americans attained civil rights and black men obtained the right to vote. Few could have predicted that the achievements of Reconstruction, enshrined in constitutional amendments and federal law, would be so completely undone. A similar reaction followed the gains of the Civil Rights movement in the twentieth century. It gave us the Reagan era, with its anti-government rhetoric, voodoo economics, and socially conservative policies. Today religious fundamentalism that defies the separation of church and state and medieval obscurantism, which questions science and rationality itself, are the defining characteristics of not just Republican voters but many of their representatives in Congress. If the Democrats can learn anything from American history, it is that without a truly progressive alternative to right wing politics, the mechanisms of liberal democracy might provide no safeguard against it. That is why it is imperative for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats to stop blaming Bernie Sanders for complicating Clinton's road to the Presidency. Her supporters and the Democratic National Committee must listen to the voters he has energized in the primaries. Like Obama in 2008, Sanders has created a new progressive coalition and it might be the Democrats' best shot at defeating Trump. If the Republican party is showing its fascist face, is it not time for the Democratic party to reinvent itself as a genuine social democratic party? History proves that is when American democracy triumphs, when Abraham Lincoln won in a slaveholding republic or when Franklin Delano Roosevelt ended decades of elite misrule. The Democratic party must unify but it must do so on a truly progressive platform. If that happens, Trump would most likely go the way of southern slaveholders or more recently, Barry Goldwater, who lost all the states except the deep south and his home state to Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Is it possible that a misogynist, nativist, racist, faux billionaire who refuses to release his tax returns, a "reality" TV celebrity and tweeting buffoon has a shot at becoming the President of the United States after the age of Obama? Many Americans would be ready to move to Canada in November if that ever comes to pass. Following Trump's bizarre suggestion of building a wall on the US-Mexican border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might well suggest a wall at the Canadian-US border and ask Trump to pay for it! Or as Lincoln put it commenting on the rise of anti-immigrant Know Nothings in the nineteenth century, the true predecessors of the GOP today, "When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy." Others might feel like the little black girl, whose video has gone viral in social media. She started crying when she was told that Obama would no longer be President next year. Advertisement Sarah Robinson is the best-selling author of the Kavanagh Legends series. A poet at heart, Robinson is passionate about animals, advocacy and alpha males. She holds a degree in criminal psychology and lives with her police officer husband and many rescue animals in the DC area. MW: So, tell me about your writing journey, have you always written? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer and when did you publish your first book? SR: I labeled myself a poet most of my young life. In fact, I won several poetry contests and was published in literary journals- all small time, but I enjoyed it. I truly loved to write, but the truth is that I was limiting myself because I desperately wished I could write longer stories, but didn't feel I'd be able to. I'd also been told my whole life that anything in the arts wasn't a job, it was a hobby, and that I needed to find a job that I could live off of. So, I left high school and pursued other jobs, education, and even a master's degree, but I never felt satisfied. It wouldn't be until after graduate school when I'd actually prove to myself that I could write for a living, albeit accidentally. Advertisement I was struggling to find a job after graduation and answered an online ad writing short stories for cash. After turning in my first few, I realized I could do this for a living, and better yet, I loved doing this! My boss eventually told me I should consider writing a book, and trying to get published. I scoffed, because that sounded impossible, but then I decided to bite the bullet and go for it! Still not confident in myself, I decided that no publisher would actually want my book, so I was going to publish it myself. That was a tough choice because that road is nowhere near as easy as it sounds, and I made a ton of mistakes on my early books and marketing attempts. I have a lot of admiration for self-published authors, and if I could go back and change it, I wouldn't. It gave me a great foundation to launch my books, and my understanding of the field. Eventually, I started to understand more about the book world, publishing, and marketing and was able to start making a name for myself and getting my books out there. This is what attracted Penguin Random House to me and landed me my first big publishing deal. I was absolutely over the moon because all those years ago back when I was a poet, Random House was an impossible dream for me- and now I'm living it. People always ask me if have always dreamed of being a writer, and the truth is no, because I didn't dare, and maybe if I had, I wouldn't have wasted so many years feeling lost. MW: How does poetry figure into your work now? Do you still read poetry? What are some of the works that inspired you to pursue writing? Advertisement SR: My writing's often described as highly emotional, and in order to give that experience to readers, I have to be just as emotional writing it as I was when I was a young poet. I used poetry back then to eviscerate my heart and bleed my pain onto the page the only way I knew how. Those same pains are no longer present in my life, but I now know how to tap back into it when needed. Poetry taught me to pick it up and play with it, examine it from all sides, and then leave it on the page at the end. My all time favorite book was one I read in elementary school, I believe, called The Cay by Theodore Taylor. It was the first book that ever made me feel, ever made me cry, and I remembered it for decades to come. A weathered and worn copy still sits in a place of honor on my bookshelf. I hope everyone who reads my books feels even a fraction of the emotion I felt when reading The Cay. MW: On you social media, you describe yourself as an advocate. Can you tell me about what that means to you? SR: Most of the jobs and positions I've been fortunate enough to hold in my career have allowed me to be a voice for others, and it's something I've always felt called to. Working as a mental health counselor with severely mentally ill adults in residential treatment for many years often put me in positions where I needed to advocate for their rights and needs when they were not capable of doing so for themselves. In fact, I specifically held a position called Human Rights Advocate for several years. I've been able to do this in other avenues as well, including working with many animal shelters and welfare groups, helping animals in need of homes or from abusive situations. Now as a writer, I use my books as a platform to increase awareness and education about topics that may not be familiar to everyone. My books have dealt from all sorts of tough topics from autism, to dog fighting rings, to childhood abuses, to PTSD, and more. I hope to be able to continue to use my public platform to help others through my writing, because that's truly always been my lifelong dream. MW: How do the novels in the Kavanaghs Legends series differ from you other books? How do you do your research for MMA fighting and are you yourself a fan of the sport? SR: The Kavanagh Legends series is my first family saga, and going into it I had no idea that this would really be my niche. Coming from a giant Greek family, I am able to use my own experiences of chaotic, bustling family events and relationships to write the exciting dynamics in the Kavanagh's big Irish clan. The family owns a mixed martial arts gym in the Bronx, and that was definitely a new area of writing for me. I did my research through both visiting the place I set it in in person, as well as talking to MMA fighters and researching online. Combining the rough sport with a chaotic, fun, loving family of alpha male fighters, the Kavanagh Legends were born and, thankfully, readers responded in kind. MW: Could you tell me a little bit about each book in the Kavanagh Series? SR: In Breaking a Legend,: Rory Kavanagh is an alpha male mixed martial arts fighter who lost his dream after a brutal injury in the ring. Broken in more ways than one, he's struggling to find a new path in life. Clare Ivers is a woman on the run, and despite her best efforts, the demons of her past are catching up fast. Saving a Legend, (coming June 14th): Focuses on Kieran Kavanagh, who has lost years of his life to a youthful mistake, but he's all grown up now and ready to set right the sins of his past. What he didn't expect was to come across two sisters who pulled at his heartstrings, Fiona and her young, special needs sister Shea. Fiona has been through the ringer, dealing with not only a terrible trauma in her past, but now being her little sister's sole guardian. Life doesn't make it easy, but there's nothing Fiona won't do for Shea, and that includes putting dating on hold. Maybe for good. President Obamas historic visit to Hiroshima this week offers an opportunity to take a clear-eyed look back to the first and only time nuclear weapons have been used in war. Germany had surrendered on May 8, 1945. Japan refused to surrender and continued to wage the Pacific War. President Harry S. Truman faced a decision on whether or not to drop the worlds first atomic bomb in Japan. 3: President Truman formed a committee of men to tell him if this bomb would work, and if so, what he should do with it. Some members of this committee felt that the bomb would jeopardize the future of civilization. They were against its use. Others wanted it to be used in demonstration on a forest of cryptomeria trees, but not against a civil or military target. Many atomic scientists warned that the use of atomic power in war would be difficult and even impossible to control. The danger would be very great. Finally, there were others who believed that if the bomb were used just once or twice, on one or two Japanese cities, there would be no more war. They believed the new bomb would produce eternal peace. This fragment is from Trappist monk and social justice and peace activist Thomas Mertons 1962 prose poem Original Child Bomb. Its title is a rough translation of the root characters in the Japanese term for the atom. Merton subtitled his anti-poem Points for meditation to be scratched in the walls of a cave, and it includes a numbered list of 41 points about the atomic bombs creation, the decision to drop the first one on Hiroshima, and its aftermath: Advertisement 32: The bomb exploded within 100 feet of the aiming point. The fireball was 18,000 feet across. The temperature at the center of the fireball was 100,000,000 degrees. The people who were near the center became nothing. The whole city was blown to bits and the ruins all caught fire instantly everywhere, burning briskly. 70,000 people were killed right away or died within a few hours. Those who did not die at once suffered great pain. Few of them were soldiers. 33: The men in the plane perceived that the raid had been successful, but they thought of the people in the city and they were not perfectly happy. Some felt they had done wrong. But in any case they had obeyed orders. It was war. It was war, and despite the initial reaction by co-pilot Captain Robert Lewis as he witnessed the devastation My God, what have we done? pilots and crew members stressed over and over again that they believed they did what they had to do. But the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki have not produced eternal peace. Instead they opened a Pandoras box that can never be fully locked back up. I have visited Hiroshima twice once with my husband and once with him and our three sons. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome), created from the ruins of the only structure left standing near the bombs hypocenter, is a reminder of how far we still have to go to make this a world worthy of and safe for all our children. Advertisement The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock has this ominous message today: it is still three minutes to midnight. Beginning in 1947 the clocks hands have moved based on the scientists evaluation of whether events are pushing humanity closer to or further from nuclear apocalypse; since 2007 they have also considered climate change and other threats that might lead to global catastrophe. In 2015 the clock was moved closer to midnight because of grave concerns about unchecked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations, and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals. In January 2016 they announced it has not changed: Last year, the Science and Security Board moved the Doomsday Clock forward to three minutes to midnight, noting: The probability of global catastrophe is very high, and the actions needed to reduce the risks of disaster must be taken very soon. That probability has not been reduced. The Clock ticks. Global danger looms. Wise leaders should actimmediately. Will we hear and heed? President Obamas visit should prompt us all to realize that if we do not want the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be repeated ever again we cannot be complacent. While we can celebrate all steps that have been taken to control access to more weapons in our nuclear saturated world we must do even more to protect our childrens and grandchildrens futures in a world rife with war and religious, racial, gender, sectarian, and political strife. When anyone argues that the world might be safer if more countries had nuclear weapons it is yet another reminder that history can and may repeat itself on our watch if we are not vigilant. The clock is still ticking. The same year that Original Child Bomb was published, Thomas Merton also wrote this in the essay Nuclear War and Christian Responsibility: . . . there can be no doubt that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were, though not fully deliberate crimes, nevertheless crimes. And who was responsible? No one. Or history. We cannot go on playing with nuclear fire and shrugging off the results as history. We are the ones concerned. We are the ones responsible. History does not make us, we make itor end it. What we have wrought by trying to play God is still our responsibility. How will we write the next chapter? "The only sustainable peace in Colombia and true democracy in Cuba requires peace in Venezuela." These are the insightful words of former President of Bolivia, Jorge Quiroga, speaking at Concordia's inaugural Summit on the Americas. His statement, made during a discussion I moderated on the thawing relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, demonstrates the interconnected nature of the political and economic issues in the region. It also underscores the dire need for the international community to coalesce in condemnation of the crisis in Venezuela to ensure prosperity and democracy throughout the region. As a broadcast journalist in the United States, I struggle to get stories from the crisis in my country, Venezuela, on the air. People are usually only interested if tear gas and dead bodies are involved. I did manage to file a story on the 2014 protests for ABC's World News Tonight. This same story was erroneously passed off as a current news story on last Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight" with John Oliver. Not only that, he's previously joked that Venezuela is a country that you think about so little, you don't even know where to locate it on a map. Advertisement This goes to show that there is insufficient public information on the current situation in Venezuela. It also reveals a general lack of awareness of how intertwined the situation in Venezuela is with what's going on in Colombia and Cuba. Yet, the interrelationship between these countries has far reaching implications for Latin America, the United States, and the broader international community. The United States strives to ensure the success of the Colombian peace process and achieve true democracy in Cuba, two major events playing out in the region. Current events in Cuba and Colombia directly relate to the crisis in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has established ties to Colombia's FARC rebels. As peace negotiations between the FARC and the Colombian government are taking place in Havana, Venezuela is serving as an intermediary between both parties. The affinity between the FARC and Venezuela's government isn't only ideological: Venezuela has also become a safe haven for drugs transported out through the Caribbean. In the case of Cuba, Venezuela continues to enjoy close ties with the current government, despite the normalization of diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba. Cuba is still involved in many key aspects of Venezuelan life, ranging from security to Venezuelan identification cards. Advertisement On the other hand, Venezuela is a source of oil and refined products for the starving Cuban economy. The Venezuelan government takes this aid very seriously. Even during the major economic crisis, it maintains around 80,000 barrels per day in oil shipments to Cuba. For all these reasons it is shocking, and, frankly, misguided for the United States to completely ignore the crisis in Venezuela while normalizing relations with Cuba. The renewed diplomatic ties also open up the door for the United States to become a key player in the Colombian peace negotiations. However, if the U.S. chooses to ignore Venezuela, it loses an opportunity to reaffirm its future influence in the region. Neither the U.S. nor the rest of the international community can simply turn a blind eye to the crisis in Venezuela because it can explode beyond its borders. No one understands this better than Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States. He recently published an unprecedented statement condemning Venezuelan President Maduro's harsh accusations, a public debate sparked by Almagro's comments at Concordia's Summit on the Americas. Almagro wouldn't have taken this action without being able to count on the unwavering support of a large group of Latin American countries. Advertisement Other countries in the region cannot simply standby as the crisis in Venezuela unfolds. The line between playing dumb and being complicit is a very fine one to tread. Increasingly, the international community risks being guilty of the latter, as the Venezuelan government continues to violate human rights and undermine democracy. Continued condemnation and unified action from world leaders would further pressure Maduro to respect democracy in Venezuela. The Cuba-Venezuela-Colombia triangle reveals the necessity for collaboration, not only amongst governments, but also across the public and private sectors. A key takeaway from the discussion on Cuba at Concordia's Summit on the Americas was that the private sector also has a crucial role to play in improving democracy in Cuba when pursuing business opportunities on the island. Businesses have a responsibility to build not only hotels, but also institutions. The scale of the public sector can support business endeavors and build off the efficiencies of the private sector. This notion is not unique to Cuba - it can be applied throughout the region. Business, governments, and civil society organizations all have an obligation to address the heightening tensions in Venezuela to seize the occasion of peace, economic stability, and democracy throughout the region. Advertisement Mariana Atencio is a host and correspondent at Fusion. Today a somewhat strained relationship between our two leaders, the prospect of a likely future President with controversial views about the region, the horrific murder of a Japanese woman by an American military contractor on Okinawa and speculation about whether or not President Obama planned to apologize for America's role in the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima has put further strain on the relationship and raised important questions. Another President, Harry S. Truman famously said that he didn't lose any sleep over the bombing, but I'm pretty sure that had it been me I'd have tossed and turned, thinking about the civilians who would die horrific deaths as a result of my decision. Of course I understand the smart and probably accurate assessments that without a forceful end to the war like the one we engineered, millions of Japanese, British and Americans would have died and that our decisive action prevented that from happening. My quibble is a relatively small one: I would have preferred an atomic bomb first be dropped on a series of Japanese military bases coupled with a clear warning that without an unconditional surrender, a major civilian center would be next. After all, one of the things we as Americans are proud of is that we, uniquely perhaps, make every attempt to avoid targeting civilians in war and when we do kill them, it's usually by accident. Notwithstanding any of that, a clumsy apology like the one contemplated by this administration would be counterproductive and perhaps even self-serving, after all it's always easier to apologize for things that others did. No, the more helpful public policy posture is for American leaders to assure our Japanese friends that the U.S.-Japan relationship is a solid one and that any aggressive impulses by Japan's neighbors like China and North Korea will be met with a forceful and decisive response from the United States. And that is worth more than a thousand apologies. In 2009 when we moved our Damah Film Festival from Los Angeles to Hiroshima, I visited the Peace Park as news cameras rolled and was asked to lay flowers at the memorial. As I did so, I thought about the awful casualties of war-sleeping sailors at Pearl Harbor who never woke up, young Japanese teenagers forced by their leaders to commit suicide for their country by crashing their planes into American ships, American children whose fathers never came home, and yes, Japanese women and children burned to death on a hot August day. My heart wasn't filled with thoughts of apologies or recriminations from this side or that, but rather with a prayer of profound gratitude to God for allowing our two nations to move beyond all of that to a profound and lasting friendship that has stood the test of time. It is clear that the executive branch of the U.S. government favors the coup underway in Brazil, even though they have been careful to avoid any explicit endorsement of it. Exhibit A was the meeting between Tom Shannon, the 3rd ranking U.S. State Department official and the one who is almost certainly in charge of handling this situation, with Senator Aloysio Nunes, one of the leaders of the impeachment in the Brazilian Senate, on April 20. By holding this meeting just three days after the Brazilian lower house voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, Shannon was sending a signal to governments and diplomats throughout the region and the world that Washington is more than ok with the impeachment. Nunes returned the favor this week by leading an effort (he is chair of the Brazilian Senate Foreign Relations Committee) to suspend Venezuela from Mercosur, the South American trade bloc. Advertisement There is a lot at stake here for the major U.S. foreign policy institutions, which include the 17 intelligence agencies, State Department, Pentagon, White House National Security Council, and foreign policy committees of the Senate and House. An enormous geopolitical shift took place over the past 15 years, in which the Latin American left went from governing zero countries to a majority of the region. For various historical reasons, the left in Latin America tends to favor national independence and international solidarity, and is therefore less willing to go along with U.S. foreign policy. I remember the first time I saw Lula Da Silva. It was in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2002. He was speaking to a crowd at the World Social Forum, and standing under a huge banner that said "Say No to Imperialist War in Iraq." Lula is a good diplomat, and he maintained a good personal relationship with George W. Bush during their overlapping presidencies. But he changed the foreign policy of Brazil, and contributed to the regional development of an independent foreign policy. In 2005 at Mar del Plata, Argentina, the left governments buried the U.S.-sponsored "Free Trade Area of the Americas," thus putting an end to the American dream of a hemispheric commercial agreement based on rules designed in Washington. Brazil under the Workers' Party also strongly backed Venezuela against U.S. attempts to isolate, destabilize, and even topple its government. Lula's first foreign trip after his re-election in 2006 was to Venezuela, where he supported President Hugo Chavez in his own re-election campaign. The Workers' Party(PT) government also supported regional efforts to overturn the U.S.-backed military coup in Honduras, and successfully opposed the expansion of U.S. access to military bases in Colombia in 2009. And many in the U.S. foreign policy establishment (including then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) did not appreciate the Brazilian government's role in helping to arrange a nuclear fuel swap arrangement to settle the dispute with Iran in 2010, despite the fact that it was actually done at Washington's suggestion. Advertisement Washington's Cold War never ended in Latin America, and now they see their opportunity for "rollback." Brazil is a big prize, as is evidenced by the new foreign minister in the interim government. He is Jose Serra, who ran unsuccessfully for president against first Lula (2002) and Dilma (2010), and is expected to use his current position -- if this government survives -- as a springboard for a third shot at the presidency. In his 2010 presidential campaign, Serra went to unusual lengths to demonstrate his loyalty to Washington. He accused the Bolivian government of Evo Morales of being an accomplice to drug traffickers and attacked Lula's government for its attempts to resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran. He also criticized them for joining the rest of the region in refusing to recognize the post-coup Honduran government, and campaigned against Venezuela as well. This is the kind of guy that Washington wants, very badly, in charge of Brazil's foreign policy. Although corporations are obviously a big player in U.S. foreign policy, and they literally do much of the writing of commercial agreements like NAFTA and the TPP, the number one guiding principle in Washington's foreign policy apparatus is not short-term profit but power. The biggest decision-makers, all the way up to the White House, care first and foremost about getting other countries to line up with U.S. foreign policy. They did not support the consolidation of the Honduran military coup because Honduran President Mel Zelaya raised the minimum wage, but because he headed a vulnerable left government that was part of the same broad alliance that included Brazil under the PT. These governments all supported each other, and they changed the norms of the region so that even non-left governments like Colombia under Juan Manuel Santos mostly went along with the others. That is what Washington wants to change right now, and there is much excitement in This Town about the prospects for "a new regional order," which is really the old regional order of the 20th century. It won't succeed -- even by their own measures of success -- any more than George W. Bush succeeded in his vision of reshaping the Middle East by invading Iraq. But they could help facilitate a lot of damage trying. ONE Convention, Newark, New Jersey, May 19-22, 2016. Image by Tim Knox Last week's column "Fascism is looming over the US -- and it's bad news for the Jews," seems to have touched a raw nerve. The nearly 1,000 comments on Jerusalem Post and on social media "accused" me of supporting Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Barak Obama (really!), as well as of being a fascist and a liberal, all based on the same 1,100 word article. It was somewhat of a comfort not to find commenters who concluded that I support Bernie Sanders, too. During elections, everyone takes sides, so I can see where the comments come from. However, the problem we are facing goes far beyond political affiliations. When you've got cancer, it makes no difference if you like your ballots Republican red or Democratic blue. You first need to treat it, and then see to everything else. Systemic Crisis One night, many years ago, as I was sifting through letters that Rav Yehuda Ashlag had written to his students, I came across an allegory that had touched me very deeply. He wrote that egoism is like a sweet, yet poisonous nectar placed on the tip of a sword. The nectar is so sweet and so intoxicating that we are compelled to lift the sword up to our mouths, stretch out our tongues, and let the nectar drip onto it, drop after drop after drop, until we ourselves drop. Advertisement Our culture of consumerism, self-indulgence, and frantic search of immediate satisfactions all reflect the depth of our systemic crisis. We are constantly seeking the next poisonous drop, ignoring the fact that we know that it will kill us in the end. We know that life consists of a balance between giving and receiving, but our nature increasingly compels us to choose only the taking and ignore the giving. We cannot help ourselves. This is the cause of the crisis that is spreading through our social, educational, economic, and political systems. Humanity has become a cancerous tumor consuming our planet, and eventually ourselves. The Social Antidote This past weekend, I attended a convention in New Jersey. Seven hundred academics, students, friends, and associates from the US, Canada, China, South Africa, Norway, Israel, Moscow, New Zealand, and many other countries convened in a common search of a way to balance human nature, to find the antidote for our cancerous egoism. We formed discussion circles that consisted of individuals of different cultures, religions, and ages, and strove to build a bond that transcends all differences. The common agreement was that since we did not "program" ourselves into being pleasure-hunting beings, we also cannot "deprogram" ourselves. However, since our societies determine what pleasures we hunt, we can build societies that will inspire us to take pleasure in pro-social values such as mutual consideration, care, and friendship. In other words, while we may be unable to change ourselves, society certainly can. And since we can change our societies, we can also change ourselves. For example, not long ago I came across a fascinating post that described how drug addicts who are placed in a positive social environment become rehabilitated simply by finding meaning in their lives and enjoying being constructive parts of their environments. They do not suffer from any of the painful side effects associated with drug rehabilitation. Just as we have learned to recognize the importance of the social environment when helping drug addicts rehabilitate, we can harness this instrument to make a fundamental change in our societies. If we can make giving and consideration "cool," we will not have to tell children how to behave; they will absorb it from their friends and peers--their social environment. Advertisement As it is with the youth, so it is with adults. If, for example, everyone at my work supports one another and regards the success of the team as their own success, I will not dare to behave otherwise. It will barely even cross my mind to exploit my colleagues. If we create a society that operates as I just described, we will not have to force ourselves to be nice and helpful to others; it will be our nature. This is why to heal our nature from its cancerous traits, all we need is to change our societies. We needn't try to force the change on ourselves or on others, but rather let society do it for us, smoothly, painlessly, and quickly. Going Forward There is much more research to do, and much to learn about the implementation of the changes we discussed at the convention, but I am leaving it more hopeful than I came. I have no illusions about the power of any politician to "make America great again." Politicians, by nature, are not "for America," but for themselves and for the people who support them. They are part of the problem, not part of the antidote. The remedy is in our hands. To make a real and lasting change we need to build it from the ground up. When more and more individuals conclude that our biggest problem is not the climate, fundamentalism, drug abuse, or income inequality, but our very nature, we will know how to create an environment that allows us to be our best selves, while simultaneously helping to create a healthy, prosperous society. Women's rights are challenged in many parts of the world. The freedoms some of us take for granted, are an unrealistic dream for others. Forget big issues such as voting, working and leadership roles; simple things like getting a High School diploma, wear jeans or makeup are forbidden. To this day, some women's sole purpose in life is marry and give birth, If they can't do that, they'll be put aside. They are disposable. The 2015 Oscar nominated film Mustang portrayed that unfair reality well. The story evolved around five young orphan sisters kept prisoners in their own home by their grandmother and uncle. After seeing playing innocently with male classmates at the beach, their guardians pulled them out of school cutting all their ties with the outside world. Their grandmother immediately found suitors and married off the two eldest in one ceremony before they got "spoiled". As an audience, we witnessed their dramatic change into seclusion in modern Turkey. Self expression is something forbidden for some women in their men dominated cultures. Young girls can't come out of their shells. Their imagination, creativity and true self must stay hidden as their bodies. These voiceless females need all the help they can get even when it comes from unexpected places and thankfully some organizations are listening. The cosmetic brand Urban Decay heard their silent plight, and in 2015 launched The Ultraviolet Edge, a global initiative created to fight for women's rights. Through this foundation, the brand offers financial support to several organizations working tirelessly to make certain given rights available to all women. This is difficult to accomplish because those parts of the world are in distress. War rages, refugees seek protection, displaced families want a home, and women's rights are at the bottom of the list or not on it. Females are used as ransom, deals are made through arranged marriages, by trafficking and exploiting them. Women's rights are more important now than ever and as women we all need to stand together and fight for them. Advertisement Model, DJ, actress, animal rights advocate and gender identity activist, Ruby Rose wants to lend her vocal cords to these voiceless women. No stranger to chains, Ruby had a difficult upbringing which involved sexual abuse. She was mentally imprisoned, especially since she came out at the age of twelve. Bullied and cast aside for being "different", she couldn't wait to grow up and be free. That was possible for Ruby because she lived in Australia, but sadly that's not an option for some girls around the world. It's not surprising that she became the new face of Urban Decay's Vice line of lipsticks. Though a small contribution to the fight, Ruby wants every woman to have the right to express herself. It's easy to watch suffering from the distance, especially when politics and culture overpowers it. Ladies, our gender is at war, and had been for ages. Aren't you tired to read about ISIS's sex slaves and Boko Haram's girls? Let's do something more than trending a hashtag. Join any organization and let these women know that they're not alone. Every little bit of help counts, don't forget these women and think of them every time you put on lipstick. Photo by Moran Itzckovich No matter where in the world you are or what language you speak, you can attend a transformational music festival and feel like you are home. Though the famed Burning Man is not necessarily considered a music festival as it is in a category of its own, it has influenced and created an entire community that all posses a particular aesthetic and live a similar lifestyle. While both the aesthetics and lifestyles can vary greatly within the festival community, it is the cohesive similarities that are seen when they all gather together that are the building blocks of the Burner community. It is this unity and oneness that we call home. Taking place in the ancient Negev Desert of Israel during the week of June 8-12, 2016, is Midburn, the official regional event organized by the Israeli Burning Man community with 130 themed camps and 100 art installations. Just like its American progenitor, Midburn is a temporary city that is built for five days celebrating communal lifestyles, creativity, music, art and radical self-expression. There is no cash exchange and it is a non-profit organization. This will be the event's third year after selling out in 2015 and expects to see upwards of 8,000 attendees. Carefully following Burning Man founder Larry Harvey's 10 principles (radical inclusion, communal effort, gifting, civic responsibility, decommodification, leaving no trace, radical self-reliance, participation, radical self-expression, and immediacy), Midburn has created a timeless space that is a world of its own. Advertisement In a region marked by so many acrimonious policy differences among Western governments and think tanks, Tunisia has indeed seemed quite exceptional. Sure, there have been some quibbles here and there since the country's 2011 revolution - mainly over the best funding levels, the most important issues to prioritize or the degree of support that should be bestowed on the various political actors But the overall picture has been one of relative consensus among elites: Tunisia is the model success story to come out of the "Arab Spring." Advertisement Because it is also, at the end of the day, vital for the security of North Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe in general, its transition to the long-term rationalism of solid democratic governance must be supported and it must succeed. Unfortunately, the anchors of that consensus may soon unravel. Despite the passage of a new Constitution, several free and fair elections and a Nobel Prize, Tunisia is desperately struggling to maintain its stability amid economic regression, widening social divisions and repeated ISIS and Al-Qaeda attacks. As these pressures grow, a crucial blind spot of the past few years will likely emerge: Few outside advocates for the country have proposed specific policies for how the country might fundamentally re-wire itself in order to prevent its own collapse. If you scratch down to that level - i.e. beyond the mechanics of holding elections and the drafting of new laws - among Tunisians there has long been a robust debate about the best way forward. This is especially true when it comes to the central problem of dealing with the deeply corrupt, anti-reformist "parallel state" that is simultaneously strangling the economy and hobbling the security sector. Advertisement One strongly suspects, and hopes, that these sorts of debates will finally bubble to the surface in European and North American capitals as the prospect of yet another failed state on the Mediterranean continues to grow. For the time being, however, the soft rhetoric of institution and infrastructure-building, good governance and non-confrontational, de jure approaches to reform marches on, couched in the fading hope that it will be enough to hold the line. Perhaps with this in mind, the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently published several reports and op-eds that both sound the alarm and propose what amounts to a grand bargain to "save" Tunisia. The main white paper, entitled "Between Peril and Promise: A New Framework for Partnership With Tunisia," provides a clear and compelling review of the many problems that the country now faces from the inside and the outside. "The situation in Tunisia has become dangerous," the authors warn. "A combination of internal headwinds and regional whirlwinds are extinguishing Tunisian hopes for a consolidated new social contract...Despite [the] notably broad support and rhetorical consensus, assistance and reforms have failed to materialize in ways visible to ordinary citizens, and Tunisia has continued on a downward economic slide, with social tensions, unrest, and radicalization rising in turn." Advertisement Summing up the growing fears of some neighboring states, the report concludes grimly by quoting one senior Tunisian politician who says, "if the world does not reengage now on Tunisia's challenges, by the time international leaders wake up to a crisis, 'We may no longer be here to receive their help.'" In that case, "the ramifications for the spread of extremism, illegal migration to Europe, and Tunisia's vulnerability to shocks from its immediate neighbors, Libya and Algeria, would be swiftly felt." Carnegie's solution for battling back is, in some ways, a culmination of the wide frustration felt by European and North American policy-makers when it comes to the inability of Tunisians to protect their own country by reforming the de facto power structures that continue to rule and ruin. As one of the white paper authors, Marwan Muasher, writes in an accompanying Op-Ed with Carnegie President William J. Burns: "Although the revolution upgraded Tunisia's regime hardware from an authoritarian to a democratic government, its operating system -- its state institutions, laws, bureaucracies, courts and police -- remained largely unchanged. These continued to serve their original function: to capture, not disperse, state resources. As a result, despite the best intentions of Tunisia's new leadership, billions of dollars and dozens of projects never got off the ground, sending Tunisians back to the streets. This made it much more difficult for Tunisia's leaders to get public support for necessary, if painful, economic reforms. And it shook international confidence in Tunisia and undermined efforts to generate international support. "Tunisians themselves hold significant responsibility, as well. Too little was done to uproot corruption, rebuild the brittle machinery of the state, secure gender equity, reach out to traditionally marginalized regions and groups, and make progress on a long list of critical legislative reforms. Unless Tunisians are willing to tackle these [issues] head-on, no level of international support -- and no amount of reassuring gestures -- will make a lasting difference [Emphasis added]." This is, of course, a stark warning placed in front of Tunisia's political class. You have admirably changed your "hardware," Carnegie acknowledges. And you have made great strides in the far more difficult task of forging political consensus between Islamists and their opposites. But now you are facing ruin and will have to muster the courage to significantly reform. If you do that, external powers are ready to help you every step of the way. If you don't, they probably won't be able to help much since any investments would just end up being wasted. Advertisement To jumpstart matters and avoid this scenario, the three authors of the Carnegie white paper - Marwan Muasher, Marc Pierini and Alexander Djerassi - suggest that Tunisian leaders pursue some quick wins, demonstration projects and clear (though exceedingly modest) reforms, all of which would build confidence for outside backers to get re-involved in a "virtuous cycle." The country should establish "a fast-track mechanism to implement projects aimed at fostering economic and social development and creating jobs," they say. "New procedures for cross-ministerial coordination, procurement, and security for development projects are needed to transform domestic and external financing into concrete results for Tunisians, particularly youth and marginalized communities." A more inclusive public outreach and dialogue effort might also be necessary, they add, alongside greater support for building up the parliament's capacity (MPs don't even have offices, much less assistants or IT infrastructure) as well as "economic centers of excellence that [would be] established throughout Tunisia to foster decentralization." Whatever the specific mechanisms end up being, the bottom line remains the same: Tunisians have to start addressing rampant corruption (the grey and black markets are now believed to be greater in size than the formal economy) and they have to take concrete steps to begin to "work around [the] morass." Without such an effort, "no level of international support will make any difference" (the white paper authors are even more strident on this point than in the Carnegie op-ed). For some, especially Tunisian Nationalists and Leftists, these kinds of dire pronouncements and quid pro quos will undoubtedly rile. Advertisement Several Western governments helped build and sustain the inefficient, unjust and corrupt police state that Tunisians were finally able to decapitate in 2011 (although the body lives on). Given this history, those same governments therefore have an obligation, it is argued, to provide a "Marshall Plan" of grants, not interest-bearing loans, to massively stimulate the economy and build up the security sector. In other words, it's time for the West to pay up, get out of the way and let the Tunisians sort out how and where they want to reform themselves. While this approach might be more palatable for some Tunisians, it actually suffers from the same problem that hobbles Carnegie's "New Framework for Partnership": The underlying, structural imbalance of weak democratic forces pitted against far stronger, parallel state networks is left largely unaddressed. Pouring money into a system that has been, and is still, de facto controlled by an iron triangle of business oligarchs, security sector actors and traditional mafias (i.e. the approach preferred by many Nationalists and Leftists) would only inflate the wealth and leverage of those who have long been preponderant. In fact, the cancer would metastasize at an even faster rate. Conversely, waiting to provide international aid (Carnegie's approach) until some Tunisian actors succeed in forcing a far stronger side to start reforming itself out of existence - via micro-decentralization programs, "public dialogues" or end-runs around the bureaucracy - is also doomed. After all, Tunisia's parallel state is exceptionally well schooled in the art of co-option, subversion and re-direction, especially in a climate of terrorism and overriding European concerns about refugee flows. Advertisement Carnegie's experts, at several points, seem to admit as much when they detail the strength of what is termed a "system" of entrenched interests and injustices: "Interviews with a wide range of stakeholders confirmed that much of the machinery of the state--its laws, bureaucracies, courts, and police--does not function without the application of significant influence, power, and resources. Under the old regime, the complex and cumbersome state apparatus functioned like a lock--the presidency was the key, capable of unlocking and directing development projects, legal decisions, and access to state resources. Five years after the revolution, the gears of the state's machinery still turn for those with power and connections, but the average Tunisian feels as excluded as ever from access to state institutions, dialogue, and the benefits that should flow from citizenship." Given this state of affairs - and in the face of a corruption matrix the World Bank says is "asphyxiating" - how could anyone reasonably expect that well-meaning, Tunisian democrats might be able to "focus on the prioritization and procedural changes that could reduce or eliminate the various obstacles to progress that have been blocking Tunisia's path forward?" As several authors and activists have pointed out - key among them Fadil Aliriza, Monica Marks, Achraf Aouadi and Sami Ben Gharbia - unless confronted by a stronger actor or set of actors, Tunisia's parallel state will strenuously and effectively resist any reforms that threaten it, even though such reforms are vital for the country to protect itself from economic collapse as well as the relentless insurgencies gathering pace all around. If we finally acknowledge that this is the central problem, the main question policymakers need to urgently answer is how can local, democratic forces be equipped with enough hard power to force through "root and branch" changes? Advertisement Unfortunately, to date, there actually hasn't been much work done to map out an answer. Tens of millions (perhaps hundreds of millions) of dollars have been provided by international NGOs and governments to support women's empowerment, media activism and legal reforms, among other crucial efforts. Far more still is being spent identifying and targeting violent extremists and confronting ISIS at the borders. But five years on from the revolution, there is still no comprehensive study about one of the main structures that continually subverts so much "good government" work and desperately needed security sector reform - the sprawling ministry of interior. Tunisians often comment that perhaps a few hundred or as many as a few thousand of their fellow citizens (cops, oligarchs and gangsters, with a sprinkling of politicians) exert a wide, pernicious control over state and society. Is it true? Who are these people and how do they operate in consort with the several dozen or so key security chiefs that are said to be controlling the sector's decisions? Most importantly, would destabilizing the top tier of corruption, especially in the interior ministry, really impede the country's ability to protect itself at this crucial moment, as some fear? Advertisement Addressing these questions in detail is vital for getting to the next step: Rapidly and responsibly dismantling Tunisia's parallel state. But here too, not much work has been done to sketch out options even though several approaches are available. Perhaps, the most ambitious and comprehensive one would be the creation of a supra national, International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) that would function in a similar manner to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As one proponent has put it: "Like the ICC, an IACC would operate on the principle of complementarity, meaning that only officials from those countries unable or unwilling to prosecute grand corruption properly would be subject to prosecution. This would give many nations a significant incentive to strengthen and demonstrate their capacity to combat grand corruption." But cobbling together broad international support for an IACC would undoubtedly take time and face numerous obstacles. A better alternative, then, for the vast majority of Tunisians who desperately want to see an end to the corruption of the parallel state, as well as for regional peace and security, may be an ad-hoc U.N. investigation, combined with the threat of a hybrid (Tunisian-UN) tribunal should Tunisia prove itself unable to prosecute the handful of top-level networks identified by the investigation. Advertisement Such an effort would send a powerful message to all Tunisians that the era of elite impunity is over. The culture of corruption/crony protectionism and the inefficiency and injustice it breeds has become an existential threat to Tunisia and to "frontline" states in the region. While some Tunisians (and international actors) will undoubtedly object to the notion of a UN investigation and a possible hybrid tribunal, the key aspect for obtaining wide consent is that any "naming, shaming and sanctioning" process is undertaken in concert with the legitimate, elected representatives of Tunisia. This would mean Tunisian democrats would finally have the hard-power leverage to press forward reforms that they haven't had since the revolution's heady early days. For its part, the parallel state would surely fight back against such a multi-pronged, internationally supported effort. It might begin by trying to exercise its influence through the Nidaa Tounes party that holds the presidency and that is routinely castigated by its opponents as being a kind of "ex-regime" front. In reality, however, a number of Nidaa MPs (and some of those who have broken away from the party) have strong opposition and human rights bona fides built up over the last few decades. Many would be ideologically receptive to the idea of rationalizing Tunisia's regime by ending the monopolization of the economy and its dependency on the police-mafia anchor. Furthermore, unlike in Egypt, Iraq, or Lebanon, the Tunisian parallel state possesses few levers of hard power to disrupt its own decapitation. Fortunately, there are no private militias in Tunisia and only minimal capabilities (at least for now) that could be used to apply pressure. Most importantly though, external actors, whose unflinching support would be vital, have few stress points that could be threatened in their effort to aid Tunisian democrats. Strangely, despite these unique circumstances and the obvious urgency of the situation, the search for more robust approaches to stem Tunisia's decline doesn't seem to be particularly of the moment in New York, Washington, Brussels, or any Mediterranean capital. Advertisement Carnegie, for its part, prefers to stop just short, hoping that the dangling of carrots will be enough to encourage Tunisians to use whatever sticks they can muster up themselves in the reform fight. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) has also largely shied away from the task at hand, espousing a non-confrontational approach even as the situation deteriorates further. Last summer, for example, it extensively outlined how "a dysfunctional internal security apparatus" in Tunisia was failing and had to be "thorough(ly) reformed": "Without an Internal Security Force (ISF) reform that would allow for the formulation of a holistic security strategy, Tunisia will continue to stumble from crisis to crisis as its regional environment deteriorates and political and social tensions increase, at the risk of sinking into chaos or a return to dictatorship." Brushing aside the full implications of its own dire predictions, however, ICG then went on to propose more of the same remedies that might have made sense in the 2011-2013 period: The parallel state, and especially its manifestations in the security sector, needs to be brought into the democratic process since "a head-on fight between the ISF and the political class is a dead end." Rather than "impos(ing) their vision on the Internal Security Forces," the report asserted, Tunisia's leaders needed to somehow "channel the ISF's desire for independence," cooperate with it and offer "encourage(ment)." Doubling down on the approach, ICG released a report earlier this month that proposed several ways to rescue the embattled transitional justice effort. "It would be better," the report's authors said, "for the government to support a law regularizing under certain conditions the status of Tunisians implicated in [past] corruption and tax evasion. Instead of entering into conciliation procedures that could create new opportunities for cronyism and blackmail, these Tunisians would have to entrust the inventory of their assets to certified public accountants, who would be held responsible for any false declarations, as a basis for a tax assessment and back payment." Advertisement Although ideas like this, and other efforts to "find a middle ground," may seem like a sensible way to head off the full-scale assault of the past two years against anti-corruption efforts and transitional justice as a whole, the problem is that the very idea of compromise for the upper echelons of graft is unworkable since any meaningful accounting would dangerously expose the parallel state as it currently operates, threatening their whole enterprise. Given all of this, it is high time to recognize the situation as it. There may be a rare chance to build a robust, non-corrupt democracy in the Middle East. But a "head on fight" led by Tunisians that aims to dismantle their country's de facto triangle of power--the police, their associated business elites, and the mafia--is the only credible way to move forward. Until recently, the fraught relationship between the United States and Cuba has made it difficult for Americans to fully experience Cuba--except through books, that is. But even as tourism to Havana and its environs may soon become commonplace, literature continues to play a crucial role in shaping and reinforcing the complex identity of the country for natives and foreigners alike. Here are twelve books that illuminate Cuba through time, space, and memory. Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia An intergenerational tale spanning the 1930s to the 1980s, this novel tells the story of a family divided by the Cuban revolution. Infused with magical realism, the narrative presents a unique vision and a haunting lamentation for a past that might have been. Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire In 1962, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Havana--exiled from his family, his country, and his own childhood by Fidel Castro's revolution. Winner of the National Book Award, this stunning memoir is a vibrant and evocative look at Latin America from a child's unforgettable perspective. Advertisement The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos In 1990, Oscar Hijuelos became the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for this novel, which tells the story of Cesar and Nestor Castillo, two Cuban brothers who are workers by day and stars of the dance halls by night in New York City in 1949. Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner From the National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Flamethrowers, Rachel Kushner's masterful debut novel tells the story of the Americans who were driven out of Fidel Castro's Cuba in 1958. Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas In this shocking memoir by a visionary Cuban writer, Reinaldo Arenas recounts his personal journey: from his poverty-stricken childhood and his adolescence as a rebel fighting for Castro, to his imprisonment for being homosexual, his flight from Cuba, and his subsequent life in New York My Lost Cuba by Celso Gonzalez-Falla This memorable family saga set against the glamour of 1950s Havana and the tropical Cuban countryside tells the story of Don Miguel, a wealthy rancher summoned home from the United States to care for his ailing father. Advertisement Finding Manana by Mirta Ojito As a teenager, Mirta Ojito was one of more than one hundred thousand refugees ushered from Cuba during the Mariel boatlift. Years later, as a reporter for the New York Times, she goes back to reckon with her past and to find the people who set this exodus in motion and brought her to her new home. Take Me with You by Carlos Frias Sent to Cuba by his newspaper as the country began closing to foreign journalists in August 2006, Carlos Frias begins the secret journey of a lifetime--twelve days in the land of his parents. This evocative memoir is written through the unique eyes of a first-generation Cuban-American seeing the forbidden country of his ancestry for the first time. Cuba Libre by Elmore Leonard In this thrilling novel, set in Havana in 1898 at the height of the Spanish-American War, an American horse wrangler escapes a date with a Cuban firing squad to join forces with a powerful sugar baron's lady looking to make waves and score big. Adios Hemingway by Leonardo Padura Fuentes This first-rate detective story, set against the backdrop of Ernest Hemingway's Cuba, is part fascinating examination of Hemingway in his trying final years and part nifty postmodern procedural. Three Trapped Tigers by Guillermo Cabrera Infante This playful book, filled with wordplay and inventive typography, tells the story of a man separated from both his country and his youth--and has been praised as a modern, funnier, Cuban Ulysses. Advertisement Dirty Havana Trilogy by Pedro Juan Gutierrez Banned in Cuba but celebrated throughout the Spanish-speaking world, this picaresque novel in stories chronicles the misadventures of Pedro Juan, a former Cuban journalist living from hand to mouth in the squalor of contemporary Havana. Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) with young, sitting, Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia In the 1980s, a colleague of mine at the National Audubon Society, participated in an Earthwatch program with orangutans. I had seen the advertisements and wanted so much to take this trip to Borneo. However, any free time I took from my public policy position at Audubon was used to fulfill contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development, primarily in Africa. When my husband, Ken Strom, and I finally retired several years ago, we began to make lists of the great places we wanted to still explore. And the beginning of the list targeted some of the most difficult to get to. In our considerations were the amount of time it would take to just get there. Advertisement Last year we began to look for options to see those orangutans in Borneo. It would take 30 hours of travel on planes and sitting in airports to find our way to Borneo which is actually an island split between Malaysia and Indonesia, with a cutout space for Brunei. The usual travel companies we had travelled with did not really include Borneo, and specifically the small places still left in the world where wild orangutans were living in their primary habitat. Borneo, like so many places in the world, is losing habitat for wild birds, mammals, amphibians and insects. The global demand for palm oil, which is often found in nut butters and hair products for example, leads to the destruction of primary rain forests. In our research we discovered Orangutan Foundation, International (OFI). This organization is the one most closely associated with Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas, who has the longest continuous research of orangutans in the world. I will write more on her in my next post. Travel with OFI is handled by Irene Spencer out of San Diego. There is a process for being accepted on the few trips that are being done each year, and most of the requirements are to ensure that you understand the challenges of the trip and the need to protect the orangutans that you come into contact with. For example, you need a current TB test. Advertisement We decided that if we were going all that way, we would add an additional week for birding in Malaysian Borneo rain forest. We stayed at the Sepilok, Sukau and Tabin Eco Lodges, birding on foot, by range rover and from boats. We saw 115 species of birds, some for the first time in our lives. At Tabin we could actually see at one point the contrast between the primary and secondary rain forests up against the palm oil plantation. The palms only last for 35 years, so we were able to see fully grown and newly planted palm groves, as well as burning fields from slash and burn processes. At Sepilok we saw one orangutan, which hangs around the Rainforest Discovery Center, and three baby orangutans on the roof of the nursery at the small park. Rehabilitated orangutans eventually are released in Tabin. We did not see any of the 240 orangutans in the forest, but we could see the nests that they make high in the trees of the primary forest. Heading back from Tabin, we flew from Ladtu Datu to Kota Kindabala to Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta, Indonesia where we spent the night. The next morning we connected with the group heading for Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia, and the boats that would take this small group into the Tanjung Pating National Park. Our lunch with Dr. Galdikas was a combination briefing and group introductions. She outlined her mission to protect wild orangutans by protecting the habitat they need. During the 45 years of work, her group has been able to help save the national park, educate the local people, protect wild populations of orangutans, rescue orangutans in captivity, rehabilitate injured and orphaned orangutans and purchase land to extend the habitat. Advertisement We arrived at the Rimba Lodge on the Sekonyer Kanan River, which was our home base. Each day we would float done the river to the Camp Leakey River extension and see Proboscis monkeys, macaques, and once an orangutan along the way. The elusive orangutan in Malaysian Borneo was not hidden in Indonesian Borneo, especially in the park. They met us at the dock when we arrived in Camp Leakey. And they met us at the Camp buildings. They came to "feeding stations" to get fruit during the day. Some 6,000 orangutans live in the park. And the Care Center back in the city is providing rehabilitation for several hundred more. Siswi, who is one of the older orangutans, greeted us the first day inside the camp. Somehow, she knew Dr. Galdikas was coming. In the interim, she tore down some branches and made them into a square mat on the ground. Then she laid down on it. She was demonstrating how the orangutans make their beds. That day and the next when walking into the forest, we would find branch beds on the path and were sure the Siswi had made these beds to rest on while she waited for us to return from the feeding stations. If was not uncommon to see mother orangutans with their babies attached to their backs and sides. Juveniles might be hanging around with moms and their younger siblings. Tom, the alpha male at Camp Leakey, showed up one day. He is probably 300 pounds and has the extended face pouches which mark the males. Some of the orangutans will go out in the forest and not be seen for years. But each day the Camp provides supplemental fruit and milk for those orangutans that want them. Once you have met the orangutans, you will see that they are the gentle ones of the ape species. If you have seen the IMAX film "Born to be Wild," you will understand the need to make sure they have a space to live and thrive. And if you have a desire to see them up close, go to www.orangutan.org. Irene Spencer will help you design your trip. Advertisement If you want to see an example of dysfunctional state government, take a look at Alabama. Governor Robert J. Bentley, a dermatologist who was elected in 2010 as a "family values" Republican, has been accused by the former top officer at the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency of having an extramarital affair with his chief adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. Bentley apologized for inappropriate communication with Mason but denied they had a "physical relationship," although recorded sexually-charged telephone conversations between the two were released suggesting otherwise. Nor could Bentley explain how Mason was being paid. Articles of impeachment were filed against Bentley in April in the state House of Representatives for offenses that included corruption in office and neglect of duty. Impeachment proceedings are expected to move slowly because the Speaker of the House, hard-charging Republican Mike Hubbard, is on trial for 23 felony ethics violations, many of them alleging he used his office for personal profit. In 2010, Hubbard led the efforts of Republicans who took control of the state House for the first time in 136 years, after which they passed strict ethics legislation. Ironically, it was that legislation prosecutors used to file charges against Hubbard -- a law he now argues is "unconstitutional" even though he championed its passage. To top things off, Roy Moore, chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court, is suspended, pending a procedure that may see him removed from office, for ordering probate judges to refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Moore, to quote The New York Times, "was removed from the same position in 2003 for refusing to move a two-ton monument of the Ten Commandments from the state judicial building." Advertisement To capture the absurdity of the situation in Alabama, The Economist made this observation: "Mr. Bentley could appoint Mr. Moore's successor, if he is not impeached first. Mr. Moore could oversee Mr. Bentley's impeachment, unless he is defenestrated, in which case the governor's appointee might preside. Mr. Hubbard would refer the impeachment to the Senate, depending on the verdict of his own trial, which may feature testimony from Mr. Bentley." In a climate of general disarray, the state legislature has made some odd moves. One proposed bridge project in Gulf Shores has elicited its share of controversy. In Baldwin County, in South Alabama, the cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are located on the Gulf Coast on a long, thin island separated from the mainland by an Intracoastal Waterway spanned by two bridges: I-59, which is free, and the Foley Beach Express, which is privately-owned and charges a $3.50 toll. Although much of Alabama is struggling economically, the Gulf Coast is booming as people relocate there and tourism flourishes. Indeed, the Gulf Coast is Alabama's most popular tourist destination, experiencing growth for the last several years. Because of the resulting traffic congestion, there has been much discussion about a third bridge being built from the mainland to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. The price tag for that bridge: $30 million. Plans for the new bridge accelerated after Governor Bentley dedicated $58 million, taken from the $2.3 billion settlement BP was required to pay Alabama for economic and environmental damages caused by the 2010 oil spill, to build a hotel and convention complex near Gulf Shores in Gulf State Park. A road will have to be built to the proposed site of the new bridge -- only a mile and a half west of the toll bridge -- and, perhaps not surprisingly, some land that will have to be purchased for that road belongs to a company partially owned by Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft. The new road will also run adjacent to land owned by the family of former Governor George C. Wallace. These landowners, no doubt, will benefit financially from the construction of the new road. Advertisement One local resident, Joe Emerson, has started a social media campaign attacking the proposed bridge. "It's time that we stop just accepting things the way they are," Emerson told one local newspaper. "We need to tell the people in charge that throwing $30 million at a bad idea is a waste of tax money." Critics of the bridge point out that the state is in such bad financial shape that Bentley has had to borrow money and raise taxes as well as slash Medicaid and education and still Alabama remains the seventh poorest state in the nation. In some of the state's counties more than a third of the residents live in poverty. The last thing the state needs to do, critics say, is spend $30 million on a bridge catering to two affluent vacation communities. Beyond that, the third bridge may not even be needed, since the toll bridge is underused because many residents don't want to pay the $3.50 toll. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave Alabama's existing infrastructure a D+ for roads and noted that 20 percent of the state's bridges are obsolete or structurally deficient. Obviously, in other parts of the state new roads and bridges are needed for everyday survival, not as a matter of convenience. Bridge critics point out that if a third bridge is built it too should be a toll bridge; that way, much-needed public funds would not be drained and the bridge would be paid for by the people who actually use it. Many including me have consistently given Bernie Sanders the credit for fighting for what he believes in and suggesting he should decide on his own when to leave the race. We gave him credit for beginning his campaign with grace and purpose as I did in a recent column. Unfortunately he is choosing to end it as a boor more concerned with boosting his own ego than with moving forward the issues he espoused. Presidential primaries are not new. Bernie Sanders knew all the rules when he asked to enter the Democratic Party primaries even though he never registered as a Democrat. The Party graciously invited him to do so. While many thought he wouldn't do as well as he has all credit for that goes to him and the issues he has talked about. His mantra of single-payer health care, bringing down Wall Street, and free college caught on with young people and they came out to his rallies by the thousands. What he soon found out even with his big rallies is most people who vote in Democratic primaries want a candidate who is versed in a much broader spectrum of issues. They understand the President of the United States is also the leader of the free world and must speak to a broader audience here and around the world. Very left-leaning Democratic primary voters alone can't elect a candidate in the general election. Those who understood that voted for Hillary Clinton which is why she has over 3 million more votes than he does. Advertisement Bernie's campaign made many mistakes. The biggest being while he knew the rules he forgot to tell his supporters what they were. Instead of blaming himself he now blames the Democratic Party for his mistakes. His own senior advisor helped create the superdelegate system. He knew which primaries were 'open,' where anyone can vote; or 'closed' where only registered Democrats can vote. He didn't think it important to tell any of the people who came out to his rallies about that. Then he had to have seen as he looked out at the people attending his rallies that they were nearly all 'white'. Any understanding of the demographics of the Democratic Party and the nation should have alerted him to the fact 'white' voters alone wouldn't elect him. Yet he apparently couldn't move to broaden his appeal because for 33 years as a politician he never before had to do that. He has no real record with the African American or Latino communities to fall back on. He was never a leader in the women's movement or the LGBT movement for equality. While he claimed he always supported those movements in all his years in politics he never introduced legislation to move the civil and human rights of those groups forward. All these things came home to roost because he was running against a woman who had deep contacts with all those groups and who has spoken out around the nation and the world for all of them. Yes Hillary may have had more opportunity than Bernie to do that and to her credit she took every opportunity given her to make a difference for all people. Whether it was in a meeting with Nelson Mandela; supporting the United Farm Workers; speaking out in Beijing for women; or in Geneva for the LGBT community; Hillary was there on the front lines while Bernie was somewhere back in the crowd. Bernie knows primaries are about collecting the number of delegates needed to be the nominee of the Party. So for his mistakes and for having fallen short he now wants to blame everyone but himself and his campaign. He can't afford to pay for TV in California so he plays into Donald Trump's hand agreeing to participate in a debate with Trump which can only be called a stunt and serves to help Trump. He fights the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and suggests there will be a messy Democratic convention because he can't accept or tell his supporters honestly he has lost. Advertisement "Data dependent." That's what the Fed has said over and over again since the minutes of the last meeting were released on 5/18. Various Fed speakers have talked about 2 or 3 rate hikes this year - if the data supports it - and now we have the Atlanta Fed providing supporting data as they have raised their GDP Now forecast by 100% this month. Forget the fact that the core Durable Goods were terrible or that Auto Sales are falling off or that Consumer Comfort is at year lows or that yesterday's Richmond Fed Report showed continued contraction - the Fed doesn't measure those things. The Fed measures whatever their Bankster owners want them to measure to come to the conclusion that makes the Banksters the most money. See how simple it is? We'll see of they are right on the GDP forecast but, if they are - then a June rate hike is a lot more likely than people are thinking because, at this pace, our GDP will be over a Bazillion Dollars in a year or two if we double our growth each month. Advertisement Call me a cynic but, to me, if you can change your forecast from 1.6% to 2.9% in 22 days - then your forecast isn't worth crap and people should stop listening to you! Speaking of things people shouldn't listen to: On Wednesday, we talked about the back and forth on the Brexit issue and, just yesterday, Project Fear put out yet another release from the UK Treasury - this time aimed at seniors with claims that a Brexit would hit pensions by $440Bn. "Pensioners rely on economic growth for their security and stability, whereas leaving the EU would mean huge uncertainty," Pensions Minister Ros Altman said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 on Friday. "All serious economic forecasters agree" that "leaving will damage our economy," she said. The Treasury has been criticized by Brexit campaigners and some analysts for overstating the consequences of Britain leaving the EU amid accusations the government is playing on voters fears to keep the U.K. in the bloc. The referendum, now less than four weeks away, has split the ruling Conservative Party in two in a debate thats become increasingly acrimonious, with accusations of smear tactics from both sides. This is an utterly outrageous attempt by the government to do down peoples pensions, former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said in a statement e-mailed by the Vote Leave campaign. He said retirement savings face threats from EU plans to harmonize pension regulations and proposals for a financial-transaction tax. Advertisement Here's a good case for leaving from the Telegraph and I agree with the Brexiteers, the entire fear campaign is based on the assumption that the UK will lose out on trade agreements but, as I've said from day one, the UK used to own this whole planet - they certainly know how to negotiate trade deals on their own and the EU takes so long to get 26 nations to ratify their deals that it's been stuck in the mud for 5 years anyway. Like our GDP forecasts - the whole thing is simply a farce and, if the UK doesn't take this opportunity to escape - this is the Bankster trap they will find themselves in: The ESM is nothing less than a Government takeover by the Banks, who will be able to squeeze the entire EU the way they have squeezed Greece. This is what is being shoved down the throats of 500M EU citizens (and maybe 50M British citizens) and this is why tens of Billions of Dollars are being spent by Remain lobbyists on Project Fear, to cower the people of the UK into voting to stay in the alliance - by raising fears that worse things will happen if they leave (hard to imagine worse than the ESM though). That vote is on June 23rd and it's a lot closer than you are being led to believe. Whether it's ultimately good or bad for the UK, a Brexit would certainly be catastrophic for the EU and may lead to a complete collapse of the Euro, so there's a good reason to have CASH!!! going into the weekend. We have the next Fed Decision on the 15th and OPEC meets next Thursday (2nd), so all kinds of crazy, market-moving events coming up in the next two weeks. 8:30 Update: The actual Q1 GDP came in at 0.8%, up from 0.5% in the first estimate and below the 1% expectations of leading economorons. Net Exports tell the whole story, they are down to -$575M net of oil that has dropped from and average of $90 in 2013 and 2014 to an average of $40 this year and we import 7Mb/day so $50 less x 7M x 365 = $127Bn LESS IMPORTS so, when Net Exports are down $125Bn since 2014 you need to add back $127Bn less oil we're importing and that means our actual exports are down about $250Bn - that's NOT GOOD! Advertisement None of this matters because the Banksters are sitting on record amounts of cheap cash (subsidized by you and me) and now they want to lend it out at higher rates (to you and me) so they need the Fed to hike rates so they have an excuse to jam up the lending rates which also drives people into the housing market and the Banksters also happen to be sitting on a record inventory of foreclosures that they stole from the homeowners they tricked into taking unsuitable loans (bailed out by you and me) and now they want to cash in that portfolio so they can lend money to the next round of suckers before they pull the plug and start the cycle all over again. Have a great holiday! Everywhere Varla Jean Merman and Coco Peru go, fans ask about the sequel to their iconic 2003 feature Girls Will Be Girls. Though the follow-up to the side-splitter is filmed, neither drag superstar knows exactly when to expect it in theatres. "Hopefully it will come out soon," Merman said in ever-optimistic fashion during an interview with Party Foul Radio with Pollo & Pearl, "It was called Girls Will Be Girls 2012...If it doesn't come out soon, it will have to be called Girls Will Be Called Golden Girls!" Coco Peru & Varla Jean Merman Join SF's 'Drag Queens of Comedy' Even a recent social encounter with screenwriter Richard Day shed no light on when the production might finally be released, admitted Peru. During a separate interview with Podomatic's No. 1 LGBT Podcast, she acknowledged he is still working on the film. "He's a wonderful friend; I trust him so much," explained Peru, "I think he's one of the funniest people I know, if not the funniest. Deadlines? I would be mortified. He lives on another plane sometimes." Advertisement The hilarious original, starring Peru, Merman and Jack Plotnick (as Evie), swept film festival awards around the nation upon its release. The L.A. Outfest heaped accolades on the production, with Day taking "Outstanding Screenwriting" and all three leads garnering "Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film" for their drag portrayals. In the years since, Girls Will Be Girls has come to define the performers' careers. The acidic, dry film version of Coco and Merman's dingy, sex-hungry character wholly captured their stage personas. "[Day] wrote it with our characters in mind," Merman admitted, "I remember reading it thinking, 'He knows my character better than I do!'" LISTEN: Party Foul Radio with Pollo & Pearl Interviews Varla Jean Merman & 'Skin Wars' contestant Kyera Delasandro Advertisement The film's wit, understanding of the drag legends' identities and the cast's on-set camaraderie made signing for the sequel a no-brainer, agree Merman and Peru. Online crowd-sourcing financed filming, which was completed years ago. Various factors since might have impacted the production schedule for its release, they suggest. "He doesn't do drag at all, but the way he speaks about drag queens and the passion he for them is really wonderful," stated Peru, "It's not that he doesn't care about the fans, drag queens or the project. I just don't know what time or universe he lives in!" As the stars await their onscreen reunion perhaps even more than fans, a date is set to bring the two back together. Merman and Peru come to Drag Queens of Comedy Sat., May 28, at San Francisco's Castro Theatre. Produced by Sasha Soprano, The Drag Queens of Comedy gathers the funniest queens in the industry for one uproarious night. Hosted by RuPaul's Drag Race, Season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio, Merman and Peru join performers such as Lady Bunny, reigning Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen, Trixie Mattel, Peaches Christ and more. LISTEN: Party Foul Radio with Pollo & Pearl Interviews Coco Peru, 'Drag Race' Favorite Trixie Mattel, 'Bates Motel' & 'Sons of Anarchy' Star Kenny Johnson "It's a real treat for me, because I get to be around other people," said Peru, who generally travels alone, performing her one-woman shows worldwide. Merman shares her long-time friend's enthusiasm, agreeing it is often lonely touring as a solo act. Advertisement "Nothing is more tragic than performing a sold out show, then being in your hotel, packing your wet pantyhose, crying over a suitcase with a bottle of Jack Daniels...or two," echoed Merman. "It's always more fun to have other girls to cry over their wet pantyhose with you!" A Drag Queens of Comedy veteran, Peru has appeared in the line-up across the country. She says the show's rotating cast is a great way for audiences and performers alike to experience new acts. "I enjoy meeting some of the young [performers]," said Peru, "Maybe I haven't seen [them] except on RuPaul's Drag Race, where I don't think they necessarily get to do everything they can do." At the January Drag Queens of Comedy: New York, for example, Peru fell in love with Drag Race, Season 7 favorite Ginger Minj. "She's hysterical," she pointed out. "People probably perceive we are all competing with each other," Peru noted, "But I think we authentically enjoy making each other laugh," Advertisement "When you have girls who are all very confident, and there's no drama, they don't care. They're just there to celebrate each other," concluded Merman. "That's kind of what this Drag Queens of Comedy is about." In Judaism, one of our most important mitzvot (commandments) is what is known in Hebrew as chesed shel emet. Loosely translated as dignity for the deceased, we Jews believe that every human being deserves to be buried back in the earth with respect and honor. In my twelve years as an ordained rabbi I have had the chance to fulfill this commandment countless times by officiating at funerals. This past week was the most unique funeral I have ever been a part of and it was also one of the most meaningful examples of chesed shel emet. Over a month ago I received a phone call from a Christian funeral home in Mount Clemens, Michigan. While Mount Clemens had a Jewish community a couple of generations ago, I don't believe there any Jewish people living there now. The funeral director, Michael Kolb, told me that he had an unusual case of a Jewish woman who died and asked if I would officiate at the funeral in Port Huron. I knew this was an odd situation because according to Jewish custom, we bury our deceased immediately after death meaning that most funerals I officiate take place a day or two after I'm called. In this situation, Mr. Kolb asked me if I was available for a funeral a month later. Advertisement He then explained the situation to me. It turned out that a homeless woman named Eleanor Denise Smith was killed in a hit and run accident in Port Huron last year. She had identification in her belongings, but without confirmation from a family member, investigators couldn't positively identify her. After someone mentioned that they knew her from San Francisco, a chest X-ray from there was found in late November, providing a positive identification. Kolb did some research and found that Smith's mother was buried in a Jewish cemetery in Port Huron. Port Huron also once had a small Jewish community, but now there are only a handful of Jews left and the cemetery doesn't even sell burial plots anymore. Kolb wanted to do the right thing and bury Smith beside her mother at the Jewish cemetery in Port Huron. Before Smith was positively identified as a Jewish woman, her body was given to Kolb's funeral home in January and cremated there. Kolb then launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign in February to raise the funds to bury Smith with her mother. After a few days there wasn't much money raised, however, following an article in the Times Herald donations began pouring in and finally reached $2,880. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to supporters during a rally for local union members in San Francisco, California on May 18, 2016. / AFP / JOSH EDELSON (Photo credit should read JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images) I wasn't surprised when the NY Times on May 26th made a front page story out of the alleged damage Senator Bernie Sanders was doing to the Democratic Party by placing among his 5 appointees on the Democratic Party's Platform Committee a few people who might support Sanders' view that the US needs to be "more even-handed" in the Israel/Palestine struggle. The New York Times has consistently turned its news pages into the loudest cheerleader for Hillary Clinton's bid for the nomination. If mentioned at all, they bury deep in their paper, Bernie Sanders' primary wins and the many polls that indicate he'd be more likely to win against Trump than Hillary. Advertisement So it's no surprise that when Bernie won permission to appoint 5 of the 15 members of the Platform Committee of the Democratic Party Convention, the Times made the story focus on the possibility that 2 of these appointees, James Zogby and Cornel West, would turn the convention into a debate about US policy towards Israel, and thereby weaken Hillary's capacity to fight off Trump in the general election. There was nothing in the story to confirm that these appointees had any such intention, but that didn't keep the Times from making this front page story a way to once again stir worries that Bernie pursuing the nomination vigorously (as Hillary Clinton herself had done in 2008 against Obama even after it was clear she would not win the nomination) was going to hurt Hillary's chances in the Fall election--thus creating the story should Hillary lose that it was really all the fault of that socialist Jew from Vermont! The Times ignored the important Bernie appointments of Congressman Keith Ellison, a leader of the Congress' Progressive Caucus, a supporter of social justice for middle income people and the poor, universal healthcare and a $15 minimum wage, and an opponent of Obama's use of drones, Rebecca Parker, vice chair of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington State, who is likely to emphasize rights for indigenous peoples and criminal justice reform, and Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org who is likely to push for a tax on carbons and other aggressive policies to save the planet's life-support system. To turn the discussion solely to Israel, and suggest that somehow Sanders' very mild call for an even-handed policy that took into account the needs of the Palestinian people, is a threat to Israel's existence is irresponsible and ludicrous. Advertisement As if not to be undone by the Times, Jane Eisner, editor of the center/right Forward, issued a statement today that insisted that Bernie unveil a full plan for how to achieve peace in Israel and Palestine. Hillary's plan has been to give 100% unconditional support to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Eisner knows that some of her readers might have doubts about the wisdom pursuing Obama's legacy, which only recently included a ten-year military aid package (larger than any the U.S. has ever given to any country). This agreement was reached even after Netanyahu rejected every attempt by the US and Western countries to push him to stop expanding West Bank settlements and end the Occupation. Why does Eisner not call on Hillary to similarly state what her full plan is for achieving peace? Eisner worries about a recent Pew poll which shows that the share of liberal Democrats who side more with Palestinians than with Israel has nearly doubled since 2014 -- to 40% from 21% -- and is higher than at any point dating back to 2001. Only 30% of liberals say they side more with Israelis. But she misses what most center/right apologists for Israel always ignore: that the decreasing support for Israel among liberals is not a product of some irrational hatred of Jews, but rather of the growing recognition that Israel's oppressive policies toward Palestinians (soon to enter its 49thanniversary of the Occupation) and its denial to them of the same rights for self-determination that we Jews rightly fought for ourselves in creating the State of Israel, is generating a worldwide anger at the Jewish people that is bad for Israel and bad for Jews everywhere. We at Tikkun magazine and the interfaith and secular-humanist-welcoming Network of Spiritual Progressives want to see Israel achieve security while returning to the Jewish value articulated frequently in the Torah: "You shall love the Stranger/Other, and remember that you were strangers/others in the land of Egypt." In this respect, Bernie is closer to this traditional Jewish value than any of the other candidates, and his approach is far better for the Jewish people and for the future security of the State of Israel. The Netanyahu government may be able to hold on by force and by endlessly scaring the Israeli people, aided by Netanyahu's defacto best ally, Hamas, which obligingly digs tunnels or sends bombs to Israel so as to head off any support the Israeli peace movement and the moderates of the Palestinian Authority might be gaining. Advertisement Pushing Israel to negotiate a sustainable peace arrangement that would grant Palestinians an economically and politically viable state is the only path toward a sustainable peace. Sander's rather temperate remarks indicate a willingness to push Israel and Palestine both in this direction. 23 years ago when Hillary Clinton invited me to the White House and told me that she agreed with Tikkun magazine's stance in support of the Israeli peace movement, she too seemed to be willing to push for a stronger stance by the U.S. in opposing Israel's harsh occupation of the West Bank and subjugating 2.5 million Palestinians. But as in so many other areas, when her assessment of what was in her political interests changed, so did her principles. Tikkun and our education arm the Network of Spiritual Progressives are non-profits that do not endorse any candidate. And if we did endorse, like most progressives we'd have many other issues to consider besides a candidate's stand on Israel/Palestine. Our priorities include: Saving the earth's life-support system, switching U.S. foreign policy from a strategy to achieve "homeland security" through military, economic, cultural and diplomatic domination of the world to a strategy of generosity as provided in our proposed Global Marshall Plan (introduced into Congress by Keith Ellison), a guaranteed living wage (not a "minimum wage") and guaranteed income and guaranteed health care for all, abolishing any money in politics except corporate funding and requiring corporations with incomes over $50 million/yr to prove a satisfactory history of environmental and social responsibility every five years (see our ESRA--Environmental and Social Responsibility Amendment to the U.S. Constitution here) . We give priotiy to advocacy for a New Bottom Line that would judge corporations, government policies, our education system, our legal system and our economic system as rational, productive and efficient not only to the extent that they maximize money and power (the OLD Bottom Line) but also to the extent that they maximize love and caring, kindness and generosity, environmental and ethical responsibility, and enhance our capacities to respond to others as embodiments of the sacred and respond to the universe with awe, wonder and radical amazement. This is what spiritual progressives would be seeking were they to endorse a candidate, and it is not obvious that anyone, not Bernie or even Green Party candidate Jill Stein, is ready to put forward this kind of a spiritual progressive agenda. Advertisement So saying Bernie is Israel's best friend in the 2016 election is not meant to be an endorsement. It's just meant to speak the obvious truth that Israel and the Jewish people would benefit greatly if some US political leaders were willing to push Israel to negotiate a peace that would work for both Israel and Palestine. I've presented the outline of what that would look like in my 2012 book Embracing Israel and Palestine. Bernie appears to be one of the very few politicians in the U.S. willing to state publicly that he wants to change the one-sided policy which pretends to be pro-Israel but actually is in fact destructive to the best interests of Israel and the Jewish people. As someone who wishes Israel to be strong and secure, I have to acknowledge this fact. And his appointment to the Platform committee of Cornel West, Jim Zogby and Congressional Representative Keith Ellison should bring Sanders praise for using his moment of fame to support his ideals, not just himself as so many other politicians might have chosen to do. So we will not remain silent when manipulative and unscrupulous politicians, political advisors, and their allies in the New York Times, the Jewish Forward, and the Israeli Lobby, play fast and loose with Israel's future and the well-being of the Jewish people globally, in order to gain short term electoral advantage for their preferred candidates. Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun Magazine, chair of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in Berkeley, Ca. and author of 11 books, including the national best seller The Left Hand of God: Taking Back our Country from the Religious Right(HarperCollins, 2006), and most recently Embracing Israel and Palestine. Tikkun magazine is winner of the "Best Magazine of the Year" in both 2014 and 2015 from the mainstream media's Religion Newswriters Association. To reach Rabbi Lerner, email him at RabbiLerner.Tikkun@gmail.com Advertisement The ER was bustling, and my senior resident was needed in at least 3 places at once as we were about to sew a laceration on a young man's head. "If you're ok with it, I feel comfortable with doing this by myself," I found myself saying. It was a big change from two years ago, when I felt too shy to ask to throw in a single stitch on a repair someone else had started. I have come back to where I started this year, in the Emergency Department of the big county hospital in Seattle. At the same time I have been thinking of how I have come back around to where I started in another way: 10 years after first coming out as a transgender woman I unintentionally ended up back in the closet. In between my first clinical rotation as a third-year medical student and this final one, I have moved six times and crossed over 3,500 miles of the American West. To say this is an unconventional year for a medical student is an understatement. The University of Washington is an unconventional medical school, being the only M.D.-granting institution covering a five -state area. Between Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, the "WWAMI" region makes up 27 percent of the nation's land mass, but less than 4 percent of its population. Touring the region during the third year rotations is somewhat of a rite of passage for UW medical students. Advertisement UW School of Medicine is one of the few medical institutions in the country not only progressive enough to have a dedicated course on transgender health, but also to have accepted at least one transgender student. As that student I was excited for the adventures of the coming year, but also uncertain of what it means to be queer & trans in east Idaho or Montana. People told me to be careful; urban LGBTQ perceptions of the rural American West are still haunted by the memory of Matthew Shepard. Billings, MT. Photo credit: Rachel Jackson My first stop was psychiatry in Montana, a state with one of the highest per capita suicide rates in the nation and a profound shortage of mental health professionals. I vividly remember admitting a young woman after a serious suicide attempt. She was shut down and walled off, and my best attempts at starting a conversation got me nowhere. By digging through old medical records, I learned that her girlfriend died by suicide a year before. Someone I knew had lost their life to suicide 6 months before this. Suicide is a fact of life in the LGBTQ community. The community is so connected that each death ripples outward, and they gain a cumulative weight that is very different than the sorrow for a single lost loved one. Last year was a bad year, with news of a trans woman's death in the US coming at least once every week in the first months of 2015, whether by suicide or murder. Death forms a steady drumbeat in our collective consciousness, claustrophobically feeling like it is getting louder, drawing nearer, as people more and more closely connected to you are lost. Every time we hear of a death, we fear for our friends and draw them closer. Given all of this, my inability to connect with the young woman in the ward felt almost like a personal failure. I wondered to myself if I should come out to her - would that build trust, or is that just making the conversation about me? I decided not to at the time, but couldn't help feeling conflicted about how I had often vowed that my LGBTQ status would help me build good relationships and connect more deeply with patients in the community. Advertisement Ten years ago this spring I was self-consciously sorting out my decision to come out publicly as a transgender person and start living this life. In the years that followed I dealt with harassment, employment discrimination, and struggled to find direction in a life that felt like it was no longer valued by the world around me. I found new meaning by deciding to become a physician to serve people like me who were struggling. First day in Idaho. Photo credit: Rachel Jackson Part of that choice was a commitment to being visible for the trans people who followed me, to be a "possibility model" in the words of Laverne Cox. But as I dug into my clinical years, I found myself retreating back to the closet. When people asked about family or partners, I became evasive. When my attending physicians in east Idaho asked what I was interested in, my long history of service in the LGBTQ community went unsaid. When one of my superiors said that they didn't think transitioning seemed to make trans patients any happier, I found myself silent even though I had told myself I would speak up in situations like this. It's not that anyone made me think that I would be discriminated against, but it felt safer to hide, just in case. Could my grades be affected? What if someone on my pediatrics rotation decided I wasn't fit to work with children? Given the national conversation about bathrooms erupting right now, it felt like a tangible concern. I spent much of this year feeling ashamed, torn between self-preservation and the promises I had made to my community. People demonstrate against Brazil's acting President Michel Temer and in support of suspended President Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, May 20, 2016. Temer took office last week after Rousseff was suspended for up to 180 days while the Senate holds an impeachment trial. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) The impeachment process of President Dilma Rousseff has two sides. One of them is legitimate, and the other is not. On the legitimate side of the process are the millions of Brazilians who took to the streets asking for the president's departure. We're familiar with their reasons: The economic crisis, the political crisis and the corruption that had engulfed the government -- involving not only the Workers' Party, but other big names as well. Advertisement If we only take that side of the story into account, we can call the process that led to the president's removal an impeachment. In fact, it even followed all the legal and judicial procedures, under the supervision of the Federal Supreme Court. But there's another side to the story. It is no secret that there was a wing of the PMDB, vice-president Michel Temer's party, working behind the scenes to weaken the president. Towards the end of 2014, for example, we could see that Henrique Eduardo Alves ruled the lower house in a way that created difficulties for the government. And this situation worsened in February 2015, when Eduardo Cunha took over. It is easy to find photos on the Internet of Cunha and Dilma together, smiling. There are some who say that they were allies for some time, but on Thursday, May 19, during his testimony in the ethics committee, Cunha stated that he had always opposed the government. The photos and the supposed support were therefore nothing more than a charade. Advertisement The final proof of illegitimacy appeared on Monday, May 23, when the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo published transcripts of conversations between the senator Romero Juca and Sergio Machado, the ex-chairman of Transpetro, the largest oil and gas transportation company in Brazil. In the conversations, recorded in March -- apparently by Machado himself -- Juca and his interlocutor talk about Operation Car Wash, in which both are being investigated, and the damage it can cause to their parties -- the PMDB and the PSDB. The contents of their conversations are appalling. Machado says that "the easiest solution" to stop Operation Car Wash "is an agreement to appoint Michel (as president of the republic) as part of a grand national pact." Juca responds that this "agreement" would be "with the Supreme Court, with everyone." In one excerpt, Juca says that he has spoken with some Federal Supreme Court judges about Operation Car Wash, and that these judges have said that "the conditions are only [inaudible] without her [Dilma]." You can draw your own conclusions about that inaudible segment. Additionally, Temer's former minister remarks that he "is speaking with generals, military commanders. They are fine with this, they say they will guarantee it. They are monitoring the Landless Workers Movement, I think, in order to avoid disturbances." Advertisement In light of all this information, this situation can only be described as a coup. The conversations between Juca and Machado make it even clearer that there is great similarity between what is happening now and what took place in 1964. The only difference is that now, the leading role is played by the political class, which is intimidated by the unfolding investigations of Operation Car Wash, and not the military. But it is worth remembering that the large majority of those who protested in the streets do not support a coup. This majority -- because there was, unfortunately, a minority asking for a return of the dictatorship and another that had always been allied with corrupt politicians -- took to the streets in good faith, rightfully outraged at the political and economic crisis. It is probable that they now feel betrayed by Romero Juca, Michel Temer, Eduardo Cunha and company. There were betrayals in 1964 as well. On Sunday, May 22, Elio Gaspari wrote in his column for Folha de Sao Paulo that "Michel Temer, prosecutor of the State of Sao Paulo, went into retirement in 1996, at an age of 55 years. Since then, he has received R$ 9,300 every month." This means that since his retirement in 1997, the president has compiled more than two million Brazilian reals. Advertisement It is this kind of scandal that must be reviewed when reforming the pension system. Temer's retirement would have paid, over 20 years, for three retirements worth R$ 3,100 each. There are definitely hundreds, possibly thousands of cases like Temer's. We should put a stop to this. The savings from removing this kind of luxury may not amount to billions, but it would be very welcome. In another segment of the conversation between Romero Juca and Sergio Machado, four senators from the PSDB are mentioned: Aloysio Nunes, Tasso Jereissati, Jose Serra (the current minister for external Aafairs) and Aecio Neves. According to Juca, "Everyone is on the tray to be eaten." Machado responds that "The first to be eaten will be Aecio." Later, Machado says that "Aecio is not cut out for it, people know that," apparently referring to Aecio's chances of winning a presidential election. He adds, "Who doesn't know that? Who doesn't know Aecio's plan?" We don't. And we would really like to know. Exclusive-Use Rentals: Privately Owned And Operated As A Hotel Many of Italy's villas operate as hotels and require exclusive-use buyouts for the duration of your wedding. This is a good thing! It means no other guests will be staying at the property, and no other events will be taking place during your stay. Whereas at a hotel you may have to endure some less-than-savory experiences--other guests peeking or blatantly staring at your ceremony, sharing amenities such as the pool and spa with strangers, lack of privacy and space for rehearsal dinner and morning-after brunch, running the risk of compromising service and attention--with an exclusive-use villa, you'll have the place, and staff, all to yourself. Think having the kitchen open 24 hours--snacks included!--or having the chef available to whip up special requests on-call; sound amazing? It's possible at an Italian villa. Want to have a pool party at any time of the day or night? Go for it! When all of the guests are your friends, no one else will be around to frown or complain about the noise. Want to leave your doors unlocked so that you can wander in and out of each other's rooms? No problem when the space is yours and yours alone. You won't be interrupted during a photoshoot either: You, your photographer and your guests have free run of the grounds and can snap away anywhere at anytime--no one will be asked to move or keep to a designated room or terrace. Exclusive-use rentals can be priced anywhere from $7,000 a day, with a two to three-day minimum, to $22,000 a day. Remember, guests can still pay for their own rooms--which will lessen the sting of the price for you--and you'll provide an exclusive experience they'll be talking about for years to come. If you need a recommendation, one of my absolute favorite venues is the extremely luxurious Villa Cora in Florence. Resplendent with art and frescos and lavish textiles, every part of this magnificent estate is magical, and the service is top notch. Privately Owned Villas With Accommodations: Think of a privately owned villa like a super-upscale Airbnb. It's owned by a private person or company and can be rented out for events, but you'll have to bring in all the of the necessary service providers (think: catering--including chef and servers--rentals, bar staff, set-up/take-down crew, lighting etc.) All services--breakfast, room cleaning etc.--need to be arranged for as well; the villa's owner or management will certainly assist in making the arrangements. Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures to supporters while speaking in Bismarck, North Dakota, U.S., May 26, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY To the untrained eye, Hillary Clinton's new anti-Trump ad may appear to cast the blame of the financial crisis and subsequent foreclosures on Donald Trump, but to the millions of people who were there to witness the carnage, it casts a much more negative light on her. Advertisement To the casual observer the ad makes Trump look like the sleazy opportunist that he is, but it also makes the Democrats and Clinton look disingenuous and smug. The ad opens up with a picture of Trump with his signature sh*t-eating grin plastered across his face with an overlay stating, "In 2006, Donald Trump was hoping for a real estate crash." The text fades to, "9 million Americans lost their jobs. 5 million people lost their homes." Que the ominous music and scenes of destitute neighborhoods and then another shot of a grinning Trump followed by, "And the man who could be our next president was rooting for it to happen." Then the coup de grace: Audio from Trump during an interview in 2006, before the mortgage crisis. "I sort of hope that happens, because then people like me would go in and buy," Trump says. "If there is a bubble burst, as they call it, you know, you could make a lot of money." Advertisement So what's the problem? The problem is that as much as I hate to admit this, Donald Trump and people like Donald Trump did not cause the financial crisis or the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. People like Donald Trump may have profited from the crisis and taken advantage of rock bottom prices once people lost their homes. They may even have done so with little or no compassion for the people who suffered and who continue to suffer from the reckless and unregulated actions that caused the crisis, but they did not cause it. They did what businesses and investors do. They saw an opportunity and profited from it. Albeit at other people's misfortune. While one could argue that it was scummy, sleazy, and even heartless, it was not illegal. It may have been, by some standards, unethical, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone on Wall Street that would agree with you on that point. It's business and it's what we've come to expect from the financial sector. Elizabeth Warren has come out, to a degree, in close to the same vein during a recent speech, saying: What kind of a man does that? What kind of a man roots for people to get thrown out of their house? What kind of a man roots for people to get thrown out of their jobs? What kind of a man does that? I'll tell you exactly what kind of a man does that. It is a man who cares about no one but himself. A small, insecure money-grubber who doesn't care who gets hurt so long as he makes a profit off it. Good point. And she's right. What kind of man does that, and do we want him in charge of and representing the country? Do we want a man who would not think twice about swooping in and buying up homes that once belonged to people who had lost everything through no fault of their own and due to the irresponsible actions of Wall Street? Do we want our president (or anyone representing us in government) to be that uncaring and void of compassion? Should a man who wants to be president of the "greatest country in the world" be able to sleep at night knowing that he profited from his constituents' pain and suffering, much less that he hoped for it? Do we want to give a man like that the power and ability to be able to trigger another financial crisis just for his own personal profit? Advertisement What the Clinton ad does, however, is disingenuous. The ad portrays Trump as a predator. The grin, the ominous music, the destitute buildings, and the huge over-sized foreclosure sign all point to Trump as the cause, when he was merely a hyena picking at the carcass of someone else's prey. While it might be fair to say that Trump is a scumbag for proudly voicing and admitting to being an opportunist post-crisis, the real cause of the crisis were Clinton's close pals. The real perpetrators were the banks who caused the crisis. If you've seen (or read) "The Big Short" you know that is what investors do - they take advantage of the market. What the banks did, by comparison, was to short the market while advising clients to bet in the other direction -- causing unions, hedge funds, pension funds, and the like to get slammed. It was a Ponzi scheme. The companies responsible for this have agreed to pay huge settlements while taking no direct responsibility for any of the wrongdoing -- even though they have been accused of using fraudulent documents to kick people to the curb, among other things. Companies like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan Chase. One of those names, Goldman Sachs, should stand out among the rest as the Wall Street behemoth that has paid Clinton $675,000 for three speeches - a subject of debate and contention with Senator Sanders and his supporters. The other companies equally large are, along with Goldman Sachs, among Clinton's top six donors, having contributed in the neighborhood of $800,000 each to her campaign. Apparently, Wall Street wasn't threatened significantly enough by Hillary's admonition to "cut it out" when she went down there to keep them from throwing money at her. Advertisement None of this is a big secret, nor is it some vague insider information. It's a topic that I and many others have written about for years after the crisis. It does beg the question, though, as to whether the Clinton campaign is smug enough to think that we're that stupid or that we've forgotten. And why would she give Trump enough ammunition to very credibly prove her hypocrisy? Children of the Stone: The Power of Music in a Hard Land, a new book by USC professor and journalist Sandy Tolan, follows the journey of a young, music-loving Palestinian boy who threw stones at Israeli soldiers but becomes a man who eventually starts his own music school in the West Bank. In their discussion, Tolan tells Robert Scheer about the lack of media coverage of the daily reality for families and small children living in the West Bank, which inspired him to write this book. They discuss whether the original idea of Zionism and a two-state solution in Israel can really come to fruition. And they talk about whether the boycott of Israel is an appropriate and effective tool for change. Living an authentic life is a dream for many, yet for some women it is their reality. Have you ever looked at those living life differently and wondered how they achieved it? Sharon Thompson is one of these women. A photographer by trade, she has also made a name for herself as a sensitive and talented stillbirth photographer. In addition to this, she volunteers at an orphanage in Vietnam. Sharon runs a business, The Bloom Effect, to help fund her volunteering efforts. She sells bright and beautiful vintage-style dresses, bringing color into the life of her customers just as she brings color into the life of the children she cares for in Vietnam. I sat down with her to talk about her journey, and how making radical changes have affected her life. Advertisement What prompted you to make changes in your life? Five years ago, I sat down and wrote a list of things I would like to achieve in life. I had been working for a telecommunications company for 13 years and just could not sit behind a desk any longer! I had a vision of not only the life I wanted to live, but also a way of living. I knew I wanted to live a creative life. I knew I wanted to give back and I wanted an authentic life. I wanted to be brave! I craved an existence that I could be proud of and that would make me leap out of bed in the morning. I aimed high when I wrote the list, not for a moment believing that 5 years down the track I would be not only doing what I love, but also that my son would living his dream too. As a young, single mum, that's all we want, for our kids to find their place in the world, but I think we both found our place in the world at the same time. After all, I think we both grew up together. I gave birth to my son at 18. It was a hard road. Being eighteen is hard enough, but raising a child on your own brings a whole new level of challenge. To say I was a hot mess those first twelve months is an understatement. I suffered from postnatal depression, but looking back at my younger self, I think I just felt overwhelmed at being so young. I was so unsure of myself and I was suddenly responsible for someone else. I did it though. I made it; he survived and I survived. I am about to turn 40 in a few weeks and I am in an amazing place in my life After all, I had all those years at home with my son, to make a mental list of all the things I wanted to do when I 'grew up'. Tell me about the work you do. I am a family documentary photographer in Christchurch, New Zealand. I photograph the gladness, the sadness, and the madness of life. I am an observer and I adore showing families the beauty that is them. I in a way an archive their daily moments. I archive of memories and moments. Advertisement In 2011, I watched a documentary called "5 Hours with Raja" and I was really touched by their story. I decided that I could use my craft to make a difference, so I became a stillbirth photographer. There is more to stillbirth photography than photograph. Can you tell me about your work as a stillbirth photographer? We, as photographers, are there to walk with the family for a moment in time, in a gentle and respectful way. We walk into a hospital room that is filled with grief, despair, family, and their precious baby. I see my role as a facilitator as well; I want to encourage families to explore the tiny features of their baby, to get them talking about their baby's beautiful features. Sometimes this lovely newborn ritual is overlooked. I don't think it should be just because the baby has sadly passed away. I have had a few breathtaking moments in a session where the family hasn't noticed their baby's hair, a quirky little toe, or a folded ear. They have been so frozen in their grief that they simply forgot to look. To hear gasps of joy at discovered curly hair is just so precious. Those parents would have spent months wondering about their unique little human and now their wee person is here. It's about honoring that their baby is here. Stillbirth photography is gentle and powerful. Everybody has a phone with a camera, but not everyone has the ability to create a beautiful portrait that tells a story, that oozes love and tenderness in a sensitive way. You also volunteer at an orphanage in Vietnam. What inspired you to do so? In 2011 it was as though the universe was putting a mirror up to my face. It was saying, "What are you doing with your life?" I had spent too long in a relationship that had really affected my self-esteem. The Christchurch earthquake challenged my concept of what is normal on a day to day basis. We all lived in survival mode and I think a lot of people in Christchurch questioned their existence. During the first few nights after the 7.4 earthquake I hardly slept. My son was 14 at the time and he was very scared. He could only fall asleep if he knew I was awake to keep him safe. But I didn't sleep. I stayed awake, listening to the radio. People were calling in and talking about how scared they were, too. In those first few nights, I went deep inside myself and asked myself what I wanted to do and why I wasn't doing it. I had always wanted to volunteer in an orphanage. I wanted to give time and a sense of connection to children who would not usually receive it on a daily basis. I had worked with disabled children since I was 12, so I was very comfortable with the challenges involved. Little did I know, was that I would combine my desire and my experience together and work with terminally ill children in Ho Chi Minh City. I knew that there were organizations that seem to cause more harm than good, that you needed to pay a lot of money and that children were exploited by their caregivers, so I went looking for an organization that was different. I stumbled across the Vietnam Volunteer Network. It was a professional organization that ran police checks and protected the children from harm. If someone is interested in volunteering, what should they consider? There are so many orphanages and sometimes volunteers can do more harm than good. It's really important for children to be able to establish a connection with people, so staying for a minimum of 3 weeks, instead of a few days, is better for their wellbeing and development. The orphanages in Vietnam have children that are suffering from the terrible effects of Agent Orange, disabilities due to a difficult birth, as well as healthy children that are abandoned by their parents. As Vietnam is a third world country, I can understand why a family might give up a child. It's hard enough to make a living as it is, let alone with another mouth to feed. Most orphanages are government-run, so the children are provided with simply the necessities. I see my role as providing the extra bits that will make their lives a little better: a song, a touch, massage, dance, story, or simply a connection. Do your research and commit to a month of your time. Expect to be challenged and to have your life changed. Advertisement What are your goals for the future? I would love to set up a center in Ho Chi Minh City for children leaving the orphanage. At this stage a child can only stay in the system until they are 16, or until the maximum of 18. I would love to set up a transitional facility that would gently support these children into the world. I would like to have a second hand shop attached to the center to create revenue to support the running costs. There are a lot of expats in the city, but no second hand shops. Surely this could be set up by initial donations from expats so that locals and tourists could purchase clothing at minimal cost. I would like to involve local businesses as well, in the form of onsite training to gain skills. A huge consideration would be the psychological impact on the children too. Many of these children will have only been out into the world a handful of times. What have you learned through the work that you do? I think it has made me realize that it really is important to have a belief system. I simply believe in kindness and goodness. I don't stress the small things, the spills on the carpet, or busy traffic jams. Surrounding yourself with people who lift you up and support you is also so important. People that bring out the best in you, because life is too short to have toxic relationships. I have learned that it is important to look after yourself and others. We all have a story to tell. That the man next to you in the cafe may have suffered a loss, we simply cannot judge anyone. Happiness now for me means having the freedom to give back, to take time to live with intention, to travel, to eat well, to look after my body, to spend time with good friends, enjoy dinners with my son, and take bike rides with my pug. Advertisement It's the simple things that make me happy. To find out more, visit www.bloomeffect.co.nz Voting booths in polling place Hidden in plain site in this raucous and franticpresidential election contest is the fact that the primaries and caucuses arenot being fully counted, not even days after they close, in many cases, not atall so far. Nevada, which held itscaucus on February 20, and which is being rollickedby its own subsequent vote-resettingcontroversy, still officially counts only 99% of its votes cast. Some states like Minnesota (90%counted), Maine (91% counted), and now, Oregon (96% counted, and holding therefor a day) are even worse. Somestates, like New York, are only missing 1% of the votes cast, but since theyare large states, that represents thousands, if not over ten thousand, votes. New York alone cast 1,817,552 votes, so 1% of that would be about 18,176votes uncounted. States with less than 100% Democratic Votes counted: A dozen states with under-counted vote totals leaves 2.67%votes uncounted from these states, after dividing the number of states totaledby the percentage who actually had their votes counted. Some are caucuses so you can't justestimate the missing actual number of votes lost, but still, this list includessome large states with lots of people in them whose votes were not counted anddon't look like they are going to be counted any time soon. Advertisement Are these evenly split? Sanders votes? Clinton votes? Obviously,we can't be sure without counting them, but there are some clues that Sandersmight be disproportionately discounted. For example, in the most recent Oregon primary, which is unique in beingmail-in only, the trend lines up until the vote tally stopped being tallied bythe Associated Press, shows Sanders steadily increasing his lead overClinton. When people went to bedon Tuesday night, May 17, the delegate count was Sanders: 28,Clinton: 24. It is now Sanders:34, Clinton: 25, with 4% of the vote still left uncounted. The two most glaring under-counts are both Sanders states:Minnesota (90% counted) and Maine (91% counted). Maine suffers from a very low vote count split among toomany precincts, some with as little as 1 vote! Were voteless precincts somehow rolled up into a 9%uncounted vote total? But then whynot just say 100% of the vote castwas counted? And Minnesota haslarger vote totals among fewer precincts, so it is hard to understand why 10%of the vote remains officially uncounted there. Most of the uncounted votes in New York state are in NewYork City, where Clinton did well, but breaking it down by precinct level showsa possible bias in under-counting in precincts where Sanders might have donebetter. Again, this is impossibleto tell for sure without counting the votes. Separately, there is a petition drive to get NewYork to rerun the primary to include over 100 thousand voters who wereabruptly and suddenly disenfranchised by the local B.O.E. The current primary/caucus system is complicated, prone toerror, corruptible and now, it seems, perhaps prone to discounting even thosewho legitimately cast their votes. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton waits as she is introduced during the United Food & Commercial Workers convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. May 26, 2016. REUTERS/Steve Marcus MSNBC's 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 -- on the grounds that Clinton has "clinched" the nomination as soon as she crosses the 2,383-delegate threshold via both pledged delegates (who are already committed to her) and super-delegates (who cannot, by Democratic Party rules, commit themselves to her or be tallied until July 25th). In other words, as recently indicated by Mark Murray, NBC's Senior Editor for Politics, the networks will make the news on June 7th rather than report it -- as, per the Democratic National Committee, the final and indeed only authority on the tabulation of super-delegates, Clinton cannot clinch the nomination on June 7th unless she wins 78.3 percent of the pledged delegates on that date. Advertisement Which she won't. No more than Sanders will get 70 percent of the pledged delegates on June 7th. Which is why many of us in the media had thought this Democratic primary would go to the super-delegate vote to be held in Philadelphia on July 25th -- nearly every super-delegate interviewed by the media thus far having made crystal clear that they are not bound to vote for either the popular-vote or pledged-delegate leader, but rather the individual the weight of the evidence suggests is the most likely to defeat Donald Trump in November, which at present is Bernie Sanders, not Hillary Clinton. But that was pretty silly, in retrospect. And more importantly it's really not what "reporting" is -- as it's too easy, I admit, for a blogger like me to forget. Given that every major media outlet is already banking on Clinton getting both every super-delegate who has temporarily endorsed but not yet committed themselves to her plus a large enough stock of the pledged delegates on June 7th to put her over the top -- how else to explain Rachel Maddow saying yesterday that Bernie Sanders, who would take the pledged-delegate lead with an unlikely but mathematically possible win (70 percent) of June 7th votes, has "no chance" for the nomination and indeed is "not really in contention" for it -- there's no reason whatsoever for us to wait for the news to happen before reporting it. Waiting for the news to happen is so cringingly Cronkite I'm embarrassed to be even a tangential part of the American media these days. Advertisement If we can't report that things have happened when our personal opinion is that they've happened or "as good as" happened, I don't see what the point of having wall-to-wall cable news on fifty different channels is. What else is the First Amendment for, if not the freedom of the press to outpace its own coverage? So, because good reporting can and indeed by all rights should precede the news, without any consequences being visited upon major media for alleged dereliction of their journalistic duties -- it's not like they've ever prematurely called a presidential race before, other than 2000, so they should get a mulligan here -- there's absolutely no reason for the citizens of California, New Mexico, New Jersey, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or the District of Columbia to vote. Per Mark Murrary and Rachel Maddow, and, as Matthews put it on his television program, "all the numbers people," Hillary is already the nominee. So let's dispense with all these arcane DNC rules about what a "super-delegate" is and when and where and how they vote and say what we all know is true: Hillary has clinched the Democratic nomination, and all these upcoming primaries and caucuses should be canceled to save those states' taxpayers their hard-earned tax dollars. Also, since the super-delegates vote on July 25th but also apparently on June 7th, it seems silly to have a convention in Philadelphia on the 25th of July when we can just declare July 25th to be June 7th and hold the Democratic National Convention in MSNBC's studios in New York on that date. There'll be less room for dancing, but equally good catering, I'm told. As Clinton herself has stated to Chris Cuomo on CNN, nothing that anyone voting in the upcoming primaries and caucuses could possibly say or do will change the outcome of the Democratic race, so it's merely a beauty contest to hold these votes and that kind of thing really shouldn't happen in America. Advertisement Only American things should happen in America, like the media being told explicitly by the DNC not to call the election for Hillary Clinton on June 7th and the media ignoring that directive, despite the DNC being the final authority on everything relating to superdelegates. I mean, there's no point in being a reporter if you can't also choose to not report the facts, right? If you can trust one thing in this unpredictable election cycle, it's that nothing, absolutely nothing whatsoever, could possibly happen in the next two months that would keep Hillary Clinton from being the Democratic nominee. No indictment -- of her or anyone close to her -- would stop that from happening; no undisclosed medical condition; no cratering poll numbers against her prospective Republican opponent; no historically bad (and worsening) unfavorables; no polling showing that fully 50 percent of her primary opponent's supporters won't support her in the general; no sudden disclosure of all her Wall Street transcripts, revealing that much of her campaign platform with respect to Wall Street was a lie; no string of defeats on June 7th, producing a scenario in which Mrs. Clinton would have lost 18 of the final 25 state primaries and caucuses, the worst second-half performance of any major-party candidate in a primary election season in U.S. history; no surprise entry into the race by Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren as a unity ticket; no sudden and unexpected news event that changes dramatically the viability of one or many of Clinton's campaign promises or policy positions; no -- and take it from people who sit behind desks in D.C. and New York City -- there is nothing anyone could possibly do or that could possibly happen over the next two months that would cause any change whatsoever in how the super-delegates will vote on July 25th. And if you think otherwise you -- please don't take this personally -- are a delusional dead-ender. None of which should suggest to anyone that the super-delegate system is a sham intended to guarantee an Establishment candidate is selected no matter what. That's a pathetic view of the facts and I strongly urge you not to have it at a dinner party. In other news, the Chicago Cubs have won the 2016 World Series. Seth Abramson is the Series Editor for Best American Experimental Writing (Wesleyan University) and the author, most recently, of DATA (BlazeVOX, 2016). Advertisement It's fair to say I have a difficult relationship with Memorial Day. I have family and friends that were veterans of the United States military. I also have family and friends that were targeted by the United States military. I have family and friends who regret being part of the military even while they commemorate their brotherhood with those who served beside them. I also have family and friends who would not be joyful and free in their lives without U.S. military intervention. It's a struggle for me to celebrate after any death due to war. The most horrible aspect is that I have connections to more veterans who died due to their service after returning home than to those who did not come back. Either these vets suffered from Agent Orange and died of prolonged, painful, debilitating illness, or they went untreated for PTSD and other disabilities often due to poor government programming for reintroduction. What I wish is for no war. It is a fool's wish, optimistic at best. War, some argue, is hardwired into humanity. And where would minorities be without civil uprising? Perhaps what I wish is that we were better at humanity, as being capable of empathy and compassion-powered nonviolent communication. Advertisement I am grateful to the servicemen and women (any otherwise gendered) who believe that I am worth it. That I am America. That I am worth dying to protect. But even that is a tough statement. The identities tied to me are Arab, Muslim, Other. While I see myself as American, I still find myself making the joke that I am half alien in awkward situations. That I am somehow less than human because my father is an alien (aka immigrant). I make that joke because I heard it in America's service-person heartland where I grew up. It wasn't made to amuse me. The point was to bring me down. The Bible Belt is rife with patriotism. And where patriots breed, so does white supremacy and racial exclusivity along with Christian, right-wing conservatism. And entire families of service people who resent the presence of Other like me in the United States. Who see America as the white man's land. No, this is not without exception, but it was the strongest message I received in that swathe of America driven by cross-and-guns economy. Am I allowed to feel grateful? I'm really not sure whether I am. That's the heart of what I'm saying here. I struggle with this every military holiday. It is demanded that I show unflagging gratitude. That I plant stars and stripes on my lawn and sculpt them on my cakes with seasonal berries. That I deploy fireworks in celebration of war. That I nod gravely to veterans and thank them when I don't know where they fought or who they killed or their full context of why. They could be detached, American Sniper-style sociopaths who would love to shoot me down given the chance. I have known plenty of vets whose tales of deployment debauchery include sexual harassment of the men, women and children they were stationed to protect. Whether it was indecent exposure or hands-on assault (often to mock cultural or religious norms or because they were American and privileged and fucks could not be given), they viewed their charges as less than human as I have been viewed and treated. And what of the purposeful physical harm to innocent civilians done by bored or angry warriors trained in body but not mind for the trials of war? Advertisement These men and women who serve--they go away, they are changed, and those who return find themselves in a permanent search for the what they left behind. For what they can no longer access because they are not the same human they were before war. Still, I love the idea of a country of liberty protected by heroes. I don't know if this is that country. I am afraid to raise all veterans to hero status, even if their lives did end. It could be they never wanted to give their life for America, but America took so much from them they found no other option. If so, I tip my hat. It could be they had no intention of sticking around for deployment but did their jobs anyway. If so, I tip my hat. Maybe they were children given a false perception of military life. I know I was. I saw it as stable and safe. I believed I would be stronger, better, smarter if I surrendered my freedom to the government. But I grew up and realized I am a woman and the military is a boys' club in which I would likely be sexually harassed and assaulted with no recourse. I do see change in that attitude, but not much and not fast enough to make a difference for my enrollment. I tip my hat the women who lost their lives in the forces, whether physically or emotionally. I tip it to the men as well. Advertisement It could be they wanted to protect whites. That leaves me in a cold place. It could be they believed in creating a better world for all of us. If so, I tip my hat. Maybe they just wanted to kill people. Especially my kind of people. They wouldn't be the first I've met. I can't tip a hat to that, but I can show up to say, "When you give your life to America, you are giving your life for me. I am America." Most likely, I don't know you. There is a chance my intersectional identity will cause you to disqualify me from this celebration or that my complicated view of a holiday common placing the intentions of many and varied soldiers means I am less than American. If not, to the survivors I say: It is hard. We have lost many we love. But the idea of a cohesive America worth dying for says to me that we are a family. I hope you agree. It hurts to go on without the fallen. I will raise a glass to them. I will tip my hat because they were loved and it is important to remember. I've readily admitted that I'm no political expert. Nevertheless, I've remained puzzled as to why elder care issues are not at the forefront of presidential campaign debates. By 2030, more than 20 percent of Americans will be 65 or older and nearly half the U.S. workforce expects to be providing elder care within five years. There is a growing caregiver crisis in America: In short order, there will be more people in need of care than there will be people available to provide it. Disabled people who receive government assistance or subsidies are already suffering because of poor public policy with regard to caregiving. As highlighted in this impressive recent New York Times story by Katie Thomas, Sheri Fink, and Mitch Smith, there are likely hundreds of thousands of Medicaid patients who have been confined to nursing homes that don't require round the clock assistance or care. Although there is growing evidence that allowing disabled patients to remain in their homes results is cheaper than nursing home care and allows for better outcomes, Medicaid offers limited caregiving reimbursements. Confining people to nursing homes that don't require institutional care is illegal. The Supreme Court ruled nearly two decades ago that disabled people requiring public support were entitled to live in their communities unless it is medically necessary to commit them to an institution. To its credit, the Obama Administration has opened more than 50 investigations of wrongful nursing home confinement and has already reached settlements with eight states. The Justice Department recently issued a scathing report about wrongful confinement practices of South Dakota, which the AARP ranks among the most egregious in the country. Advertisement The Times did an admirable job capturing the horrific conditions of disabled people confined to nursing homes that don't need to be there. Individuals like Marvin Dawkins, a former AT&T manager who was paralyzed and committed to a nursing home for 11 years because of bureaucratic red tape and other issues. Dawkins now lives in an apartment, has a job, socializes with friends, and leads a life that gives him meaning. "I determine what happens to me," Dawkins told the Times. "I was there at the nursing home basically just laying in bed and watching TV. I didn't think it was much of an existence." At CareLinx, we are partnering with several leading health systems to study how experienced home care professionals can be utilized support patients in their homes post-discharge if their doctor thinks they can safely rehabilitate at home with the support of caregivers rather than sending these patients unnecessarily to a skilled nursing facility. It is my hope the data we are capturing will ultimately impact the discharge planning process where patients can be safely sent home with professional caregivers so that they can continue to live a life filled with grace, dignity and purpose. Ambassador Tarja Fernandez speaks at the International Women's Day on 08 March 2016. Photo Credit: Embassy of Finland, Kenya The 3rd Devolution Conference that took place in Meru, Kenya between 19 and 21st April was an opportunity to discuss how the post-2015 development agenda will be localized and how county governments will deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that devolution is vital in helping the country achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And this is beautifully aligned to Kenya's own Vision 2030, which is to create a globally competitive and prosperous Kenya with a high quality of life by 2030. Advertisement Devolution is all about inclusion and participation. Devolution is therefore also an opportunity to champion gender equality. So the SDG goal number 5, is about, "Achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls" is one of the key drivers of sustainable development. Half of the population should not be left behind. Inclusion of women and girls must be at the core of the development plans will accelerate potential for economic growth and well-being of the societies at large. In order to address gender and other inequalities county governments need to know about them. As was evident with the Millennium Development Goals, data derived from national surveys tend to miss the marginal numbers and thus downplay serious regional disparities, as the averages used in reporting progress mask the suffering of many. For instance, while national data indicates that Kenya's total fertility rate is 3.9, parts of the country have a total fertility rate of up to 7.8. This represents women who have limited decision making power about when or if they should have children, for reasons ranging from lack of family planning information and services to religious and cultural practices. Advertisement The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS, 2014) indicates that the national prevalence of female genital mutilation is 21%. However, among the communities where the practice is still intractable, the rates go up to 98%. Clearly, there are populations whose concerns are going unheeded. It is the voices of such populations that county governments have an opportunity to amplify as they seek to find relevance for the SDGs. How can this be done? By providing opportunities for women of all ages to participate in county planning and budgeting processes. Being aware of their rights and listening to their needs. Building county governments' capacities to analyze gender issues and address them in the County Integrated Development Plans. Sensitizing men on the benefits of providing more space for women to participate decision making, both at home and in public spheres of life. Moreover, including men consistently in discussions related to gender equality. For gender responsiveness to be met, the equity principle must underlie the identification of priorities, planning, budgeting and service delivery. Collecting county disaggregated data will be a key to identification of development needs, and culturally acceptable solutions. In addition, community participation will be crucial to ensuring that the voices of women and girls, the youth and the marginalized, will no-longer be left unheard. Counties now have the opportunity to identify their own priorities and to design service delivery mechanisms suitable for local needs. Each county in Kenya has its own unique challenges and circumstances, but also the resources to solve its problems. Respecting and utilizing valuable local traditions that do not violate human rights can be a rich resource from which development plans can draw knowledge, legitimacy and participation. Advertisement Though recent surveys such as the DHS 2014 have quality data from the regions, the counties themselves need a lot of support to generate, access and utilize disaggregated data with measurable indicators. As observed recently by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, tackling inequalities and measuring progress towards sustainable development is constrained by a lack of core population data and under-developed capacity to use such data for development. Changing entrenched gender inequalities is, however, not an easy task. There are deep social, economic and cultural forces that drive stereotyping and discrimination and these will not disappear without deliberate actions. These actions by all counties are a key approach to nationalizing the SDGs, reducing inequalities, especially gender inequality, while unlocking the potential that women have for delivering sustainable change. At the 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women which took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 14th-24th March 2016, President Kenyatta was among the 80 leaders that made commitments to advance gender equality and ensure equal opportunity. He said, "I'm convinced that our nations and the world stand to gain tremendously if we continue to embrace that progress for women is progress for us all. Investing in women is more than a matter of rights; it is the right thing to do." As development partners in Kenya we are committed to work with Government of Kenya and the county authorities to advance gender equality and empowerment. Advertisement "The Republicans have sold their soul to the devil. The Democrats would never do anything like that. They've rented theirs instead." -- Swami Beyondananda It used to be that elections in America were dismissed as popularity contests and beauty pageants. Not anymore. Should Trump and Hillary face off in November, the opposite would be true. We would have an unpopularity contest, and an ugly pageant. And while the Hillary folks are complaining about the unreasonable "Bernie or Bust" people, the bare truth of the matter is that Hillary's most formidable opponent is her own record. This isn't even about her personality, or about her being a woman or any of that. It's about what she has stood for over the past 20+ years, and what the Democratic Party has become under the influence of the Clintons - undemocratic. It has abandoned blue-collar workers, and the economic wellbeing of the underclasses, and has become the party of a small, out-of-touch liberal elite. It has focused almost completely on "identity" issues - the symbolic rights of women, gays and minorities - while conveniently ignoring the "identical" issues we face, like clean air, water and soil, and an economy that works for all. Advertisement With the notable exception of the nuclear deal with Iran, neo-liberals like Hillary and Obama have largely continued the neocon foreign policy of Bush and Cheney. And if we move from the Middle East to our own "neighborhood", the Americas, their record is even more disturbing. Shortly before she was assassinated, Honduran indigenous environmental activist Berta Caceres called out Hillary for helping to install the regime that ended up killing her. And while Hillary now says she opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that would essentially allow multinational corporations to overrule the wishes and rights of American citizens, she has always been a supporter of such deals. No wonder she wants to focus on that upstart Bernie raining on her party. Except "her" party is really OUR party ... Advertisement The Democratic Central Committee's lament that insurgents from the left will put Donald Trump into the oval office is reminiscent of blaming Ralph Nader for the Gore-Bush fiasco sixteen years ago. As their narrative goes, that pesky devil Nader insinuated himself into the election and took votes from Al Gore, putting Bush in the White House. This notion conveniently ignores three factors: Gore's biggest obstacle in 2000 was having to run against not just George W. Bush, but Bill Clinton, whose narcissism and duplicity completely occupied and ruined the final four years of his presidency. The main reason why Nader was in the campaign in the first place -- the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the "Battle in Seattle", where more than 40,000 protestors showed up to oppose the World Trade Organization and globalization. More than anything else, the Clinton administration's response to the protests and their whole-hearted support for globalization (what Swami calls "gobble-ization") set them apart from their constituency and led to the Nader candidacy in 2000. The Democrats' own unwillingness to stand up to Republican bullies in Florida and demand a full and complete recount of all precincts. All of these add up to what Hillary is up against now. She represents - whether she likes it or not - the Democrats' complicity in the corrupt plutocracy that has replaced rule of, by, and for the people. Instead of being able to represent working folks against the excesses of capitalism, she is having to fancy dance her own support for the "rule of gold" over the Golden Rule. While Trump can fully embracing being a narcissistic asshole and use it to his advantage, Hillary has to pretend she isn't the poster child for the status quo - the same status quo that so many Americans have come to despise. With Trump gaining on Hillary every day and Sanders beating him by ten points, maybe it's Hillary who needs to step aside. In spite of being an avowed pacifist, I find myself (like much of America and indeed the world these days) a spectator to violence. Some of it is fictional, as in the television show, Shameless, set on the Southside of Chicago. Some of it is all too real, as in the case of DeKayla Dansberry, a beautiful, promising athlete and young scholar (and a former student of my daughter in law) who was stabbed to death last week on the Southside of the real Chicago by a neighbor whose mother apparently provided the knife. Looking for leadership, I am discouraged to see the frontrunner of the Republican Party, a narcissistic, sexist, racist bully, encourage his followers to engage their worst instincts. On my own side, (because these days, American politics have devolved into a sporting ritual, where everyone is on a side, even those who have made no choices) my chosen leader, Bernie Sanders, has delayed in calling out supporters who sometimes let their anger (and perhaps despair) turn them into bullies as well, particularly in Nevada. In fiction, one of the reasons I watch violent shows like Shameless is because of the skill of its writers and actors in displaying the range of human qualities which are so easily lost in the name calling we all engage in. The poor people in Shameless are primarily white (with African American neighbors/lovers/children/friends) living on Chicago's Southside and struggling with alcohol and drug abuse, the marginal working life of many people these days (the middle class is shrinking not only in fiction but in reality) who don't have a college education or access to the jobs which used to provide a steady income in what elites like to call "the Rust Belt," and most significantly, the sense that they are falling behind and the reality of not having enough money, access or power to get ahead. At the same time, just as in real life, the characters in Shameless consistently showcase the deep bonds of family which keep them going even in the face of discrimination (against those with mental illness and poor people in general), teenage pregnancy, gentrification, and at times, their own bad decision making. Advertisement I just finished reading your letter, What if? Thank you for the update on your work. The introductory paragraph is stirring: What if infectious diseases could no longer wreak havoc on poor communities? What if women and girls everywhere were empowered to transform their lives? What if all children - especially the poorest - had an equal opportunity to reach their full potential? I'm on board. What's not to like? Well, I'll tell you, Sue. As you note, some of the Gates Foundation initiatives are working better than you thought, while others require course correction "to tackle complex challenges." You address the latter category in the section "U.S. Lessons in Education": Advertisement Deep and deliberate engagement is essential to success. Rigorous standards and high expectations are meaningless if teachers aren't equipped to help students meet them. Unfortunately, our foundation underestimated the level of resources and support required for our public education systems to be well-equipped to implement the standards. We missed an early opportunity to sufficiently engage educators - particularly teachers - but also parents and communities so that the benefits of the standards could take flight from the beginning. I appreciate your reflectiveness. You've been at your post for two years--long enough, I'm sure, to have noticed the scathing critique of the foundation's signature domestic initiative. Much of it has come from teachers, whom you've insufficiently engaged. Education is in their "wheelhouse," as you in industry like to say, but their expertise has been roundly dismissed. Teachers are leaving the profession in growing numbers, disaffected by the policies spawned by standards-based accountability. Their job status and pay have been linked to students' test scores through value-added measurement (VAM), which may have unintended consequences that reduce quality, according to the American Statistical Association. Educators' autonomy has been destroyed, and their morale is low. Advertisement At the bottom of the totem pole of influence are early childhood teachers. None of these stewards of America's human capital weighed in on the design of the Common Core standards. They were back-mapped, reaching new heights of absurdity, including history, economic concepts, and civics and government as foundations for two-year-olds' emergent knowledge. Most importantly, the standards make a mockery of early childhood's robust evidence base. Young children learn through exploration, inquiry, hypothesis, and collaboration. Play, the primary engine of human development, has vanished from kindergarten and first-grade classrooms, replaced by worksheets, didactic learning, and increasingly narrow curricula, in keeping with standards' focus on literacy and math. Policymakers are talking about bringing rigor and the Common Core down to four-year-olds. If all lives have equal value, the core belief of the Gates Foundation, then our most vulnerable kids must have access to the kind of education enjoyed by those with greater resources: teaching and learning that nurtures creativity and innovation, attuned to the whole child. Too often, they're subject to rote, passive, and joyless assimilation of knowledge. Collateral damage of your initiative--all in the name of higher test scores. What if the Gates Foundation undertook a course correction, and put education back in the wheelhouse of educators? Socioeconomic status is the key variable in children's academic success. Perhaps you've read "Poverty and the Achievement Gap," released by the ETS in 2013? America's child poverty rate, which hovers around 25 percent for those under the age of six, puts us second only to Romania among advanced economies. Advertisement It's hard, indeed, to be deeply engaged when you're hungry or homeless--or traumatized by the growing number of adverse childhood experiences that plague our little ones. (As an oncologist, you have a deep understanding of physiological damage.) Moreover, it's challenging for educators to do their job, no matter how well they're prepared. The schools in communities of concentrated poverty are segregated institutions starved of investment, places fit for neither children nor teachers. The results of a recent survey of teachers of the year, conducted by the Council of Chief State School Officers, are illuminating. When asked about the barriers that most affect their students' academic success, family stress, poverty, and learning and psychological problems topped the list. Anti-poverty initiatives, early learning, and reducing barriers to learning were the teachers' top picks for investment. Wildfires are getting bigger and more costly. Can we return them to a less dangerous state by looking to the past? U.S. Department of Agriculture, CC BY Stephen Pyne, Arizona State University Tiger, tiger, burning bright In the forests of the night... -William Blake There is general agreement that America's landscapes, certainly its wildlands, are out of whack with their fires. Wildfires are bigger, hotter, more savage and more expensive than in the past. There is wide agreement, too, that America's deeper fire problem is not that malignant megafires are crashing into our communities. Instead, it's that we've lost the older benign versions of fire that once washed over and benefited our ecosystems. Surely, the thinking goes, restoring fire's former regimes would quell the outbursts and bolster forests' ecological resilience to multiple threats. Advertisement But active restoration has proved trickier, more controversial, and more limited than advocates assumed. It works, but not everywhere, and not everyone wants it. The roots of suppression For 50 years after the Great Fires of 1910 traumatized the U.S. Forest Service, the country committed to a program of what we might call fire resistance. It sought both to quit lighting fires and to extinguish every fire that did occur before it could grow large and damaging. Then in the 1960s, the fire community reconsidered because the project was self-defeating and had suppressed good fires as well as bad ones. Many biotas were adapted to particular kinds of fires and suffered when those fires vanished or changed character. By 1978 the federal agencies adopted a program to restore the fire regimes that had prevailed before the ax and hoof of settlement, and the onset of organized fire suppression, had confirmed our new disorder. The project embodied not only the prevailing science but a kind of atonement for the wreckage done. Fire officers would light fires under prescriptions and they would allow natural fires more room to roam. Advertisement On restoration as a guiding principle, consensus exists. On its practice, however, confusion and confrontation abound. Why? Basically, we can't agree on what those prior conditions were, or by what methods we might recreate them, or for some observers whether the past is in truth prologue to the future. Consider how varied some of the best studied landscapes are. Tallgrass prairie requires fire. Probably most tallgrass environments burned every three years or so before European settlement. Longleaf pine, once pervasive on the southeastern coastal plains, burned like a savanna, its wiregrass understory carrying flames among the woods nearly annually. Its western counterpart, ponderosa pine, also behaved like a grassland with big trees clumped throughout it. Likely it burned every 3-8 years. These are all surface fires that occasionally torched pockets of woody thickets or trees during drought and high wind. Lodgepole pine, by contrast, burns in eruptive patches, killing the existing stand and preparing for a mass reseeding in the ash. The patches burned perhaps every 80-120 years. And then there is California chaparral. Forty years ago the best science suggested it burned weakly until the primary species reached 20-25 years, and then more fiercely with each passing year. No fuel like an old fuel. Politics of wildland fire Advocates of restoration argued that more good fire would reduce bad fire and improve ecosystem health. Our understanding of past fire patterns would help write the necessary guidelines. Advertisement But some prescribed fires escape control (probably a comparable fraction to those that escape initial suppression). Smoke drifts with the wind. Some sites need preburn preparations. And there are always dissenters. All this costs not only money but social and political capital. Most tallgrass preserves, for instance, are tiny; there is always a butterfly or beetle, with human partisans for its cause, that thrives best in a more varied mixture of fire. This complicates the social politics of actually putting fire on the ground. Longleaf - the "forest that fire made" - displays its greatest biodiversity by having a range of fires across seasons and years. Overall, it's probably impossible to overburn it, but practice requires guidelines, and that demands social consensus beyond the belief that fire belongs. Ponderosa forests have generally become overgrown with understories of young trees that can carry fire from the surface to the canopy - a revived fire but not one that allows the ponderosa to survive. This has led to arguments for thinning, a kind of woody weeding, to restore the former structure of the forest, so that it can sustain the right kind of fire. Advertisement But removing chainsaws was a major triumph of many environmental groups, who do not wish to see them return as stealth silviculture, and there are outlier researchers who insist that severe fires have always been a part of the scene. Mainstream scientists disagree. Lodgepole patches have grown more extensive with fire's removal, which not only feeds larger fires but has encouraged beetle invasions, which further unhinge the structure of fuels and complicate putting fire back in. Since controlled crown fires are at best tricky, and prescribed commercial logging (rather than thinning) is generally unwanted, the options for deliberate restoration are few. And the chaparral? There are researchers who insist that wind, not fuel, is the driving factor, and argue that fuel mitigation measures, including prescribed fire, will only invite invasive species, destroy native ones, and not make a whit of difference to fire size and intensity. Besides, they say, the strategic issue is urban sprawl, and the fire concern is overall ecological integrity and resilience, not fuel. A pragmatic hybrid For several decades restoration has been an informing theme for America's fire community. It can point to many successes. Florida now burns over two million acres a year under prescription, and the Florida model has propagated throughout the region. A template for southwestern ponderosa pine, loosely known as the Flagstaff model for the site of its demonstration plots, has disseminated throughout many montane forests in the West. But the Florida model does not work in the chaparral shrublands of Southern California. The Flagstaff model does not work in the pinyon-juniper complex of the eastern Great Basin or the lodgepole of the west-side central Rockies. Each biota needs its own guidelines. Active restoration programs cost money. And prescribed burning becomes more encumbered with restrictions and caveats each year. Advertisement Stephen Pyne, Author provided Plenty of partisans would prefer we let nature sort out the imbalances, not pretend, with costly hubris, that we know enough or are skilled enough to do the right thing. People caused the problem; removing them altogether is the surest means to set matters right. Less active management, not more, is the way to reconcile past conditions with future wishes. And for those obsessed with the no-analog future promised by that constellation of global changes lumped under the label Anthropocene, restoration is beside the point. The future will be radically different. We need to prepare for it, not waste scarce resources on recreating a prelapsarian past. In brief, fire regimes are varied, science frequently conflicted, and restoration intellectually compromised by irony, which adds no cultural value, since we can never truly go back. The responses to these challenges will vary - as they should. In the American West, however, the cumulative burdens are pushing fire officers away from the former restoration ideal into something akin to a resilience model. They know they need more fire. Their experience tells them they won't get it waiting for Congress or navigating, project by project, the reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act. Advertisement Instead of attacking the fire problem head on, they are trying to flank it. Of course there are some fires that bolt away from the moment of ignition, or threaten communities, municipal watersheds, or critical biotic assets and must be fought from the first kindling. But many other fires allow for varied responses. Backing off and burning out - not letting fires roam freely but loose-herding them with selective firefights and burnouts along their perimeter - is a way to get some good fire on the ground. It's not restoration as the old order understood it. It's not a case of science informing and management applying, of rationally getting ahead of the problem. They accept they won't get ahead of the problem: they have to ride it out. Some patches will burn too severely; some patches won't burn at all. In a way it's a pragmatic solution, replacing a goal that we can't agree on, with a process - returned fire - that we can. The hand is solving what the head cannot. It now appears that while restoration may be a permanent principle, one widely adopted, it is not a transcendent one. It only has meaning in particular places and practices and, we might add, times. It has to compete with other values like wilderness. What is replacing it is a kind of intellectual and institutional mashup, the paradox of a managed wildfire. It's a way to improve control by loosening our standards of control. This is not what the new era imagined as it sought to tame the bright-burning tiger, but it offers us a means to ride that tiger into the future. Stephen Pyne, Regents Professor in the School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University A few years ago, we started a non-profit called Write-A-House. It made quite a splash at the time. The idea of fixing up Detroit wrecks and giving the refurbished home away to writers really impressed journalists (tip: if you want to get good press, do something nice for writers) and we found our little project getting huge attention in New York, LA, Italy, Bangladesh, you name it. Two years and three houses later, we have begun fundraising for our fourth house. This has been a bit trickier. We are no longer the hip young thing, and the usual skepticism has crept in. Now when we reach out with our fundraising, people often ask "How much does a house cost to renovate?" And we answer "About 70 grand." And they say, "Hmmmn, wow, isn't that is a lot for a single writer?" It's a fair question, but still it always gives me pause. First of all, we've always been clear that Write A House is not just about one single writer. Every house we refurbish is a vocational education project and comes with an apprentice attached to the job site, someone who is learning carpentry and trade skills. So, right off the bat, we're not just helping one writer, we're helping two people. Then look at the people at the job site itself. It takes a lot of skilled and unskilled labor to fix up these homes. So every single house we work on is a jobs program. Then there is the neighborhood. The families on each block have welcomed the writers who have moved in, because they know that a healthy, occupied home brings stability and anchors the community. Each single restored home increases safety and raises the value of everything around it. Then there is the city. The writers we have brought here are broadcasting a rich, nuanced message about what Detroit is like today. They're new voices with new audiences describing a city that has a texture and a character deserving real attention. They are widening the circle, hosting events for other writers, from around the region, the country, and the world, deepening the conversation about Detroit. It's not parachute journalism, each of these writers is helping create a real dialectic, bringing beautiful and fascinating insights into the place they now call home. One person, two people, a dozen people, many, many more. This project is all about the surprisingly large impact of a very small action. Okay, but suppose we just play devil's advocate and argue that, still, it's 70k per writer, that's a lot, right? Absolutely, but is that so unreasonable? There are plenty of precedents, from Guggenheims to Knight Journalism Fellowships to obscure LA screenwriting awards, where writers get almost as much, if not more. So why can't Detroit provide a writer with the same acknowledgement, the same honor, the same esteem that, say, a Fulbright does? Our judges have included national celebrated writers like Billy Collins, Major Jackson, and Dream Hampton. Surely any writers these folk hold in high regard should be deemed worthy of some real respect and reward? Right? Advertisement Police Brutality on Disabled Protestors on May 25th, 2016 Earlier this year we saw something that took us completely by surprise. There was a group of people in wheelchairs hanging themselves from a bridge in Cochabamba, Bolivia. They were protesting for a monthly benefit for people with disabilities of $72. We're a team of filmmakers and journalists who have followed the protest ever since. The group of people with disabilities have now been protesting for over 140 days. They began with a vigil in the main square of Cochabamba and then suspended themselves from the bridge. When authorities refused to discuss their requests, they decided to roll and walk 380km across the Andes to speak with President Evo Morales in La Paz. Advertisement Rossmery Guarita hanging from the bridge, May 2016 There are about 52,000 people currently registered with a disability in Bolivia. We've been told that 80% of people with disabilities in the country, are illiterate and 60% don't live to the age of 50. When the protestors arrived in La Paz they were met by police. The government has erected 3m high barricades around Plaza Murillo where the government offices are located, stationed at least three tanks and some 400 police to stop the wheelchair protestors from entering the plaza. They set up camp a block from Plaza Murillo on the streets of La Paz where they have lived in tents for more than a month. Caravan of disabled protestors trekking the Andes There have been a number of violent confrontations between police and the people with disabilities protesting in La Paz. The police who are equipped with full riot gear, helmets, body armor, full-length shields and batons have used pepper spray and water canons against the protestors. The violence has escalated to the point that on May 25th, the group was violently repressed by more than a hundred anti-riot police. The protestors were thrown from their wheelchairs, had their crutches taken and we witnessed police kicking people in the head after they were pushed to the ground, after this the police used water canons on the wheelchair protestors. The majority of protestors that day were women. Eight protestors were injured and six were detained overnight. The government justifies the violence against the people with disabilities by saying the protestors threw urine and bleach at the police and also used nauseous gas against them. The president Evo Morales, during the induction of the new Ombudsman - David Tezanos Pinto, said that in this situation the most beaten is him, the vice president - Alvaro Garcia Linera, the Bolivian state and in particular the police who have been injured in the conflicts happening with the disabled people. "At this time, in the service of the people, I'm not sure if the most beaten is the president, the vice president or the state," said the Statesman. He also asked, "where is the Ombudsman when the police are being injured during these social protests, like that of the disabled, the police also have human rights." - La Prensa. (Bolivian Newspaper) Advertisement Paraplegic protestor, on May 25th, 2016 While the protestors where marching and rolling across the Andes, Edgar Romero a member of parliament for the MAS party, stated on public television "We can't increase the benefits for people who are not productive for the country who don't work. We believe the disabled are acting with unreasonable and unjustifiable inflexibility, the state can't give a lot of money to people who don't work or do anything." A leader for people with disabilities, Feliza Ali, replied saying that, "This benefit isn't like a present from a father. This benefit will reduce the inequality gap and help us make decisions for ourselves. If I have the 500Bs, when I travel by bus, rather that crawl along the floor like an animal to reach my seat, I can pay someone to help onto the bus with dignity. This isn't a self-riotous demand; it's the beginning of self-determination. This is the starting point to for us to live with dignity. The time has come to stop the segregation and apartheid that we've been living for generations." As filmmakers we've suffered aggression and intimidation from the government, we've been on the receiving end of police violence and verbal threats, police have stated in front of us that the first chance they get they'll smash our camera, one of our cameras was also stolen. We've been called spies for the CIA trying to destabilize the country. A government group called 'Satucos' has campaign online against us, they've put our photos online with false claims that have instigated online intimidation and indirectly call for aggression against us from the Bolivian public. We are releasing this video to bring the current situation in Bolivia to the attention of the international community, international disability groups, foreign governments and the UN to call the Bolivian Government to bring a stop to this violence and the violation of the human rights of a group of vulnerable protestors. We also call for the Bolivian government to respect the freedom of expression for journalists and filmmakers covering the events as they unfold. Advertisement You can also tweet Bolivia's President Evo Morales at @evoespueblo and the office of Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera at @VPEP_Bol to ask them to meet and talk to the protestors. I am often asked about the role of corporate partners and how their philanthropy supports the National Park System. More recently, I've heard concerns about commercialization attaching itself to the national parks themselves. I always welcome the opportunity to have an open conversation about the great need for philanthropic support for national parks. In fact, I receive communications from park lovers every day and am inspired by each individual's commitment to the national park idea. Be it critique or compliment, every note, every phone call, every social media post is important as it's someone's personal thoughts or concerns about America's national parks and programs, which we collectively steward. Currently, a proposed update to the existing Director's Order 21, the policy that guides philanthropic support of national parks, has sparked some discussion. In an effort to clarify what these updates are and what they mean for our national parks, I sat down with National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis to answer the questions that have come my way. WILL SHAFROTH: Before we jump into the proposed updates, I think it's important to first talk about the need for private support. Why do America's national parks need private support from individuals, foundations, and corporations if taxpayer money already goes to parks? JONATHAN JARVIS: From their very beginnings, national parks have benefited from private support, often from the corporate community. Many of the earliest national parks, including Glacier and Grand Canyon, were the direct beneficiaries of the transcontinental railroad companies, which helped design, build, and provide much needed visitor services in the parks. This tradition of generous, committed philanthropy continues today and is critical to the success and longevity of our national parks. Advertisement Private philanthropy has always been and will continue to be a critical part of ensuring the preservation and enhancement of the National Park System. SHAFROTH: Does corporate philanthropy threaten the integrity of national parks? JARVIS: No. Corporate partners are vetted through a thoughtful process to align objectives and benefits to parks and programs. We also check for issues that would prevent us from accepting a donation from a corporate entity including, but not limited to, litigation, negative business practices, and conflicts of interest arising from existing or in-progress contractual relationships with the National Park Service (NPS). SHAFROTH: Why are proposed updates to Director's Order 21 necessary? JARVIS: We need to be state-of-the-art and sophisticated about how we engage with donors and corporate America. While we're not going to allow naming or product endorsement or any of that, there can be positive association with the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, and that's okay as long as it's done tastefully and appropriately. The proposed updates outline what we can and cannot do. For a list of proposed updates, please visit the National Park Foundation's blog. SHAFROTH: Are you worried about commercialization of the national parks? JARVIS: No. The proposed updates, as well as the donor recognition legislation, contain protections against this. In addition, we've consistently found that the companies we are working with are not interested in being a part of commercialization of the national parks. SHAFROTH: What are the rules and guidelines for recognizing someone or a company that contributes to the National Park System? JARVIS: Donor recognition is offered as a package to individual and corporate donors when the donation is being negotiated. The donor is not obligated to take any or all of the donor recognition rights and benefits. Sometimes, a donor does not want any recognition. There are laws, regulations, and policies that govern donor recognition. Advertisement For a list of the policies that govern donor recognition, please visit the National Park Foundation's blog. SHAFROTH: Recently, a few news outlets have said that the updates make it possible for parks to be re-named or have "brought to you by..." tagged on to its name. Is that true? JARVIS: Absolutely not. Such acts would violate both the law and policy, both of which prohibit naming of parks or features and donor recognition that implies endorsement of a business or brand. SHAFROTH: Will we see park facilities named for donors? JARVIS: Absolutely not. Naming rights to any unit of the National Park System or a National Park System facility, including a visitor center or historic structure, are prohibited. You will not see the type of corporate naming like there is at stadiums. Rooms inside facilities like a gallery or meeting space may be temporarily named, for a 5-year period, to thank a donor specifically for supporting the renovation or construction of the building. It's important to remember that these renovations enhance the visitor experience. But even still, the Director of the National Park Service must authorize naming opportunities before an offer can be made to a potential donor. As I mentioned earlier, the National Park Service is committed to ensuring that this is done tastefully and appropriately. SHAFROTH: Will we see vehicle wrap designs that display advertising slogans? JARVIS: You may see wrapped vehicles with park-inspired designs. You may see a vehicle with a short, unobtrusive credit line including a donor's name or logo, but only when the donation relates to the actual vehicle. Unlike public transportation like subways and buses, you will not see vehicles with advertising slogans. SHAFROTH: Will we see logos displayed in parks? JARVIS: First and foremost, I want to clear up any confusion there is about logos. Logos would not be permitted on donor boards and walls, paving stones, park furnishings or other ways donors are often recognized. The only new aspect to the proposed updates would be that logos could be part of a short, discrete credit line on temporary materials and interpretive displays. This credit line would follow strict design guidelines. For example, the Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque banners currently displayed in parks are part of the donor recognition offered to the National Park Foundation's partners for the Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque movement. Another example of how a logo or a person's name could be used is "This exhibit was made possible through the generous donation of X donor." A short credit line like that could be used on interpretive and digital media, printed materials, temporary signage, or other temporary items. Logos at special events will have to follow very strict guidelines, which are outlined in a separate Director's Order. Advertisement More information about Director's Order #53 can be found on the National Park Foundation's blog. SHAFROTH: Does the updated policy make it mandatory for National Park Service staff to raise money? JARVIS: No. To clarify, park employees have always had the authority to support their partners, including the National Park Foundation and local Friends Groups, by attending partner fundraising events as subject matter experts. However, they may not solicit donations. Superintendents already have the authority to accept donations, they just can't solicit. Under the proposed updates, the only change is that they may be delegated the authority to accept larger donations, if and when they complete a required training and certification program. It is very important to note that, as private support for the parks isn't a new concept, philanthropic partnerships aren't new for superintendents and park staff. These partnerships are a fundamental way for parks to achieve more than fundraising goals. Partners provide volunteer support and vital in-kind services, equipment, and specialized skills. SHAFROTH: How will the role of the National Park Foundation and the more than 200 Friends Groups across the country be impacted by the proposed updates? JARVIS: The proposed changes would streamline certain processes, move more authority to the field, and generally make the National Park Service a more effective partner. They would also allow our superintendents who don't have local partners to accept donations and create an environment for them to develop new partners. SHAFROTH: Will product placement be allowed? JARVIS: No, it is not allowed. Distribution of free products or samples to park visitors would not be permitted at non-NPS events. During NPS events, donations for NPS programs could be recognized with a credit line or statement of appreciation on program materials distributed at the event to which a donation was made. Examples include a "Thank you" on t-shirts, key chains, water bottles, hats, or first aid kits. SHAFROTH: Can a donor own and operate a park facility? JARVIS: No. A donor may not own and operate a park facility. Creating new facilities goes through a rigorous review process and the requirements are very strict to ensure that federal requirements are met and park resources are protected. A donor or partner may assist the National Park Service in this process. Park facilities constructed by partners become the property of the National Park Service. SHAFROTH: Thank you, Jon. My hope is that this conversation will help clear up some of the confusion surrounding the proposed updates to Director's Order 21. Taking a broader look, the very existence of our national parks depends on our collective accountability. This comes in many different forms including the support of individuals and corporations, volunteers, and continuous, relevant engagement with visitors. I am grateful to be part of such a passionate community that is dedicated to ensuring that the integrity of our national parks is respected and protected. Corporate partners are uniquely positioned to leverage major resources to improve parks and ensure they're not just protected, but enriched well into the future. Thoughtful corporate philanthropy is more than a source of funding for America's national parks; it is a cornerstone of their origins and key to their next 100 years. Through our shared commitment to protect and strengthen these national treasures, they will thrive today and into the next century. President Obama's visit to Hiroshima this morning was a piece of history. He rose to the occasion in his remarks, speaking eloquently not only of the need to eliminate nuclear weapons but also questioning the institution of war itself, all with a clear focus on the devastating human consequences of armed conflict. Now the President must use the visit as a starting point for taking concrete steps that will hasten the creation of a world free of nuclear weapons. He has eight months left to make a difference. Regardless of what one thinks about the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we should all be able to agree that these awful weapons should never be used again. Conservative estimates put the number of people killed and wounded as a result of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima at over 140,000. The full death count may never be known. A use of a nuclear weapon today could have even worse consequences than the Hiroshima attack, in part due to the superior explosive power of today's bombs and in part due to the population density in some of the potential target cities. As Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund has pointed out, the current U.S. arsenal has 22,000 times the destructive power of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. And a December 2013 study by Physicians for Social Responsibility found that a "limited" nuclear war in South Asia could disrupt the climate and spark a "nuclear famine" that could put two billion people at risk of starvation. Advertisement President Obama started strong in his efforts to curb the nuclear danger. In his April 2009 speech in Prague - just three months into his presidency - he called for "the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." The President followed up his words with action by negotiating the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia and the initiating a series of global summits on the subject of how to keep nuclear bomb-making materials out of the hands of terrorists and other groups or nations that might seek to acquire and use them. More recently, President Obama and U.S negotiators deserve credit for helping to craft a multilateral agreement that will limit Iran's nuclear program. Contrary to the rhetoric of the agreement's detractors, the deal has already achieved a great deal. Iran has reduced its stockpile of highly enriched uranium - one possible fuel for a nuclear bomb - by 98%. The Iran deal can be expected to accomplish even more moving forward. It is far preferable to running the risk of another Mideast war, an option that many of the deal's opponents advocated. That's the positive side of President Obama's nuclear scorecard. Unfortunately, in many respects his early commitment to nuclear arms reductions has lagged. Part of this has to do with the loss of a willing partner in Russia. But there are things the president could have done - and can still do - to help keep nuclear weapons reductions on the global agenda. For starters, the President could invest more in nonproliferation programs, which are designed to lock up or destroy loose nuclear bombs and nuclear materials. He could also pledge to take long-range nuclear-armed missiles off of hair trigger alert, as a way to reduce the possibility of an accidental nuclear exchange. Advertisement In addition, the President could reduce current deployed nuclear weapons by at least one-third, a figure that even the Pentagon admits would leave the United States with more than enough weapons to deter a nuclear attack. Independent studies have gone further. An analysis by Gary Schaub and James Forsyth, of the Air War College and School of Advanced Air and Space Studies respectively, asserts that an arsenal of just 311 nuclear weapons would be enough to deter a nuclear attack on the United States. Instead we over fifteen times that amount. President Obama can also embrace the global effort to focus attention on the dire humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, an initiative his administration has so far dismissed. Finally, President Obama could put the ill-conceived $1 trillion effort to build and operate a new generation of nuclear-armed bombers, submarines, and land-based missiles on hold. In particular, he should cancel the dangerous and unnecessary program to build a new air-launched nuclear-armed cruise missile. The President should also pause the costly initiative to build new nuclear warheads and bomb-making facilities. These efforts have more to do with institutional inertia than they do with fulfilling the defense needs of the country. In fact, by signaling that the United States is prepared to build nuclear weapons ad infinitum, this expensive buildup threatens to spark a new nuclear arms race that could be even more dangerous than the one that was conducted during the Cold War. Pictured: Tribune Publishing chairman Michael Ferro If nothing else, Gannett's $864 million takeover bid has exposed Tribune's farcical operations under chairman Michael Ferro. But instead of Titanic hitting the iceberg by accident, Ferro is aiming for it. Gannett's $15 offer represented a 99% premium to Tribune's shareholders at a time when the newspaper industry is in chaos and Ferro angrily spurned it in favor of his own highly speculative vision. To fend off Gannett, Tribune pulled a fast one on shareholders by issuing 4.7 million shares to Ferro-friendly Patrick Soon-Shiong's Nant Capital and diluting shares. Ego's folly takes few prisoners. Four years ago, Soon-Shiong pulled an almost identical stunt in his biotech company's failed deal with toymaker Jakks Pacific. Shares have tumbled 54% since the NantWorks deal was announced. Advertisement Two of Tribune's major shareholders, Oaktree Capital and Towle & Co, have called this financial gymnastics out for what it is: brazen self-interest. According to the LA Times, Gannett reported that, during a May 12 meeting, Ferro said he wanted a "significant role" in the company post-closing and he was unwilling to engage in the process unless he got "a piece of the action." Note to Tribune shareholders: you have been warned. As a Chicagoan, I was forced to watch Ferro sink what was left of the Chicago Sun-Times. In 2014, Ferro pressured the paper's editorial board to reverse its three-year-old no-endorsement policy and support one lone candidate for public office: now Governor Bruce Rauner. Rauner, a former Chicago Sun-Times owner, invested millions in Ferro's then ailing Merge Healthcare. Ferro's ethical conflicts were on display again when longtime Sun-Times political reporter Dave McKinney was demoted for co-authoring a piece about Rauner's nasty intimidation tactics against a former employee. Advertisement Consider the Sun-Times as an encapsulation in miniature of Ferro's poor media and business stewardship: blatant conflicts of interests, censorship, a pathetic audience-draining news website, a tabloidy failure called Splash, and mass layoffs of reporters, editorial board members, and photo staff. With this track record, how could Tribune's shareholders think that Ferro could ever guide this company into the future? His "publishing" experiment left the company in shambles. He couldn't even build a Sun-Times website! Just in the first few months of Ferro's tenure at Tribune, history again repeated itself. Three weeks after Ferro became Tribune's largest shareholder, Justin Dearborn, the head of Ferro's Merge Healthcare, became CEO. Yes, that Merge Healthcare. In April, Tribune purchased Splash from Sun-Times and made its ethically challenged editor, Susana Homan, the new publisher and editor of Chicago Magazine. Homan was questioned for accepting pricey gifts from Tiffany's in return for infomercial-style reports on Chicago's local FOX affiliate. Is this the kind of 'public trust' Soon-Shiong claims he is preserving with his $70.5 million investment? How could the public possibly trust any of this? Advertisement And why should the public or any shareholder entrust these three health care tech investors with Tribune's future? What credibility do they have in the world of publishing? Ferro's abysmal track record at the Chicago Sun-Times? If it turns out as it appears that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the major parties' candidates for the presidency this year, one of their clear-cut differences will be their positions on global climate change. Secretary Clinton is a climate hawk; Mr. Trump is a climate denier. But if there must be a split between the candidates on this issue, it should not be about whether climate change is real or, as Mr. Trump would have it, a Chinese plot. Mother Nature is settling that argument, just as climate scientists said she would. No, the discussion should be about who will do the most to mitigate the risk that the weather disasters that are now so common will get much, much worse. For starters, both candidates should pledge not to backslide on the progress that President Obama has made. We are far from where we must be on climate action, but we are much farther along than we were eight years ago. And while a future president or Congress might find a better way to bring carbon emissions down, there should be no retreat on the goals President Obama has established. In fact, they should be adjusted upward on the ambition scale. Advertisement What might tempt Mr. Trump and candidates for Congress to ignore the climate issue are the frequent polls that show it ranks at the bottom of the voters' priority lists. But as I have written before, the ranking polls are deceptive. They are based on the false premise that each of the issues on the list exists in a stovepipe separate from the others. In the real world, climate change has big impacts on the four campaign issues Gallup has found are most important to both Democrats and Republicans right now: national security, the economy, jobs and health care. Let's break it down once more. National security: The nation's top-ranking defense and intelligence officials have warned for years that climate change multiplies the threats of terrorism, conflicts and world instability. The warnings appear in the official analyses and reports of the National Intelligence Council, the Department of Homeland Security, the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, the National Research Council, the Department of Defense (DoD) 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, and the White House National Security Strategy. The Defense Department told Congress last year that it "sees climate change as a present security threat, not strictly a long-term risk". Even the Republican Party Platform acknowledged the national security implications of climate change in 2008, saying that the United States should take action that "if consistent with our global competitiveness will also be good for our national security, our energy independence, and our economy." Advertisement The politicization of climate change has been openly criticized by some of the nation's highest-ranking former military officers. Sixteen of them signed a statement two years ago that "We are dismayed that discussions of climate change have become so polarizing and have receded from the arena of informed public debate." The economy and jobs: The national business association Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) has been tracking growth in the clean energy sector, which it defines to include energy efficiency, demand response, energy storage, natural gas power generation, solar and wind energy, hydropower, nuclear power, electric vehicles, biofuels and smart grids. From 2011 to 2015, the sector's revenues grew nearly 29% to $200 billion. It now employs 2.7 million workers. The technology consultancy ICF International estimates that the emerging clean energy sector will add more than 1 million jobs to the economy by 2030 and as many as 2 million jobs by 2050. Jobs related to renewable energy technologies will surpass those lost in fossil energy industries, ICF predicts, and household disposable income is likely to increase nationwide. The jobs gained in clean energy will be better than the jobs lost in the fossil energy sector, ICF says. The Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory explains "There are two main reasons why renewable energy technologies offer an economic advantage: (1) they are labor intensive, so they generally create more jobs per dollar invested than conventional electricity generation technologies, and (2) they use primarily indigenous resources, so most of the energy dollars can be kept at home." Pubic health: Climate change and carbon pollution are global threats that get very personal. The health impacts of global warming range from exposure to heat waves and casualties from weather disasters to more waterborne diseases due to warmer temperatures. Advertisement Some of these problems already are present. Researchers found at least five years ago that the allergy season was weeks longer than in the past because of warmer temperatures. Warmer temperatures are contributing to the spread of diseases, too. The latest example is the likelihood that by creating warmer and wetter weather, climate change has led to the appearance in the United States of the mosquitos that spreads the Zika virus. Air pollution from the same fuels that cause climate change also increases health risks. Researchers at Harvard University calculate that energy efficiency measures and low-carbon energy resources can save a region as much as $210 million every year in avoided deaths and illnesses from air pollution. * * * When voters are asked about climate change alone, it ranks pretty high on their list of worries these days. Gallup found in March that 64% of adults say they are worried about climate change. Two-thirds of adults believe that climate change "will eventually pose a serious threat to them or their way of life." Gallup says that's the highest number since it began tracking climate opinion in 1997. Even 56% of the voters who support Donald Trump think global warming is underway, according to a poll released in April by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Whether we read the polls or the weather forecasts, this should be the year of the Climate Election -- the year that voters connect the dots between global warming, its adverse impacts on the issues they care most about, and the need to elect leaders who will help us make a rapid transition to a clean energy economy. If that happens and if we do it right, we all will win. Advertisement ''While the world watches in awe or indifference, Turkey is in the midst of a rough power grab. Dismantling the system from its main elements, and with a rudderless opposition, Erdogan seems only inches away from being an autocratic ruler.'' This was a meeting we as a small group of selected journalists had regarded with anticipation. In early May, I was asked via a telephone to join a 'candid talk' with Kemal Klcdaroglu, leader of Turkey's Kemalist main opposition, Republican People's Party (CHP). The chat with some 20 journalists was cordial and, on some crucial issues, very frank. Not so surprisingly, many of us wondered how his party would act when the time came to vote to lift the immunities of the deputies in Parliament. In the room there was nobody who doubted that the move was part of the design of President Erdogan to seize control over the fate of the opposition, in particular pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), but also the very CHP itself. Intent on 'criminalizing' the dissent among the elected was utterly clear. Advertisement Facing the ceaseless series of questions from us, Klcdaroglu fell into a remarkable ambigouity. At the end, with a discreet smile, he said cryptically, 'folks, I understand your concerns, but I assure you, this vote will not lead to lifting of the immunities. Let me say that much.' Then, in a sharp swing, he started telling us how passionately engaged his party was about resolving Turkey's now gangrenous Kurdish issue. At the point of whether it was Erdogan or the PKK who turned down the table of peace talks last July, he said something - without a warning on off-the-record - which made us all gape at each other. 'We all know, don't we, that it was not the PKK who murdered those two police officers in Ceylanpnar,' he blasted, referring to an incident on July 26 last year, day after which Erdogan declared that the 'peace process was over'. 'If it were the PKK, it would have committed the act out in the open, to send a message. But these police officers were found slain in the second floor. Whoever killed them had knocked the door and entered, and left without a trace.' Advertisement We wondered why on earth he did not come out and made it an issue against the AKP. No response. Weeks after, the vote in Parliament was, apparently, exactly as Turkey's mastermind of political engineering, President Erdogan had desired it to be - 376 'yes' votes (out of a total of 550)to lift the immunites now not only severely limited the free speech among the elected, but paved the way for imprisonment of them. The result was the opposite of what CHP leader had predicted - or 'reassured' - to be. His party was torn sharply, some of its deputies voting 'no' some 'yes'. Klcdaroglu said that he had personally instructed some of them to patially support the amendment, because of an obvious fear that the party would be perceived as 'taking side with terrorists.' Many observers, devoted supporters and even some deputies were perplexed about 'the state of limbo', becoming permanent, wondering aloud whether or not it is the very CHP that stands as a wall between a majoritarian, oppressive AKP and the prospects for a democratic opposition front. They did not need to. Steadfast in Kemalist dogma, CHP limited its position only to defend secularism, while it displayed staunch disinterest to seek some 'democratic common ground' with the HDP, thus losing further credibility to turn into a 'party for the underdogs'. Many argue today - not without reasons - that it is a stumbling block for formation of any meaningful alternative to power. So, once more, the opposition - CHP and MHP - are at the center, as twin actors representing two flanks of Turkish nationalism, to have caused a historic loss of momentum for Turkey, which, under the iron grip of its President Erdogan, comes closer to an autocratic rule. Advertisement The cycle is almost complete. On his path, which he following the general election in the summer of 2011, Erdogan set nothing but a fully empowered executive presidency, shielded by absolute impunity. That goal seemed inevitable, given the fact that he has been facing two massive graft probes, which now extended into a legal case in the USA, and his alleged role in arming Syrian jihadist groups is being intensely debated. He has to keep bcycling, in order not to fall. This explains, too, his choice for emerging every day as a tough national leader and the wave of populism he propagates for and the ceaseless efforts to forge alliances with the backbone of the 'old guard' of Turkey - the military. His outbursts against the West, including Turkey's allies and the EU, seem at times incomprehensible outside, but if one realizes how Russia's Putin and Erdogan copy-paste each other's behaviour, it becomes easy to explain why they are so popular among the large majorities in their countries and how they are able to control the the crowds' perceptions. But the reality of Turkey becomes much more complex if one goes beyond the person of Erdogan himself. The real question is how this masterful politician for years played one social group against each other, and how he managed after pushing back the powerful military of Turke to form a new oligarchy, which under the banner of Militarist-Islamist Nationalism help him form an authoritarian rule - doomed to steer away Turkey from the EU for good. Advertisement Utterly anxious to be held accountable for abuses of power, what he did was a series of seizures of the basic tenets of the republic's 'semi-democratic' system. From 2011 he systematically took control of large segments of the media, as he launched - often defying the law - a purge within the security and judicial apparatus that led to their subordination to government. He challenged with success all the independent checks and balances institutions, by placing his loyal cadres into them. No wonder, then, all the people attending the latest AKP congress stood up, in Soviet style, when his message was read out loud, in an act of absolute loyalty. In hindsight, it seems logical that even the Kurdish Peace Process with the PKK was kept intact, until the time came to overturn it - last summer. Erdogan apparently realized that going further with the talks would weaken his and AKP's stand, and lead to his fall. Thus, pragmatist to the core, he chose to cut an alliance with the military - his old foe - and all the nationalist circles reassembled in and around his party, marking a sharp u-turn, abandonment of all reform policies and waving a final farewell to democratisation. As a consequence, the AKP, which had started its journey as a civilian movement of realignment for democracy, has turned into another 'party of the state' - a merger of the Islamists with the old guard of the Turkey's 'tutelary state' had become a fact by the end of 2015. Advertisement Skeleton of the very tutelage remains intact, with the difference that, while the military re-enters the stage as an actor, it is 'balanced' by the most powerful state institution representing the Sunnis: Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). The latter, by edicts proves to be a very useful tool for the AKP to enhance its hegemony. But this is where, in the formation of a new 'pro-state alliance' the plot thickens for me as an observer as well as many others. There is no doubt that his cunning political moves have served Erdogan perfectly so far. His populist rhetoric - coloured by constant use of the terms 'national will' or phrases like 'people express its response thrpugh the ballotbox' - paves the way for majoritarianist rule, as he pushes with full force for a constitutional amendment that will have to bring empowered presidential rule to Turkey. How will that happen without a reasonable consensus? What will the consequences be when the entire elected Kurdish block is expelled from Parliament, with even CHP partially 'criminalized', and large segments of Turkish society alienated, further polarised? What if the Kurdish conflict turns into sheer civil war, with a possible 'Kurdish Parliament' formed as a reaction? Hard questions. Yet, one thing is certain: Cast much farther away from Copenhagen Criteria than before, and increasingly indifferent to European Treaty Of Human Rights, Turkey now crawls through - with the backbone of its system broken - to an autocratic model, that resembles Central Asian models, falling into the grip of one man. Advertisement Let me conclude with a fresh snapshot. Just days ago, visiting his hometown, Rize, Erdogan was accompanied by the three high judges - chairmen of the Court of Cassation, Court of Accounts and Council of State. Pictures of these men picking tea leaves together raised the eyebrows only in a couple of newspapers, like Cumhuriyet, which asked whether or not the transition to a one man rule was now complete. Two years ago, in the March issue of the German edition of Le Monde Diplomatique, I had coined the term 'Slow Motion Coup' (Putsch I'm Zeitlupe) in the headline of my article on Turkey. Two years later, what I see is a fast forward type of the process, with Erdogan, detecting far less obstacles on his path to absolute power. He is almost there, arguably only months away. Twitter Shah Rukh Khan's youngest son, AbRam Khan, is a delightful little bundle of awesomeness who exudes uncontainable cuteness. Khan, who was in London to bring in Karan Johar's 44th flew back to Mumbai to celebrate his little one's 3rd birthday. Advertisement Anybody who follows Khan on Twitter or Instagram knows of his fondness for baby AbRam, who with his long, wavy hair is a face that can melt the coldest of hearts. Here, as the kid turns 3, be overwhelmed with these incredibly adorable photos and clips of one of the cutest babies around. Cuteness overloaded AbRam is too cute Tag a friend @iamsrk A video posted by Shah Rukh Khan (@srkfanboy) on May 22, 2016 at 8:57am PDT Happy birthday #abram A photo posted by Lewis (@lewis_bhatti1997) on May 26, 2016 at 1:52pm PDT Advertisement A photo posted by Hema singh (@hema_singh_) on May 26, 2016 at 1:50pm PDT A photo posted by Shah Rukh Khan (@srk_scenes) on May 26, 2016 at 1:44pm PDT A photo posted by Yash Dharmesh Shah (@ysahsahh) on May 26, 2016 at 11:33am PDT A photo posted by Talha Ali (@talhaghulamali1) on May 26, 2016 at 11:34am PDT Bollywood's most glamorous mom with our cutest Birthday Boy #HappyBirthdayAbRam see her proud smile pic.twitter.com/O7I8Jqlcpb SRKCHENNAIFC (@SRKCHENNAIFC) May 26, 2016 Aryan the hottest AbRam the cutest #HappyBirthdayAbRampic.twitter.com/jt7iQ7adUV DieHard Fan SRK (@pramodsrkian) May 26, 2016 Advertisement Also See On HuffPost: Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 6: Indian Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma during an exclusive interview for the promotion of upcoming movie Satya 2 at HT Media Office on November 6, 2013 in New Delhi, India. Satya 2 is Bollywood crime film and directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The movie is expected to release on November 8, 2013. (Photo by Waseen Gashroo/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) On my way to meet filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, I realised I didnt have a real address for his office, situated in Mumbais Andheri (West) area. I called up the PR person coordinating the interview immediately. Your message just says opposite Veera Desai Road Police Station, I said, but where is it exactly? Bro, its called Company, he replied, with the air of someone who couldnt believe he had to explain this again. Advertisement Yes, I know, but what building is it in? What floor? I persisted. Bro, just stop outside the police station and look across the road, he said, sounding a little amused. You wont miss it. Well, he was right. On the other side of the road, opposite the police station, was an office building that had the word COMPANY written across its front in giant lettering. No less than three security guards stood near its otherwise nondescript, wood-panelled entrance. I entered to find a waiting room with a fairly high ceiling (by suburban Mumbai standards) and sparse decor that was muted but still not very subtle. A full-length poster of Bruce Lee adorns one of the walls, sporting the caption: I care a fuck about circumstances. I create my own opportunities. A few minutes later, I was in Varmas office: a massive room with wooden flooring and very little furniture, barring a desk and a few chairs on the side. Hes promoting his latest Hindi film Veerappan, a docu-drama on the notorious dacoit who was hunted down and killed in 2004. It is a re-shot version of his own Kannada film Killing Veerappan, which released less than six months ago. Advertisement Here are excerpts from the conversation we had: In your autobiography [Guns N Thighs: The Story Of My Life], youve written about how you, in your own words, conned people like [Telugu star] Nagarjuna and [his father] Akinneni Nageswara Rao and through lies and deception managed to get your first directorial venture, Siva (1989). Was there any fallout over this revelation after the book came out? [Laughs] Firstly, Im glad you read it. No, there was no fallout. They knew I mean, Id told them this after the film came out. Once it was a hit, anything you say sounds cute. Of course, had it bombed, it wouldve been a completely different story. I was just completely convinced that the film I wanted to make wouldve been much better than the one they were trying to make, which is why I did that. People often wonder how you continue to make films even though they keep bombing with critics as well as audiences I would say its because of my ideas. That's what people want to know... what is the film about, what is the story. For an actor, investor, technician, that's what they are interested in. See, for example, a lot of people wonder why Amitabh Bachchan trusts me, despite Aag (2007) or Department (2012). But the reason is very simple; its just that no one wants to see it: he knows my intentions are serious and he would appreciate that, and that's what he looks at. People see the effect; he saw the cause when we were working on it. That's what people look at. But behind the scenes, he sees how I'm working on it, and the final film is just a result of things Id planned not working out. Advertisement In hindsight, if you look back at the last few years, have you zeroed in on what went wrong? No, see, I can only make a film on a subject that interests me, excites me something I'm passionate about. An idea excites me and I want to capture it in a visual medium to tell it to others. Now, people getting interested in the subject matter, whether I could translate my exact intention without it getting lost by the time we reach the end there are many factors influencing all these things. Sometimes, it could go beyond what I envisioned. Sometimes it might go much lesser. These are factors that I dont think any filmmaker can really control. People say to me 'You used to have great writers'. But I say, so what? Eventually its the director deciding what to make is what will make a film. It's not about better writers, it's about what I like. I think of a film visually. I cannot connect to something given to me by someone else. If someone says Anurag [Kashyap] is a good writer because he wrote Satya (1998), then what was he making in Bombay Velvet (2015)? There's nothing like that. It's all about how things fall into place, and the decisions you make at the time. Many seem to be put off by the camerawork youve been using in your films over the past few years. Why do you think that is? See, now, I was most criticised by everyone for the camerawork in Department. But then I used exactly the same thing in Veerappan. But here the content is working so people at least going by the Kannada reviews for Killing Veerappan are calling the camerawork extraordinary. Now, the thing is, these decisions come from the content and the context it is shown in. This kind of camerawork may not have worked in Sarkar (2005), for example. Its too structured and designed. In that film, I wanted everything precise, down to the speed with which Bachchan would move his head from left to right or how he would get up from a chair. Advertisement In your book youve written about how you chose to let actors improvise their own lines in Satya after Sushant Singh gave you an unexpected reaction in one of the scenes, all because you forgot to say cut Yes, because it worked for that film. Now, in the case of Veerappan, because he was an unpredictable, violent character, itll reflect in the way the film has been shot. How different is this movie from Killing Veerappan? Well, its about the same person and has the same story, but every character has been changed. Sequences have been changed in context. Its also darker and much grittier. Were both films shot simultaneously? No, it was completely re-shot, over 55 days, starting from December, I think. What kind of research did you do? I met some people who worked with Veerappan. Many officers who at various times were hunting for him. Met people who would go into the forest to meet him. Then I met a couple of people who infiltrated his gang. I met his wife, from whom I got a lot of personal details about the man. But instead of making a biopic, I wanted to make it from the POV of the people who killed him. They need to know him and they need to know what went wrong in previous attempts to catch him. Advertisement It's not his POV. It's the true story behind Asia's largest manhunt. So we only know what they know. Its not a biopic. The first thing I do when I get up in the mornings is: watch porn, then read up on Donald Trump and ISIS. Maybe not necessarily in that order [laughs]. How much do you care about the aftermath? I never think of this, never really cared about repercussions of... anything. That's the reason I'm so brazen. That's the reason I can write a book called Guns N Thighs. Thats the reason I can put out the tweets I put out, and all this should be indicative of the kind of guy I am. If I'm always concerned and thinking about what will happen, I won't be able to do any work. It's as simple as that. Do you have any regrets about certain films youve made, or people youve fallen out with in the industry over the years? I don't fall out. Because I actually don't have any friends, no emotional bonds with anybody at all. I only meet people I'm working with at the time, or someone I want to work with, or someone I can have an interesting conversation. But I am always working on so many ideas at the time [he works simultaneously on Hindi and Telugu films]. I don't have friends because I don't need or like any emotional dependencies. I don't like small talk or personal conversations. I don't like 'how are you', 'how are you feeling'. Advertisement So what do you do in your spare time? How do you begin your day, for example? The first thing I do when I get up in the mornings is: watch porn, then read up on Donald Trump and ISIS. Maybe not necessarily in that order [laughs]. It seems youre quite fascinated by Donald Trump You know, I dont ever remember following the US election this closely before. This is the first time, and its all because of Trump. I mean, look at him: theres no logic, no rationality to anything he says. He doesnt come across as an intellectual. But his shock value works! Do you think hell win? One hundred percent. And Ill tell you why. He goes and says something outrageous, which creates a debate. This triggers an emotional response in people, which by definition is a drug it creates a high, logic and rationality stop working, and then it all wears off after some time. Then, he says something else and the same cycle repeats itself. So who needs logic? Also see on HuffPost: Hindustan Times via Getty Images NOIDA, INDIA - OCTOBER 13: Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and MoS for Ministry of Civil Aviation and Gautam Budh Nagar MP, Mahesh Sharma speaks during an interview with Hindustan Times at his office on October 13, 2015 in Noida, India. Sharma chose to remain silent on the Bisada incident. (Photo by Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) Last week, a 23-year-old Congolese national was allegedly beaten to death by a group of men in south Delhis Vasant Kunj area. While African diplomats in India protested against racist attacks on their citizens in India, Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma had a strange response to the killing. On Friday, Sharma said that the killing of the Congolese man was unfortunate, but then went on to add that "even Africa is not safe". Advertisement The tourism and culture minister said that he has experienced first-hand how unsafe Africa could be. "India is a large country and such incidents will give a bad name to India. It is an unfortunate incident. However, even Africa is not safe," Sharma said in an interview. He recalled how he had to miss his morning and evening walks during a visit to South Africa because of safety concerns, adding that it is unfair to paint India as an unsafe country. "When I went to South Africa, I was stopped from going for a morning walk at 6 am by the hotel people citing security reasons. My post dinner walk was also dropped for the same reasons. It's not fair to say that India is unsafe," said the minister. Masunda Kitada Oliver, the victim in last weeks attack, was a graduate student who had lived in India for over six years, according to the Congolese embassy in New Delhi. Advertisement He had hailed an auto rickshaw on Friday night when three men insisted they had already hired the vehicle. The men beat him up and hit him on the head with a stone, and he died later that night, the police said. Two of the suspected attackers have been arrested, while police are still looking for the third. The African Heads of Mission in New Delhi issued a statement on Tuesday urging the Indian government to address the problem of racism and Afro-phobia in the country. In the statement, they said, 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." In response, India has promised quick punishment. We will ensure that justice is done and stringent punishment given to those involved in the attack, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday, that some people of Indian origin in Congo were injured after their shops were attacked, possibly as a reaction to the murder of the Congolese student in Delhi. Advertisement Our embassy in Congo is in touch with local authorities and, as of now, things have calmed down. Indias relations with Congo go back many years, the MEA said. Also See On HuffPost: Xavier Arnau via Getty Images Four indian women playing with digital tablets and smart phones. India's smartphone shipment crossed 100 million units last year, placing it in the second spot globally after China. India beat the US for the second spot. A large chunk of these 100 million smartphones were made by Chinese phone manufacturers. On Monday, India even took a decision to ban the import of some of the Chinese phones citing security concerns. All the phones which don't have an IMEI number and certain other security features will not be allowed to be imported into India. Here is a list of all the licensed Chinese smartphone manufacturers selling in India. Advertisement The company was a joint venture between France's Alcatel-Laurent and Chinese TCL, but now TCL owns the majority of the shares. Alcatel is known for its mid-range series Idol and OneTouch phones. In August 2014, they launched 4 phones and a phablet in India. The company has produced a Firefox OS based phone and a smart watch too. Alcatel also sells tablets in India. Coolpad is known for its sub-10000 phones in India. Last October, they made an entry in the Indian market by launching Coolpad Note 3 for 8999. In January, they launched a stripped-down version of the phone called Coolpad Note 3 lite selling it for 6999. So far, reviewers and consumers have liked the company's offerings. Advertisement Although a significant name in China, G'five is not a big phone brand. It offers under 10000 Android smartphones without any distinctive features. The company offers a couple of feature phones in India as well. Gionee has earned a name by developing very thin and flashy mobiles. At one point, with a thickness of 5.5 mm, Gionee Elife S5 was the slimmest smartphone available. Since then, the company has come up with a range of mobiles in China and India. It now sells feature phones starting from 1000 to smartphones costing 35000 Haier has been present in India for a long time but as an appliances maker. Recently, they have ventured into the Indian market with phones. But instead of taking the plunge into the ever growing smartphone market, they are concentrating on selling feature phones. They do have some low-end smartphone but none of them have any standout features. Advertisement Huawei has been a leader in selling networking solutions in India. And, they have produced some good smartphones in recent years. Their sub-brand Honor has been received very well in India. Huawei sells smartphones of a different range under Ascend and Mate series as well. Notably, the company partnered with Google to manufacture Nexus 6P which has been lauded by critics and consumers alike. This relatively unknown brand is almost nonexistent in India. They still sell one or two outdated phones on a few portals. Before Lenovo jumped into the smartphone business, they sold millions of PCs and laptops in India. The company began selling Android phones in 2012. Lenovo's Vibe series and K3 Note series have been fairly popular in India in recent times. Their sales have been boosted by the fact that they acquired Motorola Mobility from Google whose Moto G and Moto E are quite popular in India. Advertisement A very popular company in China launched in India under the name LeEco. They initially launched two devices, LeEco 1S and LeEco Max. Recently they also released their new phones LeEco Le2, LeEco Max 2 and Le 2 Pro in China, and these will be launched in India on 3 May. Meizu started selling smartphones in 2008 and it is one of the newer companies that have made remarkable progress in a short time. They offer 12 smartphones in India, with Meizu Pro 6 being their latest offer. The unique thing about Meizu is that the company is selling phones with Ubuntu smartphone OS as well. Advertisement OnePlus was an instant hit in India when it arrived in 2014. They launched their first phone OnePlus One on invite basis and received an enthusiastic response. A lot of people were attracted to high-end specs at a mid-range price. With the invites becoming hard to get, they have now done away with the system. In 2015, they launched two phones, OnePlus 2 and OnePlus X, both available on the invite system initially and later in an open sale. Oppo caught eyes of the world by launching Oppo N1 in September 2013 which had a rotating camera. Since then, they have launched plenty of phones and many of them have new camera features such as a beauty mode. Qiku made the entrance in India with Qiku Q-Terra, priced at 22000. The phone has a good looking screen and dual 13 MP camera. It comes with a 360 OS, which is without an app drawer, gestures, and fingerprint sensor commands. Advertisement Vivo, unlike others, is relying on an offline model more than on online sales. They have more than 10000 partner stores in India. They also have one of the slimmest phones right now in the form of X5 Max which is 4.75 mm in thickness. The company is also sponsoring the Indian Premier League this year. They recently launched two new phones to mark the occasion. Vsun is another phone maker which is not recognized much and has just one phone available in few of the portals. Xiaomi rules the Indian market in popularity if we discount the Motorola factor of Lenovo. The products of the company are extremely sought after in India. From their Mi series to Note series and power banks to headphones everything is in demand in the country. But the biggest complaint from the customers is the flash sales strategy. Consumers have to log in at a certain time to get a chance of buying a phone. And a lot of the flash sales are over in a few seconds. Advertisement Zopo sells 3 series of phone in India. Most notable of them is the speed series which has decacore processors. They are metal phones with high-end specs. The other two series are Flash series and color series. Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment is the fourth largest phone manufacturer in the world. Although in India it is not that popular. ZTE still offers a lot of phones in India including blade series which is their prominent offering. They also make tablets and feature phones. Advertisement This is a sub-brand under Lenovo. Right now they only have one offering in Zuk Z1 which is a low-cost Android phone. Chinese phones have created the cult of their own in the Indian market. There are plenty of reasons behind it including saturation in the Chinese market. In the last quarter of the last year, shipment from Chinese manufacturers rose 71 percent. These phone makers are trying to set up manufacturing plants in India as well to participate in "Make In India" scheme of government. While companies like Xiaomi wants to open their exclusive stores in the country. It will be interesting to see how Indian smartphone makers would respond to this. Advertisement Mukesh Gupta / Reuters A veiled Muslim woman shows her ink-marked finger after voting outside a polling station in Doda district, north of Jammu, April 17, 2014. Around 815 million people have registered to vote in the world's biggest election - a number exceeding the population of Europe and a world record - and results of the mammoth exercise, which concludes on May 12, are due on May 16. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta (INDIAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani husbands can 'lightly' beat their wives if they disobey, according to a controversial recommendation made by a state-affiliated Islamic body in its new women protection bill. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) enjoys constitutional status in Pakistan and gives non-binding proposals to the parliament to make laws according to Islam. Advertisement The controversial alternative bill was prepared after the CII rejected Punjab's Protection of Women against Violence Act (PPWA) 2015, as un-Islamic. PPWA, passed by the Punjab assembly, gives legal protection to women from domestic, psychological and sexual violence and calls for the creation of a toll-free abuse reporting hot line and the establishment of women's shelters. The CII will now forward its proposed bill to the Punjab Assembly. According to the Express Tribune, the 163-page draft bill proposed several bans on women. The bill said that a husband should be allowed to 'lightly' beat his wife if she defies his commands, refuses to dress up as per his wishes and turns down demand of physical contact. It suggested that a beating is also permissible if a woman does not observe Hijab, interacts with strangers, speaks loud and provides monetary support to people without taking consent of her husband. Advertisement It also recommended to ban co-education after primary education, ban on women from taking part in military combat, ban on welcoming foreign delegations, interacting with males and making recreational visits with strangers. Female nurses should not be allowed to take care of male patients and women should be banned from working in advertisements, it said. It also recommended that an abortion after 120 days of conceiving should be declared 'murder'. However, it said, a woman can join politics and contract a Nikah without permission of parents. If any non-Muslim woman is forced to convert, then the oppressor will be awarded three-year imprisonment while the woman will not be murdered if she reverts to her previous faith, it said. The law has been proposed at a time when the CII is under fire from many social groups for opposing women's rights. Advertisement Contact HuffPost India Also see on HuffPost: Pawan Kumar / Reuters Akhilesh Yadav, the chief minister-designate of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and state party president speaks in front of a portrait of his father and the Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav, during a meeting with the newly elected legislators at party headquarters in the northern Indian city of Lucknow March 10, 2012. Akhilesh Yadav has won national acclaim by helping return his father to power as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous and politically key state where Rahul Gandhi had hoped to stage a revival for Congress as it prepares to contest national elections in 2014. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar (INDIA - Tags: POLITICS) Voters these days like to give decisive mandates. The drama of post-poll alliance making in hung assemblies is increasingly a distant memory. After 17 years of unstable governments in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Partys Mayawati won with a full majority in 2007. Five years later, in 2012, Akhilesh Yadav became chief minister with a clear majority. There is little doubt that if elections were held tomorrow in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahaujan Samaj Partys Kumari Mayawati would become chief minister for a third time, with a full majority. But election are nine months away, who knows which way the direction of the winds may change? Advertisement Too small and scattered, the Most Backward Classes, the MBCs, are a substantial vote in UP. They are the swing vote. They vote for the party they think is winning. You get the MBC vote after you have created the impression that you are likely to win. There is little doubt that if elections were held tomorrow in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahaujan Samaj Partys Kumari Mayawati would become chief minister for a third time. If MBCs are the last vote, the first vote in UP is that of Brahmins. About ten per cent of the population, often concentrated in particular regions, it is the Brahmins who Mayawati wooed in 2007. The Brahmin vote matters a lot more than 10 per cent. Brahmins have a disproportionate share of the public discourse. In the local media, at the chai shop, amongst the chattering classes, Brahmins have power to influence the sense of the political hawa. Advertisement Post-poll surveys after the 2007 election showed that only 17% Brahmins had voted for the BSP, and most of this was likely concentrated in seats where the BSP had given tickets to Brahmin candidates. Yet it is their capability to give the impression that the party they are supporting, mattered a lot. After becoming chief minister of the most important state with a full majority, breaking the jinx of unstable governments, Mayawati developed prime ministerial ambitions (much like Nitish Kumar these days). She was so consumed by that thought that she even held a rally in Kohima, Nagaland! Governance in UP suffered. After becoming chief minister of the most important state with a full majority, breaking the jinx of unstable governments, Mayawati developed prime ministerial ambitions (much like Nitish Kumar these days). (Supporters listen to Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati during an election rally in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, April 27, 2014. AP Photo/ Rajesh Kumar Singh) Advertisement In the 2009 general elections, alarmed at the prospect of a Dalit becoming prime minister, Brahmins decided to support the Congress. There are many reasons why a party wins or loses, but this was one of them in 2009. Along with factors such as NREGA and farm loan waiver, Brahmin support was party responsible for the Congress winning 21 (of 80) seats that election, up from 9 seats in 2004. Their ally, the Jats Rashtriya Lok Dal, won another 5. Similarly, the Samajwadi Party in 2012 wooed Brahmins in a big way, creating the impression that they were shifting from Mayawati to Akhilesh Yadav. After winning just 20 seats in that election, the BSP feared losing its core Dalit base. To stop alienating her Dalit voter base, she allowed, after 2009, Dalits to register larger number of cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act). She also started to help some Dalits regain land that they had titles for, but was illegally occupied by upper castes. These small measures alienated upper castes, especially Brahmins, who found it important to put their weight behind the Samajwadi Party to make sure there was no ambiguity about Mayawati losing. In this process, while the BJP still retained the largest chunk of the Brahmin vote, that share kept declining. Brahmins in UP have a simple problem with the BJP. After Atal Behari Vajpayees exit from the political scene, the BJP has not been able to give them a Brahmin leader of high stature. The tallest BJP leader in UP, Rajnath Singh, is a Thakur, and Brahmins arent particularly fond of Thakurs. Kalraj Mishra and Murli Manohar Joshi could never reach that stature. Brahmins in UP have a simple problem with the BJP. After Atal Behari Vajpayees exit from the political scene, the BJP has not been able to give them a Brahmin leader of high stature. For Brahmins, as with most voting blocks in UP, seeing more Brahmins in the assembly is more important than Hindutva. Brahmins see the Congress, even today, as their natural party of power. The Congress system was a rainbow coalition of extremes -- Dalits, Muslims and Brahmins, excluding the OBCs who largely went with the socialists. In this Congress system, the Brahmins reigned supreme. Thakurs were also part of this Congress system. As Rahul Gandhis efforts have shown, it is impossible to make a dent in Mayawatis Dalit votebank. However, if Brahmins see the prospect of regaining political prominence through the Congress, they wouldnt mind going that way particularly if the BJP again fails to woo them. If the Congress is able to woo Brahmins and create the impression that it is suddenly becoming a serious player in UP 2017, the Congress may also be able to Muslims (18%) and Thakurs (7%). Thats a 35% vote block, enough to create the impression that the hawa is with the Congress, and the swing MBC voters could follow. The 2014 Modi wave was an exceptional situation, where the BJP got some votes from all communities except Muslims, and won 71 of 80 seats. The Brahmins were on the right side, not least because they dominate the RSS. As Rahul Gandhis efforts have shown, it is impossible to make a dent in Mayawatis Dalit votebank. However, if Brahmins see the prospect of regaining political prominence through the Congress, they wouldnt mind going that way. Advertisement (A supporter holds a mask of Narendra Modi during a political rally in Robertsganj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Saturday, May 10, 2014. AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) But as Delhi and Bihar have shown, the Modi wave is not a factor in state elections. The BJP can succeed in UP only if it adopts a Brahmin first strategy. After wooing Brahmins and Thakurs, it could add the non-Yadav OBCs and MBCs. The mistake that the BJP makes is that it is not able to keep Brahmin voters happy, alienating them by putting non-Yadav OBCs at the forefront. The Kingston Trio comes to Hutchinson All three current members, have links to and experience with the original group. Sections Airports Business & Regulation Business & Regulation Capital spending Chemical Plant Connectwise Digital Disruption 5G Sustainability Downstream Energy Fossil Gas Oil giw_hydrocarbons HSE Justrite Safety Group LNG Processing Manufacturing Materials Plastics Oil Refining Operation Operations and Maintenance Petrochemicals Process Plants Renewable Fuel Cells Hydro Solar Wind Technology Transportation Vessels Categories Cables, Hoses and Accessories Catalysts and Absorbents Chemicals, Additives and Raw Materials Compressors Corrosion, Cathodic Protection, Coatings and Insulation Environmental Services and Equipment Exploration and Production Filtration and Separation Equipment Fire and Explosion Protection Systems and Materials Health, Safety and Protective Equipment Heat Transfer Equipment and Pressure Vessels Heating and Thermal Equipment Ignition and Flare Systems Instrumentation IT Hardware, Software and Support Logistics and Transportation On-site Accommodation, Cleaning and Catering Facilities Pipeline and Tank Inspection, Maintenance and Rehabilitation Pipes and Pipelines Process Plants and Equipment, Control and Automation Processing Equipment, Control and Automation Project Management, Consultancy, R&D Pumps and Pump Equipment Safety Systems and Lighting Storage, Tank Maintenance and Transport Training and Simulation Valves and Actuators Pirate Radio Stations Are Making A Comeback Although many may have assumed that pirate radio's best days were behind it, a recent report from the Associated Press shows that these renegade terrestrial broadcasters are on the rise once again. ______________________________ Guest Post by Bobby Owsinski on Music 3.0 Once upon a time pirate radio stations were big business and a big influence, with Radio Caroline, Radio Luxembourg and XERF all helping birth the modern radio and music industries. Most pirate stations have been long closed, and it was thought that theyd be gone for good thanks to the Internet. Surprisingly, pirate radio is actually on the rise again, according to a report by the Associated Press. It seems that you can actually put a station on the air that covers a couple of miles for a mere $750, but why would anyone even think about it? The fact is that many want to broadcast to underserved immigrant communities to provide them with a slice of home. Others who formerly had their own Internet station but were forced to abandon it because of the recent huge increase in license fees have turned to a more traditional terrestrial approach. Still others feel that the homogenized sound of the radio thanks to the station group ownership has let down the listener. The FCC issued about a hundred warnings to pirate stations last year, mostly in Boston and Miami where clusters of them seem to operate. According to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, fining the operators and seizing their equipment doesnt stop many of them because often they wont pay the fines and will just buy new equipment if its confiscated. The problem is that the FCC is short-handed and isnt able to following up as timely as theyd like. As a result, agents have instead gone to landlords and local police to enlist them to be on the lookout for pirates. Why is pirate radio a problem? With officially licensed radio struggling so badly, any advertising siphoned off by pirates can really hurt financially. Plus theres the issues of interference with existing station signals and even the Emergency Alert System. So it looks like something very old is new again. Terrestrial pirate radio may not be hip, but its making a comeback. Share on: The jury in the second Oracle versus Google trial reached a unanimous verdict that Google's implementation of 37 Java APIs in its Android operating system was lawful and constituted "fair use". This verdict will come as a great relief not only to Android developers but to all developers who rely on existing APIs. Had Oracle prevailed and been awarded a large sum in damages it could have led to a spate of similar lawsuits. This second jury trial would never had happened if Judge William Alsup's ruling at the end of the first one - that Oracle's Java API were not copyrightable - had not been overturned on appeal. The Supreme Court refused to reconsider the issue of API copyright, leaving the way open for Oracle to sue Google for infringing its copyright for the use of 37 API's. The new trial was again held in front of the Judge Alsop, who as we revealed had personal experience of writing code and during the original trial, extended his knowledge of programming languages to include Java. The task for the jury was to decide if Google's use of Sun Microsystem's Java APIs, acquired by Oracle after the Android operating system was implemented using them, overstepped the boundary of fair use. Part of the defence was that Sun, which was essentially a hardware company had no objections to Google's use of the Java language and its APIs - the language was intended to be free for all to use - "write one, use everywhere" was and is its motto. The other plank of the defence was that the 11,000 lines copied were declaring functions rather than implementing functions. Commenting on its win a Google spokesperson said: "Todays verdict that Android makes fair use of Java APIs represents a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products." The EEF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) which had petitioned both the Federal Appeals Court and the Supreme Court for a ruling that APIs are not copyrightable welcomed the outcome of this trial: The Google verdict is an an important validation of the idea that developing interoperable software need not require permission or a license. As Google attorney Robert Van Nest said in his closing arguments, the law expressly endorses fair useit's a right, not an "excuse," as Oracle attorneys had claimed. On the other hand the EEF is far from satisfied saying: Still, the fair use victory is bittersweet. Judge William Alsup's previous opinion that the API labels in question are not copyrightable was the correct one, based on a reasonable reading of the copyright law in question. The Federal Circuit decision to reverse that opinion was not just wrong but dangerous. While developers of interoperable software can take some comfort in the fact that reimplementation may be fair use, a simpler and fairer solution would simply have been to recognize API labels as a system or method of operation not restricted by copyright. A statement from Oracle's general counsel Dorian Daley signalled that this isn't yet the end of the saga: Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Googles illegal behavior. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal and we plan to bring this case back to the Federal Circuit on appeal. Comments Make a Comment or View Existing Comments Using Disqus or email your comment to: comments@i-programmer.info An insurance agent facing prison time for involvement in a $10.8 million IRS scam tried to scare off a witness with a little hocus pocus.Mayra Edith Blair, 41, apparently placed the photograph of a former employee and key witness, Diana Oritz-Zarate, on an altar of Santa Muerte also known as Saint Death.Saint Death is a female folk saint said to provide healing, protection and safe delivery to the afterlife. In this case, however, Blair intended the saint to place a curse on Ortiz. Blair also plotted to smuggle Ortiz to Mexico, according to hearing testimony.Blair pleaded guilty last week in US District Court to conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The scam intended to rip off the IRS via Blairs agencys program to allow illegal immigrants to collect income tax refunds.The two men who engineered the plot, illegal immigrant Amada Valdez-Morales and an unidentified Honduran, seized on a program in which undocumented workers are given individual tax identification numbers to file income taxes and collect refund checks.Valdez and the other man obtained fake identification documents to obtain IRS tax identification numbers in the names of fictitious workers. Blair, who owned and operated Mayra Moreno Insurance Services, crafted the tax returns and directed her employees to do so also, using various credits to ensure big refunds. She then received a cut of the funds.Ortiz, whom Blair attempted to intimidate, was a key witness to this plot.Chief US District Judge Tom Varlan has set a sentencing hearing for October 12.The plea agreement Blair entered into ensures a prison term, as it holds her accountable for as much as $3.5 million in fraudulent refunds. Under federal sentencing guidelines for such white-collar crimes, the amount of financial loss dictates whether time will be served. Most health insurers who took large financial hits on the federal exchanges are looking to increase their premium rates for next year, observed The Wall Street Journal.Particularly large plans in states like New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia are planning to hike rates by over 20%. In other states, like Florida and Maryland, the average premium increase was above 10%. Among the states that have disclosed their rate filing information, only Vermont so far had posted requested insurance rate increases below 10%.The requests still need to be approved by state regulators before they are implemented for next year. With other states yet to unveil their premium rate proposals, a full picture of the nations seemingly mounting premium rates cannot be determined. Regardless, the proposals need to be submitted and approved before November 1, when the Affordable Care Act-affiliated federal exchanges reopen for individual health plan enrollment.The report on The Wall Street Journal suggests that through the increases, the countrys insurers are adapting to the industry changes made by the ACA.The ACA is popularly known for making health coverage more accessible to all, regardless of medical history, with consistent pricing and limited variation based on age. On the other hand, it has increased the price of insurance for healthy consumers, discouraging them from purchasing coverage and offsetting the costs of sicker enrollees.Analysts and a number of insurers had cautioned of costs higher than expected should the health law underestimate how sick the population is. Many also anticipated that rates would increase as a result.Some carriers are expecting 2017 to be a difficult period, with federal programs created to act as subsidies for insurer losses expire, such as the risk corridors.Despite the impending increases, federal officials reassured that consumers who purchase coverage through online exchanges will not feel the full brunt of the premium changes, thanks to a federal subsidy that could potentially lower costs.Americans will continue to have affordable coverage options in 2017, remarked HealthCare.gov CEO Kevin Counihan. Proposed rates arent what most consumers actually pay. The vast majority of consumers qualify for tax credits that reduce the cost of coverage below the sticker price, and people can shop around and find coverage that fits their needs and budget. Writing coverage for behavioral health agencies has become much easier over the past few years as more mainstream companies have entered the market, said 24-year account executive William Bill Zester, who has focused on the sector for more than half of his career.Zester has worked for 5 agencies, and is now with a large independent agency in Ewing, New Jersey. That century-old firm donates more than $100,000 a year to local nonprofits and sponsors events such as bringing in a fundraising expert to lead seminars for local organizations.Zester said he was introduced to nonprofit social service accounts by a former boss who did a lot of work in the sector. He was big into writing behavioral healthcare nonprofits, a lot of drug treatment clinics, methadone clinics, addiction treatment programs, and he introduced me to those products. We really campaigned to try and write as many of these types of accounts as possible and they were a little hairier in those days, a little more difficult. They werent being pursued as aggressively by your standard general agents, so they were a little more bulletproof, which was appealing. When I got an understanding and a feel for what they needed and what they wanted and the types of programs I could put in place for them, it became my niche specialty, he said.Since that time, he said, he has seen companies come and go. Even with some companies going out of business, he said today the nonprofit sector is better served than ever. Lately, more companies have been coming in to write these kinds of accounts. Some of the standard carriers have come in, and become pretty aggressive writing them. These are companies that werent even thinking about writing this kind of account in the past, so it became a little bit more mainstream.Today, he said there are 5 or 6 mainstream companies willing to write any given account. We have the pick of the litter now. Also the coverages have changed. In the past if we had an account that needed primary medical malpractice, we had to bring a med-mal specialist in to write that. Now a lot of carriers will write that primary med mal in with the standard coverage.Sexual abuse molestation has become much easier to place within the program rather than having to pull hairs. Umbrellas now cover over the top of the professional liability and sexual abuse molestation, which they never used to, so the market has changed significantly and it is much less scary than it used to be and much more open. Some of the standard companies have found that this is a profitable niche, he said. Oklahomas leading insurance regulators have expressed concern over significant rises in earthquake insurance premiums, fueled by a market that has become increasingly concentrated.State Insurance Commissioner John Doak held an Insurance Department hearing earlier this week, warning that if Oklahoma were to experience a major quake, the event would be catastrophic.If Oklahoma was to have a 7-point or 7.5 earthquake, you could well be looking at a catastrophic loss and we could also be looking at a concentration of carriers, Doak said.He stressed that as an insurance regulator, it was his duty to make sure risk for events like these is spread among multiple companies so carriers can remain solvent and pay out claims.But this could be in danger as the market has shrunk to just a handful of personal lines carriers in the past five years, according to data compiled by the department. In fact, the group found that just four insurance companies claim 55% of the state earthquake insurance market.The consolidation comes at a time when the total amount of earthquake premiums written in Oklahoma has nearly tripled, from $7 million in 2010 to $19 million in 2015.With fewer insurers in the pool and large rate increases ranging from 4% to 300%, insurers are making more than ever in the earthquake market. And claims paid are low, too out of about 1,094 claims for earthquake damage since 2010, insurers paid only 208. Thats just 19%, the Insurance Department said during the hearing.Earthquake insurance policies typically have high deductibles of 10% to 20%, meaning insurers must only pay out in catastrophic conditions.Now, Doak is hoping to determine whether the marketplace has become uncompetitive. If it has, he will decide whether to place increased regulation on earthquake insurance writers in the state.Under Oklahomas use and file system, insurers do not have to receive approval from the state before raising rates. Earthquake 90% lack insurance Flood 86% Windstorms 55% Earthquake 10% have insurance Flood 14% Renters 40% Cyber 52% Terrorism 62% The softening property market, combined with a record low for insured catastrophe losses over the last three years, has made consumers more comfortable than ever many to the point of neglecting insurance coverage.According to the Swiss Re report Underinsurance in property risk: closing the gap, America is the worlds most uninsured country, representing vast swaths of property, under- and unprotected against natural disasters every year.The rest of the world is not doing much better Japan and China are also dramatically underinsured, and emerging markets like the Philippines or Brazil are also facing low insurance penetration.In a recent webinar, industry experts from Swiss Re and the Insurance Information Institute explored just where global and American property is suffering from lack of insurance, as well as which insurance lines in general have the lowest take-up rates.The top three most uninsured natural disasters, globally, are:All told, thats an estimated uninsured property loss of $153 billion annually, according to Thomas Halzhou, chief economist with Swiss Re.This is even a conservative estimate as it doesnt consider things like hail, drought, or volcano, Holzheu said. So theres a chance this [uninsured property] gap could be even higher.In the US, natural disaster-related risks account for most of the under- or uninsured properties and businesses. However, other areas account for low insurance penetration in the country. According to III statistics, the following is a recent snapshot of US insurance rates:III President Robert Hartwig noted that high insurance take-up rates (such as the 87% of Americans who carry private passenger auto, or the 9% with homeowners policies) are usually associated with legal requirements. By contrast, something like earthquake insurance seems expensive and indulgent even for consumers living in high-risk areas.There are generally three root causes of this kind of underinsurance, the presenters said: Insurability (where risks like cyber liability or terrorism are challenging to insure against), buying behavior (precipitated by faulty risk perception or lack of consumer awareness) and undervaluation (most property is undervalued by an average 26%, according to the Swiss Re report).Hartwig also suggested a fourth: consumer assurance that the federal government will take responsibility for much of the damage in the event of a natural disaster."Clearly we see evidence of rising reliance on government aid in the wake of large disasters," he said.To correct these issues, Swiss Re senior economist Ginger Turner recommends greater public/private collaboration in terms of better government regulation, building standards and zoning. She also put in a plug for innovation in distribution of insurance products.We need broker presence not just at the point of sale, but engaging with customers at all levels, Turner said. Consumers need reminded that insurance is still very important, that their property is still exposed.With so many innovations in technology, whether its drones or sensors in property that allow people to monitor risk, there is a lot of potential out there to improve insurance services after the sale. Register of Probate Francis Marinaro, Spring Jajjar, Dalia Banevicius, Riley Nichols, Kayla Johnson, Emma Sullivan, Judge Richard Simons, and Chief Probation Officer Amy Koenig. Judge Richard Simons said he finds comfort in viewing the art. Register Francis Marinaro said the court was able to accept all of the art submitted. Chief Probation Officer Amy Koenig said art can change perceptions. Emma Sullivan's piece. Kayla Johnson's piece. PreviousNext Student Art to Hang in Berkshire Family and Probate Court Riley Nichols was one of 15 local artists submitting pieces to hang in the courthouse. PITTSFIELD, Mass. Probate and Family Court can be a traumatic time for those who have to attend. But local students are providing a little bit of comfort. For the better part of the year, 15 pieces of student art will hang throughout the halls and in the courtrooms. "I personally can start my day and look at your pieces of art and it comforts me," Judge Richard Simons told the students attending a ceremony on Thursday commemorating the first year of the program. According to Register Francis Marinaro, the court received a grant through the state Creating Community Connection Through Arts program, which provided frames for the art. A call for artists was sent out to the local high schools and 15 students from Taconic, Pittsfield High School, and Berkshire School applied. "We tried to choose as many as we could and luckily we were able to accept them all," Marinaro said. The work will be given back to the art teachers at the end of the exhibit and the frames kept for next year's program. "We are absolutely delighted to be a partner with the school system in Berkshire County," Simons said. Chief of Probation Officer Amy Koenig echoed sentiments said by Simons and Marinaro that the work not only brightens up the courtrooms, making it less of such a dreary place for families and the workers who deal with difficult situations, but also communicates feelings and senses. "Art does communicate with us in a number of ways," she said. "It can change the way we see things." About a half dozen students were able to attend the short reception Thursday. All students will receive certificates of appreciation for the participation as will the schools. The program was started in 2015 and this year is being expanded all across the state. A total of 10 courthouses will feature art from local students. "It was in Essex County as a pilot and it went really well," Marinaro said. "You artists have created a little sunshine in this courthouse." Essex and Middlesex counties also held receptions on Thursday and the rest are scheduled later this month and into June. Finance Committee members Chairwoman Lisa Blackmer and Keith Bona question Timothy Lescarbeau on the public services budget. Member Ronald Boucher was absent. North Adams Continues to Struggle With Overtime, Aging Workforce The Finance Committee has been reviewing the proposed fiscal 2017 budget. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The city is dealing with lack of staff, an aging workforce and a looming exodus of retirees. The three public safety and service chiefs told the Finance Committee on Monday that they could use more people. "We're getting by but the answer is no," said Commissioner of Public Services Timothy Lescarbeau to questions about staffing. "We have more parks than we had 20 years but we have less staff. ... " "But we do have more equipment to help us get by." Lescarbeau can fill some holes with part-time retirees, including one from the Water Department. "You can't replace 30 years of experience," he said. "Outside of that, we pretty much are level funded." Mayor Richard Alcombright has also added a 30-hour maintenance specialist to next year's budget to help with facilities. The individual had been brought on to begin code upgrades to bring the city into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. There is also $10,000 funded for a McCann Technical School co-op student at least through "We've got some guys who are getting older ... but we have a committed staff," said the mayor. "But they have a lot of time ... all you need is three to call in sick." Seniority-driven sick and vacation time, along with employees out with injuries continues to take a toll on overtime. Administrative Officer Michael Canales and Auditor David Fierro Jr. have been tracking the time for several years and feel they can project the costs. "We have an aging workforce and our average age is 45, 47," said Fire Director Stephen Meranti. Police Director Michael Cozzaglio said his department is preparing for rash of retirements in the coming years. The Fire Department is budgeting $252,000 for overtime in fiscal 2017 and the Police Department $305,000. By early April, the overtime budgets for both were $225,000 over for the year, largely because of injuries. Meranti said the line items in his department hadn't changed much other than contractual obligations and step increases. But he's had to increase his overtime multiplier by 2.5, up from 2. "It's almost a $100,000 increase (in the department budget) and the overtime is a lot of it," he said. The Fire department budget is up from $1,554,181 adopted in 2016, to $1,654,145 for fiscal 2017. About $1.6 million of that is salaries. The Police Department is up $245,510, to $1,974,496 for fiscal 2017, largely through the salary lines. It includes a lieutenant, not funded this year, and the addition of a patrol officer. Cozzaglio said the department is also asking for another police officer to replace one who retired in January, which will hopefully help reduce overtime. McCann Technical School Superintendent James Brosnan presented the vocational school's budget, up this year largely because of insurance costs. North Adams will see an assessment of $993,015, up almost 10 percent over this year. Library Director Mindy Hackner also spoke to the library budget, which is up by about $17,000 over this year. The library has had some staffing changes with the departure of a longtime employee; the library is currently looking for a children's librarian. Hackner said her budget was below state expectations, which would be one percent of the municipal budget. The municipal budget is about $39 million. "The state wants us to be in the high $300 thousands and we're at $322 thousand," she said. The committee asked if the library could close a day to bring its budget down. Hackner said the state mandates the library be open one day on the weekend and one evening. "I don't think we want to do something different with our hours of service because it would be a disservice to the community," she said. Elizabeth Mahony, Matthew Ireland, and Melissa Hoffer from the Attorney General's office spent two hours discussing environmental issues with residents in Pittsfield on Thursday. Residents Urge Attorney General to Appeal Pipeline Court Ruling Williamstown resident Sam Smith was one of many who urged the office to appeal. PITTSFIELD, Mass. Environmental advocates want the attorney general's office to appeal a decision allowing Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. to start construction on a pipeline in the Otis State Forest. The group 350 Massachusetts sponsored a listening session with representatives of the office on Thursday to discuss a wide range of environmental and energy concerns. The intent of the two-hour session at the Ralph Froio Senior Center was for those staff members to hear the concerns of Berkshire residents. One message was clear: the residents want to appeal this month's Berkshire Superior Court decision. "If this land can't be protected, what land can be?" asked Sandisfield resident Jean Atwater Williams, saying it was just 15 years ago that the state spent some $5.2 million to acquire and protect the parcels of land the pipeline company plans to build on. Judge John Agostini had ruled on May 9 that the state's Article 97 protection, which is a state constitutional provision protecting areas of the state for conservation purposes, are overridden by the Natural Gas Act on the federal level. It is not related to Kinder Morgan's Northeast Energy Direct project that was scrapped this week. That pipeline would have cut through Berkshire County on its way to Dracut. This pipeline project, known as the Connecticut expansion, has received a certificate of approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and is eyed to expand for 13 miles in Connecticut. However, the Otis State Forest is along the route, which is protected. It takes an act of the state Legislature to remove that barrier and the Department of Conservation and Recreation refused to grant the Tennessee Pipeline Group access to the land until that happens. That led the Kinder Morgan to sue the department. "First they filed a motion which basically asked the court to confirm their authority, under the certificate that was just issued by FERC and under the Natural Gas Act, to confirm them have authority to condemn the easement area they need for the pipeline in Otis State Forest," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Ireland, who argued the case, said. "Recognizing that this land was in Article 97, they also imparted that with a challenge to Article 97." The second portion of the case included asking the court for authority to start cutting trees and hoped to have that complete by May 1. The court did, however, rule in favor of the state and stayed the decision until the end of July. "They agreed with us that this shouldn't be rushed. This is a really important issue and the parties need their time," Ireland said. That stay means the company won't be able to cut trees by the May 1 deadline and the FERC certificate disallows the company to cut trees during the summer to protect migratory birds. Ireland said it was a "victory" because now the company can't cut the tree until October. "Even though the court ruled against us, the court did a really important thing. It stayed its decision until the end of July," Ireland said. "I think that was a victory for us." Ireland said whether the office will appeal the ruling on the Article 97 issue or not has yet to be decided. But, residents attending the event on Thursday urged him to do so and even suggested other avenues to go through including denying a water quality standards that had been done in a New York case, arguing on the basis of public trust doctrines, or even asking to reroute the entire project. "The law is pretty much against us right now. But in thinking about our next steps, one thing that is important to keep in mind is that there isn't a final judgment in this case," Ireland said. "There won't be final judgment in this case until the court takes a few more steps and those steps are in motion right now." Ireland added that there is tactical reasoning behind not appealing it because right now it doesn't set a legal precedent, whereas if it is appealed and lost, it would become one. Additionally, what happens in the coming months could influence decisions. The next step in the case is a compensation proceeding. There the court will be determining the value of the easements and how much the company will have to pay the state for it. Ireland said Kinder Morgan is asking for that to begin in June and he's asking for September. Otis resident Diane Provenz said the towns will also want compensation for the impacts the construction will cause. She said Sandisfield had a compensation agreement drawn up with the company but it was withdrawn. "Our roads do not meet the standards for the weight of the trucks Kinder Morgan will bring in," she said. Additionally, she said Spectacle Pond is to be drained when the company tests the pressure system after installation. Ireland, however, said the draining of the pond is minimal because the certificate requires clean water the water is run through the system before any gas is is dumped in uplands and can refill the water table and the pond. As for the roads, Ireland said the court won't be ruling on that in the next step but the office will be talking with the company about receiving payment for those impacts. He said the company has money planned for such payment but the state wants to make sure Kinder Morgan follows through. After all of that, there is still a two month window to appeal. "We haven't made a final decision on appealing this matter," Ireland said. Wynn Presented with Jane Addams American Spirit Award PITTSFIELD, Mass. The Berkshire Immigrant Center has honored Michael Wynn as the recipient of the Jane Addams American Spirit Award. Jane Addams was a staunch supporter of immigrants, the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and a role model for those who volunteered to uplift their communities. This award was initiated five years ago to recognize outstanding immigrant advocates in our community who embody the strong principles, moral integrity, and intense activism that Jane Addams stood for. Past winners of this award were former Pittsfield Mayor Jim Ruberto, State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Richard Delmasto, Eleanore Velez, and Alfred Enchill. In his role within the Pittsfield Police Department, first as captain and then as chief, Wynn has been an outstanding advocate for civil rights, public safety, and education. Wynn recognized the changing demographics of the Berkshires and the challenges and opportunities that come with an increasingly diverse community. He fostered a culture of welcoming and inclusivity within the Pittsfield police force through the availability of bilingual outreach materials, Spanish-language training for officers, and collaboration with the Mayors Office to provide an economic incentive to hire more bilingual officers. Bennington Pool & Hearth offers a variety of woodstoves that can be traded through the Massachusetts program. Trade Out Old Woodstove With Help from Massachusetts Program BENNINGTON, Vt. Time is running out for Massachusetts residents to take advantage of a rebate program that will save them money on heating costs and help protect the environment, too. The Commonwealth Woodstove Change-Out program, a partnership between MassCEC, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Energy Resources, offers rebates to assist Massachusetts residents in replacing non-EPA-certified wood stoves with cleaner, more efficient EPA-certified wood or pellet stoves. Homeowners are eligible for a standard rebate if their old woodstove is currently operational, non-EPA certified, and located in a residential building AND the stove they plan to purchase is EPA-certified and meets Commonwealth Woodstove Change-Out Program emissions requirements for new stoves. Homeowners are eligible for a low-income rebate if they meet all requirements for the standard rebate and their annual household income falls below 80 percent of the Massachusetts state median income. But homeowners must have the stove installed by August 22, 2016, to qualify, said Dick Wood, owner of Bennington Pool & Hearth in Bennington, Vt., and Friends of the Sun in Manchester, Vt., both of which participate in the program. Massachusetts began the program in 2012; in 2016, the state committed $700,000 in funding to the program. Standard rebates can be up to $1,500 depending on the stove model, or the low-income rebate can be up to $2,500 depending on the stove model. "There have been various programs by states trying to clean up the air," he said. "Alternative energy sources are all the rage. And there's no carbon footprint with wood." In addition, the federal government is offering a 10 percent tax rebate, up to a max of $300, on the 2016 tax return. Wood said that by replacing an old non-EPA certified wood stove with a high efficiency, low emissions wood or pellet stove, homeowners can improve air quality. The new stoves are up to 50 percent more efficient then older models, and decrease pollution by 70 percent. EPA-certified stoves on average require one-third of the amount of renewable wood sources to produce the same amount of heat as older models. "These new stoves will reduce emissions, heat more effectively and will improve the health and comfort for homes across the commonwealth," DOER Acting Commissioner Dan Burgess said. And, of course, homeowners can reduce their heating bills. "The savings under this program are huge," Wood said. "For example, if you wanted to purchase a Jotul f45 wood stove, and you qualify for the standard rebate, the regular price is $2,149, and with the $1,000 rebate, you end up paying $1,149 for the stove. If you want to switch from burning wood to pellets the savings is even greater. If you qualify for the rebate, and you purchase a Quadra-Fire Santa Fe pellet stove at $2,299, subtract the rebate of $1,500, you will end up paying $799, plus tax and installation." Wood said Massachusetts homeowners who want to take advantage of the program can come into either of his locations Bennington Pool & Hearth at 126 Hicks Avenue in Bennington and Friends of the Sun159 Depot Street. in Manchester - by mid-July at the latest and his staff will assist in determining eligibility, filling out the application, choosing the right replacement stove and arranging for installation. Wood emphasized that installation should be done by a licensed professional and in accordance with any local regulations, as many cities and towns require permits. Any of the friendly staff can assist in the Woodstove Change-Out program, such as Nate or Marty at Friends of the Sun or Charlie and Corey at Bennington Pool & Hearth. "If you look at the list of stoves that qualify, we sell most of them here, Jotul, Hearthstone, Quadra-Fire, Enviro and more," Wood said from the office above the Bennington location, where the business moved after leaving the Walmart plaza in 2010. The business itself has been in operation for nearly 30 years. With the program entering its final stages, Wood said there's no reason for homeowners not to take advantage of it. "It saves money, number one. And you're going to get yourself a more efficient, better unit out of it," he said. 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 Now through June 11, Publix Super Markets are inviting customers to Put Your Money Where the Miracles Are by donating to Childrens Hospital at Erlanger, the local Childrens Miracle Network Hospital. In exchange for a $1, $3 or $5 donation, Publix customers will receive a set of coupons with savings of up to $20 on popular brands. Funds raised from the coupon campaign will help provide life-saving care for local kids.This campaign marks the 25th anniversary of Publix supporting Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals.Since 1992, Publix has raised more than $34 million for the charity. Funds raised locally during the campaign will benefit The Believe Campaign to build phase one of the new Childrens Hospital in Chattanooga.In 2015, our five area Publix locations raised more than $13,000 for Childrens Hospital at Erlanger, said Rebecca Brinkley, director of Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals at Childrens Hospital at Erlanger. Each year they work even harder than the year before to raise funds and help support our hospitals mission to treat sick and injured children in our area.Were incredibly grateful for 25 years of generous support from Publix, said John Lauck, president and CEO of Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals. Over the last several decades, weve seen advances in childrens healthcare that can be attributed in part to community contributions like those from Publix and its customers. For example, research shows nine out of 10 kids born with congenital heart defects now survive into adulthood and childhood cancer death rates continue to decline. We congratulate Publix on the positive impact it has had in the neighborhoods its served over the past 25 years and look forward to the medical advances to come.Those who participate in the register campaign will receive coupons from the following vendors: Kelloggs, Mars (Mars Petcare, Mars Chocolate and Wrigley), good2grow kids juices, Glad, Coca-Cola and Dasani, Georgia Pacific (Angel Soft Bath Tissue and Sparkle Paper Towels), Oil-Dri (Cats Pride.) and Frito Lay.More than 1,000 Publix stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee are participating in the fundraiser benefiting 24 member hospitals. Visit here for 25 reasons community members are grateful for 25 years of Publix supporting Childrens Miracle Network Hospitals. Childrens Hospital at Erlangers nurse manager, Heather Langely, is featured in the first scene. Cleveland State student Matthew Hagood thought his days of attending college were over until he found out about CSCCs Adult Promise Scholarship. The Adult Promise Scholarship is provided by CSCC and the Cleveland State Foundation to offer adults in the community who require financial assistance an opportunity to attend college with a last dollar scholarship. Mr. Hagood was already enrolled at CSCC where he was paying for his own classes when he had a change in his financial situation and was not going to be able to return to school. The Adult Promise is the only reason Im able to attend college at all now, said Mr. Hagood. "It has really helped me a lot. Before I had heard of it, I thought college was basically overat least for the time being. This has really opened doors for me. Dr. Bill Seymour, CSCC president, said, We know that adult students are in great need of financial support to access education that will enhance their careers and livelihoods. This is why CSCC, along with the Cleveland State Foundation strategically reallocated its scholarship funding to provide even greater assistance to adult students creating the Adult Promise." Mr. Hagood recently changed his major to business through CSCCs Advance program for working adults. This is the colleges accelerated program that offers students a quick and convenient way to obtain a college degree by attending class only one night a week. Students complete the degree in a fast-paced format by working with the same group of students throughout the program. At CSCC, there is a wide demographic, said Mr. Hagood. Ive seen students of all ageseven people in their 40s and 50s going back to school. You dont have to worry about there not being students in your age group because there are students in every age group. I'm excited that Adult Promise gives our adult students an opportunity to go to school without worrying about where the money will come from or taking on any debt, said Kim Wills, Financial Aid counselor. Many of them have jobs, families, responsibilities -- making time for school is a big deal, so we're happy to work with the Cleveland State Foundation to provide the funds. Mr. Hagood continued, I like that the classes at Cleveland State are accessible to you in different locations, like the Athens campus. I also like that they are setting up more programs and services for working adults like the Advance program and the Adult Promise. They are also helping people that are already in the workforce advance their careers by completing their education." For those who qualify, the Adult Promise scholarship will fund the remainder of a students tuition bill after state and federal grants, employee assistance, outside scholarships and discounts are applied. Eligible applicants must be 19 or older; considered independent per federal aid guidelines; not eligible for Tennessee Promise; and not yet completed an associates degree. Students must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA.gov) and be in good standing for academic and aid purposes. (Funds will be distributed as available.) For more information on CSCCs Adult Promise Scholarship or other scholarships, contact Wills at 423-472-7141, ext. 355 or visit the CSCC website at www.clevelandstatecc.edu. LBMC Information Security, a division of LBMC, announces the naming of Jason Riddle as partner. "Mr. Riddle, CISSP, is an information systems security expert with broad technology expertise and experience with a variety of industries including healthcare, financial services, and retail. Jason has over fifteen years experience in the information technology and security fields. He previously served as practice leader for LBMC Managed Security Services LLC, a leading provider of network and enterprise security monitoring and response services," officials said. This year has been a tremendous year of growth for LBMC Managed Security Services largely due to Jasons commitment to not only helping our clients solve problems, but exceeding client expectations, said Thomas Lewis, partner-in-charge of LBMC Information Security. From ransomware to advanced social engineering tactics, malicious attacks are at an all-time high and Jasons expertise has been instrumental in helping clients continuously protect their networks -housing their sensitive data and systems in todays constantly changing threat environment. It is an honor to welcome Jason as a partner. Prior to joining LBMC, Mr Riddle gained practical leadership experience as information security officer for a leading financial services company and electronic payments innovator. During his tenure as their corporate information security officer, he also held the roles of vice president, Infrastructure Services; vice president, IT Product Delivery and Security; and director, IT Security and Compliance. Notable accomplishments included attaining ISO 27001 certification and PCI-DSS compliance for the company. Mr. Riddle also spent six years with a regional information security consulting firm as a senior consultant performing HIPAA, PCI, and SOX compliance gap analysis and validation consulting, including audit services, policy development and strategic planning; technical security testing, including network vulnerability assessments, application assessments, and penetration testing; security architecture and design consulting; as well as preparing and presenting executive and technical reports. The early portion of his professional career included positions as network and systems administrator and information security team leader. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, Submarine Force. Imperial County Pesticide Cleanup Event a Success Imperial County, California - Today, the Imperial County Agricultural Commissioners Office, with funding from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), held a pesticide collection and disposal event to assist Imperial County growers with proper disposal of unwanted and outdated pesticides. Containers and the materials they hold will often degrade over time due to exposure to conditions such as high temperatures. Periodic collection of these stored containers ensures safe disposal of these products before they can become a hazard. More than 30 local growers participated in todays collection event. Its wonderful to see the turnout and participation we witnessed today from our farming community, said District 2 Supervisor Jack Terrazas. Proper disposal of pesticide products can be very costly and I am happy to see them take advantage of this amazing opportunity. Approximately 25,000 pounds of pesticides were pre-registered for collection and disposal, according to the organizers and the disposal contractor, Clean Harbors Environmental Services. The weight includes the containers which came in all forms plastic bottles, glass jugs, drums, cans, and bags. Clean Harbors provided additional assistance to ensure safe handling and transport to the collection site of older containers in poorer condition. A wide variety of pesticides, such as herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, were registered for disposal. This project exemplifies EPAs Making a Visible Difference in Communities initiative by supporting disadvantaged communities where the need is greatest, said Kathy Taylor, EPA Assistant Director of the Land Division for the Pacific Southwest. EPA appreciates the support from our state and local partners to protect residents in the Imperial Valley from unnecessary exposure to pesticides. Imperial County Agricultural Commissioner Connie Valenzuela stated, I want to thank the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation for offering us this rare opportunity to assist local growers in safe disposal of old pesticides. Projects like this help reduce the risk of pesticide exposure to residents, farm employees, and the environment. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) helped to secure $150,000 from the EPA to fund this project. The Imperial County Agricultural Commissioners Office is the local agency responsible for administering the pesticide use enforcement program under CDPR. Imperial County Sample Ballot Booklets El Centro, California - Debbie Porter, Registrar of Voters, reminds all registered voters of Imperial County that due to a proof/print delay, sample ballot booklets are being mailed in increments beginning May 25, 2016 through May 27, 2016. Individuals should begin receiving their sample ballot booklets in the next several days. Anyone planning to use the application to request a Vote by Mail ballot in the sample ballot booklet may call the Imperial County Registrar of Voters office and request a ballot be mailed. Vote by Mail ballots may be requested until May 31, 2016. The Registrar of Voters office hours of operation are, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and they are located at 940 West Main Street, Suite 206, El Centro, CA. For more information, contact the Registrars office at (442) 265-1060. FTC and DOJ Sign Antitrust Cooperation Agreement with Perus National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property Washington, DC - The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice signed an antitrust cooperation agreement today with Perus National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI). The agreement will promote increased cooperation and communication among the competition agencies in both countries. The agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., by FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse, head of the Justice Departments Antitrust Division, and Chairman Hebert Tassano of INDECOPI, and went into effect upon signature. We have been partners with INDECOPI since its inception and are delighted to further enhance our already strong relationship through this agreement, Chairwoman Ramirez said. This agreement embodies the commitment to cooperation that has existed between the U.S. agencies and INDECOPI, and will facilitate cooperation to protect the competitive marketplaces that benefit consumers in both of our countries as well as in this hemisphere. "Markets in the United States and Peru, and throughout the Americas, are increasingly linked," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hesse. "In this environment, international cooperation on antitrust enforcement is vital to protecting our economies against threats to competition. We have longstanding ties to competition enforcers in Peru, and this agreement strengthens the tools we have to work together to provide our businesses and consumers with the benefits of open and competitive markets." Highlights of the new agreement include the following: mutual acknowledgment of the importance of antitrust cooperation, including potential coordination when pursuing enforcement activities on related matters; an agreement to consider the important interests of the other countrys competition authority throughout all phases of their enforcement activities; establishment of a framework for communication, consultation, and technical assistance among the agencies; and a commitment to maintain the confidentiality of any information provided by the other agency. The U.S. antitrust agencies and INDECOPI have developed a strong working relationship since INDECOPIs inception in 1993, exchanging views on antitrust policy and, as appropriate, cooperating on investigations. Todays agreement will further enhance these relations. The agreement with INDECOPI is the U.S. antitrust agencies fifth antitrust cooperation arrangement in Latin America, following those reached with Brazil (1999), Mexico (2000), Chile (2011), and Colombia (2014). The Commission vote authorizing Chairwoman Ramirez to sign the MOU on behalf of the agency was 3-0. Jumping on the banned wagon Washington, DC - The FTC just posted a new list and youll want to make sure you dont land on it. Its a list of hundreds of companies and individuals banned from the debt relief business. If your company is a for-profit entity that offers consumers help with debt, chances are you must comply with the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) or the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule (MARS) and maybe even both. It depends on the type of debt you deal with. Assistance with unsecured debt, like credit card debt or student loans, falls under the TSR, while mortgage assistance relief falls under the MARS Rule. Regardless of what rule applies to your business, there are two bedrock prohibitions: You cant take up-front fees; and You cant misrepresent your services or the results consumers can expect from working with you. Both rules also require that you provide consumers with certain information about your services. You can see the consequences of flouting those principles in law enforcement actions announced yesterday two complaints against companies the FTC and the Florida AG say deceptively peddled student loan debt relief services and a settlement with an outfit that pitched bogus mortgage relief and student loan debt relief. If you dont comply with the law, you might find yourself looking for another line of work. At the FTCs request, courts have banned hundreds of people and companies from the mortgage assistance and debt relief services industries. Check out this list to see whos been banned. It includes links to press releases and court documents in the lawsuits that led to the bans. As you can see, the FTC has been cracking down on illegal practices in these industries. Weve sued over 500 companies and individuals who broke the law, resulting in almost 300 bans and hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments. Even if you dont provide mortgage assistance or debt relief services directly, but you work with those who do, you should still review the list. That way, youll know whether the person or company seeking your services is banned. If theyre on the list, run the other way. Under the TSR and the MARS Rules, its illegal to help others commit violations. So lending a hand to the wrong kind of client could put you on the wrong side of the law. Want to help keep your company in compliance? Visit the Business Centers Credit & Finance portal for resources. This Isnt Our Last Love Letter Dear Don Don, Way back in 92 I walked into the room and knew Never felt this way before I shook your hand while gazing into your eyes And the feeling grew As I took a seat I knew A love that would have my heart Forever I knew Way back in 92 They say love at first sight doesnt always last or isnt true We were the exception to that rule Our love had no where to hide A spark set fire As if this is how the universe started I never doubted our love or what we could do Together we grew Forming a bond everlasting That became our glue My euphoria was YOU Im eternally grateful for the love and life we shared For how fortunate we were : to have and to hold through sickness and in health Til death do us part Until we are together again This isnt our last love letter I love you with all my heart and soul Yours forever, Deirdre (Mrs. Hank Snow) Im fortunate to have fallen in love with, marry and make a life with the sharpest, coolest, funniest, most rare, bad ass, tender loving, loyal man on the planet, my husband Don Imus. A True American Hero I dont know why it has been so hard for me to write about my dear friend Don Imus. I certainly know what he meant to me, my family, my charity, my hospital and the millions of fans that listened and loved him for so many years. I keep reading all the beautiful condolences that people are writing about how much a part of their lives were effected by listening to him over the years. But what most people dont talk enough about is what he did for all of us. In every sense of the word, he was an American Hero. His work with children with so many different illnesses and his dedication to their future was unmatched by anyone I have ever known or heard about. Besides raising over $100,000,000 for so many causes, he took care of young people for over 20 years in a state where he could not breathe. Along with his incredible wife Deirdre, he created a world where children were not defined by their disease. That was a miracle! He was a miracle. I will miss him ever day for the rest of my life. I was blessed to be a part of his and Deirdes life. No one will ever do what he did. I love you Don Imus - A TRUE AMERICAN HERO David Jurist IMUS IN THE MORNING FIRST DAY BACK! UK Train Passenger Praised for Refusing to Give Up Her First Class Seat to Old Woman Defense attorney Lee Ortwein said Manny Alcantara and Eddie Holloway, witnesses for the state in the Patrick Carmody trial, were accomplices to the robbery and murder of 21-year- old Chance LeCroy on Sept. 9, 2010. Prosecutor Cameron Williams said Carmody was the muscle in the murder. (Carmody) starts beating (LeCroy) when hes asleep. Thats what the old dog will do. Thats why you bring him. Hes the muscle, Mr. Williams said. After three days of the trial, prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments before the jury left to deliberate. Attorney Ortwein said Carmody was not a part of the group of friends, including Alcantara, Holloway, Billy Bob Partin, Ronald Pittman, and Josh Dawson, who worked at Harbor Lights property in 2010. Attorney Ortwein said the entire group knew about the robbery beforehand. He said Alcantara drove Holloway and Partin to LeCroys house to show him where LeCroy lived.Sounds to me like there was a plan to commit this robbery from the beginning, and Mr. Pittman knew all about it, attorney Ortwein said. Theyre all in on it, and they knew it from the beginning, and that is why their stories dont quite match, cause they dont know what to say.He told the jury to consider how much of the story came from Pittman.Mr. Pittmans gonna say whatever Mr. Pittman needs to say to avoid going back to jail, he said.Prosecutor Williams said he wished all the pieces fit together perfectly, but that real life and murder were messy.He said LeCroys family has been waiting six years for justice.Its been a long time coming, he said.Emily Sailors said it best, said prosecutor Kevin Brown. However much dope or money was in that safe was not worth killing Chance LeCroy over. There is nothing worth (Carmody) going into Chance LeCroys house, going into his bedroom, beating him, and shooting him, and leaving him for dead.During prosecutor Browns closing arguments, relatives of LeCroy left the courtroom sobbing.Before the jury left to deliberate, Judge Barry Steelman instructed that if they found Pittman, Alcantara, or Holloway to be accomplices to the crimes, they could not convict Carmody based on their uncorroborated testimony alone.The state rested its case Wednesday morning after hearing testimony from Dr. James Metcalfe of the Hamilton County Medical Examiners Office. Dr. Metcalfe told the jury LeCroys probable cause of death was two gunshot wounds. He said the victim might have survived the first shot, which passed through both of his lungs, but the second hit his heart.Dr. Metcalfe also noted deep splits in the skin on LeCroys head, some of which resulted in fractures to the skull. He said the wounds could have been made by the butt of a gun, and that besides the wounds to the head LeCroy suffered 13 or 14 other injuries.Attorney Ortwein asked if the two gunshot wounds could have come from the same gun. Dr. Metcalfe said it was possible.One witness for the defense testified that Holloway told her Pittman had shot LeCroy, but she hadnt given Holloways name to the police because she didnt know what kind of person Ronnie was. Josh Dawson testified that he saw Carmody, Pittman, and Partin drive by in a gray truck before lunch on Sept. 9. He said he had previously helped paint the truck because Pittman had told him to, and that he suspected it was stolen. He said he later found Carmody, Pittman, and Partin in his apartment, where Carmody was showering. When asked why he didnt initially give this information to the police, Dawson said, I had been threatened if I ever said anything that it wouldnt be good. Carmody chose not to testify, telling the judge he had nothing to offer. I believe the record is clear. It stands on itself, he said. The jury deliberated through the evening before deciding to continue Friday morning. In response to the murder of Bianca Horton, Bishop Kevin Adams and Dr. Charles Mitchell released the following statement: Today there are four children without their mother. Bianca Horton, mother of four, was killed yesterday. In a few weeks she was to testify in the shooting of her infant daughter. This cycle of violence is unacceptable. "Bianca was standing up to stop violence. It's clear both the city and us the community must all do more to protect and stand with community members like her. Someone willing to stand up to violence needs protection, and we must all find ways to help. "Earlier today we asked Mayor Berke to establish a Witness Protection & Victim Assistance Fund to help make resources available to protect witnesses and victims. He has agreed, and in the days to come we will be working with anyone willing to help coordinate better protection and support for witnesses willing to stand up to violence. "In the meantime, we ask community members join us in supporting two actions today: - Contribute to help Bianca's family at their GoFundMe page - Community members are rallying together to help the family. Join us in pitching in: https://www.gofundme.com/263saazd - Take our Community Questionnaire - We have to create an environment where it's safe to help make our community safe - we need your help, and ideas. Please take our questionnaire to help inform community leaders and advocates working to find solutions to make Chattanooga a safe community for everyone: http://connect.chattanooga.gov/safe/ideas/. "No child and no family should suffer as this and too many of our other families have. Overcoming these challenges is too big for any one organization or person - we must do it together. Please join us at chattanooga.gov/safe. 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 }} Marvel Comics readers were left furious this week following the reveal that its most trustworthy superhero Captain America is actually a major villain. In the comic book titled Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, a flashback shows the character for the Nazi-supporter he's always been; "Hail Hydra," he can be seen saying on the final page, leading readers to believe he's been working for the villainous organisation the entire time. Fans have been up in arms hoping the twist would be undone in future comics to come. One such person was Captain America actor Chris Evans who expressed his thoughts via the below tweet. Writer Nick Spencer has confirmed the twist is no gimmick, stating the moment will have "lasting repercussions." Despite the character's darker side in recent film Captain America: Civil War, we still can't really see the comics pulling off Cap the villain. The character found himself at the centre of fan campaign #GiveCaptainAmericaABoyfriend earlier this week following Frozen actor Idina Menzel's public support of a similar campaign named #GiveElsaAGirlfriend. Evans, who last played the role in Civil War, recently revealed he'd be happy to pass the shield onto another actor when he leaves the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps he should jump ship before this twist is inducted. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Its been some time since Radiohead were last seen on stage and Thom Yorke knows it. This feels mad, he says, looking out at the crowd. Ninth studio album A Moon Shaped Pool ends the longest period the band have gone without putting out a new record and harks back to some of the bands best work, and this gig - one of three sold-out London shows - marks their first in the capital in four years. On opener Burn the Witch it's impossible not to recall Hail To The Thief's Wolf at the Door. Don't look in the mirror/At the face you don't recognise Yorke moans as Jonny Greenwood holds a violin bow to his guitar and draws out those orchestral notes, blood-red lights flashing (surely his film score credentials have something to do with this dramatic set). Following the end of his long-term relationship in 2015, it feels as though Yorke is delving back into traditional songwriting structures on this latest work - not as cohesive as 2007s In Rainbows but close, and an album where Yorke opens up about personal truths and self-doubt, admitting them to his audience. Jonny Greenwood plays piano during Radiohead's Roundhouse show (David Jensen/PA Wire) But calling A Moon Shaped Pool a "breakup album" doesn't really do it justice: "Theres a spacecraft blocking out the sky," Yorke sings on 'Decks Dark', world weary. And "dreamers they never learn," he croons as Greenwood draws out those shivering notes on the piano for 'Daydreaming' - this is serious stuff. Fans crane their necks and gaze at the stage with religious fervour at Yorkes gaunt features, rapturous at those wordless moans that could rouse the dead from their graves. These are fans who fall over one another to try and deconstruct the meaning behind a single still from one music video. Theyre given a setlist that showcases the sheer versatility of a band who have consistently avoided yielding to what was expected of them and have no qualms in continuing that tradition here. Fans scream and bellow as Yorke teases out an intro then falter, wrong-footed, as he changes tack with a knowing grin. "Were gonna stay and play everything" he says, looking out at the crowd "not". British rocks bravest and perhaps most unique rock group are, unfortunately, still not flawless, but the odd hiccup allows for Yorke to play the clown. Greenwood, on the other hand, is deadly serious; darting from guitar to piano to drums. The lights plunge out after each track but '2 + 2 = 5' somehow manages to bleed into Nude'. Since this tour began, each gig has come with a major surprise; until their gig in Paris at Le Zenith, Creep hadnt made an appearance in one of their live setlists since a 2009 headline slot at Reading Festival. Earlier in Amsterdam they dusted off My Iron Lung, and tonight, out come 'Talk Show Host', and Myxomatosis' with its bone-crunching synths. "'Fake Plastic Trees' it is not," Yorke announces as the night draws to a close and fans shriek out song names with tentative hope. Its 'Paranoid Android'. As they draw towards the close with one of their most renowned works, it seems incredible that after nine albums, Radiohead are still finding new ways to astonish us. 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 }} We need to talk about Car-sick-gate. This was the incident, widely covered in the newspapers in January, when Top Gears new lead presenter Chris Evans had to ask his driver, the German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, to pull over at the side of the infamous corkscrew section at the Laguna Seca test track in California so that he could very politely throw up. Evans takes it in the right spirit when he thinks back to the ribbing he received at the time. He says his pain was lessened when Schmitz went on to do another driving stunt at the Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada with a Top Gun pilot in her passenger seat, and the airman proceeded to lose his lunch at the edge of the track. Sitting across the table from me in the Top Gear studio at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, Evans is on sparky form. He is clearly fired up by the prospect of driving the show for at least the next three years. He laughs that, The corkscrew at Laguna Seca will do it for anyone. I was so relieved when that Top Gun pilot threw up. No offence to him. I feel massively for him, and hes never going to hear the end of it from the guys at base. But I thank him. I owe him a big drink, actually! Evanss co-presenter, Matt LeBlanc, is suitably sympathetic. Ive done probably 700 laps around the Laguna Seca, mostly on a motorcycle, and even if youre driving, its very disorientating. There is a left-right chicane that drops six stories. The entrance is blind, so if youre not driving, its Vomit City! Matt LeBlanc and Chris Evans in the rebooted (or should that be retrunked) Top Gear (BBC) Shifting into rhetorical fifth gear, LeBlanc continues that, Theres a great bit of footage of [former British Formula One World Champion] Damon Hill driving a journalist along in an SL Mercedes. The journalist winds his window down and just hurls out of the window. Damon pulls over, and the journalist gets out. Damon does a look to the camera and says, Damon Hill makes me sick! Its priceless! This is typical of the banter between Evans and LeBlanc, which will be a central feature of the new iteration of the motoring show. They are taking over from Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, who left Top Gear last year after Clarksons fracas with a producer over the lack of a hot dinner grabbed headlines worldwide. Former Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May (BBC) The host of the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show, the most popular radio programme in the country, and the star of Friends, the most popular sitcom in the world, are very comfortable in each others company. They exhibit the light-hearted joshing and ability to take the mickey out of each other that can only stem from close friendship. LeBlanc, says he and Evans clicked from the moment they went on their first road trip together to Blackpool. After a rainy day in a pair of roofless Reliant Rialtos, they wound up at 11pm totally drenched at a castle in the North West of England. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up The presenter, who bagged a Golden Globe for his performance as a monstrous version of himself in the BBC2 sitcom Episodes, takes up the story. We came into the library, and there was this fire and two glasses of wine and a map. We sat down in this beautiful castle thinking, OK, this is different. What are we going to talk about here? We just spit-balled ideas, and we came up with something which I hope was funny. When you can see out of the corner of your eye the cameramen laughing and shaking, you think, Alright, I think were on the right track here. We had an absolute blast. I have never been so cold and wet and muddy while still smiling. Thats not something that usually induces a smile. The film was just Chris and me. We had great fun. I know I laughed my ass off the whole weekend, so hopefully that will translate onto the screen. This ease in each others company gives the lie to the press rumours that Evans and LeBlanc have fallen out. Becoming suddenly animated, Evans asserts that the stories about the alleged acrimony between the pair come, From someones bored fingers. But as long as its not true, I dont care and none of it is true. One article had 27 lies in it. Does that bother me? No, theres no point getting upset about it. I had previous form with the press, but this coverage was just at a different level. The second the nonsense started being written, though, I was actually quite relieved. I knew I didnt have to engage with it because it was all nonsense. The coverage went so far, it actually did me a favour. 50-year-old Evans continues that, Ive been at the BBC for 11 years, and I have made a lot of mistakes. But I also know about pressure. In many ways, my job this year has been to take all the crap which was always going to happen. My job has been to get the show through this transitional period. Top Gear trailer with Matt Le Blanc In the same way, Evans says he is not concerned about critics of the new show, which starts at 8pm on BBC2 on Sunday and will also soon be available on BBC Store and DVD. I cant do anything about the reviews. Every time we make a film, we simply forget about all that other stuff. We just get on with it. If you worry about what other people think, you take away from what youre actually doing. Sundays opener includes a new feature in which the Hollywood actor Jesse Eisenberg and the chef Gordon Ramsay go head to head on a freshly created course boasting a jump, a water splash, mud and gravel as Stars in a Rally Cross Car. In addition, Evans will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie Top Gun by competing in a 645bhp Dodge Viper ACR against a Chevy Corvette Z06 driven by Schmitz. You might have thought that the idea of taking over from Clarkson, Hammond and May whose own new motoring show, The Grand Tour, begins on Amazon Prime later this year would overwhelm the new team with nerves. After all, the previous trio helped jet-propel Top Gear to the position of the BBC Worldwide s most successful programme globally, generating a reported 50m a year in revenue. And within 72 hours of making its debut on BBC2, the retooled show will be broadcast in 83 countries on six continents. And yet, all the new presenters of Top Gear Schmitz, former Formula 1 boss Eddie Jordan and motoring journalists Chris Harris and Rory Reid will each be fronting different segments of the show alongside Evans and LeBlanc seem remarkably relaxed. LeBlanc says that, I am not nervous. Chris and I are used to pressure situations, which this definitely is. Thats how it was with Friends back in the day. If you had asked me that same question then, I would have said, You shut the door, and you get on with filming this intimate show about six people and their lives. Once its out of the door, its out of our hands. This is very similar here. Nor do the new presenters of Top Gear seem threatened by potential comparisons with the old guard. Surrounded by many of the star cars from the forthcoming series including the two mud-spattered Reliant Rialtos and the Dodge Viper Jordan is bullish about taking on his friend Clarkson. I know Jeremy particularly well, and Im a huge fan. I like him. But that doesnt mean I dont want to be absolutely so much better. The full Top Gear line-up (BBC) "Of course, we want to beat the other guys. That's no different to anybody who has a competitive urge in their body. Yes, we admire what they did, there's no question about that. The previous show was brilliant, but I think this will be a surprise for you guys. When you see what weve done, we're going to be better. Jordan continues: "I know that there is an eagerness not just a focus on the previous presenters that would be completely wrong but I think this will be a very different show. They had a very successful past, but I think you will find this show will be more successful to a wider audience. When Chris and Matt get together, its really dynamic. At the same time, the new team are generous about The Grand Tour (another suggested title, Gear Knobs, was sadly rejected). Evans declares that, When I got this job, I watched every old episode of Top Gear back. Im still amazed that I havent seen them all. One will pop up and Ill think, Wow, I havent seen that one. I was struck by all the brilliant things theyve done. Id think, God, Id love to be there with them. Those three are so good at what they do. Ill definitely watch their new show. However, Evans is adamant that as the new presenter of Top Gear he is not going to attempt to emulate Clarkson or anyone else. There is of course a lot of residual heat around Top Gear because the show is a hit already. Its like joining a famous band. But there is a great phrase, Be yourself everyone else is taken. This is the 23rd series of a show that has been running on the BBC since 1977. But Evans believes Top Gear is far from stalling. He thinks the brand is so potent, it will survive whoever is presenting it. If youve got a show that has a lot of heat around it, people will always want to watch it. Lets take ER, for example. As it grew George Clooney, it grew itself. Then Clooney left, but the show was hot enough to withstand that. Top Gear is like that. Given the amount of flak he has endured in certain sections of the press, Evans remains commendably upbeat to the last. He concludes that, Top Gear is about capers, a gang show, having a right laugh. I want it to be happy escapism. Its a hopes and dreams show. Your TV screen becomes a window onto your hopes and dreams. If youre watching the show at home and you havent got that car in your garage, you can still think, Id like to be there. Its about kicking back with a glass of something you like on a Sunday night and thinking, Lets dive into that world for an hour. Top Gear starts on BBC2 on Sunday at 8pm Top Gear will also soon be available on DVD and BBC Store at https://store.bbc.com/ 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 }} What has the EU done for the environment in the UK? The EUs record on environmental issues is arguably one of its greatest achievements. It has developed world-leading legislation on a range of issues, which have helped tackle water and air pollution, protected endangered species, and imposed tough safeguards on the use of genetically modified crops and potentially dangerous chemicals. Many who swam in the sea off some of Britains most popular beaches in the 1970s have tales of attempting the breast stroke through pools of raw sewage. This week, just 4.9 per cent of bathing sites in the UK were revealed to have poor water quality, although embarrassingly this was the highest proportion in any of the 28 EU member states. The World Health Organisation also recently warned that dozens of British cities were failing to meet air pollution standards. But few would doubt that the situation would be substantially worse if EU regulations had not been an ever-present big stick threatening successive British Governments that have largely failed to make significant progress. Despite estimates that anywhere between 30,000 to 60,000 people die prematurely every year because of the air we all breathe, the UK Supreme Court recently had to order the Government to draw up a plan to tackle the problem in order to meet EU standards. The EUs Renewable Energy Directive, which set a target of 20 per cent of energy from renewables by 2020, has also been credited with helping drive the rapid growth in the industry over the last few years. And the EU regulation that implemented the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which helps prevent the sale of ivory, rhinoceros horn and shark fins is actually more stringent than the standards laid down in CITES itself, according to a report on the environmental effects of Brexit by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP). Has the EU caused any problems? The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is designed to conserve stocks but has been criticised for years, particularly for allowing fish to be caught and then discarded dead into the sea to avoid breaking quotas for particular species. The EU belatedly addressed this with a discard ban that came into force on 1 January this year. Others feel the controls have been too strict with pro-Brexit Cabinet Minister Michael Gove claiming his fathers fish merchant business in Aberdeen had collapsed because of rules set in Brussels. But for all its faults the CFP has helped stocks of fish like cod recover from dangerously low levels and the Government has indicated a similar system would have to be set up in a post-Brexit Britain. The Marine Conservation Society said while the CFP had until recently been universally considered a failure, the new radically reformed version could ultimately lead to a more reliable, prosperous and environmentally sound fishing industry. Pro-EU Conservative MP Damian Green gave a more lukewarm assessment, saying recently that the CFP was better than it used to be. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been accused of favouring large-scale farms designed to maximise the output of food at the expense of the environment, although this legacy of the post-war period has changed in recent years with more subsidies for environment schemes. However the IEEP report concluded that the CAP was still far from a well-conceived and executed policy for the environment, while Greenpeace said the CAP incentivises farmers to keep land fallow without allowing it to re-wild, so the land is both unproductive and low in biodiversity. There are those who would argue that the EUs environmental standards are too tough. The precautionary principle is enshrined in EU treaties and this can mean Europe is slower than the rest of the world to adopt new technologies that affect the natural world. The EUs stance on genetically modified crops, for example, has been attacked by some scientists in the field who believe it is preventing the use of GM plants that have not been shown to do any harm and which could benefit the environment by reducing the levels of pesticides that non-organic farmers believe to be necessary. Opponents of GMOs repeatedly cite the precautionary principle when warning of the dangers of releasing unnatural genomes into the wild. The National Farmers Union recently expressed its exasperation at the EU for failing to reissue a license to use the herbicide glyphosate following disputed claims that it might cause cancer. The NFU insisted the chemical traces of which can be found in human breast milk and urine was safe. 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 Would EU rules still apply after Brexit? Any laws that have been adopted into English and Scots law would still apply if the UK left the EU, but parliament would then be able to change them if it wished. However MPs would have to be careful not to damage the level of UK exports to the EU by breaking its rules on imports. The situation would also depend on whether the UK left the EU but retained access to the internal market by staying a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), adopting a similar status to Norway and Iceland. Remaining in the EEA would mean most environmental laws would still apply, but the Bathing Water Directive that has helped make a trip to the beach a more pleasant experience would not. Would there be any benefits to the environment if the UK left? Parliament would be able to make environmental laws that are specific to Britain, pro-Brexit campaigners argue. George Eustice, a Minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said in a speech recently that the EU was afflicted by "inertia, inconsistency and indecision", whereas a pro-Brexit UK would be "more agile" and have the ability "to act, to decide and to get things done". And he predicted there could be more Government money to help the environment and farmers if the UK left. "The UK government will continue to give farmers and the environment as much support or perhaps even more as they get now," Mr Eustice said. "The Prime Minister has made that clear and I agree with him. "In the scheme of things, the amount of money spent on our countryside and wildlife is very modest when compared with spending on other departments. But we could spend our money more effectively if we had control. "To promote improved wildlife habitats and higher animal welfare standards, we would put in place a scheme similar to the environmental stewardship scheme we have now, but we would make it simpler and broaden the remit of schemes to include measures that improve animal welfare." 'Fish have a tendency not to respect national borders' (Getty Images) Supporters of Brexit often argue that leaving the EU would enable Britain to protect its fish stocks more effectively because it would be able to decide the level of access given to large fishing fleets from countries like Spain. But fish have a tendency not to respect national borders and Defra has pointed out that fishing beyond UK waters is worth 100m a year to the British fleet. If we leave the EU, we wouldnt automatically control our fishing waters, Defra said in a leaflet on the benefits of being in the EU. We would still have to share rights to fish in UK waters because co-operation with other states would need to continue. Greenpeace said it was theoretically possible that the UK could keep the best bits of EU environmental legislation and improve the poor ones What would be the down-side? Picking up from their last point, Greenpeace said it was much more likely, given the history of the UK resisting and weakening environmental directives from the EU, that we would ditch all the good bits and keep most of the bad bits in the event of Brexit. So, for example, wed probably continue giving huge subsidies to the richest landowners in Britain to keep their land unproductive in both biodiversity and crops, but we might also allow them to turn currently protected natural habitats into the same pointless deserts, it said. Greenpeace described the UK government as one of the most obstructive and regressive in Europe on environmental issues, concluding that removing our influence might allow stronger regulation in the remaining EU. However, the UKs environment would probably suffer badly, and the power of the EU as a progressive bloc in international negotiations would be weakened. Its difficult to predict such a complex chain of consequences, but Brexit would almost certainly be bad for the UKs environment, and very probably for the world, it added. Would the EU miss the UK for any kind of environmental reason? According to the IEEP report, they probably would. During the last four decades, the UK has showed a strong record of providing scientific and policy advice to the development of EU legislation regarding environmental quality, demonstrating important UK influence at EU level, it says. Overall, would leaving the European Union be good or bad for the natural world? According to the IEEP report, the EU has developed probably the most complete and influential body of environmental law and policy in the world. The EU has a strong record in agreeing a common approach to a wide range of environmental issues. This has raised environmental standards throughout Europe, it says, adding that this has also had a knock-on effect on the rest of the world, particularly among countries that export to the EU. Memorial Day holiday weekend is regarded as the unofficial start to the summer boating season and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wants to emphasize the use of life jackets while boating in a safe and responsible manner. Annually, the Memorial Day weekend is one of the years busiest boating weekends. Last year, there were not any boating-related fatalities over the holiday weekend. Along with the use of life jackets, TWRA wants to stress the responsible use of alcohol while boating. It is important to consider the effects of drinking and driving whether on water or land. In a boat on the water, the effects of alcohol increase because of external stressors such as engine vibration, wave motion and glare from the sun. Operating a boat under the influence of alcohol or drugs is illegal in Tennessee. Across the state over the 2015 Memorial Day weekend, the TWRA Boating and Law Enforcement Division there were seven boating incidents, six which were property damage and one with injury. TWRA boating officers made 12 boating under the influence (BUI) arrests and five other arrests. For many residents, the Memorial Day weekend will be the first time to have the boat on the water this year. TWRA officials say taking a few minutes to check some of the boat components may be the key to having a nice, safe day. Performing a simple maintenance check before getting on the water may prevent problems. Check hoses to make sure they are in good shape. Make sure the lights work and carry extra fuses and bulbs. In addition, TWRA urges all boaters to remember the basics: *have a wearable life jacket for every person onboard *if your boat is 16 feet or longer, there must be a Type IV throwable device onboard *have onboard a fire extinguisher if you have enclosed fuel compartments or cabins *anyone under the age of 13 must wear a life jacket at all times while the boat is underway drifting is considered underway *any boat operator born after January 1, 1989 must have onboard the TWRA-issued wallet Boating Safety Education Certificate *keep alcohol to a minimumchoose a designated boat operator *make sure there is a current boat registration Boat Operation Basics: *keep a proper lookout at all times *maintain a safe speed *practice good seasmanship *cut the engine while boarding from the water or entering the water from the boat *be aware of the carbon monoxide hazards that exist and keep fresh air flowing *no wake means idle speed *take a boating safety course log onto www.tnwildlife.org for information. 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 }} A new species of snake, described as a calm and mild-mannered creature, has been discovered in the Bahamas but it is already feared to be critically endangered. The silver reptile was found on a silver palm tree on Conception Island, an uninhabited nature reserve, in July last year. And, after research to confirm it was a separate species, it has been named the silver boa or Chilabothrus argentum, scientists revealed in a paper about the discovery to be published in the journal Breviora. Read more Professor Graham Reynolds, of University of North Carolina Asheville, was among the first to see the snake. It was exciting. As soon as we saw the first one, we knew wed found something new, he said. It just sat there and looked at us. They are very docile animals, they are very calm, slow-moving, mild-mannered. A silver boa narrowly misses a bird, ending up with a mouthful of feathers (R. Graham Reynolds. University of North Carolina Asheville) Deciding to conduct a systematic search that night, they then found four others of the same species before deciding to get some sleep on the beach. As I was sleeping I woke up to a disturbance and there was something on my face and I realised it was a boa, Dr Reynolds said. It came out of the forest and crawled around on top of me. Maybe I smelled like the other snakes or something. Ive never heard of that happening [with a boa]. It was confusing at first but I thought it was incredible. I couldnt believe it. He put the snake in a cloth bag and released it later after taking its measurements, an experience the snake seemed to take in its stride. The beach encounter was all the more remarkable because the silver boa appears to be highly specialised, living and hunting in the trees. Because they move so slowly, they catch their food mainly by sneaking up quietly on songbirds while they are resting in the trees at night. Weve watching them stalk and hunt, Dr Reynolds said. It grabs its prey and wraps it up. We think they mostly eat birds. The rarest animals in the world Show all 23 1 /23 The rarest animals in the world The rarest animals in the world Goblin shark Dubbed the "alien of the deep", the goblin shark was caught by a commercial fisherman off the coast of Eden, New South Wales. The carcass of the terrifying looking creature was then donated to the Australian Museum in Sydney so that it could be dissected YouTube/Australian Museum The rarest animals in the world Glass frog Scientists in South America have discovered a brand new species of frog and hes a dead ringer for Kermit the frog. Hyalinobatrachium dianae is an inch-long glass frog with identical bright green skin, a translucent belly, and bulging white eyes with black pupils. The new species found by Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center on the Talamanca hills of the country, was named after the senior researchers mother Diane and brought the total known species of glass frogs on the island to 14 BBC via YouTube The rarest animals in the world Walking fish (climbing perch) A bizarre and seemingly super-powered fish which can walk out of water and breathe on land for up to six days could spell a 'major disaster' for wildlife, scientists have warned. The aggressive climbing perch, which has lungs as well as gills, has been discovered in northern Australia YouTube The rarest animals in the world Frilled shark A rare and terrifying frilled shark has been pulled from the water by fishermen near Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia. Also known as the "living fossil", the frilled shark is named for its six pairs of frill-like gills. The sharks origin dates back 80 million years, and is one of two species that is still alive from this period SETFA The rarest animals in the world Black Sea Devil anglerfish Researchers in the US have released what they believe to be the first video footage showing a bizarre-looking Black Sea Devil anglerfish in the wild. As anglerfish live in the deep sea, they are very rarely seen in their natural habitat, and fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video in the wild, according to experts at the Monterrey Bay Acquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute The rarest animals in the world Blue lobster A rare blue lobster was caught off Pine Point in Scarborough, Maine. The crustacean is being donated to the Maine State Aquarium AP Photo/Meghan LaPlante The rarest animals in the world Two-headed dolphin A con-joined dolphin found on the beach of the Aegean Sea coastal town of Dikili, Izmir province of Turkey AP The rarest animals in the world Conjoined whales A pair of conjoined gray whale calves have been found off the coast of Mexico, in what scientists believe could be the first discovery of its kind CONANPHO/AFP/Getty Images The rarest animals in the world Fish-eating spider (Dolomedes facetus) Dolomedes facetus captured pond fish (genus Xiphophorus) in a garden pond near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The number of spiders who catch and eat fish is on the rise across the world, scientists believe Peter Liley, Moffat Beach, Queensland The rarest animals in the world Dancing frogs A frog couple from one of the 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs AP/Satyabhama Das Biju The rarest animals in the world Kakapo Conservationists in New Zealand are celebrating after an extremely rare kakapo chick hatched from a cracked egg held together by nothing more than tape and glue. The bird joins a global kakapo population of just 125 birds Creative Commons. Photo: jidanchaomian, via Flickr. The rarest animals in the world Migaloo the white whale Migaloo the white whale, sighted at the Bernard Islands Twitter/Migaloo the Whale The rarest animals in the world Domed land snail Living in complete darkness more than 900 metres below the surface has left this tiny snail with no pigmentation in its shell. Discovered in the caves of western Croatia the Zospeum tholussum is also a slow mover, creeping just a few centimeters each week. The rarest animals in the world Leaf-tailed gecko The mottled colouring on this gecko helps it blend in with the rain forests and rocky habitats of eastern Australia. It also has an extremely wide tail (from which it gets its name) to further confuse predators Conrad Hoskin The rarest animals in the world Flying frog A Giant green flying frog which is among the new species found by scientists in the Greater Mekong region PA The rarest animals in the world Megamouth shark An extremely rare female deep-water megamouth shark has been caught off the coast of Shizuoka, Japan, and is believed to be only the 58 sighting of the animal on record The rarest animals in the world A Maui's dolphin Fears grow for Maui's dolphins after New Zealand government opens west coast block for oil and gas drilling youtube The rarest animals in the world Geep A rare goat-sheep hybrid has been born on an Irish farm, much to the surprise of a farmer who said the geep is thriving since its birth Irish Farmers Journal The rarest animals in the world Omani owl An Omani Owl, a species completely new to science PA The rarest animals in the world Albino dolphin A rare albino calf being herded into Japan's notorious Taiji 'killing' Cove, where hundreds of dolphins are slaughtered during its annual hunt Sea Shepherd/EPA The rarest animals in the world Stone curlew The stone curlew is one of the UK's most threatened birds and has recently returned from their wintering grounds in Africa and Spain Getty Images The rarest animals in the world Mascarene Petrel A unique photograph has been taken of a bird with a visible egg showing after experts sent to study a critically endangered Mascarene Petrel on a remote Indian Ocean tropical island encountered an undeniably pregnant member of the species Hadoram Shirihai The rarest animals in the world Albino cobra A "very dangerous and venomous" albino cobra has been found in a suburban Los Angeles neighbourhood after escaping from a home there Dept. of Animal Care and Control, County of Los Angeles Their silver skin is unusual -- snakes usually have a camouflage pattern and the reasons behind its evolution are unclear. The silvery colour is pretty striking. At night it shows up well in a flashlight, Dr Reynolds said. They grow to up to a metre long but are slender, weighing as little as 300 grams. It is believed there are less than 1,000 individuals and that they are under threat from feral cats. We found evidence of feral cats on the island and we know these cats eat other boas, Dr Reynolds said. The boas really have no defence against cats. Robert Henderson, a curator at the Milwaukee Museum of Natural History and one of the world's experts on boas, said finding a new snake species and particularly a boa was a rare and exciting event. Worldwide, new species of frogs and lizards are being discovered and described with some regularity, he said. New species of snakes, however, are much rarer. The beautiful Bahamian Silver Boa, already possibly critically endangered, reminds us that important discoveries are still waiting to be made, and it provides the people of the Bahamas another reason to be proud of the natural wonders of their island nation. 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 }} Its not yet six oclock on a mid-May morning at the wastewater facility just outside Burns, Oregon, but Noah Strycker has already counted 20 different bird species. With the sky still a pre-dawn pink and his spotting scope propped on the rickety wooden platform that overlooks the reservoir, the 30-year-old ornithologist points out coots and Canada geese, eared grebes and cinnamon teal, a bufflehead and a northern shoveller. May is migration time for birds. Millions pass through this remote corner of the US northwest as they make their annual long-haul flight to cooler latitudes. Of the entire year, diversity is probably at its highest this week, Strycker says with a grin, and then adds: Theres nothing quite like a sewage pond at sunrise, is there? If there were a contest to crown the worlds greatest birder, then Strycker would be the title-holder. In 2015, he honoured the birding tradition known as The Big Year a quest to spot as many species as possible in 365 days with the biggest year of all, travelling to 41 countries on seven continents and seeing 6,042 different birds. Thats well over half the worlds estimated 10,400 species, and more in 12 months than any birder in history. In southern Turkey, he came within 10 miles of Isis-controlled territory as he tracked down a bird called the Iraqi babbler. On the island of Sulawesi, he was thwarted in his search for the satanic nightjar by the Indonesian army, which was hunting a local Al-Qaeda cell in the same swathe of jungle. In a palm oil plantation in Papua New Guinea, he spotted a golden masked owl, which had been feared extinct for three decades. Noah Strycker Birding Without Borders Perhaps the strangest moment of the trip occurred on his way home, in early January, when he switched on CNN in an Ethiopian hotel to find that his favourite birding spot on the entire planet the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, near Burns had been seized by a group of armed, anti-government activists. The first thing I did was laugh, because I thought it had to be a prank, he says. But it quickly became pretty serious. The occupation had begun as a protest in support of two local ranchers, convicted for arson after setting fires that spread onto the approximately 300-square-mile Malheur wilderness. Angry at the expansion of protected federal lands, the protesters vowed to return the refuge to the people for ranching and mining, and urged patriots from across the US to join them. But the far-right wing-nuts had picked their time and place unwisely. Burns is one of the most isolated communities in the US, almost 200 miles from the closest medium-sized city. In the depths of winter, the surrounding countryside is bleak and inhospitable. They didnt manage to inspire many patriots but they did aggravate a heck of a lot of birders. Malheur headquarters, a cluster of one-storey buildings in a solitary stand of trees on the undulating expanse of the high desert, has the highest bird species density of any single location in Oregon. Its unthinking occupiers had dirtied many of the buildings, dug defensive trenches that damaged tribal burial grounds, and destroyed a great-horned owls nest that had sat in a nearby watchtower for several years. People were absolutely outraged, says Strycker, who responded to the occupation by speaking in support of public lands like Malheur at a rally attended by hundreds in his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. The stand-off finally ended in February, after 41 days, with one occupier shot dead by the FBI and 16 others behind bars. Three months later, Malheur headquarters is still closed for repairs, but the birders are back in force and so are the birds. By seven oclock, Strycker and his father, Bob Keefer, have spotted two different owl species from the front seats of the family Subaru: a burrowing owl perched on a fence post, and a short-eared owl swooping low over the grasses in search of breakfast. Strycker picks out a yellow warbler bopping along a branch and a bittern skulking in a reed bed. He hears the call of a chukar partridge from hundreds of metres away and soon sights it through his scope, squatting on a far-off rock among the sagebrush. Birding will probably never be a cool activity, but Im fine with being a bird nerd, says Strycker, whose t-shirt bears the warning: CAUTION: This person may talk about birds at any moment. Birding, he explains, is like a treasure hunt. You have to gather all this information, and then use it to track down the bird. When you find the bird youve been looking for, its a rush. And its universal. Everywhere you go, there will be birds. Even in the middle of the Bronx, you can look up and at least see a pigeon. Noah Strycker at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Birders are collectors by nature, compulsively listing each new sighting in a notebook or on a phone. As a boy, Strycker collected coins, stamps, business cards, even toilet paper tubes, before getting hooked on birds at the age of 10, when his schoolteacher pinned a bird identification guide to the classroom wall and installed a feeder just outside the window. That summer, he persuaded his father to help him build two dozen bird-boxes and put them up around the family property on 20 rural acres outside Eugene. I identified all the birds in our back yard from a field guide, and then I just kept on expanding my horizons. Keefer, an arts journalist and photographer, first brought his son to Malheur to attend a bird festival when he was 12. It was a real eye-opener, he recalls. I saw him in the company of birders for the first time and realised that he knew exactly what he was doing and that it was a complete mystery to me. Everything I know about birding, I learned from Noah. While he was in high school, Strycker found a bloated, days-old deer carcass at the side of the road, hauled it into the boot of his car and drove it home to deposit on his parents back lawn, hoping to attract turkey vultures. The following day, there were 20 of them roosting on the roof of the house. Years later, turkey vultures are still his favourite bird. Birding will never be cool, but I'm fine with being a bird nerdTheyre under-appreciated, he says. They have so many interesting behaviours, besides just eating dead stuff. For instance, they have an incredibly well-developed digestive system. They can even eat anthrax spores, and everything that comes out the back end is completely sterile. So they often defecate down their own legs to keep themselves cool on a hot day, or to sterilise them after theyve been walking across deer carcasses. During his gap year, he called the US Fish and Wildlife Service and asked whether he could volunteer at Malheur. They didnt have a bird programme, but they were clearly impressed by the then-teens enthusiasm. He was given a three-bedroom house and a pick-up truck, and told to spend three months conducting bird surveys on the refuge. Since graduating from Oregon State University in 2008, Strycker has stitched together a career as a full-time birder: writing for bird magazines, guiding bird tours and taking part in research projects, one of which involved three months in a tent in Antarctica with two other scientists and 300,000 Adelie penguins, an experience that led to his first book, Among Penguins. Noah Strycker's Big Year Show all 9 1 /9 Noah Strycker's Big Year Noah Strycker's Big Year A crowned woodnymph, spotted in northwest Ecuador in March 2015 (Noah Strycker) Noah Strycker's Big Year Starting his Big Year in Antarctica yielded one of Noah's favorite birds, the Adelie Penguin, on 1 January (Noah Strycker) Noah Strycker's Big Year Noah celebrates seeing his 5,000th bird of 2015, a flame-crowned flowerpecker, with local birders in the Philippines on 26 October (Noah Strycker) Noah Strycker's Big Year The Whitehead's Trogon, endemic to Borneo, was one of Noah's most-wanted birds in southeast Asia. He found it on 18 November. (Noah Strycker) Noah Strycker's Big Year Noah rides "La Brujita," a motorcycle-powered train car, with local birders in the foothills of Colombia (Noah Strycker) Noah Strycker's Big Year Noah's last bird of 2015 was this Oriental Bay-Owl in Assam province - a species which had never before been photographed in the wild in India. (Noah Strycker) Noah Strycker's Big Year Noah Strycker scoping birds at the outflow of a hot springs creek on the Alvord Desert, east of Steens Mountain on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (Bob Keefer) Noah Strycker's Big Year Noah Strycker and his father, Bob Keefer, birding at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in May 2016 (Tim Walker) Noah Strycker's Big Year Cinnamon teal at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon (Tim Walker) It was as he hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2011 that he first began to contemplate pursuing a Big Year. For at least half a century, the only truly competitive activity in birding had been confined to North America, which contains fewer than 800 bird species in total. The earliest recorded American Big Year was completed by a travelling businessman, whose cross-country work trips helped him to rack up an annual total of 497 species in 1939, five years after the publication of the first comprehensive modern bird guide. The current US record-holder, Neil Hayward, saw 749 species in 2013. Nobody made a serious tilt at a worldwide Big Year until 1989, when American ornithologist James Clements spotted 3,662 species. By the time Strycker started planning his own Big Year, the global record stood at 4,341 species, seen by a British couple, Alan Davies and Ruth Miller, in 2008. He intended to smash it. Unlike Davies and Miller, he would make a single, continuous journey around the globe, with a 365-day itinerary designed to wring the most possible sightings from each location. His target was 5,000 species, an average of 13.7 new birds every day. To fund the $60,000 (41,000) trip, he snagged a book deal and an agreement with the National Audobon Society in the US to write a daily blog about his travels. He secured sponsorship from Leica, who gave him a camera, binoculars and a scope. He scanned a stack of field guides into his computer. And then he stuffed everything Leica kit, laptop, phone, malaria pills, mosquito net, an iPod the size of a postage stamp and a change of underwear into one carry-on rucksack. Wherever he went, he would be accompanied by local birders that hed met on previous trips or contacted online. He would spend most nights sleeping on their sofas and floors. To be a birder is to be a conservationist, so he joined a carbon-offsetting scheme to neutralise his journeys environmental impact. Back home in Oregon, Keefer and Stryckers mother, Lisa, would provide logistical support, keeping track of plane tickets and visas. Strycker saw in 2015 with a bottle of champagne and a dip in a hot tub aboard the Akademik Ioffe, a former Soviet research vessel, since repurposed for Antarctic tourism. He saw his first bird of the year about three hours later: a cape petrel, near Spert Island in the Palmer Archipelago. I have this theory that the first bird you see of the year is an omen for the year to come, he says. So I was really glad that it wasnt a skua or a gull. Birding works on an honour system. Theres really no reason to cheat; its just lying to yourself, Strycker says. Nevertheless, for the avoidance of doubt, each of his 2015 sightings was witnessed by at least one other person. He took photos of as many birds as possible. A birder can also count a species by hearing its call alone, and around five per cent of the birds on his Big Year list were heard-only. The first bird you see of the year is an omen, so I was really glad it wasn't a gull
Over the past decade, birding has been transformed by international travel and by the Internet. Strycker refers incessantly to his iPhones eBird app, a social network of some 300,000 bird enthusiasts maintained by the Audobon Society and Cornell Universitys ornithology lab, where he records his own sightings and scours those of other birders for clues to find his next spot. All the information you could ever want is readily available now, so its much easier to teach yourself to identify birds, he says. And the Internet has really helped birders to find each other, even halfway around the world. Its kind of ironic, because birding is intrinsically such an analogue, offline activity. In Ecuador, Strycker saw 625 new species in just 12 days. He ticked off at least a dozen while touring the parks of Delhi, one of the worlds biggest, most polluted cities. In Brazil, he waited for hours to watch a Harpy eagle return to the nest with a sizeable mammal in its talons. On Mindanao, he wasted half a day searching in vain for the critically endangered Philippine eagle. He broke Davies and Millers record in southern India in September, where he was met by TV crews after sighting his 4,342nd species of the year, a Sri Lanka frogmouth. His feat made it to the front page of the Times of India. A bishop drove 150 miles in full regalia to shake his hand. I asked whether he was a birder. He said, Im interested in all living things. Out of the whole year, there were just three days when Strycker failed to add a new species to his list. Two of those were spent in airports; the third was 3 January, in Antarctica. Id already seen all the Antarctic birds on 1 and 2 January, he explains. He planned to finish the trip in Australia, but realised on Christmas Day that he was running out of species and flew back to India, where he saw his 6,000th on 29 December. His final new bird of the year was a silver-breasted broadbill, spotted just before sunset on New Years Eve, at a forest in Assam province in northeast India. But the very last bird I saw that evening was an oriental bay-owl. I had seen one before in Borneo, but its much scarcer in India. After I snapped a photo of it, at about 10pm, Ramit, a local birder, turned to me and said, Thats the first photo anyone has ever taken of an oriental bay-owl in India. Looking back on his Big Year, Strycker says he was troubled by the amount of environmental damage he witnessed, but heartened by the number of birders he met. I knew I would see a lot of birds, but I didnt realise quite how many birders there are in the world. It really has become an international pastime. I came out of the journey feeling pretty optimistic: yeah, a lot of birds are threatened, but more people than ever are interested in conserving them. The achievement has made him a celebrity in the birding community: he was recently mobbed by fans at a bird festival in Ohio, seriously disrupting his attempts to admire the states diverse selection of warblers. It has also made him a target: Dutch birder Arjan Dwarshuis is looking to beat his record in 2016, and is currently ahead of Stryckers total this time last year. As he makes his way around Malheurs prime birding spots, he's regularly recognised and accosted by birders of a certain age, who have read his books or followed his blog and are keen to discuss his birding exploits or their own. After one such encounter, Keefer mutters drily: Some peoples groupies are 16-year-old girls It remains the case that most Americans begin twitching in retirement. But elsewhere, Strycker found, there are fervent birders of his own age or younger. None of my classmates were birders, and I didnt really find other young birders for a few years, he says. But go to a place like Colombia and theyre all young people who got into it at university. They want to study birds or lead birding tours. One guy there even took me aside and told me: Bird clubs are a great place to pick up chicks! 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 }} Facebook and Microsoft are teaming up to build a giant undersea internet cable from the US to Spain to help them move vast amounts of data across the world more easily. The fibre optic cable, named Marea (that's Spanish for 'tide'), will stretch from Virginia on America's east coast to Bilbao, in the Basque Country, across around 4,100 miles of seabed. Data passing through the cable will then be shuttled forward via existing links to Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the rest of Europe. Recommended Read more All you need to know about undersea cables that power the internet Set to enter service at the end of 2017, the cable will have a bandwidth of 160 terabits per second, around 8.5 million times more than the average UK home internet connection. In fact, once it's completed, it'll be the highest-capacity cable in the Atlantic Ocean. This kind of capacity will help the two companies improve the speed and reliability of their services, particularly as the two begin to focus on bandwith-heavy applications like cloud storage and live video broadcasting. 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 In a statement announcing the project, Microsoft global network director Frank Rey said: "We're seeing an ever-increasing customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for Microsoft cloud services, including Bing, Office 265, Skype, Xbox Live and Microsoft Azure." "As the world continues to move towards a future based on cloud computing, Microsoft is committed to building out the unprecedented level of global infrastructure required to support ever faster and even more resilient connections to our cloud services." The route the Marea cable will take The cable will be operated and managed by Telxius, a subsidiary of Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica. It'll be able to sell access to the cable to other companies, but Facebook and Microsoft will get preferential treatment, and the lion's share of the available bandwidth. When Facebook wants people to be meeting up in virtual reality and Microsoft is getting its users to hand over their files to the cloud, the giant cable is essential if they want to maintain their reliability well into the future. Construction will begin in August, and while neither company said how much the project will cost, TeleGeography research director Alan Mauldin told the Wall Street Journal it'll take at least $200 million (137 million) to complete. 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 }} Using Googles upcoming messaging app is dangerous, according to Edward Snowden. In a tweet, the whistleblower advised against using Allo, the search giants latest app, saying: "Google's decision to disable end-to-end encryption by default in its new Allo chat app is dangerous, and makes it unsafe. Avoid it for now." His warning came after Googles security expert Thai Duong blogged about the apps security features. Allo, branded as a smart messaging app, offers extra features when compared to other services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Its 'smart reply' feature scans messages and suggests replies, and integrates Googles other services like Google Search and Maps, all in a single app. Allo also offers two privacy settings: normal and incognito. Although messages are encrypted in both modes, the normal setting allows artificial intelligence run by Google to read messages, analyse them and provide suggestions. Only the incognito mode uses end-to-end encryption, which ensures that the messages can only be read by the people on either end of the conversation. 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 However, the default setting is normal, and to have further encryption a user has to manually change the privacy settings to incognito. Thai Duong, a security expert at Google, blogged about his personal opinion of the new application as someone from outside the team who consulted on security for Allo. He edited the post after it was uploaded. Duong wrote in an update: I erased a paragraph from this post because it's not cool to publicly discuss or to speculate the intent or future plans for the features of my employer's products, even if it's just my personal opinion. This statement does not clarify what has been deleted from the blogpost. However, Snowden explained in his tweet that the security expert was discussing how #Allo is unsafe by default," and commented: "[The] lesson - bosses read blogs." TechCrunch reported the deleted part of Duongs post read: The burning question now is: if incognito mode with end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages is so useful, why isnt it the default in Allo? It is not clear whether Google told Duong to delete the paragraph from his blogpost or not. Allo will be available this summer on both iOS and Android. 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 }} Dogs may be able to sniff out malaria through their acute sense of smell, thereby saving thousands of lives through quick and non-invasive detection, scientists have claimed. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a grant to commission research into the possibility to scientists at Durham University, Medical Detection Dogs and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, along with counterparts in Gambia. It is hoped the animals may be able to detect odours associated with the condition and which are too subtle to be identified by human smell. Previous research has suggested dogs can be highly accurate in detection cancer in humans. Steve Lindsay, expert in the development of malaria-control measures in the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Durham University and principle investigator in the project, said: Recent research has demonstrated that patients infected with the malaria parasite produce specific odours in their breath that disappear after treatment of the parasite. We also know that malaria mosquitoes prefer to feed on malaria patients, which they almost certainly identify by their odour. Medical Detection Dog Daisy stationed at a laboratory carousel as part of a trial (Emma Jeffery) If dogs can be used to identify malaria-infected individuals, they could be used at ports of entry for screening travellers entering areas that are malaria free, but susceptible to re-invasion. Using dogs for detection of parasites has the advantage that it is non-invasive, portable, does not require a laboratory, is fully functional in field settings and can be used to test a high quantity of samples. By using the dogs, we can quickly find and treat those with malaria and thereby hugely accelerating the speed at which we can wipe out this terrible disease altogether. 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 Claire Guest, CEO of Medical Detection Dogs which trains animals for medical purposes, said: Dogs have an extraordinary sense of smell. They can detect parts per trillion; that is equivalent to one spoon of sugar in two Olympic-sized swimming pools. In training trials, they have proven themselves to be 93 per cent reliable at detecting cancer. I feel confident they will learn to detect the odour of malaria. In August of last year, the use of medical detection dogs for sniffing out cancer was approved for use in an NHS trial following evidence the animals are highly reliable at detecting the disease in humans. In 2015, there were an estimated 214 million malaria cases globally and an estimated 438,000 deaths caused by the disease. 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 }} David Cameron has committed his Government to halving drug-resistant bug infections by 2020, warning there will be "catastrophic consequences" if the problem isn't tackled. Announcing measures including the introduction of new targets to limit the use of antibiotics, the Prime Minister hopes to address what is as one of the biggest public health dangers threatening the world. A Government-commissioned report produced last week by Lord O'Neill warned that a failure to act on anti-microbial resistance (AMR) could lead to 10 million deaths a year by 2050, with a cumulative hit on the world economy totalling 100 trillion US dollars. The increasing resistance of bugs to antibiotic drugs risks the end of modern medicine as we know it, warned Lord O'Neill, who estimated the cost taking action on the issue at 40 billion dollars (27 billion) over 10 years. The UK already offers doctors financial incentives to reduce the use of antibiotics in GP surgeries and hospitals, with the cash reinvested in measures to reduce inappropriate prescription, for instance by employing nurses with expertise in the field. Family doctors have already made progress with over 2.6 million fewer proscriptions in 2015/16. Now Mr Cameron has announced new measures for England: A target of halving the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics in humans by 2020; A goal to halve the number of the riskiest healthcare-associated bloodstream infections - such as E-coli - by 2020, which would help reduce demand for antibiotics; An overall target for antibiotic use in livestock and fish farmed for food to be cut to the level recommended by Lord O'Neill by 2018; Strict oversight - and possible bans - on the use in animals of antibiotics which are critical for human health - including supporting restrictions or even bans where necessary; Developing a global system to reward companies that develop new, successful antibiotics and make them available to all who need them; A Public Health England awareness campaign on the threat posed by drug-resistant bugs and the need for behaviour change to end overuse of antibiotics. England is already investing 265 million to strengthen surveillance of antimicrobial use and resistance in 11 countries worldwide; putting in 50 million to kick start a global AMR innovation fund to help develop new antimicrobials; and funding the development of rapid diagnostic tests as part of the 1 billion Ross Fund announced last year to ensure people get given the right drugs for the right bugs at the right time. The Government's chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, said: "I welcome the commitments made today. If we are to tackle drug resistant infections, we need to take action both here in the UK, and in collaboration with our international partners. "Today's announcement demonstrates the importance that the UK places on tackling drug resistant infections and we must all do our bit." Vickie Hawkins, executive director of Doctors Without Borders UK, welcomed the Government's drive but said ministers must ensure pharmaceutical companies"do their bit". "Existing vaccines must be affordable to the millions of people who need them, so we can stop people getting infections in the first place," she said. "Jim O'Neill says that if every child was vaccinated against pneumonia, it would potentially avert 11.4 million days of antibiotic use per year in children under five. "Yet what O'Neill's report, and the Government's plan of action, doesn't do is join the dots and recommend that companies already producing this vaccine, such as GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, lower the price to improve coverage rates." PA 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 }} HMRC loses 50m Qatar tax appeal HM Revenue & Customs has lost its bid to recover up to 50 million in stamp duty from the sale of the Chelsea Barracks in 2007. Three Court of Appeal judges decided that HRMC had pursued the wrong party for the tax.The purchaser, a firm owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, had used a type of Islamic finance that meant a bank actually owned the property. The tax office said it was disappointed by the ruling Three announces mobile ad-blocking trial Three, the mobile service provider has confirmed it will block advertising on its network for a 24 hour trial in June. The company, which has 30 million subscribers worldwide, said it will then block most online display and video ads apart from those that appear in Facebook and Twitter apps. The move is intended to improve customer privacy, reduce data costs and provide a better web experience on mobile phones. 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. House prices to force a million more youngsters to live with parents A million more young people might be forced to share a house with their parents over the next ten years to save money for a deposit to buy their own home, according to Aviva, an insurance company. The study forecasts that 3.8 million people aged between 21 and 34 will be living at home by 2025, a third more than at the moment. Aldi taps into craft beer market Discount supermarket chain Aldi has announced it is investing into the craft beer industry. From May 29, the grocer will stock 18 UK brewed craft beers in its English and Welsh stories. Wiltshire brewery, Wadworth, is just one of thirteen local breweries signed up, with its signature Wadworth 6X ale. Others include Everards Brewery's Two Tribes and A-Hop-alypse Now from Camerons Brewery. 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 }} Seven leaders have warned of the risk to global economy if Britain votes to leave the European Union in a referendum next month. The UK leaving the European Union would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create, and is a further serious risk to growth, leaders said in a joint declaration at the G7 meeting in Japan. The warning was listed together with concerns about terrorism, the refugee crisis and geopolitical conflicts as a potential threat of a non-economic origin. Recommended Read more BBC audience member blames politicians for not knowing how to vote Prime Minister David Camerons campaign has focused on the danger to growth and jobs of choosing to leave the 28-nation bloc in the 23 June vote. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor said the EU Referendum was not a major topic of discussion at the summit but there was a consensus that leaders wanted the UK to stay in. It was no subject here. But there was the signal that all who sat here want Britain to stay part of the EU, she said. But the decision is up to the British voters, she added. The G7 statement follows comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney that the event could cause a sharp collapse in the value of the pound. IMFs managing director Christine Lagarde warned the effect of Brexit on the British economy ranged from pretty bad to very, very bad. Speaking to the press at the conclusion of the G7 talks on Friday, David Cameron said the UK should listen to our friends on the issue of EU membership. The question is not: are we a great country? The question is how do we do best. And it is not just me saying that there are economic risks from Britain leaving the EU it is now a pretty large consensus that includes people of impeccable independence and academic standing, David Cameron said. But some voters have recently blamed UK politicians for not knowing how to vote. What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Show all 5 1 /5 What's the European Parliament ever done for us? What's the European Parliament ever done for us? A cap on the amount of hours an employer can make you work The Working Time directive provides legal standards to ensure the health and safety of employees in Europe. Among the many rules are a working week of a maximum 48 hours, including overtime, a daily rest period of 11 hours in every 24, a break if a person works for six hours or more, and one day off in every seven. It also includes provisions for paid annual leave of at least four weeks every year Getty Images What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Helping the people of Britain to avoid smoking In 2014 MEPs passed the Tobacco Products Directive strengthening existing rules on the manufacture, production and presentation of tobacco products. This includes things like reduced branding, restrictions on products containing flavoured tobacco, health warnings on cigarette packets and provisions for e-cigarettes to ensure they are safe What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Helping you to make the right choices with your food Thanks to the European Parliament, UK consumers have access to more information than ever about their food and drink. This includes amount of fat, and how much of it is saturated, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and so on. It also includes portion sizes and guideline daily amount information so people can make informed choices about their diet. All facts must be clear and easy to understand What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Two year guarantees and 14-day returns policy for all products Consumers across the EU have access to a number of rights, from things which are potentially very useful, to things which used to be annoying. For example, shoppers in the UK receive a two-year guarantee on all products, and a 14-day period to change their minds and return a purchase, these things are useful www.PeopleImages.com-licence restrictions apply What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Keeping your air nice and fresh (and safe) Believe it or not, although the situation is improving, some areas of the UK have appalling air quality. A report by the Royal College of Physicians released on 23 February says 40,000 deaths are caused by outdoor air pollution in the UK every year. Air pollution is linked to a number of illnesses and conditions, from Asthma to diabetes and dementia. The report estimates the costs to British business and the health service add up to 20 billion every year A member of the audience participating in the first major debate on the European Union Referendum blamed insults and deflections from politicians for not knowing how to cast his vote. The 21-year-old from the audience said: I just want to say to you all: here we are again. Once again weve got deflections, insults, petty name calling Do you actually believe your own campaigns? Greeted with applause and laughter, he added: What are we supposed to do? I do not have a problem admitting I have no idea what to and I blame you lot entirely for that." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Canadian diplomat hailed a hero when he shot a terrorist who opened fire at the Canadian Parliament has been filmed wrestling with a protester after he disrupted a military service in Ireland. On Thursday, Kevin Vickers, Canadas ambassador to Ireland, was pictured tackling a protester who began chanting this is an insult at a service commemorating the 125 British soldiers killed trying to suppress the Easter Rising in 1916. In a series of dramatic photos, Mr Vickers could be seen grabbing the man after he began shouting during the ceremony at Grangegorman Military Cemetery in Dublin. Dressed in a suit and raincoat, the 59-year-old grappled with the man before dragging him away from the procession until he was detained by police. Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers wrestles with a protester (right) during a State ceremony to remember the British soldiers who died during the Easter Rising at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, Dublin. (PA) After the latest incident, a spokeswoman for the Canadian embassy in Dublin said Mr Vickers intercepted a protester who ran up to the podium. Ambassador Vickers is safe and was not injured during the incident, she added. In pictures: Ottawa shooting Show all 43 1 /43 In pictures: Ottawa shooting In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Several police officers walk near downtown Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A photograph of Corporal Cirillo just moments before the fatal shooting Twitter/Kamakazi19982 In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Tourist Megan Underwood posed with Corporal Cirillo before the shooting Megan Underwood, via Facebook In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Flowers placed at the gate of the John Weir Foote V.C. Armouries in Hamilton, Ontario where it is believed the soldier who was killed in the attack was based AFP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police search cars and pedestrians as they leave the Alexandra Bridge near the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa AP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Armed police officers walk down Queen Street near Parliament Hill, close to the scene where the gunman was later shot and killed AP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Armed police teams enter Centre Block at Parliament Hill in Ottawa AP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A small plane equipped with surveillance equipment flies over the scene of multiple shootings in Ottawa AP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Head of RCMP Bob Paulson briefs Canadian prime Minister Stephen Harper on the shootings at Parliament Hill in Ottawa AP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa AP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting RCMP and Ottawa police cruisers on Wellington St. stand guard Getty Images In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Properties in central Ottawa were forced to shut PA In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting An Ottawa police officer and service dog run up Metcalfe Street following shootings in downtown Ottawa Reuters In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting The Conservative Party caucus room is shown shortly after shooting began on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police teams enter Centre Block at Parliament Hill in Ottawa AP In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police attempt to secure a portion of downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill EPA In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Armed RCMP officers approach Centre Block on Parliament Hilll EPA In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Armed RCMP officers guard access to Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police officers take cover near Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting RCMP intervention team members clear the area at the entrance of Parliament hill in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Armed RCMP officers race across a street on Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A still image captured from video footage by the Globe and Mail newspaper shows police officers responding to shooting attacks inside the Centre Block of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa Reuters In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A police officer holds back the public from Canada's National War Memorial as CPR is performed on a shooting victim in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Paramedics and police pull a victim away from the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Emergency personnel tend to a soldier shot at the National Memorial near Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The soldier was standing guard when an unknown gunman shot him In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police and medical personnel moving a wounded person into an ambulance at the scene of a shooting at the National War Memorial in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A police officer closes off the scene near the Canada War Memorial following a shooting incident in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Armed RCMP officers guard the front of Langevin Block on Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A car thought to be the car of one of the suspects is pictured on Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police officers guard Parliament Hilll following a shooting incident in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A Royal Canadian Mounted Police intervention team walks past a gate on Parliament hill in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A heavily armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer stands guard at 24 Sussex, the residence of Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper after a reported shooting at Parliament building in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A police officer secures the scene of a shooting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A Royal Canadian Mounted Police intervention team responds to a reported shooting at Parliament building in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police at the scene of a shooting at the National War Memorial in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting A heavily armed RCMP officer enters 24 Sussex Dr., the official residence of the Prime Minister In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard makes a statement in regarding the shooting at the Parliament in Ottawa at the legislature in Quebec City. A soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa has been shot by an unknown gunman and there have been reports of gunfire inside the halls of Parliament In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police cordon off a street leading to Parliament Hill in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Police vehicles block a road near Parliament in Ottawa In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting An ambulance arriving at the scene Eric Twitty In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Emergency vehicles at the National War Memorial following a shooting incident in Ottawa Gerry Byrne In pictures: Ottawa shooting Ottawa shooting Canadian police outside Parliament Mike Kujawski In October 2014, Mr Vickers confronted gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau after Zehaf-Bibeau killed a Canadian soldier and opened fire on guards before running down Canadas Wall of Honour. The former House of Commons sergeant-at-arms in Ottawa shot the gunman in mid-air as he fell to the ground, killing him. He received a standing ovation when he returned to the House weeks after the shooting. Additional reporting by the Press Association 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 }} A 26-year-old woman from Cameroon has had a condom surgically removed from her appendix, after swallowing it while performing oral sex on her boyfriend two weeks earlier. The unusual case, described in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, has received a great deal of interest around the world. According to report author Doctor Carlson B. Sama, from the surgery department at Cameroon's University of Buea, the woman came into the clinic complaining of pain and tenderness in her lower abdomen. As reported in the journal, the pain had been increasing for a few days and conventional painkillers had had no effect. Suspecting appendicitis, the doctors conducted an ultrasound scan which revealed a swollen appendix and fluid build-up. An emergency surgery began, and surgeons successfully removed the appendix with no complications. However, doctors said the organ felt unusual, and after dissecting it to find out more, they were surprised to find pieces of a condom. The condom was found inside the appendix after dissection (Sama et al. 2016) Although doctors didn't believe she had eaten any foreign bodies before the operation, she revealed after the procedure that she remembered accidentally swallowing the condom while performing oral sex on her boyfriend two weeks before. She didn't mention this to the doctors, because she said she passed out parts of the condom around five days after swallowing it. Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide Show all 6 1 /6 Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide The Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Liverpool occupies a purpose-built facility serving 3.5 million people PA Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide The Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK Helen Atkinson Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide The Royal Marsden NHS Trust is the first dedicated cancer hospital in the world AFP/Getty Images Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide The liver unit at King's College hospital NHS Trust is the largest in the world Getty Images Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide The Maudsley Hospital is a centre of excellence for the delivery of mental-health care Getty Images Britain's best hospitals: A patients' guide Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust delivers the widest range of specialist care of any children's hospital in the UK Getty Images The doctors believe the condom was torn into pieces as it passed through her intestines, where small pieces of it became trapped in the appendix, at the end of her large intestine. Apart from the strange find, her surgery was successful, and she was discharged from hospital four days after the operation. Although her case is rare, appendicitis caused by the ingestion of foreign materials has occurred before. As the doctors write in their report, swallowed objects like bullets, coins, stones and toothbrush bristles have all been reported to cause appendicitis in past medical literature. While foreign bodies can remain in the appendix for years without causing too many problems, the woman was lucky to get hers removed quickly. The Civil War, our bloodiest war, gave birth to holidays honoring those who gave there all for their country. In 1868, the United States set aside May 30th to remember their great sacrifice. Since 1971, in classic American seeking of self, we have chosen to take a three day weekend by choosing to take a day off from work on the last Monday in May. Oh, the real Memorial Day is still May 30th but we go about our business on that day and recreate on a different day. Many, if not most, of our young people have no idea what Memorial Day stands for. I am moved by the greatest of all sacrifices made on my behalf; I hope you are also. May you and I both do a better job of honoring our fallen heroes. I am also moved by the sacrifices of another group of men and women. I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus was an historical figure who lived and died. I believe that He is exactly who He claimed to be. Why would I believe that? I have faith thats why. Is it blind faith? No. There is credible evidence for my faith. I have studied the Bible for many years and find it to be absolutely reliable. The eyewitnesses to Jesus life, ministry, death, and resurrection provide me with tremendous reasons to believe. I am amazed at the faithful, steadfast, never wavering testimony by the first century followers of Jesus. They didnt risk everything; rather, they threw everything away, in order to testify to the authenticity of the claims of Jesus. Following Jesus in their culture was certainly not a way to climb the ladder of success. Instead, it was a plummet to the bottom. The Bible records an unbelievable transformation in their lives immediately following Christs resurrection and ascension. The Bible gives limited information regarding their deaths, but tradition and history tell us much about the deaths of these eyewitnesses to Jesus life and work. If you are interested in details and documentation, I would recommend Foxes Book of Martyrs. Their great sacrifices to spread the gospel message around the world (and ultimately to me) is worth remembering, yea memorializing. These eyewitnesses lost their property, wealth, standing in the community, family relationships, and often their very lives, in order to substantiate the claims of Christ. It seems to me that they were absolutely convinced that Jesus was who He said He was, that He did what He claimed to do, that He was coming back for His followers. I dont know about you, but I would not live in poverty, ostracized from my community and family, facing almost certain torture and martyrdom if I was not absolutely, without a shadow of doubt, convinced about the truth of Christs claims. I am far too fond of comfort and food and life. I am very grateful that these eyewitnesses sacrificed so much in order to validate their testimony of Jesus. They did that for all Christians including me. Their testimony strengthens and encourages me. It is my hope and prayer that during this Memorial Day season, all of us who claim the name of Christ will remember the sacrifices of those early Christians, fallen heroes that they are. As I look into the future I wonder what you and I will be called upon to sacrifice in order to testify to the authenticity of Christ and His claims. May we be as faithful as those early eyewitnesses. If the Lord tarries, future generations depend on our memorial sacrifices. --- 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 Slovakian model who shot her British millionaire ex-boyfriend in the head has been found guilty of his murder by a Spanish court. Mayka Kukucova was found guilty of murdering former gold dealer Andrew Bush at his holiday home in Marbella in April 2014. The 26-year-old claimed she had "never meant to hurt" Mr Bush and said she had acted in self-defence. She told the Ciudad de la Justicia in Malaga that the 48-year-old died during a violent struggle where "shots were fired". Speaking in court she said: I was only defending myself. I was afraid because never in my life has anyone tried to kill me. I didnt know what to do. The jury heard how the businessman had returned unexpectedly early from the UK to his home with his new girlfriend, Maria Korotaeva, to find Kukucova in his Costa del Sol home. Kukucova said she was simply collecting her belongings but prosecutors argued she had "an unmistakable desire to end Andrew Bush's life". In a seven-page report filed when charges were brought against her in December, prosecutor Jose Antonio Nieblas said: "The accused...at a certain point in a row they were having, made a sudden and unexpected use of the .38 special-model Amadeo Rossi revolver that she was carrying. British millionaire businessman Andrew Bush and Mayka Kukucova "She shot Andrew Bush three times, the first shot hitting in the arm and the other two in the head. "Andrew Bush had no chance to react or to defend himself." The prosecutors then said she had placed the revolver in Mr Bush's hand before fleeing the scene in the Hummer he had left on the driveway. Four days later she handed herself into Slovakian authorities and was extradited to Spain to stand trial. 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 swimwear model did not enter a formal plea but prosecutors are now seeking a sentence of up to 25 years. Making a tearful tribute to her father in court, Mr Bush's daughter, Ellie Mason-Bush said: "He was my only parent growing up. He was the only person that I had." She said that even though he had split up with Kukucova he was "still supporting her and still wanted to help her". Slovakian model Mayka Marica Kukucova is escorted by the police from the Regional Court in Trencin, Slovakia after handing herself in (EPA) Ms Korotaeva also gave evidence at the trial and recounted how she had been sitting in the Hummer on the driveway waiting for him when the shots were fired. She said: "I never imagined what was happening. "Andy had never said anything bad about her, just that he couldn't be with her anymore." On Monday she she posted a picture of herself with Ms Mason-Bush and Mr Bush's sister Rachel on Instagram with the caption: "Me, Ellie and Rachel Bush yesterday night in Malaga. We will do anything in our power to get justice." Additional reporting by PA 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 }} Serial killer Joanna Dennehy plotted to escape from prison by murdering a guard and using their severed fingers to unlock biometric doors, it has been revealed. Ms Dennehy, 33, described in court as the most dangerous female prisoner in custody, is serving a rare whole-life sentence for the murder of three men in Peterborough in 2013. A written plan was located in her cell with detailed plans involving killing a female officer to obtain her keys and to utilise her fingerprints in order to deceive the biometric systems, barrister Tom Weisselberg told the High Court on Thursday. After details of the plot were found written in a diary, Ms Dennehy was placed in solitary confinement at HMP Bronzefield, near Ashford in Surrey, where she has been imprisoned since February 2014. Dennehy was segregated because a credible escape plan involving her and two other prisoners had been uncovered, said Mr Weisselberg. Ms Dennehy filed a High Court damages claim for human rights violations she said she suffered during more than two years of solitary confinement. But the court rejected her claim, ruling her continued segregation since then as necessary and proportionate and in accordance with the law. She was denied any payout. Lukasz Slaboszewski, left, and John Chapman were both victims of Joanna Dennehy (PA) The prisons barrister Jenni Richards said Ms Dennehy got a taste for killing and had told a psychiatrist that she was sadistic. After killing her third victim, she phoned a friend to sing the Britney Spears song Oops I Did It Again and danced a jig of delight when she saw a television news report about the killings, which took place over two weeks. She also attacked two other men and left them for dead, telling John Rogers, who survived his wounds, Oh, look youre bleeding. Id better do some more. Ms Dennehy had been left tearful and upset and at risk of self harm by the decision to isolate her from other prisoners, which was not properly explained to her, argued lawyer Hugh Southey. Criminally tasty: Britain's first prison restaurant Show all 4 1 /4 Criminally tasty: Britain's first prison restaurant Criminally tasty: Britain's first prison restaurant 203633.bin DAVID SANDISON Criminally tasty: Britain's first prison restaurant 203634.bin DAVID SANDISON Criminally tasty: Britain's first prison restaurant 203632.bin PA Criminally tasty: Britain's first prison restaurant 203631.bin DAVID SANDISON Government lawyers conceded her segregation period between 2013 and 2015 was technically unlawful, because it was not properly authorised by former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. Mr Southey said Ms Dennehy was a vulnerable prisoner due to her history of severe personality disorders, who insists that the alleged plot was nothing more than a doodle. Ms Dennehy pleaded guilty to the murders of Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, Kevin Lee, 48, and John Chapman, 56, whose bodies were found in ditches in and around Peterborough. She also admitted two counts of attempted murder in Hereford and preventing the lawful and decent burial of her murder victims. Ms Dennehy is only the third woman to be given a whole-life prison term, along with Myra Hindley and Rose West. Additional reporting by Press Association 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 }} Schools across the UK have been affected for the third day in a row by bomb and gun threats. At least 27 schools have been evacuated due to phoned-in threats including Whitchurch High School in Cardiff, Armstrong Primary School in Armagh, Thornhill School in Sunderland and Towerbank Primary School in Edinburgh. Counter-terror police are investigating the anonymous calls, which threaten to shoot and behead pupils, The Mirror reports. More than 40 schools have been affected by bomb threats over the last few days with GCSE exams have been disrupted by the threats. Whitchurch's Headmaster Huw-Jones-Williams told the BBC: "Everyone in the school's community is safe and well and all student behaviour on both sites has been exemplary. "Normal operations at the school have now resumed... All scheduled exams will take place this afternoon and steps will be taken to ensure that none of the candidates are disadvantaged." Despite being discovered as hoaxes, police forces across the country have taken the threats seriously due to the "disruption and alarm to the public". In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Counter-terror exercise at the Trafford Centre The emergency services and volunteers take part in a simulated terror attack at the Trafford Centre on 10 May, 2016 in Manchester, England. PA In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Counter-terror exercise at the Trafford Centre Emergency forces and shoppers take part in a simulated terror attack at the Trafford Centre on 10 May, 2016 in Manchester, England. Getty Images In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Counter-terror exercise at the Trafford Centre The emergency services and volunteers take part in a simulated terror attack at the Trafford Centre on 10 May, 2016 in Manchester, England. Getty Images In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Counter-terror exercise at the Trafford Centre The emergency services and volunteers take part in a simulated terror attack at the Trafford Centre on 10 May, 2016 in Manchester, England. Getty Images In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Counter-terror exercise at the Trafford Centre Emergency services and volunteers take part in a simulated terror attack at the Trafford Centre in Manchester on 10 May 2016. Getty Images In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Counter-terror exercise at the Trafford Centre Emergency services and volunteers take part in a simulated terror attack at the Trafford Centre in Manchester on 10 May 2016. Getty Images In pictures: Terror attack exercise in Manchester Counter-terror exercise at the Trafford Centre People playing the role of injured shoppers react during an exercise at the Intu Trafford Centre in Trafford, Manchester, on May 10, 2016. PA Police Scotland said in a statement: "Police Scotland would like to reassure the public that at present these do not appear to be credible threats, however they are being taken seriously. "Staff and police are working with local authorities and are currently searching school buildings. "Some schools as a precautionary measure, have been evacuated. Significant enquiries are underway." 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 graduate who appeared on University Challenge has been charged with four sexual offences including rape. Bartholomew Joly de Lotbiniere, a University of York graduate, is due to stand trial in February next year. He has been accused of a string of sexual offences against one alleged victim including rape, two sexual assaults and an attempted sexual assault. Lotbiniere appeared at York Crown Court on Thursday and has denied the charges. The student, who now lives in North West London, experienced a spell in the limelight following his appearance on the show because of his triple-barrelled surname. The 21-year-olds team reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by Peterhouse College, Cambridge. 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 }} A nine-year-old-girl is launching legal action against the British government in a bid to bring her kidnapped father home. Menabe Andargachew is the daughter of Andy Tsege, a joint British-US citizen who was kidnapped in 2014 in Yemen while waiting for a connecting flight by people believed to be working for the Ethiopian government. Since then, he has been held in Ethiopia under a death sentence imposed in absentia in 2009, having had almost no contact with his family. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has admitted to The Independent Mr Tsege's detainment was unacceptable. His daughter now wants to sue the government so they do more to get him back. Mr Tsege was a secretary-general of a political group, called Ginbot 7, who are opposed to the current Ethiopian government. He was granted asylum in Britain on political grounds in 1983 and became a citizen in 2006. Ginbot 7 claims to stand for democratic and human rights [and] achieving economic prosperity and social justice, according to their website. Their name means 15 May, the date of 2005 elections marred by fraud allegations and violence. But the Ethiopian government has branded them a terrorist group set on destabilising the country, although no other nation has recognised them as such. The British government has been criticised for not pushing for Mr Tsege to be released, despite the circumstances of the trial reportedly being criticised by British officials in Ethiopia. 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 Menabes legal team said the British governments approach which has made overtures to the Ethiopian government but stopped short of demanding a full release - is unlawful and hoped a legal challenge would lead to Mr Tseges release. Human rights group Reprieve, which has championed the case, said the 2009 in absentia trial of Mr Tsege was described by observing American diplomats as political retaliation which lacked basic elements of due process. British officials said they have not been shown any evidence [against Mr Tsege] that would stand up in a UK court. Other official British documents seen by Reprieve show British officials believed that the rendition and detention of Mr Tsege was completely unacceptable, with some papers asking if the UK had grounds for a legal challenge. The UK has, in similar cases, asked for the release of individuals but has so far not done so to the Ethiopian government. Menabe and her lawyers believe this constitutes unlawful behaviour. A spokesperson for FCO told The Independent: The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr Tseges case with the Ethiopian Government repeatedly, making it clear the way he has been treated is unacceptable. The Prime Minister has also written to Prime Minister Hailemariam on two separate occasions regarding this case. While we welcome the improvement in access to Mr Tsege following the British Governments intervention, it must include access to a lawyer and we will keep pressing for this. We will also continue to provide consular support to Mr Tsege and his family. However, when pressed on whether the FCO would be asking for the release of Mr Tsege, the spokesperson said there was nothing further to add from us. Andy Tsege with his partner, Yemi Hailemariam, and their three children Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said: Andy Tsege has been subjected to a series of shocking breaches of international law by a supposed UK ally from kidnap, to rendition, to an in absentia death sentence simply because he expressed criticism of the Ethiopian regime. Its deeply disappointing, and simply irrational, that the British government refuses to ask for his release and put an end to these abuses. Enough is enough ministers must call on Ethiopia to free Andy, and return him to his family without delay. The Ethiopian Embassy in London did not return The Independents phone calls on Friday. However in a statement to NBC, they said: "The stated intent of Andargachew Tsege's organization Ginbot 7 is to overthrow the constitutional order through violent means and disrupt the national peace and stability of Ethiopia. Tsege was serving as a Trojan horse, assisting the Eritrean government's repeated and ongoing attempts to wreak havoc and instability in the sub-region." 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 Police force proudly announced its first drugs seizure under the new blanket ban on legal highs only to be told that since the substances in question were poppers, they had no right to seize them because they were still legal. Crawley Police announced it had confiscated a batch of poppers, using the twitter hashtag #PoppersIncluded within hours of the Governments Psychoactive Substances Act coming into force. This was despite the exclusion of poppers from the ban receiving widespread publicity, starting in January when Tory MP Crispin Blunt, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, stood up in the House of Commons and outed himself as a poppers user. Describing the Governments early intention to ban poppers as fantastically stupid, Mr Blunt told MPs, and therefore the whole world: I out myself as a poppers user. I was astonished to find that its proposed they be banned and, frankly, so were very many gay men. Following this eye-catching announcement, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACDM) was asked to look again at poppers and the Government accepted its recommendation they be excluded from the ban because they acted only indirectly on the brain. As was also widely reported. Police in Crawley, Sussex, however, appear not to have been keeping up. Legal Highs in Newcastle Within hours of the ban coming into effect, Crawley Police tweeted: First day, first seizure in Crawley by PC Goater! One and only warning given. #NoSecondChance #PoppersIncluded. Social media users were not slow point out that there had surely been some mistake. They drew the forces attention to the ACDM recommendation and to Mr Blunts Commons statement, while twitter user James Higgins asked So the officer that confiscated these has no jurisdiction to do so. Wouldnt that be classed as theft? Undeterred, Crawley Police tweeted back, using block capitals to get the point across: POPPERS are now ILLEGAL. Then they had a rethink. We are checking out the situation regarding the illegality of selling poppers and will update shortly, Crawley Police tweeted. Followed soon afterwards by: Crawley Police can announced that the poppers were seized in error in good faith. All goods will be returned to the shops with apologies. They deleted their earlier posts which described poppers as illegal althought they were nonetheless retweeted by social media users and reported upon by the website Pink News - explaining that to leave them up would be confusing. And they confirmed to one worried social media user that down at the station, the poppers had been handled in such a way that they remained completely intact and safe. A Sussex Police spokesman told The Independent: "Material was seized from three Crawley town centre shops. However they were 'popper' items, which are not covered by the new legislation. The officers realised the mistake, which was made in good faith, on the same day and the items will be returned to the shops with our apologies. The shops were not specialist 'head shops' of which there are none in Crawley. We are not naming them." 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 }} David Cameron has said Boris Johnson could succeed him as Prime Minister when he steps down before the next general election. When asked whether he stood by his previous suggestion Mr Johnson, George Osborne and Theresa May were all figures who could succeed him, the Prime Minister said he still sees the former London mayor as a "substantial" figure in the Conservative Party. The Prime Minister also said he felt Mr Johnson was "on the wrong side" of the Brexit debate. Mr Johnson previously dismissed key arguments put forward by Mr Cameron as "nonsense" or "a hoax". Boris Johnson on Brexit Speaking at the G7 summit in Japan, the Prime Minister said: "I wouldn't withdraw any of the things I've said. The Conservative Party is lucky to have big substantial figures within it and that's certainly the case." "But on this one, I think he is on the wrong side. I think that the arguments for Britain being stronger in the world, more able to get things done, being safer against terrorism, and - crucially - having the strong growing economy that we want, being able to trade inside a market of 500 million people and to reach out and trade with the rest of the world - that's what we should be focusing on. "So I think he's got this one wrong, but I'm not changing anything I've said in the past." 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. When asked if he could ever trust Mr Johnson with a senior Government job after arguing with him in the referendum battle, he said: "This campaign was always going to produce passionate arguments and disagreements between people on the opposing sides and I'm not surprised by that. "I'm going to spend the next 30 days focusing purely on the issues, the arguments and not anything else. That's the way I'm going to approach it." In March 2015, Mr Cameron named the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP as a possible successor when he revealead he will not seek a third term as Prime Minister, telling the BBC: "There definitely comes a time where a fresh pair of eyes and fresh leadership would be good. "The Conservative party has got some great people coming up - the Theresa Mays and the George Osbornes and the Boris Johnsons. There is plenty of talent there. I am surrounded by very good people." Additional reporting by Press Association 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 }} While people around the United Kingdom are considering the pros and cons of a vote in favour of Brexit, so there are many UK citizens who have already made their own personal Brexit and who are wondering what a leave vote would mean for them and other expatriates living elsewhere in the European Union. How many Brits live abroad in the EU? Their numbers are not insubstantial. While Australia and North America remain the most popular destinations for emigrating Brits, there are still some 1.3 million living in EU countries, according to UN estimates. Spain is the top continental choice, with more than 300,000 Britons residing there. A quarter of a million live in Ireland, with another 172,000 in France and around 97,000 in Germany. For them, Britains withdrawal from the EU would arguably create even greater uncertainty than for the rest of us back in Blighty. What will happen to them? Remain campaigners, in line with their standard modus operandi, have suggested that life for expats could become extremely difficult if the referendum results in a breach between the UK and the EU. Dominic Grieve, the former Attorney-General, warned last year that Brexit would turn British people living and working in other EU member states into illegal immigrants overnight. Outers, typically, have attacked what they regard as doom-mongering, arguing that the 1969 Vienna Convention protects against the removal of acquired rights. In other words, while people hoping to up sticks to Italy or Bulgaria following a leave vote might find themselves unable to do so as easily as they would today, others who have already made the move would not be stripped of the rights already exercised. This acquired rights argument has, on the face of it, considerable legal support. But as is so often the case in the EU debate it is based on an awful lot of assumptions. For instance, even if the intrinsic status of a Brit living abroad were not to change, there are plenty of ways in which their position as an expat could be made more challenging: increased taxation on foreign home ownership is the most obvious option, should EU member states feel sufficiently vindictive. It is also possible that healthcare charges could be increased. Corbyn on EU referendum Moreover, legal arguments that seem compelling on paper are not always upheld by judges. In the worst-case scenario, European courts could reject the notion that acquired rights apply and suddenly Dominic Grieves warning would look very prescient indeed. In the absence of a negotiated agreement between Britain and the EU, UK citizens on the Costa del Sol and elsewhere might find themselves having to apply for a visa or, depending on their view of a post-Brexit Britain, asylum. Who is right? It is highly unlikely that such a drastic situation would come to pass. But there is undoubtedly an irony that the best outcome for expats if Britain does leave the EU may be that the UK nevertheless does a deal to remain within the European Economic Area (currently incorporating EU member states, Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland). This would continue to tie Britain to the concept of free movement of people, so people with a British passport living abroad could carry on as before. Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list Show all 10 1 /10 Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 1. Peloponnese, Greece GETTY Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 2. Aarhus, Denmark ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 3. Venice, Italy GETTY Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 4. The Dordogne, France REUTERS Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 5. Lviv, Ukraine GETTY Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 6. Warwickshire, England GETTY Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 7. Extremadura, Spain GETTY Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 8. East Coast Tenerife, Canary Islands Getty Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 9. Texel, the Netherlands REUTERS Lonely Planet's Best in Europe 2016 list 10. Northern Dalmatia, Croatia GETTY But of course it is the free movement of people in terms of how that affects immigration to Britain, which is so central to the reasoning of many Brexiteers: they want to leave the EU in the belief that it is the only way the UK will get its borders back. Therefore, if we vote to leave on 23 June, those on the winning side are unlikely to back a negotiated departure in which the free movement of people into the UK continues unabated. And there is no reason to think that EU member states would permit free movement to work only in the other direction. Who else would be effected? The same would apply to those studying in EU countries as those in work or retirement. While nothing would change during the period in which the UKs withdrawal is negotiated, if free movement of people is subsequently restricted, the right to study elsewhere in the EU is likely to be radically reduced. It is possible that a special exception could be made in the higher education sector after all, British universities attract large numbers of EU students (around 29,000 last year) and would be loath to lose them. But there are far from any guarantees. People sunbathe on Levante Beach on August 10, 2013 in Benidorm (Getty) What do we know for certain? As with so much else in the referendum deliberations, it is impossible to know with certainty what will happen to British expats if we vote to go it alone next month. Thanks to the Treaty of Lisbon, we know we would have in effect two years to negotiate our exit: but thats about all we do know for sure. Yet the degree to which free movement of people is fundamental to the pro-Brexit argument might make expats nervous. If the UK is seen to be taking an isolationist turn, EU member states may well feel less well-disposed to the idea that they should continue to play host to Brits who are enjoying a place in the sun. Come 2018 then, the UK may paradoxically face a new, unforeseen influx of migrants as 1.3 million well-tanned expats return to our weather-beaten shores. 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 }} David Cameron has said he is not a "closet Brexiteer" as leaders of the G7 warned the UKs exit from the EU would pose a serious risk to growth. Speaking at the end of the G7 summit in Japan, the Prime Minister welcomed a communique by the assembled leaders pointing to "economic dangers" of a vote by Britain to leave the EU. And he flatly denied a claim by his old friend and former adviser Steve Hilton that his natural instinct was to vote for Out. EU Referendum: Latest Poll "I am not a closet anything. I have pretty much had the same view about Europe ever since I got involved in active politics," Mr Cameron said. "I have always taken the same view, which is that we are better off in this organisation but we should be aiming to reform this organisation, we should be looking to enhance the special status that Britain has. "I have never been a closet Brexiteer. I am absolutely passionate about getting the right result, getting this reform in Europe and remaining part of it. It's in Britain's national interest." Brexit was ranked alongside escalated geopolitical conflicts, terrorism and refugee flows as one of the main reasons global growth could be below potential at the summit. UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend toward greater global trade, investment and the jobs they create and is a further serious risk to growth, the agreed statement warned. Britain will vote on whether to leave the EU on 23 June this year after a pledge by Mr Cameron to hold one. 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 I have never been a closet Brexiteer. I am absolutely passionate about getting the right result, getting this reform in Europe and remaining part of it. It's in Britain's national interest. The G7 joins the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of England, the Treasury, the OECD and the Institute for Fiscal Studies in warning that Brexit would have a negative impact on growth. The Brexit campaign has previously dismissed such concerns, warnings, and research as scaremongering. A spokesperson for Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign, this week described the respected IFS think-tank as the paid-up propaganda arms of Brussels. The Treasury today added to its previous analysis by warning that leaving the EU could reduce the value of the average pension pot by nearly 2,000. Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith however described that calculation as utterly outrageous and a cynical attempt to distract from higher immigration figures. Mary Dukes, senior lecturer in digital media studies, has been named the winner of Lee Universitys 2016 Excellence in Advising Award. The Excellence Awards are the highest honors presented to Lee faculty members. The recipient of the Excellence in Advising Award is chosen by a faculty committee, which reviews a three-year history of student advisor evaluation data as well as other information provided by the nominating department chairs and deans. For me, advising is one of the most enjoyable aspects of working with students, said Ms. Dukes. It provides me the opportunity to spend time with them in a one-on-one setting and truly get to know them--their goals, plans and dreams for the future. I am very grateful for the privilege of working with my students to attain those goals, and I am very honored to be recognized for that interaction. Ms. Dukes joined the Lee faculty in 1999. She received her Master of Arts in Communication and her Bachelor of Arts as a double major in Radio-Television and Film from the University of Central Florida. She completed additional graduate study in mass communication at the University of Southern Mississippi. Prior to joining the Lee faculty, Ms. Dukes was involved in a diverse professional career in both radio and television broadcasting. Her experiences include work as a radio news director and as a television producer. Ms. Dukes has served as Discipline Coordinator of Digital Media Studies for the past 15 years. In addition to her teaching and administrative responsibilities, she maintains active professional involvement in independent music video and film productions. She also coordinates placing Digital Media students in organizations and corporations in professional internship opportunities. 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 }} Scotland will vote to become independent within two years if the UK backs Brexit in the European Union referendum, former first minister Alex Salmond has claimed. Mr Salmond, who was appearing on the first major TV debate of the EU referendum campaign, also hit out at fellow Remain campaigner Chancellor George Osborne over the Treasury's predictions of "apocalypse" as the consequences of Brexit. Remain campaigners seized on an admission by Ukip's Diane James that "we just don't know" whether Britons would require visas to travel in Europe. The Leave camp - represented by Ms James and Tory former cabinet minister Liam Fox - focused on the impact of immigration and the amount of money paid to Brussels. In the BBC debate, filmed in Glasgow in front of an audience of voters aged 18 to 29, Mr Salmond said Scotland would vote to sever ties with the UK by 2018 if it faced being "dragged" out of the EU. You have Days Hours Minutes Seconds left to register The SNP MP said the second independence referendum "would have to be within the two year period of the UK negotiating to withdraw" from the EU following a Leave win on June 23. "If you had the situation where Scotland in four weeks' time votes Remain and the rest of the UK or England drags Scotland out by voting to leave then that would justify, in my opinion, another referendum," he said. "In the circumstances of Scotland being threatened with being dragged out of the EU against our will, I think the result would be 'Yes' this time." Ukip deputy chairwoman Ms James was challenged by host Victoria Derbyshire about whether a visa system would be introduced for travel to and from the EU in the event of Brexit. She said: "Victoria, we just don't know because we have a prime minister who has said there is no Plan B, he has not presented a single bit of detail as to what happens if we vote to leave, he has left it completely open." She added: "I don't believe we will need visas. It's all part of the Project Fear, it's about 'if we leave, all of a sudden Fortress Europe puts up the barriers and stops all of this happening'." Recommended Read more BBC audience member blames politicians for not knowing how to vote Her comments came after Labour In campaign chief Alan Johnson questioned whether visas would be necessary. "How are you going to differentiate between the Polish plumber and the Polish tourist? It means surely a system of visas and if you haven't got a system of visas then how are you going to deal with ... you are telling people we are going to stop free movement, but you are not going to introduce visas so free movement will still be there," he said. "Unless you put a border and watchtowers on the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland you are going to have people coming across there because it would then be an EU country and a non-EU country." Dr Fox said: "I'm all for people being able to come as tourists freely into this country, but if they want to work in the UK they would need to get a work permit, just like somebody who came from outside the EU. "It is not beyond the wit of man to allow tourists to travel freely but to make sure you have a work permit when you want to work." 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 Mr Salmond, despite being on the same side of the referendum debate as Tory Chancellor Mr Osborne, criticised the Government's tactics in the referendum debate. "I don't go with the scaremongering stuff," he said. "The Treasury says it's going to be apocalypse if Britain left the European Union. I don't believe that, but I do believe what the Bank of England says which is that there will be less growth and less jobs." The audience appeared to agree with Mr Salmond's assessment of the Treasury's work. When Derbyshire asked if they believed the forecast the majority of the audience - made up of Remain, Leave and undecided voters - said no. Press Association 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 }} Plans to enhance the military role of the European Union, potentially paving the way for a future EU army, are being held back until after the UK referendum, according to reports. The plans, which have only been shown to EU diplomats, are understood to include proposals or new European military structures, including a headquarters. According to The Times, which has seen extracts of the plans from diplomatic notes, the proposals will not be sent to national governments until after Britains EU referendum on 23 June to avoid giving succour to the Leave campaign. Similar plans were vetoed by the UK in 2011, and the Government has repeatedly insisted that Britain will never be part of any EU army. However, it is understood the plans, drawn over 18 months by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, are supported by other leading EU countries, and refer to powers set out in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which could allow nine or more member states to embark on their own plans for an EU military headquarters. The draft paper states that in turbulent times, we need a compass to navigate the waters of a faster-changing world adding that the EU can step up its contribution to Europes security and defence", according to a diplomatic note seen by The Times. 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 However, Ms Mogherinis spokesman told the newspaper the defence plan would in no way aim to set up the EU army. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We will never be part of an EU army. We retain a veto on all defence matters in the EU and we will oppose any measures which would undermine member states' military forces." 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 }} A student has launched a powerful defence of immigration as young voters faced off in a heated EU debate. Former SNP leader Alex Salmond, Labour MP Alan Johnson, Ukip MEP Diane James and Conservative MP Liam Fox were on the BBC panel but the key exchange of the night was between two audience members. Emily, a Leave voter from Poole, said her disabled mother live in a council house and need to move into a bungalow. There are none in our area, she said. Immigrants are being bumped up the list. But anther audience member, Asma from Aberdeen, cited European Union directives for improving the quality of rented homes and local authority housing. Panellists on the BBC EU referendum debate (BBC) Emily and her mum need to realise that the UK Government are the people that can build council houses, the European Union is not some kind of scapegoat that you can keep blaming for your problems, she said. After Emily raised concerns about immigration, saying the more we let in, the less houses were going to have to house them, Asma accused her of having a selective memory and pointed out how many Brits travel to Europe. Just remember how many immigrants like my family, like a lot of the people in this audiences family have built this nation, she said, to cheers from the audience. The heated exchange sparked a flurry of activity on Twitter, with 900 tweets a minute sent after Emilys comments. This #BBCDebate is the best soap opera I've ever seen, Chris Kerr wrote. Tune in tomorrow to see if Emily's mum gets her bungalow. The debate saw 150 voters aged between 18 and 29, question the politicians in Glasgow. Mr Salmond and Mr Johnson made the case for staying in the EU, while Ms James and Dr Fox argued for a Brexit. What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Show all 5 1 /5 What's the European Parliament ever done for us? What's the European Parliament ever done for us? A cap on the amount of hours an employer can make you work The Working Time directive provides legal standards to ensure the health and safety of employees in Europe. Among the many rules are a working week of a maximum 48 hours, including overtime, a daily rest period of 11 hours in every 24, a break if a person works for six hours or more, and one day off in every seven. It also includes provisions for paid annual leave of at least four weeks every year Getty Images What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Helping the people of Britain to avoid smoking In 2014 MEPs passed the Tobacco Products Directive strengthening existing rules on the manufacture, production and presentation of tobacco products. This includes things like reduced branding, restrictions on products containing flavoured tobacco, health warnings on cigarette packets and provisions for e-cigarettes to ensure they are safe What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Helping you to make the right choices with your food Thanks to the European Parliament, UK consumers have access to more information than ever about their food and drink. This includes amount of fat, and how much of it is saturated, carbohydrates, sugars, protein and so on. It also includes portion sizes and guideline daily amount information so people can make informed choices about their diet. All facts must be clear and easy to understand What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Two year guarantees and 14-day returns policy for all products Consumers across the EU have access to a number of rights, from things which are potentially very useful, to things which used to be annoying. For example, shoppers in the UK receive a two-year guarantee on all products, and a 14-day period to change their minds and return a purchase, these things are useful www.PeopleImages.com-licence restrictions apply What's the European Parliament ever done for us? Keeping your air nice and fresh (and safe) Believe it or not, although the situation is improving, some areas of the UK have appalling air quality. A report by the Royal College of Physicians released on 23 February says 40,000 deaths are caused by outdoor air pollution in the UK every year. Air pollution is linked to a number of illnesses and conditions, from Asthma to diabetes and dementia. The report estimates the costs to British business and the health service add up to 20 billion every year The former First Minister told the audience a second Scottish independence referendum would have to be within the two-year period of the UK negotiating to withdraw from the EU, should it vote to leave on 23 June. Despite arguing that the Brexit would negatively impact on jobs and economic growth, Mr Salmond criticised scaremongering by the Treasury. When host Victoria Derbyshire asked if the audience believed George Osbornes apocalyptic forecast the majority said no. Some of the young voters also criticised tit-for-tat attacks during the campaign, describing it as petty name-calling that was making it more difficult for the public to decide how to vote. Ukip's Ms James did not believe the focus by some Leave campaigners on immigration had been appalling. She said the issue was one very clear example that the UK governmentactually don't have control over a key aspect of our economy". Remain campaigners also seized on her admission that "we just don't know" whether Britons would require visas to travel in Europe. Asked whether travel across Europe would be affected by a Brexit, Dr Fox said: Europe and exchange and trade and travel existed before there was a European Union and will continue after. Why do we have these arrangements? Because it is genuinely in the interests of both parties to do so. But Mr Johnson said a visa system would surely be needed to differentiate between tourists and migrant workers. Other issues raised during the debate included travel, the NHS, house prices and jobs. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jeremy Corbyn has made moves to prepare his party for an early election amid uncertainty about what will happen in the aftermath of next months EU referendum. The Guardian newspaper reports that the leader has appointed former civil service head Lord Kerslake to review the way his leaders office works with the rest of the party machinery. The crossbench peer will report within weeks on the relationship between the shadow cabinet, Mr Corbyns office, and the rest of the party. Recommended Read more David Cameron could face no confidence vote over EU referendum The move comes days after eurosceptic Tory MPs briefed the Daily Mail newspaper that David Cameron could face a no confidence vote whatever the outcome of the referendum. The anonymous MPs, incensed at the way the referendum campaign has been conducted, urged the Prime Minister to set a date of departure when the campaign if concluded; he has already said he will step down by 2020. Mr Camerons pre-announced departure has focused some Tories attentions on who will succeed him. Boris Johnson, George Osborne, and Theresa May have all been talked about as potential successors. Mr Corbyn warned earlier this month that Labour had not done enough to win the 2020 election but that better-than-expected local election results showed it had a solid foundation from which to make changes. Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Show all 12 1 /12 Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn's reshuffle Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn and the Syria bombing vote Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn asks questions from the public at PMQs, meanwhile backbenchers plot to oust him Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn is unavailable to attend the Privy Council Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Conference rejects Corbyns call to debate Trident Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn At Labour conference Corbyn and McDonnell press for a Robin Hood tax Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyns hopes for a new politics look optimistic in the face of a media barrage Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn enters Labour leadership race The speculation over an early election recalls the situation in 2007, when Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair and was challenged to call an election. Mr Brown hesitated, despite Labour being ahead in the polls at the time. The election was ultimately held in 2010 and Labour was ejected from government. An early election could be attractive to some Conservatives because of Mr Corbyn's percieved weakness as leader. Most polls show the Tories slightly ahead. Alternatively, the party could wait until the Government has completed the review into constituency boundaries, which is expected to boost Tory chances. Though the Fixed Term Parliament Act required elections to be held every five years, a loophole allows an early election to be held when a no confidence vote has been called the sitting government. 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 }} Key parts of neoliberal economic policy have increased inequality and risk stunting economic growth across the globe, economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned. Neoliberalism the dominant economic ideology since the 1980s tends to advocate a free market approach to policymaking: promoting measures such as privatisation, public spending cuts, and deregulation. It is generally antipathetic to the public sector and believes the private sector should play a greater role in the economy. The ideology was initially championed by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in Britain and America, but was ultimately also adopted by centre-left parties worldwide, under third way figures like Tony Blair. The approach has long been the target of criticism from the radical left and parts of the reactionary right but has been endorsed as common sense by centrist parties across the world for decades. Now a paper published in June 2016s issue of the IMFs Finance and Development journal warns that, after nearly forty years of neoliberalism, the approach is jeopardising the future of the world economy. Instead of delivering growth, some neoliberal policies have increased inequality, in turn jeopardising durable expansion, the senior IMF economists who drew up the paper said. The authors say that while the liberalisation of trade has helped lift people out of poverty in the developed world and some privatisations have raised efficiency, other aspects of the policy platform had seriously misfired. Margaret Thatcher championed neoliberal policies in Britain in the 1980s (PA) There are aspects of the neoliberal agenda that have not delivered as expected, they said, focusing specifically on austerity and the freedom of capital to move across borders. The benefits in terms of increased growth seem fairly difficult to establish when looking at a broad group of countries. The costs in terms of increased inequality are prominent. Such costs epitomize the trade-off between the growth and equity effects of some aspects of the neoliberal agenda. Increased inequality in turn hurts the level and sustainability of growth. Even if growth is the sole or main purpose of the neoliberal agenda, advocates of that agenda still need to pay attention to the distributional effects. The paper was authored by Jonathan Ostry, the deputy director of the IMFs research department; Prakash Loungani, its division chief; and Davide Furceri, an economist there. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell says there is a 'growing consensus' against neoliberalism (Reuters) They go on to say that throwing open national borders to multinational corporations has had uncertain growth benefits but quite clear costs due to increased economic volatility and crisis frequency which they say is more evident under neoliberalism. On the issue of austerity, the authors say there is strong evidence that there is no reason for countries like Britain to inflict austerity on themselves. Austerity policies not only generate substantial welfare costs due to supply-side channels, they also hurt demand and thus worsen employment and unemployment, they say. In sum, the benefits of some policies that are an important part of the neoliberal agenda appear to have been somewhat overplayed. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told The Independent the report reflected a growing consensus among economists. The costs in terms of increased inequality are prominent
IMF paper
The International Monetary Fund has summarised what a growing consensus amongst economists across the globe now think, that Osborne-style austerity economics increases inequality and instability, and undermines growth, he said. It's time for the Chancellor to listen to the experts, change course and put an end to his failed policy of austerity with a solid commitment by government to deliver an industrial strategy backed up by investment to create the high-tech, high-wage economy of the future." The IMF itself has long been regarded as one of the key international proponents driving neoliberalism in the developing world, often only giving financial assistance and loans on the condition that neoliberal reforms would be implemented in the target country. What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? Show all 8 1 /8 What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? Welfare payments will be slashed One of the most controversial parts of the Conservative manifesto was to cut benefits for the working age poor by 12 bn over the next three years. But during the campaign they only said where 2 bn of these savings would come from. That leaves 10 bn still to find. Some experts think the only way they can close that gap is by means testing child benefit with millions of families losing out Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be tax cuts for those in work and those who die The Tories will increase the threshold at which the 40p rate of tax becomes payable to 50,000 by 2020. They havent said so but it is also likely that at some point in the next five years they will abolish that 45p rate of tax altogether for the highest earners. They also want to increase the effective inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to 1m Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be an in/out EU referendum in 2017 The next two years are going to be dominated by the prospect of a referendum on Britains membership of the EU. First off David Cameron has the daunting task of negotiating a deal with other EU leaders an acceptable deal that he can sell to his party so he can go into the referendum campaigning for a yes vote. This may be unachievable and it is possible that the Tories may end up arguing to leave. Opinion polls show Britain is divided on EU membership, one poll this year showed 51% said they would opt to leave compared to 49% who would vote to stay in Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be more privatisation of the NHS Having won the election the Tories now have a mandate to go further and faster reforming the NHS. In order to make cost savings there is likely to be greater private involvement in running services, while some smaller hospitals may lose services they currently provide like A&E and maternity units Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be many more free schools and traditional state schools will become a thing of the past The Tories plans to create 500 new free schools and make 3,000 state schools become academies. They will also carry on reforming the Department of Education and remove more powers from local authorities over how schools are run Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? On shore wind farms will be a thing of the past and fracking will be the future Government spending on renewable energy is under real threat now the Lib Dems are no longer in power with the Tories. Subsidies are likely to be slashed for off-shore wind farm and other green energy supplies. Meanwhile there will be generous tax break for fracking as ministers try and incentivise the industry to drill for onshore oil and gas Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There maybe more free childcare but not necessarily In the campaign the Tories pledged to double the amount of free early education for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours a week to 30. The extra hours would only be offered to working families where parents are employed for at least eight hours a week. However they have not said where the money will come from to fund the pledge Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? Workers' rights could be reduced The Tories want to slash business regulation, merge regulator and cut costs. The Lib Dems stopped them from reducing the employment rights of workers in power but these are now under threat Getty In recent years the organisation has appeared to equivocate more on the issue, however. In 2013 director Christine Lagarde admitted that the IMF failed to foresee the damage that austerity policies would do, particularly in Greece. A long-term analysis by the Office for National Statistics published in 2013 found that the rate of UK recessions has increased since the 1970s, when neoliberalism started to influence policymaking. Between 1948 and 1973, GDP increased consistently on an annual basis. On a quarterly basis, there were a number of contractions. However, these were generally isolated and did not result in annual downturns in output in these years, the analysis said. By contrast, it noted: There has been one downturn in annual output in every decade since the 1970s, the most pronounced of which is the current economic downturn which started in 2008. The Institute for Economic Affairs, a think-tank that was instrumental in shaping the direction of neoliberal policy in the 20th century, told The Independent the approach had a good record overall. In a context of weak institutions and greedy governments, there may be a point in controlling short-term capital flows to prevent acute crises although capital controls have not saved Venezuela from economic collapse, Diego Zuluaga, the organisations financial services research fellow said. Moreover, international bodies such as the IMF may worry about rising inequality as economic growth rewards some more than others within an economy. But even a superficial look at the evidence from the past 35 years shows the amazing progress made especially by poorer countries under the so-called neoliberal agenda. This progress is sadly overlooked in the article. Neoliberalisms adherents do not tend to self-identify as neoliberals themselves because the ideology is almost a given in most establishment policymaking circles. A Treasury spokesperson said: This report does not represent an official IMF view of UK economic policy. In fact, the IMFs most recent formal assessment of the UK economy two weeks ago supported the governments economic plan. The UK economy is growing, our employment rate is at a record high and the deficit has been cut by almost two-thirds as a share of GDP. At the same time, inequality is falling and living standards reached their record highest level last year. But the job of building a resilient economy is not done - thats why we must stick to the plan that is delivering economic security across Britain. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The campaign to leave the EU has been accused of a con after it launched a prize draw with a supposed one in eight billion chance of winning the top prize. The 50 million competition asks people to hand over their personal details in exchange for a chance to win 50 million if they guess the correct result of every match in the Euro 2016 tournament. Bookmakers Ladbrokes say the chance of guessing multiple matches between the 24 teams in the tournaments group and knockout stages is eight billion to one. To gain access to the prize draw, contestants give their mobile number, Facebook profile, and email address. Access to such personal contact information might give Vote Leave an advantage on referendum day if it allows the campaign to effectively mobilise its vote. Will Straw, executive director of Britain Stronger In Europe, said: This competition is a con. The odds of winning this competition are 8 billion to one. The same length of odds as Vote Leave coming up with a coherent vision for what life would look like outside the EU. Given the 50m figure is a work of fiction, this is a political Ponzi scheme with Dominic Cummings acting as Vote Leaves Bernie Madoff. Once again Vote Leave put wild guesswork at the heart of their campaign and it is the British people who they are asking to take the risk. 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 Vote Leave claims 50 million is the amount Britain pays the EU every single day. If no winner is found the closest entry would win 50,000, the campaign said. It has previously been told to stop using the same 350 million a week figure by the UK Statistics Authority, which said it was potentially misleading. The figure does not take into account the British rebate and also does not take into account EU funding directed to Britain, or any other economic benefits. The competitions website says of the figure: We chose 50 million as the big prize because that's how much of our money we hand over to the EU every single day! That's a hell of a lot of money. What would you spend it on? Despite the 50 million figures dubious nature it appears to have entered the public consciousness illustrated by exchanges with the audience during the first televised EU referendum debate last night. StrongerIns Alan Johnson protested against an audience members use of the figure, but she insisted it was correct, citing the former mayor of London Boris Johnson. The EU referendum takes place on 23 June this year. Phone polls suggest a significant lead for the Remain campaign, while online polls tend to suggest a neck-and-neck race. 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 }} US air strikes have killed a leader of the Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Fallujah as US and Iraqi government forces continue a sustained attack to defeat terrorist networks. Maher al-Bilawi, the commander of Daesh forces in Falluajh, was killed on 25 May, according to the spokesperson of the US military campaign leading the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Operation Inherent Resolve army colonel Steve Warren confirmed the death of Mr al-Bilawi and more than 70 terrorists in recent air strikes when he spoke to the press from a live conference in Baghdad. Recommended Read more There is an alternative to air strikes on Isis in Iraq and Syria He did not specify where the strike took place, how long Mr al-Bilawi had been in the city or how the army came to know the whereabouts of the ISIS leader. The news comes five days after several news outlets reported that a local official said that airstrikes had killed the so-called Wilayah Fallujah, Mr al-Bilawi, on 22 May, east of the city of Ramadi. Mr Warren said that news was "incorrect" and the killing two days ago was part of the coalition's plan to constantly chip away at the terrorist network. This wont cause the enemy to stop fighting but its a blow and it creates confusion and the leadership has to move around, he said. The air strikes are an attempt to liberate the city, said Mr Warren, which is home to around 150,000 citizens. The Iraqi government has dropped leaflets on the city, asking them to leave or mark their houses via white sheets, while the government works on evacuation routes. Mr Warren acknowledged that ISIS most likely will also be holding out white sheets to hide behind civilians, and that was part of the complexity of human warfare. In the last 24 days there have been 20 air strikes across Iraq and Syria, which amounted to the deaths of at least 70 terrorists. We are still early in the Fallujah fight so its unclear how long this battle will last, said Mr Warren during his last press briefing. He will be soon replaced by Colonel Chris Garver. The US forces goal is to also liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul, and Mr Warren said different forces will be employed there and in Fallujah. We are going to every city sooner or later, he said. Its just a case of sequencing. 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 Muslim cleric in Ghana has said sex between gay couples "disgusts Allah" and is responsible for earthquakes. Mallam Abass Mahmud said in an interview: Allah gets annoyed when males engage in sexual encounter and such disgusting encounter causes earthquake. He also said Allah destroyed the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as the result of homesexuality. His comments follow reports of heightened hostility among Zongo communities in Kumasi and the capital Accra towards homosexual relationships. A local news station reported that a number of gay men have fled their homes because they were afraid to disclose their sexual preferences for fear of attacks. According to the Daily Mail, Mahmud added: Should we allow such a shame to continue in our communities against holy teachings? Certainly no, and we are very happy to chase away such idiots from our Zongo communities. 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 The British Governments travel advice for Ghana warns: Although there is a small gay community, there is no scene and most Ghanaians dont accept that such activity exists. News Ghana reported that Muslim youths in the communities are known to have created special task forces to fight what they describe as the importation of white mans culture. Homosexuality is illegal in 34 of Africas 56 states, according to the International Gay and Lesbian Association. 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 }} Several pieces of debris have been found washed ashore in Mozambique and Mauritius which could be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Two pieces were found on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius and one in Mozambique, the Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said. The wreckage will now be sent to be studied by Australian investigators to see if it came from the plane which disappeared over the South China Sea in March 2014. It is believed that all 239 people on board the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing died. Mr Chester did not release details on what the debris looked like or who found it, only saying the items are of interest. The debris is the latest in a series of pieces reportedly found along the east coast of Africa over the past year. Earlier this month, officials said a piece of engine cowling found in South Africa and an interior panel piece from an aircraft cabin found on Rodrigues Island off Mauritius were almost certainly from MH370. These were the fourth and fifth pieces which have been deemed most likely to have come from the plane. A piece of the missing MH370 aircraft engine cowling stamped with the Rolls Royce logo. It was found on a South African beach in December 2015 (AFP) An extensive underwater search of a vast area of the Indian Ocean along Australias west coast has so far failed to find anything. Crews are expected to complete their sweep of the search zone by July or August as they have less than 5,800 sq miles of the 46,000 sq miles search left to scour. There are currently no plans to expand the search area beyond that. Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau which is conducting the search, acknowledged it is looking less likely that the remains of MH370 will be found as the search nears the end. MH370 debris - in pictures Show all 7 1 /7 MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris French police officers carry a piece of debris from a plane in Saint-Andre, Reunion Island. AP MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris Police carry a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion, in the east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion AFP PHOTO / YANNICK PITOUYANNICK PITOU/AFP/Getty Images MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris The plane part is being taken to France for further investigation Reuters MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion Reuters MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion Reuters MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris Johnny Begue, a member of a local shore cleaning association, in Saint-Andre, French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, holds the remain of a suitcase found the day before on the same site Getty Images MH370 debris - in pictures MH370 debris Searches continued on Friday for other possible MH370 debris along beaches on the island of Reunion AP He said: "That's just a statement of the obvious. "We've covered a fairly significant proportion of our total search area without finding the aircraft and so we have to start considering the alternatives. But we've still got 15,000 square kilometres to go which is a big chunk. ... So it's not as though we've given up." 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 }} Around 39,000 striking workers could be back to work next week after telecoms giant Verizon has reportedly struck a deal in principle with trade unions. Labor secretary Thomas Perez said the deal is being written up and will be submitted from union members for approval. Mr Perez said in a statement to the Associated Press that the employees could be back to work "next week". The news comes following 13 days of negotiations between the employer and two trade unions. It also follows news that at least 35,000 striking Verizon employees face being cut from the payroll in May, according to a Labor Department report. The departments monthly strike report, to be published on 3 June, showed that 35,100 Verizon employees were idle during the survey period for the May payrolls count, as reported by Reuters. The report considers anyone who did not receive a paycheck as unemployed. Close to 40,000 workers in nine eastern states and Washington DC, ranging from network technicians to customer service representatives, walked out on 13 April, the largest strike in recent US history. They had been working without a contract since last August. The strike is ongoing and has threatened thousands of customers with disruption to their services. Verizon has said it needs to protect replacement workers from harassment as the strike has reached its seventh week. The two sides are facing off in court over alleged misbehavior by picketers like blocking off roads and targeting hotels where the replacement workers are staying. Bernie Sanders joined Verizon workers on a picket line The telecoms giant has pushed for restraining orders against picketing workers in Delaware and Massachusetts, following earlier court orders issued in New York and Pennsylvania. The two unions involved, the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, have denied they are encouraging any wrongdoing. On 17 May the employer returned to the negotiating table after a month of unproductive talks. Verizon said it will offer a 7.5% pay hike for the new contract over the next five years but also wants new rules to allow more flexibility and lower costs as the telephone business declines and the wireless side of the business becomes more important. The strike is predicted to reduce Verizons 2016 earnings by about $200 million, according to telecom analyst Barry Sine, as reported by Philly.com. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Verizon is the poster child for corporate greed, claiming the company is only motivated by profit and does not pay enough tax. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam responded that Mr Sanders views ignorant and contemptible. Verizon employs about 177,000 people. "This is the best program for aspiring filmmakers, hands down, said Chad Wilson, executive producer of film, Hear Me. The best program Chad refers to is the Professional Film and Television Training program (PFTT) at Chattanooga State Community College. The PFTT class won Best 3-Minute Film at the Southeastern University Revolution Film Festival in Lakeland, Fla. "This program is one-of-a-kind. There is no other local filmmaking program in Chattanooga that gives you this much experience for the cost, states Chad. As a graduate of the program, Wilson says he has grown as a filmmaker and had the opportunity to create several short films that have gained local attention from film festivals. I'm very fortunate to be a teacher's assistant now and see many more rising filmmakers who have gone on to win major awards, said Chad. Interested in a challenge, 15 members of the PFTT-250 class entered the 100-Hour Film Race, an international film competition. Filmmakers spend the next 100 hours planning, filming, and producing a short film of no more than 2-3 minutes in length. Contestants must include various themes and items that are announced on race day. Filmmakers compete to win thousands of dollars in cash and prizes. The experience is one that students will not forget. Using Chattanooga businesses and landmarks such as Sluggos Cafe, The Stone Cup, Walnut Street Bridge, and Coolidge Park for the films backdrop, the students found the owners of these venues to be flexible and enthusiastic while they shot their film. 'Hear Me' has been one of many exciting and skill-building films on which I have worked, explained Samantha Doss, producer. Getting to be producer for the short film proved to be challenging yet a great stepping stone toward my future. Working alongside my fellow classmates on something we all share a great passion for continues to fuel my fire and encourage me to pursue my dream, she said. Class member Ben Banks felt strongly about the role he and his classmates played in its production. I just want to say how important it is that we came together as a team to create this film. It was a great experience to be involved in the initial concept meeting and only three days later helping to edit the final product. Though the class film did not place in the top 20 in the 100-Hour Film Race, it also was submitted it to Southeastern Universitys Revolution Film Festival in Lakeland, FL, where it was later nominated and won as Best 3-Minute Film. For more information about the Professional Film and Television Training program, contact 423-697-4441 or email Dr. Chris Willis, First Tennessee Chair of Excellence, at chris.willis@chattanoogastate.edu. 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 last dictator of the infamous Argentine junta, Reynaldo Bignone, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his involvement in Operation Condor, a conspiracy between South American governments to crush the Marxist movement during the 1970s and 1980s. Operation Condor was launched in 1975 at a meeting of military intelligence chiefs from rival Latin nations including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, who agreed to put aside their differences to combat what they saw as a leftist threat to their dominance of the continent. Left-wing campaigners were disappeared and killed across the region, including in Brazil, which later joined the operation, named for the South American vulture, as it continued into the next decade. Bignone was the final leader of Argentinas military regime, ruling from 1982 to 1983. The 88-year-old general was sentenced in Buenos Aires on Friday, after he and 17 fellow military officers were found guilty at the conclusion of a three-year trial. He was already serving a life sentence after his 2011 conviction for crimes against humanity. That previous conviction was related to Argentinas so-called Dirty War, in which an estimated 30,000 left-wing guerillas, dissidents and others were disappeared under the junta from 1976 to 1983. Bignone was forced out of power following the countrys defeat in the 1982 Falklands War, but decreed a blanket amnesty for himself and his colleagues before leaving office, in an attempt to protect them from future action over their human rights abuses. The sole non-Argentinian defendant in the current case, Uruguayan colonel Manuel Cordero, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The other 16 defendants are still awaiting sentencing. Five others have died since the start of the trial in 2013, including the juntas first dictator, Jorge Videla, who ruled from 1976 to 1981. 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 }} Barack Obama has called for a "world without nuclear weapons" in an emotional speech during his historic visit to Hiroshima. We may not be able to eliminate mans capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances we have formed must possess the means to defend ourselves, he told a crowd including the Japanese Prime Minister and survivors of the atomic bombing. But among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them. We may not realise this goal in my lifetime but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe. He is the first serving American President to visit the Japanese city, where the US dropped its first atomic bomb in 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the initial blast and devastating radiation. Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed, Mr Obama said. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself. Why do we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the deadtheir souls speak to us, they ask us to look inward, take stock of who we are and what we might become. Mr Obama listed Japanese men, women and children, Koreans and American prisoners among those killed. In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped Show all 13 1 /13 In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 424497.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 424495.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 424499.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 424500.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 424501.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 424502.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 632213.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 632214.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 632215.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 632216.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 632217.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 632218.bin Getty Images In pictures: Hiroshima after the bomb dropped 632219.bin Getty Images Technological progress without equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us, he continued. The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of the atom requires a moral revolution as well. This is why we come to this place. We stand here, in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell. We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry. The world was forever changed here but, today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace. What a precious thing that is. The President, whose predecessor Harry Truman made the decision to launch the worlds first nuclear strike, spoke with survivors of the attack who had gathered at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. He was seen embracing one elderly man who appeared overcome with emotion. US President Barack Obama hugs Shigeaki Mori, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima (AFP/Getty Images) He did not apologise for the decision to bomb the city but paid tribute to the victims and decried the horrors of war. In a guest book at the memorial park, where he also laid a wreath, Mr Obama wrote: We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons. The Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, said the visit opens a new chapter in reconciliation between the US and Japan and said he respected his counterpart for deciding to visit Hiroshima. Mr Abe said the tragedy of Hiroshima must not be repeated again and that he and Mr Obama are determined to realise a world free of nuclear weapons, no matter how difficult that is to achieve. The US President also used his speech to condemn the justification of violence in the name of some higher cause. Every great religion promises a pathway to love and peace and righteousness, and yet no religion has been spared from believers who have claimed that their faith is a license to kill, he said. Nations arise telling a story that binds people togetherbut those same stories have so often been used to oppress and dehumanise those who are different. He called for the world to embrace the notion of a "single human family" to move beyond conflict. Mr Obama concluded: "Those who died (in Hiroshima) - they are like us." 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 British man who plotted a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow airport on behalf of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in a court in New York. Minh Quang Pham, 33, who was extradited to stand trial in the US almost 18 months ago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of providing material support to the terrorist group also known by the acronym AQAP, notably helping them with their recruiting magazine, Inspire. Recommended Read more Isis says it carried out double suicide attack on Yemen However, US prosecutors contended that he also received terror training in Yemen personally from Anwar al-Awlaki, the US born radical cleric who was killed by a direct US drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama in 2011. They said he agreed that he would return to Britain and thereafter carry out a suicide attack inside an international arrivals hall at Heathrow. The sentencing by US District Judge Alison Nathan of Manhattan brings to a close one of the stranger terror cases in the US, not least the contention by a defense lawyer that her client had been obliged to enter a guilty plea because derogatory remarks by Donald Trump, the presidential candidate, about Muslims, meant he could not get a fair trial in America. Pham, who was born in Vietnam but grew up in Britain where he also converted to Islam, told Judge Nathan he had made a very serious mistake when he left a pregnant wife in Britain in 2010 to travel to Yemen to join AQAP and that he never intended to hurt or harm anybody. On his return to Britain in July 2011, Pham was stopped at Heathrow and questioned for having items on his possession including a live, amour-piercing round of ammunition. He was released but then arrested in 2012 on the request of US authorities. His defense team, led by Bobbi Sternheim, told the court that he never actually intended to carry out the attack as demonstrated by the fact that he did nothing illegal after his return to Britain. But prosecutors insisted that that was because he probably knew he was under surveillance. There's no reason why he would tell the truth today other than he fears the imposition of the severe sentence that he deserves, Assistant US Attorney Anna Skotko told the court, adding that after returning to Britain, Pham had communicated with al-Awlaki by telephone. Earlier this year, Ms Sternheim wrote a letter to Judge Nathan describing the alleged connection between Mr Trumps remarks on the campaign trail and the fate of her client. The defense believes that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to seat a truly impartial New York City jury in the current climate of Islamophobia and hatred of Muslims, Ms. Sternheim wrote. Judge Nathan on Friday said she had desisted from giving the full 50 years sought by the prosecution because Pham had denounced the terror group he spent time with. However, the 40 years term was required because of the horrific bomb plot laid out by the prosecution. Given this, he must face a significantly severe sentence, she said. 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 doctor best known for inventing the revolutionary manoeuvre to save somebody from choking, Dr Henry Heimlich, was finally able to apply his methods in a real-life situation - at the age of 96. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the famous surgeon came to the aid of 87-year-old Patty Ris as a piece of hamburger became lodged in her airway. Ms Ris had luckily been sitting next to Dr Heimlich in the dining room of the Deupree House senior living facility. Despite the fact that he invented the aptly named Heimlich Manoeuvre in the 1970s, and has demonstrated it countless times since, this was the first real time application of the technique by the doctor. When I used it, and she recovered quickly, he said, it made me appreciate how wonderful it has been to be able to save all those lives. Normally, staff of the facility are required to perform these life-saving methods in the event a resident chose. But, a dining room staff member told the Enquirer, it is Dr Heimlich. Ms Ris said that after Dr Heimlich rose to the occasion and saved her, she wrote him a note thanking him for his actions. It read: God put me in this seat next to you." Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A group of white men in Texas are training to shoot Muslims in case of an uprising and are dipping their bullets in pig's blood or bacon grease so victims would go straight to hell. The next step in Jihad does not involve random, sporadic attacks. They started killing people. They started slaughtering people wholesale, said so-called Bureau of American Islamic Relations (BAIR) spokesperson David Wright. Do you really expect me to stand here and wait until we get to that point? Im not going to wait until we get to that point. Im going to start doing something about it now. The group fears that thousands of Muslim refugees would lead to an uprising. BAIR is based in Irving, the same town where clock boy Ahmed Mohammed was arrested after bringing to school a home-made clock which the teacher thought was a bomb. In a video from AJ+ news, BAIR members of the group stand over railway tracks and do target practice with an array of weapons. Democrats engage in sit-in in Congress over gun control- 'We will occupy this floor' A lot of us here are using either pigs blood or bacon grease on our bullets, packing it in the middle, so that when you shoot a Muslim, they go straight to hell. Thats what they believe in their religion, said Mr Wright. BAIR members have recently staged armed protests outside mosques to stop the Islamization of America. Recent fear and distrust has long existed in the US but has been exacerbated due to racist rhetoric during the 2016 US election campaign, including Donald Trump calling for a ban on Muslims. Mr Wright named one radical as Mohamed Elibiary, a former top aide to President Obama and a member of the Department of Homeland Security advisor, who was accused of leaking secret documents in an attempt to smear then-presidential candidate and Texas governor Rick Perry as Islamophobic. The claims were unfounded, said the DHS, yet Texas politician Louie Gohmert then accused him of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The mayor of Irving, Beth Van Duyne, also led the city council to support a state bill aimed at blocking Muslim influence in the US courts. To counter BAIR, people of all religions and background have staged anti-BAIR protests and have created their own anti-BAIR Facebook page. 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 Trumps unexpected primary victory has led many to reassess his prospects for the general election. After all, he won a major party nomination without doing all the things that campaigns are "supposed" to do - polling, data analytics, fundraising and traditional campaign operations. Why cant we assume he upends the fundamentals in November as well? Before we talk of disrupting the fundamentals or the assumptions of 2016, its best to take a serious look at what they are and what they mean. 1. A primary is different from a general election This is both the most obvious and least appreciated factor in this contest. Compared to the general voting population, the GOP electorate is overwhelmingly white (90 per cent) and disproportionately male. The Democratic electorate is more racially diverse and disproportionately female than the electorate will be in November. In other words, the coalitions that a candidate puts together to win a primary dont always translate in a general election. Recommended Read more Donald Trump is set to win the US Presidency by a landslide Lets take a look at Trumps coalition in the primaries. Exit poll data analysed by Atlantics Ron Brownstein found Trumps strongest constituency was with voters who did not have a college degree - he won those voters with 47 per cent. He also ran better with men than women - taking about 44 per cent of the male vote and 36 per cent of the female vote, according to an April exit poll analysis by the GOP polling firm Public Opinion Strategies. So, lets take Trumps success at the primary level and play it out at the general election level. Specifically, how does Trumps strength among white men without a college degree look in a general election. While we dont have the breakdown by gender of the non-college voters in the GOP primary, Brownstein estimates that white males without a college education made up 22-25 per cent of the GOP electorate. That is 5 to 8 points higher than their representation in the overall electorate in 2012, where white men without a college degree made up just 17 per cent of the voting population. Who will be Donald Trump's running mate? We also know that primary battles have a dampening effect on party unity. But, it is usually a short lived phenomenon. Whether it was Clinton voters lining up behind Obama in 2008, or, as we see now with GOP voters getting behind Trump very quickly post primary. An NBC/Wall Street journal poll found that the per cent of Republicans who said theyd support Trump went from 72 per cent in early April, when the battle for the nomination was still hot and heavy, to 85 per cent in mid-May when it was over. Clintons ongoing battle with Sanders has prevented her from consolidating hers in the same way. But, it is likely that once the primary is over, Democrats will come home and support their nominee. Recommended Read more Trump vs Clinton begins as the most lopsided race in the modern era If both candidates are able to get their partisans on board - 90 per cent or so - this will be a close contest. If Trumps support among Republicans suddenly plunges or Clinton ultimately fails to get Sanders supporters on board, the race becomes more unpredictable. Unless or until that happens, we can assume that both sides are going to keep their teams in line. 2. Trends are tough to upend The bigger test for the Trump campaign is to prove that the 2013 RNC autopsy - the document that said Republicans needed to broaden their base to include more women, non-whites and younger people - was wrong. They seem determined to win not by broadening the base, but by doubling down on it - specifically by appealing to white voters, especially white, downscale men in Rust Belt states. Can this work? First, lets take a look at the national numbers. In 1980, 65 per cent of the electorate were whites without a college degree. By 2012, whites without a college degree made up just 36 per cent of the vote. In fact, notes Brownstein, in 2012, white women with a college degree made up a larger share of the electorate than white men without a degree (19 per cent to 17 per cent). The most recent polling shows Trump running up the score among white men without a degree, but losing white women with a degree by large margins too. More important, writes Brownstein in his latest opus on all things demographics, non-white and college educated women could cast 49 to 50 per cent of the ballots this year. Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY Now, lets look at how this plays out at the state level. For Trump to win the Electoral College, without carrying the more diverse states like Florida, Virginia, Colorado, or Nevada, hed need to win Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin AND Michigan. All but Ohio have been carried by Democrats in every election since 1992. But these states have a population thats whiter than the national average. They also have a large per centage of white voters who dont hold a college degree. So, how does Trump flip them in 2016? The Democratic targeting and polling group Lincoln Park Strategies crunched the numbers and found that in order for Trump to win a state like Pennsylvania, hed need to improve on Romneys performance with white men by 6 points - from 60 to 67 per cent, and then run six points better among white women - from 54 to 60 per cent. In Michigan, the state with the lowest per cent of white votes of the four at 75 per cent, Trump would need to improve his standing with white women by 10 points - from 53-63 per cent. Given his standing with female voters in those states, hitting those high marks is going to be a stretch. Senior Republicans are fearful of the potential damage Donald Trump could cause in failing to become president (Reuters) The other possibility is that Trump expands the electorate, by identifying and turning out voters who havent traditionally participated. Nationally, non-college white voters turn out at a lower rate than college white voters - 57 per cent for non-college whites voted in 2012 compared to 77 per cent of college whites. If Trump and the RNC can identify and mobilise these voters, they can change the composition of the electorate and overcome the Democratic advantage. That, of course, requires money and infrastructure and organisation - something the we havent seen from the Trump campaign. The most recent stories, in fact, suggest a campaign in turmoil with The RNC boasts of a new and improved data and targeting operation. But, it remains to be seen if theyll have the money to implement it. Before dismissing the ability to expand the white electorate out of hand, its important to remember that the white vote has declined every year since 1980 with one very important exception - 1992 when it jumped up 2 points from 1988. That year, of course, the populist messenger Ross Perot was on the ballot. However, whats different this time is that the Democratic party is actively working to expand their base too. Ultimately, the Rust Belt Trump strategy reminds me of one of those Hollywood movies where the protagonist is desperately trying to outrun an oncoming storm. In this case, the storm is demographic realities and Trumps own high negatives. In the movie, the storm eventually wins. Maybe Trump can outrun and outsmart this storm, but it requires the kind of meticulous campaigning and disciplined approach that he and his team have eschewed up to this point. Finally, Im asked a lot these days by friends and family if I am "having fun" this election season. This sure is an exciting election, isnt it? they ask. You must be in hog heaven. Actually, and sadly, I am not enjoying this. This year, the electorate will be divided along race, education/class and gender like never before. Im preparing myself for a campaign that is going to be nasty and ugly and will leave the country more polarised than it is today. Theres nothing to be happy about there. This article was republished with the kind permission of The Cook Political Report. Follow on Twitter: @CookPolitical 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 15lb baby girl is the heaviest child ever born in India, and could be the biggest in the world. The baby, who was born by caesarean section, is the same weight as a six-month-old and three times heavier than average in India, where newborns usually weigh 2.5-3.5kg. The girl was born in hospital to a 20-year-old called Nandini in the south west Karnataka region. It is the biggest baby in India, I can say. Whether it is the biggest in the world, I cannot say right now, a district health official told the BBC. Both mother and child are said to be healthy, but have been kept in hospital for a week so doctors can figure out the reason for the babys big size. The child is also exceptionally tall, at 62cm, compared to the normal height of babies in India, which is 50cm. Dr SR Kumar, who is looking after Nandini and her child, said he tested the mother for diabetes, as this can often cause babies to be overweight, but had found her to be healthy. We have done an ultrasound and conducted blood tests on Nandini, but we didn't find any abnormality, he told the BBC. In November 2015, a baby boy weighing 6.7kg was born in the Uttar Pradesh region of India. But Nandini's child has broken this record. The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth Show all 15 1 /15 The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth First Place Winner: Marijke Thoen (Geboortefotografie) Underwater birth, baby with gorgeous curly hair The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth Best In Category: Labor (Apple Blossom Families) The Surge The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth Best In Category: Delivery (Birth Blessings Photography & Childbirth Services) En-Caul Unassisted Twin Water Birth The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth Best In Category: Postpartum (Natalia Walth Photography) Where peace begins The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth Honorable Mention: 'Love' (Krista Evans Photography) It calls to her both loudly and softly in song The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth Honorable Mention: 'Untethered Beginning for The Birthing Woman' (Angela Gallo) Maternal Grace The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth Honorable Mention: (alexandra kayy photography) In between two worlds The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'Untethered Beginning for The Birthing Woman' (Angela Gallo) The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'Support' (Ashton Renee Photography) The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'Earthside' (Amy Lynn Photography & Design) Amy Lynn Photography & Design The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'The wait in silence and calmness' (Senhoritas Fotografia) The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'A calm and loving support' (Coastal Lifestyles Photography) Shea Michelle Long The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'The Journey' (Bonnie Hussey Photography) Bonnie Hussey Photography The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'We did it!' (Chanda Williams, photographer doula) The most stunning photos that capture the beauty of birth 'She's here!' (Blue Muse Photo) A recent study found that women who are overweight during pregnancy are more likely to have heavier babies, even if they do not have diabetes. There were 20 million obese women in India in 2014 compared with 9.8 million obese men, according to a study published in the Lancet and while the number of overweight people in India remains small, the number is growing. The heaviest healthy baby ever born weighed 10.2kg and was born in Aversa, near Naples in Italy in 1955, according to Guinness World Records. 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 teenager who complained of stomach pain had actually been carrying his unborn parasitic twin inside him for 15 years, doctors discovered. Mohd Zul Shahril Saidin, from Malaysia, underwent surgery to remove the twin this month, reports Fox News. The 15-year-old reportedly had an unborn twin with hair, legs, hands and genitals, taken out of his stomach. It is believed to be the first case of foetus in fetu in the country. A rare condition, foetus in fetu occurs where very early in the pregnancy of twins in which the foetuses share a common placenta one foetus wraps around and envelops the other. The enveloped twin becomes a parasite as its survival depends on the other for survival. The parasitic twin normally lacks some organs and cannot survive on their own. As the host twin has to feed the enveloped twin from the nutrients received from one umbilical cord, they usually die before birth. In January, an Indian teenager was also rushed to hospital with chronic stomach pains only to discover he had a parasitic twin living inside him. Narendra Kumar, 18, had suffered from vomiting and weight loss for a number of years, but it was only when doctors operated on him that the mass of skin, hair and teeth of his parasitic twin was discovered. 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 }} Just minutes before his birthday, Masonda Ketanda Olivier was beaten to death. The Congolese national was confronted by a mob of men late at night last Friday in New Delhi and killed. Police said the incident was a dispute over the hiring of an autorickshaw; Olivier's friend, an Ivorian national, said it was a clear hate crime, with racial epithets repeatedly invoked. This week, irate African diplomats in the Indian capital pointed to Olivier's murder as evidence of wider discrimination and bigotry against black people who visit and live in India. Olivier, who reports indicate was about to turn 24, was teaching French. "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," Alem Tsehage, the Eritrean ambassador and the diplomat representing other African envoys in New Delhi, said in a statement. They also warned against new batches of African students enrolling in Indian universities. A number of African diplomats chose to boycott a planned event celebrating the history of India-Africa ties on Thursday. On the same day, on the other side of the Himalayas, an ad for a Chinese laundry detergent went viral. It is shockingly racist: The video, which you can watch above, shows a fetching Chinese woman lure a paint-stained, lascivious African man toward her. She briefly toys with him before shoving a detergent capsule into his mouth and him into the machine. Out emerges a fresh-faced Chinese man, looking sparkling white and clean. The backlash to the ad has been swift in English-language media circles, with the Shanghaist highlighting it as yet another display of blatant racism in China that "can leave you completely and utterly dumbfounded." These two separate episodes, a murder in Delhi and a callous video in Chinese cyberspace, shouldn't be seen as isolated incidents. Rather, they are features of a prevailing theme: the inescapable racism and ignorance faced by Africans in both countries. The Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to solve our biggest global challenges and bring people everywhere a better quality of life. India and China represent two of the world's most dynamic, booming economies. Their populations jointly comprise a third of humanity. The countries both consider themselves now finding their rightful place in the world after centuries in the shadow of an imperial West. Part of their economic rise has seen both nations build robust ties with countries in Africa. For Beijing and New Delhi, the continent is an important arena not just for trade, but for the exercise of soft power and wider geopolitical goals. Yet many Africans who have come in the tens of thousands to China and India as students and businessmen, petty merchants and backpackers, complain of persistent racism. In February, a Tanzanian woman was stripped and beaten by a mob in Bangalore after a Sudanese man, in an entirely separate incident, was believed to have hit a local with his car. Last year, an Indian publication put together a moving, sad video, below, of testimony from African students and professionals about their experience of daily discrimination. It also includes 2014 footage of a mob in a Delhi metro station attacking three black men with sticks, while chanting nationalist slogans. "It's like I have a disease," says one student in the video. In China, it's a similar picture. In a 2013 account, an African-American English teacher recounted his students complaining about their instructor: "I don't want to look at his black face all night," one said. Africans, whether on university campuses or elsewhere, across the country have also been subject to attack and abuse. Growing merchant communities in certain cities, such as in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, rub up against a wider population that is ethnically homogenous and largely unfamiliar with the diversity and history of black populations elsewhere. The African community in Guangzhou has taken to the streets to protest unfair treatment on a number of occasions, including in 2009 after the death of a Nigerian man fleeing a police raid and in 2012 after another man died mysteriously in police custody. A comedy group based in Shanghai produced a video regarding Chinese stereotypes about black people. While India is home to a dizzyingly diverse, multiethnic and multilingual society, prejudice abounds. Africans experience the same crude cocktail of ignorance and bias toward "whiteness" as their counterparts in China. The Indian government has promised a swift and judicious investigation into Olivier's murder. Meanwhile, there's an underlying irony to the Chinese detergent ad. As the Shanghaiist reports, it's a blatant copy of an older Italian commercial, which drew the opposite, albeit similarly awkward, conclusion: "Colored is better." Copyright: 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 new book by General Sir Richard Shirreff, Natos deputy supreme allied commander for Europe between 2011 and 2014, evokes a potential scenario that leads to a devastating future war with Russia. The book, 2017 War with Russia, is clearly labelled as a work of fiction. But it portrays a fairly convincing manufactured incident that the fictional president of Russia uses as a causus belli for a clash with NATO. In his account, Russia rapidly expands its war aims by invading the Baltic States, which are NATO members, and world war ensues. Perhaps more worryingly, the author has since told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that such a conflict is entirely plausible. Fact vs fiction I do not want to give any more away about the book (it is a good and authentic, if gloomy, read). But the generals underlying political message clearly articulated in the books preface is that the hollowing out of defence capabilities across the West and its reluctance and inability to stand up to Russia is making war ever more likely. Is this an accurate assessment of the real world? The novel is reminiscent of Tom Clancys The Hunt for Red October and the excellent The Third World War: August 1985 by General John Hackett. The latter, written at the height of the Cold War, was conceived as a future history, supposedly looking back at the outbreak and subsequent unfolding of a full-blown NATO vs Warsaw Pact war. Shirreffs book, however, is a far more overtly political piece, and is deeply critical of the Wests reduced defence spending and its unwillingness and inability to stand up to the Russian threat. At first sight, this appears a persuasive case, but on reflection is perhaps slightly less so. Shirreffs scenario assumes either that the Russian president had no other option to achieve his political goals than through the use of military force or hard power or that he is what might be termed an irrational actor in the mould of North Koreas Kim Jong-un. Neither strikes me as convincing. Russia has undoubtedly suffered economically from the global downturn in energy prices and from economic sanctions following the annexation of the Crimea, but the degree of dependence, in particular energy dependence, that Western Europe has on Russia is highly significant. Two US F-22 Raptors sent beef up NATO's presence in Europe (AP) The security of co-dependence For example, the Nord Stream pipeline laid in international waters along the Baltic from Russia to Germany, supplies a significant according to EU figures, 38.7% proportion of Western Europes gas needs. In turn, Russia desperately needs the foreign earnings this generates. Consequently, the two sides of this hypothetical war are heavily economically inter-dependent. Put another way, Russia rationally could bring much more significant, and cheaper, political pressure to bear by turning off the gas supply: why resort to the chancier option of war? But is the real President Putin irrational? A real-life analysis of the Russian presidents actions would suggest that he is being entirely rational and that his actions are those or an arch-realist who places the needs of his country first. Putin, it seems, is looking to play the long game. Looked at from the viewpoint of Russia, and especially European Russia, she is being hemmed-in by her opponents with more and more of her neighbours coming under the sway of the US, the West and NATO. Turkey, on Russias southern border, joined the military alliance in 1952, and since the end of the Cold War, many of Russias former Warsaw Pact allies, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Baltic States have signed up, too. Many in Russia want their leader to kick back against this. Russia has, moreover, always respected a strong leader, and the present incumbent of the Kremlin enjoys levels of popularity at least 80% that Western politicians can only dream of. Sabre-rattling is all part of this strongman image, but why risk it all by undertaking that most risky of manoeuvres in international politics: war? A Putin cafe opens Its certainly in Putins interests that the West cuts defence spending and has a diminished appetite for brinkmanship and it is perhaps understandable that a recently retired general should push for this to be reversed. But does that really make a war any more likely? Probably not although theres always that niggling possibility. World War III But if there was to be war with Russia, what might it look like? The Cold War scenario of vast armies fighting a large-scale conventional war dominated by tanks and aircraft directly supporting the battlefield is as outdated a concept as it is unlikely. Both sides have considerable resources at their disposal but NATO is significantly larger than Russia in simple numbers: NATO has a total of 3.6m personnel in uniform, Russia 800,000; NATO 7,500 tanks, Russia 2,750; NATO 5,900 combat aircraft, Russia 1,571. However, these bald figures do not tell the whole story as NATOs forces are deployed globally to a far greater extent than Russias, and even acknowledging that Russia could achieve a temporary military advantage in, say, the Baltic, for how long and at what price? Nevertheless, todays armies are smaller and more reliant on technology than they were during much of the 20th century and the likelihood of a Kursk-style pitched battle between heavy armour is highly unlikely. That said, the ever-greater reach of missiles and artillery, the accuracy and potency of modern precision-guided munitions, the extensive use of surveillance systems (from space, via drones, and through highly sophisticated electronic eavesdropping) would make a contemporary battlefield highly dangerous and highly destructive, as pictures from even relatively small-scale recent conflicts from Grozny to Aleppo show. Consequently, while the armies and individual battles might be smaller than those in World War II, the death toll, the loss of war-making material and both sides' ability to reduce everything in their paths to rubble would make a large-scale conflict far more wide-reaching and, in terms of recovery, longer-lasting than anything we have seen before. In such a conflict, the very term battlefield would itself be highly misleading: such a war, employing ships, submarines and aircraft with truly global reach, would indeed be a world war and would pay scant attention to the difference between military and civilian targets: this would truly be a war among the peoples. And not just an earth-bound war: outer space would be a highly contested arena as would cyberspace, with both sides seeking to disrupt all aspects of normal life as the war was taken into the realms of politics, infrastructure, information and commerce, too. Despite Shirreffs warnings, the nightmare scenario of nuclear war is highly unlikely as neither side ultimately would wish to unleash destruction on that scale. Likewise, chemical and biological weapons would, if employed at all, be used at a very local level, and sparingly. That is not to say that the scale of the destruction would not be significant, however. This would be total war, waged on every imaginable front, from the internet and the stock market to outer space. The general has, then, written an excellent and compelling novel. But while there might be some argument in favour of a more robust foreign policy and greater defence spending, to dismiss the Russian leadership purely as aggressively irrational is both naive and shortsighted. Ultimately, when it comes to a new world war, both sides now have far too much to lose. Ian Shields, Associate Lecturer in International Relations, Anglia Ruskin University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. 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 }} Senior EU leaders are preparing the ground for a possible Brexit vote with high-level meetings aimed at a plan B future of the bloc without the UK, including closer co-operation on security and defence matters. The leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and other core members are likely to double down on closer union, the Financial Times reported, amid concern that Brexit could encourage separatist sentiments in other EU states. Officials expect a punitive approach to Britain, with an official meeting of 27 leaders excluding David Cameron expected shortly after a potential Brexit vote. Senior Whitehall figures have identified EU leaders concerns over contagion of anti-EU sentiment as a key reason why, despite the reassurances of Leave campaigners, the bloc will be unlikely to offer Britain a favourable trade deal in the event of Brexit. One senior civil servant said Berlin, Paris and Brussels would see the post-Brexit landscape as an existential battle to save the European project. Officials in Paris have taken a hard line, with one senior figure telling the FT: Playing down or minimising the consequences of [of leaving the EU] would put Europe at riskthe principle of consequences is important. 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. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to favour a softer approach. German officials, however, told the FT, that they expected the market realities for the post-Brexit economy could prove punitive enough. Speaking at the G7 summit in Japan, where leaders agreed a short statement warning of the potential shock of Brexit and its serious risk for growth, David Cameron said it was right to listen to allies, but appeared to dial down his recent warnings of the consequences of a Leave vote. Britain is an amazing country, he said. We can find our way whatever the British people choose. Closer integration in a post-Brexit EU is likely to take the form of tighter security and defence collaboration, against the backdrop of aggression from Russia in the East, and the threat of Islamist terrorism enhanced by the war in Syria and instability in neighbouring Turkey. Economy and security to dominate G7 summit in Japan Plans to enhance the military role of the European Union, potentially paving the way for a future EU army, are being held back until after the UK referendum, according to reports. The plans, which have only been shown to EU diplomats, are understood to include proposals for new European military structures, including a headquarters. According to The Times, which has seen extracts of the plans from diplomatic notes, the proposals will not be sent to national governments until after Britains EU referendum on 23 June to avoid giving succour to the Leave campaign. Similar plans were vetoed by the UK in 2011, and the Government has repeatedly insisted that Britain will never be part of any EU army. However, it is understood the plans, drawn over 18 months by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, are supported by other leading EU countries, and refer to powers set out in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which could allow nine or more member states to embark on their own plans for an EU military headquarters. The draft paper states that in turbulent times, we need a compass to navigate the waters of a faster-changing world adding that the EU can step up its contribution to Europes security and defence, according to a diplomatic note seen by The Times. However, Ms Mogherinis spokesman told the newspaper the defence plan would in no way aim to set up the EU army. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: We will never be part of an EU army. We retain a veto on all defence matters in the EU and we will oppose any measures which would undermine member states' military forces." 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 }} Motorists heading to France for the bank holiday are being urged to fill up their tanks at every opportunity as fuel shortages caused by industrial action worsen. Finding fuel is "extremely difficult" in parts of the country - with long queues forming at pumps with supplies left, the RAC said. A dispute over labour reforms has led to blockades in towns and cities, and on motorways and bridges, prompting the fuel shortage. "Try and fill up before you go and be prepared to have to queue," RAC spokesman Simon Peevers said. Thousands are expected to head across the Channel this weekend despite the risk of being stranded. Mr Peevers said drivers should fill up before they "need it" but should not cancel their holidays to France. In pictures: France strikes Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: France strikes In pictures: France strikes French riot police use tear gas against a demonstrator during a protest against the government's labour market reforms at Place de la Nation in Paris EPA In pictures: France strikes Workers on strike are evacuated by French riot policemen as they block the access to an oil depot near the Total refinery of Donges Getty In pictures: France strikes Demonstrators protest during a rally against employment and labour law reforms in Lyon Rex In pictures: France strikes Security forces clash with demonstrators during a protest called by seven labour unions and students against the labour and employment law reform, in Bordeaux Getty In pictures: France strikes French police apprehend a man during a demonstration to protest the government's proposed labour law reforms in Nantes Reuters In pictures: France strikes Riot police prepare to confront refinery workers outside an oil depot in Douchy-Les-Mines Getty In pictures: France strikes A protester holds up his fist as riot police prepare to intervene to disperse refinery worker holding a blockade of the oil depot of Douchy-Les-Mines to protest against the government's proposed labour reformsr labour reforms Getty In pictures: France strikes An employee stands next to a fire and French CGT union's flag as employees block the access of the PSA plant in Valenciennes Getty In pictures: France strikes CGT union workers and docker workers attend a demonstration in Marseille EPA In pictures: France strikes Men burn bins during a protest against the government's labour market reforms in Rennes Getty In pictures: France strikes People demonstrate in Le Havre Getty In pictures: France strikes A protestor raises his fist during a protest against the government's labour market reforms in Rennes Getty Fuel shortages were concentrated in northern France but are now affecting the central, western and southern regions of the country, the RAC said. Drivers are also being urged to stay put if they do not have enough fuel left to get home on one tank. Simon Williams, for the RAC, said: "Anyone currently in France is going to struggle to find fuel for their return journey and probably shouldn't even attempt to get home unless they can do so on one tank. "We suspect finding somewhere to fill up in the worst-affected areas will be extremely difficult." He added: "If you are just about to go to France, you should fill up in the UK before your crossing to give you the best chance of reaching your destination in one go." The RAC said it was no longer able to help its members find fuel in France and urged motorists to be "mindful" of not running out and getting stranded. P&O ferries are letting drivers take just five litres of spare fuel on board. Dan Bridgett, head of communications at P&O, said the ferry company was operating a full schedule but that drivers would only be allowed to carry "up to five litres of spare fuel". The bank holiday weekend getaway is expected to be the busiest in three years, with more than 15.3 million individual leisure car journeys predicted to take place between Friday and Monday, according to the RAC. Breakdown recovery firm Green Flag said on Thursday that it was experiencing a 14% rise in the number of its UK customers reporting fuel-related breakdowns in France, and advised drivers to fill up before heading to the continent. Press Association 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 }} Slovakias Prime Minister has said that Islam has no place in the country weeks before it takes over the presidency of the EU. Robert Fico won Slovakias premiership for the third time in March, although his leftist-nationalist Smer-Social Democracy party lost its parliamentary majority. Ahead of the vote, Mr Fico advanced hard-line views about migration and said he would not accept one single Muslim migrant into the country points he reiterated in his first post-election interview this week. Speaking about migration, he told Slovakian news agency TASR: When I say something now, maybe it will seem strange, but Im sorry, Islam has no place in Slovakia. I think it is the duty of politicians to talk about these things very clearly and openly. I do not wish there were tens of thousands of Muslims. Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Show all 33 1 /33 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Desperate for entry to the EU, the group of migrants risked being washed away by the sea at Ventimiglia rocks, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Stranded migrants spend night on rocks - theywere supplied with emergency blankets after a cold night next to the sea, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais, June 2015 Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A police officer sprays tear gas to migrants trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France, June 2015 PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants jump out of a lorry after being discovered by French gendarmerie officers AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A migrant sits under the trailer of a lorry AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A Belgian navy sailor passes life vests to migrants sitting in a rubber boat as they approach the Belgian Navy Vessel Godetia, June 2015 AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants on the Belgian Navy vessel Godetia after they were saved during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, June 2015 AP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Iraqis wait as they are detained by Hungarian police after crossing the Hungarian-Serbian border illegally near the village of Asotthalom, Hungary, June 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Syrian refugees walking on train tracks through Macedonia on the Western Balkans migration route, after entering Europe through Greece, June 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A group of migrants huddle together during an operation to remove them from the Italian-French border in the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Italy and France engaged in a war of words as a standoff over hundreds of Africans offered a graphic illustration of Europe's migration crisis. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described images of migrants perched on rocks at the border town of Ventimiglia after being refused entry to France as a "punch in the face for Europe", June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A migrant is carried by Italian police in Ventimiglia, Italy. Police reportedly removed migrants from under a railway bridge, June 2015 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants queue after disembarking from the Royal Navy ship HMS 'Bulwark' upon their arrival in the port of Catania on the coast of Sicily, June 2015 GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A Syrian child holds a drawing as he waits to disembark from Belgian Navy vessel Godetia at the Augusta port, Italy. Around 250 migrants from Syria arrived at the Sicilian harbour from a Damascus refugee camp, June 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan immigrants arrived on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Afghan child migrant is helped off a rib on the gReek island of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Afghan migrant girl holds the hand of a woman as they arrive on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Afghan migrants crossed part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Afghan migrants arrive on a beach of Kos, May 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Rescuers help children to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy in April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A boat transporting migrants arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation at sea, April 2015 Getty Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Armed Forces of Malta personnel in protective clothing carry the body of a dead immigrant off Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti as surviving migrants watch in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Rescued migrants talk to a member of the Malta Order after a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the Libyan coast, is brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta, April 2015 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A boat of would-be immigrants near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Most of those crossing the Mediterranean headed to Italy in December 2014 Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict The Sierra Leone-flagged Ezadeen vessel, carrying hundreds of migrants, is towed by the Icelandic Coast Guard vessel Tyr in rough seas in the Mediterranean sea off Italy's south coast in January 2015 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Hundreds of migrants seen on board the decks of the Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M cargo ship - believed to be carrying 700 illegal immigrant altogether after it docked at the Italian port of Gallipoli in the early hours of 31 December 2014 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Hundreds of migrants seen on board Blue Sky M after it docked at the Italian port of Gallipoli in December 2014 Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict A crowded boat of rescued African migrants off the coast of Sicily in October 2014 AFP Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants of sub-Saharan origin being rescued last month as part of the Mare Nostrum operation in Italy in October 2014 EPA Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Italian Customs Police boat takes illegal immigrants on board off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy in September 2014. Some 40,000 migrants have died since the year 2000, more than half of them in the Mediterranean Getty Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Migrants are pictured on an Italian navy ship after being rescued in open international waters in the Mediterranean Sea between the Italian and the Libyan coasts in August 2014 Reuters Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict Firemen and policemen evacuate the dead bodies of migrants from a boat on July 1st, 2014 in the port of Pozzallo, Sicily GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images Migrants' desperate boat journeys to Europe Migrants fleeing conflict An Italian navy motor boat approaches a boat full of migrants making its way to Europe. The boat was carrying almost 600 people but some 30 died during the journey in June 2014 AP Slovakia is due take over the EUs rotating presidency from 1 July, giving it a greater role in discussions about how the continent should tackle its migration and refugee crisis. Along with the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, Slovakia has called for Europes borders to be sealed off to block the main routes used by refugees to enter Europe. Mr Fico has fiercely opposed EU quotas on migrant resettlement from Greece and Italy, which would see Slovakia taking 2,600 migrants. The Prime Minister told TASR that he had heard about other countries negative experiences of migration, including Malta. He said: I talked about this several times with the Maltese Prime Minister, who told me that the problem is not that they were coming, but they are changing the character of the country. And we do not want to change the traditions of the country, which is built on Constantine-Methodist tradition. He said that anyone claiming that Slovakia wants to be multicultural would be going against the very essence of the country. Responding to his interview, the Islamic Foundation in Slovakia told The Slovak Spectator: The repeated statements of Mr Premier do not only harm Slovak Muslims but also the countrys interests as a sovereign country which is building its position on the international scene. 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 Slovakian model accused of murdering a British millionaire at his Costa del Sol mansion in a jealous rage has told a jury she wishes she had been shot dead instead. In a plea to jurors, Mayka Kukocova said: Maybe it would have been better if I had died instead, according to The Times. The 26-year-old is on trial at the Ciudad de la Justicia in Malaga over the killing of Andrew Bush, a 48-year-old wealthy jewellery store owner. She said she never wanted to hurt Mr Bush, but admitted to shooting him, claiming it was an act of self-defence. British millionaire businessman Andrew Bush and Mayka Marica Kukucova Speaking in the final stages of the trial, she said: I was only defending myself. I was afraid because never in my life has anyone tried to kill me. I didnt know what to do. The court heard there had been a violent struggle shortly before Mr Bushs death, after he had returned home unexpectedly from a trip to the UK with his new girlfriend. Kukucova had been staying in his house to collect her things. Mr Bush was well known in Bristol and was previously married to former BBC Bristol presenter Sam Mason, who is the mother of his daughter. Kukucova said shots were fired during the fight but denies murder. On Friday a jury will decide if Kukucova murdered her ex-boyfriend or killed him in self-defence. Mr Bush and Kukucova were together for two-and-a-half years but the relationship broke down around six months before Mr Bush was killed, the model told the court. Kukucova did not enter a formal plea and prosecutors are seeking a 20 year prison sentence if she is found guilty of murder. According to the Daily Mail, Kukucovas defence lawyer argued jurors should acquit her because she had acted in legitimate self-defence, but proposed a four-year jail sentence if the court felt she could not be exempted from further punishment. Kukucova handed herself in to the authorities in Slovakia four days after the shooting and was extradited back to Spain. 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 }} Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Romania and Poland they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a US missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security. Putin issued his starkest warning yet over the missile shield, saying that Moscow had stated repeatedly that it would have to take retaliatory steps but that Washington and its allies had ignored the warnings. Earlier this month the US military - which says the shield is needed to protect from Iran, not threaten Russia - switched on the Romanian part of the shield. Work is going ahead on another part of the shield, in Poland. Recommended Read more What would happen if NATO went to war with Russia "If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security," Putin told a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. "It will be the same case with Poland," he said. Putin did not specify what actions Russia would take, but he insisted that it was not making the first step, only responding to moves by Washington. "We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbour us." Putin celebrates his 63rd birthday playing hockey Show all 5 1 /5 Putin celebrates his 63rd birthday playing hockey Putin celebrates his 63rd birthday playing hockey Russian President Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons Putin celebrates his 63rd birthday playing hockey Vladimir Putin takes part in a gala game opening match of the Night Hockey League new season in Sochi EPA Putin celebrates his 63rd birthday playing hockey Vladimir Putin takes part in a gala game, opening a new season of the Night Ice Hockey League in Sochi, Russia EPA Putin celebrates his 63rd birthday playing hockey Vladimir Putin (C) shows off his hockey skills during the match of the Night Hockey League new season in Sochi EPA Putin celebrates his 63rd birthday playing hockey Vladimir Putin and Night Hockey League President Alexander Yakushev attend a gala opening match of the Night Hockey League new season in Sochi EPA He said the argument that the project was needed to defend against Iran made no sense because an international deal had been reached to curb Tehran's nuclear programme. The missiles that will form the shield can easily reach Russian cities, he said. "How can that not create a threat for us?" Putin asked. He voiced frustration that Russia's complaints about the missile shield had not been heeded. "We've been repeating like a mantra that we will be forced to respond... Nobody wants to hear us. Nobody wants to conduct negotiations with us." The Russian president held a joint news conference in Athens with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (GETTY) Putin sounded a defiant note over Crimea, the Ukrainian region which Russia annexed in 2014. Moscow said it was acting on the will of the Crimean people, who voted to join Russia, but Western governments say it was an illegal land grab. "As far as Crimea is concerned, we consider this question is closed forever," Putin said. "Russia will not conduct any discussions with anyone on this subject." The Russian leader also touched on relations with Turkey, which have been toxic since the Turkish military shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian-Turkish border last November. Ankara said the plane strayed into Turkish airspace, an allegation Moscow denies. Putin said he was ready to consider restoring relations with Ankara, but that would require a first step from Turkey, and so far there was no sign of that. A Putin cafe opens Putin was asked about the South Stream project, a planned gas pipeline from Russia that would have gone under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and onwards to southern Europe. Russia shelved the project after Bulgaria backed out. He blamed the US government and the European Commission, saying they had pressured Sofia to withdraw. But he said Russia was going ahead with an extension of its Nordstream pipeline in the Baltic, and he hoped no one would try to hinder that project. 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 45 refugees drowned in a shipwreck and more than 2,000 have been rescued from boats in the Mediterranean, the third major incident in as many days. In the last week, around 14,000 people have been taken off flimsy vessels, the United Nations and Italian coastguard said. Hundreds may have drowned, according to survivors and boat crews, though there are no official estimates of total casualties. The Italian Navy ship Vega pulled around 135 people from a "half-submerged" rubber boat in one of 17 operations on Friday. The Vega recovered 45 bodies and is still searching for the missing people. Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily. The warmer weather and calmer seas have led to a surge in the number of people trying to cross from Libya, the coastguard said. Dozens of refugees are feared to have died when a boat sank off the Libyan coast on Thursday, when 4,000 were rescued in 22 separate operations. Moment huge ship full of refugees capsizes A day before, at least five died when a wooden fishing boat carrying refugees capsized. Photographs from the Italian Navy showed the blue fishing boat rocking precariously before capsizing and sending the refugees into the sea. Refugees, many of whom do not know how to swim and do not have life jackets, pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to make the crossing from Libya to Italy. In 2014 and 2015, more than 320,000 refugees arrived on Italian shores by boat and an estimated 7,000 died in the Mediterranean as they sought to reach Europe, according to the International Organisation for Migration. The IOM said on Friday it estimates around 1,475 people have died in the Mediterranean this year. 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 }} Britain is to send a warship to the Mediterranean to combat people smuggling as thousands of refugees and migrants continue to cross to Italy. Speaking at the close of the G7 summit in Japan, David Cameron praised the impact of the controversial EU-Turkey agreement seeing asylum seekers detained in Greece and deported if their applications fail. In the eastern Mediterranean, on average nearly 2,000 people arrived this way per day before the EU-Turkey deal was signed, he said. Refugee shipwreck survivors arrive in Italy Since then, its fewer than 100. Its still fragile agreement but returning people works. Now we need to do the same with the central Mediterranean route. More than 37,000 migrants have been intercepted between North Africa and Europe so far this year and taken to Italian ports, with 3,000 landing on Thursday alone. At least 1,500 people have died in in treacherous sea crossings, including up to 100 feared to have drowned in two disasters in recent days. The Prime Minister did not mention humanitarian efforts specifically in his speech, saying the UK would be boosting the capability of coastguards in Libya, where the vast majority of smugglers ships are launched towards Italy. The refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 70 1 /70 The refugee crisis - in pictures The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian refugee holding a baby in a lifetube swims towards the shore after their dinghy deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee raises a child into the air as Syrian and Afghan refugees are seen on and around a dinghy that deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian and Afghan refugees fall into the sea after their dinghy deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee cries as he holds a child on the Serbian side of the border with Hungary in Asotthalom Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees stand in front of a barrier at the border with Hungary near the village of Horgos, Serbia Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee from Syria prays after arriving on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos aboard an inflatable dinghy across the Aegean Sea from from Turkey. Greece sent troops and police reinforcements to Lesbos after renewed clashes between police and migrants, the public broadcaster said, while Syrian refugees on the island were targeted with Molotov cocktail attacks The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Police try to stop refugees going under a fence to board a train at a station near Gevgelija, Macedonia. Several thousand refugees in Macedonia boarded trains to travel north after spending a night in a provisional camp. Macedonia has organised trains twice a day to the north border where they cross into Serbia to make their way to Hungary The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees push each other as they try to board a bus following their arrival onboard the Eleftherios Venizelos passenger ship at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees are welcomed by locals after their arrival at the main railway station in Frankfurt, Germany. Over 1,000 more refugees arrived in Germany to cheers and "welcome" signs, but calls grew for a European solution to its worst refugee crisis since World War II The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A young Syrian boy arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing in a dinghy with other refugees from Turkey AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees walk on the railway tracks between Bicske and Szar, some 40 kms west of Budapest, trying to reach Germany EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Hungarian policemen stand by the family of refugees as they wanted to run away at the railway station in the town of Bicske, Hungary The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A family is arrested by local police after their local train coming from Budapest and heading to the Austrian border has been stopped in Bicske, west of the Hungarian capital The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man is arrested by local police after his local train coming from Budapest and heading to the Austrian border has been stopped in Bicske, west of the Hungarian capital The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict More than 2,500 refugees have died trying to reach Europe this year and the struggle continues as they travel through the continent Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees protest in front of a train at Bicske railway station. Hundreds of people, were stranded on a train in Hungary for a second, demanding passage to Germany in a standoff with riot police The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees arrive on the shores of Lesvos island Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees on the Greek Macedonian border Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees storm into a train at the Keleti train station as Hungarian police withdrew from the gates after two days of blocking their entry The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees storm into a train at the Keleti train station in Budapest The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees cross the border between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece, near the town of Gevgelija, Macedonia. The Gevgelija-Presevo journey is just a part of the journey that the refugees, the vast majority of them from Syria, are forced to make along the so-called Balkan corridor, which takes them from Turkey, across Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary, the gateway to the European Union, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee helps up an exhausted fellow refugee as they cross the border between Macedonia and Greece, near the town of Gevgelija, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People breaking through a police cordon and crossing the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees pass the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Macedonian policeman carries a child across the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrians sleep on railroad tracks waiting to be processed across the Macedonian border in Idomeni, Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Czech police officer marks a refugee with a number after more than than 200 refugees were detained, mostly from Syria, on trains from Hungary and Austria at the railway station in Breclav, Czech Republic, September 2015 AP Photo, CTK/Igor Zehl The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A baby is lifted on to the Norwegian vessel Siem Pilot during a search-and-rescue mission off the Libyan coast, September 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Budapest's main international railway station ordered an evacuation as hundreds of people tried to board trains to Austria and Germany, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People wave their train tickets and lift up children outside the main Eastern Railway station in Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People protest at the Eastern (Keleti) railway station of Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugee children sleep in the surrounding green area of the Keleti railway station in Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrians cross under a fence into Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, August 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees who have just crossed the border from Serbia into Hungary walk along a railway track that joins the two countries, August 2015 Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Police arrest refugees at Cobham Services on the M25 in Surrey, August 2015 Twitter: @bigwheeluk The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men hold a boy as they are stuck between Macedonian riot police officers and fellow refugees during a clash near the border train station of Idomeni, August 2015 AFP/Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian father holds his children close as his arrives on the Greek Island of Kos, August 2015 Eyevine The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A tourist offers water to Iranian refugees as they arrive by paddling an engineless dinghy from the Turkish coast (seen in the background) at a beach on the Greek island of Kos, August 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian holds his 30-day-old baby on an overcrowded train as they travel through Macedonia. Tens of thousands of refugees, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, use the Balkans route to get into the European Union, passing from Greece to Macedonia and Serbia and then to western Europe, August 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man rests on a platform at the train station in Gevgelija, on the Macedonian-Greek border, August 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees react after boarding the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship MV Phoenix some 20 miles (32 kilometres) off the coast of Libya. Some 118 refugees were rescued from a rubber dinghy off Libya. The Phoenix, manned by personnel from international non-governmental organisations Medecins san Frontiere (MSF) and MOAS, is the first privately funded vessel to operate in the Mediterranean, August 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Authorities are being overwhelmed as they try to fight off hundreds of refugees, prompting France to beef up its police presence, July 2015 AFP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People escape from the French Police as they try to catch a train to reach England, July 2015 EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man jumps over a fence as he attempts to access the Channel Tunnel, in Calais, northern France, July 2015 PA/Thibault Camus The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Two men cling to the roof of a freight truck as it leaves the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone, July 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man climbs a security fence of a Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles near Calais, July 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men help a man squeeze through a gap in a fence near the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles in Calais, July 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Desperate for entry to the EU, the group of people risked being washed away by the sea at Ventimiglia rocks, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Stranded refugees spend night on rocks - they were supplied with emergency blankets after a cold night next to the sea, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais, June 2015 Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A police officer sprays tear gas to men trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France, June 2015 PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men jump out of a lorry after being discovered by French gendarmerie officers, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man sits under the trailer of a lorry, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Belgian navy sailor passes life vests to refugees sitting in a rubber boat as they approach the Belgian Navy Vessel Godetia, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People on the Belgian Navy vessel Godetia after they were saved during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Iraqis wait as they are detained by Hungarian police after crossing the Hungarian-Serbian border illegally near the village of Asotthalom, Hungary, June 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees walking on train tracks through Macedonia on the Western Balkans migration route, after entering Europe through Greece, June 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A group of people huddle together during an operation to remove them from the Italian-French border in the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Italy and France engaged in a war of words as a standoff over hundreds of Africans offered a graphic illustration of Europe's migration crisis. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described images of refugees perched on rocks at the border town of Ventimiglia after being refused entry to France as a "punch in the face for Europe", June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man is carried by Italian police in Ventimiglia, Italy. Police reportedly removed refugees from under a railway bridge, June 2015 EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People queue after disembarking from the Royal Navy ship HMS 'Bulwark' upon their arrival in the port of Catania on the coast of Sicily, June 2015 GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian child holds a drawing as he waits to disembark from Belgian Navy vessel Godetia at the Augusta port, Italy. Around 250 refugees from Syria arrived at the Sicilian harbour from a Damascus refugee camp, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan refugees arrived on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict An Afghan child is helped off a rib on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict An Afghan girl holds the hand of a woman as they arrive on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees crossed part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Afghan refugees arrive on a beach of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Rescuers help children to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy in April 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A boat transporting refugees arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation at sea, April 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Armed Forces of Malta personnel in protective clothing carry the body of a dead man off Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti as surviving refugees watch in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, April 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Rescued people talk to a member of the Malta Order after a fishing boat carrying refugees capsized off the Libyan coast, is brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta, April 2015 Once the relevant permissions and UN Security Council Resolution are in place, I will deploy a naval warship to the south central Mediterranean to combat arms trafficking in the region, he said. Together these developments will help stabilise Libya, secure its coast and tackle the migration crisis. Mr Cameron said Britain would continue to help refugees, without specifying how, but called for stronger borders and the means to return those who attempt the dangerous crossing. The UK deployed four military planners this week to the Rome HQ of the European Union's Operation Sophia mission to tackle people-trafficking in the central Mediterranean. The newly established Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli had already requested support from the UK in improving coastguard operations and there are reports of arms left over from the Libyan civil war making their way to Europe, while foreign weapons shipments are being sent to Isis territories along the coast near Sirte. An Isis lecture on Sharia at the Ouagadougou complex in Sirte, Libya, in 2016. (HRW/social media) A spokesperson at Downing Street was unable to say what type of Royal Navy ship would be sent to join four UK vessels already involved in the EU mission or specify what actions it would undertake. Some of the deadliest refugee boat disasters have happened as larger ships approach, with those on board rushing frequently running to one side and capsizing their vessel, and it was unclear what if any precautions would be taken to avoid further deaths upon sight of the Navy ship. There is evidence that smugglers are taking advantage of regulations limiting Operation Sophia to international waters, sending boats out with enough fuel to get them out of Libyan territory and leaving them to drift until being picked up by EU ships. The majority of asylum seekers currently arriving in Italy are from sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest group from Nigeria, at 15 per cent, followed by Gambia, Somalia, the Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Guinea and Senegal. Rescuers take care of a child during a rescue operation at sea of migrants and refugees with the Aquarius, off the Libyan coast (AFP/Getty) Save the Children, which is among the humanitarian organisations working with refugees after their arrival, warned that numbers would only rise over the summer. A spokesperson said: The deteriorating security situation inside Libya and the warmer conditions are two worrying indicators that the Libya-Italy smuggling route may become busy again, this route being one of the deadliest crossings because the rickety boats are at sea for so long up to three days or even a week or 12 days has been reported to our teams at the ports. Italy is not subject to the terms of the EU deal with Turkey, which sees any refugees arriving clandestinely in Greece detained and deported back across the Aegean if their asylum applications fail. Border closures through the Western Balkans route formerly used by migrants journeying into Europe have left thousands stranded across the continent. 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 }} JR, who is known only as JR, has made a name as one of the most imaginative and adventurous artists in the world. Even JR has never made a building vanish before. His photographic conjuring trick with the Louvre pyramid has been delighting tourists in Paris for a couple of days. Louvre's pyramid disappears In the last decade JR has invented a new art form which is a mixture of street performance art and poster advertising. In recent days, he has pasted life-sized, blown-up photographs of the Louvre on the glass pyramid which was built in the museums courtyard in the 1980s. The effect, from certain angles, is to make the pyramid vanish, like Aladdins palace in The Arabian Nights. French artist JR stands in front of his latest work, an image of the facade of Paris' Louvre covering the museum's pyramid entrance (Reuters) I was amazed to be invited to work in the Louvre. I thought it was just for artists who were dead, JR said in an exclusive interview with The Independent. I wanted to do something which continued the theme of all my work bringing people together by inviting them to look at the world in a different way. The Independent has followed JRs career from 2006, when he lived in a Paris attic and took photographs with a camera that he had found on the metro. The Franco-Moroccan photographer-graffiti artist, or photograffeur was then about 25. He was illegally sticking up in the Paris streets poster-size photographs of grinning or grimacing faces from the multi-racial banlieues or suburbs. He would then take pictures of wealthy Parisians staring at the faces as if they were from the moon and posted those up too. Later that year, he was invited to paste one of his images almost the full length of the Tate Modern tower in London. He has since toured the world, frequently getting arrested, sticking giant photographs of ordinary people on and around, for example, the slums of Kenya and the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Recently, he has been working with the New York City ballet and the veteran French new wave film director, Agnes Varda, 88. He finances his photographic guerrilla activities by selling original images to French and US galleries for tens of thousands of euros or dollars a time. A view of the Pyramid of the Louvre museum covered with a gigantic black and white trompe l'oeil photo of the Louvre building by French artist JR in Paris. The exhibition 'Contemporary art JR at the Louvre' runs from 25 May to 27 June (EPA) Why did he decide to make the Louvre pyramid disappear? Was that not a change from his usual approach, which is to make banal places more visible by plastering them with peoples faces? I spent a couple of days at the Louvre thinking about what to do, he said. I watched the tourists from all over the world taking selfies over their shoulders with the museum and the pyramid in the background. I went back [on Wednesday] and was delighted to find that they were not just taking selfies but talking to one another, discussing the best angles from which to get the best effects, talking about what I had done and what it was about. OK. There may not be the usual faces but the work follows in my tradition of making people see things differently and bringing people together. 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 Following his usual multi-layered approach, JR has also been taking photographs of people taking photographs of his pyramid-dissolving photographs. How does it feel for a man who started as a street artist to be invited to work with the Louvre? It feels strange paradoxical, he said. But there have always been two sides to what I have done, the uninvited and the illegal and the invited and official. I was arrested earlier this year in Turkey and now here I am an official guest at the Louvre. From 3pm on Saturday to 3pm on Sunday JR is a taking over the Louvre with a series of conferences, masterclass, screenings, concerts and workshops. 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 }} Iran has flogged dozens of students for attending a mixed-gender party after a graduation ceremony. The young men and women who attended the party in a villa near Qazvin, 140km (87 miles) north-west of the capital Tehran, received 99 lashes as punishment by the country's notorious Morality Police. Ismaeil Sadeqi Niaraki, a mullah who acts as the prosecutor in the city, told the Mizan news agency that a special court session was set up after the young people were discovered. Mr Niaraki reportedly said on Thursday: "After we received information that a large number of men and women were mingling in a villa in the suburbs of Qazvin. All the participants at the party were arrested. Recommended The women were described as "half naked" - meaning they were wearing modest Islamic coverings - and were found "dancing and jubliating". Mixing between genders is severely restricted and Mr Niaraki said the case once again required a firm response by the judiciary in quickly reviewing and implementing the law. According to opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Mr Niaraki added that the judiciary would not tolerate lawbreakers who use excuses such as freedom and having fun in birthday parties and graduation ceremonies. He warned that being arrested for attending mixed-gender parties could create problems for their future education and employment. executions map The NCRI, which is based in Paris, said this barbaric case shows moderation during Hassan Rouhanis Presidency is nothing but a myth. Shahin Gobadi, a member of the NCRIs Foreign Affairs Committee, said: Three years after Rouhanis Presidency the human rights situation in Iran is deteriorating in every aspect. This also shows the regimes fragile state and total isolation among the Iranian people, in particular among the youths. The notion advocated by some in the West that this regime has a future is totally naive. 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 Iran has continued to be accused of widespread human rights abuses despite the lifting of sanctions against the regime by the West in exchange for halting its nuclear programme. In March, a man was sentenced to made blind in one eye after accidentally blinding another man with a metal rod. Since President Rouhani came to power in 2013, he has presided over the execution of more than 1,800 people as well as public beatings, flogging and amputations, according to human rights groups. 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 hospital has been evacuated as Isis advances on a city where more than 100,000 civilians are trapped near the Turkish border in Syria. Militants have seized several towns and villages from rebels and were battling to reach Azaz on Friday. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said had no choice but to evacuate medics and patients from Al Salamah hospital as the Islamists neared. It said a basic team would remain to help the ill and wounded but raised concern over more than 100,000 displaced people living in the rebel enclave. Pablo Marco, an operations manager at the humanitarian organisation, said: We are terribly concerned about the fate of our hospital, our patients and for the estimated 100,000 people trapped between the Turkish border and active frontlines. For some months the frontlines have been around seven kilometres away from the hospital and now theyre only 3km (2 miles) from Al Salamah town. There is nowhere for people to flee as the fighting gets closer. In a propaganda statement, Isis claimed to have taken control of seven villages from the Free Syrian Army and apostate fighters. Isis (black) has advanced on rebel territory (in green) near Azaz in recent days. Territory held by the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces is seen in yellow. (Liveuamap) In Kaljibrin, there were reports that militants had publicly executed rebel fighters and their families, including women and children, in a main square. Isis said it had seized American-made weapons from US-vetted groups in the advance, although it was impossible to verify the claim. In the past three days, an estimated 45,000 civilians have fled towards Azaz but are now trapped in the almost encircled city as the Turkish border remains closed. The Isis offensive has split rebel-held territory in northern Aleppo Governorate into two, cutting a key road linking Azaz to the town of Marea. Syrian rebel factions in the area, which includes a strategic border crossing, have also come under fire from pro-government forces and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, who hold territory to the west of Azaz. The city and the Bab al-Salama crossing have been a lifeline for the opposition since the town fell into rebel hands in 2012 but have being threatened by Russian and government air strikes and enemy advances. Timeline: The emergence of Isis Show all 40 1 /40 Timeline: The emergence of Isis Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2000 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (pictured here) forms an al-Qaeda splinter group in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Iraq. Its brutality from the beginning alienates Iraqis and many al-Qaeda leaders. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2006 Al-Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. Al-Zarqawis successor, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, announces the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2009 Still al-Qaeda-linked ISI claims responsibility for suicide bombings that killed 155 in Baghdad, as well as attacks in August and October killing 240, as President Obama announces troop withdrawal from Iraq in March. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2010 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi becomes head of ISI, at lowest ebb of Islamist militancy in Iraq, which sees last U.S. combat brigade depart. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2012 In Syria, protests (pictured here starting in Daree) have morphed into what president Assad labelled a real war with emergence of a coalition of forces opposed to Assads regime. Syria group Jabhat al-Nusra are among rebel groups who refuse to join, denouncing it as a conspiracy. Bombings targeting Shia areas, killing more than 500 people, spark fears of new sectarian conflict. Sunni Muslims stage protests across country against what they see as increasingly marginalisation by Shia-led government. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2013 Al-Baghdadi renames ISI as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or Isis, as the group absorbs Syrian al-Nusra, gaining a foothold in Syria. In response, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri (Bin Ladens successor) concerned about Isis expansion orders that Isis be dissolved and ISI operations should be confined to Iraq. This order is rejected by al-Baghdadi. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - January Isis fighters capture the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, giving them base to launch slew of attacks further south. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis declares itself the Caliphate, calling itself Islamic State (IS). The group captures Mosul, Iraqs second largest city; Tal Afar, just 93 miles from Syrian border; and the central Iraqi city of Tikrit. These advances sent shockwaves around the world. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Around the same time Isis releases a video calling for western Muslims to join the Caliphate and fight, prompting new evaluations of extremists groups social media understanding. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - June Isis take Baiji oil fields in Iraq - giving them access to huge amounts of possible revenue. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August James Foley is executed by the group as concerns grow for second American prisoner, fellow reporter Steven Sotloff. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - August Obama authorises U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, helping to stall Isis along with action by Kurdish forces following the deaths of hundreds of Yazidi people on Mount Sinjar. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release video showing Steven Sotloffs murder prompting Western speculation his executioner is same man who killed Mr Foley. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Obama tells us that America will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Isis release a video appearing to show David Haines, who was captured by militants in Syria in 2013, wearing an orange jumpsuit and kneeling in the desert while he reads a pre-prepared script. It later shows what appears to be the aid worker's body. Rex Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - September Peshmerga fighters scrabble to hold positions in the Diyala province (a gateway to Baghdad) as Isis fighters continue to advance on Iraqi capital. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Aid worker Alan Henning is killed. Self-imposed media blackout refuses to show images of him in final moments, instead focuses upon humanitarian care. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - October Isis raise their flag in Kobani, which had been strongly defended by Kurdish troops. The victory goes against hopeful western analysis Isis had overextended itself, while alienating much of the Muslim population through the murder of Henning. Victory causes fresh waves of Kurdish refugees arriving in Turkey. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2014 - November American hostage, who embarced values of Islam, Peter Kassig and 14 Syrian soldiers are shown meeting the same fate as other captives. But intelligence agencies will be poring over the apparently significant discrepancies between this and previous films. Seramedig.org.uk Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis has released a video revealing the murder by burning to death of a Jordanian pilot held by the group since the end of December 2014. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have released videos which appear to show the beheading of Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February American aid worker, Kayla Mueller was the last American hostage known to be held by Isis. She died, according to her captors, in an airstrike by the Jordanian air force on the city of Raqqa in Syria, though US authorities disputed this. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February Isis militants have posted a gruesome video online in which they force 21 Egyptian Coptic Christian hostages to kneel on a beach in Libya before beheading them. Egypt vowed to avenge the beheading and launched air strikes on Isis positions. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - February The British Isis militant suspected of appearing in videos showing the beheading of Western hostages has been named in reports as Mohammed Emwazi from London. Rex Features Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - March Isis triple suicide attack has killed more than 100 worshippers and hundreds of others were injured after the group members targeted two mosques in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Iraqi forces have claimed victory over Isis in battle for Tikrit and raised the flag in the city. EPA/STR Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed at least 35 people queuing to collect their wages and injured 100 more. EPA Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - April Isis media arm released a 29-minute video purporting to show militants executing Ethiopian Christians captives. The footage bore the extremist groups al-Furqan media logo and showed the destruction of churches and desecration of religious symbols. A masked fighter made a statement threatening Christians who did not convert to Islam or pay a special tax. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis has been "incapacitated" by a spinal injuries sustained in a US air strike in Iraq. He is being treated in a hideout by two doctors from Isis stronghold of Mosul who are said to be "strong ideological supporters of the group". Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis has also claimed responsibility for killing 300 of Yazidi captives, including women, children and elderly people in Iraq AP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis attack on Prophet Mohamed cartoon contest in Texas was its first action on US soil. Two gunmen were shot and killed after launching the attack at the exhibition. Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi have been named as the attackers at the Curtis Culwell Centre arena in Garland. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isiss deputy leader, Abu Alaa Afri, a former physics teacher who was thought to have taken charge of the deadly terrorist group, has been killed in a US-led coalition airstrike. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May US special forces have killed a senior Isis leader named as Abu Sayyaf in an operation aiming to capture him and his wife in Syria. Getty Images Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Iran-backed militias are sent to Ramadi by the Iraqi government to fight Isis militants who completed their capture of the city. Government soldiers and civilians were reportedly massacred by extremists as they took control and the army fled. Charred bodies were left littering the city streets as troops clung on to trucks speeding away from the city. Ramadi is the latest government stronghold to fall to the so-called Islamic State, despite air strikes by a US-led international coalition aiming to stop its advance in Iraq and Syria. AFP Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May Isis rounded up civilians trapped in Palmyra and forced them to watch 20 people being executed in the historic citys ancient amphitheatre. The Unesco World Heritage site was overrun by militants, threatening the future of 2,000 year-old monuments and ruins. Thousands of Palmyras residents fled but many are still living within the city walls, while the UN human rights office in Geneva said it had received reports of Syrian government forces preventing people from leaving until they retreated from the city. Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - May A group of Isis-affiliated fighters have captured a key airport in central Libya. The militants took control of the al-Qardabiya airbase in Sirte after a local militia tasked with defending the facility withdrew from their positions. Affiliates of Isis, already control large parts of Sirte, the birthplace of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and a former stronghold of his supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June The US Air Force has destroyed an Isis stronghold after an extremist let slip their location on social media. According the Air Force Times, General Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said that Airmen at Hulburt Field, Florida, used images shared by jihadists to track the location of their headquarters before destroying it in an airstrike. Reuters Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Kurdish forces captured a key military base in a significant victory in Raqqa as well as town of Tell Abyad. YPG fighters, backed by US-led airstrikes and other rebels, consolidated their gains, when they seized the key town on the Syria-Turkey border. They are now just 30 miles to the north of Raqqa and have cut off a major supply route deep inside Isis-held territory. Ahmet Silk/Getty Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has released gruesome footage claiming to show the murder of more than a dozen men by drowning, decapitation and using a rocket-propelled grenade as it seeks to boost morale among its fanatical supporters. Timeline: The emergence of Isis 2015 - June Isis has begun carrying out its threat to destroy structures in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, blowing up at least two monuments at the Unesco-protected site as Syrian government troops made advances on the Islamists positions. AFP MSF and other aid organisations warned earlier this month that the humanitarian situation for people living in the rebel-held enclave was critical. Human Rights Watch estimates that at up to 165,000 people are currently trapped in overcrowded settlements and fields surrounding Azaz and near a crossing at the nearby Turkish border. Gerry Simpson, a senior researcher, said they were being hemmed by Turkeys closed border - where guards have allegedly shot at and attacked refugees trying to flee - and a wall of silence by the rest of the world. While the world speaks about fighting Isis, their silence is deafening when it comes to the basic rights of those fleeing Isis, he added. "The fact Turkey is generously hosting more than 2.5 million Syrians does not give it a right to shut its border to other endangered Syrians. Around 30,000 civilians fled a previous Isis advance east of Azaz in April and one of the camps in the region has since been hit by an air strike that killed at least 20 people. The northern city of Azaz in 2015 (AFP/Getty) Azaz, which is controlled by the FSA and Jabhat al-Nusra, was briefly held by Isis in 2013 and militants made another push for the city last summer. The latest advance came days after the Syrian Democratic Forces announced an assault against the groups territories in northern Raqqa province. In Iraq, the group is battling to hold the city of Fallujah amid an advance by government forces and Iranian and Shia militias. Jabhat al-Nusra has also claimed recent gains in Deir Khabiyeh, south of Damascus, where government forces and Hezbollah have captured territory from insurgents. Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, said he plans for a resumption of peace talks as soon as feasible between the Government and opposition but expects that it will certainly not come within the next two to three weeks. Isis and the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra are excluded from negotiations, which were suspended last month between Bashar al-Assads government and other rebels. As a member of the Hixson Kiwanis Club for a number of years, Dr. C. Wayne Shearer has on occasion presented the clubs Citizenship Award to Hixson Elementary School student honorees and those from the other Hixson area schools the club honors. But on Tuesday, he received an unusual opportunity giving the award to his great-granddaughter, Kameron Hampton. While the club presents the award, the honoree is selected by the faculty at Hixson Elementary. Dr. Shearer a World War II pilot, a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, and a longtime former Red Bank optometrist -- had no idea she was going to receive the award until a fellow club member called him a few days earlier and asked him to present it. Saying yes became quite easy after he found out Kameron would be the recipient, he said. She is the daughter of Tori and Mandi Hampton and granddaughter of Dr. Shearers daughter, Cathy Shearer Morris. Kameron, who won other awards during the schools fifth-grade promotion ceremony at Hixson First Baptist Church, was unaware she would be the recipient until her name was announced. Most of the audience was also unaware her great-grandfather was the presenter until Dr. Shearer proudly told them after describing the award. 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 woman who gave up her life as a student to fight Isis militants in Syria has described the horrors she witnessed in the country. Joanna Palani, 23, left college in November 2014 to fight for human rights for all people with the Peoples Protection Unit (the YPG) for six months, before joining the Peshmerga for an additional six months. The Kurdish fighter claims she saw children being sexually abused by Isis fighters. he said she was shocked to discover a holding house in a village her battalion liberated near Mosul, Iraq where young girls were locked up and sexually abused by fighters. In an interview with Broadly, she said: Even though I am a fighter it is difficult for me to read about how a 10-year-old girl is going to die because she is bleeding from a rape. She told how one 11-year-old victim was left pregnant with twins after being raped, and later died in hospital. Ms Palani learnt to use a gun aged nine and trained other female Kurdish fighters. She said ISIS fighters are very easy to kill in comparison to Assads soldiers, who she found very well-trained and are specialist killing machines. On her first night in the front line she witnessed her comrade being shot dead in front of her by a sniper. But when Ms Palani returned to Copenhagen on leave she received an email from Kurdish police informing her that her passport was no longer valid. She said if she returned to Syria or Iraq she could be imprisoned for up to six years under new laws designed to stop Isis supporters joining the terror group in conflict zones. Ms Palani is now deciding whether to give up her passport and rejoin her battalion or remain in Copenhagen. She told Broadly: "These small girls, the sex slaves, I can't as a human beingbut especially as a Kurdish girlI can't ignore them. I can't say I'm doing good in Denmark, so never mind what they are doing to these girls in Kurdistan." 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 }} Every year, the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank, releases its annual global Prosperity Index, a huge survey that ranks the most prosperous countries in the world. The amount of money a country has is one factor of prosperity, but the Legatum Institute considers more than that in its ranking. The organisation compares 89 variables to come up with its list. These variables include traditional indicators like per capita gross domestic product and the number of people in full-time work as well as more interesting figures such as the number of secure internet servers a country has and how well rested people feel on a day-to-day basis. The variables are then split into eight subindexes: economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital. The index looked at the 142 countries that have the most available data. Here are the top-performing nations. 16. Austria Finishing inside the top 10 in two categories health, and entrepreneurship and opportunity wasn't enough to stop Austria from sliding one place this year. 15. United Kingdom Britain fell two places this year, in part by finishing outside the top 20 in the education and safety indexes. The skyline of the City of London (Oli Scarff/Getty Images) 14. Germany According to the Prosperity Index, Germany has the fifth-best economy in the world, helping it stay 14th for the fourth year running. 13. Luxembourg Citizens enjoy high levels of personal freedom and health, as well as strong governance and a good economy, helping it rise from 16th in 2014 to 13th this year. 12. Iceland The north Atlantic nation finished in the top five in three subindexes: personal freedom, safety and security, and entrepreneurship and opportunity. This wasn't enough to stop it from falling one place from the 2014 index. Spend a day in Reykjavik and lower your APD liability (Getty Images) 11. United States The world's most powerful country scored higher than any other in the Legatum Institute's health category, but its citizens are among the least safe and secure on this list. The USA was 33rd in this subindex. 10. Ireland Ireland jumped two places in this year's index, thanks to finishing fourth in safety and security. 9. Finland The Finnish enjoy the fifth-best performance of governance in the world, but their relatively poor economy, ranked 33rd, has helped push the country down from eighth last year. 8. Netherlands Gaining one place in this year's index, the Netherlands is ranked highly in education, health, and personal freedom. 7. Australia The country has ranked seventh for three consecutive years, and this year the Prosperity Index rated it as having the world's best education system. An image of an indigenous Australian man is projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House during the opening night of the annual Vivid Sydney light festival in Sydney (Reuters) 6. Canada According to the Prosperity Index, Canada is the true land of the free, as its citizens enjoy the highest levels of personal freedom of any nation surveyed. It fell one place from last year. 5. Sweden Swedes are blessed with the world's highest levels of entrepreneurship and opportunity, helping the country gain one place in this year's index. Sweden's 6 hour work day explained 4. New Zealand Strong social cohesion and community engagement mean New Zealand has the best level of social capital on earth. It was rated the most prosperous non-European nation. 3. Denmark Danes can enjoy great governance, top-level education, and a high social-capital score. If not for its relatively poor health score (16th), the country might top the whole Index. It climbed one place this year. 2. Switzerland Switzerland has been second in the Prosperity Index for three consecutive years. The Alpine nation ranks top of the governance sub-index and has the second-highest-rated economy. 1. Norway The Scandinavian country tops the Prosperity Index once again in 2015. It has been first in each of the past seven years. Norway is the only country ranked in the top 10 of every subindex. (Visit Norway) 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. 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 }} Despite offering free tuition, Scotland has the worst record than anywhere else in the UK when it comes to getting students from poorer backgrounds into university, says new report. The Access to Scotland report from social mobility charity The Sutton Trust has found there to be a narrowing of the gap between rich and poor young people entering higher education (HE) across the UK in recent years. However, despite improvements, young disadvantaged Scottish people are four times less likely to go to university than their wealthier counterparts. In England the same figure is 2.4, while in Wales and Northern Ireland, poorer students are three times more likely to do so. Recommended Read more The 10 best universities in Scotland Overall, says the report, Scottish universities efforts to widen access for students from poorer backgrounds have achieved only partial success, adding: It is not evident from the data that divergence in fee policy has given Scotland any specific advantage. The report has also found that virtually all the improvements in getting disadvantaged Scottish students places in HE over the last decade (90 per cent) has been provided by colleges, and not universities. And, in 2013/14, 55 per cent of Scots entered HE by the age of 30, with 20.9 per cent starting at a further education (FE) college and 34.1 per cent going straight to university after school. In England, however, 46.6 per cent entered HE, with just 6 per cent starting at FE colleges. Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary, Liz Smith, said the damning report confirms Scotland still has some way to go when it comes to offering the same opportunities to poorer students, despite the best efforts of the countrys universities. 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 She highlighted how the report lays bare two key points, and explained: The Scottish Governments policy of capped places has made it more difficult for domiciled Scots to get into university. Secondly, while there is some limited progress in Scotland, its not as good as in other parts of the UK, and that partly reflects the fact there is a much lower base of bursary support than the rest of the UK. These are both matters for the SNP to address urgently, she said. A Scottish Government spokesman, though, said some of the reports findings were based on misconceptions that do not accurately reflect the position in the country. Speaking to BBC News, he said: The report suggests the overall participation rate for HE is lower in Scotland than in England. However, it fails to take account of the significantly different context in Scotland whereby a significant proportion of HE takes place in colleges. When participation in college is factored in, the Scottish HE participation rate is significantly higher than in England. Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, described how Scotland is facing a shocking access gap, adding that it is vital the Government appoints a strong independent commissioner immediately. The report has also recommends the Scottish Government ensure additional places are available to meet rising demand, and that widening participation initiatives need to be planned carefully to avoid duplication, with rigorous evaluation needed to run alongside implementation. The 20 hardest universities to get into Sir Peter continued: There is good practice in Scottish universities on access, but we need a really strong push if talent is not to be wasted. It is vital access to HE improves to the best universities, and that there is a role for clearer contextual admissions. Edinburgh Universitys Professor Sheila Riddell, one of the reports authors, echoed the chairmans comments, and said: This report sheds new light on the problem, in particular highlighting an over-reliance on the Scottish college sector to increase participation rates overall and, in particular, for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The report also notes the supply of university places in Scotland has not kept pace with rising demand, with detrimental consequences for less advantaged students. The growing tendency of students from privileged backgrounds to occupy the lions share of places in Scottish ancient universities is also noted. The SNP has long-supported the continuation of free tuition fees with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon quoted for having said in October last rear: For as long as I am First Minister, there will be no tuition fees in Scotland. Her predecessor, Alex Salmond, previously described free university tuition as the policy of which he was most proud. In 2014, he unveiled a taxpayer-funded monument at Edinburghs Heriot-Watt University inscribed with his 2011 promise: The rocks will melt with the sun before I allow tuition fees to be imposed on Scotlands students. 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 }} Students at the Cambridge University Students Union have voted to remain affiliated with the National Union of Students (NUS) after an institution-wide referendum this week. Provisional referendum results published Friday have shown 51.52 per cent of voters chose to remain affiliated, while 46.62 per cent voted against. Turnout was 6,178 out of 21,479 registered voters. The result has come as a blow to the NUS: Let Cambridge Decide camp which had been rigorously campaigning for the student body to break away from the NUS following the controversial election of new president, Malia Bouattia. Recommended Read more Hull University Union latest to disaffiliate from NUS Ms Bouattia, 28, had faced allegations of anti-Semitism prior to her election in Brighton last month after a 2011 article she co-authored caused controversy among the Jewish student body, and beyond. In it, she referred to the University of Birmingham as being something of a Zionist outpost in British higher education. Ms Bouattia has strongly denied the claims. NUSs annual National Conference in April also drew criticism from politicians after delegates presented arguments against commemorating the Holocaust during a debate. The Cambridge result has come just days after Hull University students voted to break away from the NUS having held a referendum of its own. The students unions (SUs) at Lincoln and Newcastle have also announced the same. Between Lincoln and Newcastle, according to the national student campaigners figures, NUS is set to lose just over 70,000 in affiliation fees. The NUS has yet to confirm to the Independent exact costings for Cambridge and how much it made in the last academic year from all affiliated SUs. Student news in pictures Show all 34 1 /34 Student news in pictures Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain a student demonstrator during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures South Korean policemen detain student protestors during a protest against South Korean President Park Geun-Hye outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. The protesters demanded that the parliament takes steps to impeach President Park Geun-Hye EPA Student news in pictures Filipino demonstrators face off with anti-riot police during a protest near the US Embassy in Manila, Philippine EPA Student news in pictures Hundreds of protesters including Indigenous People, students and militant groups marched towards the US Embassy to protest against the presence of US military troops and condemning the violent dispersal which left at least forty people hurt including twenty police officers and three people who were run over by a police van EPA Student news in pictures A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students Student news in pictures A man holds up a photograph of a missing student with a caption reading 'We are missing 43,' during a meeting marking the 25-month anniversary of the disappearances of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City. A federal judge in Mexico has ordered that a once-fugitive police chief be held on charges of kidnapping in the disappearance of 43 students AP Student news in pictures Miguel Perez, an intern student from the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, puts away his cell phone before walking into the operating room at the Dr. Isaac Gonzalez MartInez Oncological Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once they complete their general surgery training, many residents are moving to the United States in search of better wages, one of the main factors linked to the current shortage of specialists in the Island Student news in pictures Fewer EU students have applied to start university courses in the UK next autumn. There was a 9% fall in the numbers who had applied for courses, according to admissions service UCAS. PA wire Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela. Masses of protesters jammed the streets of Venezuela's capital on the heels of a move by congress to open a political trial against Maduro, whose allies have blocked moves for a recall election AP Student news in pictures University students protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela AP Student news in pictures Thousands, most of them high school students, march during a demonstration in Madrid, Spain, on a one day strike to protest about the country's education law that increases the number of annual exams AP Student news in pictures Students gather on the west mall to confront the Young Conservatives of Texas student organization over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action Student news in pictures Donald Parish Jr, right, confronts Electrical and Computer Engineering senior Dewayne Perry over a controversial bake sale on The University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the University of Texas-Austin sparked the protest with an affirmative action bake sale. The club encouraged students to buy a cookie and talk about the disastrous policy that is affirmative action AP Student news in pictures Brigham Young University announced that students who report sexual assault will no longer be investigated for possible violations of the Mormon-owned school's strict honor code that bans such things as alcohol use AP Student news in pictures Students of secondary education march to protest against the final examinations and LOMCE (The Improvement Quality Education Law) law, after a call by trade unions, in Murcia, Spain EPA Student news in pictures South African police have used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of protesters who had marched to the parliament building to call for free university education, where the finance minister was giving a budget speech AP Student news in pictures Police break up student protests outside the parliament in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures South African Policemen fire rubber bullets at student protestors in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures A student protestor is hit by a rubber bullet in Cape Town, South Africa AP Student news in pictures An injured student is helped by colleagues during protest outside the parliament during South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's medium term budget speech in Cape Town, South Africa Reuters Student news in pictures Plaintiffs and bereaved families of elementary school students killed in the tsunami that followed a major earthquake in northeastern Japan in 2011, show banners that say 'victory in a suit filed with the Sendai District Court' in Sendai. A Japanese court ordered municipalities to pay $13.7 million dollars to families of school children who were swept away to their deaths by the 2011 tsunami Getty Student news in pictures A group of student at Ewha Womans University calls for a thorough investigation into those involved in years of engagement with state affairs backstage by Choi Soon-sil, a personal confidante of South Korean President Park Geun-hye, at the school's front gate in Seoul, South Korea EPA Student news in pictures Students raise placards during a strike action called by the student union, in Madrid against university entry exams Getty Student news in pictures Libyans throw a newly graduated student into a fountain as they celebrate during the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Libyans celebrate as they attend the graduation ceremony for students from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Al-Arab University in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi Getty Student news in pictures Thousands of Thai Catholic students take part in mourning tributes and in singing the Thai Royal Anthem to honour late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Saint Dominic School in Bangkok, Thailand EPA Student news in pictures Students of Silpakorn University paint portraits of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures A student of Silpakorn University paints a portrait of the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the university campus in Bangkok Getty Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend PA wire Student news in pictures St Andrews University students take part in a foam fight known as Raisin Monday in the Lower College Lawn behind St Salvator's Quadrangle following the Raisin Weekend, an annual tradition where student 'parents' inflict tasks on the unfortunate first-years they have adopted as 'children' as part of a mentoring scheme PA wire Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) take part in a practice in Havana, Cuba Reuters Student news in pictures Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) wait in line to enter a classroom in Havana, Cuba Reuters NUS said it caps income from affiliations at 4 million and gives back the extra income to SUs through an abatement which they can apply for. Exeter, Warwick, and Surrey have all voted to remain affiliated, although Surrey did not hold an official university-wide referendum. Several other SUs across the UK have yet to hold referendums, including Oxford. Oxford SU president, Becky Howe, told the Independent she stands by the institutions Jewish society, and said there must be a solid commitment to addressing anti-Semitism in the student movement. However, acknowledging that disagreeing with a liberation group has been the hardest decision of my presidency, Ms Howe added: I do not believe disaffiliation is the answer. Speaking after the Cambridge result on Friday, co-founders of the Leave campaign, Adam Crafton and Jack May, said they were disappointed not to have seen the referendum through. However, the pair added: We believe we have awoken the Cambridge student community to the challenges facing Jewish students on British campuses in 2016, and that is an immensely satisfying achievement. Congratulating the Remain camp, Crafton and May said they hope it will honour its campaigning promises to fight for Jewish students within the NUS. They added: Our concerns persist. Today, it has emerged Malia Bouattia was investigated by NUS for anti-Semitism last year. Her punishment of an informal warning and an apology does not suffice. Both students were making reference to a report in The Tab which claimed Ms Bouattia was investigated for anti-Semitism in 2015, more than a year before she was elected president, something the NUS failed to disclose in the wake of the controversy post-election, says the report. However, the NUS has said the complaint was dealt with over a year ago through an independent investigator in line with NUS policy, adding it was unable to comment specifically on confidential complaints. The Independent has contacted Ms Bouattia for comment regarding the report. Malia Bouattia interview Crafton and May said it is vital NUS does not see the result as a legitimisation of the direction their organisation is taking. They concluded: Instead, it should see it as a mandate from a very prestigious university to be allowed one last chance to secure the reforms that Jewish students deserve. CUSU president, Priscilla Mensah, said she was proud and encouraged by the historic levels of engagement in the referendum. She added: This vote is definitive, and provides the team and me with a strong mandate to take forward the clear and legitimate concerns Cambridge students have raised during this referendum. I have been explicit as a campaigner that NUS is far from perfect; with the confidence of Cambridge students, CUSU will continue to engage with NUS in collaboration with SUs across the country to ensure NUS becomes the inclusive and effective organisation students deserve. Richard Brooks, NUS vice president of union development, said: We are currently developing new democratic structures and are planning reforms to our membership model. We look forward to implementing these changes with the support of CUSU. 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 }} Student activists are continuing to make a positive impact on climate change as the University of Massachusetts (UMass) in the US becomes the latest major institution to announce it is to end its direct investments in fossil fuel companies. The news comes after the universities of Newcastle and Southampton in the UK, this week, announced they will commit to changing their investment policies following months of student protests. Melbournes La Trobe University, meanwhile, became the Australias first to confirm it will divest within five years. UMass said its decision followed a series of developments that signalled the university communitys desire to fight climate change. After a number of demonstrations at its Amherst campus last month, the institutions board of directors unanimously voted to divest all direct holdings of the $770 million (526 million) endowment from coal, oil, and gas. UMass president Marty Meehan said the action is consistent with the principles that have guided the university, and reflects its commitment to take on the environmental challenges that confront us all. Climate change protests around the world Show all 25 1 /25 Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Rome, Italy Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators gather in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world People hold hands to form a human chain during a gathering called by ecologist organisations in Marseille, southern France, to protest against global warming a day ahead of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during protests on Place de la Republique, ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators clash with French riot police during a protest on Place de la Republique ahead of the COP21 World Climate Change Conference 2015 in Paris, France Climate change protests around the world A group of people perform during a rally to promote climate protection in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Climate change protests around the world A protester sits next to his sign that reads 'Monsanto the Devil Incorporated ' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Environmentalists dance during a protest near the Place de la Republique after the cancellation of a planned climate march following shootings in the French capital, ahead of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21), in Paris, France Reuters Climate change protests around the world People protest next to characters dressed as wild animals during a march against climate change near the Monument to the Revolution, in Mexico City AP Climate change protests around the world Protesters carries a banner while they take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People take part in a protest about climate change around New York City Hall at lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People rally to promote climate protection in Piazza Castello, Turin, Italy Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a globe during a protest for the global climate day in Lugano, Switzerland Climate change protests around the world Yemenis hold banners as they participate in the Global March for Climate in the old city of Sanaia, Yemen Climate change protests around the world Protesters dressed as Santa Claus take part in a protest about climate change at New York City Hall steps in lower Manhattan, New York Reuters Climate change protests around the world People gather at the Legislative Palace in Montevideo, during the Global Climate March to demand action on climate change telling world leaders on the eve of a crunch UN summit that there is "no planet B". From Sydney to London, humid Rio to chilly New York, at least 683,000 hit the streets in 2,300 events across 175 countries at the weekend, co-organiser and campaign group Avaaz said, calling it the largest number of people to protest over climate change all at once Getty Images Climate change protests around the world Climate change protests around the world Demonstrators participate in the Global March for Climate in Athens, Greece Climate change protests around the world A man wearing a Bernie Sanders mask leads hundreds of demonstrators who marched near City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Patricia Hauser joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California Climate change protests around the world A woman holds a poster of a sick Earth as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Hundreds of demonstrators march around City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world A demonstrator holds cut-out of US Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world George Patten holds a sign that reads 'No Fracking Ever!' as he joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA Climate change protests around the world Gabrielle Sosa wears 'Rising Sea Levels' sign as she joined hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California EPA He said: Important societal change often begins on college campuses and it often begins with students. Im proud of the students and the entire university community for putting UMass at the forefront of a vital movement, one that has been important to me throughout my professional life. The University of Leeds saw students go into occupation on Thursday over the institutions refusal to divest, despite 83 per cent of students voting in favour of divestment. Despite not being able to support divestment, the University of Leeds said in a statement: The university is committed to supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy. We believe we can most effectively do this through teaching, and through research to reduce emissions from the use of fossil fuels and develop alternative energy sources, alongside leveraging our considerable reputation in this area to encourage behavioural change. Writing for the Independent, National Union of Students vice-president of society and citizenship, Piers Telemacque, said Britains universities need to look at their finances and question the kind of future they are shaping for students, both present and yet-to-come. He wrote: There are no good reasons to keep investing in fossil fuels. It just makes sense to move money into renewables as quickly as possible. The students are clear about it, the science is clear about it, and the economy is clear about it. Its time for Leeds - along with all UK universities - to invest in the future we all want to see. The University of Cambridge recently faced growing pressure - from both student activists and the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams - to withdraw its investments from fossil fuel companies. More than 100 staff, students, alumni, and others affiliated with the institution signed an open letter saying the university has always made a remarkable impact on the world. However, when it comes to the climate, the signatories said Cambridge is making exactly the wrong kind of impact. A Cambridge spokesperson said the institution seeks to invest responsibly for the good of the university in accordance with its mission to contribute to society, and that its Endowment Fund has been set up to support this. 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 Cambridge student who created a picture book to help young children understand more about the refugee crisis has won a prestigious award at the worlds leading museum of art and design. Kate Milner received the 3,000 Student Illustrator of the Year prize at the V&A Museums Illustration Awards 2016 in London for her book My Name is Not Refugee which follows a mother telling her son a story about what is going to happen once they are forced to leave their home country. The mature student, who will graduate with an MA in childrens book illustration from Anglia Ruskin University in October, said the idea for the book came about when her daughter, a schoolteacher, said the children in her class were asking about the refugee crisis. Milner said: They didnt understand what was being discussed in the news and she had nothing to show them. The book is a story which asks children from a safe, comfortable background to think about what it must be like to leave your home and make a journey into the unknown. Kate Milner, pictured left, collects her award for Student Illustrator of the Year at V&As Illustration Awards Childrens author Dame Jacqueline Wilson was one of several judges to feature on the panel who, above all, were unanimously impressed by Milners bold attempt to tackle a subject outside the prevailing conventions of commercial childrens publishing. Speaking to the Independent about the mother-son relationship in the book, Milner said: She gives him a positive view, like we all would with our children. She tells him things will probably be a bit boring - even a bit frightening - but, as long as they keep hold of each others hand, they will be alright and that, in the end, they will reach a place where they can feel safe again. An extract from the book showing a mother trying to put a 'positive spin' on the refugee crisis for the sake of her son (My Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner) It doesnt include the fear, the hunger, and the exhaustion which must be part of a refugee childs real experience. You wouldnt, though, would you? As a parent herself, Milner said that, throughout the books creation, she felt sympathy with the mothers because she could imagine what it must be like to not know how they were going to feed their children, or keep them warm. (My Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner (My Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner) Milner added that she was also affected by a series on BBC Radio 4 about a family trying to get from Syria to Germany. She said: The mother said her children had been eating crisps for days because there was nothing else. All she wanted to do was cook her family a proper meal. I could really understand that - its such a basic thing. Speaking more about her hopes for the books message, and describing how it will most likely be used in classrooms to educate children about the crisis, she said its mainly aimed at children in European countries who might meet a refugee child in their school, or their street. (My Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner (My Name is Not Refugee by Kate Milner) Milner continued: It asks them to think what it must be like to leave your home with only what you can carry. Its about imagination and empathy. It asks questions like: If you could only take one thing to remind you of home, what would it be?, or: If you had to sleep in a railway station, where would you brush your teeth or change your pants?. It concentrates on the everyday details of a childs life, not on the big political question about this current crisis. However, if there is anything I can do to counteract the prevailing view of refugees as invading hoards trying to destroy our way of life, then Im not sorry. The refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 70 1 /70 The refugee crisis - in pictures The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian refugee holding a baby in a lifetube swims towards the shore after their dinghy deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee raises a child into the air as Syrian and Afghan refugees are seen on and around a dinghy that deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian and Afghan refugees fall into the sea after their dinghy deflated some 100m away before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee cries as he holds a child on the Serbian side of the border with Hungary in Asotthalom Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees stand in front of a barrier at the border with Hungary near the village of Horgos, Serbia Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee from Syria prays after arriving on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos aboard an inflatable dinghy across the Aegean Sea from from Turkey. Greece sent troops and police reinforcements to Lesbos after renewed clashes between police and migrants, the public broadcaster said, while Syrian refugees on the island were targeted with Molotov cocktail attacks The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Police try to stop refugees going under a fence to board a train at a station near Gevgelija, Macedonia. Several thousand refugees in Macedonia boarded trains to travel north after spending a night in a provisional camp. Macedonia has organised trains twice a day to the north border where they cross into Serbia to make their way to Hungary The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees push each other as they try to board a bus following their arrival onboard the Eleftherios Venizelos passenger ship at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees are welcomed by locals after their arrival at the main railway station in Frankfurt, Germany. Over 1,000 more refugees arrived in Germany to cheers and "welcome" signs, but calls grew for a European solution to its worst refugee crisis since World War II The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A young Syrian boy arrives on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing in a dinghy with other refugees from Turkey AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees walk on the railway tracks between Bicske and Szar, some 40 kms west of Budapest, trying to reach Germany EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Hungarian policemen stand by the family of refugees as they wanted to run away at the railway station in the town of Bicske, Hungary The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A family is arrested by local police after their local train coming from Budapest and heading to the Austrian border has been stopped in Bicske, west of the Hungarian capital The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man is arrested by local police after his local train coming from Budapest and heading to the Austrian border has been stopped in Bicske, west of the Hungarian capital The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict More than 2,500 refugees have died trying to reach Europe this year and the struggle continues as they travel through the continent Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees protest in front of a train at Bicske railway station. Hundreds of people, were stranded on a train in Hungary for a second, demanding passage to Germany in a standoff with riot police The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees arrive on the shores of Lesvos island Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees on the Greek Macedonian border Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees storm into a train at the Keleti train station as Hungarian police withdrew from the gates after two days of blocking their entry The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees storm into a train at the Keleti train station in Budapest The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees cross the border between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece, near the town of Gevgelija, Macedonia. The Gevgelija-Presevo journey is just a part of the journey that the refugees, the vast majority of them from Syria, are forced to make along the so-called Balkan corridor, which takes them from Turkey, across Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to Hungary, the gateway to the European Union, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A refugee helps up an exhausted fellow refugee as they cross the border between Macedonia and Greece, near the town of Gevgelija, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People breaking through a police cordon and crossing the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees pass the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Macedonian policeman carries a child across the border between Macedonia and Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrians sleep on railroad tracks waiting to be processed across the Macedonian border in Idomeni, Greece, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Czech police officer marks a refugee with a number after more than than 200 refugees were detained, mostly from Syria, on trains from Hungary and Austria at the railway station in Breclav, Czech Republic, September 2015 AP Photo, CTK/Igor Zehl The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A baby is lifted on to the Norwegian vessel Siem Pilot during a search-and-rescue mission off the Libyan coast, September 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Budapest's main international railway station ordered an evacuation as hundreds of people tried to board trains to Austria and Germany, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People wave their train tickets and lift up children outside the main Eastern Railway station in Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People protest at the Eastern (Keleti) railway station of Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugee children sleep in the surrounding green area of the Keleti railway station in Budapest, September 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrians cross under a fence into Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, August 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees who have just crossed the border from Serbia into Hungary walk along a railway track that joins the two countries, August 2015 Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Police arrest refugees at Cobham Services on the M25 in Surrey, August 2015 Twitter: @bigwheeluk The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men hold a boy as they are stuck between Macedonian riot police officers and fellow refugees during a clash near the border train station of Idomeni, August 2015 AFP/Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian father holds his children close as his arrives on the Greek Island of Kos, August 2015 Eyevine The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A tourist offers water to Iranian refugees as they arrive by paddling an engineless dinghy from the Turkish coast (seen in the background) at a beach on the Greek island of Kos, August 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian holds his 30-day-old baby on an overcrowded train as they travel through Macedonia. Tens of thousands of refugees, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, use the Balkans route to get into the European Union, passing from Greece to Macedonia and Serbia and then to western Europe, August 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man rests on a platform at the train station in Gevgelija, on the Macedonian-Greek border, August 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees react after boarding the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship MV Phoenix some 20 miles (32 kilometres) off the coast of Libya. Some 118 refugees were rescued from a rubber dinghy off Libya. The Phoenix, manned by personnel from international non-governmental organisations Medecins san Frontiere (MSF) and MOAS, is the first privately funded vessel to operate in the Mediterranean, August 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Authorities are being overwhelmed as they try to fight off hundreds of refugees, prompting France to beef up its police presence, July 2015 AFP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People escape from the French Police as they try to catch a train to reach England, July 2015 EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man jumps over a fence as he attempts to access the Channel Tunnel, in Calais, northern France, July 2015 PA/Thibault Camus The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Two men cling to the roof of a freight truck as it leaves the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone, July 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man climbs a security fence of a Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles near Calais, July 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men help a man squeeze through a gap in a fence near the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles in Calais, July 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Desperate for entry to the EU, the group of people risked being washed away by the sea at Ventimiglia rocks, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Stranded refugees spend night on rocks - they were supplied with emergency blankets after a cold night next to the sea, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais, June 2015 Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A police officer sprays tear gas to men trying to access the Channel Tunnel on the A16 highway in Calais, northern France, June 2015 PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Men jump out of a lorry after being discovered by French gendarmerie officers, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man sits under the trailer of a lorry, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Belgian navy sailor passes life vests to refugees sitting in a rubber boat as they approach the Belgian Navy Vessel Godetia, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People on the Belgian Navy vessel Godetia after they were saved during a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast, June 2015 AP The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Iraqis wait as they are detained by Hungarian police after crossing the Hungarian-Serbian border illegally near the village of Asotthalom, Hungary, June 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Syrian refugees walking on train tracks through Macedonia on the Western Balkans migration route, after entering Europe through Greece, June 2015 Reuters The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A group of people huddle together during an operation to remove them from the Italian-French border in the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Italy and France engaged in a war of words as a standoff over hundreds of Africans offered a graphic illustration of Europe's migration crisis. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described images of refugees perched on rocks at the border town of Ventimiglia after being refused entry to France as a "punch in the face for Europe", June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A man is carried by Italian police in Ventimiglia, Italy. Police reportedly removed refugees from under a railway bridge, June 2015 EPA The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict People queue after disembarking from the Royal Navy ship HMS 'Bulwark' upon their arrival in the port of Catania on the coast of Sicily, June 2015 GIOVANNI ISOLINO/AFP/Getty Images The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A Syrian child holds a drawing as he waits to disembark from Belgian Navy vessel Godetia at the Augusta port, Italy. Around 250 refugees from Syria arrived at the Sicilian harbour from a Damascus refugee camp, June 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan refugees arrived on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict An Afghan child is helped off a rib on the Greek island of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict An Afghan girl holds the hand of a woman as they arrive on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Refugees crossed part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Afghan refugees arrive on a beach of Kos, May 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Rescuers help children to disembark in the Sicilian harbor of Pozzallo, Italy in April 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict A boat transporting refugees arrives in the port of Messina after a rescue operation at sea, April 2015 Getty The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Armed Forces of Malta personnel in protective clothing carry the body of a dead man off Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti as surviving refugees watch in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour, April 2015 The refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees fleeing conflict Rescued people talk to a member of the Malta Order after a fishing boat carrying refugees capsized off the Libyan coast, is brought ashore along with 23 others retreived by the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta, April 2015 A child is just a child, whether they start their lives in Syria or Britain, Libya or Germany. Theyre optimistic, energetic, and open-minded and, for whatever reason we got into this current mess, its surely not their fault. In her 50s, Milner said she was very privileged to be getting a student award at this stage of her life having lost her job in a library due to cuts. She said: Doing a Masters felt like taking a tremendous risk, but I had wanted to do the course for years, and this seemed the right time. Recommended Read more There are no quick fixes for the refugee crisis I used to imagine what it would feel like if I could see a book I had written and illustrated in the library where I had issued and tidied away so many books by other people - now it looks like this will probably happen. I intend to make the most of this second go at a career and write and illustrate as many books for children as I possibly can. All of the award-winning artwork from this years V&A Illustration Awards will be displayed outside the museums National Art Library until 21 August. My Name is Not Refugee is set to be published by Barrington Stoke. 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 }} Summer has some joyful certainties. The sun will shine, yes, sometimes even in Scotland. The sea will sparkle. The light will linger, along with the memories of harbourside meals, cheerful encounters and entrancing views. Sure, there are perennial irritations: mosquitoes, crowds and striking French air-traffic controllers. Yet according to the Remain campaign, you could add plague, pestilence and pricier holidays to that latter list should the electorate have the temerity to vote to leave the EU. Well, more expensive travel. The Prime Minister says: All the evidence points to the value of the pound falling after a vote to leave the EU. And, as British travellers already know from weary experience, A weaker pound means peoples hard-earned savings wont go as far on holidays overseas. This week the Treasury produced evidence that the average holiday price 421 would cost 57.50 more per person. That assumes a 12 per cent fall in the value of the pound. I defer to economists on that but a couple of things puzzle me. In the past seven years sterling has wobbled from as low as parity against the euro (1 = 1) to the pound being worth almost 1.50. Right now the rate is roughly halfway between the two extremes, which feels about right. Secondly, I contend that if prices increase sharply, then travellers like all consumers will modify their behaviour. A picnic rather than lunch at a restaurant; planning museum visits for the time when admission is free; waiting for the bus rather than hail a taxi. So possibly that 57.50 rise is an exaggeration. At the same event, held in an easyJet hangar in Luton, the prime minister assured the staff of Britains biggest budget airline that cheap flights within the European Union could also be jeopardised if the UK leaves the EUs single market. Britain would be excluded from the open skies pact which has increased competition and driven down fares. If I am not mistaken, Europe woke up in the 1990s to the benefits of ferocious competition between airlines only after the UK, Ireland and Holland showed the way in the 1980s: demonstrating that when governments allow independent airlines to compete with state-run carriers, fares typically halve and passenger numbers double. Anyone who seriously thinks that Europeans would not want to fly to London on exactly the same terms as now, that Ryanair would be removed from UK airports or that the Spanish would countenance any barriers to Brits flying to the Costas, has probably been at the duty-free. Talking of which: about the only certainty of a Leave decision is that the booze cruise would sink. For the past 23 years, anyone with a car can load up the boot at a Calais hypermarket with as much wine, beer and spirits as the suspension will take. It seems reasonable to assume that the UK will apply the same rules to travellers returning from its former EU partners as those from other countries. Thats one litre of Scotch, four litres of wine (six bottles breaks the limit) and 16 litres of beer. The booze cruise, though, could become a booze boomerang: cross-Channel ferries will once again be able to sell drinks at truly duty-free prices, a practice banned since 1999. Since theres no point getting off in France (except for trivialities such as cuisine, culture and magnificent landscapes), motorists will simply shop on board. At the time airlines were campaigning against the abolition of duty-free on intra-EU journeys, we were warned that fares would rise and the number of services would fall because the nice little earner was to end. Using the same logic, if every flight from the EU qualified for duty-free sales, surely fares should fall and the range of routes rise? Somehow, I doubt it. The only impact I can see on the amount and cost of flying if the UK leaves is that routes heavily dependent on expatriate traffic such as those to Eastern Europe might see a decline in demand and consequent reduction in frequency. But on a route such as Luton to Iasi a small city in north-east Romania declined from the present 11 flights a week on three airlines, it might not be too much of a disaster. Oddly, passengers rights would be affected: Ryanair (as an Irish, and therefore EU airline) would have to meet its obligations on all flights to and from Britain, while BA, easyJet and Monarch would only be liable for care and compensation for flights from the EU not those departing British airports. But if you were kind enough to read this column last week, you may recall that the EC261 rules that govern airlines in the case of long delays dont always do us a favour with at least one airline confessing to leaving bags behind to avoid having to pay out compensation. The Remain camp even wheeled out a politician to hint darkly about visas being required from British travellers to certain European countries. As far as I know, the only two nations that currently make such a bureaucratic demand are Belarus and Russia. And after a Leave vote? The red tape will remain exactly the same. When you are deciding how to vote, please do so on weightier matters than holidays. Will summer ever be the same again? Yes. Always. 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 }} They make a desert and they call it peace, is the bitter line Tacitus attributed to the British tribal leader Calgacus speaking 2,000 years ago of the devastation inflicted by the Roman army on the rebellious British. The denunciation has echoed down the centuries and been applied to many pacification campaigns, but it is peculiarly appropriate to what is now happening in Iraq. Some 20,000 Iraqi soldiers, special forces, federal police and Shia paramilitaries are advancing on Fallujah, a Sunni Arab city held by Isis since early 2014. They are backed by the destructive might of the US-led coalition of air forces that have carried out 8,503 air strikes in Iraq and 3,450 in Syria over the last two years. Without such close air support, the anti-Isis forces in Iraq and Syria would not have had their recent successes. I think they [government forces] will take Fallujah but the city will be destroyed in the process, said Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Kirkuk to the north east of Fallujah in an interview with The Independent. If they dont have air strikes they probably wont be able to take the city. Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima' Show all 3 1 /3 Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima' Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima' 419262.bin Getty Images Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima' 419361.bin AFP/ GETTY IMAGES Toxic legacy of US assault on Fallujah 'worse than Hiroshima' 419362.bin AFP/ GETTY IMAGES The precedents are ominous. The Iraqi army backed by Coalition airpower recaptured the city of Ramadi from Isis last December, but more than 70 per cent of its buildings are in ruins and the great majority of its 400,000 people are still displaced. The destruction the team has found in Ramadi is worse than any other part of Iraq. It is staggering, said Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Iraq. Soon after government forces had taken the city five months ago, Ibrahim al-Osej, a member of the Ramadi district council, said that all water, electricity, sewage and other infrastructure such as bridges, government facilities, hospitals and schools have suffered some degree of damage. This included no less than 64 bridges destroyed. Some of the destruction was caused by Isis mining buildings, but most was the result of 600 Coalition air strikes and Iraqi army artillery fire. US air commanders congratulate themselves on the pinpoint accuracy of their bombardment (so unlike Vietnam or earlier wars) but, if this is so, why was it necessary to destroy Ramadi? The same is true of other victories over Isis in Iraq and Syria. Last year I was in the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani that Isis tried to capture in a siege lasting four-and-a-half months until they were driven out by Syrian Kurdish fighters and 700 US airstrikes that pulverised three-quarters of the buildings. Everywhere I looked there was a jumble of smashed concrete and broken metal reinforcement bars sticking out of the heaps of rubble. Only in the enclave the Syrian Kurds had clung onto were buildings still standing. Recommended Read more Why the US is finally dropping its calls for Assad to go Fallujah may now share the same fate. There are some 900 Isis fighters defending well-prepared fighting positions above ground and a warren of tunnels underneath it. They are experienced in inflicting maximum casualties on their enemies by sniping, IEDs, booby traps, mortars and suicide bombers. In places like Tikrit, Ramadi and Sinjar they slipped away at the last moment, but in Fallujah they may fight to the end because it is close to Baghdad, and because it is a symbol of Sunni resistance to the US occupation ever since it was twice besieged by US marines in 2004. It can be argued that there is no alternative to the massive use of airpower if fanatical and battle-hardened Isis fighters are to be defeated. But, as with so much in the war in Iraq and Syria, the type of warfare being waged is determined by political priorities. In the case of Fallujah, and previously Ramadi, the US acts in support of regular Iraqi government forces and politically acceptable allies such as the Sunni tribal militias. It does not want to give air support to the heavily armed and more numerous Shia paramilitaries in the Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilisation Units which it sees as being sectarian and under the influence of Iran. Iraqi army promises victory in Fallujah next week The problem is that the combat-effective Iraqi security forces are limited in number, amounting to two brigades or 5,000 soldiers by one account in addition to two divisions in the regular army. But many of these units have to be held back in Baghdad or elsewhere in the long front line and cannot be committed to the assault on Fallujah which may therefore take a long time even with Coalition air strikes. The assault force that finally took Ramadi numbered only 750 Iraqi special forces, which acted as a mopping force after Isis fighters had been targeted from the air. The strategy of using a limited number of highly skilled ground forces in which US specialists are intermingled able to call in air attacks against any point of resistance makes sense militarily. It is also noticeable that that there are no international protests as the Sunni cities and population centres of Iraq are systematically destroyed. The notorious remark of a US officer about the town of Ben Tre in Vietnam 50 years ago that it became necessary to destroy the town to save it could equally be applied to Ramadi. This does not happen because the present bombing campaign is being justified as is customary in air wars, by its perpetrators saying it is of pinpoint accuracy and designed to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. But there is also a widespread feeling that any means are justifiable when used to defeat a movement of such monstrous cruelty and savagery as Isis. The present assault on Fallujah is partly motivated by the slaughter of 200 civilians in Baghdad by Isis bombers earlier this month. What happens in the next few months in Fallujah is of significance because it may tell us what will happen if there is an attempt by the Iraqi government, the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Coalition to recapture Mosul which may still have a population of two million people. Isis is not letting anybody out of the city and will fight hard for it because the capture of Mosul in June 2014 was what enabled it to declare the Calpihate. The US would like to recapture the city this year. Mr Karim believes that President Obama is desperately trying to get Isis out of Mosul before the end of his term. This is scarcely surprising since its loss and the rise of Isis was perhaps the greatest miscalculation of his eight years in office. But, even if it does fall, the war will not end because the five million Sunni Arabs in Iraq are being given no alternative to Isis other than submission to Shia and Kurdish rule. The US and allies like Britain insist that the government in Baghdad should be more inclusive of people formerly living under the control of Isis, but inclusion will not make much difference if the places where they lived are heaps of ruins. Patrick Cockburn is the author of Chaos and Caliphate: Jihadis and the West in the Struggle for the Middle East', published by OR Books, 18. Readers can obtain a 15 per cent discount by using the code: INDEPENDENT Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It is a good principle to always be suspicious of any attempt by a government to monitor, regulate or in any way interfere with the religious observance of its citizens. As the founding fathers of America appreciated, religion and state should be separate; the less each interferes with the others affairs the better. But there are exceptions. There are times when the state does need to interfere, to fulfil its overarching duty to protect all its citizens and ensure that all are equal in the eyes of one secular law. And this is the case with Theresa Mays announcement on Thursday of a Government inquiry into the workings of sharia law and courts in the UK. It follows growing concern that some of these courts, or councils, may be working in a discriminatory and unacceptable way, seeking to legitimise forced marriage and issuing divorces that are unfair to women, contrary to the teachings of Islam. There are also allegations that the courts have declined to grant religious divorces to women even when there is evidence of domestic abuse. These are all concerns that have in the past been highlighted by The Independent and if anything this inquiry should already have happened a long time ago. But better late than never. Ms May knows she is moving into sensitive territory. She has wisely chosen a broad-based inquiry team representing not just legal experts but also Islamic scholars. It will be led by Professor Mona Siddiqui, an expert in Islamic studies, and include a family law barrister, a retired High Court judge and two imams. There will be some and not just Muslims who will be suspicious and critical of the move, but it should nonetheless be welcomed. Upholding the rights of women is an integral part of British society. Any attempt to roll back on those rights, in any community, must be stamped out, without concern for causing offence. While sharia councils have no standing in civil law, and their judgements are unenforceable, their decrees carry moral and cultural weight in many Muslim communities. It is therefore imperative that they operate to standards that are acceptable in this country, where equality is not an optional add on. Neither should this be seen as a crackdown on Islamic culture and practice quite the opposite. But religion and culture must never be used as a smokescreen for human rights abuses or as a way to get round the law of the land. The inquiry, however, is only the start. It is what Ms May does with its findings when it reports that will be the real test of its success, and of the Governments resolve. For this inquiry to be useful, its recommendations must be put into practice quickly. Ideally this should be done with the support and cooperation of mainstream Muslim community leaders. Those sharia councils that fail to cooperate should be isolated and face possible criminal sanction if they operate outside of the law. That is not the state interfering in religious observance: it is the state protecting all its citizens. 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 }} Want to shock people these days? Tell them you believe in God. For the first time, non-believers are in the majority. In England and Wales, a new study shows that only 43 per cent of the population admit they are Christians, while almost 50 per cent reckon they have no religious beliefs double the number of five years ago. These findings have upset many, who see it as a sign our society is becoming ever more shallow and materialistic, but it doesnt necessarily follow these non-believers are life-long atheists. As we confront death, our views may change and become more fluid. In the final weeks of his life, David Bowie said you dont get any atheists on the battlefield. Other religions account for just 7.7 per cent of the population, in spite of the huge amount of coverage given to Islam. World's most popular religions Show all 7 1 /7 World's most popular religions World's most popular religions Christians Source: Pewforum Getty Images World's most popular religions Muslims Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Hindus Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Buddhists Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Folk Religions Source: Pewforum Getty Images World's most popular religions Other religions Source: Pewforum World's most popular religions Jews Source: Pewforum Getty I believe in the power of prayer and have done since childhood, attending an Anglican primary and secondary school in a working class area where Catholics had their own, parallel system. These days, people are astonished to discover I believe in God. Its like admitting you have a huge boil on your bum or you slept with the postman last Christmas. I find the Anglican Church is a source of never-ending despair, with its lacklustre attitude to promoting women, embracing sexual equality and gay marriage, years of ignoring historic sex abuse, and so on. Surely the point of belief is that it should be something thats second nature, something that you turn to without thinking, like a pair of much-loved shoes or an old jacket. My belief doesnt rely on attending church or agreeing with Archbishops, or any kind of communal activity or Synod-approved ruling. I cant understand why the church doesnt use its property portfolio and vast wealth to support the poor, instead of always asking everyone else to cough up. Churches must be the most underused property in Britain; they should be turned into affordable housing, for starters. Most Brits are secret believers: they have faith but just dont want to admit it. Much has been written about the cult of the self and some experts say taking endless selfies is causing us untold harm. Have we replaced God with self-worship? I am not that cynical. When there is a human disaster, ordinary people rise up to help, and donate to charity. In spite of all the hype, the popularity of Kim Kardashian doesnt mean were turned into a shallow society. The BBC aired a controversial documentary last week, Last Whites of the East End, filmed in the London Borough of Newham, where the British-born population has fallen by 50 per cent over 15 years and the minority ethnic community makes up 73 per cent of the population. Cockneys filmed were whingeing about the loss of the good old days, with many opting to move further east into Essex, where they claimed Christians werent outnumbered in the schools and on the housing estates. The irony is these former Londoners get married and have their babies christened in church. They are just as connected to their beliefs as the ethnic communities they are fleeing. If only they practised true Christianity, which means reaching out to others. On the heels of the release of their brand new album Charismo, Hackensaw Boys will perform in Chattanooga on June 10, 8 p.m. at Barking Legs Theater. Review on Hackensaw Boys: With a recent appearance on NPR's Weekend Edition and glowing reviews in No Depression, Saving Country Music, and more, Hackensaw Boys are "back with a vengeance" (No Depression) with Charismo, their first studio record in nearly a decade. In their 17th year as a band, Hackensaw Boys still deliver the spirited, rowdy live show that's come to be expected, performing both old favorites and brand new tunes from Charismo (April 15, Free Dirt Records). Produced by Larry Campbellwho has lent his talents to Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, and countless othersCharismo is the Hackensaw Boys record youve been waiting to hear. The 11-track album feels like the band's zenith release, gathering their diverse life experiences and myriad of roots influences, and crystallizing them into a magnum opus on the Hackensaw way of being. Traditional Appalachian and Delta music lay the groundwork, but its injected with a heavy dose of the contemporary, good-times-roll kind of spit and vinegar the band has become known for over the years. 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 }} David Cameron claims that pensioners will be worse off after Brexit. But when state pensions are unified throughout the EU, the amount is bound to be lower than at present in the UK (which is currently well above the EU average). Would it be too cynical to suggest that the prospect of losing an EU sinecure worth of perhaps 2m, including pension, could be affecting his judgement? Ray Cantrell Essex Can somebody please explain what are the reforms that David Cameron claims to have obtained from the EU? Have they been formally ratified? I have yet to see this in black and white. I am still undecided. Ken Simmons Bristol The Brexit campaign argues that the European project is there to serve the interests of the global corporations. In which case, why has France just raided the offices of Google and McDonald's in investigations over taxes? Patrick Cosgrove Shropshire Public sector pension protection The news that the government is considering cutting the pensions of Tata steel workers by linking future pension increases to the CPI rather than the RPI seems to be creating a fusss. I do not remember a similar fuss when the Government did precisely that to public sector pensions in 2011. Chris Elshaw Hampshire SNP should stay out of Westminter business That SNP cabinet minister, Fiona Hyslop, has spoken in Holyrood in support of Remain. Little surprise; she's obliged by the SNP constitution to say precisely what the party tells her to say. What is unexpected is her job title: external affairs secretary. Assuming this isn't an oblique reference to her Westminster colleagues' private lives, we must imagine that Nicola Sturgeon has given her some kind of foreign policy remit. Why? Holyrood's sole responsibility is domestic matters. Can't the SNP get on with what we pay them for rather than bigging themselves up to meddle in Westminster business? Martin Redfern Edinburgh No clearer on rising temperatures Your news story, 'Burning all remaining fossil fuels would devastate the planet, study warns', contains a schoolboy error translating a 10C rise into 50F. Yes, on a thermometer 10C = 50F, but the two scales have different zero points, so each centigrade degree equals 1.8 Fahrenheit degrees (the "5/9" bit of the famous "5/9 + 32" formula). So a rise in temperature of 10C only equals a rise of 18F because, in converting an interval rather than an absolute, you don't add the 32. Clear? Oh well, I tried. David Watson Cold Harbour 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 }} Not every Conservative politician is obsessed with the EU referendum. Away from the increasingly shrill scaremongering from both sides, cooler heads quietly address the big challenges that will face the country once the question of its future, in or out of Europe, is resolved. Ministers know that a financial crisis is coming in the NHS; the record 2.45bn deficit in England is just the start. Another red warning light on their radar is the number of places disappearing in care homes for the elderly. Cash-strapped local authorities have cut the amount they pay for care. Some companies running private homes take in only those residents who can pay their (much higher) fees, saying it is cheaper to leave beds empty than accept the rates paid by councils. These two huge challenges are linked: a report from spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO) on Thursday found that delays in discharging over 65s who no longer need to be in hospital costs the NHS 820m a year. If they were released and had care in a residential or nursing home or in their own home, that could cost 180m a year, still leaving a 640m-a-year saving. The NAO painted a bleak picture of a system that is neither joined up or sustainable. The number of bed days in acute hospitals lost to delayed discharges rose by 31 per cent in the past two years to 1.15 million. Without radical action to improve local practice and remove national barriers, this problem will get worse and add further strain to the financial sustainability of the NHS, the NAO concluded. Although hospitals have a financial incentive to release patients, many care organisations have block contracts without payments based on activity, and so they have no incentive to take on extra patients. Local authorities the reluctant frontline troops in Governments austerity drive spent 10 per cent less on adult social care than in 2009-10. Social care shake-up The issue is high on the agenda of a new generation of Tory MPs elected in 2010 as it draws up a progressive centre ground programme of 21st century Conservatism. The 2020 Group wants to ensure the Tories are not just seen as accountants who can balance the nations books, and can show how an enterprise economy can boost social mobility as well as GDP. George Freeman, the Minister for Life Science with responsibility for innovation in the NHS, is working on a series of measures to tackle the flaws highlighted by the NAO. He is pushing for greater incentives for local health and care leaders to integrate budgets, with the acceleration of the model being pioneered in Greater Manchester. Manchesters Combined Authority of 10 councils now have a budget of 6bn across health and social care alone, as well as funding for transport, housing and planning. A Mayor to be elected next year will also oversee the citys police and fire services. Freeman, co-founder of the 2020 Group, believes that devolving budgets holds the key to tackling the spiralling cost of managing chronic diseases. He is proposing pilot schemes for central government to devolve health, care and even welfare budgets to NHS and local authority managers at city and county level, with incentives to reduce hospital admissions and avoidable costs. Crucially, Freeman proposes that the Government should look at allowing local healthcare leaders to keep up to 50 per cent of any savings they make to reinvest in frontline services. He is convinced that managers would deliver more for less, and improve the quality of life for patients while making our health and social care systems sustainable. Freeman said: If, in the public sector, you deliver more for less we typically reward you by giving you less. If you deliver less and need more, governments typically give you more. Is it any wonder we see such low public sector productivity growth? For years, centralised Whitehall funding has tended to reward failure and demoralise the innovators. Freeman, who argues that Britain has the most centralised public services in Europe, believes that devolving them could be the big idea that defines modern Conservatism. He told me: In so many areas of local government, the effective running of local services like health and care, planning, road and rail links has been held back as they compete for money from different government schemes. This creates fragmentation, division, dependency and undermines local leadership. We all want to see integrated services and sustainable development, but our system of fragmented government makes it very difficult. That's why the Governments devolution programme is so important and exciting." George Osbornes Manchester project is the great hope for those who want to integrate health and social care. But the crises looming for both means that the Government must go further and faster now, rather than wait years to see if it works. That will require investment in the short term to make savings in the long run, as well as trusting local managers more. Many politicians talk a good game about devolving power but are reluctant to let go, not least because the buck stops with ministers if things go badly, such as at the Mid Staffordshire Hospital Trust. David Cameron once said he wanted to be the first prime minister to leave office after giving up power rather than taking more. A fitting legacy would be to do that by creating the locally-run health and social care service we urgently need. Records show Bruce Springsteen's great-great-great-grandfather settled down in 1827 and went on to have no fewer than eight children Bruce Springsteen may have been Born In The USA - but his roots are in Ireland. Researchers have uncovered The Boss's great-great-great-grandfather was from Co Kildare. And Christy Gerrity, from Rathangan, was also known as a hell-raiser and outspoken protester in his glory days. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1823 under the Insurrection Act - which targeted those protesting the social injustice of excessive tithes, rent payments and related evictions of the time. Records show he settled down in 1827, married Catherine Kelly and the pair went on to have no fewer than eight children. They lived in a simple mud cabin with a thatched roof in the townland of Mountprospect. In 1847 - one of the worst years of Ireland's Great Famine - Gerrity worked as a carrier, earning a living by transporting people, goods and livestock. Despite the hard times, he remained a staunch believer in education and sent his sons to study at Rathangan National School, genealogists at the Irish Family History Centre found. However, like millions of others, the Gerritys eventually succumbed to being famine refugees. They left Ireland for New Jersey in 1853. The roots were revealed by Tourism Ireland, which is encouraging people worldwide to discover their Irish heritage on the Ireland.com website. Mark Henry, of Tourism Ireland, said he was delighted to share the details of Springsteen's Irish ancestry on his sell-out gig at Dublin's Croke Park. "We are encouraging people around the world to visit the island of Ireland in 2016 and learn more about their heritage," he said. "Our message to the Irish diaspora everywhere is that there has never been a better time to visit, to trace their ancestry and learn more about their Irish roots." Dalata has spent more than 22m per acre for a site in central Dublin where it will build a hotel. The firm - the biggest hotel group in the country - paid 8.1m for the 0.36 acre site on Kevin Street at the junction with New Street in Dublin 8. The sale price equates to more than 22m per acre - one of the highest rates paid in the country for a hotel development this year. In a statement, Dalata said it plans to build a 137-bedroom hotel at a cost of around 26m. The hotel will trade under the Maldron brand and is scheduled to open before the end of the year. It is expected to employ 70 people. Dalata head of business development and finance Dermot Crowley said the deal is "a very exciting opportunity for the company and is consistent with our stated strategy of securing development sites for further new hotels in Dublin". "The Dublin hotel market continues to perform very strongly in 2016, and we look forward to this Maldron Hotel contributing significantly to the company performance in the future." Expand Close Site is close to St Patricks Cathedral / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Site is close to St Patricks Cathedral Dalata has expanded rapidly in recent months, driven by its 455m purchase of the Morans Hotel Group in 2014. Last month it completed a 10.2m deal to buy a partially completed hotel in Cork, while in March it agreed to buy the leasehold on four hotels in including the Gibson in Dublin for 40m. It is also building a hotel on Charlemont in Dublin 2. Broker JLL advised the vendor, Highgate Investments. Davy Stockbrokers' analysts Robert Stokes and David Jennings believe Dalata will do more deals before the end of the year. "Dalata has spent 215m in the last eight months acquiring six hotels with a combined 1,092 bedrooms and purchasing four development sites providing an additional 654 rooms by the end of 2018. "Dalata now has 45m left to spend, and we believe this will be spent by year end. "On completion of this hotel in 2018, Dalata will have 3,613 rooms in the capital. This announcement is in line with the group's stated strategy to maintain a 20pc market share in Dublin and to complete the acquisition programme in Ireland by the end of 2016," they added. Dalata shares rose 1.24pc to 4.90. The state's forestry agency says it has half of all the land needed to hit Ireland's renewable energy targets by 2020. Coillte has mapped its entire 445,000 hectares of land, which is spread across the country, and marked it according to its potential use, including suitability for not only forestry but wind and solar generation, chief executive Fergal Leamy told the Irish Independent. The vast majority of the portfolio is earmarked for forestry, but as much as 20,000 hectares is regarded as suitable for non-core projects, that can range from tourism to power generation, he said. The semi-State company said it can develop wind and solar power projects itself but is also open partnering with private operators. "We won't try to do everything ourselves, if people want to come in and use the land we can have a conversation," he said. Even if Coillte develops wind and solar farms, it does not see itself as a long-term operator. With approximately 6pc of the entire country on its books, Coillte is responsible for managing trails and tracks used by the public, historic properties including Avondale, Co Wicklow, and amenity sites like Lough Key forest, as well as commercial forestry. The company generated profits last year of 47.6m, two-thirds more than the previous year. The company paid a 5m dividend to the State. Coillte said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 89.6m at the end of last year, 12pc. During the year the board and management concluded a new, five-year growth strategy for the business which will see Coillte becoming the leading forestry and land solutions company in Europe, the company said. Fergal Leamy said demand for forestry products will double in the next ten years, and that the business is capable of throwing off 50m to 60m a year in free cash flow as it develops. That's enough to support a regular dividend to taxpayers and ongoing investment, he said. However, he cautioned that a British vote to exit from the European Union next month could have a significant impact on the business. The UK is Coillte's biggest market - accounting for 80pc of its 300m of annual sales, he said. In the short term the company has hedged against a potentially sharp decline in the value of sterling, he said. But in the longer term trade restrictions would hurt Irish exports, he said. Coillte had branched into telecoms in the past. Last year, it sold its network of 298 telecoms masts to French investment fund, Infravia Capital Partners, for about 70m last August. The company is now looking at tapping into the planned roll out of the National Broadband Plan, by providing land to companies for telecoms infrastructure. Former Davy Stockbrokers senior executive David Smith, who was its head of institutional equities and left the role just last month, has established a new financial firm in Dublin. He is now a director of Acuity Capital Management, but it's unclear at this stage precisely what financial activities the company will be involved in. Mr Smith left Davy after 24 years, where he was head of institutional equities. The stockbroking firm told staff at the time that Mr Smith was leaving to pursue other opportunities. However, it noted that Davy would also be "working closely" with the firm in developing some of those interests. There is no sign yet of Acuity Capital Management having been registered with the Central Bank of Ireland, but the business was only established last week. Mr Smith worked as an analyst in London before joining Davy in 1992. He was eventually one of the four most senior members of the firm. He had also been tipped to become its chief executive, but the role went last year to Brian McKiernan, who was head of wealth and asset management at Davy. Mr Smith also retains a stake in Davy, having been part of the management team that bought the business for 350m from Bank of Ireland in 2006. The Roche family hit the headlines in 2006 after selling most of its empire to British giant Debenhams for 29m plus. And the family that once owned Roches Stores are still landlords at a number of Debenhams outlets. Details of a clash between the two sides emerged in court documents associated with an examinership process of the Irish Debenhams arm. The media-shy Roches still own properties on Henry Street, Dublin, and St Patrick's Street, Cork, where upward-only rent agreements are in place. Family member Richard Roche has accused Debenhams of filing a "tainted" examinership application. Debenhams rejected the accusation and accused him of looking for commercially sensitive information, according to reports in the 'Irish Times'. The hugely successful empire was founded by William Roche, a farmer's son who had trained in Cork's most famous department store, Cash's (now Brown Thomas). After the major setback of seeing his premises burned during the infamous attack on Cork by the Black and Tans in 1920, William Roche's business took off. By the late 1920s, the family was able to buy a key premises on Henry Street in Dublin - and, 10 years later, added another major shop in Limerick to their operation. After William's death on the eve of the Second World War, the family fortunes continued to soar under the guidance of his widow Kathleen, who ran the business until her son, William Jnr, was able to take the reins himself. William Jnr worked in the family business from 1937, two years before his father's death, and was later joined by his two younger brothers, Raymond and Stanley. By 1950, all three brothers were working with the family business, which switched in emphasis from Cork to Dublin. William Jnr ran the increasingly important Dublin operation while his two younger brothers gravitated towards the provinces, Stanley taking the helm in Cork and Raymond in Limerick. In the 1960s and 1970s, the operation grew to include Galway and various booming suburbs such as Wilton in Cork and Blackrock in Dublin. By now, their operation was financially directed from the Isle of Man - a fact which ensured that no accounts ever had to be published in Ireland. Control of the business remained firmly within the family though scions of the Roches emigrated both to England and America. Revenues topped 300m at the Noonan Services Group for the first time in "a truly outstanding year" for the group. New accounts filed by the outsourcing group show that revenues jumped from 203m to 303m last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation went up from 12.2m to 15.8m. Pre-tax profits before rolled up shareholders' loans are taken into account rose from 5.5m in 2014 to 11m last year. According to group ceo, John O'Donoghue, "2015 has been a truly outstanding year for Noonan. "Strong organic growth coupled with full year impact of a prior year acquisition helped revenues to exceed 300m for the first time in our history." Mr O'Donoghue said a significant successes was being awarded a contract by Dublin City Council for the refurbishment of social housing. The group secured the largest hospital group contract in Ireland to come to market last year plus contracts with four police forces in the UK. "Overall growth within existing accounts has been a key contributor to our growth in 2015. Clients begun investing in their assets following years of under achievement," he said. "Clients are now increasing their spend on services with many now reverting to pre-recession levels of service requirements. We expect this trend to continue in 2016." Last December, the group purchased Brinks Man Guarding business here and this increased the group headcount by a further 300 and will increase revenues by 8m. Mr O'Donoghue said: "We believe that each of our service lines will continue to deliver sustainable growth. "Our sales pipeline continues to grow in the UK and Ireland and gives us confidence when looking ahead to 2016. The business unit is positioned to deliver sustainable growth in the years ahead." Mr O'Donoghue said that the business launched its five-year plan last year, adding: "Undoubtedly, this plan has had the impact of energising the business, bringing clarity to our vision and values and enables us to enter 2016 with clear direction and a highly engaged leadership team." The group last year enjoyed operating profits of 12m compared to 7.6m in 2014. The operating profits take account of exceptional operating expenses last year of 600,000 that arose from integration costs, restructuring costs and fees relating to the acquisition of the Brinks business. Republic of Ireland revenues last year increased from 158.55m to 183.56m with cleaning and facility services accounting for more than half at 96.68m. The group continues to grow outside Ireland with 120.3m generated compared to 46.2m in 2014. The report states that overall margin last year fell due to changes in the sales mix as a result of the prior year acquisition which included high volume and lower margin. Numbers employed at the group last year rose from 6,812 to 7,125. Staff costs went up from 118.93m to 140.68m. The group's shareholders' funds stood at 39.16m while the group's cash during the year rose from 1.26m to 2.28m. The Noonan Group was established in 1977 to provide contract cleaning services to a growing Irish public and private sector. Last July 16, Chattanooga was changed forever following the tragic shootings at the Armed Services Recruiting Center on Lee Highway and the U.S. Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway. One year later, thousands of supporters will participate in the Chattanooga Heroes Run/Walk to honor and remember those who lost their lives as well as the hundreds of responders who worked to protect our city. The Chattanooga Heroes Run/Walk, presented by Erlangers Level One Trauma Center, will take place on Saturday, July 16, beginning at 8 a.m. The event features a five mile run or walk that begins on Amnicola Highway at the Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center, follows part of the path that EMS took last July 16 down Amnicola Highway, connects to the Tennessee RiverPark, winds through University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) campus, ending on 5th Street just south of the Challenger Center. Following the five mile run/walk, there will be a one mile kids run beginning at 10 a.m. through UTC's campus. Participants and spectators are also welcome to gather at the Challenger Center for an expo the whole family will enjoy. Participant and spectator busing begins at 6 a.m. across from Challenger Center at the corner of Palmetto and Fifth Streets. Volunteers are needed to assist with pre-run bag packing, set up, race activities, kids run, and post run clean up. For more information about the Chattanooga Heroes Run/Walk, how one can volunteer or to register for the event, visit www.chattanoogaheroesrun.com. The families of Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Lance Cpl. Squire K. Wells and Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Randall Smith have chosen to use the proceeds from this event to fund the construction of a permanent memorial at the Tennessee RiverPark. Erlanger officials thank the following for their time, manpower and support of this special heroes tribute: City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Rock Creek, and LIFE FORCE Event Medicine. Ulster Bank is to cut 124 front-line jobs in its branch network, in a move that has been condemned by the bank's main employee union. The redundancies are being made on a volunteer-led basis, the bank said, and are part of a previously announced job reduction programme. A spokeswoman said Ulster Bank will also create 23 new roles in its branches, in addition to 11 new retail banking positions to be announced in the coming weeks. The bank said it has no plans to reduce the number of branches it operates. However, the Financial Services Union (FSU), which represents workers at Ulster Bank, said there was "no sound business rationale" for the latest job cuts. It said any further job losses in Ulster Bank will exacerbate difficulties arising from what it called "chronic understaffing" affecting both staff and customers. "Customers are likely to face more queues," FSU senior industrial relations officer Gareth Murphy said. "Most customers who need advice prefer to deal with a human being rather than a machine. Many of these queries require time and care. So withdrawing staff from this crucial interface with customers does not make any business sense. "Ulster Bank has declared its ambition to be 'number one for customer service, trust and advocacy.' But this seems like a strange way to pursue it," he said. Earlier this week Ulster Bank confirmed its plan to sell 2.5bn of problem customer loans. There has been a huge increase in the number of families using a controversial loophole to avoid paying inheritance tax. Some 740 families availed of the dwelling-house exemption last year, costing the exchequer 52m, the Irish Independent has learned. This is an increase of almost 40pc on the number of people using the loophole since 2013. Most of these people are understood to be wealthy families buying properties for their sons and daughters. Revenue Commissioners officials are known to have serious reservations about the exemption, which they claim is "much abused". Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath, who obtained the figures, said in many cases the tax relief was being used to transfer extremely valuable properties, other than the family home, free of inheritance tax. "This was never the intention of the provision and the Department of Finance needs to complete its review of this relief and take action to prevent significant and unjustified loss of revenue to the State," he said. He said there was "aggressive use" of the loophole. Revenue officials told the Department of Finance before last year's Budget that the dwelling house exemption was relatively easy to get, but was being abused. A spokesman for Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said it, along with Revenue, was examining the issue. "The extent of the current use of the exemption and the case for further amending the conditions attaching to it are being examined by the Department and the Revenue Commissioners with a view to consideration by the minister in the context of the Finance Bill later this year." However, tax practitioner Fiona O'Shea of the Tax Network, and a former Revenue official, said she is sceptical of claims that the exemption is much abused and/or aggressively used to avoid tax, in the absence of evidence to support the claim. "This exemption was introduced to protect people sharing a home with someone other than their spouse or civil partner from a crippling tax bill if the house was given to them or left to them on a death." She said it was important not to lose sight of this in any review or amendment of the exemption. The figures obtained by Mr McGrath show a total of 741 families used the dwelling-house exemption in 2015. This was up from 614 in 2014, and 538 in 2013. That means there has been a 38pc rise in a two-year period since 2013. The programme for government included a commitment to increase the tax-free threshold for children inheriting from their parents to 500,000. The tax can also be avoided by using "the favourite nephew exemption". This is where someone leaves a business or farm to a nephew or niece who has worked on a full-time basis for five years in the business. Using this exemption means the tax-free threshold is the same as for a son or daughter, at 280,000. Some 133 people availed of this relief last year. This is up from 114 in 2014, according to the figures provided to Mr McGrath. Exemption a way of avoiding 33pc levy The dwelling-house exemption allows parents to gift a property to a son or daughter without having to pay gift or inheritance tax. Officially called capital acquisitions tax, inheritance tax is levied at a rate of 33pc. Under the exemption, the person gifting the property must own it for at least three years before it is handed over to the son or daughter. The child must live in it for the same three years that the parent owns it. The child must not own another property. At the end of the three-year period the property can be transferred tax free. However, according to tax experts, the houses are often rented out. It is understood there have been instances of parents buying 1m-plus properties for their children, and avoiding the tax. Using the exemption, a 1m house gifted to a child can avoid a tax bill of 237,000. The tax rules mean that the first 280,000 of assets left to a child is not counted for inheritance tax. Presentation Choir from Kilkenny conducted by Veronica McCarron on Britains Got Talent last night Presentation Secondary School choir were left sorely disappointed when they failed to make it into the 'Britain's Got Talent' final. While the 60-strong choir impressed the judges during the semi-finals, they failed to secure enough public votes. Contestants Jasmine Elcock and Craig Ball were the two acts selected to make it through to the finals. Millions of viewers tuned in to watch the Irish all-girls choir sing 'Ave Maria' on the show in Wembley Stadium. "Aw, gosh, that literally brought a tear to my eye," judge Amanda Holden said after the performance. "It's a silly thing to feel but I feel so proud of you all." Simon Cowell had only praise for the girls. "You are honestly special, it was like you came from Heaven, dropped down to earth, did this performance. "What I love is the subtlety, at the same time you have all these different harmonies," the TV producer said. The pupils at the Loughboy school departed for Britain on Wednesday. Their first performance of 'Adiemus' in the audition stage in April impressed the judges and earned them a standing ovation from the audience. Speaking to RTE Radio One's 'Ray D'Arcy Show' before the semi-finals, choral director Veronica McCarron said the group were "very excited and thrilled" to make the semi-final. Video of the Day "We have an amazing team," she said. Read More Ms McCarron officially retired from the school a couple of years ago but still travels from her homestead in Donegal to teach the choir for two weeks each month. "I came to the school 22 years ago, they wanted a choral programme. We now have 300 children from first year to sixth year," she added. The students have described the choir director's enthusiasm as "infectious". Since their last appearance on the show, the choir have also performed on 'The Late Late Show'. Kelly Campbell, Emma Greenwell, Xavier Samuel, Whit Stillman, Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny attend the "Love & Friendship" Premiere during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 23, 2016 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival) Considering the slew of on-screen adaptations of Jane Austens work, youd be forgiven for not getting overly excited by the news that another is on its way. With Love & Friendship, however, the acclaimed US filmmaker Whit Stillman has created a film that goes some way toward correcting the record of stodgy, by-the-numbers Austen adaptations. Stillman may be separated from Austen by 200 years, but both are known for their sly observations of high society, and her material proves to be a dream fit for the writer and director of Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco and Damsels in Distress. Rather than the familiar classics, Stillman chose to take on a little-known epistolary novella called Lady Susan, which follows an irresistibly devious anti-heroine a young widow and the most accomplished flirt in all England as she attempts to marry off her daughter Frederica and salvage her own reputation after being accused of an affair. Expand Close Love & Friendship / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Love & Friendship Love & Friendship was filmed entirely on location in Ireland, and the likes of Russborough House, Newbridge House, and the cobbled streets of Georgian Dublin provide a perfect backdrop for the brisk comedy. Stillmans love of Ireland is deep-rooted; as well as visits to promote his work, his eldest daughter studied at Trinity College and lived in Dublin for 11 years, working in law. When he was told it would be more cost- and time-effective to shoot here, he was delighted. It was incredibly good. The Irish Film Board was really, really great, and the crew was really expert on what they were doing and on the period details, he says fondly. I loved the locations, they were perfect for us. I think Russborough House is one of the most beautiful houses in the world. Indeed, he was so impressed with the buildings facade that he used the front and back of the stately home as the exterior for two different residences. I find that in some of the standard English Austen adaptations, the houses seem too grand, and that sort of takes away the plausibility and the humanity, he observes, explaining that he even made some of the homes appear smaller. Although Stillman now professes himself a Jane Austen buff, he admits his first impression of her work wasnt so favourable. I was very foolish. I was 18-years-old, I was in this funk at college, I was about to take time off and go to Mexico and learn to speak Spanish. I was really down, Id been dumped by a girl and I picked up this novel Northanger Abbey by the celebrated Jane Austen. Expand Close Whit Stillman with actresses Chloe Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale at the "Love & Friendship" New York screening. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Whit Stillman with actresses Chloe Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale at the "Love & Friendship" New York screening. I thought it was terrible. I told everybody that Jane Austen was really bad, that she was so overrated and how could people like her? Fortunately, my sister clued me in that I should read something else, so I read Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice and loved them. Many years later, Stillman was living in Paris, and came across Northanger Abbey once again. He decided to give it another go, and loved it. Stowed away in the back of the book was Lady Susan. I thought it was just incredibly funny and very Oscar Wildean. Some of her funniest, best sentences and paragraphs were in this, he says. At the time, Stillman had been in talks to develop a number of films, but project after project fell through, leading to a period of 12 years in which he wrote many draft scripts that never made it on screen. Expand Close Love & Friendship / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Love & Friendship Video of the Day There were all these doors slamming, and I was left with this little bit of fluff, and it was that that really grew. It became my really fun project when I wasnt working, and it really helped me not having this as part of the whole industry process. Although Stillman is famed for his hyper-verbose comedies of manners, the task of embodying Austens voice proved to be a challenge. It was a problem. One of the good things about adapting something thats really well-written is that you dont start with a blank page. You start with a big block of literary clay and you get to take little pieces away from the clay so it has a form, but its not really alive yet. You have to have new things to make it come alive. The book, written entirely in letters, can make for a difficult reading experience, and the skill of Stillmans treatment cant be over-estimated. Austen abandoned Lady Susan without giving it a proper ending or title, and it wasnt even published until more than 50 years after her death. Expand Close Love & Friendship / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Love & Friendship Most films with a monstrous, calculating heroine will inevitably force her through a process of redemption, something Stillman was thankfully uninterested in doing. He adds a delightful surprise to finish the story off, and has even written a companion novel, Love & Friendship: In Which Jane Austens Lady Susan Vernon Is Entirely Vindicated. Beckinsales Susan is a joy to watch, and even a bit sympathetic, in spite of her constant scheming and manipulation. Facts are horrid things, she sighs ruefully. Shes honest with herself and with her friend, says Stillman. They say these dreadful things to each other, and I find that refreshing, because most of the people I know who are hurting other people are also inventing lies to justify it, so theyre adding insult to injury. She doesnt do that. Stillman also fleshed out some of the storys smaller characters, such as the hilariously oblivious Sir James Martin and Stephen Frys gouty old Mr Johnson, to add more broadly humorous scenes. I saw it as an incredible opportunity to show the comic Jane Austen that always gets cut out of the usual Austen adaptations, the ones that are done as romantic womens films and no guys can come and watch them, he says. Some of them are made that way, but theyre all sold that way. In her writing, its very silly comedy, and I think Austen is just as much for men as for women. I dont think thats true of all the Austens. I think this is the most guy-friendly Austen adaptation, and Im going to stand on that! Expand Close Kelly Campbell, Emma Greenwell, Xavier Samuel, Whit Stillman, Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny attend the "Love & Friendship" Premiere during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 23, 2016 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kelly Campbell, Emma Greenwell, Xavier Samuel, Whit Stillman, Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny attend the "Love & Friendship" Premiere during the 2016 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 23, 2016 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival) Love & Friendship is out now in selected cinemas Paul Whitington reviews this week's other big releases: Love and Friendship, The Daughter, The Price of Desire and Alice Through the Looking Glass. In Tim Burton's 2010 film 'Alice in Wonderland', director and subject splendidly elided. Burton seemed to intuitively grasp the dream-like illogicality of Lewis Carroll's world, and spliced together 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' to create a satisfyingly strong storyline for his visually sumptuous 3-D movie. This film is inspired by that one, but Burton has chosen to produce Alice Through the Looking Glass (3*, PG, 113mins) rather than direct it. It shows, but the film's greatest problem is its plot: as Burton had already plundered most of the famous moments in 'Through the Looking Glass' for the first movie, there wasn't much Lewis Carroll left for them to crib. As a consequence they're forced to invent, and the results are not always impressive. Alice, preposterously, has spent three years at sea as a female Victorian sea captain when she returns home to receive bad news. Her mother is being forced to sell their home to her jilted and vindictive fiancee, Hamish, and Alice will be forced to work for him as a clerk. She's pondering her next move when Absolem the caterpillar appears and guides her back to Wonderland. There she finds that her old friend the Mad Hatter is at death's door, and can only be saved if Alice masters time travel and saves his extended family. The excellent Mia Wasikowska returns as Alice, and as the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp does his bewildered man-child thing - again. A fine supporting cast includes a crazed Helena Bonham-Carter, the special effects are splendid, but the film is hamstrung by a storyline that just doesn't hang together. Whit Stillman's Love and Friendship (4*, G, 93mins) is a far more satisfying and accomplished literary adaptation. Based on Jane Austen's early novel 'Lady Susan', Mr Stillman's film deliberately and skilfully highlights Austen's gift for comedy and features Kate Beckinsale's best performance in years. She is Lady Susan Vernon, a handsome and ostensibly charming widow whose arrival is dreaded by every south-eastern English country house. Bright and beautiful, Lady Susan is irresistible to men, and is not afraid to use her charms to get her own way. Camping out in the homes of various relations, she searches for a new husband rich enough and stupid enough to be of service, and simultaneously bullies her more upright daughter into marrying for money. She's a monster, but an annoyingly charismatic one. Filmed mainly in Ireland, Mr Stillman's film unfolds delightfully, is full of fun and wit, and Tom Bennett is superb as the idiotic but inordinately wealthy suitor, Sir James Martin. And now for a spot of Outback Ibsen. Based on the Norwegian master's play 'The Wild Duck', Simon Stone's The Daughter (3*, No Cert, IFI, 96mins) stars Miranda Otto and Ewen Leslie as Charlotte and Oliver, the proud parents of Hedvig (Odessa Young), a clever and beautiful teenage girl whose bright future seems secure. But when the local big cheese Henry (Geoffrey Rush) decides to close his timber mill, Oliver is out of a job, and things get worse when Henry's son returns from America to spill long-buried secrets and generally make a nuisance of himself. 'The Daughter' rises nicely to a memorable crescendo, and while its script is pretty ordinary, Odessa Young is outstanding as the unfortunate Hedvig. Video of the Day Mary McGuckian's The Price of Desire (2*, 12A, 108mins), 2 Stars takes a wonderful story and makes a bit of a hash of it. Orla Brady is Eileen Gray, the Wexford-born designer and architect who became a leading figure in the Modernist movement in Paris in the 1930s and 40s. In Ms McGuckian's film, we find out how Le Corbusier and others passed off her work as their own, but 'Price of Desire' is stilted and clumsy and unimaginative in the extreme. Read More Le Corbusier is reduced to the role of panto villain, and the film has the feel of a hacked together TV biopic. Coming soon... The Nice Guys (Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe); Me Before You (Sam Claflin, Emilia Clarke); Race (Stephen James); Warcraft: The Beginning (Paula Patten). Bruce Springsteen in a sell-out gig at the RDS in Dublin eight years ago. He will play Croke Park in May. Photo: PA wire Yes, he was born in the USA but that has never stopped us claiming people as our own and now we can officially say Bruce Springsteen is Irish (or at least of Irish descent). Research carried out by genealogists at the Irish Family History Centre confirms that before the Springsteens came the Gerritys. Christy Gerrity from the parish of Rathangan in Co Kildare has been described as "something of a hellraiser as a young man" and he was the great-great-great-grandfather of The Boss himself. Christy left Ireland New Jersey in 1853. Last year, US genealogist Megan Smolenyak, who had previously discovered Barack Obama's links to Moneygall, traced his ancestors to Kildare, but had the name as 'Garrity' rather than 'Gerrity'. It's occasionally spelled 'Geraghty' too as they were not so pedantic about spelling in the late 1800s. Prior to that it had been reported that his family hailed from Rathowen, a village near Mulliingar, Co Westmeath. However, it seems he really is a Lilywhite. Bruce Springsteen may have been Born in the USA but his ancestors emigrated from Ireland in 1853 and we are delighted to share the details of his Irish ancestry," said Mark Henry of Tourism Ireland. "We are encouraging people around the world to visit the island of Ireland in 2016 and learn more about their heritage. "Our message to the Irish Diaspora everywhere is that there has never been a better time to visit, to trace their ancestry and learn more about their Irish roots. The Tourism Ireland website Ireland.com can help people to do this. David Schwimmer, Rebel Wilson and James Corden absolutely annihilated each other in the hilarious new Drop The Mic segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden. The deadly battle saw the Friends actor and talk show host tear each other apart with brutal lashes before Pitch Perfect actress Rebel Wilson shut them both down. Millennials, let me introduce you to this guy, his name is David, he was famous in 95, began Corden. He was on TV then, now its 2016 and he has no friends, get it? Not famous ever again, he was a Kardashian on TV that was only for pretend. Expand Close David Schwimmer and James Corden / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp David Schwimmer and James Corden Now youve got a chance to prove you got balls while I ignore you, like Jennifer Aniston does your calls, he continued, while the crowd exploded. Ready to retaliate, Schwimmer wasnt fazed by Cordens words. A Brit in America is your one claim to fame. We all know as an actor your roles are all the same. The heavy best friend, the humorous sidekick, he continued. To be clear I love the English, I married your kind but why your wife chose you, my bad she blind? he said, sending the crowd into hysterics. I was born in this country youre a tourist here. Do us a favour James just change your career, finished the Friends star. Im sorry this battle has left you so blue, but unlike this crowd Ill be there for you, sang Corden in response. Not holding back, Schwimmer spouted: Im tall and lean, youre short and stout. They know me in Japan, they know you at In n Out. To finish the battle, Bridesmaids actress Rebel Wilson took to the stage, squaring up to the two men. Video of the Day Alright stop with this crapping, why the hell do you wanna hear two white men rapping? I come packing boobs, show these dudes what theyre lacking, she said boldly. David your career, its a huge mistake, its like Ross and Rachel, its on a break. "All jokes aside, I think youre great, Im your biggest fan when I was eight, she said before 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) Caoimhe Kelly (3), from Clondalkin, Dublin, with US Coast Guard cadet Chris Nadeau on the Cutter Eagle tall ship which is docked in Dublin. Photo: Mark Condren It was ships ahoy at Dublin's docklands when two massive American vessels dropped anchor to the delight of locals and visitors alike. American tourists Leonard Young (45) and his nephew Timothy Carbaugh (28), from Pennsylvania, were lured to Sir John Rogerson's Quay when they caught sight of a giant American flag flapping over the Liffey. At 90 metres long, the US Coast Guard's Cutter Eagle is the largest tall ship flying the American flag. Since 1946, the three-masted "square rigger" has been used as a training ship for coast guard cadets. The impressive vessel last visited these shores in 1996 before cruising into the capital at 1.30pm yesterday. Her 55-strong crew of cadets and coast guard officers are offering free public tours today from 10am to 2pm and from 10am to 7pm tomorrow through to Monday before sailing to London and back home to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut. Expand Close Leonard Young and Timothy Carbaugh. Photo: Mark Condren / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leonard Young and Timothy Carbaugh. Photo: Mark Condren "I love the ship. I feel really proud. We were feeling homesick and I saw the flag and it reminded us of home so we had to come see it," Mr Carbaugh said. Dubliner Philip Kelly (44) was delighted to stumble upon the ship while out for a stroll with his three year-old daughter Caoimhe who was hoping to encounter pirates on board. Meanwhile, Disney also brought its own form of magic to Dublin Port when its super cruise liner Disney Magic arrived on a maiden voyage from Florida with 2,700 passengers and 950 cast and crew on board. Dublin is the only Irish port of call in the 12-night transatlantic cruise that finishes in Dover. But the 300-metre long ship will be back on June 13. THE High Court has been asked to decide whether a builder revoked previous wills relating to part of his 3.4million estate - which includes the farm where the Derrynaflan Chalice was found. William (Billy) Courtney died in October 2013, age 84, leaving assets in Britain and Ireland which he had amassed after he emigrated in 1953 from Kerry to England where he enjoyed a successful career in the building industry. He married Patricia Courtney and he died without children but had a large number of nieces and nephews with whom he had a close relationship. Among his assets were 1.6m in the UK, the bulk of which was his family home at Narcissus Road, London. His Irish assets, worth around 1.8m, were made up mainly of property in Dublin, Kerry and Tipperary, including the Derrynaflan farm where the chalice was found in 1980. He made a will in a solicitor's office in England in 2006 which was limited to his UK assets, the bulk of which he left to his wife. He made another will in 2007 with his solicitors in Killarney, Co Kerry, dealing with his Irish assets, which were to be put into a trust for his wife and his sister Mary and on their deaths the trust would come into being for the benefit of certain nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand nephews. His Kerry solicitor Michael Larkin was the executor. Over the next four years, he made four amendments (codicils) to the Irish will relating to how the Irish assets were to be distributed. In 2013, while in hospital shortly before his death, he asked his wife to obtain a pre-printed "home-made" will, Vinog Faughnan SC, for the executor of the Irish will, told the court. In this, he again stated the bulk of his UK assets should go to his wife. However, counsel said, because this pre-printed will contained a standard revocation of all previous wills, the court was now being asked to decide if that was the actual intention of the deceased. Its effect would be that he would have died intestate with regard to the Irish property, counsel said. There was no dispute between the relatives that it was always his intention the Irish assets should go to his Irish relatives and the English ones to his wife. The court heard his widow agreed this was so. The court was now being asked to decide whether it was his actual intention to revoke the previous wills as the presumption in law is that this is so once such a clause is included, Mr Faughnan said. Declan Whittle BL, for nephew Michael Courtney, argued the court had to look at the surrounding circumstances to divulge the true intention of the testator. It would be risible or preposterous that he would, after four years of dealing with his Irish estate (through codicils), want that to go into intestacy, counsel said. Ross Gorman BL, for Mrs Courtney, said she had sworn an affidavit this month stating she was of the opinion her husband did not intend to revoke and that his Irish assets should effectively remain here in Ireland with his relatives. Ms Justice Marie Baker reserved her decision. Guilty: Michael Purcell was convicted of murder and burglary at the Old Bailey. Picture: Met Police An Irishman who stabbed his landlady to death in a botched burglary could die behind bars after being jailed for life for murder. Steelworker Michael Purcell (53) was jailed at the Old Bailey today for the murder of Imelda Molina at the flat they had shared for nearly five years in London. He is originally from Tipperary but has been living in the UK for some years. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder with a minimum of 23 years. He will also serve a concurrent sentence of 42 months for the burglary. The court heard that Purcell armed himself with a kitchen knife before breaking into a bedroom that she shared with her partner, Amalia Valdez, on October 29 last year, and drove the blade into her back. He then stabbed her repeatedly between the legs as she lay dead or dying, before fleeing with 1000 (1,314) in cash which had been stashed in the wardrobe. She suffered 48 knife wounds. Ms Valdez had been bringing home pizza for dinner when she discovered her partner's body, stripped naked from the waist down with stab wounds to the groin, legs, and torso. At the Old Bailey this morning, Judge Wendy Joseph QC sentenced Purcell to life in prison, and ordered that he spend at least 23 years behind bars. Bernard Richmond QC, defending, said Purcell, a heavy drinker for many years, "sees this as being essentially a drawn-out death sentence". He said Purcell told him repeatedly during the trial: "A very nice lady lost her life and it's right that I lose mine". Ms Valdez told the court Purcell, who owed 8,000 (10,515) to the taxman and had been behind on his rent. When officers came to arrest Purcell, he was lying on his blood-soaked bed at the flat in Ashford Court, having slashed his throat and wrists with a Stanley knife. He told paramedics: I killed the woman next door, I just want to die. I dont know what came over me because she was such a lovely lady. Purcell had also penned a confession in his notebook, titled: Dying declaration. Judge Joseph said: "The fact of her death is terrible. No less terrible will be the lasting effect on those who loved her and those who depended on her." She added that the stabs to the groin must have been related to her gender or her sexuality. It is impossible to interpret your decision to carry out this later attack as anything other than an attack made in reference to her sex or sexual orientation which you knew to be lesbian. Ms Molina's sister said she had come to the UK to work as a housekeeper to support her impoverished family back in the Philippines, and harboured dreams of setting up a children's charity. "When her visa was granted to come to the UK, Imelda was over the moon - she thought she was taking one step closer to get dreams, but instead they have all been shattered", she said. "What's left is suffering, trauma, stress, fear and heartbreak for the whole family." Purcell denied murder but was found guilty by a jury at the end of an 11-day trial. He was also convicted of burglary. One of the five teenage boys accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl during an impromptu house party over two years ago has been deemed to be suitable for the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme. To be deemed to be suitable for the programme, the 17-year-old must admit that he had sex with the young girl. Tallaght District Court previously heard that the then 15-year-old victim will allege that each of the five males pulled down her leggings and underwear and had sex with her individually. She alleged she was scared and could not "physically say no". The 17-year-old teenager was remanded on continuing bail to a date in July pending a High Court appeal on how he was originally dealt with by gardai. According to the Irish Youth Justice Service, the juvenile diversion programme, which is operated by the Garda Youth Diversion Office, provides that in certain circumstances a young person under 18 years of age who accepts responsibility for a criminal incident can be cautioned and supervised as an alternative to prosecution. A child may also agree, as part of a caution, a number of actions which he/she will do to address the hurt that they have caused. Five teenagers, all with addresses in Rathfarnham, have been charged with having sexual intercourse with a named female child under the age of 17 at an address in Rathfarnham on March 14, 2014. Three of the five teenagers, two 18-year-olds and one of the 17-year-olds, have already been sent forward for trial in the circuit court in December. A second 17-year-old teen is facing a district court trial in September. In relation to the third 17-year-old, defence solicitor Padraig O'Donovan said his client has been accepted for the juvenile diversion programme. Mr O'Donovan also said he had sought a judicial review on the way his client was originally dealt with by gardai. He said the review had been refused and it was being appealed. Mr O'Donovan said the appeal is due to be heard in the High Court shortly. He asked Judge Bridget Reilly to adjourn the case for four weeks, saying he expected all matters to be resolved by then. Judge Reilly agreed to the adjournment to a date in July. In relation to the allegations, the court heard previously it will be alleged the then 15-year-old victim left her home at 7pm and a bottle of vodka was purchased for her in a local supermarket. She drank the bottle and friends brought her home at 8.30pm as she was drunk. It will be alleged an impromptu party occurred at the house and five males had sex with her. It will be alleged that before she had sex with the fourth teen she heard a male outside her bedroom say "get in line". The victim alleges each of males had pulled down her leggings and underwear and had sex with her individually. She alleged she was scared and could not "physically say no", the court heard previously. The 17-year-old boy from Foxrock, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to his victim at Blackrock, Co Dublin, on January 25 last year. Stock photo: Getty A south Dublin schoolboy who fractured another teen's skull with a hammer over 50 worth of cannabis has been placed in custody while a judge considers his sentence. The 17-year-old boy from Foxrock, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to his victim at Blackrock, Co Dublin, on January 25 last year. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday that the boy, then 16, armed himself with his father's hammer and struck his victim, a fourth-year secondary school student, on the forehead, causing a fractured skull and internal bleeding. The pair had never met before. Prosecuting counsel Paul Carroll, BL, said the incident occurred after two groups of teenage boys arranged to meet at Blackrock in relation to a dispute over a 50 cannabis deal. The court heard the accused's friend had reneged on a deal to supply cannabis to the victim's friends ahead of a party. After a series of calls and texts between both groups of boys, it was arranged they would meet up in Blackrock. The boy told gardai he initially brought the hammer to the meeting "for protection", the court heard. When asked by gardai why he struck the victim with a hammer, the accused said: "I was stupid enough to think it was a good idea to hit him with it." The victim was rushed to hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain. The accused was arrested at his home by gardai after several boys identified him from the scene. Defence barrister Sandra Frayne, BL, said her client was extremely sorry and asked the judge not to impose a custodial sentence. The judge remanded the boy in custody until Monday. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has claimed: 'Young children can earn a fortune. They are told to bring a packet to a certain place and they will then get 200'. Photo: Arthur Carron Children as young as 13 are being paid 300 to courier packages of drugs around Dublin. Community representatives in the north inner city have told politicians that schoolchildren are being lured into becoming drug mules by big cash payments. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has claimed: "Young children can earn a fortune. They are told to bring a packet to a certain place and they will then get 200. "They are telling the other children that they are mugs not to be involved because it is lucrative and so on." Mr Martin was told of the practice during a meeting with a number of community leaders last week organised by Dublin councillor Mary Fitzpatrick. He said drug dealers were "ruling the roost in their local communities". "They are giving up to 200 or 300 to 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds to distribute tablets on the streets," Mr Martin said. Ms Fitzpatrick said her information was that dealers target "vulnerable" children and addicts to do their business. "Despite the fact this community is located right in the centre of the city, there is huge economic deprivation with a high dependency on social welfare and a high level of early school leaving. "In that environment 200 is an enormous amount of money, especially for a young person," Ms Fitzpatrick said. She said that many teenagers were growing up in houses shared with three generations of the one family and while they tried to do well at school, their domestic situation made it difficult. "For young people growing up in this area, their career options don't seem bright. It's easy money and hugely tempting, and for many of them irresistible." Ms Fitzpatrick also said the open dealing of prescription drugs was widespread. The heartbroken family of an Irish pilot who died in a plane crash in Hawaii have described him as "ambitious" and "full of life". Damien Horan (30), from Tullamore, Co Offaly, tragically lost his life when the single engine light aircraft he was flying crashed on Monday. His family last night paid tribute to a loving son and caring brother, telling the Irish Independent: "Although Damien's life ended so soon, he lived life to the fullest." It is understood Damien was flying a group of skydivers in Hawaii when difficulties arose shortly after take-off. Four of those on board were killed at the scene, while a fifth person later died in hospital. According to eyewitnesses in the area, the Cessna 182H plane had just lifted off the runway when the engine failed. His devastated parents Teresa and Dermot Horan, sisters Ciara and Briana, and future brother-in-law Bobby Winder last night paid tributes to the young pilot. The Horan family said Damien "cared so deeply" for his siblings and friends and was "very close" to his family. "From the young age of five, his dream was to become a pilot," his sister Ciara said on the behalf of the Horan family. "He never strayed from his dream. During Damien's Leaving Certificate year, his classmates were asked where they saw themselves in 10 years, to which his reply was 'to travel the world and be a pilot'." The Offaly man pursued his interest in aviation and graduated from the University of Limerick with a degree in aeronautical engineering. Within 10 years, Damien obtained both his private and commercial licences. He travelled extensively around the world - including the US, Asia, Dubai and Australia. His love of Australia kept him there for six years where he worked with a local farmer in Tammin, Western Australia. "Damien had a wonderful work ethic which was instilled by his father and he worked in the family business from an early age. Although Damien's life ended so soon, he lived life to the fullest." His parents said they "couldn't be prouder" of their son for "following his dreams, reaching his goals and for the loving young man that he became". The family added: "Damien was ambitious, determined and full of life". The family last night said the funeral arrangements are still being made. Lacrosse players Hollis Gaffney and Kendall McKoon, rising juniors at Girls Preparatory School, have been named as 2016 Brine National High School All-Americans and have been selected to represent the Tennessee at the 2016 Brine National Lacrosse Classic to be held in Richmond, Va., July 19-22. GPS In its ninth year, the Brine National Lacrosse Classic brings the top high school lacrosse players in the country to one venue, where regional teams compete to become the 2016 National Champion. The event offers exposure to the next level of the sport and an Olympic-style lacrosse experience. Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers intercepts a protester at a State ceremony marking the deaths of British soldiers during 1916. Photo: Tony Gavin Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers has previously tackled an armed terrorist - and yesterday he was the first to respond to a protester at a State ceremony in Dublin. Mr Vickers was previously hailed a hero when he took down a terrorist gunman in his native Canada. He was yesterday at the ceremony marking the deaths of British soldiers in 1916 at Grangegorman Military Cemetery. At the beginning of the ceremony, during the welcome by MC Commandant Stephen MacEoin, a man in his 40s stood up shouting that the event was "an insult", before he was approached by the Canadian Ambassador. The former Sergeant-at-Arms intercepted the protester and physically moved him away. The protester, who also spoke about justice for the 'Craigavon Two' jailed for the killing of a PSNI Constable, was arrested following the public order incident. He was being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at Blanchardstown Garda Station last night. Expand Close Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers intercepts a protester at a State ceremony marking the deaths of British soldiers during 1916. Photo: Tony Gavin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers intercepts a protester at a State ceremony marking the deaths of British soldiers during 1916. Photo: Tony Gavin Mr Vickers was hailed a hero after shooting gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau who had killed a soldier at the Canadian House of Commons in Ottawa in October 2014. A spokesman for the Ambassador said: "During a ceremony to remember British soldiers who died during the Easter Rising in 1916, Ambassador Kevin Vickers intercepted a protester who ran up to the podium. Moments later, security officers arrested the protester. Ambassador Vickers is safe and was not injured during the incident." A spokeswoman for the Defence Forces said they were there in a ceremonial capacity and it was the duty of An Garda Siochana to intercept the man. Also in attendance at Grangegorman were members of the Irish Defence Forces and British Armed Forces, and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charlie Flanagan, who was joined by British Ambassador Dominick Chilcott in laying wreaths. Mr Flanagan said the event was "a symbol of the reconciliation" between Ireland and Britain. Expand Close Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers intercepts a protester at a State ceremony marking the deaths of British soldiers during 1916. Photo: Tony Gavin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers intercepts a protester at a State ceremony marking the deaths of British soldiers during 1916. Photo: Tony Gavin An Irish officer has been appointed head of a major UN mission in Lebanon. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Major General Michael Beary as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Major General Beary will command approx 10,598 uniformed personnel from over 40 countries with a land, maritime and air component, including an Irish Infantry Group of 186 personnel, which will increase to 360 in November. Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM said: Brigadier General Bearys appointment is an endorsement of his impressive track record of command, both at home and overseas, and is also a reflection of the substantial contribution being made by the Defence Forces to United Nations Peace Support operations in the region. Ireland last held the position of Force Commander UNIFIL from February 1981 to May 1986 when Lieutenant General William Bull OCallaghan held the appointment. A total of 47 Irish Defence Forces personnel have lost their lives serving with UNIFIL since 1978, with over 32,000 individual tours of duty completed in that time. An Irish woman has made a miracle recovery after suffering a severe brain haemorrhage while pregnant with her first child. English language teacher Mairead O'Dea (32), from Co Clare, gave birth to baby Morgan last October while she was on life support in an Intensive Care Unit in Abu Dhabi. Doctors told her family that she had little hope of survival but incredibly she is now back in Ireland and on the long road to recovery while her baby Morgan is thriving. Speaking to Independent.ie, one family member said: It's unbelievable the whole story. She's extremely lucky, her doctors over there said it was a miracle that she survived. Expand Close Dave Hart and baby Morgan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dave Hart and baby Morgan Mairead moved to Abu Dhabi five years ago after earning her TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) cert. In the Arabic state she met Dave Hart, from New Zealand, and the pair fell in love. They got married in April 2014 and were expecting their first child last October 4, 2015 when Mairead was struck with a severe brain haemorrhage. Just seven days later, while she was on life-support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the hospital her waters broke and baby Morgan was born by cesarean section at just 27 weeks. A family member explained that both were well cared for at separate hospitals for over four months in Abu Dhabi. However it was decided that in order for Mairead to get the most suitable care and rehabilitation it was best for her to travel home. And so on January 14, 2016, the young mum arrived back to Ireland where she received excellent care at the stroke unit at University Hospital in Limerick. Last month Mairead, who is originally from Cratloe in South East Clare, was moved to the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Dun Laoghaire where she is undergoing an intensive rehabilitation program. Expand Close Mairead O'Dea / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mairead O'Dea A family member explained that her short term memory is very poor; her vision is badly impaired; and she is not walking yet. Her sister Siobhan OGorman told Independent.ie: Its been a long road. We have been told that she will need 24-hour care once she leaves hospital. We are so grateful to anyone who has helped so far with her medical treatment. We have been overwhelmed with the support." Baby son Morgan has been discharged from hospital in Abu Dhabi and is making great progress. He remains in the UAE city with his father and paternal grandmother. Mairead's friends and family said they felt helpless in the situation and have decided to climb Croagh Patrick on June 11 to raise funds for her post rehab care. The event has already garnered a great response online and 300 people have signed up for the trek, including some of the staff at University Hospital Limerick who helped with her care. At the moment the young mum is in the public system and the event has been organised to by pals to help with her post rehab care. It is hoped that everyone taking part will fundraise 100. You can donate here A protester is led away by gardai at the state event marking the deaths of British Soldiers in The Easter Rising at Grangegorman cemetery today. Photo: Tony Gavin Kevin Vickers Ambassador of Canada to Ireland tackles a protester this morning at Grangegorman Military Cemetery. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. Kevin Vickers Ambassador of Canada to Ireland tackles a protestor who attempted to disrupt proceedings during a State ceremony to remember the British soldiers who died during the Easter Rising, 1916 pictured this morning at Grangegorman Military Cemetery.Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. A protester is tackled by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin Vickars at the state event marking the deaths of British Soldiers in The Easter Rising at Grangegorman cemetery today. Photo: Tony Gavin A protester is tackled by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin Vickars at the state event marking the deaths of British Soldiers in The Easter Rising at Grangegorman cemetery today. Photo: Tony Gavin What does Canada think about Kevin Vickers, ambassador to Ireland, tackling a protester at a ceremony in Ireland? The Canadian ambassador, who made global headlines when he took down a terrorist gunman, has been hailed a hero by many at this side of the Atlantic after he tackled a protester at a 1916 ceremony in Dublin yesterday. Mr Vickers also previously took down a terrorist gunman in his native Canada. At the beginning of a ceremony marking the deaths of British soldiers in 1916 at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, during the welcome by MC Commandant Stephen MacEoin, a man in his 40s stood up shouting that the event was "an insult", before he was approached by the Canadian Ambassador. Expand Close A protester is tackled by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin Vickars at the state event marking the deaths of British Soldiers in The Easter Rising at Grangegorman cemetery today. Photo: Tony Gavin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A protester is tackled by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin Vickars at the state event marking the deaths of British Soldiers in The Easter Rising at Grangegorman cemetery today. Photo: Tony Gavin The former Sergeant-at-Arms intercepted the protester and physically moved him away. The moment made the headlines both here in Ireland and in Mr Vickers' native Canada. And on social media, everyone from Canadian MPs, journalists and former politicians took to Twitter to give their view. Some applauded Mr Vickers' actions, while others saw his tackle as wholly inappropriate... Who needs superheroes when you've got Kevin Vickers? https://t.co/t4sYopCuUA Jason Kenney (@jkenney) May 26, 2016 Listen world, don't mess with Kevin Vickers. https://t.co/QZYNriYg3T Michelle Rempel, MP (@MichelleRempel) May 26, 2016 Kickin' ass and taking names! Don't mess with Vickers nuff said. https://t.co/DWAuwL7ygF Min Dhariwal (@MinDhariwal) May 26, 2016 Is there any possible defence of Vickers behaviour here? Did someone forget to explain to him what sort of creature an ambassador is? Colby Cosh (@colbycosh) May 26, 2016 I wonder how those celebrating Kevin Vickers' actions in Dublin would feel about China's ambassador assaulting Tibetan protesters in Ottawa. Michael Karanicolas (@M_Karanicolas) May 26, 2016 Canadian Ambassador completely out of order, He has no right to attack an Irish citizen, if a crime was committed1/2 https://t.co/mXICBfCAjq Sean O' Shea (@SeaniieOShea) May 26, 2016 Kevin Vickers is a Canadian hero, but he was totally in the wrong to interfere with a peaceful Irish protester on Irish soil. Peter Scowen (@scowen13) May 26, 2016 Mr Vickers was hailed a hero after shooting gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau who had killed a soldier at the Canadian House of Commons in Ottawa in October 2014. After the incident, he received a standing ovation in parliament. The former Sergeant-in-Arms was later appointed Canadian Ambassador to Ireland. Expand Close A protester is tackled by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin Vickars at the state event marking the deaths of British Soldiers in The Easter Rising at Grangegorman cemetery today. Photo: Tony Gavin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A protester is tackled by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin Vickars at the state event marking the deaths of British Soldiers in The Easter Rising at Grangegorman cemetery today. Photo: Tony Gavin Read More An eye-witness described how Mr Vickers was the first to react when the event was interrupted. "It was just before the wreath party was coming in. The colour party were carrying a Union Jack. "This man just ran forward and started screaming 'It's a disgrace'. He was tackled by somebody and it was only after that I realised it was the Canadian ambassador. "The whole thing lasted about a minute. The Canadian ambassador grabbed him. there was a struggle and gardai wrestled him to the ground. Expand Close Kevin Vickers Ambassador of Canada to Ireland tackles a protestor who attempted to disrupt proceedings during a State ceremony to remember the British soldiers who died during the Easter Rising, 1916 pictured this morning at Grangegorman Military Cemetery.Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kevin Vickers Ambassador of Canada to Ireland tackles a protestor who attempted to disrupt proceedings during a State ceremony to remember the British soldiers who died during the Easter Rising, 1916 pictured this morning at Grangegorman Military Cemetery.Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. "Without hesitation he [Mr Vickers] jumped out from the middle of dignitaries" A garda spokesman said: "A man in his 40s has been arrested in relation to a public order incident at a ceremony in Grangegorman just after mid-day. "He has been arrested under section four of the criminal justice act." Expand Close Kevin Vickers Ambassador of Canada to Ireland tackles a protester this morning at Grangegorman Military Cemetery. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kevin Vickers Ambassador of Canada to Ireland tackles a protester this morning at Grangegorman Military Cemetery. Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin. One attendee said the incident did not interrupt the remainder of the ceremony. Attendees included Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan TD, Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts & the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD, Minister of State for Defence Paul Kehoe TD, and British Ambassador Dominick Chilcott. Speaking at the event Minister Flanagan said the commemoration was "symbolic of the reconciliation" between Ireland and Britain. The ceremony included readings of accounts of the Rising, music and prayers. There was a solemn wreath-laying ceremony followed by a minute of silent reflection and a piper's lament, and the raising of the National Flag to full mast. A spokeswoman for the Canadian ambassador said: "We are not commenting on this incident." The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has said he believes there should be a united Ireland and he would like to work to bring it about. Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh described himself as a nationalist but repudiated the use of violence as a means of achieving a united Ireland. "I do believe that Ireland should be one. And I would like to continue to work for that by peaceful means and by persuasion, recognising that there are many people on this island who do not want that. At no point whatsoever would I have believed in the use of violence in order to achieve that." In a wide-ranging interview in 'Hot Press', the archbishop recalled growing up in Derry during the Troubles. He said he was constantly searched on his way to school or the shops and that as a 12-year-old he came face to face with horrors, such as the aftermath of a bomb. On Brexit, the 54-year-old prelate said he saw a united Europe as something positive. He believed this vision of a united Europe had meant that the Border between Northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland had become less and less important. "I would like to see that trend continuing," he said. The archbishop explained that his own diocese of Armagh straddles the Border, with 60pc of its parishioners in Northern Ireland and 40pc in the Republic, "but we see ourselves as one". Warning that peace can't be taken for granted, the leader of the Catholic Church said there were "people who want to drag us back, who feel that you can still bomb people into a united Ireland. There are still people in our communities who think that the peace was a lie and that it was too early to make peace. "I don't agree. I think it was too late. I think far too many people lost their lives and far too many people were maimed and injured for life - and that's only talking about the physical injuries, not to mention the psychological injuries." On clerical celibacy, the archbishop admitted that he had dated a number of girlfriends before joining the seminary and thought that he was in love a few times. Even since becoming a priest, he has "met many women to whom I'm fairly sure I would be attracted and in another life might have considered, 'Would I like to be married to this person? Have children with this person?'" But, he said, he had made a commitment that he had to try to be faithful to. On gay marriage, he said that being "a homosexual person is not a sin" but the church believed that the right place for sexual relations is within marriage, between a man and a woman. Archbishop Martin hit out at the push for a repeal of the Eighth Amendment, which he described as a "powerful expression of the equality of the right to life of all people" including the most vulnerable. A new poll shows that 44pc of respondents want the UK to remain in the EU, while only 20pc believe that it should leave. Photo: PA Northern Ireland voters are around two to one in favour of remaining in the EU, a new poll reveals. As the campaign enters its final phase, with just under four weeks to go until polling day on June 23, the Brexit camp is pulling out all the stops to gets its message across. The poll shows that 44pc of respondents want the UK to remain in the EU, while only 20pc believe that it should leave. But more than a third of voters are still undecided, meaning the 'Leave' campaigners still have something to play for. Two-thirds of people in Northern Ireland are set to vote in next month's EU referendum - a significant increase in turnout on recent elections. In an exclusive poll for our sister newspaper the 'Belfast Telegraph', 65pc of the electorate say they will take part in the vote. Political parties are divided on the issue, with the Democratic Unionist Party campaigning for a Brexit and their partners in the Executive Sinn Fein pushing for a 'Remain' vote. Almost half of those questioned said that politicians had no influence on their voting intentions. Immigration Nearly a fifth of people are listening to DUP leader Arlene Foster's views on Europe, 14pc are influenced by Martin McGuinness, while the same number say that prime minister David Cameron's arguments are the most persuasive. The survey of more than a thousand people, carried out by Ipsos Mori, reveals that the opportunity to cut Brussels red tape and scrap regulations is the main reason influencing those who favour Britain leaving the European Union. More than a third of respondents say a Brexit will lead to less bureaucracy and fewer "overbearing regulations". Over a quarter (28pc) say a decision to leave the EU will result in fewer open borders and less immigration. The strongest response on this matter came from Co Down, where 53pc of pro-Leave voters say it is most important. It matters least to those in Co Armagh and Belfast city. Students from a prestigious secondary school ran amok, damaging property and allegedly running through traffic with a first-year pupil in a go-kart. The 230-year-old St Kieran's College in Kilkenny City has turned out dozens of All-Ireland senior and minor Kilkenny hurlers. But a parents' organisation has called conduct by Leaving Cert students on their final day of school, which resulted in a pupil being injured, as "unacceptable". The majority of 120 Leaving Cert students behaved themselves as they dressed in superhero outfits for their last day at the school, which is a long-running annual tradition. But some went to nearby Colaiste Pobail Osrai, where several attempted to gain access to the school building. The students were stopped as they were making their way into the school hallway, but their antics outside the building, with water guns and banging on windows, resulted in a window breaking and shattered glass landing on one of the first year Colaiste students. It is understood that the boy who was sitting under the window was grazed as glass pieces landed on his head and clothing. The students and teacher in the room were said to be shocked. The Kieran's College students apologised straight away to the school principal, Cathnia O Muircheartaigh, and later informed St Kieran's vice-principal, Ken Maher, of the incident. Paul Mooney, president of the National Parents Council Post-Primary, said: "I can understand the high spirits of Leaving Cert students as it's the end of their school days and they are excited. "But there is no excuse for what happened in Kilkenny. The students got totally out of hand and it's not acceptable. "It's very risky behaviour and someone could have been seriously hurt. It's up to both school principals to deal with the issue. "I know the sixth-year students feel as if they are adults, but they seem to have exercised short-term thinking. "Sixth-year students nationwide celebrating their last day in school before the exams need to conduct themselves properly." A Kilkenny garda spokesperson warned that all Leaving Cert students should be aware of their conduct. They added: "This type of conduct will not be tolerated as it so easily gets out of hand and can go terribly wrong. "We would appeal to all students to celebrate in an appropriate manner." Schools in Northern Ireland have again been subjected to a series of malicious communications. Police said there is nothing to suggest the incidents are terror related. Thismorning a number of schools were evacuated. It is unclear how many have been affected, however of those we know of, they include: Ulster Unionist North Down MLA Alan Chambers said children at Kilmaine in Co Down were told to leave lunch boxes and coats behind in an "urgent evacuation". "Whatever or whoever is behind this needs to stop," he said. Omagh town councillor Chris Smyth described the alert at Campsie as "shameful". "Hoped this generation would be free from fear of bomb and bullet." There have been reports of numerous schools across the UK and Ireland affected. The alerts come after seven schools across Northern Ireland were evacuated over a series of malicious communications earlier this week. Today, Chief Superintendent Garry Eaton said: PSNI are investigating a further series of malicious communications to schools across Northern Ireland today. At this stage there is no information to suggest the incidents are terrorist-related, however enquiries continue to establish the facts. We continue to investigate who is responsible and whether these incidents are linked to similar calls made to seven schools earlier this week. "Anyone with information should contact police on the non-emergency number 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. At least 21 schools across UK are said to have received anonymous phone calls warning of a bomb earlier this week. ShapeShifter Gallery is a contemporary moving gallery, highlighting forward thinking artists, helping to evolve Chattanoogas art scene. This gallery features one night gallery shows taking place in variant spaces throughout Chattanooga. ShapeShifter gallery is dedicated to providing a new and affordable take on art collecting in our fine city. The debut show will take place on Friday, June 3, at Rev Center for Optimal Living, at 417 Frazier Avenue. The show and reception will last from 6-10 p.m.. All artists will be present. Working on wood to metal to paper, all of the artists explore mixed media in a joyful and unexpected manner. Four local artists will be featured including Claire Bloomfield, Sue Fox, Andrew Nigh, and Rylan Thompson. Claire Bloomfield creates surreal, mystical worlds combining natural flora with the not so natural in scanned images and photography. Sue Fox assembles small microcosms of wonder with hydra inhabitants through paper cutting, marbled paper, and just about every other art medium. Andrew Nigh plays with push and pull of layers through brilliantly sanded hues on woodgrain. Rylan Thompson draws spacemen spitting rainbows, worm roller coasters, cat pilots, and other delights. Would you get into a cab with an unlicensed taxi driver and a number of other passengers for a significantly reduced fare? That's the question Uber heads will be asking the people of Ireland if they get the go-ahead to launch a pilot rideshare scheme here. A limited version of the Uber service is already available here - but only through licensed taxi drivers. The rideshare service is currently illegal in Ireland as all drivers are required to have a PSV-licence. However, a lobbying committee is in the process of trying to persuade the Government to allow them to trial a peer-to-peer ride sharing service in Limerick. Potential Uber drivers would need little more than a decent car and a Smartphone. A rideshare service would significantly change the landscape of the Irish taxi industry: more cars, cheaper fares, less congestion... and a lot of disgruntled taxi drivers. The National Transport Authority and the Department of Transport have filed submissions to Transport Minister Shane Ross regarding the possible change of rules. Hailo, Uber's main rival in Ireland, has also filed a submission. Tim Arnold, general manager of Hailo Ireland, says they commissioned iReach research earlier this year and found that four out of five passengers feel safest in a licensed taxi - and a large majority of people would be against paying a stranger for a lift through ridesharing. "The survey found very low levels of public support for ridesharing - a practice illegal in Ireland but operating in some parts of the US and Europe, which allows motorists to offer lifts to the public for payment," he adds. It's not surprising that the view is most prevalent among women, with 88pc saying ridesharing is unacceptable. The issue is safety. Uber insist that they perform stringent background checks on potential drivers, but a number of cases in the US tell a different story. Last year, Uber said they would improve their vetting procedures when an unregistered driver who had previously been convicted of assault was granted approval to drive for the company by mistake. He was later arrested in Dallas on suspicion of sexually assaulting a female passenger. More recently, prosecutors in California alleged that Uber had failed to perform thorough background checks on 25 drivers with criminal records, including a convicted murderer, registered sex offenders and burglars. Social Democrats Councillor Gary Gannon fears that Uber's vetting procedures will be similarly lacking if ridesharing is rolled out in Ireland. "The safety of any person entering a service vehicle must be of paramount importance," he says. "As it stands, taxi operators go through quite a stringent Garda vetting process and I don't believe that the same standards would apply if Uber were to bring in a ridesharing app." The issue of the changing face of the taxi landscape is of particular concern to women travelling alone, who may be concerned about getting into a taxi hailed on the street. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the popularity of Hailo - a taxi app which features driver reviews and a GPS map showing where your car is - has much to do with women feeeling more confident about the identity of their driver and that there whereabouts are being tracked, making them feel safer, although Hailo say they believe that their customer base is actually 50pc male and 50pc female. Nonetheless, security is a big concern for women. Lorna Farrelly, from West Cork, is co-owner of The Brow Artist. She would be slow to use a rideshare service. "I don't think a woman should compromise on personal safety," she says. "Getting into a car with an unlicensed driver and strangers is definitely not worth the risk just to have a less expensive service." Farrelly uses Hailo, which she considers to be safer. "I actually wouldn't use anything other than this service now. The idea that I have all the details of my driver and that they also have mine means I don't worry about forgetting anything in the car or getting into a dangerous situation." Still, her experiences with Hailo have not been without incident. "A number of years ago, when Hailo was first launched in Dublin, I had a few unpleasant experiences with drivers using my phone number and contacting me personally," she recalls. "Luckily, because all information of every trip is recorded, I was able to file a complaint easily." Blogger Rachel Martin of 'The Insider Daily' is another Hailo customer. She uses the service at least two or three times a week but would never use the Uber rideshare service. "I wouldn't get into a car with an unregistered taxi driver - not in a million years," she says. "I use Hailo - I just think it's a lot safer." Uber has moved into 450 cities in 70 countries since its launch in 2010, yet their plans for market domination in Ireland have so far eluded them. Meanwhile, Hailo's dominant market share in Ireland is largely due to their 18-month head start over their nearest rival. There is also a lingering misconception that Uber drivers are unregistered - possibly because the firm also accepts private hire vehicle (or limousine) drivers. Unsurprisingly, Irish women living abroad are more likely to use Uber - and more receptive to the idea of ridesharing. Claire Sayers, a special needs coordinator from west Kerry living in London, is an Uber customer. She says the rideshare option is particularly popular with Londoners who are travelling to and from the airport. Sayers has yet to use the rideshare service, but she wouldn't be averse to it if she had someone she knew in the car with her. Maryann Cussen, a teacher from Dublin now living in Philadelphia, is also an Uber customer. She says she would use the rideshare option if the "service was reliable and the rates were reasonable". "My biggest worry would be travelling alone and background checks." My personal experience of using the Uber rideshare service while in the US was never anything less than excellent. It's 40pc cheaper; the drivers often give out bottled water and sweets to secure a five-star rating, and ridesharers have the car to themselves - at a discounted rate - if it transpires that there are no other passengers going in their direction. Like many of the women interviewed, I generally took the rideshare option when in the company of a friend. I also used it once or twice on my own when I needed to travel long distances. Any security concerns were allayed when I reminded myself that Gerry Hutch was granted a taxi licence in my home country. Uber says ridesharing can "lighten the burden of car ownership". It certainly allowed me to get around without the inconvenience of hiring a rental car while in the States. There is a lot to love about ridesharing. It saves money, reduces your carbon footprint and encourages you to connect with people that you would otherwise never meet in a world that is becoming increasingly socially isolated. Communications specialist Edel O'Connell from Cork agrees. "I often share cabs in London and would happily use it if it came here. Because I live a bit outside the city, cab rides add 40 to every night out. I would love to be able to reduce that." Copywriter Laura Walsh from Dublin would also like the service to come to Ireland. "I'd be 100pc open to using it if it came here. I think it's a fantastic idea - cheaper fares and helping someone earn a few bob. Everyone wins." Well, everyone except registered taxi drivers. There are already more than 16,500 taxis registered in Ireland and many experts say Ireland simply doesn't have the population or market liquidity to absorb a fleet of considerably cheaper taxis. They also point out the service's reputation in other European countries. Regulatory roadblocks and taxi industry pressure groups instigated the banning of Uber's rideshare service in a number of countries including France, Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as many local municipalities in the US. Uber eventually suspended the ridesharing service in France after demonstrations by drivers became violent and two European Uber managers were held by police and questioned. "The company's attitude seems to be 'It's easier to seek forgiveness than to ask for permission'," says Gary Gannon. "We must not allow Ireland to be another playground for Uber's guerrilla tactics." Nonetheless, the 'sharing economy', as it is known, is slowly but surely disrupting the old guard. Betfair irrevocably changed the betting industry; Airbnb shook up the hotel industry. Elsewhere, a number of emerging rideshare competitors are making female passengers their main priority. Chariot for Women - a taxi service with exclusively female drivers and passengers - was recently launched by a former Uber driver in the US. Meanwhile, Uber is working hard to implement better security procedures. TripTracker is a new safety feature that offers "peace of mind" by giving Uber customers the option to share a real-time map that shows their route and arrival time to their loved ones. "Whether you're riding in the back seat or driving upfront, every part of the Uber experience has been designed around your safety and security," says Kieran Harte, general manager, Uber Ireland. Uber may not get the go-ahead to launch their pilot service in Limerick today or tomorrow - but it looks like they are preparing for a long journey ahead. When Michael and Heather Rice imagined their dream home for a site at Deerpark outside Mountrath in Co Laois, they threw away all the rule books except one - Mother Nature's. The Rices dreamed up a five storey over basement home with nine bedrooms (egg- shaped rooms for the children), an all-seeing viewing tower with an office at the top, a vast undulating waved roofline, veneered domes and cathedral-like ceilings that suggest the inside of a giant nautilus shell. The house stands at 10,000 sq ft with enough room to house the floor space of almost 10 standard city homes inside it. Michael Rice is both an architect and an instructor in sacred geometry, who travels the world designing buildings that follow its principles - largely community and holistic centres. Sacred geometry practitioners hold that nature itself is the best designer - with millions of years of evolution on its side. Nature makes its forms using curves rather than the squares, right angles and linear forms so favoured by modern architects. Central to the philosophy of sacred geometry and that of natural creation is the mathematical ratio of 1:1.618 or 'phi'. Michael demonstrates using his arm: "Extend your arm and hand out in front of you and take a good look at it. The ratio of the size of your knuckle to the length of your finger, and the ratio of the length of your hand to that of your arm is the exact same. It's a ratio of 1 to 1.618." The so-called "golden ratio" applies to the make up of petals on flowers, the wings on birds, the spirals of sea shells and the swirls of hurricanes. Ancient builders knew all about it and medieval churches, mosques, tabernacles and Egyptian temples were also built based on this proportional ratio. So when Michael and his wife Heather bought an 11 acre site at Deerpark near Mountrath, it was clear from the off that a 'regular' home was not for them. The resulting property which emerged circa 2010, after five years of construction, has hints of the Moorish and Gothic about it. However, the couple separated amicably some time ago and Michael has gone on to teach in Europe while Heather, a photographer, wants to trade down in Ireland. The property has been put on the market for 700,000 - around 500,000 less than the 1.2m Heather estimates was put into it. "While this house may seem very unusual, remember it was designed as a family home and workplace for life and also as an international architectural school which would be housing guests," says Heather. "So the ideal buyer for it will be someone who wants a home and space for guests." The house is built of standard timber frame based components which are in widespread use in countries like Canada. While construction ceased some years ago, some aspects of the property remain to be finished. Completion includes finish items which could cost as little as 30,000 or as much as 100,000 depending on the specification. The property needs a kitchen and a main bathroom, ramp steps are required to lead up to a first floor office, the geo thermal heating system needs a heat exchange unit to make it operational and, while the house is wired for solar heating, the roof panels have yet to be installed. There are two operational heat recovery systems installed and the owners estimate that completion would bring the well-insulated home's BER to a high B1 rating. Accommodation includes a large basement currently unused, a "shamanic" space reception area, a dining area, a living area, an entrance hall, studios, a library, a main reception room, an office, guest rooms, kitchen, pantry, a "green room" and nine bedrooms, many of which are en-suite. The house is five miles from Mountrath and roughly an hour's drive from Dublin. "We called it Dreamfield because it was a field for our dream when we found it. Now it's waiting to be someone else's dream," says Heather. Dreamfield Deerpark, Mountrath, Co Laois Asking price: 700,000 Agent: DNG Kelly, (057)8623880 My grandfather said he met Paul Henry sketching by a Connemara lake. He greeted the artist, who he knew slightly, and asked him how he was doing. "Oh, slapping in the gable ends," Paul Henry cheerily replied. His landscape paintings were, and are, best known for the whitewashed cottages and dark turf stacks that punctuate their foregrounds. Evidence suggests that Henry (1876-1958) wasn't above poking fun at his own work. "A few years ago we handled a little ceramic thatched cottage - a fairground prize - signed by Paul Henry," says James O'Halloran of Adam's. "It was thought that he used it as an aide memoire for putting his cottages in the landscape." Not all Henry's paintings feature cottages, but those that do show more or less the same cottage, albeit from different angles. Henry, who was born in Belfast as the son of a Baptist minister, is now considered one of Ireland's blue chip artists, but until his reputation was established in the 1980s, the art world tended to look down its nose at him. "Part of the problem was that Henry was a bit of an advertising man," says O'Halloran. "He fancied the whole marketing thing." With no family money behind him, Henry accepted commissions for tourist posters based on watercolour paintings, most famously from the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, who ran the Irish Sea passenger ferry from the 1920s to 1940s. These posters are now highly collectible but, since they were made to attract British tourists, aren't often seen in Ireland. Between 2009 and 2011 four copies of Come To Ulster For A Better Holiday, a colour lithograph poster designed by Henry, sold at Whyte's for prices ranging from 800 and 1,250. "The posters just glow with this inner light," says Stuart Purcell of Whyte's. "They're fabulous things. Paul Henry taught us how to look at the Irish landscape and then he used the posters to teach the British too." Henry's oil paintings were also widely reproduced as prints which, according to Adelle Hughes of Whyte's, became the wedding present of choice in the 1950s and 60s. But the quality of reproduction at the time was not good and the prints tended to muddy with age. Over time, people became a bit sick of them and Henry, who was only trying to earn his living, developed a reputation for ubiquity. If you think you have an undiscovered Paul Henry in the attic, it is most probably a print. Auctioneers see a lot of these, brought in by vendors who hope they have an original. Most of the time, the owners are disappointed. A Paul Henry print in good condition might be worth a couple of hundred euros. On the flip side, if you're in the market for a Paul Henry but don't have a five figure sum to invest, a signed print could be an affordable option. Just keep it away from sunlight. Henry is still very famous, to the extent that I've seen real life Connemara landscapes that remind me of his paintings, but he's often accused of sameness, possibly by those that fail to see beyond the cottage in the foreground. This March, A Connemara Village, painted by Henry in the mid 1930s, sold at Adam's for 119,000. Yes, there are gable ends and turf stacks, but half the painting is taken up by a rolling sky that is just beginning to think about rain. There is a sense of movement in the clouds above and stillness in the lake below, while the distant mountain fades back into shades of paler blue. It's that ability to capture a moment in the changing landscape that sets Henry's work apart. "It's traditional, representational work and it just takes my breath away," says O'Halloran. "I've seen too many artists trying to copy him and none of them get it right. He captures the atmosphere of the West of Ireland in an undiluted way. That's why he's continued to be a major force." There is a Paul Henry painting in Adam's forthcoming sale of Important Irish Art on June 1, but it's a cityscape entitled Grand Canal Dock, Ringsend, Dublin (1928). Although it's got a murky industrial charm, the painting will be mainly of interest to serious Henry collectors who appreciate the visible influence of his former teacher, James McNeill Whistler. The painting has an estimate of 20,000 to 30,000. The two Paul Henry landscapes coming up for sale in Whyte's auction of Important Irish Art on Monday are of a more familiar type. West of Ireland Road Through The Bog (c.1932-1935) shows a mountain road, possibly in Kerry, with turf stacks in the foreground and a blue mountain against an active sky. It is estimated between 50,000 and 70,000. The painting dates from a period of stability in Henry's life. He had lived in Paris at the turn of the century, where he married the artist Grace Henry. The couple moved to Achill in 1910 and it is generally understood that this put a strain on the marriage. That said, many wonderful paintings date from this period including The Potato Diggers (1910-11) which sold at Adam's for 400,000 in 2013. The second Paul Henry painting coming up at Whyte's, Connemara Landscape (est 80,000 to 120,000), shows all his classic components: gable end, turf stack, mountains, lake and sky. It is, of course, far more than the sum of its parts. See whytes.ie and adams.ie. In the salerooms ADAMS OF BLACKROCK An auction of Furniture, Works of Art & Paintings will take place at Adams of Blackrock on May 31 at 11am. The sale will include items from 50 vendors including Mrs Eva Tenbach (deceased) of Derrynid Cove, Tuosist, Kenmare. Expect an eclectic selection of 19th century furniture including a partners desk from a solicitors practice. The desk (est 1,000 to 1,500) is made of mahogany and measures 1.6 metres in length. The auction also includes a four-door breakfront bookcase (1,000 to 1,500); three Victorian gilt overmantles (800 to 1,200 each); an Irish Waterford mirror (800 to 1,200); three Waterford nine-arm chandeliers (1,700 to 2,200) and a pair of rosewood card tables (1,400 to 1,700). Modern furniture on show ranges from a circular table designed by Warren Platner, sofas by the Irish company Orior, and a Mason & Hamlin baby grand piano. There will also be a number of pieces of Irish silver including a punch bowl, tea pots, a tray by Alwright & Marshall, and paintings by Thomas Ryan, Sean McSweeney, Brian Bourke, Patrick Pye, Markey Robinson and Peter Curling. See adamsblackrock.com for full details. WHYTES In 1775, one William Presley of Stradnakelly, Co Wicklow, suffered a serious assault. His statement, recorded in court, recounts that a number of assailants violently insulted, assaulted, beat and abused deponent with whips and fists battered and abused him. Some swearing they would have his life. Unsurprisingly, Presley left Wicklow shortly after and moved to America with his son Andrew. They settled in New Orleans. One hundred and sixty years later, Williams descendant Elvis Presley was born. Anything Elvis-related is a honey pot for collectors, including the transcript of his ancestors court examination. This document sold at Whytes Eclectic Collector auction on May 14 for 2,300. The top lot in the sale was a Currency Commission consolidated banknote (known as a Ploughman, pictured below) from the Provincial Bank of Ireland. It was dated 1939 and had an original value of 10 pounds. It sold for 10,500. The second highest price in the sale went to a rare Irish stamp: an ordinary looking 2d map stamp with no perforations on the vertical sides. It was issued in 1934-5 for use in coil machines, a vending machine that dispensed stamps from a roll. The stamp sold for 10,000. For full results, see whytes.ie. ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE FAIRS A two-day antiques fair hosted by Ava Fairs will take place in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle, Co Down, on Sunday and Monday. Expect more than 30 dealers offering a variety of items. Doors open from 11am-6pm each day and admission is 2 (the ticket is valid for both days). At the other side of the country, the build-up for the National Antiques, Art & Vintage Fair, Limerick, is underway. With more than 100 purveyors of antiques, fine art and vintage items, this is Irelands largest fair and will take place in the South Court Hotel on June 18 and 19 from 11am-6pm. The event is organised by Hibernian Antique Fairs who have also announced the inaugural Dublin National Antiques Art & Vintage Fair, which will run in the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, on October 15 and 16. See hibernianantiquefairs.com. Taoiseach Enda Kenny may have thought selecting the ranks of junior ministers was tough, but it's nothing compared to the job he has picking just 11 Seanad nominees. Last week, he increased the number of ministers of State to 18 - jobs that were doled out among a pool of around 40 Fine Gael and Independent TDs who all felt they might get the nod. This week, he has fewer goodies to go around and even more people who want them - including many TDs who lost their jobs in the election. As Mr Kenny himself told a recent Fine Gael meeting, he's had around 70 expressions of interest. That's going to leave a lot of people in his own party disappointed. And that's before you consider that Independents may well feel like they should get a call, given the minority Government is reliant on the Independent Alliance and others to survive. Fine Gael deputy leader Dr James Reilly has already indicated he would accept a nomination, as has former Mayo TD Michelle Mulherin (inset). Other former deputies such as Longford-Westmeath's James Bannon, Cork North West's Aine Collins and Meath West's Ray Butler may also get the call. But there's no deal in place for Independents to be appointed to the Seanad according to a Government spokesman. That doesn't mean that there isn't a view in the Independent Alliance that it should happen. Councillor Paul Gogarty contested the General Election in Dublin Mid-West under the Alliance banner but didn't win a seat. He isn't seeking a Seanad nomination, but said of Government negotiations: "If the larger grouping, ie Fine Gael, are getting seats, then obviously the Independent Alliance should get one or two as well." He said he also believes Mr Kenny should select people who aren't involved in politics who have expertise in other areas, like helping the disadvantaged or business. Deirdre O'Donovan, another Independent Alliance councillor who also ran unsuccessfully, said she was "disappointed" that there was unlikely to be senators appointed from the group. She said she would be "surprised" to get a call from the Taoiseach but "it is something I would absolutely consider". However, she said politics may ultimately sway Mr Kenny's decision-making. "His back is up against the wall. He needs all the support he can get." She said it was an example of how "they talk new politics but they don't deliver it". Cold, hard political realities may well play a large role in Mr Kenny's decision. Fine Gael holds just 13 of the Seanad's 60 seats. Even if the Taoiseach assigned all 11 seats at his disposal to his party colleagues, he'll still be seven seats short of a Seanad majority. Fine Gael would be the largest party - overtaking Fianna Fail's 14 seats - but no matter how many party colleagues he appoints, they will have to work with others to get the Government's legislation through. In 2011, most of those Mr Kenny appointed to the Seanad were independent people such as Katherine Zappone and Martin McAleese. But that was at a time that the government was much closer to a Seanad majority. The arithmetic this time around, as well as party pressures, will mean that most of the 11 will likely be of the Fine Gael variety. A refugee woman with a child sits in a bus after a police operation to evacuate a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece, yesterday. Photo: Reuters/Marko Djurica It annoys me when I hear mutterings of discontent about President Higgins wandering into the political space. Whoever suggested or anticipated that Michael D Higgins, veteran left-wing intellectual and politician, was going to retreat into anodyne retirement in the Aras? Those who voted for him in all our diversity knew exactly what we were getting and more importantly what we wanted in a President. So rather than being irked at his "incursion" into political matters, I rejoice when he speaks out, as he did this week at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. The President's most recent remarks calling on world leaders for a more coherent response and, in effect, a total rethink of the ethical response to humanitarian need in the world is for me absolutely correct. Ireland's record on refugee protection has been poor from the very beginning, when significant numbers of refugees started to arrive in the late 1990s. Unprepared for the "influx", the official response was haphazard and chaotic, with long queues of asylum seekers standing in the cold and rain trying just to register their claim. The numbers were not huge, but coming from a non-existent base, they appeared so. The asylum process, rarely used up to then, was slow and cumbersome. Applicants had great difficulty navigating it, accessing legal advice and help with accommodation and other benefits to which they were entitled. As a minister in the Department of Foreign Affairs with a human rights remit, I found myself at times on a collision course with the Department of Justice, preoccupied with border control. Anything beyond a minimalist response was viewed as constituting a "pull factor". Previously, responsibility for refugees fell under Foreign Affairs via the Irish Refugee Agency, which managed refugee programmes, such as the Vietnamese boat people and the Kosovar refugees from Bosnia in the late 1990s. The latter programme was during my time, and thanks to excellent community engagement regionally and a well-managed and intentioned policy approach by the government, the programme was without controversy. When the Bosnian war ended, about half the refugees were repatriated with some financial assistance and the rest stayed here and became Irish citizens. But as we entered the noughties, and the numbers and diversity of asylum refugees and economic migrants increased, the Department of Justice reclaimed control by establishing the Refugee and Reception Agency. Hearts and minds were hardening against refugees and asylum seekers. Cost was a factor frequently cited, raising tensions in the community about resources and the old argument about "looking after our own". In fairness, there were abuses in the system, particularly in relation to the late arrival of pregnant women purely to achieve entitlement to citizenship and related benefits. And reasonable changes were introduced to curb this abuse, primarily in order to relieve pressure on our already stretched maternity services but also to tighten up an overly lax constitutional entitlement to Irish citizenship. As time passed, inefficiencies in the asylum process ensured that backlogs developed at all stages, with hundreds of asylum seekers stuck in a dysfunctional system, propagating judicial reviews and protracted appeals. Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of our asylum process was that applicants were prohibited from working until such time as their status was determined. And because of the slow pace of proceedings, thousands of people were denied the dignity of work and the economic independence and integration which goes with it. Direct provision was introduced in 2000, which required asylum seekers to live in reception centres providing bed and board with a tiny allowance as pocket money. While controversial, it was excused as a temporary solution for asylum seekers competing for housing in the private sector. Sixteen years later, thousands of asylum seekers without status still languish in direct provision centres, denied the right to work and in conditions which are unsuitable for families with children. There have been numerous reports critical of this state of affairs, most recently a high-level, Government-appointed Working Group on the Direct Provision System, with 173 proposals for major change published last June. Ireland has also been criticised by the UN, and former Supreme Court Judge Catherine McGuinness has warned of the harm being done to children in particular. The President was not alone in noticing that refugees either in direct provision here or in miserable camps on Europe's borders were ignored in the negotiations to form a government. Neither has there been a clamour on the opposition benches. Lethargy and avoidance have been the order of the day. There are no votes in refugees. And a minority government struggling for survival will claim it has enough to be getting on with. The only meaningful demonstration of Ireland's contribution is the deploying of the naval services to rescue migrants from the treacherous seas, saving thousands of lives. This is a laudable and much needed contribution, given that already this year 1,370 people have drowned trying to enter Europe. But the fact is that the agreement reached last September for Ireland to accept 4,000 refugees as part of a Europe-wide relocation of refugees from Greece and Italy has not materialised. Only a handful of refugees have arrived in Ireland, allegedly due to delays at the other end. The excuses for inaction by Ireland on this are feeble. As President Higgins says, if the system is flawed, change it. Europe too, with the heroic exception of Germany and Sweden, has fallen short, with a ceding of ground to the far-right, ultra-nationalist forces in some European countries. Voices of morality and humanity, such as Angela Merkel, Peter Sutherland and Pope Francis, are too often eclipsed by the opposing forces of xenophobia. So when progressive world leaders like President Higgins speak up for refugees, people who share those humanitarian values should support him. Ireland could be proactive and act unilaterally to mobilise the transfer of Syrian refugees from camps regardless of bureaucratic delays elsewhere. This would be in line with expressed public support in Ireland, which is in danger of dissipating due to official inaction. Such lethargy is discordant with Ireland's track record on humanitarian aid and peacekeeping. We are fortunate to have a Head of State to assert the nation's highest values and best instincts. Intelligence gathering and saturation surveillance are the two key weapons that determine whether the gardai can prevent further bloodshed in Dublin's deadly gangland feud. Representative bodies and retired members of the Garda are all calling for more resources in terms of personnel and technology to boost the prospects of the force in dealing with serious crime. But these are medium- and longer-term measures that take time to make an impact. In the meantime, officers in the north inner city and in specialist units are trying to cope with a scenario that has already claimed six lives in four months. Gardai have a relatively good track record when it comes to solving murders and senior officers are satisfied that they have made substantial progress to date with their inquiries into the latest gangland deaths. Assistant Commissioner Jack Nolan has disclosed that officers investigating the seven feud murders - including the shooting of Gary Hutch in Spain last September, which sparked off the gang war - have so far made 13 arrests, recovered 17 firearms, carried out several major search operations and seized property worth more than 1m. Expand Close The murder of Gareth Hutch in Dublin on Tuesday was captured on CCTV / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The murder of Gareth Hutch in Dublin on Tuesday was captured on CCTV The big problem they face at the moment is having the intelligence and inside information that will allow them to make the pre-emptive strikes to stop further killings. It would allow them to intercept the hitmen and remove more weapons from the streets. The intelligence deficit in this case is partly due to the fact that the key players in the Kinihan cartel, who are responsible for six of the seven feud murders since September, are directing their operations from overseas. Its difficult to sustain an effort to gather information when the monitoring targets are located in another jurisdiction. Expand Close Christy Kinahan Jnr / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Christy Kinahan Jnr Even if the local police are co-operative, it can quickly get bogged down in bureaucratic procedures that tend to dominate and delay inquiries involving more than one police force. These barriers remain in place, despite the annual promises from politicians in almost all EU countries to streamline international investigations. The spate of terror attacks in France and Belgium over the past 16 months has highlighted how many obstacles in sharing information and intelligence have yet to be surmounted and, as a result, hindered cross-border co-operation that could have led to earlier arrests of suspects and possibly prevented some deaths. Another factor making it more difficult for the gardai to keep a watch on potential hitmen is the decision by the Kinahan gang to use low-level players to shoot rivals that have been targeted by them. Expand Close Daniel Kinahan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daniel Kinahan Some of those involved appear to be minor criminals, who are either under the influence of Kinahan associates based in the capital because of their use of drugs or who owe debts that require speedy payment. It is evident from the modus operandi of the hitmen in some of the murders that they are not experienced gunmen but are carrying out orders under threat. In the most recent incident, the shooting earlier this week of Gareth Hutch, the two gunmen were even unable to start their getaway car. They quickly had to abandon it, along with two firearms that were recovered nearby soon afterwards by the gardai. That lack of experience meant they were driven by desperation - fearful of the consequences if they failed, yet prepared to take the risks involved in carrying out a fatal shooting within a couple of hundred yards of an armed garda checkpoint. Senior gardai say those regular checkpoints and armed patrols in the inner city are vital to their operations, even if one did not prevent Monday's murder. They argue that the success rate of armed checkpoints is often not tangible as the presence of gardai with guns on the streets can often deter criminals from attempting to strike at another target in the area. Another positive for the gardai to take from the use of low-level criminals is that they are more prone to making mistakes. This increases the prospects of the shooters leaving behind vital pieces of evidence that could lead to a prosecution, such as the early abandonment of weapons or the failure to burn out getaway cars, which opens up avenues to acquire forensic clues to their identity and the possibility of them being identified from footage taken from CCTV cameras in the area. And if they are arrested and put under pressure by the forensic evidence gathered against them, there is also the likelihood that they could talk under questioning and provide information that helps investigators to move their focus onto the bigger players in the feud. The task confronting the gardai at the moment is a difficult one. But it is not insurmountable and the force has shown in the past that, given the necessary resources, it can produce the desired results. With the theme tune of 'The Great Escape' belting out from an open-top, double-decker bus, Nigel Farage, was greeted by a crowd of around 400 supporters of the Leave campaign in Bolton town centre yesterday. Bright purple Ukip posters were hoisted high and fervently waved as the crowd listened to Farage promise unequivocally to get their "country back". "Get them out," shouts 70-year-old Lillian Warmsley, "we don't want any more foreigners", she adds. "I'm trying" responds Farage, autographing her Ukip poster. Bolton is a three-hour train journey from the centre of London, but is really a world away. Several shops are run-down or shut, and almost everyone complains about the lack of investment opportunities, particularly for young people. 'Number of jobless in Bolton rises' is one headline in the local 'Gazette' online newspaper, with a "12pc rise in people being out of work in Bolton" as the main thrust of the story. "I have a young son and he's struggling with work," says Catherine, from Eaton. She feels that the number of immigrants in the UK blocks off opportunities for people like her son. She says her experience living next to one Romanian family has also clouded her feelings towards immigration. "I live next door to some Romanians at the moment and my life is hell." "Noise, sanitary stuff - they don't use bins" and the council has refused to respond to her complaints, she explains. "It's not our country any more," she adds. "This place is the pits - it's gone downhill," she says of Bolton. Immigration control is by far the most pressing issue for this crowd of avowed 'leavers'. Once immigration is curbed, the restoration of Britain to its former glory can begin, according to Lily Lloyd. "I remember what England was like before we went into the EU; much better," she says. "I'm not against people coming in to work" but there are "too many". "The young people don't know what England was like when we ruled our own country, and everybody had work. I want those days back." "I voted Conservative all my life, but not anymore, I voted for Ukip last time," she says. Immigration figures released yesterday will likely give a small boost to the Leave side. They may speak to undecided voters who see immigration as a problem and are considering it ahead of making their final decision. Net migration rose by 20,000 in 2015 from the year before, with fewer Britons also leaving for other countries. The total official figure rose to 330,000 net migrants, 184,000 of whom are people from the other 27 member states. "What we're seeing is people's wages being driven down, the NHS under intolerable pressure, the impossibility of young people to even get on the housing ladder," Farage told the Irish Independent of the impact of immigration on the UK. Polls are relatively close, but bookies are predicting a Brexit as unlikely, with most giving odds of about 6/1-on for the UK to remain. Farage won't countenance this though, and was seething about US President Barack Obama's intervention a few weeks ago while on a visit to meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Obama's tone during that press conference was "nasty", says Farage. It was the moment "Project Fear became Project Threat," he says. Farage was a regular visitor to Ireland during the two Lisbon Treaty referendums, but defends his intervention as necessary to "help the little guys". Meanwhile, on the periphery of the gathering, 18-year-olds Assia Al-jerrari and Maryama Warsame observe carefully the rhetoric coming from their fellow Englanders. Both young women are wearing a hijab - the Islamic headscarf - and say they feel the current debate has "divided" England. "I'm walking around here and getting loads of dirty looks" because of her hijab, says Assia. "There's just a stigma around immigrants or people who are not white," she says. When I put their complaints to Farage, he responds by asking: "Why are women wearing a hijab in 21st-century Britain? I thought we were all equal." Meanwhile, Cameron has referred to the need for enhanced intelligence-sharing and co-operation between EU states in tackling terrorism as a reason the UK needs to remain in the EU. Earlier this month, he urged voters to "remain and cooperate closely" with the UK's "neighbours in the EU". But such arguments were quickly parried by several people at yesterday's rally. "We looked after ourselves in 1940, and we can do so again," says John Wilken. "How anyone can say that we'll no longer work together for security - of course we'd tell the French or the Germans or the Belgians if there was an imminent attack on one of their countries - that's nonsense from Cameron." The Sankofa Fund for Civic Engagement, a local philanthropic fund started by a group of twenty community-minded African American young professionals, announced Friday the recipients of their first three grants. Each organization will receive $1,000 to assist them in doing their work.Spring/Summer Recipients: Journey Educational Service s: The mission of Journey Educational Services, Inc. is to embrace, enrich, and elevate school-aged students who experience academic, behavioral, and life challenges, by providing educational support through supplemental services that will assist with obtaining a more confident, efficient, and productive way of life. Splash Youth Arts Workshop : Splash is a year-round free youth arts workshop founded by professional artists: Charlie and Iantha Newton, two working artists who have a consuming passion to see young lives changed and are committed to working with some of Tennessee's poorest kids from underserved high-crime areas to mitigate some of the "at-risk" factors that negatively impact their lives. 22:6 Teen Moms : 22:6 Teen Moms is dedicated to promoting education and empowerment while facilitating the development of healthy parenting skills and personal development. I am delighted to read all the letters and articles in your paper supporting Finian McGrath's appeal for smokers to be treated with respect and to be provided with indoor areas to socialise. At 77 years of age and at 40 a day, I have lead a very healthy life. I joined VHI in 1962 and I have had one operation in 1984. In 40 years working, I had three weeks' sick leave. I have never had flu in my life. Why is it that the health fanatics argue that all smokers will get cancer or serious illness? Does it follow that non-smokers will die of old age? My understanding is that genes play a big part in cancer. I think the vast amount spent by the Department of Health (or HSE) on health promotion is a waste. Please stick to treating people who are ill. Now we have a junior minister in the area. Could I suggest banning alcohol in the workplace is more important than banning smoking? And bars in the Dail should be the first to go. We do not need legislation voted on by people who may not be fully sober. Late night sittings are particularly dangerous. College campuses should also be alcohol-free. Charlie Weston had an article recently on the sustainability of old age pensions, wondering if they will be sustainable. A secret report from the Department of Health to the Minister for News indicates the health service itself is - with the ageing population - unsustainable and the solution is to make smoking compulsory for 60-year-olds! S Scanlon Address with editor The plight of the modern smoker David Quinn should be congratulated, not mocked, for his important contribution to the debate about tobacco control (Irish Independent, Letters, May 25). I applaud his clear and objective analysis in what is an ongoing attack by the State and its cheerleaders on a specific group in Irish society (Irish Independent, May 20). Acknowledging that smokers are being given too hard a time by the State and correctly referring to Ireland's increasing intolerance of smoking as a sort of neo-puritanism, Mr Quinn accurately summarised the plight of nearly 800,000 adult smokers in this country. In contrast, the arrogance of the tobacco control industry, and the lack of empathy for adults who choose to smoke a legal, consumer product, should be noted and feared by all. John Mallon Cork More than words Our workplaces, our schools and our homes are filled with hurtful words. Words are powerful weapons and can be used in the most hurtful way to harm another person, and trigger a journey on a downward spiral that can result in untold harm and damage, not only to that person, but to those who they love and care for. When bad things are said to you, no matter what time of day it is, no matter how old you are, no matter where you are, no matter how long ago it was, no matter how drunk someone is, no matter if you know the person or not - it hurts. And it sticks. Remember, we can never know what's going on in another person's head or heart. We need to think before we speak. So, it's really very simple. Let's use words to be kind to one another. Brian Mc Devitt Glenties, Co Donegal Who are we to believe? It was a mistake. That's all we're short of hearing with the correction from Enda Kenny, regarding his initial statement over the gangland murders, killings . . . call them what you will. Just for one fleeting moment I thought I was going to see the famous blue and red costume of the man who can fix everything, when Enda unbuttoned his jacket to correct his oral error, somewhat like The Ryder Cup gaffe (Kenny referring to it as a battle between Britain and the United States). We also had soldiers guarding the ATM machines, or the man writing to say thanks for the extra money in his pay packet. Once again, more resources are being heaped upon the gardai, whatever are they going to do with it all? Can we believe anything that's said in Leinster House, irrespective of who said it? Fred Molloy Dublin 15 An end to 'cheap labour' The scrapping of the notorious JobBridge scheme cannot come a moment too soon. It was criticised as a cheap labour scheme, where interns were sometimes exploited. Many employers knew nothing whatsoever about JobBridge rules and regulations. Questions from interns about being kept on after the internship were often followed by vague remarks, like "Maybe, perhaps, or we do not know". Others were told, point blank, that they would not be kept on after a gruelling internship. The Department of Social Protection should have known from job descriptions in advertisements that many employers were looking for factotums to go here, there, and everywhere and not interns. Mentors were often not assigned and were nominal only. In some cases, they barely knew what they were doing themselves and had little time for the intern or none at all. JobBridge was supposed to be a scheme for unemployed people to get into the workplace and off welfare. Employers turned it into a scheme to suit themselves - like many other job and training programmes down through the decades. Maurice Fitzgerald Shanbally, Co Cork The price of coming home I was reading with great interest the many complaints by returning Irish and the costs they face when insuring their car after a gap of two years or more out of the country. I am planning to return after a 15-year absence having lived and worked in Germany. This being part of the European Union would make you believe that insurance can be assessed within EU countries as part of what was originally coined the 'common market'. Well, I can tell you that 15 years of 'no claims bonus' counts for nothing; 15 years of private health insurance counts for nothing. It's as if I'd never lived in Ireland before. This is exactly what Britain and the potential pro-Brexit campaign must realise when those that want to stay don't know. There is no such thing as a European Union. It is a bureaucratic convenience for banks, insurance companies, investors, and oh, let's not forget the politicians and European MEPs. Imagine an American citizen who moves from state to state having to put up with this? Andrew Browne Cork (moving back from Dusseldorf, Germany very soon) It was a busy September for Gorey Community School German department as both halves of the annual student exchange took place. Early in the month, students and teachers from St. Ursula's Geilenkirchen visited Gorey, where, apart from attending regular classes, they went on trips to Kilkenny and Dublin. Two weeks later their Irish exchange partners went on the return visit to Germany. They too participated in regular school activities, but were also brought on tours of Cologne and Aachen, where they got a taste of German history and culture. A school spokesperson said they will hopefully benefit from the experience. Preparations for next year start soon. A ceremony celebrating 'The Vincent Awards', a second year challenge for Killarney's three secondary schools, was held on Monday and marked the successful conclusion of this year's programme. The awards are open to Killarney Community College, St Brigid's Presentation and St Brendan's College and is supported by the Trustees of Muckross House. All students who completed the challenges were awarded a certificate. A total of 300 students were awarded the certificate this year. It recognises the importance of second year as a developmental milestone for young people and the intention of organisers is to promote greater personal, social and community awareness in the young people. Chairman of the Trustees of Muckross House, Rory D'Arcy, spoke of the importance of recognising achievements and of receiving praise and awards for achieving goals. Presenting the awards was David Cronin, CEO of the University of Limerick Foundation, who spoke of Billy Vincent's close association and love for Ireland and particularly Muckross, highlighted by the fact that the Vincent family handed over the Muckross estate to the peeople of Ireland. The scheme included literacy, numeracy, philanthropy and outdoor challenges, as well as an outdoor challenge and co-operative sport challenge. Dairymaster founder Ned Harty has been honoured with a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Farmer of the Year Awards . Mr Harty received the award in Dublin on Friday night, where he said he was 'truly humbled' by such an honour. "Dairymaster has been my lifelong passion and I am very proud of what the company has become today," he said. "Ireland has rightly secured a global reputation for excellence in the agri food sector and I'm confident that Dairymaster and other Irish companies active in this global market place will thrive into the future." Mr Harty started the hi-tech dairy manufacturing company in Causeway 40 years and said that over the years the company proposition has remained the same - 'build the best products and you will thrive.' "The wealth of young talent in this country and the ever growing opportunities for Irish companies in global markets makes me confident for the future," he said. He also paid tribute to family, co-workers and customers who helped him along the way. Eleven same sex marriages have taken place in Wexford since the Marriage Equality Referendum. Figures released last week by the Department of Social Protection show that nationwide a total of 412 same sex couples have married since the historic Marriage Equality Referendum. In May 2015, 62 per cent of voters said yes to marriage equality, making Ireland the first country in the world to have a popular vote to legislate same-same marriages. The figures show Dublin accounted for just over half of all marriages - with 213 registered since the Marriage Act 2015 was signed into law last November. A total of 24 same sex couples have registered their notification to marry with the registrar in Wexford in the last year while eleven of these couples married in that year. There were 43 marriages registered in Cork and 25 in Limerick. Wicklow had 17 same-sex marriages, followed by Galway with 14, while Wexford, Kildare and Donegal each had eleven weddings registered. Carlow, Leitrim and Monaghan -each had one marriage registered while Clare is the only county not to register a same sex marriage in the year. Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has welcomed the figures. 'The Marriage Equality Referendum was a historic day for Ireland. One year on, it's really great to see that 412 marriages have now taken place which otherwise would not have happened. It's a timely reminder of that momentous vote on that momentous day.' The number of same sex marriage notifications submitted and marriages registered related to the period of May 22, 2015 to close of business on May 15, 2016. With an illustrious history and prime city-centre campus location, RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) has been providing extensive education and training in the healthcare professions, at undergraduate and postgraduate level, for more than 230 years. Founded in 1784, as the home of surgical training in Ireland, today RCSI has more than 3,700 registered students and its three undergraduate schools offer degrees in medicine, pharmacy and physiotherapy to EU students through the CAO. 1. Focused on health sciences RCSI is focused exclusively on educating healthcare professionals and the Colleges teaching staff are experts in healthcare education, so whether you are interested in medicine, pharmacy or physiotherapy, you will be taught by top specialists in these fields. Lecturers and tutors are trained in the RCSI Health Professions Education Centre to ensure that students experience the highest international standards of teaching, learning and assessment using innovative methods and the latest technologies. 2. Learn in state-of-the-art facilities RCSI has a strong focus on developing the clinical skills of its students to ensure graduates are clinically-competent and ready to practice as professionals, as soon as they begin working in healthcare. The College has invested 70m in a new academic and education building to give students world-class facilities to practice these skills. Due to be completed in early 2017, the facility will provide unparalleled medical teaching facilities including the largest dedicated clinical simulation centre in Ireland or the UK. 3. Early clinical exposure As future doctors, pharmacists or physiotherapists, gaining experience in a real world patient environment from an early stage is central to learning the skills required as a health professional. At RCSI, students are exposed to clinical environments such as hospitals, clinics and pharmacies early-on and are taught by experienced working clinicians. 4. Location, location, location Dublin is ranked 8th Best Student City in the World (QS 2012) and the Colleges city centre location provides superb access to the heart of the city. It is easily accessible by numerous forms of public transport with plenty to do off campus. 5. Summer work with top researchers RCSI students have the opportunity to participate in research through the Colleges Summer Research School. Students can avail of up to 2,000 funding to work on summer research projects in labs alongside College professors who are senior scientists and clinicians in their field. 6. Global Alumni Network As a student and after graduating, RCSI Alumni have access to a network of over 20,000 fellow graduates practising throughout the world, leading to fantastic international opportunities for summer electives and career opportunities after qualifying. 7. Degrees recognised worldwide RCSI graduates are recognised throughout the world and are eligible to practice in almost every country. RCSI was the first medical school in Ireland to independently adopt the standards of the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) standards since adopted by the Irish Medical Council as the accreditation standard for all Irish medical schools. 8. Careers supports Individual student support extends to career support with a bi-annual careers symposium, an online mentor network and a global Alumni network all form part of an invaluable toolbox for seeking advice, guidance and practical support on choosing a speciality. Sponsored by: It might mean an overnight flight for 3,000 miles - but John Muldoon's girlfriend Lorna wouldn't miss Saturday's Pro12 final for the world. Lorna Byrne (28) from Salthill, Galway, has been dating the Connacht captain for four years and will be making the trip from New York to cheer on her beau in Edinburgh. Byrne, a sales and marketing executive for a Galway hotel group, has spent the last number of weeks studying at the ivy league Cornell University and will be cheering on her other half as Connacht take on Leinster in the historic league final at Murrayfield Stadium. And she said she's thrilled with the increasingly electric atmosphere around her native Galway as Connacht continue to dominate the pitch. Expand Close John Muldoon of Connacht (Photo: Sportsfile) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp John Muldoon of Connacht (Photo: Sportsfile) "The atmosphere and build up has been amazing this year, the whole town and province has had such a lift in spirit," she told Independent.ie "It is unlike anything any of the fans or team has ever experienced before. The feel-good factor in the city and surrounding counties as a result of their performances this year has been really incredible. This has really inspired everyone in the region, including myself, to wholeheartedly support John and the team. "It finally feels like the hard work and dedication is paying off and it's now finally time for Connacht Rugby to enjoy the spotlight. I'm really thrilled for the lads and John especially." As for any pre-game rituals, Byrne says she keeps prep low-key and "I just enjoy the matches with family and friends." Expand Close Lorna Byrne with boyfriend John Muldoon. Picture: Lorna Byrne / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lorna Byrne with boyfriend John Muldoon. Picture: Lorna Byrne Regardless of the outcome, the celebrations will continue among the squad over the coming weeks veteran prop Ronan Loughney and former player Conor O'Loughlin are both due to wed their other halves in Galway next month. Meanwhile, the Leinster players wives and girlfriends begun their trek to Scotland today and will continue until tomorrow morning, including Rob Kearney's model girlfriend Jess Redden, Jack McGrath's long-term girlfriend Sinead Corcoran, a radiographer and Cian Healy's advertising executive other half Laura Smith. More than 30 men are alleged to have taken part in a mass rape of a teenager in an attack which was later posted to social media. The attack happened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The young girl is reported to have visited her boyfriends house where she lost consciousness. Local media reported that the woman woke up surrounded by men and learned that she had been raped. The girls boyfriend has been issued with an arrest warrant Speaking to local media, the girl's grandmother said that the family watched the video and cried. "I regretted watching it. When we heard the story we didn't believe what was happening. It's a great affliction. It's a depressing situation," she told Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper. "She is not well. She is very confused. This was very serious." The sex assault has highlighted a culture of rape in Brazil, and campaigners have called for protests over the coming days. Hillary Clinton has a problem. Her campaign has been built on a stern order to voters not to trust Donald Trump. But a new US government report about her use of a private email server as secretary of state is complicating that message. The sharp rebuke from the State Department's inspector general, which found Ms Clinton did not seek legal approval for her homebrew email server, guarantees that the issue will remain alive and well for the likely Democratic presidential nominee for a second summer. The new report comes at a particularly challenging time for the Clinton campaign, as she faces a two-front war against GOP nominee Donald Trump and primary rival Bernie Sanders. Already, she faces questions about her trustworthiness, with months of polling showing voters give her low marks for integrity. It's a narrative that Mr Trump has been eager to encourage - he's dubbed Clinton "Crooked Hillary", a moniker intended to underscore questions about integrity. And he's focused on the scandals of her husband's administration, insinuating that questions still remain about those controversies. "She had a little bad news today, as you know. Some reports came down, weren't so good," Mr Trump told thousands of supporters packed into the Anaheim Convention Center. "Not so good. The inspector general's report - not good." Mr Sanders made no mention of the report during a rally near Palm Springs, choosing instead to point to polls that show him faring better against Mr Trump than Ms Clinton in hypothetical match-ups. Though he's declined to turn the email inquiries into a pivotal issue during the primaries, Mr Sanders has spent months questioning Clinton's record on economics, foreign policy and even social issues including same-sex marriage. While she's just 78 delegates from capturing her party's nomination, Ms Clinton has been unable to edge her primary rival out of the race - or win over his most passionate backers. Protesters backing Mr Sanders greeted Ms Clinton at a rally in Salinas, California, on Wednesday with signs reading "Hillary 4 Jail". Former President Bill Clinton, campaigning separately in New Mexico, ended up in a 30-minute debate with a 24-year-old Sanders supporter, who asked a question about the president's record on welfare. Ms Clinton avoided questions about the report at her campaign events on Wednesday, ignoring reporters who tried to press her on the issue. Her campaign cast the report as little more than a rehash of existing information about her email set-up, saying the finding showed that problems with record retention dated back years at the department. A father has been sentenced to at least four months in jail after forcing his pregnant 14-year-old daughter to marry the 24-year-old man who raped her. Keith Strawn, from Idaho, took his daughter and her attacker, Aaron Seaton, more than 1,000 miles to Missouri, where minors under 15 are allowed to marry with parental consent in special circumstances, such as being pregnant. Expand Close Aaron Seaton / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Aaron Seaton If you get them pregnant then you marry them, Strawn told the judge during the hearing, according to local media reports. Seaton, who is now 25, pleaded guilty to a rape charge in April, which was reduced to statutory rape during the trial. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence, with sex offender treatment and substance abuse treatment. Strawns lawyer told the court his client may have had a religious motivation to impose the marriage after she fell pregnant. The teenage girl is believed to have miscarried. [The victim] told me herself that her father asked her several times during the trip to Missouri, and even the day of the marriage, if it was something she wanted to do, the lawyer said. Strawn was accused of having harboured and protected a criminal by allowing Seaton to live with his teenage daughter. I love my daughter very much and I would never do anything to intentionally harm her or put her in harms way, he said in court, according to KPLR. I made the wrong decision, and I made that decision in duress. He has been ordered to serve a suspended prison sentence of four years, and 120 days in a county jail. While you spend those 120 day in jail, perhaps you will think about the 120 days your daughter was in a vile farce of a marriage to a rapist, the judge said. Union Hill Missionary Baptist Church has been blessed by God with its shepherd, Pastor Samuel R. Jackson and organizers are preparing to honor him for his faithful service and guidance to this flock for 11 years. In addition, he and his bride of 30 years, First Lady Vivian Evans Jackson will renew their wedding vows. The Union Hill Church family cordially invites each of you to join us in the 11th Pastoral Anniversary/Renewal of Vows Celebration to be held on Saturday, June 11, at 4 p.m. at Kingdom Center 740 East Martin Luther King Boulevard Chattanooga, Tn. 37403. The cost of the event is $25. For ticket information, please contact Minnie Blanks, 423 894-7229, Anita Jones, 423 240-5214 or church office, 423 698-0337 no later than June 4. A Russian-born businessman convicted of fraud was a key player in several of Donald Trump's business ventures, despite the billionaire's attempts to play down their ties. An investigation by 'The Daily Telegraph' disclosed that Mr Trump signed off on paperwork which made clear that Felix Sater was one of the figures in "control" of Bayrock Group, the property firm building three developments using his name. The findings appear to contradict statements by the would-be president and his lawyer distancing him from Sater, who was convicted for helping to lead a $40m mafia-linked stock fraud scheme. Mr Sater also spent time in jail for stabbing someone in the face with the stem of a margarita glass. The disclosures come as Mr Trump faced criticism after the 'Telegraph' revealed he signed off on a $50m deal involving Bayrock designed to deprive the US government of tens of millions of dollars in tax. In response, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign said Mr Trump's aim was "to enrich himself at the expense of the American people". Sater joined Bayrock in around 2002 and in a 2010 deposition said he had been "probably number two" at the company. Mr Trump started working with Bayrock in 2004. Alan Garten, Mr Trump's general counsel, told ABC News in December that "[in the] long term there was very little involvement" by Sater in the projects that carried the billionaire's name, including his Trump SoHo hotel in New York. He suggested Sater was just one of many employees, saying: "When you go into business with another company, you're not going to vet every employee, it's not appropriate." Documents show Mr Trump signed off on papers in 2007 which made Sater's influential position at Bayrock clear. In May 2007, Mr Trump signed a consent letter for the $50m deal between Bayrock and FL, an Icelandic company. It asked him to "indicate your consent to the Transaction as evidenced by the Transaction Documents by counterexecuting and returning to the undersigned a copy of this letter". The main enclosed document was the loan agreement, which listed Sater - who used the spelling Satter - as a "manager" whose departure at any point during the time frame of the deal could put it at risk. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] A Briton has died and another is missing after a speedboat capsized in rough seas off a popular tourist island in Thailand. The woman was killed after a high wave crashed into the boat, carrying 32 tourists and four crew members, near Koh Samui on Thursday afternoon. Police named the missing Briton as Jason Robert Parnell who was in Thailand with his wife Puga Parnell. She is said to have been unhurt. Another British national was injured in the incident in which a woman from Hong Kong was also killed. A German national is still missing and navy divers are conducting searches for the tourists. A senior police spokesman told the Press Association: "We're still trying to check everyone. One British woman has died and one from Hong Kong. Two people are missing." He added that the bodies of the two women had been recovered from the sea. According to a port official, the boat capsized because of strong winds and high waves. Some of those on the vessel were thrown overboard and became trapped beneath it. At least one person had to be pulled from the hull after rescuers used a hammer to smash through it. The boat's captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, said he had asked all tourists to wear a life vest but that some had taken them off during the journey. A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We are supporting the family of a British woman who has sadly died following a boat accident near Koh Samui, Thailand. "Another British national has received treatment in hospital for injuries suffered in the same incident. "We remain in contact with local authorities in Thailand for further information." It is believed there were other British people on board the boat but they are understood to have been released from hospital following treatment for any injuries. Four people remained in hospital on Friday, one with a broken shoulder and another with a skull fracture. The other two suffered from lack of oxygen and were being monitored for lung infections. Koh Samui is among the most popular Thai island destinations for backpackers and luxury holidaymakers alike, and is known for its beautiful beaches, coconut plantations and waterfalls. US president Barack Obama and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe walk after laying wreaths at the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park (AP) US President Barack Obama renewed calls for a world free from nuclear weapons during his visit to Hiroshima. As the first US president to visit the city where his country dropped the first atomic bomb, Mr Obama acknowledged - but did not apologise for - an act many Americans see as a justified end to a war that Japan started with the Pearl Harbour attack. Some 140,000 people died after a US warplane targeted wartime Hiroshima on August 6 1945, and 70,000 more perished in Nagasaki, where a second bomb was dropped three days later. Japan soon surrendered. Mr Obama said of the dead: "Their souls speak to us. They ask us to look inward, to take stock of who we are and who we might become." With his speech and a warm embrace for an elderly survivor, Mr Obama renewed the call for a nuclear-free future that he had first laid out in a 2009 speech in Prague. This time, Mr Obama spoke as a far more experienced president than the one who had employed his upbeat "Yes, we can" campaign slogan the first time around. The president, who has made uneven progress on his nuclear agenda over the past seven years, spoke of "the courage to escape the logic of fear" as he held out hope for diligent, incremental steps to reduce nuclear stockpiles. "We may not realise this goal in my lifetime, but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe," he said. Mr Obama spent less than two hours in Hiroshima but seemed to accomplish what he came for. It was a choreographed performance meant to close old wounds without inflaming new passions on a subject still fraught after all these years. In a solemn ceremony on a sun-drenched afternoon, Mr Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe placed wreaths before the cenotaph, a simple arched stone monument at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. Only the clicking of camera shutters intruded on the moment as Mr Obama closed his eyes and briefly bowed his head. Then, after each leader gave brief remark, Mr Obama approached two ageing survivors of the bombing who were seated in the front row, standing in for the thousands still seared by memories of that day. Ninety-one-year-old Sunao Tsuboi, the head of a survivors group, energetically engaged the president in conversation, telling Mr Obama he would be remembered as someone who listened to the voice of a few survivors. He urged him to come back and meet more. "He was holding my hands until the end," Mr Tsuboi said. "I was almost about to ask him to stop holding my hands, but he wouldn't." Mr Obama stepped over to meet historian Shigeaki Mori. Just eight when the bomb hit, Mr Mori had to hold back tears at the emotion of the moment. Mr Obama patted him on the back and wrapped him in a warm embrace. From there, Mr Obama and Mr Abe walked along a tree-lined path toward a river that flows by the iconic A-bomb dome, the skeletal remains of an exhibition hall that stands as silent testimony to the power of the bomb blast 71 years ago and as a symbol for international peace. Mr Abe welcomed the president's message and offered his own determination "to realise a world free of nuclear weapons, no matter how long or how difficult the road will be". Mr Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency for his anti-nuclear agenda but has seen uneven progress. The president can point to last year's Iran nuclear deal and a weapons treaty with Russia. But North Korea's nuclear programme still looms as a threat, and hopes for a pact for further weapons reductions with Russia have stalled. Critics also fault the Obama administration for planning a big and costly programme to upgrade US nuclear stockpiles. Mr Abe made a point to dismiss any suggestion that he would pay a reciprocal visit to Pearl Harbour. The Japanese leader did not rule out coming to Hawaii, but clearly wanted to avoid any notion of moral equivalence. In Japan, Pearl Harbour is not seen as a parallel for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but as an attack on a military installation that did not target civilians. Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, 82, paid her own respects at the cenotaph early on Friday, before the politicians arrived. "I could hear schoolchildren screaming: 'Help me! Help me!'" she said, tears running down her face. "It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion." Mr Obama went out of his way, in speaking of the dead, to mention that thousands of Koreans and a dozen American prisoners were among those who died. It was a nod to advocates for both groups who had publicly warned the president not to forget about them in Hiroshima. In a brief visit to the museum at the peace park, Mr Obama visited a display about a young girl who survived the bombing but died several years later of leukaemia. She folded paper cranes in the hospital until she died and is the inspiration for the children's novel Sadako And The Thousand Cranes. Migrants regularly try to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Europe Some 80 people are feared to have drowned after a migrant boat capsized in the Mediterranean yesterday, an Italian coastguard spokesman said. It is the third deadly incident in two days, after five migrants were confirmed to have died when a large fishing boat flipped over on Wednesday. And a nine-month-old baby was orphaned on Wednesday when her mother died after being burned by fuel leaking from the rubber dinghy she was travelling on, as it crossed from Libya to Italy. The baby, named Favour and believed to be from Mali, arrived at the island of Lampedusa on Wednesday in the arms of a young woman with burns all over her body. She told doctors she had saved the baby from arms of the dying mother, who was also burned and later drowned. It is not uncommon for migrants making the sea crossing from Libya to arrive at Italy's ports with burn wounds caused by fuel that has leaked from a dinghy's motor. The woman was immediately transported to the burn ward in Palermo. In video taken at the quayside, the Lampedusa hospital director and coroner, Pietro Bartolo, can be seen cradling the baby, wearing a blue wool cap and swaddled in a gold heat blanket, in his arms. "As soon as I took her in my arms she peed on me, but it was wonderful because it meant she was alive," Dr Bartolo said in interviews with the Italian media. "She's been fed, washed and changed, and incredibly, she is smiling." Dr Bartolo appealed for the girl to be adopted. "I would adopt her if I could, I want to keep her with me forever," he told local media. Adoption Little Favour is just one of the 5,700 unaccompanied minors to have arrived in Italy by sea this year. According to Save the Children, the number of unaccompanied children has nearly tripled compared with the same period last year. Favour will be transferred to Palermo, where officials will oversee care and eventually organise placement or adoption for her, as they do for most of the unaccompanied minors who arrive in Sicily. She was one of the 120 migrants rescued from their sinking dinghy by a passing Norwegian merchant vessel, one of the many ships in the area scrambled to help the Italian Coast Guard, which has been overwhelmed by the rescue of more than 6,000 people in the last 72 hours. BRITISH serial killer Joanna Dennehy had plotted to murder a prison guard and use their fingerprints to bypass a biometric system to escape from jail, it has been revealed. Details have emerged at London's High Court as she lost her bid for damages after claiming her human rights had been breached by being placed in solitary confinement for two years. The detailed plot was discovered in her cell and involved two other inmates. It revealed a plan to murder a female guard, then steal her keys and cut off her fingers to deceive the biometric system. Security staff at the jail believed there was a credible escape plan involving two other prisoners and "a plan to seriously assault or kill a member of prison staff". The escape plans were discovered in her diary. Dennehy (33) was then placed in solitary confinement for two years. She claimed her human rights had been violated as a result and took her case for damages to the High Court. Segregated But judges ruled it was "necessary and proportionate" to place her in solitary confinement after hearing about the detailed escape plot. She claimed that she had been left "tearful and upset" after being placed in segregation at HMP Bronzefield near Ashford, Surrey, since prison guards allegedly found a breakout plot in her diary. UK Government lawyers have conceded the segregation period between September 21, 2013, and September 4, 2015, was technically unlawful because it was not properly authorised by former Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. But Mr Justice Singh, sitting in London, ruled that her segregation since then had been "in accordance with law" and "at all material times it has been necessary and proportionate". Justice Department barrister Tom Weisselberg QC told the High Court that a credible escape plot was found in her cell. "Dennehy was segregated because a credible escape plan involving her and two other prisoners had been uncovered," he said. "A written plan was located in her cell with detailed plans involving killing a female officer to obtain her keys and to utilise her fingerprints in order to deceive the biometric systems. "She was placed on the escape list, which involved the wearing of an escape suit." One aspect of the plan was that "the finger of an officer would be cut off in an attempt to deceive the biometric security system at the prison". Dennehy was given a whole-life term after admitting the murders of Lukasz Slaboszewski (31) Kevin Lee (48) and John Chapman (56), whose bodies were found in ditches in and around Peterborough in 2013. She also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder in Hereford and preventing the lawful and decent burial of her murder victims. Dennehy, of Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, claimed at the High Court she has been "unfairly and unlawfully" held in segregation at HMP Bronzefield. Hugh Southey QC argued at a hearing in March that her incarceration violated her human rights and had taken a heavy toll, leaving her "tearful and upset", and at times she was resuming her practice of self-harming. Sadistic Mr Southey described Dennehy, who was jailed in February 2014, as a "vulnerable" inmate due to her history of severe personality disorders, and episodes of self-harming dating to childhood. Government lawyers said the segregation was fair, justified and lawful due to the nature of Dennehy's offending and the escape risk she poses. Jenni Richards QC, appearing for HMP Bronzefield, described Dennehy as "arguably the most dangerous female prisoner in custody". Dennehy "got a taste for killing" and had admitted to the psychiatrist that she was "sadistic", said Ms Richards. Dennehy is only the third woman in Britain to be given a whole-life prison term.Moors murderer Myra Hindley and 'House of Horrors' serial killer Rose West are the other two. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Militants from the Islamic State group have seized a string of villages from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border (AP) Militants from the Islamic State group have seized a string of villages from Syrian rebels near the Turkish border. The rapid advances forced the evacuation of a hospital and trapped tens of thousands of people amid heavy fighting, Syrian opposition activists and an international medical organisation said. The advances in the northern Aleppo province brought the militants to within three two2 miles of the rebel-held town of Azaz and cut off supplies to Marea further south, another rebel stronghold north of Aleppo city. They also demonstrated the Islamic State group's ability to stage major offensives and capture new areas, despite a string of recent losses in Syria and Iraq. The IS offensive began on Thursday night. By Friday, the group had captured six villages east of Azaz including Kaljibrin, cutting off rebels in Marea from the Azaz pocket. The rebels in the area - which include mainstream opposition fighters known as the Free Syrian Army along with some ultraconservative Islamic insurgent factions - have been squeezed between IS to the east and predominantly Kurdish forces to the west and south, while Turkey restricts the flow of goods and people through the border. The IS news agency, Aamaq, also reported the advance - saying the Islamic State group seized six villages from the rebels. The humanitarian medical organisation Doctors Without Borders said its team is currently evacuating patients and staff from the Al Salama hospital, which it runs in Azaz, after the frontline shifted to within 2 miles of the facility. The group, known by its French acronym MSF, said a small skeleton team will remain behind to stabilise and refer patients to other health facilities in the area. "MSF has had to evacuate most patients and staff from our hospital as front lines have come too close," said Pablo Marco, MSF operations manager for the Middle East. "We are terribly concerned about the fate of our hospital and our patients, and about the estimated 100,000 people trapped between the Turkish border and active front lines." "There is nowhere for people to flee to as the fighting gets closer," he added. Azaz, which hosts tens of thousands of internally displaced people, lies north of Aleppo city, which has been divided between a rebel-held east and government-held west. A route known as the Azaz corridor links rebel-held eastern Aleppo with Turkey. That has been a lifeline for the rebels since 2012, but a government offensive backed by Russian air power and regional militias earlier this year dislodged rebels from parts of Azaz and severed their corridor between the Turkish border and Aleppo. The predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are fighting for their autonomy in the multi-layered conflict, also gained ground against the rebels. In recent months, Syrian rebel factions in Azaz have separately come under fire from the extremist IS group, pro-government forces and the SDF. MSF and other aid organisations warned earlier this month that the humanitarian situation for more than 100,000 people trapped in the Azaz rebel-held pocket was critical. Actress Amber Heard claims bruising on her face was caused when husband Johnny Depp threw a mobile phone at her (AP) Johnny Depp has been ordered to stay away from his estranged wife Amber Heard after she accused him of repeatedly hitting her and leaving her face bruised. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl H Moor also ruled that Depp should not try to contact Heard until a hearing is conducted on June 17. Heard said in a sworn declaration that Depp threw her mobile phone at her during a fight, striking her cheek and eye. She submitted a picture of her bruised face when she applied for a restraining order on Friday. She also wrote that the actor pulled her hair, screamed at her and repeatedly hit her and violently grabbed her face. She appeared at a Los Angeles court on Friday and had a bruise on her right cheek below the eye. Los Angeles police responded to Depp and Heard's residence on Saturday, but were asked by the person reporting domestic violence not to take a report and did not provide evidence. Los Angeles police officer Aareon Jefferson said: "Officers' investigation determined that a crime did not occur." Heard's filing alleges a history of abuse throughout her relationship with Depp, which started after they met on the set of the 2011 film The Rum Diary. "During the entirety of our relationship, Johnny has been verbally and physically abusive to me," Heard wrote. "I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry, hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him." The restraining order was issued on the day Depp's latest film, Alice Through The Looking Glass, opens in cinemas. Heard's filing said the actor was high and drunk when the alleged abuse occurred. "I live in fear that Johnny will return to (our house) unannounced to terrorise me, physically and emotionally," Heard wrote in a sworn declaration. She also submitted a declaration from a friend who wrote that she took pictures of Heard's bruised face shortly after Depp left. Judge Moor rejected Heard's request that Depp attend a year's worth of anger management classes and the protective order extend to her dog, a Yorkshire terrier named Pistol. The status of the couple's other dog, Boo, is not immediately known. The dogs received worldwide publicity last year when Heard brought them into Australia without proper documentation. Heard and Depp released an awkward video last month apologising for the action. Heard's filing states the May fight was preceded by an incident in April in which the actor missed her birthday party and showed up later high and drunk and pushed her to the floor. After that incident, Heard wrote she did not see the actor for another month. The filing came five days after Heard filed for divorce. Depp is in Portugal for a performance with his band Hollywood Vampires. His lawyer Laura Wasser wrote in a court filing that Depp was out of the country and would agree to a mutual stay-away order. She contended that Heard's filing, along with requests for financial assistance from the actor "appears to be in response to the negative media attention she received earlier this week after filing for divorce". Heard's divorce filing cited irreconcilable differences and said the pair separated the day before. She is seeking spousal support from the Pirates Of The Caribbean star, but Depp's response asked a judge to deny the request. A Syrian Army soldier inspects a damaged emergency room inside National Hospital after explosions hit the Syrian city of Jableh Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in attacks on health centres worldwide over the past two years, almost 40pc of them in Syria, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said. The UN agency documented 594 attacks, resulting in 959 deaths and 1,561 injuries in 19 countries in 2014 and 2015. Syria had the most attacks on hospitals, ambulances, patients and medical workers, in which 352 died. The Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as Iraq, Pakistan and Libya, followed. Some 62pc of all attacks were deemed intentional and many led to disruption of public health services. "The majority of these are intentional," Dr Bruce Aylward, executive director of WHO's emergency programme, told a news briefing. He added: "It is more and more difficult to deploy people into these places, it is getting more and more difficult to keep them safe." The figures include 42 killed and 37 wounded in a US air strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan last October. A US military report said the incident was caused by human error, equipment failure and other factors, but MSF has called for an independent inquiry. WHO said 53pc of the attacks were perpetrated by states, 30pc by armed groups and 17pc remain unknown. "One of the most important rules of war you is that you don't attack health care facilities,," said Rick Brennan, WHO director of emergency risk management. Supporters of Pakistani religious group Jamaat-ud-Dawa protest against the US drone strike (AP) Supporters of the slain Taliban chief have held funeral prayers across Pakistan for Mullah Akhtar Mansour, killed in a US drone attack last week. Some 400 Jamaat-ud Dawa members held the ceremony in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Similar ceremonies were also held in Quetta, Hyderabad and Karachi. Jamaat-ud Dawa is a terror organisation widely believed to be a front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the 2008 attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai. The funeral prayers took place even though Mansour's body is still in the hands of Pakistani authorities for DNA testing. The crowd in Peshawar also chanted anti-US slogans and burned an American flag. The group's leader, Ghazi Inamullah, told the gathering that "after the humiliation in Afghanistan, US forces are now targeting Pakistan with drone attacks". Police officers outside Irving Plaza, following the shooting at the venue where hip-hop artist T.I. was getting ready to perform. (AP) Police are conducting ballistic tests to determine whether more than one gun was used in a shooting inside a hip-hop concert in New York featuring artist TI that killed one person and injured three others. Among those tests was an analysis of a bullet removed from the leg of rapper Troy Ave, who remains in hospital following his arrest on attempted murder and weapons charges in the Wednesday night shooting. No weapons have been recovered, though tests have found that five 9-mm shell casings discovered at the scene belong to the same gun. Troy Ave, whose real name is Roland Collins, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. One of his security guards, 33-year-old Ronald McPhatter, was killed in the shooting. Two others were shot and injured. A spokeswoman for Manhattan prosecutors said she did not know when Collins would be arraigned. An eight-second video clip released by police shows a limping gunman - identified by the police as Collins - burst through a VIP room door, stop and scan the room, then raise his gun and fire a single round. There were nearly 1,000 concertgoers in the building at the time of the shooting and witnesses described a chaotic scene as people rushed towards the exits. It is not yet known for certain what sparked the violence, according to officials. McPhatter's brother, Shanduke McPhatter, said his brother "got too much into" the glamour of the hip-hop scene, and it landed him in an environment where alcohol flowed freely and trouble broke out. SHARE Extra security measures were taken at Oakwood Christian School and Lakeside Middle School in Anderson on Thursday after a home invasion in the area. Lt. Sheila Cole of the Anderson County Sheriff's Office said three young men in their late teens or early 20s forced their way into a home on Hales Drive. She said they took cellphones from the home and may have gotten other items before they left. The three were believed to be armed, which caused the schools in the area to take extra precautions. Students were let out of the two schools at normal times, but their release was supervised by law enforcement officials, Cole said. The Sheriff's Office put out an alert describing the three people and a vehicle that may have been involved in the case. An officer with the Anderson Police Department stopped a vehicle matching the description on Williamston Road near the Plez U convenience store. A spokesman for the department said the people in the vehicle had been detained for questioning, but it was not clear whether charges had been filed as of late Thursday night. -Staff report 2 shot, possible 3rd victim at large in shooting at Anderson gas station Two are wounded and undergoing medical treatment after a shooting in Anderson. There is potentially a third victim at large. SHARE By Mike Ellis of the Independent Mail The three Republican candidates for 10th Judicial Circuit Solicitor, the top prosecutor for Oconee and Anderson counties, put varying degrees of distance between themselves and the current solicitor during a forum at the White Plains Community Center in Anderson County. Former public defender Wilson Burr and Rame Campbell, who led the Anderson County office until resigning earlier this month, made a clear break as each said voters should look elsewhere if they are happy with the status quo. David Wagner, who leads the Oconee County office, said he disagreed with Solicitor Chrissy Adams on a number of cases but agrees with her on many others. Adams, a four-term solicitor, is not seeking re-election because of an ongoing battle with cancer. Attendees at the forum included Angie Hammond and Cindy Hipps, whose sons died in separate and high-profile incidents in Oconee County. Wagner said he argued with Adams in an unsuccessful attempt to get state officials, rather than the local prosecutor's office, to investigate the death of Hammond's son during a botched Seneca Police Department drug raid last year. Wagner also said Adams took the lead and he had little to no involvement in the investigation into the death of Hipps' son while on a Clemson University fraternity run in 2014. Wagner said he has more experience trying cases than anyone else in the circuit and his experience as a manager means he would be at full speed quicker than the others. Burr said Campbell and Wagner have each had plenty of time to change things in their offices. Burr said he would offer very few plea deals, forcing defendants to seek the deals rather than have deals come to them. "Hold their feet to the fire," he said. Burr resigned as the top public defender in Oconee County at the beginning of the year because he was frustrated with the lengthy wait for many cases and felt he could run the office better. "We've got to make a change," he said. Burr said restoring trust in the solicitor's office would be one of his priorities, along with treating victims with more dignity and moving cases through the system faster. Campbell said he is a career prosecutor who wants nothing more than to put career criminals behind bars for good. He said the solicitor's office has poor relationships with law enforcement and the community and that lack of communication allows criminals to go free too often. "There are those you can help and there are those who need to be put away," Campbell said. No one else has worked as closely or as well with law enforcement, he said. Restoring trust in the judicial system would be his most important job as a solicitor, along with better relationships with coroners, defense attorneys, judges and others, Campbell said. Wagner said many of the questions at the forum addressed dysfunction in the Anderson office and he said the relationships in Oconee County are in much better shape under his leadership. He said community members usually know who committed crimes and working relationships are vital. "We do have some problems with a revolving door," Wagner said. He said he would be able to work to get an extra prosecutor, or more help, to tackle the criminals who get arrested and bonded out. Wagner also pointed to targeting career criminals, building relationships with law enforcement and treating victims with compassion. "I've seen what works and what doesn't work," he said. "I've handled more cases than anyone in the circuit." There are no Democratic candidates for the position. The winner of the June 14 primary, or a runoff election afterward, will likely be elected solicitor in the November election. Follow Mike Ellis on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM SHARE Tri County Technical College president Ronnie L. Booth Anthony G. Kinkel Darrel W. Staat By John Staed Tri-County Technical College President Ronnie Booth is one of three finalists for the job of president of the South Carolina Technical College System. Booth said he learned Tuesday that he was a finalist. Barry Russell, the current president of the state Technical College System, plans to retire at the end of May, Booth said in a letter he sent Tuesday night. Other finalists are Anthony "Tony" Kinkel, president of Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Darrel Staat, president of Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, Va. "Those of you who know me well understand my attraction to new challenges," Booth wrote in the letter. "The system president will play a key role in shaping the future of higher education in South Carolina, particularly in light of diminishing state resources. I feel compelled to explore this opportunity further." The State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education will interview the three finalists Monday, according to a statement sent today. The technical college system comprises 16 schools across South Carolina, including Tri-County Tech. Booth said he looks forward to the interview process. "The selection process is a two-way street. During the next several weeks, I will learn more about the position and the expectations of the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education," he wrote in his letter. "This experience will help me know if the position is a good fit for me, and if I am the right person to carry forward a new vision." William "Ham" Hudson, a Tri-County Tech commissioner, said Booth has been a strong leader in his approximately seven years at Tri-County. "The things he has done are numerous," Hudson said. "Probably some of the more prominent ones were the addition of the Anderson and Easley campuses, his overall leadership with the creation of the Bridge program. You could just go on and on." The Anderson campus of Tri-County Tech opened about two years ago and has quickly grown to serve 1,000 students. The Easley campus is under construction. The school recently opened a new job center in Seneca at the Fred P. Hamilton Career Center. The Bridge to Clemson University Program offers freshman the chance to take classes at Tri-County then transfer into Clemson University. Over the past several years, Tri-County Tech has seen a surge in enrollment, which has created growing pains in terms of parking and managing classes. At the same time, the school has needed to deal with substantial state budget cuts. Hudson said Booth has shown strong leadership to meet those challenges. "He's handled that in an exemplary manner, I think, and without any major uproar or turmoil," Hudson said. "He and his management team just sat down and worked through it." Hudson said Booth would bring the same skills as president of the entire system. "It would mean a big loss to Tri-County and probably a big plus to the state system," he said. Booth wrote, "Whatever the future holds, I know that I will be able to continue my work on behalf of Tri-County Technical College, its students, and this wonderful community we call home. I will continue to keep you informed as this process continues." Independent Mail reporter Alison Newton contributed to this report. SHARE By Independent Mail State health officials have detected West Nile virus in Oconee County, but no people or animals have tested positive for the disease. Oconee County Fire Chief Charlie King said in a Friday afternoon news release that the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control found the virus during routine mosquito surveillance. King urged people not to panic, stating the virus "has been reported in 46 of 50 states. No animal or human infection cases have been confirmed in Oconee County this season. SCDHEC continues their testing and surveillance program to keep Oconee County and municipalities informed." West Nile symptoms are similar to the flu, King said. Old, young and immune depressed people are susceptible, but 70 percent to 80 percent of infected people never notice the symptoms. Anyone who believes they may have been infected should call their doctor or hospital. King provided the following tips for minimizing risk of infection: - Reduce the numbers of adult mosquitoes around your home by draining or eliminate sites that have standing water, such as gutters, animal water dishes, discarded tires and bird baths; - Keep mosquitoes outside by running air conditioners or keeping window and door screens in good order; - Most mosquito species bite during dawn, dusk, twilight hours and night. Some species bite during the day, especially in wooded or other shaded areas; - Wear insect repellent product that contain DEET (Cutter, OFF! and Skintastic), or Picaridin (Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus and Autan), or oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE); - When weather permits, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants; and - Report dead birds at www.scdhec.gov/birdtesting. SHARE By Tim Smith, tcsmith@greenvillenews.com COLUMBIA A recent audit of a South Carolina agency offered harsh criticism and suggested it merge with the state's highway department. The State Transportation Infrastructure Bank awarded funds to projects without an application, used no formal policies to award funds and failed to publicly announce the availability of funds, according to a Legislative Audit Council report. The council's report even suggested that the agency merge with the state Department of Transportation. The report comes as the state Legislature is poised to approve a bill that might result in the state borrowing more than $2 billion through the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank. But Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Larry Grooms said the pending legislation includes reforms that if passed would require the bank's projects also be approved by the state Department of Transportation Commission. Grooms said a DOT approval requirement largely negates some of the concerns raised in the report. "The State Infrastructure Bank should be a financing mechanism," he told The Greenville News. "It should not be in the process of selecting road projects. That's where they went wrong. That needs to be corrected. I believe within the next two weeks in the General Assembly we should be able to correct that." Sen. Harvey Peeler, a Gaffney Republican and former Senate majority leader, has in past years proposed transferring the bank's duties to DOT. He said he has not read Thursday's report, but agrees with the report's suggestions that the bank consolidate with DOT. "Some say it's a good thing, some not," he said of the bank. "It just makes sense to me to fold in the functions of the SIB with the DOT," he said. "It goes back to too much power and too little hands. The way the SIB is set up right now, the Upstate is the loser." Peeler has long been critical of the fact that more SIB funding has gone to Charleston and Horry counties than to other counties in the state, including those in the Upstate. The bank was created by lawmakers in 1997 to finance major transportation projects, including the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston and freeways taking motorists to and around the Grand Strand. According to Thursday's report, Greenville and Spartanburg are among five counties that received at least $200 million from the bank over the years, but less than $1 billion. Charleston and Horry counties both received more than $1 billion in bank financing, according to the LAC. The report found 15 of the state's 46 counties received no funding from bank. The bank has awarded a total of $3.8 billion in grants and $1 billion in loans, according to records, and has $1.99 billion outstanding in payments to bondholders. The LAC report stated that the bank could either be eliminated or become a unit of DOT and its board become advisory. "During our review, we found no function performed by SCTIB that could not also be performed by discontinuing the SCTIB and transferring its funds to SCDOT," the report stated. The LAC concluded doing that would enable better prioritization and coordination of state projects and focus accountability on one agency. But in its response to the report, the bank's chairman, Vincent Graham, said the report did not show any analysis of the consequences of such a merger. "There is no analysis of how or if this massive change could be done legally, financially, or practically," he said. Graham questioned if such a merger might trigger lawsuits by bondholders, negatively impact credit ratings and cost the state more money. The bank agrees with many of the report's recommendations, Graham wrote, including posting all of the bank's grants, loans, commitments and expenditures on its website. But it disagreed with others. Critics have long complained that the agency is less than transparent and is influenced by politics. Graham said that the bank has been working on policy changes to address publicly communicating its availability of funds and its application process. The LAC also raised questions about whether the bank was indirectly using state tax revenues to pay debt service on its revenue bonds. Graham denied that. "The comments on that subject made in the report are incorrect factually and legally, and are potentially damaging to the state," he said. Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) for the quarter stood at 6.5% up 225 bps yoy and 140 bps qoq. Provisions at Rs.13,174.05crore were higher 89.74% yoy and 65.72% qoq. For the year ended March 31, 2016, the bank reported net profit of Rs. 9,950.65 crore, witnessing decline of 24.05% yoy. It's NII for the current period of Rs. 56,881.82 crore was up 3.39% yoy. Provisions during the period at Rs. 29,483.75 crore were higher by 45.79% yoy. State Bank of India Q4 FY16 Mixed Bag: SBI results were a mixed bag with slippages coming slightly higher than expected and NIMs being resilient despite this. NII was up 4% yoy in spite of the sharp deterioration in asset quality in the past 12 months. Impacted by higher delinquencies, Gross NPL rose to 6.5% v/s 5.1% qoq. LLP stood at more than 12000cr as compared to our estimate of ~8300cr. While PCR fell qoq, it was maintained at a reasonable level of 61%. Net NPLs at 3.8% still remains one of the lowest among PSU Banks. The impact of higher provisioning and opex on the bottom-line was cushioned by one-of repatriation of funds from foreign offices. The bank also utilized Rs. 1000cr worth of counter cyclical provision sitting on the balance sheet. State Bank of India, reported standalone net profit of Rs.1,263.81 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016, registering decline of 66.23% yoy, but growth of 13.31% qoq. It's Net Interest Income (NII) for the quarter stood at Rs. 15,290.76 crore, clocking growth of 3.94% yoy and 12.38% qoq.Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) for the quarter stood at 6.5% up 225 bps yoy and 140 bps qoq. Provisions at Rs.13,174.05crore were higher 89.74% yoy and 65.72% qoq.For the year ended March 31, 2016, the bank reported net profit of Rs. 9,950.65 crore, witnessing decline of 24.05% yoy. It's NII for the current period of Rs. 56,881.82 crore was up 3.39% yoy.Provisions during the period at Rs. 29,483.75 crore were higher by 45.79% yoy.SBI results were a mixed bag with slippages coming slightly higher than expected and NIMs being resilient despite this. NII was up 4% yoy in spite of the sharp deterioration in asset quality in the past 12 months. Impacted by higher delinquencies, Gross NPL rose to 6.5% v/s 5.1% qoq. LLP stood at more than 12000cr as compared to our estimate of ~8300cr. While PCR fell qoq, it was maintained at a reasonable level of 61%. Net NPLs at 3.8% still remains one of the lowest among PSU Banks. The impact of higher provisioning and opex on the bottom-line was cushioned by one-of repatriation of funds from foreign offices. The bank also utilized Rs. 1000cr worth of counter cyclical provision sitting on the balance sheet. Result Highlights: (Rs. in crore) Reported Results IIFL Estimates Variance (%) Standalone Revenue 15290.76 14221 {2.75} Standalone Net Profit 1263.81 1571 [19.55] State Bank of India ( SBI) has declared a dividend of Rs. 2.60 per share (260%) for the Financial year ended March 31, 2016. The date of payment of the Dividend is fixed on June 22, 2016 and the dividend warrants will be dispatched before the date of payment, which will be payable, in India, at par at all branches of State Bank of India, irrespective of the amount. Standalone EPS for the quarter stood at Rs. 6.50.Bloomberg estimated the companys consolidated net profit at Rs. 28,086 crore.State Bank of India is currently trading at Rs. 185.15, up by 1.4 points or 0.76% from its previous closing of Rs. 183.75 on the BSE.The scrip opened at Rs. 185 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 190 and Rs. 184.05 respectively. So far 38318402(NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 142641.03 crore.The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 291.85 on 05-Aug-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 148.3 on 12-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 184.9 and Rs. 166.6 respectively.The promoters holding in the company stood at 60.18 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 27.88 % and 10.07 % respectively.The stock is currently trading above its 200 DMA. A high level EDB delegation, today concludes a successful visit to India to attend the 2nd IISS Bahrain India Forum, during which the multiple opportunities for Indian investors in the fast-growing Gulf region were discussed. The Bahrain India Forum aims to encourage discussion between policymakers, business leaders and influential opinion formers from Bahrain and India. The forum analyses the various opportunities and challenges, exploring avenues for mutual growth and strengthening relations between the two nations. The forum opened with a keynote address by Dr S. Jaishankar, Indias Foreign Secretary, who emphasised the importance of relations between Asia and the GCC. The Bahrain delegations participation at the event reinforces the strong economic and political ties that exist today between Bahrain and India in particular, founded on a shared history of trade and commerce that stretches back millennia. The EDB was a main sponsor of the event and the EDBs Managing Director, Simon Galpin, chaired a discussion focussed on finding business opportunities amidst regional challanges. Dr Jarmo Kotilaine, Chief Economist at the Bahrain EDB, also took part in the forum and spoke on the importance of achieving sustainable growth during times of worldwide economic slowdown: The current global economic environment is undeniably proving a challenge to maintaining growth for many countries. However it is important to continue to invest in development even when resources may be scarce. As the first country in the Gulf to begin to diversify its activities away from the oil industry, Bahrain knows better than most the importance of a resilient economy and has worked hard to develop sectors such as financial services, manufacturing and logistics and ICT. There are boundless opportunities for cooperation with Indian businesses in these sectors and with its strategic geographic location at the heart of the GCC Bahrain is a perfect base for Indian companies to launch their regional operations and access the Gulfs markets. Sir John Jenkins, Executive Director, IISS said: In periods of low economic growth it is more important than ever to stimulate conversation between business leaders and policy decision makers, making sure that we confront challenges to economic growth head on and encourage opportunities for development. This is the second time the Bahrain India Forum has been held and we have built on the resounding success of the first. It is evident that India and Bahrains partnership is as strong as ever, as are the opportunities for further cooperation in the future. India is one of Bahrains most important trade partners, with trade between the two nations reaching $674 million in 2015. A number of large Indian businesses including State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services and JBF Industries have established operations in Bahrain as a means of accessing the wider Gulf region, valued at approximately USD 1.5 trillion. In addition Bahrain is home to a large Indian expat community, with more than 350,000 Indian nationals currently living in Bahrain. The Bahrain EDB has offices based at the Bahrain Embassy in Delhi and the Bahrain Consulate in Mumbai that provide information and support to interested investors in the South Asia region. The Indian equity market once again closed in the green extending its winning streak to fourth straight session on Friday. The Nifty closed at highest level in 7 months registering its biggest weekly gain in nearly 3 months. Hopes of economic recovery, strength in rupee and prediction of above average monsoon lifted sentiments higher.Nifty went on to reclaim the 8,150 mark led by the oil & gas, healthcare, banking and energy stocks. Even the midcap and smallcap stocks participated in todays upswing.SBI, BPCL, Sun Pharma, Bank of Baroda, Adani Ports, Ambuja Cement, RIL, Aurobindo Pharma and Bajaj-Auto were among the top gainers on NSE. On the other hand, ONGC, Tata Power, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Bharti Infratel, NTPC and Idea Cellular were among the major losers.Finally, the BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 287 points at 26,654. The BSE Sensex opened at 26,416 touched an intra-day high of 26,677 and low of 26,405.28.The NSE Nifty closed with a gain of 87 points at 8,156. The NSE Nifty opened at 8,082 hitting a high of 8,164 and low of 8,077.The India VIX (Volatility) index was down 0.42% at 15.2600. Out of 1,440 stocks traded on the NSE, 566 declined and 817 advanced today.On the global front, Asian stocks edged higher after better-than-expected US economic reports overnight. In China, the Shanghai Composite index closed marginally down, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng index and Nikkei 225 closed higher by 0.5% each.European markets were trading on a mixed note. The FTSE 100 was trading higher by 0.03%. DAX and the CAC 40 are trading up 0.4% each.The rupee was trading up 16 paise at 67.01 per US dollar.State Bank of India jumped 9.3% to Rs.201 on NSE. The stock was the top Nifty gainer on NSE. The bank reported its net profit falls to Rs.1,264 crore in Q4 compared with Rs.3,742 crore during the same quarter last year. Gross non-performing loans as a percentage of total advances rises to 6.5%.Canara Bank dropped 3% to Rs.193 after the bank reported net loss of Rs.13,905 crore compared with profit of Rs.613 crore during the same period last year.Jaypee Infratech slipped 1% to Rs.5.68. The company registered a standalone net loss of Rs.88.8 crore for the quarter ended March 2016.The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 96.3 crore in the year-ago period.Sun Pharmaceuticals zoomed 5.8% to Rs.825.50 after the companys US-based subsidiary Taro Pharma reported strong earnings. Taro Pharmaceuticals reported a 9% jump in sales at $265 million, while its EBITDA margins jumped 18 per cent to $185 million compared with $157 million during the same period last year.OMCs were in action, HPCL surged 9.8% after the company posted a net profit of Rs.15529.40 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.21623.90 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.Indian Oil Corporation climbed 3%. The company has posted a net profit of Rs.12356.40 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.62853.50 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. BPCL rallied 9% on BSE.Suven Life Sciences rallied 6% to Rs.222 after the company said its net profit rose 90.52% to Rs.32.29 crore in March quarter against Rs.16.95 crore a year ago.Hotel Leelaventure dropped 1.7% to Rs.17.50 after the company said its net loss widened to Rs.228.87 crore in March quarter against net profit of Rs.10.33 crore.Maruti Suzuki recalled 75,419 Baleno models and 1,961 DZire models. The auto firm is recalling cars to upgrade airbags controller software, as per reports. The stock closed higher by 1% to Rs.4,141.A total of 42 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trades today, whereas 25 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.ACC, Asian Paints Limited, Biocon Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Capital First Limited, City Union Bank Limited, D.B.Corp Limited, DCM Shriram Limited, Edelweiss Financial Services Limited, Energy Development Company Limited, Finolex Cables Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Grasim Industries Limited, GTN Industries Limited, Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited, HDFC Bank Limited, Hinduja Foundries Limited, Indiabulls Real Estate Limited, IndusInd Bank Limited, IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited ISMT Limited, Jindal Stainless (Hisar) Limited, JSW Steel Limited, Kajaria Ceramics Limited, Keynote Corporate Services Limited, Lakshmi Finance & Industrial Corporation Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited Maharashtra Seamless Limited, Mohit Industries Limited, Omaxe Limited, Pidilite Industries Limited, PNC Infratech Limited, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Prime Securities Limited, Rushil Decor Limited, Sharda Cropchem Limited, Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited, Supreme Industries Limited, Tata Metaliks Limited, Transformers And Rectifiers (India) Limited, Uniphos Enterprises Limited, Yes Bank were some of the prominent stocks to log a fresh 52-week high during intra-day.Agro Dutch Industries Limited, Austral Coke & Projects Limited, Birla Cotsyn (India) Limited, Gravita India Limited, GTL Infrastructure Limited, IPCA Laboratories Limited, Jaiprakash Associates Limited, Jaypee Infratech Limited, Jindal Stainless Limited, Kemrock Industries and Exports Limited, National Steel And Agro Industries Limited, NEPC India Limited, Parabolic Drugs Limited, Pudumjee Paper Products Limited, Prakash Steelage Limited, Raisaheb Reckhchand Mohota Spinning & Weaving Mills Limited, Raj Rayon Industries Limited, Shrenuj & Company Limited, SKM Egg Products Export (India) Limited, Sterling Biotech Limited, Sudar Industries Limited Surana Industries Limited, SVOGL OIL GAS AND ENERGY LIMITED, Vidhi Dyestuffs Manufacturing Limited, Visesh Infotecnics were some of the notable stocks to record new 52-week low during the day. Moody's Investors Service says its ratings on Tata Steel Ltd. (Tata Steel, Ba3 negative) and Tata Steel UK Holdings Limited (TSUKH, B3 negative) remain unchanged at this point in time, despite their weak operating results for the full year ending March 2016 (FY2016).The two companies' operating results for FY2016 while weak, were in line with our revised expectations in February at the time of the ratings downgrade.Tata Steel reported consolidated revenue of INR1,172 billion and consolidated underlying EBITDA of INR79 billion, down 16% and 39% respectively from a year ago. Although, the results for the quarter ended March 2016 (QE3/2016) showed a substantial improvement over the previous trailing quarter with consolidated revenue and EBITDA of INR295 billion and INR23 billion, an increase of 5% and 171% respectively. The improvement in the operating performance was a result of the general uptick in global steel prices in February and March, after an all-time dip in January."We estimate consolidated adjusted leverage of 8.7x at March 2016, slightly below the peak of 9.0x at December 2015. Looking ahead into FY2017 we expect leverage to correct towards 6.5x-7.5x," says Kaustubh Chaubal, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.Tata Steel's reported gross debt of Rs.862 billion at March 2016 rose by only Rs.55 billion from March 2015 debt levels, despite capital expenditure of Rs.115 billion and weak operations during the year."The proposed sale of the long products business to Greybull Capital (unrated) and the company's intention to sell its UK business are credit positive, although there is no immediate impact on our ratings or outlook," adds Chaubal, who is also the Lead Analyst for Tata Steel and TSUKH."The divestment of the loss making operations will reduce the drag on the European business' profitability which has been under strain for a while; although much is unknown about the divestment contours including debt and pension liabilities to be transferred, which in particular will drive the impact, if any, on the ratings and outlook on Tata Steel and TSUKH," continues Chaubal.Tata Steel's India (TSI) business revenues and underlying EBITDA of INR382 billion and INR74 billion were down 9% and 27% from last year. EBITDA/tonne of INR7,744 for the full year was down 33%, although for QE3/2016 was higher by INR1,563 over the previous trailing quarter and represented price increases effected in February and March.Tata Steel's European operations reported revenue of INR674 billion and underlying EBITDA loss of INR6 billion, down 16% and 115% respectively for fiscal 2016. Steel prices in Europe also remained weak with cheaper mimports from China and Russia. Tata Steel's European operations registered a sharp 115% drop in its EBITDA/tonne to negative INR439 in FY2016.In our view, continuing protectionist measures are imperative especially as global steel over supply prevails, exerting pressure on pricesglobally.In India, we see the extension of the safeguard duty for three years until 2019 from an initial 200 day period, the imposition of an minimum import price (MIP) on some 173 grades of steel imports (in its current form until early August 2016), and a possible antidumping duty, as a reflection of continuing support for the ailing steel sector.In Europe, we expect the European Union's (EU) anti-dumping duties on steel imports from China and Russia to provide some support to steel prices.Increase in TSI's production with the commissioning of 3 million tonnes per annum (3mtpa) greenfield expansion at Kalinganagar which started commercial production in May 2016, a higher proportion of value added products in its product basket, and the expected completion of the restructuring of Tata Steel Europe will drive earnings expansion for Tata Steel and TSUKH and lead the path towards leverage correction.We will watch out for the progress on the UK business divestments; clarity on divestment of liabilities including pensions and erasing the negative EBITDA impact of the UK facilities on TSUKH's credit metrics would be critical for any change in outlook to the TSUKH ratings. Credit metrics that would support such an action include adjusted leverage trending towards 7.0x and EBIT/interest coverage of at least 1.0x on a sustained basis.As to a change in our outlook on Tata Steel to stable, other than the improvement in its operating and credit metrics as a result of the divestment of the lossmaking UK operations, we would need to see: (1) domestic steel prices continuing on their recovery path, or, on the back of an increase in steel volumes -- Tata Steel shows a substantial improvement in profitability, with consolidated EBITDA/tonne in the INR6,000-7,000 range; and (2) the company's free cash flow turns positive on a sustained basis.Adjusted consolidated leverage trending towards 4.5x-5.0x would constitute a leading indicator for a change in Tata Steel's outlook to stable.Tata Steel Ltd. is an integrated steel company headquartered in Mumbai. It acquired the operations of Corus plc -- now known as Tata Steel UK Holdings Limited -- in January 2007.In FY2016, Tata Steel's business spanned 26 countries. It is one of the leading steel makers globally, with deliveries of 25.92 million tonnes in FY2016. Jamshedpur in India delivered some 9.54 mt, while its European operations and Southeast Asian operations added 13.61 mt and 2.70 mt respectively, in FY2016. Maruti Suzuki has recalled 75,419 Baleno models and 1,961 DZire models.The auto firm is recalling cars to upgrade airbags controller software, as per reports.Maruti Suzuki recently said that it will inspect suspected fault in 20,427 S-Cross vehicle free of cost and replace brake part of units made between April 20, 2015 to February 12, 2016.The Indian arm of automobile giant Suzuki Motor Corp had also said that India will not be impacted by the issue raised in Japan for using improper fuel economy and emission tests."The issue will not impact India due to different testing regulations. The system of conducting vehicle mileage tests in India is distinct from the one in Japan. In India, all vehicles are tested for road load and emissions by government approved agencies," Maruti was quoted as saying.Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is currently trading at Rs. 4135, up by Rs. 17.9 or 0.4% from its previous closing of Rs. 4117.1 on the BSE.The scrip opened at Rs. 4118 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 4155.1 and Rs. 4093 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 124370.8 crore.The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 4789 on 23-Nov-2015 and a 52 week low of Rs. 3202.1 on 29-Feb-2016. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 4127.9 and Rs. 3885 respectively.The promoters holding in the company stood at 56.2 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 37 % and 6.7 % respectively.The stock is currently trading above its 200 DMA. Total Interest Expenses increased from Rs.25,389 Crores in Q4FY15 to Rs.27,541 Crores in Q4FY16 (8.47% growth). Net Interest Income increased from Rs.14,712 Crores in Q4FY15 to Rs.15,291 Crores in Q4FY16 (3.94 growth). Non Interest Income increased by 25.61% from Rs.8,515 Crores in Q4FY15 to Rs.10,696 Crores in Q4FY16 driven by increase of 18.22% in fee income and 44.47% in Recovery in written off accounts. Operating Income increased by 11.88% from Rs.23,227 Crores in Q4FY15 to Rs.25,986 Crores in Q4FY16. Staff Expenses increased from Rs.6,567 Crores in Q4FY15 to Rs.6,943 Crores in Q4FY16 (5.73% increase). Operating Expenses increased by 12.68% from Rs.10,467 Crores in Q4FY15 to Rs.11,794 Crores in Q4FY16. Taking into account write back of Rs. 416 crores in depreciation due to change in methodology in Q4FY15, increase in Operating Expenses would have been lower at 8.37%. Operating Profit increased by 11.22% from Rs.12,760 Crores in Q4FY15 to Rs.14,192 Crores in Q4FY16. ASSET QUALITY Gross NPA went up by 225 bps at 6.50% in FY 16 as against 4.25% in FY15. Net NPA went up by 169 bps at 3.81% in FY16 as against 2.12% in FY15. Asset quality improved in the Non-Corporate Book: Gross NPA Ratio in Per Segment Loans declined from 0.93% in FY15 to 0.75% in FY16. Gross NPA Ratio in Agri. loans declined from 8.90% in FY15 to 6.93% in FY16. Gross NPA Ratio in SME loans remained stable at around 7.8%. DEPOSITS Deposits of the Bank increased from Rs.15,76,793 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.17,30,722 Crores in Mar 16 (9.76 %.YOY growth) Domestic Deposits grew from Rs.14,87,236 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.16,36,425 Crores in Mar 16 (10.03 % YOY growth) Savings Bank deposits increased from Rs.5,13,905 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.5,81,564 Crores in Mar 16 (13.17% YOY growth). Current Account deposits increased from Rs.1,23,855 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.1,35,768 Crores in Mar 16 (9.62% YOY growth) . CASA Ratio improved by 96 bps from 42.88% in Mar 15 to 43.84% in Mar 16. ADVANCES Gross Advances increased from Rs.13,35,424 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.15,09,500 Crores in Mar 16 (13.04 % YOY growth). Large Corporate advances increased from Rs.2,81,977 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.3,29,026 Crores in Mar 16 (16.69% YOY growth). Mid-Corporate Advances increased from Rs.2,17,556 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.2,32,626 Crores in Mar 16 (6.93% YOY growth). Retail Personal advances increased from Rs.2,72,429 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.3,27,075 Crores in Mar 16 (20.06 % YOY growth). Home loans increased from Rs.1,59,237 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.1,90,552 Crores in Mar 16 (19.67 % YOY growth). Auto loans increased from Rs.32,149 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.38,549 Crores in Mar 16 (19.91 % YOY growth). SME Advances increased from Rs.1,81,473 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.1,89,536 Crores in Mar 16 (4.44%YOY growth). Agri advances increased from Rs.1,19,782 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.1,25,387 Crores in Mar 16 (4.68% YOY growth). International advances increased from Rs.2,34,532 Crores in Mar 15 to Rs.2,66,817 Crores in Mar 16 ( 13.77 % YOY growth). KEY FINANCIAL RATIOS (SBI): Capital Adequacy Ratio under Basel III improved to 13.12% in Mar 16 from 12.00% in Mar 15. Revaluation of Real Estate Assets is yet to be taken in our books. Average Cost of Deposits declined to 6.22 % in Mar 16 from 6.39% in Mar 15. Average Yield on Advances moved from 10.55% in Mar 15 to 10.00 % in Mar 16. Domestic NIM declined to 3.27% in Mar 16 from 3.54% in Mar 15, whereas Foreign offices NIM improved to 1.29% in Mar 16 from 1.18% in Mar 15. Whole Bank NIM declined to 2.96% in Mar 16 from 3.16% in Mar15. Cost to Income Ratio moved from 49.04% in Mar 15 to 49.13% in Mar 16. Return on Assets is lower at 0. 46 % in Mar 16 against 0.68 % in Mar 15. Return on Equity is lower at 7.57% in Mar 16 against 11.17% in Mar 15. Performance of Associate Banks State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur registered a Net Profit of Rs.851 Crores in FY16 against Rs.777 Crores in FY15 (9.49 % YOY growth). State Bank of Hyderabad posted a Net Profit of Rs.1065 Crores in FY16 against Rs.1317 Crores in FY15 (YOY decline of 19.15%). State Bank of Mysore registered a Net Profit of Rs.358 Crores in FY16 against Rs.409 Crores in FY 15 (YOY decline of 12.46%). State Bank of Patiala posted a Net Loss of Rs.972 Crores in FY16 against a Net Profit of Rs.362 Crores in FY15. State Bank of Travancore registered a Net Profit of Rs.338 Crores in FY16 up from Rs.336 Crores in FY15 (0.66 %YOY growth). Gross NPAs for SBI Group increased from 4.29% in FY15 to 6.40% in FY16, while Net NPAs increased from 2.24% in FY15 to 3.73 % in FY16. Net Profit (after minority interest) of SBI Group declined from Rs 16,994 Crores in FY15 to Rs.12,225 Crores in FY16 ( YOY decline of 28.07%). State Bank of India has announced the following results for the quarter & year ended March 31, 2016:The bank has posted a net profit of Rs.12638.10 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.37420.20 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.The bank's total income has increased from Rs.486164.10 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 to Rs.535269.70 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.The audited standalone results for the Year ended March 31, 2016The bank has posted a net profit of Rs.99506.50 million for the year ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.131015.70 million for the year ended March 31, 2015. Total Income has increased from Rs.1749729.60 million for the year ended March 31, 2015 to Rs.1918436.70 million for the year ended March 31, 2016.The audited consolidated results for the Year ended March 31, 2016The bank has posted a net profit after minority interest of Rs.122245.90 million for the year ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.169943 million for the year ended March 31, 2015. Total Income has increased from Rs.2572895.10 million for the year ended March 31, 2015 to Rs.2728710.30 million for the year ended March 31, 2016.The bank has declared a dividend of Rs.2.60 per share (260%) for the Financial year ended March 31, 2016. The date of payment of the Dividend is fixed on June 22, 2016 and the dividend warrants will be dispatched before the date of payment, which will be payable, in India, at par at all branches of State Bank of India, irrespective of the amount. SBI: State Bank of India (SBI), the largest bank in India, will announce its financial results today. As per IIFLs forecast, the banks net interest income for Q4 FY16 is expected to dip to Rs.14,221 crore, at a rate of 3% yoy; however, the same is likely to increase 5% qoq. Jet Airways: The company has posted a net profit of Rs.3971.60 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to net loss of Rs.17289.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.BPCL: The company has posted a net profit of Rs.25490.80 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.28528.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.Crompton Greaves: Crompton Greaves, one of the leading manufacturers of heavy electrical equipments in India, will announce its Q4 numbers today. As per IIFLs forecast, the companys net revenue for Q4 FY16 is expected to tank to Rs.2,274 crore, at a rate of 40.3% yoy; however, the same is likely to increase 10% qoq.TCS: TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran's pay rises 20% in FY16 to Rs 25.6 crore, as per reports. Chandrasekaran's compensation stands at 459 times the median level at company.Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd: The company posted a net profit of Rs.15990.50 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.14124.80 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.United Spirits Ltd: United Spirits posted a net loss of Rs.89.90 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.17992.80 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.Central Bank of India: The Board of Directors at the said in a meeting it may consider the proposal seeking approval of shareholders in advance to raise the equity capital upto Rs.3000 crore during Financial year 2016-17 through various modes such as- Preferential Issue, QIP, Rights Issue, FPO, etc. subject to approval of Government of India, Reserve Bank of India and other statutory authorities (if any) in the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.VA Tech Wabag Ltd: VA Tech Wabag Ltd posted a net profit of Rs.685.40 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 705 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.RPG Life Sciences Ltd: The company has decided to sell its biotech unit to Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd for an unspecified amount, as per media reports.Torrent Pharma: Torrent Pharma is in talks to buy bulk drugs supplier Glochem Industries for about Rs.300 crore, according to reports.Shipping Corporation of India Ltd: Shipping Corporation of India Ltd posted a net loss of Rs.70.20 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to net profit of Rs.1014.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd: Neyveli Lignite Corporation posted a net profit of Rs. 4462.40 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 6768.10 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: The pharma company has launched its first standalone fertility centre in Chennai with a promise to offer quality infertility treatment backed by world class infrastructure and a team of experienced clinicians.Adani Transmission: The company informed that the board of directors has approved the company's fund raising plans of up to Rs.85 bn through a variety of instruments.NIIT: NIIT has entered into two strategic agreements in China to develop a pool of next generation IT professionals in big data and analytics. india-store.de There might not be Rajinikanth flipping a cigarette in the air as it lands on his pout. Or Katrina Kaif revealing her punk side dragging a beedi. There might not be any more hookah parties in films and villains may not light cigars to show their swag. NO more SMOKING! The Indian Medical Association has demanded a "blanket" ban on smoking scenes in films. It said the existing caption cautioning viewers about the ill-effects of smoking on the health has "failed" to deter people from taking to the habit. "We demand a complete ban on smoking scenes in films. The caption below the scene that smoking is injurious to health does not stop people emulating the smoking character depicted in the film." - Dr KK Aggarwal, IMA Secretary General Currently, all we see is a "smoking kills" social message advertisement before the start of a movie, and filmmakers inserting a single strip of a no smoking statutory warning in all smoking scenes, like this one from Anushka Sharma's NH10. Statistically India stands at a wary position. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey states that about 35 per cent of adults in India consume tobacco in some form or the other. Bollywood's fixation with smoking scenes dates back to the farthest times. From Dilip Kumar to Amitabh Bachchan, from Shah Rukh Khan to Ranbir Kapoor, everyone has smoked onscreen. Even actresses including Vidya Balan, Priyanka Chopra, Rani Mukerji and Anushka Sharma have puffed on camera. Blockbuster songs like "Beedi Jalaile" and "Chikni Chameli" have completely revolved around smoking! fashionlady And with the number of smokers at an all-time high, IMA's efforts towards banning it in films might yield some effect on the numbers. Or will it really, considering any habit is a personal choice? We need to wait and watch if the ban is actually implemented and until the next set of figures are revealed. We just wonder what'll happen to all Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bharadwaj films, that breathe on real-life inspired scenes, including smoking and drinking. Time to rework their screenplays, maybe! aryzauq.tv Advertising sector watchdog ASCI has rapped Patanjali Ayurved for "false and misleading" claims in its various advertisements , including for its hair oil and washing powder brands. The watchdog has ruled that the advertisements of the group associated with Yoga Guru Ramdev "unfairly denigrates" other products in the market. BCCL The Customer Complaints Council (CCC) of Advertising Standard Council of India (ASCI) has also upheld complaints against advertisements by Johnson & Johnson, Amazon, and ITC, among other companies. In March, the CCC received 156 complaints, out of which it upheld as many as 90 complaints, terming them as "false and misleading". The upheld complaints included 32 in the education category, 30 in the healthcare and personal care category, and further 10 in the food and beverages category. The CCC found Patanjali's advertisement claim for its product Patanjali Kesh Kanti Natural Hair Cleanser and Oil that "mineral oil is carcinogenic in nature and may cause cancer" was false and misleading by ambiguity and by gross exaggeration. fssairegistration It also upheld complaints against Patanjali Ayurved's Patanjali Kachi Ghani Mustard Oil. it said. "The advertisement's claims 'Other than Kacchi Ghani process most of the other edible refined oils and mustard oil are made using neurotoxin Hexagon solvent extraction process. To make profits at the cost of consumers' health many companies mix cheap palm oil in mustard oil", were not substantiated and the claims were misleading," BCCL "The statement also unfairly denigrates other oils/ mustard oil," the advertising watchdog added. The advertising watchdog also upheld the complaint against Patanjali Ayurved's Patanjali Herbal Washing Powder, Cake and Dishwash Bar. Also Read: Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Noodles Get 'Sub-Standard' Rating Thanks To High Ash Content! Indian Finance Ministry has rejected Apple's request to relax some norms to allow it to open official Apple Stores in the country. Bloomberg This is because the company won't be complying with a pre-condition for setting up single-brand retail stores in the country, which mandates that 30 percent of the products should be sourced locally. Apple cannot meet this requisite as most of its products are made in China. The finance ministry has opposed the request of Apple citing that it goes against the government's Make in India policy. AP The company had sought exemption from the local sourcing norms as the US-based giant makes state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology products for which local sourcing is not possible. It has no wholly-owned store in India and sells its products through distributors. Single-brand retailers are also allowed to take e-commerce route for such trading. At present, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in the sector. Apple have pitched high hopes on India, due to its fast growing market. The company had opened a development office in Hyderabad earlier this year, with 150 employees, plus contractors, working on Apple Maps. PTI During Apple CEO Tim Cook's recent visit to India he had announced another facility in Bangalore, to be called a Design and Development Accelerator, aimed at supporting the large iOS development community in the country. Reports are doing the rounds that the Indian Army, in order to avenge the killing of 6 Assam riffles jawans by militants near Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur, launched an offensive and destroyed some rebel makeshift camps near the border. bccl According to reports published in local media including a local English daily The Sangai Express, the attacks by army were made after six army personnel of 29 Assam Rifles were killed in the ambush laid by militant group CorCom targeting a party of CO which was returning after inspection of a landslide location in Chandel on Sunday. The attack had taken place at 1 pm and martyred soldiers, included a junior commanding officer. Last year on June 4, 18 jawans of 6 Dogra regiment were killed by militants in an ambush in Paorlon village in Chandel after which the Army had reportedly launched surgical strikes inside the Myanmmar border and killed many terrorists. However, the reports of any such operation couldnt be confirmed from an army source. bccl According to the reports published in the paper, the security forces exchanged fire near Border Pillar No-87 along Indo-Myanmar border just after noon on Thursday. The Sangai Express report also reads that reports of counter attack came after Lt Gen Abhay Krishna, General Officer Commanding of 3 Corps vowed to hit back hard against militants responsible for the deadly Joupi ambush. He said the attack was an opportunity to bounce back with bigger success. Krishna stated this while paying tribute to the slain personnel of 29 Assam Rifles near Tulihal airport yesterday. Also Read: 6 Assam Rifles Jawans Killed In Manipur Ambush, Militants Steal Indian Weapons bccl Last year, after 18 jawans were killed in an ambush by militants, reports of army launching heavy offensive against militants inside Myanmar border had grabbed the headlines, but nothing could be confirmed then. Chief Of Army Staff (COAS), Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag visited 29 Assam Riffle Station in Manipur on Sunday to pay his respects to the martyred jawans. The Facebook page of Indian Army posted about the arrival of Gen Suhag to Assam Riffle station and how he was briefed by the operations to be carried out against militants. This hints towards the strikes that might have been made. While the conversation about the #BeefBan is getting rekindled again after Maharashtra ruled that possession and consumption of beef wasn't illegal but slaughter was, now Kerala has hit out strongly against the beef ban. Even though beef is not illegal in the state, there were reports that the Kerala Police Academy was running an unofficial beef ban. You'll also remember that the state's guest house in Delhi was attacked on the accusation of serving beef which later turned out to be buffalo meat. Newly appointed state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said eating beef is a part of the state's tradition. Pinarayi made it clear that Kerala is having a tradition of people eating the food of their own choice and no change will be allowed in that culture. PTI His comments come days after IG Suresh Rajpurohit ordered a probe into reports of beef being served at the Police training academy by some left-leaning groups to celebrate LDF's election victory. Kerala Police It was reportedly consumed by around 150 trainees, which led to IG Rajpurohit summoning and seeking an explanation from those running the canteen. Beef which is completely legal in Kerala had an 'unofficial ban' in the police academy for nearly two years ever since Rajpurohit took charge. However, both the director of the Academy Rajesh Dewan and IGP training Rajpurohit denied that there was a ban on serving beef at the mess. "The menu of each mess is decided by the mess committee, and new items can be served with the approval of the committee. The officer-in-charge may have sought an explanation from the staff who had deviated from the pre-approved menu," said IG Rajpurohit. "We have no restrictions on the menu of the trainees. All that we insist the food that the trainees eat should have the calories required by them to undergo the training programmes," Dewan said. Beef which is deep-rooted in Kerala's multi-cuisine culture has always remained a touchy issue in the state, where it is the most popular non-veg item. With many states recently banning beef, it had also become a symbol of defiance in Kerala with many groups including students, mostly pro-left organising beef festivals across the state. It had also made headlines last year after the Kerala House in Delhi was raided by police for allegedly serving beef on its menu. However, the government clarified that the 'beef' served in the state guesthouse was buffalo meat which is legal and not cows meat. BCCL Even during the recently held elections it was one of the most discussed issues, with even the state BJP leadership clarifying that they are not against people eating beef. Ghaziabad police have verified and 'cleared' Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as a driver, resident of Indirapuram locality. PTI No, this is not a joke. A police post of Shipra Sun City verified the personal details of the tenant written as Rahul Gandhi, son of late Rajiv Gandhi. TOI It appears that someone pulled off a prank on the Congress vice president. Even though police have registered an FIR, they indicated that the document could be an old one. "Prima facie it appears that somebody has played a mischievous act. The format of the form is not matching with our presently available form. It might be an old one," said Gorakh Nath Yadav, Inspector at Indirapuram police station. The Supreme Court on Thursday accused the Modi-led NDA government of paying only "lip service" to the cause of women's security and questioned it for sitting on the Rs 3,000-crore Nirbhaya fund while failing to frame plans for the purpose. BCCL Stressing that creating an additional fund by itself wouldn't make any difference to security and welfare of women, a bench of Justices Prafulla C Pant and DY Chandrachud said the Centre should devolve money from the fund to state and district levels for use, instead of sitting over the corpus. The apex court sought response from the Centre on how it was planning to apportion funds to state and district administration for the purpose it was set up for. The Nirbhaya Fund was set up in 2013 in the aftermath of the December 16 Delhi gang-rape. The bench said. "How are you planning to devolve the fund to states and districts? You should ensure that money is distributed to each state. If it is not provided, it would not make any difference at the ground level." BCCL The court was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Nipun Saxena seeking the court's direction to the Centre to formulate plan for relief and rehabilitation of rape survivors. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae, told the bench that the Centre had planned to set up a one-stop crisis centre for women in distress in every district but it was functional only in 14 of 653 districts. BCCL She contended that there was no uniformity in the amount of compensation paid by state governments to rape survivors and a national plan should be formulated for compensation. At present, different state governments grant varying amount as compensation to rape survivors ranging from Rs 10,000 in Odisha to Rs 10 lakh in Goa. Maharashtra is the only state which has not framed rules for compensation as per Section 357A of Criminal Procedure Code. Also Read: Woman Overpowers Three Assailants Who Wanted To Rape Her, Get Them Nabbed By Police Section 357A of CrPC says that every state government in co-ordination with the Central government shall prepare a scheme for providing funds for the purpose of compensation to victims or their dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of the crime and require rehabilitation. Agreeing with her submission, the bench issued notice to the Centre and states directing them to file details of compensation schemes followed by them. The bench said. "There should be a national model so that there is uniformity in the scheme across the country. Let all states file response and we will examine." BCCL The court also favoured a national scheme for witness protection. The bench asked the Centre and states to file response within six weeks. It also asked Jaising to formulate issues on sentencing policy in rape cases. Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai was attacked in Nashik on Friday morning, a day after she offered prayers at the Kapaleshwar temple. oneindia The activist alleged that it was a planned attack and that there is a threat to her life. She has been admitted to a hospital in Nashik. Desai, who has campaigned successfully to break the bar on the entry of women to some Hindu temples, on Thursday offered prayers at the Kapaleshwar temple, but didn't try to enter the inner sanctum. bccl Desai and other activists arrived at the temple at around noon on Thursday amid tight police security. Later, she and the others were escorted in a police van some distance away from the temple, from where they left for Pune. Some city residents held a meeting at a hall behind the temple and strongly opposed Desai's earlier decision to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple today. Notably, in the previous week, Desai had to return without offering prayers at Kapaleshwar, following strong opposition from locals, priests and trustees of the temple. Earlier this month, Desai entered the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai but stopped short of the inner sanctum. Desai has been in the news for months for leading a campaign to allow women entry into the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district and the Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik district. Read Also: Shani Shingapur Activist Trupti Desai Beaten At Temple, Allegedly Gets Death Threats Too A tweet that went viral on Wednesday showed a naked 16-year-old regaining consciousness with the message, "Pounded the girl - Get it. Hahaha!" The same day, another man posted another tweet with a picture of his face next to the girl's private parts with the lewd message, Rio state opens a new tunnel for the speed train. The Rio police are currently investigating the report filed by the girl against 30 men who drugged and raped her last weekend, including her 19-year-old boyfriend. "This is the famous slut from Barao", says one man on the video as he films the girl lying unconscious. "Over 30 guys have made her pregnant", says another man, laughing. At least three male voices can be heard in the video boasting of the gang rape. At present, the police has issued only four arrest warrants but are looking for 30 suspects. IB Times While both the Twitter accounts were suspended after the complaint was filed, 550 people had liked it! There were many who responded to the tweets with smileys and thumbs-up icons accompanying vulgar remarks on the woman. After the 36 hour-long brutality, the victim was taken to a hospital by a local. She then tried to escape from the hospital several times, pleading "I just want to go home". The vicious rape has sparked a new range of protest against the crimes on women in Brazil. Women constitute 52 per cent of the population of the country. npr.org In Brazil, a woman is raped every 11 minutes, according to data released by the Brazilian Forum on Public Security at the end of last year. In 2015, the country recorded 47,646 cases of rape. The Human Rights Commission of Rio de Janeiro issued a statement, "It is an act of barbarity and cowardice. The attack on this young woman is also an aggression against all women. We are seeing an increasing dehumanization and disrespect for others. The main victims have been women. Our solidarity with the young victim, her family and all women". rioonwatch What has triggered greater angst across the nation is the fact that local media have almost completely blacked out the news of the rape. "The Brazilian media had covered the Nirbhaya case in great detail and repeatedly mentioned that "India is an unsafe place for women. People talk of India and every case of rape there is reported. But India is here. In India, the case generated strong reaction, but our reality is similar," Silvia Chakian, a prosecutor of Sao Paulo told the BBC. 1 Killed, 1 Injured In Shooting At Englewood's Famed Powell's Barbershop By Mae Rice in News on May 27, 2016 6:03PM Photo via Facebook On Thursday afternoon, a shooting at a well-known Englewood barbershop killed one man and wounded another. An unknown man fired shots into Powell's Barber Shop (1139 W. 63rd St.) at 3:11 p.m., police said, hitting a 38-year-old man in the arm and a 36-year-old man in the leg. Both were taken to Stroger Hospital, and the 38-year-old man, Gerald Sias, was later pronounced dead. The 36-year-old man was in stable condition last police heard. Powell's ownerSunni Powell, 45was running an errand Thursday when he got a call that a shooting had occurred at his shop, he told Chicagoist. By the time he got back, police were already on the scene. "I looked through the window, and there were two guys laying on the ground," he said. "There was blood everywhere." Powell knew both victims as customers at his shop, he said; one was part of a family of Powell's regulars. "His father and his cousins and his whole family, they all get their hair cut here," Powell said. Located in a strip mall between a phone store and a chicken and fish restaurant, Powell's barbershop is a well-known Chicago institution. Samuel L. Jackson shot a scene there for Spike Lee's Chiraq; Powell also said he's a barber on the set of Chicago Fire. "It has nothing to do with the barber shop," Powell said, of the shooting. "It just really upsets me that people don't look at this as sacred ground. To bring it inside a barbershop, that's like shooting someone inside a church." Part of the sanctity of the shop, to Powell, is that kids often come to him for haircuts. He lectures at Chicago Public Schools about the art of barberinga talk called "It's a Career, Not a Hustle"and at the end of his lecture, he gives students coupons for free haircuts. He also hosts bimonthly story times for kids at the shop, in collaboration with Metropolitan Family Services, he said. For now, he and his team are recovering from the damage to the shop. Ricocheting bullets broke some mirrors and tiles, and "they shot up my nice leather couches," Powell said. Police then had to damage the couches further to look for evidence. Still, Powell told the Sun-Times he has no plans to shut downand he told us he has plans, established before the shooting, to advocate against gun violence with a major event on July 31. Called the Barbershop Ceasefire Movement, the event will involve Powell and "barbers coming from all over the country" cutting hair for free in Ogden Park, while openly advocating against gun violence. Powell thinks barbers have a responsibility to do so, "since we cut the shotcallers [hair]." The message of the event, Powell said, is simple. "Your barber's about to start speaking up. We hear everything. We know exactly what's going on." 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 network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues. New book: Struggles for autonomy in Kurdistan New book from Corporate Watch The setting up of local assemblies and co-operatives, as well as radical women's and ecological movements, are rapidly gathering momentum in Kurdistan. The book gives a simple introduction to democratic confederalism, the idea that has inspired many of those involved in these movements. The book also compiles accounts from Kurdish people who are oppressed by the state of Turkey and profiles some of the companies that are complicit in their repression. The interviews give suggestions of how people outside of Kurdistan can act in solidarity. Buy the book or download it for free at https://corporatewatch.org/publications/2016/new-book-struggles-autonomy-kurdistan. "Kurdish people have been in struggle for a long time. We have a long rebellion against capitalism and the state but unfortunately people in europe dont know Kurdish struggles like they do the Palestinian or Zapatista struggles. We need democratic, socialist, anarchist and autonomist people to cooperate with Kurdish people against the colonialist, imperialist and fascist powers. - Activist in Bakur Kurdistan is currently divided between four countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. In each of the parts of Kurdistan, Kurdish identities and cultures have been repressed for generations. This book, by Eliza Egret and Tom Anderson, gathers together first-hand accounts of the struggles for a new society taking place in Bakur and Rojava - the parts of Kurdistan within the borders of Turkey and Syria.The setting up of local assemblies and co-operatives, as well as radical women's and ecological movements, are rapidly gathering momentum in Kurdistan. The book gives a simple introduction to democratic confederalism, the idea that has inspired many of those involved in these movements.The book also compiles accounts from Kurdish people who are oppressed by the state of Turkey and profiles some of the companies that are complicit in their repression. The interviews give suggestions of how people outside of Kurdistan can act in solidarity.Buy the book or download it for free at"Kurdish people have been in struggle for a long time. We have a long rebellion against capitalism and the state but unfortunately people in europe dont know Kurdish struggles like they do the Palestinian or Zapatista struggles. We need democratic, socialist, anarchist and autonomist people to cooperate with Kurdish people against the colonialist, imperialist and fascist powers. - Activist in Bakur Eliza Egret and Tom Anderson Homepage: www.corporatewatch.org Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Athens on Friday afternoon to begin a two-day official visit to the country, his first in a decade, with the highlight being his official attendance at commemorative liturgy in the Russian-influenced monastery on Mount Athos. The CTA Is Extending Bus Service This Weekend For Beyonce's Tour By Mae Rice in News on May 27, 2016 4:10PM Beyonce attends the 2016 Met Gala in New York. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for People.com) Beyonce plays Chicago's Soldier Field Friday and Saturday night as part of her Formation World Tour. To accommodate the throngs of fans jonesing for her incredible live show (and "Boycott Beyonce" merch), the Chicago Transit Authority is providing extra bus service to the venue. The CTA will provide "extra service on routes that regularly serve Soldier Field," according to a statement issued this morning. That means the #130 Museum Campus bus route and the #146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express bus route will run later on Friday and Saturday; both will run until about an hour after her show ends. Fans can also get to and from the concert by taking Red, Green and Orange Line trains to the Roosevelt stop, the CTA says. Though this might seem like further proof that Beyonce is queen of all things, including transit, it's pretty typical for a Soldier Field show. "If there are concerts at Soldier Field, we typically do [extend bus service]," a spokesperson for the CTA told Chicagoist. She said that the CTA provided the "exact" same extended bus service for Taylor Swift's Soldier Field shows in July of 2015. Gain a broader understanding of the Canadian and global coal industry from Canadian and internationally renowned industry leaders, analysts and experts, panel discussions and fellow delegates, which you can put to work in your business. Renew business connections and forge new relationships. Benefit from a variety of sponsorship packages to connect with key audiences. Unjust Cause The Decision to Bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki By Andrew Cockburn P resident Obama is about to visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima, where on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb that killed 140,000 people. Earlier this month, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes wrote on Medium.com that the President will shine a spotlight on the tremendous and devastating human toll of war. But the White House has also made clear that the president has no intention of apologizing. Seventy years after World War II, it seems the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still a matter for evasion, justified by U.S. officials as the only way to end the war and save American lives. If Obama sticks to this script, his speech wont amount to much more than Donald Rumsfelds stuff happens. To fill in Obamas preannounced omissions, I turned to the historian Gar Alperovitz. His 1995 book The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of An American Myth is the most definitive account we are likely to see of why Hiroshima was destroyed, and how an official history justifying that decision was subsequently crafted and promulgated by the national security establishment. As he explained, the bomb not only failed to save Americans lives, it might actually have caused the needless deaths of thousands of U.S. servicemen. May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Harpers " - Lets start with the basic question: was it necessary to drop the bomb on Hiroshima in order to compel Japanese surrender and thereby save American lives? Absolutely not. At least, every bit of evidence we have strongly indicates not only that it was unnecessary, but that it was known at the time to be unnecessary. That was the opinion of top intelligence officials and top military leaders. There was intelligence, beginning in April of 1945 and reaffirmed month after month right up to the Hiroshima bombing, that the war would end when the Russians entered [and that] the Japanese would surrender so long as the emperor was retained, at least in an honorary role. The U.S. military had already decided [it wanted] to keep the emperor because they wanted to use him after the war to control Japan. Virtually all the major military figures are now on record publicly, most of them almost immediately after the war, which is kind of amazing when you think about it, saying the bombing was totally unnecessary. Eisenhower said it on a number of occasions. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs said itthat was Admiral Leahy, who was also chief of staff to the president. Curtis LeMay, who was in charge of the conventional bombing of Japan, [also said it]. Theyre all public statements. Its remarkable that the top military leaders would go public, challenging the presidents decision within weeks after the war, some within months. Really, when you even think about it, can you imagine it today? Its almost impossible to think of it. Had the United States ever wanted the Russians to come in? Heres what I think happened. Not knowing whether the bomb would work or not, the top U.S. leaders were advised early on that the Russian declaration of war, combined with assurances that the emperor could stay on in some titular role without power, would end the war. Thats why at Yalta [the February 1945 summit between Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill] we desperately begged the Russians to come in, and they agreed to come in three months after the German war ended. U.S. intelligence early on had said this would end the war, which is why we sought their involvement before the bomb was tested. After the bomb was tested, the United States was desperately trying to get the war over before they came in. Is it possible that the U.S. leadership avoided actions that might have brought about surrender, to keep the whole thing going so that they would have an excuse to use the bomb? Now youve put your finger on the most delicate of all questions. We cannot prove that. But we do know that the advice to the president by virtually the entire top echelon of both military and political leaders was to give assurances to the Japanesethat would likely bring about a surrender earlier in the summer of 1945, after the April intelligence reports. Had they given those terms at that time, as many of the top leaders suggestedUnder Secretary of State [Joseph] Grew for instance, and Secretary of War [Henry] Stimson as wellthe war might very well have ended earlier, even before the Russians came in. The allied leaders meeting at Potsdam in late July issued the Potsdam Declaration laying the surrender terms for the Japanese. In your book, you discuss an attempt to include the necessary assurances about preserving the emperor in the declaration. What happened? As originally written, paragraph twelve of the Potsdam Declaration essentially assured the Japanese that the emperor would not be taken off of his throne, and [would] be kept on in some titular role like the king or queen of England but with no power. It was a recommendation of everyone in the top government, with the exception of Jimmy Byrnes. Byrnes was the chief advisor to the president on this matter, and he was secretary of state. Theres no doubt that he controlled the basic decision-making on it. He was also the presidents personal representative on the interim committee, which considered how, not whether, to use the bomb. He was the man who was directly, in this case, in charge. They all thought the war would end once that was stated, and they knew the war would continue if you took out paragraph twelve, and Jimmy Byrnes took it out, with the presidents approval. So that was a deliberate effort to prolong the war? I think thats true, but you cant prove that. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, facing a blockage by Byrnes, found a way to get the British Chiefs of Staff to go to Churchill to go around Byrnes to Truman to try to get him to put the paragraph back in, which Churchill in fact did. Truman did not yield. He followed Byrnes advice. A remarkable moment. What was the justification for Nagasaki? Well, the claim was that it was an automatic decision. The decision had been made to use them when theyre ready. I think the scientists, and then also the military, Groves in particular, wanted to test the second one. There is another reason I think was probably involved. The Red Army had entered Manchuria on August 8, and Nagasaki was bombed on August 9.The entire focus of top decision-making, which means Jimmy Byrnes advising the president, at this point in time . . . were now past whether or not to use the bomb . . . was whether you could end the war as fast as possible, as the Red Army was advancing in Manchuria. The linkage logically between that and Is that why Nagasaki went forward? or, rather, why it was not aborted is impossible to make with the existing documents, but theres no doubt that the feeling and the mood in the top decision-makers was on How do we end this damn thing as fast as we can? Thats from a context in which the decision to hit Nagasaki either was made, or rather, not questioned. The official line, that we had to do it, the bomb saved lives, the Japanese would have fought to the last man, and so forth, set in hard and fast fairly quickly. How do you account for that? Harpers Magazine played a major role. They published what was basically a dishonest piece by the former secretary of war, Henry Stimson. There was in fact mounting criticism after the war, started by the conservatives, not by the liberals, who defended Truman, which was then opened up by the military, and then some of the scientists, and then some of the religious leaders, and then the article in the New Yorker, John Herseys Hiroshima. There was sufficient criticism building in 1946 that the leadership thought it had to be stopped, and so they rolled former Secretary of War Stimson out to do a strong defense of it. It was actually written by McGeorge Bundy [later National Security Adviser in the Vietnam years], and they got Harpers Magazine to publish it [in February of 1947]. The article became a major report all over the country, and it became the basis of reporting in the newspapers and radio at that time. I think its correct to say that it shut down criticism for roughly two decades. Well, we can consider this interview an act of expiation. Was it important for U.S. foreign policy going forward to convince the country and the world we had not done a bad thing but a good thing by ending the war and saving lives? Yes, on two levels. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not military targets. Thats why they had not been attacked, because they were so low in the priority list. So who was there? There were a few small military installations.The young men were at war, but who was left behind? Minimally, about 300,000 peoplepredominantly children, women, and old peoplewho were unnecessarily destroyed. Its an extraordinary moral challenge to the whole position of the United States and to the decision-makers who made those decisions. If you dont justify that decision somehow, you really are open to extreme criticism, and justly and rightly so. If Obama is not going to apologize for the bomb at Hiroshima, what should he say? The changes to the Democratic Party platform proposed by Bernie Sanders appointees such as Cornel West, Keith Ellison and James Zogby which Israel-supporting Clinton appointees such as Neera Tanden and Wendy Sherman are certain to oppose are incredibly mild, including echoing the international consensus in condemning the Israeli occupation. As the Israeli writer Noam Sheizaf put it this morning, the NYTs use of scare quotes is just as pathetic as the Democratic fear that their platform would actually say Palestinians deserve civil rights. This craven posture is particularly appalling as Israel just this week has taken an even harder turn toward extremism, prompting its former Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, to warn that Israel has been infected by the seeds of fascism. While the former Israeli Prime Minister issues warnings that grave, establishment Democrats are petrified of even the most tepid stances. But Democratic Party cowardice on Israel is nothing new. In 2003, the pre-lobbyist-money-infected Howard Dean was publicly mauled by top Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi for the crime of saying the U.S. should be even-handed in its attempts to forge a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Even worse was the disgraceful scene from their 2012 Convention: the Platform Committee had omitted any reference to God and, worse, had decide not to say that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel. Obama campaign officials were eager to rectify this blasphemy, so arranged for an amendment to the Platform to be introduced to the full Convention, which required 2/3 approval from the delegates. When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came to the podium to ask delegates to vote, it was obvious that the majority was opposed. Confused and bewildered at the refusal of delegates to obey the script of party leaders, he asked for a vote three separate times, and on the third time, even when it was clear that they did not have the votes, he simply lied and proclaimed the pro-Israel and pro-God amendment passed with 2/3 approval: That is the level of Orwellian distortion needed to maintain the blatantly false narratives about Israel that have prevailed for so long as bipartisan U.S. orthodoxy. As todays article demonstrates, the New York Times not only submits to that propagandistic orthodoxy but plays a leading role in sustaining it. * * * * * For anyone who wants to claim that Israel only occupies the West Bank but not Gaza (a point irrelevant to the critique in this article), see this outstanding two-minute video. UPDATE : After publication of this article, the NYT edited their own to remove the scare quotes around occupation, though did so quietly, with no editorial explanation or note. The original version, however, appeared on A1 of this mornings print edition. Our Poverty Myth The illusion that people are to blame for their own poverty goes back centuries in our culture. By Jill Richardson May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " OtherWords " - If youre poor, many Americans think, its your own fault. Its a sign of your own moral failing. I dont personally believe that, but the idea has roots in our culture going back centuries. In The Wealth of Nations, the foundational work of modern capitalism, Adam Smith extolled the virtues of working hard and being thrifty with money. That wasnt just the way to get rich, he reasoned it was morally righteous. Sociologist Max Weber took the idea further in describing what he called the Protestant work ethic. To Puritans who believed that one was either predestined for heaven or for hell, Weber wrote, working hard and accumulating wealth was a sign of Gods blessing. Those who got rich, the Puritans thought, must have been chosen by God for heaven; those who were poor were damned. Even major American philanthropists have subscribed to this idea. John D. Rockefeller, a religious Baptist, thought his extraordinary wealth was evidence from God of his righteousness. Fortunately, he took this as a sign that he should use his money for good. He gave it to universities and medical research centers, and his descendants used it for great art museums, national parks, and more. But Rockefeller also believed that the poor were often deserving of their fate. If theyd just worked harder, or budgeted their money wisely, then they wouldnt be poor. Plenty of Americans agree. Sadly, thats often not the case. The first factor determining ones wealth as an adult is an accident of birth. If youre born to wealthy parents, youll go to better schools and get better health care. Your odds of success as an adult are higher. If, on other hand, youre born to poor parents who must work multiple jobs instead of staying home to care for you or who cant afford healthy food, medical care, or a house in a good school district your chances of earning your way into the middle class as an adult plummet. In fact, if your parents income is in the bottom 20 percent, theres a 40 percent chance youll be stuck in that low-income bracket for your entire life. Thanks to racism, that figure rises to 50 percent for black people born into poverty. Indeed, racial disparities crop up even at the bottom of the ladder. Due to historic racism and discrimination, data from the Economic Policy Institute shows, low-income white families tend to be wealthier than black families making the same income. Furthermore, whites are more likely to have friends and family who can help them out of a financial bind. Finally, thanks to decades of discriminatory housing and lending practices, black families are more likely to live in poorer neighborhoods. That impacts the quality of the schools they attend, among many other things. So why cant a hardworking family get ahead? For one thing, its expensive to be poor. Try finding an affordable place to live. You need to have enough cash on hand to pay a deposit. Many apartments require you to prove your income is 2.5 times the cost of the rent. Public assistance programs only help the most destitute, and often dont provide enough even then. For the disabled, the situation is worse. In theory, Social Security provides for those with disabilities. In reality, getting approved for disability payments is costly (in both medical and legal fees) and difficult. Once you get approved, disability payments are low, condemning you to poverty for life. In short, there are many reasons why poor Americans are poor. It doesnt help that our society thinks its their own fault. OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It . OtherWords.org. Trumps Decision to Debate Sanders is Genius Move By Michael Krieger Here, a Clinton match-up is highly likely to be an unmitigated electoral disaster, whereas a Sanders candidacy stands a far better chance. Every one of Clintons (considerable) weaknesses plays to every one of Trumps strengths, whereas every one of Trumps (few) weaknesses plays to every one of Sanderss strengths. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, running Clinton against Trump is a disastrous, suicidal proposition. From the February article: Why Hillary Clinton Cannot Beat Donald Trump May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Liberty Blitzkrieg " - If the Trump/Sanders debate proceeds as planned in California, youre about to witness one of the most important moments of a 2016 general election that hasnt even begun yet. To say such a debate would be an unmitigated disaster for Hillary Clinton would be the understatement of the century. Lets explore why. First of all, Hillary Clinton outright rejected a debate request from Bernie Sanders ahead of the June 7th California primary. Given Sanders recent momentum, as well as her need to persuade a significant number of his supporters to back her in November; such a denial was not only arrogant, it was highly insulting to voters in Americas largest state. From team Clintons perspective there was little upside to agreeing to a debate, versus easily manageable downside from a few days of negative media coverage. Or so they thought The above strategic thought process wouldve worked in almost every other election season and against any other candidate. Unfortunately for her, it doesnt work in 2016, and it certainly doesnt work against Donald Trump. Trump understands human nature as well as anyone Ive ever observed. Hes also likely the most skilled natural politician of my lifetime, with perhaps the exception of Bill Clinton in his prime. Under conventional thinking, Trump would also certainly deny a Sanders debate request for the same reasons Clinton declined it. Theres little to gain in publicly battling a guy with nothing to lose, and youve already wrapped up the Republican nomination anyway. That said, Trump is far too savvy to fall victim to such straightforward thinking. He understands that debating Sanders in California ahead of the primary presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to embarrass and belittle Clinton in front of the whole world before the general election even begins. Think about it for a second. Who cares what happens during the debate itself. Think about what the media will be saying. Think about how weak, irrelevant and stupid a Trump/Sanders contest will make Hillary Clinton look. As the largest state in the union heads to the voting booths Hillary Clinton cant be bothered to have a discussion with Bernie Sanders, yet Donald Trump is more than willing. I can see the headlines already: Hillary MIA in California? Where in the World is Hillary? Hillary Nowhere to be Found in California Primary. You get the point. Trump will appear Presidential, while Hillary will look like a discredited Goldman Sachs crook hiding from a 74-year-old socialist. Which, by the way, is exactly what shes doing. Naturally, the whining hordes of Clinton sycophants and paid online trolls who dont think they should have to work to secure the Presidency, will bitch and moan at Sanders. Theyll blame him for all her problems, when the truth is this disaster, like most of her disasters, is entirely of her own making. Hillary Clinton was offered the opportunity to debate Sanders in California. She declined. You cant blame Trump for jumping on the opportunity to make her look extraordinarily stupid. Thats just politics. 2016 Liberty Blitzkrieg LLC. See Also Triumphant Trump says bring it on: Ill debate both Bernie and big mouth Elizabeth Warren : Trump clarified that he isn't bluffing about taking on Sanders and made clear that Warren is getting under his skin 9/11 Disinformation: Saudi Arabia Attacked America By Paul Craig Roberts May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - The forever changing 9/11 story is entering a new phase. Blame is being transferred from Osama bin Laden to the Saudi Arabian government. There are 28 pages classified secret of a congressional inquiry into 9/11 that allegedly found Saudi financial support for the alleged 9/11 hijackers. Neither the George W. Bush nor the Obama regimes would release the classified pages. Only a few members of Congress have been permited to read it, and they are not permitted to speak about it. Nevertheless, Congress now has before it the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act which, if passed, permits families of victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the Saudi Arabian government for damages. In other words, although Congress has no information except rumor with which to support the bill, Congress is going ahead. Obama says if Congress passes the bill, he will veto it. The refusal to declassify the evidence against the Saudis and the veto threat have put many commentators in high dudgeon. What is going on here? One possible answer is that the publics confidence in the 9/11 story is eroding as a result of growing expert opinion that challenges the official line. In order to redirect the publics skepticism, a red herring is being pulled across the trail. The Saudi angle satisfies the belief that some sort of government coverup is involved but redirects the suspicion from Washington to the Saudis. The Saudi angle also fits the neoconservatives original plan for overthrowing the Saudi government along with the governments of Iraq, Syria, and Iran. If the American people can be worked up against the Saudis, the neocons can get their wish for regime change in Saudi Arabia. We are probably experiencing a deep state disinformation play designed to protect the false 9/11 story. The publics skepticism is now directed at Saudi Arabia, and the publics outrage is directed at the US government for covering up for the Saudis. Possible reasons that the report cant be released are (1) it is just disinformation created as a red herring and if made public knowledgeable experts would expose it and (2) it is disinformation fed to the inquiry by neoconservatives who seized the opportunity to set up Saudi Arabia for attack. No explanation has been provided as to why Saudi Arabia, with its long and tight connection to Washington and to the Bush family, has any interest in enabling a terrorist attack on the US. The Saudis need American protection. They have no interest in making their protector look so weak as to be humiliated by a handful of young men armed only with boxcutters. Such a weak protector is no protection. Moreover, the Saudis are fighting the war in Yemen for Washington. If the Saudis want to harm the US, why not leave the US to fight its own war in Yemen? Here is a Saudis take on the alleged involvement of Saudi Arabia in 9/11: Katib Al-Shammari says that the US planned and carried out 9/11 in order to obtain hegemony over the Middle East and placed the blame for 9/11 on an ever changing list of culprits depending on Washingtons goal at the time. First, he says, it was Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Then Saddam Hussein and Iraq. A New York Court blamed Iran. Now Saudi Arabia is given the villian role. The Americans, he says, always come up with suspicious documents and claim to have evidence that they never show. Americans would greatly benefit from reading the perspective of others. Do read the Saudis explanation of 9/11. It makes more sense than the official story. 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 . We Have Entered The Looting Stage Of Capitalism Germanys Assault On The IMF By Paul Craig Roberts May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Having successfully used the EU to conquer the Greek people by turning the Greek leftwing government into a pawn of Germanys banks, Germany now finds the IMF in the way of its plan to loot Greece into oblivion . The IMFs rules prevent the organization from lending to countries that cannot repay the loan. The IMF has concluded on the basis of facts and analysis that Greece cannot repay. Therefore, the IMF is unwilling to lend Greece the money with which to repay the private banks. The IMF says that Greeces creditors, many of whom are not creditors but simply bought up Greek debt at a cheap price in hopes of profiting, must write off some of the Greek debt in order to lower the debt to an amount that the Greek economy can service. The banks dont want Greece to be able to service its debt, because the banks intend to use Greeces inability to service the debt in order to loot Greece of its assets and resources and in order to roll back the social safety net put in place during the 20th century. Neoliberalism intends to reestablish feudalisma few robber barons and many serfs: the One Percent and the 99 percent. The way Germany sees it, the IMF is supposed to lend Greece the money with which to repay the private German banks. Then the IMF is to be repaid by forcing Greece to reduce or abolish old age pensions, reduce public services and employment, and use the revenues saved to repay the IMF. As these amounts will be insufficient, additional austerity measures are imposed that require Greece to sell its national assets, such as public water companies and ports and protected Greek islands to foreign investors, principally the banks themselves or their major clients. So far the so-called creditors have only pledged to some form of debt relief, not yet decided, beginning in 2 years. By then the younger part of the Greek population will have emigrated and will have been replaced by immigrants fleeing Washingtons Middle Eastern and African wars who will have loaded up Greeces unfunded welfare system. In other words, Greece is being destroyed by the EU that it so foolishly joined and trusted. The same thing is happening to Portugal and is also underway in Spain and Italy. The looting has already devoured Ireland and Latvia (and a number of Latin American countries) and is underway in Ukraine. The current newspaper headlines reporting an agreement being reached between the IMF and Germany about writing down the Greek debt to a level that could be serviced are false. No creditor has yet agreed to write off one cent of the debt. All that the IMF has been given by so-called creditors is unspecific pledges of an unspecified amount of debt writedown two years from now. The newspaper headlines are nothing but fluff that provide cover for the IMF to succumb to pressure and violate its own rules. The cover lets the IMF say that a (future unspecified) debt writedown will enable Greece to service the remainder of its debt and, therefore, the IMF can lend Greece the money to pay the private banks. In other words, the IMF is now another lawless Western institution whose charter means no more than the US Constitution or the word of the US government in Washington. The media persists in calling the looting of Greece a bailout. To call the looting of a country and its people a bailout is Orwellian. The brainwashing is so successful that even the media and politicians of looted Greece call the financial imperialism that Greece is suffering a bailout. Everywhere in the Western world a variety of measures, both corporate and governmental, have resulted in the stagnation of income growth. In order to continue to report profits, mega-banks and global corporations have turned to looting. Social Security systems and public servicesand in the US even the TSA airline security screeningare targeted for privatization, and indebtedness so accurately described by John Perkins in his book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, is used to set up entire countries to be looted. We have entered the looting stage of capitalism. Desolation will be the result. Why The US Is Dropping Calls For Assad To Go In Syria and Lebanon there are no plans for a future, but the Syrian army is going to have a role in any New Syria By Robert Fisk May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Independent " - Im getting a bit tired of reading about the US-backed alliance of Syrian militias and their advance against Isis. The alliance is largely Kurdish which is why, I suppose, the Americans talked about northern Syria when they announced the visit of General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, to the little Kurdish enclave. General Votel could only set foot in the tiny strip of territory along the Turkish border partly held by Kurdish and a sprinkling of Turkmen groups. A visit to northern Syria by an American general is thus a lot less impressive than it sounds. Its interesting to see a US commander crossing the border to cheer on participants in a civil war. Thats also what the American military has been doing in Iraq, where forces have been encouraging Shia militias fighting on the outskirts of Fallujah, and even providing air support to the forces of the perilously weak government in Baghdad. For Iraq now meets many of the definitions of civil war. Yet in Syria, the Americans started by supporting democratic forces fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad and mysteriously supported the same men (and women) when they were ready to fight Isis for Ain al-Arab (or Kobani for those who prefer the Kurdish version of the name). How did this transfer of allegiance come about? Are the Kurds supposed to fight their way into Raqqa and when Isis has turned tail and run across the Iraqi border, to fight on against the Syrian government army and its Lebanese militia allies and its Iranian allies? Has anyone in northern Syria looked at any maps? And do the Kurds think that Turkey will allow their mini-state to survive? We do, absolutely, have to go with what weve got, according to General Vogel. And I couldnt agree more. What that means is that the Assad has got to go routine is changing. We havent heard many Americans saying that recently, and weve hardly noticed it. The Russian military is still in Syria (albeit scaled down), but we saw plenty of them at Palmyra after its recapture. Assads forces want to take back Deir El-Zour, where their soldiers are still fighting under siege. I suspect that the Assad-must-go campaign is going to be gently dropped thanks to Isis, of course, which is even more hateful for the Americans than the Syrian government in Damascus. Certainly, Isis still exists on the border with Lebanon. Incredibly, nine soldiers are still being held in an enclave on the Lebanese border after being captured almost two years ago. The father of the Lebanese soldier Mohamed Hamieh, executed at the time by the Jabhat al-Nusra Front (recently credited as moderates by Saudi Arabia and Qatar), this week went to the Lebanese home of his killers nephew (Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri is a well-known figure on Islamist tapes) and shot the 20-year old 35 times. He then left the corpse on the grave of his own son. It was a bad week in Lebanon. The government staged the usual military parades to mark Liberation Day when guerrilla fighters finally persuaded the Israeli army to flee across the border after 22 years of occupation in 2000. Tanks and armoured vehicles drove through the streets of Beirut amid public assurances (and private fears) of inter-communal violence amid the generals. Many of those resistance men who drove out the Israelis are now fighting and dying for the Assad regime in Damascus. Thus has the Syrian war touched Lebanon again. The fears are, of course, of a Sunni-Shia conflict starting in the Beqaa Valley. The Syrian war has already divided Lebanon, not least because so many Hezbollah men have perished in Syria. They are martyrs to the militia and many Shiites, but the source of great anger to Lebanons Sunnis. The Islamists up at Arsal, including the Nusra Front men, are Sunnis. And still, in Syria as well as Lebanon, there are no plans for a future. No plans for post-war development. No plans for future policy towards Assad. The Syrian army is going to have a role in any New Syria. Maybe the Russians realise this, which is why they intervened so dramatically. But Syrian military casualties are so high half the government soldiers I have met since the start of the conflict in 2011 are now dead that it was probably inevitable that Moscow decided to bring its air force to Lattakia and Tartous. If Isis is beaten and the recapture of Fallujah and Raqqa will not achieve that then there must be projects for those Syrians who fought on both sides. The Syrians are specialists on mediation committees, but this will have to be far greater than that. And what do we have? Turkey threatens Isis, and Nusra and Isis remains a threat right across the Middle East. Saudis support Isis and Qatar supports Nusra, and Hezbollah supports the regime. The Americans seem to have left the air bombing to the Russians (after complaining about it) and Putin is not afraid to say the obvious: that the government in Damascus is a better bet than Isis. We shall see who wins. We do, absolutely, have to go with what weve got. That pretty much sums it up. Memorial for the Sins of Empire By Philip A Farruggio May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - All the flags are out on many of the homes throughout our nation. The American flag is a wonderful symbol of the fact that we are nation composed of 50 states with a melting pot of too many different cultures to even list. Sadly, our flag has been hijacked by those ' wizards of empire ' for a few generations. They use the flag, hypocritically, to honor the dastardly deeds they have construed for so long. Always, while honoring these events, they always manage to propagandize so many good and decent Americans with phony tributes to ' Our brave soldiers'. Believing in the lies of empire, many of our young men and women have been sacrificed, mortally or wounded for life in what George Washington warned of ' Foreign entanglements'. The Cold War was a major con job perpetrated by not only our wizards but the Russian ones too. If one reads both Talbot's The Devil's Chessboard and Stone and Kuznick's The Untold History of the United States, one can see that Stalin and the Dulles brothers ( especially Allen ) were devils. American imperialism drove our government to exacerbate the rift between the Soviets and ourselves. Why? It is what imperialism is always about: taking control of foreign resources and markets for a nation's business advantage. Stalin and his Kremlin were imperialists as well, wishing to expand the Soviet empire for their similar advantage. Now why was the entire Cold War a con job? Well, history, not the revisionist kind, tells us that WE knew that they were weaker than us militarily, and They knew that We knew! When we dropped those A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki we didn't do it to save American lives during an a possible invasion. No, we did it to A) show the Russians that we can make such a deadly weapon, and make more than one and B) to keep the Russians from invading Japan and thus getting territory that we wanted to control for ourselves. This weapon then got Stalin and his gang to move in overdrive to develop their own , and thus we had ' The arms race ' ( which survives to this day, 70 years later ). The most heinous result of the Cold War hysteria was the growth of Dulles and company's Military Industrial Empire , with too much of our tax money going for military spending and not for domestic modernization. Ditto for the Soviet side as well. Imagine if the Cold War was never created. Imagine all those years throughout the 50s , 60s , 70s and 80s that our tax money ( 100s of billions each year ) went for infrastructure upgrades, National Health Insurance for ALL, real viable mass transit ( rail modernization like the Europeans have ) , high paying jobs programs, federally subsidized increases in minimum wages becoming ' Living Wages' .... etc. etc. etc. We memorialize the Vietnam War for all those young men and women that were killed in that patch of land we had NO business ever being in! Because of the phony Cold War, Vietnam became a byproduct, as was Korea. The only monkey wrench was now we had China in the mix as well. That meant more spending on the military ( making billions for private sector contractors AKA 'friends of the empire'), more bases worldwide to stop the Commies, and more and more dead soldiers in Vietnam. Someone should have honored those brave soldiers by indicting all the bastards that wanted that war to begin with... and to continue it for a decade! Of course, no one speaks of the millions of Vietnamese who our bullets, bombs and Napalm killed or deformed for life. As with what we did and are doing in and to Iraq and Afghanistan, and all our dead and wounded for life young soldiers, you cannot have a real memorial until you connect the dots. If one believes in Karma, well, our nation's phony leaders have lots of it to deal with. This writer is of the belief system that whether it be before this ' dream of life ' ends or after we cross over into the new realms, Karma will be served up. To balance that, one should remember the vision that Betsie ten Boom had before she died in a concentration camp in 1944. Betsie and her sister Corrie spent the war years in Holland helping to hide Jews from the Germans. They were arrested and sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Before Betsie died she had three visions she felt came from God ( or the universe). The most revealing one was, if she survived, to run a camp for the Germans ( including the guards ) to teach them to love. We should remember that this Memorial Day as well. PA Farruggio - Memorial Weekend 2016 Philip A Farruggio is a semi retired baby boomer born and bred in blue collar Brooklyn NYC. He is the son and grandson of Brooklyn longshoremen, and educated at ' free tuition ' Brooklyn College, class of ' 74. - paf1222@bellsouth.net May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " LA Times " - President Obama s visit to Hiroshima on Friday has rekindled public debate about the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan one largely suppressed since the Smithsonian canceled its Enola Gay exhibit in 1995. Obama, aware that his critics are ready to pounce if he casts the slightest doubt on the rectitude of President Harry S. Trumans decision to use atomic bombs, has opted to remain silent on the issue. This is unfortunate. A national reckoning is overdue. Most Americans have been taught that using atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 was justified because the bombings ended the war in the Pacific, thereby averting a costly U.S. invasion of Japan. This erroneous contention finds its way into high school history texts still today. More dangerously, it shapes the thinking of government officials and military planners working in a world that still contains more than 15,000 nuclear weapons. Truman exulted in the obliteration of Hiroshima, calling it the greatest thing in history. Americas military leaders didnt share his exuberance. Seven of Americas eight five-star officers in 1945 Gens. Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and Henry Arnold, and Adms. William Leahy, Chester Nimitz, Ernest King and William Halsey later called the atomic bombings either militarily unnecessary, morally reprehensible, or both. Nor did the bombs succeed in their collateral purpose: cowing the Soviets. Leahy, who was Trumans personal chief of staff, wrote in his memoir that the Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender. The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. MacArthur went further. He told former President Hoover that if the United States had assured the Japanese that they could keep the emperor they would have gladly surrendered in late May. It was not the atomic evisceration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ended the Pacific war. Instead, it was the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and other Japanese colonies that began at midnight on Aug. 8, 1945 between the two bombings. For months, Allied intelligence had been reporting that a Soviet invasion would knock Japan out of the war. On April 11, for example, the Joint Intelligence Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff predicted, If at any time the USSR should enter the war, all Japanese will realize that absolute defeat is inevitable. The Americans, having broken Japanese codes, were aware of Japans desperation to negotiate peace with the U.S. before the Soviets invaded. Truman himself described an intercepted cable from July 18, 1945, as the telegram from the Jap emperor asking for peace. Indeed, Truman went to the mid-July summit in Potsdam to make sure that the Soviets were keeping their Yalta conference promise to come into the Pacific war. When Stalin gave him the assurance on July 17, Truman wrote in his diary, Hell be in the Jap War on August 15. Fini Japs when that comes about. Truman reiterated this in a letter to his wife the next day: Well end the war a year sooner now, and think of the kids who wont be killed. In quickly routing Japans Kwantung army, the Soviets ruined Japans diplomatic and military end game: keep inflicting military losses on the U.S. and get Stalins help negotiating better surrender terms. The atomic bombings, terrible and inhumane as they were, played little role in Japanese leaders calculations to quickly surrender. After all, the U.S. had firebombed more than 100 Japanese cities. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were just two more cities destroyed; whether the attack required one bomb or thousands didnt much matter. As Gen. Torashiro Kawabe, the deputy chief of staff, later told U.S. interrogators, the depth of devastation wrought in Hiroshima and Nagasaki only became known in a gradual manner. But in comparison, the Soviet entry into the war was a great shock. When Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki was asked on Aug. 10 why Japan needed to surrender so quickly, he explained, the Soviet Union will take not only Manchuria, Korea, Karafuto, but also Hokkaido. This would destroy the foundation of Japan. We must end the war when we can deal with the United States. Japanese leaders also feared the spread of Soviet-inspired communist uprisings and knew the Soviets would not look kindly upon their paramount concerns protecting the emperor himself and preserving the emperor system. Truman understood the stakes. He knew the Soviet invasion would end the war. He knew assuring Japan about the emperor might also lead to surrender. But he decided to use the atomic bombs anyway. While at Potsdam, Truman received a report detailing the power of the bomb tested July 16 at Alamogordo, N.M. Afterward he was a changed man, according to Winston Churchill. He began bossing Stalin around. And he authorized use of the bomb against Japan. If his newfound assertiveness at Potsdam didnt show Stalin who was boss, Truman figured, Hiroshima certainly would. Stalin got the message. Atomic bombs were now a fundamental part of the U.S. arsenal, and not just as a last resort. He ordered Soviet scientists to throw everything they had into developing a Soviet bomb. The race was on. Eventually, the two sides would accumulate the equivalent of 1.5 million Hiroshima bombs. And as Manhattan Project physicist I.I. Rabi astutely observed, Suddenly the day of judgment was the next day and has been ever since. Illinois Has The Highest Unemployment Rate In The Country By aaroncynic in News on May 27, 2016 7:29PM Getty Images Gov. Bruce Rauner is a little over a year into his first term as governor, and Illinois now ranks #1 in the nation for unemployment. Illinois tied for the top spot with Alaska; both states have unemployment rates of 6.6 percent. Illinois alone, though, has the highest jobless rate for African American men: 14.1 percent, ABC7 reports. The state budget impasse, which is about to turn a full year old, has contributed to Illinois' high unemployment. Social services and other entities that rely partly or fully on state funding have had to make huge cutbacks, which has meant layoffs. Additionally contributing is the states sluggish job growth rate. According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois added 67,500 jobs in the year ending in Aprila 1.1 percent growth rate, lower than the national growth rate of 1.9 percent. Predictably, the governor and conservatives have blamed the legislature for the issue, while those leaning left blame the governor. "Other states are being business friendly," Ted Dabrowski of the right-leaning Illinois Policy Institute told ABC. "They understand that jobs and growth are important, not just to people's prosperity but also to their budgets' function." But the idea that job creators and others are leaving the state because Illinoisans are Taxed Enough Already or that Rauners Turnaround agenda will save us from darkness is more of a speculative libertarian fantasy, writes Curtis Black at the Chicago Reporter. Rauner appears to think the pain caused by the budget impasse is worth it: If he can bust unions, reduce wages, cut public services, drive state retirees into penury and perhaps drive Chicago Public Schools into bankruptcy, hell create a capitalist wonderland where the magic of free enterprise will take care of everything. Those cuts to public services and reductions in wages might make life great for a handful of people, but the consequences have already been dire for those relying on public services, and will cost Illinoisans more as the impasse drags on. West Could Sleepwalk Into A Doomsday War With Russia Its Time To Wake Up By Richard Sakwa May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Conversation " - Since the Ukraine crisis exploded into civil conflict and war in 2013, we have known that we live in troubled times. It has become increasingly clear that the peace order in Europe, established at the end of the Cold War in 1989, is unstable. The arrangements made at that time appear to have generated more conflicts than they were able to resolve. While the European Union claimed at certain points to be a peace project and internally it has achieved much in that respect all around the borders of the proposed ring of friends, as the then president of the European Commission Romano Prodi put it in 2002, it is an arc of fire. In North Africa, states have collapsed and the whole region is challenged once again to find an appropriate balance between security and democracy. The Middle East is the focus of several proxy wars piled upon each other in multiple layers. Since Russias military intervention in Syria at the end of September 2015, one of the most salient conflicts has been the struggle between Russia and the US for the right to decide who would have priority in deciding Syrias fate. This is just one of the issues over which an armed confrontation could take place. In fact, there are so many potential tripwires that it is impossible to predict which precisely could set off a chain of events that could escalate into outright military confrontation. Escalation and militarisation On the one side, the US-led NATO build-up on land, sea and air around Russias borders, accompanied by the activation in May 2016 of missile defence installations in the region, is perceived as a threat to the very existence of Russia as a sovereign state. Moscow views the US Aegis Ashore system installed in Romania as having the potential to negate its nuclear deterrence capability. Intermediate-range cruise missiles are banned by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, yet appear to be creeping in through the back door. Advanced American warships now demonstratively exercise just a few dozen kilometres from Russian bases in the Baltic and Black seas. Russia sees much of this as a direct threat to its own security, and threatens to deploy nuclear-capable missiles to Kaliningrad and even possibly Crimea. The Russian armed forces are just about to test the prototypes of the S-500 Prometei air and missile defence system (also known as the 55R6M Triumfator M), capable of destroying ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), hypersonic cruise missiles and planes at over Mach 5 speeds. The weakening or even abrogation of the INF and START treaties could destroy decades of painstaking arms control negotiations. On the other side, some defence analysts argue that the post-Cold War settlement is already destroyed, above all by Russias actions in Ukraine. The former deputy commander of NATO and British general Sir Alexander Richard Shirref, in his book 2017: War with Russia, makes no bones about the imminent danger of war. He predicts that to escape what it believes to be encirclement by NATO, Russia will try to seize territory in Eastern Ukraine to open up a land corridor to Crimea and invade the Baltic states. These Strangelovian fantasies have a long pedigree in NATO thinking. When the events in Ukraine began to spiral out of control in early 2014, the head of NATO forces in Europe, General Philip Breedlove, became quite an expert in predicting various Russian invasions, prompting particular concern in Germany. The Atlantic security community is in danger of sleepwalking into war. The very talk of such a conflict normalises the possibility. A BBC2 film aired in February 2016 acted out the scenario of a Russian attack on Latvia escalating into a nuclear exchange. The Obama administration is pressuring Germany to deploy a German contingent to bolster NATOs presence on Russias borders. Few in Russia forget the devastating consequences the last time this happened in 1941. Back from the brink While Atlantic defence commentators talk of Vladimir Putins increasingly aggressive behaviour and have made the phrase Russian aggression part of the standard language, few have stopped to think what created such a dangerous situation in the first place. As the Chinese have repeatedly noted, the Ukraine crisis did not come from nowhere. The slogan of the NATO defence ministers meeting in Brussels in mid-May was deter and dialogue, but in the event the emphasis was more on the former than the latter. The Warsaw NATO summit in July 2016 is likely to confirm that Russian aggression, Iranian adventurism, Chinese land reclamation and Middle Eastern instability pose a threat to the US and its allies. Instead of piling more fuel on a fire that is already in danger of getting out of control, it would be wiser to start a diplomatic process. NATO insists that there can be no business as usual until the Minsk commitments are fully implemented, yet some of the most important provisions are up to Ukraine to fulfil. So Russia, and with it the peace of Europe, is held hostage by some radicals in Ukraine who block any moves towards elections in the Donbass and the stipulated decentralising constitutional reforms. Shirreff admits in his book that Russia is increasingly worried about the spread of NATO bases around its borders, yet advocates yet more of the same. Russia is a continental-sized great power armed with the worlds largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. The ambition to achieve Western military superiority is simply unattainable. In his speech to the UN General Assembly on September 28 2015 Putin asked of the West, surveying years of failed military interventions that have devastated countries and destabilised whole regions: Do you realise now what you have done? Russia is undoubtedly a difficult partner, but on some of the most pressing global issues of our time, including Syria, the Russian analysis has been correct. The deal offered in 2012 whereby Syrian president Bashar al-Assad would go but the secular regime in Damascus would stay was peremptorily dismissed by the West, assuming that Assad would soon fall and the moderates triumph. The result was years of civil war that has now spilled over into a refugee crisis that threatens Europe in its entirety. Catastrophe It is pointless to speculate what a war between Russia and the Atlantic community would look like, or even how it would start. This really would be a war to end all wars, since there would be no one left to fight another war. The emphasis now must be on averting such a doomsday scenario, and for that there must be honest recognition of earlier mistakes by all sides, and the beginning a new and more substantive process of engagement. The endless prolongation of sanctions and a rhetoric of violence and scapegoating creates an atmosphere where a small incident could easily spiral out of control. It is the responsibility of our generation to ensure that it never happens. Eurasia: China and Russia is Where Its Happening By F. William Engdahl May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " NEO " - In 1865 at the end of the US Civil War New York journalist Horace Greeley popularized the expression, Go West, young man, and grow up with the country. Today, some 150 years later, as the colossal economy of the United States of America sinks into obsolescence, outsourcing, income depression, and staggering real unemployment, with many countries of the European Union close to the same, the slogan should properly be changed. Go East, young man, and grow up with the booming economies of Eurasia, especially Russia and China. While NATO planes and warships increasingly saber rattle both Russian and Chinese territories, the two giants of Eurasia are forging relations closer than ever in their history. Energy alliances are at the heart of the process. Energy Synergies Since May, 2014, China and Russia have agreed to staggeringly large energy deals that make China less vulnerable to any NATO or Mideast supply blackmail, and Russia to any Ukraine or EU energy blackmail. In May, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinas President Xi Jinping signed the so-called Russian East Route pipeline deal, a $400 billion agreement over 30 years that will begin sending 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Russia to China beginning 2018. It was followed in November 2014 by an agreement for the so-called West Route gas pipeline that will connect gas fields in western Siberia with northwest China through the Altai area of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. They also agreed on provisions for possible second and third sections to be added later that would bring capacity to an impressive 100 billion cubic meters a year. West Route is designated a priority and to be finished in six years. When both East and West Route pipelines are operational, Russia will supply some 59% of the current Chinese annual natural gas consumption, replacing the EU as Russias largest gas export market. Today China consumes 169 billion cubic meters annually. At the same Beijing meeting, the presidents of state oil companies Rosneft and CNPC signed a deal whereby CNPC buys a 10% stake in Rosneft subsidiary Vankorneft which operates the huge Russian Vankor oil field. China will receive some $7 billion worth of Russian oil from Vankor in the deal. Then on April 19 this year Russian First Deputy Energy Minister Alexei Teksler told RIA Novosti that certain Chinese state oil companies are discussing buying the planned 19.5% state share of Rosneft that is to be sold privately by end of 2016. The likely candidate would be Chinas CNPC oil company. Yamal LNG Project Gets China Money Now on May 3, the Director General of the Yamal LNG Export Terminal project in northwest Siberia made an announcement that clearly did not please the Washington sanctions warriors. The Russian LNG project consortium signed a loan agreement with China Exim Bank and the China Development Bank who will extend a 15-year loan to the project of 9.3 billion euros, some 75% of the estimated total funds that Yamal needs to get into production. Following Washington sanctions that blocked key Russian energy companies from raising capital in western markets, Yamal looked highly unlikely. As the companys website notes, Launched at end 2013, Yamal is not only one of the most complex liquefied natural gas projects ever undertaken; it is also one of the most competitivebecause it benefits from the vast natural gas reserves situated across the Yamal peninsula. Complex because it is located above the Arctic Circle. Its partners include Russias Novatek, Chinas CNPC, French Total (20%) and, significantly, Chinas Silk Road Fund. OAO Novatek is Russias largest independent natural gas producer, concentrated in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region (YNAO) in Western Siberia, the most significant gas producing region in Russia, accounting for approximately 80% of Russias natural gas production and approximately 16% of global gas production. Now the Chinese are taking the major financing burden to make the mammoth Yamal project work. Also significant in terms of the process of de-dollarization taking place in Russia, China, Iran and other Eurasian countries, the Chinese loans will be denominated in Euros and not in US dollars. It appears clearly that Washingtons enraged neoconservatives around Victoria Nuland in the State Department and Defense Secretary Ash Carter have made the best contribution to bringing China and Russia together in an unprecedented manner. They managed this impressive feat by imposing financial and economic sanctions on Russia and threatening Chinas sea lanes, fostering terrorism in Xinjiang and advancing the military Asia Pivot as well as the TPP that deliberately excludes China. The result is that both Russia and China are forging deep long-term economic ties across Eurasia that ultimately will become the focal point for world economic growth as the China New Silk Roadthe One Belt, One Road project links Russia, China, Iran and the vast regions across Eurasia with a new network of high-speed rail and port links, energy links, pipelines, electricity infrastructure. Russia has clearly decided to Go East, young man. It would be an entirely new paradigm if the nations of Europe were to also go East to open vast new markets for their stagnating economies rather than open US Missile defense bases, hosting advanced nuclear weapons and station US troops on the borders of Russia. F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook Silencing the United States as It Prepares for War John Pilger takes apart the liberal commentariat and points to the need for a genuinely anti-imperialist analysis of Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and yes Bernie Sanders. By John Pilger May 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " teleSur " - Returning to the United States in an election year, I am struck by the silence. I have covered four presidential campaigns, starting with 1968; I was with Robert Kennedy when he was shot and I saw his assassin, preparing to kill him. It was a baptism in the American way, along with the salivating violence of the Chicago police at the Democratic Party's rigged convention. The great counter revolution had begun. The first to be assassinated that year, Martin Luther King, had dared link the suffering of African-Americans and the people of Vietnam. When Janis Joplin sang, Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, she spoke perhaps unconsciously for millions of America's victims in faraway places. We lost 58,000 young soldiers in Vietnam, and they died defending your freedom. Now don't you forget it. So said a National Parks Service guide as I filmed last week at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. He was addressing a school party of young teenagers in bright orange T-shirts. As if by rote, he inverted the truth about Vietnam into an unchallenged lie. The millions of Vietnamese who died and were maimed and poisoned and dispossessed by the American invasion have no historical place in young minds, not to mention the estimated 60,000 veterans who took their own lives. A friend of mine, a marine who became a paraplegic in Vietnam, was often asked, Which side did you fight on? A few years ago, I attended a popular exhibition called The Price of Freedom at the venerable Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The lines of ordinary people, mostly children shuffling through a Santa's grotto of revisionism, were dispensed a variety of lies: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved a million lives; Iraq was liberated [by] air strikes of unprecedented precision. The theme was unerringly heroic: only Americans pay the price of freedom. The 2016 election campaign is remarkable not only for the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders but also for the resilience of an enduring silence about a murderous self-bestowed divinity. A third of the members of the United Nations have felt Washington's boot, overturning governments, subverting democracy, imposing blockades and boycotts. Most of the presidents responsible have been liberal Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama. The breathtaking record of perfidy is so mutated in the public mind, wrote the late Harold Pinter, that it never happened Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest. It didn't matter . Pinter expressed a mock admiration for what he called a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis. Take Obama. As he prepares to leave office, the fawning has begun all over again. He is cool. One of the more violent presidents, Obama gave full reign to the Pentagon war-making apparatus of his discredited predecessor. He prosecuted more whistleblowers truth-tellers than any president. He pronounced Chelsea Manning guilty before she was tried. Today, Obama runs an unprecedented worldwide campaign of terrorism and murder by drone. In 2009, Obama promised to help rid the world of nuclear weapons and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. No American president has built more nuclear warheads than Obama. He is modernising America's doomsday arsenal, including a new mini nuclear weapon, whose size and smart technology, says a leading general, ensure its use is no longer unthinkable. James Bradley, the best-selling author of Flags of Our Fathers and son of one of the US marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, said, [One] great myth we're seeing play out is that of Obama as some kind of peaceful guy who's trying to get rid of nuclear weapons. He's the biggest nuclear warrior there is. He's committed us to a ruinous course of spending a trillion dollars on more nuclear weapons. Somehow, people live in this fantasy that because he gives vague news conferences and speeches and feel-good photo-ops that somehow that's attached to actual policy. It isn't. On Obama's watch, a second cold war is under way. The Russian president is a pantomime villain; the Chinese are not yet back to their sinister pig-tailed caricature when all Chinese were banned from the United States but the media warriors are working on it. Neither Hillary Clinton nor Bernie Sanders has mentioned any of this. There is no risk and no danger for the United States and all of us. For them, the greatest military build-up on the borders of Russia since World War Two has not happened. On May 11, Romania went live with a Nato missile defence base that aims its first-strike American missiles at the heart of Russia, the world's second nuclear power. In Asia, the Pentagon is sending ships, planes and special forces to the Philippines to threaten China. The US already encircles China with hundreds of military bases that curve in an arc up from Australia, to Asia and across to Afghanistan. Obama calls this a pivot. As a direct consequence, China reportedly has changed its nuclear weapons policy from no-first-use to high alert and put to sea submarines with nuclear weapons. The escalator is quickening. It was Hillary Clinton who, as Secretary of State in 2010, elevated the competing territorial claims for rocks and reef in the South China Sea to an international issue; CNN and BBC hysteria followed; China was building airstrips on the disputed islands. In its mammoth war game in 2015, Operation Talisman Sabre, the US practiced choking the Straits of Malacca through which pass most of China's oil and trade. This was not news. Clinton declared that America had a national interest in these Asian waters. The Philippines and Vietnam were encouraged and bribed to pursue their claims and old enmities against China. In America, people are being primed to see any Chinese defensive position as offensive, and so the ground is laid for rapid escalation. A similar strategy of provocation and propaganda is applied to Russia. Clinton, the women's candidate, leaves a trail of bloody coups: in Honduras, in Libya (plus the murder of the Libyan president) and Ukraine. The latter is now a CIA theme park swarming with Nazis and the frontline of a beckoning war with Russia. It was through Ukraine literally, borderland -- that Hitler's Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, which lost 27 million people. This epic catastrophe remains a presence in Russia. Clinton's presidential campaign has received money from all but one of the world's ten biggest arms companies. No other candidate comes close. Sanders, the hope of many young Americans, is not very different from Clinton in his proprietorial view of the world beyond the United States. He backed Bill Clinton's illegal bombing of Serbia. He supports Obama's terrorism by drone, the provocation of Russia and the return of special forces (death squads) to Iraq. He has nothing to say on the drumbeat of threats to China and the accelerating risk of nuclear war. He agrees that Edward Snowden should stand trial and he calls Hugo Chavez like him, a social democrat a dead communist dictator. He promises to support Clinton if she is nominated. The election of Trump or Clinton is the old illusion of choice that is no choice: two sides of the same coin. In scapegoating minorities and promising to make America great again, Trump is a far right-wing domestic populist; yet the danger of Clinton may be more lethal for the world. Only Donald Trump has said anything meaningful and critical of US foreign policy, wrote Stephen Cohen, emeritus professor of Russian History at Princeton and NYU, one of the few Russia experts in the United States to speak out about the risk of war. In a radio broadcast, Cohen referred to critical questions Trump alone had raised. Among them: why is the United States everywhere on the globe? What is NATO's true mission? Why does the US always pursue regime change in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine? Why does Washington treat Russia and Vladimir Putin as an enemy? The hysteria in the liberal media over Trump serves an illusion of free and open debate and democracy at work. His views on immigrants and Muslims are grotesque, yet the deporter-in-chief of vulnerable people from America is not Trump but Obama, whose betrayal of people of colour is his legacy: such as the warehousing of a mostly black prison population, now more numerous than Stalin's gulag. This presidential campaign may not be about populism but American liberalism, an ideology that sees itself as modern and therefore superior and the one true way. Those on its right wing bear a likeness to 19th century Christian imperialists, with a God-given duty to convert or co-opt or conquer. In Britain, this is Blairism. The Christian war criminal Tony Blair got away with his secret preparation for the invasion of Iraq largely because the liberal political class and media fell for his cool Britannia. In the Guardian, the applause was deafening; he was called mystical. A distraction known as identity politics, imported from the United States, rested easily in his care. History was declared over, class was abolished and gender promoted as feminism; lots of women became New Labour MPs. They voted on the first day of Parliament to cut the benefits of single parents, mostly women, as instructed. A majority voted for an invasion that produced 700,000 Iraqi widows. The Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika has denied the existence of a frosty relationship between him and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi. SEE ALSO: Minister Claims Theres No Money To Run The Government Sirika blamed mischief makers and unidentified social media users for the rumour. Reports were rife in the social media during the week that both ministers nearly engaged in fisticuffs save for the quick intervention some civil servants and aides who were reportedly at the scene of the disagreement. The development reportedly led to the removal of Sirikas portraits from the walls at the nations airports and buildings of agencies under Aviation. According to social media reports, the source of the disagreement was attributed to acts of insubordination by the junior minister. Sirika is reportedly uncomfortable with Amaechi (a senior minister and direct boss) pushing him around but the former Rivers state governor is on the other hand, not turning a blind eye to the former Katsina senators antics and responded by putting him in his place. The junior minister, however, dismissed the report in Abuja on Thursday during a meeting with Journalists. According to him: The social media said that I and the Minister are fighting but that is not true. The fact that there are no pictures of me at airports, offices and agencies under aviation is based on my personal choice. I believe that my photo will not give Nigerians anything, rather, it is my actions that will. I dont need my pictures on walls, they were there before but I ordered that they be removed. Photo will not give us good airports and runways, rather good governance and that is my challenge and target. Having pictures everywhere as far as I am concerned is very trivial, unnecessary and it is not my style, he said. Responding to the question when his pictures would go back to being hung on walls, Mr. Sirika said when I have worked! According to him, Having my pictures on walls is not the major reason why I was appointed to serve. My dream is to change the industry for better and when that is done, then my pictures can be put everywhere. Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State has described the directive by Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, banning cattle grazing in the state as divisive and unbecoming of a statesman. Gov. Fayose had in the wake of an attack on Oke-Ako community of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen, banned the movement of cattle from one place to the other in the state as part of security measures to forestall a recurrence. The Bauchi governor in a statement issued Thursday by his Press Secretary, Abubakar Al-Sadique, said Fayoses statement on Fulani herders is unbefitting of national leaders, especially state governors. Gov. Abubakar maintained that the Ekiti governors statement is as condemnable as the clashes between farmers and herders. Mr. Abubakar, who only just returned to the state yesterday after spending one week on official visit to Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, expressed his worries that the country has not been able to proffer a permanent solution to the clashes which have resulted in the avoidable death of hundreds of Nigerians in different parts of the country. He lamented that instead of dialoguing with all stakeholders to address the ugly trend, some leaders were resorting to making divisive public pronouncements. In a democracy, provisions have been made for anybody that is aggrieved with anything in the country to seek redress. Instead of resorting to making such public pronouncements, there are laid down laws to follow. On this matter, I am gladdened with efforts of both the Presidency and the National Assembly which is conducting public hearings with a view to putting an end to such incessant and senseless killings, the Governor said. Gov. Abubakar stressed that Nigeria was in dire need of everybodys contributions for it to be great again and for the economy to bounce back. He, therefore, urged leaders to be mindful of their public utterances, especially on matters that border on national unity and security. This 46yr-old Man, Christopher Myles admitted on Thursday in court to stealing more than $1m from his former employer Lorenza De Azcarraga after she suffered a stroke. De Azcarraga fell into a coma shortly after her stroke and Myles quickly started to steal from her. He spent the money on luxury items, vacations and bought him self a house in buffalo where he lived with his mother In 2012 De Azcarraga passed away and Myles tendered some fake documents (bank statement) to the family doctor who was oblivious to the theft. However his luck ran out when a new bookkeeper who was immediately Myles resigned discovered the bank statement to be false. Christopher Myles has now pleaded guilty to tax fraud, grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing at a Manhattan court. Brazilian authorities have confirmed that a 16 year old girl was assaulted by armed men on Saturday at a shanty on the west side of Rio de Janeiro and did not regain consciousness until Sunday morning. Brazilian policemen have begun a manhunt 33 men who gang raped a 16 year old girl and posted the footage of the event online. The men who are suspected to be drug dealers posted obscene screen shot of the footage on Twitter some videoing their face with the profane description of their act. The footage received several comments from viewers before the account was blocked as police said they issued warrants of arrest four four men including the 19 year old girls boyfriend. He and another man, 41, are facing charges of rape, while two other men faces charges of distribution of footage of attack on social media. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has faulted calls for probe into the funding of its presidential campaign in 2015, which brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power. The calls were made by a section of Nigerians against the backdrop of probe of the source of funding of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which was ousted from power last year by the APC. Specifically, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, alleged that $2.1 billion originally meant for arms purchase to fight Boko Haram in the Northeast, was diverted by the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, to fund the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan. The immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, is also being probed by the anti-graft agency for allegedly distributing $115 million (N23 billion) during the election. Already, the EFCC has filed several cases against Mr. Dasuki and several other PDP chieftains, accused of benefitting from the largesse, which came from the treasury. However, some Nigerians have said for the anti-corruption campaign of the present administration to be regarded as impartial and all encompassing, the funding of APCs presidential campaign should also be scrutinized by the anti-graft agency. For instance, former Director-General of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has been accused by the PDP of using Rivers State money to oil the political machinery of the Buhari campaign. Mr. Amaechi, who was Rivers Governor, spearheaded the APC presidential campaign that defeated Mr. Jonathan and PDP in the 2015 presidential campaign. Speaking on The Encounter with Constance Ikowu, a programme on WEFM, the national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun said that it was wrong to ask the EFCC to investigate the sources of funding for the APC campaign because unlike the PDP, his party did not use public money to fund its presidential election. He said, You are comparing apples and grapes. It is the peoples money. You cant use the money of the people to run parties and so the APC today is suffering from that basic correct policy decision. But campaign funds cannot come from the monies that belong to the generality of Nigerians. Individuals can donate, and companies can donate subject to limits that the law provides. We are not touching those. But where you take monies meant for positioning troops in the North East to fight against Boko Haram to fund parties (and) the most recent when you take our crude, gave unregistered crude to exporters, repatriate the proceeds and use them to finance your political campaigns that is wrong. That is impunity at its worst. So they are not comparable. Stating that the PDP campaign funds being investigated by the EFCC was just a tip of the iceberg, Mr. Oyegun clarified that the Buhari-led APC administration was not probing the donations individuals made to the PDP during the polls, but the utilization of public funds. So dont link it with the PDP because it has nothing to do with the PDP, he stressed. The APC national chairman said the Buhari administration was trying to lay down principles which must be followed by all with a view to removing impunity in governance. We are laying down the principles that must be established in this nation. What is going on now is just a tip of the iceberg. There are certain basic principles we must establish in this nation. Oyegun also revealed that there were serving APC governors and ex-governors under investigation currently but not in connection with campaign funding as was the case of the PDP. He, however, stressed that President Buhari would not shield any of the governors if they were found to have used public monies to fund campaigns. As at today, of course there are APC governors and ex governors that are under investigation, maybe not in respect or specifically campaign funds, but there are, said Mr. Oyegun. The basic principle is impunity must be removed from the system and wherever the tree falls, so let it be! I am sure that if that happens, the kind of president that we have will look the other way. Normal process must take its course. On calls for the arrest of Mr. Jonathan, the APC national chairman I cannot speak for the government; I can speak for the party. Wherever the tree falls so be it. I dont think it will get to that. What is important is that if you receive stolen goods.. Nigerias Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting with members of Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON). He assured Nigerians that the government ia well aware of the suffering that Nigerians are going through and would do all that they can to put the nation back on track. President Muhammadu Buari says Nigeria is committed to the well-being of its children, reminding them that they had rights to quality and affordable education, good health and other basic necessities of life. The president said this in his message to children on the occasion of 2016 Childrens Day celebration. I seize the opportunity of this years celebration, which comes just two days before the first anniversary of the present administration, to reassure our children and youth that we remain fully committed to fulfilling our promise of a better Nigeria for all of our people. On this happy occasion for our children, I reaffirm my belief that it is the right of every Nigerian child to have access to quality and affordable education, as well as healthcare and other basic necessities for a good life, in a peaceful and secure environment. The good health and well-being of Nigerian children remain top priorities on our agenda for national development and we have demonstrated our strong commitment in this regard with the allocation of N12.6 billion in the 2016 budget for vaccines and programmes to prevent childhood killer diseases, such as polio, measles and yellow fever. Other measures in the 2016 budget, such as the school feeding programme for children at a cost of N93.1 billion, will ensure that more children go to school and enjoy the fun of learning and growing together with their peers, Buhari said. Photo: Noose Found On DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus By Mae Rice in News on May 27, 2016 3:14PM Photo via Facebook A noose was found on DePaul University's North Side campus on Thursday afternoon. The school is investigating the situation. Late this afternoon we received multiple reports that a noosea horrific symbol of racist intimidationwas found on the Lincoln Park campus," the school said in a statement. Those found to be responsible will be held accountable." Students told WGN that the noose was found hanging in the entrance to Sanctuary Hall (2358 N. Sheffield Ave.), a campus dorm. A photo of the fallen noose has been circulating online. This tweet of the photo, one of many, appears to be from a DePaul student: Someone out a noose on campus today, is it still chill DePaul? pic.twitter.com/2O9KcHBZsX Nicole Joelle (@coleykins15) May 26, 2016 This is the second racially-charged incident on DePaul's campus this week. Earlier in the week, a student defaced the sidewalk in DePaul's quad with the messages "Trump 2016" and "Fuck Mexico," the school said in a statement on Tuesday."This was not written in chalk, but rather a paint-like substance that was difficult to remove," the school reported. "This slur against Mexicans goes against everything DePaul stands for," the university's president, Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneide, said in a statement shared on Facebook. "We will work to identify the individual, file charges with the police, and bring the university's disciplinary process to bear." DePaul is one of the largest Catholic universities in the nation. DePaul's Public Relations department could not be immediately reached for comment. Bump alert! Cynthia Obi-Uchendus belly is growing, and the stunning beauty isnt shy about showing off her blossoming baby bump while stepping out with her husband in Dubai. Ebuka and his gorgeous wife Cynthia Obi-Uchendu are currently in the tourist city to attend Toolz Oniru and Captain Tunde Demurens white wedding. The Federal Government has been advised to consider the option of engaging and dialoguing with militants in response to the renewed waves of militancy in the Niger Delta region. A former Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who gave the advice yesterday, however, suggested that the engagement should be between regional leaders on one hand and another between the leaders and the Federal Government. Nigeria has seen her crude oil production tumble from 2.2 million barrels per day to around 1.6 million bpd owing to recent attacks on crude oil pipelines in the Delta/Bayelsa axis by a new militant group Niger Delta Avengers. While President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to deal with the militant group the same way he dealt with Boko Haram and has given marching orders to the military to flush the militants out of the creeks, Mr. Uduaghan insisted that peaceful engagement is the best option available. The former governor, who was a key player in the amnesty offer to former militants, was reacting to the latest attacks on oil giant, Chevron Nigerias facilities in the Warri area. The bombings are damaging our environment and it will take several years to rebuild, Mr. Uduaghan said. He added: I want to advise the Federal Government to take the issue of dialogue very seriously because I believe that is the solution to the current crisis. The leaders of the Niger Delta should come together and engage ourselves to find solution to the problem. Speaking on rumour that there are external forces involved in the latest attacks, he said, I do not think so because there is enough of issues in the region to cause whats happening. The ex-governor also counseled his successor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to step up dialogue, engagement and improve on intelligence gathering to assist the Federal Government in dealing with the situation. Mr. Uduaghan also pleaded with those behind the relentless attacks on oil and gas installations to rethink their action because of the economic challenges it is posing for the nation and ecological destruction to their region. The US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reached the number of delegates needed to secure the partys presidential nomination. In North Dakota on Thursday, he thanked 15 unbound delegates from the state who he said got us right over the top. He defeated 16 other Republican contenders and according to the Associated Press has 1,238 delegates, one more than needed. Republicans will finalise their nomination at a convention in July. While Mr Trump has the required amount of delegates, his nomination by a divided Republican Party is not yet secured. Unbound delegates in the party are free to support the candidate of their choice. If his nomination is confirmed, Mr Trump will face former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who are vying for the Democrat nomination. On Wednesday, the New York billionaire suggested going against Mr Sanders in a TV debate in California before the states primary on 7 June. Mr Sanders agreed to the debate in a tweet, saying Game on. Power in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) may soon improve as the administration says it will encourage investment in portable power generation options using renewable energy to address epileptic power supply in the territory. A number of investors have come to us for investment in power sector, FCT Minister, Mallam Mohammed Bello told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. We are not interested in adding power to the national grid, but to create clusters of portable power generation options using renewable energy. For instance, if we get investors willing to power the University of Abuja with solar energy which the territory is endowed with, this will relieve the pressure on the national grid. The modular system can pay for itself and it is safe from carbon emission, Bello said, reiterating the governments resolve to put an end to poor electricity supply in the country. The Rivers State Police Command has declared five of its men missing after they came under a barrage of heavy gunfire from unknown gunmen on the Okujagu waterways in Okrika Local Government Area of the state, last Wednesday. The command, which declared the policemen missing on Friday, also set up a panel to investigate the circumstances of their disappearance. This is just as it disclosed that 53 persons have been arrested in connection with the missing policemen. The Rivers Police Command spokesperson, Ahmad Muhammad, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, said the policemen were on an official assignment to the area when they were unexpectedly attacked. The policemen went to Okujagu community on a routine police inquiry when they were ambushed by unknown gunmen before they could disembark from the boat that ferried them, they were bombarded with a barrage of heavy gunfire which forced them to scamper for cover, he said. Six policemen, comprising two inspectors and four other officers, initially got missing but one Inspector Aferuan Imoukhuede was rescued a day after the attack. Muhammad, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP, added that Sting operations by the command are still on the top gear to rescue the remaining five missing policemen. Fifty-three suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident and are currently undergoing interrogation. The statement said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Musa Kimo, had set up a high-powered investigative panel headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Investigation Department, to unravel the circumstances surrounding the entire incident. Majority Leader of the House Of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, on Friday blamed the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the countrys economic crisis, saying it left an empty treasury. Gbajabiamila spoke at the Town Hall Meeting he organised to give account of his stewardship to his constituents in Surulere, Lagos. Things are very difficult in Nigeria today; we must acknowledge that. The question we need to ask ourselves is why? And the answer is very simple. When this government came into power, we knew the situation was bad, we knew the previous government did so much damage to the economy, but, we did not know how bad. It was when this government got there that they saw the books and they found that everything was empty. Apart from the falling oil revenue, we have read in the papers how people are being tried for looting the country`s treasury; how people were putting billions meant for terror war in their pockets. The kind of rot, the kind of corruption Buhari met is unprecedented anywhere in the world. Had the president not taken some of the measures he is taking now, the system would have collapsed completely, he said. Gbajabiamila also justified the recent hike in the price of petrol, saying it was the best for the country at this critical point in time. Two days to his first anniversary in office as President of the most populous black nation on earth, President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to gauge the performance of his ministers and whether he should make changes. President Buhari, who has had a slow start to governance with Nigerians fast losing patience, appointed ministers in September last year but it was not until November, before he assigned portfolios to them. Speaking during an interview session with select journalists at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja yesterday, Buhari said I am waiting for the newspapers to tell me the performance of my ministers and whether I should make changes in response to the question if Nigerians should expect changes in his team on the first anniversary of his administration. The president, who explained why his government took off rather slowly, said former President Olusegun Obasanjo with experience in hand over and take over, recalled that in 1999, outgoing Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar made each ministry to prepare handing over notes and then brief the president-elect, for him to choose what he wanted out of it. Sharing his personal experience with the immediate past administration, Buhari said former President Goodluck Jonathan agreed to do the same and asked all his ministers to prepare handing over notes and brief him (Buhari) as president-elect then, but a last minute protest that he should not be allowed to take over the government before he was sworn-in, scuttled the move. As a result, President Buhari said no proper transition took place and after his inauguration, he had to take briefings from two ministries a day in order to make up for lost time. Although the incidence of armed robbery has been on the decline in Lagos state , Bode Thomas street, Surulere remains something of a hot bed An INFORMATION NIGERIA correspondent witnessed a robbery on the notoriously busy street on Friday morning as an armed robber who was on a motorcycle and had only a fez cap on pulled up beside a black Kia. As the traffic light turned red, the assailant pulled out a pistol and shot at his victim before reaching into his car to steal a polythene bag reportedly containing money. The incident occurred at around 11:30 this morning and the victim lost consciousness as the gunshot hit him in the thigh. He was immediately rushed to the hospital by someone at the scene of the accident. Reports indicate that there was yet another robbery on Bode Thomas street last week. 35 year old Nathaniel Kibby has been convicted in Conway police dept of kidnapping. Nathaniel Kibby abducted teenage girls and held them for a period of nine months. Kibby was arrested in July 2014 and charged with kidnapping a 14 year old girl on October 9, 2013 in Conway New Hampshire. The abducted girl turned 15 a week after she disappeared and only returned home nine months later in July 2014. Kibby apologised to the victim, who thanked him for releasing her, and also pleaded guilty to seven counts including kidnapping, aggravated felonious sex assault and criminal threatening on Thursday. The Chief Whip of the Oyo state House of Assembly, Akimoyede Olafisoye has debunked claims of a scheme to impeach the Speaker of the House, Michael Adeyemo. Several unconfirmed reports claimed that the Speaker was to be impeached on the grounds of incompetence by the members of the House. The Chief Whip also spoke about the current inability of the Oyo State government to pay salaries and appealed for patience on the path of the workers in the state. The chief whip, who noted that lawmakers are aware of the current national financial difficulties which made it difficult for states to pay salaries, called on Nigerians to pray for the country and its leadership. Mr. Olafisoye said the Assembly will work together with the Senator Abiola Ajimobi administration in the state to ensure prompt payment of salaries just as he urged Nigerians to be patient as the policies of President Muhammadu Buhari will be in their favour at the end. Nigerians should support and pray for the President because we will all be living witness to the improvement that will come to the country soon, he said. Photos: Catch Epic Views Of Chicago From Navy Pier's New Ferris Wheel By Rachel Cromidas in Arts & Entertainment on May 27, 2016 8:50PM Updated: About 100 people got stuck riding Navy Pier's new Ferris wheel Friday evening, just hours after the wheel opened to the public. The ride experienced a brief power outage around for about 20 minutes around 8 p.m., Pier officials told reporters, stranding riders in their gondolas. Riders' emotions apparently ranged from gleeful to terrified as the lights flickered on and off inside the wheel's swanky, climate-controlled gondolas, which began swaying in the air. "I'm so happy to be on land. I'm very relieved, I'm probably going to call my parents," one rider told ABC7. -- Navy Pier's brand new, taller and faster Ferris wheel is up and running, and open to the public as of Friday afternoon. We sent photographer Tyler LaRiviere to the opening festivities to ride the new wheel and catch the view from above. The new wheel is 50 feet taller than the old one, which is living out its retirement in Missouri, and it features some high-tech gondolas. The immediate past Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, yesterday decried the inability of Southeast governors to meet and discuss matters of importance to the development of the zone. Governors in the zone used to meet under the aegis of South-East Governors Forum. Mr. Obi, who governed Anambra for eight years before handing over in March 2014, said it was time for Ndigbo to come together and with what he termed voices of quality. The former governor and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain also appealed to traditional rulers and members of the clergy in the zone to quickly help to bring the Igbo people together, rather than leave issues affecting the race to politicians alone. Mr. Obi spoke during a public lecture with the theme Religion and Culture in Modern Igbo Context, organised by the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF), at the Toscana Hotel, Enugu. If governors dont meet, who will meet? For eight years, we tried it and it worked but since we left, they have not met he lamented. The member representing Gwadabawa/Illela federal constituency of Sokoto State in the House of Representatives, Abdullahi Salame, has denied speculations that his controversial pro-Sharia Bill is aimed at expanding the jurisdiction of the Islamic legal code to cover the entire country. Salame, an All Progressives Congress, APC, lawmaker explained that the Bill, which secretly passed second reading, is a constitutional amendment proposal actually aimed at protecting Christians from unprovoked attacks in the northern part of the country. The North, highly volatile and prone to outbreak of religious crises, is home to majority of Nigerian Muslims with Sharia law practiced in most of the 19 northern states. The lawmaker received public backlash on Wednesday after Nigerians learn that A bill for an Act to alter Sections 262 and 277 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to increase the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory and Sharia Court of Appeal of a State by including Criminal Matters and Hudud and Qisas and for other related Matters scaled the second reading in the lower legislative chamber. The development came as a rude shock as the introduction of the controversial bill for first reading on the floor of the House, was not reported in the media. The public condemnation that trailed the pro-Sharia bill and Mr. Salame was not unexpected as Nigeria is a secular state roughly divided between Christians and Muslims. Already, some Christian groups have issued strongly-worded statements reprimanding non-Muslim lawmakers for allowing the legislation to pass first and second reading without as a much as a challenge. Making clarifications on his legislation, Reps Salame said the bill only seeks to alter the Constitution to give Sharia Court of Appeal the jurisdiction to hear criminal matters in Sharia-compliant states. According to him, the two sections that deal with the court currently permit the Sharia Court of Appeal the jurisdiction to try civil matters only, saying the only way to strengthen the court for its purpose is if it is given the constitutional backing to try both civil and criminal matters. I just want them to add only two words and criminal to Sections 262 and 272 so that after the civil there will be followed with and criminal matters, Mr. Salame explained yesterday. He said the proposed legislation only seeks to strengthen the powers of the Sharia Court of Appeal in places where Sharia legal code currently exists. Were not trying to expand the Sharia as other people perceive it that were trying to take Sharia to other states that have not adopted Sharia like Enugu or Abuja, Mr. Salami said. No, were not saying that we should expand Sharia. Were talking about the jurisdiction of the existing Sharia court. If passed into law, the All Progressives Congress lawmaker said his amendment will deter Muslims from continuing with their current behaviour of killing Christians and other non-Muslims at the slightest provocation in the North. When theres little argument it will become ethnic and religious crisis. Many non-Muslims are being unjustly killed. People are doing injustice to non-Muslims by attacking non-Muslims just because theyre not Muslims, Mr. Salame said. With the passage of this bill, no Muslim will ever attempt even to harm, much less, kill non-Muslims, because you know Sharia can attend to criminal cases and you will be dealt with. And, in Islam, when you kill a non-Muslim, you will be killed. These Boko Haram and other groups that hide behind any little crisis to attack Christians and other non-Muslims would be easily punished. He further said the bill conforms to his partys Change agenda because it will help improve security, which is one of the manifestoes of the APC. One of the objectives of the APC government is to ensure peace and security in the country. This bill, when passed, will certainly improve security and a peaceful co-existence between Muslim and non-Muslims in the states that practice Sharia, he said. Salame, therefore, urged Nigerians to put aside their ethnic and religious affiliations and support the bill, adding that his colleagues in the House, especially those from Sharia-compliant states, are in support of it. The Saudi Arabian police department have in custody a man who shot a male doctor just after he helped deliver his wifes baby. It is said that the suspect was angry that the hospital had allow a male doctor Muhannad Al Zabn, to treat his wife during child birth. The man who has not been named is believe to have wanted a female doctor to deliver the baby and was upset that the male doctor would have seen his wife naked. The baby was born in April at the king Fahand medical city in Saudi city of Riyadh. The man reportedly travelled to the hospital and contacted Dr Al Zabn for a quick chat. The United States Government has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for recently hosting a Regional Security Summit in Abuja. Mr. Buhari on May 14 played host to Presidents Francois Hollande of France, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Patrice Talon of Benin Republic, Idriss Deby of Chad, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic and Faure Gnassingbe of Togo during the 2nd Regional Security Summit. Other heads of state at the summit were Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Macky Sall of Senegal and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. The U.S and European Union sent representatives. The 2nd Regional Security Summit was a follow up to the first conference of such, which held in Paris, France, on May 17, 2014, following the escalation of terrorists activities in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The U.S Alternate Representative to the United Nations, David Pressman, in a statement he issued on Friday, said that the U.S Government was encouraged by Buharis decision to host the security summit for leaders committed to ending the activities of Boko Haram. The United States is encouraged that under President Buharis leadership, a security summit of regional leaders, committed to carrying out a sustained, comprehensive approach against Boko Haram was organised. This, couples with rights respecting security operations and civilian efforts to restore stability, promote governance and economic development to break the cycle of violence in all countries where Boko Haram is active. The UN system, including the Special Representatives for West Africa and the Sahel and Central Africa, should continue to assist the Lake Chad Basin region to implement such a comprehensive strategy, Mr. Pressman was quoted as saying in the statement. The United Airlines have revealed plans to discontinue operations in Nigeria by ending of June citing economic policies and energy sector as reasons. According to the Airline, the last departure from Houston will be on June 29 and the last departure from Lagos will be on June 30. This however coincides with the Federal governments proposal yesterday to establish a national carrier to enhance the competition in the aviation sector. With the last flight which is on June 30, Delta Air lines will now emerge as the major US carrier flying to Africa. The United Airline claims that suspension would have come earlier than this as the Houston to Lagos route had underachieved in years but had to sustain it because of how important it was to their Texas-based customers. Due to the depletion in the countrys foreign reserves caused by global plunge in oil prices, the Central Bank of Nigerias foreign exchange policy restricted the movement of foreign currencies. However, sufficiently indicating potential stiffening of the airlines operation in the country as the route has not been profiting. The airline has apologized for any inconveniences caused especially to customers with bookings for flight beyond those date as they will also provide refunds. Majority leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Friday explained the reason behind his decision to support the removal of fuel subsidy by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, four years after he opposed same move by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. The All Progressives Congress lawmaker representing Surulere I federal constituency, Lagos State, said he was forced to change his stand after he was confronted with facts and figures that the fuel subsidy regime could no longer be sustained. Mr. Gbajabiamila maintained that if subsidy was not removed, Nigeria could have experienced recession within the next two months. It would be recalled that 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 saw the pump price of petrol go up from N86.50 per litre to N145. Speaking at a town hall meeting with his constituents in Lagos, the Reps Majority Leader, however, pleaded with Nigerians not to lose hope in the APC-led federal government, assuring that situation of things in the country would soon improve. He also said Nigeria found itself in this precarious condition because of the level of loot and theft perpetrated by the immediate past Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government at the centre. Gbajabiamila also weighed in on the strike embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in response to fuel subsidy removal, saying the action was largely unsuccessful because there was no need for it in the first place. According to him, Labour was duly informed by government of the situation warranting subsidy removal. He said, That is why the planned strike did not work because members of labour knew there was no need to strike, even PDP knows that this was the only thing the government could do. Now the idea belongs to OPEC (Oil Producing Countries), I did a research and found out that all oil producing countries from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, to Bahrain, to Venezuela to Russia have increased their fuel price by 40 per cent since December-January, we were the last. On the performance of the Buhari administration on its first anniversary, the House Leader said it was too early to give a scorecard of the present administration, urging Nigerians to give their assessment after four years. He said, Things are very, very difficult today in Nigeria, we must acknowledge that. The question we need to ask ourselves is why? And the answer is very simple. When this government came into power, we knew the situation was bad, we knew the party that was there in the least 16 years had done a lot to destroy our economy. It was when we got there that they saw the books and the fact that everything was empty. The kind of rot, the kind of corruption, the kind of theft that Buhari and APC met [are] unprecedented anywhere in the world and that is why the Prime Minister David Cameron recently in London said Nigeria is fantastically corrupt. The Federal government yesterday said the proposed establishment of a national carrier was to enhance competition in the nations aviation sector. He explained that the new national carrier to be established would be private-sector driven, explaining further that the coming of the airline was not intended to kill the smaller carriers in the country. Imagine British Airways coming to Nigeria 21 times in a week, three times in a day, so also Emirate and others that are coming twice daily, Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, said in Abuja while receiving the leaders of Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, led by its President, Mr Benjamin Okewu. Nigeria has no response and then what happens? The prices of tickets go up, Nigerians would not have jobs because there are pilots and engineers but cannot use their licenses. It kills the morale of anybody because he cannot use his skill and his knowledge is wasted but what we have tried to do is to inject competition within the system by having a national carrier. Nigeria will continue to pay higher because for now, we dont have any option but if we create option, certainly prices will come down and there will be more jobs for Nigerian people, Sirika said. He assured of his readiness to use his wealth of experience in the sector to ensure the establishment of a befitting national carrier that would serve the Nigerian people efficiently. NextEra Energy ( $NEE ): Bigger Pullback Taking Place Elliott Wave Forecast - 52 minutes ago NextEra Energy Inc. ticker symbol: $NEE is an electric power and energy infrastructure company. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Juno Beach, FL. It operates through the following... NEE : 75.82 (+3.47%) Cotton Gaining on Turnaround Tuesday Barchart - 52 minutes ago After the limit drop in Dec cotton to start the week, front month futures are bouncing back with 187 to 277 point gains so far. December futures are still a 43 point discount to the March contract. USDAs... CTZ22 : 78.76 (+3.45%) CTH23 : 78.39 (+3.50%) CTK23 : 77.70 (+2.85%) Red Midday in Hog Market Barchart - 52 minutes ago Lean hog futures are trading with midday losses of as much as 30 cents through the front months. May 23 contracts are the exception with a 52 cent gain so far. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price... HEZ22 : 88.525 (+0.68%) HEJ23 : 93.875 (-0.03%) KMZ22 : 97.350 (-0.41%) Cattle Trading Weaker at Midday Barchart - 52 minutes ago Live cattle futures are fading their Monday rally through midday with 15 to 77 cent weakness. The weekly FCE auction saw no bids on the 1,120 head listed, asks were $150. Last weeks cash trade was mostly... LEV22 : 151.600 (unch) LEZ22 : 153.325 (-0.52%) LEG23 : 156.775 (-0.13%) GFV22 : 176.750 (+0.61%) GFX22 : 178.250 (-0.50%) Red Midday in Wheat Market Barchart - 52 minutes ago Wheat futures are trading lower through the Tuesday sessions midday. CBT futures are down 1/2 a cent to 4 1/2 cents so far. KC wheat futures are down by 4 1/2 to 5 cents so far. MPLS wheat futures are... ZWZ22 : 837-0 (-0.21%) ZWH23 : 856-4 (-0.20%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.7043 (-0.38%) KEZ22 : 936-6 (-0.13%) KEPAWS.CM : 8.9495 (-0.14%) MWZ22 : 950-2 (-0.78%) Soy Turns Around on Tuesday Barchart - 52 minutes ago Following Mondays weakness, the soy complex is mostly higher through midday led by a rebound in the meal. Soymeal futures are trading $4 to 6.30/ton higher so far with Dec up by 1.54%. Beans are... XSX22 : 5,433s (-1.75%) KOF23 : 4,155 (+0.68%) ZSX22 : 1382-6 (+0.78%) ZSPAUS.CM : 13.3790 (+0.82%) ZSF23 : 1392-6 (+0.83%) ZSH23 : 1401-0 (+0.85%) Corn Gaining 2-3 Cents Through Midday Barchart - 52 minutes ago Tuesday corn trading has the board back up by 2 to 3 cents in the front months after a weaker Monday trade. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and The Fertilizer Institute confirmed that the 370k tons of... ZCZ22 : 686-2 (+0.70%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.7646 (+0.76%) ZCH23 : 692-2 (+0.65%) ZCK23 : 691-6 (+0.65%) QQQ Shows Bearish Sequence from 2021 Peak Elliott Wave Forecast - 1 hour ago The series of rate hikes by the Fed has provided a challenge for the World Indices. World Indices continue to make a series of lower low since they formed the peak in 2021. One of the popular vehicles... QQQ : 282.91 (+1.60%) Coffee Prices Weighed Down on the Outlook for Larger Global Output Barchart - 1 hour ago December arabica coffee (KCZ22 ) this morning is down -5.30 (-2.78%), and Nov ICE Robusta coffee (RMX22 ) is down -5 (-0.26%). Coffee prices this morning are moderately lower, with arabica posting a... KCZ22 : 184.35 (-3.18%) RMF23 : 1,948s (-0.26%) You are here: Home China's capital city of Beijing has been discussing the feasibility of setting up air purifiers at schools and kindergartens during a smog control conference. A photo taken on Dec. 23, 2015 shows the buildings in smog in Shijingshan District of Beijing. [Photo: Xinhua/Zheng Huansong] The discussion led by the Beijing education authority also included the possibility of a flexible timetable for schools during days of heavy air pollution. Meantime, the conference further discussed a preliminary plan on tackling traffic congestion, as part of efforts to tackle smog. The plan discussed proposed to build a highway around the capital so that outside vehicles passing by would not necessarily cross through the city, adding that stricter controls will be imposed on high-emission vehicles. In addition, the plan proposed measures on charging fees for outside vehicles passing through congested road sections. Readers of our arts coverage lately know we've devoted a lot of ink to donors supporting large capital projects at major arts institutions. Many of these institutions have been bitten by the "Bilbao Effect" bugthe idea that an architecturally exciting project makes an institution more of a destination. But it isn't just mega-museums like the Museum of Modern Art that catch the fever. Universities and smaller organizations are susceptible to the effect, as well. Take recent news out of Bloomington, Indiana, where Indiana University (IU) Art Museum announced a landmark gift of $15 million from Indianapolis-based philanthropists Sidney and Lois Eskenazi. This is the largest cash gift in the museum's history and a lead gift toward renovation of its building, which opened in 1982. What's more, the Eskenazis are also donating their collection of nearly 100 works of art, composed primarily of prints by 20th-century European and American masters. The museum will be renamed the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art in recognition of the couple's generosity, effective immediately. The gift suggest that big cities, quite naturally, needn't have a monopoly on world-class art and awe-inspiring buildings. In that sense, new out of Indianapolis reminds us of recent developments in Denver, where developer John Madden donated 120 pieces of art, valued at roughly $10 million, to the University of Denver. The parallels are pretty obviousbut we'll spell them them out anyway. Both gifts came from loyal hometown donors. Both involved donating pieces of art. And both gifts went to universities situated in small(ish) cities that boast the luxury of an educated audience base. (To that end, IU's windfall also echoes the recent successes of another small town entity, the Worcester Art Museum.) So what about Sidney and Lois Eskenazi? Lois and Sidney Eskenazi's family business, started by Sidney in 1963, is one of the nations leading real estate development companies, managing more than 70 properties in 23 states. They've been supporting Central Indiana organizations ever since. Most notably, in 2011, the couple gave $40 million for a new hospital and medical campus in Indianapolis, now known as the Sidney and Louis Eskenazi Hospital and Eskenazi Health. It was one of the largest gifts ever made to a public hospital in the U.S. at the time. The couple has also provided crucial support to Indianapolis' Herron School of Art and Design. In recognition for their gift to Herron's sculpture and ceramics facility, the school remained the facility the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Fine Arts Center. In fact, last year Indiana Gov. Mike Pence presented Sidney and Lois Eskenazi each with the Sagamore of the Wabash, one of the states highest individual recognitions, at a special ceremony for their philanthropic work. In related news, we'd like to think there's something of a friendly rivalry between Bloomington (population 82,575) and Indianapolis (population 852,866). Therefore, in an effort to fuel that (friendly) rivalry while simultaneously showing our objectivity, check out this IP piece asking if the Indianapolis Museum of Art represent the future of museum audience engagement. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to invest $500 million to develop Iran's Chabahar port during his "historic" visit. According to the agreements, India plans to build and operate two terminals and five berths with cargo handling in the Chabahar port. Had the port not been located roughly 70 km away from the Gawador deep sea port in Pakistan, which is being developed and run by China, it would probably have only been mentioned as another infrastructure project to promote trade between two nations. As things stand, it is more than that. The timing of Modi's trip was critical due to the prevailing geo-strategic situation. The Indians were aware of Iran's uneasy ties with Pakistan and the running tension with Saudi Arabia. President Hassan Rouhani's visit to Pakistan in March was almost ruined when (for some unknown reasons) Pakistani officials suddenly announced that they arrested an Indian spy who had entered the country from Iran to "carry out sabotage activities." The Iranians were livid with anger and took pains to reject the impression that their soil was being used against Pakistan by India for spying and militant purposes. India is also aware that China is investing 46 billion dollars in Pakistan. The mega China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will start from western China and culminate in Gawador, which is not far away from Chabahar. India started opposing the project since its inception last year, but China has rejected its concerns and criticism. Gawador will be fully operational by the end of next year, providing the shortest route for China to reach the Gulf, Africa and Europe. The Indian plan includes not only building Chabahar, but also a trilateral arrangement with Iran and Afghanistan to carry its goods and influence to Central Asia. The transit agreement signed by Modi, Rouhani and Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani makes sure to bypass Pakistan for Indian trade. Despite this fact, Pakistan provides the shortest and easiest route for India to Afghanistan and Central Asia but it has not been operationalized due to a deep mistrust between Pakistan and India. It appears that India has decided to forget about the Pakistani route for the near future and focus on alternative traffic. The Iranians are ecstatic over the Indian project. President Rouhani said that the Chabahar port can serve as a point of connectivity between different countries, especially India and Afghanistan and also east of Europe. He said it will pave the way for greater cooperation. He is right, as Iran was a major source of Indian crude oil imports until 2012, before nuclear sanctions forced it to reduce purchasing. India made special arrangements to pay roughly $750 million to clear part of $6.4 billion before Modi's visit, which was owed by Indian refiners to Iran for crude oil imports. It is obvious that India wants to use the Chabahar investment for economic and strategic objectives in order to primarily strengthen its clout in Afghanistan and in the region. It will help India increase trade with Iran as it hopes to double oil imports from Iran after the lifting of sanctions, as well as winning the rights to develop a giant gas field. Exports to Afghanistan and beyond will further expand the country's economic outreach. The strategic part of the project is aimed at curtailing China, which, through its road and belt policy, is exploring ways of increasing connectivity with the regional countries. By checkmating China, India will be able to get the support of the United States, which sees China's rise as a threat. India and China may also rival each other in the Middle East. China is working to deepen ties with the Middle East and President Xi Jinping recently visited Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt. It may be a coincidence that Modi visited the UAE last year and that this year he has visited Saudi Arabia and Iran. He also plans to visit energy rich Qatar. Another Indian objective could be to put pressure on Pakistan. The rivalry between the two is open for everyone. Pakistan has long accused India of using its presence in Afghanistan to create a law and order situation in the border tribal region and the Balochistan province. The Chabahar project will open a quick route for India to Kabul, which can create new security worries for Pakistan. The solution to this unending brinkmanship and tension is multilateral cooperation to create economic linkages for win-win cooperation without wasting time and money on competitive projects to harm the interests of so-called rivals. Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. When two big foundations and two major corporations back a look into consumer finance by a top think tank, its a good idea to pay attention. Earlier this month, the Aspen Institute announced an "unparalleled" project to study financial security. Its new Expanding Prosperity Impact Collaborative (EPIC) is dedicated to issues that impact the financial lives of millions, but have so far escaped scrutiny. EPIC is a project of the Aspen Institutes Financial Security Program, which describes itself as working "with the countrys best minds to create a new generation of policies, products, and services that will enable more Americans to meet basic financial needs now in order to find stability for longer-term saving for the future." The aim of EPIC is to bring together cross-disciplinary thinkers and sectors working across silos to raise the profile of key consumer finance issues, and tee up new policy solutions for decision makers. (If we earned a dollar for every initiative we report on that wants to bust silos, we could go into the funding business ourselves.) So who's putting up the money for EPIC? That would be the Ford and Kellogg foundations, along with the JPMorgan Chase and MetLife foundations. These funders, of course, show up a lot in the asset building and financial inclusion space. In 2016, EPIC is examining income volatility, a daily reality for many Americans and across many types of employment. With a rising gig economy and a decline in lifelong corporate employment, Americans need more financial savvy to avoid trouble. Some aren't prepared. Of course, none of this is exactly breaking news. Jacob Hacker wrote about income volatility in his 2006 book, The Great Risk Shift, and think tanks like the Economic Policy Institute have also drilled into this area. But much digging remains to be done. A March meeting of EPICs participants brought together experts from academia, government, and the private sector to discuss income volatility. A second meeting in June will examine what can be done to mitigate its effects. Leading EPIC is Ida Rademacher, executive director of Aspens Financial Security Program and former senior executive at the Corporation for Enterprise Development. EPIC fits nicely into an expanding ecosystem of efforts to bolster assets and financial inclusion for low-income populations, and it's interesting to see how deeply the corporate funders behind the initiative, JPMorgan Chase and MetLife, have moved into this space. The MetLife Foundation is engaged in a huge, worldwide financial inclusion effort that we report on often. Weve also covered the ongoing effort by JPMorgan Chase to support financial security for vulnerable Americansnoting that as one of the institutions implicated in bad lending before the meltdown, the banking giant has a lot of amends to make. But never mind all that, right? Last year, JPMorgan partnered with the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) on an initiative to find and support financial service businesses that can close gaps in service for "unbanked"sections of the population. JPMorgan is also collaborating with CFSI on its Financial Solutions Lab (to the tune of $30 million) to develop tools and resources to help Americans build assets and improve credit and savings. EPIC and CFSI share another funder in Ford, which gave $1 million to CFSI in 2014. This is all important stuff. But we always feel compelled to note the obvious: Which is that as long as nearly half the U.S. workforce makes under $15 an hour, even as housing and healthcare costs rise, poorer Americans will face huge challenges in building assets, no matter what cool new "tools" they have. Further, as much as we like the Aspen Institute, we wonder how far a think tank so heavily backed by corporate funders can go in challenging the deeper structural inequalities (both economic and political) that have condemned a large swath of working Americans to lives of hardship and insecurity. These are epic problems indeed. Related: The Springdale, Ark., City Council voted 5-3 this week in favor of changing the zoning on 3.56 acres along South Downum Road from residential to commercial. The move was hotly contested between council members but will enable property owner Terry Pinkley to pursue building a 57,000-square-foot self-storage facility. Pinkley intends to construct 10 buildings and could complete the project within a year, according to the source. Pinkley told the council the facility would fit in with the surrounding community and provide tax revenue for the city. "I think, because of my distance from the other houses and because I live there myself, it's the right thing to do," he said. "I'm helping the tax base for the City of Springdale, and that's the bottom line." The developer also noted there is enough local self-storage demand to support the facility. [I'll be] drawing traffic from the subdivisions around me because the subdivisions need places to store their goods," Pinkley told the council. "I think this is a big mistake," councilmember Eric Ford said during the meeting. "I think we showed everybody that our land-use policy doesn't mean anything." Councilor Kathy Jaycox called the rezoning a huge disservice to the city. Mayor Doug Sprouse was supportive of adding self-storage to the area but cautious about setting a zoning precedent. "I'm not worried about what you're going to do, he told Pinkley during the meeting, I'm worried about the consequences of zoning commercial." Several chicken houses will be torn down to make room for the self-storage development, according to the source. Investment Real Estate LLC (IRE), a property-management and consulting firm serving the self-storage industry, has hired Sparky Brooks as brokerage advisor. Based in Boston, Brooks will be responsible for feasibility studies, financial analysis and self-storage property sales in the Northeast. A native of Massachusetts, Brooks has more than 11 years of corporate experience in operation, sales and service. He most recently specialized in risk management at Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., a global professional-services firm with businesses in insurance brokerage, investment advisory, management consulting, risk management, reinsurance services and talent management. While there, he worked with clients in New England. Before joining that company, Brooks spent nine years in San Francisco specializing in business development across the Pacific Northwest. Brooks is a graduate of Elmira College in New York. Hes also a member of the Connecticut Self Storage Association, Massachusetts Self Storage Association and the national Self Storage Associations Young Leaders Group. "I am very excited to be part of IRE and help grow our business in New England. IRE brings exceptional value to [its] clients, and I am thrilled to be a part of the team, Brooks said. Since its inception in 1998, IRE has provided brokerage, construction, development and management services to self-storage owners and investors. Its construction arm, founded in 2000, has built more than 2 million square feet of self-storage space in eight states. The Georgian Service of the Voice of America celebrated its 65th anniversary on Thursday. At a ceremony at VOA headquarters in Washington, Georgias ambassador to the United States, Archil Gegeshidze, said his countrys independence from the Soviet Union was largely due to the positive influence of programs from broadcasters like the Voice of America. VOA Georgian first aired on May 26, 1951. During the Cold War, you played a critical role in helping Georgians understand the world beyond the Iron Curtain, added U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly. In a video message from the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Kelly said that since Georgias independence, VOA Georgian has helped build the foundation for a strong U.S.-Georgia relationship that we continue to enjoy today. Other U.S. and Georgian diplomats as well as human rights experts, representatives of the Georgian-American community and past members of the Georgian Service joined VOA Director Amanda Bennett in honoring the service. VOA Georgian was an alternative voice speaking to and for Georgians during the Cold War, and it remains so today, said Bennett. VOA is needed today more than ever. VOA is one of the few media outlets in the region that provide accurate and credible news and information as well as objective, free and fresh voices and perspectives. VOA Georgian reaches 7.7 percent of adults in Georgia each week. In addition to radio programming distributed nationwide on FM via Georgias Public Broadcasting Corporation, the service produces a weekly television magazine program, Washington Today, that is carried on Georgian Public TV. The show focuses on developments in the United States, American perspectives on major developments in the region, the Georgian diaspora, social issues, medicine, science, technology and culture. VOA Georgian audiences can always expect us to provide exclusive, reliable news and information, said VOA Georgian Chief Anna Kalandadze, adding that she is honored to work with the services dedicated journalists who continue to positively influence Georgias traditional and new media environments. The service also maintains a dynamic website, providing video reports on its YouTube channel and engaging the audiences through Facebook and other social media. In a speech in Bismarck, North Dakota yesterday, real-estate mogul Donald Trump celebrated his victory in winning the necessary number of delegates to receive the Republican Partys presidential nomination before his probable opponent, Hillary Clinton, could secure the Democratic nomination. Despite the animosity of many senior GOP leaders to Trump, he is now poised to begin campaigning for the White House in earnest. To date, economic policies espoused by Trump have been an elusive mixture of protectionism against trading partners, including China, and the rolling back of environmental regulations, particularly those affecting energy industries like oil and coal. For investors, this ever-changing political theater raises the question of what its impact might be on the U.S. private sector if Trump wins the general election. With stocks reaching multiweek highs despite a dollar rally, the answer seems to be that a glass-half-full argument is prevailing so far. But there are six long months before the general election. Philips public offering a success. Today Philips Lighting debuted as a public company in Amsterdam, with shares rising by a high single-digit measure in initial trading. The initial public offering brought more than $800 million in capital to parent company Royal Philips. The move to take the lighting unit the historical core franchise of the firm public comes after failed attempts to find a private buyer. Pharmaceutical drama continues. Today The Wall Street Journal reported that beleaguered drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International had spurned a buyout offer fronted by private equity firm TPG and Japans Takeda Pharmaceutical earlier this year. According to unnamed sources, the offer came while former Valeant CEO Michael Pearson was on leave for health reasons. Separately, yesterday Gilead Sciences, Biogen and Jazz Pharmaceuticals revealed that they had received subpoenas as part of a widening investigation into drug companies relationships with charities that help patients afford their drugs. Chinese train builder to sell equity. Today Chinas CRRC Corp., a train manufacturer, announced it will execute a privately placed secondary offering at a nearly 5 percent discount to current trading levels for the companys Shanghai listed shares as it seeks to reduce its debt. The total size of the offering may exceed $1.8 billion. CRRC is the only domestic manufacturer of high-speed locomotives in China and, as a state-controlled entity, was created in recent years through a series of mergers. Abe looks to dodge tax hike. Multiple media outlets today reported rumors that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is exploring ways to delay a sales-tax increase slated for spring of 2017. The move comes after extraordinary quantitative easing and negative interest-rate experiments by the Bank of Japan have, so far, failed to produce results. Separately, consumer-price-inflation data released today by Japans Statistics Bureau indicated that deflationary pressures persisted in April, with the headline index contracting by 0.3 percent year-over-year. Pending home sales spike to multiyear high. Data released on Thursday by the National Association of Realtors indicated that the number of pre-owned houses in the U.S. that are under contract for sale is at the highest level since 2006, up some 5.1 percent month-over-month. Low unemployment and low, historically anomalous mortgage interest rates continue to buoy the real-estate market. Thermo Fisher to acquire rival. Today Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. announced that it will acquire FEI Co. in a deal that is valued at more than $4 billion. The acquisition of FEI, which produces equipment for scientific analysis, will provide more hardware market share to Thermos biotech and laboratory technology franchise. 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. Marvel Comics brought us the Human Fly. And now Google is bringing us human flypaper.The tech giant is confident that its self-driving cars will dramatically reduce the number of injuries or deaths because of their ability not to crash into things.However, as recent test-runs have shown, crashes do still happen, and now Google has a back-up plan.It has just been awarded a patent that proposes placing a strong adhesive on the bonnet of its autonomous cars.This way, pedestrians or cyclists who happen to find themselves being struck by a Googlemobile would be protected from whats called secondary impact.This is the part of a crash when a person is thrown back off the moving vehicle, usually hitting the roof of the car, the hard surface of the street, or even another car. Its also the part that often causes the most serious injuries.Gizmodo.com reports that the patent was filed back in 2014, and was designed as a temporary solution to keep humans around the self-driving cars as the technology developed.While such systems are being developed, it must be acknowledged that, on occasion, collisions between a vehicle and a pedestrian still occur, the patent application read.Such safety mechanisms may become unnecessary as accident-avoidance technology is being further developed, but at present it is desirable to provide vehicles with pedestrian safety mechanisms.The Google glue (patent name could be Gluegle?) is described in the patent as having some kind of eggshell-like coating over the main adhesive layer so that the car doesnt collect a giant insect graveyard on its front like actual flypaper.And as much as it sounds far-fetched, the physics behind it is good, according to Rebecca Thompson, head of public outreach for the American Physical Society.Getting hit by a car once is much preferable to getting hit by a car and then the ground and then another car, she said.However, she pointed out there were both pros and cons with the idea.Cons could include dragging the stuck persons arms or legs under the car and inflicting new injuries, while pros included preventing a human driver from fleeing the scene and therefore cutting down on hit-and-runs.If it proved to be a good idea, it could be a concept that could be applied to all potentially dangerous moving objects, according to Gabe Klein, former head of DCs and Chicagos departments of transportation.Other carmakers have also turned their minds to mitigating pedestrian injuries in crashes, gizmodo.com reported.Nissan has a pop up engine hood which uses tiny explosives to slightly raise the bonnet of the vehicle once it senses an impact to help stop pedestrians from hitting their heads.And another idea for Google could lie in vehicle to person technology, using their role with Android OS to get the worlds smartphones telling pedestrians when they are at risk of getting hit, said Dan Sturges, a transportation designer and adjunct professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.While the sticky hood idea remains to be proven effective, Google said it was just another way that showed how they were thinking about helping its robots to keep more humans alive on our streets. You are here: Home Flash (Xinhua file photo) China's military rejected U.S. claims on China's "unsafe" intercept of an American Navy reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, and demanded the U.S. ends such action. Yang Yujun, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense, told a press conference that China's aircraft acted professionally and in line with a China-U.S. encounter safety code agreed by both sides. Yang said America's frequent reconnaissance over Chinese waters is a real source of danger for China-U.S. military safety. Yang said the agreement only provides a technical regulation, and the best solution was for the U.S. to stop such action. The Pentagon claimed two Chinese J-11 fighters unsafely intercepted a U.S. EP-3 Aries aircraft on May 17 which was conducting routine operations in international airspace. Insurance must stop internalising and focus on its clients, CEO warns El Nino has officially come to an end, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).In an announcement this week, the BOM noted that its outlooks suggest that it is unlikely a return to El Nino is on the horizon.Outlooks suggest little chance of returning to El Nino levels, in which case mid-May will mark the end of the 2015/16 El Nino, the BOM said.However, the BOM noted that Australia could need to brace itself for La Nina, which typically means heavy monsoons, more winter-spring rainfall over northern, central and eastern Australia and a more active cyclone season.International climate models indicate the tropical Pacific Ocean will continue to cool, with six of eight models suggesting La Nina is likely to form during the austral winter (June/August), The BOM statement continued.However, individual model outlooks show a large spread between neutral and La Nina scenarios.Changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean and atmosphere, combined with current climate model outlooks, suggest the likelihood of La Nina forming later in 2016 is around 50%, meaning the Bureau's ENSO Outlook remains at La Nina WATCH.Climate model outlooks for the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) suggest a negative IOD event is likely to develop during the austral winter. However, outlook accuracy for the IOD at this time of year is low. A negative IOD typically brings increased winter-spring rainfall to southern Australia.Ashley Alder, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong and Vice Chair of the IOSCO Board has been appointed as the new chairman of the board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). He will replace Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) Chairman Greg Medcraft, reported ASIC.According to the IOSCO website, the organisation is the leading global standard setter for the securities sector. Its membership regulates more than 95 per cent of the worlds securities markets in more than 115 jurisdictions.IOSCO plays a critical role in setting and implementing international capital markets policy policy that affects Australia and that ultimately affects the lives of Australians. That is why I was involved in IOSCO it was important to have an Australian looking out for Australia, said outgoing IOSCO chairman.On new IOSCO Chairman, Medcraft said: I congratulate Ashley Alder on his appointment. He is an outstanding regulator and an excellent person. I wish him all the best for his chairmanship of the IOSCO board.According to the ASIC website, Medcrafts accomplishments during his three years of leadership include the reinforcement of IOSCOs position as the key global reference point for securities markets regulation; and IOSCOs work increase on risk identification and mitigation, including developing standards and guidance.Major broker Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) is set to be promoted to the Standard & Poor's 500, replacing beverage manufacturing and bottling operation giant Coca-Cola Enterprises in the index.The Illinois-based insurance brokerage and risk management services provider will be added to the S&P 500 global industry classification standard insurance brokers sub-industry index.In the S&P MidCap 400, AJG will be replaced by Education Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Memphis, Tennessee that develops, acquires, owns and manages collegiate housing communities located near university campuses.Education Realty Trust will be replaced in the S&P SmallCap 600 by American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, a manufacturer of automobile driveline and drivetrain components and systems that is based in Detroit, Michigan.All the reported changes will be effective after the close of trading on Friday, May 27, when Coca Cola Enterprises merges with Coca-Cola Iberian Partners SA and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetranke AG.The merger will result in the formation of a new company called Coca-Cola European Partners Plc.The deal is expected to be completed on Friday pending final conditions. Advocates, lawmakers, and physicians are calling for the passage of a bill that would provide insurance coverage for all FDA approved contraceptive drugs and products in New York. The Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act would guarantee co-pay free coverage, allow access to a full years worth of contraception at one time, and increase access to emergency contraception. It would also cover male contraceptive methods such as vasectomies. Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health Action Fund, says Tuesday New York has one of the highest unintended pregnancy rates in the country. The bill has bipartisan support and passed the state Assembly in January. It is now in the Senates Insurance committee. Advocates say the measure is a no-brainer. Theyre optimistic it will pass this session. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New York The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) will close a wealth management office located in Philadelphia, effective July 19, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice the company filed this month with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. USAAs Philadelphia office the companys only branch office in Pennsylvania currently has seven staff members. A USAA spokesperson said the employees will be offered relocation packages to other USAA locations. The Philadelphia office has served as one of approximately 40 USAA wealth management offices across the country providing financial advice and planning for USAA wealth management members. USAA said the company is consolidating and relocating some of its wealth management staff to seven centralized locations in San Antonio; Tampa, Florida; Phoenix; Addison, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Atlanta; and Washington, D.C. Credit Suisse Group AG sold 220 million Swiss francs ($222 million) of bonds designed to offload potential losses on events like rogue trading, with some investors sidestepping the issue because of the incalculable risk. The second-largest Swiss lender initially planned to sell as much as 630 million francs of the notes, three people familiar with the deal said when it was first marketed. Order taking was extended earlier this month, people with knowledge of the deal said, and insurance blog Artemis reported on May 17 the offer was being cut to about 200 million francs. We did look at the risk bond for some time and considered investing its definitely an interesting idea said Dirk Schmelzer, a money manager at Plenum Investments AG, an investment firm specializing in insurance linked securities. It would have been difficult to explain to our clients why wed invest in such an instrument as the risks are hard to assess and difficult to remodel. An official at Credit Suisse in London declined to comment on the bond sale. The average deal size for new insurance-linked securities is about $260 million, according to data compiled by Swiss Re AG. Almost $7 billion of the notes were issued last year, the insurer said in a January report. The five-year securities are similar to catastrophe bonds, which insurers use to limit exposure to disasters such as floods and earthquakes. The Credit Suisse notes cover losses of between 3.5 billion Swiss francs and 4.2 billion francs from operational failures, a broad category that includes unauthorized trading, computer system disruptions, fraudulent transactions and failures in regulatory compliance, people familiar with the matter said previously. The security is underpinned by a policy with Zurich Insurance Group AG and the insurer retains 50 million francs of the risk, with the rest bundled and sold to investors via a Bermuda-based vehicle, according to a person familiar with the matter, who isnt authorized to speak about it and asked not to be identified. Bermuda is a hub for alternative providers of reinsurance capital. I am not surprised that they couldnt raise the originally planned amount, said Dirk Lohmann, chief executive officer of Secquaero Advisors AG. The major risks within the bond have a high probability to be correlated with Credit Suisses stock. Triggering the instruments could have systemic effects on the banking system, HSBC Holdings Plc analysts led by Alevizos Alevizakos said in a note to clients last month. It is difficult to separate ordinary losses from those from internal control or business processes failures, making the trigger conditions less transparent, the analysts wrote. Credit Suisse is seeking to reduce risk and free up capital to develop its wealth management business in emerging markets under a strategy outlined in October by Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam. The bank attracted net new assets of 17.8 billion Swiss francs in the Asia-Pacific region last year and the bank wants to boost that figure to 25 billion francs annually by 2018. With assistance from Cindy Roberts. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Cyber Fraud Investigators are examining possible computer breaches at as many as 12 banks linked to SWIFTs global payments network that have irregularities similar to those in the theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank, according to a person familiar with the probe. FireEye, the security firm hired by the Bangladesh bank, has been contacted by the other banks, most of which are in Southeast Asia, because of signs that hackers may have breached their networks, the person said. They include banks in the Philippines and New Zealand but not in Western Europe or the United States. There is no indication of whether money was taken. The expansion of the investigation four months after the discovery of the Bangladesh attack, the biggest known cyber heist in history, suggests a broad and serious campaign to breach the international financial system. FireEye declined to comment on the report. The emergence of new possible instances of compromise is not entirely surprising given that banks should now be undertaking rigorous reviews of their environments, SWIFT said in a written statement. Many may turn out to be false positives and or have nothing to do with SWIFT messages, but it is key that these reviews take place and banks environments are secured. The Brussels-based interbank cooperative, whose full name is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, has warned that there may have been more breaches than the three already publicly identified, including those in Vietnam and Ecuador. SWIFT has come under increasing pressure from its bank customers to ratchet up its security measures in order to prevent future cyber robberies. SWIFT has relied on the trust within its network if you receive a SWIFT message, you can be sure it is legitimate and move the money as instructed immediately to cement its effective dominance of the international payments system over the past four decades. If that trust erodes, it calls into doubt the foundation upon which the cooperative is built. Symantec, the Mountain View-based security company, said Thursday that it had independent evidence that a Philippine bank was attacked by the same group of hackers involved in the Bangladesh breach. The company said it reached that conclusion after examining hacking tools used in the two attacks. Similar to research released this month by defense contractor BAE Systems, Symantec said in its blog post that the tools suggest a link between those attacks and the breach of Sony Pictures network in 2014, which U.S. officials blame on North Korea. Experts say the shared code doesnt necessarily mean the financial sector attacks were ordered by the North Korean government, which is a much harder link to establish. A FireEye report on the Bangladesh attack provided earlier this month to bank officials didnt attribute the heist to North Korea, according to a person familiar with that document. A Big Deal Hackers may have targeted even more banks, SWIFTs CEO, Gottfried Leibbrandt, said this week in a speech outlining plans to improve network and client defenses. He didnt provide any details about which banks may have been targeted or whether their defenses had been breached. This is a big deal, and it gets to the heart of banking, he said in the speech, adding: Banks that are compromised like this can be put out of business. In the Bangladesh case, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was tricked by fake SWIFT messages into wiring money it held for the impoverished country to hacker-controlled accounts in the Philippines. The Feds systems halted an additional $850 million the attackers tried to have transferred. Hackers also stole $12 million from an Ecuadorean bank in January 2015, according to documents filed a lawsuit by Banco del Austro against Wells Fargo, its U.S. correspondent bank. They also tried to move about $1.2 million in an attack late last year on a Vietnamese lender that was foiled, the lender told its regulators. While SWIFT has for decades made sure its own network was secured, less attention was paid to the security surrounding how member banks each with their own codes and levels of technology sophistication were connecting Brokering Discussions Banks in the U.K. and the U.S. are now pushing for discussions with SWIFT about how it should help member banks better secure their systems, according to people familiar with the separate talks. BITS, the section of the Financial Services Roundtable aimed at combating cyber fraud and other technological issues, could be selected to broker those discussions in the U.S., one person said. In the U.K., banks are privately lobbying the Bank of England and possibly the British Bankers Association to press SWIFT into adopting new security measures, another person said. SWIFT, which connects 11,000 financial institutions that send about 25 million messages a day, will try to increase information sharing among clients, raise security requirements for the software clients use and help clients conduct security audits, Leibbrandt said in his speech. SWIFT will also introduce certification requirements for vendors that help some banks connect to the network, and it may help banks use pattern recognition to identify suspicious behavior, he said. Related: Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics USA Cyber Lawyers professional liability specialist Nate Stortzum has joined the ProQuest division of Alliant Insurance Services as vice president. Stortzum is based in Chicago Prior to joining ProQuest, Stortzum was Midwest regional manager for the IronPro division of Ironshore. There, he was charged with professional liability operations for the Midwest and co-managing Ironshores lawyers professional liability book nationally. He also worked with Lloyds of London brokers on U.S. and non-U.S. business. Stortzum is a member of the Midwest Insurance Committee for City of Hope and a member of the Midwest board of directors for the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS). ProQuest, a division of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Alliant Insurance Services, provides tailored risk solutions to meet the unique needs of law firms throughout the United States. Source: Alliant Specialty Insurance Services (ASIS) Topics USA Alliant A proposal to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio has squeaked through a critical Senate panel over opposition of some Republicans and Democrats. The Senate Government Oversight & Reform Committees 7-to-5 vote sets the stage for probable passage of the bill out of both legislative chambers by the end of the day. State lawmakers are rushing the bill out before their summer recess as ammunition against a well-funded medical marijuana issue working its way to fall ballots. The final bill bars patients from smoking or growing marijuana for medical use, but allows its use in vapor form for certain chronic health conditions. Late changes to the measure bar dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a daycare center, rather than the earlier 500 feet, and prohibit housing discrimination against patients. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Cannabis Ohio North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple told industry and government officials on May 25 that the states unprecedented oil boom that made it the economic darling of the nation is far from going bust. From our perspective, we think that this industry in North Dakota is as solid as solid can be, the Republican governor told an audience of several hundred at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and Expo in Bismarck. We couldnt be more optimistic of what is ahead of us. If not yet a bust, oil has been in a full-fledged slump for nearly two years in North Dakota, which has risen from the ninth-leading oil producing state in the nation to the No. 2 producer in the past decade as a result of advanced horizontal drilling techniques in the rich Bakken shale and Three Forks formations in the western part of the state. With the price of North Dakota sweet crude nudging $50 a barrel Wednesday, the oil price is near double that of just a few months ago and sparked some hope among the governor and other expo-goers. But its still a contrast to when the expo was last held in Bismarck two years ago and oil prices were $100 a barrel. And only 28 rigs drilled for oil Wednesday compared to 83 a year ago. Still, Dalrymple said, We see recovery coming. State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms likened North Dakotas oil future to a stock car race that has just begun. Were on lap 100 of a 500-lap race, Helms said. About 11,000 Bakken wells have been drilled in the past decade, and another 31,000 are planned or permitted. Ultimately, about 65,000 wells are likely to come on line within the next 20 years, Helms said. Denver-based Whiting Petroleum Corp., the largest producer in North Dakotas oil patch at some 125,000 barrels daily, is still a big believer in the Bakken, company chairman and CEO James Volker said. Volker said the company spends about $7 million to drill a well in North Dakota with an expected return of $27 million over the life of the well. When oil fetches $60 a barrel, the company can pay off a well in a year, Volker said. North Dakota oil activity will begin recovering gradually if oil hits $60 a barrel. If prices rise above that, the Bakken will be cruising, he said. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Energy Oil Gas Missouris insurance department has dealt a setback to a proposal by the nations third-largest health insurer to buy another insurance company. State Insurance Director John Huff says Aetnas planned purchase of Humana would sap competition from an already concentrated market. Huff issued a preliminary order that would bar the companies from selling three types of insurance across the state after the acquisition, and prohibit sales of another insurance product in most areas. The companies have 30 days to submit a new plan to Missouris insurance department. Aetnas purchase of Humana is still awaiting approval by the U.S. Department of Justice. Aetna says the preliminary order in Missouri should not affect the Justice Departments approval process, and the company will continue working with Missouri regulators to address the concerns. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Missouri Its health insurers cardinal rule: disclose pre-existing conditions. Now comes a case in which that familiar decree involves not a patient, but rather a $1.5 million surgical robot known as the da Vinci system. Two insurance companies say da Vincis maker, Intuitive Surgical Inc., failed to reveal more than 700 injury claims when it applied for liability coverage. Intuitive says thats nonsense. If a federal judge concludes the insurers are right and rescinds policies providing $25 million in coverage, one of the fastest-growing medical device manufacturers would be left with only self-insurance for a one-year period. Intuitive, meanwhile, accuses Illinois Union Insurance Co. and Navigators Specialty Insurance Co. of acting deceitfully and breaking their contracts. Intuitives profits have been on the rise since surviving scrutiny by regulators over its disclosures. Sales have rebounded since a 2013 slump when regulators queried surgeons about an increase in adverse event reports and the Food and Drug Administration warned about the companys transparency on product corrections. U.S. hospitals used Intuitives robot-assisted surgery in 176,000 operations during the first three months of this year, a 17 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. Still, even as Intuitive shares have risen 18 percent this year while Chief Executive Officer Gary Guthart pushes to expand the da Vincis international sales, the company is dogged by patients blaming surgery complications on its devices. The company said in 2014 there were about 3,000 claims, many of which it says have been settled. Patient Lawsuits Intuitive is fighting about 86 lawsuits in 22 states after setting aside about $100 million to resolve an unspecified number of claims from 2014 through early this year without admitting wrongdoing, it said in an April regulatory filing. Many of the patient lawsuits against it are in the early stages, according to the filing. Intuitive robots help perform hysterectomies, gall bladder removals, prostate cancer treatment and many other soft tissue operations. In the insurance dispute, Illinois Union says Intuitives disclosure of just 24 claims and failure to reveal 734 others when it applied for coverage in 2013 is a massive concealment of claims from an insurer, potentially the most egregious in history. The insurer said that if it had known Intuitive had entered into hundreds of so-called tolling agreements with patients lawyers to suspend litigation deadlines during settlement negotiations, it would have withdrawn its offer for the liability coverage. Court fights have become increasingly common in recent years when insurers seek to void coverage, through a process called rescission, over alleged misconduct by corporate policyholders, said Jim Murray, an insurance lawyer at Blank Rome LLP in Washington. The lawsuits turn often on allegations that crucial information about legal risks was withheld from the insurers. I could take any applications for any Fortune 500 company and will find something thats wrong with it; thats just the nature of the beast, Murray said in a phone interview. Most companies answer the questions theyre asked. Thats it. Illinois Union and Navigators are set to ask U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco Thursday to rule in their favor on the rescission request without a trial. Substantial Risk Intuitive contends it be would premature to rescind its 2013 policy because there are too many factual issues in dispute. It says theres evidence the insurers knew of the tolling agreements before issuing their policies, and took the substantial risk of going ahead anyway because they wanted Intuitives business. The device maker also argues that the policy application asked only about incidents likely to result in a claim. Intuitive says the tolling agreements didnt fit that definition because they involved only potential claims. Intuitives spokesman and its lawyers declined to comment on the insurance fight and litigation with patients. Representatives of Navigators, a unit of Navigators Group Inc., and Illinois Union, a unit of Pacific Employers Insurance Co., didnt respond to requests for comment. The company countersued both insurers in October after they refused to cover losses related to da Vinci claims. Intuitive seeks a court order forcing Illinois Union to provide coverage for 860 claims and Navigators to handle 111 claims. The insurers deny Intuitives allegations, though Tigar last month rejected their request for dismissal for most of the counterclaims. Illinois Union provided Intuitive with $15 million in coverage, subject to a limit of $5 million per occurrence, after the company spends $5 million, while Navigators issued a policy for $10 million in excess product liability coverage, according to the judges summary of the coverage in a court filing. The case is Illinois Union Insurance v. Intuitive Surgical, 13-cv-04863, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Carriers USA Claims Illinois Google won a jury verdict that kills Oracle Corp.s claim to a $9 billion slice of the search giants Android phone business. Oracle contended that Google needed a license to use its Java programming language to develop Android, the operating system in 80 percent of the worlds mobile devices. Jurors in San Francisco federal court on Thursday rejected that argument and concluded Google made fair use of the code under copyright law. A decision against Google had the potential to give significantly more weight to software copyrights, and to spur litigation to protect those added rights. Oracle which started the trial at an advantage with the judge explaining that it had already been established that Google had infringed Oracles copyrights plans to appeal, though legal experts said overturning a jury verdict will be difficult. Google relied on witnesses including former Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt, who is now chairman of parent company Alphabet Inc., to convince jurors that it used Java to innovate, rather than merely copy code. Before joining Google, Schmidt worked at Sun Microsystems developing and marketing Java. Oracle acquired Sun in 2010 and Schmidt was involved in Googles failed licensing negotiations that spurred the copyright-infringement lawsuit filed that year by the database maker. Schmidt told jurors that, based on his many years of experience with Java, he believed Google was permitted to use the APIs the shortcuts that allow developers to write programs to work across software platforms without a negotiated license, as long as the company relied on its own code. Sun promoted them as free and open, and not sold or licensed separately from Java, he said. Central to Oracles bid for what would have been one of the largest jury verdicts in U.S. history was its claim that Google has reaped $21 billion in profit from more than 3 billion activations of Android. Oracle sought damages of $8.8 billion, plus $475 million in what it claims was lost licensing revenue. Appeal Grounds We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market, Oracle General Counsel Dorian Daley said in a statement. Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Googles illegal behavior. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal. Google relied on a free-market argument, said Tyler Ochoa, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law who has followed the case closely since it was filed in 2010. Google claimed it was within its rights to use the organization and labeling of the Java code to develop Android because programmers were already familiar with them, Ochoa said. Googles message was that Oracle shouldnt own programmers simply because they had taken the time to learn Java, Ochoa said. Ochoa was one of 41 academics who agreed with Google that the code at issue didnt merit copyright protection and urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. The high court last year declined to take it. Android Ecosystem Todays verdict that Android makes fair use of Java APIs represents a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products, Google said in an e-mailed statement. Oracle won a 2012 verdict that Google infringed its copyrights, but that jury couldnt agree whether it was justified under the fair use legal doctrine. That set the stage for the second trial, featuring many of the witnesses from four years ago as well as the same judge, William Alsup. Both sides leaned on powerful Silicon Valley personalities to put a shine on technology-laden arguments. Ten Commandments Oracle Co-Chief Executive Officer Safra Catz invoked the Ten Commandments to characterize Google as acting above the law. Catz told jurors that, at a bat mitzvah in 2012, Google General Counsel Kent Walker told her, You know, Safra, Google is this really special company, and the old rules dont apply to us. I immediately said, Thou shalt not steal,' Catz testified. Its an oldie but goodie. Witnesses for Google said the company didnt need a license for the Javas application programming interfaces, or APIs, to build Android. In cross-examinations of those witnesses, Oracles lawyers hit upon a disconnect between their testimony and selected e-mails while Android was being created. The messages showed Google executives and engineers were concerned that they needed, and didnt get, a license for Java. Making Enemies Google co-founder Larry Page was confronted with a 2005 internal e-mail posing the question of whether to drop the use of Java for Android or press ahead, perhaps making enemies along the way. Page responded, Obviously we didnt do the first one. Michael Risch, a law professor at Villanova University School of Law in Pennsylvania whos been following the case, said it will be difficult for Oracle to overturn the jury verdict because an appeals court will have to conclude the instructions to jurors on the legal issues in the case were flawed. Before the verdict, Risch said the outcome was a toss-up and that it may not have been well-suited for a jury to decide. There should be a clear set of guidelines that allow companies to know when they may reuse functional aspects of another companys copyrighted work, and submitting a fair use question to a jury fails in all respects, Risch said. The case is Oracle America Inc. v. Google Inc., 10-cv-03561, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco). Topics USA Google LevelFirst, the wholesale broker and MGA binding facility owned by IIAT Services Co., has named Kelley Sanchez as vice president. Sanchez will underwrite new business opportunities with the Transportation Division. She has more than 10 years experience in the industry. Sanchez came to LevelFirst from USG where she has specialized in transportation since 2011. Prior to USG, she worked as a transportation underwriter for The Parks Group of Arlington. Sanchez also served for 10 years in the United States Navy. IIAT acquired LevelFirst in 2014. Source: LevelFirst Topics Texas While its reinsurance plans for the 2016 hurricane season havent yet been nailed down, Texas insurance company of last resort for wind and hail along the Texas coast expects to have around $4.9 billion in available funds for paying claims this year, if needed. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) says thats enough funding to pay for claims that might result from more than 99 percent of all modeled hurricane seasons, or a 100-year season. In a media briefing issued by the association in mid-May, TWIA broke down the expected funding for the current hurricane year. Claims first would be paid from premium on hand and the catastrophe reserve trust fund (CRTF). The funding structure was created in Senate Bill 900, which took effect on Sept. 1, 2015. An estimated total of $4.9 billion in funding for 2016 would be sourced as follows (in descending order): $700 million in premium and (CRTF) $500 million in class 1 public securities $500 million in class 1 member assessments $250 million in public securities $250 million in class 2 member assessments $250 million in class 3 public securities $250 million in class 3 member assessments $2.2 billion reinsurance program, including catastrophe bonds TWIAs catastrophe bond reinsurance was issued in 2014 and 2015 by Alamo Re. It will reimburse TWIA for $1.1 billion in actual, aggregate losses from one or multiple catastrophic events in a year. The bond structure adjusts each year through 2018 to accommodate changes in available funding. Alamo Re is a special purpose reinsurer that only insures specific losses for TWIA. Alamo Re sells shares in catastrophe bonds to investors and deposits the funds in trust accounts. In the absence of a loss, the proceeds are returned to investors at the end of the bond terms. As of May 20, TWIA had not finalized its traditional reinsurance for 2016, according to Jennifer Armstrong, the groups vice president for Communications and Legislative Affairs. Exposures The associations media briefing shows that as of March 31, 2016, TWIA had 268,832 policies in-force. Coverage for insured building and contents totaled $77.9 billion, and 6,691 insurance agents were registered to work with the association. TWIA is authorized to write wind and hail policies in 14 coastal counties and in parts of Harris County. Galveston and Brazoria Counties together contain 49.6 percent of the associations exposures. Galveston has 30.6 percent and Brazoria, 19 percent. The table below shows the exposure breakdown by county. County Insured limits (building and contents) Percentage Galveston $23,818,022,667 30.6% Brazoria 14,832,341,972 19.0% Nueces 14,522,384,548 18.6% Jefferson 8,857,625,039 11.4% Cameron 5,013,164,844 6.4% San Patricio 2,405,737,121 3.1% Aransas 2,382,059,396 3.1% Chambers 1,988,802,319 2.6% Matagorda 1,334,306,646 1.7% Harris 1,158,024,228 1.5% Calhoun 1,060,853,786 1.4% Kleberg 301,536,605 0.4% Willacy 127,314,037 0.2% Refugio 105,100,748 0.1% Kenedy 7,406,251 0.0% All Counties $77,914,680,207 100.0% Other statistics TWIA insures 255,021 residential structures for an average amount of $191,000. 2 percent of residential structures have limits less than $500,000; 444 residential structures (.02 percent) have limits greater than $1 million TWIA insures 19,513 non-residential (commercial and governmental) structures with an average amount of insurance of $456,000 Only 1,890, or 9.7 percent, of non-residential structures have limits greater than $1million Source: TWIA Related: Topics Carriers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Texas Reinsurance Hurricane A citizens group and homeowners who have recently suffered repeat flood damage sued Houston, Texas, in federal court, alleging the city backed improvements at a commercial development they say were made without putting in adequate drainage. Residents Against Flooding and five individuals filed the suit against Houston and two quasi-governmental authorities created at the turn of the century to better infrastructure around the Memorial City complex. The plaintiffs claim the authorities reneged on promises to build concrete-walled drainage ponds that would have eased the flooding as roads, storm sewers and even part of Interstate 10 were widened in an area already built up with big-box stores, a hospital, offices and condos. As a result, hundreds of homes in the Memorial City area have suffered repeated and horrific flooding, the suit says. It claims a violation of the plaintiffs constitutional rights to due process and against unreasonable seizure of property. It does not seek damages, but rather relief, including ordering necessary flood-control measures and naming a special master to oversee them. People whose homes never before flooded have been inundated three times since 2009, residents say, most recently on April 18. That catastrophe claimed eight lives and causes tens of millions of dollars in damage. People feel unsafe in their own homes. They live in fear of each and every rainstorm, the lawsuit says. The suit faults the special reinvestment zone that the plaintiffs allege was created to benefit private developer MetroNational, which owns a big chunk of properties within the zone and whose lawyers drew up the papers that helped create it. The plaintiffs seek a moratorium on new commercial developments of more than 5 acres in the zone until the special master or the court deems they do not increase flood risks. MetroNational is not a defendant. Its former president, Jim Jard, said last week that he didnt believe there was an engineer in town who would find that the improvements had caused the flooding. Activists blame worsening flooding in metropolitan Houston on unrestrained development that has swallowed up well over 15,000 acres of water-absorbing wetlands since 1992. They accuse developers, engineers and builders of leveraging cozy relations with politicians to skimp on flood-prevention measures. Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was elected in December, said that he had not yet read the lawsuit. But he rejected accusations of political favoritism. I cant sit here and say that we have favored one group over another, he told reporters at his weekly news conference. People are angry, they dont want their homes flooded, two, four, six, seven times. I got that But instead of fighting a lawsuit, lets put our efforts into trying to mitigate the risks of flooding. Turner has named a flooding czar, a civil engineer and former city councilman, but has yet to announce specific measures. He said he planned to visit Washington in June to lobby members of Congress for more than $300 million in federal aid to help lessen the ravages of flooding in the fourth-largest U.S. city. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Flood Homeowners Arkansas highest court says a baby food manufacturer must pay more than $3 million to workers for the time they spent dressing and undressing into uniforms and protective gear. The state Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling that Gerber Products Co. should have compensated workers at its Fort Smith facility for the time they spent changing into uniforms, donning protective gear such as ear plugs and washing their hands, as well as undressing after their shifts ended. In a 4-3 ruling, justices sided with the workers who said Arkansas Minimum Wage Act required the company to compensate for the activities despite an agreement with the union. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Arkansas Information about pill shipments that prescription drug distributors being sued by the state had sought to keep secret show that the firms flooded rural West Virginia with hundreds of thousands of painkillers. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports a Boone County judge ordered the release of previously sealed court documents about prescription pain pill shipments to the state. The drug distributors had been fighting to keep the pill shipment numbers under wraps in a lawsuit filed by the attorney generals office and other agencies, alleging the firms helped fuel the prescription drug problem in West Virginia. The state has the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation. Court records show the drug distributors shipped large quantities of oxycodone and hydrocodone tablets to small towns like War, Kermit, Oceana, Van and Crab Orchard, supplying mom-and-pop pharmacies that filled prescriptions from doctors. The records show one distributor shipped more than 300,000 hydrocodone tablets over four years to a pharmacy in War, population 808. Records show another distributor supplied 149,000 hydrocodone pills to a pharmacy in Williamson in 2009. The distribution of vast amounts of narcotic medications to some of the smallest towns and unincorporated rural areas of our state should have set off more red flags than a school of sharks at a crowded beach, said Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne. One distributor, AmerisourceBergen, issued a statement Monday. At AmerisourceBergen, we are committed to the safe and efficient delivery of controlled substances to meet the medical needs of patients, said Lauren Moyer, a company spokeswoman. We work diligently to combat diversion and are working closely with regulatory agencies and other partners in pharmaceutical and healthcare delivery to help find solutions that will support appropriate access while limiting misuse of controlled substances. Related: Topics Flood Virginia Drugs A storm that would be named Bonnie threatens holiday cookouts and celebrations along the U.S. coast from North Carolina to Georgia over the Memorial Day weekend. If the low-pressure system now northeast of the Bahamas develops, it will become the second named storm in the Atlantic in 2016 prior to the hurricane seasons official June 1 start. Theres a 50 percent chance it could form by Saturday. With Memorial Day weekend approaching, all interests along the southeast coast from Georgia through North Carolina should monitor the progress of this low, Lixion Avila, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, wrote in an advisory. In January, Alex became the first hurricane to form in the Atlantic that early since 1938. The official six-month season begins next Wednesday and theres a chance it could be an above-average year for storms because there will be less wind shear across the basin as El Nino fades in the equatorial Pacific. Slow Growth Wind shear in the area and cooler waters deep in the Atlantic could slow the lows development into a named storm, said Paul Walker, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. Its probably likely it does develop, he said. Whether Bonnie is tropical or subtropical remains to be seen. Tropical systems differ from other storms because they have a warm core, their strongest winds are at their center and they maintain their power by extracting heat energy from the ocean. A sub-tropical storm is a hybrid system. If Bonnie forms, theres an increased possibility for rip currents, gusty winds and heavy surf along Atlantic beaches through the holiday weekend, Walker said. While forecast models will be able to make better predictions once the system becomes more organized, the current thinking is that it will drift northwest and be off Charleston, South Carolina, by Sunday, he said. A U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane is scheduled to fly into the system Friday, said the hurricane center in Miami. Related: Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Windstorm Hurricane Heffernan Insurance Brokers has named Paula Northington assistant vice president of employee benefits in its Orange County, Calif. office. Northington began her career in the financial services industry with Private Ledger Financial Services. She moved into a leadership role at MCI/Verizon Telecommunications, followed by working at a start-up company that evolved into XO Communications. She has also started her own companies, including a restaurant in Oregon, and a notary loan document signing agency in Southern California. Northington is the co-founder of CellGenDx, a medical device company headquartered in Irvine, Calif. Most recently was a new business coordinator with UnitedHealthcare. Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Heffernan has California offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Orange County, and in Portland, Ore., St. Louis, Mo, and in Long Island and New York, N.Y. Topics California Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese. Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa. Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista. E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta. A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito. India is currently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world since 2000. It is also the worlds fifth-largest economy in nominal GDP terms. Overall, in 2019, the economy of India grew at a rate of 5%. This growth was primarily due to strong demand for the country's goods and services, in addition to a high level of industrial activity. The country, once a supplier of British tea and cotton, now has a diversified economy with the majority of activity and growth coming from the service industry. India is now considered a "global player" in the world of international economics. In 2020-2021, India's economy has been hard hit by the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2020 India's GDP for the second quarter came nearly 24% below the second quarter of 2019, as COVID-19 motivated restrictions on all non-essential businesses sharply curtailed economic activity. Key Takeaways India is currently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Agriculture, once Indias main source of revenue and income, has since fallen to approximately 18.32% of the countrys GDP, as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the service industry in India has increased from a fraction of the GDP to approximately 55% between 2018 and 2019. In 2019, almost 10 million foreign tourists visited India; the World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated 9.2% of India's GDP in 2018. Historical Development of India's Economy In 1947, after gaining independence from Britain, India formed a centrally-planned economy (also known as a command economy). With a centrally planned economy, the government makes the majority of economic decisions regarding the manufacturing and the distribution of products. The government focused on developing its heavy industry sector, but this emphasis was eventually deemed unsustainable. In 1991, India began to loosen its economic restrictions and an increased level of liberalization led to growth in the country's private sector. Today, India is considered a mixed economy: the private and public sectors co-exist and the country leverages international trade. Citizens can choose their own occupations and start their own private enterprises. However, in certain areas of the economy, such as defense, power, banking, and other industries, the government maintains a monopoly. The countrys economy has grown exponentiallyfrom $288 billion in 1992 to $2.66 trillion in 2020. Agricultural Sector Agriculture, once Indias main source of revenue and income, has since fallen to approximately 18.32% of the countrys GDP, as of 2020. However, analysts have pointed out that this fall should not be equated with a decrease in production. Rather, it reflects the large increases in Indias industrial and service outputs. The agricultural industry in India currently faces some problems. First, the industry is not as efficient as it could be: millions of small farmers rely on monsoons for the water necessary for their crop production. Agricultural infrastructure is not well developed, so irrigation is sparse and agricultural product is at risk of spoilage because of a lack of adequate storage facilities and distribution channels. Today, India is the world's second-largest producer of fruit, and the global leading producer of lemons, bananas, mangoes, papayas, and limes. While forestry is a relatively small contributor to the country's GDP, it is a growing sector and is responsible for producing fuel, wood-based panels, pulp for paper, paper, and paperboard. An additional small percentage of Indias economy comes from fishing and aquaculture, with shrimp, sardines, mackerel, and carp being bred and caught. Industrial Production Chemicals are big business in India; The petrochemical industry, which first entered the Indian industrial scene in the 1970s, experienced rapid growth in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to chemicals, India produces a large supply of the worlds pharmaceuticals as well as billions of dollars worth of cars, motorcycles, tools, tractors, machinery, and forged steel. India also mines a large number of gems and common minerals including iron ore, bauxite, and gold along with asbestos, uranium, limestone, and marble. From 2019 to 2020, for example, India mined 729 million tons of coal (which, surprisingly, was not enough to meet the countrys coal needs). Oil and gas were extracted at a rate of 34.2 million metric tons and 32.9 billion cubic meters, respectively, in the 2018 to 2019 year. Information Technology (IT) and Business Services Outsourcing Over the past 60 years, the service industry in India has increased from a fraction of the GDP to approximately 55% between 2019 and 2020. Indiawith its high population of skilled, English-speaking, and educated peopleis a great place for doing business. Among the leading services industries in the country are telecommunications, IT, and software, and the workers are employed by both domestic and international companies including Intel (INTC), Texas Instruments (TXN), Yahoo (YHOO), Meta (META)formerly Facebook, Google (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT). Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a less significant but more well-known industry in India and is led by companies like American Express (AXP), IBM (IBM), Hewlett-Packard, (HPQ), and Dell. BPO is the fastest-growing segment of the ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) industry in India thanks to economies of scale, cost advantages, risk mitigation, and competency. BPO in India, which started around the mid-90s, has grown by leaps and bounds. Retail Services The retail sector in India is huge. But it's not just apparel, electronics, or traditional consumer retail that is booming; agricultural retail, which is important in an inflation-conscious country like India, is also significant.However, in recent years, the issue of agricultural wastage has come to the forefront. It is estimated that from 2018-2021, over 400,000 tons of wheat and rice were wasted due to storage and transportation issues. This is enough to feed over 80 million people within the country. Reports suggest there is little storage for Indian agricultural products, and experts believe that the solution to the massive waste issue is a combination of government policy, technology, and infrastructure. The Indian government is purported to be exploring a range of options. Other Services Other parts of Indias service industry include electricity production and tourism. The country is largely dependent on fossil fuels oil, gas, and coal but it is increasingly adding capacity to produce hydroelectricity, wind, solar, and nuclear power. In 2018, over 10 million foreign tourists visited India. In 2018, the estimated foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India was $28.585 billion. The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated 10.3% of India's GDP in 2019. Medical tourism to India is also a growing sector. India's market for medical tourism is expected to touch the $9 billion mark by 2020, according to a report released by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Ernst & Young. Medical tourism is popular in India because of its low-cost healthcare and international standards compliance. Customers come from all over the world for heart, hip, and plastic surgery procedures, and a small number of people take advantage of Indias commercial surrogate facilities. The Bottom Line India has become a rising economic power in the 21st century. Between the years 2011 and 2015, more than 90 million people in India rose out of extreme poverty, thanks in part to robust economic growth that has improved the overall standards of living in the country. According to the World Bank, growth in India is projected to be 6% this fiscal year; it is expected to rise to 6.9% between 2020 and 2021 and to 7.2% in the following year. Among the major emerging economies, India is one of the fastest-growing. It has also become a focus of investors across the globe. What Is a Broker-Dealer? A broker-dealer (B-D) is a person or firm in the business of buying and selling securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. The term broker-dealer is used in U.S. securities regulation parlance to describe stock brokerages because most of them act as both agents and principals. A brokerage acts as a broker (or agent) when it executes orders on behalf of its clients, whereas it acts as a dealer, or principal when it trades for its own account. Key Takeaways A broker-dealer is a financial entity that is engaged with trading securities on behalf of clients, but which may also trade for itself. A broker-dealer is acting as a broker or agent when it executes orders on behalf of its clients, and as a dealer or principal when it trades for its own account. There are thousands of broker-dealers comprising two broad categories: a wirehouse, which sells its own products, or an independent broker-dealer, which sells products from outside sources Understanding a Broker-Dealer Broker-dealers fulfill several important functions in the financial industry. These include providing investment advice to customers, supplying liquidity through market-making activities, facilitating trading activities, publishing investment research, and raising capital for companies. Broker-dealers range in size from small independent boutiques to large subsidiaries of giant commercial and investment banks. There are two types of broker-dealers: A wirehouse, or a firm that sells its own products to customers; and An independent broker-dealer, or a firm that sells products from outside sources. There are over 3,975 broker-dealers to choose from, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Some of the largest broker-dealers include Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, and Edward Jones. How a Broker-Dealer Works By definition, broker-dealers are buyers and sellers of securities, and they are also distributors of other investment products. As the name implies, they perform a dual role in carrying out their responsibilities. As dealers, they act on behalf of the brokerage firm, initiating transactions for the firms own account. As brokers, they handle transactions, buying and selling securities on behalf of their clients. In their dual roles, they perform a couple of vital functions; they facilitate the free flow of securities on the open market, and they buy or sell securities in their own accounts to ensure there is a market in those securities for their clients. In this regard, broker-dealers are essential, and they are also well-compensated, earning a fee on either or both sides of a securities transaction. Special Considerations Broker-dealers that are tied directly to investment banking operations also engage in the underwriting of securities offerings. When a broker-dealer acts as an agent of the issuing company, either as a principal underwriter of the stock or bond offering, or as a member of the underwriting syndicate, they enter into a contractual arrangement, acting on a firm commitment with the issuer that obligates them to distribute a certain amount of the securities offered to the public in exchange for an underwriting fee. They may also acquire a piece of the securities offering for their own accounts and may be required to do so if they are unable to sell all of the securities. Once the underwriting process is completed and the securities are issued, the broker-dealers then become distributors, and their clients are typically the target of their distribution efforts. In that effort, the financial advisors of the firms then act as brokers to solicit their clients and recommend the purchase of the security for their accounts. In this regard, the broker-dealers are facilitating the interests of the issuer, themselves (in the collection of a distribution fee), and their clients, although their only contractual obligation is to the issuer. Billionaires play an outsized role in shaping the global economy, politics, and philanthropy. Forbes puts the number of billionaires in the world at 2,668 in 2022. The wealthiest among them belong to an even more exclusive club and wield still more power. Many of these billionaires are founders of technology giants, with much of their wealth still invested in the companies they started. They can, however, still borrow against that wealth to avoid selling stock, deferring (or eliminating for heirs) taxes on unrealized capital gains in the process. Multi-billionaires can also take advantage of a panoply of tax deductions to offset reported income, leaving some on this list paying no income tax in recent years. With so much of their wealth in publicly traded stocks, the net worth of the richest can fluctuate with market valuations. For example, Elon Musk, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla (TSLA) and the richest person in the world, saw his net worth surge in 2021 thanks to the increase in the share price of Tesla Tesla shares rose nearly 50% in 2021. He currently owns 16% of the company. His net worth as of September 2022 was $241 billion. In contrast, Meta Platforms (META) founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg fell out of the top 10 in February 2022, when the company's share price plunged after a disappointing earnings report. Zuckerberg's net worth was reported to be $59.7 billion in September 2022. Below are the 10 wealthiest people on the planet as of the same date, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. All figures are current as of Oct. 4, 2022, unless otherwise stated. Key Takeaways Elon Musk, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, is the richest person in the world with a net worth of $241 billion. Behind Musk is the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, with an estimated net worth of $151 billion. Billionaires with the largest increases in their wealth in 2021 included Musk, LVMH Chair and CEO Bernard Arnault, and Google co-founder Larry Page. Six of the top 10 billionaires made their fortunes in technology, with Arnault, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, Adani Group founder Gautam Adani, and Reliance Industry's Mukesh Ambani being the exceptions. Meta's Mark Zuckerberg dropped off the top 10 list in February 2022. 1. Elon Musk Age: 51 51 Residence: Texas Texas Co-founder and CEO: Tesla Tesla Net Worth: $228 billion $228 billion Tesla Ownership Stake: 15% ($99.3 billion) 15% ($99.3 billion) Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($46.9 billion private asset), The Boring Company ($3.33 billion private asset), Twitter ($3.8 billion public asset), $17.8 billion in cash Elon Musk was born in South Africa and attended a university in Canada before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned bachelor's degrees in physics and economics. Two days after enrolling in a graduate physics program at Stanford University, Musk deferred attendance to launch Zip2, one of the earliest online navigation services. He reinvested a portion of the proceeds from this startup to create X.com, the online payment system that was sold to eBay (EBAY) and ultimately became PayPal Holdings (PYPL). In 2004, Musk became a major funder of Tesla Motors (now Tesla), which led to his current position as CEO of the electric vehicle company. In addition to its line of electric automobiles, Tesla produces energy storage devices, automobile accessories, and, through its acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, solar power systems. Musk is also CEO and chief engineer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a developer of space launch rockets. In 2020, Tesla shares soared 740% to propel Musk up the wealth rankings. In December 2020, Tesla joined the S&P 500, becoming the largest company added. In January 2021, Musk became the richest person in the worlda title he's held since then. Image courtesy Getty Images/Saul Martinez. In a Nov. 6, 2021 tweet, Musk asked his Twitter (TWTR) audience whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock, framing the issue as a response to criticism of unrealized capital gains as a means of avoiding taxes. He proceeded to sell shares worth $16.4 billion over the remainder of 2021. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, cited a media report that Musk paid no income tax for 2018 to argue for the adoption of a wealth tax. "And if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year," Musk responded on Twitter. Thanks to the surge in Tesla shares in 2021 and private transactions boosting the reported valuation of SpaceX, Musk's lead in the global wealth rankings has continued to grow. His net worth hit a high of $340 billion in November 2021. In April 2022, Musk began a campaign to take Twitter private, which culminated in a $44 billion buyout. Musk planned to fund the deal with $21 billion of his own capital. In the run-up to the buyout announcement, Musk sold 9.6 million shares of Tesla, valued at roughly $8.5 billion. In July 2022, Musk decided to back out of the Twitter buyout. Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk to force the buyout to go through. Musk countersued the company but then reversed course and, in October 2022, declared he was willing to buy Twitter after all. 2. Jeff Bezos Age: 58 58 Residence: Washington Washington Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon (AMZN) Amazon (AMZN) Net Worth: $144 billion $144 billion Amazon Ownership Stake: 10% ($121 billion) 10% ($121 billion) Other Assets: Blue Origin ($9.15 billion private asset), The Washington Post ($250 million private asset), and $14.1 billion in cash In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in a garage in Seattle, shortly after he resigned from the hedge fund giant D.E. Shaw. He had originally pitched the idea of an online bookstore to his former boss David E. Shaw, who wasnt interested. Though Amazon originally started out selling books, it has since morphed into a one-stop shop for everything under the sun and is expected to overtake Walmart as the worlds largest retailer by 2024. Amazon's pattern of constant diversification is evident in some of its unexpected expansions, which include acquiring Whole Foods in 2017 and entering the pharmacy business the same year. Bezos owned as much as 16% of Amazon in 2019 before transferring 4% to his former wife MacKenzie Scott as part of their divorce proceedings. In 2020, Amazons share price jumped 76% on the heightened demand for online shopping amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as CEO of the e-commerce giant, becoming its executive chair. Image courtesy Getty Images/Alex Wong. Bezos originally took Amazon public in 1997 and went on to become the first man since Bill Gates in 1999 to achieve a net worth of more than $100 billion. Bezos other projects include aerospace company Blue Origin, The Washington Post (which he purchased in 2013), and the 10,000-year clockalso known as the Long Now. On July 20, 2021, Bezos, his brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen completed Blue Origin's first successful crewed flight, reaching an altitude of more than 66 miles before landing safely. Bezos' wealth peaked at $211 billion in the same month. 3. Bernard Arnault Age: 73 73 Residence: Paris Paris CEO and Chair: LVMH (LVMUY) LVMH (LVMUY) Net Worth: $141 billion $141 billion Christian Dior Ownership Stake: 97.5% ($111 billion total) 97.5% ($111 billion total) Other Assets: Moelis & Company equity ($21.3 billion public asset), Hermes equity (undisclosed stake), and $8.9 billion in cash French national Bernard Arnault is the chair and CEO of LVMH, the worlds largest luxury goods company. LVMH brands include Louis Vuitton, Hennessey, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora. Most of Arnault's wealth comes from his massive stake in Christian Dior SE, the holding company that controls 41.2% of LVMH. His shares in Christian Dior SE, plus an additional 6.2% in LVMH, are held through his family-owned holding company, Groupe Familial Arnault. An engineer by training, Arnault first showed his business acumen while working for his fathers construction firm, Ferret-Savinel, taking charge of the company in 1971. He converted Ferret-Savinel to a real estate company named Ferinel Inc. in 1979. Image courtesy Getty/Christophe Morin. Arnault remained Ferinel's chair for another six years, until he acquired and reorganized luxury goods maker Financiere Agache in 1984, eventually selling all its holdings other than Christian Dior and Le Bon Marche. He was invited to invest in LVMH in 1987 and became the majority shareholder, chair of the board, and CEO of the company two years later. 4. Gautam Adani Age: 60 60 Residence: Gurgaon, India Gurgaon, India Founder and Chair: Adani Group Adani Group Net Worth: $125 billion $125 billion Adani Enterprises, Power. and Transmissions Ownership Stakes: 75% each ($72.4 billion) 75% each ($72.4 billion) Other Assets: 65% of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone ($12.2 billion public asset), 61% of Adani Green Energy ($24.5 billion public asset), 37% of Adani Total Gas ($16.2 billion public asset) Gautam Adani, the founder of Adani Group, surpassed Mukesh Ambani in March 2022 as the richest person in Asia. Adani, via his ownership of Adani Group, owns major stakes in six key Indian companies, including a 75% stake in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Transmissions, as well as a 65% stake in Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, 61% stake in Adani Green Energy, and 37% stake in Adani Total Gas. The combined market capitalization of companies owned by the Adani Group is $238.4 billion (as of Sept. 6, 2022). Adani entered the power generation market in 2009 with Adani Power. Adani created Adani Enterprises in 1988 to import and export commodities. In 1994, his company was granted approval to develop a harbor facility at Mundra Port, which is now the largest private port in India. Adani dropped out of college and previously worked in the diamond trade. Now, Adani has the largest port operator, closely-held thermal coal producer, and coal trader in India. In 2020, he purchased a 74% stake in Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, India's second-busiest airport. The billionaire was kidnapped and held for ransom in 1997. Adani was also in Mumbais Taj hotel during the 2008 terrorist attack. 5. Bill Gates Age: 66 66 Residence: Washington Washington Co-founder: Microsoft (MSFT) Microsoft (MSFT) Net Worth: $111 billion $111 billion Microsoft Ownership Stake: 1.3% ($25.6 billion) 1.3% ($25.6 billion) Other Assets: Cascade Investment LLC ($51.8 billion public assets), $52.4 billion in cash While attending Harvard University in 1975, Bill Gates went to work alongside his childhood friend Paul Allen to develop new software for the original microcomputers. Following this projects success, Gates dropped out of Harvard during his junior year and founded Microsoft with Allen. The largest software company in the world, Microsoft also produces a line of personal computers, provides email services through its Exchange server, and sells video game systems and associated game devices. It has recently invested heavily in cloud services. Gates shifted from the company's CEO to the role of board chair in 2008. He joined Berkshire Hathaways board in 2004. He stepped down from both boards on March 13, 2020. Bill Gates has much of his net worth in Cascade Investment LLC. Cascade is a privately-held investment vehicle that owns a variety of stocks including Canadian National Railway (CNR), Deere (DE), and Republic Services (RSG), as well as private investments in real estate and energy. Image courtesy Getty Images/Jack Taylor. In 2000, Gates' two philanthropic organizationsthe William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundationmerged to create the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, still co-chaired by Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates. Through the foundation, they have spent billions to fight polio and malaria. The foundation pledged $50 million in 2014 to help fight Ebola. As of 2021, the foundation had spent more than $1.9 billion to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2010, alongside Warren Buffett, Bill Gates launched the Giving Pledge, a campaign encouraging the wealthy to commit to donating most of their wealth to philanthropic causes. Bill and Melinda French Gates divorced on Aug. 2, 2021. With the divorce, roughly $5 billion in equities was transferred to French Gates. Bill Gates is the largest private owner of farmland in the U.S. with over 268,000 acres. 6. Warren Buffett Age: 92 92 Residence: Nebraska Nebraska CEO: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) Net Worth: $98.2 billion $98.2 billion Berkshire Hathaway Ownership Stake: 16% ($97.1 billion) 16% ($97.1 billion) Other Assets: $1.03 billion in cash The most famous living value investor, Warren Buffett filed his first tax return in 1944 at age 14, declaring earnings from his boyhood paper route. He first bought shares in a textile company called Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, becoming the majority shareholder by 1965. Buffett expanded the company's holdings to insurance and other investments in 1967. Berkshire Hathaway is now a $705 billion-dollar market cap company, with a single share of stock (Class A shares) trading at more than $439,000 as of Aug. 5, 2022. Widely known as the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett is a buy-and-hold investor who built his fortune by acquiring undervalued companies. More recently, Berkshire Hathaway has invested in large, well-known companies. Its portfolio of wholly owned subsidiaries includes interests in insurance, energy distribution, and railroads as well as consumer products. Buffett is a notable Bitcoin skeptic. Image courtesy Getty Images/Alex Wong. Buffett has dedicated much of his wealth to philanthropy. Between 2006 and 2020, he gave away $41 billionmostly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and his childrens charities. Buffett launched the Giving Pledge alongside Bill Gates in 2010. Now 92 years old, Buffett still serves as CEO, but in 2021 he hinted that his successor might be Gregory Abel, head of Berkshires non-insurance operations. 7. Larry Page Age: 49 49 Residence: California California Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG) Alphabet (GOOG) Net Worth: $93.6 billion $93.6 billion Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($79.5 billion total) 6% ($79.5 billion total) Other Assets: $14.1 billion in cash Like several of the tech billionaires on this list, Larry Page embarked on his path to fame and fortune in a college dorm room. While attending Stanford University in 1995, Page and his friend Sergey Brin came up with the idea of improving internet data extraction. The duo devised a new search engine technology they dubbed Backrub after its ability to assess links to a page. From there, Page and Brin went on to found Google in 1998, with Page serving as CEO of the company until 2001, and again between 2011 and 2019. Google is the world's dominant internet search engine, accounting for more than 92% of global search requests. In 2006, the company purchased YouTube, the top platform for user-submitted videos. After acquiring Android in 2005, Google released the Android mobile phone operating system in 2008. Google reorganized in 2015, becoming a subsidiary of Alphabet, a holding company. Image courtesy Getty Images/Justin Sullivan. Page was among early investors in Planetary Resources, a space exploration and asteroid-mining company. Established in 2009, the company was acquired by blockchain firm ConsenSys in 2018 amid funding problems. He has also shown an interest in flying car companies, investing in both Kitty Hawk and Opener. Shares of Google soared almost 50% in 2021, moving Page and Brin up the billionaire list. Page's net worth went from just below $52 billion in March 2020 to the current $98.7 billion. 8. Sergey Brin Age: 49 49 Residence: California California Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG) Alphabet (GOOG) Net Worth: $89.6 billion $89.6 billion Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($75.4 billion total) 6% ($75.4 billion total) Other Assets: $14.2 billion in cash Sergey Brin was born in Moscow, Russia, moving to the U.S. with his family when he was six in 1979. After co-founding Google with Larry Page in 1998, Brin became Google's president of technology when Eric Schmidt took over as CEO in 2001. He held the same post at the Alphabet holding company after it was established in 2015, stepping down in 2019 when Sundar Pichai took over as CEO. In addition to its dominant internet search engine, Google offers a suite of online tools and services known as Google Workspace, which includes Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Meet, Google Chat, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and more. Google also offers a variety of electronic devices, including Pixel smartphones, computers, and tablets, Nest smart home devices, and Stadia gaming platform. Image courtesy Getty Images/Tim Mosenfelder. Brin spent much of 2019 focusing on X, Alphabets research laboratory responsible for innovative technologies like Waymo self-driving cars and Google Glass smart glasses. He has donated millions of dollars to Parkinsons disease research, partnering with The Michael J. Fox Foundation. 9. Steve Ballmer Age: 66 66 Residence: Washington Washington Owner: Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Clippers Net Worth: $88.4 billion $88.4 billion Microsoft Ownership Stake: 4% ($79.4 billion total) 4% ($79.4 billion total) Other Assets: Los Angeles Clippers ($3.16 billion private asset), $5.8 billion in cash Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 after Bill Gates convinced him to drop out of Stanford University's MBA program. He was Microsoft's 30th employee. Ballmer went on to succeed Gates as Microsoft CEO in 2000. He held the position until stepping down in 2014. Ballmer oversaw Microsoft's 2011 purchase of Skype for $8.5 billion. Ballmer owns an estimated 4% of Microsoft, making him the software giant's largest individual shareholder. In 2014, shortly after stepping down as Microsoft CEO, Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team for $2 billion. Image courtesy Getty Images/Steven Ferdman. Ballmer lived in the same dorm and on the same floor as Bill Gates while the two attended Harvard University. The brotherly relationship between the two became strained when Ballmer started pushing the tech company into hardware, such as the Surface tablet and the Windows mobile phone, during his tenure as CEO. 10. Mukesh Ambani Age: 65 65 Residence: Mumbai, India Mumbai, India Owner: Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Net Worth: $83.7 billion $83.7 billion Reliance Ownership Stake: 42% ($84.2 billion total) 42% ($84.2 billion total) Other Assets: $410 million in real estate Mukesh Ambani is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, the world's largest oil refiner and one of the world's most valuable companies. The conglomerate was founded by Ambani's father, Dhirubhai Ambani in 1966 as a textiles company and is now one of the leading segments of India's economy. Reliance's operations include oil and gas, petrochemicals, refining, retail, and media. About half of Ambani's wealth is derived from his stake in Reliance, which amounts to 42% of the public company. He owns Antilia, a real estate complex in Mumbai that's worth $410 million. Ambani also owns the Mumbai Indians, a professional cricket team. In 2016, Ambani launched a 4G phone network across India, netting more than 420 million subscribers, and is planning to launch 5G services. The Bottom Line If you want to get a little closer to making the richest billionaires rankings, you might need to become a technological innovator or luxury retail mastermind. Or you could keep it simple and focus on value investing. It also wouldnt hurt to have been born to wealth. However, the greatest fortunes on this list started as good ideas that people with creativity, drive, and connections used to build some of the world's largest companies. Meta Inc. (META) is the holding company that owns Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world with 2.8 billion monthly active users (MAUs) as of year-end 2020. The Facebook website and app enable people to connect with family and friends, and to share their opinions, ideas, images, and videos. Meta also owns and operates the popular photo-sharing app Instagram as well as messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp. Additionally, the company provides virtual-reality hardware, software, and a developer ecosystem through its Reality Labs business. On Oct. 28, 2021, Facebook Inc. changed its name to Meta Inc. It plans to change its ticker from FB to META in early 2022. Meta was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and three classmates at Harvard University at the time. It went public in 2012 and has become one of the world's largest companies with a market capitalization of $964.6 billion as of Oct. 1, 2021. For the trailing 12-month (TTM) period ended Oct. 1, 2021, Meta earned $39.0 billion in net income and $104.8 billion in revenue. The top individual insider shareholders of Meta are Michael Schroepfer, David Fischer, and David Wehner, and the top institutional shareholders are Mark Zuckerberg, Vanguard Group Inc., and BlackRock Inc. "Insider" refers to people in senior management positions and members of the board of directors, as well as people or entities that own more than 10% of the company's stock. In this context, it has nothing to do with insider trading. Top 3 Individual Insider Shareholders The shares owned by individual insider shareholders are those that are held through direct ownership. Shares mentioned in this section do not include shares held indirectly nor shares accessible through stock options. Company insiders must file an SEC Form 4 every time they buy or sell an amount of the company's stock that is deemed to be material. Michael Schroepfer Michael Schroepfer owns a total of 630,612 Meta shares, representing 0.02% of the company's total shares outstanding. Schroepfer is Meta's chief technology officer, leading Meta's technological development teams across areas including artificial intelligence and virtual reality. He joined Meta in 2008. Prior to Meta, Schroepfer held an executive position in engineering with Mozilla Corp. as well as positions at Sun Microsystems and CenterRun Inc. In September 2021, Schroepfer announced he would step down from the CTO position in 2022 to become a senior fellow at the company. David Fischer David Fischer owns a total of 37,089 Meta shares, representing less than 0.01% of the company's total shares outstanding. Fischer is chief revenue officer of Meta, overseeing the company's advertising business and managing the Sales and Marketing teams worldwide. He joined Meta in 2010, having previously been vice president of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google (GOOG). He is known for having built and directed Googles online sales channel. Fischer was also deputy chief of staff of the U.S. Treasury Department. He is a board member of Alterra Mountain Co. and chair of the Ad Council. David Wehner David Wehner owns a total of 26,948 shares of Meta, representing less than 0.01% of the company's total shares outstanding. Since 2014, Wehner has been chief financial officer of Meta, responsible for leading the finance, facilities, and information technology teams. Wehner previously was Meta's vice president of Corporate Finance and Business Planning as well as chief financial officer at Zynga Inc. (ZNGA). Top 3 Institutional Shareholders Institutional investors hold about 65.6% of Meta's total shares outstanding. Institutional investors -- institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management (AUM) -- must file an SEC Form 13F every quarter to disclose their equity holdings. Individual investors may be considered institutional investors if they acquire 5% or more of a company's shares, thus requiring them to file either a Schedule 13D or Schedule 13G form. According to Whale Wisdom, more than 3600 13F filers held Meta stock as of the end of Q3 2021. Mark Zuckerberg Zuckerberg is Meta's largest shareholder by far. As mentioned, he co-founded Meta, then called Facebook, and has been the company's longtime chair and chief executive officer (CEO). At the age of 37, Zuckerberg has a net worth of $84.8 billion. He currently holds approximately 398.2 million shares of Meta, which constitutes 16.8% of all outstanding shares, according to a 13G filing for the period ending Dec. 31, 2020. Vanguard Group Inc. Vanguard holds approximately 182.9 million shares of Meta, representing 7.7% of total shares outstanding, according to a 13F filing for the period ending Sept. 30, 2021. Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies with about 417 traditional funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Vanguard is primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company and has about $8.0 trillion in global assets under management (AUM). The Vanguard Communication Services ETF (VOX), with $3.9 billion in assets under management, is one of many Vanguard funds holding Meta shares. Meta is the largest holding in this fund's portfolio, at about 17.3% of total invested assets. BlackRock Inc. BlackRock holds about 155.9 million shares of Meta, representing 6.6% of total shares outstanding, according to a 13F filing for the period ended Sept. 30, 2021. BlackRock is one of the world's leading asset and investment management firms with approximately $8.7 trillion in AUM as of Dec. 31, 2020. The company offers a wide range of mutual funds, iShares ETFs, and closed-end funds. The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is among one of BlackRock's largest ETFs with approximately $320.4 billion in AUM. Meta is the seventh-largest holding of this fund, at about 2.0% of invested assets. Investors across the globe are increasingly worried about the state of China's economythe worlds second-largest economy after the United Stateswhich has been severely impacted by rising credit levels, a slowdown in its gross domestic product (GDP), and the ongoing trade war with the U.S. Very few economies have grown at the rate of China's; according to the World Bank, the growth rate of China's economy over the past 30 years has averaged 10% per year. However, China's GDP growth in 2019 was 6.1%, the slowest year since 1990. Accelerating credit growth, the overvaluation of the yuan, and a frothy housing market have contributed to a slowdown in the second-biggest economy in the world. Key Takeaways Investors across the globe are increasingly worried about the state of China's economy which has been severely impacted by rising credit levels, a slowdown in its gross domestic product (GDP), and the ongoing trade war with the U.S. China's GDP growth in 2019 was 6.1%, the slowest year since 1990. Accelerating credit growth, the overvaluation of the yuan, and a frothy housing market have contributed to a slowdown in the second-biggest economy in the world. If China's troubles persist, there could be significant consequences for foreign trade, financial markets, and economic growth in the U.S. and around the world. Accelerating Credit Growth Economists Wei Yao and Claire Huang of Societe Generale consider that much of the growth in China's economy was due to credit expansion. In an attempt to shift from an investment-based to a consumption-based economy and reverse the 25-year trend of slowing economic growth, the Chinese government adopted an accommodative monetary policy. From 2008 to 2018, Chinas overall debt jumped from 164% to 300% of its gross domestic product (GDP). In an attempt to alleviate its supply of debt, China has tried to increase demand by easing restrictions on market entrance for foreign investors. These efforts have achieved little success. Theoretically, when bond markets become more accessible, foreign investor demand should increase. However, there hasn't been any data to support an increased level of investor interest in Chinese bonds. Overvalued Currency In addition to its credit woes, China is also facing a currency crisis. Through excessive debt creation and money printing, the Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) has created one of the largest money supplies and total banking system assets of any country. An aggressive monetary policy has led to total banking system assets of $40.57 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2019. From 2010 to 2017, the total assets of banking institutions in China increased by over 200%. This has contributed to an overvalued yuan. Perhaps even more concerning are the statistics about Chinas total social financing (TSF). Total social financing reflects an economy's credit level, taking into account off-balance-sheet financing, or "shadow banking," including initial public offerings, loans from trust companies, and bond sales. At the end of December 2019, China's total outstanding TSF was $36.6 trillion, up 10.7% from the year before. This is an indication that debt growth is accelerating via Chinas shadow banking system. Frothy Real Estate Market After the loss of $3.2 trillion during Chinas stock market crash in 2015, the PBOC attempted to encourage potential equity investors. Compared to Americans, the Chinese have historically invested more of their capital in real estate than in the financial markets. The latest stock market crash reinforced that trend; Chinese direct investment in the United States hit a record $15.7 billion in 2015. At the end of 2017, the median price per square foot for real estate in China was nearly $202, almost 40% higher than the median price per square foot of real estate in the U.S. in 2017, despite the fact that the per-capita income in the U.S. was 700% higher than China in 2017. This housing data indicates that, for a time, the Chinese continued to invest in real estate for their economic growth. Historically, real estate has been the main driver of growth in China's economy, accounting for a large portion of its gross domestic product (GDP). China's efforts to float its housing market, keeping prices rising and continuing development, might have hurt other areas of its economy. The housing price growth of China is expected to hit a five-year low in 2020, growing just 3.1%. Policymakers have been tightening policies in order to crack down on speculative buying that has been prevalent since 2015. For several years, although income-level lagged, housing prices consistently rose in every major city. Bottom Line Chinas economic situation can be difficult to assess. While China has taken steps toward becoming more transparent in its financial sector, its GDP data is known to have been manipulated in the past. Some economists and analysts speculate that official data about Chinese industrial profits are also manipulated and do not reflect the true state of the economy. It's likely that Chinas economy is underperforming compared to government reports. If China's troubles persist, there could be significant consequences for foreign trade, financial markets, and economic growth in the U.S. and around the world. When you work for someone else, that employer takes Social Security taxes out of your paycheck and sends the money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). But things work a little differently for people who are self-employed. If you fall into this category, keep reading. This article will help you understand how to calculate the Social Security taxes you owe. Key Takeaways Self-employed workers must pay both the employee and employer portions of Social Security taxes. Reducing your income by taking every available deduction will reduce your taxes, but it will also reduce the size of your Social Security benefit payment in retirement. The amount of your Social Security benefit payment is calculated based on your 35 highest-earning years. The Social Security tax cap rate for 2022 is $147,000 and $160,200 for 2023. How much you owe in Social Security taxes is based on your net income when you are self-employed. Understanding Social Security Taxes If you work for someone else, Social Security taxes are deducted from your paycheck. The Social Security tax rate for 2022 is 6.2%, plus 1.45% for the Medicare tax. So, if your annual salary is $147,000, the amount that will go to Social Security in 2022 over the year is $9,114.00. That amount increases in 2023, with maximum taxable earnings hitting $160,200 for Social Security taxes over the year reaching $9,932.40. This amount represents the most an individual will pay in social security taxes. Your employer matches that amount over the year, and it will also report your Social Security wages to the government. When you retire or become disabled, the government uses your history of Social Security wages and tax credits to calculate the benefit payments youll receive. What Happens When Youre Self-Employed? When you're self-employed, you're considered both the employee and the employer. This means you are responsible for withholding Social Security from your earnings, contributing both the employer's portion of Social Security as well as your own individual portion. Instead of withholding Social Security taxes from each paycheckmany self-employed people don't get regular paychecksyou pay all the Social Security taxes on your earnings when you file your annual federal income tax return. This amounts to both your contribution and your business's contribution. IRS Schedule SE: Self-Employment Tax is where you report your business's net profit or loss as calculated on Schedule C. The federal government uses this information to calculate the Social Security benefits you'll be entitled to later on down the road. Self-employment tax consists of both the employee and employer portion of Social Security (6.2% + 6.2% = 12.4%) and the employee and employer portion of Medicare (1.45% + 1.45% = 2.9%), which makes the total self-employment tax rate 15.3%. It may seem like you're getting the short end of the stick because you have to pay both the employee and the employer portion of the tax, but that isn't necessarily true. If you are self-employed and earned $400 or less, you wont owe Social Security taxes. Self-Employed Tax Deductions If you are self-employed, how much you pay in Social Security taxes is based on your net income. On Schedule SE, you multiply your business net profit or loss as calculated on Schedule C by 92.35% before calculating how much self-employment tax you owe. If your Schedule C profit were $100,000, youd only pay the 12.4% combined employee and employer portion of Social Security tax on $92,350. Instead of paying $12,400, youd pay $11,451.40. This tax deduction would save you $948.60. Half of $11,451.40 is $5,725.70, representing the employers matching portion of the Social Security tax. Its considered a business expense and reduces your tax liability. You report it on line 14 of Schedule 1: Additional Income and Adjustments to Income, and you subtract it from line 6 of page 2 of Form 1040, marked total income. This business expense would reduce your taxable earnings to $94,274.30, which you enter on line 7 or adjusted gross income (AGI). Your total amount of self-employment tax, $11,451.40, is reported on line 4 of Schedule 2: Additional Taxes. You then report any other taxesthere are eight categorieson the same form, total them all, and list that total on line 10. In our example, there are no other taxes, so that amount is still $11,451.40. This is then entered on line 15 of page 2 of Form 1040, marked Other taxes, including self-employment tax, from Schedule 2, line 10. Of course, you also have to pay regular income tax on your profit. The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act allowed employers to defer employee Social Security taxes through Dec. 31, 202050% of the deferred amount was due Dec. 31, 2021, and the other half on Dec. 31, 2022. This applied to the self-employed, too. How Minimizing Taxes Minimizes Benefits Besides the Social Security tax deductions you can take when you're self-employed, many business expenses can reduce your tax liability. "Business expenses reduce your overall tax, which ultimately lowers your Social Security taxes. Business tax deductions are a way of minimizing self-employment tax and Social Security taxes," says Carlos Dias Jr., founder and managing partner of Dias Wealth LLC in Lake Mary, Florida. But keep in mind that this can work against you regarding Social Security benefit calculations, which are based in part on your taxable earnings. Here's why. The more deductions you have, the lower your Schedule C income. Lowering your Schedule C income is a good way to reduce how much federal, state, and local income tax you owe. However, this lower amount becomes part of your Social Security earnings history and means you may receive lower benefits in retirement than if you didn't take those deductions. Minimize Taxes Now or Maximize Benefits Later? Should you skip some or all of the business tax deductions youre entitled to increase your future Social Security benefit? Maybe. The answer is complicated because lower-earning business people stand to gain more in the future than their higher-earning counterparts due to how Social Security retirement benefits are calculated. Another critical factor is where your Schedule C earnings fall compared to your previous years earnings. If you have a full 35-year career behind you and youre not earning nearly as much in your current self-employed pursuits, it makes sense to take all the deductions you can, as your Social Security benefits will be calculated based on your 35 highest-earning years. In this case, you want to minimize your Social Security taxes. But if youre currently in the high-earning part of your career, a higher Schedule C income can help you get higher Social Security benefits later. Unless you enjoy complex math problems or have a top-notch accountant, its probably not worth the headache to figure out whether youll earn more in future Social Security benefits than youd save by claiming all the deductions you can today. Of course, suppose youre on the cusp of not having enough Schedule C income to give you the work credits you need to qualify for Social Security. In that case, it may be worth foregoing some deductions to make sure youre entitled to any benefits at all. How Much Control Do You Want? As we don't know what Social Security benefit payments will look like in the futuremany people expect them to be lower because of how the system is fundedyou may want to go with the sure thing and take the lower tax liability today. After all, one way to lower your tax liability is to take money out of your business and put it in one of the available retirement plans for the self-employed. That's money you'll have a lot more control over than Social Security benefits. "The great thing about Social Security is you cannot access it until retirement age," says Kevin Michels, CFP, EA, financial planner and president of Medicus Wealth Planning. "You can't make early withdrawals, [but] you can't skip payments, and you are guaranteed a benefit," Michels adds. "However, you have only a small say in the future legislation of Social Security and how it will be affected by the mismanagement of government funds." Michels continues, saying the following: If you have trouble saving for retirement already, then paying [as much as allowed] into Social Security may be the better option. If you are confident you can stick to a savings plan, invest wisely, and not touch your savings until retirement, it may be a better idea to minimize what you pay into Social Security and take more responsibility for your retirement. If You Fail to File If you dont file a tax return reporting your self-employment income, you have a limited time to file a return and still get credit with the Social Security Administration (SSA) for your work time and income. You must file the return within three years, three months, and 15 days after the tax year for which you earned the income for which you want credit. That means if you didnt file a return reporting your 2019 self-employment income, youd have until April 15, 2023, to correct it. However, this grace period doesnt exempt you from any penalties and back taxes you may owe due to filing late. When You Dont Have to Pay Social Security Taxes You dont owe Social Security taxes on the portion of your wages that exceed a certain earnings threshold. The wage index for 2022 is $147,000 ($160,200 in 2023), and you dont owe Social Security taxes on the portion of your earnings that exceed that amount. Lets say your annual earnings were $148,000. The percentage of taxes you owe would be applied up to the first $147,000 but not the $1,000 above that. This annual cap on Social Security taxes also applies to employees who work for someone else. 6% The percentage of American taxpayers who exceeded the tax cap since 1983. Qualifying for Social Security Benefits Anyone born in 1929 or later needs 40 Social Security work credits, the equivalent of 10 years of work, to qualify for Social Security benefits. You earn one credit for every quarter that you earn at least $1,510 in 2022 ($1,640 in 2023). The number changes annually. Even if your business isnt particularly successful, or you only work part-time or occasionally, its not difficult to earn the Social Security credits you need. Even if your earnings fall below this threshold or your business has a loss, there are some alternative ways to earn Social Security credits. These optional methods may increase the amount of self-employment tax you owe, but theyll help you get the work credits you need. Your eventual benefit payments do take your earnings into account. If you never earned much money from a lifetime of self-employment, dont count on getting a large Social Security check in retirement. If you started claiming benefits this year, for example, and your average monthly earnings worked out to just $800, your monthly Social Security retirement benefit would be $720assuming youre at full retirement age. Thats not much, but if you managed to get by on an average of $800 a month during your working years, you could probably work with a monthly benefit payment of $720 in retirement. Specific categories of earnings dont count toward Social Security for most people, such as stock dividends, loan interest, and real estate income. This means you dont pay Social Security taxes on this income, and it also isnt used to calculate your future benefits. The exception is if your business operates in one of these areas that dont countself-employed stockbrokers, for example, do count stock dividends toward their Social Security earnings. Do I Pay Social Security If I Am Self-Employed? Yes, you pay Social Security if you are self-employed. Those new to working for themselves need to know that your employer paid half of your social security contributions and you paid the other half. Now that you are self-employed, you are also your employer, and now you are responsible for making the entire Social Security contribution amount yourself. Can You Check on Your Social Security? You can check your social security contributions and award status by logging onto the Social Security website and creating an account. When Are You Eligible for Social Security Benefits? You are eligible for benefits at the age of 62. However, you will be collecting a reduced amount. Those who wait until 67, if they were born after 1960, will collect the full amount. Those who wait until age 70 will see a significantly increased benefit amount. The Bottom Line Social Security isnt much different whether youre self-employed or work for someone else. Self-employed individuals earn Social Security work credits the same way employees do and qualify for benefits based on their work credits and earnings. Business tax deductions create the biggest difference. If you work for someone else, you pay Social Security taxes on all of your earnings, up to the $147,000 cap in 2022 and $160,200 in 2023. But if you work for yourself, deductions you claim on Schedule C can make your taxable income substantially lower. That can decrease your Social Security taxes in the present and potentially lower your Social Security benefits later. 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 Press Release IPU Committee to undertake Syria refugee mission in Lebanon Geneva, 27 May 2016 The conflict in Syria has sent millions of people fleeing across the region and beyond. Reuters/Muhammad Hamed Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law are to undertake a three-day mission to Lebanon to assess the Syrian refugee crisis. The mission, starting on 30 May, will investigate the situation of Syrian refugees as well as their impact on Lebanon as a host country. Lebanon, with a population of some four million people, is currently home to more than a million Syrian refugees, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The IPU team will be led by Committee President Samir Owais from Jordan and will include MPs from Europe and Africa. It will meet refugees, government officials and senior workers from humanitarian and other organisations, including UNHCR and the ICRC to discuss the crisis and how best it might be alleviated with strengthened action from the global parliamentary community. The Committee pushes for humanitarian law and treaties to be respected around the world, including those covering the treatment of refugees and internally displaced people. Its action contributes to strengthening humanitarian action around the world, falling squarely within the framework of discussions held this week in Turkey at the World Humanitarian Summit. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. It works to safeguard peace and drives positive democratic change through political dialogue and concrete action. Baghdad, capital city of Iraq, put forward a de facto coup, as protestors showed their rages in parliament. It was a total mess and chaos, as politicians have been found manhandling each other. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr led the protestors to take the parliament into storm. It clearly shows that Iraqs internal politics is fragile. Undoubtedly, this tensed situation is a concern or the integrity of the country. Not just politically led protest, this could also been seen as an outrage against corruption. Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq, has recognized the problem and rooted out corruption. In China, the website of the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection (CCDI), one of the tools of President Xi Jinpings anti-corruption campaign, announced that 313 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) employees had been found guilty of providing data for financial gain. The NBS bureaucrats allegedly took money for providing internal information in violation of agency rules. The watchdog has demanded the funds totaling almost $US500,000 be returned, and more arrests may still be forthcoming. In the recent past, a high-ranking official in the NBS was detained on similar charges but this latest investigation suggests the data manipulation goes all the way to the bottom. At a time when Chinas economic growth appears to be slowing and may well have stopped completely there is obvious incentive for officials to deliver positive growth statistics. While manipulated data may be useful for Beijing, buying it some breathing room, this particular game cannot go on forever given how connected the Chinese industrial machine is to the world economy. No amount of falsified figures can hide a slowing economy the size of Chinas forever. | Soruce: NBR | By S.Seal The latest political crisis in Iraq brings bad news for India, which relies on half of its oil imports from volatile Middle East regions. Indian basket of crude oil price has risen to nearly $45 a barrel. A state of emergency was declared in Baghdad on Saturday after hundreds of supporters of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed the Iraqi capital's Green Zone and entered the parliament building. Sadr has been demanding that parliament vote in a new technocratic council of ministers. Moreover, Islamic State claimed responsibility for multiple suicide attacks in the Baghdad area over the weekend that left dozens of people dead. Low oil prices have severely hit Iraq's economy and Islamic State controls about a quarter of its territory. India's oil imports from the volatile Middle East region rose to 59 percent in the first 11 months of the last fiscal, reversing a previous decline, parliament was told last week. The increase was mainly on account of the rise in imports from Iraq, which saw the biggest jump from around 24.5 MT in each of the past three years, to 32.97 MT during April-February 2015-16. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that India imported 109.09 million tons of crude from 10 countries in the Middle East between April 2015 and February 2016, which was 59.22 percent of the total oil imports during the period. The Indian basket, comprising 73 percent sour-grade Dubai and Oman crudes, and the balance in sweet-grade Brent, rose to $44.59 on Friday for a barrel of nearly 160 liters, as per data compiled by the state-run Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. Making their fortnightly evasion in fuel prices, state-run Indian Oil hiked prices on Saturday increasing petrol by Rs.1.06 per liter and of diesel by Rs.2.94, both at Delhi, with corresponding increase in other states. As per latest Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) data, its new reference basket of 12 crude oils rose to $42.70 a barrel on Friday, compared to $42.02 on Thursday, firming up further from its fall to record lows of around $25 a barrel earlier in the year. Last month, the world's key oil producing countries failed to deliver any concrete agreement to freeze production at the end of their ministerial meeting in Doha. Major oil producing countries, except Iran, gathered in the Qatari capital Doha discussing a possible crude production freeze in a bid to shore up the floundering global oil markets and the sluggish prices. The meeting came after prices fell more than 60 percent since June 2014 to as low as $27 per barrel in January due to a widening supply glut. | Soruce: SM Times | By S.Seal Irish musician Dermot Barrett tells PlayIrish USA the heartwarming story of his experience with a kind stranger while travelling in the United States. The first time that I travelled to America, I was on my own, an impulsive youth. Immediate disaster struck as my flights were doubled booked (this was the mid 90s cell phones and the internet were just being imagined really) So, Instead of arriving in Boston at midday I was arriving into Boston, 18hours later, after being to Glasgow, London and New York. I was on the last flight to Boston, with nowhere to stayat midnight. My young brain was unsure of what to do and racing. I was beginning to regret my impulsiveness. My anxiety was raised further by the stink of the man beside me, who then spilt coffee on both of us. He apologised gracefully, saying that perhaps the smell of the coffee would override his own unavoidable BO. He explained that he had been stuck on runways in delayed airplanes and in airports for the last 72 hours as he tried to make his way home from Mumbai to Boston. We joked a little about how very Gary Larson it was, that I always get stuck beside the weirdo. My accent caught his ear and he asked very politely where I was from. Dublin. says I. Ahh, Dublin, I thought I knew the accent! I had one of the best experiences of my life in Dublin many years ago. Now, he was a second generation Indian American, as my foolish young brain stereotyped on its internal keyboard, I was thinking that he would never have even heard of Dublin, never mind Ireland! Yet, He went on to tell the tale of how he had flown into Dublin, late at night, to find no one from his business meeting to greet him, as planned(again, this was the mid 90s). His first time in Europe, his first time trusted to go abroad for the family business and he was lost. Then a complete stranger approached him and asked Are you lost? Yes. Dont you worry; well take care of you. This complete stranger then brought him into the city, found him a hotel, got him a room, and came back the next day, proceeded to take him on a tour of Dublin, the Guinness brewery , Trinity College, brought him to his meeting then to a restaurant with the mans wife, followed by a trad session in a pub! This guy not only saved my petrified life and my business career, he brought me out on the townfor the craic! As the plane landed, he asked me if I had a place to stay. In typical Irish fashion I said, No, but its grand! Dont worry about it! I was in fact doing enough worrying for everyone! Ill sort you he said as we headed towards the baggage claim, but there I lost sight of him. I collected my bags and tried to find any info on hotels. I was browsing some leaflets when he came running back in-Ive found my wife, youre coming with us! he said. Five minutes later I was getting into the back seat of their Volvo with his two kids (who had been waiting up to see daddy after eight weeks away). They gave me a look of shock that said Wow, Daddy went to Mumbai and brought us back a HIPPIE!! They took me from hotel to hotel and finally, as his kids slept in the back, he found me the last room at the Buckminster on Beacon St, at 1.30 am. I thanked him profusely, but he just said, You thank that wonderful stranger in Dublin. And pay it back some day, somewhere. Pass it on! One week later, after my main trip to South Dakota, I arrived into New Yorks Grand Central Station. I was met by a friend, who had the keys to an apartment where I could stay for a few days. We were approached by a girl with tears streaming down her face. I just heard your accents, are you Irish and can you help me? she said, Im only here for a night, I fly out tomorrow, my friends were supposed to meet me, they havent, I have no money! Next day at the bus bound for LaGuardia, this young girl from Athy (if memory serves me) was thanking me. Dont thank me. I said.Thank a wonderful stranger in Dublin and, pass it on The world is a wonder when you let it. Adrian Flannelly, the long-time radio host and Irish American community leader, is now a doctor thanks to Quinnipiac Universitys School of Communications, which conferred Flannelly with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at commencement on Sunday, May 22. Lynn Bushnell, Vice President for Public Affairs at Quinnipiac, read the citation for Flannelly. She praised the influential broadcaster for championing the rights of the Irish in America as well as for his, extraordinary journalism, selfless advocacy and love of and loyalty to two countries. Your guest list has included Irelands prime ministers, Irish American politicians, New Yorks mayors and governors, as well as aspiring journalists, artists, writers, musicians and academics, Bushnell said. It is no wonder that you are repeatedly cited as one of the Top 100 Irish Americans. Co. Mayo native Flannelly, a towering fixture in New Yorks Irish community for 46 years thanks to his radio show and now Irish Radio Network, is the leading broadcasting voice of Ireland in America. Flannelly reaches as many as two million listeners with his mix of news, music, culture and heritage, helping them to reconnect with their homeland from whatever place they call home, a press release from Quinnipiac said. Since the show became part of the Irish American landscape, the profile of its community has grown stronger and more successful. Applying his leverage with mayors, governors and presidents, Flannelly has lobbied on behalf of his community; he helped to legalize thousands of undocumented Irish and advanced the discussions that brought peace to Northern Ireland. Key players came on air to discuss the peace process and rally Irish America for the cause. After helping to create the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him Irish cultural liaison to City Hall. An exemplary Irish American, Flannelly credits his wife and longtime business partner, Aine Sheridan, as his inspiration along with his four children and three grandchildren. Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, the Irish nationalist and suffragette, was born on May 24, 1877 in Kanturk, Co Cork. Below, a look at Hanna's inspiring life. The struggle for universal suffrage in Ireland was a long one, finally coming to an end in 1922 when women were given the right to vote in elections in the Irish Free State. Key to this voting equality was the courage and tireless hard work of suffragettes like Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, who devoted most of her life to campaigning for the rights of women and Irelands independence. A dedicated campaigner, Sheehy-Skeffington also traveled to the US to spread her political messages. Read More: Gunrunners and front-line fighters: The women of the 1916 Rising Born in County Cork on May 24, 1877, into a family with strong political convictions Hannas father David was MP for South Galway, and her uncle Eugene was known as the Land League Priest Hanna quickly developed into an excellent student, thriving at school before graduating with a BA. She followed this up with a first-class honors MA from the Royal University of Ireland. In 1903, Hanna married Francis Skeffington. The couples convictions regarding equality led Francis to take Hannas name, making them Hanna and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington. This commitment to equality was a strong bond between the two, and within five years of their marriage, they were instrumental in the creation of the Irish Womens Franchise League and the organizations newspaper, the Irish Citizen. Hannas campaigning was relentless. In 1913, she was sent to prison for the first time, on this occasion for throwing stones at Dublin Castle as part of a protest, something that cost her her job as a teacher. Once out of work, Hanna could devote more of her time to womens suffrage, writing articles on education and feminism and protesting against the conscription of Irish men to fight in the First World War. In 1916, during the Easter Uprising, Francis was shot dead by British soldiers despite not being involved in any fighting. Hanna declined the compensation offered by the British and demanded an inquiry into Francis death. This was duly held, but the officer responsible escaped punishment. Read More: Remembering Lily Kempson, the longest surviving rebel from the 1916 Easter Rising At the end of 1916, Hanna came to America to travel around the nation delivering a talk titled British Militarism as I Have Known It. This tour raised $40,000, which she donated to the cause of Irish independence. The pamphlet that was made of her talk was banned in Britain until after the end of the war. Hanna spent over a year touring America and delivering her message before sailing to Liverpool in 1918. Prohibited from returning to Ireland, Hanna snuck back into the country before getting caught. She was sent to Holloway Prison under the Defence of The Realm Act, where she went on a hunger strike and was released. 1922 saw America play a part in Hannas story once again, as she was sent by Eamon de Valera to tour 25 states, raising funds for the American Committee of Irish Republican Soldiers and Prisoners Dependents Fund. Hannas campaigning continued throughout her life: she spent time as assistant editor of a Sinn Fein newspaper, continued to deliver speeches in Ireland, Canada, and the United States and made her living as a journalist, writing about independence, suffrage, and feminism. In 1946, Hanna died, leaving a legacy of sacrifice, bravery, and a list of achievements befitting of a true Irish hero. For more stories on tracing your Irish heritage from Findmypast click here. Read More: Ireland needs to elect more women and this is how we achieve it A new report has found customers could save up to 360 per year by switching from the most expensive gas and electricity companies to the cheapest. The Commission for Energy Regulation has also found that more competition and lower wholesale prices were the main reasons for the almost 5% drop in prices in both sectors. Four well-known "once-a-day" sunscreens are not living up to their claims, a watchdog in the UK has warned. Which? found that the protection offered by Soltan Once Invisible 8hr Sun Protection SPF30 (200ml), Piz Buin 1 Day Long Lotion SPF30 (150ml), Riemann P20 Once a Day Sun Protection SPF30 (200ml) and UltraSun Family SPF30 (100ml) decreased by an average of 74% after six to eight hours. This meant that over the course of a day an SPF30 "once-a-day" sunscreen could drop to offer as little protection as SPF8, the consumer group said. Which? said it used British Standard testing on the four products as well as a second test in which the sunscreens were applied to the backs of volunteers who spent a day in a laboratory before the SPF was tested again after six to eight hours depending on each brand's claim. The watchdog noted that similar once-a-day claims are not permitted in Australia, where anything that leads consumers to believe sunscreens do not need to be regularly reapplied is forbidden. Which? director of policy and campaigns Alex Neill said: "Our testing shows that these sunscreens just don't live up to their 'once-a-day' claims so people should reapply sunscreens regularly to ensure they have protection from the sun. "With more than 100,000 people diagnosed with skin cancer in the UK each year, some manufacturers need to do more to ensure their sunscreens live up to the claims on the packaging." The British Association of Dermatologists said such extended-wear products should not necessarily be avoided but should be used similarly to other sunscreens and reapplied. Cancer Research UK said: "The amount of protection you get depends on how well you put it on. It's easy to miss bits when you're applying sunscreen. "Cancer Research UK recommends you reapply regularly to help get even coverage of your skin." Which? also tested 11 widely available regular sunscreens to see if they offered the SPF30 they claimed, with Hawaiian Tropic Satin Protection Ultra Radiance Lotion (180ml) failing twice after it was found to provide "significantly less" protection than it claimed. Cheapest The study found that even the cheapest sunscreens can provide good protection, with own-brand products from Asda, Lidl and Wilko all passing testing. The cheapest sunscreen that passed the SPF test was the 2.79 Aldi Lacura Suncare Moisturising Sun Spray SPF30 200ml. Dr Chris Flower, director-general of the Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association, added: "Which? has set up its test for extended wear products very strangely. Manufacturers test products in circumstances related to normal or expected use. "We normally apply sunscreen to areas of skin that will be exposed to the sun but we don't apply sunscreen to areas that will remain covered under clothes. Exposed areas will not be subject to rubbing against a T-shirt for six to eight hours, so we feel this is unrealistic as a test and believe the criticisms from Which? are not justified. "Extended wear sunscreens are valuable for people with an active outdoor lifestyle for whom re-application of sunscreen is difficult or impossible. Careful formulation and extensive testing by the manufacturers ensure that we can be confident of the SPF labelling for both extended wear and traditional sunscreens." The farms breeding policy is successfully producing calves which gain weight rapidly and will deliver carcass sizes that meet market requirements. This years crop of 90 calves is on track to reach 50% of their mothers weight within six months, with performance helped by the recent improved weather and a surge in grass growth at the farm. The State-owned forestry and renewable energy body is also targeting around a 50m boost to operating cash flow over the next five years which will help it to invest in new areas, pay down debt and pay a larger dividend to the State. The company, used to a negative cash position in recent years, yesterday reported a 48% rise in operating cash flow to 6.5m for 2015. Chief executive Fergal Leamy said that figure could rise to 50m-60m by 2021. While Coillte made 230m from the sale of land in Co Longford to holiday resort firm Center Parcs last year and sold land in Galway which will house Apples largest data centre, Mr Leamy said leasing such land will be a preferable option in future. Coillte generated a profit of 47.6m last year, up 64%, and increased its annual dividend to the State by 25% to 5m. Net debt fell by 22.2m to 154m and capital expenditure rose from 49.4m to 82.9m. Financial close was achieved on three windfarm projects, with three more to follow this year. When the six are functioning they will provide enough energy for 300,000 homes. Mr Leamy said that Coillte will likely branch out into solar energy farms in the next five years, but only as a complementary addition to its windfarm business. Our core foresty division has the potential to be a European leader as the market for timber and fibre doubles over the next 10 years. Our land solutions business has created a significant platform to be a leader in renewable energy and our panels business recently rebranded as Medite Smartply has the assets and products to be the number one value-added player in the markets for MDF (medium density fibreboard) and OSB (oriented strand board), he said. We have a great opportunity to deliver a consistent positive cash yield and return to our shareholders from these three businesses while, at the same time, maintaining the public benefits we provide, he added. Mr Leamy said Coillte is on track to becoming the best forestry and land solutions business in Europe. After camping out overnight outside McDonalds offices in Oak Brook in Illinois, demonstrators gathered to picket the companys annual shareholder meeting. In all, as many as 10,000 fast-food, homecare, and childcare workers from across the US may be protesting, the labour-backed organisers say. Ben Wallace said the Norths economy would be more vulnerable if the UK was to leave the EU. A report by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Westminster examining the impact of Brexit on the North was published yesterday and raised the prospect of strengthened identity checks at the ports and airports in Britain. Mr Wallace said: I am not sure the unionist leaders in Northern Ireland would like the concept of internal borders in the UK. I would not like that, as a unionist, and I am not sure the DUP voters would. He said both sides agreed that the peace process was secure. We have relative peace in Northern Ireland because of the efforts of people in Northern Ireland and that is to be applauded, he said. He questioned the need for change: People ask themselves what is it that is broken that needs fixing, that we take that risk? Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers is a leading Out campaigner. The committee is made of members supporting both sides of the argument. Mr Wallace said: It was a very professional and balanced report and it was clear that the report identified lots of benefits to being a member of the EU. It said if we were to leave we should try and replicate all those benefits. It likes the fact that we work closely with the Republic on security. It likes the fact that our industry gets support and it says we would have to try and replicate that if we were to leave. Meanwhile, Brexit backers have seized on figures showing a rise in immigration as proof the UK can only control its borders by quitting the EU. Leave campaigner Boris Johnson said Britain would be kissing goodbye to any hope of reducing migrant numbers unless it broke free of Brussels. The warning followed news that 184,000 more people moved to the UK last year than left it 270,000 entered while 86,000 went the other way. The influx was 10,000 higher than in the previous year, and put immigration back to the heart of the referendum debate. The UK government had failed in its target to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands because of the simple reality that inside the EU we cannot control immigration, said Mr Johnson. Even worse, the prime ministers deal has given away control of immigration and asylum forever, he said. As dealmakers crowded around the sleek circular bar at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami last September, folks from the Securities and Exchange Commission were mingling, looking for their next big case. Awkward, yes but not uncommon these days. The SEC has been moving in on the Wall Street conference circuit in hopes of getting a handle on whos up to no good in the world of finance. Officials scour attendee lists to spot the biggest players in advance and, properly wearing name tags, schmooze over drinks. Of course, they dont accept any thats a no-no under SEC policy. The SEC isnt the only regulator trawling conferences for tips of suspicious conduct. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was especially transparent about its intentions when it set up a booth in the middle of an industry gathering in March. Attendees at the opulent Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida were greeted by smiling agency officials handing out metal whistles emblazoned with CFTC and mouse pads advertising their toll-free number. The efforts show how regulators are trying to step up their game after missing Bernard Madoffs Ponzi scheme and facing criticisms that they didnt spot Wall Street abuses that led to the 2008 financial crisis. You have to credit the SEC for trying to understand whats actually happening in the market, said Pat Smith, a former federal prosecutor and partner at Smith Villazor in New York. Theres been a lot of criticism over the years that theres a lack of sophistication about markets and industry practice, he said. The SEC has focused on bond conferences including ABS East and ABS Vegas. The four-day conferences bring together investors and originators of debt backed by everything from car loans to jewelry. Kevin Callahan, an SEC spokesman, declined to comment as did Caitlin Fitzpatrick for Information Management Network, the conference organiser. At Gort District Court, Judge James Faughnan made the order that Colm Roddy of Bayside Walk, Sutton, Dublin 13, and Dave Donnellan, aged 56, of Reuben St, Rialto, Dublin 8, do not enter Clare except for court appearances as part of their bail conditions until their case is finalised. The two are charged with causing 300 in criminal damage to a fence at Shannon Airport on May 25. Judge Leo Malone stated at Cork District Court yesterday: The public were in grave danger of serious injury of death. This was outrageous behaviour. Denis Kepple, aged 25, with an address at Monastery Way, Fairhill, Cork, pleaded guilty to several charges including counts of dangerous driving arising out of the incident. Inspector Adrian Gamble said gardai at Gurranabraher in Cork spotted a car at Glengarriffe Rd and noted the car had been involved in a previous incident. Gardai activated the blue lights and siren on the patrol car but the vehicle sped off to Bantry Park Rd and on to Knockfree Avenue. Insp Gamble said Kepple drove the car the wrong way around roundabouts at Knockpogue Avenue and Fairhill, forcing oncoming cars to take evasive action. Kepples car then collided with a bus at a bus stop. Insp Gamble said that all passengers had alighted from the bus at the time of the accident. The driver also happened to be standing on the footpath beside the door of the bus. Kepple and the front-seat passenger ran from the crashed car, which then rolled back and collided with the chasing Garda car. Emmet Boyle, solicitor, said the accused pleaded guilty to counts of dangerous driving and having no insurance. Kepple had 46 previous convictions including 10 counts for dangerous driving and four for no insurance. Mr Boyle said the accused recently got a seven-month jail sentence for burglary. Judge Malone imposed a sentence of five months on Kepple yesterday, to start at the end of the seven months he was already serving. The jury at an inquest into the death of a prisoner accused of killing his wife have recommended that staff levels at Cloverhill Prison be urgently reviewed. Father of two Mariusz Daniel Sarzynski (37) of Bective House, Beaufort Place, Navan, Co Meath was being held at Cloverhill Prison over the killing of his wife Aleksandra Sarzynski. He used a razor he hid from prison officers to inflict cuts to his arms that resulted in his bleeding to death. Known to staff as Daniel, Mr Sarzynski was found unresponsive in his cell on August 26 2014 and pronounced dead shortly after at Tallaght Hospital. Returning an open verdict by majority, the jury recommended that prison procedures in relation to the issuing of razor blades in hospital be reviewed and more stringent procedures be put in place when a prisoner is outside of the prison environment. Mr Sarzynski had spent six weeks in the Central Mental Hospital where he was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressive reaction with risk of self harm. He was released from the Central Mental Hospital back to Cloverhill Prison on May 15 but seen more than 20 times by a clinical psychologist in the weeks before his death. Eight days before his death, the prisoner attended Navan Courthouse in connection with a family law matter where he jumped out a window 20ft above street level. He sustained a broken pelvis in the fall and later told a prison officer it was a suicide attempt and not a bid to escape. He was under constant observation at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda. He asked for a razor to shave the day before his death, the court heard. Returning to Cloverhill Prison on August 26, he secreted the razor from staff. He died on August 26 2014 as a result of numerous superficial cuts to his arms. State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy said the mans entire body was coated in blood and there were three sets of cuts to his neck, right arm and left arm, resulting in a fatal slow bleed. Concluding the four day inquest at Dublin Coroners Court, Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said he would write to the Irish Prison Service to outline the jurys recommendations. Health Minister Simon Harris convened a meeting yesterday in Government Buildings with bosses from both hospitals. The meeting was arranged in a bid to resolve the bitter dispute between the two sides, which has threatened to derail the development of the new National Maternity Hospital on the St Vincents campus. In recent weeks, a dispute over governance structures after the NMHs planned move from Holles St to the St Vincents campus has delayed the lodging of a planning application for the 150m project. The NMH wants to retain a separate board and an obstetrician/master as chief executive. St Vincents wants both hospitals run by the same board, on which the maternity hospital would have two seats. Senior government sources say this round of discussions is the last throw of the dice. So far, 4.73m has already been spent in preparation for the move despite the process not yet reaching the stage where a planning application is submitted. That money will be wasted if agreement is not reached to pursue the relocation. Mr Harris now looks set to ask Mr Mulvey to mediate the dispute in meetings beginning next week. Yesterdays meeting came about after both sides agreed to the appointment of the high-profile mediator to lead a final effort at resolving the row. It comes as the outgoing chair of the health committee, Jerry Buttimer, said a social partnership model is only way to solve the long-term health crisis. Mr Harris has promised to establish an all-party committee to draft a 10-year plan for the health service. However, newly elected senator Mr Buttimer says this cross-party committee will not work unless stakeholders such as union officials and representative bodies are made members of the committee. I think delivering a 10-year plan is a positive but what we dont need is a political talking shop, he said. What we want is an all-encompassing social partnership model. Mr Buttimer said a cross-sector approach is needed where doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other interested parties are part of the committee and are not just asked in as expert witnesses. Rather than having come in as expert witnesses, you employ them as stakeholders, he said. What we need to develop now is a social partnership model where we can bring in certain interests. That requires that we will park vested interests. Mr Buttimer added that this system would take longer but would provide a solid plan for the future of the entire health system. Ministers this week signed off on a motion to establish the all-party committee which will look into the long-term health policy in Ireland. Mr Harris said: The first announcement I made as minister for health was my intention to establish an Oireachtas committee to develop cross-party consensus on the future of the health service. I strongly believe that the health service would benefit enormously from a single unifying vision that we can all get behind and that can help to drive reform and development of the system over the next 10 years. Mr Harris said he would be moving to set up the committee as quickly as possible. Department of Defence officials have refused to give the seamen an armed overseas allowance, even though the ships are armed with guns and some of the crews are carrying standard-issue Steyr rifles, as can be seen in this picture, taken just a couple of days ago, on LE Roisin. The armed overseas allowance is worth an extra 28 a day. Currently, the crews receive 50 a day tax-free, unarmed benefit. Last October, then Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney, told a PDforra conference that he would agree to conciliation and arbitration on the claim, but it still hasnt been heard. PDforra, which represents enlisted men, said crews regularly had to take knives and other weapons off migrants, detain suspected people-smugglers, and said there was increased threat in the region from IS terrorists who control large swathes of the Libyan coastline. It is ironic that our members are protecting the rights of these migrants, which they are more than willing to do, and yet they cant get their own rights, PDforra deputy president, Mark Keane, said. The crews are being honoured as heroes, won a People of the Year Award and have had civic receptions hosted in their honour. But this wont feed our members, many of whom are very poorly paid, he said. RACO, which represents officers, said it was also pushing for the allowance to be paid. RACO said it understands that a considered case was presented by the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service, Commodore Hugh Tully, supporting the requirement for armed-response capabilities to mitigate possible threats in the area of operations. In a statement, RACO said that considering the Department of Defences previously stated position, that the allowance would be paid in support of personnel engaged on the ground in the theatre of military operations who endure physical and health risks, long and unsocial hours during operational tasks and being deployed 24/7, it is surprised it does not support the case for payment of the allowances. It said there were identified threats on the Mediterranean mission and, therefore, the requirement for an armed-response capability. The proposed European Union directive would insist on a quota of content from within Europe. The move is to protect the film industries, cultures, and languages of the European Union. The proposal includes a requirement that such services have better measures to protect minors from violent content, and to protect viewers of all ages from content that is an incitement to hatred. Symbols or phrases must be created to warn viewers of potentially harmful video content. Fergus McCabe is a veteran community and drugs campaigner in the north inner city, his work stretching back 30 years or so. He has sat through numerous state-appointed task forces and high-level strategy groups and has even stepped down from one due to the lack of action. This cant be the attitude of lets set up a body, go through the motions, publish a report and thats the end of it, said Mr McCabe, who is chairman of Young People at Risk in the north inner city. The bane of these bodies is that they are set up, they assemble all the key players, they agree on recommendations and the report just gathers dust on a shelf, or good things happen for a number of years and then it all evaporates. He remembers the deal struck between the late Tony Gregory and Charlie Haughey in 1982: The Gregory Deal began with hope, there was an attempt to implement things around jobs and housing, but it was never implemented. As a leading figure in the Inner City Organisations Network and the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign in the mid-1990s, he was there for the various ministerial task force reports led by Labour TD Pat Rabbitte. The early years of that were good, in the late 1990s and 2000. There was a genuine attempt to deal with issues, like treatment. But he said the political impetus behind it faded away as people thought the issue had died down. Mr McCabe was a community representative on the national drugs strategy team, which sat between the Government departments and the local drugs task forces. In 2009, he said he had no option but to step down: It was originally committed to implement recommendations from local and regional drug task forces, but it was undermined. Successive governments wound it down. It was a travesty. The body was subsequently disbanded and was part of what community groups saw was the wholesale dismantling of the partnership structures between the community and the State to deal with the drugs crisis. On top of that, areas hardest hit by the drugs crisis were hammered under austerity with massive cuts to local community, drug and youth groups and staffing levels of health and social services. During all this time, organisations such as Citywide, ICON, the National Family Support Network, and the Community Policing Forum highlighted interlinked problems of open drug dealing, drug debts, intimidation, and violence. Mr McCabe also sat on the national substance misuse strategy, but saw much of the previous government distance itself from many of its findings in relation to alcohol particularly sponsorship and an industry levy. We have been highlighting the same sort of issues for 30 years, but no one has really listened, said Mr McCabe. If Enda Kenny is serious, we need a comprehensive task force that will look at socio-economic issues, social services, health, housing, education, young people, and prioritising the issues of drug dealing, intimidation and obviously the murders. Whats going on is threat to the stability of the State. We cannot have a situation where a community lives in fear, where people are being killed, where people are witnessing it. That is a failure of the State. Murderers are thumbing their noses at the State. This is a fundamental crisis we are facing. Mr McCabe and many other activists have lived through previous crises, the most obvious being in 1996, with the shooting dead of Veronica Guerin and Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, the second heroin epidemic, mass street marches, and evictions of local dealers. The situation now is much worse than then, said Mr McCabe. Its too dangerous for people to march now, because of the intimidation and the fear. He said the community needs visible policing, and for it to be extended. Not a hawk by any means, Mr McCabe said it was even time to put soldiers on the street: Bring in the army, show people you are treating this seriously. It will send out a signal to the community and the gangs. And get CAB more proactive, set up mechanisms to deal with open dealing and intimidation. He said a focus on young people is crucial: Young people are more involved now in the drug trade and they, in turn, are attracting other young people and we, as a society, havent been able to get a handle on it. Above all, he said, the community needs politicians. Political leadership is absolutely essential, he said. It cant be just rhetoric. It has to be real and it has to be long term. The issue is not what can be done, the issue is what can be implemented. The 17-year-old boy from Foxrock, Dublin, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to his victim at Blackrock, Co Dublin, on January 25 last year. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday that the boy, then 16, armed himself with a hammer and struck his victim, a secondary school student, on the forehead, causing a fractured skull and internal bleeding. They had never met before. Prosecuting counsel Paul Carroll, BL, said the incident occurred after two groups of teenage boys arranged to meet at Blackrock in relation to a row over a 50 drug deal. The court heard the guilty partys friend had reneged on a deal to supply cannabis to the victims friends. After a series of calls and texts between both groups of boys, it was arranged they would meet up in Blackrock. The boy told gardai he initially brought the hammer to the meeting for protection and because it was better to be safe than sorry, the court heard. However, Mr Carroll said the boy told gardai he got angrier during the day after he took a phone call from a member of the other gang. After the groups met in a laneway around 6pm, the boy hit his victim on the forehead once and attempted to strike him another couple of times. When asked by gardai why he did it, he said: I was stupid enough to think it was a good idea to hit him. The victim was rushed to hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain. The accused was arrested at his home by gardai after several boys identified him from the scene. The victim read out a victim impact statement in court in which he said his injury had given him a great deal of stress and pain. Over the last year, Ive had terrible trouble leaving my house without a friend or family member, he said. The victim said he had had to move from honours level Leaving Cert to do the Leaving Cert Applied course, which meant he would miss out on going to university. Defence barrister Sandra Frayne, BL, said her client was extremely sorry and she asked the judge not to impose a custodial sentence. She said the boy grew up in a supportive family but became addicted to drugs from the age of 13. She said he had tried to take his own life on two prior occasions. The boys father said his son became involved in a culture of drinking and drugs at his private secondary school. Since the attack, he has enrolled in a centre for teenage addicts and had turned his life around, his father said. During a debate on the OHiggins Report, Sligo- Leitrim TD Martin Kenny (SF) outlined new allegations of malpractice in his constituency, including that gardai engaged active criminals as informants. Such a practice would be in contravention of a CHIS (Covert Handling of Intelligence Sources) programme. He also claimed gardai in Leitrim used informants, or criminals they have control over, to set up and entrap people for crimes and then prosecute these people. Mr Kenny alleged high-ranking gardai protected what he called rogue gardai and covered for them. He called on Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to establish a commission of investigation into what he said were fresh allegations. Mr Kenny said: There is an allegation that a Garda informant, working under the direction of two gardai, robbed tools and a generator from a builders shed and then sold the generator to a man whose house was searched the next day and the stolen property recovered. The man was subsequently charged and convicted in relation to having stolen property. Detailing a number of other instances, Mr Kenny said two gardai reported concerns around the handling of intelligence sources to then commissioner Martin Callinan in 2009 but they were fobbed off. He went on to claim the allegations were also brought by whistleblowers to the then justice minister, Alan Shatter, in 2012 and 2014. Pointing out that the vast majority of guards are doing their job honestly and diligently, Mr Kenny said he had first been made aware of the allegations of Garda malpractice in Leitrim when two whistleblowers approached him in 2014. Some of the information related to him and his family. A man who claims to have been a Garda informant told me he had been asked by certain named gardai to carry out a robbery at my house. The informant claims he did not carry out the robbery. However, my house was broken into in March 2007 and items of value were stolen. I was an elected member of Leitrim County Council at that time, said Mr Kenny. Speaking in the Dail on the findings of the OHiggins report which focused on allegations made by whistle-blower Sgt Maurice McCabe, Justice Minister Ms Fitzgerald said her focus would not be on the failings that were identified in relation to victims, and the treatment of whistleblowers. She said there is now a need for cultural change, adding that this, in some ways, is even more important than having robust procedures in place. Ultimately, any organisation is no more or less than its people their attitudes, their behaviour, the way they treat others. There will be occasions when whistleblowers are found to be right, and occasions when they are found to be wrong and indeed we can see both examples in the findings of the OHiggins Report but the key thing is that they are protected and treated with respect, said Ms Fitzgerald. The Taoiseach announced at a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting this week that the Dail will rise on July 7 and will not return for around three months. However, yesterday Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald said no date has been yet set after the suggestion of taking extended leave sparked anger amongst opposition TDs who pointed out that the Dail had not sat for an extended period during government formation negotiations. Enda Kenny told his party colleagues on Wednesday night that a longer than usual break would be taken to allow vital renovations to be carried out in Leinster House. Speaking in the Dail, Sinn Feins Mary-Lou McDonald said it would be absolutely unthinkable to rise early and not return until September. This was echoed by Fianna Fails Michael Moynihan who asked how a break of around three months could be justified: How can that be justified with the amount of work required and the amount of business that needs to go before the Dail concerning a whole variety of urgent areas that I could mention? Ms McDonald said that if works need to be done in the chamber, alternative accommodation should be sourced and she suggested the Round Room in the Mansion House as an appropriate venue. She added: Having stalled for 10 weeks while there were negotiations and no small amount of sham battling between different parties, it would be absolutely unthinkable that the House would rise on 7 July and not return until the end of September. We cannot have a situation where we are barely in and just about off to a spluttering start with Dail business and then we go into recess again. There are too many serious issues to be dealt with. However, Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail moved to clarify the matter by stating that no decision whatsoever has been made as to when the Dail will rise. He said: It is my understanding that while there is important work to be undertaken, such work would not require the House to raise on 7 July. The Tanaiste said the summer recess is a matter for the Dail: We have a Dail reform programme and a new business committee that will examine this issue and, no doubt, will make a recommendation to the Dail. Labour TD Jan OSullivan said TDs would not have appropriate time for legislation if a lengthy break is taken over the summer. While other work needs to be done around the House, could we not sit in the Chamber while this work is being carried out and find accommodation, if necessary, for us in other places? she asked. MADISON The son of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has taken a job working for North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory. Matt Walker, 21, graduated from Marquette University on Sunday. His biography on Twitter says that he is working as the digital director for the Republican McCrory. He is running for re-election this year. Matt Walker did not immediately respond to a message sent over Twitter seeking comment. Spokesmen for Walker also did not immediately comment. But Walker on Thursday posted a picture of himself on Twitter holding his son shortly after his birth saying he can't believe he's "grown, graduated, working & living on his own." Walker's other son, Alex Walker, is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and spoke at the state Republican Party convention earlier this month. Gerard Mackin, aged 33, a native of Northern Ireland with an address at 80, Star Court, John Carey Park, Southill, Limerick; Mark Heffernan, aged 32, of 242, Swallow Drive, John Carew Park, Limerick, and Patrick Hayes, aged 52 of 6, Larch Court, Kennedy Park, Limerick, were each charged at the court with assault causing harm and falsely imprisoning 53-year-old Daniel Quilligan at 6, Larch Court, on September 14 last. Judge Marian OLeary, having heard Garda objections, refused bail to all three owing to the seriousness of the alleged offences and the possibility of interference with witnesses. Michael Murray, state solicitor, objected to details of the bail applications being published in the media. Evidence was given by Det Garda David Bourke, Det Garda Pat Whelan, and Det Garda Mark Deasy of the States objections to bail. It was alleged that Mr Quilligan, a Traveller who dealt in furniture, was lured to 6, Larch Court by a number of people. He was met by three men, all wearing white protective suits. It was alleged Mr Quilligan was assaulted by people who said they were from the IRA and demanded 15,000. Mr Quilligan, it was alleged, was in great fear and as he sat on a chair, one of the men nailed his feet to the floor. Later, it was alleged the nails had to be surgically removed from his feet. While in the hospital, it was alleged Mr Quilligan got a call from one of the accused and gardai, listening to the phonecall, heard a voice say dont talk to the guards and nothing else will happen. Garda evidence was given alleging the three men could be linked to the scene by CCTV. It was alleged they were acting in consort and filling a gap left by the decline of the McCarthy Dundon gang by taxing criminals with threats they were IRA or INLA. All three were remanded in custody to the same court on Tuesday next. The two biggest stars of the latest DisneyLucasFilm blockbuster were finally able to let their hair down once filming of the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise was completed on Wednesday. Our pictures show the pair enjoying themselves with colleagues who had worked with them on the production for the past number of weeks at locations along the western seaboard. Hamill, who plays Jedi knight Luke Skywalker, arrived at the Main St venue shortly after 11.10pm by jeep, accompanied by two companions, including his pet dog Millie. Mark Hamill arrives at Foxy Johns, where security around the wrap party was tight The actor happily posed for pictures with fans before announcing he wanted to comb his hair before greeting his fellow cast and crew members inside the pub, which had been a popular haunt throughout the week. Any ban on dogs on the premises was clearly overlooked and a special exemption was granted to Millie, who was on a lead. However, before going in the actor, who plays Luke Skywalker, told the Irish Examiner hed enjoyed his time in Kerry and was sorry to leave. Inside, the mood was much more welcoming than Chalmuns cantina in Mos Eisley, the seedy venue where Luke Skywalker first meets Han Solo in 1977s Star Wars: A New Hope. Daisy Ridley, who plays the heroine Rey in episodes seven and eight, was also enjoying the party and got to sample life at the other side of the counter, pulling pints in the famous pub. Daisy Ridley gives a helping hand behind the bar at the Star Wars wrap party in Foxy Johns pub in Dingle, Co Kerry. This wasnt her first time sampling Dingles nightlife, as she had already been spotted around town and was in the Courthouse pub on The Mall a few nights previously. Security at Foxy Johns was more fitting of an exclusive Hollywood venue than a pub in west Kerry. Black blinds kept prying eyes at bay and entry was strictly by identification tags or guest list. The few locals and tourists who approached the doors looking to get in were told it was a private party. All happily moved on and crossed the road to Currans or went elsewhere. Director Rian Johnson: Filming along the western seaboard. Early arrivals outside the door included six-year-old Daryl Ferriter from Dingle in his Kylo Ren costume who had dragged along his twin brother Gordon and parents Tatiana and Johnny, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of one of his heroes before bedtime. Apart from a few curious souls who watched the comings and goings from outside Currans across the road, nobody was really too pushed about what was happening inside. As one local who had gained entry put it: Sure if you wanted to see the stars you could have gone out around Dingle any night of the week and seen them. After meeting with Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan in relation to the OHiggins report, the Policing Authority issued a detailed statement in which it: The authority said a more detailed examination of specific issues arising from OHiggins needed to take place in the interests of transparency. it is therefore to hold two meetings in public on June 13 and 30. The agendas for these meetings are likely to focus on service to victims, protected disclosure, and culture, and may also examine the OHiggins recommendations in the context of other reviews such as those of the Garda Siochana Inspectorate, the authority said. In the meantime, it told Ms OSullivan it wants gardai to engage an external provider to carry out a cultural audit within the force as a baseline from which the impact of the commissioners modernisation and renewal plan can be assessed. The authority also wants the Garda Siochana Protected Disclosure policy to be published at the earliest possible date. The Garda Siochana Public Attitude Survey which has been referenced in many meetings should be published immediately, it said. The Policing Authority also expects to see a formal Garda Siochana response to the findings and recommendations made by Judge OHiggins. This response must then be reflected in the Garda Siochana Strategy Statement 2016-2018 which will come to the Authority for approval in the coming weeks, and likewise in the Policing Plan for 2017. After meeting the commissioner, Policing Authority chairwoman Josephine Feehily said the recurring deficiencies in policing performance evidenced in the OHiggins report were deeply troubling, and she criticised the manner in which victims were failed. We welcome the Garda Commissioners apology to victims, her immediate acceptance of the Commission findings and her acknowledgement that there are many lessons to be learned, said Ms Feehily. However, in exercising its oversight role, the authority will seek evidence of a tangible response to those lessons including at the two forthcoming public meetings in June. Today was just a first step in this oversight process and there is clearly a lot of work to be done. Yesterday, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors called on garda management and the Justice Minister to immediately review the whistleblowing charter. Meanwhile, a community activist has said that Taoiseach Enda Kennys promised taskforce for Dublins north inner city cannot be just rhetoric and must provide real and long-term action. Fergus McCabe said the murderous onslaught in the north inner city represented a threat to the stability of the State. A youth, drugs, and community activist for decades, Mr McCabe said the Government should bring in the Army to the area to send out a signal to both the community and the killers. Mr McCabe, chairman of Young People at Risk and a member of previous State task forces and high-level strategy groups, said the bane of such bodies was that their reports gather dust and their recommendations never, or only partially, implemented. The issue is not what can be done, he said. The issue is what can be implemented. He said that if Mr Kenny, who announced the taskforce in the Dail on Wednesday, was serious, the taskforce had to tackle all the socio-economic issues, as well as open drug dealing, intimidation and, most urgently, the murders. All were fighting for is justice, thats all we want. Weve done no wrong, what have we to answer for? he told the Irish Examiner. We were gutted to bits, because he was our pride and joy. Were after investing so much in him, we were so delighted to see him grow up on what we have done for him and how he was doing in school, he added. The boy was moved to another county last October, after the grandparents were deemed too old to care for him. There were five other grounds cited for removing the child from their care. The grandfather believes the child wishes to return to his grandparents. He wants to come back, he was back here for a day or two and I asked him how he was getting on, and how did he like where he was and where would he like to live. Id love to live here, he said, and go back to school. I dont like the school Im in. The problem is the childs voice is never listened to, the grandfather said. It was the saddest day of our lives the day we had to take him there ourselves, and leave him behind us and go home without him. That was the saddest day of our lives. We tried to do it the best we could, sure he knew himself. He said to his granny inside at the table one evening, Nana are they going to break up another home on me? He said that himself, said the grandfather. Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, does not comment on individual cases, but wished to reassure the public that their main concern is always the child. In light of recent media coverage into the care arrangements of a child who had been living with their grandparents Tusla wishes to reassure the public that our main concern is always to ensure that each child is living with a carer who is best suited to meet their needs, spokeswoman told the Irish Examiner. The case, which has gained national attention, was brought to the attention of Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone, by Independent TD for Tipperary Mattie McGrath. Mr McGrath said he will now ask Ms Zappone to set up an independent body to review Tusla decisions. I am putting in a request to Minister Zappones office to have an independent review body set up, he told the Irish Examiner. Meanwhile, Age Action said that the contribution grandparents make to society is not appreciated enough. Grandparents are essentially providing free childcare in Ireland, said the Age Action spokesman. Agata Pracz, 39, from Swords, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to dishonestly inducing Yumi Takekoshi to hand over the money on July 15, 2014. Garda Enda Ledwith told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, yesterday, that Ms Takekoshi, a 58-year-old from Tokyo, was contacted through social media site, LinkedIn, by a woman purporting to a be a two-star US general based in Dublin Airport. The general told Ms Takekoshi that a container filled with currency worth $10.5m (6.8m) was at a bonded warehouse in Dublin, and that she would give Ms Takekoshi access to it for 8,990. Ms Takekoshi flew into Dublin Airport on July 15, 2014, where she met Pracz, who claimed to be a UN diplomat named Sandra Daly. Pracz brought Ms Takekoshi to an airport bar and took the money, before promising to call Takekoshi with details of the container of cash, the court heard. Ms Takekoshi became suspicious after the meeting and went to the Japanese embassy, which contacted the gardai. Pracz, a Polish national, was arrested on the M1 motorway days later, after gardai recognised her car from airport CCTV footage. She claimed she had met a man named James, of Nigerian or Ghanaian background, in a pub and that he organised the deal and she was just the cash collector. She said she had financial difficulties. When police searched Praczs home, they recovered 4,000 and a laptop, Gda Ledwith said. He said Pracz claimed she tried to contact James, but couldnt, so she spent the other half of the money on her debts. Garda experts were unable to hack into the laptop, which was heavily encrypted, and Pracz said she couldnt remember the password. Pracz has lived in Ireland since 2006 and has no previous convictions here. She has three convictions for fraud-related offences in Poland. Judge Patrick McCartan said he had reservations about Praczs version and that it is difficult to believe Pracz met a stranger in a pub and agreed to get involved in the scam. He adjourned for sentencing on June 2. FIFTEEN years old and a patient at Cork University Hospital (CUH), he was distant at first. Drawing pictures just didnt do it for him. But when it came to sticking googly eyes on crepe-covered plastic balls and launching them out of a catapult made of lollipop sticks a la Angry Birds his attention was well and truly grabbed. By the time we left, he was much chattier, says Aisling Hurley, a 26-year-old adapted physical activity graduate and a volunteer on Barretstowns Hospital Outreach Programme (HOP). Barretstown, a specially designed camp in Co Kildare, provides therapeutic recreation programmes for children with serious illnesses. Barretstown started HOP in 2011, with the aim of bringing the spirit of Barretstown to children and families in hospitals around the country. Its in place in Limerick, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, and Liverpool. Last year, it served 1,600 children, 414 of them in Cork. Aisling, from Cobh, is a veteran Barretstown camp volunteer she did nine months there in 2012 and the same again in 2015. She has volunteered twice on HOP in CUH. It means spending a day in the hospital (9.30am-4pm) and bringing playful, fun activities to young patients. HOP comes to CUH on the last Wednesday in the month. It works collaboratively with hospital staff to create activity-based programmes focused on improving quality of life during a time often laden with fear, stress and uncertainty. We so look forward to HOP coming you know every childs going to be taken care of, says CUH play specialist Anne Olney, who has around 30 children in the surgical/medical ward on the fifth floor, as well as 26 babies and toddlers on the first floor. The HOP volunteers swarm all over the hospital. I give the leader the patient list and I earmark certain patients, like look, theres a teen down there whos self-harming shes very low. "Can you send somebody in to play a board game or have a bit of banter? Olney says male college student volunteers work wonders with teen boys. Teen boys are very hard to get going, she says. With the play specialist, its like get away from me. They associate me with toys and young children. "But if I send a few young fellows down with a deck of cards, two or three of them might sit around the bed, say hows it going, did you hear the one about... They might play a few card tricks and theyre all laughing its brilliant. HOP offers creative, developmentally appropriate activities and interactions. Last month, nurses in CUH baby ward directed volunteers to a long-stay toddler. Hes slightly developmentally delayed because of lack of stimulation and being a bit institutionalised. They did some developmental stuff with him, says Olney. While some HOP volunteers often college students or retired people sit in wards and engage individual patients, others base themselves in the playroom. They decorate it to a theme wizards and fairies, under the sea with mermaids, superheroes, or pirates. Theyve turned it into a space station, says Olney. They draped sheets to make it look like outer space. A big physiotherapy ball was a satellite. The children made sputniks out of paper plates. The young patients could be in with any ailment because of accidents or fractures, appendicitis, infection, or chronic illnesses such as diabetes. Children with cystic fibrosis often come in for two weeks at a time for physiotherapy and antibiotics, she says. Being in isolation, they get very bored. The HOP volunteers gown up and bring play to them. Eva Caulwell, outreach co-ordinator with Barretstown, says their vision is that every child with a serious illness should enjoy their childhood. Barretstown aims to rebuild the lives of children. Being in hospital is such a tough time for them and their families, she says, adding that doctors and nurses treat the physical, but HOP impacts on the psychosocial aspect. [The HOP volunteer] isnt going to poke or prod the child. The child is given a choice about what theyd like to do children generally dont get choices in hospital. And parents love HOP too. While their child is re-engaging with their childhood, parents can take a much-needed break nip out for a coffee or to make an important phone call, says Caulwell. Parents say theyd have cracked up but for HOP and hospital play in general. They say we couldnt have sat by the bedside every day trying to keep her going and keep her spirits up. Olney is convinced play helps children get better. Weve had long-stay patients theyve maybe had complications after surgery and had to stay longer than anticipated. They came into the playroom day after day looking for activities. I really do feel it helped the healing process. HOP and play in general, she says, helps take the trauma out of the hospital experience for children. So when they look back, its not just needles and pain and being scared. There is a good side. They go out and tell their friends and spread the word that its not all bad. Fact file * Founded by Hollywood actor Paul Newman in 1994 and modelled on his renowned Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut Barretstown serves children from Ireland, Britain, and throughout Europe. * In 2015, Barretstown served more than 2,600 residential campers at their Kildare camp. This year, 1,400 volunteers will cater to the growing demand. * The hospital outreach programme (HOP) reaches more than 1,600 each year across Ireland. It brings the joy and fun of camps summer programming to seriously ill children year round. * HOP began in Alder Hay Hospital, Liverpool, in 2011 and is still operating there, as well as in hospitals in Limerick, Cork, Dublin, and Belfast. * Barretstown chief executive Dee Ahearn says these programmes could not be provided without the support of volunteers. If youre interested in volunteering at Cork University Hospital with the Barretstown Hospital Outreach Programme, log on to: https://www.barretstown.org/volunteers/volunteer-outreach-volunteers/ You have to be over 19 to volunteer. * Barretstown has helped more than 30,000 seriously ill children and their family members since 1994. To find out more, visit www.barretstown.org follow @Barretstown on Twitter or visit www.facebook.com/ Barretstown * To donate, visit https://www.barretstown.org/support/donate/ or www.facebook.com/Barretstown and click the donate now button. Navy Lt Rino Gentile of the EUNAVFOR operation said that the sinking dinghy was first spotted by one of its aircraft. Both the Italian coast guard and the Spanish frigate Regina Sofia intervened. He said some 20 bodies were located in the sea. Earlier, Italian coast guard reported 88 people had been saved. It was the second shipwreck in two days as sea crossings accelerate amid good weather. Five people were confirmed to have died when a large fishing boat flipped over in the sea on Wednesday. Europes worst immigration crisis since World War Two has led to more than 8,000 deaths in 2 years, the International Organization for Migration estimates. Boat arrivals in Italy have risen sharply this week amid warm weather and calm seas, and about 20 rescue operations are currently underway, a coastguard spokesman said. The coastguard has co-ordinated the rescue of around 900 migrants in seven different operations on Thursday. That brings the total of migrants who have been rescued since Monday to more than 7,000. Heard, 30, cited irreconcilable differences and is seeking spousal support from the Pirates Of The Caribbean star, according to court records. The pair, who do not have children together, married in February last year after co-starring in the 2011 film The Rum Diary. Casting the referendum as a vote for your life, the Prime Minister said young people still had until June 7 to sign up for a vote in the June 23 poll. And he signalled he is ready to accept the slenderest of majorities as a victory for Remain, dismissing the argument that a close result could provide the platform for a swift re-run poll. Ukip leader Nigel Farage argued anything short of a two-thirds majority for Remain would represent unfinished business and could provoke demands for an early second referendum from Leave advocates who feel the campaign has not been run fairly. But Cameron said it was obvious a simple majority was enough to settle the question in a referendum and Brexit supporters had to stick to the rules. Speaking during a visit to Japan for the G7 summit, Cameron said: There are very clear rules for referendums - youve got to get out there and win a majority. Cameron made no effort to conceal his anxiety that younger voters - who polls suggest are strongly in favour of continued EU membership - may not use their ballots on June 23. Some pollsters believe a low turnout among the young is the most likely factor to produce victory for Brexit, which is more popular among older age groups. One thing on the campaigning front that is probably my greatest concern is doing everything we can in the next week to get people to register to vote, particularly young people, said the Prime Minister. This is absolutely a vote about their future. This vote will determine the sort of country, the sort of economy they grow up in, the sort of opportunities that they have. Definitely something that is concerning me is that the last election turnout among young people was more in the 40 percents rather than the 60 percents. Two pieces were found on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, and one in Mozambique, says Australian transport minister, Darren Chester. Other debris from the Boeing 777, which vanished two years ago, has previously been found in both countries. Trump was put over the top in the delegate count by a small number of the partys unbound delegates who told the AP yesterday they will support him at the convention. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president. Trump secured 1,238. With 303 delegates at stake on June 7, he will easily pad his total, avoiding a contested convention this summer. Many on the right have been slow to warm to Trump, wary of his conservative bona fides. Others worry about his crass personality and the lewd comments hes made about women. However, millions of grass-roots activists, many of them outsiders to the political process, have embraced Trump as a plain-speaking populist who is not afraid to offend. Steve House, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party and an unbound delegate who confirmed his support of Trump, said he likes the billionaires background as a businessman. Leadership is leadership. If he can surround himself with the political talent, I think he will be fine, said House. Trumps pivotal moment comes amid a new sign of internal problems. Hours before clinching the nomination, he announced the abrupt departure of political director Rick Wiley, who was in the midst of leading the campaigns push to hire staff in key battleground states. In a statement, Trumps campaign said Wiley had been hired only on a short-term basis until the candidates organisation was running full steam. Some delegates who confirmed their decisions to back Trump were tepid at best, saying they are supporting him out of a sense of obligation because he won their states primary. Cameron Linton of Pittsburgh said he will back Mr Trump on the first ballot since he won the presidential primary vote in Lintons congressional district. If theres a second ballot I wont vote for Donald Trump. Hes ridiculous, Linton said. The terrorists are posting snaps of cute felines in the arms of militants to illustrate the charmed life of a member of IS. US general, John Carlin, warned British security experts that IS believes kittens sell, because the internet is inundated with pictures of them. Diamond, who starred as Screech in the 90s US sitcom, was being held at the Ozaukee County jail after being taken into custody on Wednesday, said corrections officials. In April, Diamond was released from Ozaukee County jail a month early after serving three months for a bar room stabbing in Wisconsin. Police say they have so far made 16 arrests during the disturbances in the capital. A police spokesman estimated 18,000 to19,000 people took part in the protest, which took a violent turn in the afternoon. Asia Influential Thai Buddhist Monk Too Ill to Face Graft Charges, Say Devotees A stand-off between investigators and a Thai Buddhist sect has intensified after its abbot fails to appear at a police station to answer graft charges. BANGKOK A stand-off in Thailand between investigators and a powerful Buddhist sect intensified on Thursday after its influential abbot failed to appear at a police station to answer graft charges because followers said he had fainted. Temples and monasteries in mainly Buddhist Thailand have been rocked by sex and money scandals, prompting widespread calls for reform. The countrys political divisions have also created fissures within the religion. Phra Dhammachayo, abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, missed a Thursday deadline from the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) to turn himself in to face charges of money-laundering and receiving illegal donations. If he was to come now, it would risk his life, Ongart Thammanita, a spokesman for Dhammakayas followers, told reporters. Doctors will need to treat him first. Earlier, hundreds of orange-robed monks and other Dhammakaya followers walked from the temple complex north of Bangkok to gather outside a nearby police station where the abbot was due to report. Citing ill health, Phra Dhammachayo has failed to show up for questioning several times, leading authorities to issue an arrest warrant last week. The wealthy Dhammakaya sect, which claims millions of adherents worldwide, has been dogged by allegations of corruption, which it has steadfastly denied. The temple said in a statement on Sunday that Phra Dhammachayo had not left the complex for eight years because of ill health and the DSI could read the charges to the abbot on his sick bed on Wednesday. The DSI offered to release the abbot on bail if he reported to the station on Thursday, where an ambulance and doctors waited to take him to a hospital. The DSI told reporters it had yet to decide its next step but would need a search warrant to enter Dhammakayas complex, which is dominated by a giant stupa shaped like a UFO. The temple has said it would not obstruct security officers if they came to arrest the abbot but could not prevent his followers from doing so. Any intervention by a third party would result in a less than desirable outcome, it said in the statement. The ruling junta will want to avoid a repeat of a confrontation in February, when soldiers scuffled with monks protesting against what they called state interference in religious affairs. The leading candidate for the role of the supreme patriarch, the spiritual head of Thailands 300,000 monks, has ties to the Dhammakaya sect. The selection process has become a proxy for the color-coded politics that the junta has quashed since seizing power in 2014. Asia Obama to Make History, Stirs Debate With Hiroshima Visit Obama becomes the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, which many hope will breathe life into stalled efforts to abolish nuclear arms. HIROSHIMA, Japan Barack Obama on Friday becomes the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, site of the worlds first atomic bombing, a gesture Washington and Tokyo hope will showcase their alliance and breathe life into stalled efforts to abolish nuclear arms. Even before it occurs, though, the visit has stirred debate, with critics accusing both sides of having selective memories, and pointing to paradoxes in policies relying on nuclear deterrence while calling for an end to atomic arms. The two governments hope Obamas tour of Hiroshima, where an atomic bomb dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, killed thousands instantly and some 140,000 by the years end, will highlight a new level of reconciliation and tighter ties between the former enemies. Aides say Obamas main objective in Hiroshima, where he will lay a wreath at a peace memorial, is to showcase his nuclear disarmament agenda. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for what many said were eloquent speeches on the topic. Obama has said he will honor all who died in World War II when he visits Hiroshima, accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but will not apologize for the bombing of Hiroshima. The city of Nagasaki was hit by a second nuclear bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, and Japan surrendered six days later. A majority of Americans see the bombings as having been necessary to end the war and save lives, although some historians question that view. Most Japanese believe they were unjustified. Im coming, first and foremost, to remember and honor the tens of millions of lives lost during the Second World War. Hiroshima reminds us that war, no matter the cause or countries involved, results in tremendous suffering and loss, especially for innocent civilians, Obama said in written responses to questions published in the Asahi newspaper on Friday. The White House debated whether the time was right for Obama to break a decades-old taboo on presidential visits to Hiroshima, especially in an election year. But Obamas aides defused most negative reaction from military veterans groups by insisting he would not second-guess the decision to drop the bombs. I will not revisit the decision to use atomic weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but I will point out that Prime Minister Abe and I coming to Hiroshima together shows the world the possibility of reconciliationthat even former adversaries can become the strongest of allies, Obama told the Asahi. Good Allies World War II flying ace Dean Diz Laird, 95, who shot down Japanese fighters and dropped bombs on Tokyo, said he was pleased both that Obama was going to Hiroshima and that he would offer no apology. Its bad that so many people got killed in Hiroshima, but it was a necessity to end the war sooner, said Laird, the only known US Navy pilot to shoot down both German and Japanese planes during the war. I believe in at least showing the Japanese that we care because they are now our good allies. Laird suggested the time was past when Japan had to keep atoning for its wartime history: There were a lot of atrocities but that war is over. Critics argue that by not apologizing, Obama will allow Japan to stick to the narrative that paints it as a victim. Abes government has affirmed past official apologies over the war but said future generations should not be burdened by the sins of their forebears. China and South Korea, which suffered from Japans wartime aggression, often complain Tokyo has not atoned sufficiently. Given Hiroshimas sensitive identity, the Japanese government is trying to use the historic visit to highlight Japans image of a war victim, while downplaying its role as an aggressor in World War II, Chinas state news agency Xinhua said. Obamas Hiroshima visit should not be used as an occasion to whitewash Japans atrocities in World War II. Atomic bomb survivors have said an apology from Obama would be welcome but their priority is ridding the world of nuclear arms, a goal that seems as elusive as ever. Some also worried insistence on an apology would keep Obama from visiting at all. Were still 10 years from the possibility of a [US] president issuing an apology, said Kenji Ishida, a 68-year-old Hiroshima resident and taxi driver who was born two years after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Japan has to apologize for Pearl Harbor, too, if were going to say the US must apologize, he said. Anti-nuclear activists hope Obamas visit will breathe life into a stalled process while critics argue the president has made scant progress and is spending heavily to modernize the US atomic arsenal. Japan, despite advocating disarmament, relies on the US nuclear umbrella for extended deterrence. Burma Debate Over Burmas Household Guest Registration Law Intensifies A bill to amend Burmas colonial-era law requiring citizens to inform local officials when guests spend the night in their homes is up for debate. RANGOON A bill to amend and repeal sections of Burmas colonial-era law requiring citizens to report overnight guests continues to face hurdles in Parliament. Drafted and submitted to the Upper House of Parliament by the Bill Committee in early May, a bill revoking all sections of the original Ward or Village Tract Administration Law referring to overnight guest registration was tabled by elected parliamentarians and military lawmakers from May 20 until May 24. It was met with divided opinions. Maintaining that there was no need for the new bill, military lawmakers said that national security would be in jeopardy if the bill were approved, while National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmakers argued that the new bill aligned with democratic norms and preserved freedom of movement for citizens. During a legislative session on Tuesday, Upper House Speaker Mahn Win Khaing Than said the Bill Committee would take the lawmakers discussions under consideration when reviewing the draft law. Originating in 1907, modified by the military-controlled Ministry of Home Affairs in 2012 and most recently updated in January 2016, the law requires citizens to inform local government officials when guests spend the night in their homes, regardless of how long the guests stay. Homeowners who rent their houses are also required to follow the same procedure. International human rights watchdogs have criticized the law saying that it gives authorities the right to carry out warrantless household inspections. The human rights advocacy group Fortify Rights issued a report called Midnight Intrusions last year, calling on the government to dismantle the law. The report stated that the law represents a systematic and nationwide breach of privacy that was used to hunt down political activists under the military regime and the quasi-civilian government. The new bill proposes removing articles 13(g) and 17 from the original law, which demand that citizens report overnight guests or get penalized for disobeying. The Bill Committee invited delegations from more than 40 local civil society organizations (CSOs) and the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday in Naypyidaw to hear stakeholders recommendations. Tin Myint, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs told The Irrawaddy that repealing these articles would be a big concern for national security because of a lack of stability in remote and border areas. Instead of removing these sections, we suggest loosening restrictions, he said. The new bill would also amend one of the qualifications for ward and village administrators the candidates must have resided in the ward or village where they run for election for at least five years, altering the original laws 10-year minimum. The bill would also specify that candidates must have graduated from middle school, instead of the vague appropriate education required under the old law. Thant Zin Aung, chairman of the Forward Institute and consultant to the Rain Maker CSO, said he supported the guest-reporting requirement, citing unstable security in some remote areas of the country. However, he argued that the new bill still lacked details. Current modifications of the new bill are not enough, he said. It has to be completely changed. Zaw Min, chairman of the Upper House Bill Committee, told The Irrawaddy that the committee promised CSOs it would take their recommendations into account. The [practice of the] government is different now. We will respect suggestions from individuals and will not use veto power, he said. Many local CSOs that observed the election process for ward and village tract administrators in January 2016 joined the debate and urged the government to revamp or amend the law in order to ensure more transparency and accountability in the election process. A report issued last week by the Peace and Justice Myanmar (PJM) highlighted that the publics understanding of ward and village administrator elections was extremely weak, based on a survey it compiled by interviewing more than 10,000 residents from over 2,000 households in different states and divisions around the country. Only 58 percent of the interviewees were aware of the existence of the law, and a majority of them didnt understand the law, the survey stated. Burma Efforts to Help Shan State IDPs Hampered in Parliament A Shan State MP sought to submit a proposal to Parliament that would help displaced children receive an education, but her efforts were denied. RANGOON A Taang National Party lawmaker sought to submit a proposal to the Union Parliament to stop fighting in Shan State so that children in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps could attend school this year, but her efforts were denied. Nan Moe, a lawmaker for Mongton Township, said that Lower House Speaker Win Myint would only allow her to make her appeal in the form of a question on Wednesday. [The government] may not be able to achieve peace for all people in conflict areas, but I want them to help children at IDP camps who havent been able to study, she said. [The House Speaker] didnt tell me why I couldnt make a proposal or even why I could ask a question. I went to the Parliament office to ask, but they couldnt give me an answer. According to Nan Moe, thousands of children in northern Shan State have been forced from their homes because of ongoing fighting between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups, including the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Children in IDP camps are often prevented from studying because of these clashes. Nan Moe said that some 300 IDP children in the Hsipaw area have not had access to education. I was sad that I couldnt submit [a proposal] to Parliament. A lot of people from my area expect me to help them, she said. I feel guilty that I couldnt help them. Nan Moe is not the first lawmaker to face challenges from Parliament when it comes to bringing more attention to helping people in IDP camps. Khin Saw Wai, with the Arakan National Party (ANP), saw her proposal to inquire into how Parliament intends to help IDPs in Arakan State turned down. The house speaker told her that it was unclear whether she was focusing on aiding IDPs or bringing the Arakan Army (AA) to the peace negotiation table. I made sure I had a lot of facts and witnesses included in my proposal and even sought help with collecting from state lawmakers the number of IDPs, but no success, Nan Moe said. There is much chatter about projects to be included in the governments 100-day plan. While Nan Moe said that she will wait to see if there is a project aimed at helping IDP children receive an education, she admitted that she has yet to hear about any such endeavor. Burma Rangoon Govt to Shake Up Manufacturing, Electricity Sectors Rangoons divisional government will confiscate unused land in the citys industrial zones and revoke permits from private electricity providers in breach of their contracts. RANGOON Rangoons divisional government will confiscate unused land in the citys industrial zones and revoke permits from private electricity providers in breach of their contracts, said regional Electricity, Industry and Transportation Minister Nilar Kyaw, of upcoming reforms during a parliamentary session this week. The minister announced on Thursday her intent to continue with the former governments land confiscation plan in Rangoons industrial zones. In 2014, the previous government issued an order stating that it would confiscate any inactive land in an industrial zone within six months. Later, it conducted a survey and found more than 4,000 unutilized acres on over 2,000 plots. The government then announced that it would confiscate the land in February 2015, but the warning does not appear to have resulted in land seizures in the months since. Tint Lwin, lawmaker from Pazundaung Township, said that speculators had bought land in Rangoons 29 industrial zones intending to rent or sell it, but not to open factories or workshops. As a result, land prices have risen, deterring foreign investment and hindering the efforts of those who want to develop operations in the region, which is the heart of most of the countrys manufacturing industries. Nilar Kyaw said the divisional government formed a survey team last week to assess the situation in nine of the zones and would take further action once the findings were submitted. The minister said the government was also looking into private companies that were hired by the Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation (YESC) to distribute power to local townships. In response to a question about widespread recent blackouts in the commercial capital, Nilar Kyaw said some private electricity companies had breached their contracts and provided weak service. She would not list which companies were negligent, but said the ministry would revoke their permits if they were found to be at fault. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Rangoon accounted for more than half of the countrys total electricity consumption, and still required some 15 percent more power generation to meet demand. Burma Restrictions On Blacklisted Exiles To Be Lifted In its 100-day plan, the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population will make it easier for political exiles to return to Burma. NAYPYIDAW The Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, as part of its 100-day plan, will relax restrictions on all of those who were blacklisted by previous governments for their political beliefs, said Minister Thein Swe. The minister revealed the plan as he met three media agencies at his ministry on Thursday. Today people can express their beliefs in line with the law because [Burma] has become open democratically and politically. Restrictions will be relaxed for all of those who were blacklisted for their political beliefs, said Thein Swe. He said his ministry will streamline procedures for political exiles to apply for permanent residence (PR) or citizenship, adding that the changes on entry visa procedures will come within the new governments first 100 days. Some [types of] visas last for a short period of time. Well extend [their duration] in line with international norms. [Exiles] today have to fill in forms when they come back and they are also asked for many documents. We are planning to simplify that procedure, said the minister. The ministry was not able to provide exact figures for the numbers of blacklisted political exiles the rule change would apply to, due to the involvement of several ministries that are still reviewing their documents. Under previous governments, ministries and universities also blacklisted those who did not return from their state-funded studies in foreign countries. They will also benefit from the rule change. Providing more details on the ministrys 100-day plan, Thein Swe said he was also going to submit laws to the Parliament concerning foreign workers, worksite safety and occupational health. If we dont enact a foreign workers law, we will not be able regulate them, the minister said. He added that facts and figures about Burmas religions in the 2014 national census will also be issued, and the ministry was planning to issue ID cards in line with 1982 Citizenship Law, as well as household registration certificates and appropriate ID cards for internal migrants and workers. The 1982 Citizenship Law is highly controversial, particularly for setting up a tiered citizenship structure as well as its use by successive governments to prevent ethnic Rohingya and several other non-Burman groups from gaining citizenship. The ministry also said it was planning to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Thai government on the employment of Burmese workers, organize national level occupational seminars, open vocational training schools to produce skilled laborers and issue government-recognized skill-level certificates. The ministry is also planning to open a migrant workers resource center in the Irrawaddy Delta and in Arakan State. We have already started some of the tasks in our 100-day plan, and we will be able to start more very soon, said Minister Thein Swe. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. Friday, May 27th, 2016 (1:16 pm) - Score 725 Internet providers should brace themselves for yet more changes after the Advertising Standards Authority bowed to Government concern and announced that they would conduct consumer research, which will examine whether the broadband speed claims made by ISPs are fair. The current guidance, which has been in place since 2012, requires that the headline speed being promoted by an ISP must be achievable by at least 10% of their customers and that all speed claims are preceded with an up to qualifier. In addition, some services (e.g. those based off variable ADSL+ technology) must also include a prominent disclaimer making clear that speeds vary significantly dependent on the users distance from the exchange (or cabinet for VDSL / FTTC) and other relevant factors. Guy Parker, ASA Chief Executive, said: As an evidence-based regulator, we want to make sure our approach is underpinned by the experience of real people. While complaints to the ASA about broadband speed claims have reduced considerably over recent years, were taking action to respond to the concerns by testing our approach through consumer research. The ASA states that complaints about broadband speed related advertising have fallen by 60% since they introduced the current rules, but that hasnt been enough to placate criticism from the Governments Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey MP, and 50 other cross-party MPs who have called for further improvements (here). Ed Vaizey MP said (March 2016 News): I hope that the Advertising Standards Authority will crack down on how providers advertise their speeds. At the moment, if only 10% of customers are receiving the advertised speed, in the eyes of the ASA that is supposed to be okay. I totally accept that the ASA does a good job it is a great example of self-regulation but it really needs to go further on that. In my humble opinion, at least 75% of people should be getting the speeds that the broadband providers are advertising. Frustration over the culture of so-called up to speeds is nothing new, although it is often the nature of many networks that speeds can fluctuate due to all sorts of reasons, such as traffic management policies, long copper lines, peak time network congestion and sometimes even issues like slow home WiFi or poor home wiring that ISPs cannot control. Meanwhile most ISPs (except Virgin Media and FTTH/P, Satellite or Wireless providers) would perhaps complain that they are beholden to BTOpenreachs national copper network and its many limitations. However Openreach are not directly held to account by related rules and so only ISPs suffer the main punishment for any linked performance woes. The 75% suggestion by Ed Vaizey MP is arguably a bit too aggressive, but we could perhaps see the ASA adopting more of an averaged approach, maybe around 40% or 50%. On top of that we also think that all ISPs should be required to show their upload speeds instead of hiding them away in the small print, since related performance is now a lot more important than it once was. Poll time.. What % would you pick for the headline advertising of broadband ISP speeds? around 50% (40%, 25 Votes) 75% (35%, 22 Votes) 10% (Current Rule) (15%, 9 Votes) 25% (10%, 6 Votes) Total Voters: 62 NOTE: The results display is cached and thus votes may not be reflected in the output right away (the cache is cleared every few hours). SpaceX gained much dominion and public presence when it was able to successfully implement its directives for space travel and space missions. Also, as SpaceX establishes its market presence, some have considered reusable rockets as a means to fortify missions on space. However, NASA approving the idea remains unknown. Commercial space companies have packed the docket on Florida's Space Coast as United Launch Alliance and SpaceX prepare to make it three rocket launches in a month from Cape Canaveral, and industry experts say the rate of launches will likely keep growing as companies experiment with rocket reusability, reports Orlando Sentinel. Tracking towards tomorrow's launch of communications satellite for Thaicom. Window opens at 5:40pm ET, 9:40pm UTC pic.twitter.com/IVy1ttSgvn SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 26, 2016 It appears that Elon Musk's commercial space firm SpaceX has a planned launch of a satellite for a Thailand company through its Falcon 9 rocket Thursday and nine days later on June 4. ULA will send up a rocket for a mission for the military's National Reconnaissance Office, reports the same post. Although there has not been any full details or information regarding the upcoming launch, the mere idea of a new project on the horizon fueled the interest of all. It is possible that there might be hurdles regarding the plans and visions of SpaceX and the idea of a reusable rocket. For once, the commercial satellite market might be ready for a reusable rocket, but the U.S. government is taking a more guarded approach. And even the director of launch enterprise for the U.S. Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center stated that it might be a "long time" before the government agrees to use a reusable rocket to blast national security payloads into orbit, according to the LA Times. Photographer unexpectedly captures Falcon 9 second stage burn and first stage entry https://t.co/IKvmVon7gF @zgreth pic.twitter.com/W12NlSG0yL SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 18, 2016 SpaceX and the idea of implementing the use of reusable rocket might be heading on a more positive note, but for the governement, there is still a long way to go to get things up and running and ensuring that there are no loopholes for the plan. China's Huawei has changed their previous business model of flooding the market with cheap, no brand mobile phones and has risen to become a serious contender for Samsung and Apple and a globally recognizable brand. According to Forbes, Huawei Technologies is advancing rapidly into new markets worldwide. With an 8.3 percent market share, it has already become the world's number three smartphone brand. In Europe, in particular, Huawei is growing at an unprecedented new brand image. Huawei started out in Shenzhen, in 1987, as a producer of phone switches. Formed its humble beginnings, the Chinese company has been growing up with the city's nascent electronics industry to eventually become, by 2012, the global leader in telecommunications networks. Today, Huawei's prime consumer product is composed of smartphones. Still far behind Apple and Samsung, the company managed to sell last year around 108 million smartphones. This year, Huawei Technologies sold 28.8 million phones in quarter one, which makes more than a 10 million unit year-on-year increase, according to Gartner. In the same period Apple went into decline and Samsung stayed flat. Huawei was able to achieve this new global market position through a very active initiative to sharply increase the quality of their feature phones. To this, the Chinese company has added major ad campaigns aimed to increase brand's visibility in the world. The Chinese high-tech company once found its niche selling its handsets cheaper than the big brands of the world. Its brand was mediocre but cheap at that time. But now, all of this has changed. Illustrating Huawei's ambition to become the number one smartphone brand in the world is also its recent lawsuit against Samsung Electronics. According to Reuters, the company has announced on Wednesday, May 25, that it sued Samsung Electronics, claiming infringement of smartphone patents. This is the first intellectual property challenge of the Chinese company against the world's top mobile maker. ZTE is trying to get back in the smartphone race with the unveiling of a new smartphone that is compatible with VR devices. The ZTE Axon 7 is the newest flagship phone from the company. The new phone is packed with so many futuristic specs. Despite its future tech vibe, however, the ZTE Axon 7 is quite affordable. The specs of the ZTE Axon 7 are as follows: - 5.5 inch QHD display - Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor - 4 GB RAM - 64 GB internal storage - 20-megapixel rear camera - 8-megapixel front camera - 3,140mAh battery pack - USB Type-C port - Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system - Gold or Quartz Grey color options It is worth noting that there are variants. There will be a 5.2-inch display version and a larger one with a 6-inch display with 6 GB and 128 GB internal storage, respectively. The top tier version will be available in China and will be Force Touch optimized. This is similar to the 3D Touch feature of the iPhone 6s released in 2015, iDigital Times reported. According to ZTE's Vice President of Technology Planning and Partnerships Jeff Yee, It can't be just storage. If we only did a higher configuration along with an expandable slot, people would say, 'gosh I have to $50 more for 128 versus 64, when I can get 128GB memory card for $20.' The Axon 7's VR devices are already one of the first devices that is compatible with "Daydream," Google's newest platform for VR. ZTE has been closely monitoring trends and the pumped up VR capabilities of the Axon 7 is one of its selling points, China Daily reported. The Axon 7 is already available in China for 3,299 yuan or about $503. By June 2, it will be available worldwide. There is no word yet if the Force Touch version will hit US shores. For Force Touch to reach the U.S. and other mainstream applications, Google needs to support Force Touch in Android N, which weve convinced them to do. But its coming as a maintenance release to N. When the timing is right and theres applications, well be bringing that configuration to the U.S., Yee said. It seems to be out with the new and in with the old when it comes to the trend of mobile phones. A video was recently released showcasing the Motorola RAZR phone, which many took as a sign that the now Lenovo-owned company is bringing the iconic silhouette back, with an Android twist. As Metro reported, Lenovo promised the release of a revamped RAZR phone by the end of next month. The new unit was meant to bring back the nostalgia and simplicity of the flip phone, without having to sacrifice all the new technology that today has to offer. The original RAZR phone sold 130 million units when it was available for purchase during the length of four years. There is no way to deny how iconic the unit was - it was seen everywhere from sitcoms, drama series, movies and music videos. And clearly, it has not left the public's mind, as the simple video teaser got the internet world in a frenzied state of excitement. Unfortunately, Time is now reporting that Lenovo is actually not releasing a redeveloped version of the Motorola RAZR. A representative from the company, Kathryn Hanley, has confirmed that the video was merely meant as a throwback and not a teaser or commercial. She then shared how the company was thrilled about the excitement the video generated. Hanley added that the RAZR truly did define how stylish a phone can be. Many Motorola fans were hyped about the new RAZR before she confirmed that they will not re-release the phone. Considering the hype it generated and the current state of Lenovo and Motorola Mobility, the company should consider pushing through with it. Motorola was bought by Lenovo for almost $3 billion,while the partnership was fruitful at first, it has since gone the other direction. While Lenovo became one of the world's largest smartphone makers at the infancy of the partnership, it has now been surpassed by smaller firms. The Internet of Things (IoT) and big data form an ecosystem with expanded security risks. Experts believe that IoT needs more data-centric security. According to ITWire, the Internet of Things will be composed of around 20 billion devices by 2020. Securing them is not an easy task. Many of those IoT devices are lacking of security standards as they are legacy, purpose-built gadgets. All IoT devices, commercial or just consumer, are basically computers that connect to a network or cloud via the Internet. They could be targets for attacks of cyber criminals. Critical security challenges come from this new dependence on the cloud. In this new context, some experts believe that the data integrity is what matters the most, especially in the case that some personally identifiable information is involved. This is the case of South Pacific's head of enterprise security products at Hewlett Packard, Shane Bellos. In his opinion, IoT needs to focus more on data-centric security. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Security Research estimates that the risk of data breach is high and around 70 percent of consumer IoT devices are vulnerable to attacks. In case of the IoT connected devices, to the data breach risk is added physical risk as well. There are IoT devices that can control from a mobile phone a gas appliance, air conditioning, ventilating, heating, opening and closing the home door or even a medical device. An attacker that takes control on such IoT device can physically attack an individual from anywhere in the world. In the IoT age everyone needs to be concerned about security. From the device to the big data platform, the answer to IoT security issues can be found in data-centric protection. According to ZDNet, another expert, IoT Domain Lead at SAS Kevin Kalish, believes that organizations need to focus to the filtered data extracted from the "fog" -- the intermediate layer between the cloud and the IoT devices. Kalish also believes that in the future, there will be sensors in every imaginable place. A smart world is going to dramatically change how an organization approaches innovation, as well as how it manages its day-to-day operations and how it connects to its customers. It seems that Motorola did not reveal yet everything about its upcoming Moto Z smartphone, but new leaks just appeared online to give us more details about the device. According to Android Authority, a photo leaked online displays three back plates called "MotoMods" by Motorola. Speculations claim that this would be the company's take on the whole modular idea that has become quite popular lately. For instance, in the G5 smartphone model, LG has decided to make its bottom removable, allowing various modules to be attached to the mobile device. It is possible that Motorola is making back plates that could be switched at will. The front plate improves the camera with a dedicated shutter button, additional lens and some flash technology. The one in the middle could be a sort of kickstand. As for the black plate, its use does not seem easy to guess. It is speculated that these accessories are made for the upcoming Moto Z device, but other details continue to be scarce. Besides the modular plate system aimed to allow easy personalization and extending phone's functionality, tech analysts expect that the Moto Z will come with improved specs and all-new design. According to rumors, there will be two versions of the device. The high-end handset could come with a Snapdragon 820 processor and 3GB of RAM, while the more affordable version could be equipped with a 3,500 mAh battery and a Qualomm Snapdragon 625 processor. According to Trusted Reviews, the Moto Z will be a direct replacement of Motorola's Moto X family. This means that the upcoming device might follow similar upper to mid-level pricing. The price of the Moto Z mobile device will depend on the precise model and design specification. Motorola is expected to make an official announcement on its Moto Z device on June 9. Until then, these are nothing but leaks, speculations and rumors. The official launch of Moto Z is expected on Aug. 24. home Entertainment Amazon 'Top Gear' release date: 'The Grand Tour' to launch in fall; first stop is Namibia? "The Grand Tour," the long-awaited British motoring show presented by former "Top Gear" hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, is set to be released in the fall. The new auto show, which will be made available via Amazon Video, will be launched with an entirely different format from that of "Top Gear." In "The Grand Tour," Clarkson, Hammond and May will be traveling the world with a big tent and pitching that tent in a different spot each week. Earlier this month, Clarkson announced the new motoring program's title and explained what it will be about. "We'll be traveling the world hosting each episode in a different country, from a giant tent," he told the U.K.'s Express. "It's a sort of 'grand tour,' if you like. So we've decided to call it 'The Grand Tour.'" "I already love camping but this is something else," Hammond added. "We are like our pioneering and prospecting forebears, sallying forth into a new frontier of broadcasting..." While the hosts have not given specific details about where "The Grand Tour" will take them in its first year, the outlet reports that the trio has been spotted filming in various exotic locations, including the Barbados and in the Algarve in Portugal. And although the hosts haven't revealed where they will begin their "Grand Tour," it appears that the premiere episode has already been set up. In a recent Twitter post, Clarkson dropped a major hint about their first stop on the "Tour." "I'd love to name the first location for the Grand Tour," he wrote. "But by the time we are ready to tell everyone, we will be in a desert. No wifi." Clarkson's post had many speculating about whether or not he meant that "The Grand Tour" crew is filming the first episode in a desert and which desert it could be. Some suggested that the show could visit Namibia, home of one of the largest and oldest deserts in the world, the Namib. Those who guessed Namibia were proven correct when Clarkson later posted an Instagram snap of a desert scene, captioning it "Angola, from Namibia." While neither Clarkson nor Amazon has released official word about the premiere episode of "The Grand Tour," kicking off the new show in a place as majestic as Namibia would be a stunning introduction indeed. "The Grand Tour" premieres on Amazon in the fall. In the banking and finance industry you have multiple data silos customer information, transactions, investments, back office systems and more spaghetti. The major cost and time-consuming issue is data integrity. The occasion was a briefing by Gresham Computings Ian Manocha, chief executive based in the UK, and Tom Olsson, APAC managing director based in Sydney. Gresham was more comfortable in briefing finance analysts this was a hardcore IT crowd and technology, not share performance, was on show! UK-based Gresham Computing is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has offices and major clients in the UK, Europe, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and North America. It has been successful in establishing itself as a real-time data integrity platform that validates and gives confidence to the data. Greshams growth in Australia is fuelled by a convergence of factors while the global financial crisis is long gone, the legacy of many new regulatory obligations lives on. Australian banks are also quick to embrace digitisation, and that has led to a huge growth in data. Manocha joined the company in June 2015 after a long term at SAS as vice-president EMEA and Asia Pacific business units and earlier as head of its operations in UK and Ireland. While Gresham had been in the banking technology space for over 20 years, it had decided that it needed to move from system integration to its own intellectual property. It decided everything ran on data and about five years ago found a new focus. The result was Greshams Clareti Transaction Control (CTC), a significant technology solution that helps banks and enterprises manage risk and compliance issues along with powering real-time services such as mass accounts receivable solutions. The remainder of the interview is paraphrased. What is your take on Fintech? New digital technologies, loosely called FinTech, are completely transforming the banking and finance (B&F) sector. Traditional institutions are being forced to re-think the way that they do business. The new disruptive FinTech better describes the customer facing part of B&F mobile apps creating new products like ascertaining loan eligibility, to get better quotes, and to manage financial affairs in real time. But it is the back end, the data, that enables this. FinTech is agile by definition, but the majority of B&F have legacy systems, disparate data stacks, operational silos and there is a risk that all of these can get out of sync. The only way to support a more agile banking era is with agile technology that not only flags exceptions in real-time but can match multiple data feeds in multiple formats, of any width and structure. What about compliance and regulations? There are too many acronyms and ISO standards, but one stands out the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision BCBS 239. Essentially banks must develop compliance metrics to measure their performance. But it is also about the principles for effective risk data aggregation and risk reporting. The global financial crisis (2008) revealed that many banks information technologies and data architectures were inadequate to support the broad management of financial risks. Many banks lacked the ability to aggregate risk exposures and identify concentrations quickly and accurately at the bank group level, across business lines, and between legal entities. Some banks were unable to manage their risk properly because of weak risk data aggregation capabilities and risk reporting practices. Even more worrisome is that the base transaction level data often lacks integrity that feeds these processes. This had severe consequences for the banks themselves and the stability of the financial system as a whole. Then you have things like anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, increased transparency, international co-operation, and more, to reduce prudential and systemic risks and avoid misuse of banks. Add to that the need for data loss prevention, cyber security and now data integrity how do you know in real-time the data from the many silos is correct? More regulations and accountability mean more data both in volume and complexity. Banks now have to figure out how to harness this to run their organisations more efficiently and effectively and new ways to control data and ensure its compliance are even more critical. The old way was hard-coded or manual reconciliation using Excel and other legacy tools. That may have picked up manual keying errors and abuses, but it is so costly and slow. It certainly does not satisfy auditors. The new way CTC is high-performance, really clever [machine learning], matching and reconciliation technology. One European customer processes 180 million transactions per day and three million in real-time. Another processed 1.5 billion transactions in a single transition weekend. It provides the chain of evidence, to management, customers and regulators, that gives confidence in the data from whatever source. Why is FinTech disruptive? Simple banks for too long were inwards focused: do what we want you to do, conform to the rules we want you to, etc. But this generation of customers demand the opposite do what we want you (the banks) to do, when we want you to and so on. It's loosely called Customer Experience (CX) and it is about the age of the customer. CX demands that F&B offer a 360 view of the customer and that includes all financial transactions with all institutions FinTech can enable that. It also means that banks can scale from the individual through SME to enterprise and use FinTech to fill in niches that their legacy systems cannot service. FinTech uses APIs (Application Programing Interfaces) to marry disparate data from multiple sources and provide a service beyond the traditional B&F sector. In the old days, Banks used ETL export, transform, load, data that took hard coding and building of reports. Today it is all done on the fly by APIs. No wonder our CTC data integrity is needed. Where will CTC head? B&F is our traditional market, but the concepts of data integrity apply equally well to any payment or clearing, pre-paid cards, corporate data or even one-day healthcare where data integrity may be the difference between life and death. In CTC, we have more uses than we can even begin to imagine. Everyday we have conversations with clients that stretch us both. We briefly spoke about Blockchain (iTWire article here) and while that may ensure that the single chain is accurate, CTC ensures that all the disparate data silos are accurate. Gresham has no competitor in blockchain and banks will be slow to adopt it without a way to audit and check it. Think of us as the second line of defence that auditors understand. Savings drive adoption of new technology? All too often, new technology is held back by the "what will it replace and do faster, cheaper and better" syndrome. What we are finding is that CTC does enable some old legacy systems and databases to be combined and replaced, especially where ETL was concerned. In the cloud or on premise? As CTC does not use personally identifiable information, it can be used on-premise or in the cloud. The key, however, is that it does everything in memory and it is going to work best in scalable environments. We use the Amazon Web Services cloud and massively parallel processing on x86 virtual machines. In fact, our customers are the ones pushing for the cloud as they want operational certainty and infrastructure that can scale to billions of transactions per hour. Dont forget that all data is encrypted and CTC has PCI compliance, so the cloud is not a problem. In fact, the cloud makes Gresham unique we are the only company in the world that can manage data integrity to scale. Conclusion We finished by defining Gresham, not as FinTech but TechFin that enabled the former to happen. Manocha said Greshams mission was to help B&F to fix their data so they could rely on it and enable FinTech. Institutions that trust their business will stay in business. Sometimes one despairs of finding a real solution to seemingly intractable problems. Sometimes one is wrong. The more we look at the anti-virus industry, the more we despair of ever defeating this scourge. Of malware, that is. With hundreds of thousands of new malware variants being detected every day (most variants being unique and tailored for the intended target), scanning for them using a file of signatures has been a losing proposition for quite some time. It can only get worse. Indeed this writer has had a (relatively benign) virus on a computer for many months. Scanning a memory stick using the corporate standard (very well-known) A-V package never reveals it; scanning the same memory stick on another computer using an equally well-known free product removes it easily. Returning it to the original laptop equally easily re-infects it. Remind me again, what is it we're paying for? Enter Cylance. Totally eschewing the signature-based scanning paradigm, the Cylance solution instead inspects any executable for evidence of "inappropriate" behaviour. According to Bryan Gale, vice-president product parketing, something like three million behavioural attributes are assessed when an executable is launched prior to being granted permission to run. Based on some very secret sauce, an assessment is made as to the likely nefarious intent of any executable. Statistics provided to iTWire suggest it is almost never wrong (Gale suggested that there were at least four zeros between the decimal point and the first significant digit of the false positive percentage). Better, it rarely needs updating the company regularly tests new malware against months- or years-old versions of their client assessment tool. Gale suggested that updates are typically issued every six months, and only as tweaks to the detection heuristics. Picture this. You have something like 20 billion data points in a semi-structured database and you'd like to use it to analyse the current situation and hopefully make some predictions. Good luck! Enter Anaplan. Your data might be sales performance across 20,000 stock keeping units in dozens of geographical areas over the past few years. It might be weather data and how it relates to airport performance (and the subsequent impact on passenger delays, overloaded food and sanitation facilities etc.). Perhaps it is production data for a manufacturing facility. No matter, Anaplan will not only be able to rapidly ingest and organise the data, but its analytical engine is well-placed to provide valuable predictive insights. Imagine (to use the airport example above) that once a prediction threshold has been reached (perhaps 85% likelihood of stormy weather) and perhaps days prior to the expected event, staff rosters might be updated to increase manpower for food and drink vendors, for security etc. Additionally, those vendors could be warned to increase their on-site stock holding and the airline lounges will definitely be warned to anticipate a run on beer! All that within a second of the weather prediction reaching 85% probability. Just think of the predictive possibilities. Given the sales data suggested previously, there is ample scope to start asking "what if" questions. What if we raised sales commission by 2%? What if we raised/reduced our selling price by 5%? What if we asked the outbound call centre to contact 20% more targets every day? The underlying analytical engine is incredibly powerful and is already dealing with datasets in excess of 20 billion items. Grant Halloran, Anaplan's chief marketing officer told iTWire that they expect to be hosting 100 billion item datasets before the end of 2016. Both these solutions, and many more seen at the recent NetEvents Singapore conference, will be featured in upcoming reports. The author attended the conference as a guest of NetEvents. Has Privacy Awareness Week made us any more aware of our privacy? It seems that while the message is getting through it takes longer for behaviours to change. The Privacy Commissioner in his Privacy Awareness Week message has stressed that organisations, agencies, and individuals need to be vigilant in maintaining a good understanding of their rights and responsibilities when it comes to handling personal information and taking control. Our privacy is valuable and worth protecting. The first thing that comes to mind is mobile devices. Everything we do today includes using a mobile device. This is a big behaviour and technology shift which in turn poses the question what are we doing as individuals or businesses to protect our mobile privacy? We are happy to click and accept any terms and conditions without reading the fine print (which is very fine on most mobile devices), or readily use a free app, or use an application when we have no idea of what it does in the background. Do we ask the question what about protecting my privacy? Check Point regional general manager Christopher Rodrigues has written some interesting pointers for mobile security. Due to the rapid technology shift into the mobile space, criminals are following. They know that when a technology shift happens, security often lags behind, meaning there are likely to be easy targets. They can exploit the mobile systems, the networks they connect to, and the apps they run to steal sensitive information such as documents, calendar appointments, emails, texts, and attachments. Criminals can use the microphone and camera on a device to spy on closed-door meetings, and send recordings to remote servers. Usernames and passwords can be captured as users log in to corporate systems. Unsecured networks make it possible for criminals to snoop, steal, or change data sent to, and from, devices. Malicious apps can give attackers virtually unrestricted access to a device, its data, and your privacy. Accurate threat detection and efficient response are critical components of preventing advanced attacks on mobile devices. While traditional antivirus and app reputation solutions can identify known threats, they cannot detect newly-created malware or find vulnerabilities in networks, operating systems, and apps. Overall, there are five major categories of attack and vulnerabilities that todays businesses need to be prepared for. 1. System vulnerabilities Each version of a mobile operating system will contain vulnerabilities that criminals can use to launch attacks. New versions are notoriously late to market, with critical security updates potentially not making it through testing for weeks or even months. As such, chief security officers need a solution that continually analyses devices to uncover vulnerabilities and the behaviours that cyber criminals use to attack devices. When a threat is identified, the solution must automatically mitigate any risk until the threat is eliminated. 2. Root access and configuration channels Gaining root access to a smartphone or tablet is no longer only for geeks. Root access enables a wide range of customisations and configurations and gives criminals greater access, which exposes devices and data to risk. Configuration changes, which users might accept when installing legitimate apps, can also be used to stage attacks. 3. Repackaged and fake apps Malicious apps can take complete control of mobile devices. It is remarkably easy for criminals to reverse-engineer popular apps, or to create seemingly authentic copies of existing ones. In turn, these apps can be used to gain remote access to the device or download malicious payloads. Some trustworthy apps can also exhibit risky behaviour, causing false-positive headaches for security teams and a poor experience for users. 4. Trojans and malware Trojans infect devices that can conduct surveillance by eavesdropping and recording conversations, extracting call logs, tracking locations, logging keyboard activity, or collecting passwords. However, an apps code is complex, making it difficult to identify a trojans malicious activity. Exposing them demands a solution that captures apps and automatically reverse-engineers them, creating a blueprint for semantic analysis that identifies suspicious patterns and behaviours. 5. Man-in-the-middle attacks Man-in-the-middle attacks can eavesdrop, intercept and alter traffic between two devices. You believe you are interacting with a known and trusted entity, but an attack is copying credentials, snooping on instant messages, or stealing sensitive information. Alert and warning signs are often overlooked on the small screens of mobile devices, and criminals can easily create a spoof public Wi-Fi hotspot to launch attacks. Comprehensive mobile security demands a system of components that work together cohesively to identify a wide variety of threats, and to protect data while addressing employee privacy concerns, rather than a loosely-integrated mix of point products. Only solutions that can analyse behaviour across all vectors for indicators of attack can protect mobile devices effectively to keep them safe. Microsoft is suing the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over your right to know if big brother wants access to your records. Unlike the Apple/FBI case, it is the plaintiff, and the DoJ is the defendant a strong position. It is a gutsy move that is going to cost Microsoft a pretty penny and win it no friends in government, but it is a move that will have far-reaching global implications if successful. However, it is based on the US constitution and not all countries have such democratic rights. The suit was filed on 14 April to stand up for what it believes are its customers constitutional and fundamental rights rights that help protect privacy and promote free expression. It believes that with rare exceptions consumers and businesses have a right to know when the government accesses their emails or records. It's becoming routine for the US government to issue orders that require email providers to keep these types of legal demands secret. Microsoft believes that this goes too far, and it is asking the courts to address the situation". The plaint goes on. Over the past 18 months, the US government has required that it maintain secrecy regarding 2576 legal demands, effectively silencing it from speaking to customers about warrants or other legal processes seeking their data. Notably and even surprisingly, 1752 of these secrecy orders, or 68% of the total, contained no fixed end datel. This means that Microsoft is effectively are prohibited forever from telling our customers that the government has obtained their data. It believes these actions violate two of the fundamental rights that have been part of this country since its founding. These lengthy and even permanent secrecy orders violate the Fourth Amendment, which gives people and businesses the right to know if the government searches or seizes their property. They also violate the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to talk to customers about how government action is affecting their data. The constitutional right to free speech is subject only to restraints narrowly tailored to serve compelling governmental interests, a standard that is neither required by the statute being applied nor met by the government in practice. You can read much more about the case in Microsofts issues paper here. The move is gathering momentum. Other tech companies have expressed their solidarity. Box Inc. fully supports Microsofts effort to require more transparency in government data requests and the governments full observance of the protections guaranteed by the First and Fourth Amendments to the US Constitution. Yahoo Inc. is supportive of Microsofts suit because it calls attention to law enforcement requests for data stored in the cloud, and to the issue of transparency regarding those demands. Alphabet Inc. (Google) said its past efforts to report government requests for data generally aligned with Microsofts position, though the company didnt comment directly on whether it supported the lawsuit. Last night the all-powerful American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a motion to join Microsoft. A basic promise of our Constitution is that the government must notify you at some point when it searches or seizes your private information, said Alex Abdo, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU speech, privacy, and technology project. Notice serves as a crucial check on executive power, and it has been a regular and constitutionally required feature of searches and seizures since the nations founding. Microsoft spokesperson David Cuddy said the company "appreciates the support from the ACLU and many others in the business, legal and policy communities who are concerned about secrecy becoming the norm rather than the exception. Law enforcement officials say that access to such data is critical to fighting crime and terrorism and uses the Electronic Communications Privacy Act written in 1986 well before the Web was born and long before Americans started sending, receiving and storing so much of their personal communications and documents on the Internet. Tumblrs influential Creatrs Network allows brands and marketers to take advantage of the rise of the influential "content producer". On Thursday 2 June in Sydney Tumblr is showcasing a major new collaboration between the platform and major Australian QSR (quick service restaurant) network Hungry Jack's, who partnered with local Tumblr Creatrs FashGIF, Dan Woodger, and freddie made to launch its new Fiery Chicken Fries product. (The site isworth a look for the graphics content alone). Hungry Jacks marketing manager Luke Pavan said the company was excited to be the first Australian brand to collaborate with Tumblr and its local "Creatrs" to launch the Fiery Chicken Fries. Hungry Jacks has been focusing on driving innovation through our product launches over the past year. The launch of Fiery Chicken Fries is one we knew we could have a bit of fun with and it has provided a great platform to partner with Tumblr and engage millennials through a medium they use and love, he said. The Creatrs Network fuses Tumblr's most innovative content producers with the world's most loved brands. Unlike traditional influencer campaigns, the Creatrs Network helps young content producers to monetise their passions and deliver valuable brand campaign outcomes through high quality, bespoke content. The session will break down the Hungry Jack's collaboration from concept through to delivery, with commentary from the project's creator Maxus, and Greta Larkin (aka FashGIF). To register for tickets, click here. Apple sat on a pile of cash estimated at US$215.7 billion in 2015, the biggest among US non-financial companies, and still couldn't afford to pay all the taxes it owes in various countries. The figure comes from a Moody's report about non-financial corporations' cash stocks. It also shows that Microsoft was the second among the cash cows, with US$102.6 billion while Google held US$73.1 billion. The fourth and fifth places were taken by Cisco with US$60.4 billion and Oracle with US$52.3 billion. Apple has held the top spot among the non-financials since 2009. This is the first time that the top five companies in the non-financials group have all been from the tech sector. A media release quoted Richard Lane a senior vice-=president at Moody's, as saying: "The top four cash-heavy US industries remain technology, healthcare/pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and energy. These four industries currently hold a record US$1.3 trillion, or 77% of total corporate cash and have accounted for more than 72% of the total every year since 2007. The total cash held by US non-financial companies rated by Moody's was US$1.68 trillion, an increase of 1.8% from $1.65 trillion at the end of 2014. The top 50 holders of cash account for US$1.14 trillion of the total, and entry to that top 50 requires US$6.12 billion in cash. Intel will collaborate with Australian music producer Ta-ku on a world-first Intel-powered Sound Cells "art" installation as part of the citywide Vivid Sydney Light Walk at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt. Progressive beat maker Ta-ku will make his live headline Australian debut in a specially-crafted, one-off Vivid LIVE Sydney Opera House show on Friday 3 June. It features a trifecta of rising Australian stars, a string quartet and kaleidoscopic 3D visuals enabled by the latest Intel technology. A studio producer who rarely takes to the stage, Regan Ta-ku Matthews has crept into the international limelight on the back of his breakout EP Day & Night with its lush, dusty take on soul and hip-hop, performing at some of the biggest festivals around the world. You can view the live stream on Friday 3 June at 9:30 pm here. Now the 28-year-old Perth phenomenon is back on home turf to present a transformative Vivid LIVE show, combining his signature sounds with cutting-edge Intel RealSense technology and incredible visuals, debuting his forthcoming collaborative EP (m)edian (released on Future Classic 24 June) and first single Meet in the Middle. Vivid LIVE Curator and Sydney Opera House Head of Contemporary Music Ben Marshall said: After making his global headline debut at MoMA in New York earlier this year, were honoured that Ta-ku has chosen the Opera House Concert Hall during Vivid LIVE to make his second ever headline appearance. Hes a genuinely creative figure across many artistic fields and its a testament to his talents (and stamina) that a second late show was quickly added to the same date. After celebrating Future Classics 10th birthday at Vivid LIVE last year with Flume, Flight Facilities, George Maple and more, its fitting that we help usher to centre stage their next major star. Get ready for something special. The Intel-powered Sound Cells are three tree-like installations that give festival-goers the opportunity to immerse themselves in music from Ta-ku and visuals from artist Sam Price. Semi-translucent and shaped like geometric clouds, each of the Sound Cells delivers a distinct experience and feature sustainable construction, made from recycled water bottles on the largest 3D printer of its kind in Australia. Each contains speakers optically linked to the Sydney Opera House's Grammy award-winning Intel Broadcast Studios. They will deliver crystal clear sound and a visual live stream from Ta-kus Concert Hall performances on Friday 3 June, including an exclusive preview of select tracks, followed by music and animated visuals on the remaining nights of the festival. As the music plays, grids of internal LEDs will translate the music into a dynamic light show. Visitors can sit, stand, lean and dance in the Sound Cells, creating a bespoke space outside on the Forecourt to experience what is happening inside the Opera House in an entirely new way. The Sound Cells will be live from 6 pm 11 pm each night of the Vivid Sydney Festival (27 May 18 June). Intel national marketing director Anna Torres said: The Intel-powered Sound Cells are both an exciting addition to Vivid Light and a perfect example of what we set out to do when we first announced our partnership with the Opera House back in September last year. Using Intel technology, were creating new experiences by bringing whats happening inside the Opera House to the outside. About Vivid LIVE at Vivid Sydney From 27 May 13 June, Sydney Opera House will welcome some of the most ambitious and innovative local and international artists for Vivid LIVE a celebration of music on the nation's most famous stages held as part of Vivid Sydney, the worlds largest festival of light, music and ideas. Vivid LIVE invites the worlds leading music artists and performers to raise the roof of the Sydney Opera House's theatres, rehearsal spaces, recording studios and most famously, its iconic sails, which are transformed into a unique lighting canvas each year for Vivid Sydney. Now in its eighth year, Vivid Sydney, features large-scale light installations and projections (Vivid Light); music performances and collaborations (Vivid Music including Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House); and creative ideas, discussion and debate (Vivid Ideas), celebrating Sydney as the creative hub of the Asia-Pacific. Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW Governments tourism and major events agency and runs from 27 May to 18 June 2016. For more information, click here. Ever since the Internet became the focus of business and the need for higher speeds arose, there has been one period in Australia when it was possible to build a fast broadband network without going into debt. That period was during the 11 years when John Howard was prime minister, the period from 1996 to 2007, when the resources boom brought in nearly half a trillion dollars extra into the national kitty. The country was crying out for infrastructure and the money was available. But apart from not building fast broadband, Howard did not bother about any other infrastructure needs either. His treasurer, Peter Costello, paid off the existing government debt and never stopped crowing about it. But that was about it. Most of the remaining money was used to buy votes over and over again, to keep Howard in power. There was the baby bonus, paid out at a time when Howard was quietly bringing in migrants by the score to keep the housing lobby happy and we didn't really need any more people to boost the population. There was the health insurance benefit, paid to help private health insurance companies and tilt the country towards the US model as far as possible. There was the cut in petrol excise, and a more naked vote-buying exercise I have yet to see. But no airport train service in the cities that needed one. No fast-rail projects. No roads in areas that badly needed them. And, above all, no fast broadband network that would have helped Australians no end in starting businesses that could help in the transition from mining that we now have to make. There was a fear in Coalition circles that any moves towards building a fast broadband network would annoy the media moguls Rupert Murdoch and the late Kerry Packer. Anyone was able to see that television would ultimately make its way to the internet, given the lower transmission costs involved. But for this, one needed broad pipes and only the government could provide that. So Howard balked and the country suffered as a result. When Labor returned to power in 2007, Kevin Rudd ran headlong into the global financial crisis. Money from resources dried up and it was a time for not spending up big. But work on a fast broadband network was begun in 2009 as it had been a point of difference in the election campaigns of 2007. After that, the story is recent and everyone knows it. Labor had a model of fibre to the premises which it said would cost $43 billion. With wires already in the ground, the Coalition had to devise a broadband policy in 2013 and they came up with a cheaper option which featured mixed technology. We all know how that is going. It has become a political issue, technology be damned. Today, the question of cheaper is gone. The Coalition's current budgeted spend is $56 billion. Take-up has reached a million, but people are finding that the higher speed options are too expensive. That will change when the rollout crosses the more developed suburbs and the cities. Businesses could do with more speed at lower costs than what they pay now to private providers. The tragedy of this whole story is that we could have had fast broadband, fibre to the premises, and much, much sooner. That would have been Howard's legacy and it would have been a great way to be remembered. Instead, we have festering copper in the ground and more new copper is being added to the mix. We have politicians who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. What should be an essential utility like water, electricity and gas is treated like something exotic. Meanwhile, the rest of the world moves on. Australia is slowly falling behind even what is referred to as the third world. It didn't have to be so. Microsoft has released a free universal app version of its remote desktop client that means it will work on Windows 10 desktop/server and Windows 10 Mobile. Remote Desktop has always been a feature of Windows, allowing you to log into a remote PC and access it over the Internet. It has always worked reasonably well apart from some resolution issues to scale above HD and touch features. The new app is in the App Store and features: See all remote connections on the home screen and open them with a single touch. Access and manage work resources published via RemoteApp and Desktop Connections. Connect to multiple remote desktops at the same time. Keep an eye on different sessions while multi-tasking Navigate applications in your remote session easily using the touch keyboard, the touch pointer, rotation, and zoom. Automatically detect and optimise your connection quality with RemoteFX WAN Transport enhancements. Customise settings for all remote connections at once or individually. During the upgrade, you should expect the following: Desktop connections are preserved User names are preserved Passwords need to be re-entered Gateways are preserved Remote resources URLs are preserved from Windows Phone 8.1 but require new sign in Remote resources are not preserved from Windows 8.1 and need to be re-added Some general settings are preserved Microsoft stress that it is still a work in progress there are still some scaling issues, mapping of local drives is incomplete, touch (no mouse pointer), no pinch zoom, multiple simultaneous connections, printer redirect, etc. These are all coming, and the app will update over time. Other versions of Remote Desktop are also available for Windows 8.x or earlier, iOS, Mac OS X, Android, and Windows Phone 8.1. You can read more at Microsoft's Blog here. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today asked a federal judge to let it join Microsoft in suing the U.S. government over authorities' use of gag orders that prevent the technology firm from telling customers their data has been demanded, court filings showed. "A basic promise of our Constitution is that the government must notify you at some point when it searches or seizes your private information," said Alex Abdo, an ACLU senior staff attorney, in a statement Thursday. "The government has managed to circumvent this critical protection in the digital realm for decades, but Microsoft's lawsuit offers the courts an opportunity to correct course." The ACLU argued that it should be included as a plaintiff in the case because it is a Microsoft customer. "Movants are organizations that rely on Microsoft Corporation's email and cloud-computing services to store and transmit sensitive records and communications," stated the ACLU's motion, which was filed today in a Seattle federal court. "For this reason, Movants have an acute interest in ensuring that the government's demands for the records of Microsoft's customers are constitutional." In a separate proposed complaint -- which would be added to the case docket if the organization is allowed to join the lawsuit -- the ACLU challenged the government's gag orders on grounds that they violated the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizure." "The ACLU has a reasonable expectation of privacy and protected possessory interests in its electronic communications stored by Microsoft," that complaint read. "The government's search or seizure of the ACLU's records must, therefore, comply with the Fourth Amendment. To comply with the Fourth Amendment, the government must provide notice to the ACLU when it obtains the ACLU's electronic communications from Microsoft." The ACLU said it used Office 365 and the subscription's Microsoft-run Exchange Server for email communication, and Microsoft's Azure cloud-computing platform to host the organization's intranet. Microsoft's complaint, which the Redmond, Wash. company filed in mid-April, cited the First Amendment when it argued that parts of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) were unconstitutional. The ECPA is a 30-year-old law that government agencies use to force email, Internet and cloud storage service providers to hand over data to aid criminal investigations. Microsoft did not object to the ECPA as a whole, but to the frequent application of gag orders that require providers to keep the data demands secret. In the past 18 months, 48% of the 5,624 federal demands for Microsoft customer information came tagged with secrecy orders. If the judge allowed the ACLU to intervene in the case and add itself as a plaintiff, the government would have to expand its defense to cover not only Microsoft's First Amendment arguments, but also the ACLU's Fourth Amendment concerns. The ACLU and Microsoft are not necessarily at odds in the case, but the ACLU made clear that its motivations are different from Microsoft's. "The primary focus of Microsoft's claims is in ensuring that Microsoft be permitted to communicate to its customers about searches and seizures of their information," the ACLU's motion said. "Microsoft's commitment to providing notice is laudable, and its decision to file this suit is noteworthy for being the first of its kind. [But] while Movants have every reason to believe that Microsoft's policy will not change, that policy is not legally binding, and it is certainly not compelled by the Constitution." In other words, the ACLU contended, absent its participation in the case, Microsoft could at some future point change its position on informing customers, even if it won the lawsuit, and leave the ACLU clueless about any data demand. While that may be unlikely, some legal experts have said that Microsoft's lawsuit was largely motivated by business concerns, not solely on a commitment to customers. Six technology companies, including Google, are working on trial projects in multiple U.S. cities to test out shared 3.5GHz spectrum wireless communications under an innovative model adopted recently by the Federal Communications Commission. The companies are working in an coalition that is tentatively being called the CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) Alliance, which borrows the CBRS terminology from the FCC. Some of the companies in the alliance have already demonstrated what they call OpenG technology, which uses 3.5GHz shared spectrum to improve indoor wireless communications. In April, Kansas City, Mo., approved a Google test of 3.5GHz shared wireless in more than eight locations in that area for up to 18 months. Ruckus Wireless, one of the other six alliance members with Google, is in talks to join with Google in the KC tests, said Steve Martin, general manager of emerging technology at Ruckus, in an interview. He said there will be "multiple" trials of the technology in other U.S. cities by the end of 2016, but would not disclose the cities involved. The other members of the alliance are Qualcomm, Nokia, Intel and Federated Wireless. Both Google and Federated Wireless are working on the Spectrum Allocation Server (SAS) portion of the CBRS service. SAS machines will use algorithms to detect when a priority transmission by the U.S. Navy is on a certain channel, then divert other users already on that channel to another. The U.S. Navy uses narrow channels in the 3.5Ghz spectrum to communicate -- via radar flight guidance -- with jets launched from aircraft carriers along U.S. coastal areas. Federated Wireless is installing radio sensors up and down U.S. coast lines that can instantly detect the Navy's communications, then transit that information to the SAS devices to automatically require potentially hundreds of thousands of end-user cell phones to switch to a different channel. The alliance is also working with various U.S. carriers that would connect their cellular service to the free, public 3.5GHz spectrum. Ruckus plans to provide a family of 3.5GHz products that enterprises could buy to improve cellular connections in-building, including antennas to snap onto Wi-Fi access points. The purpose of the trial projects will be to make sure products from various vendors interoperate and to ensure that the SAS devices reliably switch channels away from the priority Navy signals. "With the FCC's act, the U.S. is the first country to promote and develop and formalize the dynamic sharing of spectrum and it's quite revolutionary," Ruckus' Martin said in an interview. "The expectation by the FCC is very bullish." Once sharing of the 3.5GHz spectrum is proven, the FCC is expected to look to allow sharing on other portions of wireless spectrum. Spectrum regulators in other countries are watching the results of the trials. In order to use the 3.5GHz spectrum, smartphones and other wireless devices will have to be updated. By 2018, Martin predicted, the technology will become "fairly widely available." With the startling new finding that federal agencies spend about three-quarters of their IT budgets on keeping legacy systems running, is it any wonder that the administration is pressing for an ambitious technology modernization initiative? At a House hearing on government IT this week, the federal CIO and senior agency officials stressed the urgency of updating aging systems with more nimble, cloud-based applications and infrastructure, making the case for the administrations proposed $3.1 billion modernization fund. [ Related: U.S. government wants to sharply increase spending on cybersecurity ] U.S. CIO Tony Scott told to members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that federal CIOs have been working diligently to modernize their IT systems, but have often been hindered in their efforts when operating under tight budgets that leave little room to get a new cloud project up and running, regardless of how much money might be saved in the long-term. [ Related: U.S. CIO tells IT leaders to trust the cloud ] I do think were making progress, just not fast enough and comprehensively enough, Scott said. Almost every agency is trying to prioritize in some way or another and address the most urgent issues, but what we see quite often is it takes too long for them to put together the money to go do the replacement or to try to harvest savings to put together in one place to go fix things. IT modernization fund (ITMF) The administrations proposed solution is an IT modernization fund (ITMF) that would be subject to oversight of an independent panel that would help prioritize the most pressing technology projects while also evaluating the business case that the agency makes in pitching a project. And, crucially, agencies that dip into the $3.1 billion fund would be expected to repay the initial outlay for the IT project back into the fund over time, as operating savings materialize. The ITMF will require agencies to pay back the funds as projects complete, Scott said. Doing so will ensure that projects receive significant buy-in and attention from agency leadership and that over time the ITMF is self-sustaining and continues to support future modernization projects. We estimate that the $3.1 billion in one-time seed funding could address at least $12 billion in modernization projects over the first 10 years and would continue to remain available in the future. In that sense, Scott explained, the proposal would take a page from the business world, where new capital expenditures are carefully vetted with a review committee examining the urgency of the project and the cost/benefit analysis. That would mark a fundamental shift in the traditional ways that the tech teams within government agencies, often operating in a silo, develop and execute IT projects. [ Related: Obama wants more cybersecurity funding and a federal CISO ] Comprehensively, what it does is it marries management, money and a different mode of operation than the pattern that weve been in, Scott said. This modernization fund relies on principles that weve borrowed from the private sector. If youre in the private sector, you go to a capital committee and you come in and make a business case for why you want to do what youre going to do. IT reform enjoys some bipartisan support after all, there is broad agreement on both sides of the aisle that older computing systems are inefficient, costly and more vulnerable to security risks, and the desire to eliminate wasteful spending is hardly a single-party issue. Members of both parties appeared receptive to the proposal for the modernization fund, though some warned of the potential for further waste, while opinions differed on how the federal governments $80 billion IT apparatus had fallen so far behind. CIO tenure roadblock to undertaking major tech reform projects Dave Powner, director of IT management issues at the Government Accountability Office, identified one of the key challenges that keeps agencies from undertaking major technology reform projects: CIO tenure. According to Powner, whose agency has studied the issue, the average federal CIO only stays in that role for two years, often departing for a more lucrative position in the private sector. In the government, with its cumbersome procurement and acquisition procedures, thats simply not enough time to see many big projects through to completion, he said. Its a huge problem, Powner said. In regards to legacy systems, what CIO wants to come in over a two-year period and undertake one of these massive conversion efforts? They pick the low-hanging fruit and get quick wins. They dont tackle the difficult stuff often enough. Lawmakers have already introduced legislation that would establish the IT modernization fund that the administration has proposed. Of the 20 co-sponsors on that bill, all but Californias Darrell Issa are Democrats. Whether Congress enacts the proposal or takes another tack, Scott stressed that a fundamental structural change along with the funding to act on it is necessary if the federal government hopes for a thorough update of its IT operations. [I]f we continue to do the same thing weve been doing before, were just making the situation worse, Scott said. A good friend of mine once told me if youre riding a dead horse, best dismount, and I think its time for us to dismount from this past practice and get onto a more modern method. 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. HUNDREDS of homes in the borough are set to undergo refurbishment after the council was handed extra government cash. With 29,895,000 in the coffers ? up by 9 million on last year's government allocation ? the council says it will be able to set aside more than half this for repairing and maintaining its housing stock. Ken wins mayor race Labour squeeze home in Enfield GLA vote KEN Livingstone has won the contest to become London mayor. But Labour have scraped home in the Enfield and Haringey constituency seat for the Greater London Assembly. London-wide, Mr Livingstone came first out of all the candidates with 667,877 votes. Conservative Steve Norris came second with 464,434 votes. For Labour, Frank Dobson was pushed into third place with 223,884 votes. And the Liberal Democrat candidate Susan Kramer won 203,121 votes. But Mr Livingstone failed to win more than 50 per cent of the total votes, and so went into a second-round run off with Mr Norris. And Mr Livingstone won this by 776,427 votes to 560,137 for Mr Norris. In the Enfield and Haringey constituency seat, Labour candidate Nicky Gavron came first with 32.2 per cent of the vote. Conservative Peter Forrest was close behind on 29.2 per cent. Smaller parties also did well, and former Enfield Labour councillor Richard Course, standing as an Independent, polled 11.8 per cent of the vote. However turnout was poor: less than one in three voters cast their ballots. The breakdown of the London-wide party list vote in Enfield and Haringey has also been announced. Under the GLA electoral system, voters could cast two ballots: one for a local constituency member, and one for a London-wide party list. The constituency member, Nicky Gavron, was elected by a simple majority under the first-past-the-post system. But the winners of the party list vote will be determined by proportional representation. As yet the winner of the mayoral contest has not been announced. LONDON MAYOR: How Enfield and Haringey voted KEN LIVINGSTONE (Independent) 50,260; 43 per cent STEVE NORRIS (Conservative) 28,522; 24.4 per cent FRANK DOBSON (Labour) 16,469; 14.1 per cent SUSAN KRAMER (Liberal Democrat) 12,113; 10.4 per cent DARREN JOHNSON (Green) 2,762; 2.4 per cent RAM GIDOOMAL (Christian People's Alliance) 2,398; 2 per cent MICHAEL NEWLAND (British National Party) 1,967; 1.7 per cent DAMIAN HOCKNEY (UK Independence Party) 928; 0.8 per cent GEOFFREY BEN-NATHAN (Pro-Motorist and Small Shop) 667; 0.6 per cent ASHWINKUMAR TANNA (Independent) 475; 0.4 per cent GEOFFREY CLEMENTS (Natural Law Party) 369; 0.3 per cent GREATER LONDON ASSEMBLY ENFIELD AND HARINGEY CONSTITUENCY: NICKY GAVRON (Labour) 34,509; 32.2 per cent PETER FORREST (Conservative) 31,207; 29.2 per cent SEAN HOOKER (Liberal Democrat) 14,319; 13.4 per cent RICHARD COURSE (Independent) 12,581; 11.8 per cent PETER BUDGE (Green) 10,761; 10 per cent WEYMAN BENNETT (London Socialist Alliance) 3,671; 3.4 per cent Labour majority 3,202; 3.1 per cent Turnout: 30.8 per cent GREATER LONDON ASSEMBLY PARTY LIST VOTE IN ENFIELD AND HARINGEY: LABOUR 37,191; 33 per cent CONSERVATIVE 29,807; 26.4 per cent GREEN 14,673; 13 per cent LIBERAL DEMOCRAT 13,824; 12.2 per cent CHRISTIAN PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE 3,277; 2.9 per cent BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY 2,634; 2.3 per cent LONDON SOCIALIST ALLIANCE 2,564; 2.3 per cent PETER TATCHELL: 1,803; 1.6 per cent CAMPAIGN AGAINST TUBE PRIVATISATION 1,424; 1.3 per cent SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY 1,213; 1.1 per cent PRO- MOTORIST AND SMALL SHOP 895; 0.8 per cent COMMUNIST PARTY OF BRITAIN: 718; 0.6 per cent NATURAL LAW PARTY: 571; 0.5 per cent home US Wisconsin Christian school reserves right to expel students for 'outwardly sinful lifestyles,' atheist group files complaint Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a complaint against St. John's Lutheran School in Wisconsin for allegedly discriminating against transgender students. "St. John's Lutheran School has implemented policies that discriminate against students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity," the complaint, filed with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction by FFRF's Patrick Elliot, reads. "As these students are unable to attend the school, they are unable to participate in free and reduced price lunch programs." According to the complaint, the school sent a letter in February, signed by principal Craig Breitkreutz, informing parents about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity. The school is requesting for birth certificates in order for a student to enrol. "If we cannot legally refuse students who are struggling with homosexuality or gender identification, we must maintain our right to hold the truths of God's Word," the letter reads. The letter cites two ways for them to do this. First is the updated admissions policy, which now includes a handbook agreement and a religious orientation for students. The second is the revised disciplinary policy that now more specifically states "which behaviors are not acceptable and can lead to dismissal." "In other words, although we do not have the right to refuse admittance to people choosing an outwardly sinful lifestyle, we do maintain the right to discipline and dismiss students for these choices," the letter says. The St. John's Lutheran Church and School told The Christian Post via email that "the complaint is without merit." Also, they are "confident that the government will recognize, as it always has, the church's constitutional right to teach and practice our beliefs without interference from the government." The school receives federal funding for some student aid programs, but the email says that the federal funds they get "are designed to help children and families, not fund and operate our school." Denying that the letter is an expression of "fear, hatred, or bigotry," the school said that it is an expression of their convictions as Christians and they "look to God and His Word to define what is right and wrong, moral and immoral." One of Hollywood's most popular celebrity couple may be headed for rockier shores as hints of infidelity and clashing priorities do the rounds of the rumor mill. The couple is known as one of Tinseltown's more enduring pair, having been together for over a decade since 2005 and tying the knot in 2014. The couples' 6 kids only make it an even prettier picture of a happy family. Now rumors have surfaced of Brad's possible infidelity with co-star and leading lady Marion Cotillard as he spends time with her on and off set while filming Robert Zemeckis' new WWII film "Allied". The Inquistr cites not only the possible jealousy of Jolie of Cotillard being an Oscar winner but her finding the close relationship of the 2 as worrisome. Reminiscent perhaps of how she and Pitt had fallen for each other on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Pitt had been married to Jennifer Aniston at the time Brad Pitt backed out of guesting on UK's TV hit series "Top Gear" because Jolie had asked him to take a backseat and spend time with the children while she wishes to follow her directorial aspirations. The New York Times wrote an article of her having gone to the UK to join the London School of Economics' Center for Women, Peace and Security to take part in workshops as a visiting professor in practice. Brad Pitt's pulling out of Top Gear has dealt a blow to show host Chris Evans according to The Sun, who had really wanted him to kick off the show. It was important for the show to have had him as it's the very first episode after ultra-popular former hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May left the program and BBC. Pitt was replaced by Jesse Eisenberg and Gordon Ramsay. Brad is reportedly filing for divorce as he is fed up with Jolie's controlling attitude and insecurity towards other women. Jolie's health and obsessive work habit only serve to complicate the problem. Angelina and Brad have not made statements on the matter. Fans of the couple may take comfort in the fact that 3Movie News Guide's article on the matter advises readers to treat the story with a grain of salt while Gossip Cop claims it a total fabrication. TMZ reports that a rep from celebrity couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West has threatened to sue bodyguard Steve Stanulis for $30 million for telling people he had been fired because Kanye got jealous that he had spoken with Kim. The couples' legal team cites that ex-NYPD cop Steve Stanulis had signed a confidentiality agreement when he was hired to protect Kardashian on her trip to New York for the Met Gala wrote The New York Daily News. That agreement held the signee, in this case Stanulis, liable for $10 million if he broke confidence; The couple denies the accusation saying it's a complete lie and since Stanulis has done at least 3 interviews already, he's now threatened with a $30 million lawsuit unless he ceases to speak to media and well, grovel. The ex-cop, who claims he is owed $1100 for 3 days of work, said he had called to ask for his pay but was told by the contractor that Kanye's group had rejected the invoice and asked that Stanulis be told to get paid by Inside Edition instead. Inside Edition reports that the bodyguard had been warned against getting close to Kardashian. Reports claimed that Stanulis had been seen speaking with Kardashian outside the presidential suite at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan which the bodyguard denies ever having done claiming he's a happily married man with 3 children. This is not the first time the couple has gone and sued people for breach of confidentiality. In 2013, they also went after Chad Hurley who had videotaped Kanye's wedding proposal to Kim at the AT&T Park in San Francisco and posted it on Mixbit. They went after the former YouTube founder and sued for $440,000. On one hand, we have the couple suing a Steve Stanulis, a bodyguard who claims the couple owes him $1100, for $30 million. On the other hand we had them suing former YouTube founder Chad Hurley for $440,000. Chad Hurley had sold YouTube for $1.6 billion. Go figure. Gwyneth Paltrow may work once more with Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man 4." The actress' character was not present in "Captain America: Civil War." Us Weekly reported that Robert Downey Jr. joked about Gwyneth Paltrow's return in "Iron Man 4" during "The Howard Stern Show" on May 4. The 51-year-old actor shared his thoughts on the actress' comeback for the sequel. "I guess I can dream a little bit. My free pass is - because her and [my wife] Susan are such good friends - is Paltrow," Downey Jr. said in the SiriusXM broadcast. "I gotta get her back in these movies so I can make out with her onscreen again." Robert Downey Jr. also admitted that he and Gwyneth Paltrow could only kiss if the cameras were rolling on set. The Goop founder is currently dating producer Brad Falchuk. "She's coming back," the actor added. "We need her." The "Iron Man" star also gushed about being happily married. He and his wife got married in Aug. 2005 and have two kids together. "I liked to drink, and I had a drug problem, and that didn't jibe with Sarah Jessica, because it is the furthest thing from what she is," he said about ex-girlfriend "Sex and The City" star Sarah Jessica Parker. "She provided me a home and understanding. She tried to help me." Robert Downey Jr.'s "Iron Man 4" appearance may be his last, though. According to ABC News, the actor revealed what he thought of his future in the franchise. "It's like any athlete," he said. "To me, when I come to really respect a player is when you realize you're done, dude. Your stats aren't keeping up. You're at this age...please, hang up your jersey before you do something stupid and embarrass yourself." "Iron Man" stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and "Captain America: Civil War" actor Chris Evans recently paid a special visit to an 18-year-old fan battling with leukemia, EW reported. A recent Verizon strike 2016 update revealed that a Delaware judge has issued a restraining order to protesters. This comes after reports of violence from protesters have surfaced. According to ABC News, Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster has announced that he will no longer tolerate violence or threatening behavior from the Verizon strike 2016 participants in several East Coast states. On Thursday, the Delaware judge declined the carrier's request to hold two union locals in contempt after protesters damaged the vehicles of non-union replacement workers on Interstate 95. Laster has directed the ones who did the damage to pay for repairs. He also warned that he may hold the unions in criminal contempt and impose more "meaningful" financial penalties if the Verizon strike 2016 participants are caught engaging in future violent or threatening activities. "If they're not willing to take responsibility, I'm going to reconsider my (contempt) ruling," the Vice Chancellor said. Laster has also imposed new restrictions, including a restraining order commanding Verizon strike 2016 participants to stay a minimum of 30 yards away from any vehicle used by a non-union worker on a highway. Verizon has previously claimed that protesters have threatened and harassed non-union employees. It was also believed that the striking workers caused interruptions in business operations as well as engaged in vandalism. Laster did admit that he respects the union's rights to strike and their freedom of expression. He was, however, reluctant to issue a civil contempt order in fear that Verizon may take advantage of it. Delaware Online reported that Laster told unions' lawyers to "take responsibility for the problems" that they have created. Protesters have also been banned from using derogatory remarks such as racial and sexual slurs to describe the contract workers. "I will not allow people to be threatened or put in danger of being hurt," he said. "It's not just a violation of my order, but it really runs contrary to what you are trying to achieve, which is respect for your own positions." The "Winds of Winter" release date 2016 still has not been revealed yet. Moreover, George R.R. Martin seems to be in no hurry to publish the highly-anticipated novel. According to Christian Times, there are rumors that the "Winds of Winter" release date 2016 may happen in the coming months. This is contrary to earlier speculations that the sixth installment of Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series will be released in May. Apparently, the author has not finished writing the book. Because of the delay, it is believed that the "Winds of Winter" release date will happen later this 2016. The publication noted that there are initial reports claiming that George R.R. Martin has already completed the final version of "WoW" and that a copy of the book is being prepared for printing. Meanwhile, News Everyday reported that Martin has clarified that the book is in the process of creation. George R.R. Martin has recently released a new chapter for the "Winds of Winter." The excerpt was written from Arianne Martell's perspective. "We've also changed the 'WINDS OF WINTER' sample on my website, replacing the Alayne chapter that's been there for the past year with one featuring Arianne Martell," Martin wrote on his Live Journal. "You want to know what the Sand Snakes, Prince Doran, Areo Hotah, Ellaria Sand, Darkstar, and the rest will be up to in 'WINDS OF WINTER?' Quite a lot, actually." Martell is the firstborn daughter and heir of the Dornish Prince Doran. She has not appeared in "Game of Thrones" yet but there is a big possibility that she will be coming to the show soon. The new "Winds of Winter" chapter talked about the princess' journey across the countryside. She is sent on a mission by her father to find the truth about a man claiming to be Aegon Targaryen, the son of Elia Martell who is believed to be dead. Recent Yahoo sale news revealed that AT&T has joined the bidding for the Internet company. Apparently, this is the carrier's way to compete with its rival, Verizon. Bloomberg reported that AT&T's surprise re-entry as a bidder for the Yahoo sale is all about gaining digital advertising assets. Plus, their success would mean another obstacle for Verizon Communications Inc. On Wednesday, sources confirmed that AT&T, along with Verizon, is interested in the Yahoo sale. Recently, the two largest U.S. carriers are going through a dismal period in terms of subscriber growth and competition from smaller rivals. Verizon is currently facing a big problem with its workforce with nearly 40,000 workers continuing their strike for better benefits. The strike began on Apr. 13 and is now nearing its second month. It was said that the two companies are looking to video as a new source of revenue. To complete their efforts to increase sales, they would need advertising technology. "It was always thought that Yahoo would be a natural fit with AOL at Verizon, so the level of interest from AT&T's decision to swoop in is surprising," Macquarie Capital analyst Amy Yong said. "Much of this is competition to block Verizon." The publication added that Yahoo would be a strategic fit for AT&T because of the carrier's ambitions about digital video. Last year, it acquired DirecTV for about $50 billion. The company is also expected to offer online streaming video service this year. According to Deadline, it is unknown how much AT&T offered for the Yahoo sale. The website reached out to the carrier but it has declined to comment. The second round of bids is believed to happen during the first week of June. Other bidders in the Yahoo sale are private investment firm TPG Capital, former Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn and his group, Bain Capital, Vista Equity Partners as well as Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert with investor Warren Buffett. Email Links to our top local news stories of the day, Monday through Saturday. Mikroflot Technologies founder Jose Ramirez, who developed a wastewater treatment system for manufacturing plants, is shown with a laser scattering instrument for characterizing suspensions at Milwaukees Global Water Center. Credit: Mark Hoffman By of the During 12 years of visiting food plants and breweries, Jose Ramirez heard it over and over: cleaning the vats, tanks and piping every night generated oceans of wastewater, and getting rid of it was expensive. Now, Ramirez, former head of research at Diversey Inc., has a solution. Mikroflot Technologies, his newly minted start-up, is aiming to fix the problem using microscopic bubbles. "Our technology is based on a new way of generating these microscopic bubbles that is very simple and easy," said Ramirez, who founded Mikroflot in 2014. The idea of using bubbles to push contaminants to the top of a tank that needs cleaning is nothing new. There are big, expensive systems for that, all with the goal of minimizing the repeated rinsing needed to clean equipment to the right standards. The wastewater generated by rinsing can't just be sent down the drain. In Milwaukee alone, between 10% and 20% of the wastewater received by the sewage district comes from industrial customers, said Kevin Shafer, executive director of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. More than 90% of small industrial plants discharge wastewater to their local sewers, and the typical medium-sized manufacturing or processing plant spends $40,000 to $200,000 a year on sewer surcharges, Ramirez said. His solution, which has patents pending, is called acoustic resonance air dispersion microflotation technology. It uses compressed air that has an acoustic wave pulsating in it to generate tiny air bubbles that float contaminants out of the water. The contaminant sludge is then skimmed from the water's surface and stored in a tank until Mikroflot's hauling service comes to collect it. What's unique about Mikroflot is its combination of an innovative technology and a business model that doesn't require customers to make a big capital outlay, said George Arida, who spent more than a decade in the water industry and is founder and managing director of 30Ventures, a Madison venture capital firm. That makes the company "pretty disruptive" to current solutions on the market, Arida said. "I haven't seen their patent applications, but if their claims are solid and they can protect this technology and it's robust enough to work well across a lot of variable waste streams, then I think they have something really interesting," he said. Bubbles are generally regarded as a horrible waste of energy, said David Garman, dean of the School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. But Mikroflot's use of acoustic waves requires much less energy to make its bubbles, he said. Mikroflot will dramatically reduce or eliminate sewer surcharges using little or no chemicals, providing cost savings from 40% to 70% and delivering a reduced environmental footprint, Ramirez said. Ramirez, a Venezuelan who lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago, has a master's degree and PhD in chemical engineering. He wrote his doctoral dissertation about microflotation, but moved away from that science to invent hydrogen peroxide cleaning products for a Toronto start-up. When Diversey Inc. acquired the start-up, Ramirez got the opportunity to work there and commercialize his inventions. It was then that Ramirez returned to the bubbles he'd studied in graduate school and formed Mikroflot. "I was kind of yearning for the chaos of the start-up environment," Ramirez said. He decided to locate Mikroflot in Milwaukee because of the Global Water Center. Mikroflot has raised money from an angel investor and is currently finalizing its working prototypes, Ramirez said. It plans to test them in local food plants over the next 12 months. Initially, Mikroflot is targeting the $2.5 billion U.S. market composed of mid- to small-sized companies in areas like dairy processing, industrial laundries, metal working and brewing. One of Mikroflot's bigger challenges will be reaching and penetrating a fragmented market, Arida said. The company is working with a distribution partner to get at the regional market, but will need more partners to expand the business nationally and internationally. Not only is Mikroflot's technology clever, it opens up a host of other potential applications, Garman said. "It could go right across the whole of the water industry, from wastewater treatment through to separation of chemicals, waste materials or pre-cleaning of water," he said. Mikroflot is one of 13 companies that has reached the finals of the Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest. The finalists will be in a final round of competition at the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Conference in Madison on June 7 and June 8. For more information, or to register for the conference, go to www.wisconsintechnologycouncil.com Five stats that say the Brewers will be better in 2023 (and five that say they won't) Ryan Krueger, Claudio Parrone Jr. and Evan Koepnick play three drifting souls who bond briefly in Alchemist Theatres The Aliens. Credit: Carly Knight SHARE By , "At least a third if not half of this play is silence. Pauses should be at least three seconds long. Silences should last from five to 10 seconds. Long pauses and long silences should, of course, be even longer." That's not the sort of playwright's note one sees every day, but Annie Baker is no ordinary playwright. There's no one currently writing for the American stage who is so in touch with the sound of silence and the related failure to connect what we say to all we feel. So it goes in "The Aliens," introduced by the above-quoted note and now receiving its overdue Milwaukee premiere, in a dropoutArts production being staged at Alchemist Theatre under Jake Brockmann's direction. As things get underway, 31-year-old Jasper (Claudio Parrone Jr.) and 30-year-old KJ (Evan Koepnick) are hanging out in a trash-filled employee break area, behind a Vermont coffee shop. Neither one works there; neither one should even be there. And as the two men sit saying nothing while staring into space, in a long opening silence that sets the tone it's not clear they themselves have any clue what they're doing there. Both men are school dropouts. Both are insecure. Both have addictive personalities. Both try to imagine themselves as gifted and others as stupid; Baker's title comes from a Charles Bukowski poem decrying the benighted multitudes. Both are angry at the world and disappointed in themselves; executing a slow, passive-aggressive burn, Parrone handles this combination best. Most important, both men join the legion of Baker characters hungering to connect, something we see most clearly through their awkward, often stillborn efforts to communicate all their friendship means. We also see it through the way they befriend 17-year-old Evan (Ryan Krueger). Krueger's Evan vulnerable, emotionally raw, childlike and starved for affection and friendship embodies all these two men feel but can't express. Evan makes them feel important; they make him feel like he finally belongs. Would that it could all stay that simple. The dying pre-intermission sparkler from this trio's sad July 4 party foreshadows greater darkness to come, en route to a final, tender moment that's both hopeful and bittersweet. As is always true with Baker, small things play large all by themselves. In this production, many such moments become overly noisy or fussy, reflecting a failure to trust Baker's writing; Koepnick in particular needs to dial back. Brockmann's wonky blocking hurts other scenes. Sight lines aren't always as clear as they should be and characters spend too much time facing upstage; vital dialogue consequently gets lost. But even with its estrangements, there's still a lot to love in this "Aliens" true to the affection one inevitably feels for any Baker character, all of them flawed and each of them achingly human. IF YOU GO "The Aliens" continues through June 11 at Alchemist Theatre, 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. For more information, visit thealchemisttheatre.com. Read more at TapMilwaukee.com. TAKEAWAYS Annie Baker and Wisconsin: Renowned as Baker has been for the past several years, we've seen almost none of her work here; before 2016, the only professional production I can recall is the Boulevard Theatre's moving production of Baker's "Circle Mirror Transformation," which landed on my year-end list for 2011. "The Aliens" and "The Flick": Conversely, "The Aliens" is the second professional production of a Baker play here in the first five months of 2016; the first, Forward Theater's production of Baker's Pulitzer-winning "The Flick," is among the best plays I've seen in Wisconsin thus far this year. "The Aliens" and "The Flick" have a great deal in common, including a trio of misfits; there are particularly strong parallels between the youngest and most naive members of each trio. Evan and Avery: Like Evan in "The Aliens," Avery in "The Flick" is a geeky, earnest and friendless student who, in the play's final moments, is given a great gift. Both gifts reflect Baker's view that even in a world where we find it increasingly difficult to communicate with each other, art might still allow us to dream a common language. Bad as the songs written by Jasper and KJ are, singing and playing them allows these two men to express themselves more fully and more communally than anything else in the play. Art and Nostalgia: In both plays, Baker's faith in art is shot through with nostalgia. Avery, in "The Flick," is a strong advocate of 35-millimeter film, in an era when nearly everything has gone digital; young as he is, Evan is another old soul, looking back to the music of the 1960s. He, too, is one of Bukowski's aliens, consciously positioning himself outside the mainstream and swimming against its current. The Meaning of 1776: Just three days before seeing "The Aliens," I watched Milwaukee Opera Theatre's stirring rendition of "1776" (in which Parrone managed to play Roger Sherman while simultaneously readying himself for Thursday's opening performance of "The Aliens"). Toward its close, an enthusiastic John Adams envisions future July 4 celebrations in which Americans would launch fireworks and ring bells to commemorate "Americans, all Americans" being "free forevermore." If only. It's no accident that much of "The Aliens" takes place in the run-up to July 4 celebrations, with Evan highlighting his own alienation by observing how removed he feels from such celebrations; he describes them as anticlimactic and disappointing, partly because they fail to deliver the sense of community they promise. It's a similar hunger for community that prompts the white KJ to dream he is black, hanging out with other black people, "having a really good time together and laughing" and feeling "accepted." And it's also a similar hunger for community that brings this trio together even as it's clear that their dreams of freedom and independence are as ill-fated as the short-lived sparkler that KJ lights. One of the many ways in which Baker is exceptional involves her ability to recognize that these dreams are doomed to disappointment while nevertheless honoring both the dreams and their dreamers, helplessly hoping that this time next time, sometime things might be different. SHARE She Poured Out Her Heart: A Novel. By Jean Thompson. Blue Rider Press. 432 pages. $27. By , How could you? This is the question at the heart of most character-driven stories; and our search to understand why people break rules, take foolish risks and behave badly is what often propels us to read them. Who better to navigate this messy psychological terrain than National Book Award nominee and acclaimed novelist Jean Thompson, who also happens to be one of America's most celebrated short story writers (just ask David Sedaris, who, among others, has anthologized her work). Thompson takes up residence in her characters' heads and charts their impulses and attempts at self-reflection with nuance and humor, and with such startling precision that you might experience the unsettling feeling that she's privy to your own secret thoughts and unspoken feelings. Thompson's latest novel, "She Poured Out Her Heart," is no exception. Here she explores the complicated relationship between two unlikely friends, Bonnie and Jane. Bonnie is a single, sexually restless "bad girl" who "carried on like she was some kind of female pirate, as if she was allowed her excesses because she was a creature of tempestuous moods and passions and sensibilities." Jane, the suburban mother whose phone conversations with Bonnie are always accompanied by the sound of a running appliance, is the "good girl." Only maybe Bonnie isn't so bad, and maybe Jane isn't so good. And what does it mean to be bad or good, anyway? Friends since college, the women find that their connection to each other is sometimes a thread and other times a rope, but always a reassuring constant. Bonnie moves to Chicago and works in crisis intervention, while Jane marries Eric, a heart surgeon, and has two children. Their choices reflect the differences in their personalities. After an argument, Bonnie says to Jane, "You know the secret of our success? You and me? Neither one of us wants to be the other." After some relationship mishaps and a series of family troubles, Bonnie wonders if she should settle down, while Jane struggles with "little spells of weirdness" and a wicked case of low self-esteem. "She'd been convinced she was a slightly second-rate person, gawky, comical, slow, who might, with luck, fit into some ordinary life." Bonnie can't quite figure out unhappy, disaffected Jane's ordinary life, or her marriage to Eric, yet the couple become fixed points in her world, offering the reassurance and stability of family that is, until Jane falls apart and Bonnie and Eric find themselves caught up in an affair, breaking the cardinal rule of friendship: never sleep with your best friend's husband. The affair becomes the giant rock the women need to trip over in order to ask important and perhaps even necessary questions about their identities, the choices they've made and the strength or fragility of their relationship. Jane wonders, "Who were you once you took that step outside yourself, beyond what you believed yourself to be? What name did you call yourself, and to what name did you answer?" In a less capable writer's hands, it would be easy to know who to root for and who to condemn in this awkward love triangle, but Thompson muddies our ideas about culpability and blame. In doing so, she elevates a plot that might have the makings of a soap opera into a nuanced study of marriage and friendship, fidelity and deceit, and our lonesome search for meaningful connection. "She Poured Out Her Heart" might be described as a generous book, one that explores the ambiguity of what might otherwise be considered a morally bankrupt situation. Thompson is less concerned with what's right or wrong, and more vested in exploring how hard it can be to say no, how vulnerable we are to our own weaknesses, the enduring value of friendship, and the ways in which our mistakes can also offer opportunities for personal growth and redemption. Christi Clancy is a visiting assistant professor of English at Beloit College. Eleven Milwaukee aldermen have taken Police Chief Ed Flynn to task for his four simple rules for not getting shot in Milwaukee. Credit: Mike De Sisti SHARE By of the Eleven aldermen are calling on Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn to come to City Hall to discuss his "four simple rules for not getting shot in Milwaukee." Flynn frequently has cited the rules, including during his remarks at a "Ceasefire Sabbath" event earlier this month. His rules include not being part of a crime gang, not being a drug dealer and not illegally carrying a gun. "If you're in an argument with a stranger, ask them how often they've been arrested," Flynn added. "If they've been arrested more often than you've been arrested, concede the point." On Thursday, the aldermen responded to Flynn's comments by releasing a statement saying that "Milwaukee's gun violence is far from a joking matter." They added that they wanted to "require accountability" from the chief. He could be invited to speak to the city's Public Safety Committee, which is headed by Ald. Bob Donovan, as early as June 6. Their statement was released the same day as the funeral of the Milwaukee girl who was shot watching TV when she was struck by stray gunfire that tore through her home. "Today the community will lay to rest 9-year-old Za'layia Jenkins, who is sadly now on the growing list of Milwaukee's innocent victims of gun violence," the aldermen wrote. "The story of children being caught in the cross-fire is becoming far too common in Milwaukee." They added that local leaders should be helping look for answers rather than "oversimplifying or making light of the problem of gun violence in this city," and said Flynn "should have known better" than to make his comments. A spokesman for the Milwaukee Police Department said Flynn welcomed the chance to talk about the issue. "Chief Flynn looks forward to the opportunity to have a conversation about the causes of violent crime in Milwaukee," said Milwaukee police spokesman Sgt. Timothy Gauerke. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett also called the situation an "opportunity." "I take this as opportunity to have a thoughtful conversation about crime," he said. "A conversation that would lead to a more thorough understanding of the role each component of the criminal justice system has in the fight against violent crime." Barrett added, "From community to police to courts to juvenile and adult corrections, there are multiple players who are charged in protecting our citizens and making our city safer." The aldermen who signed the statement included Milele Coggs, Russell Stamper II, Council President Ashanti Hamilton, Khalif Rainey, Cavalier "Chevy" Johnson, Chantia Lewis, Jose Perez, Bob Donovan, Mark Borkowski, Jim Bohl and Nik Kovac. Police were called to the 900 block of N. Durkee St. in Appleton about 3:40 a.m. Friday, where a man was found dead. Credit: BRIANA REILLY SHARE By , Appleton - Appleton police are investigating a homicide of a 35-year-old man after he was likely stabbed to death in his home. A 34 year-old woman who was married to the victim is being questioned in connection to the man's death. The man was taken to a hospital for medical treatment, but was pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy is being completed in Fond du Lac this morning, Sgt. Dave Lund said. The couple's children are being taken care of by other family members, Lund said. Calls to police came in around 3:40 a.m. Friday to the 900 block of N. Durkee St. Another family member also called police to respond to the scene, Lund said. "Appleton Police Department is confident this situation is an isolated incident with no threat to the general public," Lund said. Ethan Safran: 920-996-7267, or esafran@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @EthanSafran; Briana Reilly: 920-993-7175 or breilly@gannett.com; on Twitter @briana_reilly Mykah Simmons, a biracial freshman at Westosha Central High School, has called for dialogue and racial unity at the school. School officials have announced plans to implement a program in the fall aimed at defusing racial tension and conflict. Credit: Mark Hertzberg By of the A U.S. Department of Justice program aimed at defusing racial tension and conflict will be implemented next year at a Kenosha County high school where a student recently dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman for a class presentation and a 15-year-old freshman detailed months of racial bullying. Westosha Central High School officials confirmed Friday that the Justice Department will visit the school next year to provide training in its SPIRIT program, which pulls together students, families, staff and administrators in an effort to identify and resolve issues that provoke racial tensions. "We are moving forward with specific actions for developing greater understandings regarding racial sensitivity on top of understanding and acceptance for all," Principal Lisa Albrecht said in an email. She declined to comment further. Niccole Simmons, one of two parents who complained to the federal agency about the school, applauded the development. "That's great. That was the goal to get somebody in there who could help," said Simmons, whose 15-year-old biracial daughter endured months of bullying at the school and on social media after arriving there in the fall. "I think it's awesome." Veronica King, president of the Kenosha branch of the NAACP, said Westosha Superintendent Scott Pierce had reached out to the Justice Department's Community Relations Service after a Journal Sentinel story detailing racial bullying at the school. As a former superintendent of the Kenosha Unified School District, Pierce was familiar with the work of the service, she said, because it had mediated complaints about racial bias in hiring at Kenosha schools a decade ago. "It was very helpful," King said of the process. King said the Journal Sentinel story "opened the dialogue so not only students but parents could come forward." "I think, before that, people were afraid to speak up." Pierce was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment. Mykah Simmons was one of two biracial students who shared their experiences as minorities at largely white rural schools in the May 8 Journal Sentinel story. Stories of two students Mykah and 15-year-old Caleb Hutchison, a freshman at Badger High School in Lake Geneva, recounted how they'd been relentlessly taunted with racial slurs after enrolling at their schools in the fall of 2015. Mykah had been physically accosted, harassed on social media and threatened with lynching. Two days after the KKK incident, she found the word "N------" carved into a desk at the school. Caleb said he'd been smacked in the face and had a chair pulled out from under him in the cafeteria. School officials said they addressed all of the issues that were brought to them, but both families complained that the responses were insufficient and in some cases tried to lay blame on the victims. In the weeks since they shared their stories, the fallout for the students has been mixed. In the days immediately following the news story, Mykah said teachers, fellow students and even strangers online reached out to offer their support. But the online harassment has continued. "On social media it's worse because kids from other places who don't go to Central are getting involved in it," she said. Mykah said she was brought into a meeting with administrators who asked her to bring her concerns to them, rather than outsiders, in the future and sought her input on how to address the problems at Westosha Central. "They were asking me, 'What should we do about it?' And I'm, like, 'I'm not the teacher. I'm not in charge. You need to figure this out.'" Although it could not be confirmed Friday, Mykah said she was told that the school may consider ticketing bullies next year and instituting a hotline that would allow students to report incidents. "I told them kids are scared to tell; they're afraid they'll get bullied for that," she said. "I think they took my advice on that one." In Lake Geneva, Summer Hutchison said her son has been demoralized by the district's handling of his problems at Badger High School. With four weeks left in the school year and Caleb feeling unsafe and unwanted at the school, she said, school officials arranged for him to finish up the school year at home. But the online courses they offered him required he start at the beginning, so he'll be tethered to a computer into August, she said. "He was going to volunteer at a Christian camp this summer," said Hutchison, who said she feels her son is being punished. "And it's not his fault. "He says, 'Mom, I'm just ready to give up.' He just doesn't care anymore." Lake Geneva Superintendent Jim Gottinger said Hutchison had agreed to the academic plan, but she said she didn't understand it would involve his entire summer. As for improving the racial climate at Badger, Gottinger said Badger would "continue to work on strengthening the anti-bullying program we already have in place." Niccole Simmons, Mykah's mom, said she sees one bright spot in all of this, entirely unrelated to Badger or Westosha Central. Like Mykah, her younger son had heard racial slurs at Salem Middle School, but he resisted any efforts by his mother to address it. "They don't mean anything, they're just joking," he'd say. When it happened again recently, according to Simmons, "He said, 'Mom, I told him it's not cool to play with me like that anymore.'" Despite his pleading, she insisted on taking it up with the school "That school was so on top of it. They met with the kids and told us that would never be accepted here. It almost made me cry," Simmons said. "The difference was so refreshing. I wish Mykah would have had that kind of response." SHARE By of the A pre-college program started in the 1990s to improve student diversity primarily at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has seen declining retention and graduation rates, according to an independent evaluation of the program released Thursday. Also, the program contributes only a small percentage of diversity to freshman classes at the state's flagship campus, according to the 180-plus page evaluation by Education Northwest of Portland, Ore., a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has a stated goal of helping all children and youth reach their full potential. Twenty-three percent of students who entered UW-Madison as freshmen through PEOPLE scholars from 2002 to 2011 graduated in four years, while the flagship's overall four-year graduation rate was about 60%. The average six-year graduation rate across the same PEOPLE freshman cohort at UW-Madison was 66%, compared with 85% for comparable groups of students, the evaluation report says. Last fall, 616 of UW-Madison's 29,580 undergrads identified as solely African-American, according to the university's Data Digest. Another 920 identified as African-American and at least one other race or ethnic category. Patrick Sims, UW-Madison's provost for diversity and climate, said the university will begin implementing changes over the next three to five years, particularly for the program's admissions policies. But it has no intention of eliminating the program, and will be seeking additional funding from nonprofits and possibly the federal government to support it. "We have a lot of soul-searching to do about what is our priority," said Sims. "We can't be everything to everybody." The Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence started nearly two decades ago with the aim of improving student diversity by preparing first-generation college students, low-income students and racial-ethnic minority students at an earlier age for admission to UW-Madison and other schools. The program provides long-term academic, social and strategic support such as tutoring as students move through middle and high school, though the evaluation notes a majority of students participate only during high school. The network of programs includes after-school, summer, commuter and residential models. Participants in different locations receive different opportunities and support, according to the evaluation. The university spends about $3.5 million to $4 million annually on the program, which employs a staff of 22 that balloons to about 200 in the summers. Need or merit? The evaluation was intended to address a fundamental question of whether the program should be merit-based and focus strictly on academic achievement, or a college preparatory program that helps low-income and underrepresented students gain access to higher education. The report concluded the program should target family income rather than academic merit, since students with stronger academic skills have less need for the types of support that PEOPLE provides. The shift will likely be troubling for some, said Sims. "We're wanting to prioritize so we have the ... most positive impact on students in the program," he said. "Our hope is not to eliminate services." Among the report's other findings: Since 2010, Madison-area students have represented the largest proportion of applicants each year, except for 2015. The Milwaukee area was second. The proportion of Hispanic/Latino students accepted into the program has increased, while the proportion of African-American students accepted into the program has decreased. Hispanic/Latinos now represent the largest percentage of accepted students. Program retention rates have declined over time, with fewer than 61% of students in each high school graduation cohort now completing the program, according to the evaluation. The admission rate of PEOPLE participants at UW-Madison has slightly decreased, but most students enroll if admitted. The report said more outreach is needed to African-American and Native American students. In 2014, there were 266 kids in the program mostly from the Madison and Milwaukee areas, though the program expanded over time to include students from Racine, Waukesha, Kenosha, Verona, Sun Prairie and Middleton, as well as Native American students recruited from schools in northern Wisconsin. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, seen here in a mosquito cage at a laboratory in Cucuta, Colombia, carry the Zika virus. Credit: Associated Press SHARE By of the A Dane County woman has a confirmed case of Zika virus infection, health officials said Friday. The woman, who is not pregnant, is the second to be diagnosed with Zika in Wisconsin. The Dane County woman acquired the infection while traveling in Colombia, where Zika infected mosquitoes are present, according to officials with Public Health Madison and Dane County. The state Department of Health Services has not disclosed the county residence of the first patient or whether she is pregnant. The woman had acquired her infection in Honduras. No locally acquired cases of Zika infection have occurred in Wisconsin or anywhere else in the continental United States. Zika virus is transmitted primarily through the bite of an infected mosquito, but it can also be transmitted through blood transfusions and sexual activity. Cases reported in the U.S. have occurred mostly among travelers to countries where the disease is active primarily those in Central and South America and the Caribbean. The virus poses the greatest risks to pregnant women and their unborn babies. An infected pregnant mother may pass the virus to her fetus. The virus may cause fetal loss or microcephaly, a condition in which the baby's brain fails to develop properly. Symptoms occur in about 20% of infected adults. They include fever, conjunctivitis, rash and joint pain. Pregnant women who have traveled to an area with Zika virus should talk to their doctor about testing for the infection. Mosquito season in Dane County is approximately May through September. Health officials routinely monitor adult and larvae mosquito populations. "In over 10 years of monitoring, we have not found the species of mosquitoes identified as Zika carriers in our community," said John Hausbeck, environmental health supervisor with Public Health Madison and Dane County. "We will continue to monitor this upcoming season for these specific mosquitoes, in addition to other species that transmit diseases such as West Nile virus." A Dane County judge has ordered Gov. Scott Walker to release emails his administration kept from the public regarding deliberations over the Wisconsin Idea. Credit: TNS By of the Madison On orders from a judge, Gov. Scott Walker on Friday released emails showing he wanted to simplify guiding principles for state universities last year as part of a sweeping higher education proposal that would have dropped the long-standing Wisconsin Idea from their mission statement. Walker kept the records from the public for more than a year, but decided not to appeal Friday's decision and released 82 pages of emails. For a time, the GOP governor contended the changes to the University of Wisconsin System's mission statement constituted a "drafting error," but the emails released Friday once again showed his office had been apprised of the proposed changes before they were formally introduced. The Wisconsin Idea says that the UW System should reach beyond the classroom and touch every corner of the state and that "the search for truth" is at the core of its mission. When university officials learned Walker was considering the changes to the mission statement, they asked him to change his mind, noting in one document released Friday, "The Legislature has been credited with crafting careful and wonderfully descriptive language to create the System. The language is frequently quoted. If the purpose of the System is largely unchanged, this language should remain unchanged as well." The Walker administration denied the request, indicating the governor himself wanted it changed and removed from state law. "The Gov requested a simplified and clearer mission and purpose statements," said a notation in the budget documents. "The Board of Regents is free to adopt any additional statements of mission or purpose." In another document that was released Friday, budget team leader Sara Hynek told a colleague in a December 2014 email that "the Gov's office is driving the process this time" on the UW budget. Walker retreated from the changes to the mission statement soon after he proposed his budget last year. In response to records requests about the proposal, he released hundreds of pages of documents, but held back some emails discussing the mission statement. He contended those records were "deliberative" in nature and could be kept from the public so officials could feel free to have candid conversations about their policy ideas. The liberal Center for Media and Democracy and The Progressive magazine last year sued, arguing that's not a legitimate reason for withholding documents under the public records law. On Friday, Dane County Circuit Judge Amy Smith agreed with them and ordered the release of the emails, though she said attachments to three of them could be withheld. Walker and his aides argued that the emails were drafts and thus not subject to the records law. In her 22-page opinion, Smith wrote that what Walker's team defined as drafts was "overly broad and could conceal records from the public relating to any and all deliberations made by public employees, which is inconsistent with the long-standing principles of Wisconsin's Open Records Law." Walker's proposal for withholding records "is untenably massive in scope," she wrote. "Accepting (Walker's) argument would potentially create a blanket exception for any communication or document that had any relevancy to ongoing Budget Bill debates," she wrote. "In effect, such a definition would constitute a protection identical to a deliberative process privilege, which has not been recognized in Wisconsin and flies in the face of long-held policies underlying Wisconsin's open records law." Smith was appointed to the bench by Walker's predecessor, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Before that, she worked in Doyle's administration. Just months after Walker first made his claims that he could deny requests for the records, he and GOP lawmakers attempted to explicitly put a provision in state law allowing officials to withhold so-called deliberative records. They included other changes in their proposal that would have gutted the open records law, but they quickly abandoned the plan amid a backlash from the public and groups on the left and right. Brendan Fischer, the attorney for the Center for Media and Democracy, said the decision showed that Walker had been trying to create a loophole in the open records law where none exists. "We're obviously very satisfied with Judge Smith's ruling. It affirms what we've been saying all along, that Wisconsin does not recognize a deliberative process privilege," he said. He said he expects the judge will eventually rule that taxpayers have to cover the legal costs for the center and The Progressive because the records were improperly withheld. At issue were 12 email strings and nine attachments. Smith found that all of the emails and six of the attachments had to be released. The other three attachments could be withheld because they are drafts not subject to the records law, she wrote. But of those three attachments, two appear to have already been released by the administration, she wrote. The third one being withheld is a draft of the state budget, she wrote. As part of his 2015-'17 budget bill, Walker proposed turning the UW System into a quasi-public authority that would have been free from many state rules and have the power to implement tuition increases that would be "more market based," according to the records. The shift would have also allowed for a "reset of the board," an administration draft showed. That could have given Walker an opportunity to more quickly replace existing regents with his own appointees. Lawmakers ended up rejecting Walker's proposal. The documents released Friday also showed that the Walker administration denied many of the requests from UW officials for changes to the authority proposal that the university leaders felt were needed to accomplish their mission. Staff within the state budget office often disagreed and overruled them. The judge's ruling came just hours after Walker posted a message on Twitter criticizing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for deleting emails as secretary of state but claiming she had "turned over all my emails." Clinton's use of a personal email server for official business has become a crucial issue in the presidential campaign. Walker spokesman Tom Evenson issued a statement saying the governor decided to release the records Friday because he "is committed to openness and transparency in government." "We appreciate the clarification and guidance provided by the court's decision, which were necessary to confirm the types of drafts that are not records," Evenson's statement said. By of the Madison The state Supreme Court last year ended an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and groups supporting him, but prosecutors are hoping the nation's high court will allow them to revive it. Meanwhile, federal courts have thrown out lawsuits brought against prosecutors by some of the targets of that probe and an earlier investigation. One of those cases will now head to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago for review. Here's a look at what's happened so far and what's on the horizon. This article updates two earlier Q&As on the issue. Q. Who launched the investigation? A. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat, conducted a wide-ranging probe of aides and associates to the Republican governor going back to Walker's time as Milwaukee County executive. That investigation led to six convictions, ranging from misconduct in office for campaigning on county time to stealing from a veterans fund. Walker was not charged, and that investigation was shut down in March 2013. Before closing that probe, however, Chisholm launched a separate investigation known as John Doe II in the summer of 2012 based on information learned in the first one. To get the investigation off the ground, Chisholm worked with district attorneys from both parties in four other counties and the state Government Accountability Board, which administers the state's elections and ethics laws. Francis Schmitz, a former assistant U.S. attorney and self-described Republican, was named special prosecutor in the case. Q. What is a John Doe investigation? A. The state's unusual John Doe law which dates to the 19th century allows prosecutors to compel people to give testimony under oath and turn over documents. They've been dubbed John Doe probes because their purpose is to determine whether a crime has been committed and, if so, by whom. The probes are conducted in front of a judge, who presides over testimony and rules on legal questions that arise. Such probes have long been conducted in secret, but that changed last year. Angered by the probe of Walker's campaign, Republican lawmakers and Walker last year scaled back the John Doe law, greatly limiting secrecy orders that could be used. They also eliminated the ability of prosecutors to use the John Doe law to investigate campaign finance violations or other crimes related to political activity. Q. What was being investigated in John Doe II? A. Some details of the investigation are not known because the probe was conducted in secret. But many specifics have come out because of litigation over the investigation and through other means. Investigators were looking into whether the Wisconsin Club for Growth and other conservative groups illegally coordinated with the campaigns of Walker and candidates for state Senate during the 2011 and 2012 recalls that were sparked by Walker's limits on collective bargaining for most public workers. Prosecutors contend they developed evidence that Walker and his top campaign aides extensively raised large sums from donors for the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Prosecutors say the club received $700,000 during that period from Gogebic Taconite, an iron ore mining firm that secured relaxed environmental regulations as it pursues developing a massive mine in northern Wisconsin. Walker has said he was unaware of that donation. In one filing, prosecutors spelled out a theory that Walker was part of a "criminal scheme" to subvert campaign laws. But an attorney for one prosecutor later said Walker was not a target of the probe. Q. What is illegal campaign coordination? A. Candidates are required to disclose all the donations they receive, and individuals who donate to their campaigns face limits (for statewide offices such as governor, at the time they could give no more than $10,000 each in a normal four-year election cycle). Independent groups if they're set up in a certain way can keep their fundraising secret and accept and spend unlimited amounts from individuals, corporations or unions. Candidates and such independent groups have long taken the view that they were limited in what kind of contact they could have and could not closely cooperate with each other on spending and ad strategies. Q. Why did the probe end? A. Reserve Judge Gregory Peterson oversaw John Doe II and in 2014 he effectively halted it when he concluded the activity being investigated was not illegal. Last year, the state Supreme Court agreed with that finding in a 4-2 ruling and terminated the probe. The state's high court found that candidates and groups have wide latitude to work together if the groups don't explicitly tell people how to vote. In essence, those groups can avoid the ban on working with candidates by avoiding phrases like "vote for" and "vote against" in their campaign ads. Initially, the state Supreme Court ordered the prosecutors to destroy all the evidence they had gathered, but later said prosecutors must turn over their copies of the material to the Supreme Court and get rid of their own copies. Chisholm last month asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restart the investigation. He is standing by his legal theory that cooperation between candidates and issue groups can be illegal. He also contends state Justices David Prosser and Michael Gableman should not have been allowed to participate in the decision ending the probe because of support they got in their campaigns from groups that were being investigated. Q. Didn't federal courts also get involved? Why? A. In 2014, the Wisconsin Club for Growth and one of its directors, Eric O'Keefe, sued in federal court in Milwaukee in an attempt to stop the investigation because they said it violated their rights to free speech, free association and equal protection under the law. They portrayed the investigation as a partisan witch hunt aimed at bullying conservative groups from making their voices heard during election time. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa expressed skepticism toward the prosecutors and refused to dismiss the lawsuit as they requested. They said the case should be thrown out because federal courts generally can't interfere with state proceedings and because prosecutors are usually immune from lawsuit. Randa issued a preliminary injunction staying the probe which had already been effectively halted by the state judge overseeing the probe could not continue. He said the probe appeared to be violating O'Keefe and the club's First Amendment rights. Prosecutors appealed and a panel of the 7th Circuit threw out the lawsuit. The panel found that the prosecutors were immune from litigation and also noted the U.S. Supreme Court had never found there is a First Amendment right for issue groups and candidates to work together. Q. Has there been any other litigation over the probes? A. Former Walker aide Cindy Archer last year sued Chisholm in federal court in Milwaukee alleging he violated her constitutional rights. Archer worked for Walker both when he was county executive and governor, and her Madison home was raided in 2011 as part of John Doe I. Archer was given immunity and never charged in that investigation. She contended the raid of her home violated her rights and that the two probes exhibited a pattern of retaliatory actions against conservatives. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman this week threw out the lawsuit, saying it was "textbook example" of when prosecutors should be immune from litigation. Such lawsuits can intimidate public officials from doing their jobs, he wrote. Archer's lawyers have said they will appeal to the 7th Circuit. She is using the same lawyers as O'Keefe, but he has declined to say if he is funding Archer's litigation. Q. What about all the sealed records? A. Normally, court records are available to the public. But in these case, thousands of pages have been fully or partially blacked out because of the secrecy inherent in the underlying investigation. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and four other journalism groups intervened in the O'Keefe case in an attempt to unseal all those documents. The 7th Circuit allowed some of them to become available, but many others were kept sealed. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted parts of Chisholm's filing to it under seal. That means the public cannot review his full brief while the nation's high court decides whether to take the case. SHARE By of the Madison An early-stage review of state jobs programs has found that they handed out at least $400,000 too much in tax credits to businesses, raising questions about whether still larger mistakes could turn up as hundreds of additional contracts are examined. The head of the state's jobs and growth agency reported this week on the preliminary findings, which account for only 18 of the 222 ongoing company contracts being scrutinized. With more than 90% of the tax credit deals left to review and some $65 million in incentives already distributed, the final discrepancies could turn out to be much bigger. Mark Hogan, chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., said that his agency has yet to reach out to any of the businesses involved in the tax credit deals, which were meant to spur job creation. The companies in question needed to earn those credits by reporting on how many jobs they had created and then collecting their incentives after WEDC calculates them. But WEDC officials are now acknowledging that agency staff appear to have made mistakes in determining how much each company should have received in tax credits based on the jobs created. The agency is not reviewing at all the deals in which a company has already received all the credits for which it qualified. "This is an extremely unfortunate problem for all concerned," said Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha), who sits on the WEDC board. "Taxpayers have overpaid and affected businesses likely had no idea that they were receiving excess assistance, so for many it will be a hardship to pay it back." Of the 18 awards reviewed so far, some of the companies appear to have received $448,674 too much in tax credits, while a smaller group of businesses received $36,479 too little. That works out to a net total of $412,195 too much in excessive awards detected so far, according to a memo from Hogan to the budget and finance committee of the WEDC board. The next step is contacting the companies to confirm the mistakes and work out a solution, Hogan wrote. "The purpose of this review will be to confirm our employment numbers and assumptions, and also to work in a collaborative fashion with the awardee to determine the appropriate solution," Hogan wrote. WEDC spokesman Steve Michels said that in some cases the agency may be able to subtract excess credits from future awards that the companies earn. The mistakes will have to be handled on a case-by-case basis, he said. WEDC was created by Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers in July 2011 to replace the former state Department of Commerce. Since then, the agency has had to repeatedly tighten its financial controls in response to audits and news stories detailing problems with its awards and administration. Barca, who has proposed a number of changes to WEDC along with Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point), said that the report shows that WEDC officials and lawmakers have more work to do. Doretha Lock (center), the mother of Christopher Davis, who was shot to death by a sheriffs deputy, prays with his brother Rashi Davis and grandmother Marilyn Lock. More at jsonline.com/photos . Credit: John Klein By of the The family of a Milwaukee man shot to death by a Walworth County sheriff's deputy three months ago say they have yet to be provided with information about what led to the shooting. "All they know is what was reported in the press release by the media," Nate Hamilton of the Coalition for Justice said at a news conference Thursday evening at the grave of Christopher J. Davis in Graceland Cemetery. Davis, 21, was shot Feb. 24 while sitting in a car in the parking lot of Roma's Ristorante and Lounge in the village of East Troy during what the Walworth County Sheriff's Office called a drug investigation with village police. According to a news release from the Sheriff's Office, Deputy Juan Ortiz, 30, was assisting village police in the investigation and "discharged his department-issued firearm," striking Davis, after "the driver failed to follow commands" of officers. The driver took off, prompting a chase that reached speeds of more than 100mph before ending when the vehicle crashed in the area of Durham Place and Hidden Creek Court in Muskego. Two people who fled from the vehicle were arrested, according to the Sheriff's Office. Authorities have never identified them or said whether they were ever charged, citing an investigation of the shooting by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Davis was taken to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa after the crash and died a short time later, according to the Sheriff's Office. "Chris didn't mean any harm to anyone," Davis' sister Paulara Davis said of her brother, who had no criminal record. "He was not evil or conniving or out to get anyone." Ortiz, who has been with the sheriff's office since May 2012, was placed on administrative duty following the shooting. Justice Department spokesman Johnny Koremenos said Wednesday that the DCI wants Walworth County District Attorney Daniel A. Necci to have everything he needs to make a charging decision but could not estimate how long that will take. Hamilton, whose brother Dontre Hamilton, 31, was fatally shot by a Milwaukee police officer in 2014 in Red Arrow Park, said the coalition does not want to launch protests like those that erupted during the nearly nine-month investigation that followed his brother's death. "We ask that (authorities) reach out to his family," he said. "This family is willing to be respectful and patient," he said. "We don't want it to get to that point of civil disobedience and disruption." Kevin Hampton (left) and Greg Krueger hang a propaganda poster from World War I produced by the federal government's Committee on Public Information at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison. Credit: Mark Hoffman By of the Madison The artwork was not subtle, and it wasn't meant to be. The world was at war, and the U.S. government was trying to persuade Americans to support the conflict raging in Europe and enlist in the military. Before social media, cellphones, computers, television and radio, the government used posters, cinema newsreels and short speeches on street corners. Brightly colored posters of menacing German soldiers armed with bloody daggers, and standing over huddled women and children, were slapped to the sides of buildings, pasted on storefront windows, and tacked to sandwich boards in an effort to portray Germany as an enemy that must be defeated. Posters that demonized Germany, promoted military enlistment and encouraged Americans to buy war bonds are part of a new temporary exhibit, "The Art of Persuasion: Mobilizing the Masses in World War I," which opened Friday at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison. "I hope that it raises some questions about the nature of propaganda. It has a negative connotation, but one man's propaganda is another man's advertising campaign," said Michael Telzrow, director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. The exhibit features 30 posters from the museum's archives plus a re-creation of the office of U.S. Committee on Public Information that handled World War I propaganda. Visitors can also create their own World War I propaganda and share it through social media on a flat-screen computer. One recruiting poster shows a sailor astride a torpedo reminiscent of Slim Pickens riding a nuclear bomb in the film "Dr. Strangelove" and the words "Join the Navy. The Service for Fighting Men." Some posters portray the German enemy as bloodthirsty savages like "Halt the Hun! Buy U.S. Government Bonds" and "Beat Back the Hun with Liberty Bonds." One poster shows Germany's Chief of Staff Paul von Hindenburg standing in water on bodies perhaps signifying Lusitania victims while holding up a sword dripping in blood with the phrase, "Only the Navy Can Stop This." In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson had campaigned for re-election on staying out of the Great War a sentiment shared by an overwhelming majority of Americans. He eventually changed his opinion, believing America could no longer avoid the war and that it was an opportunity for the United States to assert its power on a global stage. Once Wilson changed his mind, he had to sell the war to the American people. "We see propaganda take on an unprecedented importance and influence in girding public opinion against the chosen enemy of the U.S.," said John Hall, a U.S. military history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The campaign worked, but at a cost. Millions of Americans fought in the war, including 122,000 from Wisconsin, and more than 100,000 lost their lives. At home, the propaganda campaign spawned an anti-immigrant backlash and censorship and repression of leftist elements of society from Americans whipped into a war fervor, Hall noted. "Propaganda is actually government advertising, it's the same craft that advertisers practice. Despite the resentment that followed the war, the effectiveness of this kind of advertising was more or less proved in World War I," said Hall, who teaches a survey of American military history at UW. The posters in the collection come from several donors and are in very good condition considering they were designed to last just a few weeks or months. Most World War I posters were thrown away or left outside to disintegrate. Only one of the posters is known to have been used in Milwaukee. "Join the Army Air Service. Be an American Eagle" shows a bald eagle, its sharp talons aimed toward an eagle with black feathers and red claws. The poster also explains that mechanics in 35 trades are wanted at the air service test trades board located in Milwaukee. At a time when literacy rates were lower and America was a melting pot of many nationalities, the posters were effective in conveying messages to people who might not read or understand English. It was also an age of new media and a visual revolution with the use of photos and color in posters, newspapers and movies, said Stephen Vaughn, a UW journalism professor who wrote his doctoral dissertation on World War I propaganda. One of the first steps the government took was to organize journalists and create the U.S. Committee on Public Information headed by a journalist named George Creel, who is featured in the museum exhibit. They, in turn, wrote pamphlets and four-minute speeches spoken on street corners. "I grew up in the Vietnam era where people were skeptical of government propaganda," said Vaughn. "But in 1917 there wasn't that skepticism, they were more willing to support something when the government said it was something worthy of support. This is really the first war where you had a large-scale group of propagandists working, not just in the U.S., but other countries to convince opinion." The exhibit runs through next March, when it will be replaced by an exhibit focusing on the centennial of America's entry in World War I in 1917. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is organizing an event in January featuring a glass slide show from World War I, re-creating what it was like to sit in an American theater during the war and see the government's propaganda effort. If you go The Wisconsin Veterans Museum, 33 W. Mifflin St., Madison, is free and open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Ryan Braun is congratulated by third base coach Ed Sedar after a home run against the Braves in the fifth inning at Turner Field. Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports By of the Atlanta The Milwaukee Brewers made their final visit to Turner Field a memorable one. Waiting out a 1-hour, 17-minute rain delay in the seventh inning, they got a decent start by Wily Peralta, more yeoman's work from the bullpen and just enough offense to complete their first-ever road sweep of the Atlanta Braves, 6-2, on Wednesday night. Peralta went 5 1/3 innings and drove in the Brewers' first two runs with a single, Ryan Braun and Jonathan Villar homered, and Jhan Marinez and Carlos Torres closed things out with 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief as Milwaukee closed out its road trip with a 3-3 mark. "I guess what I'm happiest about is we had a tough series in New York where we played well," said manager Craig Counsell, referring to a three-game sweep by the Mets. "To come out of that trip .500, to rebound from it and to continue to play well, (is great)." Peralta came into the night fully aware that he needed to turn in a solid outing with the Brewers' bullpen running on fumes following Wednesday's 13-inning marathon. A two-out, two-run homer in the first by Tyler Flowers put Peralta behind just four batters in, and the Braves held that lead until the fourth when Peralta of all people tied it up. Chris Carter led off the inning with a single and with one out, Aaron Hill doubled to center. After Alex Presley struck out, Atlanta intentionally walked Martin Maldonado to load the bases for Peralta, who was hitless in his first 15 at-bats of the season. On Matt Wisler's third pitch, Peralta dunked a single into shallow center to score both Carter and Hill, knotting the score at 2-2. "I was just trying to put the ball in play," Peralta said with a laugh. "I just was hoping he left something over the plate I could hit. I just didn't want to strike out in that situation. Milwaukee went ahead to stay in the fifth when Braun smoked a solo homer to left. Peralta stranded two in the fifth by getting Freddie Freeman to ground out, but his luck ran out in the sixth when Kelly Johnson singled and Jeff Francoeur doubled with one out as heavy rains began to fall. Counsell went with seldom-used Jhan Marinez and the right-hander got a strikeout and a flyout to deep center, with Kirk Nieuwenhuis making a tough running catch to end the frame. Peralta (3-5), meanwhile, allowed seven hits and two walks while striking out four in his 95-pitch effort. "Yesterday was a long game and I knew that I had to go out there and really perform well and go as deep as I can," he said. "Just 5 1/3 wasn't as long as I wanted to go, but at least I was able to step up after the first inning." Villar cranked a first-pitch homer off Braves reliever Ian Krol his first round-tripper since opening day with one out in the seventh to up Milwaukee's lead to 4-2, but one batter later the tarp was pulled and the game delayed as the deluge continued. Play resumed with Braun taking a seat for precautionary reasons in favor of Keon Broxton and Marinez still on the mound. Marinez loaded the bases with two outs before getting Johnson to ground out to end the frame. "Jhan came into about as tough a situation as you can come into and got out of it," Counsell said. "That was a great job." The Brewers got some rare breathing room in the ninth. Maldonado led off with a double and was bunted up to third by Ramon Flores. The Braves put Villar on to set up lefty Hunter Cervenka against Scooter Gennett, but Counsell countered with Hernan Perez and he delivered a two-run triple to right-center to up the lead to 6-2. That cushion ended the Brewers' run of 11 consecutive games decided by two or fewer runs, which was a Milwaukee team record. "We didn't have a two-run game tonight. I just realized that," Counsell said with a laugh. "The streak is broken. We'll take it." Torres overcame some saturated baseballs to finish the game out in the ninth, earning his second save in as many games on a night when all the Brewers' primary late-inning relievers were unavailable. Thanks to Marinez and Torres, Milwaukee's collective bullpen ERA dropped to 1.52 since May 6. "Our team's been playing hard," said Torres, who had two career saves before joining the Brewers, both with the Mets in 2014. "We're going to come out hard every single day, and hopefully stuff like this keeps happening for the team." SHARE Raechell Thuot Handout photo Banking Prospera Credit Union hired Jerry Ramus as vice president, commercial lending. Communication GMR Marketing promoted Raechell Thuot to vice president of strategy and hired Julie Garcia-Sotak as director of strategy. The Roberts Group, Waukesha, promoted Julia Hansch to senior account executive. Wisconsin Law Journal and TheDaily Reporter hired David T. Sherman as president/publisher. Construction Greenfire Management Services hired Eric Anderson as superintendent. Financial services Isthmus Partners, Madison, added Noel D. Goeddel as portfolio manager. Food production Sargento named Bill Bartnik vice president of manufacturing, operations division, and hired Cami Schenck as senior digital marketing manager and Phill Murphy as category insights manager. Health care Children's Hospital of Wisconsin named Catherine M. Burns vice president, network strategy and development. Insurance Integrity Insurance, Appleton, hired Julie Scharschmidt as commercial lines underwriting manager and promoted Pat Hughes to commercial field underwriter. McClone, Menasha, hired Kyle Peterson as a strategic risk adviser. Willis Towers Watson, Brookfield, added Traci Licari. Manufacturing Phillips-Medisize appointed Richard Even as general manager, medical campus, Menomonie. Professional services Collins Engineers, Milwaukee, appointed Tom M. Collins to executive vice president; Terence Browne to vice president, safety; Glenn Gerschke to senior vice president, division manager west; and Mark Mutziger to vice president, regional manager. Foley & Lardner, Milwaukee, added Dana Lach. R.A. Smith National promoted Brad Severson to project manager. Weiss Berzowski, Milwaukee, added Ellen R. Travis as a paralegal, estate planning team. New Faces New Places is about personnel changes at Wisconsin businesses. Email items to jsbiz@journalsentinel.com, using the subject line "New Faces New Places." Please include identities with each photo submitted. By , Wisconsin Rapids A brother of the owner of a historic Dick Trickle "Purple Knight" 1970 Ford Mustang apparently sold the race car without permission to a buyer who also was trying to sell the car, police said Thursday. Investigators found the car Wednesday in Grand Rapids. The owner of the car reported the stock car stolen on Monday from an abandoned barn in the town of Marshfield in which it had been stored, Wood County Sheriff's Department Capt. Quentin Ellis said. An investigator learned the vehicle had been sold by the owner's brother, Patrick J. Langreck, 50, of Marshfield, Ellis said. Langreck had access to the race car, but he did not have permission to sell it, Ellis said. Investigators were able to find the car after information was provided about the buyer who was trying to sell it on the classified ad website wheelerdealer.co. The person who purchased the car from Patrick Langreck did not know he wasn't buying it from the owner, Ellis said. Investigators are working to determine who will get the car, Ellis said. The car's owner, Leslie Langreck, said the case now is in the hands of the court system. Leslie Langreck previously told a reporter that he and another brother, Kenneth Langreck, had gone to the Marshfield property on May 20 to begin restoration on the car but discovered it was missing. In the mid-1970s, Don Engelbrecht, an advertising manager for SuperAmerica, formed the Knights racing team as a way to promote the gas stations. In 1974, Trickle became the Purple Knight and joined Tom Reffner of Rudolph, the Blue Knight, and John Boegeman of Shakopee, Minn., the Black Knight. A year later, Trickle became the White Knight. Trickle went on to become a veteran of the Winston Cup and Busch circuits at the NASCAR level. The Wisconsin racing legend started 303 NASCAR races, finishing in the top 15 five times, before he committed suicide in 2013 at the age of 71. The Wood County Sheriff's Department is requesting the Wood County District Attorney's Office file a charge of theft against Patrick Langreck, Ellis said. SHARE By of the Milwaukee police released a composite sketch Thursday of a man wanted for a sexual assault on the city's north side. The 23-year old victim was attacked in the area of N. 47th and W. Locust streets about 2 a.m. May 21, according to a news release from the Milwaukee Police Department. The man is described as 20- to 30-years-old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, with a heavy build, dark complexion and a large face. He was armed with a black handgun. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Milwaukee Police Department Sensitive Crimes Division at (414) 935-7405. Cari Taylor-Carlson (center), checks a map before a final hike with the Walking & Eating Society. Credit: John Klein The Milwaukee Walking & Eating Society will walk and eat no more. Someone should keep this great idea going now that Cari Taylor-Carlson has disbanded the club she founded in 1992. You don't have to be coordinated enough to walk and eat at the same time. You walk as a group through a particular neighborhood for an hour or more, and then you eat at a restaurant in that same neighborhood. Cari organized these stroll-and-sup gatherings most every week for the past 25 years. As an adventure travel guide and author of books on walking and eating in Milwaukee, she was the perfect person to do it. "I thought it would be fun to find a way for people to meet, to get together, to make new friends. I love to walk and I love to eat and I like to explore the little ethnic restaurants. So I thought let's just give it a try," said Cari, who lives on the east side. A blurb about it in the newspaper back then triggered a landslide of 300 people wanting to join. Cari accepted 100 members to start and then increased the pool to 250, though she limited the number on any given outing to a couple dozen. Some of these small restaurants couldn't seat more than that. Beginning in May 1992, the first few restaurants they visited were Al Calderone Club on Bartlett Ave., Samano's in Cudahy, M&M Club on Water St., and Bangkok Kitchen on North Ave. The society has outlasted many of the restaurants where its members ate. Cari lists some of her favorite places as Chez Jacques, Cafe at the Plaza, Thai-Namite, North Avenue Grill, El Canaveral and Kil@Wat. I went along for the final meeting of the Milwaukee Walking & Eating Society last Saturday. Sixteen of us hiked the trails of Riveredge Nature Center near Saukville, and then sat down to patty melts at the nearby Firehouse Restaurant. It was customary for everyone to get the same entree for dinner or brunch, usually at a price of $10 to $16 (drinks extra), plus the annual membership fee of $25. Betty White, a retired accountant living in Riverwest, was around from the dawn of the society. "I hate to see it go. But in truth since the first of the year I think I've only done a couple of them. I don't know why. Things get in the way," she said. In a nutshell, that's why the end has come. Membership dwindled to 25, and too often only a few people were signing up, causing Cari to cancel. "Many older members no longer drive at night. And, unfortunately, there is an increasing reluctance to walk in some of the neighborhoods where we have walked and dined in the past," Cari said. But none of that diminishes the satisfaction so many enjoyed from exploring various parts of town, often for the first time. They admired the architecture and gardens, chatted with the locals, looked in shop windows. And then, with exercise leading to increased appetite, they dined at charming little places discovered by Cari. "We never went to franchises," said Scott Kuehn, a retired probation agent and longtime member who joined Saturday's finale along with his wife, Luz, and her sister, Ruth. "We went to locally owned, single proprietor type places, which I like because they're interesting." We're not talking power walking here. "Many times we just meander," said Sandy Stetter, also a retiree and the only member at Saturday's gathering wearing the society's official T-shirt. "We've walked in the rain," Cari said. "We've walked in the snow. We've walked on the ice. We never let the weather stop us. Only once in 25 years. It was in the wintertime and it was like minus-80 wind chill factor. I canceled." Betty recalls another bitterly cold day when the group spent 45 minutes walking the aisles of a south side grocery store before going to eat. Cari is busy promoting her new book, "Life on the Loose: My Journey from Suburban Housewife to Outdoor Guide." And she is organizing a new group, Venturing Out, that will eat, yes, but also kayak, bike, visit beer gardens and find other new adventures. She stood and made a short speech at the final lunch following the final walk. "What I mostly want to say is thank you all for being so loyal for so many years," she said. "It's been a good run." Call Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or email at jstingl@jrn.com. Connect with my public page at Facebook.com/Journalist.Jim.Stingl SHARE By of the The average total cost of health care for the typical family of four will top $25,000 this year. That projection from the annual Milliman Medical Index includes the average cost of health insurance paid by employers and employees, as well as deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for the most common type of health plan. The total cost $25,826 this year may prompt disbelief. But few people realize what their employer spends to provide health benefits or the potential cost of deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses if someone in a family has a serious illness or even a series of relatively minor mishaps. "A lot of people are sheltered from the true cost of health care, despite the fact that they are paying more than in the past," said Scott Weltz, a principal and consulting actuary who works out of Milliman's office in Brookfield. They are paying much more: The Milliman Medical Index has more than tripled since its first year in 2001. The index is no more than a gauge, and actual costs vary. Most people, for instance, are fortunate enough not to have high out-of-pocket costs in a given year. But it makes clear the total cost of health care spending for the typical family. "It is shocking it's heart stopping," said Paul Hughes-Cromwick, co-director of the Center for Sustainable Health Spending at Altarum Institute, a nonprofit research and consulting organization in Ann Arbor, Mich. That's especially true when compared with the median U.S. income of $83,414 for a family of four in 2014. The Milliman Medical Index tracks only people who get health insurance through an employer. Total health care spending is even higher, largely because it includes people over 65, who have higher health care expenses. With those costs included, the United States spent an average of $9,523 per person on health care in 2014, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That works out to an average of $38,092 for a family of four and spending was projected to increase 4.9% a year through 2024. The largest share of health care costs is borne in the form of lower wages and taxes. An employee's total compensation includes what his or her employer spends on health insurance and that accounts for an increasing share of total compensation. One of the reasons that workers have seen smaller raises for more than a decade is the increase in the cost of health benefits. The Milliman Medical Index estimates that employers will spend an average of $14,793 this year to provide health benefits for a family of four. Few people, though, are aware of the magnitude of their employer's contribution. "That makes it hard for people to get their heads around the total costs," said Sue Hart, a principal and consulting actuary in Milliman's office in Houston. At the same time, employees are bearing a larger share of total costs through higher deductibles, coinsurance and other out-of-pocket costs. The Milliman Medical Index estimated that a family of four will incur an average of $4,316 in out-of-pocket expenses this year, on top of paying $6,717 for their share of the insurance premium. The good news is the 4.7% increase in the index this year is the lowest since 2001 and the increase would have been much lower were it not for a sharp increase in the prices of prescription drugs, particularly specialty drugs that can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year. Prescription drugs now account for almost 17% of total health care spending. "They are becoming a bigger and bigger piece of health care costs," Hart said. The index doesn't include rebates from pharmaceutical companies, Milliman acknowledged, and may overstate the total cost for this reason. The increase in prescription drug prices shows one of the challenges in controlling health care costs: New costs have a way of emerging. But the smaller annual increases in the index suggest that the U.S. health care system is becoming more efficient. "That should be the headline," said Hughes-Cromwick of the Altarum Institute. "The underlying trend has been incredibly positive." Total health care spending also has grown at a much slower rate in recent years. That said, the rate of growth has yet to fall below the growth in the economy or inflation or wages. "So, really, sustainability still is a concern," Weltz said. Reddit Email 0 Shares TeleSur | = = Human rights group BTselem said it will continue to document human rights violations carried out by Israel and to report on them. The Israeli human rights organization BTselem announced it will no longer refer complaints of abuses carried out by Israeli soldiers to Israeli military courts because the system is a whitewash mechanism which acts only to cover up unlawful acts and protect perpetrators. 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 organization said in a letter sent to the Israeli army. For the past 25 years the organization has filed complaints on behalf of Palestinian victims of abuse by the Israeli security forces and Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. But the organization says the Military Police Investigations Unit has looked into only 25 out of the 739 cases referred by the group since 2000. However, BTselem also said it will continue to document human rights violations carried out by Israel and to report on them, the group said it also will coordinate meetings between Military Police investigators, victims and Palestinian witnesses, and acquire various documents for the investigatory authorities. BTselem ended its cooperation agreements with the Israeli military in 2014, following the last military offensive against Gaza, which lasted 50 days and left 2,140 Palestinians dead and wreaked huge destruction on the enclave. Related video added by Juan Cole: Btselem: Militarys law enforcement system as whitewash: Killing of Lubna al-Hanash Reddit Email 0 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | Agence France Presse got the scoop on Thursday, with their reporters in Fatisa just 19 miles from Daesh territory in northern al-Raqqa Province, Syria saying they saw some 20 US special operations troops embedded with leftist Kurdish YPG units and wearing YPG insignia. (The latter move is to prevent friendly fire incidents, signaling to the Kurds that despite their foreign appearance, they are white hats). The AFP report says that the troops are engaged in combat and are not just in a support role. For instance, they are said to be firing anti-tank munitions at Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) car bombs, detonating them before they can be deployed against the advancing YPG. The Pentagon maintained, when asked about the AFP story and pictures, that the US troops are there solely in a training and support mission and are not engaged in combat. A spokesman explained of the YPG insignia that special operations troops dress idiosyncratically, in this case in order to blend in. Some observers expressed fears of backlash from Turkey over the insignia issue, since Ankara considers the YPG to be a terrorist organization on the model of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The US agrees that the PKK is terroristic, but puts the YPG in a different category. Personally, I doubt if Turkey will be more angered than it already is. The US hasnt signed on to President Erdogans attempt to overthrow al-Assad by allying with hard line jihadis. And Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has been very public about his belief that the Syrian Kurds and their Arab allies are the only effective fighting forces capable of taking on Daesh, and Turkey will just have to lump it. - Related video: Wochit News: U.S. Troops Near ISIS Capital VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 27, 2016) - Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE: EXK) (TSX: EDR) announces that at yesterday's Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, shareholders voted in favour of all items of business, including the re-election of each director nominee. A total of 58,802,520 million votes were submitted by proxy, representing 54.34% of the outstanding common shares as of the record date. The following is a tabulation of the votes submitted by proxy: Director Votes for Votes withheld Percent for Percent withheld Ricardo M. Campoy 24,270,814 429,293 98.26% 1.74% Bradford J. Cooke 24,261,572 438,535 98.22% 1.78% Geoffrey A. Handley 23,788,421 911,686 96.31% 3.69% Rex J. McLennan 24,278,219 421,888 98.29% 1.71% Kenneth Pickering 24,226,441 473,666 98.08% 1.92% Mario D. Szotlender 23,710,923 989,184 96.00% 4.00% Godfrey J. Walton 23,783,343 916,764 96.29% 3.71% Shareholders also voted in favour of re-appointing KPMG LLP as auditors, and to authorize the Board of Directors to fix the auditor's remuneration for the ensuing year. At the Board of Directors meeting following the AGM, Geoff Handley was re-appointed Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee; Rex McLennan was re-appointed Chair of the Audit Committee; Ricardo Campoy was re-appointed Chair of the Compensation Committee; and Ken Pickering was appointed Chair of the Sustainability Committee. In addition, Ken Pickering was appointed a member of the Audit Committee. About Endeavour - Endeavour Silver is a mid-tier precious metals mining company that owns three high grade, underground, silver-gold mines in Mexico. Since start-up in 2004, the company has grown its mining operations to produce 11.4 million ounces of silver and equivalents in 2015. We find, build and operate quality silver mines in a sustainable way to create real value for all stakeholders. Endeavour Silver's shares trade on the TSX (symbol EDR) and on the NYSE (symbol EXK). VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - May 27, 2016) - Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX VENTURE: MMS) (the "Company" or "Macarthur Minerals") is pleased to announce that: it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Venturex Resources Limited ("VXR") to enter into a Farm-in and Joint Venture Agreement ("FJVA") for rights to lithium on VXR's Sulphur Springs Project ("Suphur Springs"), in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which is contiguous with some of the Company's Exploration Licence Applications. if pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralisation is identified at Sulphur Springs, it will allow for exploration and drilling for lithium to be fast tracked on that acreage, as the majority of the Sulphur Springs acreage comprises granted Mining Leases. assay results from the initial heliborne reconnaissance sampling of pegmatites is encouraging and confirms the presence of moderately to strongly fractionated rare element pegmatites within three of the Company's Exploration Licence Applications. These results are positive, support the Company's exploration targeting model, and justify ongoing assessment of the project tenements. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH VENTUREX RESOURCES LIMITED The Company (through its 100% owned subsidiary Macarthur Lithium Pty Ltd) and VXR (through its 100% owned subsidiary Venturex Sulphur Springs Pty Ltd) have entered into a MOU that will serve as a framework for entering into a FJVA for exploring for lithium at Sulphur Springs for further development. The key terms of the MOU are: the Company and VXR will negotiate and enter into a FJVA for lithium rights on the Sulphur Springs acreage within 3 months. entry into the FJVA is conditional upon the Company conducting due diligence within two months to confirm that Sulphur Springs is prospective for lithium. the Company will earn into 51% of the rights for lithium on Sulphur Springs by paying expenditure over a period of time, thereafter the FJVA will be a contributing joint venture 51% Macarthur and 49% VXR. the amount of the Company's expenditure to earn 51% is to be negotiated following completion of due diligence by the Company. the Company will manage the FJVA and will be paid a project management fee upon the forming of a contributing joint venture. The FJVA is subject to regulatory and TSX-V approval, if required. Sulphur Springs Sulphur Springs covers approximately 108 square kilometres (26,687 acres) of Mining Leases, an Exploration Licence application and Miscellaneous Licenses for haul road access into the project area. Sulphur Springs covers a northeast-southwest trending faulted geological contact between mafic rocks and folded sediments where the Archean greenstones and volcaniclastic rocks are folded around the intrusive Strelley Granite batholith. The acreage covers an area of potential host rock sequences ('greenstone belts') for Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum ("LCT") class of pegmatites and is located within 5-10km of a monzogranite intrusion (Strelley batholith), which may be the magmatic source for LCT pegmatites. The Sulphur Springs acreage is adjacent to Macarthur's exploration licence applications E45/4735, E45/4732 and E45/4779 (see Figure 1). The majority of the acreage is comprised of granted Mining Leases M45/653, M45/494, M45/587 and M45/1001, which will allow for drilling and exploration activities for lithium to be fast-tracked. VXR has conducted reverse circulation (RC) drilling for zinc-copper across the Sulphur Springs acreage, which has generated a geochemical database and the opportunity to resample existing drill spoil and RC drill chips for lithium or lithium pathfinder elements. Many of Macarthur's Exploration Licence Applications and VXR's Sulphur Springs acreage is adjacent to acreage of Australian iron ore producer, Atlas Iron Limited ("Atlas"). Atlas' Managing Director, David Flanagan, speaking to CNBC at the Resources' Rising Stars Conference on Wednesday May 26, 2016, said: "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."1 Atlas announced in its May 2016 Investor Presentation that it held "prospective tenure in zones of known world-class lithium-tantalum deposits"2 in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. ASSAY RESULTS FROM INITIAL HELIBORNE RECONAISSANCE As previously announced, the Company has completed its initial heliborne reconnaissance across a portion of its acreage in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Assay results from the initial heliborne reconnaissance sampling of pegmatites located within three of the Company's Exploration Licence Applications (E45/4702, E45/4711 and E45/4748) are encouraging. The low K/Rb ratios (9 to 98) from whole rock assays confirms that some of the pegmatites sampled are moderately to strongly fractionated, indicating the potential for locating lithium mineralised pegmatites. (K/Rb is the ratio of potassium to rubidium, which is one of the indices used to indicate the fractionation state of pegmatites. Low ratios indicate greater fractionation -- LCT type pegmatites are strongly to extremely fractionated). The assays from four samples (PLR06_1-4) of a strongly fractionated pegmatite sampled within E45/4702 confirm the presence of up to 2,000ppm Li 2 O within lithium muscovite and the samples contain elevated Cs (up to 1248ppm) Nb (up to 244ppm), Ta (up to 700ppm), Sn (up to 477ppm), Ga (up to 349ppm) and Be (up to 18ppm). Another sample (PLR019) from a pegmatite within E70/4702 returned 235ppm Be. A sample (PLR033) of moderately fractionated quartz-feldspar-muscovite pegmatite from E45/4711 returned a maximum result of 239ppm Li 2 O and a moderately fractionated pegmatitic granite (PLR039) located with E45/4748 contains weakly elevated Li 2 O (112ppm). These results are encouraging and warrant further assessment. Given the short nature of the initial reconnaissance trip and the large acreage holding, the Company is confident in locating lithium-bearing pegmatites and is currently working through the exploration strategy designed to locate economic pegmatite deposits in the company's tenement portfolio. Reconnaissance, including sampling, was only conducted on seven of the Company's 16 Exploration License Applications in the Pilbara and did not include all areas contained in those applications (figure 2). In essence, the initial reconnaissance program only assessed the lithium potential of a fraction of the Company's acreage package. Lithium Strategy The Company's strategy is to apply for prospective acreage proximate to known lithium occurrences or where there are either producing lithium mines or lithium mines under development. Consistent with this strategy, the Company has applied for acreage in the Pilbara region where Pilbara Minerals Limited has its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project for which it recently raised A$100 million for further development3 and Dakota Minerals Limited has its Lynas Find Project for which it recently raised A$12.3 million to conduct further exploration4. The Company has also applied for acreage in the Ravensthorpe region where Galaxy Resources Limited has commenced production for spodumene and tantalum concentrate at its Mt Cattlin project. Macarthur is currently evaluating its acreage and commencing discussions with various third parties concerning potential joint ventures to maximise the exploration effort throughout 2016. The Company has undertaken an extensive review of geological datasets for available acreage prospective for lithium in Western Australia based on geological attributes referred to above. That review indicates that available acreage in Western Australia having those geological attributes is becoming scarce. Acreage Package The Company now holds 20 Exploration Licence Applications and prospective interest in rights to lithium on Sulphur Springs covering a total area of 1,545 square kilometres (381,778 acres) in the Pilbara Craton, and in the Ravensthorpe and the Edah regions of the Yilgarn Craton. ABOUT VENTUREX RESOURCES LIMITED VXR is a resource company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: VXR) focused on becoming a significant copper-zinc producer through the development of its two advanced copper zinc projects; Sulphur Springs Project and the Whim Creek Project located in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia. ABOUT CSA GLOBAL As previously announced on February 15, 2016, the Company appointed CSA Global Pty Ltd ("CSA Global") as independent global lithium and mining exploration experts to assist it in project development. CSA Global is a leading geological, mining and management consulting company whose staff includes geologists, mining engineers, project managers, data management professionals, and technical personnel. CSA Global has been operating from Perth, Western Australia since 1986. It is an independent company, with origins dating back to 1984 as part of the CSA Group founded in Ireland. CSA Global now has offices in the UK, Indonesia, Johannesburg, Vancouver, Darwin, and Brisbane. CSA has a high level of expertise in most mineral commodities gained from over twenty years' experience within the exploration and mining industry at an international level. It has experience in all stages of the mining cycle from project generation to production. For further information regarding CSA Global, please refer to the company website at www.csaglobal.com. Dr Andrew Scogings MSc, PhD, MAIG, MAusIMM, has more than 30 years of experience in industrial minerals exploration, geology, mining, product development, and marketing. During his time with CSA, he has undertaken project management and technical advice for a diverse range of industrial minerals exploration and mining projects including lithium, graphite, chromite, potash, mineral sands, silica, and REE in Australia, Africa, Greenland, Indonesia and Norway. Andrew is a regular contributor to Industrial Minerals Magazine (UK), SME Mining Engineering (USA) and Geobulletin (RSA) having published several papers on the requirements of JORC 2012 Clause 49, highlighting the need to report industrial minerals resources according to market specifications. Andrew was lead author for Industrial Minerals Research's recently published 'Natural Graphite Report - Strategic outlook to 2020.' He is a member of the AIG and AusIMM and is a Registered Professional Geoscientist (RP Geo.) specializing in industrial minerals. Mr Ralph Porter MSc, BSc (Geology), MAIG, MSEG is a geologist with over 35 years of mineral exploration experience. He is highly experienced in target generation, project evaluation and exploration program implementation for gold, base metals, tantalum, nickel and PGM's. He has a strong understanding of many deposit styles with particular strength in orogenic gold, epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold systems. He is credited with the discovery of the Pajingo epithermal gold deposits, North Queensland, Australia and was involved in the early exploration and discovery phases of Thunder Bay North PGM-Ni-Cu deposit, Ontario, Canada. Ralph was Special Projects Manager for Sons of Gwalia in Western Australia for nearly 10 years, which included responsibility for tantalum exploration (hosted within pegmatites and other deposit styles) for 5 years. ABOUT PROFESSOR KEN COLLERSON Professor Collerson a member of the Company's Lithium Advisory Board, who has more than 40 years' experience as a geoscientist. He will provide a significant depth of knowledge and breadth of lithium experience to the Company that is unsurpassed. Professor Collerson is a world leading authority on the geology and geochemistry of strategic metal mineralization including lithium. He has significant experience with LCT (lithium-caesium-tantalum) spodumene-bearing pegmatites and has worked extensively in the Pilbara region where the Company's acreage is located in Western Australia. Most recently Ken worked on a hard rock lithium project in the Jarkvissle area of Sweden. Professor Collerson believes that the Company's acreage in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is highly prospective for lithium. Professor Collerson has a PhD from the University of Adelaide and is an internationally recognized thought leader in the geosciences. He has published extensively and his work is highly cited. QUALIFIED PERSONS Mr. Porter, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is a full-time employee of CSA Global and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Porter has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. Scogings, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Registered Professional Geoscientist (Industrial Minerals), is a full-time employee of CSA Global and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Scogings has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. Professor Kenneth D. Collerson is a Fellow of the AusIMM, is a member of the Lithium Advisory Board of Macarthur and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Professor Collerson has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED (TSX VENTURE: MMS) Macarthur Minerals Limited is an exploration and development company that is focused on identifying and developing high grade lithium and counter cyclical investments that complement Macarthur's capabilities. On behalf of the Board of Directors, MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED "Cameron McCall" Cameron McCall, Chairman THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES 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. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including whether the Transaction will be completed. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals, the reliability of information, including historical mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. 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 no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in exchange rates and certain commodity prices, uncertainties related to mineral title in the project, unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron ore demand or substitution by other metals or materials, the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron ore, uncertainty in successfully returning the project into full operation, and the general level of global economic activity. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 1 Nyshka Chandran @nyshkac, Australian lithium miners in focus on rising global demand for electric vehicles http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/25/australian-lithium-miners-in-focus-on-rising-global-demand-for-electric-vehicles.html 2 http://www.atlasiron.com.au/irm/PDF/5868/May2016InvestorPresentation 3 Pilbara Minerals Limited's ASX announcement dated April 7, 2016, http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20160407/pdf/436cb822nflw3w.pdf 4 Dakota Minerals Limited's ASX announcement dated May 2, 2016, http://www.asx.com.au/asx/statistics/displayAnnouncement.do?display=pdf&idsId=01736822 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 27, 2016) - CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQB: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N), is pleased to report that it has optioned two claim groups for diamond exploration to Fjordland Exploration Inc. The two claims comprising 449 hectares and 2045 hectares respectively, were recently staked by the Company, and are located east of the claims CanAlaska optioned to De Beers Canada Inc. in the Northwestern Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan (see May 18, 2016 news release). The option deals with De Beers and Fjordland collectively comprise eighty-four (84) kimberlite-style targets. To view an enhanced version of the Athabasca Diamond Projects, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2864/20807_canalaska1enhanced.jpg The claims optioned to Fjordland cover anomalous magnetic response targets identified on the Saskatchewan's Governments airborne magnetics survey completed in 2011. Claim MC00004307 has two prominent magnetic targets. Claim MC00004306 has seven prominent targets. For a 100% interest in the claims, CanAlaska will receive a cash payment of $50,000 of which $5,000 has been received, and the balance payable on the anniversary date of the Agreement. Fjordland will also issue to CanAlaska 4 million shares on TSX Venture Exchange 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 priority 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. The terms of the Agreement are subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. West Carswell and Alberta 100% Owned Diamond Projects In addition to the properties optioned to De Beers and Fjordland, the Company holds the West Carswell and Alberta Diamond projects. These two large properties, comprising over 200,000 acres, are immediately northeast of a group of kimberlite indicator minerals (KIM) discovered in the McKay -McMurray Field in Alberta. The KIMs are down-ice from CanAlaskas properties; their source has yet to be discovered. To view an enhanced version of the West Carswell and Alberta Projects 2011 Airborne Survey, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2864/20807_canalaska2enhanced.jpg West Carswell Project CanAlaskas diamond-shaped West Carswell project is located approximately 10 km west of the Cluff Lake uranium mine, and encompasses 6 discrete line magnetic anomalies derived from the 2011 Saskatchewan geological survey. These six targets exhibit discrete magnetic lows and are characteristic of magnetic features intruding the thick sequence of Athabasca sandstone lying above the southern portion of the Rae craton. Alberta Diamond Project CanAlaska holds an additional 184,320 acres (73,728 ha) of mineral claims in neighbouring Alberta where wide-spaced airborne magnetic surveys have been completed. These surveys show circular magnetic anomalies similar to those recognized from the Saskatchewan survey data. Of special interest are at least two kimberlite style anomalies within the Alberta project in an area where the Saskatchewan and Alberta surveys overlap as shown on figure 2. The confirmation of these two targets and the recognition of anomalous features from the earlier wide-spaced Alberta survey data, indicates that the clusters of kimberlite-style features noted in Saskatchewan may continue into Alberta. Discussions are underway with parties who may be able to assist the Company to further develop these targets. For more information about CanAlaskas Athabasca kimberlite project visit http://www.canalaska.com/s/AthabascaKimberliteProject.asp?ReportID=740492 About CanAlaska Uranium CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. (TSXV: CVV) (OTCQB: CVVUF) (FSE: DH7N) holds interests in approximately 700,000 hectares (1.7 million acres), one of the largest land positions in Canadas Athabasca Basin region the "Saudi Arabia of Uranium. CanAlaskas strategic holdings has attracted major international mining companies Cameco, Denison, KORES, KEPCO, and the De Beers Group of Companies, as partners at its core projects. CanAlaska is a project generator and is positioned for discovery success in the worlds richest uranium district. For further information visit www.canalaska.com. The qualified technical person for this news release is Dr Karl Schimann, P. Geo, VP Exploration, for CanAlaska. On behalf of the Board of Directors Peter Dasler Peter Dasler, M.Sc., P.Geo. President & CEO CanAlaska Uranium Ltd. Contacts: Peter Dasler President Tel: +1.604.688.3211 x 138 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. John Gomez Corporate Development Tel: +1.604.484.7118 Email : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The TSX-V has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release: CUSIP# 13708P 10 2. JURIST Guest Columnist Christina Alam of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law discusses the negative effect corporate mergers have on preserving American jobs While some public figures paint horror stories of how immigrants steal American jobs, subtler, but yet powerful forces leave thousands of American employees jobless. These forces are corporate restructuring and downsizing. And the 2015 merger of two iconic brands Kraft and Heinz is a good example of this phenomenon. The two companies announced their merger in March 2015 backed by two affluent groups of investors: for Heinz, Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway, and for Kraft, Brazilian venture capital fund 3G Capital. With an estimated $10 billion from these investors, the merger was supposed to generate significant synergies in what would become the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world. But in reality, synergy was just a euphemism for severe cost cutting. As was the case with other past acquisitions, 3G Capitals modus operandi was to introduce aggressive cost reduction policies as a way to improve profitability. The core of these policies was zero-based budgeting, where the management had to justify its expenses every single year as if no money had existed the previous year. Other policies were more far-reaching such as massive reductions in the work force and complete closure of unprofitable manufacturing lines while other policies were almost beyond belief such as requiring permission to make color photocopies and counting how much paper and soap employees used. Generally, the gist of 3G Capitals strategies fits well within the words of Gary Stibel, the founder of the New England Consulting Group, whose clients have included both Kraft and Heinz: When [3G Capital] see[s] something that isnt working, [it] eliminate[s] it. The empirical evidence of this hypothesis followed in November 2015, the management announced the plan to close seven of its facilities that would eliminate 2,600 jobs in the U.S. and Canada. The question arises whether there are legal ways to stop this process. Unfortunately, under the well-established business judgment rule, courts will not second-guess the policies and tactics of corporate management, unless there is self-dealing, conflict of interest, or illegality. Most states, however, modified this rule by enacting constituency statutes [PDF]. These are the laws aimed to allow the board of publicly traded corporations to consider an expanded group of interests when making decisions on behalf of the corporation or, more precisely, decisions concerning the course of the corporations business. Specifically, these statutes authorize corporations to consider interests of different corporate constituencies [PDF] besides merely shareholders, and thus shield corporate management from liability if the management sacrificed shareholders interests to interests of other constituencies. Baron v. Strawbridge & Clothier well demonstrates the benefit of the constituency statutes. In that case, Ronald Baron, a Strawbridge & Clothiers shareholder, attempted to cause several bidders to target the company in order to inflate the company stock price, so that Baron could later sell his shares at a premium. After Strawbridge & Clothier adopted a series of anti-takeover measures, Baron challenged the boards actions. The court, however, found that the management adopted the measures to keep the family business nature of the corporation intact and to protect its employees from potential downsizing, and therefore dismissed the action. The court also noted that the management acted in good faith and with due care, and that it was proper for the management to turn down the hostile bidders offer, instead considering the interests of the companys employees, customers and community. Although the decision does not expressly mention the constituency statute, it impliedly endorses the extension of the business judgment rule to consider the interests of non-shareholder constituencies. Unfortunately, the situation described in Baron v. Strawbridge & Clothier is only one side of the coin. While the constituency statutes help keeping local jobs when the corporate board itself desires to protect the jobs, the statutes are toothless in making the board consider such interests, when the board is unwilling to do so. The reason behind it is that most constituency statutes are only permissive [PDF], i.e., the board has a right, but not an obligation, to consider the interests of different groups. Although the state of Connecticut initially passed a constituency statute that required the board to consider the interests of all corporate constituencies, the law was later amended to reflect permissive standard. More importantly, non-shareholder constituencies do not even have standing to sue the board for failure to consider their interests or for the breach of fiduciary duties. For example, in Dugan v. Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby, Inc. [PDF], the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that the duty of the board to act in the best interests of the corporation may not be enforced directly by a shareholder or by any other person or group. Therefore, due to the lack of any enforcing mechanisms [PDF], corporate constituencies can only rely on the pure and not self-serving intentions of the corporate board. Back to the Kraft Heinz merger Did the merger affect employees? Most certainly: 5 percent of Kraft employees have already lost their jobs and more are yet to come. Kraft executives also felt the hit 10 out of 12 Kraft top executives are not joining the new Kraft Heinz. Consequently, the merger negatively affected Kraft employees on all levels. Answering the question if the employees have any remedies, we have to admit that they do not. Kraft employees are unable to change the course of events simply because they do not have an opportunity to challenge Kraft CEO Cahills decision to merge with Heinz. Likewise, Heinz employees were unable to challenge 3G Capital acquisition of Heinz in 2013. However, in both the 3G Capital acquisition of Heinz and the Heinz acquisition of Kraft, these constituencies paid the most in the course of merger. While it might be too late for Pennsylvania and Illinois employees, there are other corporations that can be new targets of aggressive merger and acquisition strategies as employed by 3G Capital. Therefore, states should consider whether it is time to revisit constituency statutes to make them actually workable by providing different corporate constituencies with standing to challenge major corporate changes. Christina Alam received her J.D. (2016) and LL.M. (2013) Degrees from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Her main focus of studies was International and Comparative Law. Christina was a staffer at the Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law and Policy and obtained corporate law experience interning for public utility company Duquesne Light. Christina thanks Professor Peter Oh of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law for his supervision over the research for this article. Suggested citation: Christina Alam,What the Kraft and Heinz Merger Teaches Us About Protecting American Jobs, JURIST Student Commentary, May 27, 2016, http://jurist.org/dateline/2016/05/christina-alam-kraft-heinz.php. This article was prepared for publication by Dave Rodkey, an Assistant Editor for JURIST Commentary service. Please direct any questions or comments to him at commentary@jurist.org Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] published a policy statement [text; PDF] on Wednesday calling for the decriminalization of sex workers [press release]. Stating that, [s]ex workers are at heightened risk of a whole host of human rights abuses including rape, violence, extortion and discrimination, AI called for governments to do more to protect people who do sex work from violations and abuse. AIs comprehensive policy called on governments to, among other things, decriminalize consensual sex work, including those laws that prohibit associated activitiessuch as bans on buying, solicitation and general organization of sex work; [e]nsure the meaningful participation of sex workers in the development of law and policies that directly affect their lives and safety; [r]efocus laws away from catch-all offences that criminalize most or all aspects of sex work and towards laws and policies that protect sex workers health and safety and that oppose all acts of exploitation and trafficking in commercial sex (including of children); [e]nsure that there are effective frameworks and services that allow people to leave sex work if and when they choose; and [e]nsure that sex workers have equal access to justice, health care and other public services, and to equal protection under the law. AI also published four independent research reports on the sex work situation in Papa New Guinea, Hong Kong, Norway, and Argentina [reports; PDF]. AIs research in these and other countries indicate that sex workers are often afforded very little or no protection from abuse or legal redress, and also often have very little or no access to much needed health care even in countries where the act of selling sex itself is legal. According to AI, criminalization enables the police to harass sex workers and not prioritize their complaints and safety. AIs Senior Director for Law and Policy, Tawanda Mutasah, stated that [t]his situation can never be justified. Governments must act to protect the human rights of all people, sex workers included. Decriminalization is just one of several necessary steps governments can take to ensure protection from harm, exploitation and coercion. The decriminalization of sex work continues to be a matter of considerable controversy in many countries. Most countries continue to impose heavy criminal penalties on sex workers. Last month, the French Parliament [official website] passed legislation [JURIST report] which will make it illegal to pay for sex within the nation. In March the Constitutional Court of South Korea [official website] upheld [JURIST report] a law that punishes individual sex workers. The South Korean high court called prostitution violent and exploitative in nature, and stated that it was inherently non-coercive. In 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada [official website] agreed to review a British Columbia Court of Appeal [official website] decision allowing a challenge [JURIST report] to the countrys anti-prostitution laws. In September 2010 the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (OSCJ) [official website] struck down [JURIST report] several provisions of Canadas anti-prostitution laws, citing the danger they generate for sex workers. In Canada, prostitution itself is legal even though many ancillary acts are not. In November 2009, the Constitutional Court of Taiwan [official website; Taiwanese] ruled that a law penalizing prostitutes [JURIST report] and not their clients was unconstitutional because it undermined equality under the countrys constitution. [JURIST] Dozens of detainees in South Sudan are being held in inhumane conditions, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] reported [press release] Friday. According to AI, the citizens are currently being held in poorly ventilated metal shipping containers, fed only once or twice a week and given insufficient, and are periodically taken out of the containers and beaten. Muthoni Wanyeki, AI Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes, said the conditions as nothing short of torture and stated that the detention site should be immediately shut down until conditions are brought into compliance with human rights standards. Most of those detained have reportedly not been charged with an offense, but are only accused of having ties to the former rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) and are being denied access to family members, lawyers and courts. AI has reached out to several high ranking South Sudani officials, including Major-General Marial Nour, Director of Military Intelligence, and President Salva Kiir, informing them of the conditions at the Gorom detention site and asking for an intervention and investigation into the human rights violations. This news comes after AI detailed similar human rights violations [AI briefing] in Leer, Unity State, in October. Prisoners are an at-risk population throughout the world. Earlier this month, Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, criticized Belgium [JURIST report] for the deteriorating conditions of its prisons. Last month Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report [JURIST report] that France prisons were neglecting inmates mental health. Last month HRW reported [JURIST report] that Louisiana jails are failing to provide basic HIV services to inmates. HRW also found that Baton Rouge and New Orleansthe states two largest citieslead the nation in HIV infections every year and the state also leads the nation in rates of incarceration. The treatment of prisoners and prison reform [JURIST podcast] have been matters of ongoing concern in the US with two groups in Ohio detailing [JURIST report] recommendations for criminal justice reform in that state earlier last month. Justice and accountability are crucial aspects of achieving and maintaining peace in Libya, International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told [ICC report, PDF] the UN Security Council [official website] Thursday. She also encouraged [UN News Centre report] the Libyan government to create effective strategies for handling atrocities and to invest in institutions responsible for managing those strategies. Despite being faced with the challenges associated with lacking sufficient resources, Bensouda was hopeful for the nations future because of the signing of a UN-backed Agreement in 2015, along with the encouraging response and cooperation by the Libyan Prosecutor-Generals office. Bensouda called upon all relevant resources, national and international, to support the Libyan government in their on-going efforts to deter terrorism and protect the nation from instability. In her report, the prosecutor also addressed the detention of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi, the migrant crisis throughout the nation and concern for the well-being of civilians. Libya has remained politically unstable since the 2011 deposition of Muammar Gaddafi [JURIST backgrounder] and subsequent civil war. The internationally-recognized Libyan Parliament voted [JURIST report] in January to reject a proposal by the UN-supported unity government to curb the countrys political crisis. In March of last year the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) [official website] released a report outlining a peace proposal [JURIST report] intending to end the countrys political instability and deteriorating military situation. Also in March, the head of the UNSMIL warned the UN Security Council that without intervention from the international community and UN, Libya is likely to become unstable [JURIST report] in the wake of repeated terrorist attacks. [JURIST] The Iowa Supreme Court [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that juvenile convicted of first-degree murder may not be sentenced to life without parole. The court reasoned that sentencing a juvenile to life without parole was cruel and unusual punishment and emphasized that sentencing courts should not be required to make speculative up-front decisions on juvenile offenders prospects for rehabilitation. The court noted that it may be determined that an individual is beyond rehabilitation after time has passed, after a record of success or failure in the rehabilitative process is available. The court also emphasized that parole was not guaranteed to juveniles, but rather only needs to be left available. The decision reflects a growing consensus that children should, in some ways, be treated differently than adults, especially in regards to being sentenced for life. This understanding was elucidated in the recent Supreme Court decision, Montgomery v. Louisiana [SCOTUSblog backgrounder], in which the Supreme Court ruled that its previous decisions banning mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles be applied retroactively [JURIST report]. Until that decision, only some states were choosing to retroactively apply the ban. [JURIST] Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards [official website] on Thursday signed into law an amended hate crime bill [text, PDF] including police, EMS personnel and firefighters in the category of those protected. Proponents of this bill have stated that the addition was necessary [NYT report] to protect against deliberate campaign[s] to terrorize police officers. In particular, the recent anti-police sentiment following the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner was a driving force behind the amended legislation. Despite claims that the bill is only meant to protect officers, the bill has drawn the contempt of some civil rights groups, including the Black Lives Matter movement, as dilut[ing] the basic meaning of hate crimes and undermin[ing] the movement protesting the use of force by the police. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund [official website], there have been no police fatalities in Louisiana so far in 2016. This legislation comes at a time where police use of force has been questioned on a national scale. Last week a Baltimore police officer was acquitted [JURIST report] in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who was injured in police custody and later died. Earlier this year the US Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an investigation [JURIST report] of the San Francisco Police Department following the shooting of an unarmed African American. In December an Ohio grand jury decided not to indict [JURIST report] two officers involved in a 2014 shooting resulting in the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Earlier that month the DOJ announced that it would be opening a full investigation [JURIST report] into the Chicago Police Department following the 2014 police shooting death of a black teenager. [JURIST] South Africas Parliament [official website] on Thursday approved a bill [materials, PDF] to allow government expropriation of land. The bill will serve to allow a government adjudicator to value a particular piece of land and then expropriate it for the public interest [Al Jazeera report]. The African National Congress [official website] hopes that the enactment will redress the inequality created by apartheid and place more land in possession of black citizens. While some are heralding the new legislation as bringing justice to South Africans some farming organizations and economists are criticizing [Reuters report] the reform, pointing to the effects of a similar measure in Zimbabwe and the lack of clarity in regards to the actual seizure process. As of now, 10 percent of land owned by the white population has been transferred to black owners, only one-third of the governments target goal. South African President Jacob Zuma [BBC profile] recently survived a vote to impeach [JURIST report] him after the ANC gave him their support. The move to impeach Zuma came from opposition leaders after the constitutional court ruled that he had ignored their order [JURIST report] to personally repay the amounts determined by the National Treasury, as they relate to the non-security upgrades to his private residence. Zuma, a controversial figure in South African politics, was ousted [JURIST report] as the countrys deputy president in 2005 after an aide was convicted of corruption. He was also charged with rape, but he was ultimately acquitted and reinstated [JURIST report] as ANC deputy vice president. In July 2008 the South African Constitutional Court rejected a motion [JURIST report] by Zuma to exclude evidence from the corruption trial. Zuma had argued [JURIST report] that evidence seized in 2005 raids by the Directorate of Special Investigations should be thrown out because the raids violated his rights to privacy and a fair trial. The court upheld the warrants used in the raids, confirming a November 2007 decision [JURIST report] by the Supreme Court of Appeal. He was first charged with corruption in 2005, but those charges were later dismissed [JURIST report] because prosecutors failed to follow proper procedures. [JURIST] More than 2,000 inmates across Zimbabwe were granted amnesty and released from prison due to overcrowding and a lack of food, according to a report [The Herald report] Thursday. President Robert Mugabe, who extended the pardon under the Constitution of Zimbabwe on May 23, hopes that this measure will serve to remedy overcrowding and promote better living conditions for prisoners. The pardon granted freedom to all female prisoners that were not currently serving life sentences, all juvenile prisoners, regardless of the seriousness of their offense, as well as all prisoners with life sentences convicted on or before December 25, 1995 among other groups. Those other individuals convicted of murder, treason, rape, armed robbery, car-jacking, sexual offenses, or violence driven crimes will remain in prison, along with habitual criminals and those currently facing death sentences or that were given life sentences after December 25, 1995. Scores of inmates in Zimbabwe over the past decade have died due to nutrition-related illnesses [NPR report]. In April 2015, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [official website] announced that prison overcrowding has reached epidemic proportions [JURIST report] worldwide. Later that year, the UN torture prevention body urged [JURIST report] the Philippines to address the pressing concern of prison overcrowding. In July 2014 the French Senate adopted a measure [JURIST report] in an attempt to reduce prison overcrowding. In August 2013 the Italian Senate approved a measure [JURIST report] to ease some of the worst prison overcrowding in Europe by cutting pre-trial detentions and using alternative punishments for minor offenses. The move came after the European Court of Human Rights ordered Italy to address the problem [JURIST report] within a year. In August 2012 the Colombian Ministry of Justice announced a new initiative [JURIST report] to solve the problem of overcrowding in the nations prisons. In June 2012 UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang urged the government of Malawi [JURIST report] to address the problem of prison overcrowding and improve the human rights condition in the country. In April 2012 South Africa announced that it would issue pardons [JURIST report] to 35,000 offenders in order to ease prison overcrowding. NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Drinks Daily News The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Drinks Weekly News A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Drinks Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter The Vandemoortele family is set to become the sole shareholder in the Belgium-based business-to-business baker after agreeing to buy shares owned in the company by local private-equity group Gimv. Through its holding company Safinco, the Vandemoortele family is to buy Gimvs 23.58% stake, it was announced yesterday (26 May). It was not disclosed how much the family would pay for Gimvs shares. Gimv invested in Vandemoortele in 2009, when it provided a loan to strengthen the finances of the business. The deal gave Gimv warrants, which, when exercised, entitled the buy-out house to a stake in the business. Jean Vandemoortele, director of Safinco and chairman of the board of Vandemoortele, said: We are grateful for Gimvs support over the past seven years. They provided financial support in what were initially challenging circumstances, and since then have been a loyal and constructive partner for the company, helping it to successfully develop and execute its strategy. Gimvs representatives on the board have brought valuable experience and expertise and we very much appreciated their contributions. In 2007, Vandemoortele made a decision to look to develop its frozen bakery business. The company said yesterday the move and the support from Gimv led the company to grow turnover from EUR970m (US$1.08bn) nine years ago to an estimated EUR1.4bn this year. The group forecast its recurring EBITDA will hit EUR130m in 2016, compared to EUR79m in 2007. The Vandemoortele family will finance the acquisition partly through Safincos own credit facilities but also an extraordinary dividend from the business to the holding company worth EUR145m, which will be funded by drawing under the groups existing revolving credit facility. Overnight law enforcement maintained a perimeter around the Wheeler Ridge area. We ask that the public refrain from going into the storm affected area, unless they have proof of residency. Bryan and College Station Police Departments patrolled the area and there were no calls for service overnight. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning until 8:30am. More rain is expected after 12:00pm. The potential for additional flooding still exists. Local departments will maintain increased staffing levels to enable a swift response to any additional problems that arise. Most of the flooded roadways within the cities have reopened at this time. However, there are still numerous roadways closed in the county. A list of current road closures is being maintained on the Brazos CEOC Website: http://brazosceoc.org/. Remember to turn around, dont drown. Bryan Texas Utilities currently has approximately 1,000 customers without power. BTU crews will continue to work diligently throughout the day to restore power to its customers. An online outage map can be accessed at: outages.btutilities.com. Citizens can call 979-822-3777 to report outages. Please do not call Brazos County Dispatch to report an outage, unless it is a medical emergency. Most residents affected sought shelter with family, friends, and at local hotels. Overnight American Red Cross maintained a shelter at Central Baptist Church for approximately 10 citizens. Citizens needing assistance can contact 2-1-1 to be put in contact with the appropriate agency. Initial damage assessment estimate approximately 50-60 homes were affected by the tornado. Response efforts today will focus on more detailed damage assessment and clearing the roadways of debris. The Incident Command Post and the Brazos Community Emergency Operations Center continue to coordinate emergency response efforts. Bryan Independent School District has cancelled classes for the day. Monitor local media outlets for additional school closings. OMAHA -- With a snip of scissors and an abundance of fanfare, the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium opened a pathway into Africa. CEO Dennis Pate, Omaha Zoo Foundation President John Boyer and City Councilman Garry Gernandt were joined Friday morning by 19 children from the zoos summer camp in cutting the ribbon to the zoos new African Grasslands exhibit. The 28-acre, $73 million project is by far the largest and most expensive in the zoos history. The exhibit is designed to give people a genuine sense of the savanna. Giraffes, ostriches, rhinos, impalas and more share the same grassy space. Elephants wallow around in mud and spray mist from a watering hole with zebras and horned impalas nearby. Lions roar out over their kingdom from atop a rocky perch on the former Pachyderm Hill. To create the illusion of Africa, barriers and buildings have been hidden or minimized, forming a backdrop similar to what you see in an actual African grassland. "Most people will never go to Africa," Pate said. "This is the next best thing." The project has been under construction for two years, and its still not 100 percent complete, but it will be within the next few days. Rain has delayed progress on some final touches, meaning some species had to stay off exhibit during the grand opening: lions, zebras, giraffes, impalas, rhinos, ostriches, white storks, helmeted guineafowl, spur-winged geese and Egyptian geese. Giraffes were available for viewing indoors, as were the elephants, which were expected to go outside in the afternoon. Most animals will be on display within the next several days. While visitors didnt have access to the entire animal collection, they did have access to two areas that were closed off before: the rock kopje near the giraffe building and the entire site of the former Pachyderm Hill, east of the lagoon. with Sydnee Washington and Marie Faustin Black hair; waiter farts; a Black Panther Party invite; 18-34 year-olds living with their parents; Casey Anthony had sex with her lawyer as payment; gym teacher sexually assaults 2 14-year-old students; Johnson & Johnson pays out $127 million over talcum powder; more The Biggest Loser controversy; dating and (not) paying; Whitney Houston on The Voice This episode and pictures related to it are only available to KATG VIP members. Not a VIP member? Click here to find out more. Login to VIP In this photo made available by the Broward County's Sheriff's Office shows Sigfredo Garcia under arrest on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Garcia, 34, was arrested on a cocaine possession. He is also a suspect in the killing of a well-known Florida State University professor. Daniel Markel was shot in the head inside his garage in Tallahasse, Fla., in July 2014. (Broward County Sheriff's Office via AP) 18K Shares Share Lets get this straight. I am a doctor, but I didnt cause the opioid epidemic. That is not exactly what you hear in the media these days. After all, doctors are the ones with the prescription pads, and someone must be to blame. The truth is that death from opioid abuse is on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported some frightening statistics. Deaths from opiates have increased by 137 percent since 2000. In 2014 alone, more than 28,000 people died from opioid use, and more than half of them died from the use of prescription pills. This is a four-fold increase in opioid-related deaths over fifteen years. We need an American detox. It is not surprising that people are angry. They should be! These deaths are preventable and by all accounts unacceptable. The U.S. government is looking into ways to calm the opioid epidemic, but their approach may be a misfire. Right now, they have targeted doctors as the smoking gun. It would be more effective to make doctors their allies, instead of the scapegoats. Instead, you see advertisements posted in Times Square and other venues featuring children in pain. The inflammatory slogans read: Would you give your child heroin? Doctors are seen as drug pushers instead of caregivers trying to relieve obvious pain. Parents are being judged for wanting to relieve their childrens pain. Where does the discussion of actual medical care come into play? As a doctor who worked in an urgent care clinic, I cannot count the number of times my recommendations for acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) for pain control was refused. I still did not prescribe narcotics unless I believed it was medically necessary and, honestly, it usually was not. When I did choose to prescribe an opiate, however, I used my best clinical judgment. I checked my state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database to make sure there were no warning signs of abuse, and I limited supplies to no more than two or three days at the lowest possible doses. Sadly, any use is bad use according to the media, even if Mrs. Jones is writhing in pain from a pelvic fracture that surgery cannot fix. Doctors may hold the prescription pads, but regulations have forced the pens in many cases. For one, doctors have been pressured over the years to prescribe more and more. Pain scale posters wallpaper medical offices and hospitals thanks to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). While JCAHO did not demand doctors write prescriptions for narcotics per se, their emphasis on pain led to significant changes in medical practices. Patient satisfaction surveys too have permeated health care. Patients often give low scores when their pain is not *completely* controlled or when they do not get the medications they want. This, in turn, affects how hospitals are paid, and hospitals go on to penalize doctors. Clearly, these surveys should not be tied to financial incentives. There are over 900,000 practicing doctors in the U.S., and the large majority of them are good people with good intentions. While some doctors misuse or over-prescribe narcotics, the large majority do not. The large majority of doctors try to minimize use of these medications. The large majority of doctors struggle along with their patients who have drug abuse problems. The large majority of doctors have been lied to or manipulated by a patient to prescribe these drugs. The large majority of doctors are doing their best. The large majority of doctors are just as angry as you are. Instead of pointing the finger at all doctors, perhaps we need to look at those who prescribe the most opiates. Currently, an FDA Advisory Panel is considering a mandate for all doctors to complete additional training to prescribe these medications. Many states already require doctors to complete continuing medical education on the topic. Doctors who specialize in pain medicine are already well-versed in the area. Adding more layers of training would tie up resources. People who needed these medications would have nowhere to turn until training had been completed by their provider or they would otherwise need to change doctors to get them. Patients with cancer and chronic pain would be left to suffer in the meantime. Is this really the direction we want to go? Decreasing the number of opioid prescriptions will not solve the problem on its own. The problem is much larger than that. Heroin is cheap and readily available to fill that void. The question to ask is, Why do people turn to drugs in the first place? Is it for relief of physical pain or emotional? Is there underlying depression or anxiety that they are trying to self-medicate? Can treating mood disorders prevent drug-seeking behaviors? Where can we have the greatest impact in stopping the spread of abuse? We are burdened by an opioid epidemic amid another health care crisis: lack of adequate mental health resources. It may take weeks or longer to get a first appointment with a therapist, months for a psychiatrist. Rehab facilities are overflowing, and there are not enough beds. Primary care doctors try to fill in the gap with limited resources to support them. Federal dollars could be put to better use if they were spent on building a better infrastructure for mental health care in our country. Instead of scapegoating doctors, the government needs to see what they bring to the table. The doctor-patient relationship is one founded in confidentiality and trust. Doctors can help to educate the public, especially our children. They can host talks, lecture series, and community events. They can stage interventions. They can get at the heart of the problem by screening people for drug use and, more importantly, mood disorders and other psychiatric conditions that people self-medicate with drugs. People need to know there is somewhere they can turn. We need an American detox, and we need one now. The large majority of doctors are not part of the problem but can be part of the solution. A group of physicians in my hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts has formed a group, Physicians to Prevent Opioid Abuse, to combat the issue. We bring creative solutions to a challenging problem, but we cannot do it alone. We need your help. America needs to stand together, not pointing fingers, but working as one to make a difference and save lives. Tanya Feke is founder, Diagnosis Life. Image credit: Shutterstock.com, Tanya Feke 496 Shares Share Some say privacy is an illusion. I hope that isnt true, but I do know that our medical records are not safe. Why should you care? Because our medical records contain our social security numbers, health insurance information, our home addresses, phone numbers, emergency contacts and their phone numbers, our email addresses, possibly our drivers license numbers, and likely credit card payment information. Ever paid your co-pay with a credit card? Your medical record is worth ten times more to a cyber criminal than your credit card number. And with health cares mandatory transition to electronic medical records, cyber thieves have taken full advantage. If you think major institutions are immune to cyber attacks, think again. You might recall the cyber attacks on our U.S. government. One in particular compromised personal information on 22.1 million people and 5.6 million fingerprints were stolen. No doubt youre aware of the major ransomware attacks on hospitals across the country where cyber criminals seized patients electronic medical records and held them for ransom to be paid in Bitcoin. According to the Ponemon Institutes Fifth Annual Study on Medical Identity Theft, 90 percent of health care organizations have been hacked, exposing millions of patients medical records. You probably remember the cyber attacks on these major health insurers, Blue Cross Blue Shield. Over 10 million patients medical records were exposed. 65 percent of medical theft costs each victim $13,500 to resolve the crime. According to Modern Healthcare, nearly one in eight patients have had their medical records exposed in breaches in the United States. Since that article was published in 2014, that number has likely doubled. You might be asking yourself, What could cyber criminals do with my personal information housed in my medical records? Cyber criminals can monetize your personal information to obtain credit cards or loans, commit tax fraud, send fake bills to insurance providers, obtain government benefits from Medicare and Medicaid, and much more. Your personal information can also be used to purchase health care services, prescription medications, and medical equipment. It can also be used to obtain your credit report. The above can also corrupt your medical history with inaccurate diagnoses and treatments. This is pretty scary stuff. Ive heard from friends and colleagues that they can only take in small amounts of this information because its frightening and they feel its beyond their control. There is something you can do. It is up to doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations/companies to secure their electronic medical records, backup hard drives, use secure cloud platforms, encrypt emails, update software and more. Many just arent doing it. According to the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, a hospital or health insurance company that has been victim of a security breach, must inform patients. Unfortunately many do not. Patients find out about errors on their Explanation of Benefits (EOBs,) in letters from collection agencies, by finding mistakes in their health records or on their credit reports. As a patient, you are at risk. So am I. And we are all patients even if we just see a physician once every year or two. Had a baby? Had a vaccine? Been treated for the flu? All of us are patients and have been since we saw pediatricians when we were kids. What you can do to protect yourself 1. Read your Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) that are sent from your health insurance plan. Call your health insurance company if you do not recognize a charge. 2. Get copies of your medical records from medical providers and review them for errors. Look out for misdiagnoses, incorrect pre-existing conditions, procedures you didnt have, incorrect treatments, and more. If you have trouble understanding your medical records, ask your doctor or his/her nurse to help you understand the information. 3. Monitor your credit reports and billing statements for errors. 4. Do not give out your social security number to anyone unless absolutely necessary. Often the last four digits will do. 5. If you have your medical records or any personal information on your smartphone, be careful about using public Wi-Fi. This includes any hospital. If you are a patient or visitor at a hospital, make sure the Wi-Fi is encrypted If you send or receive an email or browse the internet while using public Wi-Fi that is not encrypted, a hacker can eavesdrop on your transmission and gain access to the information on your device. 6. Set your laptop or computer to manually select the public Wi-Fi network in the healthcare facility you are in. 7. Look for web addresses that begin with https. These are more secure. 8. Do not share personal information on file sharing sites. Often they are not secure, according to Beckers Hospital Review, 10 Ways Patient Data is Shared With Hackers. For computers, the FBI recommends: Keep your firewall turned on. Install and/or update your antivirus software. Keep your operating system up to date. Be careful what you download Turn off your computer at night. For more information on cyber attacks, cyber security, data mining and patients medical records, see the following: How much health care data is minded without your knowledge? Rapid Increase of Cyber Attacks Patients Medical Records hacked at Alarming Rate Martine Ehrenclou is a patient advocate. She is the author of Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Get Your Loved One Out Alive and the Take-Charge Patient. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 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... Professor Alain Beretz, Professor Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Professor Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Dr. Christine Gangloff-Ziegler, Professor Thomas Hirth (Photo: Catherine Schroder/Universite de Strasbourg) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the universities of Basel, Freiburg, Haute-Alsace, and Strasbourg have established the first European university alliance that provides the five universities with the opportunity to act jointly. During a ceremony at the Palais universitaire in Strasbourg, the universities officially opened Eucor The European Campus on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Opening of the European Campus is another important step in the cooperation of Germany, France, and Switzerland and the crystal nucleus of a joint scientific area on the Upper Rhine, the President of KIT, Professor Holger Hanselka, says. For many years, now, we at KIT have been cooperating across borders with French and Swiss universities and research institutions, KIT Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs, Professor Thomas Hirth, emphasizes. Our goal in establishing the European Campus is to create a new platform for this cooperation in research, teaching, and innovation as a means of consolidating our position in international competition for smartest minds and ideas. The European Campus is a first European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC) organized and managed by universities alone. This grouping can now act as a single legal entity. The partner universities retain their autonomy, but are enabled to develop a common research and teaching strategy and to establish cross-border structures for science in the Upper Rhine region under Eucor The European Campus. The cross-border alliance has elected Professor Dr. Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg, as its first president for the next three years. His deputy is Professor Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Rector of the University of Basel. Janosch Nieden, former Eucor coordinator, was appointed Managing Director. During the opening ceremony, Dr. Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science, and Innovation, held the ceremonial speech. He then discussed the expectations and challenges facing the European Campus with Thierry Mandon, French Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, Dr. Simone Schwanitz, Director of the Baden-Wurttemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts, Joakim Ruegger, Director of Higher Education at the Department of Education of the Canton Basel-Stadt, Professor Luisa de Cola, holder of a double professorship at the University of Strasbourg and the KIT, and Audrey Dujardin, graduate of the binational degree program Regio Chimica of the University of Upper Alsace and the University of Freiburg. Following the opening of the European Campus, the University of Strasbourg conferred honorary doctorates to three outstanding scholars for their involvement in cross-border cooperation: Professor Horst Hippler, former President of the KIT, Professor Antonio Loprieno, former Rector of the University of Basel, and Professor Hans-Jochen Schiewer, Rector of the University of Freiburg. Comments on the Opening of the European Campus Professor Hans-Jochen Schiewer, President of Eucor The European Campus and Rector of the University of Freiburg We are celebrating a historical step for the European science and research community today. After a year of preparations, I am looking forward to working with our partners in France and Switzerland to give concrete shape to the European Campus and develop unique opportunities for cooperation among the employees of the Upper Rhine universities. Professor Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Vice President of Eucor The European Campus and Rector of the University of Basel With its five universities in three countries, the Upper Rhine region offers a unique constellation: The students receive easy access to other universities in neighboring countries and also get to experience other cultures. In an increasingly globalized environment, that is an important precondition for understanding the world we live in. The same applies to our researchers. The European Campus promotes internationalization at the participating universities without forcing them to lose their local identities. Professor Alain Beretz, President of the University of Strasbourg The European Campus is more than just a unique and innovative instrument for enabling the universities in the three countries to cooperate freely with each other and for removing boundaries for students and researchers. Above all, it also demonstrates that we are building up the Europe of tomorrow at the university. Dr. Christine Gangloff-Ziegler, President of the University of Upper Alsace Robert Schumann, the father of Europe, called himself a person from the border. The five universities of Eucor The European Campus refer to the statutes of the European Council and that they contribute to making the members into a unified whole in order to preserve and promote the ideals and principles that constitute their common legacy and to further economic and social progress in Europe and on the Upper Rhine. This causes the borders to become blurred and turns our differences into a source of enrichment and strength. Dr. Simone Schwanitz, Director of the Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts of Baden-Wurttemberg The European Campus will link the potentials and competencies of five strong universities across borders and enable them to grow together to form a single science and research network with an international reach. Baden-Wurttemberg stands to profit greatly from these synergies as a center for internationally recognized top-level research. Joakim Ruegger, Director of Higher Education at the Department of Education of the Canton Basel-Stadt Science is hit particularly high by the tendency of political powers to attempt to disconnect themselves from what is happening in the rest of the world. This is not just about access to research funding. The point is rather to place researchers working in Switzerland, some of them come from Europe, on an equal footing with other colleagues from their disciplines. Students, too, are dependent on international prospects, if they want to succeed on the regional and global labor market. We aspire to international visibility and a position at the forefront of development for our university. It is therefore important that two cantons responsible for the University of Basel are using the opportunities presented by small-scale foreign policy to open up this gate to Europe. Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence. SHARE Moots, far right, and most of the other Gig Harbor Police Department Explorers get a briefing from patrol officer Gary Dahm. Jennifer Moots, 19, a GHPD Explorer, is planning on making law enforcement her career. Gig Harbor Police Department Explorers, Lieutenant Adam Blodgett, left, and Captain Jennifer Moots, recently attended an advanced training/competition academy where Moots, won the aTop Copa honors, the second highest accommodation offered in the state. Gig Harbor Police Department Explorers are walking the walk. By Scott Turner At about one hour out before her Gig Harbor Police Department Explorer's meeting, Capt. Jennifer Moots, 19, walked back into the heart of the secure police station. She looked professional in her two-tone blue officer uniform. If you blinked, it would be hard to tell she wasn't a regular police officer. Moots sat down at a workstation and adjusted the bulletproof vest bulging under her shirt, and began explaining about the event that led to her being named the "Top Cop," the second-highest accommodation in the state. Moot's road to success started back in 2005 when the GHPD re-launched its Explorer program. This service-type organization is designed to help interested youth, ages 14 to 21, to get a real-life look at what it's like to be a police officer, and serve the Gig Harbor community. Moots, a Gig Harbor High School grad, said she went to the department's first informational meeting not knowing if she really wanted to be a police officer. "I thought ?this program sounds really cool' and I've been with them ever since. It's really opened my eyes to what law enforcement is all about," Moots said, adding her Explorer experience has been great. Moots moved up the ranks to captain, an equivalent to a chief in a regular police department. Now, twice a month, Moots and her advisor, GHPD officer Gary Dahm, are teaching handcuffing techniques, officer safety, traffic stop etiquette and other law enforcement skills to the post's other eight Explorers. These unarmed youth go into the field with sworn peace officers, and act as their eyes and ears while on patrol, Moots said. "You get to see all sorts of stuff and be there with the officers when people are getting arrested and are kicking and screaming. "And depending on who you're riding with, sometimes they'll let you talk on the radio or work their computer," she added. ACADEMY DUO Adam Blodgett, 21, joined Moots in conversation. He recently left the Explorer post as a lieutenant, after reaching the maximum age limit. He and Moots joined the program at the same time, and have worked as a team teaching others since. In December the two friends ? the only pair from a single department ? headed to Yakima for a grueling week-long Explorer training competition. After qualifying through a series of pre-boot camp-like police academies, the pair, along with 11 others from the state, earned the right to pay their own way to the highest, and most challenging academy offered. Dubbed WALEEA, for the Washington Law Enforcement Exploring Advisors, the best of the best participated in live events as part of a simulated police department. They ran calls, chased bad guys, got in fights and spent time writing reports. "It was very intense, and full of many problem-solving scenarios," Blodgett said, eyeing his ex-boss. Blodgett said they all were watched very closely at how they managed each mock scenario. The Explorers worked in patrol cars for 10-hour shifts. "They would dispatch us to anything from a found property report, to a lethal force call," Moots added. "There were actors there who were actually in our shoes a couples of years ago, so they knew exactly what we were going through. I even had to get in a couple of fights where they were really trying to beat me up," she said. Both Moots and Blodgett said the academy was "extremely overwhelming," and that professional instructors had purposely pushed their buttons. Moots said that she was up for the challenge and liked having to be thrust into these difficult situations. "It taught me a lot about myself, and I learned what I'm capable of really doing. It showed me that, yes' I can do this job," she said. And do it she will. Both her and Blodgett plan to become police offers in the near future. "The experiences we learned at the academy were very valuable to us, and we were proud to represent the Gig Harbor Police Department," Blodgett added. The fact that Moots took "Top Cop" honors didn't seem to shock him. "We all got just as many calls to roll on, but it came down to how Jennifer handled them and her reports that made the difference. "It didn't surprise me at all that she won. That's why she's the captain. "I remember one of the calls I went on with her. I watched her get in a pretty serious fight. It was intense just watching it," he added while glancing back at Moots. STATION TALK Other Explorers started showing up for the evening post meeting. Dahn, spoke highly of the program and of Moots' and Blodgett's accomplishments. "They have been following their hearts and dreams, and will have a future in law enforcement. "Jennifer making ?Top Cop' made the department look great too, because she was competing against the whole state to get that spot. Plus, you have to work hard just to get to that level of training they were at," Dahm said. He said his group of Explorers are all very good kids, very dedicated, and hard working. Whether it's a goal in law enforcement they seek or not, they will all gain confidence, have fun and help their community, he added. For Explorer information, call (253) 851-2236. Mark Mathews looks on as Turbo, an african leopard, growls and rolls around on one of the platforms in his enclosure at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center on Harstine Island on Thursday, October 24, 2013. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN) SHARE A Harstine Island couple hosts 43 breeds of wild cats at their home sanctuary. By Arla Shephard Special To The Kitsap Sun HARSTINE ISLAND Shelleen Mathews cant quite put her finger on why shes always wanted to own a bobcat, she just knows that she always has. The avid cat lover has owned domestic cats her whole life, but she first encountered wild cats in 1971, when she started working for the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma. At the zoo, Mathews put together educational materials and exhibit graphics, yet she loved being near the big cats. Soon after, she decided to purchase her first bobcat, an animal she named Demetrius. I have no idea why I wanted a bobcat, said Mathews, who would not recommend to most people that they should own a bobcat. Its not for the average person. It can be fine when the animal is a baby. But even when wild cats are born in captivity, they have nature telling them what to do once in awhile. It was definitely a learning experience. Mathews, however, is not the average person. She and her husband, Mark Mathews, own the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington, the states only wild cat sanctuary, tucked away in the woods of Harstine Island. The center is home to 43 wild cats, mostly smaller cats, such as the Siberian lynx, Asian jungle cats, a cougar, a leopard and the jaguarundi, a relative of the cougar that used to roam much of the southern United States, but whose habitat in the wild is now primarily in southern Mexico and Central and South America. If youre a cat lover, once youve been around wild cats, you realize theyre very special, Shelleen Mathews said. They are so beautiful. The majority of the cats at the sanctuary have been bred in captivity, for private owners or zoos, but for whatever reason their previous owners can no longer take care of them. In 1973, shortly after her experience with Demetrius, Mathews became the director of a breeding facility and wild cat sanctuary in Yelm, a facility which no longer exists. For the next 15 years, she learned all that she could about wild cats and the world of wild cat rehabilitation and conservation, including the basics of wild cat care and the difference in personality between species. Public opinion has changed dramatically since the 1970s, when it was more acceptable to breed rarer cats, Mathews said. We provided wild cats with sanctuary, Mathews recalled. There is a vast difference between animal welfare and animal rights. Animal rights advocates tend to be more extreme in the sense that they would like animals to not be in cages and allowed to be free in the wild. Many animals, because theyve been raised by humans as pets or theyve been in zoos, can no longer survive in the wild. That would be cruel. In the mid-1980s, Mathews met her future husband, Mark Mathews, a U.S. Air Force serviceman from Ohio. On one of their early dates, Shelleen Mathews indicated that she needed to stop by her home to feed her cat. Mark Mathews was surprised when she pulled a steak from her freezer, until her bobcat, Russell, jumped down to devour it. My first thought was, Boy, I guess she really does like cats, Mark Mathews recalled. Ive always been an animal lover myself. I would spend my summers as a child at Yellowstone, just so I could see the critters. For nearly two decades, the couple traveled the globe because of Mark Mathews work, and Shelleen Mathews left the world of wild cats behind. That didnt last for long. When the couple moved back to Washington, to a home in Olympia, Shelleen Mathews decided she missed having a wild cat around. The couple adopted an African serval, a medium-sized wild cat found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, that they named Cartouche. Owning a wild cat is legal in many states, including Washington, yet some states may require the owners to obtain a permit. Soon, old friends began to contact Shelleen Mathews about taking in other wild cats that they knew needed a home. Little by little, the Mathews amassed a collection of wild cats, and in 2004, they formed the non-profit Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington, with the intent to one day move to a larger location where they could house and care for more animals. People started hearing I was back into things, and within a year of getting Cartouche, we had another animal, said Shelleen Mathews, director of the nonprofit. We lived at a house on a cul-de-sac in West Olympia, so we knew we needed to move for more room, even though our neighbors loved us. As luck would have it, the Mathews encountered a private donor who wanted to donate land to help their cause. Ive never heard of anything like this happening before, but a lovely donor with property wanted to help us out, Shelleen Mathews said. She loved animals and had been looking for something to help animals. The donor, a land owner on Harstine Island, set up a trust to allow the Mathews to use her land for the sanctuary. In July 2010, after months of construction building habitats and perimeter fencing around the 25-acre property, the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington opened on Harstine Island. Unlike a zoo, visitors must make appointments to visit the animals. The mission of the nonprofit is to foremost provide a sanctuary for captive or wild-born wild cats in need, as well as educate other people on the well-being of wild cats, monitor the conservation efforts worldwide of wild cat habitat and provide locally to animal welfare efforts for domestic feral cats. The nonprofit is the only wild cat sanctuary in Washington and one of more than a dozen in the United States. At Wild Felid, the Mathews do not accept larger cats, such as lions and tigers, instead referring those pets to other organizations. Smaller wild cats, such as servals, jungle cats and lynxes, often do not gain as much attention in the media and public eye, and consequently there is less funding for conservation efforts for them, said Mark Mathews, the nonprofits facilities manager. Between 2007 and 2012, the seven big cats tiger, snow leopard, puma, lion, leopard, jaguar and cheetah received more than 99 percent of the wild cat conservation funding donated, while 30 species of small cats received only 0.78 percent annually, or $168,300, according to the Feline Conservation Federation. Of the big cats, the leopard received the least amount of funding, about the same as the 30 smaller wild cat species combined. Most of the wild cats at the Wild Felid Advocacy Center have been raised in captivity Phoenix, a jaguarundi from a zoo in Belgium, was given up when his mate died and the European zoo decided they no longer wanted to show him. Sid, one of the sanctuarys 12 bobcats, is one of only two animals at the center that was born in the wild, however he had suffered an injury that required weeks of rehabilitation. After he was healed, he had become too habituated to humans to be released in the wild, so he was given to the sanctuary, Shelleen Mathews said. The center does not rehabilitate animals, she added. Hannah Wyoming, a cougar and the sanctuarys only other wild cat born in the wild, was donated to the sanctuary when her mother was hit by a car. At only 14 weeks, Hannah Wyoming would not have learned the necessary skills to survive in the wild, since most cougars need to live with their mother for two years, Shelleen Mathews said. The sanctuary has no paid employees (the Mathews live modestly off retirement and Social Security), although about a dozen volunteers regularly come out to help care for the animals. Its really fulfilling, said Brieanna Brownawell, a volunteer who has helped out since 2011, when she first interned at the nonprofit for school at Evergreen State College. You know that everything you do is helping. A wild cat needs about 2.2 percent of its body weight per day in raw meat to eat, and more in the winter, so the 150-pound Hannah eats between 3 to 4 pounds per day. Last year, the annual operating and maintenance cost for the sanctuary was about $20,000, although the Mathews have spent more each year to build and remodel habitats. Private donations make up 100 percent of the funding for the sanctuary. In the coming years, the nonprofit hopes to reach out more to schools, to teach kids about conservation and the importance of caring for endangered species, Shelleen Mathews said. People feel the same way about bobcats as they do about coyotes, she said. However, bobcats and other small wild cats have a valuable job to do. They keep down the rat population, among other things. Some people have a hard time understanding that we were all put on this Earth for a reason. For more information or to donate to the Wild Felid Advocacy Center, visit www.wildfelids.org or call 427-4466. SHARE By Andrew Binion of the Kitsap Sun POULSBO A man accused in the 1980s in Kitsap County of sexually assaulting a girl and who had a warrant issued for his arrest in 1990 when he failed to show for his trial, has been arrested in Oklahoma. Ronald Lee Paulson, 70, was using the name Warron Big-Eagle and was living in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma. The Kitsap County Clerk's Office received word Wednesday that Paulson was in custody. When he fled Kitsap, Paulson was facing five counts of first-degree statutory rape a crime which in state law is now referred to as first-degree rape of a child and two counts of indecent liberties. The case came to light when Poulsbo police were notified this month by the county prosecutor's office of an active warrant for Paulson. Poulsbo Deputy Chief Andy Pate said investigations learned that Paulson might have been using the alias Big-Eagle. "We were able to make some connections," Pate said, adding the credit for finding Paulson ought to be shared among the several agencies that worked on the case. "We got lucky on social media." The victim in the case, who was born in 1976, has not been located, and Pate said investigators believe she no longer lives in Washington state. "That's something we will be working on next," he said. The original arrest warrant for Paulson was issued in 1987, when state Child Protective Services workers contacted Poulsbo police after Paulson had admitted he had repeatedly assaulted the girl over several years. Paulson had contacted his psychiatrist, admitted to the assaults and then voluntarily committed himself to Harrison Medical Center, according to court documents. The girl also told her mother about the assaults. When contacted by Poulsbo police, Paulson admitted he had assaulted the girl at least 20 times. Paulson then left the hospital, fled, was "rumored to be armed with a weapon," according to documents. He was eventually found in California and brought back to Kitsap, where he posted bail and was scheduled for trial in December 1990 but never showed up. According to media reports from Oklahoma, Paulson had been working as a general contractor for an Oklahoma City roofing company, was well known in his community and told officers there that he was the man for whom they were looking. Officers confirmed the suspect was Paulson through fingerprints. "Sometimes hiding in plain sight (is) the best thing you can do," Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth told the Shawnee News-Star. None of the original officers with the Poulsbo Police Department is with the force, said Deputy Chief Andy Pate. "They are all gone," he said. However, one of the deputy prosecutors on the case, Ione George, is still with the prosecutor's office. George is away from the office until the end of the month. Authorities are working on extraditing Paulson to Kitsap, but Pate said that might not happen immediately. SHARE Dorothy Provine By Rachel Pritchett Dorothy Provine, part Hollywood blond bombshell and part girl next door, has died. The Bainbridge Island resident and former film and television actress succumbed to emphysema on Sunday morning at Hospice of Kitsap County in Bremerton, according to her husband, veteran director Robert Day. She was 75, according to her husband. Beautiful, was how a broken-hearted Day responded when asked to describe his wife, best-known for her role in the 1963 blockbuster Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Day said he married Provine in Las Vegas 43 years ago, and soon after she left acting. They had one son. I mean, we both loved each other so much, Day said. The couple came to Bainbridge Island about 20 years ago, and both, especially Dorothy, kept very much to themselves. She was very reserved. We really didnt socialize very much, Day said. But they enjoyed their private world. The couple used to go for drives on the island, and she loved watching movies, but even more, enjoying a good book. That was her main joy, Day said. The couple lived on Finch Road, and their son lived on the same property. Provine was at Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton last week. She was clearly suffering, said her attending physician, Dr. Rana Tan. Tan is also the director of Cabaret at Bremerton Community Theatre. On Thursday, nine cast members appeared at the hospital, and with a piano moved from the lobby to Provines second-floor room, they sang song after song from the popular musical. Provine, still stunning, slim and blond hair in a ponytail, smiled widely and wiggled her toes in delight as she sat up in bed and listened. We probably sang about six, six or seven songs, Tan tallied. She was absolutely beside herself. But the Cabaret cast members, perhaps unknowingly, were singing the final swan song for a famous actress. I think it was a greater experience for us, Tan said. A little more than two days later, Provine was dead. Provine was born Jan. 20, 1935, in Deadwood, S.D. and attended the University of Washington. She was at home both on the big screen and on the one in living rooms. Her flawless face with wide smile and blond bouffant were common on TV during the 1950s and 1960s. But it was her role as Pinky Pinkham, the not-to-be-forgotten flapper in The Roaring 20s that captured the imagination of many. Some of her movies included The Bonnie Parker Story (1958), a role she got just three days after arriving in Hollywood, according to the Internet Movie Database at imdb.com. Movies that followed included Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959); Live Fast, Die Young (1958) and The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959). Her last movies before her early departure from acting included Good Neighbor Sam (1964); and Never a Dull Moment (1968). Fittingly, no public service is planned. SHARE Michael James O'Sullivan of Allyn Nov. 13, 1941 to May 4, 2016 Veteran Our beloved brother and uncle, Michael James O'Sullivan (a.k.a. Mike Sullivan) of Allyn, Washington, passed away on May 4, 2016, at the Washington State Veterans Home, Retsil, Washington with family at his side. Michael was born on Nov. 13, 1941 in Bremerton, Washington to James W. and M. Helen (Rutledge) Sullivan. Growing up, "Mike" was a Cub Scout and later a Sea Scout, with a particular love for the water, building a sailboat in high school shop with a shamrock sail especially ordered from Japan. He later built a kayak and spent many hours in both boats enjoying Hood Canal. He loved music, Irish and classical particularly. Mike had a wonderful sense of humor and an Irish twinkle in his eye. He graduated from West High School in Bremerton in 1960 and in 1965 received a Bachelor of Science degree in construction management at Washington State University. From there he enlisted in the Army under the college option program which guaranteed him Officers Candidate School. He completed OCS and was commissioned August 1966. Mike and brother Corky, also commissioned, volunteered for service in Vietnam with the rank of Second Lieutenants. Mike served as Combat Infantry Officer in Vietnam with the First Calvary, earning a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Air Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Vietnamese Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal and two Purple Hearts. He was leading his men on a mission when a land mine exploded, severing his right leg and causing other serious injuries. He was medically retired in 1968 as a First Lieutenant. Community leadership began with organizing the Olympic Artists Association in Bremerton, serving as president and helping membership grow from seven to 270 while establishing ties with Olympic College. After moving to Seattle, Mike attended the University of Washington, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology in 1982 and a Master of Arts degree in museum science through the Burke Museum in 1990. In the process, he followed his dream of embracing his Irish heritage and opened an Irish import shop in Pioneer Square in Seattle, Wee Bit O' Ireland, Inc. He traveled to Ireland frequently, renovating a farm house, Ballyboe Cottage in Dunkineely, Ireland and spent several months there each year. He was past president of the Pioneer Square Association, on the board of the Ethnic Heritage Council of the Pacific Northwest, active with the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and was Grand Marshall of the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Several years later Michael retired and moved to Allyn, Washington, where he was active in the Allyn Community Association, helped establish the North Bay Historical Society serving as first executive director in 1997 and worked on preserving and restoring the local landmark, the Allyn Historic Church, as well as other community projects. Survivors include sister, Jean (George) Copper of Bremerton; brother, James "Corky" (Audrey) of Silverdale; niece, Marnie (Ed) Cunningham of Seattle; nephews, James (Ceilita) Thornburgh of California, Michael (Melissa) Thornburgh of Auburn, Casey (Caitlin) Sullivan of Gig Harbor, Shea (Olivia) Sullivan of Tacoma; and great nephews/nieces: Mackenzie, Riley, Matt, and Jimmy Thornburgh, Taylor, Raegan, and Landon Sullivan, Natasha Streminski, Rylan Propst and Mike's beloved dog, Bo. Mike was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Marnie Sullivan Marr. Mike was dearly loved by his family and friends and will be missed by all. A military service will be held at Mt. Tahoma in the near future. Donations may be made to the Allyn Community Association, P.O. Box 52, Allyn, WA 98524, the Wounded Warriors or charity of your choice. SHARE Priscilla Bailey, Bremerton Bremerton remains anti-business on Wheaton I am dismayed that the city of Bremerton is not allowing one of the auto dealers on Wheaton Way to improve and expand his business there. It is actions like this that have caused a huge vacancy rate in that commercial corridor. Clearly the city's policies are anti-business. I own two commercial buildings farther north on Wheaton Way and we went through problems like this with the Wheaton-Riddell subarea plan. After much protest, we got the zoning for that area modified to be more business friendly. I thought the city had learned something from that experience, but I guess I was too optimistic. It all boils down to the fact the city has a grand, unrealistic dream that Wheaton Way will be lined with large buildings containing shops on the lower level with residences above. This dream does not meet the current needs of city residents and no one is stepping forward to do such projects. Meanwhile the local property owners have their own dreams and plans for their property. Those property owners are willing to improve their properties in ways that will meet local needs, but the city is putting roadblocks in front of their plans. Why? I urge the city to modify their rules to allow practical development of the Wheaton Way corridor. Large empty spaces, empty buildings, and loss of city tax revenues are the result of overly restrictive zoning. This helps no one. SHARE By Rob Woutat Natives are restless at Matteo Ricci College of Seattle University. But a little background is necessary here. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was an Italian Jesuit and in 1582 was one of the first Jesuit missionaries to China. A mathematician and cartographer, he was one of the first Western scholars to master Chinese script and classical Chinese. He traveled throughout China and founded the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the oldest Catholic Church in Beijing, and is now being considered for sainthood. As part of the Jesuit tradition of education, Matteo Ricci College offers its 194 students three degrees: B.A. in humanities, B.A. in humanities for leadership, and B.A. in humanities for teaching. The student/teacher ratio is 10 to one. The total cost of attendance is over $54,000 a year. The basis of Jesuit education is The Ratio Studiorum (Plan of Studies), the guideline for teaching since 1599, revised in 1832 but still emphasizing classical studies. It's divided into four sections: rules for the provincial superior; rules for professors of theology; rules for professors of philosophy, physics and mathematics (Aristotle is the prescribed text); and rules for teachers of the lower department, which includes Latin, Greek, grammar, syntax, humanities and rhetoric. It emphasizes the Western cultural heritage through the works of Plato and Aristotle. So a Jesuit education isn't much influenced by the whims that infect other schools and colleges but upholds a long tradition of classical studies. You won't find courses designed to make you feel good about your race or your sex or to justify your sense of victimhood. At least not yet. So it's puzzling that students at Matteo Ricci College, at a Jesuit institution, are protesting the curriculum with a sit-in at the university's administration building, demanding both a fix and the resignation of the college's dean. According to the Seattle Times, they take shifts while 15 to 20 sleep on the floor and occupy the rooms around the clock. "When am I going to start reading writers from China, from Africa, from South America," one fourth-year student asked. "We came here for a liberatory [sic] education We want to be represented, we deserve to be represented, all students deserve to hear a narrative that's not just white." These students sound like someone who joins a church and then demands it change its doctrines. "I don't like all this forgiveness stuff. We've gotta change it. And this Transubstantiation. Are you serious? What's that all about?" "The only thing they're teaching us is dead white dudes," one student said. So they want texts by more contemporary writers: Toni Morrison, Richard Wright, Sherman Alexie, Maxine Hong, Malala Yousafzai and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Matteo Ricci must be spinning in his grave. Could it be that these students and their parents chose this expensive education blindly, without looking into the curriculum? Given the cost, you'd like to think there was some careful deliberation behind the choice, at least on the parents' part. Maybe the students, or at least some of them, were tantalized by the name and reputation of the school. Or maybe they believe the college misrepresented itself. They remind me of a parent who came to the private school where I worked and complained about a book his son was required to read in my literature course. The head of the school replied, "Well, that's the curriculum here," he said calmly. "You always have the opportunity to send your son to another school." You might hope that the president of Seattle University would take a similar approach, but he appears to sympathize with the disgruntled students. The Seattle Times quoted him as saying, "I cannot pretend to know how deep their pain goes, the amount of harm it has caused or the extent of our own shortcomings as educators and administrators." Oh, the horror. The horror. He sounds like a man who doesn't believe in his own program, a man who has just been found guilty of flogging his young charges bloody. In his defense, he did reject the students' demand that he fire the dean, which the recalcitrant students said was the only thing that would end the insurrection (thereby displaying their ineptness at negotiation). One student complained that the dean recommended a book with a racial slur in the title. Did the student look beyond the cover? Heaven help us. All in all, this sounds like another case of the tail wagging the dog. SHARE By Tom Philpott The Senate Armed Services Committee, as part of a more aggressive campaign to hold down military compensation costs, is calling for "substantial reform" of the $21 billion Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) program. One of its proposals would end what the committee perceives as windfall BAH payments made to service members who opt to reside together, thus lowering their actual costs of off-base housing while assigned stateside. A second BAH "reform" would cap individual monthly payments to the lesser of two amounts: either what individuals actually pay to rent housing or to a local BAH maximum based on their rank and dependency status. The reforms are described in the committee's 678-page report [No. 114-255] released this week to explain hundreds of provisions in its fiscal 2017 defense authorization bill (S. 2943) and the reasoning behind many. The Senate bill also proposes a fourth consecutive military pay raise cap next January, sweeping changes to TRICARE, as detailed here last week, and a two-year test to privatize up to five commissaries, in addition to adopting variable pricing and other modern tools to operate the base grocery stores. More than 30 senators already are backing an amendment from Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, to block a privatization test until a study ordered in last year's defense authorization bill, on the costs and benefits of privatization, is completed. On all of these issues, the House-passed defense bill doesn't go as far the Senate bill would to slow compensation growth. But the Senate bill also fully funds overseas contingency operations for next year, which the House does not, triggering a veto threat from President Obama. Last year the Senate committee, chaired then, as now, by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, with close friend Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, serving as its personnel subcommittee chairman, proposed two other controversial changes to BAH. Neither survived final negotiations with the House. One would have eliminated BAH for more than 40,000 service members married to other members, arguing that BAH is designed so one "with dependents" payment should cover a couple's average rental costs. But Defense officials countered that BAH is integral to the total compensation package. Ending it would inflict a "significant marriage penalty" on those who happened to be wed to other service members. The committee also proposed lowering BAH to 75 percent of a full monthly rate for members who reside with other members, a change House conferees also rejected. The Senate committee under McCain still aims to end BAH windfalls with new rules it hopes the House will accept. DoD support again isn't likely. Indeed, the committee report criticizes DoD for failing to prepare, as Congress requested, a report on how best to modify BAH rates to cover actual housing costs. In the report it gave Congress in March, the committee said, DoD "expressed its opposition to limiting BAH to actual housing costs." The committee said the perception of housing allowances has become distorted over time. The original intent "was to provide a housing benefit for service members in recognition of the transient nature of military service, and in further recognition of the reality that civilian spouses are often unemployed and sacrifice careers of their own." The tax-free nature of the housing allowance, the fact that rates differ based on dependency status and that BAH isn't paid when a member lives in government housing serves to validate the original purpose, it said. Yet Defense officials have made BAH integral to its calculation of Regular Military Compensation, which is used to compare compensation to civilian salaries and track the adequacy of military pay. The disconnect of housing allowance from its real purpose grew wider still since 1999 as BAH rates rose steadily to fully cover average rental costs by 2006. The result is that BAH "now far exceeds the actual cost of housing borne by some service members," said the committee. It cited an Army Audit Agency audit that BAH paid just to co-located married service members exceeded their actual housing costs by more than $200 million in 2014. The committee said its new reform proposals to provide only partial BAH tied to shared rent and to limit BAH overall based on the smaller of actual rent or the local BAH maximum would not impact members until their first permanent change-of-station move after Jan. 1, 2018. It also directs that DoD give Congress a new report by next March on how the new BAH calculations should be implemented, and to include an estimate of the impact on force retention and overall compensation, particularly for members who now choose to reside with other members. The new BAH proposals are expected to draw the same sharp criticism from dual-service couples heard last year. One major military association already has labeled this a fresh attack on an essential element of compensation earned separately by members not assigned to base housing. Some committee critics say McCain, who entered the U.S. Naval Academy a decade before the all-volunteer force began, is trying to revert to the "paternalism" of a bygone era when the military touted "taking care of its own" and worried less about keeping military compensation competitive. Another highlight of the Senate bill, which will be voted on sometime after the Memorial Day recess, would permanently authorize a $310 a month Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) to 62,000 surviving spouses. These survivors, all of whom either had spouses die while on active duty or die in retirement from service-connected conditions, are unlikely to be satisfied with SSIA becoming permanent. It equals only about one-fourth what most of them lose in Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) payments because they also qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the VA, and, by law, taxable SBP must be offset by non-taxed DIC. Congress created SSIA almost a decade ago to give these survivors temporary relief from the offset. Ending it entirely was seen as unaffordable. With SSIA due to expire next year, the House voted to extend it for a year. The Senate committee wants SSIA made permanent at $310, signaling that more relief than that will remain unaffordable. SOUTH KITSAP The 2,000th vessel produced by SAFE Boats International is the first of a new breed. Hull No. 2,000 belongs to Alexandria, a sleek, 41-foot coastal interceptor developed for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Alexandria is the first of 17 vessels SAFE Boats will deliver to the federal law enforcement agency in the initial phase of what could become a $48 million, 52-boat commitment. Officials unveiled the boat during an acceptance and naming ceremony Thursday at the manufacturer's Port of Bremerton headquarters. Alexandria was named for one of the first cutters employed by Customs after the agency's founding in 1789. While giving a nod to history, the vessel represents a technological leap forward for agents in the field, said Edward Young, deputy assistant commissioner for Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operation. 'The coastal interceptor vessel will provide our agents with a high level of protection, mobility and reliability,' Young said. SAFE Boats CEO Dennis Morris remarked the completion of the 2,000th hull and the rollout of the coastal interceptor were both milestones in the growth of the company. 'The timing worked out incredibly well,' Morris said. 'Our company and our products have evolved significantly since our humble beginnings in 1997.' The new coastal interceptors will replace aging vessels in Customs and Border Protection's fleet. They'll also provide a significant performance upgrade, said Supervisory Marine Interdiction Agent Eric Zegowitz. The aluminum-hull SAFE Boat can carry a crew of nine and reach speeds of 54 knots, driven by four, 300-horsepower outboards. A 600-gallon fuel tank gives the boat a range of more than 350 miles. Zegowitz was especially impressed by Alexandria's shock-absorbing seats, designed to cushion the jarring impact of the hull pounding across waves. 'It will be comfortable,' Zegowitz said. Young said the first set of boats will be deployed intercepting contraband in open water off California, Florida and Puerto Rico, zones the agency considers some of its 'highest threat areas.' 'This boat will do the job,' Young said. 'This appears to be the wave of the future for us.' The Customs and Border Protection contract also bodes well for the future of SAFE Boats, which recently renewed its lease in Bremerton. Morris said SAFE Boats will continue to pursue large federal contracts, while courting new overseas clients. He expects the company will expand its workforce in Bremerton over the next few years. SAFE Boats employees about 250 workers at its Olympic View Industrial Park plant and more than 100 at the Port of Tacoma where it's building a line of Navy patrol boats. Stoppress reports: The departures of Tim Murphy and Mark Jennings from their respective roles as the editor in chief of the New Zealand Herald and head of news at MediaWorks were both mourned as casualties of the changing media landscape. However, the social media anguish seems to have been pre-emptive. Earlier today, Jennings and Murphy told StopPress that they were launching a media consultancy called Jennings/Murphy, which would provide strategic media assistance to businesses or individuals looking for advice across editorial, video production, strategic comms and media. The pair will shortly launch their new website, and Jennings invites those interested in their services to approach them. With decades of experience between them, countless contacts and inside knowledge of the challenges facing modern media companies, the pair do seem well suited to providing strategic advice for corporates struggling in this space. The launch of the consultancy does not, however, imply that the newsmen have departed journalism for good. In addition to starting this business, the pair also unveiledcue widespread journalistic cheersplans to start a news site together. We are hoping to develop a home for quality news journalism here that will hopefully fill the gap from which mainstream media has withdrawn a bit, says Murphy. HomeSource is offering this home at 422 Houston St. for sale. Located in a low-income census tract, this home likely will be purchased by a participant in HomeSource's homebuyer education programs like those being funded by the First Tennessee Community Development Fund grant. HomeSource completely refreshed the home and it has received a LEED for Homes Gold certification for its energy efficiency. (Photo: Rhonda Clay/Submitted to the Knoxville News Sentinel) SHARE Pam Fansler, First Tennessee's East Region President, Jackie Mayo, HomeSource East Tennessee President and CEO, Joshalyn Hundley, First Tennessee Community Development Manager, and Taylor Hays, HomeSource East Tennessee HomeOwnership Center Manager. (Photo: Krystyn Davis/Submitted) By Ali James of the Knoxville News Sentinel Jackie Mayo, President and CEO of HomeSource East Tennessee, on Friday received the largest contribution to the organization from a bank. The check for $70,000 was presented by Pam Fansler, East Region President for First Tennessee. It is part of the first cycle of grants distributed from First Tennessee's new $50 million Community Development Fund. Up to $3 million will be awarded annually to community and nonprofit organizations serving low-to-moderate-income people and neighborhoods. The foundation's goal is to help the nonprofits organizations that strengthen the communities the bank serves. HomeSource will put the grant to good use. "We expect to serve 275 households in our classes this year and this grant will greatly offset the costs of those classes and more," said Mayo. In addition, HomeSource also hopes to offer some homebuyers up to $4,500 in down payment assistance and perhaps help finance some small home repairs. "Our primary mission and goal is to create affordable home opportunities for the low- to moderate-income population in Knoxville and 13 surrounding counties," said Mayo. "We have two very active divisions, our homeownership center does a tremendous job with education and counseling," said Mayo. "Right now the pendulum has swung back to the pre-purchase. I think that the foreclosure crisis has dissipated a lot. The pre-purchase is where we are seeing the economy improving. That education piece is front and foremost." The other division focuses on developing affordable housing for low-to-moderate income families, with an emphasis right now on affordable multifamily housing for seniors and people with special needs, according to Mayo. HomeSource also offers home foreclosure prevention counseling, develops new apartments and single-family homes for individuals, families, and seniors that might not qualify otherwise. They also work to revitalize neighborhoods by improving existing housing or building new affordable housing. "Our goal is a sustainable house environment," said Mayo, "so that before going in you are prepared to navigate the bumps in homeownership. If someone faces a job loss or a reduction in pay, how do they remain in their home and handle those hiccups?" Participants in HomeSource's homeownership program learn the importance of sound financial management, credit and debt management and the responsibilities of renting and homeownership. Maintaining the home and personal finances equals successful homeownership, according to Mayo. "Putting replacement reserves back and anticipating repairs," she said. "If they aren't thinking about that it can be a whammy to their budget." "We also talk about energy and how to do simple things like caulking and weather-stripping," said Mayo of their organization's focus on sustainable housing. "When we build, our emphasis is on high-performance houses, minimum-energy star-rated, LEED performance homes which really does help folks with a lower utility bill." As a housing counseling agency HomeSource also connects homebuyers to other available resources. "First Tennessee has been a longtime supporter, providing folks to teach our financial literacy classes," said Mayo. "We are just delighted that we are able to work with them and able to provide affordable housing in our community." Cindy Anderson recently took the "Financial Fitness" classes that HomeSource offers. After her divorce, Anderson had found herself homeless, in debt and overwhelmed. "I wanted to repair my credit and become mortgage ready," she said. "When I went to the classes I learned how to budget, and how to repair my credit and not only that, he (Taylor Hays Homeownership Center Manager) sat down after class and helped me call some of the creditors. He really took his time and helped me learn what my options were and how to approach the collections that were outstanding, settle my debt and make payment plans." In just one year, Anderson had paid off her debt, except some student loans, and lifted her credit score by over 200 points. "It doesn't matter how rich or poor you are," she added. "They took the time to counsel me and they really showed concern and compassion in every area that I needed." Anderson has obtained a full-time job since starting the program, achieved employee of the month and was given a raise. "I've joined another program and it will talk about getting grants for a down payment and my next step will be getting a home," said Anderson. "This story isn't over yet, I will get a house and I will be a success story." The Community Development Fund was officially announced in early April and strategic direction for the fund has been provided by an advisory board. Joshalyn Hundley, Vice President Community Development Manager at First Tennessee, has been hard at work spreading word about the fund. "There has been a steady stream of email and calls concerning the fund," she said. I've been going into the communities and hosting meetings at local branches and sharing what we do with them. We have already covered the Blount and Johnson City area and plan to be in Roane and Knox County shortly." Giving the $70,000 grant to HomeSource was a perfect fit to the fund's primary goals. "HomeSource has been in existence for quite a while and have grown and proven to be a stellar organization in providing resources to homeowners and they have been successful at that for quite a while." Hundley's outreach efforts extend far beyond the Knoxville market. "I have found that they are extremely appreciative that a bank is making an effort to go above and beyond to put more money into the community," she said of the reaction at First Tennessee branches. "They are viewing it as relational; they often say that as a depositor they are pleased with what we are doing and they want to make sure they tell other people what we are doing in their community." Hundley also said that during her visits she has seen some surrounding counties in dire need of decent housing. "We can work with the municipalities too," she said. "(Assisting) with neighborhood stabilization and revitalization." In addition to the HomeSource East Tennessee grant, the following organizations have also received grants during this first cycle: Big Brothers Big Sisters, $7,500; Boys and Girls Clubs, $5,000; Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, $5,000; Centro Hispano, $5,000; Goodwill Industries, $5,000; Habitat for Humanity, $25,000; Interfaith Health Clinic, $3,000; Knoxville Area Urban League Housing Program, $5,000. SHARE By Tina Chambers, Chapter16.org "The Last Star" is the third and final installment of Rick Yancey's dystopian Young Adult series that begins with New York Times bestseller "The 5th Wave" and continues in "The Infinite Sea." In the trilogy, 16-year-old Cassie Sullivan, a curly-haired, freckle-nosed teen from Ohio, struggles to adapt when ordinary life with her parents and five-year-old brother, Sam, is interrupted by the ominous appearance of a spaceship hovering above Earth. The arrival of "the Others," as they are called, heralds the beginning of successive waves of destruction. The first three "Waves" take place in the space of three months, killing most of the world's population through electromagnetic pulses, coastal flooding and a bird-borne disease. During the fourth wave, lone assassins called "Silencers" pick off isolated survivors, ushering in the fifth wave, a clean-up operation designed to render anyone left assuming anyone is left something less than human. In the series, Cassie goes from texting with her best friend, Lizbeth, and daydreaming about handsome Ben Parish to doing whatever is necessary to survive and protect Sam after their parents die. Meanwhile, against all odds, Ben finds his way to Camp Haven, a military base where he begins training to destroy any remaining humans believed to be "infested" by alien contact. The "Wonderland" device, an alien program recovered by humans, allows Lieutenant Colonel Vosch, the brutal leader of the base, to access the memories of each test subject and root out any alien infiltrators. As the troops prepare to fan out and kill anyone who fails their screening, Ben now called "Zombie" in a tribute to his unexpected survival becomes the eventual leader of his squad of fellow soldiers: the beautiful and deadly Ringer; the gentle medic Dumbo; tiny but fierce Teacup; sharpshooter Poundcake; and Cassie's own brother Sam, renamed "Nugget." As Cassie makes her hazardous way to Sam after he is taken by soldiers to Camp Haven, she is rescued by a farm boy named Evan Walker, the last survivor of his family. Evan, who nurses her back to health in his family's farmhouse, falls in love with her, but Cassie fears he is really a Silencer and struggles to trust his kindness. Trust is indeed in short supply in the world the Others have created. But young Sam has found something he can believe in: The gun under his shirt is cold against his bare skin. It's a nice feeling, better than a hug. He isn't afraid of the gun. He isn't afraid of anything. At Camp Haven, the soldiers in charge said they would protect him. They told him he was perfectly safe. They told him everything was going to be all right. And they lied. They lied about everything because everybody is a liar. They make promises they don't keep. Even his Mommy and Daddy lied. When the mothership came, they said they would never leave him, and they did. They promised everything would be all right, and it wasn't. As befitting a YA genre inescapably changed by the monumental success of The Hunger Games, Yancey pulls no punches here. Small children with bombs stuffed down their throats? Check. Characters beaten, tortured, stabbed, and shot? Sure. Bodies and blood and gore galore? Those, too. These are bleak books populated by children and young adults saturated in a violent and hopeless reality that has caught them completely unprepared. Cut off from family and society, some struggle valiantly to remain true to their understanding of what humanity means a few even sacrifice themselves for the good of others but others succumb to the degradation. It's not a spoiler to say that the closest thing to a happy ending possible in such a decimated society is the hope of survival among whatever alliances seem worth the risk. For more local book coverage, visit http://chapter16.org/, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee. YOUNG ADULT The Last Star by Rick Yancey (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 352 pages, $18.99) AUTHOR APPEARANCE When: 2 p.m., Sunday, June 5 Where: Barnes & Noble The Shenandoah Valley was a spectacular place to spend Labor Day, even when rushing by car from Washington, D.C., to a public debate in Birmingham, Ala. It helped that Larry Taunton of the Fixed Point Foundation had a lively conversationalist in the passenger seat during that 2010 road trip: atheist provocateur Christopher Hitchens. And as the mountains rolled past, they worked their way deep into St. John's Gospel. Taunton called this exchange a "Bible study." Hitchens called it "mutual textual criticism." So here was the author of "god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," reading glasses perched on his nose, reading some of Christianity's most cerebral words in his rich British baritone, a voice abused by countless cigarettes and smoothed by rivers of Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch. He kept a glass damn the highway open-container laws locked between his knees throughout the drive. Thus, Hitchens read: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." At one point, Taunton suggested that Hitchens record this text to sell as an audiobook. "With that voice, Christopher would have done an amazing job. ... You can only imagine the shock this would have caused among atheists and Christians, alike," said Taunton in an interview. Hitchens, however, "knew that he didn't have much time left and he had so much that he wanted to do." The Shenandoah road trip is a pivotal scene in Taunton's new book, "The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World's Most Notorious Atheist," which is causing fierce debates on both sides of the Atlantic. That drive, and a second in Yellowstone National Park, took place during Hitchens' struggle with esophageal cancer, which took his life on Dec. 15, 2011. Taunton makes no claim that Hitchens experienced a religious conversion during this time. In fact, his book closes with a chapter that while noting it's impossible to know what happens between a person and God stresses that Hitchens kept reaffirming his atheistic beliefs. "What I am saying is that Christopher was asking serious questions and was sincerely interested in learning more about what Christians like me believe," said Taunton. "But if I was going to claim that he converted, then the Shenandoah and Yellowstone trips would have provided the perfect opportunity for me to lie about something like that, because those conversations were between the two of us." It's crucial, said Taunton, that Hitchens was genuinely shaken by 9/11. Afterward, in addition to embracing a fierce brand of patriotism, he dedicated more of his time to attacking forms of institutionalized religion, especially militant Islam, that he considered evil. However, he knew logically that it was hard for an atheist to talk about good and evil in absolute, transcendent terms. Thus, Taunton argues that Hitchens had "faith" in something higher than atheism. That private faith may have been patriotism, or justice, or the importance of friendship, or a proud confidence in his own intellect and force of will. "If you are trying to unlock the Christopher Hitchens black box, the tumblers just don't line up with the atheist key," he said. "They don't line up with the God key, either." In the event following the Shenandoah drive, Hitchens kept trying to pull Taunton the moderator into the debate about the importance of faith. Finally, Taunton admitted that Hitchens was correct to state that any discovery that "Jesus was only a figment of my imagination" would "ruin my life. ... Such a discovery would mean that this life is meaningless and a sham." Urging him on, Hitchens replied: "Don't give up so easily." A month later, Hitchens and Taunton met in a public debate. At one point, they clashed over Hitchens' tendency to make absolute moral judgments, while denying the existence of a higher "Law Giver." Finally, Taunton recalled that Hitchens, during the Shenandoah trip, was surprised to see a store display of "no tar" cigarette filters. Deadpan, Hitchens had quipped: "Oh, I wish I had known." Turning serious, Taunton told the debate crowd that he feared "my friend will step into eternity and say, 'Oh, I wish I had known.'" Taunton turned to Hitchens and added: "Don't give up quite so easily." Hitchens whispered: "Touche." Terry Mattingly is the editor of GetReligion.org and Senior Fellow for Media and Religion at The King's College in New York City. He lives in Oak Ridge, Tenn. SHARE Lee Cromwell (Anderson County Sheriff's Office) James Robinson (FACEBOOK) By Bob Fowler of the Knoxville News Sentinel CLINTON The widow of a man crushed by a pickup backing up quickly in a crowded parking lot after a fireworks show has filed a $7 million wrongful death lawsuit against the driver, who is under a 17-count criminal indictment for the incident. Julia Robinson of Knoxville, widow of James Robinson, 37, filed the Anderson County Circuit Court complaint this week against Lee Harold Cromwell, 65, of Oak Ridge. "In an act of heroism, James Robinson pushed his daughter Jaide Nicole Robinson out of the way of the pickup, and was then struck, crushed and killed by the pickup which was negligently operated by the defendant," the legal action asserts. The family had been watching the fireworks "from the trunk/hatch of their vehicle (a GMC Envoy)" and was preparing to leave when Cromwell's 2006 Dodge pickup struck their vehicle, the complaint states. Jaide Robinson was hurt when she hit the pavement after her father pushed her out of the way, while Julia Robinson and her other daughter, Jaclynn Marie Robinson, were injured as a result of the collision between Cromwell's pickup and their vehicle, according to the lawsuit. The mother and daughters "suffered severe mental anguish from witnessing the wrongful death of their husband and father," it continues. Cromwell was negligent by not using due care, not keeping his vehicle under control, and not keeping a proper lookout, according to the lawsuit. Julia Robinson seeks $5 million for her husband's wrongful death and $1 million for her personal injuries "and for her fear and fright and mental anguish resulting from witnessing the wrongful death of her husband," it continues. Another $500,000 each is sought for the two daughters. An initial lawsuit against Cromwell was filed in March by a couple seeking $450,000 and contending they were injured while sitting in the bed and tailgate of their vehicle when Cromwell's pickup slammed into it. Cromwell was indicted by an Anderson County grand jury earlier this month on charges of homicide, 12 counts of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. Witnesses told police Cromwell backed his pickup through the parking lot at a high speed after the city's fireworks show in nearby A.K. Bissell Park, striking several vehicles and injuring 11 people. Cromwell remains free on $100,000 bond. His arraignment in Anderson County Criminal Court, originally scheduled for Friday, has been reset for June 3. SHARE Rashan Lateef Jordan, 35 A man authorities say is a member of the East Side Bloods was convicted Thursday of selling 22 grams of cocaine to an informant wearing a wire for the Knoxville Police Department. Rashan Lateef Jordan, 35, is scheduled to be sentenced by Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee on June 24, according to the District Attorney General's office. KPD investigator John Holmes provided the informant with a wire and $1,080 to buy an ounce of the drug on March 25, 2010. Jordan then sold the informant 22 grams about 0.78 ounces in a drug-free child care zone. Because of his criminal history and affiliation with a gang, Jordan is facing between 12 and 20 years in prison, prosecutors said. His previous convictions include possession with intent to sell cocaine, attempted aggravated sexual battery, evading arrest and two counts of theft. More details as they develop online and in Saturday's News Sentinel. SHARE By Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel A doctor is admitting he was paid as much as $1,300 daily to write prescriptions for painkillers and sedatives for customers at a now-defunct Maryville pain clinic in an office that wasn't even equipped with examination gloves, court records show. In the first prosecution in East Tennessee of doctors who worked for pill-mill operators as drug traffickers, Dr. James Brian Joyner has struck a deal to plead guilty in U.S. District Court. He is one of two doctors charged under a section of federal drug-trafficking conspiracy law that puts medical providers in the same category as street dealers when they write prescriptions without "a legitimate medical purpose" and outside "the usual course of professional practice. Joyner and Dr. Deborah Gayle Thomas supervised two physician assistants and five nurse practitioners who prosecutors allege in a 2014 indictment doled out thousands of prescriptions for painkillers and sedatives to patients at the now-defunct Breakthrough Pain Therapy Center on East Broadway in Maryville. The clinic was owned and operated by husband-and-wife team Randy and Sandra Kincaid. Neither were licensed medical professionals, a loophole in state law that has since been closed in the fight against pill mills. Pain clinics now must be owned and operated by doctors. Testimony in a federal trial of the Kincaids showed the clinic pulled in roughly $2.5 million in 17 months from July 2009 to December 2010, when authorities raided Breakthrough. At least one overdose death has been linked to the clinic. Both of the Kincaids are now serving decades behind bars. In a deal struck between defense attorney John Eldridge and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kolman, Joyner will not be held accountable for the overdose death. In return, though, Joyner is agreeing not to argue for any sentencing reductions below the penalty range of 121 months to 131 months suggested in federal sentencing guidelines for his crime. In the plea agreement, Joyner admits he knew he was acting as little more than a drug dealer. "During the time (Joyner) worked at BPTC, no examination tables, medical equipment, hospital gowns or examination gloves were used by the defendant or the co-conspirators that he purportedly supervised," the agreement stated. Attorneys, including Eldridge, had challenged the prosecution effort as an improper encroachment by the federal government into the practices of doctors and their relationships with patients, arguing there was no measuring stick for when a prescription was written without "legitimate medical purpose." They lost that battle earlier this year. Joyner now admits, according to the plea agreement, customers "were not examined or received only nominal physical examinations but were nonetheless provided prescriptions for controlled substances" including oxycodone, morphine and Xanax. Of the nine medical providers indicted after the Kincaids were tried and convicted, Joyner brings to seven the total who have struck plea deals, with each admitting they earned anywhere from $700 to $1,000 a day to dole out prescriptions without medical equipment or even conducting cursory examinations of patients. A seventh defendant, David Brickhouse, died recently in an unrelated car crash. Thomas faces trial later this year. Damage is visible to McKee Hall at Knoxville College. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE A view of the Knoxville College campus from Reynolds Street. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) By Megan Boehnke of the Knoxville News Sentinel City officials have issued emergency repair orders for the entire Knoxville College campus that, if affirmed at a hearing today, will require the school to vacate all of its buildings until they are rehabilitated. The 17 buildings facing orders include Alumni Library, where school officials have set up an administration office and held classes in recent years. The library has lateral cracks around the foundation, indicating serious structural problems, said Robert Moyers, head of Neighborhood Codes Enforcement, who inspected the campus on April 18. A school official, however, said Thursday they will present a plan for repairing the library at today's hearing and ask the city for more time to do the work. If they don't receive it, the school will have 30 days to vacate the building, Moyers said. The recently closed college is working with a developer and already has selected contractors to repair the roof, electrical system and other projects, said Jane Redmond, head of the college's on-site management team. She did not say how much the repairs would cost or how much money the college, which stopped holding classes last year, has on hand. The primary revenue source has been alumni donations, gifts bequeathed to the school and profits from the Pilot gas station at the corner of Western Avenue and Middlebrook Pike, which is co-owned by the college. Knoxville College, the only historically black college in the city, stopped holding classes last spring for the first time in its 140-year history. School officials originally hoped to hold classes again this fall, but will instead push to offer online courses, Redmond said. "We are, right now, going the route of online classes and after we complete construction on the campus, we will look at opening it to actual, physical students on campus," Redmond said. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission voted in April to place the historically black college on "conditional authorization," essentially suspending the school's approval to recruit, enroll or educate students. The status remains the same, Julie Woodruff, an attorney for the state agency, said Thursday. Redmond also said the college has been working with Southeastern Commercial, a developer that previously had tried to ink a deal with the college last year. Redmond said buyers had been looking at tracts of land on the campus. School officials in the past have said they are open to selling off a portion of the property to restore the historic buildings on the front side of the campus. But the buildings are deteriorating rapidly, according to the city. Three buildings, the iconic McKee Hall, Brandon Hall and a faculty cottage on Reynolds Street, already have been condemned by the city. Another faculty cottage was torn down by city crews because it was beyond repair and had become a public safety issue, Knoxville officials said at the time. Codes violations found in the April inspection include structural, foundation, roofing, plumbing, electrical and exterior problems, records show. Last month, for three straight days, the Knoxville Fire Department was called to battle small, intentionally set fires around the campus. "When fire department responded there had been additional decline of the buildings and they called and requested our inspectors to come out," said David Brace, the city's Public Works director. "The repair order is essentially saying, 'You must repair this. They're dangerous and they can't be occupied.' " Brace will preside over the hearing today and make a decision on whether to move forward with the repair orders. The meeting is at 3:30 p.m. in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building. If affirmed, the order would require plans be submitted to the city before any permits are issued and the owner must receive a certificate of completion before the building can be occupied again, Moyers said. The school could appeal an order, if affirmed today, to the Better Buildings Board and, ultimately, to Chancery Court. photos by SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL Seated from left, Anne Elise Bolton, Zachary Will, Dylan Will and Gabrielle Sandy of Maryland wear matching caps for the Destination Imagination graduation ceremony at the World's Fair Park Amphitheater in Knoxville on Thursday. SHARE From left, Andrew Cunningham, Cassandra Wright, Kyle Moran and Mitchell Williams, all of New Hampshire, wear homemade caps Thursday for the Destination Imagination graduation ceremony at the World's Fair Park Amphitheater. From left, Blake Irons, Brooke Bowdridge, Miah Pitcher, and Addie Thompson, all from Colorado, put on their paint splattered graduation gowns to participate in the Destination Imagination graduation ceremony at World's Fair Park on Thursday. The graduation gives high school seniors and graduating college students a chance to participate in a ceremony if they miss their official graduation while in Knoxville competing in Destination Imagination's Global Finals. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) Destination Imagination competitors during a graduation ceremony at World's Fair Park on Thursday. The graduation gives high school seniors and graduating college students a chance to participate in a graduation ceremony if they miss their official graduation while participating in the Global Finals in Knoxville. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) From left, Dennis Whitley IV, Luke Gibson, Thomas Walz, and Alex Patton, all of Maryland, wait to participate in Destination Imagination's graduation ceremony at the World's Fair Park Amphitheater in Knoxville on Thursday. The ceremony gives high school seniors and graduating college students a chance to participate in a graduation if they miss their official graduation while participating in the Global Finals. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) Related Photos Photos: Destination Imagination's Global Finals graduation By Lauren Kittrell, Special to the News Sentinel Every year students around the world make an academic transition, graduating from one season of life to the next, but it's rare to find students making that transition with fellow scholars from across the globe. On Thursday, Destination Imagination's Global Finals held a graduation ceremony of their own, just for students involved in their learning programs. The event was held at Knoxville's World's Fair Park, which played host to more than 300 graduates and their families from as close as Brentwood, Tenn., to as far away as Istanbul, Turkey. Destination Imagination CEO Chuck Cadle said the ceremony makes him both excited and proud, as though he's watching his own children graduate. He said he's excited to see these graduates enter the workforce with the 'three C's' of Destination Imagination: curiosity, courage and creativity. "For me (these kids) are the future pioneers and leaders and entrepreneurs that are going to change the world and they have learned the creative process from Destination Imagination," he said. "I know they will carry that forward to the workforce. They have the 21st-century skills that they need to be successful in their careers, and they will make a difference in the world." For 18-year-old valedictorian Zayna Pieper of Calhan, Colo., the ceremony was an opportunity for her to graduate out of a program that brought her up and, as she said in her speech, celebrate the journey that she and her "classmates" have taken. She said Destination Imagination didn't just teach her to think outside the box, but rather that there is no box. She encouraged her audience to live by those words. "That is what can actually change the world, that is what can actually make a difference in someone's life," she said. Thursday's ceremony is certainly not the end of Destination Imagination for Pieper. Though she'll be studying mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado in the fall, she intends to join the DI team by volunteering her time. "We need like 30,000 volunteers from the adult community to make this work and to make this happen for our kids," Pieper said. "Now that I've graduated, I get to go and be a part of that group. I get to nurture creativity and problem-solving in others, and that's cool." The Global Finals will continue through Saturday, when an added feature is expected to give Knoxville residents a chance to see what the whole Destination Imagination experience is all about. DI, the city of Knoxville and Ford Motor Co. have joined Destination Imagination to stage "Try the DI" 10 a.m.-noon at the World's Fair Park Amphitheater. The event will give the curious an opportunity to re-imagine the future of driving in a one-of-a-kind Ford of the Future design challenge. Passengers leave the security area after returning on flights at Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Memorial Day is one of the busiest days of year for air travelers. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE William Martin filling up his Excursion at the RaceWay on Western Avenue on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 before the Memorial Day weekend. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) Travelers gathering their luggage from flights returning to Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Memorial Day is one of the busiest days of year for air travelers. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) Gas and diesel prices at the RaceWay station on Western Avenue on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) A Delta Connection flight arriving at Knoxville's McGhee Tyson Airport on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Memorial Day is one of the busiest days of year for air travelers. (MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL) By Travis Dorman of the Knoxville News Sentinel Memorial Day gas prices are projected to be at an 11-year low this holiday weekend, and travelers are taking advantage. On Friday, the national average price of regular gas was $2.32 per gallon, and the Tennessee state average was $2.15, according to the AAA. At those figures, pump prices are the highest they've been this year, yet the lowest they've been on Memorial Day weekend since 2005. Find the lowest gas prices in Knoxville. As a result, AAA predicts the second-highest Memorial Day travel volume on record. More than 38 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this weekend, and an unprecedented 89 percent of travelers will drive to their destinations. The National Weather Service has forecast a warmer than usual Memorial Day weekend, with temperatures in the 80s and a chance of thundershowers. Matt and Mattie Manning, a couple from South Knoxville, are spending their Memorial Day camping at Cove Lake State Park in Campbell County. The Mannings typically travel on holidays. "We usually try to do something every chance we get," Mattie Manning said. Low fuel prices helped seal the deal. "It makes it nicer not having to pay so much for gas," Matt Manning said. The number of Americans traveling is 1.8 percent higher than last year; the number of Tennesseans, 1.5 percent higher. "Millions of Americans are eager to kick off the unofficial start of the summer travel season by taking a Memorial Day getaway," said Joe Richardson, president and CEO of AAA. "We are forecasting an increase in holiday travelers for the second consecutive year, and the most in 11 years, largely due to low gas prices, a growing labor market and rising personal incomes." In a recent AAA survey, 55 percent of Americans said they are more likely to take a road trip this year due to lower gas prices. The organization estimates Americans have saved more than $18 billion on gas so far this year compared to 2015. In addition to its affordability, AAA spokeswoman Stephanie Milani said the popularity of driving over flying stems from the flexibility it provides: drivers can more easily adjust their trip duration or distance than can fliers. The number of airborne Americans is also on the rise: AAA estimates 2.6 million Americans and 57,000 Tennesseans will fly this weekend 1.6 and 2.5 percent increases from last year, respectively. National airfare averages are down 26 percent this year, a price cut Milani believes may be caused by competition from the gas pumps. Knoxville natives Heidi and Julie Jones are seizing this opportunity to take their first Memorial Day getaway in a long time. The pair, who are flying from McGhee Tyson Airport to Destin, Fla., to soak up the sun on the beach, said they would normally drive but decided to take advantage of the unusually affordable airfare. For those staying in East Tennessee, forecasts call for a warm weekend with mostly clear skies. "We're in the transition area between a high pressure ridge and a drop of low pressure that's over the center part of the United States," said Mary Black, a meteorologist at the weather service in Morristown. "So we still have the influence of that upper level of high pressure, and we have some southerly flow that's bringing in moisture." Saturday will be mostly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms late in the afternoon. Highs will be in the mid- to upper 80s. Lows will be in the low to mid-60s. Sunday will be mostly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs will be in the low to mid-80s. Monday will be partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms and highs in the mid- to upper 80s. CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL Public Building Authority Safety Officer Jay Barnt writes out a ticket for a vehicle, which was already cited once for a violation, on Tuesday on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. City officials on Thursday announced new parking rates and enforcement procedures for downtown parking. SHARE By Megan Boehnke of the Knoxville News Sentinel The price of on-street parking will triple in some parts of downtown as Knoxville officials roll out 1,000 new high-tech parking meters before July. The city will also install meters on Gay Street for the first time in recent memory and begin enforcing metered spots on Saturdays. "We want to ensure turnover," said Bill Lyons, deputy to the mayor, at a public meeting Thursday. "The purpose of the meter is to be in places where people can come and do their business for relatively short amount of time." The new meters, which accept credit cards and have sensors to detect when spaces are in use, will be installed downtown over the next month. They also will eventually appear in the Fort Sanders area, along Cumberland Avenue and Central Street. The new rate structure will go into effect in July, raising the price of meters in the core of downtown to $1.50 per hour with a two-hour maximum. The long-term meters around the edges of downtown will be 30 cents per hour with a 10-hour maximum. Rates for long-term meters were 15 cents per hour and ranged from 50 cents to $1 per hour for short-term meters. Garages will remain free for visitors after 6 p.m. and on weekends. The city will also convert the southern half of the Gay Street viaduct to short-term parking to accommodate visitors to the 100 block of Gay Street and the Old City area. Lyons unveiled the changes at a meeting with city staff at the East Tennessee History Center on Thursday evening. The goal, said Lyons, is to incentivize visitors to use city-owned surface lots and parking garages for extended visits downtown. At the same time, the city wants to encourage turnover at short-term metered spaces with an ideal occupancy rate 85 percent at each block. "You ought to pay a premium for parking right where you want to go and it's the opposite right now," Lyons said. "So, obviously you have a whole lot of contradictory elements that don't make a lot of sense." The city will also hand over enforcement to the Public Building Authority, which currently polices parking time limits on Gay Street. The agency will hire six new officers to patrol downtown and four to patrol the Fort Sanders and Cumberland Avenue areas, said Jayne Burritt, PBA's chief executive officer. This includes Saturday enforcement 8 a.m.-10 p.m. on Gay Street and Market Square and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. everywhere else. Enforcement, which had been inconsistent in the past, had fallen to Knoxville Police Department officers and cadets when they were available, Lyons said. Meanwhile, rates for monthly users at city garages will also go up by $5 for commuters and $2.50 for downtown residents who receive a 50 percent discount. The rates currently range from $40 for the Jackson Avenue lot to $85 for the Market Square garage. Monthly rates for the garage at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum will decrease from $20 per month to $15 per month. A new trolley route will service the garage every seven to eight minutes. A vacant Knoxville College science building that housed hazardous chemicals and other substances is pictured Monday, June 23, 2014. Contractors for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are working to remove the material for safe disposal according to an EPA official. (Paul Efird/News Sentinel) SHARE A member of the TetraTech team enters the AK Stewart Science Center on the campus of Knoxville College to monitor the building for hazardous materials Monday, June 9, 2014. The Environmental Protection Agency is on location to oversee the removal of numerous materials in the building. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL) Related Coverage State, college reopen dialogue on mercury-plagued building By Megan Boehnke of the Knoxville News Sentinel City officials delayed emergency repair orders Friday on three Knoxville College buildings, including a former science laboratory so contaminated by toxic chemicals that state environmental officials have proposed it be declared a Superfund cleanup site. Even so, college leaders said they still plan to move forward with plans to reopen the shuttered school and redevelop the campus of the city's only historically black college. The A.K. Stewart Science Building, the site of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup two years ago, tested positive for high levels of mercury throughout the building, said Stan Hawkins, regional manager for the Division of Remediation at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. "The Stewart Science Building is a very dangerous place," Hawkins said. "We were over there every couple weeks and secured the building, but it would get broken into and they (vagrants) were taking stuff out of it. A lot of that stuff is probably contaminated with mercury, and they're taking it out in public." The agency has not been able to determine the source of the mercury, "but believes that it is more widespread throughout the building," according to TDEC records. In 2014, the EPA spent three weeks cleaning up the building after state officials discovered thousands of abandoned and unlabeled hazardous chemicals in the vacant building. TDEC will hold a hearing July 7 at its Knoxville office to consider the Superfund status. There will be a public comment period and then a second hearing in Nashville before a final determination is made, Hawkins said. Jane Redmond, head of the school's on-site management team, said she wasn't concerned about the environmental issues raised by TDEC. "They keep it boarded it up, they monitor it," she said after Friday's hearing. "You know, it's their responsibility, as he said. That's not us; that's on them." Meanwhile, the city's public works director Tuesday agreed to defer an emergency repair order on the science building for 60 days, along with orders for McMillan Chapel and Alumni Library. The chapel and library are both used as the "administrative hub" for the college, said Redmond. The city moved forward with orders on the other 14 campus buildings considered at Friday's hearing, meaning no one will be allowed to occupy those buildings until repairs are completed and approved by city officials. Another three buildings, including the iconic McKee Hall, already have repair orders. Redmond said the school will use the two months to form a plan with a private developer, Southeast Commercial. That company inked a master development deal with the school in January, said Gary Smith, head of the firm. Smith said he has two developers interested in the land and envisions a redevelopment district on the site that could include affordable housing, senior housing, office buildings and a charter school. Smith said he didn't know that the site had ongoing environmental issues. "That's an issue," he said following the hearing. "I knew the EPA had cleaned it up and spent like $400,000 on it, but I didn't know it wasn't finished. They said the whole site, basically, is in the Superfund." Under state law, a lien is placed against the entire parcel containing the contaminated building or land for the cost of a cleanup, Hawkins said. The science building is likely not salvageable, and the cost of safely demolishing it could run into the millions, he said. The college stopped holding classes last spring and had hoped to open again this fall. Instead, Redmond said the administration is pushing to offer online courses until repairs can be made to the campus. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission voted in April to place the historically black college on "conditional authorization," essentially suspending the school's approval to recruit, enroll or educate students. The status remains the same, Julie Woodruff, an attorney for THEC, said Thursday. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam speaks to reporters in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the state Capitol in Nashville on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig) SHARE By Richard Locker of the Knoxville News Sentinel NASHVILLE Gov. Bill Haslam said Friday that all state business is conducted on the state's email system by him and his staff except for an occasional " inadvertent slip" when messages are routed through personal and his former campaign email systems. The governor's remarks were in response to the posting of dozens of email messages regarding state business and policy sent among Haslam's current and former top staff and advisers using private accounts primarily associated with the campaign "@billhaslam.com" email domain established for his 2010 and 2014 election campaigns, Nashville's NewsChannel5 obtained the email through a public records request for "any state email sent to and from the domain billhaslam.com to or from" any member of the governor's cabinet, which includes state department commissioners and the governor's top staff. After the request was later narrowed down to one day, Aug. 24, 2015, the governor's office produced several email exchanges that either originated from or were sent to the private accounts but which ended up in the state email system when they were forwarded or other state officials were copied on them. According to a state memo given to NewsChannel5 with the email, the administration withheld 18 documents from disclosure 14 on the grounds of a "deliberative process privilege" that Haslam's office has asserted previously and the others for various exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The released email includes, for example, discussions of the state budget process, a state tax policy proposal and an exchange with Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero involving a dispute between the city and the Tennessee Department of Transportation over James White Parkway. Several of the exchanges were to or from Mark Cate, the governor's former special assistant and policy adviser who also served as Haslam's 2010 campaign manager. Cate left his state office last summer and established a governmental consulting firm. He also heads the governor's effort to raise $40 million in private funds toward a new $160 million Tennessee State Museum. Haslam was asked about the use of private email during a media availability after he led the state's annual Memorial Day weekend ceremony honoring military service members killed in the line of duty. "We do state business on state email. Occasionally, just like you I'll bet you have two emails occasionally you will inadvertently use the wrong one. There is nothing there. I promise," the governor said. He said several of the released email exchanges involved the use of the billhaslam.com domain because several of his top staffers met and communicated with each other during his campaign. "A lot of those folks first came together through the campaign and that's the email they had for me and for each other. "I can tell you this isn't a Hillary Clinton deal where we were using personal email only. There's no state secrets on there. I guarantee you that 99.9 percent of emails happen on the state email except for an inadvertent slip. There's nothing else." The governor's reference to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was about her use, as former secretary of state, a private email for State Department business. The department's inspector general issued a report Wednesday that concluded her use of private email for public business was "not an appropriate method" of preserving documents and that it failed to comply with the agency's policies. Haslam said, for example, that emailing flowing into his personal cellphone often flows into one default account. "When something comes into your device, it has a default email that it goes to. My handheld default email is personal because I don't want to do personal business on state email. I can assure you there's no issue around that." The governor also said that his staff and Cabinet members are frequently reminded to use the state email system for state business. "We remind people all the time that state business has to happen on state email. I'll bet that conversation happens not just in our staff meetings but at Cabinet meetings." Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open, noted that the only email to and from Haslam staffers' private accounts that was release was that which ended up being copied or sent to the state email system and there is no way to know how much was not. "Frankly, we only know what was forwarded to state email accounts here and there not how much was not," Fisher said. "State officials told (News Channel 5 investigative reporter Phil) Williams that they had 'no idea' what the retention policy was for billhaslam.com another troubling indicator that it might not be a priority to preserve public records that might sit on the private server. "The state should have policy about not using private email for government business, and respect for public records should be a high enough priority that top administrators, such as within the Haslam administration, should be leaders in making sure they are properly preserved." An online politics and polling operation says Gov. Bill Haslam's 2016 voter approval rating stands at 63 percent, almost unchanged from last year. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) SHARE By Richard Locker of the Knoxville News Sentinel NASHVILLE Gov. Bill Haslam said Friday he and a small group of other Republican governors are trying to set up a meeting soon with Donald Trump, their party's presumptive presidential nominee, to talk about state and federal issues. "As governor I interact with the federal government all the time and there's issues that really matter and there are things that I know that I didn't know before I came into this office (in which) the perspective of the federal government matters. Obviously everybody looks at things like legislation and who you appoint to the Supreme Court and things like that but who you put into (federal) departments and the philosophy of those departments really matters as well," the governor told reporters after a Memorial Day weekend ceremony. "I think it's probably underestimated both by people who are running for office and the rest of the citizens." Haslam also reiterated his agreement with Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery's decision to join Texas and nine other states in Wednesday's lawsuit challenging the Obama administration's directive on public school restrooms by transgender students. "I think Gen. Slatery thought, and I agree with him, that the Texas lawsuit has merit, that Obama had overreached his boundaries and that if that is going to be the law, either the Supreme Court should say that's the law or Congress should pass that." The legal action is in response to a guidance letter this month by the U.S. departments of education and justice saying the agencies interpret federal law to allow transgender students to use the school restrooms of their gender identity. School districts that force students to use restrooms of their birth gender may risk losing federal education funding. Haslam said Thursday he didn't ask Slatery, who was his chief legal counsel before his appointment as attorney general in 2014, to join the legal action. "I really didn't. I think everybody thinks that, since Herbert used to work here and I've known him a long time," Haslam said. "But we really, on things like that, keep a professional distance. That's his job to decide if it's appropriate for the state to decide." As for a meeting with Trump, the governor and his colleagues and the Trump campaign are working on a date, probably in New York and preferably, he said, prior to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which takes place July 18-21. "It will just be a group of governors who want to express things that we think are important from a state standpoint in dealing with the federal government," Haslam said. "If he is obviously now going to be the nominee of our party, we think it's really important that he hear those issues. And of course we'd like to hear some feedback from him on things that matter to us. Obviously education and health care are at the top of that list." Haslam said the uncertainty over a date is because Trump and the governors all have busy schedules. "I think we have some governors who would love to sit down prior to (the convention), so hopefully it will happen before the Cleveland convention," he said. The state's annual ceremony in observance of Memorial Day, held under a giant U.S. flag on War Memorial Plaza across from the State Capitol, honored seven service members who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces, including the five killed as a result of the terrorist attack by a lone gunman last July at a reserve center and recruitment center in Chattanooga. Also honored was 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman of Knoxville, killed in 1943 during the World War II Battle of Tarawa and whose remains were recovered and identified last year. The Medal of Honor recipient was buried in Knoxville last September. His family was represented at Friday's Nashville ceremony by his grandson, Clay Bonnyman Evans. The seventh honoree was Army Sgt. Gary Lee Reese of Ashland City, killed with two other soldiers in Iraq in 2005 when a bomb exploded under their Humvee. "Tennessee obviously has a proud history of military service, but unfortunately that also means that we have lost a lot of people serving the country who are Tennesseans. This is an important chance to recognize that," the governor said. "About 8 percent of Tennesseans are veterans, and I think it says something about who we are as a state. "Today we are recognizing the five sailors and Marines lost in the tragic attack in Chattanooga, a lieutenant who died 70 years ago in World War II whose body was just recovered, and a sergeant who died in Iraq. I think they represent the breadth of people who have given their lives in serving Tennessee." State Rep. Andy Holt burns a traffic camera ticket. (FACEBOOK) By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel NASHVILLE State Rep. Andy Holt is urging Tennesseans to ignore traffic camera tickets and emphasizing his point by burning a citation in a video that apparently has received more than 325,000 Facebook views. "What do you do if you get one? Throw it in the trash. Personally, I prefer to burn mine," says Holt, R-Dresden, in a lengthy news release issued in conjunction with posting the video on his Facebook page Wednesday, which shows him using a cigarette lighter to set the ticket aflame. But Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said in an email Thursday that Holt is not offering sound advice. "No one likes to be caught violating traffic offenses, regardless of how they are caught, but they have a legal obligation to properly address it. Burning a citation or throwing it away is an emotional response that may feel good, but it does not make the violation and accountability go away," Rausch said. Holt, a longtime critic of traffic camera tickets who repeatedly has called for banning them outright in Tennessee, was joined by state Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, this year in sponsoring a bill, HB2510, that requires all citations resulting from a traffic camera video to include this notice: "Nonpayment of this (citation) cannot adversely affect your credit score or report, driver's license, and/or automobile insurance rates." The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and by a 92-2 vote in the House. It took effect when signed by Gov. Bill Haslam on April 27. Holt said in pushing the measure that the new notice simply makes those drivers getting the tickets aware of what state law already says that traffic camera tickets are not reported to insurance companies or credit agencies and have no impact on the state's "points" system for keeping track of traffic violations issued directly by law enforcement officers. Drivers accumulating enough points can face extra penalties, including suspension of a license. Rausch, the current president of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, voiced concern about the bill when it was pending in the Legislature earlier this year. He and Maggi Duncan, the lobbyist for the association, told a reporter then the bill implies there are no consequences for ignoring a citation. Legally speaking, the camera citations are treated as a civil penalty, not as a misdemeanor criminal offense as when an officer directly writes a ticket. The maximum civil penalty is $50. If the penalty goes unpaid, Rausch and Duncan said, collection efforts can be pursued, just as with any other unpaid debt. Holt contends the companies operating traffic cameras under contract with Tennessee cities are themselves violating a provision of state law that says only a commissioned law enforcement officer can review video or photos of drivers running red lights or speeding to determine whether any violation occurs. The lawmaker says the two leading companies in contracting for traffic cameras in Tennessee RedFlex Holdings Inc., headquartered in Australia, and American Traffic Solutions Inc., based in Arizona openly promote their practice of having company personnel review the tapes before passing on suspected violations for police officer review. "How can the millions of dollars in traffic camera citations that have been issued in the state of Tennessee be valid if the law was clearly broken to issue them in the first place? In my opinion, they aren't," Holt said. The legislator said traffic camera companies and city police departments have been using "coercion and false legal threats" to prod violators into paying the $50 tickets and the bill was intended to stop such things. But he said in Union City in West Tennessee, officials have added a sentence: "Payment is required by law." He said that is "yet another lie" designed to undermine the new law. Holt also complains about the "fiscal note" by the Legislature's Fiscal Review Committee staff, an estimate of his bill's impact on finances of local governments collecting revenue from traffic camera tickets. He contends the fiscal note was based on data from "a lobbying group that gets paid countless dollars to keep cameras up and operating." The fiscal note appearing on the legislative website Thursday says the staff "could not obtain complete data" on revenue collected as a result of traffic cameras, but cites two Middle Tennessee towns Murfreesboro and Gallatin and suggests revenue loss for those two cities would be about $30,000 per year, roughly 3 percent of the total they collect. "The proposed language being printed on the citation is expected to reduce overall fine collections for unmanned traffic enforcement camera violations. The extent of any such reduction is unknown, but is reasonably estimated to exceed 3 percent," says the fiscal note. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety lists 19 Tennessee cities using traffic cameras to ticket drivers running red lights including Knoxville and Farragut and 14 cities using the cameras to ticket drivers for speeding violations. In 2015, Holt successfully sponsored legislation that bans new contracts for use of the cameras to issue speeding tickets. But that law included a provision allowing contracts in place at the time it took effect July 1, 2015 to continue using the cameras. Holt says some cities used that provision to quickly renew their contracts to avoid the ban, in some cases for up to 20 years. Darrell DeBusk, spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department, said Rausch has seen the Holt video. The chief was unavailable for an interview Thursday, but wrote in the email: "I am hopeful that Rep. Holt is not encouraging people to disregard a legal obligation to answer an allegation of a violation either by challenging the charge in a court or remitting the fine." James D. Hamm Jr. SHARE By Nick Shepherd, Kingsport Times-News BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. An upper East Tennessee man, whose drunken driving killed a former state representative, received a 14-year prison sentence Thursday morning. The sentence was handed down to James D. Hamm Jr. of Kingsport in a Sullivan County courtroom. Hamm was found guilty in February of this year on vehicular homicide by intoxication, driving under the influence, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision involving a fatality, two counts of reckless endangerment and failure to exercise due care in the death of former state Rep. Mike Locke. "We're very pleased with the sentence," said Lesley Tiller, Sullivan County Assistant District Attorney. "We feel it's appropriate. ... I think it has given closure to the Locke family." Continue reading at the Kingsport Times-News, a News Sentinel partner. Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke delivers the State of the City address Monday, April 25, 2016. (ANGELA LEWIS/CHATTANOOGA TIMES FREE PRESS) SHARE By Shelly Bradbury, Chattanooga Times Free Press The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation Thursday into a domestic violence incident involving one of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke's senior advisers, even as new details about the incident emerged. Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston asked the TBI to look into the case, which involves allegations that Mayor Andy Berke had a sexual relationship with his adviser, Lacie Stone, and that the relationship prompted Stone's husband, Bobby Stone, to attack her Friday night. Bobby Stone was arrested and charged with domestic assault and vandalism early Saturday morning, after Lacie Stone called police Chief Fred Fletcher for help and said her husband was going to kill her, Fletcher said Wednesday. She then went to Fletcher's house to wait for police. Berke has adamantly denied allegations of a sexual relationship with Lacie Stone, and Fletcher said the domestic violence case was treated like any other. Continue reading at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, a News Sentinel partner. The Tennessee Legislature overwhelmingly passed a resolution beseeching state Attorney General Herbert Slatery III to sue the Obama administration over its refugee resettlement policy. Most of the supermajority of conservative Republicans are super-religious Christians. Do they not know their Bible? "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it," the book of Hebrews says. Then there are Jesus' words, as recorded by Saint Matthew: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took me in." So why, pray tell, are 27 state senators and 69 state representatives, likely Christians all, so concerned about Syrian strangers? Look to Europe. "By any measure, the string of crimes (in Austria) has been terrible. A grandmother of three, walking her dog, raped along a riverbank," the New York Times reported last week. "A 10-year-old boy sexually assaulted at a public swimming pool. A 21-year-old student gang raped near the giant Ferris wheel at Vienna's famed Prater park. A 54-year-old woman beaten to death on the street." The terrifying acts, the Times reported, were perpetrated by "recent migrants" from majority-Muslim countries. Gov. Bill Haslam let the Tennessee bill become law without his signature, saying his Public Safety Action Plan is a better way to combat terrorism. But the terrible spree in Austria is not typical terrorism. The young, the elderly, the female are under assault in Europe not by ISIS or al-Qaida but by Muslims who rushed through Europe's once-open door. The Austrian atrocity is not isolated. Hundreds of accusations of sexual assault by migrants surfaced in Cologne, Germany, after New Year's Eve last year. Other such assaults were reported in Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. German Chancellor Angela Merkel earned rich praise for admitting hundreds of thousands of poor refugees. This week, though, Merkel signed a new law that offers migrants job-training assistance while requiring them to learn German and find work to gain residency status. Merkel's law allows regional governments to effectively segregate migrants at their discretion. Germany has learned open arms require clear heads. Nothing was rotten about Denmark's policy. The Danes confiscate non-sentimental assets of refugees to help defray costs. James Kirchick, writing in Foreign Policy, says the generous welfare state is not "targeting" migrants, merely expecting refugees to contribute. The unmistakably pragmatic message: "Europe cannot simply let the entire world move in." So liberal Europe, having erred on openness, now alarmed awake with experiential evidence, tightens refugee policy. Tennessee lawmakers apparently learned Europe's lesson. Compassion compels us to care for the stranger. Compassion compels us also to protect the person and purse of natives. Both are possible. But not when a secretive unfunded mandate is decreed from D.C. with no input from the very people who will pay. This weekly column draws a number of emails, some complimentary but many little more than name-calling. A small number, however, merit some response. I've collected some here. To respect the privacy of the authors, I've replaced their names with those of historic figures. Ethelred the Unready writes,"Given those things that are 'better-now-under-Obama-than-in-2008' which I hope you will respond back to me with, and using the yardstick you mentioned in a recent oped, the Legatum Prosperity Index, why has America gone from tied for 1st in 2007 to 11th in 2015 ranking?" Dear Unready, thanks for trying, but I'm not sure why you've chosen to burden President Barack Obama with 2008, when he was not president and when U.S. prosperity took a big hit from the Wall Street scandals. You also seemed to miss the point of the article, namely that data refute U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr.'s assertion that lesser-government nations have higher prosperity. Government percentage of gross domestic product is higher than the U.S. in all but one of the nine nations more prosperous than the U.S. on the Legatum Index. Bull Connor took issue with my column on public schools as a key element of our national heritage. "You are 'fishing in a dry hole,' " he writes, "Our so-called national heritage was destroyed decades ago when blacks demanded that their kids be taught by blacks. And indeed, they were many of whom could not walk and chew gum at the same time. My authority is personal observation when I called on public and private schools in a sales role." Dear Bull, who needs data, facts or logic when we can stereotype from the jaundiced eye of a sales rep dropping in on some classrooms? You might want to check your pillow cases for eyeholes. Joseph Goebbels was incensed by my citation of actual research showing that mass media do not lean liberal. He sent a list of three news executives and three news employees connected by family or marriage either to the current presidential administration or, in one case, to a Hillary Clinton aide. Herr Goebbels, I know you are a believer in the Big Lie theory, but you might reconsider building such a big claim on such a slender reed, and one largely unrelated to actual news content. Torquemada objected to a column on fetal tissue research and was "amazed that you are teaching and influencing our young people at our University of Tennessee I am just a old farmer, think I will go huge (sic) my grandchildren and pray for our University of Tennessee professors and students." Dear Friar, I'm happy to reply to your inquisition. Presumably my colleagues and students are grateful for all prayers, but don't know quite what to make of prayer wielded so aggressively. Hugs all around, including your unusually large grandchildren. Pope Alexander VI, aka Rodrigo Borgia, thought me blasphemous. I'd noted that Ben Carson reported feeling fingers from God pushing him toward a presidential run, and had opened the door for him to enter the race. I suggested Carson might have misunderstood the meaning of God giving him the finger and showing him the door. Rodrigo, lighten up and I suggest the same to Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn regarding their repeated anti-socialist screeds sent to me. Students from British Columbia march in the Destination Imagination welcoming ceremony in Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Over 8,000 students from 20 countries will participate in the Destination Imagination Global Finals 2016, which run through Saturday. (CAITIE MCMEKIN/NEWS SENTINEL) SHARE The Destination ImaginIation Global Finals, the worldwide science and technology competition, is back in Knoxville this week for the 16th year. The competition runs through Saturday and is filled with hands-on events, workshops and challenges for students. More than 17,000 people 8,000 of them student participants from 20 countries are expected to attend. Organizers tout it as the world's largest celebration of creativity. The event is a boon for the local economy. A recent analysis by Visit Knoxville showed the competition brings in more than $30 million in revenue per year. Events will be held across the University of Tennessee campus as well as in off-campus locations in the city. The student teams have earned their trip to the finals. Competitions each year begin with a regional tournament where teams are judged by a panel including professionals such as teachers, artists and engineers. Each team is scored on elements including originality, workmanship, presentation and teamwork. The highest scorers advance to the state or country tournaments. The top-tiered teams from the affiliate tournaments advance to the finals in Knoxville. This year's finals are expected to match a record-setting year in 2015, when more than 1,400 teams participated. The United States sends most of the teams to the finals, but teams from countries such as Canada, China, Mexico, Poland, Turkey and Qatar will also compete. The competitions in the four-day event began Wednesday morning and were followed by the annual welcoming ceremony in UT's Thompson-Boling Arena. Destination Imagination is designed to help students become the next generation of innovators and leaders by teaching creativity through science, technology, engineering, mathematics, arts and service. The students are given the opportunity to demonstrate the skills that will help them meet the demands of an ever-changing world. "The global economy of the 21st century will provide an ever-expanding array of opportunities, including challenges, for today's learners," Dr. Chuck Cadle, CEO of the nonprofit Destination Imagination, said in a statement issued prior to the event. "Through Destination Imagination, students not only learn the process required to help meet the challenges of the future but also the skills necessary to thrive in it." Most challenges are closed to the public, but a "Try DI" public event is 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday in World's Fair Park. During the event, teams will present prototypes of a "Ford of the Future" to company representatives. The event has been good for Destination Imagination and for the city of Knoxville. "The people in Knoxville are so open, so welcoming," said Stephan Turnipseed, Destination Imagination executive vice president and chief strategy officer. "Our people come in, they eat in the restaurants, they walk the streets, it's a safe environment and the people are glad to see us." We welcome the competitors, their families and all involved in the event. East Tennessee is fortunate that Destination Imagination makes Knoxville its destination every year. Wild Iris floral shop brings new life to long-empty Central building A vacant building is growing new life on North Central Street. Check out the new tenant and her flower shop opening soon. Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, became the best-selling car brand in Australia last month thanks to brisk sales of its compact cars, government data showed Friday. Hyundai Motor sold 6,324 vehicles in Australia in April, surpassing Japan's Toyota with 6,035, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries in Australia. It was the first time for Hyundai to become the No. 1 brand since entering the market 30 years ago. The Korean automaker's best-selling models were compact cars, including the i30 and the Accent. A total of 4,143 i30s were sold in April, up 80.3 percent from a year ago. Sales of the Accent also soared 177.7 percent on-year to 1,555 units, the Australian government said. Mazda of Japan (4,062), Holden of Australia (3,514) and Volkswagen of Germany (3,068) ranked from third to fifth place, it said. Hyundai's sister company Kia Motors Corp. sold 2,011 vehicles to take seventh place. (Yonhap) By Nam Hyun-woo Talks about cutting Hyundai Merchant Marine's (HMM) charter costs are making significant progress, according to creditors and sources close to the matter, Friday. According to Korea Development Bank (KDB), the leading creditor of the ailing shipper, HMM's negotiation with ship owners is in the "last stage" as talks are picking up momentum. "The talks are ongoing and we expect we will soon see results," said a KDB official. Though the official did not confirm when the negotiations will be finished, it is expected to be wrapped up this month, because a HMM debt holders' meeting is scheduled on May 31. A day earlier a number of local newspapers reported that the negotiations are finished, but KDB said it is yet to close the deal, though it is in progress. According to sources, among the five ship leasers whose chartered ships account for some 70 percent of HMM's fleet, London-based Zodiac Maritime, which has been the most resistant to the charter fee cut, is considering around a 20 percent cut as common ground. HMM and KDB's target is a 28.4 percent cut. HMM and KDB held an unsuccessful meeting with the ship owners on May 18, but made progress after its creditors agreed on a debt-equity swap worth 680 billion won on condition of the ship owners cutting the charter fees. Zodiac has the second largest number of ships chartered by HMM. They include two 6,300 TEU vessels and two 8,500 TEU vessels the charters of which will expire beginning in 2019 to 2021. Also, there are six 10,000 TEU container ships built or being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering that will be operational this year. Reportedly, Zodiac has been resistant to charter fee cuts because its ships are relatively new. Given the share of Zodiac's ships in HMM's fleet, the talk with the world's No. 4 ship owner will affect talks with other ship owners. Initially, the government had set May 20 as the deadline for charter fee talks, but postponed it, citing it "will not adhere to a certain time." Charter fees have been one of the biggest expenses for HMM. From 2012 to 2015, the company paid some 1.8 trillion to 2.55 trillion every year for rental costs. The government has been issuing warnings that the debt-riddled company will undergo court receivership unless it gets a cut in its rental expenses. KDB is run by the government. By Yoon Ja-young The country's leading accounting firms are facing criticism following a series of scandals, prompting market watchers to say the regulator should strengthen the punishment of accountants who violate the law. According to sources in the industry, Samil PwC Chairman Ahn Kyung-tae is under suspicion that he might have told former Hanjin Shipping Chairwoman Choi Eun-yeong that the troubled shipping company would file for bank receivership. It was found that after talking with Ahn on the phone, Choi, chairwoman of Eusu Holdings, sent a message to an employee ordering a sell-off of her stake in Hanjin. Choi and her two daughters sold the 0.39 percent stake they held between April 6 and 20, netting 2.7 billion won. The shipper's board officially decided to file for receivership on April 22, which caused the company's share price to plummet. It is estimated that Choi's family avoided 1 billion won in losses by quickly selling their stake. According to local media, Ahn is strongly denying the allegation that he disclosed inside information to Choi. "Our chairman and the former chairwoman Choi have known each other for many years. They had a phone call and she just happened to sell the stake after a while. It was a coincidence," said an executive at Samil PwC. The executive added that Ahn had no knowledge that Hanjin Shipping will be filing for bank receivership. "Our company deals with thousands of such cases. He had no such information regarding Hanjin. We are sure that he will be acquitted of such suspicions after the prosecutor's investigation." He stressed that the company has been emphasizing sticking with good work ethics. However, an accountant, who wanted to remain anonymous, said "Whether he revealed the information or not, it doesn't seem right for him to contact a large shareholder of Hanjin Shipping at this time, since his accounting firm was in charge of due diligence on the shipper." The shipper filed for receivership based on the due diligence report by Samil PwC. The prosecution, which is investigating Choi's alleged illegal stock trading, raided Samil PwC Tuesday. This latest scandal is perplexing the country's top accounting firm because some of its young accountants had already tarnished its reputation by being involved in a stock-trading scandal, where they used information they obtained during an audit for stock investment. The incident prompted the financial regulator to examine stock trading by around 10,000 accountants working for accounting firms. It found that about 20 of them violated the regulation, trading stocks of companies they or their firm audited. Deloitte Anjin LLC, which also has much experience in corporate restructuring, recently created controversy over its alleged incompetent audit of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME). It blamed DSME, which it had been auditing every year, for cooking the books to make huge losses in recent years look smaller. But investors who trusted the audit sustained heavy losses when the share price plunged over 70 percent last year. Most recently, the vice president of an accounting firm made headlines for allegedly paying an actress 5 million won a month and letting her drive a Toyota owned by the company. His wife filed suit against the actress for 100 million won compensation, claiming the affair was the reason she filed for a divorce. The government pushed for revision of the law to punish the head of accounting firms for abetting book-cooking, but the move came to nothing because of strong resistance from the firms. According to the IMD business school in Switzerland, Korea ranked 60th among 61 countries in terms of accounting transparency. By Yoon Ja-young As STX Offshore & Shipbuilding is set to enter court receivership despite over a 4 trillion won injection by its creditors during the past three years, criticism is increasing against the government and the politicians for hampering with market mechanisms. While the government is blaming the management of the troubled companies and policy banks that extended credit, analysts point out the government is denying its own responsibility. Korea Development Bank (KDB) has an 8.4 trillion won exposure to shipbuilding and shipping companies while the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) has a 12.8 trillion won exposure. The policy banks, however, were headed by former government officials or those linked with Cheong Wa Dae. KDB, for instance, was headed by Hong Ky-ttack, who had helped President Park Geun-hye with her presidential election campaign. The former professor, who currently serves as chief risk management officer at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), was appointed chairman of the KDB despite concerns that he lacked field experience in the financial industry. Lee Dong-geol, who was appointed as Hong's successor, also had helped the President in her election campaign and so did Eximbank chairman Lee Duk-hoon. The government and Cheong Wa Dae were also involved in extending credit to the ailing companies. According to industry sources, the former KDB chairman was pressured by the government and Cheong Wa Dae to support STX Shipbuilding back in April 2013 when the creditor banks decided to put it under receivership. He thus requested Cheong Wa Dae guarantee that the government will make up for the losses incurred in the debt restructuring and acquit KDB of responsibility if things went awry. The policy banks injected over 4 trillion won in the shipbuilder, but the shipbuilder's financial health only deteriorated. When the creditor banks determined to inject an additional 400 billion won a few months ago, Woori Bank, KEB Hana and Shinhan Bank said they had enough and quit the creditor group despite their losses, on the determination that there is no hope. KDB and Eximbank as well as Nonghyup, however, continued supporting the shipbuilder. Market analysts pointed out back then that the banks continued pouring in money ahead of the April 13 general election under pressure from politicians. Lawmakers and politicians from regions where shipyards are located have been pressuring banks to extend loans to ailing shipbuilders. Changwon City Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, for instance, requested Kookmin Bank allow STX to defer paying back the loans. "The government controls policy banks de facto, but it is blaming others," said Binh Ki-beom, a professor at Myongji University. He said that policy banks don't fit the global standard. "Some countries have policy banks, but their role is to support small and medium sized firms. State-run banks supporting conglomerates are outdated and they only create problems," he added. /Courtesy of Lee Jung-soo's Instagram By Kim Da-hee Actor Lee Jung-soo has come under fire for a sexual joke involving a picture of his daughter Li-ye uploaded to Instagram on May 9. Lee posted a picture of Li-ye with toy balls on her chest under her shirt and on her hip inside her pants while the actor laughs at her as if he put the balls there. "A few days ago, I saw Li-ye sleeping on her stomach," he wrote on the SNS site. "Because I was worried that Li-ye might live without self-confidence as a woman in the future, I instilled confidence into my daughter when we were in a pool of toy balls at a kids' cafe." The picture went viral on social media and through online communities, stirring anger among viewers. One said: "How could he make such a dirty joke to his daughter?" With criticism mounting, the actor deleted the picture and apologized on the SNS site. "I apologize for the joke I made to my daughter unintentionally," he wrote. "The controversy from my picture came as a shock because I have been working hard to be a good husband and father." "I will be discreet in my behavior which can cause controversy," he added. Korea's Cabinet on Friday asked the National Assembly to review the controversial hearings bill that allows the parliament to open hearings more often, marking a rare veto by President Park Geun-hye. The decision was made at the meeting presided over by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. Park is currently in Africa on a 12-day trip to Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and France. The bill, passed last week, has caused a rift between the opposition parties that favor the change and the government, which voiced concerns that hearings will be used as a political tool and paralyze the executive branch. The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae has also maintained the bill will heavily burden state affairs. The revision to the National Assembly Act was handed over to the government for final review and presidential endorsement. "The revision to the National Assembly Act may be unconstitutional," Hwang said. "The opening of more hearings could be considered a move by lawmakers to dominate the administration. This does not match with the constitutional idea of separation and balance of power." The premier added the excessive request for hearings made by the parliament may emerge as a burden for the people, adding it could also bring about privacy infringement issues. "The revision could virtually make all activities of the administration face hearings. It could burden state affairs, which would eventually inconvenience the people." Cheong Wa Dae voiced its hope that the hearings bill would no longer cause any political dispute and that the incoming National Assembly would focus on revitalizing the economy and improving people's livelihoods rather than getting mired in partisan politics. Presidential spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk told reporters that Park would endorse the Cabinet's decision through an electronic approval system. Opposition parties immediately protested against the decision made by the Cabinet. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, said he is certain that the public will be angered by the government's "ambush" of exercising a veto during Park's trip. The party whip said the opposition parties will bring back the bill in the new parliament that kicks off next week. The ruling Saenuri Party, however, said the bill should automatically be scrapped, adding that it should not be discussed at the 20th National Assembly. Ruling party lawmakers, in particular, argued that due to the extreme partisan nature of Korean politics, the bill's passage will only result in endless wrangling. The move by the Cabinet was anticipated because on Tuesday, Korea's Cabinet approved a package of new bills, including the country's first comprehensive anti-terrorism bill that the government stresses is critical for safeguarding the country from acts of violence spreading across the globe. The earlier meeting, however, did not touch on the contentious bill. According to Korea's Constitution, a law handed to the government by the National Assembly must be declared by the president within 15 days. But if the president exercises a veto, the bill can be discussed again at the parliament. The veto, however, cannot outline how it should be revised. In regards to the future of the bill, the country's legislation ministry claims that the rejected bill cannot be discussed at the 20th National Assembly. This view is also shared by the National Assembly Secretariat that said a vetoed bill will be automatically scrapped unless it is handled within the 19th National Assembly that ends its four-year term Sunday. On the other hand, some legal experts said banning the 20th National Assembly from reconsidering the controversial bill would violate the nature of the veto system, which is aimed at creating a balance. It marked the 66th time for a Korean president to exercise a veto since the establishment of the Constitution. (Yonhap) Disabled activists sit in front of the National Police Agency in Seoul in protest of the police association over the recent Gangnam murder committed by a man with mental illness, Friday. They claimed not all mentally ill people are murderers, and that the Gangnam incident was a clear hate crime against women, demanding an apology from the police. / Yonhap By Choi Sung-jin "Chinese chaps are uncivilized cockroaches." "Are you disabled or something?" "Bag your face, you old bat." "Like a bitch in heat!" These are typical expressions denouncing specific social groups and classes foreigners, physically challenged people, elderly citizens and women found increasingly frequently on the Internet. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) reviewed 1,059 hate expressions in the first 11 months of last year, up 30 percent from a year ago, and demanded corrections to 833 of them. Most of these were words despising and ostracizing specific individuals and groups for racial, sexual, regional and physical reasons. The recent murder of a woman by a male schizophrenic near Gangnam Subway Station has touched off a fierce social debate about widespread misogyny in Korea. Behind it, however, is hatred for social minorities and underdogs including migrant laborers, handicapped people and LGBT which watch for opportunities for eruption. "In sociological terms, extremists are using hatred as a logic and mechanism to justify their ganging up on social minority groups, against the backdrop of intensifying neo-liberalistic competition which has led to individual resignation, moral collapse and spreading anxiety," said Professor Kim Ho-ki of Yonsei University on his Facebook page. Another expert agreed. "Hatred for specific groups existed in the past, but these days some are expressing their abhorrence of social minority groups more strongly than ever," said Park Kwon-il, the author of "880,000-Won Generation." "These attackers tend to think at a time when contradictory social structure makes their lives more difficult than before, women and migrant workers are receiving benefits beyond their abilities and qualifications at the expense of Korean males, and such perverse awareness seems to instigate their emotions of hatred more." Meanest of all is the degrading of physically challenged people. An ultra-rightists' blog, named "Ilbe" (Korean abbreviation of "daily best"), posted a table listing the commonalities of women and handicapped people, such as "depending on parents or the opposite sex," "benefiting from welfare organizations," and "not fulfilling four major duties of citizens." Ilbe members use the word "handicapped" as synonymous with "lacking" or "miserable" by, for instance, calling unhandy people "dexterity-handicapped" ones. Loathing of disabled people is often seen in daily life, too. A crippled worker said: "One day, when I attempted to get aboard a bus on an electric wheelchair, someone said, why should you be moving around like this during rush hour?'" A total of 4,490 petitions involving physically challenged people, or 42 percent of the total, were filed with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea last year. Among them were complaints against landlords who, on knowing their would-be tenants were hearing-impaired, canceled leasing contracts, and restaurant owners who refused to let in blind people accompanied by seeing-eye dogs. After it was learned the murder suspect, 34, was suffering from schizophrenia, some are even calling for the alienation of all mentally challenged people from society, regarding them as potential murderers. "The recent tragedy illustrates how state agencies' discriminatory perception against disabled people (that they could prevent such incidents by just resolving mental illnesses) has been spread to cause popular hatred of handicapped people," said Park Kim Young-hee, head of the Solidarity for Promoting the Elimination of Discrimination Against Disabled People. No less serious is the abhorrence of sexual minorities. Last Tuesday, the Christian Democratic Union of Korea (CDUK), a political party of conservative Christians, filed a lawsuit against Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to suspend the execution of his permission for gays and lesbians to use the Seoul Plaza for a queer festival on June 11, saying "homosexual love is a form of corrupt sexual culture and a repellant act." A lecturer at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies had to quit his job recently after students protested at his remarks in classes, such as "homosexuals are people who have acquired mental disease requiring treatment," and "100 percent of homos are AIDS patients." Sexual minorities are exposed routinely to social hatred. According to a KCC survey in 2014, 92 percent of 200 teenage respondents said they had heard hate speech from other students, and 41.7 percent of respondents aged 20 or older said they had experienced alienation, cajoling and sexual violence at the office because of sexual identity problems. Organizations that hate sexual minorities are holding human rights forums under the slogan "treat and heal homosexuals." "The anti-homosexual atmosphere has become stronger since 2007, when there was a social controversy over enacting a law aimed at preventing discrimination, and a conservative party took political power the following year," said Han Ga-ram, a member of Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights. Equally pitiable are many Koreans' treatments of migrant workers. Sek al-Mamun, a Bangladeshi who migrated to Korea to work, received a phone call from a Korean who said: "Why did you come to others' land and work here, taking away the jobs of us Koreans?" When al-Mamun said they were here at the invitation of the Korean government and Koreans are also working in other countries, the man said foreigners should not come to Korea, whether they are invited or not, and hung up. The Bangladeshi also recalled hearing two Koreans standing beside him in a subway train saying: "I feel like killing all Muslims here." According to a survey of 7,640 Koreans by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family last year, 31.8 percent said they would not get along well with foreign workers and migrants as neighbors, far higher than the comparable rate of 13.7 percent among Americans, 10.6 percent for Australians and 3.5 percent for Swedes. "Many Korean employers use abusive words against foreign workers," said Park Jin-woo, secretary general of the Migrant Workers' Union. "If the workers report their employers to local labor offices, these employers say, Are these the thanks for taking and raising you dogs?' not regarding them as humans." There are also tendencies to treat migrant workers as "potential criminals." During parliamentary elections in April, CDUK said if the government pushes ahead with creating a halal industrial complex and allows 300,000 Muslims to live there, Korea will be a terrorism-prone country. According to government data in 2013, however, Koreans committed 3,637 crimes per 100,000 people, while foreigners committed only 1,585 crimes per 100,000 people. Experts want systemic devices to prevent the spread of hate culture, by punishing hate speech against not only specific individuals but groups and classes, and enacting laws that stipulate additional punishment for hate crimes. By Kim Da-hee Several people have been cheated by unauthorized American universities that only provide courses online, local daily Seoul Shinmun reported Friday. A man surnamed Hwang, 26, plans to file a lawsuit against a university in California to get his tuition fee back after discovering the university is unauthorized. The university, which was established by a 43-old-man surnamed Hwang in last May, promoted that students could transfer to a Korean university or go to a graduate school with the degrees offered. The university advertised online, including Facebook, saying students could get a degree quickly through its online courses. According to the ad, students could get a bachelor's degree within two years, a master's degree within a year and three months, and a doctorate within a year and nine months. But the degrees are not recognized because the university is not authorized by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). "There are some people who opened online universities and registered them to acquaintance's places, such as a house or a lawyers office, in the U.S.," a former official at another unauthorized online university in the U.S. said. The person said the universities hold events such as entrance and graduation ceremonies in hotels in Korea. "There were some cases where members of executives embezzled students' tuition fees because the universities recruited students well," the person said. A lawyer from Seoul law firm Yoon Kyung said it is important people check whether the online university is authorized. "Students have to check whether the authorization is from one of the six organizations, including the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, that are officially recognized by the Department of Education and CHEA," the lawyer said. The Ministry of Education said it cannot regulate the unauthorized U.S. universities under the current law. This is the second in a three-part series about fine dust that is increasingly becoming a serious threat to Korea's environment. ED By Kim Se-jeong With fine dust problems ever deepening, thermal power plants are getting the blame as major sources of air pollution. Related government bodies, however, are divided on this controversy, with one agency seeking to control the plants while another is planning to build more. Earlier this month, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) released an evaluation of the Ministry of Environment's air pollution policy for Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area. The evaluation reported that thermoelectric power plants on the west coast are a significant source of fine and ultrafine dust, but the ministry has come up with no countermeasures to reduce the dust. "It is nonsense that the ministry did not include the power plant issue in its air quality control policy," the BAI said. The report stated that fossil fuels used at the plants contribute as much as 28 percent of the total particulate matter (PM) 2.5 in Seoul and the metropolitan area, and 21 percent of PM 10. "PM 10 and PM 2.5 from the power plants in South Chungcheong Province have a dangerous impact on air quality in the Seoul region," the report said. / Screen capture from YouTube By Ko Dong-hwan A child has learned in a hard way that peacocks can attack people when feeling threatened. Gwawcheon police in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul Grand Park detailed the incident on Thursday. On May 15, a boy, 4, saw a peacock at "Peacock Village," inside the zoo-annexed theme park in Gwacheon. The village has no fences and visitors walk along a path designed to allow a close look at the birds. The boy was fascinated when the peacock spread wide its colorful tail. As he approached, the bird apparently felt threatened and attacked him with its talons and beak. The boy sustained cuts around his left eyebrow and mouth that required 14 stitches. Two security personnel usually monitor the village. But on the day of the incident, one called in sick. The incident went unchecked because the staff member was not in the field but in an office, according to the Chosun Ilbo. Some 150 birds, including peacocks and pheasants, roam the 1,653 square-meter village. But the park shut the village indefinitely on Wednesday. "To prevent further incidents, we have decided to alter the village's structure and change the course of the guided path," a spokesperson said. The village had been warning visitors with only a posted piece of paper not to touch the birds or get too close. Han Seung-soo(left) and Kim Sook By Jun Ji-hye Former diplomatic officials and politicians from the Chungcheong region are expected to join U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon if he decides to run in next year's presidential election. Ban, a native of North Chungcheong Province, hinted Wednesday that he would run for president after finishing his term at the U.N. and returning home in December. A batch of former diplomats is expected to play a key role in helping Ban's possible run for Cheong Wa Dae, given that he is a career diplomat and Seoul's former foreign minister. The group includes former prime ministers Roh Shin-young and Han Seung-soo, who both served at the foreign ministry before being named to the posts. They have been cited as Ban's mentors. While serving as prime minister in te h1980s, Roh appointed Ban as a senior protocol secretary to the prime minister earlier than others. Han, who was the prime minister from 2008 to 2009, named Ban as chief of staff when Han was serving as the president of the 56th session of the U.N. General Assembly in the early 2000s. The appointment was believed to have helped Ban gain a foothold in becoming the U.N. chief. Other former and current diplomatic officials who are expected to join forces for Ban include Seoul's former Ambassador to the U.N. Kim Sook; incumbent Ambassador to the U.N. Oh Joon; former senior presidential secretary for political affairs Park Joon-woo; and Under Secretary-General of the U.N. Kim Won-soo. U.N. Under Secretary-General Kim, one of Ban's closest confidants, has made frequent reports about domestic situations to Ban. Besides diplomats, politicians from the ruling Saenuri Party who come from the Chungcheong region are being cited as Ban supporters. They include the party's floor leader, Rep. Chung Jin-suk. Chung, a former journalist, comes from South Chungcheong Province and has maintained a relationship with Ban since Chung worked as a Washington correspondent for the Hankook Ilbo. At the time, Ban was a diplomat there. Second-term lawmaker Rep. Hong Moon-pyo and lawmaker-elect Sung Il-jong, the younger brother of the late Sung Wan-jong, chairman of Kyungnam Corp., are also known to be close to Ban. Hong represents Yesan County, South Chungcheong Province, while the late Sung founded the Chungcheong Forum, a network of politicians, public officials and journalists from the Chungcheong region in 2000. The forum, with some 3,500 members, drew keen attention last year after suggesting Ban as the next president of the nation. Just before committing suicide in April last year over a bribery scandal, the late Sung professed a special connection with Ban during a media interview. Sung also reportedly used to say his company helped Ban be elected as U.N. chief. Rep. Na Kyung-won, chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, whose father is from North Chungcheong Province, is also known to have close ties with Ban. During a meeting with a group of senior journalists on Jeju Island, Wednesday, Ban said: "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. I'm really proud of being cited as a potential presidential candidate." Ban visited the resort island to attend the Jeju Forum, and left for Tokyo Thursday to attend a summit of the Group of Seven. By Jun Ji-hye Two North Korean vessels violated the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the West Sea, Friday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). A fishing boat and a patrol boat from the North crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) by some 700 to 800 meters at 7:30 a.m., which led the South Korean Navy to fire five warning shots at them. "The vessels returned to the northern side at 7:38 a.m.," the JCS said. It was the second time that a vessel from the North has crossed into South Korean territory this year. Prosecutor-turned-lawyer Hong Man-pyo answers to reporters' questions at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Friday, before being questioned about his alleged influence-peddling and tax evasion. / Yonhap By Lee Kyung-min The prosecution summoned a senior prosecutor-turned-lawyer, Friday, to question him over his alleged influence peddling for his clients and violation of related laws and tax evasion in the process. Hong Man-pyo, 57, appeared before the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul. He is one of the key figures in the judiciary corruption scandal surrounding Jung Woon-ho, CEO of cosmetics company Nature Republic who was jailed for overseas gambling. Speaking to reporters, he partially admitted tax evasion allegation, denying others. "I admit that there might have been negligence (in my tax filing), as I worked long into the night hours," he said. But he denied the influence-peddling allegations that he made phone calls to incumbent prosecutors and judges to defend his clients unofficially. "I will tell everything during the questioning. I believe the allegations will be cleared," he said. Hong also said he felt devastated that he was investigated at his former workplace. By taking advantage of his ties with incumbent prosecutors, Hong is suspected of peddling his influence for Jung to make the prosecution drop two separate investigation into Jung's overseas gambling allegations in 2013 and 2014, before he was arrested in 2015. While Hong claims that he received only 150 million won from Jung in attorney fee, prosecutors believe the amount would be far greater as Jung told prosecutors that he gave more. After becoming a lawyer, he reported 9.1 billion won as incomes in 2013. He is also suspected of defending some high-profile business tycoons without filing a report to courts, in violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act. The alleged clients include former Tongyang Group Chairman Hyun Jae-hyun and former STX Group CEO Kang Duk-soo. Prosecutors suspect Hong evaded tax by not reporting his earnings made through such unofficial work. The prosecution earlier seized related documents during raid into his law office, home, and a real estate agency, where Hong is the de facto owner. It suspects Hong set up the agency for tax evasion purposes. Prosecutors plan to seek an arrest warrant for Hong. Hong was one of the most high-profile prosecutors who investigated former presidents including Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, and Roh Moo-hyun for corruption. He also questioned former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk, over alleged fabricating results of stem cell experiments. The summons comes one month after the scandal first emerged when it was revealed that Jung gave a huge amount of attorney fee to a judge-turned-lawyer, Choi You-jeong, to get him bail at an appeal's trial. Choi attempted to exercise her influence with her connection with incumbent judges, but the lobbying attempt failed Jung did not get bail but his jail term was reduced from one year to eight months. Jung demanded Choi return the fee and Choi refused, resulting in physical scuffle between the two at the detention center. Outgoing National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa, center, poses with Deputy Speakers Jeong Kab-yoon, right, of the ruling Saenuri Party and Lee Seok-hyun of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea after a ceremony to mark the end of their tenure at the National Assembly, Friday. The term of the 19th parliament ends on Sunday, with the new Assembly to begin its tenure the following day. / Yonhap By Kim Hyo-jin With the opening of a new National Assembly just around the corner, the race to find a new speaker is kicking into high gear among veteran lawmakers of the Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) who each claim they are the best fit for the post. Although which party will assume the position is still under negotiations, the main opposition, which became the Assembly's largest party in the April 13 general election with 123 seats, is expected to produce the speaker for the first half of the parliament's four-year term that begins on Monday. Moon Hee-sang, Lee Seok-hyun and Chung Sye-kyun, all of whom won their sixth Assembly terms in last month's election, remain in contention, while five-term lawmakers Park Byeong-seug and Won Hye-young are also regarded as serious contenders. Given the high number of candidates, the party is likely to hold an in-house primary to pick a finalist. Moon appeals to the party members, presenting himself as a rare politician who has shared the legacy of late Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. He served as a presidential secretary in 1998 for the Kim administration and Roh's first presidential chief of staff from 2003 to 2004. Moon also has experience serving as the head of the emergency planning committee twice following a defeat in the 2012 presidential election. Meanwhile, Chung has established himself as a competent candidate after defeating former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in the general election. Oh had been a potential presidential hopeful for the ruling Saenuri Party. He promised to serve the speaker's role for two full years, conscious of the rising suspicion that he might quit in the middle of the term to run for President in 2017. Lee is the incumbent vice speaker who has been credited with being a centrist. Lee, who does not belong to any faction in the MPK, stresses that his independence can appeal to the splinter opposition People's Party which is at odds with the MPK's dominant faction of Roh Moo-hyun loyalists. Park is courting fellow lawmakers, stressing the importance of the Chungcheong region that has served as the traditional swing vote in the nation's many elections. "The MPK needs support from the region to win next year's presidential election and in this respect, I am the right fit for the post," said Park, who has been elected to a district of Daejeon for five consecutive terms. He was a former vice speaker of the 19th National Assembly. Won, who served as the first floor leader of the 18th Assembly, is seeking to win votes by selling the fact that he led the revision of the National Assembly law. The revision bill, endorsed in 2012, strengthened the requirements for the speaker to exercise authority to put a bill to a vote. The bill added that rival parties must agree to table a bill for a vote, causing strong opposition from the ruling party. "I cleared the scene of nasty scuffles from the Assembly. Now I want to upgrade it further," Won said. According to the National Assembly law, the speaker is elected with a majority vote of incumbent Assembly members in the first week of a new National Assembly session. The largest party has customarily secured the National Assembly speaker post. The MPK became the top party with 123 seats while the ruling Saenuri Party won 122 seats and the splinter opposition People's Party secured 38 seats in the April 13 general election. The remaining two parties are expected to take two vice speaker posts. Floor leaders of the rival parties agreed last week to form the chair group of the National Assembly by June 7. By Kim Bo-eun A local court on Friday handed down a 30-year jail term to a man who beat his seven-year-old son to death, dismembered the corpse and kept the parts in a freezer at his home in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province for years. The Incheon District Court's Bucheon branch also ordered the 33-year-old, surnamed Choi, to wear a location-tracking electronic bracelet for 30 years after the prison term. He was indicted on charges of murder, dismembering the corpse, abandoning and hiding it. The court sentenced his wife, surnamed Han, 33, who was indicted on the same charges, to 20 years in prison. Earlier, the prosecution had sought life imprisonment for the father and a 20-year prison sentence for the mother. "The defendants killed their son and hid the mutilated corpse for years," the court said. "Considering the brutality of the crime and the attitude of the defendants after the crime, they need to be isolated from society for an extended period of time." Choi beat his son in the bathroom of the family's former home in Bucheon on Nov. 7, 2012. The wife did not beat the boy, but neglected the beating and left him untreated. The boy died the following day, and the couple dismembered the body, dumping some parts in a public toilet in the neighborhood and keeping the rest refrigerated in their home for three years. The murder was uncovered in January when the authorities at the boy's school inquired into the boy's long-term absence. "This incident put society into a horrible state of shock and fear," the court said. "Without the school's inspection of long-term absences, the case would have never been discovered and the body parts of the victim would have been left in the freezer indefinitely." The court said that society has formed the consensus that child abusers deserve severe punishment. "We could only mete out heavy punishment fit for the grisly crime of the couple, considering the need to let society know that such a horrendous crime is being dealt with strongly." By Kim Hyo-jin President Park Geun-hye on Friday vetoed a bill that would allow the National Assembly to hold hearings more often. The rejection drew fierce protest from the opposition bloc, which vowed to table the bill again in the 20th National Assembly that begins next week. With President Park visiting Ethiopia on a 12-day, four-nation trip, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn presided over a Cabinet meeting where he reached the decision. The bill, passed last week, was aimed at empowering the Assembly's committees, enabling them to hold hearings on state affairs at their own discretion. However, the government had raised concerns over its passage, saying the Assembly could abuse the hearings to mount a political offensive. Hwang said the bill should be reviewed as it is more of a "control" than "check" over the administration. "The bill could be unconstitutional," Hwang said. "The hearing system to probe ongoing state affairs means a new measure to control the government by the legislature, which goes against the constitutional spirit of checks and balances." Park electronically approved the Cabinet's proposal requesting the Assembly to review the bill, according to presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk. It marked the 66th presidential veto since the establishment of the Constitution and the second in her term, following the one against the revision bill to the National Assembly law that would have empowered lawmakers to challenge government ordinances last year. Je Jeong-boo, the government legislation minister, backed Hwang's opinion while explaining the background of the veto following the Cabinet meeting. "It's better to forestall the possibility of abusing the bill than implement it limitedly," Je said during the press conference. "It will shoulder excessive burden on governmental bodies and private companies as the range of state affairs that will be targeted is too broad." Friday was a virtual deadline for the government to deal with the bill, except the weekend before the outgoing National Assembly ends on May 29. The government held an extra cabinet meeting instead of the regular meeting scheduled on May 31, reflecting the will to end the controversy before the coming 20th Assembly starts. "We hope that it is no longer a cause of political dispute," said a official at Cheong Wa Dae. The opposition parties immediately protested against the veto, saying they will take all possible measures to push ahead with the bill. "We will bring back the bill as soon as the new Assembly opens," Rep. Woo Sang-ho, floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), said during a press conference held to denounce the government's move. Woo dismissed the veto as "political cheating" because it was carried out at the last stage of the outgoing Assembly, depriving it of a chance to open the plenary session to re-vote for the bill. Opposition leaders voiced in common that the move went against parliamentary democracy and Park quelled the spirit of the cooperative politics she pledged earlier during the meeting with floor leaders of rival parties. "I'm concerned that the possibility of cooperative politics created after the meeting with Cheong Wa Dae is being ripped off," said Rep. Park Jie-won, floor leader of the minor opposition People's Party. "I believe the President is interpreting the public sentiment reflected in the general election in a distorted way," said Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, co-chairman of the minor opposition People's Party, calling the move "self-righteous." Meanwhile, the ruling Saenuri Party floor leader Chung Jin-suk advocated for the President, saying, "A Presidential veto is an inherited right so it should not be viewed as a taboo." Controversy still remains as there is no specific rule whether the bill will be scrapped automatically along with the end of the parliamentary term. The Secretariat of the National Assembly said it is studying the legal interpretation of the procedure. If the bill is scrapped, the opposition parties should started proposing the bill from ground zero, which includes seeking agreement of rival parties during related committees. Even if the bill can be delivered to the next Assembly, it is uncertain that it can be passed smoothly. The bill will be finalized as a law if more than half the 300 lawmakers are present in voting and two-thirds of them endorse it. As the total number of the opposition party lawmakers is 167, they should expect 33 more votes from lawmakers in the ruling party. The MPK insisted that the veto is "invalid" as it was carried out without leaving enough time for the Assembly to review the returned bill. Under the National Assembly Law, the Assembly speaker should announce that the plenary session will be convened three days earlier. Gi Dong-min, an MPK spokesman, said: "It should've done on May 26, considering the Assembly ends on May 29. It was an abuse of power exercised knowing the parliamentary review was impossible." President Park Geun-hye delivers a speech at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Friday. / Joint press corps By Kim Hyo-jin President Park Geun-hye unveiled on Friday Korea's Africa initiative that will offer education and vocational training for thousands of young people in the continent over the next five years. "Korea would like to share its wealth of development experience that it has learned through trial and error over the past half century," Park said in a speech at the headquarters of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Park, who visited Ethiopia as part of a 12-day, four-nation trip, became the first Korean president to make a speech at AU headquarters. Under the initiative, Seoul will provide 6,000 African people with education or vocational training opportunities in Korea or Africa and it will also send 4,000 volunteers to Africa over the next five years. During the speech, Park also introduced the government's new development project, called "Korean Aid," set to begin in Uganda and Kenya as well as Ethiopia, where it will provide health services, food and Korean cultural content to locals. South Korea on Friday welcomed the European Union's adoption of new sanctions punishing North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests. The standalone sanctions come in response to the North's fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in February, which prompted the U.N. Security Council to impose stronger sanctions on Pyongyang in March. North Korea is banned under past Security Council resolutions from conducting nuclear and ballistic missile tests. "This measure reflects the united will of the 28 EU states that strong unilateral sanctions measures are needed in addition to the faithful implementation of the Security Council resolution to bring about North Korea's denuclearization and actual change in the country," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said in a statement. "We regard it highly." The new measures expand the list of goods, including luxury goods, banned from being sold to the North; tightens financial sanctions on the country; and bans North Korean planes and vessels from entering EU territory. "Our government will further strengthen our cooperation with the EU and the rest of the international community to sanction and pressure the North to create the conditions under which it has no choice but to give up its nuclear (weapons)," Cho said. (Yonhap) 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 Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. Is North Korea nuclear state? This is the third and last article in a series of opinions aimed at shedding light on the era of Kim Jong-un, who ascended to power in the recent Workers' Party Congress in North Korea. ED. Recently we have seen Kim Jong-un hint that North Korea could and would be a responsible nuclear state. We have also see Presidential candidate Donald Trump say publicly that he would meet with the North Korean leader. We have even heard rumors that Hillary Clinton is considering the use of the Iranian template for a "nuclear freeze" involving North Korea. Thus, one must wonder, what are the advantages (if any) to North Korea as a nuclear state, and is it even in the realm of possibility that Washington, Seoul, and others would recognize North Korea as a nuclear state? First of all, if one is to look at the possibility of North Korea "freezing" its nuclear program, one does not need to seek out sophisticated international relations theory, or even lay out a framework of analysis that uses other agreements as possible templates. All we have to do is look at past precedent. North Korea has over and over again violated agreements made with not only the United States, but neighbors in the region. Anyone who has followed North Korea's foreign policy as it relates to nuclear weaponization since 1990 (or before) should understand that the reclusive state has no intention of eliminating its nuclear weapons no matter what agreements are reached with outside nation-states. There are several reasons for this The first reason that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weaponization programs is because it is a legacy of the Kim family. Initiated by Kim Il-sung, brought to fruition under Kim Jong-il, and advanced to more sophisticated capabilities in terms of not only the power and sophistication of its weapons, but the platforms that would carry them (ballistic missiles and submarines carrying SLBM's) under Kim Jong-un, North Korea's nuclear weaponization program has become part a key part of the legitimacy through which the Kim's rule the DPRK. The second reason that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weaponization program is because the government in Pyongyang understands that these weapons present a legitimate threat, not only to South Korea, but to Japan, and ultimately (with long-range ballistic missiles) to countries as far away as the United States. The leadership in North Korea realizes that nations such as Libya (a nation that dealt away its nuclear weapons program) have ended up "on the short end of the stick." Pyongyang understands that giving up nuclear weapons accomplishes (at least in the minds of many in the leadership there) nothing except to put the ruling government in a position of increased vulnerability. The final reason North Korea will never give up its nuclear weaponization program is because of the financial gain that it offers, not only to Kim Jong-un, but to the elite that support him. Since at least 2003, North Korea has been cooperating with Iran on a variety of initiatives for its highly enriched uranium (HEU) program. Pyongyang has provided raw materials such as uranium to Iran. It has provided technicians, engineers and other experts to Iran to support such key developments as the design of a 500 Kilogram HEU warhead for a medium range ballistic missile (the No Dong called the Shahab-3 in Iran). North Korea has even built sophisticated underground facilities for Iran's HEU facilities, reportedly capable of withstanding "bunker buster" munitions. North Korea reportedly was paid around $2 billion from Iran to build Syria's plutonium nuclear facility (destroyed by the Israeli Air Force) thus leading to the assessment of Iran perhaps seeking a dual-track nuclear program as Pyongyang has done. Indeed, as North Korea advances its nuclear program, and Iran advances its own program, cooperation, proliferation, and large-scale sales are very likely. Given the rogue behavior we have seen the North Koreans conduct since the end of the Cold War, one key fact should be obvious. North Korea will never, ever as long as there is a DPRK give up its nuclear weaponization program. Kim Jong-un is running his government in essentially the same way his father and grandfather did. And yet, he continues to have a much weaker power base then both of them. This means he quite simply cannot survive without having the power legitimacy that nuclear weapons give him. So what should the United States (soon to have a new President) and its key ally in Seoul do about this? The first thing that must be understood is that no matter what talks are held, North Korea's nuclear weapons are not going anywhere anytime soon. The second thing that must be realized is that freezing of North Korea's nuclear weapons simply means we are continuing to allow them to exist only to be "unfrozen" at some date in the future that fits Pyongyang's foreign policy (this should be kept in mind for Iran as well). The third thing that must be realized is that a policy of containment will work if it is actually initiated in an effective manner meaning that we must give sanctions time to work. And finally, we must realize that trying solutions that have failed in the past will get us nowhere in the future. If Kim Il-sung would not trade away his weapons, or Kim Jong-il, than why would the third Kim (Kim Jong-un) deal away these weapons? It's simply not going to happen. As we move toward the future, in my view, it is important to take a realistic, pragmatic approach to policy that deals with North Korea. The DPRK is a rogue state. Unless and until the government there changes its policy, its behavior, and its aggressive, sometimes violent behavior, North Korea needs to be contained, and sanctions (and other initiatives) need to be enforced. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. is a professor of political science at Angelo State University, and is the author or editor of six books on North Korea, most recently "North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era: A New International Security Dilemma." Contact him at bruce.bechtol@angelo.edu. Chinese President Xi Jinping inspected troops in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, near the sensitive border with its traditional ally, North Korea, according to China's state media on Friday. Xi inspected senior military officials and soldiers stationed in Harbin, Heilongjiang's capital, and an outpost on Tuesday and Wednesday, and instructed them to build a "strong army," the official Xinhua News Agency reported from Harbin. While the report made no mention of North Korea, it was Xi's latest appearance in northeastern Chinese provinces bordering North Korea. The Chinese defense ministry posted two photos on its website, showing Xi shaking hands with military officials during the visit. North Korea is China's only military ally, but their political ties remain soured due to the North's defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons. Xi took power in late 2012, but he has not visited North Korea. (Yonhap) North Korea's recent proposal of holding bilateral military talks with South Korea is "insincere" because the North has showed no signs of giving up its nuclear weapons program, a Chinese expert on the Korean Peninsula issue said Friday. Following heightened tensions after North Korea's nuclear test and missile launches this year, the North has extended an offer of military talks to South Korea. South Korea has dismissed the proposal, saying that any substantive talks could take place only if the North takes concrete actions towards denuclearization. Jin Qiangyi, director of the Institute of International Politics of Yanbian University, said in a piece published by the state-run Global Times that North Korea's proposal of talks is aimed at trying to emerge from its isolation. "In fact, this is not the first time that North Korea has launched peace offensives. Pyongyang proposes peace talks every time it faces difficulties," Jin said in the article titled "Pyongyang's peace talk proposals insincere." North Korea was slapped with tightened U.N. sanctions after its fourth nuclear test in January and launch of a long-range rocket in February. "Currently, North Korea is under pressure from international sanctions and thus intends to ease the situation. This is the major reason behind Pyongyang's proposal," Jin said. North Korea's isolation will be deepened if it continues to advance its nuclear and missile program, Jin said. "The international community will not change its attitude on North Korea unless the latter abandons its nuclear programs," Jin said. "Pyongyang's commitment to Korean denuclearization is key for the nation if it wants to escape from the current diplomatic isolation." (Yonhap) By Lee Sang-ou The defense ministry plans to gradually abolish alternative forms of military conscription in 2023 in order to prepare for the projected decrease in eligible conscripted military manpower beginning 2033. Alternative service is a form of national service performed in lieu of conscription for various reasons, such as: conscientious objection, health problems, or political reasons. So far, there have been many ways a dutiful man could serve his country in Korea. For example, we are allowed to serve as policemen throughout the country to assist in societal needs and maintain peace and order, or doctors in rural areas where adequate health care has long been on the decline and scientists in huge enterprises which are a staple of the volatile, fast-paced, technology based economy that we all depend on. These jobs play a critical role right now, right here in Korea, but after seven years, all these critical positions will be gone. So planning and negotiations with relative departments are underway in order to preserve these alternative services. But a significant point was missing in these negotiations. There was no mention of the preservation of "Onboard Seaman Service." Readers may wonder why this is so important. Maybe you've never heard of an on-board-seaman before. The onboard seaman service is an alternative service providing navigators and engineers for merchant vessels. I was surprised and concerned when I heard that the negotiations pertaining to the onboard seaman service were not in progress. As a current merchant marine cadet in one of the top ranking maritime academies in the world, Korea Maritime University, I thought this was very worrisome, because merchant sailors and merchant vessels play a crucial role in the world economy and especially in Korea. First, shipping covers 97 percent of trade in Korea. Furthermore, Korea's dependency on trade is proportionately higher compared with other OECD nations. So shipping is fundamental and a requisite for the Korean economy. A second reason is that Korea is at war. In a war, supplies are as important as the battle. A fight cannot be won without supplies. And merchant ship officers are in charge of transporting military supplies from all over the world. For perspective, consider Germanys' unrestricted submarine warfare during World War one in order to cut the supply lines to the U.K. and France. So even today, seamen are not treated as civilians during wartime. Some countries like the U.S, have their own merchant vessel fleet operated by the U.S. Navy. Thus, the Korean government has an obligation to secure sufficient sailors in the name of battle readiness. So the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is running a system which has a similar intention. Merchant vessel officers are essential to Korea. But the pace of modern shipping is quite harsh for anyone. Most seafarers presently working on merchant ships often have less than three hours in port at a time. Seamen don't have time to rest and relax. Mariners are at sea for months at a time, and even when they're onboard, they don't have access to what a five-year-old would take for granted, the Internet. Despite the importance of mariners in Korean economy, few people want to become mariners. This emphasizes the reason why the National Assembly should legislate the Onboard Seaman Service Act. With this action, Korea can retain much needed, well trained Korean sailors. The defense minister is going against this. If it abolishes onboard seaman service, this will detrimentally affect the security and economy of our nation. But not enough of us are concerned about onboard seaman service. Additionally, the Korea shipping business is in a crisis. We are liable to lose our leadership role in global shipping, which is one of the strongest points in our economy, if we hesitate. There is no room for hesitation. Relative agencies must frame plans of action and save Korea's economic bloodline, the shipping business. The writer is majoring in maritime science as a cadet in Korea Maritime University. Write to sangou2marine@gmail.com. By Donald Kirk Donald Trump may be running neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential sweepstakes if the polls are at all credible, but there's one constituency in which he appears to be well ahead. That's within the ruling circles in Pyongyang. He's winning popularity there for two reasons. The first is that he has said, sure, he'd be glad to talk with Kim Jong-un, and the second is that he has said U.S. troops are no longer needed in South Korea and Japan. Isn't that more or less what Pyongyang wants to hear? Don't be fooled by the casual remark of a certain North Korean ambassador, back from the Workers' Party Congress in Pyongyang, that he doubts the newly "elected" party chairman wants to meet the Trumpster. The ambassador carefully qualified the remark by saying he did not have first-hand knowledge but was only speculating that Trump was talking for political effect in the American presidential campaigns. While the media was reporting that comment as if it were a formal rejection of a request by Trump, a pro-North blogger said for sure the chairman would like to get going with negotiations. Hasn't that long been the North's position? The blogger's derisive words about the foreign media suggest that his response had the official blessing of Pyongyang, indeed may have been dictated from there. Certainly North Korea might find Trump preferable to Hillary Clinton. As a former secretary of state who visited the region a number of times, she gives every impression of being vastly more knowledgeable than the Trumpster about North Korea. The whole topic of North Korea arose at an interesting moment just as President Obama was in Hanoi announcing the lifting of the embargo on U.S. arms sales to Vietnam. A person awakening from a 50-year coma might not be aware from the headlines that "North" Vietnam had defeated "South" Vietnam more than 40 years ago and that the U.S. president was making nice with the Communists in Hanoi, not the old U.S.-supported Saigon regime. Obama might deny that lifting the embargo has anything to do with concerns shared by the U.S. and Vietnam over China's claim to the entire South China Sea, but nobody in this world accepts that remark at face value. Of course, it has everything to do with China. All of which takes us back to North Korea. Advocates of dialogue with the North persist in saying, well, now we're getting along with Vietnam so why not North Korea? The argument gets truly crazy when they note that North Korea, like Vietnam, has an uneasy relationship with China, on which the North depends for all its oil and half its food. That's where Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un might find themselves talking past each other the moment they sat down for a chat. The Trumpster has said boldly, loudly, to the consternation of a lot of people who can't stand the sound of his voice, that the U.S. should impose immense tariffs on Chinese imports if the Chinese don't tell North Korea to knock off making nukes and missiles. Or did he just say the U.S. should impose those tariffs because China is making so many multi-billions from its hugely favorable balance of trade with the U.S.? Never mind what he said or meant, Trump thinks China has some terrific power over North Korea and should be made to impose its will on Kim Jong-un. If there's any reason to support Trump for president, it's for the fun of watching the reaction in Pyongyang and Beijing if he made such assertions from the White House. As for how Kim Jong-un would react if Trump told him to his face, look, fatso, knock off the nukes or we're gonna get China to go after you, we may be pretty sure the conversation would not go on much longer. In fact, given what Trump has already said on the topic, we doubt if Kim would agree to talks in the first place. Still, the idea of Trump and Kim filling the same room is intriguing. While North Korea theoretically welcome dialogue, a lot of other questions come up. For one thing, where would these two bozos meet? Fatso has never traveled outside North Korea since taking over after his father's death in December 2011. Would Trump be willing to go to Pyongyang? No way. Here's an idea. How about if they met in the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom? I was up there the other day. The U.S. and North Korean generals who are supposed to get together now and then in one of those blue-painted U.N. buildings on the North-South line haven't met for years. Below that level, talks are rare. Wouldn't a Trump-Kim summit at the DMZ be great? Ok, not expecting that to happen, but think about it, what a way to jump-start dialogue. Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has been covering the confrontation on the Korean peninsula for years. He's at kirkdon4343@gmail.com. Top nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the United States will meet early next month to discuss North Korea's nuclear program, Seoul's officials said Thursday. Kim Hong-kyun, South Korea's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, will leave for Tokyo later this month and meet with his counterparts from Japan and the United States on June 1, according to Cho June-hyuck, the spokesperson for the foreign ministry here. (Yonhap) Lee Seong-ho By Kim Ji-soo Lee Seong-ho, brother-in-law to the late former President Kim Dae-jung, has passed away. He was 85, various reports said Friday. Police officials in Jongno District, downtown Seoul, said that they found Lee lying still in his officetel residence Tuesday, after receiving a call from an acquaintance of Lee's that he could not be reached. Lee, the youngest brother of former First Lady Lee Hee-ho, graduated from Gyeongbok High School and Seoul National University, after which he went to the United States and studied at Emory University. He at one time headed a Korea-American group in Washington, D.C., and also ran a travel agency. He returned to Korea in 1985, setting up a travel agency to take care of the travel of his brother-in-law who at that time was at the Party for Peace and Democracy. Lee was often dubbed an "insider" in President Kim Dae-jung's administration (1998-2003) but was implicated in graft scandals afterwards. Lee divorced and his two sons also live in the United States, leaving him to live alone in Korea. A mortuary is set up at the Inje University's Seoul Paik Hospital in Jung district; the funeral is set for Saturday. By Kim Yoo-chul Samsung Electronics plans to take Huawei Technologies (Huawei) to a U.S. court in July, at the earliest, sources who are familiar with the case said, Friday. "Samsung Electronics is in the process of collecting cases to probe Huawei's alleged involvement to infringe on Samsung's wireless patents. Rather than seeking a licensing agreement, it's highly likely that Samsung Electronics will file its counterclaim in a court in the United States in July," one source who is knowledgeable with the matter said. Huawei sued Samsung in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that Samsung was using some of its wireless patents without licensing. Huawei claimed Samsung's flagship smartphones including the Galaxy S7 infringed upon 11 of its standard-essential patents (SEPs). The Chinese technology company was hoping to enter a comprehensive cross-licensing period with Samsung on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms with the Chinese seeking monetary compensation. Huawei signed licensing deals with global technology leaders including Qualcomm, Ericsson and Apple. On Wednesday, Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Ahn Seung-ho, who is also the head of the firm's intellectual property division, said it will file a countersuit against Huawei. "Filing a lawsuit against a leading technology company has been effective to promote brand awareness. As wireless patents are being used extensively, it's tough to calculate monetary losses from such lawsuits, meaning the patent dispute will run longer," said another source. But they said it's unlikely that the Samsung-Huawei patent dispute will be developed as "blockbuster one" like the Apple-Samsung dispute given Huawei's small global share in the telecommunications equipment and smartphone industries. Huawei sells its telecom gear and samrtphones, globally. But most of its products are sold in China. "It's unlikely that the Samsung-Huawei legal tussle will be expanded to areas other than China and the United States because there's no reason for Samsung Electronics to help Huawei increase its awareness around the world by expanding the lawsuit, globally," said the sources. In 2011, Samsung Electronics countersued Apple in the courts of more than 20 countries from Korea, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, United Kingdom, France to the United States after the iPhone designer filed a lawsuit in a US court claiming Samsung willfully copied the looks and feels of iPhones. Huawei is the world's No. 3 samrtphone manufacturer with an 8.5 percent global share last year. Samsung Electronics was the top seller with 23.6 percent, followed by Apple with 15.3 percent, according to data from Strategy Analytics, a market research firm. Samsung Electronics declined to comment about its plans for the Huawei dispute. But the sources said Samsung may file its lawsuit in the US court claiming Huawei infringed on some of Samsung's SEPs. "As Samsung did in its fight against Apple, Huawei regards its patent dispute with Samsung as part of its destiny in becoming one of the global leaders in smartphones. Samsung should deal with the issue very seriously as Samsung can't afford to lose its valued brand image, which is a result of steady but hefty investment," said a local patent expert. By Kim Yoo-chul Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) Chairman Park Sung-wook has urged China to be more transparent about the subsidies it offers to Chinese semiconductor companies. "I hope the Chinese government maintains a nondiscriminatory stance on the issue of subsidies to Chinese chip companies and that China should be more transparent about its subsidy policy," Park told reporters during an industry event. Park, who is also SK hynix CEO, made the remark on the sidelines of the World Semiconductor Council (WSC) meeting at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill, eastern Seoul, Thursday. The executive said Korean semiconductor companies should improve technology and increase investments to stay competitive. "You could source financing from others," Park said. "But technology development will only be possible upon the amount of seasoned and qualified personnel that each company has. The KSIA plans to provide support, if necessary." The remarks were in line with views shared by the U.S., which recently criticized China's growing desire to step into the domestic semiconductor industry. But China's ambition in the semiconductor market is no secret. With demand for about $170 billion worth of semiconductors a year, the nation accounts for up to 50 percent of the world's total semiconductor consumption, giving China plenty of bargaining power in the industry. China's central government established the China IC Industry Fund (CICF, or the "Big Fund") as the main vehicle of its policy push. The fund is worth $21 billion but is designed to trigger as much as 10 times more investment from provinces, cities, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies and inject about $155 billion over the next five years into the industry, according to an analysis by Bernstein Research, a leading market research firm. This aggressive policy has made the U.S. government uneasy. Washington recently criticized China for "artificially inflating" the number of subsidy programs it reports to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The U.S. demanded answers about the buttressing of China's domestic semiconductor industry, saying that the purpose of the CICF is to promote the growth of China's semiconductor industry, with the funding provided in the form of an equity stake intended to give the government an active role as a shareholder, which violates WTO rules. Jeon Young-hyun, president of Samsung Electronics, has remained calm on the issue, saying there were no Chinese government officials at this year's WSC event. Separately, TSMC co-CEO C.C. Wei said the world's biggest foundry supplier is on track for enhancements to its latest 7-nanometer and 10-nanometer processing technology. "Because Samsung Electronics is one of our clients, it's inappropriate to talk about issues related to Samsung," the TSMC CEO said. TSMC is battling with Samsung Electronics in the logic chip-making business. COLUMBUS Infantryman Jerome Jakub remembers hitching a ride on a helicopter to head out into the bush of South Vietnam in the summer of 1970, a 20-year-old from Columbus who would spend the better part of the next year carrying an M60 machine gun in search of the enemy Viet Cong. Wed be out in the field on missions in search of Viet Cong for nine to 10 days at a time, said Jakub, who carried what was known as The Pig among U.S. Army infantry units during the Vietnam War because of its bulky size. The belt-fed machine gun weighed about 30 pounds and was operated by Jakub and a couple of men on his five-man squad who carried several hundred rounds of ammunition and spare gun barrels. I was part of a great squad, Jakub said. Everybody watched out for each other. You never knew what you were going to run into. The sergeant in Delta Company of the 3/21 196th Infantry Division and his brother, Jim Jakub of Columbus, will be taking part in the Nebraska Vietnam Combat Veterans Flight to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on June 6 in Washington, D.C. Im really anxious to see the Vietnam Memorial, said Jerome Jakub, who has never visited the monument in the nations capital. He did get a chance to view the traveling memorial wall when it was displayed in Columbus a few years ago. Jerome Jakub said he looks forward to seeing the Vietnam War, World War II and Korean War memorials and changing of the guard at Arlington National Cemetery. Itll be nice to see it all at one time, he said. Jeromes brother, Jim, a 66-year-old Vietnam combat veteran who is also making the flight, has visited the wall in Washington etched with more than 58,000 names of service members. Jim Jakub was a 21-year-old squad leader of a Quad .50-caliber machine gun crew from 1970-71 at Chu Lai just south of Da Nang during the Vietnam War. He was stationed not far away from his brothers base camp during his combat tour. It took me a while to approach (the wall) when I saw it for the first time. Its so beautiful, said Jim Jakub. Im sure it will be emotional seeing it again with my brother and so many vets in the Columbus area who I know personally. Jim Jakub, a staff sergeant for the Armys Battery G of the 55th Artillery during his days in Vietnam, today is the volunteer commander of Disabled American Veterans Pawnee Chapter 20 in the Columbus area. The Jakub brothers were both stationed at base camps in the Chu Lai area, but they had much different missions. Jerome Jakub spent most of his time out on patrol in the field, battling the scorching, humid temperatures and tromping through dense forest, rice paddies and native grasses that often grew up to 8 feet tall. Wed be out on patrol off and on for about 70 days at a time, Jerome remembered. Squad members set up makeshift tents at night, and a chopper would periodically fly in and drop off supplies and fresh clothes. We slept under the stars out in the elements, said Jerome, recalling how he and his squad would never get dry for days during Vietnams monsoon season stretching from June through November. After weeks in the bush, Jerome and his team would then stand down, a three-day period when theyd return to base camp for a little rest and recreation. It was a time for showering, drinking a lot of beer and eating a lot of steak, he said with a laugh. Jim Jakub headed a machine gun crew featuring four .50-caliber guns, which were used in semi-fixed locations to protect the perimeter of fire bases. The Quad-50 was a defensive weapon employed as infantry support against massed enemy formations and to thwart attacks. The city mans squad was deployed on the top of a hill to defend forward outposts during attacks by the Viet Cong, South Vietnamese communists who fought a guerrilla war against U.S. forces in the region. We were the first line of defense, Jim said. When the Viet Cong attacked, they had to come through us, he said. Jim received the Bronze Star for his service. The decoration is awarded for acts of heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service in a combat zone. They give you that for doing something stupid and surviving, Jim joked. The Jakub brothers Jerome has spent about 40 years in the maintenance department at Behlen Mfg. Co. and Jim retired a couple of years ago after working for 20 years at Loup Powerhouse played different roles during their time in uniform. They did, however, cross paths once in Vietnam. Jerome returned to the rear base for a break from infantry patrols and Jims commanding officer asked if hed like to join his brother. Jims superior officer sent a chopper to pick him up for a return to base, where he jumped in a Jeep and met up with his brother. It was about 9 or 10 in the morning and Jerome had just popped a beer when Jim walked up behind him. After exchanging greetings, the brothers shared a few brews and caught up on family news before parting ways and returning to their squads. Jim returned from the war with hearing loss, but he remains proud of the fact his squad came home from the fighting without any casualties. One of Jeromes squad members stepped on a booby trap and lost an eye, but survived. I was one of the fortunate ones, Jerome said. SCHUYLER Colfax County commissioners voted unanimously this week to spend up to $25,000 in the coming months to have a drone scan the scale of damage to the exterior of the nearly century-old county courthouse. The 3-D point cloud scan is part of a proposal submitted by Omaha-based Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture to map damages the three-member has been mulling for several months. The study is expected to get underway in a few weeks and be completed in two to three months. The study aims to provide accurate cost information, document existing conditions, identify areas of concern and rank priorities for improvements to the exterior of the 95-year-old courthouse. The county is required to maintain the condition of the courthouse because of its listing as a historic building. Commissioners are eyeing a December bid letting for the courthouse improvements with work to begin in the spring of 2017. The board learned in early March a building masonry restoration would range from $380,000 to $500,000 for the courthouse that dates to July 22, 1921. A second estimate at the end of the month pegged the cost at $350,000 to $500,000. Board members were told in March that moisture has penetrated the buildings exterior, separating the bricks from the walls in spots and cracking and wearing away the glaze on the clay-based terracotta embellishments. All four sides of the building, about 20,000 square feet in all, have been damaged over time. The west and north sides of the building have the most extensive damage, with the north side in the most severe shape. In other business, County Highway Superintendent Mark Arps reported to the board that area crop producers were heeding the countys warning about the growing problem of planting crops inside the county right of way along rural roads. The county published notices in all newspapers in the county informing farmers that any crops planted in the right of way would be shredded or removed by the county, according to state laws. A lot of people have been asking about those notices, said Arps, noting that some producers have been planting crops within a foot of gravel along the county roadways. (The notices) did a good job. Board Chairman Jerry Heard repeated the boards zero-tolerance policy for encroaching on county right of way. Crops will be removed, he said. In late April, Arps told the board the practice by producers of planting inside the right of way, which raises safety issues, especially at intersections, is scattered throughout the county and getting worse. The intersection safety issues become most acute in the summer as crops get taller and can obstruct drivers sight lines. Safety is also an issue in the winter, when tall roadside grass, trees or shrubs can worsen drifting snow. Arps said the sprouting problems could increase the insurance liability to the county and the landowner or tenant. The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more PRESS RELEASE Lavrov: U.S. Still Not Ready for Combat Coordination with Russia against Terrorists In Syria May 26, 2016 (EIRNS)Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after a meeting with representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in Moscow, reported that talks with the United States on coordination of military actions in Syria are going slower than Russia would like, and that Washington is not ready for real coordination with Russian forces. Lavrov noted that the United States has already moved from coordinating on flight safety to information exchange, "but they are not ready yet for real combat coordination." He went on to say that the GCC states agree that there should be joint action between the United States and Russia against the terrorist groups. "Were unanimous that the threat of terrorism and extremism requires uncompromising counteraction to prevent the triumph of the plans nurtured by the IS, Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda and similar groupings," he said. Lavrov added that "the participants in the session welcomed creation of an Islamic coalition by Saudi Arabia and came out in favor of stronger coordinated action of Russia and the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against terrorism in Syria," The toughest part still seems to be getting the United States to separate the so-called moderate armed groups from Al Nusra. "Back in February this year, U.S. colleagues promised us in the framework of ISSG (International Syria Support Group) and via other channels that they will soon achieve through their representatives the separation on the ground between patriotic opposition and Jebhat al-Nusra," Lavrov said. "This has not happened so far despite the fact that the regime of cessation of hostilities came into force three months ago." While the United States refuses to cooperate militarily with Russia against terrorist groups, the Russians estimate that they have taken out a third of the fighting force of Al Nusra and ISIS in Syria since their air campaign began on Sept. 30. Evgeny Lukyanov, the deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, told an international security meeting in Grozny that Russian forces and the Syrian army have eliminated 28,000 militants from the battlefield, or a third of the 80,000 there were estimated to be on Sept. 30. At the same time, the United States has only killed 5,000 in two years. The principle task of the Russian operation in Syria has been to force the sides to start a political dialogue, Lukyanov said. "Otherwise this [war] would have no end in sight." PRESS RELEASE China Defense Minister Proposes Joint China-ASEAN Military Exercises in the South China Sea May 26, 2016 (EIRNS)While Obama is busy hyping up the Group of 7 to denounce China for threatening freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, Chinas Defense Minister Chang Wanquan was inviting all the ASEAN Defense Ministers, who are meeting in Laos, to join in a China-ASEAN military exercise in the South China Sea. Chang told Obama to stop "playing up the issue of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as it has never been a problem," Xinhua reported. At the same 6th China-ASEAN Defense Ministers meeting in Laos, Chinese Rear Admiral Guan Youfei, director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the Chinese Central Military Commission, said the issue itself is a false proposition. He told the media after the meeting that "over 100,000 vessels pass through the South China Sea each year, and none has claimed to have encountered any hindrance, trouble or danger. The situation points to the fact that freedom of navigation is never threatened in the South China Sea and therefore not a problem," Xinhua reported. Going further, Defense Minister Chang said that "To further boost defense and security cooperation between China and ASEAN, the Chinese army hopes to hold a joint drill with the armies of the ASEAN countries in the South China Sea at an early date, including code on unplanned encounters at sea." He added: We know all about the benefits in store for us when big hospital chains merge and bigger health insurance companies grow even bigger: Lower prices. More efficient healthcare. More innovation. Better customer service. Thats what hospital and insurance companies say, anyway. But heres what the data say: Hospital and insurance mergers almost always lead to higher costs, lower efficiencies and less innovation. The reason is simple: Mergers reduce competition -- and its competition that drives down prices and encourages more efficiency and innovation. Advertisement The claim that getting bigger makes you better needs to be substantiated. Leemore Dafny, Northwestern University Some healthcare mergers have been outright disasters for consumers; studies of mergers that took place in the 1990s and early 2000s showed price increases of as much as 40% in communities that lost competition. These findings are important because we are deep into a new era of healthcare consolidation. In 2015, 112 hospital mergers were announced nationwide; thats 18% more than a year earlier, and a 70% increase over 2010, according to the management consulting firm Kaufman Hall. The rate may even be accelerating, Edith Ramirez, chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, told a conference of antitrust lawyers earlier this month, as the pace picked up significantly in the second half of the year. Many of these deals, Ramirez said, could cause significant competitive harm, a red flag for the FTC. She quoted former FTC economics director Martin Gaynor, now a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, showing that the average cost of an inpatient stay at a hospital facing no competition is $1,900 higher than at those facing at least four rivals, producing higher premiums for insurance customers. The largest announced hospital merger would combine Orange-based St. Joseph Health and Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health and Services. The result would be an $18-billion, 50-hospital behemoth that would rank among the largest nonprofit hospital chains in the country and control 18 healthcare facilities in Orange and Los Angeles counties and parts of Northern California. See the most-read stories this hour >> Meanwhile, two huge health insurance mergers are poised to reduce the number of major nationwide insurance companies from five to three. Last year, Anthem proposed a $48-billion takeover of Cigna, and Aetna proposed a $34-billion deal for Humana. Both deals are currently undergoing state and federal antitrust review. Typically, the merging hospitals and health insurers describe the benefits stemming from their deals rosily, if vaguely. Aetna, for instance, paints its merger as one that will bring consumers a broader choice of products, access to higher quality and more affordable care, and a better overall experience in more geographic locations across the country. The public justification for the Providence-St. Joseph hospital merger was even more nebulous: We are two mission-focused organizations which truly have the potential of being better together, Deborah Proctor, president and chief executive of St. Joseph Health, said in a statement last July, when the proposed deal was made public. The pitch is familiar. The architects of the last wave of health insurance mergers 15 to 20 years ago proclaimed a new era of efficient technology and improved customer service. Anthem and Cigna assert today that their merger will produce nearly $2 billion in annual synergies, thanks to improved operational and network efficiencies. Studies of prior mergers show that this Nirvana seldom comes to pass. The best example may be that of Aetnas 1996 merger with U.S. Healthcare in a deal it hoped would give it entre to the booming HMO market. According to a 2004 analysis by UC Berkeley health economist James C. Robinson, the merger became a near-death experience for Aetna. The deal was expected to bring about millions in enrollment and billions in revenue to pressure physicians and hospitals to accept lower reimbursement rates. Instead, the merged company was too big, too inflexible and too closely tied to a business model that already was on its way out. The talk was all about complementarities, synergies, and economies of scale, Robinson wrote. The reality quickly turned out to be one of incompatible product designs, operating systems, sales forces, brand images, and corporate cultures. Aetna surged from 13.7 million customers in 1996 to 21 million in 1999, but profits collapsed from a margin of nearly 14% in 1998 to a loss in 2001. The talk about merger-related efficiencies isnt entirely about painting pretty pictures for regulators and customers. The merger partners aim to establish a court defense for their deals by claiming that the efficiencies will counterbalance their deals anti-competitive effects. MORE: Get our best stories in your Facebook feed >> Efficiency claims underlie the two leading rationales for hospital and insurance mergers: that the Affordable Care Act encourages consolidation in both sectors, and that each side has to get bigger to match the increasing size of the other -- the Sumo wrestler theory, in the words of healthcare and antitrust expert Thomas L. Greaney of Saint Louis University. Healthcare economists dont buy either argument. The Affordable Care Act encourages more coordination among provider groups, but that can be achieved without mergers. Indeed, the law is premised on a market with more competition, not less, Greaney says. Even if mega-sized hospital groups and insurance companies extract better prices from one another, reduced competition within each sector leaves them with less incentive to pass their savings on to consumers. Nor is there evidence that either hospitals or insurers need to reach a large critical mass to become more efficient or effective, and some studies indicate that competition, not its absence, is what drives such institutions to find innovative ways of operating more efficiently and serving patients better. Theres a widespread belief that there are significant economies of scale in the provision of health insurance, said Leemore Dafny, a health and hospitals expert at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of Management. But the claim that getting bigger makes you better needs to be substantiated. Promoters of big mergers often overstate the savings they can wring out of consolidation. In a 2014 analysis, insurance consultant Douglas Sherlock calculated that less than 20% of health plans administrative costs could be lowered by economies of scale, and the reduction was small: A plan with monthly administrative expenses of $30 per member could reduce them to $29.24, Sherlock calculated -- if the merger goes perfectly. That reduction would do almost nothing for premiums, Sherlock told an investment conference in December, though it could fatten profits considerably in this low-margin business. History provides little encouragement for thinking that big mergers can be tweaked to allow them to go through while preserving competition in local markets, say by divesting health plans in communities served by both merger partners. That was the remedy imposed by the Department of Justice when it approved the 2012 merger of Humana and Oakland-based Arcadian Management. Because their Medicare Advantage business overlapped in several markets, they were ordered to sell off plans with 12,700 customers in five states. The Justice Department certified three separate buyers as long-term, viable competitors to the merged company. Within three years, two of the three had failed, driving away more than half their newly acquired members by imposing higher rates and exiting most of the markets they had entered via the divestiture. Many of the customers ended up with higher prices or less access to insurance. Higher prices for consumers are likely to be the outcome of either of the newly proposed insurance mergers and most of the hospital deals on the table. Experience suggests that regulators can have only one response if theyre serious about protecting the public interest: Just say no. MORE MICHAEL HILTZIK What do Ken Starr, Bank of America and crimes without criminals have in common? Tip of the iceberg? Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the ancient offense of champerty [UPDATED] Congress exploits Zika to loosen pesticide regulations (but wont pay for an anti-Zika program) 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. Suddenly, everyone from the U.S. government, commercial satellite companies, universities and even high school students needs to have a small satellite. And that is fueling another boom, in Southern California and across the West, in companies dedicated to giving the satellites a ride to space. By one estimate, 210 satellites weighing less than 110 pounds will be launched this year, to do such things as map the Earth, expand broadband access and track packages on shipping vessels. Thats up from just 25 launches in 2010. The number is expected to double again in five years. Advertisement In the last six months, at least half a dozen new launch vehicle firms aimed at the small satellite market have cropped up, said Marco Caceres, senior space analyst for the Teal Group, an aerospace and defense analysis company. The ever-growing list includes Firefly Space Systems in Cedar Park, Texas; Rocket Lab in Los Angeles and Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic, best known for its space tourism endeavors. In a quiet industrial park near Long Beach Airport where warplanes were once built around the clock, Virgin Galactic is making a satellite-launching rocket that will drop from the wing of a 747. There is strong confidence in the aerospace community that small satellites are the way to go, said Kevin Sagis, chief engineer for LauncherOne. Its an exciting time. The hopes of the upstarts are bolstered by news that companies such as SpaceX in Hawthorne and OneWeb in Arlington, Va., are planning to launch constellations of hundreds or even thousands of satellites that would provide low-cost Internet access, especially to more remote areas of the world. Last year, SpaceX opened an office in Seattle where engineers will build smaller satellites for launch. Around the same time, Branson announced an investment in the OneWeb venture. Just those two companies alone can create a whole new market, Caceres said. And I think thats what launch companies are looking for. Traditional satellite manufacturing has long been based in Southern California. Hughes Electronics Corp. built satellites at its El Segundo facility for years before its space and communications businesses were acquired in 2000 by aerospace giant Boeing Co. Boeing still manufactures satellites in El Segundo. Swarms of satellites are not a new idea. Huge satellite constellations were proposed back in the 1990s as a way to provide telecommunications services around the globe. But entrepreneurs badly underestimated the steep cost of building and blasting hundreds of satellites into orbit, and the proposed services were undercut by cheaper ground-based cellular services. Plans for the ambitious Teledesic satellite constellation collapsed in the early 2000s. The network, which was to provide high-speed Internet service, was founded by cellphone pioneer Craig McCaw and garnered some investment from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, but couldnt raise enough money to cover its high costs. In 1999, satellite communications company Iridium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after it signed up fewer than 50,000 customers for its global telephone service. The company later reorganized and its network of 66 satellites still provides services. Industry players say this time will be different. They point to the greater diversity in satellite usage now as greater insurance against the bust of any one particular industry. Planet Labs, for example, says it operates the largest fleet of Earth observation satellites. Data from the San Francisco companys nanosatellites can be used to monitor farmland and track carbon emissions. Demand for mobile connectivity is also greater than it ever was in the 1990s, even in previously unconnected places such as airplanes. And new technology has driven down the cost of developing and launching a satellite, aided in part by miniaturization; smaller satellites weigh less, and thus are cheaper to launch. Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Assn., said its not likely that all of the satellite constellations that have been announced will be launched. But he expects at least one, if not more, of the proposed projects in each sector -- imaging, broadband, communication services -- to succeed. We live in a different world than we did in the 1990s, he said. Another plus for this round of satellite projects is that theyre more likely to be backed by the companies own money, said Caceres of the Teal Group. Theyre not totally reliant on investors like they were in the 1990s, he said. So theres a good chance that many of these companies will be able to put these thousands of satellites into orbit, and if they do, they need launch vehicles. Currently, small satellites can hitch a ride by going piggyback on a rocket purchased by a larger company and squeezing in where theres space. But aspiring launch providers say this method can restrict the launch time and location, as well as the orbit where the satellite will be placed. Thats where companies like Virgin Galactic think they can succeed. The company announced its LauncherOne project in 2012 after it saw the potential in the small-satellite market. Virgin Galactic plans to eventually produce 24 rockets or more each year in its 150,000-square-foot facility, which borders the Long Beach Airport and is near the former Boeing C-17 plant, which closed in November. Virgin Galactic is looking to produce rockets quickly and at low cost. On average, the company said it will cost $10 million to launch a 440-pound satellite to a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, the most commonly requested orbit. That compares to SpaceXs starting price of $62 million for its Falcon 9 rocket, or Rocket Labs $5-million charge for a 330-pound payload. The company has invested in machines that speed the rocket production line. One of them creates new parts through 3-D printing, while simultaneously shaving off any extra material that could make a part even a hairs width too big. Even the launch system was designed with costs in mind. The 65-foot-long rocket will be secured under the left wing of a modified commercial 747-400 jetliner dubbed Cosmic Girl. After the plane climbs to about 35,000 feet, it will release LauncherOne to deliver the payload into orbit. This air-launch technique requires smaller rockets. LauncherOnes first test flight is scheduled for next year. The plane will take off from Mojave and launch the rocket off the California coast near Santa Barbara. Immediately after the test flight program, Virgin Galactic will switch into production mode, said Mark Andersen, senior director of manufacturing for LauncherOne. The company has already started to fill its launch manifest. Its biggest customer to date is OneWeb, which has purchased flights for 39 satellites. Last year, Virgin Galactic won a $4.7-million NASA contract to carry more than a dozen small satellites into orbit. Firefly Space Systems and Rocket Lab won similar contracts. Stratolaunch Systems, a project backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his company Vulcan Aerospace, also hopes to launch satellites from midair. It is building a rocket-carrying aircraft in Mojave that, when completed, will have the largest wingspan of any plane ever built. Caceres of the Teal Group said he doesnt expect all of the start-up launch companies to survive. Many of them will fold, he said. As long as you have someone wealthy and youre not relying on attracting private investors, you have a much better chance. ALSO Snapchat expands investor base as it grabs $1.3 billion in funding Faraday Future seeks approval to build electric cars in California Uber testing upfront pricing in some cities to promote carpool option samantha.masunaga@latimes.com For more business news, follow me @smasunaga Bob Mason arrived nearly two hours before a business trip out of Ontario Airport a couple of years ago only to face the headache that all travelers dread: a security screening line that seemed to go on forever. I barely made my flight, said Mason, a healthcare consultant from Redlands. That was sort of a wake-up call. The delay prompted Mason to join about 2.7 million other travelers who have signed up for TSA PreCheck, the Transportation Security Administration program that lets fliers use an expedited screening line if they first submit to a government background check. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> The idea behind TSA PreCheck is to create a faster checkpoint for low-risk fliers so that TSA can focus its limited resources on the majority of travelers in regular security lines. But the program has fallen far short of its goal of enrolling 25 million travelers, and TSA critics blame the programs shortcomings, in part, for the long security lines that are bogging down airport checkpoints as the nation prepares for the peak summer travel season. Instead of speeding the screening process for everyone, critics say the TSA PreCheck is worsening the delays by taking up resources for a small group of travelers. Wait times are not soaring simply because security is much tighter, said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, during a hearing Wednesday. Its because the TSA bureaucracy has gotten weaker. The agency has struggled to keep up with the high demand and has been unable to put the right people in the right place at the right time. The reason more travelers havent signed up for TSA PreCheck, critics contend, is that the program hasnt been sufficiently promoted, signing up is a hassle and the cost for membership is too high. In addition, no one is guaranteed to zip through the special screening line because TSA officers always reserve the right to randomly pull any TSA PreCheck member out of line to undergo extra screening. Not enough people have signed up to make a dent, said Rob Britton, an adjunct professor of marketing and planning at Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business. Its a marketing problem on the part of the TSA and on the part of the government. Roger Dow, president of the U.S. Travel Assn., a trade group for the nations travel industry, is one of the loudest critics of the program, saying he worries that the long lines will discourage travelers from flying this summer. Travel is more than us getting somewhere, he said. Its how business is done. TSA declined to make a representative available for an interview on TSA PreCheck, but a representative for MorphoTrust USA, the private firm hired by the agency to enroll travelers in the program, said efforts are underway to boost membership. When the program launched in 2013, TSA primarily relied on word of mouth to promote it, said Charles Carroll, senior vice president of identity services at MorphoTrust USA. More recently, the TSA has started to work with airlines and other businesses to advertise the program, he said. The TSA has put a lot more emphasis on marketing, Carroll said. The TSA said it spent $1.5 million to promote the program last year and plans to spend an additional $1.9 million on promotion this year. By comparison, the National Park Foundation is raising $350 million to promote, upgrade and protect the national parks system over the next two years. TSAs goal was for 25% of the traveling public to go through some form of expedited physical screening by the end of 2013, and for the rate to increase to 50% by the end of 2014. But so far only about 7.3 million people are enrolled in the TSAs four trusted-traveler programs, including 2.7 million in TSA PreCheck. Last year, the TSA screened 694 million travelers. Along the way, TSA PreCheck has made a few missteps. In 2014, a former member of a domestic terrorist group got clearance to use the TSA PreCheck line at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to the office of the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security. Media reports identified her as Sara Jane Olson, a former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was randomly picked to use TSA PreCheck even though a TSA screener recognized her and notified a supervisor. Still, the program seems to be gaining fans among travelers. TSA PreCheck members dont remove their shoes, coats or belts during the screening and can leave their laptops in their bags. As a result, the average wait time for a TSA Precheck member is five minutes, compared with an average 20 minutes for regular security checkpoints, according to the TSA. In a survey of more than 3,000 travelers, 44% said TSA PreCheck has saved them time at the airport, up from 25% in 2014. But the survey taken in April by a Minnesota-based travel company found that about 45% of travelers didnt know if the program saves them time compared with using the regular screening lines. Several airlines have complained that recent security screening delays have forced hundreds of travelers to miss flights. The union representing TSA officers says the problem is a shortage of airport screeners. The TSA now employs about 42,000 screeners, down from 47,000 in 2013, according to the union. Meanwhile, the number of passengers screened at U.S. airports is expected to reach 740 million this year, up from 643 million in 2013. In congressional testimony May 12, TSA Administrator Peter Neffenger suggested the number of screeners nationwide was cut by his predecessors in anticipation of more travelers signing up for TSA PreCheck and other trusted-traveler programs. Congress has already shifted $34 million to let the TSA hire 768 new officers and cover overtime pay for existing screeners. But the union representing TSA workers has demanded that Congress fund the hiring of 6,000 more full-time screeners. To sign up for TSA PreCheck, travelers must make an appointment at one of 370 enrollment centers across the country, including locations at Los Angeles International Airport. In the Los Angeles area, it now take two weeks or longer to get an appointment date. Once the appointment is completed, the background check, including fingerprints, takes two weeks or longer to be completed. The fee is $85 for a five-year enrollment. Several credit card companies will reimburse card holders for the fee, and Alaska Airlines lets travelers use their loyalty reward points to pay it. As for the criticism that signing up is time consuming, Carroll said MorphoTrust has added extra staff, more enrollment centers and extended the hours of the enrollment centers to include Saturdays. Britton, the adjunct professor and former airline marketing manager, said he has signed up for TSA PreCheck because he believes the program will reduce airport screening lines if more travelers sign up. I travel three or four times a month, he said. Even if I were to only go once a month, it would be worth every penny. Its just a great program. MORE BUSINESS NEWS Verizon reaches deal with unions for 4-year contract LAX expects to break passenger record for Memorial Day weekend Why a Fed interest rate hike next month is looking increasingly likely Follow me on Twitter: @hugomartin hugo.martin@latimes.com When lawyer Veena Dubal heard last month that Uber drivers seeking to be recognized as employees rather than independent contractors might settle their class-action lawsuit before it went to trial, she cried. Dubal, an associate professor at the UC Hastings College of Law where she researches employment matters and worker classification, isnt involved in the lawsuit. Shes not an Uber driver. She would have no financial gain either way. But as someone who has advocated for workers who have been misclassified, the proposed Uber settlement hit a nerve. I thought, Oh, my God, this is not good, she said. I spent time looking over the proposed settlement, and there are really problematic non-monetary terms. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Under the proposed settlement of two class-action suits, Uber would pay up to $100 million to more than 400,000 drivers in California and Massachusetts. Drivers who have driven the longest would stand to get up to $8,000 in a one-off payment. The company would also change its policies to offer more transparency over driver termination, help drivers form associations so their views are represented in meetings with executives and allow drivers to display signs in their vehicles soliciting tips. The issue of whether Uber drivers are company employees or independent contractors would remain unresolved. Uber drivers are currently classified as independent contractors, meaning they are not entitled to benefits such as minimum wage, overtime, expense reimbursement or health insurance. In cases as large and as high profile as this one, objections to settlements arent uncommon, according to class-action law experts. But the number of drivers and attorneys who have been mobilized to object, and the subsequent mudslinging through court filings, isnt common, either. Attorneys Mark Geragos, Brian Kabateck and Christopher Hamner filed to have the plaintiffs attorney, Shannon Liss-Riordan, removed from the case entirely, saying the proposed settlement she hashed out with Uber was designed solely to enrich Ms. Liss-Riordan and protect Uber at the expense of drivers. A named plaintiff in the case, Douglas OConnor, then decided he didnt want to be represented by Liss-Riordan any more and jumped ship to attorneys Geragos and Kabateck. Liss-Riordan shot back in her own filing, saying that most of the objectors dont even practice in the field of wage and hour law, and they havent taken into consideration the risks of not settling -- namely that a court could uphold Ubers arbitration provision, which would mean that the lawsuit could not proceed as a class action. [N]o reasonable attorney could seriously argue that a $100-million settlement, in the face of multiple risks that could mean recovering nothing, is inadequate, Liss-Riordan said in her filing. She supported her filing with dozens of emails from Uber drivers who commended her for the settlement terms. Still, objections continued to be submitted, even after the May 13 filing deadline. Whether they are accepted will be at the discretion of the judge. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the law firm representing Uber, made a filing urging Judge Edward Chen to deny objections filed after the deadline because these ... add nothing new to the objections that came before them. That didnt stop Dubal from jumping in, filing an objection herself Friday on behalf of five Uber drivers who feel that the settlement would not only shortchange them, but also cause more harm than good. Dubal acknowledged that there were risks involved in going to trial, but thats just the nature of trials. Plaintiffs could get nothing, she said. But the reality is not only are most plaintiffs getting nothing [under the proposed settlement, but] the outcome for them is worse than nothing. The proposed drivers association and deactivation panels, for example, could make drivers worse off by undermining independent worker representation, and by creating illusory mechanisms to address driver grievances, Dubal said. Allowing drivers to solicit tips from passengers, she said, would undercut the fight for wage security. The drivers she represents are also collecting signatures from hundreds of peers who want the proposed settlement thrown out. A hearing is scheduled for June 2, when Chen will question plaintiff and defense attorneys about the settlement. In the meantime, he has some colorful reading awaiting him. ALSO Uber and Lyft drivers are safer than the average American driver, according to new report Toyota invests in Uber; Volkswagen backs Gett Uber and Lyft have built loyal following, survey finds tracey.lien@latimes.com Twitter: @traceylien Fourteen-year-old Jessica Miramontes stared up at a 55-foot-tall, black-and-white portrait of herself towering over the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools entrance in Koreatown. The mural is part of a diptych by the street-art duo Cyrcle; its companion image, not yet painted, will soon depict another student, Yakal Anderson. Jessica Miramontes in front of her mural portrait by Cyrcle. (Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times ) Miramontes squinted into the sunlight and smiled sweetly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Advertisement See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >> It feels good, Im proud, she said in Spanish through a translator. She lives nearby, and said the mural brings her comfort to think that after she graduates, a piece of her young self will remain behind: When I leave this place, this picture, like I am now, will stay up and I can see it when I pass by. Students pass a mural by L.A. artist Jeff Soto. (Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times ) The mural is part of a sweeping arts project, nearly two years in the making, thats a collaboration between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the L.A. firm Branded Arts. To inspire students to participate in the arts, 28 new murals by 30 artists are going up on the 20-acre-plus campus, the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, where Kennedy was shot in 1968. The campus, built in 2010, is home to six schools for kindergarten through 12th grade. Now it features murals all created with low-VOC spray paint by the likes of Shepard Fairey, Kenny Scharf, Risk, Hueman, Sam Flores and Yoskay Yamamoto. A mural in progress by Beau Stanton. (Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times ) The works will officially debut on Friday at the RFK Mural Festival, where visitors can take self-guided tours of the art. The event includes spoken-word poetry, food trucks and live music. SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter >> For now, Faireys still-drying portrait of Kennedy hangs above the Paul Schrade Library entrance. Paige Smiths sculptural geodes dangle from the entrance ceiling. Many of the RFK schoolchildren participated in the mural-making, suggesting themes for the artists works or serving as production assistants. They helped to prep blank mural walls with tape and later filled in sketched areas with paint. One alum, 19-year-old Jose Maradiaga-Andrade, now an intern at Branded Arts, painted a mural of his own, a young boy peering over the U.S.-Mexico border with the word Hope beside it. Shepard Faireys mural of Robert F. Kennedy. (Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times ) Ive always wanted to do a mural festival like this, said Branded Arts Warren Brand. But where are you gonna find 30 walls within a two-block radius where all the building owners are on board? Its a good partnership. Festival organizers will open a gallery exhibition in the Schrade Library on Friday, featuring prints and original paintings by many of the mural artists. Theyll hang side by side with student artworks. A new mural by David Flores. (Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times ) Brand will lead by-appointment tours of the murals, after school hours, for the next month or so. Hes training students to take over as tour guides. The RFK Mural Festival runs 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday at 701 S. Catalina St. A new mural by L.A. artist Hueman. (Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times ) A new mural by UR New York carries an inspirational message. (Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times ) ALSO Ready for summer? Gray Malins Beaches lets you dive in around the world Asian American theater group pushes for the day when it doesnt need #StarringJohnCho Venice Architecture Biennale, Day 1: Govan and Zumthor make their LACMA pitch Im Carolina A. Miranda, arts and culture staff writer at the Los Angeles Times. Welcome to your weekly guide to everything happening in the arts in Southern California and beyond. Dont miss the special bonus item: your Moment of Hotel California. The Theater of Trump Donald Trumps candidacy has been likened to a TV reality show. But perhaps its more like a work of theater a work by William Shakespeare, to be exact. Times theater critic Charles McNulty looks for lessons in the works of the Bard, finding some interesting parallels in his Roman dramas. To anyone bewildered by the eruptions of violence at the Trump rallies, he writes, Julius Caesar and Coriolanus reveal just how easy it is to transform anxious citizens into mobs. Et tu, indeed. Los Angeles Times Advertisement LACMA takes its proposed building to Venice The architecture world is descending on Venice, Italy, for the 15th iteration of the Venice Architecture Biennale, organized by newly minted Pritzker Prize-winner Alejandro Aravena. Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne is on the ground with L.A. County Museum of Art director Michael Govan and architect Peter Zumthor (also a Pritzker recipient), who are in Venice showing off the latest version of the architects proposed LACMA redesign. Zumthors presentation of the model, writes Hawthorne, echoed the infamous words of water services engineer William Mulholland: There it is: Take it or leave it, love it or hate it. Los Angeles Times Our woman in Havana As U.S.-Cuban relations continue to thaw and travel to the island becomes easier, art world fascination with the region is mounting. Collectors, museum curators and gallery directors are flocking to the area to establish connections, look into possible exhibitions and acquire work. Reporter Deborah Vankin follows Selma Holo, the director of USCs Fisher Museum of Art, on her art pilgrimage around Havana. Los Angeles Times Actor John Cho, center, rehearses a scene with actors for Artists at Play, an Asian American theater group. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times ) A theater project for Asian playwrights and actors At a time when Hollywood is under fire for whitewashing Asian roles in cinema (such as actress Scarlett Johansson being selected to play a lead role in the manga-inspired flick Ghost in the Shell), the collective Artists at Play has been giving Asian playwrights and actors a chance to present their work. This weekend, the group is staging a reading featuring actor John Cho at the Pasadena Armory Center for the Arts. Los Angeles Times A comic takes on the high cost of fashion Threadbare, a new book by journalist Anne Elizabeth Moore, uses comics to explore a very difficult topic: the garment industry, 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. I spoke with Moore about why she chose to do investigative journalism in the comics format: Its about being able to depict the heretofore unimaginable, she says. Los Angeles Times In other news... Galleries: The bankruptcy of L.A.'s Ace Gallery has been generating headlines in art publications even more so now that a forensic accountant investigating the gallerys finances has filed a lengthy status report with the court that documented financial irregularities by proprietor Doug Chrismas. The Art Newspaper Theater: A complaint filed by actress Ann Colby Stocking with the California Department of Industrial Relations has the theater community abuzz over what actors should get paid in houses with 99 seats or fewer. Stockings complaint states that the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles owes her back wages totaling more than $6,000. Under the law as it stands, union actors can volunteer their time for small theaters in exchange for stipends. Stocking says that she should be paid as an employee. @ This Stage magazine Kasey Torres waits in line before the Beyonce concert at the Rose Bowl earlier this month. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times ) The Beyhive: Beyonce's Lemonade album has generated think-pieces galore including this thoughtful examination of the way in which the former teen pop star has found a way of creating work whose meanings can remain seductively elusive, by Times senior writer Lorraine Ali. Now the super-duper high-brow set is jumping into the fray, with recent essays from feminist theorist bell hooks and New Yorker critic Hilton Als. (The latter of which is thoroughly deconstructed, and partly refuted, by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd in The Muse.) A perfect marriage of the high-low. Art history: Times art critic Christopher Knight is currently knee deep in a long read by T.J. Clark that examines the history behind Pablo Picassos rarely discussed 1958 mural for UNESCOs Paris headquarters, The Fall of Icarus. It is a work, writes Clark, that aims to put the era of Guernica behind it. London Review of Books A Dont-Miss Art Show Seattle-based artist Margie Livingston has a gangbusters show at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles in Culver City that tears the idea of painting apart, and then puts it back together. The artist makes paint objects canvases wrapped in acrylic paint skin that she straps to her body, then drags through the citys streets, among other works. Part penance, part performance, these actions leave behind a work that is as ethereal as it is gritty, an alluring wall hanging that is also evidence of something darkly destructive. Through Saturday. 2685 S. La Cienega Blvd., Culver City, luisdejesus.com. For more arts listings, see my Culture: High & Low Datebook. And last but not least... Your moment of Hotel California, sung in French by an Australian Latin jazz/ska band. Take that, Serge Gainsbourg. Find me on Twitter @cmonstah. Standing onstage in a Tel Aviv theater, Samantha Montgomery looks out on a crowd of admirers. Fighting back nerves and tears, she belts out her original song Give It Up to her largest audience to date. Officially gone are the days of trotting to New Orleans open mikes hoping to make it big, to have even the fewest of attendees embrace her talent. Princess Shaw, the name Montgomery performs under, has finally arrived. But making it to this point was as much her own doing as it was that of a stranger almost 7,000 miles away who stumbled on an a cappella YouTube video of hers and, with some tinkering, made her a global Internet sensation. Montgomerys rise is chronicled in the documentary Presenting Princess Shaw, opening at West Hollywoods Sundance Sunset on Friday. Advertisement Though a couple of years have passed since her online profile exploded, she cant believe her luck. Im still in awe of all this ... thats going on that Im not used to, Montgomery said of having and promoting a documentary about herself. Im a starving artist. Im a normal chick. All this ... is beautiful, but its a whirlwind. Montgomery is a Chicago native. After moving down South, the 40-year-old started working at a nursing home. In addition to her certified nursing assistant duties, she sang to entertain those gathered in the homes common area. After work, Princess Shaw acrylic nails, apple-red hair extensions and braces in tow took to YouTube to satisfy her performing passion. Though she writes her own lyrics, her inability to play any instruments prevented the budding vocalist evocative of Macy Gray meets Amy Winehouse from crafting completed tracks. Someone online would be able to help, she thought. As her wish largely went unmet, the videos became confessionals where she opened up to an audience of fewer than 100 about childhood abuse, relationship issues and other life turmoils that plagued her. Halfway around the world, in Israel, both Ophir Kutiel and Ido Haar were intrigued by Montgomerys authenticity and raw talent. Its hard to say in words, Kutiel said of what attracted him. I just remember finding [her video of Give It Up] and listening to it over and over. Something about her caught me. Kutiel creates video mash-ups of amateur YouTube performers. Known as Kutiman, he is a composer, musician and video artist who rose to prominence in 2009 with the online music video project Thru You. It combined existing instrumentals a toddler practicing piano scales, a guitarist demonstrating chords, a drummer or violinist in a personal jam session with a capella, original lyrics to form unique songs. None of the people in the videos knew they were being used in the project. When Kutiman began exploring the projects follow-up, Thru You Too, Montgomerys Give It Up became the first track and the inspiration. Princess Shaw at the Boardwalk 11 karaoke bar in Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times ) Haar, a documentarian and friend of Kutiman, was interested in the stories behind the unknowing vocalists drafted into the project. He set out to do a film about them, but after visits with numerous subjects, Montgomery stood out as worthy of the full movie. Though already highly moved by her courage, directness, openness and unique talent as displayed in her videos, after their first meeting arranged through a Facebook message he wanted to capture the important therapeutic role that music, writing and creativity played in her life, he said. He tracked her on and off for about two years, starting nine months before Kutiman, without her knowledge, uploaded his version of Give It Up on Sept. 12, 2014, more than a year after Montgomery had uploaded her original. Within days, the remix had amassed more than a million views. When she saw it, she was stunned. I had no idea that that was happening. The melody was more than I could ever wish or hope for, she said. It would take her some time to put two and two together, that a random man named Kutiman in Israel had created this video with her song at the same time that Haar, who had been flying to and from Israel, was following her around. It wasnt until she saw a New York Times article about Kutiman and the video, and a confession from Haar, that she realized what had taken place. Months later, Montgomery boarded a plane to Tel Aviv she had not previously had a passport to meet Kutiman for the first time and to perform in a showcase highlighting Thru You Too. But the documentary goes deeper than just her discovery. At one point, before the video drops, the lights in her studio apartment are off because she cant afford to pay the bill. Her car at one point also rests on cinder blocks because someone in the neighborhood has stolen the wheels she had only ever seen that happen in movies. She also speaks at length about the end of her relationship with an ex-girl-friend and the physical and emotional abuse she faced as a child. People go through this, she said, denying any hint of regret. You may not go through it, but someone is in their house right now without lights. Their car is being repossessed. It happens. Its reality, and its life. Montgomerys direct approach to life is what has driven her throughout the completion of the documentary, recording her first album with Kutiman (release date to be determined) and the experience of watching Presenting Princess Shaw play the Jerusalem, Toronto and Austin, Texas South by Southwest film festivals. Shes very much aware it could all end at any moment, and surprisingly shes OK with that. I guess Im a weird person or artist, but it is what it is, she said. If it ends tomorrow, I did this ... Sometimes, you dont make it to the big stage, but I made it to some stages. And theaters too. MORE: Review: Princess Shaw picks up good vibrations via YouTube Get your life! Follow me on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson. The essential dish at Hanjip is probably the rib-eye, a handsome steak, prime or close to it, grilled to a beautiful medium rare. There is nothing like a steakhouse char on the meat an attractive bronzing at best and there is nothing in the way of a crust or aggressive seasoning, but the flavor is clear, and the beef is spurtingly rich. Its not A-5 Wagyu, but it is lovely. It might go nicely with a bottle of Lirac. The rib-eye at Hanjip is cooked neither over hardwood coals nor in a 1,300-degree broiler, but on an underpowered tabletop grill, not by a chef, but by a server who stops by now and then with a pair of tongs. You are surrounded not by baked potatoes and wedge salads, but by basic banchan, side dishes of the Korean table, that include little bowls of bean sprouts, broccoli sprigs, sour kimchi and surprisingly addictive strips of dried squid. And the steak has been cut into little cubes for you after it has finished its sear, letting the edges blacken a bit before you snatch them from the grill with your chopsticks. This is Western food served in a Korean context, satisfactory whether you enjoy it with red wine or a shot of soju, whether you dab your bite of steak with fermented soybean paste or sprinkle it with a grain or two of salt. Advertisement Chef Chris Oh holds beer and a 48-ounce tomahawk steak at Hanjip, a Korean barbecue restaurant. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times ) Hanjip is the creation of chef Chris Oh, whom you may know from the popular Seoul Sausage restaurants in Little Tokyo and off Sawtelle Boulevard, and restaurateur Stephane Bombet, who also owns Viviane, Faith & Flower and Terrine. The idea, Oh has said, was not to revolutionize Korean barbecue, but to trick it out with a little bling. And the restaurant, tucked into a storefront in downtown Culver City, does in fact resemble a bistro more than it does an old-school Koreatown restaurant, all black-and-white supergraphics, neo-retro wood paneling and sleek over-table venting systems that could pass as oversize lighting fixtures. The servers cheerfully assume that most of the customers are taking their first crack at Korean barbecue and themselves are often a bit confused when you ask about the possibility of salt with sesame oil or a few leaves of the Korean herb ggaenip. If you were a purist, youd be eating prime ggot sal at Parks BBQ or the mind-bending bulgogi at Gwang Yang BBQ. But instead you are just a few steps from the Sony lot, nursing a glass of lime soju laced with coconut milk and wondering about the beef poutine. If your evening has brought you to this tavern-intensive part of Culver City, there are worse places you could have ended up. So there is that poutine, a souvenir of Seoul Sausage, which involves crisp Suzy-Q French fries, a squirt of mayonnaise, a pile of the sliced, grilled beef called bulgogi and a handful of the bright-red marinated onions that have spread from the Yucatan to half the restaurants in town Ohs drunk-food classic. Or steamed buns stuffed with pork belly and a sweet sauce flavored with Korean chile, in the manner David Chang made popular at New Yorks Momofuku. Or the pot of fluffy steamed egg Koreatown restaurants sometimes throw in with the set dinners, but heaped with lobes of Santa Barbara sea urchin roe and a spoonful of salmon roe. Or fried pork rinds, chicharrones, with a kimchi-flavored dipping sauce. What you probably dont want are the things you may think you should be having, like the kimchi fried rice, which turns out to be a bland, under-realized version of dosirak, the shaken lunch box beloved at Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, or the hot wings, which will not make the owners of KyoChon stay up nights. A dish of bone marrow corn cheese at Hanjip. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times ) But Ohs cooking can be fun. The most imaginative of the dishes here is probably the corn cheese more or less the same slurry of corn kernels and cheese that shows up in every Ktown after-hours bar, but slicked up a tad with cream and herbs, and with a smoking shin bone jutting from the mass like a steam funnel from the Titanic. You scoop the roasted marrow from the bone into the corn not bad. And if you are inebriated enough, I hear, you can chug soju through the emptied bone. Tell me how that goes. Most of the classic Korean barbecue meats are represented on the short menu, available either singly or as part of a combination. If you have spent time at any of the better Koreatown pork specialists, such as Palsaik or Honey Pig, you will find few revelations in either the pork belly or the underseasoned marinated pork shoulder at Hanjip, neither of which seems to crisp or caramelize. But the brisket is respectable enough, charred and chewy in the traditional manner, and the thick, marinated short ribs, meat rolled out in thick scrolls that caramelize and crisp on the tabletop grill, are delicious. If you have made the choice to visit Culver City instead of Koreatown, you have also probably made the choice to indulge in Hanjips watermelon soju, which is to say a halved watermelon shell filled with watermelon balls, Fruity Pebbles and Pop Rocks straight from the package, over which a bottle of soju is upended until the concoction shivers and shakes like a sugary Technicolor nightmare. Does that sound good to you? Stay strong, my friend. Hanjip Korean barbecue goes upscale in Culver City. LOCATION 3829 Main St., Culver City, (323) 720-8804, hanjip.com. PRICES Barbecue dishes $23-$43 ($150 for tomahawk steak); side dishes $10-$19; combination dinners for 2-4, $49-$89. DETAILS Open daily, 11:30 a.m. to midnight. Credit cards accepted. Beer, wine and soju. Valet parking after 5 p.m. (except Tuesdays), and nearby city lot parking. RECOMMENDED DISHES Corn cheese with marrowbone; beef poutine; marinated short ribs; rib-eye. MORE REVIEWS FROM JONATHAN GOLD Jonathan Gold reviews Button Mash: Tofu balls! Arcade games! Jonathan Gold finds much to like at Rose Cafe in Venice pepperoni pizza with honey, anyone? Salts Cure brings the citys best pork chop to its new location on Highland Avenue As Britain gears up to vote on whether to leave or stay in the European Union, the debate is becoming increasingly bitter and personal. Words like catastrophe and chaos are constantly bandied around by supporters of the Remain camp, led by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, to paint a doomsday scenario of what life would look like outside the EU. Meanwhile, Leave campaigners relentlessly accuse their opponents of conspiracies and a cynical distortion of the truth. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> The outcome of a June 23 referendum is expected to have far-reaching consequences not just for British citizens, but the European continent and the world. The 28-nation partnership began after World War II to generate economic cooperation and avoid war, but some in Britain want their independence. Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn stands with vote remain supporters in London on May 10, 2016, during the unveiling of a campaign bus for the upcoming referendum on the European Union. (Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA) For many of those who want to leave the EU, the issue comes down to Britains ability to control its own economy, laws and immigration policy without having to adhere to European Union rules and regulations. Some describe the outcome of Junes vote as the most fundamental moment facing Europe since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. As a result, the list of business and world leaders, economists, scientists and celebrities who have weighed in is long. Renowned professor Stephen Hawking said it would be a disaster for U.K. science for Britain to leave the EU, while President Obama warned Britain would be put to the back of the queue in trade talks. The president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, said a Brexit as the campaign is known would have a worrying impact on developing countries whose growth depends in part on stronger nations. Some observers say an exit could result in a recession in Britain. NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> Film stars have weighed in, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley among the actors who signed a letter saying Britain would become an outsider shouting from the wings if it were to leave the EU. The Leave campaign has been criticized for failing to adequately explain what post-EU life would look like, but a recent YouGov poll showed the vote was neck and neck. During an EU referendum debate Thursday night in the posh London neighborhood of Kensington, a 200-strong audience gathered to hear for themselves both sides of the argument. I came here thinking I would vote to remain, and now Im undecided, said June, a local retiree who declined to give her full name. This isnt Europe we are talking about, its the European Union. Thats terribly important to understand. But I dont think we can be separate and still work together anymore. I think life has changed. Younger British voters, who have always known the luxury of being able to travel to Spain, study in France and work in Germany without needing visas or work permits, are more likely to vote to stay in, polls show. Older voters are more inclined to favor leaving the partnership and often place sovereignty at the heart of their argument, polls show. Conservative politician and House of Cards author Lord Michael Dobbs draws that comparison too, but not because he fears the return to a fragmented, distrustful pre-World War II Europe. For him, this vote signifies all the ways that the EU has failed since 1989. Weve become weak. Weve become inward looking. Weve lost focus on those values and democratic values that millions of people tore down that Berlin Wall to get, he said, taking up the podium during the EU debate in Kensington. Many Leave campaigners point to the dire economies of Greece, Spain and Italy as a sign that Britain would be stronger forging forward on its own. They also oppose the practice of EU citizens freely traveling and working in Britain, a form of uncontrolled immigration that opponents claim is ludicrous given the already over-burdened welfare state, housing shortage and economy that is still struggling to rebuild after the financial crisis. Ask yourselves a question: Would you vote to join now? Dobbs asked the audience. If you wouldnt, then seize the opportunity to vote out. One of his debate opponents, Labors Liz Kendall, said it is insightful that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Frances far-right politician Marine Le Pen favor a British exit, and this is not the time to play into their hands. The world is a complex, difficult, nasty place. We dont deal with it by simply withdrawing. You deal with it by trying to engage with our allies in Europe and the United States in the Middle East, she said. Lets use everything weve got to try and tackle the problems and not think theres some kind of simple solution because there isnt. The campaign to leave appeared to receive a boost Thursday when immigration figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed that net migration to Britain rose 333,000 in 2015, the second highest figure on record. This relates to the number of people, both EU and non-EU citizens, who came to Britain for more than a year, minus the number of British citizens who left. The net migration figure for EU citizens was 184,000. You need to be able to say to people from Australia: Yes, we want your brilliant paramedics, or to India: Yes we want your fantastic engineers or Chinese students, said Conservative member of parliament Boris Johnson, the former London mayor who is spearheading the Leave campaign. But its crazy when were pushing those people away and have absolutely no control over huge numbers coming from the [28 EU member states]. That is one of the fundamental things a state should be able to do. Polls show Scotland, whose voters in 2014 rejected independence from Britain, is overwhelmingly in favor of remaining in the EU. Leading figures in the Scottish National Party have warned that a Brexit might spark a second campaign for Scottish independence. Bookmakers are still betting on Britain staying in the EU, but both sides know the undecided votes are still very much in play. The sense is, across the country, that provided nothing unanticipated happens, it should just about be a vote to stay in, said Iain Begg, professorial research fellow at the European Institute at the London School of Economics. But that leaves the unexpected, the unknown unknowns : a terrorist attack, something like the Panama Papers. It doesnt take a lot to sway voters the other way. ALSO Ukraines first female combat pilot freed in prisoner exchange with Russia Nations with poor human rights records block U.N. status for press-rights group France faces major challenge as activists step up protests over bill loosening labor protections Boyle is a special correspondent. Turkey issued a stern rebuke Friday after images emerged of U.S. ground forces wearing the insignia of a Syrian Kurdish militia during operations against Islamic State. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was unacceptable that U.S. special forces would be wearing shoulder patches of the Peoples Protection Units, a Kurdish group known as the YPG. The photos, which were snapped by a photographer with news service AFP, depict what appear to be fully-equipped U.S. Special Forces operators atop a pickup truck. The images, according to Turkish state news operator Anadolu, were taken near the village of Fatisah, some 16 miles north of the de facto capital of Islamic State in Syria. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> The soldiers are seen alongside members of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a joint Kurdish-Arab alliance fighting the Islamic State that is dominated YPG. They have the YPG emblem on their arm patch. A U.S. military spokesman agreed Friday that it was inappropriate for American service members to wear the insignia of a Kurdish force fighting in northern Syria. Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, which oversees warfare in Syria, said in a briefing from Iraq that he had seen photographs of two U.S. soldiers wearing the patches. I think the first thing to make clear is that wearing those YPG patches was -- was unauthorized and it was inappropriate, and corrective action has been taken, Warren said, and we have communicated as much to our military partners and our military allies in the region. He acknowledged that while army regulations say local insignias should not be used, the special forces community has a long and proud history of wearing such patches when they are partnering with forces around the world. He cited Afghanistan, Iraq and Latin America as examples of areas where the special operators train and conduct joint activities. This is something that they often do, and its an effort to, you know, just kind of connect with those that theyre training. Given Turkeys sensitivities about the U.S. reliance on Kurdish forces in the battle against Islamic State in Syria, the personnel were told to remove the patches. Warren said he knew of no additional reprimand or other disciplinary action. Turkey maintains the YPG is no different from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Ankara and Washington regard as a terrorist organization. At the State Department on Friday, spokesman Mark Toner reiterated the U.S. position that the YPG and PKK were separate entities, although he acknowledged the two groups might have connections. We believe the YPG, as well as other forces in Syria, northern Syria, are effectively taking the fight to [Islamic State], Toner said. And were going to continue to support them with our advise-and-assist operations there. Last month, President Obama announced a ramp-up of U.S. special forces operators in Syria, even while insisting the troops were only there in an advise-and-assist capacity. The YPG, which has been touted as the most effective fighting group against Islamic State in Syria, has been the main recipient of U.S. support in the form of airstrikes, training and arms. ALSO Nations with poor human rights records block U.N. status for press-rights group Islamic State claims responsibility for bombings in Syria that killed at least 78 New Taliban leader is seen as more a teacher than a fighter, but dont expect attacks to end tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com Special correspondent Bulos reported from Jordan and Wilkinson from Washington. Long Beachs morality was in doubt. So claimed the Los Angeles Times in numerous sensationalist 1914 stories about the arrests of 31 men allegedly tied to two private clubs in the city where gay men were said to cross dress and have sex with each other. It was a racy scandal, the Times sneered, with details that were unprintable and yet one that the newspaper could not get enough of. Long Beach police, following the lead of undercover vice specialists W.H. Warren and B.C. Brown, arrested the men on so-called social vagrancy charges, collecting steep fines $5,275 in all or throwing in jail those who could not pay. Nov. 19, 1914: Long Beach Recital of Shameless Men. (Los Angeles Times archive) (Los Angeles Times archive) The newspaper's account of the "scandal" that enveloped the city offers a window into the virulently homophobic attitudes that prevailed a century ago, when gay sex was illegal and police pioneered the use of undercover stings to identify and prosecute gay people. The stories also underscore the role that The Times and other newspapers played in perpetuating the era's homophobia. The Times printed the names of the arrested men and mocked its neighboring city over the discovery of underground gay social organizations the 606 Club and 96 Club. At one point, the newspaper published a story with the dateline, The Holy City of Long Beach. But amid the sarcasm and public calls for purity, the sweep had devastating effects. One of the arrested men, a prominent Long Beach banker and church officer, killed himself by swallowing cyanide near the beach. In a note to his sister, he said he was innocent but crazed by reading the paper this morning in which his name had been published. Long Beach officials temporarily banned the sale of toxic substances afterward, fearful that others might follow suit. Only one of the men, florist Herbert N. Lowe, fought the charges. His trial, the Times reported, was the talk of the town, with large crowds fighting for seats in the courtroom. Nov. 15, 1914: Takes His Life Through Shame (Los Angeles Times archive) (Los Angeles Times archive) Doubting Thomases of Long Beach who refused to believe the existence of a certain class of vice in that city, heard in court yesterday the bald stories of the officers who put in jail thirty-one men on the charge of vagrancy, the Times wrote of Lowes trial, adding that It was a dramatic and hideous recital, and startled the populace. Officers Brown and Warren reportedly attractive men who had no prior police training but were given badges in Long Beach and Los Angeles to rid the cities of vice were the star witnesses, saying they got $10 for each captured social vagrant. At one point, according to Times reports on the testimony, Brown rented a cottage from Lowe and arranged for other officers to watch from a peephole and window as he baited Lowe to flirt with him. One evening, Brown lay down on his bed, expecting Lowe to arrive. As officers spied on the room, Lowe tried to become intimate with Brown but was interrupted by a noise: Someone peeking into the room slipped loudly on gravel outside. Several officers then rushed in to arrest Lowe. But in the end, the jury acquitted Lowe after his attorney said the undercover officers hands were dripping with the blood of the man who killed himself. The Times headline read: Jury Acquits in Six-O-Six...Stool-pigeons and Police Given No Credence, referring to the undercover officers. Dec. 12, 1914: Jury Acquits in Six-O-Six. (Los Angeles Times archive) (Los Angeles Times archive) Even in that era, the newspapers were criticized for publishing the names of arrestees, especially after the suicide, by some members of the public and by local officials embarrassed by the arrests. But the newspapers defended themselves with self-righteous outrage. In November 1914, The Times published an editorial from The Sacramento Bee titled An Unprejudiced Observer: Publicity is Needed and Then More Publicity saying that despite criticism, newspapers should not suppress news concerning this most horrible of all filthy crimes. Of the mans death by cyanide, the editorial stated: His suicide in itself was a confession. In 1915, several months after the sting operation, one of the Long Beach vice officers, Warren, and a married woman with whom he was infatuated were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide, The Times reported. The newspaper described how Warren, who conducted the now celebrated social vagrant investigations, referred to himself as the master of women. He shot the victim when she refused his advances and then turned the gun on himself. The article mentions that Warren made a good living from arresting so-called social vagrants, sometimes more than $100 a week. Attributed to Warrens activity, the Times said, was the death of a New York City actor he exposed with a success that resulted in the mans desperate leap from a window with a trunk strap around his throat. July 21, 1915: Slays Woman and Himself. (Los Angeles Times archive) (Los Angeles Times archive) hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson MORE See more of The Times' coverage of the Long Beach 'social vagrant' investigations Undercover police stings targeting gay men endure, despite fierce criticism A U.S. senator on Friday called for federal investigations of OxyContins manufacturer in response to a Los Angeles Times report that found the bestselling painkiller wears off early in many patients, exposing them to increased risk of addiction. Sen. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat whose state has been hit hard by prescription drug abuse, urged the Justice Department, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to launch probes of drugmaker Purdue Pharma. OxyContins main selling point is that it lasts 12 hours. The Times investigation published this month found that when the effects dont last, patients can suffer symptoms of narcotic withdrawal, including intense craving for the drug, and experience a cycle of agony and relief that experts say promotes addiction. Advertisement OxyContin is the original sin of the current opioid epidemic. Sen. Edward J. Markey The newspaper found that Purdue had evidence of the problem for more than two decades, but continued to insist the drug lasted 12 hours, in part, to protect its revenue. OxyContins market dominance and premium price hinge on its 12-hour duration. Purdue instructed doctors who complained about the drugs duration to prescribe stronger, but not more frequent, doses. Research shows that patients taking high doses of opioids are at greater risk of an overdose and death. These are serious allegations, Markey wrote of The Times findings in a letter to Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch. They raise questions about ongoing deception by Purdue, harm to the public, continued costs to the United States, and the availability of further judicial recourse against Purdue In a separate letter to the heads of the FDA and FTC, Markey called OxyContin a leading culprit in the current opioid and heroin overdose epidemic. More than 194,000 people have died from overdoses involving opioid painkillers since 1999 and abuse of those drugs is blamed for the resurgence in heroin addiction in the U.S. Markey said the agencies should proactively warn prescribers, patients, and the general public about problems the newspaper identified with OxyContin. Purdue, a family-owned Connecticut company that has collected more than $31 billion from OxyContin sales, rejected The Times findings. In a statement, the company said Purdue shared Markeys concerns about the opioid epidemic, but noted that the FDA approved OxyContin as a 12-hour drug. We promote our medicines only within the parameters approved by FDA and, given FDA has not approved OxyContin for eight-hour use, we do not recommend that dosing to prescribers, the statement said. See the most-read stories this hour >> A Justice Department spokesman said the department was reviewing the letter and an FTC spokesman confirmed the agency had received the letter, but declined comment. An FDA spokeswoman said the agency was reviewing the letter and would respond directly to Markey. Previously, the agency spokeswoman told The Times the FDA will revise labeling as necessary to improve proper prescribing and treatment, but also placed responsibility with doctors. It should be well understood by physicians that there will be some individual variability in the length of time that patients respond to this drug, the spokeswoman said. Dr. Lewis Nelson, a New York University professor of emergency medicine who has advised the FDA on risks of prescription opioids, said that in his experience teaching physicians around the nation, many doctors have forgotten their medical school training about how opioids work in individuals. I dont think the average doctor would recall the difference between changing a dose to q8, medical shorthand for every 8 hours, or increasing the dose, Nelson said. He said the Times findings were credible and the FDA should change the label. It would seem like this is a very fixable problem, Nelson said. OxyContins history is inextricably linked with the prescription drug epidemic. Purdue launched the drug in 1996 with an aggressive marketing campaign to primary care doctors that presented the painkiller as appropriate treatment for back aches and knee pain. Purdue and three company executives pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal charges of drug misbranding for what the company acknowledged was an attempt to downplay OxyContins risk of addiction. They were ordered to pay $635 million. Markey has been an outspoken critic of the role of pharmaceutical companies and the FDA in the opioid crisis. In January, he temporarily blocked the nomination of Dr. Robert Califf as FDA commissioner to protest the agencys approval process for opioids, including its August decision to approve OxyContin for use in children as young as 11. Califf was later confirmed. OxyContin is the original sin of the current opioid epidemic, Markey said in a statement to The Times. For years, Purdue Pharma lied to federal regulators and the public about the addictiveness of OxyContin and countless patients got hooked on this deadly painkiller. We need to know if Purdue once again lied about the longevity of OxyContins pain-relieving properties and hold Purdue accountable. Markeys focus on opioids reflects Massachusetts severe problem with painkillers and heroin, which has been embraced by many prescription drug addicts as a cheaper alternative to pills. The death rate from opioid overdoses is more than twice the national average and climbing. More than 1,300 people died from opioid-related causes last year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Four people die every day and we havent been able to bend the trend, said Marylou Sudders, the commonwealths secretary of health and human services. Thats not a problem. That is a crisis. Sudders attributed the problem, in part, to doctors over-prescribing opioids. A state law passed in March requires doctors to receive additional training and limits first-time opioid prescriptions to seven days. Join the conversation on Facebook >> The Times report concerned an issue that went largely unnoticed in the scrutiny of OxyContin: the drugs duration. Purdues clinical trials demonstrated the problem. In the first test on patients, for example, OxyContin wore off early in about half of participants. After the drug hit the market, the company was confronted with additional evidence, including complaints from doctors and research by outside scientists. In his letter to Lynch, Markey wrote that if warranted the Justice Department should try to recoup taxpayer dollars that federal healthcare programs may have needlessly and unnecessarily spent on OxyContin prescriptions. ALSO Maker of painkiller OxyContin loses legal battle to keep lawsuit records secret You asked, we answered: The best from our Reddit Q&A on OxyContin Tell us your story: Do you have an experience with OxyContin, or do you know someone who has? UPDATES: 12:52 p.m.: This post has been updated to include statements from the FTC and statistics about opioid deaths in the U.S. 10:33 a.m.: This post has been updated to include statements from Purdue. 9:46 a.m.: This post was updated to include responses from the Justice Department and the FDA. This article was originally published at 7:10 a.m. Not every parent at 20th Street Elementary School wants new leadership for their kids school. About 30 mothers gathered in front of the Los Angeles campus Friday morning with signs in English and Spanish, protesting a potential agreement that would give some control of school operations to the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a nonprofit that specializes in improving low-performing schools, often in under-resourced neighborhoods. A different group of parents threatened to sue the Los Angeles Unified School District in March, after the district rejected a petition that 58% of parents at the school signed to invoke the state's parent trigger law, which allows parents to take control of low-performing schools. See the most-read stories this hour >> To avoid a lawsuit, the district may agree to allow the partnership to take over school operations, which L.A. School Report first reported on Wednesday. The partnership runs 17 schools in L.A. Unified, including Roosevelt High School and Dolores Huerta Elementary. Unlike an independent charter school, though, partnership schools are still Los Angeles Unified district schools, meaning the teachers are unionized and the district receives state money allocated for each student. Beyond the district resources, the partnership says it can fundraise for programs, enhancements and technology. We are not as bad as other schools that have gotten this partnership,said Karla Vilchis, a 20th Street parent with one daughter in transitional kindergarten and another who finished fifth grade at the school in 2013. Changes, she said, should come from working together instead of attacking each other." https://twitter.com/Sonali_Kohli/status/736212303092187137 She and other parents at the protest Friday morning were mostly silent. They didnt want to disrupt classes or fight, but they did want to show other parents that not everyone wants the school to change hands, Vilchis said. They held signs with phrases like No to PLAS (an acronym for the partnership), We are improving and Padres que apoyan Calle 20. The parents pushing for a change in leadership complain about low academic scores and a lack of resources at their school. Last year, they launched the first petition to transform 20th Street into a pilot school, a district-run school with more freedom than a traditional school. At the end of the 2014-15 school year, the district agreed to make improvements. (Sonali Kohli ) But the district didnt follow through on those promises, like having more coordinators to help students prepare for junior high school and teaching more rigorous classes, said Omar Calvillo, one of the parents leading the trigger actions. So the group launched another petition, this time to take full control of the school. Some teachers and parents at 20th Street argue that the school has improved. The playground is open on Saturdays, there are more opportunities for parents to be involved and a program focused on reclassifying English-learner students began this year, said Javier Cruz, a third-grade teacher and the schools United Teachers Los Angeles chapter chairman. Follow the Times' education initiative to inform parents, educators and students across California >> A district spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday on the status of 20th Street. We are still in negotiations regarding this issue and have no further comment, Shannon Haber said in an email. When the 20th Street parents union submitted its petition in February, it also put out a request for proposals for charter school operators who would be able to run the school, said Gabe Rose, chief strategy officer for Parent Revolution, the group helping 20th Street parents invoke the trigger law. The partnership, though not a charter, submitted a proposal. The parents group will accept only an agreement that allows the partnership full autonomy over the school, Calvillo said. Otherwise, it is prepared to sue the district for full control. MORE EDUCATION NEWS How good is my kid's school? California tries to answer every parent's question California to audit L.A.s biggest group of charter schools after anti-union allegations Superintendent's 'listen and learn' tour leaves LAUSD parents with questions unanswered Reach Sonali Kohli at Sonali.Kohli@latimes.com or on Twitter @Sonali_Kohli. California is getting closer to defining what a good school should look like. But how will parents know if their school is one of them? On Thursday, the federal government released draft regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Acts provisions on school accountability. Under the guidelines, states have to tell parents how their schools are doing on a range of factors and also give the school an overall rating. The regulations allow for that rating to be in different forms, including a number, grade, or category. Advertisement But theres still a major debate over how to weight the ingredients that define a schools quality, and how schools should present that measure of quality to parents. See the most-read stories this hour >> President Obama signed Every Student in December as a replacement to the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal education law that required annual standardized testing in most grades in reading and math, and tried to hold schools accountable based on those test scores. Under No Child, each school was either on track or not, a binary ranking many ultimately considered too crude to capture the nuances of what determines whether a school is incredible or awful. Every Student largely lets states create their own systems for measuring schools the law requires that states weight academics much more than other factors, but also includes at least one non-academic factor. Under ESSA, states must identify the bottom 5% of poor schools by whatever accountability systems they devise as well as schools where a third of students dont graduate high school on time, and low-income schools where specific groups of students persistently underperform. States must then work to help those schools improve, by any method that is evidence-based. One major question in California had been whether presenting the factors on a dashboard without boiling them all down into a single number would satisfy the law. California State Board of Education President Mike Kirst previously said in an interview that he is unconvinced that there is a scientific, proven way to weight the different factors. In some ways, these indicators are apples, bananas and oranges, he has said. You throw them into a blender and you get a smoothie I dont see how you get one number. But some advocates and civil rights groups have argued that school ratings need to be boiled down to one grade or number in order for them to be parent friendly. The federal regulations provide some clarity, but the state board still has questions. According to the regulations, states would have to give schools comprehensive, summative ratings, but they dont dictate how much each ingredient should factor in. Follow the Times education initiative to inform parents, educators and students across California >> The U.S. Department of Education also ruled that states must have at least three categories for rating schools -- a pass or fail system like No Childs is insufficient. A school that gets the lowest possible score on any particular component cant get top marks for its overall performance, the rules state. In California, the rules come after the suspension of the Academic Performance Index, the previous system used to measure schools that was criticized for over-emphasizing test scores. Last week, the board voted on the components of its school measurement system: They include graduation rates, suspension rates, scores on upcoming science tests, chronic absenteeism and the rate at which students who are still learning English are becoming proficient. Board members are also trying to make the system mesh with another school measurement and funding system, the Local Control Funding Formula. Kirst said he is waiting for more clarity before weighing in. California education officials are reviewing the 500-page document and we will provide our comments when that work is complete, he said in a statement. Join the conversation on Facebook >> Ryan Smith, executive director of EdTrust West, an education advocacy group, said he was pleased because the document finally puts a nail in the coffin around data dashboards being sufficient in the way that theyre measuring schools. But he urged the state to use the guidelines as a starting point for creating finer distinctions between schools. What theyve heard loud and clear ... is parents want a quick at-a-glance way to see how schools are doing, Smith said. He advocated for a system that allows a family to quickly see how a school in Compton compares to a school in Beverly Hills. People interested in changing these rules can submit public comments before they are finalized. One looming question, though, is what happens next. States are supposed to submit their plans to the federal government by March 6 or July 5, 2017 just in time for the next presidents education secretary to reinterpret the laws requirements. ALSO Donald Trump arrives in Fresno, greeted by protesters and supporters Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin Tweaks to Metros pass program could help more college students Joy.Resmovits@LATimes.com Follow me @Joy_Resmovits. Sitting in cars along the edge of the park, four Long Beach police officers waited for the right time to pounce. The innocuous signal that spurred them to action came when they saw a middle-aged man close his laptop and head toward a public restroom known in the area as a place where men have sex with each other. One of the undercover officers followed him inside. Within moments, police were leading the man away in handcuffs. His crime: exposing himself to the officer. Advertisement The 2014 arrest in Recreation Park marked another successful sting for the citys vice squad. But the undercover operation, which was sharply criticized recently by a judge, also exemplifies a controversial, age-old police tactic that many of Californias largest law enforcement agencies have quietly abandoned in recent years amid mounting criticism and changing sexual attitudes. See the most-read stories this hour >> In Los Angeles, Long Beach and other areas where undercover lewd conduct stings endure, police defend them as an important tool for catching people who are violating the law and for deterring others from trying to have sex in parks and other public areas used by families and children. Gay-rights activists do not condone public sex but have long condemned the busts as a form of entrapment, saying they unfairly single out gay men, with sometimes devastating consequences. The issue has been debated for decades. But in recent years, critics of the stings have gained traction as public attitudes about homosexuality and gay rights have shifted. Undercover officers, critics contend, often exchange flirtatious signals and make arrests of men who think their advances are welcome, when no one else is nearby to be offended. They say that the stings can ensnare men who hadnt otherwise been seeking sex and that they rarely, if ever, target straight people. Nobody is going to defend lewd conduct, but there is a qualitative difference between sexual predators and people who engage in boorish behavior. Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang Under state law, people who are convicted of indecent exposure must register as sex offenders and face possible jail time. Some have lost their jobs or committed suicide. Nobody is going to defend lewd conduct, but there is a qualitative difference between sexual predators and people who engage in boorish behavior, said Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang, who is gay and a former special assistant in the Sheriffs Department who worked with its LGBT advisory council. Criminalizing them isnt really justice. You just want them to stop. Courts also have raised questions about the stings, invalidating a number of prosecutions in various parts of the state. In some cases, judges found no crime had occurred because the undercover officer conveyed sexual interest to the target and no one else was present to be offended by the lewd conduct. Last month, a Los Angeles County judge threw out the charges in one case stemming from Long Beachs 2014 operation, saying police were discriminating against gay men. Many law enforcement agencies have stopped in response to lawsuits or after political backlash. The Times contacted police officials in San Jose, Anaheim, Glendale, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Beverly Hills and Laguna Beach, among other agencies. Representatives for each said their departments had not used such undercover stings in years. These officials said they came to view the stings as ineffective or unnecessary after noticing a sharp drop-off in complaints about public sex during an age when men can easily find sexual partners through the Internet and dating apps such as Grindr. Some cities have found alternative ways to tackle the problem of cruising the act of searching for anonymous public sex. Departments will now post uniformed officers near cruising hotspots or improve lighting and trim trees and bushes in areas known for public sex. Bottom line is, there were much better things that the vice ... bureau should have been engaged in, namely sex trafficking and sexual exploitation, said Los Angeles County Sheriffs Cmdr. Merrill Ladenheim, who heads the agencys human trafficking task force. We really refocused our efforts on those other crimes where we have a victim. Join the conversation on Facebook >> LAPD officials say they have made a point of carrying out undercover operations less frequently in recent years. In 2007, the agency revamped its lewd conduct policy to tell officers that stings should be used only as a last resort. But when alternative tactics fail, the department has no choice but to deploy decoy officers, said Capt. Andy Neiman, the LAPDs chief spokesman. While lewd conduct complaints have dropped dramatically in recent years, Neiman said stings have been used to shut down persistent hotspots for gay cruising and lewd acts 11 times since 2014. Complaints often come from people concerned about sex acts in public places, namely libraries and residential streets, where children could stumble upon people engaged in a lewd act, Neiman said. You still have to enforce the law when you get complaints, he said. The use of undercover cops to target gay men in Southern California stretches back to the early 20th century, when gay sex was illegal, said Lillian Faderman, a historian and author of Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians. The pioneers were W.H. Warren and B.C. Brown, vice specialists who loitered in public restrooms and other areas while carrying out so-called purity campaigns aimed at gay men in Long Beach and Los Angeles, Faderman wrote, adding that their methods served as a model for stings throughout Southern California. The pair had no prior police training but were given police badges in both cities. They were paid for each arrest and offered their services to other major cities, she said. In 1914, The Times reported on an operation in which the two helped arrest 31 men accused of engaging in gay sex at private clubs in Long Beach. Long Beachs mayor and police chief awarded Warren and Brown a proclamation that said their work rid the city of a dangerous class which threatened the morals of the youth of the community. Soon after the arrests, one of the men, a prominent banker and church officer, committed suicide by ingesting cyanide. The fear that other men would follow suit led the city to temporarily ban the sale of toxic substances, The Times reported. In more recent decades, police agencies that employed the stings defended them as an effective way of responding to complaints about areas well-known for public hook-ups. Decoy operations are necessary to make arrests, officials said, because the crime of lewd conduct is a misdemeanor that requires officers to witness the conduct to justify an arrest. These are public parks, and public parks attract kids and families, said Bakersfield Sgt. Gary Carruesco, whose department stopped conducting stings after a judge found the practice to be discriminatory in 2005. Obviously, they can walk into a bathroom and witness things. West Hollywood Councilman John Duran, an attorney who has represented men in cruising cases for 30 years, said a typical client was a deeply closeted gay or bisexual man who had hidden rendezvous in public places. Many, he said, had low self-esteem and turned to cruising because they thought they were undeserving of intimacy. But the LGBT movement, said Duran, who is gay, has produced new generations of out and proud people who believe they can have healthy sexual encounters. Growing public support of gay rights and the presence of openly gay officers in police departments has put pressure on agencies to stop using stings, he said. Recent decoy operations have drawn fierce criticism. Palm Springs police sparked outrage in 2009 when officers arrested 19 men in an undercover sting in a neighborhood known for gay resorts. Audio recordings of the operation caught a detective and the police chief making derogatory comments about the men who were arrested. The chief later resigned, and the department has not employed the tactic again, a police spokesman said. In 2012, Manhattan Beach police were blasted for releasing the mugshots of men swept up in a lewd conduct sting. Police said at the time that local lifeguards had found graffiti of graphic sexual images on restroom walls, and holes drilled through stall partitions. One man sued the city, alleging that he was falsely arrested and that his photograph and name were released to the media. The department stopped using decoys soon afterward, said Sgt. Paul Ford, supervisor of the agencys detective bureau. In Long Beach, gay-rights activists said they were troubled and surprised to see stings still being deployed in a city with a vibrant LGBT community and an openly gay mayor. Long Beach police took more than two dozen men into custody during decoy operations from 2012 to 2014, according to Bruce Nickerson, a civil rights attorney. One of those men was Rory Moroney, who was arrested in the Recreation Park sting in 2014. On the day he was arrested, Moroney said he was using his laptop in the park to search for jobs. He knew the reputation of the mens room, but he hadnt gone there to cruise, he said. Moroney, 50, said he was washing his hands when he saw a man standing in a stall, thumbs hooked over his belt, smiling and nodding. He believed the undercover officer was flirting. They were targeting. Thats not right, Moroney said. They baited me. They trapped me. On April 29, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Halim Dhanidina sided with Moroney and tossed out the charges. The judge noted that the Long Beach police vice unit had conducted a series of stings spanning two years that used only male officers to arrest male suspects seeking sex with other men. Dhanidina found that the stings were indicative of animus toward homosexuals. The judge also ruled that the presence and tactics of the decoy officers actually caused the crimes to occur. Long Beach police said they conduct decoy operations only in response to public complaints. Cmdr. Paul Lebaron, who oversees the citys detective division, including the vice unit, said the department exhausts other tactics first before using stings as a last resort. Lebaron, who was not running vice operations when Moroney was arrested, said the agency has conducted only one lewd conduct sting since January 2015. The city prosecutors office has not said if it will appeal the judges decision. Nickerson said he plans to argue in court that the charges against the 27 other men caught in the stings in 2013 and 2014 should be invalidated. Mayor Robert Garcia said he hadnt been aware of the stings and that the city is now reviewing its policies. I view Long Beach as a progressive place that believes in justice and dignity for everybody, Garcia said. So when I hear that something occurs that could be contrary to that, Im alarmed. ALSO Long Beachs sad history of targeting gay men for arrest How gay men in Long Beach were targeted by police and mocked by The Times a century ago Judge slams gay sex stings by Long Beach police, calling them discriminatory hailey.branson@latimes.com James.queally@latimes.com Follow us on Twitter: @haileybranson and @JamesQueallyLAT The 17-year-old girl was standing alone at a station in Germany awaiting her train ride home when a car pulled up alongside her. One of three men in the vehicle asked the teenager a question before forcing her into the car, holding a blade firmly against her throat. Kill you, she recalled the men telling her. It would be the start of an ordeal that would torment her for decades and lead her on Thursday to a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, where she recounted the attack on that night in Stuttgart in 1974. Among her three assailants was Lonnie David Franklin Jr., then a U.S. Army private stationed in Germany, prosecutors allege. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Franklin, now 63, was convicted earlier this month in the Grim Sleeper serial killer murders of nine women and a teenage girl in South Los Angeles. The woman, addressing jurors in the penalty phase of Franklins capital murder case, said the car she was forced into drove off with her inside. Eventually, the vehicle pulled into a field where the men took turns raping her. Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman asked the woman how long the attack lasted. The rest of the night, she said, to gasps from the packed courtroom audience. The woman, whom The Times is not identifying because she is a victim of sexual abuse, traveled from her home in Germany to testify in the case. As she spoke, her husband sat behind her, wrapping one arm around her on the witness stand. Franklin, as he has for much of the trial, sat still and stared at the wall. The attack left her with cuts on her torso from the knife, the woman told jurors, speaking through a German interpreter. After the attack, she bathed as soon as she got home, she testified. Interested in the stories shaping California? Sign up for the free Essential California newsletter >> I felt dirty, she said. The next morning, she went to police. Eventually, she was able to identify her three attackers in court, she said. In the years since, she has refused to go outside alone after dark. If she is home alone, she turns on every light in the house and stays near her guard dog, a Newfoundland. Years later, she told her daughter about the attack and made sure the girl was always dropped off and picked up so she was never alone on the street. Her daughter, inheriting her mothers terror, does the same with her children, the woman said. I pass this fear along to them, she said. Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, rested their case Thursday. Defense attorneys, who are trying to persuade jurors to return a verdict of life in prison without the possibility of parole, are expected to begin presenting their evidence in the penalty phase of the trial on Tuesday. Franklin is not expected to testify. Prosecutors have presented evidence they say proves Franklin killed five more women in South L.A., crimes for which he wasnt charged, using the same modus operandi seen in the 10 killings and one attempted murder he was convicted of. In 1984, Georgia Mae Thomas, 43, was shot twice in the chest and dumped in an industrial yard. Inez Warren, 28, was found in a Gramercy Park alleyway with a gunshot wound to the chest. Sharon Dismuke, 21, was shot twice in the chest and left in an abandoned gas station with a rag stuffed in her mouth. Ayellah Marshall, 18, vanished in 2006. Rolenia Morris, 31, a mother of two, disappeared in 2005. Their bodies have never been found, but Marshalls Hawthorne High School ID card and a photograph of Morris, along with her drivers license, were found inside a garage refrigerator at Franklins South L.A. home. The fridge, which prosecutors have called Franklins trophy case, also contained photographs of other victims. stephen.ceasar@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @sjceasar ALSO Woman killed in West Hollywood apartment; suspect at large Accomplice of notorious Freeway Killer fatally beaten in prison Charred body in San Bernardino trash bin was dumped by father and two sons, deputies say For years, securing a discounted student pass for the Los Angeles County bus and rail system has required plenty of patience. A clunky and little-advertised application process, combined with rules that restrict part-time students from applying, may explain why just 1% of Angelenos who are going to school take advantage of discounted fares, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say. Weve asked students to jump through a lot of hoops, said Devon Deming, the agencys director of commute services. We need to make it as easy as possible for students to participate. Advertisement See more of our top stories on Facebook >> In a push to make the process more accessible and user-friendly, Metros board of directors Thursday unanimously approved a two-year pilot program that will allow students at 10 schools to sign up for transit passes when they register for classes and pay their fees. As many as 2 million people are pursuing some form of post-high school education in Los Angeles County through four-year universities, community colleges and vocational programs, the agency estimates. Encouraging more of them to take the bus or the train to school could help ease campuses parking woes and contribute to the agencys goal of converting 20% to 25% of commuters into regular transit riders. Census data suggest that number is currently closer to 7%. Officials say making the program more widely available will slightly ease students financial burdens. A monthly unlimited Metro pass costs $100 for adults, but just $43 for students. For college students who are just starting their adult lives, Metro sees another opportunity. Introducing young people to public transportation will make them more likely to ride it when theyre older, Deming said. College is a great time to learn lots of new things, Deming said. We want riding transit to be one of them. Currently, students seeking discounted fares must submit their photo ID and proof of enrollment to Metro. They often wait more than a month before a special fare card arrives by mail. Under the new process, students will immediately receive a digital sticker on their campus IDs that can be read by Metro turnstiles and fare boxes. The agency will also reduce the number of units required to qualify for the pass, from 12 units per semester for undergraduate students to eight, and from eight units per semester for graduate students to six. That will make 250,000 more students at public colleges eligible for benefits, Metro said. (Data from private schools are not available.) During a meeting at Metros downtown headquarters, Mike Eng, a vice president of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, told officials that three-quarters of the districts students attend school part time and do not currently qualify for the discount. Theyre not part-time students in the sense that theyre kicking back at their parents house and taking one or two classes, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said during the meeting. Theyre taking care of kids. Theyre working. They have a whole range of challenges that theyre facing. How much the changes will cost isnt yet clear, officials said, because they dont know yet whether the program will attract people who were previously paying full price to ride; riders who are new to the system; or some of both. Discounted student fares are funded through county sales taxes. Participating schools will have the option to further subsidize the program with their own funds, Deming said. Students who attended the Thursday meeting said the program would ease their financial burdens and help them focus on their studies. Others urged them to approve the program because it would open students eyes to seeing the region in a new way. Jasmine Newman, a student at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, told Metro officials that she took 12 units of course work this semester in part to qualify for the subsidized transit pass. I ended up being stressed out and overwhelmed, Newman said. Taking fewer units, she said, would help with that. laura.nelson@latimes.com For more transportation news, follow @laura_nelson on Twitter. ALSO Crash kills 2 in West Covina, closes westbound 10 Freeway You need to come home: Teen still missing after suspected abductor is killed in shootout Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on Oxycontin Family members made a desperate plea to find a missing 15-year-old Bay Area girl whose suspected kidnapper was killed Thursday in a gun battle with authorities in Santa Barbara County before her whereabouts were known. The FBI and Northern California law enforcement officials intensified their search Friday for Pearl Pinson, who was abducted two days ago in Vallejo while walking near her home to a school bus stop. Authorities think Pearl is injured, based on witness accounts and evidence found at the scene of her abduction. Pearl, you need to come home, the teens sister, Rose Pinson, told reporters Thursday night. If anything, you can find a way home. I know you can. Advertisement Authorities said the kidnapping suspect, Fernando Castro, 19, was an acquaintance of Pearls. He often was seen roaming around her neighborhood, her sister said. Pearls disappearance triggered an Amber Alert on Thursday afternoon, alerting the public that Castro may be in a four-door sedan. Hours after the alert, Castro was spotted at 3:10 p.m. near Los Alamos heading south on the 101 Freeway in a gold Saturn, according to Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Kelly Hoover. Aided by a helicopter, authorities followed Castro, who at one point drove the wrong way on the freeway. After exiting in Buellton, Castro drove through the city and then entered a neighborhood in Solvang, where he crashed into a barricade at a mobile home park. He then broke into a mobile home and holed up inside. A woman who lived at the home managed to escape without any injuries. Castro then stole a Toyota Tundra truck from the home and tried to flee. Castro shot at deputies as they closed in on him, and deputies fired back. He was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds. Santa Barbara County officials on Friday positively identified Castro as the gunman. Solano sheriffs officials had identified Castro as the shooter on Thursday. Pearls family is torn over Castros death because her whereabouts remain a mystery. Its heartbreaking that he was killed because his little information could have helped us, her sister said. Pearl was last seen about 7 a.m. Wednesday on a Vallejo pedestrian bridge that crosses Interstate 780. A witness saw her being pulled by a man later identified as Castro, who was armed with a handgun, according to the Solano County Sheriffs Office. She was bleeding and screaming for help as she was dragged away, said the witness, who ran to help and heard a gunshot. At the pedestrian bridge, deputies found blood on the ground. KTXL-TV reported a cellphone also was found. The search for the missing Jesse Bethel High School student has widened to Marin County, where a camera on the San Rafael Bridge detected the license plate for Castros gold Saturn sedan about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Pearl was not seen in the car. We are trying to process as much of the evidence as we can with our main goal: to find Pearl; so that is our goal, Solano County Sheriff Thomas Ferrara said. It hasnt changed. Solano County sheriffs deputies were working with the FBI, law enforcement in Santa Barbara and Marin counties to try to locate Pearl and retrace Castros movements in the past two days. Detectives were reviewing tips and leads from citizens they received overnight, the Solano County Sheriffs Office said Friday. The sheriffs office also was developing a search plan. Our main focus continues to be finding Pearl and reuniting her with her family, sheriffs officials said. Sheriffs officials said there was no information to indicate Pearl is in Santa Barbara County. See the most-read stories this hour >> During their investigation, deputies searched Castros home and found several disturbing notes, prompting them to issue the Amber Alert, KOVR-TV reported. Pearl was last seen wearing a gray sweater, black leggings and a black-and-turquoise backpack. She has green hair and green eyes, and officials said she has a metallic piercing below her lower lip on the left side. A dedicated tip line has been set up to help find Pearl: (707) 784-1963. ALSO Police brace for protests as Trump visits San Diego and Fresno Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin Undercover police sex stings targeting gay men endure, despite fierce criticism For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. UPDATES: 12:36 p.m.: This article was updated with the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office confirming Fernando Castro was the gunman in Thursdays shootout. 10:33 a.m.: This article was updated with new details from the Solano County Sheriffs Office about the search for Pearl Pinson. This article was originally posted at 7:19 a.m. The lights are back at the iconic Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Piers Pacific Park. The 130-foot wheel ushered in its 20th birthday on Thursday, when the public got the first glimpse of a new $1-million lighting package along with a fireworks show. The upgrades, complete with 174,000 LED lights, allow visitors to see images with greater resolution, depth and speed, park officials said. Advertisement Fireworks are set off as people gather to celebrate Lights On, an event marking its 20th birthday celebration and the unveiling of the new $1 million lighting package installed on the Pacific Parks Ferris Wheel which features greater color dept Fireworks are set off as people gather to celebrate Lights On, " an event marking its 20th birthday celebration of Santa Monica Piers Pacific Park. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) Lights on the wheel were turned off on May 5 so that specialists could revamp the ride. Since then, one of the wheels 20 gondolas was lit up each night while the rest of the lighting system was dark. Read the latest Essential California newsletter >> On Wednesday, all 20 gondolas were illuminated to commemorate the parks birthday. The wheel, which costs $8 for a ride, remained open during the upgrade. We look forward to sharing the Ferris wheels new lighting package over the next 20 years with the millions of visitors annually to the Pier, said Jeff Klocke, the vice president at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier. ALSO Water board moves to dismiss record fine against irrigation district Major League Baseball finds San Diego Gay Mens Chorus mistake was human error You can thank the drought for improved water quality at Southern California beaches For more California news, follow me @MattHjourno. E-mail me at matt.hamilton@latimes.com. The family of a woman allegedly killed by a Mexican immigrant deported five times from the U.S. has filed a federal lawsuit against San Francisco Countys former sheriff, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal Bureau of Land Management. The July 1, 2015, shooting of Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old medical sales representative, added fuel to the already angry, national debate over illegal immigration. It also highlighted the fact that many local law enforcement agencies do not comply with federal requests to hold inmates beyond their release dates for potential deportation. In March of last year, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez had completed his third federal prison term for felony reentry into the United States from Mexico. He said that he found a gun wrapped in a T-shirt and accidentally fired at Steinle, mortally wounding her. Advertisement The bullet pierced Steinles back and hit her heart while she was walking with her father on San Franciscos Embarcadero. See the most-read stories this hour >> The weapon had been reported stolen from a Bureau of Land Management agents car in downtown San Francisco four days earlier. Steinles last words to her father, the lawsuit claims, were help me. The San Francisco Sheriffs Department had transported Lopez-Sanchez from federal prison in Victorville to San Francisco to appear in court on a 20-year-old bench warrant for marijuana possession and sales. But prosecutors declined to pursue the matter. On March 27 (2015), when ICE received the automatic electronic notification indicating the subject had been booked into San Francisco County custody, our officers lodged an immigration detainer asking to be notified prior to his release, ICE said in a statement last year. That detainer was not honored. Several federal courts have deemed the practice of holding inmates beyond their release dates to be unconstitutional. A 2013 San Francisco city ordinance limited cooperation on detainers to inmates charged with violent felonies who had a previous violent felony conviction. Lopez-Sanchez had no violent prior felonies and faced no current charges. San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi also issued a department-wide memo in March 2015 restricting communication with ICE in all cases. Join the conversation on Facebook >> The claim filed Tuesday focuses largely on that memo, contending that it violates a 1996 federal statute stating that a local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sharing citizenship or immigration information with immigration enforcement officials. By prohibiting notification to ICE necessary for custody, detention, deportation and/or removal of undocumented convicted felons, the March memo deprived Kate of life and liberty without due process, the lawsuit states. The city attorneys office declined to comment. ICE officials have previously said that no process is set up to obtain such warrants or court orders, that ICE is not required to obtain them, and that sheriffs department officials could have simply notified local ICE officials of Lopez-Sanchezs pending release and they would have picked him up. Earlier this week, the county Board of Supervisors voted to retain the countys sanctuary protections. The ordinance allows the sheriff to share information with ICE if the prisoner has committed specific types of felonies in the past. San Francisco is among many so-called Sanctuary Cities that have attempted to restrict cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials in order to encourage immigrants in the country illegally to report crimes and cooperate as witnesses. ALSO The handsome undercover cop smiles. Is he entrapping gay men or cleaning up a park? Donald Trump arrives in Fresno, greeted by protesters and supporters Senator calls for investigation of Purdue Pharma following Times story on OxyContin For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna. UPDATES: 1:39 p.m.: This story was updated with a statement from ICE. This story was originally published at 11:25 a.m. A woman was found dead Thursday in a West Hollywood apartment, and her boyfriend was arrested on suspicion of murder, authorities said. Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies were called about 11:30 a.m. to an apartment in the 8500 block of Holloway Drive, Sheriffs Deputy Sara Rodriguez said. In a bedroom, deputies found the body of 30-year-old Iana Kasian, who had suffered blunt force trauma to her head, Deputy Mike Barraza said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Advertisement While deputies searched the apartment, they found Kasians boyfriend, 35-year-old Blake Leibel, who was taken into custody. The couple lived together and had a young child, sheriffs officials said. Its unclear when the woman died. Deputies were initially called on Thursday by Kasians mother, who reported her daughter missing. Anyone with information about the slaying is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. This story will be updated as more information becomes available. ALSO Accomplice of notorious Freeway Killer fatally beaten in prison Marine veteran gets 26 years in girlfriends death and dismemberment Major League Baseball finds San Diego Gay Mens Chorus mistake was human error For more California news, follow me @MattHjourno. E-mail me at matt.hamilton@latimes.com. UPDATES: 8:15 p.m.: This story was updated with the identities of the victim and the suspect. This story was originally published at 5:24 p.m. State water regulators are proposing to dismiss a record $1.5-million fine they intended to levy against a Northern California irrigation district accused of ignoring drought-related cuts in water diversions. The State Water Resources Control Board slapped the fine on the Byron Bethany Irrigation District last summer for continuing to divert supplies after the board ordered senior rights holders to stop river and stream withdrawals. The action was a high-profile attempt to enforce use limits on agricultural districts that argue their senior water rights are beyond the states reach. Advertisement In a draft order released Thursday, the board says that while it has the authority to regulate senior rights, the evidence in this case is too weak to sustain the fine. After a March hearing that functioned much like a trial, board officers concluded that there were holes in the water supply-and-demand analysis on which the enforcement action was based. As the drought worsened last year, the board issued a series of orders curtailing water rights based on their age. At first, regulators told junior holders they had to stop drawing from rivers and streams to leave supplies for more senior rights holders. Then the board reached further back in Californias water hierarchy, telling even senior districts with rights dating from 1903 to halt diversions. Byron Bethany, which had a 1914 right to take water from the southern end of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, continued to divert for nearly two weeks after the curtailment order was issued, the board said. The district, which supplies water to about 160 growers and 15,000 residents in the master-planned community of Mountain House, argued that the state had no authority over its senior rights and asked for a hearing. The hearing officers found problems with the complicated calculations used to determine which category of rights holders should be ordered to stop withdrawals. Inconsistencies in the water availability analysis preclude us from finding that the prosecution team has carried its burden of proof, states the draft report, which also recommends dropping an enforcement action filed against the West Side Irrigation District of Tracy. The full board will vote on the dismissal at a June 7 meeting. ALSO State cap-and-trade auction falls far short, hurting bullet train You can now hike 67 miles through the Santa Monica Mountains uninterrupted You can thank the drought for improved water quality at Southern California beaches bettina.boxall@latimes.com Twitter: @boxall Chicago knows him as The Walking Man or The Walking Dude. A mostly silent wanderer of downtown streets with long wavy hair and a thick mustache who often wears a sport coat, sometimes with a boutonniere. The mystery has fed rumors for decades. He fell from a wealthy family, he once worked on Rush Street as a bartender, he had taught college literature, he was a graphic artist. None of those is true, his family said Wednesday as the 69-year-old man lay in a hospital bed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the victim of a vicious beating on Lower Wacker Drive near Lake Shore Drive. Advertisement His name is Joseph Kromelis. Hes a street peddler who prefers to keep to himself and walk the city, every day and in every kind of weather. Its just a way of life for him, said his sister-in-law, Linda Kromelis, of Michigan. See more of our top stories on Facebook >> Thats what Joseph Kromelis was doing around 11 a.m. Tuesday when he was attacked. He told police he was on Lower Wacker and said hello to someone he passed. That man began punching and hitting him with a bat, Chicago police said. A police officer responding to a battery call saw the attacker straddled over Kromelis, struggling with the bat, according to a police report. A witness told the sergeant the suspect also tried to throw Kromelis over a railing to the pavement about 20 feet below. Kromelis was taken by ambulance to Northwestern to be treated for several injuries, including severe cuts to both eyes, according to the report. He also suffered leg injuries from being hit with the bat. He was listed in fair condition. Police said the suspect was also taken to Northwestern for observation before being transferred to jail. Kromelis has been a fixture in downtown street life, often seen patiently browsing inside stores and walking the streets of the Magnificent Mile and Streeterville. He has been featured in news stories and videos, including a YouTube feature titled, Dudementary. A few years ago, someone created a Facebook page where people post sightings. People who know him on the street describe him as a nice man who never loses his temper. That guy doesnt bother anybody, said Michael Parks Sr., who has worked the corner outside the 7-Eleven on St. Clair Street for 4 1/2 years. Ive never seen him in an argument. If somebody said something [negative] to him, he would just walk away. I dont like to see the people who dont do anything to anybody get hurt. A doorman at a nearby hotel instantly recognized Kromelis in a photo, saying he last saw the man about three days ago. Kromelis stood out from the regular cast of street people because he was often well-groomed, wearing a sport coat. He was a real nice guy. Hes never been irate, the doorman said. I see some that are irate all the time, trust me. He was quiet. Very, very quiet. Kromelis family said he is very private and a loner. He grew up in Lithuania and moved with his family to Chicago when he was about 5 and attended high school here, Linda Kromelis said. His father, Jonas Kromelis, owned a tavern in Chicago, but in the middle to late 1960s, he and his wife, Gertruda, moved to Michigan because they liked the area. Kromelis stayed in Chicago, where he worked as a street vendor selling jewelry, Linda Kromelis said. For about 30 years, Kromelis lived in an apartment near Lincoln Park. But about two or three years ago, he had to move because the building was converted to condominiums, she said. He never married and has no children. His parents are dead, as are his three brothers and one of his two sisters. We always worried about Joe, something happening to him, out in the streets all the time, Linda Kromelis said. The last time she spoke to him was about a year ago when he telephoned after the death of his brother Pete, Kromelis husband. He didnt drive, and, when he would visit, her husband would usually pick him up and hed stay for a few days. Kromelis would usually call from a public pay phone in the hallway of where he was staying, she said. He was just kind of private, Kromelis said. He was always that way. A nephew, Vytas Vaitkus, has created a GoFundMe page to raise money for his uncles medical and living expenses. Hes lived his life on the street, Vaitkus said. If hes blind now or incapacitated in any way, I dont know what hes going to do. Vaitkus said he doesnt know where his uncle is going to go when he gets out of the hospital and doesnt think he is eligible for Social Security. Its an individual that can really use the help. ALSO In the final stretch, how will a divided Supreme Court rule on these big cases? With water rising, 19 people waded through neck-deep water to escape Kentucky cave 96-year-old Dr. Heimlich uses his signature maneuver to help woman choking at senior living center Gorner writes for the Chicago Tribune Donald Trump sides with agriculture over environmentalists in California water clash Donald Trump cast the unending controversies over Californias water supply as a fight between farmers and environmentalists on Friday, and he took the side of agriculture. If I win, believe me, were going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive, so that your job market will get better, Trump told a few thousand cheering supporters at a rally in Fresno. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee mocked environmentalists for trying to protect a certain kind of 3-inch fish. For more than a century, competition over Californias often scarce water supply has pitted a wide array of powerful forces against one another big cities, the agriculture industry and conservationists among them. After a half-hour meeting with farmers, Trump said the group had told him there was no drought in California. You have a water problem that is so insane, he said. It is so ridiculous, where theyre taking the water and shoving it out to sea. Without mentioning their names, he cast Californias Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, as adversaries of farming who try to play both sides. When youre with the senators, they want you, he told the crowd, including many waving Farmers for Trump signs. And then they go over to the environmental side, and they want them. And then you say, Gee, thats strange. Theyre for me. We want the water, but the environmentalists just endorsed them. I wonder why. Trump also lashed out against various other adversaries, above all, his presumed Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. He bashed her use of a private email server when she was secretary of State and recalled the Whitewater scandal of the 1990s. Shes always skirted the edge, he said. Trump also defied critics who have described his attacks on Clintons speaking manner as sexist. He said he wanted to be politically correct, so I refuse to say that I cannot stand her screaming into the microphone all the time. Actually, thats why I turned it off last night, he said of a Clinton television appearance. It wasnt that she was lying about me in every single corner. I just couldnt stand it. Trump covered his ears with his hands. I got such a headache ahh, please. But I wont say it. Because were not allowed to say that, right? Talking to these women in front: Is that right? Was I good in not saying it? Noting his strong support among men and his unpopularity among women, Trump said: I love women. Believe me, I love women. I loooove women. And you know what else? I have great respect for women. Believe me. Trump also called President Obama pathetic while saying he respects Russian President Vladimir Putin for being a strong leader. Putin did call me a genius, and he said Im the future of the Republican Party, Trump said. Hes off to a good start. Good morning. It is Friday, May 27. If youre in the Bay Area this weekend, take note that the parking lots on either side of the Golden Gate Bridge will be closed. Heres what else is happening in the Golden State: TOP STORIES Juvenile justice Advertisement The California Supreme Court upheld the 50-years-to-life sentence of a man who killed a fellow teenager when he was 16 years old. The court found that a recent state law that will give such offenders a chance at parole after 25 years behind bars satisfies Tyris Lamar Franklins legal challenge. Franklin, now 21, argued that because he would not be eligible for parole until hes 66 years old, his punishment amounted to a life sentence. Los Angeles Times Big business Small marijuana growers are concerned that big distributors, a.k.a. Big Alcohol, will push them out of the market when new regulations take effect regarding the sale and distribution of pot. We had the sudden feeling we were in the belly of the beast, said Sunshine Johnston, a grower in Redcrest. Los Angeles Times Cleaner waters The drought is helping Californias water quality improve. Typically, rainwater runs off into the ocean, bringing with it lots of bacteria. But the lack of rain means less bacteria and cleaner beaches. Los Angeles Times DROUGHT AND CLIMATE New water: Can fog be a water source for drought-troubled California? Some think so. Vogue L.A. AT LARGE Street design: New lights and artwork are coming to Temple Street in Historic Filipinotown. Theyre the work of artist Roel Punzalan. This piece draws on the beauty and values that are central to L.A.s Filipino community, he said. Eastsider LA Defendants intentions: An actor on trial for killing his wife told detectives he only meant to hurt her. Michael Jace was allegedly distraught because his wife, April Jace, wanted a divorce. I was just angry. All I intended to do was shoot her in the leg. And then I shot her in the leg, and that was it, he told investigators, according to testimony given in his murder trial. Closing arguments in the case are expected to begin today. Los Angeles Times Getaway weekend: Just days ahead of whats expected to be a busy travel weekend, flights were grounded at LAX on Thursday morning thanks to a computer glitch. The Auto Club of Southern California expects 4.67 million people statewide to travel during the three-day weekend. Los Angeles Times POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT Pink or blue: A bill passed by the state Senate would prevent businesses from charging different prices for similar goods on the basis of gender. That means, for example, shaving razors would have to be sold at the same price regardless of whether the product was intended for a man or woman. We understand that women already earn less income. Why are we charging them more for essential products that they need in their everyday lives? said state Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego). Los Angeles Times Contraception confusion: A new California state law makes most types of hormonal birth control available to women without a prescription, but that doesnt mean contraception is readily available. Many pharmacists say they still need to undergo state-mandated training. And the state does not maintain a database that identifies which pharmacists have had such training. NPR CRIME AND COURTS Sad discovery: Construction crews digging under a home in the Richmond District of San Francisco made a macabre discovery a childs coffin. Windows on the coffin revealed a perfectly preserved blond girl in a white dress holding a rose. The area was home to several cemeteries in the 1800s, but they were moved to make way for development in the 20th century. Its believed that this casket, which is probably 145 years old, was inadvertently left behind. Los Angeles Times Free speech: A ruling from the California Court of Appeals 2nd District should be seen as a victory for free speech, but columnist Robin Abcarian writes something just doesnt feel right about the case. On one side is a couple who provided pony rides at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, and on the other is activist Marcy Winograd, who sought to close down the rides by painting the operators as racist, sexist alcoholics. Los Angeles Times Amber Alert: A man wanted on suspicion of abducting a 15-year-old Bay Area girl was killed in a shootout with sheriffs deputies in Santa Barbara County after a high-speed chase, authorities said. Police were still looking for Pearl Pinson, who was last seen screaming and begging for help as an armed man dragged her away. Los Angeles Times Police beating: Sacramento County will pay a $150,000 settlement to a man who says he was needlessly beaten with a flashlight by a sheriffs deputy. Dashcam footage shows Mickey Donohue being beaten after he was pulled over on suspicion of driving a stolen car in 2014. This is a case that turns squarely on the fact there was dash-camera footage available. It shows the importance of this type of evidence instead of a he-said-she-said standoff, said attorney Mark Merin. Sacramento Bee Subject to harassment: Cellphone footage shows a man harassing two Muslim women in headscarves inside of an Orange ice cream shop. The shops owner kicked the man out of the store. In 2015, hate crimes against Muslims doubled in Orange County compared with the previous year, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Orange County Register EDUCATION School funds: A panel of lawmakers wants to audit Alliance College-Ready Public Schools to determine whether instructional funds were spent to fight the United Teachers Los Angeles efforts to organize the systems 27 schools. School administrators believe the audit is politically motivated because it was requested by state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), a former UTLA board member. Los Angeles Times Higher ed: Northwestern Polytechnic University on the edge of the Silicon Valley is falsifying grades and allowing thousands of foreign students to stay in the country legally on visas, according to a BuzzFeed investigation. What emerged is a portrait of a university that epitomizes many of the key weaknesses in the American higher education and immigration systems: an institution that has used its nonprofit status to enrich its leaders and used its accreditation to dodge more stringent national security requirements. BuzzFeed CALIFORNIA CULTURE Away from it all: New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof finds solace with his daughter on the Pacific Crest Trail. For me at least, a crazy jaunt in the outdoors is the perfect antidote to the absurdity of modern life, he writes. New York Times Lost to time: Agua Mansa in what is now San Bernardino County was once the largest settlement between New Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Heres what happened to the town. Curbed LA CALIFORNIA ALMANAC San Diego will be partly sunny and 70. In Los Angeles, there will be clouds as temperatures reach 74 degrees. Riverside will have sunshine and a high of 82. San Francisco will be mostly sunny and 70. Sacramento will have sun and a high of 90 degrees. AND FINALLY Todays California Memory comes from Nazario A. Tito Gonzales: Just after WWII ended, my parents, siblings and I, age 7, moved to L.A. We lived on East 77th Street and I attended the 79th Street School. It was an idyllic place to live. My cousin, friends and I would explore the alleys, climb trees to pick plums and apricots and explore the neighborhood. On one occasion, my cousin and I decided we needed to earn money, so we made a shoe shine box and went to the corner of what I believe was Central and Manchester. An old lady took pity on us and hired us to shine her shoes for a quarter. This was my first effort at private enterprise and I was so proud. If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.) Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad. Corporations certainly seem more willing than they used to be to wade into contentious social and political fights. Drug giant Pfizer said this month it would ensure that its pharmaceutical products could not be used in carrying out the death penalty in the U.S. Last month, Paypal Chief Executive Dan Schulman loudly canceled plans to open an operations center in North Carolina in the wake of the states passage of the HB2 bathroom law. In March, Salesforce.com Chief Executive Marc Benioff, who had led an unsuccessful attempt to stop Indiana from passing a law that would provide a religious exemption for businesses to deny service to gay customers, publicly warned Georgia of consequences if it passed a similar law. (It was subsequently vetoed by Gov. Nathan Deal.) And last year, Apple threw its substantial weight behind the international climate deal. This trend of progressive behavior in the executive suite marks a strange reversal. The default mode of companies, especially consumer-facing brands, was to avoid controversies especially those with explicitly partisan overtones. When asked why he didnt get involved in politics, Michael Jordan famously said: Republicans buy sneakers, too. Regardless of what youre selling, you cant afford to alienate half your potential customer base. Although the Fortune 500 is still overwhelmingly dominated by straight white men, the C-suite is changing. Advertisement Why are chief executives of U.S.-based name-brand companies now ignoring that axiom? For a mix of personal and business reasons. Although the Fortune 500 is still overwhelmingly dominated by straight white men, the C-suite is changing. Women run several giant corporations: IBM, General Motors, H-P, Pepsi, Lockheed-Martin. A gay man, Tim Cook, runs Apple, the nations most valuable company. Most companies, moreover, are based in large cities New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco where liberal values are the norm. As a result, if chief executives remain quite orthodox on taxes and regulation, theyre likely more evolved on social policy than, say, the typical Republican state legislator in North Carolina. The C-suite evolution has been most evident on LGBT rights. Years ago, most large companies started including language about not discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation in their codes of conduct as a defensive measure they wanted to avoid getting sued. In the past decade, however, being more accepting of gay employees has quickly become a personal issue. Many chief executives of large companies have gay friends, colleagues, and clients; some have gay children. And so these companies have generally led the charge in extending benefits to gay families, creating networking groups, and actively promoting gay rights. Many chief executives have the ability to look back to their own corporate histories and see how well (or poorly) they responded to changing circumstances in the 1960s. Weve had a long history of embracing diversity and inclusion, Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell told CNBC this month, when defending his companys announcement that it would offer transgender-inclusive bathroom access for employees and customers at its stores. Our company was one of the very first to use African American models in our advertising. And back then, it wasnt well received. But sitting here today, we know we made the right decision.Politically liberal policies also make strategic sense. To a degree, chief executives involvement in contentious issues highlights an outbreak of long-term thinking among a group of people who are routinely pilloried for not looking beyond the next quarter. To succeed over a period of years, you have to be able to attract the best possible employee base. Diversity and inclusion arent just politically correct buzzwords, theyre business realities in a country where the demographics of the next and rising generation of consumers look very different than those of the oldest. Another factor is at work. While state legislators and national U.S. politicians play to sharply divided domestic audiences, chief executives of large companies answer to a much broader constituency. Of the S&P 500 companies that report overseas sales separately, the typical company in 2014 got 48% of total sales outside the U.S. For the very largest (and hence most influential) companies, the percentages are higher: 66% for McDonalds, 80% for Intel. Because their primary operations are effectively abroad, these companies have to be more sensitive to global norms and laws on a host of issues. The death penalty may be legal in many U.S. states, but it is anathema in Europe, which prohibits exporting drugs that can be used in executions. Similarly, climate change may be up for debate in the U.S., but its not in most of the rest of the world. Companies such as Google, Facebook, Intel or Mars operate in countries in Europe and Asia where policies on emissions are already quite strict. And if you will be operating in overseas markets where carbon is taxed heavily, it behooves you to invest in efforts that can produce affordable carbon-free electricity. Theres a less cynical interpretation that might explain chief executives willingness to get involved in controversial issues: call it the YOLO theory. Chief executives of large companies today make so much money that they really dont have to worry about their long-term viability in the system or their next job. They can see which way the wind is blowing on these issues. And so they might as well say what they really think. Daniel Gross is executive editor of Strategy+Business. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook Ling Zeng got celebrity treatment at this weeks Donald Trump rally in Anaheim. One after another, dozens of Trump supporters approached to snap pictures of Zeng and her friends, who wore matching T-shirts that read: Chinese Americans love Trump. After a campaign staffer invited the group to stand directly behind Trumps podium, the candidate took note. Advertisement Look at this, Chinese Americans! Trump bellowed as he shook Zengs hand. T-shirts notwithstanding, most Chinese Americans dont love Trump. Polls show that they, like Asian Americans more broadly, overwhelmingly disapprove of the brash businessman and presumptive Republican nominee, who has targeted illegal immigration, proposed a ban on Muslims, and frequently criticized China for stealing jobs from U.S. workers. Still, there is a small but vocal group of Chinese Americans who passionately support the candidate, brushing aside criticism from some Democrats that his rhetoric is racist. And while their numbers are slight, they represent significant trends in some parts of the Chinese immigrant population. Like Zeng, an immigrant from China who lives in San Diego, many of Trumps Chinese American supporters are relatively recent arrivals from mainland China with strong nationalistic leanings, a certain reverence for wealth and a firm belief that U.S. immigration laws should be followed. Many say they have been politicized by recent battles over affirmative action on college campuses, where some Chinese Americans fear their numbers are being held down by efforts to advance other ethnic and racial groups. That issue, along with a recent controversy over the police shooting of an unarmed man by a Chinese American police officer in New York, has opened fissures in the Chinese American community between older, more progressive generations and newer, more conservative arrivals. You do have an undercurrent of conservatives in the Chinese American community, specifically among first-generation Chinese, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a professor of political science at UC Riverside. His research shows that foreign-born Chinese Americans are more likely to embrace conservative views on issues such as affirmative action and race in general. Theres a heightened sense of ethnic nationalism, and Trumps rhetoric resonates with them, he said. I like that he tells it like it is, said Zeng. And he worked hard, and gave his kids a good education. That is the Chinese way. The Chinese like a strong leader, said Zhaoyin Feng, a reporter with Hong Kong-based Initium Media who has covered Chinese American support for Trump. The candidates tendency to offend isnt a problem for many of them, Feng added. Political correctness isnt a thing in China, she said. Support for Trump from Chinese immigrants may seem contradictory, given that China has been a frequent target for Trump on the campaign trail. He often attacks the country, along with Mexico, for taking jobs from U.S workers. We cant allow China to rape our country, Trump said earlier this month. And thats what theyre doing. Its the greatest theft in the history of the world. But some Chinese-born Trump supporters say his focus on China invokes pride in their native countrys economic prowess. Political correctness isnt a thing in China. Zhaoyin Feng, Initium Media reporter We are very proud of China, said Jay Ding, who first learned about Trump when she read his book Art of the Deal while working as a real estate agent in China. Now that she lives in the U.S., she agrees that some manufacturing jobs should be brought back from overseas. Now that were American, were concerned about America, she said. We hope both countries win. Ding and others say they are also drawn to Trump because of his promise to deter illegal immigration. While an estimated 300,000 immigrants from China are living illegally in the U.S., many who arrived in the U.S. by legal means take pride in the distinction. I think he is the one brave enough to differentiate between illegal and legal immigrants, said Jennifer Hu, an investor who immigrated from China. I support his policy on protecting American interests first. Those sentiments about Trump remain a minority view among Chinese Americans, polls suggest. A survey released this week shows Chinese American voters are flocking to the Democratic Party. The survey, which was conducted by several groups, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, indicates that the percentage of Asian Americans who identify as Democrats has increased over the last four years from 35% to 47%. It also found that 61% of Asian Americans surveyed had an unfavorable view of Trump. Just 26% of Asian Americans had unfavorable views of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, the poll found. The number of Asian American voters has nearly doubled in the last decade from 2 million in 2000 to 3.9 million in 2012, according to the Center for American Progress. President Obama won Asian Americans over Mitt Romney in 2012 by roughly 3 to 1, exit polls found. Daniel Deng, an attorney in the San Gabriel Valley who supports Clinton, says some newcomers who like Trumps resume and brash style dont realize that the Chinese were once the target of the same kind of exclusionary rhetoric that Trump has embraced. He and others see parallels between Trumps recent proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. and the Chinese Exclusion Act, an 1882 law that banned virtually all immigrants from China. They dont know what Chinese Americans have gone through, Deng said of newer arrivals. Shirley Xiayi Zhang, who works for the Chinatown Business Improvement District, says she is also unnerved by Trumps repeated characterization of immigrants from Mexico as criminals. Its hard for me to imagine any of us immigrants supporting him, she said. But I guess thats why were in America, so we can support whoever we want. Zhangs godparents, small-business owners who immigrated to the U.S. from China in the 1990s, recently told her they are voting for Trump. They think he is very smart and successful, she said. And they think he is the only one brave enough to say these things. One group supporting the Republican, Chinese Americans for Trump, was formed earlier this year by David Wang, a 32-year-old who says he came to the U.S. from Bejing as a teenager on a student visa. Wang cannot vote in the November election because he is not a citizen. Still, he sees himself as a leader of the modern movement for Chinese American civil rights. His interest in politics was sparked by a recent proposal to restore affirmative action in the states higher education admissions process, which he and others believe hurts Asian American college applicants. Wang helped organize an effort to defeat that proposal and this year helped organize thousands of protesters to oppose the prosecution of Peter Liang, the former New York police officer who shot an unarmed black man in a case that drew allegations of racial injustice from both African American and Asian American activists. Wang mostly organized those efforts via WeChat, a smartphone application popular in Chinese communities. He has also used the application to organize Trump supporters. Ive got access to millions of people on my iPhone, Wang said. Its our job to educate them. Wang says some Chinese Americans have criticized him for supporting Trump. Some say, Hes a loudmouth. Wang said. I say, Well, strong leaders are loudmouths. ALSO Obama: World leaders are rattled by Trump and for good reason Trump clinches GOP nomination and vows to back out of global warming pact Was Trump kidding about a debate with Bernie Sanders? Not according to Bernie Sanders kate.linthicum@latimes.com All week Bernie Sanders has galloped about California, showing up in places where presidential candidates usually dont tread. On Sunday he was in Vista. On Tuesday he hit Riverside and San Bernardino. On Wednesday he was in Cathedral City and Lancaster. On Thursday, Ventura. On Saturday, hell be in Santa Maria. His Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, has stuck more to the traditional power centers for Democrats, visiting the Los Angeles area, Silicon Valley and San Francisco. Although she, too, meandered to the Inland Empire and Salinas this week. Advertisement Sanders alluded to his all-over-the-place strategy on Thursday in Ventura, where he spoke to a crowd estimated at more than 8,000 people. See the most-read stories this hour >> We are holding rallies just like this up and down this state, he said, calling his strategy, with some exaggeration, unprecedented in California political history. And by the end of this campaign here in California, I am confident that we will have personally met and spoken to over 200,000 Californians. His move to the exurbs and to other less definitely Democratic turf is driven by several realities particular to California. People who have been left behind by this rigged economy thats a big part of the strategy, that we shine a light on them. Ben Tulchin, the Sanders campaignas California-based pollster Foremost is the state of the Democratic campaign: Sanders continues to trail Clinton, even if the race appears to be narrowing. So he needs every vote he can get. And there are plenty of voters to get outside of the states urban centers. Theyre especially important to Sanders because the higher proportion of African American and Latino voters in the cities tends to push the electorate more in Clintons direction. In the Inland Empire, where Sanders and Clinton appeared only a few hours apart Tuesday, more than 850,000 voters were eligible to cast ballots in the Democratic primary by the last voter count in early April. That figure which includes both Democrats and nonpartisan voters who can take part in the primary -- does not include the latest registration surge before Mondays deadline. In raw numbers, that is more potential voters than cast ballots in the entire state of Virginia during its March Democratic primary. NEWSLETTER: Get the best from our political teams delivered daily In San Diego County, more Republican than the state as a whole, more than 900,000 voters were eligible to cast Democratic ballots on June 7. Only 620,000 voters cast ballots in New Hampshire and South Carolina combined during their Democratic primaries. Here in Ventura County, 60% of the voters, or nearly a quarter of a million people, were eligible to vote in the primary before the final registrations were tallied. Another factor makes the exurbs a potential goldmine for Sanders, in particular: While the state as a whole took a giant hit during the Great Recession, the exurbs were particularly hard hit. Residents who weathered long commutes and stretched financially to buy more affordable housing found their equity destroyed; at one point nearly 1 in 5 Inland Empire borrowers was behind on a home loan during the depths of the recession, and more were underwater on their homes. Some of the areas still feel the pinch of job loss both Riverside and San Bernardino counties have higher unemployment rates than the state as a whole. That would seem to make at least some residents more receptive to Sanders condemnation of Wall Streets actions leading up to the recession and his plan to break up the big banks. Campaigning among those residents reinforces the Vermont senators message that he is the candidate of the working class, not the elites, his campaign believes. Hes not hanging out in Beverly Hills, not hanging out in Pacific Heights for a reason, said Ben Tulchin, the campaigns California-based pollster, referring to the high-end communities in Southern and Northern California. People who have been left behind by this rigged economy thats a big part of the strategy, that we shine a light on them, he said. Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Track the delegate race | Sign up for the newsletter The exurbs make for a dual opportunity for candidates: Most are close enough to major media markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco that events there are broadcast to a wider audience. But the locals still have the opportunity to feel a personal connection to the arriving candidates. With his highly nationalized approach, however, Sanders doesnt take full advantage of the opportunity for kinship. In the northern San Diego County city of Vista, he mispronounced the citys name. In Irvine, he suggested that many schoolchildren in that upscale area didnt know anyone attending college. In perhaps the most gaping omission, he did not refer to the December San Bernardino terrorist attacks in his speech there. Clinton, by contrast, mentioned the loss of life and continued concern in San Bernardino during her appearance in nearby Riverside. In Ventura, Sanders was preceded to the stage by an organizer who noted that the venue for the event was a Native American site. Sanders made no mention of that, sticking to the words he uses in every speech about how America owes a debt to its native people that it can never fully repay. Tulchin said that part of the reason Sanders sticks to the same speech, almost word for word, in every appearance is that he wants his basic message to stick in the minds of Californians who are only now starting to experience the presidential campaign up close. Talking about issues that Californians care about like climate change is a local message in a way, Tulchin said. Sanders will campaign in California for most of the remaining days before June 7. And he indicated Thursday, with more vigor than he did earlier in the week, he expects a positive result. I feel increasingly confident that here in California we are going to win and win big, he told the crowd in Ventura. And I believe well be marching out of that convention as the Democratic nominee, he said, and then added a line that drew a roar: If I am the Democratic nominee, Donald Trump is toast. ALSO Why corporate America is having a hard time jumping on the Trump train Meet the Chinese American immigrants who are supporting Donald Trump Election high jinks? Why these interest groups are backing a Republican and a Democrat in the same Assembly race cathleen.decker@latimes.com Twitter: @cathleendecker. For more on politics, go to latimes.com/decker and subscribe to the free daily newsletter. For Californians resolved to one day entering a dispensary and purchasing pre-rolled joints or marijuana-infused cookies all for recreational use a high-profile ally who lives 3,000 miles away has emerged. As Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders darts across the state ahead of the June 7 Democratic presidential primary, hes seamlessly woven into his pitch to voters an unyielding message of support for an effort that would legalize recreational pot in California. It makes sense to legalize marijuana at this particular point, Sanders told supporters this week on a dusty softball field at a park in East Los Angeles where, like at many of his outdoor events in California, a slightly pungent pot aroma wafted through the air. So if I were here in your state, I would vote yes on that issue. Advertisement For Sanders, down in delegates and faced with an uphill climb against Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, his endorsement of the measure appears to be an effort to corral support. A poll released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California showed 60% of residents support legalizing pot, and referencing the issue at each of his rallies in Southern California this week often garnered Sanders the loudest applause at each event. The proposed Adult Use of Marijuana Act would, among other things, allow adults 21 and older to purchase up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use and to grow as many as six plants in their home. A retail tax of 15% would be imposed on all sales. If I were here in your state, I would vote yes on that issue. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speaking in support of the effort to legalize marijuana for recreational use in California Supporters of the effort, including former Facebook President Sean Parker, who has helped bankroll the initiative, submitted 600,000 signatures to state elections officials this month, and the proposal is widely expected to appear on the November ballot. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medicinal use. Sanders support is representative of a change in attitudes toward marijuana, said Jason Kinney, a spokesman for the pro-legalization initiative. Pot is already legal for recreational use in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state. And in addition to California, voters in Arizona, Maine and Nevada will probably cast ballots this fall on full-legalization initiatives. This is one of those issues where the people lead the politicians, Kinney said. That was true to some extent on LGBT rights and marriage equality, and its appearing to be true on marijuana legalization. Sanders stance on marijuana is not new he has supported taking marijuana out of the federal Controlled Substances Act and has said the decision to legalize pot for recreational use should be decided by the states. But he has been more vocal about his backing for it in California, where he is making what amounts to a last stand for his candidacy, than he was in earlier voting states. Last fall, during a candidates debate in Las Vegas, Sanders indicated his support for a legalization initiative in Nevada. I suspect I would vote yes, a hesitant Sanders said when asked whether he would support the measure. He has made more of an unequivocal endorsement of legalization on the trail in Southern California this month. From San Diego to San Bernardino, Sanders has voiced his support for the effort and has said that minorities, particularly young people, are disproportionately affected by petty marijuana offenses, citing that as one of his prime reasons for backing legalization. If you are a 19-year-old kid applying for a job and your employer asks you if youve ever been arrested and you say, Well, yeah, I was smoking marijuana, you may not get that job, Sanders told a crowd in Santa Monica this week. He added, to deafening applause, I tell you that if I lived in your state, I would vote for that initiative. For opponents of the push to legalize pot, Sanders overt support in California is viewed with skepticism. Hes doing some good old political pandering, said Scott Chipman, Southern California chair of Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana. The nonpartisan group was founded in advance of Proposition 19, an initiative that would have legalized various marijuana-related activities in California, and was defeated in 2010 by seven percentage points. [Sanders] doesnt care about Californias public health and safety, Chipman said. And even some legalization supporters are questioning Sanders intentions. Entertainer Tommy Chong, a marijuana enthusiast and supporter of Sanders, was critical of the senator after being disinvited from introducing him in East Los Angeles this week. Its lip service to get the votes, Chong told the Hollywood Reporter. It was an insult. Jeff Weaver, Sanders campaign manager, pushed back against that notion, saying Sanders has always believed that legalized pot is a states rights issue and that if it were on the ballot in Vermont, he would actively campaign and vote for it. Clinton has taken a more measured approach. In response to a similar marijuana question during the Las Vegas debate, the former secretary of State declined to take a position on recreational marijuana use, calling for a wait-and-see approach. We have the opportunity through the states that are pursuing recreational marijuana to find out a lot more than we know today, she said. Clintons campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the legalization effort in California. Some of Clintons most prominent supporters in the state, such as Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is running for governor in 2018, support the initiative. Julia Goldfarb-Sousa, 23, a waitress in Redlands, attended Sanders rally in San Bernardino on Tuesday. She uses marijuana medicinally for migraines and anxiety and supports legalizing it for recreational use. This is just a plant; its better than any drug being pushed by the pharmaceutical industry its natural, said Goldfarb-Sousa, noting that she took a few puffs from her pipe before attending the rally. To hear Bernie speak out so strongly for it only reaffirms my support for its full legalization and for him. For more political news, follow @kurtisalee kurtis.lee@latimes.com ALSO: Analysis: Why Bernie Sanders keeps popping up in Californias out-of-the-way places As the campaign nears the end, Bernie Sanders talks about his mission and goals Those polls showing Donald Trump catching up with Hillary Clinton: Really? While Hillary Clinton chases around California trying to nail down the Democratic nomination for president, she continues to be chased by the scandal over the private email server she used while she was secretary of state. As scandals go, this one is fairly puny, but it is, nevertheless, a nagging problem, A new report done by the State Departments inspector general slammed Clinton for failing to get authorization for using a private email account instead of the departments official system. The report also said she had violated the Federal Records Act by not turning over all of her emails before she left her job as the nations number one diplomat. Clinton aides told the inspector general that she used her own system because she did not want her private emails to get leaked. Contrary to what the report says, Clinton has claimed that she got permission from the department to utilize her personal account for job-related messaging. Officials at the State Department, though, said Secretary Clinton never demonstrated to them that her private server or mobile device met minimum information security requirements. Advertisement There are quite a few odd details to this story that are being reported on cable news, like the fact that the official procedure for keeping a record of emails at the State Department is to print each one of them out. Imagine the mountains of paper that are piling up in a vast government warehouse somewhere! Pres. George W. Bushs Secretary of State, Colin Powell, never bothered to print his out, despite urging from State Department minions, thus breaking the rules, too. Pres. Bill Clintons Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, never used email at all. How did she communicate? Post-its? Over the last year, Hillary Clinton has delivered to the department tens-of-thousands of the email messages she received or sent during her tenure. The inspector general, however, says she missed a few, which leaves room for conspiracy theorists to imagine she is hiding something really sinister. The FBI is still investigating whether any top secret stuff got compromised by Clinton. If they were to find classified material was mishandled knowingly or through gross negligence, somebody could face criminal charges. Out on the campaign trail, Donald Trump has been gleefully saying that the somebody facing jail time could be Hillary. Documents get stamped classified in a sometimes arbitrary fashion. In many cases, the designation gets tacked on well after many eyes have seen the information. Clinton insists nothing that passed through her email system was classified at the time she saw it. All of this seems a bit sloppy both on the part of Clinton and the State Department. Nevertheless, it does not, so far, add up to anything close to a real scandal, such as Watergate, Iran-Contra or Teapot Dome. There are no burglars breaking into the offices of the political opposition. No money laundering. No trading of arms for hostages. No payoffs to high government officials. Its just bad email management and, on a less lofty level, plenty of us are guilty of that. Still, the appearance that Clinton may have fibbed about whether she had permission to have a private account plays into her biggest problem: trust. For a host of reasons including the cloud of bogus right wing allegations that has hovered over her since her days in Arkansas, as well as her own inclination to be less than forthright about many questions millions of voters think Hillary is a liar. This has to be infuriating for her since she surely see herself as a straight shooter compared with Trump, a showman who overstates, exaggerates and fabricates every time he opens his mouth. Hillary has been waiting for this one shoe to drop from the State Department. Now, she waits for the other to fall from the FBI. My bet is that it will produce, at most, a bump on the head, not a campaign calamity. Yet, even if the FBI gives her full exoneration, those who despise her will not be swayed. Hillary Clinton may be the most examined, investigated and vetted woman in America, but some folks will always believe she is hiding something big. With Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump rallying supporters from Sacramento to the Mexican border, a voter might almost believe that the California primary will decide who wins the Democratic and Republican nominations. It wont, of course. Trump clinched the GOP nomination Thursday when several previously uncommitted delegates announced they would support him. Advertisement As for the Democratic contest, Clinton, with 2,310 delegates backing her, according to the latest count, needs just 73 more to clinch. Shell pick up most of those from Puerto Rico a few days before she and Sanders divvy up Californias huge 548-member delegation. Good afternoon, Im David Lauter, Washington bureau chief. Welcome to the Friday edition of our Essential Politics newsletter, in which we look at the events of the week in the presidential campaign and highlight some particularly insightful stories. MORE AT STAKE THAN JUST WINNING For Clinton, of course, winning California is about more than just gaining the nomination. The state is the Democratic Partys biggest stronghold and, with its racially and ethnically diverse, urban population, its signature high-tech and cultural industries and its large population of college-educated liberals, one that exemplifies the modern Democratic coalition. For Clinton, losing the Golden State would be more than embarrassing. It would mark a serious blow to her claim to lead the party whose standard bearer she almost certainly will be. And so, both she and Sanders have devoted a week of their time to campaigning up and down the state, with more to come before the primary. Clinton has also begun airing ads in California, something she eschewed in most recent primaries. As for Trump, he goes where the cameras are. And, of course, the cameras find him. Protesters know that, and they find him and the cameras as well. Its a mix that were likely to see more and more as the campaign year continues. Cathy Decker, who has unsurpassed knowledge of California politics, has chronicled the weeks events with typical insight. Check out this account by her of Sanders and Clinton as two planets, occupying orbits that only occasionally cross. Or this assessment of why the two Democrats are so often campaigning outside the partys big, urban bastions. Or this one, on two aging white men, Sanders and Bill Clinton, trying to find votes in youthful, diverse California. As Decker also noted, the states voter registration is up significantly, but which candidate, if any, is set to benefit remains unclear. Kate Linthicum sat down with Sanders for an interview on Wednesday night in Lancaster. See the transcript for Sanders thoughts about the goals his campaign may pursue at this summers Democratic convention. BACK TO THOSE DARN EMAILS Clinton backers may say the worries are unfounded, but many Democrats cant shake the anxiety that, eventually, the investigations into her email practices while secretary of State will yield something truly damaging. This weeks report by the departments inspector general isnt quite that. But, as Evan Halper pointed out, it did provide yet another reminder to the party that the saga isnt over. LOOKING AHEAD TO THE GENERAL In last Fridays newsletter, I wrote about the polls showing Trump gaining ground on Clinton. For those who want more on what the polls mean and what they dont heres a Q&A. In any such matchup, some voters will be torn cross-pressured, as political strategists like to say. Linthicum wrote about one such group: conservative, evangelical Latinos. Many say they strongly disagree with Democrats on issues such as abortion but just cant bring themselves to support Trump. Linthicum also looked at a small, but fascinating, group Chinese immigrants who support Trump. Many are recent arrivals from China who find his nationalism and aura of strong leadership attractive. Trump and Clinton wont be the only two candidates on the November ballots, of course. Both the Libertarians on the right and the Greens on the left will be on all 50 state ballots, and several other parties will appear in many states. Melanie Mason, who will be covering the Libertarian convention this weekend, had an interview with the partys chairman, Nicholas Sarwark. The two major parties are committed to self-destruction in front of us, he told her. We offer that option for people to vote for something that they want instead of something theyre afraid of. On the left, adherents of the smaller parties can only envy the attention and support that Sanders has gathered. As Halper reported, at least some on the left see the Vermont senator as more of a sellout than a champion. Meantime, the man who Republicans often call a socialist, President Obama, has amped up his criticism of Trump. With the Democratic nomination still officially unsettled, Obama doesnt want to openly campaign, but, as Christi Parsons and Mike Memoli noted, he has started emphasizing how tough the job of president is no place for on-the-job training. Obamas popularity has risen recently, and opposition to his signature achievement, the healthcare reform law, has eased somewhat. As Noam Levey reported, the latest survey data show that some eight in 10 consumers who have bought insurance under the law say they are satisfied with their coverage. WHAT WERE READING Ron Brownstein in the Atlantic provides a characteristically deep analysis of the class inversion in American politics: Democrats are now winning among college-educated white voters, a group that no Democrat has carried in the modern era, not even Lyndon Johnson in his landslide. Republicans, meantime, have become more and more the party of blue-collar whites, who once formed the core of the Democratic Party. And over at Bloomberg, Joshua Green has a profile of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, which includes a fascinating interview with Trump, who, among other things, predicts that in five years, the GOP will be transformed into a workers party a party of people that havent had a real wage increase in 18 years, that are angry. LOGISTICS If you like this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up. That wraps up this week. Essential Politics will be taking the Memorial Day weekend off. My colleague Christina Bellantoni will be back Tuesday morning with the next weekday edition. Until then, keep track of all the developments in the 2016 campaign with our Trail Guide, at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics. Send your comments, suggestions and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a November ballot measure asking voters about the growing role of undisclosed donors in political campaign. If Gov. Jerry Brown approves, the measure would ask voters on Nov. 8 whether Californias elected officials should work to overturn the controversial 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the controversial Citizens United case. This is about trying to get the system under control, said state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), the author of the legislation. Advertisement The Citizens United ruling in favor of a conservative nonprofit group opened the door to unlimited spending by corporations and unions in federal candidate campaigns. Much of that spending is done by nonprofit organizations that, under IRS rules, do not have to disclose their donors. The measure specifically asks California voters if state lawmakers should use all of their constitutional authority to overturn the Citizens United ruling. In general, that would likely mean an amendment to the U.S. Constitution proposed by Congress and ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. That would give it long odds of having any practical meaning. Democrats in the Legislature have been trying to get the advisory measure in front of California voters since 2014. The original attempt was challenged in court by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. as being outside of the legislative power to place propositions on the statewide ballot. In January, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of lawmakers but also said they would have to start from scratch with a new proposal. Track the action in Sacramento >> We all know about the pernicious and pervasive role of money in politics, Allen said during Fridays floor debate in the Senate, and we want to give the people in our state, the largest state in the country, the chance to weigh in on this matter. But Republicans took issue with what Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) described as nothing more than placing a public opinion poll on the ballot. And critics in 2014 accused legislative Democrats of trying to boost turnout among the party faithful. Brown has not yet offered an opinion on the idea but nonetheless expressed concern about the 2014 version, telling lawmakers at the time they should not make it a habit to clutter our ballots with nonbinding measures, as citizens rightfully assume that their votes are meant to have legal effect. The governor has 12 days to either issue a veto or allow the measure to be placed on the ballot. There it would join a plethora of other propositions in whats shaping up to be the longest California ballot since March 2000. Even some supporters expressed concern about how many issues voters will be asked to consider in November. Its a ballot that is so long, its Moby Dick-like in what were facing, said Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys). john.myers@latimes.com Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast ALSO From marijuana laws to paper bags, Californians could see up to 18 propositions on the November ballot California ballot battles could hit the $500 million mark Updates from Sacramento 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. Dont underestimate the manliness of the humble fruit fly: He may be small, but his sperm is not. In fact, the sperm of the fruit fly Drosophila bifurca can stretch up to nearly 6 centimeters in length. Thats several times the length of the male fruit fly himself, and about 1,000 times the length of a human sperm cell. If this massive sperm length seems unusual, thats because it is. The D. bifurcas spaghetti-like zygote takes a lot of energy to produce, and therefore he can only produce a few of them. That means he cant implement the more common male reproductive strategy of quantity over quality. Advertisement See the most-read stories in Science this hour >> Still, evolutionary theory suggests that the fruit flys gigantic sperm is no accident; it must have come about for some reason. But what? The phenomenonon is perplexing enough to have garnered its own name. Scientists call it the big-sperm paradox. Scott Pitnick, an evolutionary biologist at Syracuse University, has been studying this conundrum for 15 years. In a paper published Wednesday in Nature, he and his colleagues offer some new insights on what might be driving the fruit fly to produce just a few large sperm. As Pitnick sees it, D. bifurcas long sperm is a type of male ornamentation, not so different from a peacocks dazzling feathers, an elks enormous antlers, or a lizards flashy dewlap. All of these features exist primarily to help a male suitor out-compete his rivals and snag a female mate. This ensures that his genes will be passed on to the next generation. In the case of the fruit fly, however, the ornamentation is not something you can see -- the female fruit fly cant size up a males sperm before deciding whether to mate with him. But its still an ornament, Pitnick said -- its just that the competition is happening inside the females reproductive organs. Its an idea that is hard to get your head around because were so used to thinking of female preference as being sensory-driven, he said. But it still meets the criteria because a long sperm doesnt fertilize an egg better; its just about competition. Just as the male fruit fly has evolved very long sperm, the female fruit fly has evolved a similarly long sperm storage tubule in her reproductive tract. Because she mates with several males in a short period of time, sexual selection continues inside her body. And here is where sperm length shows its true advantage: The longer sperm a male fruit fly can produce, the more likely his sperm will fertilize an egg. But Pitnicks investigations were not done yet. Saying a male fruit fly has evolved a long sperm because females have evolved a long reproductive tract is not a satisfying answer, he said. What is driving the evolution of the female reproductive tract? In the new paper, Pitnick and his colleagues from the University of Zurich, George Washington University and the National University of Singapore suggest a two-part answer. The first part has to do with genetics. The research team found that the genes influencing the length of a males sperm and the length of a females sperm storage tubule work in tandem. They can see this because when one changes, the other is able to adapt. That could mean that the exact same genes are influencing both traits, although we cant say that for sure right now, Pitnick said. The authors also discovered that there is an advantage for female fruit flies in having their eggs fertilized by extra-long sperm. It turns out that big sperm are correlated with health, and size, in male fruit flies. Therefore, when a females reproductive organ favors the longest sperm, she is picking the best mate, even if she doesnt know it. Do you love science? I do! Follow me @DeborahNetburn and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. MORE FROM SCIENCE Antidepressants arent just for depression anymore, study finds The work of Neanderthals: Ancient ring-like structures from 176,000 years ago Inspired by evolution: Caltech bioengineer is first woman to win $1.1-million Millennium Technology Prize Protecting oneself from the scammers, thieves and bullies whose predatory patterns have only proliferated in the Digital Age seems daunting, but at a public forum on May 19 experts offered practical advice for building strong lines of defense online and at home. Presented by the city of La Canada Flintridge and its Public Safety Commission, the forum exposed residents to crime trends seen in the local community and discussed how criminals are using technology to aid them in particular in crimes against seniors and youth. NEWSLETTER: Stay up to date with whats going on in your community >> Speakers shared insight into how default cellphone settings that track a users location and the innocent sharing of information about a persons whereabouts on social media can be seen and used by strangers. One phone app, for example, lets a user see people whove logged in at a location near them and read posts theyve written by simply holding out their device in that general direction. The biggest thing we can do is prevention not giving out information about ourselves, said Deputy Eric Matejka with the Crescenta Valley Sheriffs Station, who focused his talk on the latest phone and Internet scams to hit the area. He said fraudsters typically assume a false mantle of authority, representing themselves as police officers or agents with the FBI or IRS, to get people to send payments through prepaid debit cards, such as Green Dot or MoneyPak, to make an imminent threat go away. Follow us on Facebook >> Another trend on the rise in recent years involves actors pretending to be a family member in trouble who needs money right away. These people tend to elicit information in the course of their phone call, and then use it to further legitimize their scam (Yes, Grandma, this is Katie. Please help me.) Though the sheriffs deputy spoke at length on countless different schemes, scams and identity theft tactics, his advice boiled down to a few simple points. Theres two things I want you guys to take away hang up on these people, and (know) your home is your castle, so keep it safe, Matejka advised, adding that the IRS or Microsoft is highly unlikely to call with a demand for payment. In a special segment on cyberbullying, sponsored by the citys Youth Council, speakers discussed the easy allure of making anonymous comments online or sending embarrassing photos or videos of friends or classmates to large groups of people with the click of a button. Will Moffitt, chairman of the LCF Community Prevention Council, an advocacy and family resource group that aims to combat troubling youth trends, discussed how young people are often selected and groomed by adult predators into accepting inappropriate contact and behaviors. Technology is really hard to keep up with. It changes every single day and, more than the rest of us, our kids are usually at the forefront of it, Moffitt said. The problem is kids, just like the rest of us, are preyed on through the Internet. We need to take time to protect our kids and ourselves. While not every young person has been directly involved in cyberbullying, some studies indicate 100% of kids ages 12 to 17 have witnessed the act directly. Youth Council member and La Canada High senior Mary Morley-Montes personally attested to that, sharing how she used an anonymous Q&A web platform in middle school where online shaming was common. I wasnt always the victim I have been the bully, she confessed, urging her peers to stand up and speak out about such instances. Once you post something on the Internet its out there. And theres no way you can get it back. -- For information on cyber crimes, visit the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department website at lasd.org To learn more about cyberbullying and keeping kids safe, visit the La Canada Flintridge Community Prevention Council at lcfcpc.com -- Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine Go-to beach expert Dr. Beach picked the white sand coral beach at Hanauma Bay in Oahu, Hawaii, as the best in America for 2016. Hanauma Bay, a marine nature preserve, offers great snorkeling on the eastern end of Oahu. About 3,000 people visit each day, which is why it closes Tuesdays to allow the fish a day of feeding without interruption, according to the preserves website. Advertisement See the most-read in Life & Style this hour >> Of the 10 beaches selected, Coronado Beach in San Diego came in at No. 7, the only California beach to make the list. Florida has three of the beaches on the list. Here are the beaches you might want to put on your must-do list for summer vacation: 1. Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve on Oahu, Hawaii The sun rises over Oahus Hanauma Bay near Honolulu. (Caleb Jones / Associated Press ) For $25, visitors can take a round-trip shuttle from Waikiki, which includes snorkeling gear. 2. Siesta Beach, which is a white sand beach along the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota, Fla. 3. Kapalua Bay Beach on Maui, Hawaii Kapalua Bay Beach (Tor Johnson / Hawaii Tourism Authority / Associated Press) 4. Ocracoke Lifeguard Beach on the Outer Banks, N.C. 5. Coast Guard Beach, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, Mass. Coast Guard Beach (Margo Tabb / Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce) 6. Grayton Beach State Park in the Florida Panhandle Grayton Beach (David Bailey Photography / Associated Press) 7. Coronado Beach in San Diego Coronado Beach in San Diego, with a sand castle and the Hotel del Coronado. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) 8. Coopers Beach in Southampton, N.Y. Coopers Beach in the Hamptons (Kathy Willens / Associated Press) 9. Caladesi Island State Park on the Gulf Coast of Florida 10. Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island, S.C. Sunrise from Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island. (Kiawah Island Golf Resort / Associated Press) Stephen Leatherman, who goes by the name Dr. Beach, uses 50 criteria -- including water quality, on-site amenities and sand quality -- to select the beaches for his list. ALSO 100 best places in the U.S. for brunch, including 16 in California Whos the best airline of them all? Virgin America and JetBlue, report says Best family beaches in the U.S.? Two in the West make top 10 list Best upscale cruise ship cabins for your next family sailing Visit the capital city of Havana, colonial cities, sleepy fishing villages and tobacco fields on fall and winter tours to Cuba, among the hottest travel destinations for 2016. Cultural Journeys offers several people-to-people itineraries that focus on the art, music, architecture and history of the Caribbean island. In October, participants will visit three UNESCO World Heritage sites: Havana, Cienfuegos and Trinidad; in November the tour crisscrosses the island, visiting Spanish colonial cities off the tourist radar. Advertisement New Years Eve tour participants celebrate in Havana at a Tropicana cabaret party, then explore regions outside Havana that have changed little since the Spanish Colonial era. Dates: Tours depart Sept. 15, Oct. 21, Nov. 5, Dec. 29 (celebrating New Years Eve), Jan. 6 and 15. They last eight to 13 days. Prices: From $3,875 to $4,300 per person, double occupancy (single supplement available), depending on length of tour. Includes round-trip Miami-Havana airfare, local and U.S. guides, accommodations, most meals, ground transportation, entrance fees to attractions and other extras. Domestic airfare to and from Miami, visa, medical insurance and Miami airport tax are not included. Info: Cultural Journeys, (562) 439-2828, cultural-journeys.com MORE See elephants at elaborate festival and in the wild on this Sri Lanka tour Need a digital detox? Places to go to really unplug (no cheating allowed) Hawaii: Where to really get away from it all on the Big Island Get ready to zip-line down the mountain at Lake Tahoe ski resort Frances deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande is facing the greatest challenge to his authority and that of his socialist government as widespread strikes threaten to paralyze the country. Union activists have blocked oil refineries and fuel depots during the last week, forcing authorities to dip into gasoline reserves to avoid shortages at the pumps, as part of protests against a labor bill that would loosen protections for workers. Already faced with economic stagnation and unemployment at about 10%, many of Frances workers have taken to the streets, at times resulting in violent clashes with authorities. Advertisement On Thursday, activists disrupted services involving nuclear power plants, public transportation, ports and roads. As baton-wielding riot police fired tear gas into the crowds in central Paris, one woman escaping the melee said: This government has a real problem. Thousands of protesting dock workers reportedly went to the public square in the French port city of Le Havre. Police said about 150,000 people demonstrated across the country Thursday, while union activists said twice that number participated. Authorities said at least 77 people were arrested nationwide. The actions are being led by the left-wing General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union, which wants Frances socialist government to scrap the labor bill. Provisions include making the countrys 35-hour work week less restrictive for employers. CGT leader Philippe Martinez, who referred to the proposed law as a return to the 19th century, said either the government would listen to protesters and withdraw the bill or the workers speak ... and the action continues. As long as the government refuses to discuss this, theres a risk that the mobilization will escalate, he told journalists. Officials say the bill seeks to boost hiring during tough economic times. The International Monetary Fund says the reforms do not go far enough, but protesters claim it threatens workers rights and makes their position more precarious. Faced with opposition to the bill from its own ranks, the government used emergency constitutional powers to push it through the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, this month without a vote, which it would almost certainly have lost. The bill will be debated by the second house, the Senate, next month. The right-wing majority is expected to attempt to reintroduce clauses the government dropped to appease the unions before a final reading in the National Assembly. Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Thursday that there may be changes to the bill, but that it would not be withdrawn. The CGT doesnt make the laws, Valls said. Blocking a whole country is unacceptable. At the heart of the dispute is a rejection by unions of hated Anglo-Saxon capitalism, seen by French workers as a threat to their hard-won social rights and privileges. Political scientist Matthew Fraser, a professor at American University of Paris, said it is also a left-on-left battle; left-wing voters are bitterly disappointed with the socialist governments free market and economically liberal leanings. The communist CGT union and its far left political allies are attacking a weakened Socialist Francois Hollande a year before the next presidential elections. The far left is hostile towards Hollande because he has taken a centrist approach to economy policy in the name of reform, Fraser said in an interview. Fraser said France has remained stuck in a rigid status quo for four decades because politicians have feared the consequences of taking on the unions. France is constantly paralyzed by strike actions because the work force enjoys tremendous entitlements and privileges short work weeks, long holidays, security of employment, and other perks and refuse to concede on tier privileges to allow outsiders to gain access to the workforce, he said. The system is centralized, hierarchical and rigid. There is no room for pragmatic compromise. ALSO Romania continues an unlikely cinematic domination at Cannes Several arrested after Trump supporters and opponents square off at rally in Anaheim Condoms, tampons and feces: Oregon fraternity suspended after disgraceful trashing of Shasta Lake Willsher is a special correspondent. UPDATES: 2:38 p.m.: This article was updated with Times reporting. 4:25 a.m.: Updated with additional details This story was originally posted at 3:52 a.m. President Obama came face to face with the horror of nuclear war Friday in a somber visit to Hiroshima, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to tour the site of the atomic bombing 71 years ago that killed tens of thousands in an instant and ushered in the nuclear age. In a sweeping address that reflected on the obligations of humankind, Obama wrestled with the inherent contradiction that centuries of technical advancement have both made it easier to bind people together and given them the capacity for the carnage seen in this city. And he confronted the cold reality that his own goal of a world without nuclear firepower remains frustratingly out of reach. Speaking slowly and solemnly, a tempo that seemed intended to underline his reach for history, the president noted that as battlefield weapons and tactics evolve, accompanying norms about whether to use them advances only in fits and starts. Advertisement Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us, Obama warned. The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well. That is why we come to this place. See the most-read stories this hour >> Obama did not apologize for the nuclear attacks here and in the city of Nagasaki, strikes he believes ended the perils of Japanese aggression and brought about the end of World War II. But, as the leader of the only country ever to have deployed nuclear weapons, Obama said it is the duty of those who hold terrible power to accept the consequences of its use. We have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again. Someday the voices of the hibakusha will no longer be with us to bear witness, he said, using the Japanese term for survivors of the nuclear blasts. The Peace Memorial park he visited Friday afternoon marks the darkest days of Hiroshima, where about 350,000 Japanese civilians and military personnel were living on Aug. 6, 1945, the day the bomb fell. An estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people were killed instantly and tens of thousands more died from the effects of radiation in the months and years that followed. Among the dead were thousands of junior high school students mobilized to clear fire breaks in preparation for conventional bombings like those that had hit other Japanese cities in the weeks leading up to Aug. 6. When the Enola Gay deployed the uranium bomb known as Little Boy over the city, though, it unleashed a blast thousands of times more powerful. Though only a fraction of its 110 pounds of fissile material actually underwent fission, its force nevertheless was equal to about 16,000 tons of more typical explosives. Within a three-quarter-mile radius, virtually everyone died. Glass bottles melted and only a few concrete buildings remained standing. On Friday, the president spent only a few minutes inside the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which features disturbing relics of the bombing, including singed and torn clothing worn by students burned in the bombing, and even nails and skin of a junior high school boy that were kept as relics by his mother after he died. There he viewed a display for Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who survived the bombing and, while battling the leukemia she contracted as a result of radiation exposure, would fold paper cranes, a symbol of longevity in Japan. A long-held belief among some Japanese is that by folding 1,000 paper cranes, one can achieve long life. Children present wreaths of paper cranes in the park in Hiroshima in Sadakos memory; Obama gave two of his own to local schoolchildren, and then left two more alongside his inscription in the museum guest book. We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons, he wrote. 1 / 5 People try to get a glimpse of the wreath laid by President Obama at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. (Johannes Eisele / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 5 President Barack Obama lays a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. (Shuji Kajiyama / Associated Press) 3 / 5 President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe deliver remarks after laying wreaths at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images) 4 / 5 President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands after laying wreaths at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. (Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 5 President Obama pauses after placing a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. (Atsushi Tomura / Getty Images) In his address, Obama acknowledged that he would fall short of his goal of nuclear nonproliferation that he set in a speech in Prague in 2009 at the start of his presidency. Even then, he said he knew it may not be done in his lifetime. But nonetheless, he renewed his call in Hiroshima for a nuclear-free world, this time with the soberness of a president who will end his two terms with the nation still at war. We may not realize this goal in my lifetime, but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe, he said. We can chart a course that leads to the destruction of these stockpiles. We can stop the spread to new nations, and secure deadly materials from fanatics. Even eliminating the worlds nuclear arsenal is not enough, he said. We must change our mind-set about war itself, to prevent conflict through diplomacy and strive to end conflicts after theyve begun, he said. To see our growing interdependence as a cause for peaceful cooperation and not violent competition. To define our nations not by our capacity to destroy but by what we build. And perhaps, above all, we must reimagine our connection to one another as members of one human race. After he spoke, Obama spent several moments with Sunao Tsuboi, a survivor whose experience was chronicled in John Herseys landmark book Hiroshima. Tsuboi was a college student on his way to class when the bomb was dropped. He was knocked unconscious by the force of the blast and did not awaken until the next month. Like other survivors, he was a victim of discrimination because of poor knowledge about the long-term effects of radiation. He also suffers from aplastic anemia and must receive blood transfusions every other week, according to the White House. Tsuboi, now gray-haired and using a cane, went on to become a math teacher and an antiwar activist, eventually becoming chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organization. As Obama arrived in Hiroshima, residents lined the streets around the park in the city center, hoping for a glimpse of him. But those who watched Obamas remarks had mixed reactions. I respect his courage to come here, said Akira Kawasaki of the organization Peace Boat. But, he said, Obama shouldnt conflate the idea of ending wars and abolishing nuclear weapons. Talking about both at the same time makes both more complicated. Takeya Sasaki, a Hiroshima lawyer, complained that Obamas visit was too brief. He only talked a couple minutes with the bombing victims, and thats not enough time to understand, Sasaki said. Obamas remarks emphasized the dual nature of technology that it can be a force for good or evil, and without a moral compass it can lead to destruction, said Tom Le, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College who specializes in Japan and security issues and was in Hiroshima for Obamas speech. The president, though, refrained from talking about why the U.S. dropped the bombs and did not emphasize Japans brutal colonialist expansion in Asia in the 1930s and 40s. It was an easily digestible speech, but when it comes to specific identifiers about why proliferations a problem, why its so difficult to fix and what concrete steps can be taken, there was very little, Le said. But opinion polls in Japan showed that a majority of citizens, as well as a majority of atomic bomb survivors, welcomed Obamas visit to the city and said an apology was not necessary. Staff writer Michael A. Memoli in Washington contributed to this report. Twitter: @cparsons, @JulieMakLAT ALSO: U.S. scientists have been quietly working in Hiroshima for decades Obama races to cement the big Pacific Rim trade deal that all his potential successors oppose Obama says world leaders are rattled by Trump and for good reason UPDATES: 2:34 p.m.: This story was updated throughout with new details and background. 7:48 a.m.: This article has been updated with comments from Pomona College professor Tom Le. 3:14 a.m.: This article has been updated with reaction to Obamas visit. 2:56 a.m.: This article has been updated with Obamas remarks and details of his visit. 1:50 a.m.: This article has been updated with Obama arriving in Hiroshima. 12:21 a.m.: This article has been updated with Obamas comments at the Marine base at Iwakuni, Japan. May 27, 12:07 a.m.: This article has been updated with details on Obama landing in Japan. This article was originally published on May 26 at 11:53 p.m. After more than a year away from the war-ravaged Iraqi city of Ramadi, Osama Ismail felt it was safe enough to return to check on the condition of his abandoned home. The government, after all, had declared the city liberated from Islamic State extremists. Ismail, a father of four, walked through the house last month surveying the damage, eventually reaching the bedroom he shared with his wife. They had left clothes and other items behind in their rush to leave the city and he was curious to see what remained. Advertisement Then, an explosion. Family members said the blast threw the 42-year-old teacher against a wall and killed him instantly. The house, local officials said, had been booby-trapped with an improvised explosive device by Islamic State fighters. At least there was a body to collect. Sheik Qahtaan Rashid At least there was a body to collect, Sheik Qahtaan Rashid, one of Ismails distant relatives and the imam of Ramadis Mohammad Aref Mosque, said in a recent interview. In the months after the Iraqi governments December retaking of Ramadi, 60 miles west of the capital, Baghdad, about 15,000 displaced families have left camps in Baghdad and elsewhere and trickled back to the city, hoping to resurrect their shattered lives. But the fate of people such as Ismail, who had moved to Irbil with his wife and children early last year, illustrates the difficulties and danger awaiting Ramadis residents. Policemen make their way near Haji Ziad Square in the city of Ramadi, Iraq, on March 20, 2016. (Maya Alleruzzo / Associated Press ) Anywhere from 60% to 80% of Ramadi was ravaged in the fighting between government forces and Islamic State over the last 2 1/2 years, according to the United Nations and local officials. Large sections of neighborhoods appear to be almost pixelated, their edges made jagged by shells and bullet holes. Other parts, especially in south Ramadi, are a sea of gray rubble, with the occasional husk of a building standing off-kilter. Islamic State left behind thousands of explosive devices as parting gifts as it withdrew from the city, with some hidden in places such as couches, under carpets and -- in one case reported by local media -- the frame of a little girls bicycle. If I walk into a house, I wouldnt even dare to tip this bottle, said Col. Arkan Fadel, a 34-year-old officer with Iraqs special forces, as he gestured to a nearby table in his groups headquarters in the village of Tash, south of Ramadi. His division spearheaded the U.S.-coalition backed government offensive to retake the city. Los Angeles Times special correspondent Nabih Bulos describes the destruction in Ramadi, Iraq. Reminders of the dangers of improvised explosive devices are omnipresent in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. Banners spread on the remnants of fences in some areas tell people not to enter [their] homes without speaking to an official, because most of the houses are unsecured. A few areas bear a spray-painted sentence from the High Committee to Repatriate the Displaced, saying the street has been treated and cleansed. But aside from the severe disruption of basic services such as water and electricity, returning residents complain about the slow pace of bomb removal even as casualties continue to mount. Just the other day I heard of four people dying from IEDs, Rashid said. The conditions left by Islamic State, an ultra-fundamentalist Sunni movement that views Shiite Muslims as heretics, has resulted in the death or injury of more than 800 people since February, according to Anbar Operations Command, the military body overseeing operations in Ramadi. The violence forced the government in April to stop displaced residents from returning. Ramadi Mayor Ibrahim Janabi said that people would be allowed to return once the school year is over in June, according to local media. Many who call Ramadi home have opted to remain in the relative safety of their tent communities. We wont go back, not now. What, you start cleaning your house so that you can then die? said 51-year-old Raed Jiyad Abed, who was living with his eight children in a refugee camp in Baghdads Ghazaliya district. A prefabricated hut near his tent sported colorful posters, designed by UNICEF and the Danish Refugee Council, depicting frightened children looking at a mortar shell, with a warning not to approach strange objects. There is no solution other than to wait for engineering crews to go through the city, Abed said. Ramadi is part of a larger campaign to push back Islamic State. In 2014, the extremist group blitzed through large parts of the country in a stunning offensive that saw it capture cities such as Mosul, the groups self-declared capital in Iraq. But Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition providing airstrikes have since reclaimed territory and on Sunday night launched a military offensive to recapture the city of Fallouja, which has been under the extremists control since January 2014. Thousands of civilians who remain in the city face severe shortages of food and medicine. The offensive on Fallouja, 35 miles west of Baghdad, followed the recent retaking of the western town of Rutba. Ramadi, snatched from government control last year, has always been an important prize for the group, which counts the Sunni-dominated Anbar province as its main support area in Iraq. Iraqi workers dig a trench for a new water pipe in Ramadi, Iraq, on March 20, 2016. (Maya Alleruzzo / Associated Press ) Pushing out extremists is a priority for both Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadis Shiite-dominated government and the U.S. administration. Efforts to do so have added to the destruction, as government forces have pounded their way into urban areas. Anad Khalaf, who returned to Ramadi from Baghdad recently with his wife and two children, was wrestling with whether to bring the rest of his family back. He said he had no idea when assistance would come, if at all, and decided to examine his house for explosives. My neighbor and I took the risk and we just decided to go in, said Khalaf, a preacher employed by the state. We checked out everything and were extremely careful. What could we do? We need a roof over our head. The conditions in Ramadi add to the challenges in an Iraq caught in the midst of a budget crisis -- and plummeting oil prices -- that has all but emptied its coffers even as it is saddled with the crippling cost of battling Islamic State. No municipality or central government can do anything with the funds we have now. The [Anbar] governor so far doesnt have the money. He barely has any cash, Janabi said in a phone interview last week. Muhannad Haimour, a spokesman for the Anbar governor, said the central government is doing what it can to help ... but there is only money for stabilization to restore basic services. Were hoping to get funds from different donor countries to move beyond stabilization. The U.S. State Department in April announced a $5-million grant to help clear explosives in Ramadi, in what it described as an important first step to supporting Iraqi authorities as they repair key infrastructure and help displaced Iraqi families return home. The statement added that a U.S. company, Janus Global, would begin initial efforts to survey the unexploded ordnance. But the scale of the problem is daunting, according to Fadel, the special forces officer, who said the amount of explosives used by Islamic State fighters was huge, more than you can imagine, with some minefields stretching nearly two miles long. James ONeil, a retired Navy demolitions specialist and Janus Task Order Leader in Iraq, described Ramadi as an extremely contaminated environment with unique and difficult challenges. Its hard to put a number, but there are more IED components and ordnance than you would typically find in any kind of typical aftermath clearance, he said in a phone interview last week. It just seems there was a purposeful placement of a very large number of IEDs either during the retreat [of Islamic State] or as a defensive posture. The large amount of debris has exponentially added to the complexity of the problem, ONeil said. You have to take each piece separately, I have no idea what is buried under the piece of debris, each piece is potentially a trigger, or a pressure plate, so it takes a very long time, he said. But even bomb specialists havent been able to avoid casualties in their ranks. The work has killed 135 members of the Iraqi army and police since February, Janabi said this week. ONeil said his teams hadnt sustained any casualties so far. Since it began work last month, Janus has cleared five schools as well as a water treatment facility, under the companys mandate from the United Nations Development Program. Each school, ONeil said, took an average of a week. A member of Iraqs elite counter-terrorism forces walks through the library of the University of Anbar in the city of Ramadi on March 20, 2016. (Maya Alleruzzo / Associated Press ) In a visit to Ramadi last week, 700 students had returned to the Hawraa Girls Primary School to take their end-of-year exams. They sat in classrooms with gaping holes caused by mortar shells in the ceiling. The walls were pockmarked with shrapnel. The first day I came back it was me on my own. The security services said there was nothing in the school, but I went in and checked everything, said Karim Shalan, the schools principal. Better that a bomb gets me than the kids. Many parts of Ramadi, however, are damaged to the point where removing explosives is no longer feasible. Neighborhoods like Al-Malaab, Bakr -- places like these are so destroyed that theyre not a priority, you cant use them, you cant bring people to them, said Haimour, the spokesman for the governor. And there are most likely IEDs there as well, which means youll need armored construction equipment to safely clear the areas -- and there is just no money for that. I think the idea is clear: There are no funds to bring back the city to what it was before [Islamic State] came in. Itll take years before we get to those neighborhoods. Bulos is a special correspondent. All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced. 19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc. On 26 May Ricardo Lewandowksi, the president of Brazils supreme court (STF), defended the right of STF magistrates to hold conversations with politicians. End of preview - This article contains approximately 326 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto wants the conservative country to welcome married LGBTQ community members with open arms. Last week, the embattled leader introduced a series of initiates aimed at reshaping the Mexican Constitution by giving same-sex couples the right to wed. Nieto's other proposals include adoption rights and allowing transgender people to self-identify on government documents -- such as passports -- based on their gender. "In our country, there can't be those who have certain rights in some states and others who don't," Nieto said at a recognizing the International Day Against Homophobia. On Twitter, he said constitutional reform is "For an inclusive Mexico that recognizes in diversity, one of its biggest strengths." Mexico's Supreme Court last year declared that states cannot limit marriage solely to heterosexual couples, though dozens are considering legal action. Dissenting states have little reason to heed the court's ruling, if only because there is little recourse for their discrimination. If local lawmakers want to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, they can do so without having to amend existing laws. If they want to turn a same-sex couple away, the couple must seek an injunction from district judges; the Supreme Court then allows the injunction so the marriage can move forward. LGBTQ Acceptance Across the Americas Latin American countries are resistant to change, especially social issues that challenge Protestant and Catholic beliefs. In 2010, Argentina became the first Spanish-speaking country to recognize gay marriage. Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay followed suit years later. In April 2015, Chile passed legislation recognizing same-sex civil unions but fell short of calling it marriage. They are allowed in just a handful of Mexican states: Chihuahua, Coahuila, Mexico City, Michoacan, and Quintana Roo; Mexico City was the first, back in 2009. A recent Pew Research Center study found most people in these Central and South American countries still oppose the unions, but they gradually warm to the idea. About half of Argentinians and Mexicans surveyed supported legislation, compared to 64 percent of Colombians and 45 percent of Brazilians. Younger Mexicans were more accepting of same-sex marriage than their elders, by a 63-to-40-percent margin. Mexico doesn't house an amalgam of religions like the United States, where gay marriage has been legal nationwide since the Supreme Court decided it is covered under the 14th Amendment. Conservative lawmakers often cite Biblical teaching and traditional values as reason to disavow marriage equality. Another is in how the U.S. Constitution is interpreted, and whether the Founding Fathers considered it a living document. Former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz staunchly opposed reform, calling LGBTQ rights "lawless judicial activism" and their sexual preference a "choice." Just before dropping out of contention, the Texas senator said the American people overwhelmingly support traditional marriage. "When a fellow like me looks at the landscape and sees the depravity, the perversion - redefining marriage and telling us that marriage is not between a man and a woman? Come on, Iowa," Cruz said during a campaign stop. "It is nonsense. It is evil. It's wicked. It's sinful." Following Nieto's Lead Christianity remains the biggest religious group in the U.S., primarily made up of those who identify as either Evangelical Protestant or Catholic. But more and more Americans are taking religion and politics out of same-sex marriage debate. They have openly gay friends, family, and co-workers whose way of life is a non-issue. Nearly two-thirds of Republican opposed same-sex marriage following last summer's Supreme Court ruling. A Pew survey taken two months ago found 55 percent of Americans support it; a 20-percent jump over the last 15 years. Preferences varied by political ideology, party affiliation, and by generation gaps. Over 70 percent of millennials approved. The Silent Generation - those born from 1928 to 1945 - gave just 38 percent support, though it is a large increase from 2001. Nieto's newfound gay marriage advocacy comes amid growing disdain from his constituents. His Institutional Revolution Party does not mirror the American Democratic Party, but it does land somewhere between left and center. The president campaigned on promises to fight internal corruption and quell long-standing drug cartel wars that have claimed countless lives. He accomplished neither during his first term, yet Nieto had the temerity to presented Congress with same-sex marriage legislation. Nieto's confidence in introducing LGBTQ laws, despite slumping poll numbers, earned widespread support from LGBTQ and human-rights groups and reinvigorated Mexicans wary of his tenure. If Republican lawmakers can learn anything from Nieto's egalitarian stance, it's that Americans are ready for social change. A growing number of Philadelphia-based faith groups are teaming up to man an emergency hot-line to help undocumented immigrants who find themselves the target of deportation raids. The newly launched "Sanctuary in the Streets" named coalition is in response to a renewed government effort aimed at forcibly removing people from the country that are deemed here illegally. The congregations involved plan to form teams of volunteers that will be responsible for quickly responding to hot-line calls for help by rushing to the scene of a raid and holding a prayer vigil with the family while filming the event. Coalition Hopes Calling Attention to Situation Will Help end Raids "The goal is to be in solidarity for the families being raided, and shine a light on what ICE is doing and apply pressure to encourage them to stop doing raids," said Peter Pedemonti, a Philadelphia representative. Pedemonti later added, "We believe that the teachings from our faith traditions aren't just suggestions, they're really serious calls about how we should live our life. To be a good neighbor, you need to be active with people who are being terrorized, persecuted, and enduring injustice. If someone in our city has armed police showing up at their door to drag away a family member because they don't have their papers ... as people of faith we need to be there." The raids have become a bone of contention between immigration activists and the Obama administration, which supports immigration reform but continues to deport some. Hotline Will Operate for Foreseeable Future Earlier this month, about a dozen activists dramatically interrupted a speech being delivered by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, shouting "education, not deportation" and "stop the raids." Johnson later insisted he believes all the protesters on the issue deserve to have their voices heard. According to Pedemonti, the group will keep the hot-line running for at least several months, indicating that they will reevaluate the program's effectiveness after gauging the new series of raids. "There is a rising movement of people of faith calling on ICE for moral accountability," he said. "I think that voice is getting stronger and stronger." Puerto Rico came one step closer to debt relief following House Committee on Natural Resources passage of H.R. 5278, a bill designating the island nation with an independent oversight board. H.R. 5278, also known as the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, endured numerous delays before lawmakers approved it by a 29-10 vote on Wednesday. Some see the PROMESA bill as a burden on taxpayers while other believe it is the last sliver of hope for relieving the $72 billion debt the Puerto Rican people face. "It's important that we go through regular order to pass PROMESA, our bipartisan legislation that protects American taxpayers," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., said in a statement. "I commend the members of the National Resource Committee -- on both sides of the aisle -- who worked to responsibility address Puerto Rico's financial crisis and prevent a bailout." Latino Lawmakers Split PROMESA was initially introduced in April, but vague language and unrealistic expectation in H.R. 4900 prompted revisions approved Wednesday. The new measures ensure on-time payments to creditors and that island government officials won't override the seven-member oversight committee's decisions, but Democrats worry about the trickle-down effect on the Puerto Rican people. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., one of five Puerto Ricans in Congress, said he could not support the bill because it reduced the minimum wage and places exemptions on overtime rules. He opposes an overtly-powerful board which may not have Puerto Rican workers' best intention in mind, if only because their pensions would not be protected. "It is less a matter of sovereignty and respect for the Island's Government and more about whether the control board creates the conditions where the old, the young, the sick, and the families struggle to raise children are put first among all competing priorities and PROMESA falls short," Gutierrez wrote in a letter addressed to his colleagues. Gutierrez said he understood the debt crisis in a deeply personal way. Coming from a father and grandfather who grew up in the commonwealth, the congressman said "It saddens me that the help the people of my beloved Island need has been laden with policies that rob the people, threaten the homeland, and weaken their ability to determine their own future." Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., began PROMESA hearings Tuesday evening by stressing some of Gutierrez's points, except Grijalva stood behind the bill because this is the only the act Congress will seriously consider. "I wish this bill included a significant federal investment to stimulate the Commonwealth's dying economy, but it does not. Calling this bill a bailout is a lie," Grijalva said. "When measured against a perfect bill, this legislation is inadequate. When measured against the worsening crisis in Puerto Rico, this legislation is necessary." Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, who serves on the Natural Resources panel, was more supporting. Labrador said Ryan did a "great job of making sure that all the concerns that I had about the bill have been addressed." Rising Debt's Affect on People's Health Puerto Rico defaulted on its $422 million payment earlier this month. They also have pending $2 billion payment due on July 1, on top of rising health costs associated with Zika virus and influenza outbreaks. Numerous hospitals have closed due to budget cuts, and many that remain open are running low on medical supplies, leaving millions of people -- including 3.5 million U.S. citizens -- susceptible to the life-threatening diseases. The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) issued a letter last Friday calling on committee members to alleviate the humanitarian crisis "brought on by more than a decade of recession, excessive debt, and Wall Street demand for austerity." The letter, written on behalf of eight unions, urged lawmakers restructure the package to protect Puerto Rican workers and their benefits. "Congress must, however, get back to work immediately to provide real solutions that allow Puerto Rico to negotiate a feasible debt restructuring plan, protects Puerto Rican workers and retirees, and provides an economic stimulus so that the territory may achieve economic growth." A Chicago-based immigration reform activist is suing the government alleging that officials conspired to deny the renewal of her immigration status as punishment for her political activism. Filed in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, Irene Unzueta charges authorities from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) highlighted her history of civil disobedience in denying her application, adding "Ms. Unzueta's case raised public safety concerns." The suit seeks to have authorities admit that they erred in rejecting Unzueta's application. Unzueta has Been in the U.S. Most of her Life The 29-year-old came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was just six-years old, and applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2013, which was granted despite her history of arrests at various demonstrations. DACA allows undocumented immigrants who entered the country before the age of 16 to remain in the U.S. and be exempt from deportation for two-year periods at a time. Specifically, the suit charges the government's denial "punishes" Unzueta "for engaging in constitutionally protected, peaceful political actions." Unzueta further claims she has lost two job opportunities over her uncertain status and adds she moved to file suit out of concern hundreds of other students who spoke up about immigration issues could be targeted. She and several family members have participated in a number of campaigns around the country aimed at pushing DACA. The University of Illinois at Chicago grad has never been convicted of a crime. DACA Introduced by Obama Administration Four Years ago President Barack Obama initiated DACA in 2012, but his attempts to expand it two years later have led to an ongoing Supreme Court battle over the legal merits of his unilateral actions. The topic of immigration reform has become one of the most hotly debated issues of the 2016 presidential election, with presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump vowing to deport millions of immigrants if he is elected. Meanwhile, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have both publicly committed themselves to a course of immigration reform. Health service management say they are in talks with the public on the future of Portlaoise hospital but it seems clear there will be huge political influence on what happens. In a statement to the Leinster Express, the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group responded to claims from GPs that all services at the hospital are under threat from the likely recommendation that the hospital's Emergency Department should be phased out. While it funds and oversees the hospital and will have a big say in its future, the Health Service Executive no longer comments directly on the facility. Instead a statement was issued by a private public relations company retained by the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG). The chief executive of this group is leading the initiative to reconfigure Portlaoise. It declined to comment on any of the GPs claims. Dialogue involving the Department of Health, HSE and ourselves is ongoing. While this process continues, DMHG is not in a position to comment further. We all share the common goal of ensuring high-quality, sustainable care at the hospital and across the midlands area. Everything we do must always be in the best interests of patients and will continue to be informed by local views, said the statement. The Leinster Express was told recently that the publication of the plan was imminent within a matter of weeks. The statement contrasts sharply with what GPs have learned through the medical network. Another well placed hospital source said a Dublin consultant colleague told him it appeared from learning what is recommended that the hospital's goose was cooked. Doctors in the bigger Dublin hospitals are also said to be concerned, chiefly because it will land more patients on their doorsteps. Whatever is recommended, the Minister for Health, Simon Harris will have a big say in whatever is decided. Prior to the General Election, his predecessor, Leo Varadkar gave several commitments about services being retained in Portlaoise. He visited the hospital on at least two occasions. In 2011, Minister Varadkar's predecessor James Reilly removed Portlaoise from a list of 10 smaller at risk hospitals that needed to be down graded. Most have losts services including the A&Es. The Department of Health declined to say if it had received Dr O'Reily's report, or if it has been presented to the new Minister for Health. Arigna Mining Experience has been named amongst Ireland's Top 10 Landmarks in the TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice Awards. Joining the likes of Glendalough, Trinity College and Bunratty Castle, Arigna Mining Experience comes in at number eight on the list. Travellers' Choice Awards are based on "millions of valuable reviews and opinions from TripAdvisor travellers," according to the popular travel website. Kilmainham Gaol topped the Irish list for the fourth year in a row but making the list has been seen as a major coup for the community tourism initiative behind the popular Arigna Mining Experience. Since it opened its doors in 2003 it has attracted visitors from not just around the country, but across the globe. Arigna Mining Experience offers visitors not only an insight into the 400 years of mining history in the Roscommon/Leitrim area, but also the chance to 'go underground' and experience walking in a mine. With many of the tour guides for the attraction former miners in the locality, Arigna Mining Experience offers tourists a truly unique visit to the area. For more see: www.arignaminingexperience.ie Templeport Development Association (TDA) launched their tourist information brochure last Friday, May 20 at a special celebration in the Jampa Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre, Bawnboy. The venue was packed to capacity for the launch which was attended by local TDs, representatives of Cavan County Council and local clergy amongst many others. Isabel Rofe, Chairperson of TDA opened the speeches giving a brief resume of what the association has achieved and explaining the main attractions and activities highlighted by the new tourism brochure. She also launched guided tours of the area which the TDA has developed in conjunction with Marble Arch Caves UNESCO Global Geopark. Two weeks ago TDA organised school tours of the sites on the brochure for senior students of two local schools, St Aidan's NS, Bawnboy and St Mogue's NS, Currin. The tour was led by recognised Geopark Tour Guide Aidan Brady. Isabel said that the feedback from students had been excellent. Derry Scanlon SEE, Cavan County Council and Grainne O'Connor, Geopark Geologist, both praised the TDA for their initiative in developing the brochure while Cavan County Councillor, Peter McVitty, spoke of the need to preserve historic sights in the locality and the huge tourism potential of this brochure. Cavan Tourism Officer, Joanne Hayes, finally launched the brochure, praising the drive of TDA in developing such a wonderful project. Proceedings were rounded off with the cutting of a cake supplied by Ballinamore baker, Lorna of Lorna Thompson Cakes. Those attending were also treated to music by talented Irish harp player, Astrid Adler, who played a number of pieces she composed. For more details see www.templeport.ie or check out the facebook page www.facebook.com/ TempleportDevelopmentAssociation/ The case now seems to be settled. Seated Man With a Cane, a painting by Amedeo Modigliani at the centre of a long legal dispute brought to light by the Panama papers , is a plundered work of art. The international investigation on tax havens, to which Le Monde has contributed, provided evidence that the work of the Italian master is owned by David Nahmad, head of one of the worlds wealthiest dynasties of art collectors. It demonstrated how the family had concealed its assets behind a Panama-based company, the International Art Center, the official owner of thousands of paintings, including the disputed Modigliani work. A niggling doubt remained, however: was this the work seized from art dealer Oscar Stettiner during a forced sale in July 1944? Today that question has been answered with near certainty. The lawyers of Philippe Maestracci, grandson of the art dealer deprived of the work, have collected enough information to trace the paintings troubled journey, from its completion in 1918 or 1919 to its sale to the Nahmad family in 1996. Not only does the episode of Nazi Occupation fit in naturally, but it has also proved directly related to the identity of those who sold the painting to the Nahmad family in 1996, through Christies in London. The first discovery concerns the identity of the model. The identity of this moustached seated man, hands resting on a cane, was unknown. The Institut Restellini, undertaking a catalogue raisonne of the painters works, has given its verdict: the sitter in the painting is Georges Menier. This famous manufacturer, the eldest of the fourth generation of well-known chocolate makers, mayor of Lognes (Seine-et-Marne) for thirty years and acknowledged composer, frequented the artistic elite in Paris. Art historian Marc Restellini confirms that he found traces related to the painting in the Menier Archive in the Musee dOrsay and according to the memories of the wife of Modiglianis last dealer, Anna Zborowska. James Palmer, the famous investigator of looted artworks behind the legal proceedings, specifies Philippe Maestracci confirmed to us that his grandfather Oscar Stettiner was friends with Georges Menier. A further point is that Modigliani painted a portrait of Simonne Menier, Georges wife, in 1919. It is therefore highly likely that the two paintings, of Georges, believed to date back to 1918, and of Simonne, were painted around the same time. Christies three mistakes The identification of the sitter throws light on another mystery. It turned out that Oscar Stettiner had loaned his painting to the Venice Biennale in 1930. In the archives of the art exhibition, it was specified that this painting was the counterpart of another, exhibited at the same time. Yet none of the works listed had the same format, or subject, as the Portrait of a man (as it was then listed). David Nahmads lawyers pressed this lack of evidence. Yet, the Modigliani works on display to visitors that year included number 3 on the list, the portrait of Simonne Menier, the elusive counterpart work. There is no longer any doubt: the painting exhibited by Oscar Stettiner in 1930 and that purchased by David Nahmad in 1996 are one and the same. The question remains as to what happened in the interim. Could Mr Stettiner, art collector but also dealer, have sold his painting in the 1930s? This has been the main argument put forward by the Nahmad clan for the last three years. I have sold 10,000 paintings in my lifetime, David Nahmad explained to Le Monde in March this year. If tomorrow the Nazis were to come back, should my children seek to reclaim all that I sold? No photograph, no precise description of the work was mentioned in the sale catalogue on 3 July 1944. No further information appears in the claim filed by Oscar Stettiner. Only the identity of the buyer is certain, one John Van der Klip. This gallery owner confirmed that he purchased the painting for 16,000 francs in 1944 and sold it on for 25,000 francs, through a friend, to an American officer whose name was unknown. How, in that case, can this painting be linked to the one exhibited in 1930 and purchased in 1996? In April, Le Monde drew the first dotted line between the two. In its catalogue of modern paintings to be auctioned on 25 June 1996, the Christies catalogue stated that the Seated Man With a Cane had been acquired during an anonymous sale between 1940 and 1944 by a J. Livengood, then passed down by descent to the present owners. We then discovered that one of John Van der Klips three daughters, Christiane, had married an Edwin Livengood, and had with him a son named John. The family is therefore one and the same. In truth, the paintings are one and the same. While John Livengood, born in 1952, could not be the alleged acquirer of the painting in 1944, he was the seller in 1996. His widow, Eve Livengood-Kerfante, confirmed this to Le Monde: her husband, a composer of experimental music, and his aunt, Maud Van der Klip, sold the artwork to David Nahmad. In a letter dated 22 May and forwarded to James Palmer, she explained the paintings trail. Contrary to what was said to the judicial authorities following the Liberation, John Van der Klip never sold the painting. It remained in the family until 1996. This was not the only time the gallery owner was on the wrong side of the law: between 1946 and 1953, he was ordered to return despoiled artworks that he had purchased no fewer than four times. This new information gives rise to two questions. Firstly, let us consider the role of the auction house. In its 1996 catalogue, Christies made three mistakes. It claimed that the painting had belonged to Roger Dutilleul, one of Modiglianis main art dealers, while there is no evidence in the Dutilleul archives to corroborate this. It added that it was exhibited in Venice in 1930, listed as number 16, while it was actually number 35. Lastly, it claimed that the work had been purchased by J. Livengood instead of J. Van der Klip. The last two mistakes cut off the two trails that could link the painting back to Oscar Stettiner. Why were such mistakes made? Christies has always declined to comment when faced with journalists questions, on the basis of the ongoing judicial proceedings in New York. All that remains is to question the paintings future. Speaking to Le Monde, David Nahmad had claimed that he would accept to return the painting subject to proof. Has sufficient evidence been uncovered today? When contacted by Le Monde, his lawyer Richard Golub called journalists work on the Panama papers irresponsible and refused to make any comment on the case. It is therefore highly likely that the paintings future is in the hands of the New York Supreme Court, where proceedings are ongoing. Nathaniel Herzberg, traduction Barbara Banks Le Monde In a speech to the House of Lords yesterday, Liberal Democrat peer Jonny Oates talked about his experience of depression as a young man. This experience was not unrelated to the times in which he was growing up. As a young gay man, having the government legislate against him was not easy to deal with. He also suggests that the churches should reflect on the impact they can have on peoples mental health, referring to Archbishop Michael Ramsey who was Archbishop of Canterbury at the time homosexuality was legalised and who was supportive of that change in the law. Here is the speech in full: My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to take part in this important debate on the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health initiated by my noble friend Lady Brinton. As my noble friend said, mental health is a topic which touches almost everyone in this country, whether through direct personal experience or through families and friends who have suffered from mental ill-health. For much of the time when I was growing up, it was pretty much a taboo subject. Few people talked openly about mental illness; it was too often a personal burden not to be shared, understood or tackled but to be hidden away even from those closest to one. In recent years there has been a welcome shift in our attitudes, and I pay tribute to the mental health charities and the many activists and campaigners, such as Alastair Campbell, who have helped break down taboos and get mental health on the agenda, but I also pay a real and heartfelt tribute to Norman Lamb in particular who, as a Health Minister in the previous Government, strongly supported by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, did so much to push the issue of mental health right up the government agenda, placing mental health literally on the front page of the Liberal Democrat manifesto. I am pleased that the subsequent Conservative Government have reiterated their commitment to tackling the huge inadequacies that exist in mental health care today and which are highlighted in the report we are discussing, but I hope that they will commit themselves to willing the means as well as the ends. Warm words will not be enough when mental health provision remains severely under-resourced and where we need real will to ensure that the services and support that can help prevent mental illness are there and joined up. Mental ill-health is something I have experience of both personally and through supporting people whom I care for very much who themselves suffered with mental health problems. In my teenage years and my early 20s, I suffered severely with depression and suicidal thoughts. For much of that time, I would go to sleep praying that I would not wake up in the morning, so I would not have to bear any more of the paralysing burden of despair that I felt. It is difficult to describe quite how terrifying it is to be caught in a spiral of depression, how it impacts on your physical health, how it drains all the energy from you. Back then, in the 1980s, you did not generally discuss such things: you bottled it up inside and tried to show a cheerful face to the world. I was lucky because, although I never articulated my despair directly to anyone, I had a supportive and loving family and some of the most amazing friends whose support at the bleakest moment for me saved my life and made living a better prospect than dying. Tragically, as the review sets out, that was not the case for thousands of people last year. Suicide is now the leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 49. What a terrible and tragic waste. As we know, a wide variety of factors can lead people into mental ill-health. Adolescence in itself is a pretty confusing and difficult experience for most people. For me, it was compounded by trying to come to terms with issues about my sexualitysomething I was desperately trying to hide from myself, let alone from anyone else. It was not a great time to be an adolescent coming to terms with being gay because, throughout the 1980s, the drumbeat of homophobia was beating steadily louder, culminating, just as I turned 18, in the passage of the infamous Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988the Government of my own country legislating in prejudice against people like me. Almost a quarter of a century later, I was fortunate to be working in the coalition Government when, at the instigation of my noble friend Lady Featherstone, the coalition legislated for full equality via the equal marriage Act. Nick Clegg reported at the time a conversation that he had with a wonderful mutual friend who, on passing Moss Bros and seeing two grooms in the window, told Nick, I literally felt myself walk a little taller. I make that diversion into that area because I think that we should all recognise that the actions of government, Churches and other institutions can have profound impacts on the self-worth and mental health of individuals. I hope that organisations of all faiths, particularly the Anglican Church, of which I am a member, think about that a lot more and show the sort of leadership that it once showed in the days of Archbishop Ramsey. I was lucky enough to come through my struggle with mental illness with the love and support of friends and family, but many people do not have the support networks that I was lucky enough to have. Too often, as the review sets out, the services that people need are not available. Just half of community mental health teams offer 24/7 crisis care. Only a minority of A&E units have 24/7 cover from mental health liaison teams. As my noble friend Lady Brinton pointed out, too many black and ethnic minority citizens access mental health care first through direct contact with the police. Care for people with eating disorders remains haphazard and often entirely inadequate, and services for young people are unco-ordinated and do not provide anything like what is required. Over recent years, I have seen the inadequacies of service provision at close hand, in two areasfirst, in the services available to those suffering from serious eating disorders, where provision can vary massively across the country and, in many cases, is so inadequate. In the experience I was aware of, there was adequate provision only because the family had the money to buy private provision. The second area is provision for adolescents suffering acute mental health problems. Many areas seems unable to have a properly joined-up approach between schools and mental teams. Children are often no longer in school because of their mental health problems. At the most basic level, there is a lack of provision for those children to continue their education, and if they fall out of education at that point, it can cause more serious problems and compound existing mental health problems. The provision of services to help young peoplein particular, talking therapiesis utterly inadequate, which can have tragic consequences. It is hard to convey the distress and anguish of parents and other family members when they are unable to gain access to services for young people struggling with terrible mental health problems. The adequate provision of mental health services requires much more effective joining up of services, but it also requires extra resources, as the review states. Yesterday, in the debate on the Queens Speech, the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord ONeill, said that the Government are building our economy on low taxes. I am all for lower taxes, particularly for those on the lowest incomesI was proud of the work of the Liberal Democrats in government in raising the personal allowancebut the taxes we raise and the taxes we levy must be sufficient to provide the services that we require in a civilised society. We have to decide what those services are and then work out how we pay for them, not the other way round. I hope that in his reply the Minister will confirm that the Government will provide the extra resources that the report identified as being required and that, as my noble friend Lady Brinton said, they are additional resources, not an accounting fix. I hope the Minister will also commit the Government to making a reality of the commitment to provide equality of treatment for mental and physical health. To do that will mean the Government putting a huge amount of energy into this issue. It is so complex and there are so many issues to resolve that they have to champion and drive it the way that our friend Norman Lamb did in the previous Government. If the Government fail to do so, their failure will not just be about never getting round to deciding where an airport will be, or something like that; it will be much more material because it will be measured in millions of lives that are further blighted by the terrible suffering that mental illness can bring. The articles that have appeared after the BBCs referendum debate in Glasgow have given a lot of prominence to that one man who blamed the state of political discourse for his confusion as to how to vote. This was too interesting not to comment on. The audience was divided into leavers, remainers, and undecideds. Leave and Remain both have their own Project Fear. Leavers tout a cultural crisis in the form of mass migration. Remainers raise the spectre of economic catastrophe. Fear Projects, whereever they come from, are a concerted attempt to sway the public with threats dangerous enough to repeat frequently in scarce media time. On the face of it my generation ought to be the most engaged generation there has ever been. Social media has turned every one of us into campaigners and journalists: we auto-report our lives and volunteer our opinions publicly. We are also happy to parrot or share anything we agree with. Movements like Black Lives Matter, Occupy, Anonymous, the student protests, the various LGBT campaigns, Britain First, Upworthy, 38 Degrees, and others have been born on and publicised over Facebook and Twitter. The parties and the referendum campaigns attempt to ape their success. Each repost from each campaign is liked and shared hundreds or thousands of times. And every one of them has a project fear (or its inverse: an inspirational story in which Fear is defeated, but is always there). The internet, ideally, ought to have reduced society to its individuals, each with a thoughtful and considered opinion to critique and build on. Instead, it has multiplied the number of central media hubs from which editorial opinions spring. There is no single authoritative voice pointing the way to truth: a series of voices compete for authoritativeness using every propaganda/public relations technique developed since Pathe. In a media environment in which factors in historical antagonisms are represented as concrete facts rather than as opinions or critiques there is no room for the democracy of reason: these sides are fighting to capture the tyranny of the majority, the plebiscite. The people are not told lies: nuanced truths are merely simplified for their consumption. We are not trusted with nuance. Why should we be? The electoral victories of Thatcher, Blair, and others elsewhere in the world, were built on controlling the message. The big weakness of the Liberal Democrats nationally is that the Lib Dems trusted people to understand nuanced positions and got overrun by more forceful, simple messages. There are three currents to this story: political movements and the media that support them are taking absolutist stances to convince people of their correctness; individuals, like the man who asked if any of them believed their own campaigns, are realising that under the public debate policies and their consequences are being carried out without proper scrutiny; and a whole swathe of the electorate is turning off, away from politics, convinced that everyone is corrupt and they are all as bad as each other. * Toby MacDonnell is a Lib Dem member. He is a graduate in history from Sussex university reading Keynes and Baudrillard in preparation for postgraduate studies. A VISIT by the Pope to Ireland would be a huge boost to the Church here and at a vital time, the Bishop of Limerick, Brendan Leahy has said. Advanced plans are underway to bring the Pope Francis 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 22-26, 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. But official confirmation of the trip is not expected until the end of 2017 or early 2018. We are, of course, very excited about the prospect of the Pope visiting Ireland and are awaiting word on this, Bishop Leahy told the Leader this Wednesday. It would be a huge boost to the Church here and at a vital time. It would be fantastic for the faithful as well as enable us reconnect and newly connect with so many people. 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. Thats one of the largest global Church events and will bring thousands to Ireland, Bishop Leahy explained. Its a huge event and preparation is already very much under way and this weekend we are actually taking up a collection for it at churches around the diocese, he added. While there are hopes locally that Pope Francis will follow in Pope John Paul IIs footsteps and visit Limerick, according to the Bishop of Limerick its highly unlikely he will take on the type of itinerary that his predecessor did. Many people are, of course, asking the question here in the diocese will he come to Limerick as part of a visit to Ireland. Saint John Paul II was 59 when he came to Ireland whereas Pope Francis will be almost 82 so its highly unlikely he will take on the type of itinerary that his predecessor did. The key thing is that he comes to Ireland and if he does, the nation as a whole benefits, including Limerick. In 2013, Bishop Leahy recalled how the Popes eyes lit up when he told him he was from Limerick during a meeting in October of that year. I said to him I come from Limerick and his eyes lit up. He said Limerick, I know it, I was in Ireland, said Bishop Leahy at the time. The Dublin event in August of 2018 will feature the theme, The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World. SUICIDE, accidental death and mental health problems are all consequences of our drugs culture, Independent councillor John Gilligan said this week. It also resulted in murder and mayhem on our streets, he argued when he called for an advertising campaign against drugs. We seem to be sleep walking into a major epidemic, he continued, pointing out that unlike drink driving or farm accidents or water safety there was no similar advertising campaign for drugs. He warned against the view that hash (a form of cannabis) was not habit forming and did not lead to hard drugs. Wrong on both counts, he said. Silence is not golden in this case. It is downright dangerous. I am extremely concerned that one of the problems is we no longer seem to have a National Drugs Strategy, he added. Any public information or education generally yields results, Cllr Daniel Butler said but the big debate was the issue of decriminalisation. Decriminalisation, he explained, meant that those caught with drugs were treated as a health concern and not as criminals. Only if they failed to address drugs as a health issue would the criminal aspect kick in. It is a model in place in Portugal and has been very successful, Cllr Butler said. It also reduced the cost of any war on drugs. A War on Drugs is futile. The question remains why people use substances, he continued. In Ireland, he said, we need to have an honest conversation about alcohol and realise it is a drug. Among young people the main drugs are alcohol, cannabis and then various party drugs, Cllr Butler said. One in two people attending university will use illegal drugs, he said. We have to accept the reality and engage with people in a more realistic way. We have a huge problem with prescription drugs, Cllr Sean Lynch FF said. He warned also of huge problems with the advent of new, synthetic drugs such as PCP. The statistics show, he said, that many suicides are a result of drug overdose and he argued that a senior government minister should be put in charge to crack down on drugs. Supporting the motion for an advertising campaign, Cllr Cian Prendiville AAA said that prohibition as a means of dealing with drugs had failed and we needed to tackle the source of the emotional, psychological or social problems that drive people to drugs. Drugs were now going into rural areas, Cllr Richard ODonoghue warned and what was happening there was scary. The financial gamble inherent in the hotel business isnt all that different than any other commodity market. That is to say, building a hotel or an oil rig is a bet on how much more capacity you can create before demand starts to flat-line. Currently, the tourism economy in the United States appears to be reaching that crucial tipping point, the only question being when. But Cumberland County, taken in isolation, is a much less volatile market, analysts have found. Our industry has a tendency to over-build when times are good, Lynsie Bennett, an analyst for Smith Travel Research, explained at a recent forum of the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation. But in Cumberland County, Bennett found, the continued demand growth youre seeing indicates that youre able to absorb that supply and continue to grow. Net hotel room demand in Cumberland County, as a running 12-month average, is up 9.9 percent as of March. This is now outpacing the previous demand peak in 2011, which topped out at 9.3 percent after a year-long run from a recessionary trough of negative 7.8 percent in 2010. At the same time, total room supply is up 3.6 percent over the previous year, as of March. But in the grand scheme of things, this amounts to a fairly slow trickle of new room inventory. Revenue rises Year to date, Smith Travel found that the countys revenue per available room occupied or not was up 6.1 percent. Net industry revenue for the first quarter was up 12.7 percent, to $14.3 million. The good news is that were not near the level of construction that we were at in 2007 [immediately before the crash], Bennett said. In fact, U.S. hotel room supply continued to accelerate until late 2009, according to STR numbers, since many hotels had been planned pre-recession and costs were already sunk. National statistics are looking somewhat tepid. Nationwide occupancy was down about a half-percent in March, even though another 153,000 rooms are scheduled to be built across the nation in 2016. Revenue per room was still up, continuing a 73-month stretch of positive numbers, Bennett noted, but was slowing. Despite conventional wisdom, growth in room rates and growth in occupancy dont necessarily go hand-in-hand, Bennett said. Historically there has been little ADR [average daily rate] change even when occupancy is growing, she noted. Rather, occupancy expansion drives up revenue in the long term, while rate hikes are typically to take advantage of short-term tailwinds. This is an especially good model for Cumberland County, where rate growth has been stubborn. Average room rates in the Carlisle area are $69 per night and $88 per night on the West Shore. Contrast this with the $124 average for Dauphin County. Cumberland also shows strong seasonality and a somewhat unusual seasonal inversion between weekday and weekend interest. Weekday occupancy, according to STR data, hits a low of around 40 percent in January, but rises to a peak of around 70 percent in July. On weekends, however, hotels peak at around 85 percent full in the summer, but weekend winter occupancy plummets to around 35 percent, with hotels more vacant on weekends than weekdays. Diversity fills the rooms If Cumberland Countys hotel numbers have proven remarkably resilient if somewhat unimpressive in earnings compared to the national tourism market, the natural question is why? This is likely due to the areas diverse, but also somewhat amorphous, list of attractions. The most concrete of these that comes to mind are the car shows put on by Carlisle Events, making Cumberland widely known as the vintage auto capital of the east coast. So much so that Carlisle Events recently unveiled plans for a Hilton-branded hotel at the former IAC/Masland factory site, which the event promoter had purchased some years back. Were in a position now where the children and grandchildren of our participants are coming, said Bill Miller, Carlisle Events co-founder, during a recent discussion of the project. Our customers are older for some of the classic car events, younger for the import event weve started recently. Overall, its a pretty wide base. But even Miller recognizes that, despite the events strength, a flagship hotel will need more than car show weekends to survive. Our goal is that we will fill the rooms in the summer, and things like Dickinson (College), the Army War College, the Youth Ballet, theyll be able to keep it going in the winter, Miller said. Judging from visitor surveys, Carlisle Events probably accounts for about 10 percent of the countys tourism traffic. A survey completed last year by North Star Opinion Research, commissioned by CAEDC, found that 8 percent of respondents had first heard of the area through a car show. Around 9 percent of visitors said attending a car show was their primary purpose, and 12 percent said they would attend a car event if it was not their main reason for coming. But much of the North Star data is somewhat harder to pin down, with indications that the countys biggest draw is the somewhat amorphous idea of ambiance visitors who come through the area simply to enjoy its quaintness, history, or general je ne sais quoi. The North Star survey relied on 556 responses from persons whose email addresses were pulled from CAEDCs Visitors Bureau mailing list. Of these, 170 respondents were people who live or work in Cumberland County, with the rest being outside visitors or those who plan to vacation here. The most frequently-selected descriptor for the Cumberland region was scenic. Ease of access by car was also high on the list, with nearly all of the respondents coming from somewhere in Pennsylvania or an adjacent state, such as Maryland or New Jersey. Just passing through But the most common main reason for visiting the area was just passing through, at 16 percent. Visiting family or friends accounted for 14 percent, and general sightseeing another 12 percent. The population also skews older, in a fairly narrow band 34 percent of the survey respondents were ages 55 to 64, and only 10 percent were under 35. About half traveled as a couple, and 80 percent did not travel with children. Roughly speaking, the picture being painted is of a middle-aged or slightly older couple who may be drawn to the area by a family event, car show, or college graduation, but spends an additional one or two nights taking in the areas rustic ambiance. You either have to be in an area that has events, or you have to push the destination yourself, said Dee Fegan, owner of 30 Timber Road Bed & Breakfast in Mechanicsburg. B&Bs are always location, location, location. Fegan also heads the Cumberland Valley Bed & Breakfast Association, a trade group with a growing membership. Fegan attributes the success of local B&Bs to having a dual advantage many of them serve as boutique accommodations for businesses travelers, while also offering getaways for those who have come to know the region. We have some that are in a prime location to get the business travel, and some that lean more toward a romantic destination, Fegan said. But if they are pushing for it, and want to be a full-time B&B ... they will be able to get very close to or better than what the hotels are doing. We have a lot of people who just want to get away. This area is fantastic with the events, the history, the Appalachian Trail, the countryside, all of that. When asked what they did during their stay, the top responses for visitors in the North Star survey were eating, shopping, and visiting with family or friends. Behind these, outdoor recreation and visiting historic sights ranked highly, with 20 percent of respondents saying they had done each. The town of Boiling Springs, and a lot of the communities here, are such a throwback to the past, and I think people are starting to appreciate that again, said Chris Frangiosa of TCO Fly Shop, which just opened its fourth location. With multiple world-renowned fly fishing locations nearby, as well as the Appalachian Trail and the Pine Grove Furnace camping area, Boiling Springs is a perfect location for an outdoor retailer. To have such a qualified customer walking by year after year, guaranteed, thats really rare, Frangiosa said. If I could duplicate this location over and over again, wed be set.comes to mind are the car shows put on by Carlisle Events, making Cumberland widely known as the vintage auto capital of the east coast. So much so that Carlisle Events recently unveiled plans for a Hilton-branded hotel at the former IAC/Masland factory site, which the event promoter had purchased some years back. Were in a position now where the children and grandchildren of our participants are coming, said Bill Miller, Carlisle Events co-founder, during a recent discussion of the project. Our customers are older for some of the classic car events, younger for the import event weve started recently. Overall, its a pretty wide base. But even Miller recognizes that, despite the events strength, a flagship hotel will need more than car show weekends to survive. Our goal is that we will fill the rooms in the summer, and things like Dickinson (College), the Army War College, the Youth Ballet, theyll be able to keep it going in the winter, Miller said. Judging from visitor surveys, Carlisle Events probably accounts for about 10 percent of the countys tourism traffic. A survey completed last year by North Star Opinion Research, commissioned by CAEDC, found that 8 percent of respondents had first heard of the area through a car show. Around 9 percent of visitors said attending a car show was their primary purpose, and 12 percent said they would attend a car event if it was not their main reason for coming. But much of the North Star data is somewhat harder to pin down, with indications that the countys biggest draw is the somewhat amorphous idea of ambiance visitors who come through the area simply to enjoy its quaintness, history, or general je ne sais quoi. The North Star survey relied on 556 responses from persons whose email addresses were pulled from CAEDCs Visitors Bureau mailing list. Of these, 170 respondents were people who live or work in Cumberland County, with the rest being outside visitors or those who plan to vacation here. The most frequently-selected descriptor for the Cumberland region was scenic. Ease of access by car was also high on the list, with nearly all of the respondents coming from somewhere in Pennsylvania or an adjacent state, such as Maryland or New Jersey. Just passing through But the most common main reason for visiting the area was just passing through, at 16 percent. Visiting family or friends accounted for 14 percent, and general sightseeing another 12 percent. The population also skews older, in a fairly narrow band 34 percent of the survey respondents were ages 55 to 64, and only 10 percent were under 35. About half traveled as a couple, and 80 percent did not travel with children. Roughly speaking, the picture being painted is of a middle-aged or slightly older couple who may be drawn to the area by a family event, car show, or college graduation, but spends an additional one or two nights taking in the areas rustic ambiance. You either have to be in an area that has events, or you have to push the destination yourself, said Dee Fegan, owner of 30 Timber Road Bed & Breakfast in Mechanicsburg. B&Bs are always location, location, location. Fegan also heads the Cumberland Valley Bed & Breakfast Association, a trade group with a growing membership. Fegan attributes the success of local B&Bs to having a dual advantage many of them serve as boutique accommodations for businesses travelers, while also offering getaways for those who have come to know the region. We have some that are in a prime location to get the business travel, and some that lean more toward a romantic destination, Fegan said. But if they are pushing for it, and want to be a full-time B&B ... they will be able to get very close to or better than what the hotels are doing. We have a lot of people who just want to get away. This area is fantastic with the events, the history, the Appalachian Trail, the countryside, all of that. When asked what they did during their stay, the top responses for visitors in the North Star survey were eating, shopping, and visiting with family or friends. Behind these, outdoor recreation and visiting historic sights ranked highly, with 20 percent of respondents saying they had done each. The town of Boiling Springs, and a lot of the communities here, are such a throwback to the past, and I think people are starting to appreciate that again, said Chris Frangiosa of TCO Fly Shop, which just opened its fourth location. With multiple world-renowned fly fishing locations nearby, as well as the Appalachian Trail and the Pine Grove Furnace camping area, Boiling Springs is a perfect location for an outdoor retailer. To have such a qualified customer walking by year after year, guaranteed, thats really rare, Frangiosa said. If I could duplicate this location over and over again, wed be set. THE 3m upgrade of Shannon Airports transit lounge is nearing completion. The curtain will rise on the enhancement next month, with the upgrade works part of a wider capital investment programme to enhance the passenger experience at the historic terminal building, Shannon said. Some 6m in total is to be invested this year in a range of projects, the airport outlined. The transit area enhancements include the total refurbishment of the lounge and restrooms and the creation of a new catering facility and food court. Shannon Group chair Rose Hynes said the upgrade works were part of an ongoing programme of investment that the airport is committed too and it will support local jobs during the construction process, which is also important to the region. We will be investing significantly over the coming years in ensuring our passengers enjoy convenience and comfort, starting with this investment in our Transit lounge and European departure gates, she added. Mary Considine, acting CEO of Shannon Group said: We have taken pride in being customer focused and this initiative will help us provide an enhanced service and underpins our continued commitment to enhance our customers experience. It complements the major refurbishment of our Shannon Duty Free which we undertook last year and saw the worlds first duty free get a major makeover, she added. The works are being carried out for the airport by Clare-based companies M. Fitzgibbon Contractors and OKeeffe Electrical Engineers, under the direction of the airports consultants, Tobin Consulting Engineers. Meanwhile, a bigger and better Bank of Ireland Runway Night Run will take place in Shannon on June 17, with 2,500 runners and walkers to take to the tape double the number from the inaugural year in 2014. A Corporate Challenge has been added this year with companies encouraged to enter and Shannon Airport Operations Director Niall Maloney said this years event will be the best yet. Its bigger as we have 500 more places than last year and its longer as we have a 7.5km run as well as a 5km run, he said. We have had great interest so far and would advise people who want to be with us on the night for what is a really novel event to book their place as soon as possible to avoid being disappointed. Proceeds from the event will go to Shannons chosen charities, Irish Childrens Arthritis Network (iCan) and Abalta Special School for students with autism. Online entry for the event is open at www.shannonairport.ie or the eventmaster.ie website. THERE has been widespread condemnation of a bare-knuckled fight which took place in a popular city centre street this week. Gardai have launched in an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, which saw two men fighting in the middle of William Street. It is believed the shocking scenes, which brought traffic to a standstill, took place just before 4pm on Monday afternoon. A mobile phone-shot video of the fight was uploaded to the social networking site Facebook on Monday night, but was taken down the following day after it was viewed thousands of times. Throughout the video, another man can be heard shouting instructions to the men as the fight moves between the footpath and the road. He can be heard encouraging them to throw punches uppercuts and jabs at each other. A number of William Street traders contacted by the Limerick Leader declined to comment when given the opportunity. But shoe-shop owner Michael Gleeson said: Its scary this kind of thing can happen on the street, and it highlights how necessary it is to have a garda presence every day. Mr Gleeson said he was not present when the incident took place, but some of his staff members witnessed the fight. It was very frightening for them, he added. Chamber chief executive Dr James Ring said: It is very disappointing. My first reaction is that it is just stupidity. It is one of those things which can happen at any time and anywhere. Many traders have privately expressed their disappointment that the gardai were not on the scene in William Street sooner, with the fight allowed to develop to an alarming extent. Dr Ring said: It is an indication of how stretched the guards are. After successfully tackling the gangland scourge in the city, one thing the Chamber will be lobbying hard for is the need to ensure the city centre does not suffer again in this way. He pointed out the business group is having monthly meetings with the citys top gardai, and issues like this will be on the agenda. Fine Gael senator Kieran ODonnell, who used to have his constituency office in William Street, said he would also be raising this fight with the force. He said: This sort of behaviour should not be happening in the city centre. It is very unfair to both the traders and people shopping in the town, the elderly, and families with young children. It is completely unacceptable. It is something I will be taking up with An Garda Siochana in a bid to ensure this type of behaviour is stamped out. Speaking on Tuesday, Insp Paul Reidy, Henry Street garda station, said a definite line of enquiry is being followed. It is distubing to see such activity on the streets in broad daylight, he said, adding gardai are satisfied with the progress of the investigation. If you have any information on the incident, Gardai at Henry Street can be contacted at 061-212400. May 25, 2016, 12 PM The business-reply envelope in the first illustration, addressed to a fraudulent enterprise, was enclosed in this envelope for return to the writer, with 5 due as the Dead Letter Branch service fee. The delivery-office postmaster recognized the addressee of this business-reply envelope as a fraudulent business, but lacking a return address, could not follow postal rules and return it to the writer. A Dead Letter Office Branch opened it, found the sen Beginning around 1900, this official postal marking was applied to mail sent to entities identified as fraudulent by postal authorities, before the mail was sent back to the writer. By Tony Wawrukiewicz The items pictured in this column were purchased on the online commerce website eBay this past March. I feel blessed to have found them, because they explain the very important concept of fraudulent matter that is first found in the 1873 Postal Laws and Regulations (PL&R). This category is now false representation matter in todays domestic service manuals. Thus, although this column deals with fraudulent mail, it also is discussing what is now called false representation mail. By postal standards, fraudulent matter includes any scheme for obtaining money or property of any kind through the mails by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises. Connect with Linns Stamp News: Sign up for our newsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter The next paragraphs are concerned with how fraudulent mail matter can be legally discerned and acted upon. With a few exceptions, as will be noted, these rules of action essentially were in place from the 1873 PL&R through the 1970 Postal Manual. These rules of action changed because by 1967 the use of the term fraudulent was being phased out, and slowly replaced by the term false representation. The same type of matter was involved, just titled differently. No person other than an employee of the Dead Letter Office or Dead Letter Branch, duly authorized thereto, or other person upon a search warrant authorized by law, was authorized to open any letter not addressed to himself. However, the postmaster general could discern, upon evidence satisfactory to him (such as through advertisements, legal Dead Letter Office/Dead Letter Branch mail-opening, or other legal sources), that mail was fraudulent, and act upon it. In this manner, the postmaster general could ascertain that matter was fraudulent and inform all postmasters. Thereafter, a postmaster at any post office, having been notified by the postmaster general of any scheme for obtaining money or property of any kind through the mails by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises, and encountering any such mail matter, was to return all of it (only if it was registered mail, according to the 1873 PL&R, but all such mail, registered or not, as of the 1932 PL&R) to the postmaster at the office at which it was originally mailed. The word Fraudulent was to be plainly written or stamped upon the outside thereof, and all such mail matter so returned to such postmasters was to be returned by them to the writers thereof, under such regulations that the postmaster general might prescribe. Note that only the word Fraudulent was to be placed on the fraudulent matter from 1873 until 1893, and FRAUDULENT. Mail to this address returned by order of Postmaster General from about 1900 onward. Now, let us discuss essential matters from 1873 to 1947, using a 1947 example that conforms to the laws and regulations of the time (and since 1873). The business-reply mail envelope without a return address in the first image beautifully illustrates a return of fraudulent matter to the writer. In this case, the writer mailed a business-reply envelope back to a fraudulent enterprise. This was recognized by the postmaster of the delivery office of this fraudulent business, who wrote Fraudulent on it, but because the letter had no return address, the postmaster could not return it directly to the writer. Thus, it was correctly sent first to a Dead Letter Branch in New York City where it was opened, the writer was determined, the envelope was rubberstamped FRAUDULENT. Mail to this address returned by order of Postmaster General, and the business-reply envelope was then enclosed in an outer envelope and returned to the writer as required. The addressee on the Dead Letter Branch return envelope, which is also pictured here, lived in Miami, Fla., where the business-reply mail letter had originally been postmarked. The return envelope incorrectly has no 5 postage-due stamp on it (to indicate collection of the 5 Dead Letter Branch fee). This return envelope is the third one I have seen with a simple five-pointed geometric star on it. I am guessing that it is equivalent to the six-pointed Star of David marking shown in my column in the Nov. 9, 2015, Linns, that being a symbol indicating that the minor division of the Dead Letter Office or Dead Letter Branch handled the return of a dead letter that contained an enclosure of importance to the sender, but not of great monetary value, such as postage stamps, photographs, papers and so on. Incidentally, although according to the official documents only registered fraudulent matter was to be returned from 1873 until 1932, I have never seen a registered fraudulent item returned. Also, although in various official documents fraudulent matter was cited as being unmailable, in reality, as this illustration confirms, the postmaster at delivery offices most commonly noted a fraudulent item that he or she had correctly returned to the writer. That is, the item was returned as undeliverable, not as unmailable. Tony Wawrukiewicz and Henry Beecher are the co-authors of two useful books on U.S. domestic and international postage rates since 1872. The third edition of the domestic book is now available from the American Philatelic Society, while the international book may be ordered online. More on Modern U.S. Mail: More about understanding pressure-sensitive package labels What postal rule forbade remailing in an undeliverable envelope? No postal rule, but reality of remailing unclaimed, undeliverable mail It was a different kind of celebrity roast for a good cause. Dressed beak to tail in a bird costume, Jay Cattron spent part of his Thursday afternoon basting in 80-degree temperatures as the mascot of the CenturyLink Turkey Trot. Im staying hydrated and giving out a lot of high fives, said Cattron, physical director of the Carlisle Family YMCA. We are here supporting another community organization holding an event. A crowd standout, he was waiting for the call for mascots to line up at the start of the 5th annual Carlisle Regional Medical Center Downtown Mile. Just as the Employment Skills Center shows its support every Thanksgiving for the YMCA and its Turkey Trot race, Cattron was there to rally the public behind the centers adult education and workforce development training programs. We are here to help them raise much needed funds for everything they do in our area, Cattron said. Almost 600 runners and walkers from across the region participated in the annual fundraiser Thursday. The one-mile course began at the Pizza Grille at 1007 Ritner Highway and continued east on High Street to the Square. Ryan Blood of Carlisle was the overall top finisher in 4 minutes, 30.1 seconds. Awards were presented to the top three females and males in each of the following age groups: 14-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60 plus and elite runners. The goal was to raise money for the skills center to get people back into the workforce. We had our fingers crossed, said Shelly Brown, race director and program manager at the skills center. They were calling for thunderstorms today. It turned out to be a beautiful day. Over the years, the Downtown Mile has become an anticipated event with a lot of support from West High Street businesses, the local community and sponsors like the medical center. The event draws a lot of people who look forward to it every year along with local companies that organize teams of runners and walkers, Brown said. I really enjoy getting out and walking with my coworkers and supporting a good cause, said Kathy Keiser who lives and works in Camp Hill as an employee of Mountz Jewelers, a sponsor of the Downtown Mile. We thought it would be something fun to do to support the community, said Reed Vanderlyke, who walked in the event with his wife Rossalyn as members of the Orrstown Bank team. Participants Thursday included 15 to 20 students and parents of the Carlisle Christian Academy running club. Its a good time for all of us to be together, said Briana Hurley, 14, an eighth-grader from Newville. She was there with her mother Stephanie Hurley. Standing nearby was Angel Sheetz and her children 12-year-old Faith and 10-year-old Sam who also belong to the club. Its always fun to come out and run for a cause, the mother said adding that school staff members encourage students to participate in local races. Ian Ward, 14, of West Pennsboro Township is used to running long distance on the Big Spring Middle School track and field and cross country teams. Its a good reason to run for fun, Ward said of the Downtown Mile. It helps other people and yourself. Ward was joined by his friend Kris Brinton, 15, a freshman at Big Spring High School. This is my third time doing this, Brinton said of the event Thursday. Its a very good opportunity and it goes to a very good cause. Last year Brinton ran the Downtown Mile in 6:19 a personal record. He was hoping Thursday to run the distance in under 6 minutes. The Upper Frankford Township boy described the course as relatively flat except for a hill early in the race. But after that, it is a dash to the finish. 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. Islamic Development Bank to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad Published: May 26, 2016 Saudi Arabias Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has decided to open its first branch in India at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In this regard, IDB and its private sector arm, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), already have met with top officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), EXIM Bank and Indias other nationalized banks. This announcement comes as part of MoU signed between IDB and Indias EXIM Bank during Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April 2016. As part of the MoU a US 100 million dollars line-of-credit (LoC) was to be given to IDBs member countries to facilitate exports. Besides, IDB also has decided to provide Gujarat state 30 medical vans as part of its social sector initiatives. About Islamic Development Bank The IDB is a multilateral development financing institution based in in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Presently, it has 56 Islamic countries as its members. It was founded in 1973 by the Finance Ministers at the first Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now Organisation of Islamic Cooperation). IDBs objective is to foster the economic development and social progress of member countries as well as the Muslim community in accordance with principles of Islamic (Shariah) law. Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016 Topics: Banking Gujarat Islamic Development Bank Places in News States Latest E-Books The Cambrian Period is the first geological time period of the Paleozoic Era (the "time of ancient life"). This period lasted from 541 million to 485.4 million years ago, or more than 55 million years, and marked a dramatic burst of evolutionary changes in life on Earth, known as the "Cambrian Explosion." Among the animals that evolved during this period were the chordates animals with a dorsal nerve cord; hard-bodied brachiopods, which resembled clams; and arthropods ancestors of spiders, insects and crustaceans. Though there is some scientific debate about what fossil strata should mark the beginning of the period, the International Commission on Stratigraphy places the lower boundary of the period at 541 million years ago with the first appearance in the fossil record of worms that made horizontal burrows. The end of the Cambrian Period is marked by evidence in the fossil record of a mass extinction event about 485.4 million years ago. The Cambrian Period was followed by the Ordovician Period. The period gets its name from Cambria, the Roman name for Wales, where Adam Sedgwick, one of the pioneers of geology, studied rock strata. Charles Darwin was one of his students. (Sedgwick, however, never accepted Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection.) Climate of the Cambrian Period In the early Cambrian, Earth was generally cold but was gradually warming as the glaciers of the late Proterozoic Eon receded. Tectonic evidence suggests that the single supercontinent Rodinia broke apart and by the early to mid-Cambrian there were two continents. Gondwana, near the South Pole, was a supercontinent that later formed much of the land area of modern Africa, Australia, South America, Antarctica and parts of Asia. Laurentia, nearer the equator, was composed of landmasses that currently make up much of North America and part of Europe. Increased coastal area and flooding due to glacial retreat created more shallow sea environments. A fossilized Spartobranchus tenuis from the Burgess shale in Canada. The animal contains features of modern acorn worms and modern tube worms called pterobranches. (Image credit: JB Caron) At this point, no life yet existed on land; all life was aquatic. Very early in the Cambrian the sea floor was covered by a mat of microbial life above a thick layer of oxygen-free mud. The first multicellular life forms had evolved in the late Proterozoic to graze on the microbes. These multicellular organisms were the first to show evidence of a bilateral body plan. These near-microscopic worms began to burrow, mixing and oxygenating the mud of the ocean floor. During this time, dissolved oxygen was increasing in the water because of the presence of cyanobacteria. The first animals to develop calcium carbonate exoskeletons built coral reefs. Related: Image Gallery: Cambrian Creatures: Primitive Sea Life The middle of the Cambrian Period began with an extinction event. Many of the reef-building organisms died out, as well as the most primitive trilobites. One hypothesis suggests that this was due to a temporary depletion of oxygen caused by an upwelling of cooler water from deep ocean areas. This upwelling eventually resulted in a variety of marine environments ranging from the deep ocean to the shallow coastal zones. Scientists hypothesize that this increase in available ecological niches set the stage for the abrupt radiation in life forms commonly called the "Cambrian Explosion." Fossils of the Cambrian Period Scientists find some of the best specimens for the evolutionary experiments of the Cambrian Period in the fossil beds of the Sirius Passet formation in Greenland; Chenjiang, China; and the Burgess Shale of British Columbia. These formations are remarkable because the conditions of fossilization led to impressions of both hard and soft body parts and the most complete records of the varieties of organisms alive in the Cambrian Period. The Sirius Passet formation has fossils estimated to be from the early Cambrian Period. Arthropods are the most abundant, although the groups are not as diverse as those found in the later Burgess Shale formation. The Sirius Passet has the first fossil indications of complex predator/prey relationships. For example, Halkieria were slug-shaped animals with shell caps at either end. The rest of the body was covered in smaller armor plates over a soft snail-like foot. It is unclear whether they are more closely related to the annelids, such as modern-day earthworms and leeches, or are a primitive mollusk. Some specimens have been found in curled up defensive postures like modern pill bugs. Predator/prey relationships provide intensive selection pressures that lead to rapid speciation and evolutionary change. The fearsome meter-long super-predator Anomalocaris. (Image credit: Katrina Kenny & University of Adelaide ) Burgess Shale fossils are from the late Cambrian. Diversity had increased dramatically. There are at least 12 species of trilobite in the Burgess Shale; whereas in the Sirius Passet, there are only two. It is clear that representatives of every animal phylum, excepting only the Bryozoa, existed by this time. The largest predator was Anomalocaris, a free-swimming animal that undulated through the water by flexing its lobed body. It had true compound eyes and two claw-tipped appendages in front of its mouth. It was the largest most fearsome predator of the Cambrian Period, but did not survive into the Ordovician. The earliest known chordate animal, the Pikaia, was about 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) long. Pikaia had a nerve cord that was visible as a ridge starting behind its head and extending almost to the tip of the body. The fine detail preserved in the Burgess Shale clearly shows that Pikaia had the segmented muscle structure of later chordates and vertebrates. Haikouichythes, thought by some to be the earliest jawless fish, were also found in the Burgess Shale. A mass extinction event closed the Cambrian Period. Early Ordovician sediments found in South America are of glacial origin. James F. Miller of Southwest Missouri State University suggests that glaciers and a colder climate may have been the cause of the mass extinction of the fauna that evolved in the warm Cambrian oceans. Glacial ice would have also locked up much of the free ocean water, reducing both the oxygen in the water and the area available for shallow water species. Related pages Time periods Precambrian: Facts About the Beginning of Time Paleozoic Era: Facts & Information Mesozoic Era: Age of the Dinosaurs Cenozoic Era: Facts About Climate, Animals & Plants Dinosaurs Just 6 percent of adults in the U.S. have adopted all five key health habits that are linked with better health or longer life, according to a new report. But adults in some states are far healthier than others: The states with the highest percentages of people who engage in all five habits are Utah (with 11.3 percent), Hawaii (9.2 percent) and Oregon (9 percent), according to the report published today (May 26) in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease. The five health habits the researchers looked at were: maintaining a healthy body weight (with a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9), getting at least 7 hours of sleep, exercising (150 minutes of moderate exercise, or 75 minutes of intense exercise weekly), drinking alcohol in moderation or not at all, and not smoking. For the report, the researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at the data from nearly 400,000 U.S. adults ages 21 and older who participated in a national survey. "This is the first time in 30 years that a comprehensive look at these five healthy behaviors has been undertaken," said Dr. Wayne Giles, a chronic disease prevention researcher at the CDC and a co-author of the report. "What we found is that the vast majority of adults engage in three to four of these behaviors, however, only 6 percent engage in all [five]," Giles told Live Science in an email. [Jump to infographic: 5 Key Health Habits in US Adults: Full List of States] Nationally, 24 percent of adults engage in four of the habits, and 35.2 percent are engaging in three, according to the report. The states with the lowest percentages of people doing all five behaviors are Arkansas, North Dakota (both with 4.2 percent), Tennessee and Mississippi (both with 4.3 percent), according to the report. "The geographic data are a particularly intriguing finding from this study, and illustrate that where you live can have a huge impact on whether or not people engage in these behaviors," Giles said. The report is rooted in an influential 1982 study of the residents of Alameda County, California, the researchers said. That study revealed that these five behaviors were key to preventing chronic disease and reducing early mortality, according to the new report. Since then, most studies that have attempted to find the percentage of Americans who do all five of these behaviors have lacked data on the percentage of people who get at least 7 hours of sleep, the researchers wrote in their report. Before 2015, there was no formal government recommendation for how much sleep adults should get, they noted. But it's important to look at these behaviors all together, and see how many people are doing most or all of five them, the researchers wrote. [9 Healthy Habits You Can Do in 1 Minute (Or Less)] "These behaviors tend to reinforce each other," Giles said. "For example, some people tend to smoke when they drink, and we know that physical activity can be important in helping people obtain adequate sleep, and inadequate sleep, physical inactivity and excessive alcohol are all related to obesity," he said. Only 1.4 percent of respondents reported that they engaged in none of the five behaviors, the report found. The number was highest in Pennsylvania (2.5 percent), and Arkansas, Idaho and Ohio (all with 2.3 percent). The number was lowest in Utah (0.7 percent), and Vermont and Arizona (both with 0.8 percent). The five behaviors are probably not equal in their health consequences, the researchers wrote in their report. "In terms of health consequences, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths," Giles said. Tobacco use causes more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, he said. Obesity is related to slightly more than 100,000 deaths, he added. For the report, the researchers considered moderate drinking to mean no more than two drinks per day for men, and no more than one per drink for women, with no binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion for men, or four or more for women), and no heavy drinking (15 or more drinks during one week for men, or eight or more in one week for women). [7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health] "This study demonstrates a higher percentage of five health-related behaviors in the Pacific and Rocky Mountain states than in Southern states," the researchers wrote. The researchers noted that the Southern states, along with the states that border the Ohio River (including West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio), have higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes. The researchers noted that their study was limited because it relied on self-reporting, and that the rates of people who responded to the survey from some states were lower than others. (Image credit: Alan Eilander/Live Science) Originally published on Live Science. Tree rings hold a record of annual growth, which researchers can use to extrapolate weather. This is fir timber from a historical building in southern Poland. In 1241, the Mongol army marched into Hungary, defeating the Polish and Hungarian armies and forcing the Hungarian king to flee. In 1242, despite meeting no significant military resistance, the Mongols abruptly packed up and left. Now, a new study of the climate in Eastern Europe that year suggests a reason for this mysterious military retreat: The Mongols got bogged down. Literally. A cold and snowy winter yielded to a particularly wet spring in Hungary in 1242, according to data from tree rings. As a result, the grasslands of Hungary turned to marsh, said study researcher Nicola Di Cosmo, a historian at Princeton University. The Mongols, dependent on their horses, wouldn't have been able to move effectively across the squishy land, and their steeds would have had few fields to graze. "This is one of the very few cases in which we can identify a minor climatic change on just one winter and link it to a particularly important historical event," Di Cosmo told Live Science. [10 Surprising Ways Weather Has Changed History] The invasion of Hungary Oak tree rings, viewed through a microscope, were among the natural records that helped researchers find that the Mongols faced wet, marshy conditions in their attempt to invade Hungary. (Image credit: Willy Tegel) The invasion of Hungary happened well after the death of notorious Mongol leader Genghis Khan in 1227. His successor, his son Ogodei, led the Mongols into Russia in 1235 and into Eastern Europe by 1240. Multiple Mongol commanders brought at least 130,000 troops and perhaps as many as half a million horses into Hungary in the spring of 1241, Di Cosmo wrote in the journal Scientific Reports. They won key battles in April of that year, beating both the Polish and Hungarian armies and setting up an administrative system in eastern Hungary. In the early months of 1242, the Danube and other rivers in the region froze solid, according to contemporaneous reports. This allowed the Mongols to move into western Hungary, where they spent several months fighting until their sudden retreat. Di Cosmo's co-author Ulf Buntgen, a climate researcher at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, examined tree-ring data from northern Scandinavia, the Polar Ural, the Romanian Carpathians, the Austrian Alps and the Russian Altai to untangle the climate factors that might have led to the Mongol army's actions. Previous theories had held that perhaps Ogodei's death in December 1241 prompted the main Mongol commander to head home; but that's unsatisfying, Di Cosmo said, because the commander never went back to Mongolia to take part in the politics there he ended up back in Russia. Marsh versus military Tree rings hold a record of the tree's summer growth and winter quiescence, which researchers can use to extrapolate what the weather might have been like in a particular year. The record that Buntgen examined told a tale of above-average temperatures in Hungary between 1238 and 1241, followed by a sudden spate of cool summers between 1242 and 1244. In 1242, the region encompassing southern Poland, the Czech Republic, western Slovakia, northwestern Hungary and eastern Austria was exceptionally wet, the researchers report today (May 26) in the journal Scientific Reports (opens in new tab). A microscopic view of four oak rings that were used to help reconstruct the weather of 1241 and 1242 in Eastern Europe, when the Mongols invaded Hungary and then abruptly retreated. (Image credit: Willy Tegel) The finding that spring flooding probably stymied the Mongols makes sense, Di Cosmo said, because the grasslands of Hungary were notoriously marshy until major draining projects in the 1700s and 1800s. The Mongols also retreated via different routes than their initial invasion, skirting through the Carpathian foothills and other high ground, Di Cosmo said. "All of this, I think, is evidence that they were not happy with the terrain where they were operating," he said. Di Cosmo and his colleagues have previously found that a stretch of warm, wet weather between 1211 and 1225 probably helped fuel the Mongols' initial expansion by giving them ample fodder for their horses. And other climate researchers have found that the Mongols may have influenced the climate as well: In 2011, researchers reported that the Mongol invasion of the 1200s had a tiny but perceptible effect on global carbon dioxide levels because the amount of death and destruction their expansion caused slowed deforestation for agriculture. Original article on Live Science. Three beer bottles like this one were found during construction at Carlsbergs historic brewery in Copenhagen. Still sealed, the bottles were full of their original contents, including live yeast. COPENHAGEN, Denmark Three years ago, Carlsberg's head brewer, Erik Lund, was walking through the halls of his research lab when he saw a group of his colleagues huddled in an office. They were standing around a bottle of beer. That wouldn't be so unusual, given the location. But this brown glass bottle was more than 100 years old. Construction had been going on just outside the lab on the site of the historic brewery, and three dusty beer bottles still corked, full of liquid, and bearing their old-school Carlsberg labels had been discovered in a forgotten beer cellar. Some of the beer experts at the lab decided to uncork one and taste its contents. They saved a sip for Lund. "I was amazed because I have tasted old beers before and this was surprisingly good," Lund told Live Science. But after such a long time, the liquid didn't exactly taste like lager. [See Images from Carlsberg's Lager Revival] "It had a kind of sherry or port wine flavor very interesting and not unpleasant at all," said Birgitte Skadeshauge, vice president of Carlsberg Group R&D. To get a sense of what that lager might have actually tasted like, Carlsberg scientists reconstructed the 19th century brew and invited journalists to a tasting ceremony here on May 18. Lager brought back to life "I'm relieved," Bjarke Bundgaard, a beer history expert for Carlsberg, told Live Science after the cask was tapped. "We were very afraid of unwanted microorganisms visiting in the barrel. But basically the beer fulfills what I would expect: rich, malty, higher levels of residual sugars. I think it's quite authentic, so I'm satisfied." The lager was darker in color, sweeter and less fizzy than the familiar green-bottled Carlsberg pilsner of today, and it had 5.7 percent alcohol content (just short of their goal of 5.8 percent). Bundgaard said the historic lager was not as flavorful as the craft beers of today because "this was an everyday-life beer it was something that people were drinking for lunch or even for their breakfast." Brewers at Carlsberg had no description of how the beer should have tasted in the late 19th century and they lacked information about the varieties of malt and hops that were used. So instead, they had to rely on old brewing books, old beer recipes and data about the salinity of the local water sources at the time to get the batch right. Crucially, the unpasteurized beer in those bottles also had a nice thick layer of precipitate toward the bottom, Skadeshauge said. From this, Carlsberg brewers said they managed to cultivate live yeast from the old beer for a new batch. "I have never heard, so far, of the ability to isolate and grow a yeast that is so old," said Duccio Cavalieri, a professor of microbiology at the University of Florence. Cavalieri wasn't involved in Carlsberg's project, but he has studied the wild origins of brewer's yeast and has analyzed non-living yeast residues from ancient vessels, such as a 5,000-year old Egyptian wine jar recovered in the tomb of King Scorpion I. Yeast is the fungus responsible for fermentation in beer. It's rare for scientists and brewers to be able to grow a living yeast that's decades old because not many uncontaminated samples are still around today, according to Jurgen Wendland, Carlsberg's former yeast biologist who was not involved in the new project. [Raise Your Glass: 10 Intoxicating Beer Facts] "Carlsberg is one of the few places that could have these samples," Wendland said, because they have a collection of thousands of bottles that are still sealed and filled with their original contents. Using samples from Carlsberg's historic collection, Wendland and his colleagues were able to sequence the genome of the lager yeast (Saccharomyces carlsbergensis) that Carlsberg has been using for decades. This strain of yeast was first cultivated in 1883 by Emil Christian Hansen, a Danish mycologist famous for developing the first method for purifying yeast. Vintage booze In the last couple of decades, the study of historic and ancient beer has taken off. With new chemical analysis techniques, archaeologists and other scientists who study the past are now able to detect ephemeral traces of ancient life: residues from dyes, fats and, of course, beer and wine. "Most of what we are as humans is organic our food, our beverages, our medicine, our clothes," said Patrick McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, who worked with Cavalieri on the Egyptian wine study. "Now we have some tools to put some flesh on the bones." McGovern sometimes gets called a "beer archaeologist." Not only has he identified some of the oldest traces of booze on ancient artifacts (including a Nordic grog), but he's also worked with the Delaware-based brewing company Dogfish Head to reconstruct ancient beers. Though they were never able to use a living yeast culture like the brewers at Carlsberg, McGovern and his collaborators sometimes went to extreme measures to capture wild yeast cells that may approximate ancient varieties. For instance, to create Dogfish Head's Ta Henket Egyptian beer, McGovern said they went to a Egyptian date farm near the Giza pyramids to capture wild airborne yeast cells in petri dishes. Reconstructing the booze of our long-lost ancestors indulges a curiosity about the past. But, these projects often have some loftier goals, too. "It has been really interesting to see how the yeast has developed over time from a genetic point of view," Skadeshauge said. "Having the sequence and all this information, you also start to understand which parts of the genes are really important for the beer-brewing process." Indeed, when Wendland and his colleagues analyzed modern Saccharomyces carlsbergensis and compared it with historic samples, they found some slight differences. Identifying the function of certain genes in brewer's yeast could lead to more targeted yeast breeding, allowing beer makers to develop more interesting varieties of craft beers, Wendland said. Editor's Note: This story was generated in part during a press trip paid for by Carlsberg. Original article on Live Science. A computer image of Bacteria Lactobacillus, bacteria which are normally found in the human intestine, and are are used as probiotics and in yogurt production. Children whose tummies hurt for no clear reason could benefit from taking probiotics, a new review study found. The researchers looked at ways to treat so-called functional abdominal pain, or stomach pain that doesn't have a clear cause. The condition is a "big problem," in children, said study co-author Dr. Morris Gordon, a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire's School of Medicine in the United Kingdom. It affects about 14 percent of kids worldwide, according to a 2015 study About a quarter of all children who see a gastroenterologist for stomach problems are diagnosed with functional abdominal pain, according to the American College of Gastroenterology. There is no standard treatment for the condition, which can cause persistent or intermittent symptoms for months. But some recent studies have suggested that probiotics, or "good bacteria," might help these children. In the new review, researchers analyzed information from nine previous studies that involved a total of about 700 children ages to 4 to 18 who had functional abdominal pain. In all of these studies, children were randomly assigned to take either probiotics or a placebo for four to 16 weeks. The results showed that probiotics were indeed effective at reducing symptoms in children with functional abdominal pain. Children who received probiotics experienced about a two-thirds reduction in their pain, compared with children who were on the placebo. In addition, children who took probiotics had about 1.5 fewer pain episodes per week, on average, compared to before they started the treatment, Gordon said. [8 Tips to Be a Probiotic Pro] The results were very robust, leading the researchers to conclude that probiotics should be considered as a treatment option for children who have functional abdominal pain, Gordon said. "I think this is pretty much a line in the sand, that probiotics do work in this context for children," said Gordon, who presented the findings in San Diego on Monday (May 23) at Digestive Disease Week, a scientific meeting focused on digestive diseases. Probiotics were also safe; children in the probiotics groups experienced no more side effects than the children in the placebo groups did, the study found. Still, there are some unanswered questions, such as how long children should take probiotics and whether their symptoms will come back if they stop the treatment. [Don't Be Fooled: 5 Probiotics Myths] It's not clear why some children experience such abdominal pain in the first place, although some researchers have hypothesized that people with the condition are more sensitive to pain in their gut. It's also thought that perhaps a disturbance of a person's normal gut bacteria may increase inflammation, which could lead to pain, Gordon said. Probiotics might work by restoring the normal balance of gut bacteria, and in turn, reducing inflammation and improving movement of the gut, he said. The study will be published as a Cochrane Review, considered the "gold standard" of medical reviews. Original article on Live Science. The St. Francois County Commission is seeking ideas from the community for restoration projects in or around the Big River. Associate Commissioner Patrick Mullins said Governor Jay Nixon directed the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to continue working with local communities to identify additional projects that would benefit from the Natural Resource Damage-related settlement funds. In recent weeks and months, projects utilizing funds from a trust have been set up to redress injuries to natural resources in Southeast Missouri, said Mullins. Primarily associated with impacts of historical lead mining operations on habitat in and about the Big River and its tributaries have been announced as part of the Southeast Missouri Ozarks Regional Restoration Plan (SEMORPP). Big River Water Shed Volunteer Michael Alesandrini said this is an extension of the conversations they have been having for the last six or seven years about agency efforts in and around the Big River Water Shed. As you are well aware, there are several million dollars left in the restoration trust fund that has been the topic of discussion over the last several months with various projects being considered or not considered, said Alesandrini. The governor was here a couple of weeks ago and made announcements of a few projects. Alesandrini said the projects announced were the Bone Hole, another in Park Hills, a couple in Madison County and one over in Iron County. As part of this process, through the restoration program set out by the trustees, historically the agencies will periodically do a request for proposals to garner ideas about various projects that might be considered, said Alesandrini. We found out a few months ago they are not really planning on doing that with this program at this point in time. Alesandrini said shortly after they announced they werent going to do requests for proposals, the governor also came out and solicited project ideas from local elected officials, agencies and the general citizenry as well. Once that request came out, there was some discussion amongst the local leadership that it was going to be a bit of a challenge without a form or a format or set way of doing it, said Alesandrini. They talked about the prospect of putting together a form, a format or a process to do that. So I went back to the one of the early restoration plans/releases and there was actually an appendix G, which laid out a process to do that for the trustees. Alesandrini said the two-page form is an unofficial, informal process to share information at the local level with the trustees. He added they ran this by the governors office, the MDNR and the Fish and Wildlife Services. They gave us their comments and they are OK with us putting this out, but one of their concerns is resource related, said Alesandrini. They dont necessarily have the time and the body to request documentation in and then run it all down. So if we want to do that, it seemed the best way is going to be at the local level. So I just want to stress that this is not a formal part of the SEMORPP restoration plan program process. Alesandrini said this is something they are doing locally in order to try to make sure that the trustees get to hear what their thoughts are on what they could be doing on the projects. Mullins said the projects include acquisition of and/or improvements to public lands, as well as plans to assist private land owners in the restoration or improvement habitat in or about the watershed. Private sector projects might include basic land management and erosion control, bank stabilization, and development/improvement of riparian corridors. The majority of the projects contemplated by the trustees to date involve properties located outside of St. Francois County, with the exception of the Bone Hole project, which was announced in recent weeks, said Mullins. Currently, neither agency-created forms nor a specific process have been issued (by the trustees) for the communication of citizen interest in local projects to the trustees. He added several local stakeholders suggested that something be crafted to both encourage residents to develop and suggest project ideas and provide a consistent format for conveying those ideas to the trustees. The document was created by the watershed group volunteer as a means of helping residents identify projects in the immediate vicinity that could be considered under the SEMORPP program and share those potential project ideas with the trustees, said Mullins. The forms are not binding on the trustees or considered a formal part of the SEMORPP process for review or ranking of proposals for funding. Alesandrini said submitting something doesnt mean anything is necessarily going to happen or get a project that will be considered. He added from day one the trustees made it clear that whatever happens with these funds and to the Big River Watershed is solely at their discretion. At the end of the day it has to fit with their priorities and its completely up to them, said Alesandrini. The best we can do is make a strong case and give them the information to hopefully make sound decisions. Mullins said they are giving the public the opportunity to voice their opinion. His biggest fear is years down the road they will state that they never received any interest and that is why they are going to buy land elsewhere and create a park. At least we have a form for the public to fill out, said Mullins. Get it back to us and we will send it up to the trustees. Mullins added Alesandrini has been volunteering his time and has not asked for a single penny from the county for doing this work. We dont pay his mileage and have never bought his lunch, said Mullins. He has not asked us for a single dime. Michael thank you for this for the citizenry. The forms can be found on the county commission website and the public is encouraged to submit their ideas to the county. The forms can also be picked up in the county commission office for those who dont have access to a computer. 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. The organiser of Longford town's first parkrun event has expressed his happiness at its success. Kevin Kane told the Longford Leader that a large number of participants turned out last Saturday morning. There were 97 runners there. It was a great day; the weather was brilliant and the volunteers were brilliant. Afterwards, six of the runners offered to be volunteers at the next run. Mr Kane said runners travelled from far and wide for the inaugural event, which will be held each Saturday morning in The Mall. We had runners from Ballyleague, Sligo, and Dublin. We also had one man from Belfast who goes to all the inaugural parkruns in different areas. Everyone was very complimentary about it. We had mothers with buggies and regular walkers as well as the serious athletes. The organiser is hopeful that the event will continue to grow after its bright start. With word spreading, we're hoping for 120 runners this Saturday, he revealed. It will be held every Saturday morning at 9.30am. Having started in the UK in 2004, parkrun events are casual five-kilometre runs through public parks, which are now held weekly in more than 18 countries. It first came to Ireland in 2012 and there are now about 50 all over the country, Mr Kane continued. If you register on the parkrun website you get a barcode which can be scanned and allows you to measure your times, positions, and progress, so that you can keep track of how you're improving. School & Education, Local News, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: May 27 2016 Girls Inc. of Long Island brought a group of 32 middle school girls to visit the National Grid Northport Power Station for the second year. Girls Inc. Long Island brings middle school girls from the William Floyd school districts to visit National Grids Northport Power Plant for a tour and to speak with a panel of women engineers explaining the exciting career opportunities in engineering and STEM. Deer Park, NY - May 25, 2016 - Girls Inc. of Long Island brought a group of 32 middle school girls to visit the National Grid Northport Power Station for the second year. The girls came from the William Floyd Middle School and all visited this site for the first time. The plant manager provided the girls with an overview of energy and how it is generated, maintained and sustained. Students engaged with women engineers and were encouraged to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Visit to National Grids Northport Power Plant. The girls were given hard-hats and safety goggles so that they could tour the plant and learn about its inner-workings and day-to-day operations. They toured the control rooms and got to explore the various areas of the plant that are integral to the safe and efficient delivery of power to Long Island. National Grid employees took time to explain the different career opportunities and engineering roles that various employees hold. Girls Inc. Long Island Executive Director, Neela Lockel said, Our partnership with National Grid has been so valuable for the girls we serve. National Grid has been steadily receptive and responsive to opportunities to work closely with our girls, and have provided them with inspiration and encouragement to explore STEAM careers! A panel of National Grid women engineers from all disciplines, chemical, mechanical, and electrical with various perspectives and experiences fielded various questions from the girls. Topics included career paths, college studies, gender bias, opportunities for advancement, and a strong emphasis on the lack of women in the STEM industries. One of the girls asked Did you always want to do this? The women shared their journeys to becoming successful engineers. This was a very energetic and engaging group, and its such a great opportunity to expose them to this industry and careers that they might not have considered before, said National Grid Community and Customer Manager and Girls Inc. of Long Island Board Member, Kathy Wisnewski. These young girls are able to see successful women in traditional male roles and we hope that inspires them to reach higher to create their own success stories. About Girls Inc. The mission of Girls Incorporated of Long Island is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold. We provide school and community based programming that serves the unique needs of girls, ages 5-18, living in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Through community partnerships, we help girls to achieve their full potential making their future brighter. Girls Incorporated of Long Island is dedicated to the advocacy of gender equity for all girls in all areas of their lives. Through participation in our programs, girls learn the skills to become leaders in their communities, leading to exponential change. Learn more about our programs and advocacy at www.girlsincli.org. About National Grid National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is an electricity and natural gas delivery company that connects nearly 7 million customers to vital energy sources through its networks in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast. National Grid also operates the systems that deliver gas and electricity across Great Britain. Through its U.S. Connect21 strategy, National Grid is transforming its electricity and natural gas networks to support the 21st century digital economy with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions. Connect21 is vital to our communities' long-term economic and environmental health and aligns with regulatory initiatives in New York (REV: Reforming the Energy Vision) and Massachusetts (Grid Modernization.) For more information please visit here, or the Connecting website. You can also visit Twitter, You Tube, Facebook and Instagram. Crime, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: May 27 2016 A 35 year old Registered Nurse pleaded not guilty today at his arraignment on one charge of unlawful surveillance in the second degree. Nicholas P. Petrella of North Babylon has worked at Good Samaritan Hospital since 2008 and is now suspended from the job. West Islip, NY - May 27, 2016 - A 35 year old Registered Nurse pleaded not guilty today at his arraignment on one charge of unlawful surveillance in the second degree, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said. Nicholas P. Petrella of North Babylon was arrested at his home yesterday (5/26) by Suffolk County police detectives. According to the criminal complaint, Petrella early last Friday morning (5/20) allegedly took photographs with his cell phone of the intimate sexual parts of an unconscious 17 year old female patient receiving care for alcohol intoxication in the emergency room of Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip. A nursing assistant told police he saw Petrella lift the patients hospital gown and take the photos. The assistant promptly reported the incident to his supervisor. Hospital officials suspended Petrella who has worked as a RN at Good Samaritan Hospital since 2008. Judge Stephen Ukeiley set cash bail at $7,500 and bond at $15,000. A Stay Away Order of Protection was issued by the court. 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 OAK RIDGE, Mo. -- Ronald Lee Tepovich 72, of Oak Ridge passed away on Sunday, May 15, 2016, at the home of his son. A graveside service with military honors will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, 2016, at the Coal Bank Springs Cemetery at Marion, Illinois. Share your memories and leave condolences online at cozeanfuneralhome.com. DEAR HARRIETTE: I'm dating my first white guy. So far, it's been a completely different vibe and experience. A lot of issues I've had with past relationships have been nonexistent in my relationship with him. However, there is one issue: his parents. I've met them a few times, and we do not relate well to each other at all. Aside from the typical cultural gap, they give off the vibe that they're not really too keen on me dating their son. I really like this guy, but I'm not really willing to put up with nasty parents. Should I let this one go, or should I try to make his parents come around? -- The Unwanted, Cincinnati DEAR THE UNWANTED: Slow down. This is a new relationship. Before you walk away due to unwelcoming parents, figure out if the relationship is worth cultivating. Even in 2016, dating across cultures can be prickly for some family members. His parents' reluctance to welcome you could be because of race, but it could also be that they are simply cautious. Who knows who else he has brought home to meet them? Or what vibe you gave off? Don't give up just yet. Figure out if you two want to be together. If so, talk about his parents' treatment of you, and work together to win them over. DEAR HARRIETTE: I attended a fairly intimate housewarming party recently. A co-worker I am very close with just moved into a new home with her husband and invited over a dozen people. My husband and I came with a basket full of housewarming gifts, including homemade bread, and were greeted by the housekeeper at the door. I thought this was very rude. The hostess didn't even open the door at her own housewarming party! She was simply mingling, and we had to seek her out to give her our presents. This made me uncomfortable and made it seem like she didn't care about her guests as much as she cared about showing off the square footage of her new home. Is greeting guests at the door going out of style? I used to think it was standard etiquette. -- Surprised at the Door, New Haven, Connecticut DEAR SURPRISED AT THE DOOR: It used to be commonplace for the hostess to greet each guest at the door as people arrived. These days, it is not considered to be in poor taste if someone else opens the door, even a housekeeper. By allowing another person to handle that responsibility, a host or hostess can mingle with guests. That doesn't automatically mean the person is showing off their house (even though it is a housewarming). It can simply mean that the person is free to engage everyone at the party, not be bound to the door each time it rings. I doubt that your co-worker meant for you to feel slighted in any way. I do understand that the contrast between how things used to be done and how much more relaxed the rules can be today can be confusing. What's most important is for the host to make guests feel welcome and comfortable. DEAR HARRIETTE: I graduated from college a couple of years ago, and recently, an old friend came back into my life. After catching up over the next couple of months, we discovered we wanted to do the same thing. We agreed to go into business together. Fast-forward six months, and we still haven't gotten anything off the ground. We haven't been moving forward due to creative differences and not being able to decide who is going to take on which responsibilities. It's gotten exhausting, and while I know that all businesses don't start off with an easy launch, I fear I might be wasting my time. When do you know that it's time to let something go and pursue something different? I don't want to press through this only to find out I made the wrong decision, so any input would be helpful. -- Sinking Like Rocks, Atlanta DEAR SINKING LIKE ROCKS: Schedule a business evaluation meeting with your friend. Talk frankly about your concerns. Address specifics that you believe are standing in the way of your success. Ask to get professional counseling. You can get free support from the U.S. government, through its SCORE program, score.org. Before you give up, find out if your idea is viable and what you can do to get on course. 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 Qassem Soliemani (left, green hat) and Abu Mahdi al Muhandis (right, black hat), touring the battlefield near Fallujah. Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the leader of Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) and also the umbrella Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), said that the second phase of the Fallujah operation will be launched within a few hours. Muhandis made the statement today in a brief interview to a reporter from the Lebanese-Hezbollah-affiliated media outlet Al Manar. Muhandis claimed the Fallujah operation was proceeding as planned, with forces successfully capturing Karmah, located eight miles from Fallujah, and the strategic bridge of Sejrieh. Iraqi forces announced on May 24 that they had captured Karmah. Fallujah has been under Islamic State control since January 2014, while Karmah since April 2014. Iranian-backed Iraqi militia Harakat al Nujaba also posted on its official Facebook page photographs of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force, inspecting Karmah on May 24. Iranian news outlets reported that Soleimani discussed operational tactics with senior PMF leaders. Soleimani and Muhandis were also photographed inspecting Sejrieh. In the interview with al Manar today, Muhandis voiced his opposition to US airstrikes in Fallujah, stressing that PMF has not requested nor needed them. Between May 24-26, the US launched 10 airstrikes against the Islamic State insupport of Iraqi military and militia operations in the Fallujah-Habbaniyah corridor, according to the Department of Defense. Targets of the US airstrikes included Islamic State bunkers, tactical units, tunnels, fighting positions, articllery, vehicles, and weapons caches. Muhandis also claimed that Fallujah tribes support PMFs. Seeking to push back against some media propaganda, he said that his forces fight terrorism and not the residents of the city. Muhandis said upwards of 20,000 Sunnis are members of PMFs. He then noted that Iraqi Security Forces have started establishing a security barrier 30 kilometers south of Fallujah. With regards to Iraqi Shia militias entering Fallujah proper, Muhandis said, We will enter the city if requested. He continued, If we feel that our entry is needed in the fight in Fallujah city, we will support security and army forces and will not be restrained to the vicinity of the city. Iranian-backed militias have participated in multiple offensives to liberate Iraqi cities from the Islamic State. Despite US officials denials, the Iranian-supported elements of the PMFs took part in efforts to eject the Islamic State from Tikrit, Baiji, Amerli, and Jurf al Sahkar. The militias often raised their banners in the city center after defeating the Islamic State. Soleimani and Muhandis have been at the forefront in liberating those cities. After Iraqi military offensives failed, Soleimani and Muhandis organized the militias to play a key role in the fight. These victories have elevated the status of the PMF inside Iraq. Militia commanders have been open about their goals in Iraq. Hamed al-Jazaeery, the commander of Saraya Khorasani, recently told The Associate Press that he wants the PMF to be a third power in Iraq. Why cant the Hashd [PMF] be like the Revolutionary Guard in Iran? Jazaeery asked. The spokesman for Harakat al Nujaba recently said that his group and Hezbollah, Irans premiere proxy in the Middle East, are the twins of resistance that cannot ever be loosened or separated. Meanwhile, Akram al Kaabi, the leader Harakat al Nujaba, made his allegiances clear. He said that he would overthrow the Iraqi government if ordered to do so by Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 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. 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. Shortly after the inauguration of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959, and the growth of grain exports that followed, bulk shipper Fednav realized that incoming steel products offered ideal repositioning from Belgium, and thus was launched regular service FALLine. Steel is also transported from Germany, the U.K. and other countries, but Antwerp remained the epicenter of the activity. Located in the Scheldt estuary, Antwerp is the breakbulk port of choice due to its central position, its connections to the Rhine and its experienced stevedores. Initially, and for many years served as general Colbelfret and sales agent for the company. From the beginning, the company decided a Fednav office in Antwerp was required and in June 1966 the Federal Commerce & Navigation (Belgium) SA was incorporated. Fifty years later, Fednav (Belgium) NV, or Antwerp Fednav, as it is called today, is the largest overseas office of the Canadian-headquartered company and continues to lead the steel transport FALLine service and general merchandise. The Belgian office has commercial services, operations and documentation, as well as its own superintendents loading. A network of independent booking agents located throughout Europe, some of which are working with the company for 50 years, covering the continent and reports to Fednav Antwerp. As part of the additional responsibilities of this office, the sales department has developed chartering activity, while service operations ensures management of all vessels plying the Baltic and Mediterranean seas. In 2015, FALLine operated 70 voyages with steel, breakbulk, and general cargoes between the European continent and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. The Senate Appropriations Committee this week acknowledged calls for increasing the Navys ship count, funding the construction of 10 new ships, as well as providing the U.S. Coast Guard funding for the acquisition of six total new ships. The Defense and Homeland Security appropriations markups come on the heels of last weeks Sea-Air-Space Exhibition, where leaders of the maritime industry called for the restoration of a 350-ship Navy and a cohesive national maritime strategy that supports the vibrant U.S. shipyard industrial base. There has never been a more critical time to support the men and women of our armed forces as they face daily threats from international aggressors, said Matthew Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA). Not only is the Senate Appropriations Committee investing in our Naval Fleet, they are also investing in the U.S. shipyard industrial base that builds, maintains and supplies these vessels." The Senate FY 2017 Defense appropriations bill provides $20.5 billion for Navy shipbuilding programs, an increase of $2.1 billion and three ships above the Presidents budget request. In total, the bill funds the construction of 10 new ships including two Virginia-class submarines, three DDG-51 destroyers, three Littoral Combat Ships, one LHA amphibious assault ship and one Coast Guard polar icebreaker. The bill also fully funds advance procurement activities for the Ohio replacement submarine and aircraft carrier replacement programs. Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-MS) stated that the Committee was Making investments in other [Navy] shipbuilding programs,... which are critical to our militarys modernization. These are initiatives that have broad, bipartisan support. The Senate FY 2017 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which includes annual funding for the U.S. Coast Guard, provides a total of $10.4 billion for the agency, an increase of $292 million above the requested level. This level supports a robust USCG operating expense budget, including the purchase of additional response boats and program management and personnel costs associated with the Polar Icebreaker Recapitalization Project. The bill would also provide necessary increases for acquisitions, including funding for acquiring a tenth National Security Cutter, two additional Fast Response Cutters (for a total of six) and ongoing activities related to the Offshore Patrol Cutter. On the critical need to support Coast Guard shipbuilding, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said, As mentioned, the Coast Guard have been in significant need of recapitalizing their fleet it is an essential part of our homeland security. The maintenance [and] upkeep required is considerable and not without a price tagWe are doing right by our Coast Guard in providing them with assets that they need. Last month, SCA applauded the Senate Appropriators for providing $75 million to complete a new survey vessel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and $159 million for the design and construction of three National Science Foundation Regional Class Research Vessels in the FY 2017 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill. The U.S. shipbuilding and repair industry supports more than 500,000 jobs nationwide and contributes more than $39 billion annually to the U.S. economy. According to the U.S. Maritime Administration, there are either direct or induced U.S. shipyard jobs in all 435 Congressional districts. Eric Haun is editor of Marine News. He has covered the commercial maritime and... The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committees FY2017 Defense Appropriations Bill has included $1 billion in funding to accelerate construction of a new polar icebreaker for the U.S. Coast Guard, reported Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). Cochran, who chairs the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said the bill recommends $1 billion in Navy shipbuilding funds to procure the first U.S. Coast Guard-operated icebreaker in more than 25 years. Congress last funded a new icebreaker in the FY1990 Defense Appropriations Act. The U.S. currently relies on just two polar icebreakers, one heavy and one medium vessel. The heavy icebreaker, Polar Star, entered service in 1976 and is well beyond its 30-year service life. In contrast, the Russian fleet consists of roughly 40 operational icebreakers and 11 icebreakers either planned or under construction. Our FY2017 defense funding bill makes a critical investment in the long-delayed expansion of the U.S. icebreaker fleet, Cochran said. We must take assertive action to provide the vessels needed to protect American national security and economic interests in the Arctic region. The United States needs the capability to have year-round access to Polar Regions. The funding for the Polar Icebreaker Recapitalization Project would accelerate plans announced by President Obama last year to shift planned icebreaker construction from 2022 to 2020. In addition to funding, language in the bill would encourage actions to facilitate an earlier construction start and long-range cost savings. Freight rates for shipping containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe jumped 37 percent to $720 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ending on Friday, a person with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. The rise in freight rates on the world's busiest route came after major container shipping companies started to implement earlier announced price hikes around June 1. The shipping industry has been battling overcapacity linked to a glut of new vessels ordered during a boom period before the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. In the week to Friday, container spot freight rates jumped 21.8 percent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean. Maersk Line, the global market leader with a market share of around 15 percent and part of Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, said earlier in May its profit in the first quarter fell 95 percent from a year earlier to $37 million due to weak demand and record low freight rates. Maersk transports around one fifth of all containers shipped from Asia to Europe. Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen EDF Trading, a wholly-owned subsidiary of French power giant EDF, has signed an LNG sales and purchase agreement with Japanese LNG aggregator Jera Co Inc, one of the worlds largest buyers of liquefied natural gas. Jera, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric Power Co., will sell as much as 1.5 million metric tons of LNG between June 2018 and December 2020. According to Bloomberg, Jeras debut as a seller to Europe underscores how the oversupplied market has challenged traditional exporters, who have relied on steady, one-way demand from buyers in countries like Japan, the worlds largest consumer of the fuel. Japans new role as a middleman adds further pressure on LNG producers, who are losing bargaining power because of the glut. Jera will surpass Korea Gas Corp as the world's single biggest buyer of LNG with annual purchases of around 40 million tonnes once it fully integrates its parents' existing fuel procurement contracts from July. The joint venture was set up to buy fuel for power stations. "This agreement broadens our relationship with Jera where we jointly operate a successful coal procurement and trading business in Singapore", said EDFT CEO John Rittenhouse. "LNG is an important fuel for the EDF Group and this is a natural extension of our activities with Jera," he said. Jera's parent firms consumed more than 33 million tonnes of LNG for power generation in the year to the end of March, according to trade ministry data. Japans LNG consumption is expected to fall to 72 million tons in 2020 and 62 million tons in 2030, compared to 85 million tons in 2015, according to data compiled by the government and the International Energy Agency. Global demand is expected to grow by 45 percent between 2014 and 2020, according to a government presentation from earlier this month. The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Friday buoyed by higher demand for capesize vessels. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was up five points, or 0.83 percent, at 606 points. The capesize index gained 37 points, or 4.67 percent, at 830 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $171 to $6,346. The panamax index was down four points, or 0.68 percent, at 582 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $33 to $4,650. Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose four points to 579 points, while the handysize index was flat at 347 points. (Reporting by Harshith Aranya in Bengaluru) Norwegian liner Siem Shipping Inc. has won a one-year contract renewal for a regular weekly service from Ecuador to St. Petersburg, Russia. The contract extension for the service covers seven reefer vessels. The service, which employs seven vessel, is largely for banana trades and has been renewed for an additional year. The company did not, however, disclose any further details on the value of the contracts or expected start date. Star Reefers has been operating between Ecuador and Saint Petersburg for years and recently introduced an interim stop in Vlissingen, Netherlands. The Oslo-listed reefer player has started 2016 strongly with a near eight-fold increase in first quarter net profit. Net income for the quarter was $3.9m versus the $500,000 seen a year ago. The improved result was driven by a near 10% year-on-year increase in revenue to $47.5m, while costs only increased 4% to $8.6m. Haven Marine Services informs it has signed a five year contract with Svitzer which will see the yard service the requirements of Svitzers vessels within the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea areas. Haven Marine Services Managing Director, Steven Arnold, stated, This commitment reinforces Svitzers faith in the capabilities of the facility, based on exemplary service during the past two years. Despite the fact that Haven Marine Services is in its infancy, we have a strong capable management team, backed by an experienced workforce, with several key members who have an association with Svitzer and the servicing of their vessels which goes back over 20 years and this was key in winning this contract. In addition to the Svitzer fleet, further confirmed dockings, include Hanson Aggregates vessels, the Arco Dee and the Arco Dart, and P&O Maritimes research vessel the Prince Madog. The company said it has a further repair and maintenance contract in place with Qinetiq of Aberporth for the service and repair of their target barge fleet. Joint Managing Director, Brian Summons, commented, Its been a challenge to get to this stage, however our hard work and commitment to make the facility a success is now starting to pay off, which is credit to our staff and subcontractors and the excellent work that they deliver. We believe that weve demonstrated that there is a solid future for a ship repair facility in Milford Haven and we will do our utmost to ensure that it continues in order to safeguard jobs and bring much needed revenue into the area. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) s positive effect on capacity being removed from the fleet did not continue into Q2 2016, as capesize demolition came to a halt. The BDI went from devastating in February to poor in April with the highest total demolished DWT ever experienced in the dry bulk market. Unfortunately, BIMCOs earlier claim was realised when demolition activity slowed down as the BDI improved. Chief Shipping Analyst Peter Sand comments, With BDI hitting an all-time low in February 2016, the dry bulk market saw a quarterly record volume of demolished ships in the wake of it. Subsequently, demolition activity came to a halt as BDI increased from March to peak at 703 on 25 April 2016. "Shipowners were reluctant in the last part of 2015 to scrap, despite clear indications from the BDI, but responded positively in 2016; up by 15 % as compared to the first four months of 2015. Demolition age continues to drop The increase in scrapping has also seen the lowest average age in the past five years. The decline goes hand in hand with the increase in scrapping in 2016. Where capesize in 2015 was the main driver lowering the demolition age, it is now the panamax and handymax segments influencing the decline from a combined 25.8 years in 2015 to 23.8 years in 2016. Peter Sand adds, Despite the slowdown in demolition activity in April and May 2016 the decrease in ship demolition age continued from 2015. At an average of 23.3 years today, demolition age has decreased by 20.5 % over the past four years. Focusing on the two larger segments, we see capesize continue its trend towards the 20-year mark, together with panamax. The industry needs to break the trend of halting demolition activity as soon as the BDI improves marginally. We can only improve the fundamental market conditions if shipowners are keeping demolition activity up consistently. TT Club has announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2015, and AM Best affirms its A- (Excellent) rating for the 10th consecutive year. Knud Pontoppidan, Chairman of TT Club, said, After very good years in 2013 and 2014, 2015 was what most might be described as a normal year. Incidents such as Tianjin and a number of cargo-related fires meant the Club experienced a higher number of large claims above $1million than in 2013 and 2014. The positive side of this claims experience was that the Club was able to demonstrate its very high levels of service by assisting Members in handling the claims. Despite the increase in large claims, and the soft rating conditions, the Club continues to be in good shape, Pontoppidan said. The work to improve the health of the insurance book since 2009 has paid off to help to mitigate the increase in large claims in the year and the Clubs rating awarded by AM Best at A- (Excellent) has been affirmed for 2016. The Board and I are pleased with our very high retention levels in 2015 at 93 percent and the feedback we receive from Members and brokers on our service levels. A core element of the Clubs service offering is its approach to the risks faced by our members and the value delivered through the Clubs claims and loss prevention services. As a mutual insurer the Club will continue to work closely with Members to adapt its approach to their needs and deliver services to help them manage their operations more effectively. Hanjin Shipping-operated bulker Hanjin Paradip has been arrested by a South Africa for alleged unpaid charter fees. The 82,158 dwt bulker, which has been used to transport grain and minerals, was detained in Richards Bay on May 24 due to the unpaid charter fees to an unspecified owner. The owner asked a South African court to impound the ship. The company's severe liquidity shortage has prevented it from paying the charter for months. South Korea's Chosun Ilbo quotes a spokesman saying that charter fees on the ship have gone unpaid because "we have yet to receive the money raised by selling ships and equity. We should be able to resolve the problem in negotiations." Hanjin Shipping has entered restructuring. It is negotiating with tonnage providers to get rates cut on its chartered in fleet, a crucial first step outlined by creditors who have warned the line it will face court receivership if it fails to get deals fixed with its tonnage providers. Hanjin operates 95 container ships and 56 bulk carriers, 91 of them chartered from foreign owners. Any disruption in container service could deal as a heavy blow as containers ships are aligned to global shipping network involving a number of clients. A U.S. hospital ship conducted a medical evacuation, or medevac, May 27 to assist an ailing Republic of Korea sailor aboard a Republic of Korea Navy (ROK-N) submarine. At approximately 10:30 a.m. May 26, the Military Sealift Command operated USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) received orders from Commander Task Force (CTF) 73 to render medical assistance to ROK-N submarine SSK Lee Eok Gi (SS 071) in the mid-Pacific. Mercy, which was approximately 18 hours away, altered its track to meet the submarine. Mercy is equipped to provide mobile acute medical and surgical services to deployed forces ashore and at sea, and is currently underway in support of Pacific Partnership 2016. Embarked Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21 launched an MH-60S helicopter from Mercy early May 27, recovered the Korean sailor with a team of expert rescue crewmen including Aircrewman Helicopter Second Class Charles Weaver, Aircrewman Helicopter Second Class Vincent Meza and Aircrewman Helicopter Second Class Benjamin McCracken. The HSC 21 team safely hoisted the sailor from the deck of the surfaced submarine and returned him to the hospital ship where he is currently being treated by medical personnel. The rancorous political debate over sexual identity unexpectedly prompted the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to rejected an energy and water spending bill on Thursday after Democrats attached an amendment to protect the rights of transgender people. The legislation, which would have funded the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Energy in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, failed on a 112-305 vote, with 130 Republicans and 175 Democrats opposing the legislation. The vote outcome was such a surprise that the House Appropriations Committee initially announced that bill had passed and was forced to retract the statement. Democrats blamed Republicans for opposing a Democratic amendment to bar federal contractors from government work if they discriminated against the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual (LGBT) community. Democrats were unable to attach the same measure to a separate House spending bill last week. "In turning against a far-reaching funding bill simply because it affirms protections for LGBT Americans, Republicans have once again lain bare the depths of their bigotry," House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. Republicans zeroed in on the fact that Democrats voted against the bill by 6-175 even though they succeeded in attaching the LGBT amendment to it. House Speaker Paul Ryan accused Democrats of working to "sabotage the appropriations process," telling reporters: "The mere fact that they passed their amendment but voted against the bill containing their amendment proves this point." The White House had already threatened to veto the legislation, and Democrats said on Thursday that it contained a number of "objectionable riders" including three provisions that they said would undermine the Clean Water Act and another that would allow people to carry arms on Army Corps of Engineers land. By David Morgan China COSCO Shipping, which uses bulk carriers and container vessels to transport goods, has seen its cargo business decline amid China's slowdown and has decided to get into the offshore wind power generation business, reports Nikkei. Recently, the Belgian dredging, environmental and marine engineering group DEME DEME and China COSCO have formed a joint venture to develop offshore wind energy in China. As the largest shipping company in the world, China COSCO Shipping wishes to enter this new market segment and has found a partner in DEME's subsidiary GeoSea, with its extensive experience in developing, building and maintaining offshore wind farms. China is looking to the wind as an alternative to coal and oil and plans to boost installed capacity from the current 1 gigawatt to 30Gw by 2020; the Chinese shipping company sees this as an opportunity to expand into new businesses. Alain Bernard, Director and CEO of DEME said: "The joint venture with China COSCO Shipping is a win-win for both parties and will contribute to realising the ambitious Chinese climate objectives. For the year through December 2015, sales at China COSCO Holdings fell 14.2% to 57.4 billion yuan and net profit tumbled 21.8% to 283 million yuan. Blame is being placed mainly on the bulk carrier's deteriorating earnings. SAFE Boats International (SBI), a manufacturer of aluminum boats located in Bremerton, Wash., has completed the first Coastal Interceptor Vessel (CIV) on contract from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO). A naming ceremony was held at SAFE Boats International facilities on Thursday, May 26, 2016 to name the vessel the Alexandria as well as celebrate the first CIV as SBIs 2,000 delivered craft. Invitees to the event included CBP Officials, Congressional staff members, local government officials and business people, equipment suppliers and media. Following the acceptance of this first vessel, AMO intends to acquire up to 52 of the new CIVs to meet emerging Department of Homeland Security mission requirements. The contract, should all options be executed, is valued at over $48 million. The CIV is a 41-foot rugged and highly maneuverable vessel, capable of high speed interceptions in close proximity to other vessels as well as open ocean speeds at well over 54 knots. The CIV can be configured for a number of mission operations including pursuing suspect vessels for the purpose of boarding, searching, and when necessary, arresting violators and seizing the suspect vessel and contraband. SAFE Boats CIV is specifically configured to provide AMO Marine Interdiction Agents a safe working platform with outstanding performance, sea keeping and mission capabilities. The AMO CIV is a variant of the SAFE 41 Interceptor, a commercially available design currently in service with the Royal Bahamian Police, Royal Gibraltar Defense Forces, Colombian Navy and a number of private owners. SAFE Boats is honored to be delivering our milestone 2,000th hull as the first Coastal Interceptor Vessel to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations whose vital mission is to defend our great country, commented Dennis Morris, SBI President and CEO. This is the next phase in a longstanding relationship we have with CBP dating back to 2002, and we are optimistic that other inter-national defense agencies will be interested in the vessel for similar mission requirements. DSC Dredge, LLC, based in Reserve, La., has received the 2016 Presidents E-Star Award for exports. In a ceremony held on May 16, 2016, at the U.S. Department of Commerces headquarters in Washington, D.C., Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker said, These companies demonstrate the opportunity inherent in selling Made-in-America products to the broad customer base that exists outside our borders. Their success contributes to growth, job creation, competitiveness, and the success of the American economy. During her remarks, Secretary Pritzker singled out several companies, including DSC. From Louisiana, we are very pleased to welcome Bob Wetta, president and CEO of DSC Dredge, which has customers in more than 40 countries world-wide, she said. DSC Dredge is only the third company in the programs history to receive a second E-Star Award. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, The Presidents E Award is the highest recognition any U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. In 1961, President Kennedy signed an executive order reviving the World War II E symbol of excellence to honor and provide recognition to America's exporters. The honorees for this years award helped contribute to the export of $2.23 trillion worth of goods and services in 2015, as well as an estimated 11.5 million American jobs supported by exports. When we first received the E Award back in 2008, 50 percent of our revenues that year consisted of exports, says Wetta. Exporting is a major component of DSCs overall growth, and in 2012 we were proud to receive an E-Star Award. Today, in 2016, we are once again deeply honored to receive this prestigious award. Following a further round of discussions on 'Places of Refuge' at the IMO last week, prompted by a submission from the EU Member States, the European Commission, shipowners and the maritime insurance industry, IACS today published recommendations addressing the minimum support services for vessels in need of operational technical support, including vessels in need of a Port of Refuge. These recommendations will be of value to all shipowners, operators and managers when choosing an emergency response service provider by clearly establishing the minimum level of support the service provider can be expected to deliver. By choosing a service provider that meets all the IACS recommendations, shipowners, operators and managers can be confident that the provider will have the required capability to both comply with relevant national and international regulations and guidelines as well provide effective and rapid technical assistance to a ship in a casualty situation. In a ship emergency, a safe course of action to protect the ship, crew, cargo and the marine environment may not be obvious. A ships crew and management need rapid precise technical information on the behaviour of the ship after the casualty as well as information on the consequences of any proposed remedial actions. The aim of an emergency response service is to provide rapid technical assistance to Masters and other authorities in a casualty situation by assessing the damage stability and residual longitudinal strength of the ship. This assistance can only be provided rapidly if: A 24 hour all year round emergency response service is available The calculation results can be provided rapidly by using computer programs Models of the ship are prepared in advance The IACS recommendations provide additional detail on these core elements and can be downloaded,free of charge, from the IACS website at: http://www.iacs.org.uk/document/public/Publications/ Guidelines_and_recommendations/PDF/Rec._No._145_pdf2856.pdf What is a moral panic? In his 1972 book Folk Devils and Moral Panics, the late Stanley Cohen defined a moral panic as the process of arousing social concern over an issue usually the work of moral entrepreneurs and the mass media. (A moral panic occurs when a) condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. Without a doubt, the most bizarre incident of a moral panic in recent memory was the so-called Satanic panic of the 1980s. According to an article by Blake Smith published on the website of award-winning science podcast Skeptoid, the seeds of the panic were sown in the 1970s, when horror films like The Exorcist and The Omen reinvigorated Americas fear of Satanic rituals. Adding fuel to the fire were tell-all books like The Satan Seller by Mike Warnke, who claimed to be a Satanic cult survivor and former cult priest. The stage was set for a moral panic to emerge. Looking back, it should have been no surprise when the daycare center trials began to capture the nations attention. The most famous of these was the McMartin preschool trial. Following accusations in 1983, members of the McMartin family, who operated a California preschool, were arrested and charged with a variety of horrific crimes against children, resulting in a criminal trial lasting from 1987 to 1990 and costing $15 million. At the time, it was the longest, most expensive trial in U.S. history, and it resulted in no convictions. Children at the preschool accused members of the McMartin family of a wide variety of unspeakable acts. The fact that many of those accusations were patently absurd did not deter investigators. Children at the preschool said they saw witches fly. They said they were taken by hot air balloon and underground tunnel to various Satanic ritual sites around the nation. They said they were flushed down toilets into secret chambers. They said they were buried alive in coffins. They said that their abusers even included famous celebrities and politicians, with one child positively identifying action star Chuck Norris as a Satanic cultist. The lives of the McMartins were destroyed, but they wouldnt be the last family to be ruined by the Satanic panic. The Keller family, owners of Oak Hill Daycare in Austin, Texas, were jailed in the early 1990s for similarly outlandish claims, and they werent released from prison until 2013. Obviously, there was no evidence of any of the wild accusations against daycare owners, nor was there any evidence of Satanic cults ritually abusing innocent people. None. It was a literal and metaphorical witch hunt created by frightened people asking young children leading questions and accepting whatever they said in response, even if their claims were totally unsupported or literally impossible. The Satanic panic was fueled in large part by the media. Always on the lookout for a great story, many journalists including, most notably, Geraldo Rivera stoked the fires, breathlessly telling national audiences that Satanic cults were real and were coming after their children. By the mid-1990s, the spell was broken and our nation came to its senses. Geraldo retracted his claims. Mike Warnkes tell-all was revealed to be to put it kindly embellished. Before long, the Satanic panic began to look like a strange, bad dream. Looking back now, it seems almost unimaginable that so many well-meaning people could be led so far astray. As crazy as it seems, its easy to whip people into a frenzy over a moral panic. All you do is tell people that theres a vast segment of humanity that wants to prey on their children. You tell them that these predatory people arent like us theyre outsiders with different values. And you make sure that the talking heads on TV keep the story alive. Is it possible that a moral panic could happen today? Just ask North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, who has cost his state millions of dollars defending a law that allegedly protects North Carolina children from transgender bathroom-goers a statewide crisis that suddenly popped into existence during an election year, conveniently enough. Moral panics still exist, and theyre still absurd. The only difference is, theyre a lot more expensive than they were back in the 80s. In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. 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(Gary Lerude / Flickr) HOLYOKE -- A city pediatric practice has partnered with Boston Children's Hospital, joining a trend of Western Massachusetts offices breaking from local hospitals. Boston Children's Hospital announced this month that Holyoke Pediatric Associates has joined their pediatric physicians' organization, a collective of more than 290 physicians, 100 nurse practitioners and physician assistants collaborating with the hospital. Holyoke Pediatric has offices in Holyoke and South Hadley. The practices have a staff of 70 people - including 13 pediatricians and three nurse practitioners - and sees about 45,000 patients every year. The offices follow in the steps of Amherst Pediatrics and Northampton Area Pediatrics, which announced their partnerships with Boston Children's in February. Holyoke was formerly connected to Baystate Health. Amherst and Northampton left Cooley Dickinson management to partner with Boston Children's. Collectively, the practices see 400,000 infants, children, adolescents and young adults annually. Mike Zwirko, practice administrator for Holyoke Pediatric Associates, said the partnership benefits both staff and patients. "We now have access to the number one rated children's hospital in the world and a relationship with some of the best specialists in the country," he said. The Western Massachusetts health care professionals are now credentialed at Boston Children's, giving pediatricians and nurse practitioners hospital privileges. For over two decades, U.S. News & World Report has rated Boston Children's Hospital one of the top hospitals for pediatric care in the nation, earning a top ranking for cardiology, nephrology, neurology, orthopedics and urology. gitcenterwsd.jpg The new Guitar Center in West Springfield. (JIM KINNEY/ THE REPUBLICAN) WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Guitar Center, a chain that bills itself as the world's largest instrument retailer, is opening a new 12,000-square-foot store and lesson facility at 935 Riverdale St. The store will have a total of 27 employees, of which 22 are newly hired for the West Springfield location, according to Guitar Center. The store features, according to the release: guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments and keyboards, as well as live sound, DJ, lighting and recording equipment. A grand opening event on June 2 at 7 p.m. will feature local pop rock group Maxxtone. The next nearest Guitar Center is in Manchester, Connecticut. The chain has Massachusetts locations in Boston, Braintree, Danvers, Millbury, Natick and North Attleboro. All told, there are 269 locations. Guitar Center founder Wayne Mitchell started off in 1959 by purchasing a small appliance and home organ store, The Organ Center. By 1964, he'd moved to Hollywood selling Vox amplifiers and started calling the business the Vox Store, according to the company's website. The West Springfield location is in the Riverdale Shops, which also hosts a Kohl's and a Stop & Shop. 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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 WORCESTER - Tighe & Bond recently hired Joel Loitherstein, P.E., LSP to support the increasing site assessment and remediation needs of its clients throughout the Northeast. He joins the firm's growing environmental services team in Worcester, with the goal of more completely serving that region. Loitherstein will help manage Tighe & Bond's Massachusetts environmental site assessment and remediation practice, and provide senior Licensed Site Professional (LSP) leadership. He brings more than 40 years of engineering and environmental expertise to his appointment, 20 of which include managing his own environmental services firm. In addition to environmental site assessment and remediation, Loitherstein has expertise in groundwater hydrology and soil mechanics. He has served as LSP-of-Record, and as a neighborhood advocate in support of numerous urban development projects. He also has served as an expert witness for court cases involving state and federal class action cases, and managed complex remedial projects involving negotiation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). Loitherstein is a founder and past president of the LSP Association, and was one of four LSPs selected by MassDEP to develop the first licensing examination. He also has served on several committees organized by MassDEP relative to the licensing of professionals to perform this type of service. In addition, he is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Council of Engineering Companies. Loitherstein's other affiliations include serving on the board of directors of the 495 MetroWest Partnership and the Jewish Community Relations Council. He also has ridden in the Pan Mass Challenge for the past 21 years to raise money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Every year he participates in more than a dozen charity rides including the Livestrong Ride in Austin, Texas. A resident of Ashland, Mass., Loitherstein earned his Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University. He also studied groundwater technology at MIT, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He holds engineering and LSP licenses in Massachusetts. Justin Bieber Justin Bieber arrives at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 22, 2015. A singer-songwriter has sued Bieber and Skrillex for copyright infringement over their multi-platinum song, "Sorry" in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP file photo) Justin Bieber and Skrillex are being accused by indie artist White Hinterland of lifting a vocal loop from her song "Ring the Bell" without permission and using it in the hit "Sorry." White Hinterland, whose real name is Casey Dienel, said the "unique characteristics of the female vocal riff" from her 2014 song is the same as that found on Bieber's track, Billboard reported. "Ring the Bell" has been streamed more than 500,000 times on Spotify - more than any other on White Hinterland's 2014 album "Baby." The copyright infringement suit, filed this week in a federal court in Nashville, also names the co-writers, producer, record label and publishers for "Sorry" as defendants, The Tennessean reported. Dienel is seeking unspecified damages. While Bieber only uses eight seconds of the riff, Casey told the website TMZ that he repeats it six times in the track. However, that is not the only similarity, she said, adding both songs feature keyboard synthesizers, samples, synth bass, drums, and percussion. Each week, MassLive showcases pets available for adoption at shelters at rescue organizations in Western Massachusetts. With the participation of the shelters listed below, many animals should be able to find a permanent home. We also provide some pet related news items that we hope you will enjoy. Whale-finding phone app grows in use, steering mariners away PATRICK WHITTLE, Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- With summer whale watching season fast approaching, conservation advocates and government agencies who want to protect whales say a mobile app designed to help mariners steer clear of the animals is helping keep them alive. The Whale Alert app provides a real-time display of the ocean and the position of the mariner's ship, along with information about where whales have been seen or heard recently. It also provides information on speed restrictions and restricted areas, and recommends routes shippers can take to avoid endangered species such as the blue whale and the North Atlantic right whale. FILE - In this April 10, 2008 file photo, a right whale peers up from the water in Cape Cod Bay near Provincetown, Mass. A mobile phone app designed to help mariners steer clear of endangered whales is growing in popularity, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it's helping keep the giant animals alive. The "Whale Alert" app provides a real-time display of the ocean and the position of the mariner's ship, along with information about where whales have been heard or seen recently. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File) New England whale watching companies are gearing up for summer, and more than a quarter of the entire North Atlantic right whale population visited Cape Cod Bay this season. That means conditions are perfect to get more mariners and the public on board with protecting whales, said Patrick Ramage, whale program director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Andy Hammond, of Martha's Vineyard, is one such mariner. He has used the tool aboard pilot boats to avoid whales in Boston Harbor. "It's all about making sure people understand the regulations and how to operate in certain areas," Hammond said. "It takes the guesswork out." Collisions with high speed ships are one of the leading causes of death for some species of whales, and many mariners often try to navigate around them using outdated equipment. IFAW collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the app, which provides information on both U.S. coasts. Alaskan cruise ships began using it this month. Ramage said more than 33,000 users have downloaded the app, which first came out four years ago, and recent changes -- such as giving civilians the ability to report whale sightings -- have made it more popular. "It is literally a situation where the sort of fog of incomplete data or outmoded equipment can be lifted for the mariner," Ramage said. The app shows a broad area where the whales are located as opposed to a pinpointed location because of concerns about the possibility of recreational boaters attempting to get close to the animal, Ramage said. The app was funded by donations to IFAW, which raised more than $500,000, he said. It's free and can be downloaded by anyone with an iPhone or Android. WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS SHELTERS: Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society Address: 163 Montague Road, Leverett Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Telephone: (413) 548-9898 Website: www.dpvhs.org Address: 171 Union St., Springfield Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Telephone: (413) 781-4000 Website: www.dpvhs.org The following is a video of Trudy, a dog available for adoption at the T.J. O'Connor Animal Adoption and Control Center in Springfield. Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center Address: 627 Cottage St., Springfield Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, noon-4 p.m.; Thursday, noon-7 p.m. Telephone: (413) 781-1484 Website: tjoconnoradoptioncenter.com Westfield Homeless Cat Project Address: 1124 East Mountain Road, Westfield Hours: Adoption clinics, Thursday, 5-7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Website: http://www.whcp.petfinder.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westfieldhomelesscatprojectadoptions Westfield Regional Animal Shelter Address: 178 Apremont Way, Westfield Hours: Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Telephone: (413) 564-3129 Website: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/ma70.html Franklin County Sheriff's Office Regional Dog Shelter and Adoption Center Address: 10 Sandy Lane, Turners Falls Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Telephone: (413) 676-9182 Website: http://fcrdogkennel.org/contact.html Polverari/Southwick Animal Control Facility Address: 11 Depot St., Southwick Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Telephone: (413) 569-5348, ext. 649 Website: http://southwickpolice.com/chief-david-a-ricardis-welcome/animal-control/ Berkshire Humane Society Address: 214 Barker Road, Pittsfield Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Telephone: (413) 447-7878 Website: http://berkshirehumane.org/ Purradise Feline Adoption Address: 301 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington Hours: Monday and Tuesday: Closed; Wednesday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.; Friday,10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Telephone: (413) 717-4244 Website: http://berkshirehumane.org/contact-us/ coast guard beach Coast Guard Beach. (Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism / Flickr) Massachusetts residents do not need to travel far to swim or relax at a great beach this summer. Coast Guard Beach in Eastham was named one of the top 10 beaches in America by Dr. Beach. It received high marks for its picturesque views. Once called "the great beach" by Henry David Thoreau, Coast Guard Beach is a prime location for swimming on Cape Cod. The annual list is released by Stephen P. Leatherman, an expert in coastal sciences and professor at Florida International University. Beaches are judged by 50 categories, from sand softness to intensity of beach use. The 2016 top pick is Hawaii's Hanauma Bay, located inside a breeched volcanic cone on Oahu. "It's one of the most unique beaches in the world, there's no doubt about that," Leatherman told the Associated Press of this year's winner. 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. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, May 27, 2016 ComScore released an infographic in its Advertising Benchmarks series that looks at how ad blocking, invalid traffic and viewability are impacting ad delivery around the world, and what the industry can do to tackle these challenges. Some interesting findings: In the U.S., males 18 to 24 are 100% more likely to block desktop ads than the average U.S. Web consumer. Meanwhile, women of the same age group are only 42% more likely to block ads than the average consumer. That's a pretty big divide. While there's no speculation about that finding, one can draw the conclusion that men are way more impatient than women. Video ads on programmatic exchanges where there is less transparency have invalid traffic rates 4.5x direct buys. Warning lights should be going off right about now. And viewability for desktop display ads ranges from 39% to 50% across markets. In fact, comScore finds that more than half of ads worldwide dont have the opportunity to be seen. Among the 10 markets studied, the U.S. came in at 48% on video viewability, Italy and Spain came in at 49% and Canada at 50%. advertisement advertisement The fact that comScore found that programmatic platforms heighten the problem of invalid traffic should be cause for concern. Its no surprise that the challenge of invalid traffic (IVT) is magnified on programmatic platforms, where there can still be a lack of transparency about inventory quality. As digital ad dollars continue to shift to programmatic, its critical that we incorporate learnings from sophisticated IVT detection into our platforms to help the quality inventory stand out, Duncan Trigg, senior vice president of advertising, comScore, told RTBlog via email. This allows media buyers to take precautionary measures to safeguard campaign delivery up front, in addition to using in-flight sophisticated IVT filtration to evaluate delivery quality throughout the campaign. Its a dual approach that helps advertisers achieve both peace of mind and better ROI, Trigg said. by Thom Forbes , Featured Columnist @tforbes, May 26, 2016 Youd think the claim that a product better enables us to do something in the same efficient wayour species has since wetook to two feet would be a compelling selling point. But it isnt. As an ardent barefoot/minimalist shoe advocate myself, Ive learned that trying to convince the Nike-bedazzled that the vulcanized clodhoppers theyre wearing are unnatural and counterproductive is about as fruitful as telling a tween that life was social before smartphones. And thats why Galahad Clark, a sixth-generation cobbler, as he puts it, sees the need to transform his Vivobarefoot, which has been a minimalist shoe brand since 2004 and a standalone company since 2012, into more and more of a media company than a traditional brand. advertisement advertisement The U.K.-based Vivobarefoot is in the middle of a 30-day Kickstarter campaign to raise 70,000 (about $100,000) for the production of limited quantity of the traditional SAN-dals that are made and worn by persistence hunters in Namibia in an effort to help revive the craft, financially support the local community and introduce the sandals to consumers around the world. Earlier this year, the company conducted a successful crowdfunding campaign, but potential shareholders from the U.S. were frustrated by the legal restrictions which were relaxed earlier this month for anyone who is not an accredited investor. Clark says the company got a lot of pushback from Americans who wanted a way to support his business besides buying its shoes. The story of the vanishing craft of San Bushmen, who have made the sandals from the hide of eland antelopes for thousand of years, proved to be the perfect vehicle. This is a lovely story and Kickstarter is a unique platform to be able to tell that story. At Vivo we believe we have a really big social mission, and if youre into barefoot you really understand that mission. No More 'Lambasting People' Indeed, converts to minimalism ask my friends tend to be a bit overbearing. So, after a few years of admittedly lambasting people with technical arguments, showing off what we know, and sort of shoving it down peoples throats, Vivobarefoot is using social media to create content that aligns with its mission. The point is to create content "that sets off light bulbs rather than you must wear barefoot shoes so that your feet arent deformed and weakened, he says. You almost want people to figure it out in their heads for themselves, as it were, that people can move perfectly naturally without air and gel and medial-arch support. Alas, people dont have any time to read anymore, they definitely dont like being lectured to and cognitive dissonance is a very powerful force especially since were up against some of the sexiest, most established, sparkling companies in the world" -- who spend a lot of money on advertising, endorsements and sponsorships to boot, according to Clark. The result is that, compared to its huge competitors, Vivobarefoot may not be selling a lot of shoes. And, admittedly, its still finding its feet, Clark says, trying to figure out how tightly to target, what its message should be and where to spend its money most effectively at a time when Facebook has become a hell of a lot more expensive. As the Kickstarter campaign continues, Vivobarefoot is publishing blog posts San and The Evolution of Footwear for Foot Health, The Barefoot Academy in the Kalahari and Venturing into the Kalahari, for example to highlight the technology as well as the history of the brand. It also created two viral videos one long; one short to promote the campaign and educate consumers. After a strong launch, the not-for-profit effort is about 60% funded, with fewer than two weeks left. The equity campaign similarly started off with a bang, then had a nerve-inducing lull midstream. We ramped up the effort and the last week was incredible, Clark recalls. I think social media, like crowd exercises, are about momentum. How to reach beyond its incredibly loyal customer base more than 80% own two pairs; 38% five or more to get that momentum going is the millions of s and $$$s question. One you get it, you get it, and youre in, and its very hard to go back, Clark says. But for people to make the switch and go through the transition, they need to get it from an independent truth provider. Our challenge is to set up those independent, truth-provider interactions with people so that theyre not getting their marketing shoved at them by Vivobarefoot. Its sort of a more nuanced cajoling into giving it a go. In signing off, Clark says hes open to any social-media advice I might have, as Vivobarefoot is still learning on the hoof. Everything I know about social media comes from talking with you folks, of course, so feel free to lend your counsel below. by Jess Nelson , May 26, 2016 France has passed a labor reform bill that forbids the use of work emails after work hours, the first country to codify limitations on email communication in the workforce. French companies with fifty or more employees are now banned from using work email during the holidays and weekends, thanks to a new labor law named after Labour Minister Maryam El Khomri. Chapter 25 of the El Khomri law, titled The Adaptation of Work Rights to the Digital Era, includes a set of email regulations to deter work spillover from invading private life. The law mandates that companies define a set of hours when employees should not send any emails. Few would argue that email is not a stress-inducer, and studies point to a correlation between work email and psychological detriment. advertisement advertisement Job-related stress can lead to high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, depression and burnout, according to the American Psychological Association, and the prevalance of work communication via mobile device has only compounded the issue. IDC Research reports that 80% of smartphone users check their mobile devices within 15 minutes of waking up each morning, and 79% have their devices with them 22 hours a day. As the debate over the right to log off rages, email marketers can look to France as a guinea pig for email curfews. Will other countries follow Frances example? Or could this potentially backfire for France and deter companies from basing their business in the nation? An email curfew could also prove disastrous for global brands that work with professionals in varying time zones, causing delays in communication and potentially extending time-to-market. Well just have to wait and see if le droit de la deconnexion, or the right to disconnect, inspires any like-minded nations. by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, May 26, 2016 Two of the co-founders of San Diego-based digital agency Digitaria hope to add some oomph to the business side of the fitness boom. In fact, they hope to revolutionize it with a new app that they believe will do for the fitness business what Expedia and others have done for the travel industry. The app is called Lymber, which features a dynamic pricing algorithm that enables customers to book on-demand fitness classes (or just go to the gym for a workout) from a menu of options. Prices will vary depending upon the popularity of a particular class or teacher, how full the class is at the time of booking and other factors. Both Doug Hecht, the former COO of Digitaria and Chuck Phillips, the former Chief Technology Officer, left the agencynow part of J. Walter Thompsons Mirum--last year. The app is currently in beta test mode in Los Angeles and San Diego and is scheduled to formally launch in the two markets next month. Plans call for a rollout to about 15 major markets including New York, Chicago, Dallas and Denver by years end. advertisement advertisement The Lymber pricing model is an alternative to existing apps that charge membership fees. The problem with that model, as Hecht sees it, is that theyre relying on breakage and essentially hope that people dont show up, because the membership-based app purveyors have to pay their gyms and studios each time a person takes a class. Hecht likens it to an all you can eat model for the customers. The more classes they take the less profit remains from the membership fees collected. The Lymber model, says Hecht is a win win for all involvedthe customers who pay as they go and thus tie usage to their specific needs, the studios and gyms that theoretically gain fuller classes and Lymber which receives a percentage (averaging around 25%) of each class or session sold. But the affiliate fitness centers get more than additional class participants. They receive an analytics package that lets them compare their sales to sales of competitors as well as insights into how to improve performance. Customers using the app can also keep track of their fitness goals. They can also monitor their budgetsthe app keeps track of classes theyve purchased and attended and how much theyve paid. The app currently has a couple hundred participating gyms and studios in Los Angeles and San Diego and facilities are being added each day and will grow exponentially as the app rolls out to other markets. The technology is built so scaling is simple and we expect it to be a quick process, Phillips said. The app interfaces with third party software providers such as mindbodyonline.com to keep track of classes and availabilities. But for fitness affiliates that dont use outside software, Lymber can provide a direct link. For now the app is iOS although an Android version is in development and there will be a website from the start where Android users can access the apps services. Participating fitness centers and studios run the gamut from spinning, yoga, Pilates, regular gyms, ballet and even pole dancing. The app is being funded by Seed San Diego, one of the city's leading venture capitalist groups, which counts Taner Haligioglu, Facebook's first non-founding employee, as one of its principals. Currently the company has received $1.1 million in funding and may get more. Given the agency backgrounds of Hecht and Phillips its no surprise that marketing plans are being formulated in house. Theyll include referral programs, social media, direct marketing and other channels. Nothing is really off the table, said Hecht. by Barbara Lippert , Featured Columnist, May 26, 2016 Every industry has its absurdities, and also its cynical insiders who go on to reveal its secrets. In his memoir Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman famously summed up Hollywood and also pretty much every other business entity around by saying Nobody knows anything. Nowhere is that case made more transparent (to use another meaningless buzzword) than in Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble, by Dan Lyons, which was released last month and is already a bestseller. Lyons is in a position to know. Unceremoniously dumped as he puts it, as the technology editor of Newsweek (hey, dude, it was sold for a dollar!) the gray-haired, then 50-year-old father of young twins, with a wife who wasnt working at the time, does what many out-of-work, former star reporters do: he joins the people on the other side of the curtain, in the booming wealth-making industry he used to cover (sometimes covetously.) Hes there for the money, thinking, hey, how hard can this be? advertisement advertisement In this case, he lands a job at HubSpot, a Boston start-up that sells cloud-based software to marketers. Located in a handsome, artfully restored, old red-brick-walled industrial factory, the company lives up to every cliche in the known digital world. (Beanbag chairs, nap rooms, free beer, rows and rows of earbud-wearing, low-paid Millennial slaves manning the galleys, etc.) Churn baby, churn. The book is a fantastic read. Though it does bog down and get repetitive in the middle, seldom has the world of second-generation start-ups been described in a micro, day-by-day basis with such perceptive skill. Actually, thats not true either. The same sort of masterly observations are dramatized on HBOs Silicon Valley, for which Lyons left HubSpot (also unceremoniously) to become one of the writers. Set in Palo Alto but using the term Silicon Valley broadly, the nerd/bro-based show is hilarious, in a deadpan Office Space way that suggests it has to be a parody. But the sad thing is, its not even exaggerated. In a writing room that also includes Dick Costolo of Twitter fame, Lyons is on board for Seasons 2 and 3. It seems he contributes some of the Orwellian nuggets freshly mined from this book, like using the term graduated for fired. In an almost-daily happening at HubSpot, the whole company gets a peppy corporate email that announces we are super excited to see what [graduated guy] does with his superpowers on his next rock star adventure. Also, since unlimited vacation is one of the perks, that means you dont get paid for the days you never took while trying to make your impossibly punishing numbers. Previously, as a tech writer at Forbes, Lyons got semi-famous writing the Fake Steve Jobs blog, which was so good that some thought it had to have been written by an Apple insider. So there is no one in the known universe in a better position to skewer the mix of frat house/kindergarten/ Scientology culture that is the modern start-up. Journalists are generally a dark, sardonic bunch, so I was beaming and nodding my head in delightion over what Lyons made of all the nonsense, group-think language. Yes, delightion is one of the HubSpot co-founders favorite terms. Another is one-plus-one equals three. In meetings, HubSpot staffers would ask, Yes, but is it one-plus-one equals three enough? This is the kind of stuff that makes your skin crawl if youre not drinking the company Kool-Aid. Actually, I have had the same experiences interviewing some of these start-up guys (and they are nearly always guys.) I remember a terrible Emperors New Clothes moment, interviewing someone who was about to release one of the stupidest, most offensive Super Bowl spots of all time, and he didnt have a clue. Then again, Lyons himself can get mighty annoying. We hear that he used to work at Newsweek, wear a suit, have an office, and interview Bill Gates, a few too many times. Yes, his talents and potential at HubSpot were horribly wasted and mismanaged. Still, the founders of the company took him in and paid him well. It becomes clear that HubSpot is one of these second-generation start-ups that is hardly progressive or world-changing its pretty much the opposite. Its pedestrian software is buggy, and no matter how many euphemisms you come up with for spam, thats what theyre selling. Rather, it exists more as a financial instrument, a sales and marketing operation that has to scale quickly, to get to an IPO for a several-billion-dollar valuation, while the company itself still operates in the red. So you inspire all the terribly paid sales and marketing serfs with company games, candy walls and orange hammocks to keep it going. Lyons at one point testily says to one of the Millennials, You guys are the first generation thats willing to work for free candy. My generation would never have fallen for that. We wanted to get paid in actual money. She responds that candy doesnt cost much, that she probably would not be paid more without it, and that it makes work fun. Its hardly this kids fault that this culture exists, of having to endure a tour of duty with no security at all, and companies who have no idea how to manage, skirt the rules, and fire staff willy-nilly without appreciating their hard work or loyalty. Still, after a while, you just want to shake this guy and say, Hey, youre staying there for the same reason that the higher-ups are pumping up the staff: for the money! In the end, HubSpot did go public, and Lyons ended up extracting about $60k from his shares. Thats lunch money by Wall Street standards, but to the rest of us working stiffs, its a pretty nice chunk of change to receive as gravy. Lyons also makes terrible fun of the sad frat sales bros who are working the phones for chump change and free beer, in what are little more than 70s style call centers. As a writer for HBO, Lyons lives in a much more exclusive world thats no less bro-y. So he delights in the fact that the "Silicon Valley" show writers are obsessed with dick jokes. So much so, in fact, that in the last episode I watched, they went to the trouble and expense of having a scene with actual equine intercourse happening in the background and believe me, its quite a diversion. (I suppose it could be a metaphor for the flummoxed Richard character seeking out an answer from his race-horse-collecting new boss and not getting one.) Frankly, though, I found it gratuitous. This is the kind of stuff that only very privileged boys get to do. But back to HubSpot. The most depressing takeaway is that in this new tech economy, a company doesnt need to become profitable, or make anything that works very well. It just needs to get big fast, stage its initial public offering and pay out for investors while the rest of us are left holding the bag, and waiting for the bubble to burst. by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, May 27, 2016 Hillary Clinton is marshaling her ad strategy against Trump. Last week, the pro-Clinton group Priorities USA released two anti-Trump ads focused on a general election strategy: keep the spotlight on his offensive comments about women. The ads, Speak and Respect, focus on Donald Trumps relationship with women. Backed by a $6 million buy, the spots are expected to run for the next two weeks in Nevada, Ohio, Florida and Virginia. Ace Metrix took a look at the relative success of both. (Respondents rate ads that represent persuasion actions, such as attention, impact, information.) Speak closely resembles another anti-Trump ad from back in March titled Quotes, where women read deeply troubling comments he made about women. Quotes was released by conservative anti-Trump group Our Principles PAC. advertisement advertisement The main difference with Speak is Donald Trumps voice replaces that of the woman or man on screen. Between the two, among Democrats and Independents, Quotes, the version from Our Principles PAC did best, scoring a significantly higher Ace score in both groups. Speak, the pro-Clinton ad with Trump quotes, did better with Democrats than Independents. That Independent vote, however, will be crucial in November, and Clinton is slightly behind Trump among those voters. Respect, which takes comparatively more advantage of creative opportunities, in that it uses a mix of text and various scenes to frame Trump quotes, was most effective for Independent millennial female voters. It registered a 579 Ace score in that group, far above the norm of 460. Trump and his campaign have been marred by questionable interactions and comments about women. Even direct attacks from Trump on Hillary Clinton are woefully plastered with sexism: The only card she has is the womans card. Shes got nothing else to offer. And frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I dont think shed get 5% of the vote. The DNC and Hillary Clinton, should she win the nomination (she is 74 delegates short), will pepper Trump throughout the general election about his lengthy rap sheet regarding his boorish relationships with women. Even though the campaign has enlisted Trumps daughter Ivanka to allay the talk of misogyny, Democrats and Republicans opposed to Trump can be expected to step up the charge. Women, the largest demographic group in the United States, will play a crucial role come November. As the first female nominee of a major political party, Hillary Clinton will look to solidly rally her demographic. by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, May 27, 2016 Facebook and Microsoft will lay a cable across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean that allows the two companies to transmit massive amounts of information to and from their data centers to support online services. MAREA, a state-of-the art sub-sea cable across the Atlantic, will help meet customer demand for high speed, reliable connections for cloud and online services for Microsoft, Facebook and their customers, writes Frank Rey, director of Global Network Acquisition, Microsoft Cloud Infrastructure and Operations, in a post. The new 6,600 km submarine cable system, operated and managed by Telxius, becomes the first to connect the United States to Southern Europe -- from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Bilbao, Spain and then beyond to network hubs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. advertisement advertisement The project will begin in in August 2016 with completion expected in October 2017. When finished, the underwater cable will have the capacity to transfer data from one location to another in speeds of up to 160 terabits per second of bandwidth, about 16 million times the bandwidth of a typical home Internet connection It will allow the two companies to move enormous amounts of information between the many computer data centers and network hubs that underpin their online offerings, from advertising to cloud services. Rey explains that the open design that allows it to connect with a variety of networking equipment should help to lower costs and make it easier to upgrade equipment when needed, which leads to faster growth in bandwidth rates since the system can evolve at the pace of optical technology innovation. That's a critical component when building and maintaining cloud infrastructures. Laying the foundation for this cloud infrastructure, Microsoft built and began testing an underwater data center last year. Dubbed Project Natick, the strategy aimed to help Microsoft researchers better understand the benefits and difficulties in deploying subsea data centers worldwide. It would move the data centers powering cloud services like streaming video, search support, and the ability to serve advertisements in a variety of media across the Web. by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, May 27, 2016 The final round of the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN Thursday night was great TV -- and also a potent illustration of the value of live television. This final round pitted an 11 year-old from Austin, Texas (Nahir Janga, pictured at left), against a 13-year-old from a town near Corning, N.Y. called Painted Post (Jairam Hathwar, right). Their faceoff was supposed to winnow the two down to one. But there was a problem: The two boys were so focused, so competitive and so doggone accomplished in their spelling skills that neither would yield. In the end, a 25-round final -- which had been designed by the Bees organizers in order to prevent a tie -- did not work. advertisement advertisement So the two ended up sharing the title -- an outcome that no one could argue with. As the 25-round faceoff approached the 20-round mark, one of the commentators said aloud what viewers at home were thinking: Neither one of these boys deserves to lose. Why? Because their accomplishments defied belief. At this point in this national spelling competition, the words are notable for their obscurity, and for arrangements of letters that would be unexpected by most of us, including: Kjeldahl (a method for determining the presence of nitrogen in chemical substances), groenedael (a Belgian dog breed) and Euchologion (the name of a book in Greek Orthodox liturgy). The contestants dont have to know in advance what the words mean, although it became evident that they were familiar with many of them. But their real genius lay in the way they doped out the spelling by quizzing the quizmaster about the words definitions, their national and/or linguistic origins, and alternative pronunciations. Watching them then spell these words correctly, based on the information they had received, was edge-of-your-seat television, particularly because most, if not all of us watching at home would never have come close to the correct spelling of these words. The telecast captured it all -- the suspense of the competition, the expressions on the faces of family members in the audience, the reactions of Nahir and Jairam as they watched each other triumph through the grueling 25-round final. The two boys congratulated each other after each spelling triumph. At one point, a TV camera found Jairams grandmother in the audience. She had come all the way from Bangalore to this venue in Oxon Hill, Md., to watch her grandson compete. She beamed as he spelled another seemingly impossible word correctly. A commentator informed us she made the same trip in 2014 to watch Jairams older brother, Sriram, be crowned co-champion. This years tie was the third consecutive Spelling Bee with co-champions. The telecast was inspirational, aspirational TV. As they have been for the last nine consecutive years (and 14 of the last 19), the winners are the children of Indian immigrants. The feeling of pride you got watching their spelling mastery was priceless, and you had TV to thank for it. The two winners reactions while they celebrated onstage with family members after they both won were priceless too. When asked how he felt about the win, Nihar said: Im just speechless. I cant say anything. I mean, Im only in fifth grade! It was a great moment in television, and anyone who saw it should count him- or herself lucky to have been a part of it. by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, May 27, 2016 Facebook, Google and other Web companies that use facial recognition technology to identify people could get a big boost in ongoing privacy battles, if an Illinois state senator succeeds in amending an 8-year-old privacy law. The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act requires companies to obtain written releases from people before collecting certain biometric data, including scans of "face geometry." The measure also requires companies that gather biometric data to notify people about the practice, and to publish a schedule for destroying the information. Yesterday, state Senator Terry Link, who introduced the measure back in 2008, proposed a revision that could protect Facebook, Google, Shutterfly and others from lawsuits. Link's amendment specifies that "scans of facial geometry" are only covered by the law when data has been gathered via "an in-person process whereby a part of the body is traversed by a detector or an electronic beam." advertisement advertisement The amendment also states that digital photos, as well as physical ones, are excluded from the definition of biometric identifiers. Not surprisingly, Facebook cheered Link's move. "We appreciate Sen. Links effort to clarify the scope of the law he authored," a Facebook representative reportedly told The Verge. Facebook, Google and Shutterfly have all been sued in the last year for allegedly violating the Illinois law. The companies argued that the cases should be dismissed for numerous reasons, including that the law wasn't meant to apply to faceprints derived from photos. Facebook specifically argued that the measure the law only covers "face geometry" when it's based on something other than photos, like in-person scans. So far, judges have interpreted the law more broadly. Most recently, U.S. District Court Judge James Donato in San Francisco ruled in May that Facebook's argument was inconsistent with the law's purpose. If passed, the amendment seems certain to protect online photo services from new lawsuits over facial recognition initiatives. "There's no question this is designed to gut the law," Alvaro Bedoya, executive director of Georgetown Law School's Center on Privacy & Technology, tells MediaPost. He adds that no widely used facial recognition technology relies only on lasers. "It just doesn't exist," he says. A barrier to successful transplantation of lab-grown organs and tissue is the inability to generate a viable network of blood vessels that integrates the new tissue into the patient. Now, a new way of growing blood vessels that uses patient-derived 3-D scaffolds as opposed to artificial ones could meet this need and deliver a significant boost to regenerative medicine. Share on Pinterest The researchers found that the lab-generated blood vessels (in green) were able to make new connections with sprouts protruding from the rat aorta tissue (in red). Image credit: Tiago Fortunato/University of Bath Researchers from the University of Bath and the Bristol Heart Institute, both in the United Kingdom, describe their new technique for growing 3-D blood vessels in the journal Scientific Reports. They suggest because their method of growing blood vessels in a 3-D scaffold uses cells from the patient, it reduces the risk of transplant rejection. The idea of regenerative medicine is to replace damaged organs and tissues in patients with new ones. Ideally, these should be generated using material derived from the patient, so as to reduce the risk of rejection by the immune system. An ideal application of such tissue engineering is heart failure, where the heart cannot pump enough blood around the body because the heart muscle has become weak or stiff. In theory, new heart muscle engineered in the lab could be transplanted to replace the worn out tissue in the patient. However, in practice, regenerative medicine is held back because of problems with generating a blood supply to the new tissue. Dr. Giordano Pula, research team leader and lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Bath, explains: A major challenge in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is providing the new tissue with a network of blood vessels, and linking this to the patients existing blood supply; this is vital for the tissues survival and integration with adjacent tissues. The rise and fall of alcohol-related mortality in Scotland is partly due to changes in affordability, according to reports published in Public Health. New research has found that the rise in alcohol-related mortality during the 1990s and early 2000s in Scotland, and the subsequent decline, were likely to be explained in part by increasing then decreasing alcohol affordability. The research was undertaken to understand better what the independent impact of the Scottish Government's alcohol strategy was. Other factors aside from the strategy and the affordability of alcohol were also considered including migration, historical social, economic and political change, the alcohol market, social norms, and health services. "Alcohol has been suggested to be the most harmful substance misused in societies when wider harms on health and social outcomes such as violence and reduced economic output, are taken into account," explained lead investigator Dr. Gerry McCartney of NHS Health Scotland, Glasgow, UK. "Our work evaluated the extent to which differing trends in income, demographic change, and the consequences of an earlier period of social, economic, and political change might explain differences in the magnitude and trends in alcohol-related mortality between 1991 and 2011 in Scotland compared to England & Wales. We found that increasing alcohol affordability during the 1990s is likely to have been important in explaining the rise in alcohol-related harms. It also seems likely that a generation of people negatively affected by the rapidly changing economy during the 1980s was subsequently at particularly high risk. We hypothesized that this was linked to the rise in unemployment and the breaking down of the social fabric in many communities following on from the changed government approach." The research team used a variety of methods including literature review, descriptive analysis of routine data, narrative synthesis, comparative time trend analyses, and arithmetic modelling. "Given the likely importance of alcohol affordability in driving the downward trend in alcohol-related mortality, any future increase in incomes or decline in prices might be expected to increase alcohol-related harms in Scotland once again, commented Dr. McCartney. "The most recent trends in consumption, harms, and alcohol affordability provide an early indication of this. It is therefore important that a comprehensive range of alcohol control policies is in place to prevent this." Articles: Explaining trends in alcohol-related harms in Scotland, 1991-2011 (I): the role of incomes, effects of socio-economic and political adversity and demographic change, G. McCartney, J. Bouttell, N. Craig, P. Craig, L. Graham F. Lakha, J. Lewsey, R. McAdams, M. MacPherson, J. Minton, J. Parkinson, M. Robinson, D. Shipton, M. Taulbut, D. Walsh, and C. Beeston, Public Health, doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2015.12.013, published online 23 February 2016. Explaining trends in alcohol-related harms in Scotland 1991-2011 (II): policy, social norms, the alcohol market, clinical changes and a synthesis, G. McCartney, J. Bouttell, N. Craig, P. Craig, L. Graham F. Lakha, J. Lewsey, R. McAdams, M. MacPherson, J. Minton, J. Parkinson, M. Robinson, D. Shipton, M. Taulbut, D. Walsh, and C. Beeston, Public Health, doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2015.12.012, published online 24 February 2016. A study aimed at detecting the genetic triggers of autism spectrum disorder has uncovered a new gene mutation, which could lead to better diagnosis and treatment outcomes. The investigation was led by Associate Professor Julian Heng from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, who heads the Brain Growth and Disease Laboratory. The research revealed a connection between autism spectrum disorder and mutations to a gene known as DENR. Associate Professor Heng said the research involved two unrelated patients with autism spectrum disorder, each had different genetic mutations that changed the way the DENR gene functioned. The study found that foetal brain development seems to be disrupted by the DENR gene malfunction, which appears to affect the assembly of neural circuits in the brain. Associate Professor Heng said that by uncovering the ways genes such as DENR shapes brain development, it is hoped that scientists might be able to recognise how the autistic brain is unique. "By recognising what is unique amongst children with an autism spectrum disorder, it will enable us to diagnose autism earlier and intervene earlier. We know that early intervention is critically important to the management of mental health conditions such as autism," Associate Professor Heng said. "Finding the genetic triggers of brain developmental disorders helps us identify what typically occurs during brain assembly and what are the most important elements required for a great start to life and good mental health." Associate Professor Heng said this sort of research can improve the genetic diagnostic precision for autism, and can also lead to innovative treatments in coming years. "We believe that by studying genes such as DENR in the context of brain development, we might be able to tinker with this element to improve our mental health," Associate Professor Heng said. This study involved research teams from Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom and was published this week in the prestigious journal Cell Reports. Babies find it easier to learn words with repetitive syllables rather than mixed sounds, a study suggests. Assessments of language learning in 18-month-olds suggest that children are better at grasping the names of objects with repeated syllables, over words with non-identical syllables. Researchers say the study may help explain why some words or phrases, such as 'train' and 'good night', have given rise to versions with repeated syllables, such as choo-choo and night-night. The researchers say such words are easier for infants to learn, and may provide them with a starter point for vocabulary learning. A team from the University of Edinburgh assessed the infants' language learning behaviour in a series of visual and attention tests using pictures on a computer screen of two unfamiliar objects. The two objects were named with made-up words which were communicated to the infants by a recorded voice - one with two identical syllables, for example neenee, and the other without repeated syllables, such as bolay. The infants were then tested for their recognition of each made-up word. Recordings of their eye movements showed they looked more reliably at the object labelled with repeated syllables, than the other object. Researchers validated their results with a control test, in which the infants responded to pictures of familiar objects - such as a dog or an apple. Previous studies show that infants more easily learn patterns involving repetition in visual sequences and musical notes. Researchers say these latest findings show that this tendency also applies to word learning. Lead researcher Mitsuhiko Ota, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: "This is the first evidence to show that infants have a strong bias in learning new words. It also shows that there may be a good reason why in so many cultures across the world, existing adult words and expressions are replaced by words with repeated syllables in baby-talk vocabulary. Some examples could be tum-tum, mama, dada, din-din and wee-wee. " The study is published in the journal Language Learning and Development. The research is supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Article: Reduplicated Words Are Easier to Learn, Mitsuhiko Ota & Barbora Skarabela, Language Learning and Development, doi: 10.1080/15475441.2016.1165100, published online 25 May 2016. A team led by Oxford University has identified genes that make certain children more susceptible to invasive bacterial infections by performing a large genome-wide association study in African children. Bacteraemia, bacterial infection of the bloodstream, is a major cause of illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa but little is known about whether human genetics play a part. The leading bacterial cause of death in young children worldwide is Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), and 14.5 million episodes of serious pneumococcal disease occur in young children annually. A global network of researchers, coordinated from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford, therefore carried out a genome-wide association study to identify which genes might be associated with an increased likelihood of developing bacteraemia. Dr Anna Rautanen from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford, said: 'A key question is why only a proportion of individuals develop invasive disease despite widespread exposure and asymptomatic carriage of bacteria. We know that genetic differences contribute to individuals' chances of developing more serious disease. However, the relevant genes for bacteraemia susceptibility remain largely unknown.' The study looked at DNA samples from more than 4,500 Kenyan children from the Kilifi area, where Oxford and the Welcome Trust have a joint research centre with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and where there is a high occurrence of bacteraemia. Just over 4000 children were healthy, while slightly more than 500 had pneumococcal bacteraemia. The study found an area of two long intergenic noncoding RNA (lincRNA) genes that was associated with susceptibility to pneumococcal bacteraemia. LincRNAs are RNA transcripts that are longer than 200 nucleotides but are not translated into proteins. LincRNAs are still little understood, although it is believed that the human genome has more than 10,000 of them. Dr Rautanen said: 'One of the associated lincRNA genes, called AC011288.2, is expressed only in neutrophils, cells that are known to have a key role in clearing pneumococcal disease. Although the role of lincRNAs in human infections is unknown, recent mouse studies have indicated that some lincRNAs can act in immune cells to regulate an individual's susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections. 'The genetic variants we identified are found only in African populations. This is one of only a few large scale genetic studies carried out in Africa, and the results show why such studies must be carried out in diverse populations. 'Critically, the genetic variants we have identified carry a doubled risk of developing bacteraemia when infected with the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria. This discovery therefore provides clues in the pressing search for new ways to target the disease.' It is not surprising that a good night's sleep improves our ability to remember what we learned during the day. Now, researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan have discovered a brain circuit that governs how certain memories are consolidated in the brain during sleep. Published in Science magazine, the study shows how experimentally manipulating the identified neural connection during non-REM sleep (deep sleep) can prevent or enhance memory retention in mice. The team led by Masanori Murayama studied the long-known phenomenon of memory consolidation during sleep by building off their recent study on tactile perception in which they found that perceiving texture requires signaling within a neural circuit from higher-level motor-related brain regions back to lower-level touch-related sensory areas. They reasoned that the same "top-down" pathway might also consolidate memories of textures. Explains Murayama, "There is a long standing hypothesis that top-down input is crucial for memory consolidation and that during sleep, neurons in sensory regions activated during the initial experience can "reactivate" by unknown pathways. We found such reactivation of the top-down pathway is critical for mice to encode memories of their tactile experiences." The researchers developed a task to assess memory retention that relies on the natural inclination of mice to spend more time investigating new items in their environment. First they allowed mice to explore objects in two rooms with smooth floors, then they changed one of the smooth floors to a textured floor and again allowed the mice to explore. With normal sleep, mice spent more time exploring the room with the textured floor, showing that they remembered the smooth room and were less interested in it. Typically, this behavior was observed as long as the second exploration occurred within two days. To examine whether the top down circuit was responsible for memory consolidation during sleep, they manipulated the mice in several ways. First, they showed that sleep deprivation immediately following the first tactile experience caused mice to explore the textured room less often on the second exploration, indicating that they did not remember the smooth room. Next, they inactivated the top-down neural pathway during non-REM sleep shortly after the first exploration and found that during the second exploration, mice performed as if they had been sleep deprived. Silencing the top-down pathway when mice were awake or during non-REM sleep at later times had no effect on performance, indicating that memory consolidation happened in the first bout of non-REM sleep after the experience. The importance of top-down circuit activation in non-REM sleep suggested that memory consolidation might involve synchronous slow wave brain activity between the two brain regions that is characteristic of non-REM sleep. To test this, they artificially applied synchronous or asynchronous activity in the higher and lower regions of the circuit during non-REM sleep after the first tactile experience. Mice with asynchronous activation were unable to consolidate memories, but synchronous activation allowed them to retain a strong memory of the smooth floor for at least 4 days or twice as long as normal. The synchronous treatment even rescued the typical lack of memory retention in sleep-deprived mice. "Our findings on sleep deprivation are particularly interesting from a clinical perspective," says Murayama. "Patients who suffer from sleep disorders often have impaired memory functions. Our findings suggest a route to therapy using transcortical magnetic or direct-current stimulation to top down cortical pathways to reactivate sleep-deprived neurons during non-REM sleep. Our next step is to test this in mouse models of sleep-disorders. Advertisement "We were inspired by what is done illegally, underground, on the web fora," study co-author Vincent Varlet, a biochemist and toxicologist from the University Center of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, Switzerland, told AFP. "Normally, they use this form of cannabinoids to get high. Based on what is done illegally, we found that it could be interesting for the medical field."The method yields super-concentrated 'dabs' of butane hash oil (BHO) - comprising about 70-80% THCa - the precursor of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the psychoactive ingredient. THCa is transformed into THC at high heat.Usually the dabs are burnt and the fumes inhaled. But for the study, the team mixed their activated BHO paste into commercially-available e-cigarette liquid at different concentrations - three, five or 10%. They then put 'vaping machines' to work: sucking at the e-cigarettes and blowing out vapor, which was measured for its THC content, according to results published in the journal"Cannavaping appears to be a gentle, efficient, user-friendly and safe alternative method for cannabis smoking for medical cannabis delivery," the team concluded with a nod to 'the creativity of cannabis users'. "It was also more reliable than consuming cannabinoid pills or foods which are poorly and erratically absorbed," said Varlet.Cannabis-infused e-liquids are advertised online, along with a rash of recipes for making your own."A challenge," said Varlet, "was to keep cannabis intended for therapeutic use out of the hands of recreational high-seekers." One way to do that was to have legal drugs with microdoses of cannabinoids."We have calculated that to have the same dose of what is present in a real cigarette joint. With tobacco, we have to vape between 80-90 puffs of the 10% BHO liquid," said Varlet. "80 puffs constitutes a rebuttal to getting high," he added, when a few drags from a joint will do."The take-home message of our article is that vaping is less harmful than smoking, so you can be sure that cannavaping is less harmful than cannabis smoking for medical purposes," said Varlet, adding there was no plan to patent or sell the product. "Today, we have set the cat among the pigeons. This is just the first step, and we need to see how the scientific community is going to welcome this kind of possibility.""Whilst vaping cannabis substances does indeed remove the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, my concerns about vaping cannabis would be around the use of flavored cannabis e-cigarettes that could be more popular among younger people," said Michael Bloomfield, a psychiatry lecturer at University College London.David Nutt of Imperial College London said it was a 'great idea, but would be illegal in the UK currently'.Source: AFP Advertisement The new method, described online on May 26 in, takes a picture of all the active neurons in the brain at a specific time. The mouse brain contains dozens of millions of neurons, and a typical image depicts the activity of approximately one million neurons, says Tessier-Lavigne. "The purpose of the technique is to accelerate our understanding of how the brain works.""Because of the nature of our technique, we cannot visualize live brain activity over time--we only see neurons that are active at the specific time we took the snapshot," says Eliza Adams, a graduate student in Tessier-Lavigne's lab and co-author of the study. "But what we gain in this trade-off is a comprehensive view of most neurons in the brain, and the ability to compare these active neuronal populations between snapshots in a robust and unbiased manner."Here's how the tool works: The researchers expose a mouse to a situation that would provoke altered brain activity--such as taking an anti-psychotic drug, brushing whiskers against an object while exploring, and parenting a pup--then make the measurement after a pause. The pause is important, explains Renier, because the technique measures neuron activity indirectly, via the translation of neuronal genes into proteins, which takes about 30 minutes to occur.The researchers then treat the brain to make it transparent--following an improved version of a protocol called iDISCO, developed by Zhuhao Wu, a postdoctoral associate in the Tessier-Lavigne lab--and visualize it using light-sheet microscopy, which takes the snapshot of all active neurons in 3D.To determine where an active neuron is located within the brain, Christoph Kirst, a fellow in Rockefeller's Center for Studies in Physics and Biology, developed software to detect the active neurons and to automatically map the snapshot to a 3D atlas of the mouse brain, generated by the Allen Brain Institute.Although each snapshot of brain activity typically includes about one million active neurons, researchers can sift through that mass of data relatively quickly if they compare one snapshot to another snapshot, says Renier. By eliminating the neurons that are active in both images, researchers are left only those specific to each one, enabling them to home in on what is unique to each state.The primary purpose of the tool, he adds, is to help researchers generate hypotheses about how the brain functions that then can be tested in other experiments. For instance, using their new techniques, the researchers, in collaboration with Catherine Dulac and other scientists at Harvard University, observed that when an adult mouse encounters a pup, a region of its brain known to be active during parenting--called the medial pre-optic nucleus, or MPO--lights up. But they also observed that, after the MPO area becomes activated, there is less activity in the cortical amygdala, an area that processes aversive responses, which they found to be directly connected to the MPO "parenting region"."Our hypothesis," says Renier, "is that parenting neurons put the brake on activity in the fear region, which may suppress aversive responses the mice may have towards pups." Indeed, mice that are being aggressive to pups tend to show more activity in the cortical amygdala.To test this idea, the next step is to block the activity of this brain region to see if this reduces aggression in the mice, says Renier.The technique also has broader implications than simply looking at what areas of the mouse brain are active in different situations, he adds. It could be used to map brain activity in response to any biological change, such as the spread of a drug or disease, or even to explore how the brain makes decisions. "You can use the same strategy to map anything you want in the mouse brain," says Renier.Source: Eurekalert Some air pollutants are poisonous; inhalation of polluted air causes respiratory diseases such as asthma , heart diseases, changes in lung function, and also death. Long term exposure to polluted air can compromise the growth (especially lung development) in children. Air pollution is not restricted to the external environment: indoor pollution is also hazardous to health. Air pollution refers to the presence of solid particles and gases in the air. Pollutants may be natural or manmade. These pollutants cause discomfort, disease, or death to humans. Other living organisms are also affected. The atmosphere is a dynamic complex mixture of gases that is vital for sustaining life on Earth. Emissions from vehicles, factories, dust, pollen and mould spores may be suspended as particles. Pollutants Air pollutants may be solid particles, liquid droplets, or gases; they may be natural or man-made. Primary pollutants are produced directly through a process, for example carbon monoxide gas expelled by vehicles. Secondary pollutants are produced as a result of the interaction or reaction of primary air pollutants. For instance ground level ozone gas is a secondary pollutant. Major primary air pollutants are- Sulphur oxides, esp. sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) ) Nitrogen oxides Carbon monoxide (CO) Volatile organic compounds classified as methane (CH 4 ) and non-methane (NMVOCs) ) and non-methane (NMVOCs) Particulate matter (PM), atmospheric particulate matter, or fine particles - these are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas Free radicals, radioactive pollutants, odours Toxic metals such as lead and mercury and their compounds Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs): these are notorious for depleting the protective ozone layer Ammonia (NH 3 ) Advertisement Secondary air pollutants include- Smog: "Smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Photochemical smog is the result of chemical reaction of sunlight, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere. Smog is a serious threat to human health and is regarded as a problem of modern industrialization. Ground level ozone (O3) becomes toxic at high amounts. Human activities including combustion of fossil fuels contribute to high levels of ozone in the air. Ozone is a normal component of the atmosphere and serves as a protective layer (ozone layer). Pollutants such as CFCs deplete the ozone layer. becomes toxic at high amounts. Human activities including combustion of fossil fuels contribute to high levels of ozone in the air. Ozone is a normal component of the atmosphere and serves as a protective layer (ozone layer). Pollutants such as CFCs deplete the ozone layer. Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) is produced from nitrous oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Sources of Air Pollution Sources of air pollution may be categorised as man-made and natural. Man-made (anthropogenic) Sources- "Stationary Sources": These include power plants, factories, waste incinerators, furnaces and other fuel-burning heating devices. Burning of traditional biomass (wood, crop waste and dung) is a major source of air pollution in developing and poor countries. These include power plants, factories, waste incinerators, furnaces and other fuel-burning heating devices. Burning of traditional biomass (wood, crop waste and dung) is a major source of air pollution in developing and poor countries. "Mobile Sources": Motor vehicles, marine vessels and aircraft are all mobile sources of air pollution The practice of burning in agriculture and forestry management Paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays generate fumes Waste deposition in landfills generate methane Military: nuclear weapons, toxic gases, germ warfare, rocketry Advertisement Natural Sources- Dust Methane: digestion of food by animals is a source of methane Radioactive decay generates Radon gas Wildfires emit smoke and carbon monoxide VOCs come from vegetation, especially on warm days Volcanoes are sources of pollutants such as sulphur, chlorine, and ash particulates Health Effects of Air Pollution The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that nearly 2.4 million deaths every year are attributable to air pollution. Nearly 1.5 million people die each year due to indoor pollution. Multiple systems of the human body are affected by polluted air. Exposure to air pollution has been found to increase the mortality due to heart diseases Air pollution is regarded as a risk factor for stroke Smoke, emissions from automobiles, tobacco smoke and improper use of indoor heating devices compromise lung function leading to several pulmonary complications. Especially people suffering from cystic fibrosis appear to be affected the most owing to their already compromised lung functions. Exposure to polluted air increases the risk of suffering from asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Several data link air pollution to cancer. Studies have detected increased risk of lung cancer in people who live in areas with high nitrogen oxide concentration in the air. Children are at increased risk of developing asthma, pneumonia and other lower respiratory infections. Efforts to Reduce Air Pollution Proper land use planning is one important step that can reduce air pollution. Adequate zoning and transport infrastructure planning are to be done. Measures to reduce pollution from sources involve: Use of alternative nature friendly fuel sources: bioethanol, biodiesel, or conversion to electric vehicles Steps to ensure better fuel efficiency Industries may use pollution control devices such as mechanical collectors, Electro Static Precipitator (ESP), scrubbers, etc. Use of respiratory protectors while working in hazardous conditions, use of dust masks, use of air purifying respirators etc. Legal Regulations: Environmental protection agencies enact legal regulations to attain target levels of atmospheric concentrations for specific pollutants (these safe levels are set by institutions such as the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards and E.U. Air Quality Directive). Air Purifying Plants: Certain common indoor plants provide a natural way of removing toxic agents. However not many are aware that plants also purify the air naturally and filter toxins that are left suspended in the air due to chemicals, paints, and use of plastics. Air Quality The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified air pollutants into six different types: particle pollution (often referred to as particulate matter), ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead. Air Quality Index (AQI) The Air Quality Index (AQI) focuses on health effects experienced within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. It tells us how clean or polluted the air is. AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality; its value ranges from 0 to 500. The higher the value, the greater is the level of air pollution. A value of 100 is taken as a cut off and corresponds to the national air quality standard for the pollutant. Values below 100 are satisfactory and considered healthy. Air quality is regarded as unhealthy when the AQI exceeds 100. Acid Rains Acid rains refer to rain or any other form of precipitation that contains higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulphuric acids. These have dangerous effects on forests, freshwater bodies and soil. Insect and aquatic life-forms are killed by acid rains. Also, human health is adversely affected. Further; buildings are also damaged. Solutions for reducing acid rains include options to bring down sulphur dioxide emissions: using coal containing less sulphur, washing the coal, and using devices called scrubbers to chemically remove sulphur dioxide from the gases leaving the smokestack. Also, catalytic converters can be used to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides from vehicles. Did you know that your body is made up of nearly 65 percent water? An integral part of nearly all your bodily functions depends on water and without water; you could suffer from a number of acute illnesses, like dehydration. The common cause of dehydration is when your body loses more water than the amount you drink; some of the most common causes of dehydration are - drinking less water during summer, diarrhea, vomiting, spending a lot of time in the heat, vigorous exercise, and excessive sweating. While simply drinking a glass of water at regular intervals may help ward off the onset of the ailment, but it may not be enough in cases of extreme heat or sweating. In such an instance, keeping an eye out for the common signs of dehydration can go a long way. Experts suggest that the best way to stay healthy is to prevent the onset of dehydration, but if you do notice some of the common symptoms of the condition, remember that mild to moderate dehydration can be reversed by drinking more fluids. In cases, where the dehydration is severe, it is best to visit a doctor immediately. So to help you identify the signs of dehydration, here are 5 common symptoms you should look out for. Advertisement Five Symptoms of Dehydration Depending on the amount of fluid lost from your body, dehydration can be classified as mild, moderate or severe. Mild to moderate dehydration can be treated by making simple changes to your intake of fluids; in cases of severe dehydration, you must visit a doctor immediately. Here are some common symptoms: Thirst: It is one of the early signs of dehydration. Feeling extremely thirsty could be a sign that your body needs more water or fluids to function optimally. Dark Colored Urine: Another early sign of dehydration; dark colored urine is your bodys way of reducing the loss of fluids from your body. If left unchecked, dehydration can have a cascading effect and lead to UTI (urinary tract infection) and kidney problems. Fatigue: The loss of water from your body can disturb all the essential processes of your body. This lack of fluids, especially electrolytes leads to tiredness, lethargy, and irritability. Dizziness or Light Headedness: These are common symptoms of dehydration; you might feel dizzy or light headed when your body is not able to efficiently circulate electrolytes and blood throughout the body. The best way to combat this symptom is to lie down and drink plenty of fluids allowing your body to recuperate. Headache: You might notice the onset of a headache right after you have spent a long time in the heat or sun, overexerted yourself or have sweat too much. Headache is an indicator of dehydration, which can be treated by rehydrating yourself by drinking fluids rich in electrolytes. In severe cases of dehydration, noticing symptoms such as, muscle cramps, heart palpitations, low blood pressure and rapid breathing is fairly common. In such instances, make sure you visit a trained physician immediately. Symptoms of Dehydration in Babies Babies and infants are very susceptible to dehydration as they have a developing biological system. Apart from that, the sheer size of their body puts them at high risk of suffering from this condition. If you think your baby might be dehydrated, here are a few symptoms you should look out for. Shrunken or depressed fontanelle Rapid breathing Dry mouth Lack of tears when crying Irritability and lethargy Cold hands and feet with appearance of blotchy skin Dark yellow colored urine and fewer wet nappies. Remember, if your child shows symptoms of dehydration, then do not give your child only water, as this will only lead to more damage as water tends to wash out their already depleting resources of electrolytes making the situation worse. Instead, use an oral rehydrating solution (ORS) to replenish lost electrolytes. Signs of Dehydration in Pregnant and Lactating Women Pregnant and lactating women are at a greater risk of suffering from dehydration. This is because during pregnancy and lactation your body needs more water to perform essential bodily functions and aid in the development of your baby. Incidentally, severe dehydration during pregnancy can lead to several complications including, neural tube defects in your child, low amniotic fluid, an insufficient amount of breast milk production and even premature labor. Symptoms during Pregnancy: Water plays an essential role in the healthy development of your little one. Not only it is helpful for the placenta, but it is also used to form the amniotic sac. Common signs include: Advertisement Dark colored urine Feeling extremely hot or sweating too much. A condition also known as maternal overheating, this is when your body temperature rises above normal. While Lactating: As you breastfeed, you do tend to lose a lot more fluids from your body. Therefore, protecting yourself from dehydration is essential for both you and your baby. While several studies have shown that in cases of mild to moderate dehydration the quality of breast milk is not affected; but in severe cases, it may lower your breast milks micronutrient content. The common symptoms you should watch out for during lactation are fatigue, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, lowered blood pressure and irritability. How to Stay Hydrated: Introduction Since early 2013, Bangladesh has attracted international media attention for the systematic killing of freethinkers and non-Muslims by Islamist forces in the country. In analyzing these killings, an important date to begin with is March 31, 2013 - the day a group of Islamist leaders submitted a list of 84 individuals to the Bangladeshi government and urged it to take action against secular bloggers and Facebook commentators for their remarks against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.[1] Since then, a number of secular activists and writers have been killed, including those whose names were not on the aforementioned list. At the center of the Islamist movement in Bangladesh are not only the jihadis associated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS), but also Hefajat-e-Islam ("Defense of Islam"), a coalition of Islamist organizations supported by 25,000 madrassas (Islamic seminaries), which orchestrated a campaign against the secularist Shahbag Movement.[2] Hefajat-e-Islam enjoys the support of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for political reasons. The Shahbag Movement was focused on demands to prosecute Islamists, especially the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, for committing war crimes during the 1971 War of Liberation from Pakistan. Before the emergence of Hefajat-e-Islam, the main Islamist force in the country had been the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, whose cadres went on to form Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a jihadi terror group, with support from Pakistan-based jihadis after the 1980s Afghan jihad. In the context of this analysis, the term "bloggers" is a biased term used by outsiders, as it reduces the significance of those Bangladeshi writers and freethinkers who were killed by the armed Islamists. In a wider meaning, this term includes writers, activists, atheists, professors, students, publishers, and authors. In the context of these attacks, the focus has turned on the role of local jihadis, Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), and ISIS. As the killings continued this year, it appears that ISIS and Al-Qaeda are two main organizations to which the local jihadis have affiliated themselves.[3] This analysis seeks to put in perspective some of the major killings of Bangladeshi bloggers and non-Muslims, as well as attacks on the religious places of Shi'ite and Ahmadi Muslims in Bangladesh from 2013 to the present day, though Islamist attacks on secular activists and writers have also taken place prior to that. The Nature Of Jihadi Killings From 2013 In 2013, at least three major attacks took place that fit the characteristics of a systematic pattern. A few months before the Islamist leaders submitted the list of 84 bloggers to the government, the attacks on the secular bloggers had already begun. On the night of January 13, 2013, Asif Mohiuddin, an atheist blogger, was attacked in Dhaka, resulting in a month-long hospitalization.[4] This was perhaps the first in a pattern of ambush-style attacks, but Asif Mohiuddin survived. Approximately one month later, on February 15, 2013, Ahmed Rajib Haider, a 30-year-old architect and a key leader of the Shahbag Movement, was stabbed to death in Dhaka.[5] On the night of March 7, 2013, Sunnyur Rahaman, a 26-year-old IT engineer and atheist blogger, was wounded in an attack in the Mirpur area of the capital.[6] These were the three major attacks in 2013 in which young men with some background in Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, an Islamist organization whose leaders have been recently executed for war crimes committed during the 1971 War of Liberation, played a role. Asif Mohiuddin, the first blogger targeted (TheDailyStar.net) Five young men arrested for the attack on Ahmed Rajib Haider revealed that they were part of a newly-formed group called Ansar Bangla Team (ABT), which was linked to Al-Qaeda.[7] Senior police officer Nazrul Islam told a reporter that while the five were involved in the attack on Ahmed Rajib Haider, there were several groups working as part of ABT in the country that were also responsible for the attacks on Asif Mohiuddin and Sunnyur Rahman.[8] The fact that the men were members of the ABT does not mean that they were not part of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh at some point in time. Naim Sikder Irad, one of the men arrested, belonged to the Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, and had played a role in motivating others.[9] Other than the ABT, another name that came up was Ansar Al-Mujahideen English Forum, a group owing allegiance to slain Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Anwar Al-Awlaki which congratulated the militants behind the killing of Ahmed Rajib Haider.[10] In 2014, there were no major attacks that involved the jihadi motive, but there were some ambush killings such as that of Shafiul Islam, a liberal sociology professor at the Rajshahi University, which took place on November 15.[11] Although a group calling itself "Ansarul Islam Bangladesh-2" claimed responsibility for the killing of Shafiul Islam on Facebook, one year later, in December 2015, the police declared that after an investigation, no militants were found to have been involved in the attack.[12] This, despite the fact that six months earlier, on May 2, 2015, AQIS retroactively claimed responsibility for the killing.[13] 2015 saw a spike in attacks. On the night of February 26, Avijit Roy and his wife were attacked as they were returning from a book fair in Dhaka.[14] Roy, a writer known for his liberal views, died in the attack, but his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya survived. The case of Avijit Roy drew international attention, as he held an American citizenship. One month later, it was reported that the police suspected that either Hizbut Tahrir or Ansar Bangla Team (ABT) could have been behind the attack on Roy.[15] On March 30, 2015, Washiqur Rahman Babu, a secular blogger, was hacked to death by radical Islamists for his atheist views.[16] Witnesses to the attack captured two of the three attackers: Zikrullah, a student of Hefajat-e-Islam's Hathazari Madrassa in Chittagong, and Ariful, a student of Mirpur Darul Uloom Madrassa. A third attacker escaped.[17] May 2015 - Al-Qaeda's Involvement Begins AQIS statement claiming responsibility for the killing of Xulhaz Mannan In the third fatal attack of this kind within three months, secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was killed by masked men in the town of Sylhet on May 12, 2015.[18] This seems to be the first attack on a blogger in Bangladesh that was immediately claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) in a statement posted on justpaste.it - a link to which was shared on the same day by Ansar Al-Islam Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi branch of AQIS.[19] While in the case of previous attacks on bloggers, it does not appear that AQIS or other foreign jihadi group were in the loop beforehand, in this case AQIS claim responsibility within hours of the attack. This means that local jihadis had by this point established a definitive connection with the leadership of Al-Qaeda. The argument that local jihadis had coordinated the premeditated killing of Ananta Bijoy Das with the AQIS leadership was also established by the fact that ten days earlier, on May 2, AQIS leader Maulana Asim Umar appeared in a video[20] and claimed responsibility for the previous killings of bloggers Avijit Roy, Washiqur Rahman Babu, Rajeeb Haider and Rajshahi University professor Shafiul Islam.[21] In the video, Asim Umar had also noted that the assassinations were part of an order by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. However, this does not mean that Al-Zawahiri ordered the killings of these specific Bangladeshi individuals. Most probably, Al-Zawahiri approved a general policy to target atheist and secular writers in South Asian countries. Therefore, AQIS's claim of responsibility for these previous killings appears to be an ex post facto stamp of approval from Al-Qaeda leadership via a retroactive claim of responsibility for killings carried out by local jihadis, as opposed to the execution of premeditated attacks. It is worth noting in this regard that AQIS also claimed responsibility for the killing of Professor Shafiul Islam in 2014, despite the police attributing other motives to this attack. On August 7, 2015, secular blogger Niladri Chatterjee aka Niloy Neel was killed in Dhaka. Ansar Al-Islam Bangladesh claimed responsibility for the killing the same evening in an email message sent to the Bangladeshi media groups from [email protected][22] On October 31, 2015, two separate attacks took place. In the first attack, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, a publisher of Avijit Roy, was attacked in his office along with bloggers Ranadipam Basu and Tareque Rahim; all three survived. In the second attack, progressive publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan was hacked to death. As per a media report, the perpetrators in both attacks locked the victims inside their offices before escaping the scene.[23] Police have found it hard to identify the attackers. The names of groups that appeared in connection with the killings of Bangladeshis bloggers included: Ansar Al-Islam Bangladesh, Ansar Bangla Team and Ansarul Islam Bangladesh-2, three local groups aligned with possible ties to AQIS as well as JMB. It is important that AQIS, which is supposed to cover all of South Asia, seems to have coopted these three organizations instead of ordering these attacks under its own name. Clockwise from right: The five slain bloggers - Niloy Neel, Ahmed Rajib Haider, Ananta Bijoy Das, Avijit Roy and Wasiqur Rahman Babu (image: Risingbd.com) September 2015 - ISIS's Involvement Begins Near the end of September 2015, it emerged that ISIS and local jihadis had established a definitive connection. On September 28, 2015, Cesare Tavella, an Italian aid worker for the Netherlands-based development organization ICCO, was shot to death in Dhaka. Within hours of the attack, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released on Twitter.[24] This pointed to a new trend, since the attack did not involve the killing of Bangladeshi secularists and rationalist bloggers. Instead, it fit a jihadi pattern of ideological attacks perpetrated by ISIS in Syria and Iraq targeting non-Muslims. There are three points to note about this attack: 1. It was the first attack in Bangladesh claimed by the Islamic State. 2. The method of the attack remained the same, as in the case of the attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda or previous attacks by local jihadis. 3. The claim of responsibility by ISIS on social media came within hours and was in Arabic, which meant that the local jihadis who planned the attack had established prior communication with ISIS's Arab social media team. Within a week - on October 3, 2015 - Japanese national Hoshi Kunio was shot to death in the northern town of Rangpur.[25] Like in the case of Cesare Tavella, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of within hours of the attack, stating that he was a "Japanese infidel" and that the attack was a continuation of ISIS's targeting of members of the U.S.-led international coalition.[26] Two months later, Bangladeshi police arrested Masud Rana, who was described as a member of JMB, for the attack.[27] It should be noted that Hoshi Kunio had converted to Islam, a point that was perhaps unknown to the killers. Two days after Kunio's murder, on October 5, 2015, three men attempted to kill Luke Sarker, a pastor, by slitting his throat at his home in the town of Pabna.[28] Police officials arrested six suspected members of JMB for the attack.[29] As part of this pattern, ten Christian priests received death threats on November 26, in a letter sent to one of them - but not by ISIS.[30] The attack on Sarker and threat to the ten priests were not claimed by the Islamic State, but they fit a typical pattern of targeting non-Muslims adopted by jihadis in all countries. However, JMB's regional commander Rakibul Islam was arrested for the attempted attack on Luke Sarker along with one other person.[31] On the night of October 23-24, a series of bomb attacks in Dhaka killed one person and wounded over 60, as Shi'ite mourners had gathered for the Ashura procession to mark the annual day of mourning for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.[32] This was believed to be the first attack on Shi'ite Muslims in Bangladesh. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying that "the soldiers of the Caliphate in Bangladesh" had detonated explosives during "polytheistic rituals."[33] The second attack on Shi'ite Muslims in Bangladesh within a month targeted a Shi'ite mosque in Bogra, 200 km northwest of Dhaka, killing the muezzin and wounding three others on November 26.[34] ISIS claimed responsibility for this attack as well.[35] ISIS statement claiming responsibility for killing Cesare Tavella On November 4, a police checkpoint was attacked in the Baroipara area near Dhaka. A media report stated that ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack, saying: "In a security operation, Allah enabled the soldiers of the [Islamic] State in Bangladesh to attack a police checkpoint."[36] Earlier, on October 22, a policeman was stabbed to death at Gabtoli checkpost in Dhaka.[37] A few days later, on November 10, a soldier was attacked near a military camp in Dhaka.[38] These isolated attacks were not claimed by the Islamic State and AQIS, which could be due to the failure of the local jihadis to link up. On December 25, a suicide bomber blew himself up at an Ahmadi mosque in Bagmara, 250 km from Dhaka. ISIS issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack and calling Ahmadis "polytheistic."[39] Although the attack was claimed by ISIS, it appears that it may have been carried out by the JMB as Bagmara is the stronghold of JMB militant leader Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, who was executed in 2007.[40] It is also possible that ISIS used a suicide bomber from JMB to carry out the attack. There are past examples from Pakistan in which multiple like-minded organizations carried out a single attack together, with some providing suicide bombers and others offering logistics, arms and ammunition. The attacks on foreign nationals, Christian priests, Shi'ite Muslims and Ahmadi Muslims bear the ISIS stamp, but ideologically speaking, Al-Qaeda and other local jihadis also consider them all legitimate targets. Three terror attacks have attracted attention in 2016: On April 6, Nazimuddin Samad, a 27-year-old law student activist who was vocal against religious extremism, was hacked to death in Dhaka.[41] On April 23, Rezaul Karim, a professor at the Rajshahi University, was hacked to death near his home in the town of Rajshahi.[42] Shafiul Islam was a professor at the same university. Police initially ruled out the possibility of radical Islamists being involved in both attacks,[43] however, JMB has been known for killings at the Rajshahi University; for example, eight JMB men were indicted in early 2009 for killing university professor Muhammad Yunus.[44] Later, on May 18, 2016, four JMB men were arrested for the killing of Rezaul Karim.[45] And just when the security officials' attention was turning from AQIS towards ISIS, the former made a comeback in April of this year. On April 25, 2016, gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan (who was also editor of Bangladesh's only LGBT magazine Roopbaan) and his friend Tanay Majumder were killed at Mannan's apartment - the attack was claimed by AQIS, which stated: "Alhamdulillah [Praise be to Allah]. By the grace of Allah the Almighty, the heroic knights of Ansar Al-Islam (AQIS, Bangladesh Branch) were able to assassinate Xulhaz Mannan and his associate Samir Mahbub Tonoy. They were the ones responsible for spearheading the campaign to publicly spread the filth of homosexuality in Bangladesh.[46] Conclusions - Attacks Organized Locally, Inspired By Jihad These events lead to some key conclusions: 1. The attackers have targeted both Muslim and non-Muslim bloggers and freethinkers, with the attacks initially focusing on those who were part of the Shahbag Movement, which demanded the death penalty for Jamaat-e-Islami leaders who were convicted of committing war crimes in the 1971 War of Liberation. 2. Except for the three attacks on Shi'ite and Ahmadi religious sites, almost all the cases involve ambush attacks on unsuspecting individuals. The ambush mode of attacks is typically local. 3. Some of the attacks were claimed by AQIS and others by ISIS. 4. There are a number of attacks that were not claimed by either ISIS or AQIS, perhaps due to the failure of local jihadis to communicate with the social media teams of the two groups. In most such cases, the role of JMB emerges. 5. In all the cases, the attackers appear to be local jihadis, some of whom have linked up with the leadership of ISIS and AQIS in order to garner social media attention at the international level, and therefore it could be said that Bangladesh is experiencing radicalization of Muslim young people on a mass scale, aided by the Hasina government's coddling of fundamentalist groups such as Hefajat-e-Islam to win elections. 6. Since most of the attacks have involved local jihadis, the Bangladeshi government has refused to admit that ISIS has established presence in Bangladesh. On October 4, 2015, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently serving her second term, rejected ISIS's claims of responsibility, saying that the attacks on foreigners were planned by Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and the BNP, and noting that these parties "definitely abetted these murders in an attempt to overshadow Bangladesh's achievements."[47] During her previous term in office, which began in January 2009, Hasina had launched severe crackdown against jihadis, especially against the JMB, whose cadres splintered and began disappearing from the police's radar. On February 12, 2016, Bangladesh's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, on a visit of Washington DC, made a similar claim, saying: "On the ground, in the investigations that we have carried out, we did not get any evidence of ISIS links as yet."[48] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has coddled fundamentalist group Hefajat-e-Islam In a paper published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on March 20, 2016, this writer observed the following: "Jihadism in Bangladesh has roots in the 1980s Afghan jihad. Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist organization founded by Abul A'ala Maududi in 1941, has been the main feeder organization for jihadi groups across South Asia. Following the creation of Pakistan in 1947 and of Bangladesh in 1971, Jamaat-e-Islami split, for all practical purposes, into four branches that are ideologically similar but organizationally not connected: a) in India; b) in India's Jammu & Kashmir; c) in Pakistan; and d) in Bangladesh. In the last three, jihadi groups have been sheltered by mosques, madrassas and organizations affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami. "In Bangladesh, young men emerging from Jamaat-e-Islami formed the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). It is from the JMB - many of whose members fled to India following the crackdown by the Sheikh Hasina government - that the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) emerged. Two Bangladeshi nationals were found among a group of five ISIS terror suspects arrested by Indian officials in Delhi in mid-January. There is a continuing overlap between the JMB and ABT. In the cases of the terror attacks claimed by ISIS, it does not appear that the ISIS's top leadership is planning and executing the operations in Bangladesh."[49] Also, in all the cases of attacks claimed by AQIS (notably with groups calling themselves Ansar Bangla Team, Ansar Al-Islam Bangladesh, and Ansar Al-Islam Bangladesh-2) and ISIS, it is the former members of JMB that have organized into groups, seeking to establish connections with foreign jihadi organizations. The worrying point for the Bangladeshi government has to be this: It is not dealing with a single organization, but rather with several active local jihadi units, three of which could be part of AQIS and at least one could be connected to ISIS. Their connections with AQIS and ISIS appear, as of now, to be at the level of social media relationships, and in this regard it is notable that the literature published by both AQIS and ISIS does not reveal a relationship at the operational level. As argued by this writer, it does not appear that there is top-down link with the local jihadi groups. It is more like bottom-up links being established by local militants with ISIS and AQIS.[50] * Tufail Ahmad is Director of the MEMRI South Asia Studies Project. He is the author of "Jihadist Threat To India - The Case For Islamic Reformation By An Indian Muslim." Endnotes: The following are some of this week's reports from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Project, which translates and analyzes content from sources monitored around the clock, among them the most important jihadi websites and blogs. (To view these reports in full, you must be a paying member of the JTTM; for membership information, send an email to [email protected] with "Membership" in the subject line.) Note to media and government: For a full copy of these reports, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to [email protected]. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email. EXCLUSIVE: Jabhat Al-Nusra Accuses U.S. Of Assisting Assad, Vows To Avenge The Killing Of Its Leaders On May 25, 2016, Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), released a video titled "Continuing to Support You," in which one of its officials, 'Abd Al-Rahim 'Atwan, aka Abu Abdallah Al-Shami, delivers a statement on behalf of the group. The statement is a response to the recent U.S. airstrike on the Abu Al-Zuhur airbase in northern Syria, in which senior JN commanders were killed. 'Atwan accuses the U.S. of supporting the Assad regime and of abetting its crimes, and vows that the Syrian people will punish the U.S. for targeting JN and helping their enemies. EXCLUSIVE: AQIM Releases Photos Of Organization Fighters In Azawad On May 26, 2016, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) released a video, some 4:30 minutes long, titled "Pictures from Azawad." The video, which was released by the organization's media wing, Al-Andalus, and posted on the jihadi forum Al-Fida (alfidaa.info), is a slide show of still photos showing AQIM fighters in Azawad (northern Mali). EXCLUSIVE: Pro-ISIS Libyan Media Activists Post Images Threatening Paris, Rome On May 24, 2016 the pro-ISIS Libyan media group Libya Wa'z Al-Khilafah published a series of graphic images containing threats to Paris and Rome. The group, which publishes on Telegram, also previously operated on Facebook and Twitter and published content in support of ISIS's Libya branch. EXCLUSIVE: Female German ISIS Members Recruit On Facebook And Telegram, Share Life Experience Under ISIS Rule A Facebook page and two Telegram channels allegedly operated by female German ISIS members currently residing in Syria and Iraq provide detailed reports about their emigration and life in ISIS held territories. The channels regularly distribute ISIS-related media publications and aim to recruit supporters and activists from among German-speaking Muslims. EXCLUSIVE: U.S.-Born Media Activist Interviews French Ex-ISIS Fighter In Syria On May 25, 2016, U.S.-born media activist in Syria Bilal Abdul Kareem shared, via his Facebook and Twitter accounts, an installment in the series of video news reports called "Face the Truth,", which is an On The Ground News production. In this video, Kareem interviews a former Islamic State (ISIS) fighter from France named Abu Mohammad. EXCLUSIVE: Jihadi Tech Group Releases Video Warning Jihadis About U.S.-Led Mass Surveillance On May 12, 2016, the pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Electronic Horizon Foundation (EHF) group released a video warning jihadis about the extensive U.S. surveillance of their online activities and communications, and urging jihadis to acquire the technical know-how to protect these. ISIS Releases Images Of Fighters Based In Khurasan Following are images released by the Islamic State (ISIS) of some 20 jihadis who belong to ISIS's Al-Zubayr bin Al-'Awwam Brigade, which is based in Khurasan (Afghanistan-Pakistan region). British ISIS Widow Sally Jones Tweets Encouragement To Women In UK To Target Enemies During Ramadan After a brief Twitter hiatus, on May 24, 2016, the widow of ISIS hacker and fighter Junaid Hussain returned to the social media platform, issuing threats and providing several updates. Jones posted eight tweets on May 24. In addition to the threats, she mentioned that she was in Iraq, expressed her desire for martyrdom, and offered words of encouragement to ISIS supporters in Bangladesh. Earlier this month, Jones tweeted to UK Prime Minister David Cameron's Twitter account, hinting that there would be retribution from ISIS for the attacks on it. British ISIS Fighter, Recruiter, Fundraiser Shares Experiences In Islamic State On Facebook A 26-year-old British ISIS fighter is active on Facebook, and has repeatedly stated that individuals who would like to donate money to ISIS can do so through him. In one post he included his username on various encrypted applications, so that users can contact him securely. He does not reveal a lot of personal information about himself. ISIS Claims It Killed Dozens In Regime Strongholds, Announces Establishment Of Al-Sahel Province In Syria On May 23, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) issued a statement claiming responsibility for killing more than 150 "polytheists Nusairis [Shi'ites]" and wounding hundreds in attacks by booby-trapped cars and suicide bombers in the coastal cities of Tartus and Jableh. I Am Fallujah: In Twitter Campaign, French ISIS Supporters Emphasize Sectarian Aspect Of Battle For Fallujah On May 22, 2016, Iraqi Prime Minister Dr. Haider Abadi announced the launch of a military operation, by the U.S.-backed Iraqi Army together with Shi'ite militias, to recapture the city of Fallujah from the Islamic State (ISIS). The start of the operation triggered an immediate online media response from Sunni Muslims worldwide in support of the city's population. ISIS Claims Responsibility For IED Attack Against Philippine Soldiers On May 20, 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a statement claiming responsibility for the previous day's IED attack against soldiers in Basilan, an island province of the Philippines. Jihadi Publishes Indonesian Translation Of ISIS Video On May 19, 2016, a member of leading ISIS forum Shumoukh Al-Islam posted an Indonesian-language transcription or a recent ISIS video. The video, which was published in April by the media office of Al-Furat province, was titled "Guardians of the [Islamic State] Citizens" and showcased the function of several departments within the Islamic State that deal with law and shari'a enforcements. ISIS Supporters Around The World Launch Campaign In Anticipation Of 'Adnani Speech On May 21, 2016, ISIS's media company Al-Furqan announced the upcoming release of a new audio recording by the organization's spokesman, Abu Muhammad Al-'Adnani, titled "That They Live by Proof." The recording was released later that day. Tajik Fighter In Khorasan Join Local ISIS Affiliate On May 26, 2016 the Islamic State (ISIS) in "Khorasan Province" (Pakistan-Afghanistan) released a five-minute video in which a group of Tajik fighters pledges loyalty to ISIS and to its leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. AQIM Claims Responsibility For Attack On French Mine In Niger, Calls All 'Crusader' Companies Legitimate Targets On May 24, 2016, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) took responsibility for a Grad missile attack on a French mine in northern Niger. The mine, located in the industrial town of Arlit, is run by the French company Areva. In Audio Speech, Taliban Commander Khalid Khorasani Urges Jihadis To Continue Jihad Against 'Apostate' Pakistani Government And Military Umar Khalid Khorasani is the emir of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan - Jamaatul Ahrar (TTPJA), based in the border region of Pakistan. Although Umar Khorasani left the TTP over the succession issue after Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in November 2013 and later rejoined it, the TTPJA, which he heads, has functioned mainly as an independent group in recent years. Abu Sayyaf Group Releases Ultimatum Regarding Hostages From Canada, Norway, Philippines The Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf jihad group has released another video of the three Western hostages it is holding, delivering a final warning that its ransom demands must be met or it will execute them. Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) In Syria Releases Song Glorifying Martyrdom On May 22, 2016, On May 22, 2016, the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) branch in Syria released a new video featuring fighters in Syria singing a nasheed (Islamic chant) titled "Go Forth Oh Mujahid." The video was produced by the group's media wing Voice of Islam and distributed by the Al-Qaeda media group Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF) on Telegram and Twitter. The song is in Uyghur, and it is subtitled in in English and Arabic. RNG said: Is there precedent for a significant number of delegates to vote other than for the candidate that "won" their vote in the primaries? Click to expand... YES! In 1980 Ted Kennedy mounted an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to snatch the Democratic nomination away from then-President Jimmy Carter via a rule change that would have freed pledged delegates to vote any way they wanted on the floor. The convention rule book can be changed because conventions are party-run affairs.This is from Slate: Roughly 95 percent of the 2,472 GOP delegates will arrive at the convention bound to a candidatethat is, they will be required by their state party (or, in a few cases, state law) to vote for the candidate they were assigned to as a result of their states primary or caucus. The other 5 percent arrive unbound and can vote however they like. That means the first vote tally should look more or less like the delegate trackers kept by the Associated Press and other news outlets. But if no candidate wins a majority of delegates during the first roundwhich they wouldnt in this scenariomany of those delegates would then be unbound and allowed to vote however they want during the second round. Even more would become free agents in the rounds that followed, until eventually were looking at a free-for-all.By the Pew Research Centers count, in the past 150 years, of the 10 nominees who needed multiple ballots and then went on to face a candidate who didnt in the general election only three went on to be elected president. (On four occasions, both partys nominees had to survive a contested convention.) The last winner was Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. It took Woodrow Wilson 46 ballots to win.....so buckle your seat belt.What's even more interesting is that Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Romney will likely block Trump on the second ballot and if they bring their "friends" the GOP circus will get pretty entertaining. There are all kinds of 'dirty tricks' that have been used in the past. It's going to be fun. i think you missed the point there pumpkin. it is not as much the big bottom dollar as much as where the money came from.the point is that her lizardness mistress clinton is a neocon bought and paid for. that if she was an old white guy w/ an R next to her name the **** i post about her would be fed to you guys from the hive and all of you guys would be foaming from the mouth over it. just because she theoretically has female parts, the last name clinton and has a D next to her name it is all rainbows and unicorns.kinda funny.instead you guys have to try and destroy king trump and you just can't do it. what do you have, taxes. sheeiat.if it came out that he only paid 5% of his income in taxes and a supposed 5 bill hiding off shore that would make me want to vote for him even more.**** taxes and **** the IRS June 13, 1937 May 23, 2016 Loved by family and friends, Annie passed as the sun set on May 23, 2016. Annie was born in the town of Saxon, Wisconsin, to Charles and Grace Baker. Her family moved to Monmouth where she went to grade school and Central High School. Annie met and married David McCown in 1955 and moved to Corvallis in 1956. Annie had two children, Jeana McCown- Melton and Steve McCown. Annie's first job was at the Corvallis Country Club, then later at Sunny Brook Dairy. Her husband, David, passed in 1986. Annie met Derle Olson in 1986, and on Feb. 26, 2000, in Lake Havasu, Arizona, they were married. Annie had a laugh that could light up a room. She enjoyed reading, dancing, watching old time movies, family gatherings, traveling in their motorhome and spending winters in Southwest, United States. Annie is survived by her husband, Derle Olson of Corvallis; daughter and son-in-law Max and Jeana Melton of Corvallis; son Steve McCown and Companion Sherie Dix of Corvallis; Teresa and Joe Hutchinson of Corvallis; Eric and Sharon Olson of Monroe; Lisa and Daryl Kingsmill of Corvallis; 15 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Donations can be made in her honor to Samaritan Evergreen Hospice House in Albany. Linn County officials are expected to take their latest grievance with the state of Oregon to court today, as they file a lawsuit claiming that the states new rules on sick leave represent an unfunded mandate. The legal action is a sequel of sorts to a suit the county filed earlier this year, claiming that the states management of forest trust lands has cost it (and other counties) millions of dollars that could have gone to vital government services. That lawsuit argues that the states management of the lands amounts to a breach of contract. Like the forest lawsuit, Linn County has company in its sick-leave case Roger Nyquist, chairman of the county commission, said he expects a half-dozen or so other counties to join the action as plaintiffs. And the case likely has a sympathetic ear in the form of state Rep. Andy Olson of Albany, who this week fired off a letter to legislative leaders noting what he called numerous and serious problems with the bill. Olsons letter focused on issues that the law, which went into effect Jan. 1, has created for public school districts. Among the issues Olson mentioned in his letter (to see the complete letter, check out the online version of this editorial): For many years, school districts have operated under a separate state law requiring they provide sick leave to employees. But Olson said that law doesnt match up well with the new sick-leave law. The law allows school districts to either front-load leave for employees or to have them accrue time. The problem, Olson said, is that the districts operate under a process arrived at through collective bargaining that is different than how the law operates. That leads to unintended consequences and serious equity issues, particularly between full-time and part-time hourly employees. For example, Olson said, it's possible that a part-time employee who works only 90 minutes a day to cover lunch shifts could wind up with 26 days of sick leave. The hiring of substitute employees who are covered by the sick-time law has created additional headaches for districts; Olson said that the states Bureau of Labor and Industry has offered conflicting advice to districts on this point. Its not at all unusual for legislation to create unintended consequences: In fact, one of the reasons why Oregon voters approved short legislative sessions was to give lawmakers a chance to address some of those consequences without waiting two years between sessions. Olsons letter asks legislative leaders to address these and other issues with the sick-leave law, work which would have to wait until the 2017 session. By contrast, Linn Countys lawsuit is simpler: It argues that the sick-leave law is an unfunded mandate, and that the states Constitution sets a financial threshold beyond which a local government is not required to comply with any state law or order enacted after Jan. 1, 1997. The county says that in its case, the threshold works out to be about $14,000 annually. It estimates that the cost of the sick-leave law will be $41,000 per year. So the county seeks a judicial ruling that its not obliged to follow the law in this case. (Linn County says that a similar lawsuit over the states new minimum-wage law may be waiting in the wings once that law goes into effect in July.) A broader issue is at play here as well: Counties and other local governments, especially in more rural areas of the state, are growing weary of feeling pushed around by the state government. Now, theyre starting to push back. (mm) Michigan doesn't regulate chumming for now, but the state Natural Resources Commission will discuss the idea during a June 9 meeting in Gaylord. Anglers who practice chumming often use fish eggs, corn, rice, noodles, oatmeal and maggots to lure fish. It's become a divisive topic, particularly the use of fish eggs to attract steelhead trout. The Department of Natural Resources' Fisheries Division says chumming doesn't appear to be harming fish populations, but some consider it unethical. At the June meeting, the commissioners will consider a ban on chumming with organic materials on sections of the Muskegon, Pere Marquette and Big Manistee rivers. BAD AXE For many Bad Axe residents, Jim Hicks is a household name. After all, he has been the mayor for over six years. Some dislike him. Some love him. In either case, he seems to get things done, and they get done his way. As one takes a close look at the mayor, they realize he is far more than a politician. His life story reads like a book, with the first chapter starting when his father, Roy Hicks, came to Bad Axe after World War I. My dad was a business man in this town for many years, Hicks said. He was the fire chief for 25 years, and he worked for the sheriffs department. He had the first beer license after Prohibition in Bad Axe. There was a restaurant in front and the bar was in back. They called it the Buck Horn Bar. There were no seats in the bar part, and you had to stand. There were deer racks lining the bar. He isnt sure, but he thinks his parents met in this establishment. My mom came from Saginaw to run the Bell Telephone office, he said. She ran the whole thing in the olden days. He went on to say she used to cut through the bar to get to the restaurant during her lunch hour, hence his belief she met his dad there. Hicks was soon talking about the town when he was a child. When you stop to think about it, it hasnt changed that much, he said. Of course, there were cars in the city, but not as many as today. And parking was different. Cars would head in to park, rather than park parallel to the curb. He remembers Bad Axe had three hotels in the eastern downtown area. All had bars in them, he said. The north part of Bad Axe was all farm area. There were few businesses, if any, north of the railroad tracks. There were several places to eat in town, but two stick in his mind. One was at the intersection of M-53 and M-142, technically out of Bad Axe. Everyone went there late at night, or they went to the Bean Pot Restaurant on the east end, he said. The only franchise eating establishment he could remember while in school was the A&W. Later on, it moved to the corner of M-53 and Buschlen streets. It is now the home of Walgreens. We had two milk plants here, Hicks continued. Ill never forget the Huron Pride (ice cream) Creamery. It wasnt open to the public, but sold ice cream to many area establishments. Hicks was born in 1939 in the old hospital, which is now the Anderson Apartments on Hopson Street. Chapters of the imaginary book could, no doubt, be written about his school years. Although he graduated from Bad Axe High School, he was only in the Bad Axe School System for three years: kindergarten, first grade and 12th grade. His parents moved to the Port Crescent area and he attended second through 11th grades there. Throughout that era, he only attended Huron County schools for four months per year. His parents wintered in Naples, Florida, January through June, and he finished out each school year in Naples. Hicks returned to Bad Axe for his senior year and graduated in 1958. His summer vacation didnt last long. I went into the Army on July 15, 1958, Hicks said. His military career was anything but usual, and more chapters about the Army should be added to this imaginary book. As part of his military training, he attended military police school. He later went to the FBI Academy. As he tells the story, he spent only one day as an MP. While directing traffic on his first day of duty, he was struck by the generals wife, thereby ending his MP career. The traffic incident ended his MP career, but not his military career. He went on to take Airborne and Special Forces training. Using his MP and FBI education, he was able to work in military intelligence. When asked if he did much of this type of work, he answered, Oh yeah, I did a lot of it. Hicks served 13 years in the military. He was stationed in the U.S. and in South Korea. He was assigned to Vietnam and Cambodia long before the world knew of them, he said. After 13 years of service, Hicks thought he could end his military career and get back to enjoying life as a civilian. Much to his surprise, he was called back to military duty three times for special operations. After his initial 13 years, his first stop was Bad Axe. With restaurant experience he had gained as a kid, he opened a restaurant in town. Much to his dismay, it burned down. He then worked a variety of jobs until he landed a good one at the Fisher Body plant in Detroit. After working for about a year, Hicks felt a short vacation was in order, and he headed to Las Vegas. I went to Vegas for a weekend, and stayed for 30 years, Hicks said, noting those 30 years were interrupted with military call-backs. On a whim, Hicks applied for a job in one of the large Vegas hotels. He began to move up the ladder and establish himself in the City of Lights. Before ending his career, he had worked for six hotels. He also owned six bars and other businesses in Las Vegas, all while managing his jobs in the hotels. Hicks ended his career as the executive chef at the Nevada Test Site at Area 51, which would be another chapter or two in this imaginary novel. While at the Test Site, he called a long-lost love back in Huron County. Laurel (Schelke) Klump was his high school sweetheart back in the day. Supposedly, just on a whim, he called to wish her a happy birthday. After reconnecting with her, Hicks moved back to Bad Axe. Weve been married 19 years, and Ive been back here 20 years, Hicks said. I retired and gave up a $150,000 a year job to be with her, but its been worth it. After his return to Bad Axe, Hicks opened Coffee Cups Plus in the downtown area. Later on, he became involved with politics, and is now the mayor of Bad Axe. Im in my fourth term, so Im in my seventh year, he said. He explained some of the changes that have been enacted since he became mayor. Since I became mayor, we changed the city into a business, he said. Its one of the biggest businesses in town. He hired Dale VanDeVusse as city manager. With the mayors insistence, the city council was turned into committees. Much of the work is done in committee and brought to the whole council for final approval. Our finances have been good. Were not in the hole like a lot of them, Hicks said. Our police chief is a good guy. Hes done well in the community. For that matter, the whole police department is a good bunch of guys. And the sheriff has done a fantastic job. He went on to praise Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson for his assistance with the Memorial Day Parade, an event which is very dear to the mayor. Our committee works on the parade all year, he said. This year, were honoring Vietnam veterans. Theyre the parade marshals this year. Well bring in big Army trucks to be in the parade (for them to ride in). He went on to say State Rep. Edward Canfield will be the guest speaker. The Port Austin American Legion will lead the parade and the Caseville American Legion will take care of honor guard duties. The parade will start at 10 a.m. Saturday. It will commence at the Franklin Inn and travel to the memorial area at the courthouse. New military recruits will have the opportunity to walk in the parade this year. Although they may not be officially on active duty, they will be honored that day. The group is scheduled to march in the parade alongside a military Humvee. Well have our first fly-over this year, Hicks said. Arrangements have been made with the U.S. Coast Guard to do the fly-over. Aircraft from Harbor Beach and from Bay City are expected to buzz the crowd. The mayor was quick to add the main reason for the parade is to honor those who gave their lives for this country. Well never take away from our deceased brothers and sisters, Hicks said. Thats their day. Being involved with Memorial Day parades may be something Hicks does for the rest of his life. On the other hand, retirement seems to loom on the horizon. Were going to try to sell this (Coffee Cup Plus) place, he said. We dont know what were going to do, but well do some traveling. Theres no doubt about that. He went on to say they may go somewhere warm during the winter months, but they will never make another state their home. This is home, Hicks said. Were not going anywhere for any length of time. 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. Members of the Pentagon's bomb squad were stunned nearly 18 months ago to learn that the hazardous duty pay they had been getting since joining the team was "a mistake." Worse still, says the team's leader, Defense Department Explosives Investigator Richard Coleman, the government wants the money back -- a decision that will cost some members more than $100,000 and, Coleman believes, cost one team member his life. Last month, Lead Explosives Investigator Axel Fernandez, wracked with guilt over encouraging several friends and former colleagues from the U.S. Capitol Police to join the Pentagon's explosive ordnance disposal squad -- a fateful move that has since put their homes and retirement at risk -- shot himself with his service revolver. Coleman, who hired Fernandez in 2008 away from the Capitol Police squad, believes Fernandez paid the ultimate price for a Pentagon mistake for which it is making the team responsible. "They have blood on their hands," said Coleman, who learned on Monday that the Defense Finance Accounting Service is holding Fernandez's death benefits pending a decision on his request for a waiver from the debt that Coleman said is at least $135,000. Coleman said the service intends to cut a check to Fernandez's family for $4,023.39, with the remainder of the money held back to cover the debt. Fernandez's wife, Sandy, declined to speak with Military.com for this story. Fernandez also left behind two daughters. One EOD investigator who, like Fernandez, joined the Pentagon Force Protection Agency team from the Capitol Police, found the colleague's death tragic. "I wish he had talked to me about this," said the investigator, who spoke to Military.com on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. "I make my own decisions. The fact that he felt guilty about this -- his wife told me about it at the memorial service -- I was devastated. Absolutely devastated. That's something I'm going to think about every day for the rest of my life." Coleman said the hazardous duty pay, which is 25 percent of a day's pay for each day you work, was included in the federal job postings and detailed in each member's "firm offer" letter. Coleman said he heard a rumor that someone from another Pentagon Force Protection Agency section resented the EOD team getting the pay and spurred an official inquiry. What he knows for certain is that in January 2015 -- with just two days' notice -- the team's hazardous duty pay was stopped, with Washington Headquarters Services, or WHS, the agency that handles financial management for Pentagon departments, saying it had been paid in error. "Then a few days later, [they said] 'And we want the money back,' " he said. Coleman said he had to demand that the change be put in writing to team members. That letter finally was given to them in April, he said. Anthony DeCristofaro, a spokesman for Washington Headquarters Services, confirmed to Military.com that the review was prompted by a complaint to the Office of the Inspector General'shotline "alleging that certain employees were receiving premium pay in violation of Office of Personnel Management restrictions." He said the headquarters services reviewed the EOD positions and determined that they were not eligible to receive hazardous duty pay. "There had previously been an administrative error, and the pay was incorrectly authorized," DeCristofaro said in an email to Military.com. "This was through no fault of the employees involved, and they could not have known it was paid in error." The decision resulted in the loss of hazardous duty pay for all employees working in the Pentagon's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Explosive Directorate, he said, though Coleman said hazardous duty pay had never been part of the job offer to members of those other teams. It also resulted in collection notices from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service for the past overpayments, which the EOD members are appealing. DeCristofaro said WHS has submitted a letter supporting the appeals and also is assisting them in their requests to DFAS seeking forgiveness of the debt. Those appeals are still pending, he said. A Fatal Mistake? DFAS began issuing a series of repayment demand letters to the EOD team members last September. With each letter, the total amount to be paid back would increase as DFAS reviewed a different or expanded pay period. The department is now seeking $177,000 in back hazardous duty pay from Coleman. The other EOD team member interviewed by Military.com may be forced to pay back more than $100,000. The two say that, if pushed to pay back the money, everyone on the team stands to see their credit ruined, since the debt will be reflected in individual credit reports. And that kind of debt also could mean the loss of security clearances needed for the kind of work they do, Coleman said. Even if the government takes the money back in installments, it will take years to pay off and it would be coming off of paychecks already reduced because they no longer receive hazardous duty pay. Had officials decided that EOD members would no longer get the pay going forward, that would have been one thing, says Coleman. If paying it was a mistake, it was not the members' mistake, and taking back pay they were given as part of coming to the Pentagon Force Protection Agency bomb team is wrong and unfair, according to Coleman. And then there is Fernandez, whose death the investigators who spoke to Military.com consider tied to the change. "I will tell you," one of Fernandez's former colleagues from Capitol Police said, "my feeling is that if we all stayed at Capitol Police, I'd be talking to Axel today." A Shrinking Team There are now five members on a Pentagon Force Protection Agency bomb squad that is authorized nine. Even before Fernandez's death last month, three members had left since WHS rescinded the hazardous duty pay. One team member retired and two went to other jobs -- one of them to Afghanistan as a contractor. Coleman said the members have asked DFAS for a waiver from the debt. They have also asked the White House Office of Personnel Management for a ruling that the hazardous duty payments were legal and just. Coleman said he has no idea when either agency will act on the requests. He said the letters they have received state the money must be paid back within 30 days, something highly unlikely given the totals. So far, DFAS has not moved to recover the money. But if that happens, unless the money is not paid in 30 days, "they will take it out of your pay at 8 percent interest," Coleman said. "I've been told that WHS has requested that DFAS not take the money out of my pay -- sort of like they're doing this out of the goodness of their hearts," Coleman scoffed. "I think, personally, that they know they're wrong and they should never have done this. This is what they fear right now -- this hitting the fan, hard." Over the course of several years and job classification changes, officials never flagged hazardous duty pay as an issue, the two said. It was spelled out to each job applicant and appeared on every team member's "firm offer" letter. If team members were erroneously paid hazardous duty pay, they ask, why over the course of eight years, multiple job postings, interviews and employment offers, did no one catch it? In fact, though hazardous duty pay was dropped in January 2015, it was still listed as an incentive pay for a Pentagon Force Protection Agency explosives investigator in a USAJOBS.gov employment announcement published three months later. "Unless you know something that I do not know, the announcement has to be recalled, it is not correct," Coleman informed the agency in an email on April 2, 2015. Theposting was then amended, removing eligibility for hazardous duty pay. Coleman, in a statement drafted making the case for the hazardous duty pay team members had received, said individuals applying for a job should not be expected to investigate the legality of an incentive pay included in an offer, especially given that there are more than 60 special or incentive pays authorized for service members or federal employees. And when team members did leave other jobs for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, hazardous duty pay was a significant incentive. "We left our law enforcement retirement for this place," one of those who worked with Fernandez at the Capitol Police said. "And, basically, if we had not received hazardous duty pay, I would not have come here. And so what they did, so callously and so flippantly, [is] they messed with our retirement." -- Bryant Jordan can be reached at Bryant.jordan@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at@BryantJordan. As the Navy and Marine Corps enter the final stage of a review mandated by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus aimed at removing the word "man" from job titles in favor of gender-neutral alternatives, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday he has been thinking about ways to apply the practice to the entire Defense Department. Navy and Marine Corps officials have said that all titles, including frequently used ones such as seaman and rifleman, are under a review that began in January at Mabus' request. The move comes as all previously closed job titles across the Defense Department opened to women. Speaking to reporters at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, Rhode Island, Carter called the move to review job titles "appropriate and needed." "One wants to signify a reality, which is a very favorable reality for us in defense, of the modern era, which is that we're making full use of the wonderful talents of half of the population of the country," he said. "And it would be a huge mistake not to do so." However, he said, he has yet to come up with a practical alternative for those jobs that have "unmanned" as part of the title, such as "unmanned vehicle operator." Carter suggested that not only the titles, but also the programs and equipment might be examined for a less gender-specific name. "We have all these programs that begin with 'U.' And I guess you can have a tech challenge for somebody who comes up with a word that begins with 'U,' which is -- which -- which doesn't specify whether it's a man or woman, but makes sure -- but specifies that homo sapiens isn't driving the thing," he said. Still, he said, he expected someone in the DoD to be able to come up with an acceptable alternative. "The larger meaning is really clear," Carter said. "We're very clear in the department that having access to and making use of all of the talent of this country is an imperative for our national security, and we're dead serious about doing it." Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens told the New York Times that the Navy had its own term that was resisting gender-neutralization: yeoman. "You can't have yeo-specialist or yeo-technician, right?" he told the paper in April. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck. The Chinese military reportedly is planning to send submarines armed with nuclear weapons to patrol the Pacific Ocean for the first time amid territorial disputes over islands in the region. The Guardian, citing Chinese military officials, said that while the timing for a maiden patrol has not yet been determined, Beijing insists that such an action is inevitable. The report comes days after U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he had lifted a decades-long arms embargo against Vietnam. Chinese officials publicly praised the move, but an opinion piece in a state-run newspaper warned that 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." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry responded Monday by saying that it was China's 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," he said. The Pentagon says China has reclaimed more than 3,200 acres of land in the South China Sea and is developing and building military installations on the manmade islands. As a consequence, 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 China and Vietnam being Communist countries, 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 Vietnam's central coast, sparking confrontations at sea and deadly anti-China riots in Vietnam. Last week, the Pentagon said two Chinese fighter jets flew within about 50 feet of a U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane in what was termed an "unsafe intercept." China responded by demanding that the U.S. end surveillance patrols around the South China Sea, with a foreign ministry spokesman claiming that such missions "seriously endanger Chinese maritime security." Earlier this month, a U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 miles of China's Fiery Cross reef, an artificial island made after months of dredging operations. It was the third time the Navy sailed a warship close to a contested Chinese island in what the Pentagon calls "freedom of navigation" operations. Beijing responded by scrambling fighter jets to show its displeasure. -- The Associated Press contributed to this report. The former commander of the Marine Corps' Wounded Warrior Regiment in Quantico, Virginia, may face up to a two-and-a-half year sentence after pleading guilty at a Friday court-martial to having an unduly familiar relationship with a female subordinate, violating military protective orders, and consuming alcohol and steroids unlawfully. Col. T. Shane Tomko, 53, was relieved from his post at the regiment in February 2015 after officials cited a loss of confidence in his ability to lead. He pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of abusive sexual contact, fraternization and other violations of lawful orders under a pretrial agreement that may include a lessened sentence. The complete details of that have not been made clear. General officers who testified as character witnesses in Tomko's defense, including the recently retired four-star commander of U.S. Southern Command, Gen. John Kelly, painted a picture of an altered man whose battles with his personal demons had begun to influence his behavior. A visibly shaking and emotional Tomko appeared Friday, having spent the previous three weeks at pretrial confinement at Naval Consolidated Brig Chesapeake, Virginia, after violating terms set for him by the trial judge. According to charges that Tomko pleaded guilty to Friday, he appeared at a May 6 arraignment with a .208 blood alcohol level, and drove under the influence following a May 3 military protective order that prohibited him from drinking. Tomko also admitted that he had sent sexual and inappropriate Facebook messages to a female Marine corporal under his command at Wounded Warrior Regiment, had called her "fun, hot and intriguing," and had carried on an unduly familiar relationship with her. After Tomko's behavior began to be investigated, he said he contacted the corporal and another sergeant in violation of a military protective order to get them to destroy evidence of inappropriate communication. He also said he had injected another officers prescription testosterone, a controlled substance he was not legally permitted to use. Kelly, who testified via telephone from Boston, where he was set to speak at a Memorial Day service, said he had known Tomko for a decade and, while he never worked closely with him, had always observed his character to be upstanding. "Socially, he's a great Marine," Kelly said, adding that he had a reputation as a "gunfighter" and upstanding leader. The commanding general of Marine Corps Training and Education Command, Maj. Gen. James Lukeman, said he had picked Tomko to be his chief of staff for operations at his previous post at 2nd Marine Division aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in 2013 because of his reputation. During the time Tomko served at the division, he said, he was a key player in facilitating the newly launched Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Africa and supporting a II Marine Expeditionary Force deployment to Afghanistan. "It was terrific," Lukeman said. "[Tomko] just brings energy, a sense of humor, a way of attacking that problem." The Tomko that Lukeman observed following his relief at Wounded Warrior Regiment -- one who suffered from physical problems including a persistent cough, struggled with mental health issues, and ultimately was issued a military protective order by Lukeman himself -- was not the same man he knew, the general said. Lukeman said he reached out to Tomko around Labor Day 2015, just before Tomko began full-time mental health care at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, out of concern for his well being and even a worry that the colonel might harm himself. "I'm not a doctor, but he's not able to prevent himself from doing these things that he's pleading guilty to," Lukeman said. "I can't imagine it would come to that." Tomko first enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1983 and has served as an infantry officer as well as within Joint Special Operations Command. His defense attorney noted he had been receiving treatment and counseling for post-traumatic stress at Fort Belvoir. It was revealed in the court-martial that he had previously received non-judicial punishment following his relief at the regiment. Another character witness, Maj. Gen. Craig Timberlake, is set to testify for Tomko ahead of a sentencing, which was expected to happen later Friday. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck. The Pentagon pushed back Thursday against Agence France Presse photos appearing to show U.S. Special Forces troops at or near the front lines in Syria with mostly-Kurdish forces moving towards the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. "They are not at the front line," but "they have to be in a position to be able to provide the kind of advice needed" to the rebel troops, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said at a contentious news conference. Following back and forth on the definition of the Forward Line of Troops, or FLOT, Cook said "I dont have a yardstick measurement. This is a fluid situation where the forward line of troops can be moving." He did not directly dispute that the well-armed and equipped individuals in the AFP photos were U.S. Special Forces. White House and the Defense Department officials have repeatedly said that U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria are not in a combat mission and were limited to a train, advise and assist role that would keep them behind the front lines. However, the officials have also said that the troops are at risk and can be involved in combat in self-defense. The U.S. has acknowledged that three U.S. troops have been killed in combat in Iraq, most recently Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV. He was killed in a firefight north of Mosul in Iraq while serving with a Quick Reaction Force. The AFP story accompanying the photos said that the troops were identified as Americans by the group they were assisting the mostly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF, backed by U.S. airstrikes, recently began pushing into villages north of Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The AFP report quoted an SDF commander as saying that U.S. troops are "present at all positions along the front. They are taking part on the ground and in the air." The photos were taken near the town of Fatisah, about 30 miles north of Raqqa. One of the photos showed an individual identified as an American wearing the patch of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Unit, or YPG. The YPG, considered among the most effective of the rebel groups in Syria, has been branded by Turkey as the military wing of the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Without confirming or denying that it was an American wearing a YPG patch, Cook said that it was not unusual for Special Forces units to adopt the insignia of partnering groups they advise and assist. Earlier this week, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, took a group of reporters with him on the first visit by a top commander to the base in northeastern Syria for U.S. Special Forces advisors. The U.S. sent 50 Special Forces troops into Syria last year and President Obama recently authorized sending 250 more into Syria. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com U.S. Special Forces troops in Syria have been ordered to stop wearing the arm patches of a Kurdish rebel group regarded as an offshoot of a terrorist organization by Turkey, a U.S. military spokesman said Friday. "Wearing those patches was unauthorized and inappropriate and corrective action has been taken. We have communicated as much" to NATO ally Turkey, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Baghdad. Warren said the order to take off the patches came directly from the CJTF commander, Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland. The "corrective action" was not expected to involve reprimands or other disciplinary measures beyond the order to take off the insignia. Warren announced the order after Agence France Presse published photos of several well-armed and equipped troops identified by local leaders as Americans who were at or near the front lines with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, moving towards Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. At least one of the individuals in the photos was wearing the army patch of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Unit, known as the YPG. Warren confirmed that all of the individuals in the photos were U.S. Special forces troops. Although the U.S. has backed the YPG with airstrikes and supplies, and its fighters have proven to be among the most effective in Syrias multi-sided civil war, Turkey has branded the group as the military wing of the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK. Both Turkey and the U.S. have labeled the PKK as a terrorist organization. Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday called the U.S. "two-faced" for refusing to call the YPG a terrorist group along with the PKK. "If they (U.S. officials) say 'We don't see the YPG and these terrorist groups as the same,' my answer is, that is a double standard and two-faced," Cavusoglu said at a United Nations summit in Turkey. "It is unacceptable for U.S. soldiers to use the insignia of the YPG, a terrorist group," he said. However, the YPG dominates in the umbrella group SDF, which also includes Arab and Christian fighters, and has notched victories against ISIS in northeastern Syria in the defense of the flashpoint border town of Kobane and in liberating Shaddadi, a key connector between Raqqa and Mosul, the main ISIS stronghold in Iraq. While not disparaging the YPG, Warren said that Lt. Gen. MacFarland "wants to make it very clear"that "our focus is to provide advice and assistance to the SDF particularly the Syrian Arab component." Despite the order to take off the YPG insignia, Warren acknowledged that "the Special Forces community has a long and proud history of wearing such patches" in their train, advise and assist role with local partnered forces around the world. In the case of the YPG, "political sensitivities" argued against wearing them, he said. The photos also stirred up another controversy on whether the Special Forces troops were at or near the front lines, in military jargon the Forward Line of Troops, or FLOT. The photos taken near the town of Fatisah appeared to put them within 30 miles of Raqqa, and several published reports put them within 18 miles of Raqqa. Under the rules of engagement, U.S. troops in both Iraq and Syria are barred from a "combat" role, and are limited to a train, advise and assist mission intended to keep them well behind the FLOT. In moving with local forces, U.S. Special Forces troops were expected to "position themselves where contact was unlikely -- before they go somewhere, they ensure that wherever they go, enemy contact is unlikely," Warren said. The general rule was that U.S. troops should stay at least a "terrain feature" away from the enemy, Warren said, but he acknowledged that the front lines can be fluid in both Iraq and Syria. To his knowledge, U.S. Special Forces in Syria have yet to fire a round in working in support of local groups, Warren said. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at richard.sisk@military.com Interserco to go public with 10 million share-sale next month International investment and service company Interserco will hold an initial public offering (IPO) to sell nearly 10 million shares on June 6 at a starting price of VND 10,000 ($0.45) per share. The Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) has announced that Interserco will sell 9,906,700 shares worth over VND99 billion (more than $4 million), equivalent to 27.52 percent of its charter capital, and reduce its state ownership cap to 45 percent. Interserco's inland container depot in My Dinh, Hanoi. Photo by interserco.vn Intersercos revenue reached VND191.7 billion (over $8 million) in 2014, an increase of 3.6 percent from the previous year. The import and export corporation expects its revenue to be around VND1.9 trillion (over $9 million) from 2016-2018, with post-tax profit of VND10.4 billion (nearly $500,000) Founded in 1980, Interserco is a state-owned group under Hanoi's Peoples Committee. At present, Interserco has six subsidiaries and many other member companies. Interserco specializes in logistics for international organizations, diplomatic agencies and individuals inside and outside of Vietnam who import and export goods. The corporation has helped over 55,000 laborers, experts and students to travel abroad since its establishment. The group also offers overseas study consultancy, labor export services and bonded warehouse facilities. As a multi-functional business with 30 years of experience, Interserco has gained a reputation for its service quality, professionalism and effectiveness both at home and overseas. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter Vietnamese customs authorities have accused Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation (FHS) of transfer pricing after the Taiwanese-invested firm was found to have manipulated the prices of imported machinery and equipment on several ocassions. The steelmaker allegedly declared imports cost much more than the actual prices in order to enjoy a bigger tax deduction for property depreciation, according to a report submitted recently to Vietnam Customs by Ha Tinh's Customs Department. The Taiwanese steelmaker imported machinery and equipment to be used as fixed assets for its steelmaking complex and Son Duong Formosa Port in Ha Tinh Province, but declared incorrect prices for the shipments. Formosa is under close scrutiny following suspected transfer pricing and tax avoidance. Photo by Duc Hung The Vietnamese subsidiary of the Taiwanese company declared a shipment of dust filter covers cost $1.63 million to customs officials, but that figure was changed to $1.48 million on a tax exemption form. According to Formosa, the difference was due to the time it took to import the shipment to when the company registered for tax exemption, so the declared cost was just a temporary estimate. The company went on to say that similar situations could occur in the future. Ha Tinh's Customs Department views the case differently, and says this is an indication of transfer pricing. The department also said that Formosa had hired logistics company SAS Vung Ang Co. Ltd. to state on the customs declaration that the value of one shipment was only $348,659 while the bill from the foreign supplier said it was worth $1.42 million. After customs officials had looked into the discrepancy, the company re-declared the value of the shipment at $470,690, still nearly $1 million short of its actual value. The department has said that more evidence needs to be collected to prove the allegations of transfer pricing and undervaluing the cost of the shipment. Following previous inspections in 2013, 2015 and 2016, tax authorities have repeatedly asked Formosa to pay tax arrears. In the audit from August to December, 2013, authorities collected more than VND283 billion (nearly $13 million) from the company due to incomplete paperwork. After the audit last year, tax authorities concluded that the Taiwanese steelmaker had falsely inflated the cost of many of its operations including imports and construction with the help of foreign contractors. In late February, tax authorities also discovered that Formosa had used nearly 20,000 receipts that did not comply with regulations to claim tax refunds. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter Protest.JPG Electricians picket outside of the Packard Square development on May 27, 2016. (Matt Durr | The Ann Arbor News) ANN ARBOR, MI -- A handful of employees working on the Packard Square housing and retail development walked off the job this week citing unfair labor practices. Employees for Gaylor Electric, the Indiana-based company handling electrical work for the development, are attempting to unionize with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW.) However, they say they have been met with resistance by Gaylor management. "Gaylor Electric is denying these folks the right to be represented. They're fighting us tooth and nail on that," said Ryan Husse a business representative with IBEW Local 252. On April 1, the IBEW filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for the right to have an election to unionize. However, the IBEW and a few Gaylor employees claim workers have been told they cannot share details about their working conditions, pay or job details with each other or anyone outside of the Gaylor company because of company policy. Husse said employees have been told by management that if they discuss any details of the job it can be held against them during their annual reviews, causing employees to fear for their jobs. Earlier this week, IBEW filed a charge with the NLRB citing unfair labor practices for this company policy as it prevents workers from sharing crucial information with potential union representatives. There are approximately 20 electricians working on the job site and roughly half of those electricians are employees of Gaylor, according to employees on site. Three Gaylor employees, a handful of temporary workers and members of IBEW have been picketing the job site since Thursday at an entrance off of King George Blvd. Calls to Gaylor Electric were not returned. Matt Durr is a business reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at mattdurr@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter. BIG RAPIDS, MI -- Wolverine Worldwide. is one of scores of U.S. companies throwing its support behind President Barack Obama's 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership. If approved, the Pacific Rim trade deal is expected to save the Michigan footwear giant $20 million a year in tariffs on Vietnam-made footwear imported to the United States. With 90 percent of its footwear and apparel sourced outside of the U.S., the company pays $100 million in tariffs annually, says Michael Jeppesen, president of the Wolverine's global operations group. Tariffs on footwear average over 10 percent and can climb as high as 67 percent, depending on the country. "We aren't a believer in any type of duties or barriers to export or import," said Jeppesen, of the taxes imposed by countries on imports to protect domestic companies. The upside of this duty-free scenario for consumers are lower prices, he said. Critics claim trade agreements cost jobs by making it easier for foreign products to compete with locally made versions. "This is not going to have an effect from a manufacturing perspective," said Jeppesen. "We are still going to continue to make shoes in the United States and TPP will not have an adverse effect on our job situation in Michigan." Along with the U.S., the pact includes Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru. It aims to strengthen economic ties between these nations by reducing taxes on imports and raising protections for workers, the environment and intellectual properties. It would cut 18,000 tariffs on U.S. products alone. "This is an agreement that President Obama is championing," said Ambassador Robert Holleyman, Deputy United States Trade Representative. "He helped bring together 11 of our trading partners, 40 percent of the global economy to create a series of rules that will help ensure that Americans have better opportunities to compete in the fastest growing markets of the world." The TPP is opposed by all the presidential candidates and is expected to generate a big fight on Capitol Hill. In Michigan, U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, is a vocal critic of the multinational trade deal. That is why Holleyman was in Big Rapids on Thursday touring Wolverine's Big Rapids factory, the largest maker of U.S. military footwear with a workforce of 600 employees. He credits Wolverine and the footwear industry for providing expertise that helped craft the complicated pact. After the tour, the ambassador, along with Wolverine and footwear industry officials, held a press conference to talk up the trade agreement. Holleyman's visit comes in the same week Obama is traveling to Vietnam and Japan to rally support. The full court press is part of a push to pass the pact before a rival version, which excludes the U.S. and is led by China, is completed. "What it would do is cut tariff taxes and make it easier for those companies to ship to each other but we would be left out," Holleyman said. In response to critics who say the deal will cost 500,000 U.S. jobs, he points to a U.S. International Trade Commission report concluding TPP will maintain and potentially create new jobs. "We also know that companies that export tend to have higher wages they provide to their employees because they have more opportunities to market their products," Holleyman said. "TPP will make "Made in America" products more competitive for global markets." While the pact covers industries from agriculture to electronics, the footwear industry is a big proponent because the bulk of shoes are manufactured in low-wage Asian countries. Last year, the industry collectively paid $3 billion in duties on products distributed globally. Vietnam-made products alone account for $600 million of those duties, says Matt Priest, president of Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, a Washington D.C. trade group. "For us, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the American footwear consumer, for American companies," Priest said. "If we can cut into that and save a half billion dollars a year; $6 billion over the first 10 years of the agreement. For us, this is a no brainer," Priest said. "It really helps drive savings back to our supply chain, back to facilities like this facility, to our retailers and our consumers." He downplays New Balance's opposition to the TPP, noting the majority of the Massachusetts-headquartered company's shoes are made in Vietnam, not at its three Maine factories. In the last four years, Wolverine has shifted nearly one-third of its China production to Vietnam. Still, Wolverine isn't planning to completely pull out of Asia's largest and most populated country even if the trade deal is approved. "China is 1.4 billion in population, and Vietnam is less than 100 million (so) there is a limit of how much we can move into that specific country," said Jeppesen. "But we are diversifying out of China as fast as we can." Shandra Martinez covers business and other topics for MLive. Email her or follow her on Twitter @shandramartinez. ANN ARBOR, MI - Thunderbolt has hatched her babies and you can help name them. The peregrine falcon hatched four chicks atop Ann Arbor's University Hospital in early May. The babies were discovered earlier this week and banded by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Southeast Michigan Peregrine Falcon Coordinator Chris Becher said Thunderbolt returned to nest above U-M Hospital this year after nesting above U-M's North Quadrangle Residential and Academic Complex last year. U-M is once again crowd-sourcing names for the birds on social media. Participants can tweet name suggestions to the @UMich account. For the 6th year peregrine falcons have successfully hatched on campus! Help give them some a-aize-ing names. pic.twitter.com/zuBaQTceHm University of Michigan (@UMich) May 27, 2016 Becher, who has been following the Ann Arbor site since 2010, said the university provides boxes at both locations for the falcons to nest in every January or February. "The birds in Southeast Michigan stay on territory all year and don't migrate," she said. "If they were to leave, another animal would probably take over the nest, so they want to stay in the area." Thunderbolt has hatched 21 chicks over the past six years U-M has provided nest boxes. Peregrine falcons typically lay their eggs in March and hatch in May. By the end of August to mid-September, the young are on their own and ready to fly wherever their wings take them for a year or two, Becher said. If they survive on their own during that time period, they will begin to seek a nesting location of their own. Gravitating toward tall buildings, peregrine falcons tend to seek out natural habitats on cliffs and ledges - out of the reach of predators. When officials realized a few years ago that a pair of falcons was attempting to nest on U-M's 192-foot tall Burton Memorial Tower, the Michigan DNR rerouted the birds and helped set up a nesting box atop University Hospital. There are a number of reasons people are fascinated by the birds, Becher said, including their claim as the fastest member of the animal kingdom. Peregrine falcons can reach speeds greater than 200 mph during a characteristic hunting swoop. "They're fun to watch and they're very good parents - they're very good with their young and they teach them how to hunt and fly," she said. "I think with a number of people putting video cameras on nests, people are able to see them and become very interested in them without harming their nesting. I think that has helped play a role in helping people understand the bird and enjoy and appreciate it." Martin Slagter covers higher education for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at mslagter@mlive.com or on Twitter. ANN ARBOR, MI -- A small group of Community High School students have been immersed in Ann Arbor's history this semester, and they'll share their experiences with the community at a presentation Saturday in Kerrytown. Every spring, Community High School students take tours of downtown Ann Arbor led by citizen historians. This year, four students in the school's new multimedia storytelling course had the chance to gain a deeper understanding of their city's roots. "The students start out and they're probably more attracted to creating video and soundtrack than they are to the history part of it," said John Kotarski, a citizen historian with a background in education, who helped lead the class. "That's what this class is all about ... teaching students how to use multimedia to tell stories, and the stories are about Ann Arbor's history." Throughout the course, students worked with Ray Detter, coordinator of the Historic Street Exhibit Program, to research Ann Arbor's history; Melissa Levine, lead copyright officer at the University of Michigan Library, to learn about fair-use and intellectual copyrights; Kirk Westphal, videographer and city council member, to work on media production techniques; and Ken Clein, an architect and member of the city planning commission, to learn about city design strategies. Students created a 45-minute soundscape with sound effects and music that added a new dimension to audio of Kotarski's typical tour of the Courthouse Square. They also shot 3- to 5-minute videos sharing the history of one of the glass panels on the Courthouse Square, and their final assessment for the course will take place Saturday with a poster presentation. "The students really found it immersive and they found it fun," Kotarski said. "It was adding that element that really helped the students understand the history of Ann Arbor." The two pairs of students will set up posters at the east entrance to Kerrytown at 10 a.m. Saturday, and judges will arrive at 11 a.m. to ask students about their experiences in the class, the technical expertise they gained and the historical facts they learned. Detter; Mary Morgan, founder of CivCity; and Donald Harrison, videographer and producer of the new feature film "Commie High", will judge the poster presentations. The winners will be eligible for cash awards up to $100 from the Historic Street Exhibit program. Lauren Slagter covers K-12 education for The Ann Arbor News. Contact her at 734-255-1419, lslagter@mlive.com or on Twitter @LaurenSlagter. ANN ARBOR, MI -- Ann Arbor's study of potential locations for a new Amtrak train station is now far behind schedule, and officials aren't saying much about what has caused the delays. More than a year ago, city officials said they were nearing the end of an extensive review of possible sites -- including along both Fuller Road and Depot Street -- and they planned to announce a preferred location soon. But that announcement never came, and city officials have shared little information about the project with the public for more than a year now. They've refused to release a copy of an alternatives analysis report submitted to the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration. City officials maintain the report, which contains the city's analysis of the Fuller and Depot alternatives, is still in draft form and will be shared publicly only when the FRA signs off on it. One page of an email from a Federal Railroad Administration official offering feedback on the city's draft alternatives analysis. The city of Ann Arbor heavily redacted the email before providing a copy to The Ann Arbor News under the Freedom of Information Act, saying the ability of officials to engage in frank communications outweighs the public interest in disclosure. But getting the FRA to sign off on a final draft has proven to be more difficult than the city anticipated, and further delays could jeopardize the project's grant funding. Emails obtained by The Ann Arbor News under the Freedom of Information Act shed some light on the matter, showing some of the conversations happening behind the scenes. However, what talks have taken place between the FRA and the city, and what revisions the FRA has asked the city to make to the draft report, remain somewhat of a mystery, as the city has chosen not to release certain information, and the FRA isn't talking, either. The News obtained more than 400 pages of emails sent to and from Eli Cooper, the city's transportation program manager, going back to last August. They reveal frustrations with how long the process is taking. "I really, really hope we are able to provide an updated final report to MDOT/FRA by the middle of next week and then we wait for their approval again. We are so close, but not there yet," Cooper wrote in a Sept. 25 email to local real estate developer Peter Allen, who asked for an update. "I trust you can read the pain in my words," Cooper added. "This needs to be released and we need to move into the public discussion." A few weeks later, on Oct. 12, Allen inquired again. "No news from FRA," Cooper replied. Allen was one of multiple developers who reached out to Cooper and expressed interest in the train station project. In multiple emails, Allen mentioned his own ideas for new development, including building apartments overlooking the Huron River at 944 N. Main St. 'I can't even begin to guess' The city's initial Phase 2 draft alternatives analysis for the train station project was forwarded to the FRA in late 2014, according to Cooper. Since then, the city has worked to respond to the FRA's feedback and has submitted multiple revised drafts. "I can't even begin to guess how many versions have been drafted and submitted since a year ago," Cooper said this week, adding he's hopeful a final draft finally will be released to the public within a few weeks. What the city hoped would be a final draft -- a roughly 50-megabyte file -- was sent to MDOT for review on Aug. 19 and then forwarded to the FRA on Sept. 3, emails show. In the city's FOIA response, the city chose to omit or redact feedback provided by the FRA. In an Oct. 30 email to Cooper and MDOT officials, Wynne Davis, who was the FRA's midwest regional manager at the time, offered comments on the draft and apologized for the delay in responding. The city completely redacted the 66 lines of text containing the FRA's comments on the report, saying the ability of officials to engage in frank communications outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The city still wasn't saying much publicly after getting whatever feedback it may have gotten from the FRA last fall. In a Nov. 24 email to Cooper and others, Larry Krieg, one of Cooper's colleagues on the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority board, remarked that the project seemed to have "gone dark," falling far behind schedule with no updates. "At this time, there is nothing new to report," Cooper responded, explaining that the city was awaiting the FRA's response to recent communications from the city and MDOT and he could not predict a schedule. When a reporter inquired in March, Cooper once again repeated the phrase "nothing new to report." The current Amtrak station on Depot Street in Ann Arbor. Now heading into June, there's some hope that the FRA finally will sign off on a revised draft soon, Cooper said this week. A copy was sent to MDOT for review last week. MDOT plans to forward it to the FRA next week. "The city has been responding to their requests for additional information and clarification," said Therese Cody, MDOT's rail operating programs manager. Asked what issues the FRA has raised that have required so many revisions to the report, Cody said: "I would not say there are any issues." Cooper and Cody both noted there were staff changes at the FRA over the winter. Davis left her position as FRA regional manager and Melissa Hatcher took over her duties with respect to the project. "The FRA has a new project manager for our area and this person needed to review this project from onset," Cody said. Unfortunately, Cody said, these things take time and the parties have continued to work together to complete the alternatives analysis. The FRA's Hatcher wrote in a Jan. 13 email to Cooper and MDOT officials that she did not want her need to get up to speed to hinder progress. She proposed a Jan. 28 meeting to discuss the project with the city and MDOT. In a Jan. 14 reply to Hatcher, Cody wrote that she looked forward to "getting resolve to the outstanding issues related to moving this project forward." It's unclear from the email what those issues were. Without going into detail, Cooper said the city has been receiving feedback from the FRA over the last year and a half and he believes the latest document is responsive to the most recent set of comments. He said the city has made many adjustments to the report, revising the content and the manner in which material is presented, including tightening up the language. "The process does take time," he said. "I've learned patience as part of this process, and we recognize the role of the various entities, including MDOT and the FRA, in terms of their review and approval authority." FRA officials declined to comment for this story, other than to say the FRA is working with MDOT and the city to complete the alternatives analysis as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. 'There's still a purpose and need' Following completion of the alternatives analysis and release of the report, the city plans to hold a series of public meetings to obtain input before moving forward with an environmental assessment. Cooper said there are multiple design alternatives for rail segments on both Depot and Fuller that are likely to be carried into the next phase. The Depot Street alternative includes consideration of redeveloping the current Amtrak site or returning the historic Michigan Central Railroad Depot, now the Gandy Dancer restaurant, to use as a train station. The other option is building a new station on the footprint of a city-owned parking lot on the south side of Fuller Road in part of Fuller Park in front of the University of Michigan Hospital. The city several years ago identified that as a preferred site, but it's now going through a new federal process. The Depot Street alternative, as shown in a previous Ann Arbor Station project report. The Fuller Park alternative, as shown in a previous Ann Arbor Station project report. The city still has more than $2 million left to spend from a $2.8 million federal rail planning grant the city accepted in 2012, and the city has until September 2017 to spend or lose that money. The city hopes to be able to use the grant money to complete the environmental assessment and preliminary engineering plans for a new station once the FRA signs off on the alternatives analysis. Cooper said the city needs to get moving into the next phases if it's going to make good use of the grant money before it expires. If it expires, he said, it would require a new federal authorization and appropriation. "The necessity of a 21st-century rail station does not go away if these federal funds lapse," he said. "There's still a purpose and need." In a March 4 email, the FRA's Hatcher offered comments on a grant adjustment request, but the city redacted what she wrote. 'Off track' Documents obtained by The Ann Arbor News through FOIA include the city's quarterly progress reports to the FRA. One shows $29,420 was spent on the project from July through September, 80 percent of which was covered by the federal grant. That includes $3,860 worth of city staff time plus $25,560 for consultant services provided by URS Corp., now AECOM, including $13,453 for conceptual design work and $12,108 for environmental review work. A detailed budget for the project shows more than $3.5 million in planned expenses, including $35,000 for a detailed work plan, $500,000 for conceptual design, $450,000 for environmental review and $2.5 million for preliminary engineering. Of those costs, $2.8 million is expected to be funded by the federal grant, with $701,600 shown as a match from the city. The city's Capital Improvements Plan shows $2.6 million in planned expenses for final design of a new Amtrak station and $44.5 million for construction. The city expects to receive federal funding for a significant portion of that. As of Sep. 4, URS Corp. had invoiced $624,172 worth of expenses, including $279,402 for three sub-consultants working on the project -- DLZ Michigan Inc., Power Marketing Research and Legat Architects Inc. A quarterly progress report from January shows that as of the end of December, $517,532 of the $2.8 million grant had been spent. The most recent quarterly report from April shows another $18,876 was spent between January and March, $15,730 of which was covered by the grant. The report lists the status of several project tasks as "off track." The city once thought it would be done with the environmental review and preliminary engineering work for a new station in 2013. The project description in the 2015 progress reports includes language assuming a new station will be built along Fuller Road. Asked about that, Cooper said that's probably just "historic artifact," as there's no such assumption now. The January report stated work planned for the next quarter included identifying a preliminary preferred site and initiating environmental field work. Depot vs. Fuller City Council Member Sabra Briere, D-1st Ward, said she has no idea what's in the reports to the FRA, but she's talked with Cooper and he believes the FRA will assert that Fuller Road is the best location for a new station. Briere said that still leaves two significant issues to address, including whether the city can get additional federal funding and whether the public wants to move forward with a new station, because it will require a vote of the people. The project team is working with assumptions that ridership along the Detroit-to-Chicago corridor will increase significantly in the coming decades, with daily roundtrips by Amtrak increasing from three to 10, along with new regional commuter rail service between Ann Arbor and Detroit. The Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority is putting the question of a regional transit tax that would fund commuter rail on the November ballot. If the future service assumptions are true, Briere said, Ann Arbor could use an improved train station, and she personally prefers Depot Street. If the goal is to serve people commuting to work in Ann Arbor, including university employees, she said, then Fuller Road makes the most sense. But if the goal is to meet the needs of people traveling to and from Ann Arbor for reasons other than work, she said, then Depot Street makes the most sense. She noted Depot Street is a short walk from downtown and is a more walkable location for a greater number of Ann Arborites. Briere lives within walking distance from both potential locations, both of which are in the 1st Ward. Prashanth Gururaja, a local transit advocate who lives near the current station, emailed Cooper last November to suggest having multiple Ann Arbor stations for east-west commuter rail. Gururaja has served on the RTA's Citizens Advisory Committee and recently was appointed to the AAATA board. "Whether Fuller or Depot is chosen for the new intercity rail station, I think it makes some sense to have a second station at the other site for the RTA commuter/regional service, and there's precedent for this," Gururaja wrote, citing other cities where intermediate stations are spaced within a mile apart, including in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. Cooper responded by saying cost would be a consideration with having two stations, and the primary focus of the Ann Arbor Station project is deciding where to have a station for intercity passenger rail service. "I believe that either of the two sites undergoing review at this time have a series of benefits and costs associated with their use," he wrote. "They are both viable sites for a rail station. The current environmental review is focused primarily upon intercity passenger rail service and how to best accommodate it as it evolves in the coming years and decades. Although we acknowledge the potential for future regional/commuter service that may serve the city and the station, it is not the primary focus of the ongoing station planning effort." Other emails show a citizens group called Protect A2 Parks has been lobbying the FRA, reaching out last July and again in October to argue the city's purpose-and-need statement for the train station project did not reflect citizen input and was skewed to identify problems with the existing station location, overlooking some of the positive attributes of the Depot Street location. "Given that train service has been located on Depot Street for 176 years, we find the statement about limited integration with the city and neighborhoods to be inaccurate, incomplete, and misleading," the group stated in a letter, agreeing the current station is too small and inadequate, but also arguing the size of the current station shouldn't be used as a reason to eliminate the location. "Except for the University of Michigan hospitals, all other Ann Arbor destinations are distant from the Fuller Park alternative station location," the group wrote to the FRA, expressing concerns that parkland could be taken if a station is built there and that would be controversial in Ann Arbor. Group members who signed the letter include Vivienne Armentrout, Barbara Bach, Larry Baird, Vince Caruso, George Gaston, Robert Johnson, Ann Larimore, Nancy Kaplan, Rita Mitchell, Gwen Nystuen and Ethel Potts. In emails in September, Cooper shared the latest thinking about the size of the station, saying preliminary numbers indicated a "total program" for the station between 9,000 and 10,000 square feet, with 870 parking spaces for intercity passenger rail users and 200 spaces for regional rail commuters. 'They have the final choice' Among the development industry professionals who've emailed Cooper about the train station project is Gary Cobb, director of acquisitions and dispositions for West Second Street Associates, or WSSA LLC. Cobb noted in a Dec. 3 email that his company was seeking development opportunities in Ann Arbor and recently purchased downtown commercial properties at 327-331 S. Main St. and on William Street near State Street. He said WSSA was assessing the Lower Town area around Broadway and Pontiac Trail and he understood plans for a new train station could be a boost to the area. He said he wanted to talk to Cooper about the company's interest in developing mixed-use projects in Ann Arbor. "The extension of Ann Arbor's university and jobs growth via improved train transit is very interesting," Cobb wrote. Reached by phone on Thursday, Cobb said WSSA still is looking throughout the downtown and campus area for investment opportunities and he couldn't really speak to the potential for a project in the Lower Town area. Peter Allen said he hopes to someday build apartments along North Main, but not until North Main gets rebuilt with adequate water capacity and the Allen Creek Greenway is being implemented, so it could be five years. Emails from Doug Kelbaugh, a University of Michigan architecture professor, make reference to a meeting Mayor Christopher Taylor apparently held with DTE Energy last July to discuss "development of the Amtrak/MichCon site." DTE owns the former MichCon site near the current station and wants to see it redeveloped as a mixed-use development. There has been some talk of the city using a portion of the site for the train station project if Depot Street is the chosen location. "As the owner of an important riverfront parcel and a valued member of the community, DTE is naturally interested in how the placement of a train station might influence land use," Taylor said on Thursday. "As you know, the decision of the optimal station location rests ultimately with FRA -- they have the final choice to fund or not fund. I hope that our report will obtain FRA's sign off soon so that we can finally move one step closer to delivering improved train service to Ann Arbor." Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com. Good news for Vietnamese catfish farmers as U.S. Senate votes to end inspections The upper house of the U.S. Congress voted on Wednesday to stop the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from inspecting both domestic and foreign catfish. The lawmakers approved to scrap the inspection program, which critics have argued is wasteful and unnecessary, in a 55-43 vote. If the House of Representatives agrees and Obama signs on, catfish will likely return to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where only 1 to 2 percent of seafood imports are inspected due to budget restrictions. Critics argued that the USDA, which took over safety oversight of catfish from the FDA under the 2008 Farm Bill, is duplicating work already done by the FDA. However, the USDA delayed putting the program into place for several years so the inspections did not start until April this year. Inspections conducted by the USDA are projected to cost $14 million annually, while the FDA spends less than $700,000 per year to inspect catfish. The USDA is reported to have already spent $20 million on the program's development since the 2008 Farm Bill became law. The vote followed President Barack Obamas three-day visit to Vietnam, a major exporter of catfish to the United States. Senator John McCain, who supports the rollback, accused the USDAs catfish inspection program of being an attempt to protect American catfish companies from having to compete with Vietnamese exporters. Meanwhile, supporters of the program argue the inspections are a necessary precaution against potentially tainted imports. The USDA has already found illegal drug residue such as carcinogens and antibiotics in some fish shipments from Asian countries. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI -- Washtenaw County residents will honor military veterans and active personnel throughout the Memorial Day weekend. Planned events range from solemn shows of patriotism, concerts and parades. Here's a list of Memorial Day weekend events happening in Washtenaw County. Most events are free and open to the public. Parades and processions: Ann Arbor The Glacier Highlands Memorial Day parade will start at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 30 at Greenbrier Park, 301 E. Huron St. A memorial services will start at 10:40 a.m. directly following the parade at Glacier Highlands Park, located on Sulgrave Place. Organizers will serve coffee and doughnuts after the procession. Food vendors will also be on hand, serving hot dogs, empanadas and Kona Ice desserts. Chelsea Chelsea's Memorial Day parade will take place from 10-11 a.m. on Monday, May 30 at 310 N. Main St. Organizers ask participants to gather at the municipal downtown parking lot. The parade route starts there and will head south on Main Street, east on Park Street and then north on East Street. It will turn east once more on Middle Street and end at Oak Grove Cemetery, 321 E. Middle St. A ceremony honoring veterans will take place at the cemetery. The parade is hosted by the Herbert J. McKune American Legion Post 31, 1700 Ridge Road, Chelsea, Michigan. Dexter Dexter will hold its annual Memorial Day parade at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 30. The parade route begins on the corner of Ann Arbor and Iverness streets and will continue northwest onto Main Street. Parade units will then turn right on Alpine Street and end at 5th Street. A ceremony honoring veterans will take place after the parade at Monument Park, located on the 8000 block of Ann Arbor Street. Manchester The Manchester Memorial Day parade will start at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 30 at the Main Street bridge in downtown Manchester. Parade units will move west along Main Street and end at Oak Grove Cemetery, 321 E. Middle St. A potluck luncheon is scheduled after the parade at Legacy Events Center, 207 E. Duncan St. Milan A parade and cemetery ceremony will start at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 30 at Marble Memorial Cemetery. It is pegged as a traditional parade with a salute to area veterans. Saline Saline's Memorial Day parade will start at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 30 on Bennett Street. The parade location was moved from Michigan Avenue due to construction. Ypsilanti The city of Ypsilanti will hold a Memorial Day weekend pops concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 28 at Riverside Park, 5 E. Cross St. "Pops in the Park" is hosted and performed by the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra. The event is free. A Memorial Day parade is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. on Monday, May 30. The route beings on Catherine Street and will continue north down Huron Street to Cross Street. It will continue onto River Street and ends at Highland Cemetery, 943 N. River St. Additional events: Yankee Air Museum The USO and Yankee Air Museum will host "Celebrate and Connect," an event aiming to collect and send 1 million messages of gratitude to active US military personnel stationed worldwide. The event starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 28. A Memorial Day program will begin at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 30, including remembrances for fallen veterans who served in wars ranging from World War II to Iraq and Afghanistan. Surviving veterans will also be honored at the event. Music from the Belleville Community Chorus and a keynote address by Gulf War veteran, Lt. Commander Tony Pequeno, will round out the event. Both Saturday and Monday events are free. The Yankee Air Museum is located at 47884 D Street, Belleville, Michigan. Protocol Ceremony at Aborcrest Memorial Park A military protocol ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 29 at Arborcrest Memorial Park. It is funeral home's 34th annual ceremony. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) and State Rep. Adam Zemke (D-Ann Arbor) will be in attendance, along with the Washtenaw County Veteran's Honor Guard, the Civil Air Patrol, and three Boy Scout troupes. Speakers include Danielle Purtell, Miss Washtenaw County 2015, and Frank Sinagara, a wounded Vietnam combat veteran and former president of Plymouth-Kiwanis Sinagra earned two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and other medals of merit for his in life saving efforts in a single combat mission. Officials will present Sinagra with a folded flag representing all fallen U.S. military personnel at the end of the ceremony. The event is free and will continue rain or shine. If you would like to submit or suggest a Memorial Day weekend event, email Ben Solis at bsolis@mlive.com. Solis is an intern with MLive & The Ann Arbor News. Follow him on Twitter @bensolis1. Whether you go to the beach or a state park, or just stay home and relax, after you're done enjoying this Memorial Day weekend, it's time to talk about protecting Michigan's natural environment and public health. Starting on Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is inviting citizens to attend a series of information meetings around the state to learn more about newly proposed pollution cleanup criteria. The DEQ's Remediation and Redevelopment Division has completed a comprehensive revision of the administrative rules under Part 201 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. That includes long-awaited changes to the state's standards for the toxic chemical 1,4-dioxane. The allowable level of dioxane in residential drinking water is expected to go from 85 parts per billion down to 7.2 ppb to be more protective of public health. The state's rules are used to evaluate risks to public health, safety and welfare and the environment from 300-plus regulated hazardous substances -- from arsenic to zinc -- at sites of environmental contamination. They take into consideration exposure pathways such as drinking water, direct contact and vapor intrusion. Public information meeting dates: Grand Rapids -- May 31 -- Crowne Plaza, 9:30 a.m. to noon Ann Arbor -- June 1 -- Washtenaw Community College, 9:30 a.m. to noon Lansing -- June 1 -- Lansing Community College, 6-8:30 p.m. Gaylord -- June 16 -- Tree Tops Resort, 9:30 a.m. to noon Bay City -- June 28 -- Double Tree Hilton, 9:30 a.m. to noon Marquette -- July 11 -- Marquette Commons, 9:30 a.m. to noon Register to attend. The DEQ is tentatively planning to hold a public hearing on the proposed rules from 1-4 p.m. July 13 at Lansing Community College's West Campus. There will be a chance to submit written comments from June 17 to July 26. DEQ officials acknowledge establishing stricter criteria won't necessarily mean better cleanup of pollution sites. That's because the state's environmental remediation laws allow for risk management instead of cleanup as long as public health can be protected, so pollution is allowed to fester in the environment. Download the proposed rules package Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com. ANN ARBOR, MI -- Police are responding to Huron High School in Ann Arbor as of about 12:45 p.m. on Friday. Ann Arbor police Detective Lt. Matthew Lige said police are responding to a report of a suspicious person possibly wearing a mask at the school. He could not provide more information at the time. This story will be updated when more information becomes available. 1:13 p.m. Friday, May, 27, 2016 At about 12:40 p.m., Principal Janet Schwamb reported an unknown person wearing a black mask and hoodie was inside the school. School officials believe the person is male and is not affiliated with school as student or staff member, Lige said. Huron High School is on lock-down while police search the building to see whether the intruder is still inside. There is no report of shots fired, injuries, threats or weapons of any kind at this time, Lige said. "We're in the process of determining what this really is and determining if there is any threat," he said, adding that officers are taking these steps out of an "overabundance" of caution. 1:31 p.m. Friday, May 27, 2016 Ann Arbor Police, Washtenaw County Sheriff, Pittsfield Township Police, University of Michigan Police and ATF are all on scene. Rhory Gould, father of Huron High School sophomore Sarah Gould, arrived at the school after hearing from his wife that police were on the scene. He has been communicating with his daughter Sarah, who says "they don't seem worried" in the school right now. 1:35 p.m. Friday, May 27, 2016 A student in the building said three officers with a dog came into a classroom on the second floor, looked around and left. 1:47 p.m. Friday, May 27, 2016 Parent Maurice Page is awaiting more information at the school. His 15-year-old daughter Angie Page has texted him from inside the school saying that she's scared and doesn't know what's going on. "I understand why communication is down, but as a parent it's just hell waiting here," he said. 2:30 p.m. Friday, May, 27, 2016 As of about 2:30 p.m. parents were being allowed on the grounds. Police believe Huron High School is dismissing classes for the rest of the day, but school officials have not officially confirmed that students will be released from the school at this point. 4:21 p.m. Friday, May 27, 2016 Huron High School Principal Janet Schwamb emailed Huron families with an update on the incident. She said the students were never in any danger and noted all afternoon activities at the school had been cancelled. "The Board of Education and Superintendent, Dr. Jeanice Swift, want to thank the multiple law enforcement first responders who ensured that Huron High School was safe and secure for all of our student, faculty, staff, and administration," Schwamb wrote. She also thanked the teachers for their support through the day. It's all clear at Huron High School following a lock-down today RE a suspicious person. Police are still there, but again: All clear. A2 Public Schools (@A2schools) May 27, 2016 Huron really in lockdown G-rizzle (@richbabby_) May 27, 2016 So apparently Huron is on lockdown... Wtf g (@ciaaaaarrrraaaa) May 27, 2016 When ppl at pio are complaining about lack of ac but Huron is on lockdown w 5 squad cars outside :/ Akhil M (@adude28) May 27, 2016 Huron on full lockdown after suspicious guy spotted in mask and hoodie. #PrayForHuron Nico (@nic_mic_03) May 27, 2016 Lockdown at Huron micki minach (@toolitmick) May 27, 2016 i swear to god if the huron lockdown is all from a terrible senior prank i will not be surprised and extremely disappointed paleorobot (@paleorobot) May 27, 2016 Another photo of the Huron lockdown pic.twitter.com/exXXGtdcxP cam (@FALLINGBEATRICE) May 27, 2016 Reporters Ben Solis, Lauren Slagter, Martin Slagter and Melanie Maxwell also are contributing to this report. ANN ARBOR, MI -- Ann Arbor Public Schools has determined its water is safe after completing 79 tests for lead at every building throughout the district since April. Brian Steglitz, manager of the City of Ann Arbor's water treatment facility, presented the test results to the board of education Wednesday, explaining that 15 parts per billion is when the Environmental Protection Agency requires action to reduce the amount of lead in the water. "The safe level of lead in water is zero," he said. "So that's our target. What the rule dictates is that if we have 90 percent of our samples at less than 15, we as a utility are doing an adequate job of protecting our water supply." Water utilities are required to take 50 water samples every three years from residential properties and test them for lead, but school districts are not included in that mandate, Steglitz said. "Our efforts and a lot of efforts from a lot of utilities in Michigan and around the country to partner with schools...is going beyond what the regulatory requirements are, but it's the right thing to do," he added. AAPS began discussions with the city about its water quality in November 2015 because of concerns raised in Flint and across the country, and testing started in April. The city performed three different sets of testing--at no cost to the school district--and only two sites were above the recommended 15 ppb: the Huron High School concession building (59 ppb) and training room (16 ppb). Water to both of those sites had not recently been used for consumption. In fact, the pipes sit dormant through the winter when those facilities are not in use, which is what contributed to the elevated lead levels, Steglitz said. Stagnant water is more likely to lift lead off of pipes as it sits. Additional tests performed at those sites after the pipes had been flushed showed lead was no longer detectable in the concession building's water, and lead in the training room's water had dropped to 9 ppb. "We will be taking some lessons from this process to implement particular protocols that we think will just improve the way we are working with water in our district," said Superintendent Jeanice Swift. "We'll be thorough about this. We'll be consistent about it." To maintain the water quality moving forward, AAPS will continue routine testing, flush pipes after extended breaks when the school water is not in use and complete an inventory of the district's pipe system to note the type, age and condition of pipes in its infrastructure. Based on this round of testing, the district plans to replace a water fountain at Logan Elementary School where the lead level was 8 ppb and to replace the faucet and pipes leading to the Huron High School training room where the lead level was 9 ppb. The school district also will address concerns with the water at A2 STEAM at Northside. There is no issue with the lead levels there, but the water gets discolored after sitting in the pipes for awhile while students are on break. The discoloration is due to iron, Swift said, and is not harmful. Still, a micron filter will be installed on the pipe that delivers water to the building to remove the discoloration. "Not only will it be safe, but it will look safe," she added. Lauren Slagter covers K-12 education for The Ann Arbor News. Contact her at 734-255-1419, lslagter@mlive.com or on Twitter @LaurenSlagter. 081715_NEWS_PONDs_OF_LAKEWO.JPG Ponds of Lakewood off Textile Road near the intersection with Tuttle Hill Road. (Dominic Valente | The Ann Arbor News) Ypsilanti Township has hired an attorney to handle a Justice Department investigation over allegations of housing discrimination that stem from rules the township put in place to limit Section 8 and rental housing. The rules, developed last year, immediately caught the attention of the Fair Housing Center in Ypsilanti, which filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Justice Department separately opened its own investigation. At its regular May 17 meeting, the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved hiring the Plunkett Cooney firm, which practices in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. The township will pay the attorneys between $180 and $225 an hour. Clerk Karen Lovejoy Roe praised the township's regular attorney, McLain and Winters, which drafted the agreement's language. But she said Plunkett Cooney specializes in land use questions, will handle a possible legal challenge of the township's new sign ordinance and may be called upon for other issues on the horizon. "We're not specialists on land policy issues and these are people who are," Roe said. "( McLain and Winters) is good, they know the history, but we haven't done anything like this recently." As part of the development agreement written for the 392-unit Majestic Lakes subdivision unanimously approved by the Board in September, subsidized housing is barred, the number of rentals is limited, and the length of time single-family homes can be rented is capped at three years. The rules are part of a broader township effort to increase home ownership and reduce the number of rentals. According to its data, the township experienced a spike in the number of rentals and section 8 housing during the recession, and officials say that's the source of a disproportionate amount of their crime and blight-related issues. Pam Kisch, director of the Fair Housing Center, previously told The Ann Arbor News that the agency filed a Fair Housing Act complaint with HUD in January over the section 8 rules and other township housing policies. Kisch charged the policy disproportionately impact minorities, women, disabled residents and women with children - all groups protected under the Fair Housing Act. Aside from concerns over the section 8 and rental rules, the Fair Housing Center HUD complaint includes concerns about the township's and Sheriff's Office policy of alerting landlords or MSHDA if a tenant is involved in criminal activity or has "behavioral issues." That can result in the resident losing a housing voucher or other assistance. The township and Sheriff's Office also pressure landlords into evicting tenants viewed as a problem, the Fair Housing Center charges. Kisch said the policies are a concern because other factors often play into the situations, and there may be better responses. The Fair Housing Center and ACLU of Michigan met with Sheriff Jerry Clayton's office regarding the concerns. Both sides previously said the meetings were positive, and Sheriff Clayton said his office is re-examining how it handles situations that involve low-income housing residents. BANGOR TWP, MI -- The Saginaw Bay waves rhythmically wash the almost-mile-long, sandy beach at Bay City State Recreation Area while sandpipers and gulls stalk the water's edge. The unexpected scene is remarkable. The muck is gone. "It's looking fabulous," says Kim Coonon, a member of the Beach Wellness Committee of the Friends of the Bay City State Recreation Area. Coonan, the 4th District member of the Bay County Board of Commissioners, has been one of the driving forces to clean the beach and get rid of the smelly, black muck that had fouled the waterline for years. At its worst, the muck stank and the waves burped ashore through the thick mess. The difference now is stunning. "It's amazing," agreed Bob Redmond, another Beach Wellness member who took a first springtime stroll on the beach this week. Beach Wellness is holding its 10th event beginning 9 a.m. June 25 to show off the beach and raise money for beach-cleaning equipment and docks. The Beach Wellness event features 10k and 5k runs, a 5k walk, a quarter-mile kids run, a volleyball tournament on the beach, and classic cars show up en masse for an informal show. The beach-cleaning work this year may be easier than in years past, when tall stands of invasive phragmites marched to the water's edge, and soupy muck turned away all but the most enthusiastic waders. "It's not going to take a lot to clean it," Coonan said. Beach Wellness volunteers and state park employees groom the beach throughout the summer to keep its sand clear of debris. Still, the muck in the water had persisted, making a mess out of the once-popular Saginaw Bay beach. In 1959, the state park's day-use area that includes the beach had the highest attendance of any state park in Michigan, said Unit Manager George Lauinger. With the muck now gone, state park staff and supporters hope the beach once again grows in popularity. With an eye toward high numbers of people heading for that beach, the state park for the first time has put a portable toilet in the area just off the far western edge of the beach, Lauinger said. What happened to eliminate the muck, and how long the muck will stay away, nobody quite knows. But ever since the water of Lake Huron rose, the muck started disappearing. Lake Michigan-Lake Huron is 8.6 inches higher than April 2015, MLive's Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa reported earlier in May. Studies had shown that a lot of the muck was mostly decaying algae that grows on the lake bottom and washes ashore in mats. Not only has the water risen, but a state law banning phosphorus -- a powerful nutrient -- in detergents was imposed in might finally be having an effect, Redmond and Coonan speculated. Bay County was one of the first in the state to ban phosphorus use, and was instrumental in drafting the state law, Redmond said. In 2010, a state ban on phosphorus in dishwasher detergent was enacted,, and in 2012, a total ban on phosphorus in turf fertilizers for most residential and commercial uses went into effect. Could the ban have had an effect already? Probably not, said George Lauinger, unit manager of the Bay City State Recreation Area. He said scientists have said there was so much phosphorus already in the water that it will take many years until it is reduced to a large degree. Finally -- and most dramatically -- a Northeast storm Dec. 28 pushed up a huge dune at the water's edge, shifting the outlet of Tobico Marsh 1,700 feet down the beach, to the east and away from the 1,200 feet of shoreline that Beach Wellness has tended for more than a decade, Lauinger said. Down near that new outlet there is some muck, Lauinger said. "We noticed this year that the only muck we received has not been coming from the offshore sources, but from the outlet," he said. By mid-spring, the park usually sees offshore algae wash ashore, creating muck -- but not this year, he said. That's good news for Beach Wellness, which will have permission to groom another 750 feet of beach at the end of a new boardwalk planned to lead from near the spray park to the beach. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is taking comments on the project proposal until June 5, Lauinger said. State park employees and Beach Wellness volunteers will share duties grooming the beach, he said. But with the muck-free state of the beach this year, their work may be much diminished -- although Beach Wellness folks say they would appreciate more volunteer help. At long last, "Mother Nature is doing a pretty good job all by herself," Lauinger said. DETROIT -- Japan added another 7 million cars with Takata Corp. airbags to its recall list, which now sits at 19.6 million. As many as 63 million stateside vehicles are expected to be recalled in what is the largest U.S. safety recall in automotive history. The New York Times reports this could affect as many as one in four of the 250 million vehicles in America. Takata press officers have been made unavailable for comment. On May 4, the Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said they will recall 35-40 million airbag inflators between now and December 2019. This announcement nearly doubled a sizable recall already in place for 24 million vehicles, 14 automakers and 22 brands. The faulty airbags are blamed for 13 deaths worldwide, including 10 in the U.S. and more than 100 injuries. Some of the airbags have reportedly exploded, which in turn have sent metal shrapnel flying. Toyota, Lexus and Scion have recalled nearly 5 million stateside vehicles, according to a Car and Driver report. The cause has been linked to the chemical propellant, which can be damaged in humid environments causing the ammonium nitrate to become volatile. Affected Takata airbags lack a chemical drying agent, according to past reports. "The science clearly shows that these inflators become unsafe over time, faster when exposed to humidity and variations of temperature," Mark Rosekind, NHTSA administrator, said in early May. "This recall schedule ensures the inflators will be recalled and replaced before they become dangerous, giving vehicle owners sufficient time to have them replaced before they pose a danger to vehicle occupants." The NHTSA announced in May that its "five-phase" recall will be based on the prioritization of risk, which will pull the age of the inflators, exposure to high humidity and varying high temperatures into its formula. Jack Nerad, Kelley Blue Book's executive editorial director and market analyst, called the recall "nothing short of mind-boggling" earlier this month. Nerad added that most frightening component of this all, is that drivers and car owners may not get this message in time. In November 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation settled a criminal investigation with Takata for $70 million. If the Japanese auto-supplier violates its settlement, it could face another $130 million in fines. The NY Times reports that Takata remains a "key" supplier, which some market analysts to say gives automakers a reason to bail them out. Koji Endo, Advanced Research Japan's managing director, told the NY Times that although automakers are not pleased, "there is a realistic option they have to pay the cost." He added that if Takata were to vanish, car makers would "be in trouble." Drivers can determine whether their vehicle is included in the recall by punching a VIN into this link. weaver.jpg Former city administrator Natasha Henderson, left, and Flint Mayor Karen Weaver. (MLive.com File Photo) FLINT, MI - Former city Administrator Natasha Henderson said she had no knowledge of the potential seriousness of a Legionnaires Disease outbreak in Flint despite claims from Mayor Karen Weaver on a Detroit-area radio show. Henderson amended her lawsuit against the mayor Wednesday, May 25, to include a claim of defamation after she argues Weaver purposely made false, malicious statements about her to the media. "The statements by Mayor Weaver have compounded the harm that already has been inflicted on Ms. Henderson," said Henderson's attorney, Katherine Smith Kennedy. "We gave Mayor Weaver the opportunity to retract her statements but she chose not to do so. The only recourse we have to hold Mayor Weaver accountable for the additional damage is amending our original lawsuit to include a defamation claim." City officials said they would fight the allegations. "The attorneys retained to represent Mayor Weaver and the City of Flint will aggressively defend these claims, as well as those claims originally asserted by Ms. Henderson," said city attorney Stacy Erwin Oakes. A dozen people have died and nearly 80 others were sickened since 2014 after a Legionnaires Disease outbreak in the Flint area. State officials have said the outbreak could have been tied to the change of the city's drinking water source but have found no conclusive link. Henderson filed a federal lawsuit May 9 in Detroit U.S. District Court, claiming she was fired from her position after asking the city attorney's office to investigate claims Weaver may have been telling city staff and volunteers to send potential water crisis donors to her own personal account, rather than the fund managed by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. Weaver was a guest on the Frank Beckmann radio show on WJR two days after the suit was filed and claimed the reason Henderson was fired from the city was that "she knew about Legionella and didn't say anything about it," according to the amended complaint. On May 12, Henderson's attorney sent Weaver's attorney a letter requesting the mayor retract her statements, which they claimed were false. "Shortly after she began her position, Ms. Henderson was copied on emails on this issue, but she was never included in any meetings or phone conversations about this subject, and she received no information that alerted her to the potential seriousness of the problem," Kennedy wrote. The amended complaint claim Weaver also defamed her client when speaking to the local media about Henderson's termination. Weaver told Mlive-The Flint Journal on March 2 that Henderson attempted to derail an emergency declaration over Flint's water crisis. "The former City Administrator, Natasha Henderson, expressed to me that it was not in the best interest of the city to declare a state of emergency," Weaver said. "She said it would upset the governor." Kennedy said the statement was false, claiming that Henderson presented the mayor with the pros and cons of such a declaration. She added that Henderson personally drafted the actual emergency declaration that Weaver read from when the announcement was made. The May 12 letter requested Weaver retract the statements within 10 days, or else the defamation claim would be added to the lawsuit. The suit claims Weaver never issued the retraction. Weaver has previously denied the claims made against her in Henderson's lawsuit. "It is the general policy of the City of Flint to not respond to allegations in civil lawsuits. However, in this instance, I want to personally state that legal counsel for the city will be responding to the allegations and outrageously false claims being asserted against the city and me by Natasha Henderson. "It saddens me that someone would attempt to taint me as mayor of a city that is dealing with a major public health crisis, which has affected every man, woman and child in Flint. I will continue to work hard to serve the people of Flint, seek support for our residents, and secure the necessary resources from generous donors from around our great nation to help the city and citizens I have been elected to serve." Weaver announced Feb. 12 that Henderson was being "relieved of her responsibilities" with the city. Henderson was hired by former Emergency Manager Darnell Earley in February 2015, and her contract was to run until February 2020. It could only be terminated by agreement from the mayor, city council and state-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board. City council members, in a February letter to Gov. Rick Snyder, claimed Weaver acted on her own initiative to fire Henderson without consulting or notifying the council, despite the language in Henderson's contract. Weaver submitted a resolution Feb. 22, more than a week after Henderson's firing, asking council members to support the city administrator's termination. However, council members originally voted against terminating Henderson's contract during the Feb. 22 meeting and delayed a vote for her replacement, Sylvester Jones, who Weaver appointed. However, council voted 9-0 during its March 14 meeting to terminate Henderson's contract following a closed session. The lawsuit alleges Weaver was involved in the closed session, where she "disparaged and defamed" Henderson. City Councilman Scott Kincaid previously told MLive-The Flint Journal that the closed-door meeting focused on contract discussions and Henderson's severance package. He declined to comment on specifics of the discussion. However, he said Henderson's alleged call for an investigation into the mayor were never brought up by anyone during the meeting. The lawsuit claims Weaver's executive assistant reported around Feb. 9 to Henderson that "she feared going to jail" after Weaver allegedly instructed her and a city volunteer to direct donations from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint's Safe Water/Safe Home Fund to a different fund, named "Karenabout Flint." The lawsuit claims Murray allegedly told Henderson that she was specifically directed to tell donors and potential donors step-by-step how to donate to the Karenabout Flint fund through its website, rather than instruct them in the steps to donate to the Community Foundation's fund. State records do not show Karenabout Flint as a registered political action committee. However, the mayor used the "Karen about Flint" slogan throughout the campaign. Henderson claims she told the city attorney's office Feb. 9 that the redirection of the charity funds should be further investigated by then-Interim City Attorney Anthony Chubb. The lawsuit alleges Henderson reiterated her concerns in a Feb. 10 email to Chubb, asking him to "promptly initiate an investigation of this matter in your capacity." She further asked for advice on appropriate actions she could take to protect employees from potential retaliation for reporting such allegations. Chubb allegedly replied, "I will take prompt action and advise you later today." However, Henderson claims she again emailed Chubb on Feb. 12 after not receiving a further response again reached out to the interim city attorney for an update, telling him "this is a very serious matter." Within hours, Henderson says she was called into Weaver's office and told that she was being fired because Weaver had met with state officials and was told that the state could no longer fund Henderson's salary. The lawsuit claims Henderson told Weaver she was paid by the city and not the state. Weaver did not respond and demanded Henderson turn in her keys and remove all personal effects from her office. Henderson's previous attorney, David Sanford, sent a letter to the city in February in an attempt to mediate Henderson's breach of contract claim without a lawsuit. However, Kennedy claims the former city administrator was left with no other recourse but to file the case after the mediation failed. Here are some area police stories you may have missed from Thursday, May 26. Gov. Snyder asks auditor general to suspend Flint water crisis investigation Five new Flint firefighters help snuff blaze in vacant home Probation check leads police to meth lab, marijuana, 2 loaded shotguns Volunteer coach hit with new sex charge involving student Amanda Emery is a police reporter for MLive-The Flint Journal. Contact her at aemery@mlive.com or 810-285-0792. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook. ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI -- Two people accused of ransacking an Allegan County home and killing two dogs while restraining the homeowner are heading to trial. Michael Mills, 35, and Jamie McDonald, 40, have waived preliminary examinations, sending their cases to circuit court. Mills' case was bound over Wednesday, May 25, and his co-defendant waived her hearing last month, according to court records. A homeowner in the 4800 block of 118th Avenue in Clyde Township reported that two masked suspects armed with knives forced their way into her home April 5. One person held her down while the other tore through the home. The woman was not injured. Sheriff's authorities said the woman's pets, a German shepherd and a black Labrador retriever attempted to protect her and were stabbed by Mills, suffering fatal wounds. Police said the incident didn't appear random and the suspects had prior knowledge of the items they allegedly stole. Mills is charged with armed robbery, assault with intent to rob, first-degree home invasion and two counts of killing animals. McDonald is charged with armed robbery, assault with intent to rob and home invasion. They are both held on $100,000 bond. Angie Jackson covers crime and breaking news for MLive. Email her at ajackso3@mlive.com, and follow her on Twitter. Malaysia has announced anti-dumping tariffs on Vietnams cold rolled steel imports from May 24. The Vietnam Competition Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that the tax will range from 3.06 to 13.68 percent and be effective for five years. On August 27, 2015, Malaysia started a dumping investigation into Vietnamese steel exports to the Malaysian market. The countrys Ministry of Industry and International Trade issued a preliminary conclusion on January 22 this year, saying it would impose tax rates between 4.58 percent and 10.55 percent on Vietnamese cold rolled steel before. This is the second product from Vietnam to incur the tarriff in Malaysia. Previously, the country adopted a tax of 5.68 to 16.45 percent on Vietnamese colored steel sheets from September 2015 to January 2016. Chinese and Korean cold rolled steel imports are also subject to Malaysias anti-dumping tax rates. China pays from 5.61 to 23.7 percent, while Korea is charged between 3.78 and 21.64 percent. HOLLAND, MI - Police say a digitized voice threat to Holland Christian Schools, which prompted a lock down Friday, May 27, is similar to others that have occurred at schools across the country. Holland police responded after a bomb threat was received by the school system at 10:18 a.m. The computer-generated threat did not specify where the supposed bomb was located. School officials immediately ordered a lockdown and called police. Police told the schools that such threats have been made in other places, but officers took all safety precautions before determining that the call was a hoax. Every building in the system was searched for suspicious packages or people before lifting the lockdown. Holland police will work with a state and federal investigators and police in other jurisdictions to determine if the threat was linked to similar cases. Anyone with information is asked to call Holland Department of Public Safety at 616-355-1150 or email investigators at policetips@cityofholland.com. Informants can remain anonymous by calling Silent Observer 877-887-4536, texting OCMTIP and your message to 274637 or online at www.mosotips.com. John Agar covers crime and other issues for MLiveE-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar Vietnam is struggling against the worst drought and salinity in almost a century, and the historic natural disaster has taken a heavy toll on the southernmost province of Ca Mau, which accounts for 25 percent of the countrys shrimp production. Nguyen Trung Kien made a life-changing decision last year to raise shrimp in the southernmost province of Ca Mau. He turned his back on this paddy fields and dug a one hectare pond to raise freshwater shrimp. He believed that shrimp would be more lucrative than rice and would make all of his hard work worthwhile. What he did not expect was the worst drought and saltwater intrusion in almost 100 years that have ravaged Vietnam since late last year and shown no signs of abating. Weve lost everything. My family is not only completely broke but also burdened with a debt of more than VND100 million ($4,500), Kien wept. Ca Mau, 350km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, has more than 52,000 hectares of shrimp farms, and the prolonged drought and salinity has cost the province a total of VND260 billion. Local authorities are concerned that the affected area will double to 100,000 hectares if the historic natural disaster does not subside soon. Inland shrimp ponds have dried up due to severe drought. Photo by VnExpress Earlier this year, I borrowed money from relatives to invest in two shrimp ponds with a slight hope that I could recoup some of my losses. All of sudden the severe drought hit, drying up water resources and leading to extensive saltwater intrusion. This has prevented the shrimp from thriving. I tried my best to hold on for about a month, but in the end I had to drain the pond and suffer the loss, said Kien. The shrimp farmers rags-to-riches aspirations have turned sour, and he is not the only one whose dreams have been shattered by the harsh weather phenomenon. Thousands of shrimp farmers in Ca Mau Provinces Phu Tan District have experienced the same situation. Just a few years ago, local shrimp farmer Lam Van Khas village was seen as the land of (dong) billionaires after several farmers completed their classic rags to riches journeys. But now those tales have become bitter reminders for many farmers who are completely broke and deep in debt. Some have even had to abandon their homelands as they had nothing left. Khuongs dream of becoming a millionaire turned out to be a bitter failure. He already had a one hectare shrimp farm, but he was keen to expand. His family had to put up their land use certificates as collateral for bank loans and borrow money from family and friends to dig two new ponds. However, after farming them for just two years, they had to sell everything and leave their homeland. There is a saying: Failure is the mother of success, but this year we have failed to pick ourselves up. All our experience in shrimp farming is no match for this harsh weather, said Tran Van Cua, who has two hectares of shrimp ponds that are surrounded by the idle equipment he has not even bothered to move. Equipment lies deserted in the ponds or is sold to scrap dealers. Photo by VnExpress The prolonged drought, accompanied with extensive saltwater intrusion, large changes in temperatures from the day to night, and other environmental factors have had a serious impact on shrimp farming, said Chau Cong Bang, deputy head of Ca Mau's Agriculture and Rural Development Department. Farmers are incurring average losses of VND5 million for every hectare of dead shrimp, Bang added. Experts forecast that in the case worst scenario when there is no rain before early next month, and the drought, along with falling groundwater levels, will increase salinity levels in inland areas by 40 - 55ppt (40,000 - 55,000 milligrams of salt per liter). The southernmost province of Ca Mau is the latest victim but definitely not the only one. As of May 17, the drought had affected eight provinces in the Mekong Delta, resulting in 81,413 hectares of dead shrimp, according to Vietnam's Directorate of Fisheries. The El Nino phenomenon, which results in drier and hotter weather conditions than usual, is forecast to lose the deadly ferocity it has displayed this year by the end of June, and Vietnam is expecting normal weather patterns to return, said the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter This Account has been suspended. Customs teams at Yangons ports will now operate 24 hours a day, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry said yesterday, as the industry body works with private sector groups to solve logistics problems that have significantly held up trade. Around-the-clock efforts are necessary to clear the trade backlog, said U Aye Lwin, joint secretary general of the UMFCCI in a statement yesterday. Customs offices previously opened at 9am and closed at 4pm daily. Most countries around the world use round-the-clock loading and unloading processing services. Our trading system will be able to develop quickly now that we have introduced this fast-track method too, especially if customs clearance is also streamlined, he said. Hopefully, the traffic jams around Yangons ports will also ease now that the container trucks will be able to deliver and clear their loads at night. The number of ships arriving into Yangon Port has doubled over the past 10 years, while the arrival of general goods has more than doubled, and the arrival of containers has risen fourfold, leading to delays in container delivery, port clearance and a shortage of container space. A more recent spike has seen the number of containers arriving at Yangons ports increase by around 36pc since Myanmars New Year festival last month, while the number leaving the port has fallen by around 3pc according to the Ministry of Commerce. A working committee set up earlier this week to look into the problem will report its findings and recommendations to Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein within two weeks. UMFCCI chair U Win Aung earlier this week stressed the importance of freeing up trade. Congestion and delays in loading and unloading processes at Yangons sea ports undermine Myanmars economic growth by slowly reducing export and import capability, he said. The private sector must contribute to help improve vital areas of overseas trade including custom clearances, transportation and port management. To this end, the new working committee, which includes port owners and industry associations, has drawn up a list of tasks. These include compiling a list of containers that have been left unclaimed for over 60 days, devising quick methods to clear and replace empty containers, running 24-hour customs clearance and container loading and unloading operations, and asking shipping companies for detailed reports on their freight logistics activities. Businesspeople yesterday welcomed the changes with caution. It will be better than before, but many things still need to be fixed, said U Soe Tun, vice chair of the Myanmar Rice Federation. Longer customs hours will help trade flows, but delays will continue until a 24 hour deposit counter opens, he said. We have to pay taxes through banks, but banks do not open 24-hours and they close at the weekend, so we cannot remove our containers, he said. Sources in the auto, leasing and logistics industries which depend on vehicles imported through Yangon Port have long complained about customs opening hours, onerous administrative procedures and general delays. Too many shipping containers are crammed into the small ports and available cranes and container trucks are limited, U Soe Tun said. A quick solution could prove elusive. Leasing and logistics industry figures have said a proper fix would require deep-water ports with more container space. There is often a long queue of ships waiting outside Yangons ports unable to dock and unload, said one. This is a logistics problem, Commerce Minister U Than Myint said earlier this month. There are too many containers. Additional reporting by Clare Hammond, translation by Zar Zar Soe and Khine Thazin Han A court in Vietnam on Thursday jailed four Vietnamese for terms ranging from two to 2-1/2 years each for "organising others to flee abroad illegally" after Australia sent back their group of asylum seekers, their lawyer said. The 46 asylum seekers were aboard a small vessel intercepted off Australia's remote west coast last year and were returned to Vietnam as a result of negotiations between the two countries. The defendants, two men and two women, were crossing the border illegally for the first time in July 2015 and their 42 Vietnamese companions were relatives and acquaintances, lawyer Vo An Don told Reuters. Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. Regional officials say they will investigate performance at private electricity providers and if necessary, cancel contracts signed by the former government, as frequent power outages continue across Yangon and frustrations are vented through social media. Four private companies signed with the previous administration to supply power to the city. They are not performing as expected, said Daw Nilar Kyaw, regional minister for electricity, industry and transportation, to parliament yesterday. There are a lot of weaknesses and areas where companies have failed to meet the terms of the agreements. We will compare the contracts with company performance and will submit our findings to the Union ministry. Contracts signed by the previous government are coming under intense scrutiny as the new administration begins to pursue election promises to improve transparency and efficiency, and fight corruption. On the issue of power, the government is under pressure to act, as social media users anxious for a response to frequent blackouts make it clear that their expectations have not been met. Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation recently promised that residents will see their electricity restored to full strength after intermittently cutting voltage across the city to save power. YESC is a recent experiment in privatization, aimed at reducing running costs and the national budget deficit. Until 2015 it was the Yangon Electricity Supply Board, which generated around 1000 megawatts of electricity in Yangon Region. Now it is an independent, publicly owned company, tasked with attracting the investment needed to reduce wastage and improve customer service. Contracts now up for review include those of UPP Power Myanmar which runs the Ywarma power plant, Thailands Toyo-Thai which operates the Ahlone power plant, Myanmar Central Power Company which runs the Hlawga power plant, and Maxpower, a subsidiary of Indonesian firm Navigat, which runs the Thaketa power plant. The capacity of Toyo-Thais two turbines made by US giant General Electric (GE) combines to nearly three times the capacity of their three ageing neighbours, and produce 121.6MW of electricity. Maxpower also uses a GE engine to generate 53.58MW. Local company UPP Power Myanmar runs a Caterpillar engine to generate 52MW while Myanmar Central Power Company runs a Guascor engine to generate 54.25MW. Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said earlier this month that the 61 engines and turbines under state and private companies in Yangon city produce just over 400MW of their 990MW total capacity. Myanmar remains one of the least-powered countries in Southeast Asia. Just over 30 percent of the population has access to electricity, leaving 6.8 million households across the country in need of electricity, according to official figures. Downtown building that once housed socialist propaganda newspaper The Guardian is in line for a major do-over, as plans for a writers hub inch closer to fruition. U Cho Tun was editor of The Guardian from 1983 until 1988. Throughout the course of his entire career, he can recall but one brief period of press freedom: from August 24 to September 18, 1988. As the pro-democracy 8-8-88 uprising swept the country and the autarkic Ne Win era drew to a close, he and his colleagues were able to publish what they wanted for the first time. During this period, we reported not only the government news but also the news of protests and demonstrations and the opposition in The Guardian newspaper freely, he told The Myanmar Times. On September 18, 1988, the newspaper was shut down. Almost 30 years on, the two-storey property at 392 Merchant Street stands in line to become Yangons pioneering hub for freedom of literary expression. [The House of Literature] is a house celebrating and practising freedom of speech every day, director of the Oslo-based Hedda Foundation Jorgen Lorentzen said. The House of Literature movement began in Berlin in 1986, when a space was set aside specifically for writers and poets to discuss their work, read, express opinions and explore ideas freely, as well as to launch published material. Yangons own House of Literature project is a joint effort between the Hedda Foundation and local collectives including PEN Myanmar, the Writers Union, the Myanmar Writers Association and the Nobel Myanmar Literary Festival Organising Committee. We have experiences from the success of the House of Literature in Norway and other countries, and if it is one important thing that is needed in Myanmar it is a place for writers and others to meet and present their work, to read poetry, to discuss and participate in the development of the future of Myanmar, said Mr Lorentzen. The Yangon House of Literature is slated to house a bookstore, a cafe and restaurant, which the organisers hope will attract writers and non-writers, both young and old. However, Myanmars wordsmiths will have to wait until at least next year before they have a new regular meeting place, as the planned House of Literature project faces major delays. Author and PEN Myanmar member U Han Zaw says the writers organisations had been trying to secure a lease on the Ministry of Information-owned building under the previous government. However, a clause in the proposed contract that stipulated the building could be appropriated for ministry use at any given time was deemed unacceptable. They pushed for the removal of the clause, but the MoI responded by suggesting they look to rent a different building owned by another ministry. At that time, the new government was about to take office. Therefore, we decided to wait, U Han Zaw said. Six months into the newly elected governments reign, a definitive response from the higher-ups in the Ministry of Information has yet to be received. Despite the delays, the group behind the House of Literature project is optimistic that the building could be renovated and functional by 2017. We are now discussing the issue with the new minister of information, U Pe Myint. He [has expressed enthusiasm for making] an agreement with us for a long-term rent I hope this will happen any day [now], Mr Lorentzen said. Ma Thida, writer and president of PEN Myanmar, says the essence of the House of Literature is freedom of speech and development of the literary scene fostering an independent community, free from any government interference. As PEN Myanmar, we have our own space. But we are involved in the establishment of the House of Literature for the sake of other writers, poets and journalists who dont have their own space for expressing their opinions and ideas. [It] should be an independent and perpetual organisation, accomplished and controlled by writers themselves, she said. For now, the historic building that came to symbolise state censorship awaits renovation. Its new lease on life if given the green light by the Ministry of Information would mark a leap forward for freedom of expression in Myanmar. What is remarkable about The Guardian building is that a poem written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was inscribed on a stone slab inside the building, in memory of his stay there when he visited Yangon on March 24, 1924, U Cho Tun said. The poem reads: Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not / Thou hast given me shelter in houses not my own. / Thou hast brought the distant near / And made a brother of the stranger. If all goes well, words written as memory may become a prophecy of better times returning. A Bandoned now to the dogs and the drunks, the ancient hulk of the building contains little that would recall its former splendours. But the Monastery of One Hundred Pillars, Taing Ta Yar Kyaung, was once a royal gift to a revered holy man, and a rallying point for opponents of foreign rule. The green arch with the still-bright golden floral motif opposite the Goethe Villa on Ko Min Ko Chin Road bears the name Maha Dhamma Dipikar Rama, denoting the entire complex of two dozen or so monasteries within. Taing Ta Yar Kyaung is merely one of them. Dust, heat, rain, neglect and the weight of years have obscured much of its history and taken a toll on its fabric and fittings. The stairs once trodden by hundreds of eager students are now filmed with dust and dead leaves. Passing beneath the arch and following the path, a visitor climbs a big brick staircase to the monastery scholars believe was built by Burmas last monarch, King Thibaw. Above the cracked and puddled concrete floor, the roof is held up by more than 100 teak pillars in fact, as many as 160 that recede into the dripping gloom. It is hard now to picture the vibrant air of rebellion that must have filled that space when nationalist student protesters used it as a base for their campaign against colonial rule in the 1920s, and the walls rang with heated arguments and calls for independence. It was the founder of the royal capital of Mandalay, Burmas penultimate monarch, known as Mindon Min, who donated the 50-acre plot in what is now Bahan township to Shwegyin Sayadaw Ashin Zakara in 1876 as a mark of his veneration. Shwegyin Sayadaw passed on the estate to his pupil Ashin Sarsana in 1881, since when it has been used for conducting examinations in the recitation of Buddhist scriptures. And the monastery rang to its iron-framed rafters as student protesters and famous political leaders such as Thakin Kodaw Hmaing and Dee Doke U Ba Cho, founder of Bahan College, plotted their campaign against the colonial education law. The abbot of nearby Niyawdayone monastery, Ashin Thondara, a monk for 52 of his 72 years, said, Nobody knows exactly when the monastery was built. It is a place of legend. National Day celebrations used to be held here before Ne Win seized power [in 1962]. When Cyclone Nargis struck in 2008, it destroyed windows, roofs and artworks that have never been repaired. Ashin Thanwara, 78, abbot of Mya Theindan, another religious house in the compound, said Taing Ta Yar Kyaung had gradually fallen into disuse as neglect and weather made it uninhabitable. Monks from all 22 of the monasteries used to perform the Kahtain ceremony in the month of Wazo in Taing Ta Yar Kyaung every year, he said. But no more. Ghostly remnants can still be seen: dozens of antique chandeliers, gently mouldering carven cupboards, chairs, doors, tables, mirrors and locks are all from another age. The upper floor houses a spacious prayer room with huge bronze statue of the Buddha that glints in the grey light streaming from the windows beneath an iron-framed roof, incongruous amid the teak. Outside, the rain keeps falling. Hundreds of politicians most of them from the National League for Democracy took their seats in parliament for the first time on January 31 following their victories in the November 2015 election. But what about the former parliamentarians whom the newcomers replaced? While some have continued to be active in their respective parties, others have given up politics altogether by setting up businesses or reviving careers that had occupied their time before their election in 2010. U Ye Htun, once a lower-house MP from the Shan Nationalities Development Party, is one of the former MPs who is still interested in party politics. He lives in Hsipaw, Shan State, with his family but keeps a close eye on what happens in parliament and on the reform process. He also writes commentaries for local journals, especially about current political issues. I dont have much to do now. Sometimes I go to other parts of Shan State for party activities and to meet with party members. But I spend most of my free time with my family. If I find some interesting issues, I write about them and send the article to a local paper, said U Ye Htun. The SNDP earned 22 seats in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw in the 2010 national election and the 2012 by-election, but they were defeated by the Shan National League for Democracy in 2015. Daw Doi Bu, a former MP from Kachin State, successfully ran in 2010 as a candidate for the Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State (UDPKS), which had been formed by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) ahead of the election. Following last years electoral loss, she resumed her career as a lawyer. The UDPKS eventually cut ties with the USDP, and we tried to stand by ourselves. Even though we lost the 2015 election, our party is still alive and we help local people if they consult me about problems and dont have much legal knowledge, she said. Daw Doi Bu represented Ingyanyan township as a lower-house MP. Although her constituency was quite small, she is well-known not only in Kachin State but also in parliament because of her activism. I did many things for the sake of people in Kachin State, but we lost because we were stuck between the USDP and our party. Even though we did a lot for the people, they didnt trust us because they assumed we were the same as the USDP, she said. She was defeated by an NLD candidate, but she still helps NLD MPs by giving them suggestions and information from the ground. I have close relations with [NLD leader] Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in parliament, and I have been asked to help the NLD as much as I can, she said. Daw Doi Bu added that she enjoys having more time to take care of her two sons and to participate in social networking activities. For income I am continuing my career as a lawyer, so its not so bad, she said. Daw Mi Myint Than from the Regional Democracy Party represented Ye township, Mon State, in the lower house. Since leaving parliament, she has been teaching Mon language at the Mon Education Middle School in order to maintain the ethnic groups literature and culture. As a principle of the Mon Education Middle School, I resumed my duties when I came back to Ye. The school was built by private donors, and I value it because we can teach our children our own language. They can learn Myanmar in government schools, she said. Daw Mi Myint Than contested the 2015 election in the same constituency where she had won in 2010, but failed to earn a second term. I was sad at the time and had hoped for a better result. But now I enjoy my current life. I dont have to spend much time in parliament, and I can help to improve the school, she said. But I do really miss the other women MPs like Daw Nan Wa Nu and Daw Khin Saw Wai. We worked together and lived very close for five years in Nay Pyi Taw. We still keep in touch. Meanwhile, former independent MP U Phone Myint Aung has tried rebuilding his business since leaving parliament. As an electrical engineer, he has contracted with government agencies and private companies for several projects. When I entered parliament, I stopped all my business and depended on a small income. My wife blamed me all the time and asked why I loved being an MP, said U Phone Myint Aung, who served in the Amyotha Hluttaw for Yangon Region. I wanted to help change our country, but I felt sorry that people didnt recognise our efforts. They voted for the NLD. They even voted for a dead NLD candidate because they think the NLD can do everything. Now Im waiting to see what the NLD can do for the people. He said parliamentarians like himself who were elected in 2010 struggled under difficult conditions including a salary of K300,000 a month and insufficient living quarters but now they have it easy, enjoying K1 million a month, air-conditioned housing and good-quality blankets. The NLD say they are pioneers in introducing democratic practices to Myanmar, but we paved the way for them to run smoothly, said U Phone Myint Aung. Im really disappointed by their thinking. But I dont care now because I have tried to resume my business to take care of my family. U Win Oo, a former USDP MP from Yephyu, Tanintharyi Region, said he is now living in Yangon and serving as managing director of Delco Co Ltd, a mining business. Actually, I was not interested in politics but took responsibility because my seniors from the USDP requested that I run for the candidacy in Yephyu even though Im not a party member. But now I have completed my task and there no reason to stay in parliament any longer. I am concentrating on running my company, he said. Some former MPs in the USDP are actively involved in efforts to reform the party following its overwhelming electoral defeat in 2015. U Hla Swe, who formerly represented Magwe Region, is trying to help the USDP come back into power in 2020. I was assigned by party headquarters to give training at the grassroots level on how to deal with the media and how to report news that is happening on the ground, he said. In preparation for 2020, U Hla Swe said the USDP has started setting up strategic plans. Many things need to be done. We have reformed the township and district committee membership through elections, not through appointment by headquarters. We believe the USDP will be far more successful in 2020 than in 2015. We are thinking like election day is tomorrow, not in 2020, he said. Aside from party activities, U Hla Swe hosts a weekly six-minute program on Radio Free Asia, recounting his experiences in the military and as a lawmaker, and sometimes commenting on current affairs. I have a big audience for this program even though it airs at night. I have even received an offer from a publisher who wants to publish a book about what I have said on the radio, U Hla Swe said. Non-stop rain in northern Kachin State has led to food shortages as damaged infrastructure has made remote townships unreachable, MPs told parliament yesterday. Over 6000 people could be without access to food if roads and bridges are not urgently repaired. One hundred and fourteen houses have been completely destroyed and over 409 houses have been cut off after roads and bridges were damaged, said U Zone Tain, a Union Solidarity and Development Party representative from Chipwe township. In these conditions, it is likely that in total, 2554 people are going to suffer food shortages by the end of June. Military helicopters have been airlifting supplies to residents stranded since the end of April. But the MP said the supplies are not enough and quickly dwindling. With farmers unable to cultivate their land due to the downpour, the shortage could also stretch far beyond the current storm, said U Zone Tain. In Khaunglanhpu township, over 3600 people are already suffering food shortages, said U Arr Moe Si, a local Pyithu Hluttaw representative. The rain still hasnt stopped. Farmland cannot be cultivated and so subsistence farmers are having to scavenge for tubers, bulbs and bamboo shoots, he said. Aid workers have struggled to reach the isolated area since flashfloods and landslides blocked the only road going in or out. The people have to carry the airdropped rations on their shoulders wading through the flood. Half of the rations may be useless by the time they reach home, said U Lone Jone San Mine, a Pyithu Hluttaw representative from Sumprabum township. The National League for Democracy MP said the military airdrops are also occurring far from residents homes, in some cases even a 10-day walk away. U Win Myat Aye, the Union minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, said supplies have been stockpiled in Puta-o which the military-owned helicopters are using as a base. We have to consider how we should continue transporting them from there. A representative mentioned that goods can be bought from China if they would be able to help. We would like to discuss further proposals as well, the minister told journalists yesterday. Minister for Construction U Win Khaing suggested bringing rations as close as possible to the area via trucks, but MP U Lone Jone San Mine quickly shot down the suggestion as untenable. He said it would take at least three weeks for a car to get to the area due to the current condition of the Myitkyina-Sumprabum section of the highway. In mid-April strong winds and heavy rain also took a toll on 11 IDP camps, damaging or destroying 550 shelter units, as well as water and sanitation infrastructure, kitchen spaces, and other communal buildings. Last July and August, severe flooding displaced 1.6 million people, with over 476,000 houses partially damaged or destroyed nationwide. More than 1.45 million acres of farmland was flooded, of which over 841,000 acres was destroyed, leading to concerns over food shortages and poor-quality crops already this year. Translation by Emoon and Kyawt Darly Lin Barred from seeking government action in parliament, a Shan State MP is working with local communities to help ensure that the children of families displaced by the fighting receive an education. Manton township MP Nan Moe had sought to submit a proposal to the Pyithu Hluttaw to get the government to stop the fighting. But Speaker U Win Myint asked her to make her remarks in the form of a question instead, so that the government would not be obliged to take action pursuant to parliamentary adoption of her proposal. The MP had sought swift action because the new school year is about to start, with hundreds of school-aged children in IDP camps without access to a formal classroom. Thibaw/Hsipaw township MP Nan San San Aye, who is involved in the campaign, said, We had to start discussing education. There are two options: to let them stay in the IDP camp or to send volunteers to their villages. But parents who need to return to their homes take their children with them, and there is no security guarantee for volunteers who travel to those villages, she said, adding that discussions are taking place with township authorities on providing education. About 300 school-age children have taken refuge at the Hsipaw monastery IDP camp because of recent fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Shan State Progressive Party armed group. The Shan Youth Network said many of its members are willing to volunteer. Activist Sai Aung Myit Oo said, SYN will arrange education for displaced children ourselves. Volunteers have already come forward. In Kyaukme township, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy politician Sai Than Maung assumed responsibility for the education of 120 middle-school children from conflict zones last February. But the situation is still unclear and we have to wait for decisions to be made [by local education authorities]. We will find a way, he said. More than 100 school-aged IDPs live in Nant Khan at the Mong Wee philanthropic centre. They receive no government support, said U Myint Aung, chair of the Taang Literature and Cultural Organisation (Namkham). In Kutkai township, Nantphatkar camp is home to 120 children, whose parents are seeking ways to provide them with education. About 1000 villagers have been living in the camp since March. We dont know what to do. Some men went back to their farms, but yesterday we heard heavy weapons fire nearby. The women and children have remained in the camp, said Aik Hla, a Ngot Ngar villager now living in the camp. The education ministrys research department has a three-month project to collect data on school-age IDPs with UNICEF help, said U Khine Mye, director general of research in the ministry. Even though Indonesians and Nepalese now avoid working in Malaysia because it no longer pays well, there is no let-up in Myanmar workers migrating to the Southeast Asian nation. On May 24, Malaysias home affairs deputy minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said foreign workers were leaving the country and fewer are arriving each year, Malaysias New Straits Times reported. But Myanmar recruitment agencies say the availability of workers for the Malaysian job market is stable, and the demand has even slightly increased. U Kyaw Zaw, assistant secretary of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation, said the agency was sending the normal number of about 3000 labourers to Malaysia every month. But the recruitment agency was struggling to find people willing to migrate through agencies because many opt for illegal routes abroad hoping to avoid inefficient administrative processes, U Kyaw Zaw said. U Zaw Myo Myint, managing director of Royal Gate International Co Ltd, said the agency cannot meet the current quota, as they find only about three new recruits daily, while Malaysia asks them for about 30. Malaysia is asking for more workers from Myanmar, but so far we have not yet been able to meet the demand, he said. Labourers want to head out fast to Malaysia, but the official process takes a long time, up to three months. Therefore, its faster and easier to go illegally. The labour ministry said it is trying to speed up the process and confirmed that there had been no shift in either supply or demand of workers. Members of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee will be swapped out during a meeting in Nay Pyi Taw today that will be attended by the state counsellor. The government representatives to the peace body will be changed, according to U Khin Zaw Oo, a retired lieutenant general who has played a significant role in the peace process under former president U Thein Sein and is also a member of the current administrations peace process. Only Tatmadaw representatives will remain unchanged, he said. The meeting today will also be attended by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The UPDJC is a tri-partite joint committee whose role is to oversee the drafting process of the political dialogue framework and the dialogue itself. It is composed of representatives of armed ethnic groups that signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement, as well as political parties and the government. He said the sub-committee tasked to talk to the non-signatories of last years ceasefire agreement has already reached out to the groups, despite their unclear mandate. We have already sent a message to the non-signatory groups that we would like to meet them soon. But details like where and how to meet are yet to be arranged, he said. The sub-committee in charge of negotiations with the signatories has already met with the various groups. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will define the mandate of the sub-committees at todays UPDJC meeting, he said. The government has sped up its preparation for the so-called 21st-century Panglong Conference, which is due to be held at the end of July. In previous weeks, the government formed a preparation committee for the Panglong Conference and established two sub-committees to meet with the armed ethnic groups. The National Reconciliation and Peace Center will be formed by the new government to oversee the peace process and will be headed by minister of the State Counsellors Office U Kyaw Tint Swe. Introducing water taxis could relieve Yangon city congestion, a region MP told parliament yesterday in what some saw as the latest far-fetched proposal to solve the traffic issue. Daw Thida Maung, who made the suggestion, said the Nga Moe Yeik River that flows though many townships could help dissolves the daily gridlock. If water taxis would be a service that runs on time and looks nicely decorated, people will be interested in taking them. Now, 21 percent of commuters in Yangon use buses. This number will then be reduced, she said. In Bangkok, water buses are popular with tourists and provide a well-functioning transportation system, Daw Thida Maung said. The MP emphasised that containers could also be transported over water, which would bring fewer trucks to the streets. The former regional government implemented water taxis in some townships but the project was stopped because of a lack of profits, Daw Thida Maung said. Daw Nilar Kyaw, the region minister for transportation, said a study is being conducted in the Hlaing, Namoeyeik and Bago rivers about the feasibility of implementing water transportation not only for passengers but also for goods. Daw Thida Maung suggested the idea during a discussion about Yangons traffic problem in parliament. But lawmakers from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) voiced their support for continuing the previous governments advice to build another seven flyovers to relieve the roads. Flyovers have been heavily criticised by the National League for Democracy MPs however, who say the projects are both costly and ineffective. Major Aung Than Win, a military MP who supported the building of more flyovers in the city, said the government should also upgrade all traffic lights and remove the concrete blocks placed on the middle of the roads. I believe that the government can be successful in solving the issue, he said. The total number of vehicles in Yangon is about 500,000, including 324,729 privately owned cars, 141,904 trucks and 5000 buses. The Ministry of Health is direly short on doctors, and a new plan to recruit 1000 more will barely begin to staunch the gap, according to government officials. As part of its 100-day priority agenda, the ministry has put out a call for 1000 more doctors and 700 medical staffers to bolster hospitals around the country, according to Dr Myat Wanna Soe, deputy director of the medical care department. He added that the target will not cover all the vacancies, however. The MoH calls for 1000 new doctors every year, but actually, right now the MoH needs to fill between 2000 and 3000 vacant posts for doctors, he said. But we can pay for only 1000 additional doctors. So now the MOH is still facing the problem of a large employee gap. Even if the ministry recruited every one of the new graduates from all five of the countries medical universities, there would be only around 1500 newly minted doctors to pull in, according to the ministrys department of human resources. As it stands, the ministry is looking to take on two-thirds of the graduating class in the public sector. Previously, graduating medical students typically served the ministry for three years. Until 2010, MoH appointed and paid the medical licensing fees for those who agreed to staff the government hospitals. But that stipulation was ended five years ago. A ministry official who asked not to be named told The Myanmar Times that no appointments of new recruits have been made so far because the Union Services Service Board had not yet selected new employees. The Ministry of Health is going to apply to the USSB with a list of new employees but we cannot say when, the official said. The ministry came under fire last year for a perceived militarisaion of public hospitals, with retired military officials transferred to senior health roles. The ministry pledged last August that no more military personnel would be appointed to senior positions. According to the World Health Organization, Myanmar has just six doctors for every 10,000 people, with a rural and urban disparity exacerbating the shortage outside of city centres. Customs and aviation security officials in Vietnams Tan Son Nhat International Airport on May 26 arrested a 76-year old Australian woman who was carrying nearly 3 kg of heroin. The drugs, hidden in five salted fish jars, were found in her luggage when the authorities suspected she was trying to bring some illegal items from Vietnam to Australia. She was in serious debt due to gambling in Australia. Under the pressure of the criminal world, she agreed to bring the heroin, which is worth $720,000, from Vietnam to Australia in exchange of the debt. Killing dogs violates the precepts of Buddhism, a leading monk has told the regional government as part of a sustained effort by activists to stop the city authorities poisoning strays. Animal lovers gathered in Yangons Mahabandoola Park on May 15 in protest against the policy, which city officials say is designed to maintain cleanliness and protect residents against rabies. But the activists say it is cruel and unnecessary, and have launched a petition calling on the Yangon Region government and Yangon City Development Committee to stop poisoning strays. Lawyer and former journalist Daw May Thazin Swe said that she and other supporters would soon meet with YCDC to discuss other ways of dealing with the stray population. The law gives the city the right to put down dangerous dogs. But YCDC also poisons puppies who pose no threat to anyone, she said, adding that there were more humane ways of dealing with canine overpopulation. Veterinarian Dr Htay Myar Oo, a leader of Animal Lovers Team, said, We dont want dogs to be poisoned. There are other ways, such as regular vaccinations and castration. Her organisation has provided free rabies vaccinations or castration to about 9000 dogs in Yangon, but says that even though these dogs are identified by a logo on their collar, some have been put down by YCDC. U Shwe Nya Wa Sayadaw, who gave refuge to 100 strays in his dog shelter, said that he had asked Yangon Regions minister for Kayin ethnic affairs to stop poisoning dogs. I asked the government to find a better way, he said, adding that slaughter was not compatible with Buddhism. YCDC has stated its policy is to carrying out culls six days a week pursuant to laws intended to promote hygiene and protect against rabies. The committee kills from 1000 to 3000 strays a month. A spokesperson for the Veterinary and Slaughterhouse Department declined to comment. Last week a colleague and I were in northern Shan State covering the conflict there between the Myanmar Tatmadaw and various ethnic armed groups. The area has seen an increase in fighting in the past fortnight that has caused thousands to flee their homes. Of particular concern were the first-hand accounts we received of the Tatmadaw torturing civilians, and of aerial attacks by the Myanmar military in and around villages that had destroyed houses. The impact of the violence on women and children was evident in the large numbers we witnessed abandoning their homes and farms to seek safety in the towns. Of course people of all genders are affected by fighting, but the challenges faced by women particularly nursing mothers in such circumstances were clear to see as we joined a rescue convoy that was helping 200 people trapped by the fighting to reach safety. We spoke to mothers about the problems they faced finding sufficient food when they were hiding with their children during the fighting, and we watched women who had not eaten all day themselves breastfeeding their babies during the long, slow journey through the night as they left their homes behind. The history and scale of displacement in this country means that the sight of vulnerable people sheltering in monasteries and camps to avoid fighting around their homes has lost much of its shock value to outside observers. But for those involved, the realisation that they must leave everything they know behind them was inescapable and truly shocking. As fleeing parents kept children calm despite the noise of heavy weapons fire in the background, and attempted to cover tiny mouths and noses to protect them from the smell of death along the road, the understanding of what they were losing homes abandoned for passing troops to destroy, crops left unplanted creating fears of food shortages a year from now became painfully clear. At the same time that my colleague and I were meeting displaced people in and around Hsipaw and Kyaukme last week, a delegation of European ambassadors was also in the area. I was glad to hear of their visit. The EU provided financial backing to the controversial Myanmar Peace Center, which helped broker the so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in October last year. The deal won international praise, but in reality excluded key groups which led to new and increased conflict, particularly in Shan State. Those who backed the deal, including EU representatives, maintain that in the big picture a partial agreement was better than none at all. Senior EU figures in Myanmar have, on more than one occasion, urged members of the media to focus on the good story of the peace process, not the negative ones. Such an attitude could easily be interpreted as displaying either arrogance or willful blindness. It ignores the ongoing and increased suffering of individuals in the face of fresh conflict since the NCA, and implies not only that it is acceptable to allow all the small pictures of abuse and misery to go ignored in pursuit of a bigger development goal, but also that theres room for self-congratulation while babies are suffering. I was hopeful that when EU ambassador Roland Kobia actually heard from those worst-affected by what has happened to them following on from the NCA, he and other diplomats concerned might be slightly less content to only see the bigger picture and take account of the smaller stories too. Instead, Mr Kobia managed to provoke controversy when he was quoted as saying, Fighting was going on a few kilometres away from our meetings. [In other words, around the homes of the very people he was talking to.] We hope that the conflict parties in Shan State will soon lay down their arms and return to the negotiating table. His comments, which were redolent of Myanmar Tatmadaw demands that various ethnic armed groups must give up their arms before they will be allowed to be included in peace negotiations, angered some ethnic minority activists. Whether the ambassador was also calling on the Tatmadaw to lay down their weapons is unclear, but his comments certainly ignored the fact that a number of key ethnic armed groups had never been at the negotiating table in the first place because the Tatamadaw refused to have them there unless they gave up their arms. Speaking to villagers around northern Shan State, we encountered different attitudes toward various ethnic armed groups, both those party to the NCA and those who were not allowed to sign or who refused to sign as long as certain groups were excluded. Some people saw ethnic armed groups as looking out for villagers interests, while others felt such organisations had little real concern for those they claimed to protect. Overwhelmingly, people said they just want the fighting to stop and to live in peace. However, in areas where the Tatmadaw has been actively firing weapons close to civilian houses, and where people have seen homes destroyed and relatives detained and abused by government soldiers, there were powerfully and widely expressed views that without the non-state armed groups, civilians would feel themselves to be at the mercy of the Myanmar military. The Tatmadaw knows very well that groups will not lay down arms while it abuses the civilians they claim to represent. It is disingenuous for those backing the peace process to ignore that. Asking armed forces to just lay down their arms in the middle of a conflict whichever side started it is unrealistic in many ways. However, it is the duty of representatives of the international community particularly those who have become involved in the peace process to insist that a national army follows international laws and avoids war crimes and deliberate assaults on civilians. If the ambassadors who visited the IDP camp at Hsipaw had actually asked the mothers there what their main concern was, they would have heard them express the wish that they and their families would be able to go back to their villages and not face attacks from the Tatmadaw. It was a wasted opportunity indeed that Mr Kobia did not use his influence to give voice to the concerns of those so often ignored in this conflict the real victims instead of pushing a specific political agenda. Succor has finally come the way of ailing Nollywood actor, Martins Njubuigbo aka Elder Maya after publicly crying for help over his failing health. The veteran actor, who has been down with a liver-related ailment, had solicited for funds from the public to help pay for his surgery without success. Abuja-based cleric Joshua Iginla, who celebrated his birthday last Sunday by giving out cars to people, has reportedly sorted out his medical bills. The popular clergy man is said to have come to the aid of the aged actor after one of his colleagues, Bruno Iwuoha who also narrowly survived same fate a few months ago told the man of God about his (Maya) condition. Upon hearing this, Iginla reportedly wrote a cheque of one million naira for the man and also promised to look into his financial situation once he gets back on his feet. The actor, also called Papa Labista, who is popular for his village chief priests roles in movies, was reportedly diagnosed with liver disease at an undisclosed hospital in Lagos State. A fellow actor, Ernest Obi, confirmed that Maya has been seriously ill, when he took to Instagram last week to solicit funds on his behalf. According to Ernest Obi, Please help save ELDER MAYAS life. MARTINS NJUBUIGBO fondly known as Elder Maya or Papa Labista is down with a chronic liver problem. One million naira is needed for immediate operation. Lets help save his life whilst he yet lives. Rather than celebrate him when he is gone. Please help bring this Old war horse, who has given d best of his life to entertaining us.. God bless you. Local farmers in 13 Mekong Delta districts have returned to their crops now that rain has bought much-needed relief from the drought. The Southern Center for HydroMeteorological Forecasting said that the prolonged drought in the Mekong Delta will come to an end this month, and heavy rain is forecast. If the rain falls as expected, we will escape from this natural disaster that has parched the region, said environmental expert Duong Van Ni. Over the last few months, the prolonged drought caused by El Nino has had devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of plantations as well as the lives of two million people in the southern and central parts of the country. The prolonged drought has also caused severe saltwater intrusion in 10 out of 13 provinces throughout the Mekong Delta, with saltwater intruding 20-25 kilometers further inland compared with seasonal averages. However, recent heavy rains have raised water reserves in local rivers and lowered salinity levels by three to four times compared to the levels in March and April. Do Thanh Truong, a coconut farmer from Ben Tre Province, told VnExpress: Now we can fetch water from the rivers to cook with. Nguyen Thi Diem Phuong, general director of Ben Tres Water Supply and Sewerage Company, said that her company can now afford to provide clean water for local families as the level of salinity in water is not as high as before. In other Delta provinces such as Soc Trang and Tra Vinh, saltwater retreated from the land. In just a couple of weeks, there has been a lot of rain and the water is no longer salty. My two hectares of fruit trees have grown quickly, said Tran Van Phat, a farmer from Soc Trang. However, Le Anh Tuan, deputy director of the Institute of Climate Change under Can Tho University, warned that after the drought caused by El Nino, southern provinces are likely to suffer thunderstorms and even severe flooding at the hands of La Nina. Local authorities and local people need to reinforce dykes and flood prevention methods to brace for the upcoming disaster, Tuan said. The police administration has given presidential candidates of the various political parties the option to submit the names of police personnel that should be assigned to them during this year's electioneering campaign. The selected police personnel would be retrained by the police administration and provided with logistics to discharge their duties effectively. Director-General in-charge of Operations, COP Christian Tetteh Yohuno told representatives of the various political parties that the directive was issued a month ago, but the parties were yet to submit the names of the personnel. At a three-day workshop organized by the Ghana Police Service and the Small Arms Commission for representatives of political parties at Ada last Tuesday, COP Yohuno said the rationale for the workshop was to also discuss issues on election security and to finalize the modalities for the provision of security to the presidential candidates in the upcoming elections. He said it was important for the police administration to protect presidential candidates to enable them campaign. Presenting the modalities for the provision of security for the presidential candidates, Chief Superintendent Dr. Benjamin Agordzo, director of operations, said personnel assigned would only cover political activities and not private engagements. Personnel chosen must be given decent accommodation and meals when they are to travel outside the region but the police will also monitor their activities to make sure that they remain neutral. He stressed that the police administration would not hesitate to withdraw personnel if any presidential candidate uses them to carry out domestic chores. . On his part, the Executive Director of the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey called on all political parties that would contest the November 7 election to sign a peace pact ahead of the elections to promote peace in the country. The peace pact, he said, would serve as inspiration to all the followers of the political parties to behave appropriately during the elections. Dr Akwetey said political parties and the police have a role to play in ensuring that the Ghana's democracy was not destabilized. Resorting to violence is not the answer, if you shoot your opponent would also shoot and it will take years to put an end to the shooting just like we have witnessed in some other countries. He noted that studies carried out by civil society organizations show that Ghanaians were anxious about chaos. Dr Akwetey said Ghana has seen a lot of reforms in our electoral processes yet we do not believe the systems. Director of the Small Arms Commission, Brigadier General (Rtd) Francis Agyenfra, in a speech read on his behalf, explained that violent conflicts in other countries were triggered by the widespread availability of illegal weapons, the large population of unemployed young, trained mercenaries, pervasive poverty and the religious extremism sweeping across the sub-region. ([email protected]) By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey The Ghana Police Service has said it is considering shutting down social media services in the country on November 7, the day of the general elections. According to the Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor, the abuse of social media platforms by both political parties and ordinary Ghanaians has often created unnecessary tension in the country. He believes that given the strain that preparations towards the elections have put on the country's security apparatus, it would be unwise to ignore the potential of social media as an incendiary point for violence. At one stage I said that if it becomes critical on the eve and also on the election day, we shall block all social media as other countries have done. We're thinking about it, John Kudalor said. In February, the Ugandan government shut down social media in the country in what president Yoweri Museveni called a security measure to avert lies as he was re-elected for a fifth term in office. This was repeated when he was sworn into office in May, with many human rights activists advocates accusing the government of suppressing free speech. Jonh Kudalor said that the police were following the example set by other countries but added that the police was also mulling over the possibility of setting up social media accounts of their own. He said this would enable them to counter the actions of potential 'troublemakers' who might compromise security operations during the elections. We are also thinking about the other alternative that the police should be IT compliant and get our own social media [account] to be able to stop these things on time, John Kudalor explained. We are looking at the variables and come D-Day, we'll come out with a decision, he added. -Citifmonline The price of oil has gone above $50 a barrel for the first time in 2016 as supply disruptions and increased global demand continue to fuel a recovery. The benchmark Brent crude price hit $50.07 a barrel in Asian trade. The rise followed US data on Thursday showing that oil inventories had fallen, largely due to supply disruptions following fires in Canada. Brent crude has now risen 80% since it hit 13-year lows of below $28 a barrel at the start of the year. US crude oil inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels to 537.1 million barrels in the week to May 20, according to US Department of Energy data. Canada is the biggest supplier to the US and wildfires in the western provinces have knocked out about a million barrels a day. Talks in recent months between Opec and Russia about freezing oil production had already helped prices recover. Short-term disruptions to oil supplies have also lifted the price, as they have offset higher production from Iran and Saudi Arabia. As well as the disruption to key oil production facilities in Canada, attacks by militant groups continue to restrict oil pipelines in Nigeria. Demand has also been better than expected from major economies such as China, India and Russia. . 'Surprises' Against this improving backdrop, analysts are starting to modestly raise their forecasts. Goldman Sachs said earlier this month that it now expected oil prices to consistently hit $50 a barrel in the second half of 2016 and $60 by the end of 2017. The US bank said: The oil market continues to deliver its share of surprises, with low prices driving disruptions in Nigeria, higher output in Iran and better demand. With each of these shifts significant in magnitude, the oil market has gone from nearing storage saturation to being in deficit much earlier than we expected. Recovery In a sign of growing confidence, oil companies have also started preparing for higher prices. BP said last month it had budgeted for prices of at least between $50 and $55 a barrel in 2017. Also last month US oil producer Pioneer Natural Resources announced plans to add up to 10 new rigs when the oil price recovers to $50. Adam Laird, an investment manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, told the BBC: This is an area that's been starved of resources and investment and that psychological barrier [of $50] could be enough to make some executives reassess. However, Mr Laird cautioned the price volatility was likely to continue. It's too early to say this is the beginning of the big rebound, he said. Abhishek Deshpande, an oil markets analyst at Natixis, agreed and said: We believe that the market is going up, but if it goes too quickly there will be auto-corrections. John Paintsil Embattled former Ghana international John Paintsil has been granted bail after spending a day behind bars for allegedly assaulting a Police officer in an extended marriage altercation. According to Starr News' Ibrahim Alhassan, Paintsil is in the process of completing his bail arrangements to leave the premises of the Nima Police station after he was sent to court Thursday. It is unclear his bail bond. The 34-year-old was put in cells around 5pm Tuesday. ASP Tenge said Paintsil had been invited to the police station after his wife filed a complaint that he had stolen her car. When both parties were invited by the police for interrogation, we realised John Paintsil was not ready to cooperate and in the course of interrogation became very furious and decided to leave the meeting, ASP Tenge told Accra-based Citi FM. It was at this point that the District Commander instructed that he should be arrested and a statement taken from him. Because he was not satisfied with that he assaulted the district commander. He hit him in the right eye and also pushed the investigator. So it took some few police personnel to get him arrested, the PRO added. She said the commander is receiving treatment while investigations continue. Paintsil's marriage has hit the rocks over the years, and it will be recalled that in 2013, he was arrested for allegedly stabbing his wife Richlove over domestic altercation. -Starrfmonline 27.05.2016 LISTEN They say I am an old man with one foot in the grave. But, here I am. I am okay. As for death, it's up to the Almighty. We all don't know when we will be called. What you see before you is a small man with a big heart for Ghana. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO's visit (or shall we call it 'campaign tour') to the Volta Region would not have evoked many elaborate comments, but for certain historical developments about the NPP and the Volta Region, in a cat and mouse game. Nana Addo's tour took him to many of the towns in the Volta Region including Aflao, Keta, Anloga, Adidome, Ave-Dakpa, Klikor, and Akatsi. He spent four days in the Region. He was even allowed to address the congregants on certain occasions. While worshipping with the worshippers at some of the Churches, he was given the podium to address the congregants. We are here to repair the relationship and close the gap between the Volta Region and the NPP. It would have been a simple propaganda tour- just like one done in all the other regions by other political leaders like President Dramani Mahama in his 'Accounting to the People Tour' or Dr. Edward Mahama in other parts of the country or Akua Donkor in any part. What has generated great interest in this campaign is the rapprochement it has evoked. Time was, when the Volta Region was a 'no-go' area for the NPP. It was not easy to campaign there; it was not easy to even monitor elections there. Professor Adu-Boahen was subjected to humiliation when he travelled to the Volta Region on a campaign tour in 1992. Elizabeth Ohene and her brother were intimidated when they went to check on elections in certain parts of the Region. Meanwhile, the NDC was romping home in all the regions, including Ashanti, the home-base of the NPP stronghold. There were glimmers of tribal and ethnic expressions and the actions, and the members of the NPP had to recoil into their shells whenever they were faced with stiff opposition. The late Chairman of the Council of State, Professor Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor sounded (and was) very nationalistic when he stated at a forum at Ho in May 2010,thus: Volta Region's development is not in isolation of Ghana's development but linked to the total development of Ghana. It was a balmy statement which lent itself to no other interpretation than the words used. It was quite unlike some of the statements in 'The Ghana Revolution' which has suffered so many interpretations some of which are not helpful to all of us as Ghanaians in our forward march in development. Professor Awoonor, formerly known as George Awoonor-Williams, born at Wheta in the Volta Region was unfortunately killed in the Westgate Shopping Mall al-Shabaab attack in September 2013, while he was attending the Storymoja Hay Festival. Perhaps, if he were still alive today, he would be the best person to explain some of the claims he made since his book claims to be from a personal perspective. History is not just an enquiry or knowledge acquired by investigation. It is also a study of the past, especially as it relates to humans. Herodotus, a 5th Century BC Greek historian who is considered within the Western tradition to be the 'father of history' wrote; It's impossible for someone who is human to have all good things together, just as there is no single country able to provide all good things for itself. So let it be with the veteran and icon, Kofi, lest people stand accused as Herodotus points out; A man calumnied is doubly injured first by him who utters the calumny and then by him who believes it. The point remains that human beings and their thoughts are not static, ideas change, and we, as humans, have to live with the changing times. What is good today, may not be good tomorrow, simply put. Adolf Hitler, in the 1930s was fighting the rest of the world with the aim of destroying the Treaty of Versailles, creating a Greater Germany and conquering land for Germany. France and Britain had been weakened. British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill's efforts never to 'surrender' to Germany was waning, until the U.S. under President Roosevelt entered into the fray and it ended with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagaski in Japan in 1945. Germany is now regaining her position as a humanitarian force, especially after the re-unification between the East (German Democratic Republic) and the West (Federal Republic of Germany) had come together with the breakdown of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Merkel is said to be the darling lady of the West, and displaying this sterling quality by allowing refugees into the country. Back in Africa, the Tutsi-Hutu conflict in which approximately one million people died, through the Hutu-led government, the 'interahamwe' and the 'impuzamugambi' militias is now giving way to reconciliation. The slogan: 'Genocide-Never Again' is written not only on physical structures like houses, schools, churches and billboards, but also in Rwandan people's hearts. The AMI (Association Modeste et Innocent). The reconciliation is performed in simple celebrations. The perpetrator with his friends and family send a basket of offerings, usually food and sorghum and banana beer. This 'forgiveness -accord' is sealed with traditional song and dance. Nyiramana says; He killed my father and three brothers. He did these killings with other people, but he came alone to me and asked for pardon. He and a group of other offenders who had been in prison helped me build a house with a covered roof. I was afraid of him (at first)-now I have granted him pardon, things have become normal, and in my mind I feel clear. The NDC is not likely to take this 'home-coming' of the NPP lying down. Koku Anyidoho has replied promptly and he says the NDC will not take the Volta Region votes for granted. The NDC may be so loved in the region that the people there might vote for anyone who stands in the party's name, no matter what qualities the opponents possess. Is this not the same with the NPP in their stronghold? The NDC which is the government must fight back 'properly' against this 'infiltration' so that they do not lose their 'World Bank' which some people think has been reduced to a rural bank. When that is done, and the people benefit from the government, all of us will feel elated that the whole nation is at peace, because all of Ghana has benefited from the government's largesse. The NPP should neither take the current position for granted. They should work at it. No one should utter any provocative words at the Voltarian senseotherwise there could be a backlash. What is happening at the NDC backyard can be pitched against the dictum by Sir Winston Churchill. A fanatic, so says Churchill, is one who can't change his mind, and won't change the topic. Africanus Owusu Ansah [email protected] The former President of Ghana, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings has called for justice for the late overlord of Dagbon. Ya-Naa Andani II was assassinated in a gruesome manner in 2002. This sparked a chieftaincy dispute between the two royal families namely, the Abudus and the Andanis. Several attempts by the government to have the late Dagbon ruler buried have been vehemently resisted by family members citing cases of injustice. Addressing the family of the late Ernest Debrah, former Minister in the Kufuor government, the former military ruler criticized the tardy attempts by successive governments to ensure justice for Ya-Naa Andani II. For his departure to have gone on through three administrations [governments] without seeing the necessary justice to ensure a decent funeral for him is a painful load that some of us carry, he berated. He believed this is something we should all be thinking about. Let us do justice to what led to his departure and I believe there will be a decent funeral. Mr Rawlings said he is hoping and looking forward to the late Ya-Naa also seeing justice being done over the manner in which he left us so that his funeral may be carried out in a decent way for all of us to have the peace of mind the country needs and deserves. Commenting on the late Ernest Debrah, the longest serving leader of Ghana described him as quiet, amiable and unassuming personality. He said it is painful for the country to lose people like him and personalities such as Paul Victor Obeng because the country needs people of their caliber. He was happy the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North was able to contribute his quota of discipline and knowledge to his country. Brother of the deceased, Professor Sam Akobour Debrah used the opportunity to inform the former President that the funeral will take place on Saturday, July 30, at Tanoso in Sunyani. Other members of the delegation were Francis and Steve Akobour Debrah, also brothers of the deceased. Gouloumbou (Senegal) (AFP) - Lying in hospital with bloodied bandages over the deep gashes in his legs, Senegalese fisherman Ali Fall recalls the moment a hippopotamus tried to kill him as he hauled in nets in a local river. "I came with another fisherman to pick up the nets I had left when the hippopotamus upended our boat. My friend got away but it bit into my left leg, then my right," said the shaken 25-year-old. The waters of Gouloumbou in eastern Senegal, a tributary of the river Gambia and the village where Fall lives, have often run red with the blood of his peers. In the last decade, 25 fishermen have been mauled to death in the giant jaws of these easy to provoke mammals and many more injured, village officials said. "It's the second time I've been attacked, after their first attempt in 2014. I've cheated death twice," said Fall from his hospital bed in the nearby city of Tambacounda. Back in Gouloumbou, which lies 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of the capital Dakar, village chief Abdoulaye Barro Watt looks out of the windows of his office, next to the river where locals continue to risk death with few other options for a livelihood in this rural area. They were all fisherman hoping to make a living for their families," he said. "These men are struggling to survive due to these attacks. I have written so many letters to the authorities, even the fisheries minister, to make them aware of the problem." Gouloumbou villagers and the massive hippopotamuses once lived together in relative safety, the chief said. "We used to play with them in the river. They were harmless." That has all changed, said fisherman Abdoulaye Sarr, sitting with a friend, Moussa Bocar Gueye. "They are evil monsters who attack us night and day. Because of them, we haven't been fishing." Both men are from the "thiouballo" ethnic group which has long made its living from fishing but neither will be launching their "pirogue", or traditional wooden boat, onto the river today. "It's three weeks since we last went fishing," Gueye added. "There aren't any more fish at the market." Hippopotamuses, vegetarians that live in or near swamps and rivers, can weigh up to 1,500 kilogrammes (3,300 pounds) and spend long hours in water to protect their skin from the sun. Easily irritated with terrifying strength, the mammals kill more humans each year than almost any other animal in Africa because of their volatile nature, according to wildlife experts. - Protected, but deadly - Senegal lists the hippopotamus as a protected species, so culling them is illegal. Their current number is unknown, but a survey is underway to track their presence in the country. It is not only fishermen who fear the giant beasts. A lack of running water makes villagers dependent on the river to wash themselves and their clothes. "I'm scared they'll attack. That's why I always stay facing the river," said Aminata Sy, a woman in her forties scrubbing her laundry. "We don't have a well or any taps," she added, keeping a close eye on children swimming nearby. The fishermen have pressed the government to send them motorised boats, and a first lot has been promised. "The fisheries ministry will provide the fishermen of Gouloumbou with 20 metal pirogues (with motors), which are more resistant to attacks," said Djibril Signate, national director of inland fishing. "We are installing a fish farming enclosure in Gouloumbou. The ministry has also distributed nets, hooks and lifejackets so they can fish in pools that are chock full (of fish)," Signate added. Different explanations are given for the attacks. Fishing officials say hippopotamuses are especially aggressive at this time of year when the females are giving birth. But fisherman Sarr says a decline in superstition is responsible. "Practising magic protected people from the river, but now they don't treat it properly, washing their clothes and dishes." He warned, darkly, that a Malian fisherman was to blame, after cursing the village following an argument over pricing in 2007. Whatever the cause, fisherman Fall will take no more chances. "After I get better, I'm changing profession," he said. 27.05.2016 LISTEN PEACE There are many excellent definitions for peace, but to me: peace means Freedom from civil clamor and confusion, AND a mental or spiritual condition marked by freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions. That is, calmness of the environment, mind and heart. Most people think of peace only in relation to the civil society, leaving human emotions, which is even more important. How do you find peace in the midst of injustice? Will you ever be peaceful feeling cheated? People talk of peace as if it is something on its own; peace is a fruit of justice, law and order. Ghana has been peaceful over the years because of our democratic principles to ensure justice, law and order. As long as our democracy continuous, as long as we continue to ensure justice, our peace will be protected. The former first lady of Ghana, Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings said this in a television interview: peace comes as a result of justice, therefore, if we want to maintain our peace, we must continue to ensure democracy and justice. We are preparing for an election in November, as usual; every Ghanaian wants a peaceful election. Many prominent people of our dear country have started campaigning in the media, churches, seminars and other places, just for a peaceful election. We congratulate and urge them on in the good fight to maintain peace in Ghana. Stephen Appiah the peace ambassador and former Black Stars captain, during the organization his UNITY CUP organization a couple of months ago asked Ghanaians a question. He said, Whenever there are wars in other countries, people run to Ghana for protection, where do we go as a people if ever we have war in Ghana? We all must take part in this fight against war. To me; Justice, Law and Order are the best weapons for this battle. Clearly, we all need peace but the route is what many do not know. The HOLY BIBLE in various verses has stated clearly the way to peace in our country and in our hearts. This holy book points out to us that the only way for man and for that matter a nation to know peace is by doing the right thing and observing the laws. That Great peace have they who love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. (psalm 119:165, Isaiah 59:8, Isaiah 32:17). The HOLY QUR'AN: 2.193. Keep on fighting against them until mischief ends and the way prescribed by God prevails. But if they desist, then know that hostility is only against the wrong-doers. The two greatest books on the planet are reminding us as a county that: if our destination will be peace, then our vehicle is justice. This fact is indisputable. There are evidences around us to look at. Our neighboring country Burkina Faso for instance, had been a peaceful country just like Ghana until October 2014. Only one thing broke their peace; INJUSTICE. The Burkinabe uprising was a series of demonstrations and riots in Burkina Faso in October 2014. They began in response to attempts to amend the constitution to allow President Blaise Compaore to run again and extend his 27 years in office. Police used tear gas to deter the demonstrators, yet they broke through police lines to destroy government buildings, including the city hall building, and the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party's headquarters. Burkina Faso lost lives and properties but the people never stopped until they stopped the then impending unlawful act. Compaore dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency before eventually fleeing to Cote d'Ivoire. That is the relationship between justice and peace. Justice is peace. NO PARTY CAN WIN POWER BY FORCE IN THIS COUNTRY. In our search for a peaceful election, let us remember the principles of justice. How do we as country ensure a free fair and credible 2016 election so as to maintain our peace? Whose responsibility is it? It is the responsibility of the electoral commission, the security forces, the political parties, the media, religious bodies, the general public and youth as well as you. THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF GHANA Over the years, the electoral commission has always organized and supervised free, fair and credible election in Ghana independently. This we demand again, anything less will be dangerous for our dear country. The trouble with being a perfectionist is that anything less than perfection displeases everyone. The electoral commission must be independent, just, and transparent as always. Our last election ended up in court, though we passed that test on our democracy, it wasnt the best for us as a country. This was due to MISTRUST, and that is what we must avoid this year. The electoral commission must build trust among the various political parties and all Ghanaians. Making them understand that as always, Ghana is the interest and not one party or the other. The recent voters register saga saw a number of accusations of favoritism on the part of the electoral commission. Though a good counter response from the electoral commission was made to assure stakeholders of its loyalty, it must not be the end. There must be a closed door discussion with all the political parties, to assure them that no party will be favored or cheated in the coming general election. Someone must win and another loses. To accept the win everyone can, but to accepting the loss or not depends very much on TRUST. Peace is what Ghana needs, and the way forward is a free, fair and credible 2016 election. The electoral commission is the mandated body to see to that, all political parties and Ghanaians must trust the electoral commission to deliver. POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICIANS To ensure a peaceful election, political parties must trust and cooperate with the electoral commission to organize a free, fair and credible election. The commission has Ghana as its greatest interest and not a single party, and it must be trusted for that. If there are issues, now is the time to discuss and settle them, not after the election. We have to stop politicizing every decision the electoral commission takes. Ghanas election cannot be organized by any other commission from any other country but that of Ghanas, so we have the responsibility of making it work again. No party should try to win favors from the commission, campaign to the electorates not the commission because it is not for the commission to choose the leaders; it is the people who decide. The Electoral Commission is an independent body, and must remain as such to perform its functions to the fullest. Every party is contesting to win, but each party must also learn how to lose an election. To our dear politicians; as we campaign, lets make it politics of issues, of ideas, of manifestoes, of visions and of policies but not politics of personalities, not of tribes, not of religions, or regions. Our democracy has grown too much to have such things. We are one people, given the mandate, every party has the goal of eliminating poverty, improving infrastructure, creating jobs improving living standards and make Ghana a better place for all. This country is bigger than partisan politics, as such, we must be careful when campaigning. If Ghana is still in this state with all the resources we have, then we have only our politicians to blame. Do not destroy the little that has been built, by throwing Ghana into chaos with your words. (....to be continued: request for the full piece) CAESAR KABA KOGOZIGA [email protected] (0545510713) UNIVERSITY OF GHANA A Vietnamese candidate will be in the race for the director-general position of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for tenure 2017-2021. Vietnams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in a meeting with Sri Lankas President Maithripala Sirisena in Japan on Thursday hoped Sri Lanka will support the Vietnamese candidate, according to a Vietnamese statement. Phuc is in Japan to attend the outreach meeting of the G7 Summit from May 26 to May 28 on the invitation of his counterpart Shinzo Abe. Vietnam was elected as a member of the UNESCO Executive Board for the 2015-2019 tenure in November last year, the fourth time that the Southeast Asian nation has won a seat at one of UNESCOs two most powerful bodies. Previously, Vietnam served in the Executive Board for 1978-1983, 2001-2005 and 2009-2013 tenures. UNESCO, a specialized agency of the U.N., was founded in 1945. In education, it works to ensure every child, boy or girl, has access to quality education as a fundamental human right and as a prerequisite for human development. Through protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity, UNESCO created the idea of World Heritage to protect sites of outstanding universal value. It pursues scientific cooperation, such as early warning systems for tsunamis or trans-boundary water management agreements, to strengthen ties between nations and societies. It also strives for democracy, development and human dignity, according to UNESCO. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter 27.05.2016 LISTEN We have soon celebrated yet another AFRICAN UNION Day. I am wondering how beneficial this union is to us as Africans. Treasonable leaders from the bosom of Mama Africa have met to discuss the way forward. Yes! They met once again, this year, very much aware that they have been meeting for the last 54 years without any real purpose, except to indulge in largess at the expense of the poor tax payer, poverty- riddled farmer, and hopeless masses most of whom are unemployed. While we celebrate this AU day, many of our brethren across the lengths and breadths of the continent are dying of starvation, malnutrition and disease. Some have even lost their sense of belonging to Africa, having made a life for themselves in the lands of the slavers to escape enslavement by their own back home. Honestly, I do not know why we still celebrate this union, which stood helpless as its members watched Mummar Gaddafi, a gallant son of Africa, get butchered like a worthless animal by aliens from other Western continents. This is the AU that has only its selfish interest to serve. I am ashamed to see Africans celebrate African Union, which watched on as a democratically elected leader was illegally toppled by hooligans. The A.U watched on as president Mohammed Morsi was ousted in this 21st century. The AU, we are told, was formed to achieve greater unity and solidarity between African countries and Africans.One wonders if Muammar Gaddafi was not an African. And Libyan money, also, solved many of Africa's problems. Also as we know,this Union was formed to promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its people. Once again, I wonder if Mohammed Morsi was excluded from this objective. AU watched as Nkrunziza committed atrocities as he consolidated his hold on to power. We can only bow our heads in shame. Prince Tipariga 27.05.2016 LISTEN The ongoing rumpus about the Ghana National Petroleum Corporations (GNPCs) plan to undertake exploration, presumably seismic surveys and drilling, in the Voltaian basin is interesting, but should not be surprising to anyone who has followed the corporations development over the years. From the available press reports, the Board Chairman, a businessman/entrepreneur(?) is rightly looking at the issue from a purely business venture point of view and that is how it should be. The Voltaian basin covers an area of about 158,000 square kilometres. To be able to do justice with even a reconnaissance 2-D seismic survey, it will require a minimum of about 20,000 kilometres of seismic, to attain a very coarse grid. For an area will varying infrastructure and difficult accessibility in many places, it will not cost less than $4,000 per kilometre for acquisition alone, judging from experiences elsewhere. This does not include crew stand-by and downtime arising from communities protesting about encroachment of a burial or scared sites or about a survey line that passes through a built-up community, as usually happens in much of Africa and the developing world. The project itself, moving people, equipment and supplies around, will be a logistic nightmare. At $4000 per kilometre, that is a minimum of $80m for acquisition alone. Considering the geology of the area, processing will be another $250 to $400 per kilometre, a minimum of $5m making a gross minimum of $85m for just a reconnaissance 2-D seismic survey, before interpretation. Even with the use of modern workstations, it will take a considerable number of manmonths, taking staff from other projects, etc., to carry out the interpretation, assuming it is not contracted out to external consultancies, in which case it will be considerably more expensive. Assuming that the exercise proves successful and unearths several leads, a more expensive and detailed 2-D or even 3-D seismic survey will be required to turn the leads into drillable prospects. Then a drilling programme must be put in place. Even for onshore drilling, a single well in the area will not cost less than $10m because of the logistics involved in moving a drilling rig, drill pipes and associated equipment to such an area. A well in one of the prospects will either be a discovery or dry well. If it is dry, some useful geological information may be derived from the exercise, but follow-up exploratory drilling will be required to make it worthwhile. Will it be worth all that cost? If it is a discovery, there must be appraisal drilling and possible development, to continue to make the basin attractive to other investors, which will still require a lot more money. The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation is wholly owned by the government on behalf of all the people of Ghana. The windfall that is obviously accruing to the corporation from the offshore production should benefit all the people of Ghana, not just a few individual consultants and contractors. The corporation must not be allowed to throw the windfall into risky ventures. The scenario described above is conservative and it could be much more expensive. The corporation ought to be steered away from the socialist state must do everything mentality. At a time when the country is facing difficult economic challenges, every penny that comes to state coffers from whatever source, must be utilised judiciously. Promoting the basin with existing data There is adequate gravity, geological and satellite data coverage over the basin for the corporation to package and embark on road shows, to promote the basin to the international oil and gas community. Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and recently Chad, all had very rudimentary data when they began to attract international investment into their onshore basins. Chad in particular, had just 1959 vintage analogue gravity data when they began to invite the international oil and gas community to the country. It only produces 20,000 barrels of oil per day, but it has been able to attract multi-million dollar investment with the very little that it had by way of exploration data. Ghanas offshore production is more than 200,000 barrels per day. The results of Shells 1967 Premuase exploration well, the early 1960s Russian water drilling projects in the Daboya and Tamale areas, as well as salt winning in the Tamale-Daboya area should put the basin in good stead for promotion to the international community. Exploration, particularly in virgin territories, is expensive and risky. A nations loans and scarce resources must not be ploughed into such ventures which could prove so negative as to scare future potential investors into the basin. The corporation must not be allowed to return to its old bad ways again! Investing in production ventures elsewhere With the help of a Ghanaian entrepreneur in Houston, Texas, Petroci (of Cote dIvoire) ventured into the international arena a few years ago, investing in proven oil fields. Today, the tit bits from industry show that they are doing very well as international players. If GNPC has that kind of money to spare, it should try and invest in proven producing fields elsewhere and leave the expensive preliminary exploration of the tough Voltaian basin environment to the big boys with deep pockets. What is required is a tightening of the block acquisition regime with the old Production Sharing (PSA) model, to make future discoveries in the basin more beneficial to the people of Ghana. Stay blessed I still have to go 2 years before I am hundred, says Elisabeth, one of thousands of people disenfranchised, evicted and deprived of their livelihoods near Kade, Eastern Region of Ghana, by the Belgian oil palm plantation company GOPDC. - See more at: h 27.05.2016 LISTEN Thousands of people disenfranchised, evicted and deprived of their livelihoods, this is not current affairs but a process over years. Near Kade, Eastern Region of Ghana, a Belgium Oil Palm Farmer promotes Biodiversity and drives out residents. GOPDC owns two industrial plantations, in Kwae and Okumaning, with a total concession of 14,153 ha but only 7,700 ha being already developed. One of the evictees is 98-year old Elisabeth. Congo! joked the migrants, when they settled in Aboa-Basso to become labourers on the state oil palm plantation. Elisabeth came from Cape Coast with her children and is living in her 1-room house, where she can move freely knowing all the walls by heart. Now the Congo community has received the eviction order. The land belongs to a Belgian investor who bought the land from the state-owned GOPDC (Ghana Oil Palm Development Company). The land of Kwae near Kade in Eastern Region was nationalized in1975 under the Operation feed yourself when Acheampong was ruling the country. The state ordered compulsary acquistion of 12,050 hectar of land but only inhabitants of 3000 hectar got compensation. Under democracy, with JJ Rawlings, this plantation decayed, the former employees harvested the fruits, and the trees also were cut down. People started to replant, farmers took the land to earn a living. With president Kufuor privatization became the order of the day. In 2002 the farm was turned into a company with limited liability, a Belgium investor was found and the government maintained a 40% interest in the enterprise. The real coup took place in 2011, just before the elections, at the end of Kufuors tenure. The members of the Kufuor administration knew they would become unemployed. The Osei brothers, the then finance minister and his brothers, high-ranking members of the Kufuor administration, tried to feather their nest just on time, before NDC took over. They sold the plantation at a price of only 20% of its estimated value to the Belgium investor Vanderbeeck. The family Vanderbeeck became sole shareholder oft he GOPDC. http://www.siat-group.com/corporate-responsability/corporate-governance/ Ghanaweb, 21 June 2011: "Ex-Minister of Finance Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei, might currently be having sleepless nights for being careless with state asset, resulting in the loss of some Gh51 million, approximately US$31 million, to the state, according to Police investigators. The three Osei brothers -Dr. Akoto Osei, D.K. Osei, Secretary to former President John Agyekum Kufuor, and Albert Osei, the senior of the Oseis and a former director of SIAT Ghana Ltd and GOPDC- a police investigative report suggest, hijacked the powers of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) to plot and succeeded in selling Ghanas Oil Palm Plantation to a Belgian Company at a very ridiculous price, from US$18 million to US$3.6 million. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ex-Finance-Minister-In-31-Million-Dirty-Deal-211689 The police investigation showed, that the 40% shares sold to SIAT where 20% owned by the government of Ghana plus 20% shares reserved for employees, out-growers and small-holders of Kwae. http://iamaghanaian.net/index.php?do=/news/ghana-oil-palm-farmers-defrauded/ (25/6/2011) Government of Ghana had agreed in 1995 to off-load 20% of its shares to small-holders, out-growers (15%) and employees of GOPDC (5%). This means that the second 20% were acquired by SIAT by the state of Ghana, though they belonged to the people of Kwae, i.e. they were stolen! The value of these shares were estimated in 1996 to be 1.2 million US$. The grabbing of the land started, when I was a young man and just installed as chief, says Chief Osabarima Adu Gyamfi III. The government confiscated the land and started oil palm tree farming. Under military rule nobody could complain. And this did not change with democracy: "I had to appologize, give 12 sheeps and 2 boxes of shnapps, he remembers bitterly. Not 2 bottles, but 2 boxes. 24 bottles. His offense: he was asking the Ochehene why he agreed to sell the land of Kade to a Belgium Investor; and also how much money he got for the deal. Questions are not welcome in rural Ghana. Threatened with de-stoolment he had to apologize for asking. Now there is silence and the company takes one village after the other. Chief Osabarima Adu Gyamfi III is currently celebrating his 30th anniversary of enstoolment. All these years he had to witness that year after year village after village has disappeared. The development of the plantation was carried out in different stages: Compensation, clearance of village, and clearance of land. Today 8000 ha are used for the oil palm plantation farmers work as seasonal workers, without permanent contract, with a salary under the minimum wage of Ghana, says the chief. Nana, as the chiefs are called here, tried to negotiate with the company to get some improvements for the community: but 30 years later there is still no electricity, no running water, no school. GOPDC has founded a Junior High School in Kade schooling in Kwae ends with JSS3. A small health center has nurses, but not doctor. On the website of SIAT, the company owning GOPDC, is claiming that they use 0.5% of their revenues for social responsibility projects, another 0.5% for environment responsibility. http://www.siat-group.com/corporate-responsability/ A big billboard talks about Biodiversity, another signboard tells us that hunting is forbidden. But who dares to talk about biodiversity when 12,050 hectares of forest and smallholder farms have vanished in favour of a single species: the oil palm tree? SIAT is claiming to do sustainable oil palm farming. In March 2015 GOPDC has received their RSPO Certificate for Sustainable Palm Oil production. Obviously human beings do not form part of this concept of sustainability and biodiversity. The latest stage of development includes the village Congo. And this is where old and blind Elisabeth lives in her traditional clay house. Her children are dead, so the community takes care of her. But they all have to go. The company has paid compensation: between 250 and 2000 Ghana Cedis (80 to 500 ) per house. Dankwah Noah became speaker of the community and four other villages today he is on the run, tells us the community. He found a lawyer in Koforidua, Hon. Asante-Ansong, who challenged the compensation plan of GOPDC. The court decided that the property has to be re-evaluated and that all the members of the communities should be included in the compensation plan. The evaluation board came and re-evaluated. Some people have received compensation and were shocked: Mary Donkor got 680 GHC for a 3-room house, Dora Asantewaa 1875 GHC, the blind and 98-year old Elisabeth 250 GHC. Even in Kade you cant hire a room for this amount. GOPDC, environmental and social responsible as they claim on their website, was charged to pay 804,571 GHC compensation for 5 villages with 1100 households. This makes an average of 800 GHC per head. But they have received even less: the lawyer has taken 45% of the total amount of the compensation to cover his bill. A bus ticket to the court in Koforidua costs 18 GHC. With no relocation plan agreed upon, land to build a traditional house with clay and wood is not available. This year, the villagers have received an eviction order. But where should they go? Elisabeth hardly can walk with her 98 year old legs the house and the support of the community is her only means to survive. SIAT has a share capital of 31,000,000 Euro about 120 million GHC according to its own website. Ghana government is receiving rent from the land lease contract. The 20% shares of GOPDC that were fraudulently acquired by SIAT Belgium will have produced in the meanwhile millions of Euros of dividends. This money could easily build a town with electricity, schools and running water for the people of Kwae including a house for blind and 98 year old Elisabeth. LJ4WA, May 2016 P.S. 19.5.2016 Congo does not exist anymore Elisabeth had to leave her village last week when the community received their last notice to leave before the village is going to be demolished tomorrow. The families who settled here as labourers in the 70ies, when the plantation was set up, are still fighting for compensation. GII, the Ghanian branch of Transparency International is supporting their claim. File Photo 27.05.2016 LISTEN The Holy book (Bible) vividly gave a detailed account of how we (Human beings) are created in God's own image. As I sit behind my machine cogitating which angle of the above headline to write about; considering the plight of albinos around the globe, the issue of how our brother's (Albinos) also known in our local dialect as (Ofri) are stigmatized against in Africa and around the globe quickly came to mind. Sometimes, I get extremely surprised when elites, I mean people who ought to know better join other folks in stigmatizing and making some unsubstantiated expositions about Albinos especially in the 21st century in which we believe the world has advanced in terms of civilization. Albinos are strongly stigmatized in Africa and around the globe with several others raising a lot of perceptions or superstitions about Albinos without any scientific proof. Albinism also known as achromia or achromatosis is a genetic disorder. Albinism is caused by a mutation in one of the several genes. It is a range of disorders varying in severity. They are all caused by the reduction of the pigment melanin, often causing white skin, light hair and vision problems. There are several superstitions about Albinos on the continent of Africa. The common and funny superstition about albinism is some individuals believe they do not die, rather they live and disappears without a trace. This sound funny. Right? Albinos are also believed to be killed and used for certan sacrifices in some Africa countries. OMG! If this is anything to go by, then I think it is a quandary that society and human right activists must certanly stand up against. Albinos are not strange people from another planet. They are normal human beings like you and I. It is only genetic disorder that caused them to look the way you and I see them. Research has revealed the condition affects an estimated 1 in 17,000 people globally. However, its prevalence varies by region. In sub-Saharan Africa, the rate of albinism is around 1 in 5,000 but, in Europe and America, it is closer to 1 in 20,000. Albinism affects the sexes evenly and all ethnic groups. Albinism is no respector of persons. It will happen when it will happen. Regardless of skin or hair tone, people with albinism always have some level of dysfunction with their vision. Because melanin normally protects the skin from UV (ultraviolet) damage, people with the disorder are more sensitive to sun exposure and have an increased risk of skin cancer. Despite the the education and scientific proofs about a albinism, society decided to turn deaf ears to this and go with their perceptions unabatedly. Albinism and necromacy has nothing in common. This is certainly not the way to go! They suffer a lot of stigmatization in various sectors especially when it comes to the issue of jobs, marriage, schools, amongst others. Albinos are often mocked by adults and children who often call them names when they see them. Surely, I think this is not the way to go. Albinos are not devil's incarnate for society to be discriminating against them. Let's draw them closer to us and accept them like our brother's. Discrimination against Albinos must stop Now! G/C Felix Kwaku-Dua www.felixkwakudua.com Abraham Amaliba 27.05.2016 LISTEN He has gone from shamelessly championing the unholy cause of resettling Islamist terrorists in Ghana to cavalierly presuming to impugn the professional integrity of unarguably one of the three or four best qualified occupants of the Supreme Court. I am here, of course, referring to Mr. Abraham Amaliba, the so-called National Democratic Congress legal maven and communications team member who was afforded perhaps the most punishing butt-kicking of his political career by the forward-looking voters of Bawku during the last NDC parliamentary primary, if memory serves yours truly accurately. Back then, he accused the voters who gave him his well-deserved butt-kicking of tribalism. I thought the inhabitants of all three northern regions were culturally and ethnically homogeneous, to hear President Mahama bullhorn it on the hustings. Well, now the congenital reprobate whom the out-going Chief Resident of the Flagstaff House cynically planted on the board of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is back in the news headlines. But this time, rather than explain to the taxpaying Ghanaian public how the coffers of the GNPC got totally emptied and effectively bankrupted, he has brazenly resorted to the harassment of the morally righteous and lambent-witted likes of Justice Jones Dotse in a scurrilous attempt to nullify the recent Supreme Court order enjoining the Electoral Commission (EC) to promptly expunge the names of voters who illegally registered to vote by the use of their National Health Insurance Cards. There is, of course, a glaring wicked irony here regarding vigorous attempts made by NDC apparatchiks like Mr. Amaliba to prevent the civilized and progressive implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) by the key operatives of the Kufuor-led New Patriotic Party. Today, wonders of wonders, it is these same parasitic freeloading NDC scam-artists who are the prime beneficiaries of the NHIS. Needless to say, any dastardly attempt by the Mahama-sponsored commissioners of the EC to obstruct justice and the will of the Ghanaian electorate will be fiercely met with the necessary response, including armed struggle. President Mahama also needs to be made starkly and soberly aware of the fact that the same powers that enabled him to so whimsically and cavalierly transfer Mrs. Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei from the chairpersonship of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), in spite of the statutory tenure granted her at the latter commission by the Constitution, can equally be used to either return her to the NCCE or, better yet, summarily remove her from her present post for criminally breaching the law, as ably interpreted and ordered by the highest court of the land. Indeed, it is insufferably preposterous for Mr. Amaliba and his sponsors and paymasters to rudely presume to lecture Justice Dotse about his right, or the lack thereof, to publicly expatiate on a binding Apex Court ruling which the Kaakaamotobi commissioners of the EC (my profound apologies to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia) are luridly attempting to abjectly nose-thumb. Well, as might already be obvious to them by now, the seven, or so, EC commissioners have two clear-cut options presently before them, namely, the inalienable right to follow through with the Supreme Courts order to promptly expunge the names of all registrants enrolled on our National Voters Register (NVR) by the use the NHIS cards, and have those who qualify among the latter reregister, or immediately resign their statutorily sanctioned commissions by default. There is, of course, a third option which entails the possibility of these apparently recalcitrant EC commissioners electing to serve prison terms for their gross exhibition of judicial contempt for both the institutional integrity of the Supreme Court of Ghana, as well as the latter institutions constitutionally mandated authority. These NDC-sponsored independent scam-artists ought to be sternly apprised of the fact that those benighted days when they rudely and boorishly dictated policy as revolutionary cadres and functionaries of the Rawlings-chaperoned Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) are well behind the times. Mr. Amaliba, wake up and smell the proverbial coffee. It is well past noon on this irreversibly forward-looking day. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs Scores of residents of Krofrom in Kumasi in the Ashanti region are demonstrating against the Police for allegedly beating a 27-year old man to death. According to the residents, the Police in a swoop on Thursday evening arrested the young man and in the process beat him to death. The deceased whose name was only given as Tawiah was reportedly sent to the Manhyia hospital after the incident where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Citi News' Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Hawa Iddrisu reported that the angry residents say they will demonstrate until the Police officers involved are identified and punished. She added that the residents who took to the streets have blocked some roads in the area and are burning car tyres at various places in the town. The main road leading to Krofuom has also been blocked as well and some Police officers armed are here. I can see armed military personnel who are also here to calm the situation. The residents have vowed to do everything possible to ensure that perpetrators of the act are brought to book, she added. Speaking to Citi News, brother of the deceased, Andrews Osei Mensah said the incident happened around 7pm on Thursday. Andrews Mensah said he and his 27-year old brother were buying food at a place near Nana Fuduo's palace and saw some guys on motorbikes speeding off. After five minutes we saw a police patrol car from Asawase Police station running after us. They were shouting stop stop, where are you going. So everyone begun running for their lives. They [Police] managed to pick up my brother and beat him to death. He explained that we are demonstrating to the [Ashanti Regional] Police Commander Kofi Boakye to talk to his men. We don't know what we have done to them. By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin File Photo 27.05.2016 LISTEN General evidence that you are the spouse of an EEA national The Guidance to Supporting Documents lists a number of documents that you may submit to prove that you are the spouse of an EEA national. This includes a marriage certificate, phone records, emails, letters, and photographs. However, the submission of these documents may not necessarily satisfy the ECO that you are the spouse of an EEA national. Marriage of Convenience Under the Guidance, the ECO must be satisfied that there are no grounds to consider that the marriage is one of convenience. Again the EEA Regulations define a spouse to exclude a party to marriage of convenience. A marriage is one of convenience if it is entered in solely for an immigration benefit and the parties have no intention to live together permanently in the UK. How can you prove that your marriage is not one of convenience? The Guidance lists a number of factors in assessing whether a marriage is one of convenience: Adverse immigration history The officer is more likely to find that your marriage is one of convenience if you have an adverse immigration history. Factors in assessing immigration history include repetitive applications, marriage entered soon after other visa refusals either in the UK or other country, entering into a marriage soon after a deportation, removal, or refusal of entry to the UK, etc. Doubts on the validity of the documentation provided in support of the marriage. If the ECO has doubts on the validity of the documentation provided in support of the marriage, they are more likely to decide that the marriage is one of convenience. If one of the parties has previously been married, you must submit a document or other evidence to prove that the previous marriage has permanently broken down. Usually, a court decree of divorce or a registration of Divorce certificate may be primary evidence of the divorce. The situation becomes trickier in cases of customary divorce where the parties dissolved the marriage customarily and have no official document to prove the divorce. The UK Immigration Appeals Tribunal case of NA (customary marriage and divorce) evidence [2009] UKAIT 9 however held that as registration of the dissolution of a customary marriage is not mandatory in Ghana, an appellant does not necessarily have to produce a registration of dissolution to prove the divorce. They suggested that evidence in the form of a statutory declaration or an affidavit produced by family members or other people able to confirm the dissolution of the customary tribal marriage should be produced. In preparing declarations of this sort, the US Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals decision in Kodwo (24 I&N Dec 1979) held that affidavits should be specific and include the full names and birthdates of the parties; the date of the customary marriage; the date of, and the grounds for, the dissolution of the marriage; the names, birthdates of, and custody agreement for any children born of the marriage and a description of the tribal formalities that were observed including the names of the tribal leaders, the name of the tribe, the place, the type of divorce, and any other relevant information. Application following soon after the marriage. Though, there may be nothing practically wrong with making an application soon after a marriage, it is always safe to allow for some time before doing so. The Regulations do not say when a party may make an application after their marriage. However, a reasonable time between the date of the marriage and the making of the application such as to lead a reasonable man to conclude that the marriage was not entered into solely for the purposes of the application must be the guide. Evidence of previous relationship Finally, the party to the marriage must be able to provide evidence of previous relationship. This may be in the form of letters, emails, phone records, photographs or some other means of contact that preceded the actual marriage. In the absence of such evidence the ECO may likely hold that the marriage is one of convenience. Emmanuel Opoku Acheampong. Disclaimer: This article only provides general information and guidance on UK immigration law. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. The writer will not accept any liability for any claims or inconvenience as a result of the use of this information. The writer is an immigration law advisor and a practicing law attorney in Ghana. He advises on U.S., UK, and Schengen immigration law. He works part-time for Acheampong & Associates Ltd, an immigration law firm in Accra. He may be contacted on [email protected] Former Minister of Energy, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom has cautioned the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress to stop blaming others for the current problems in the power sector in relation to high electricity tariffs. According to Dr. Nduom blaming others for such issue is cheap and dangerous. This administration must stop playing politics with the power crisis. We should ask when government will pay what it owes to ECG to give it breathing room to apply good management methods and systems. And the Power Ministry must closely monitor and supervise this sector very well. No cheap, political blame games here, he added. Dr. Nduom made the comment in relation to comments made by the Majority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak , who blamed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for sabotaging government by charging high tariffs. Mr. Muntaka asked Parliament to institute a probe into the recent billing irregularities by the ECG since in his view the company appears to be sabotaging efforts by President John Mahama to alleviate the pressure brought on by the increased utility tariffs. According to him, reports suggested that the cost of consumption had more than doubled in some cases and this, in his view, has imposed untold hardship on virtually all Ghanaians. The overall effect of this is that, the efforts of his Excellency John Dramani Mahama to permanently solve the long-standing power crisis are being hampered, Mr. Mubarak intimated. But in his latest epistle, Dr. Nduom who is also the founder of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) said if government had adhered to his counsel, such issues in the power sector would have been resolved by now. Did the Majority Chief Whip Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak really accuse ECG of undermining President John Mahama's fight against DUMSOR? So what do these people take Ghanaians for? Was it not President Mahama who stood in Parliament in front of the Majority Chief Whip and promised that he would fix the DUMSOR problem? And did the same President Mahama not go back to Parliament in the presence of this same Majority Chief Whip and declare victory against dumsor? Is DUMSOR not supposed to be 'a thing of the past?' He further questioned that was this same Majority Chief Whip not one of the MPs who jubilated when the President declared that the power generation problem was over? Below is the full statement from Dr. Nduom: Did the Majority Chief Whip Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak really accuse ECG of undermining President John Mahama's fight against DUMSOR? So what do these people take Ghanaians for? Was it not President Mahama who stood in Parliament in front of the Majority Chief Whip and promised that he would fix the DUMSOR problem? And did the same President Mahama not go back to Parliament in the presence of this same Majority Chief Whip and declare victory against dumsor? Is DUMSOR not supposed to be a thing of the past? I have counselled the current administration not to be in a hurry to declare victory over dumsor. I have asked President Mahama and his people to be patient enough to understand the full scope of the power crisis from generation to transmission to distribution to billing and collection of power supplied. Many of them doubted my sincerity in giving this advise. Was this same Majority Chief Whip not one of the MPs who jubilated when the President declared that the power generation problem was over? He and others did not listen when some of us cautioned them and asked them not to consider generation to be 100% of the power problem. They wanted a political solution so they got one, an expensive generation solution and now they realize there is a billing and collection problem. Instead of sitting down to understand this problem, this MP is playing a dangerous blame game with the ECG. When the business people complained about the doubling and tripling of power bills, these politicians cried foul and were not sympathetic. So when did this MP realize that there are some ECG power distribution, billing and collection problems to solve? Is it because we are in an election year he now realizes that in several cases, the cost of consumption has more than doubled and this has imposed undue hardship on virtually all Ghanaians, especially on the ordinary masses. What about the businesses that pay tax and employ the ordinary masses? This administration must stop playing politics with the power crisis. We should ask when government will pay what it owes to ECG to give it breathing room to apply good management methods and systems. And the Power Ministry must closely monitor and supervise this sector very well. No cheap, political blame games here. Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin Dead fish washed up the shoreline of four central provinces in Vietnam since April. : VnExpress/Duc Hung The Vietnam Fisheries Society (Vinafis) has formally asked the government and relevant state agencies to speed up their investigation into the cause of the mass fish deaths that have been ravaging the central coast since April. The request from Vinafis, whose mission is to promote the development of the fisheries sector, follows the Vietnamese government's failure to establish what killed tons of fish along a 200 kilometer stretch of Vietnam's central coast. Vinafis urged authorities to step up the pace for fear that the gradual dilution of toxins in the sea will make the search for the exact cause more difficult. The initial investigation suggested that the causes of the extraordinary fish deaths were chemicals discharged by humans or an algae blooming phenomenon known as a 'red tide', although this was later disregarded by Vinafis at the end of April. Determining the true cause of the fish deaths, according to the group, will help to reassure the public and comply with provisions on food safety and animal and plant health outlined by the World Trade Organization, of which Vietnam is a member. Fishermen in affected provinces such as Ha Tinh and Thua Thien Hue have been unable to return to work while fish farmers are out of business. Vinafis has asked the government to continue providing 15 kilograms of rice per month to each member of the affected families until the cause is determined and production resumes. If the fish deaths were caused by humans then besides being punished according to the law, the culprits must pay for the assistance provided by the government. The culprits should also have to pay the government for losses to maritime biological resources and for cleanup work in the affected waters, said Nguyen Viet Thang, chairman of Vinafis. The organization also recommended the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to consider a policy on environmental control, aimed at waste discharged from industrial and business activities. In early April, large quantities of fish washed up dead near the Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh Province. The phenomenon spread south along the coast of the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Thua Thien Hue, resulting in more than a 100 tons of dead fish. Vietnams MONRE said on Wednesday the ministry is not covering up the truth about the mysterious mass fish deaths in the central region. Follow VnExpress International on Facebook and Twitter When the rain started last Saturday night around 10pm, I lay in my bed terrified; thinking and wondering what would happen to these cursed Kaneshie market chaps. My heart sank with each thunder strike as I managed to number the souls that would be washed away before the break of dawn. I just couldn't sleep so I had to wake up to type this out. I had left the house around 4:30pm the previous Monday to get myself a pair of sandals at the Kaneshie market when the incident happened. Even though I had already done my little shopping, I decided to stroll around for some few extras. At one 'selection' joint under the bridge, I felt a splash on my feet and turned. Disgusting! Raw eggs being crashed on the floor? A curse was ongoing right behind me and I had never seen anything like that before. Anyone who touched the phone should be struck by thunder anytime it rains said a fuming young man after each crash of the three eggs. My curiosity grew and I got closer to the scene. It happened that some of the market guys had intentionally hidden this young mans phone and pretended it had been stolen. He was a colleague of theirs who deals in sandals. After intense searching and interrogation about the item, everyone denied having it in their possession. Apparently, he thought the phone had indeed been stolen so prior to carrying out the ritual, he warned- anyone who has the phone should return it immediately or face the consequences. His colleague traders who were enjoying the little prank kept giggling and teasing him to forget about the phone and buy a new one. They further went ahead to challenge his ability to perform any curse on something as little as a phone. How much sef is this China phone? I heard one guy say. The outraged phone owner could no longer join in the fun and decided to accept the challenge so he went in for three raw eggs. He wanted to prove that he is a man of his words and therefore cannot go back to eat them. So he cursed. Few minutes after the little display, the boys finally brought out the phone and handed it over to him but he rejected it saying he had already performed the curse. Therefore, he had nothing more to do with the phone. He would rather go for a new one as they had instructed. Now here I was in my little urban mind, thinking aloud- who believes in curses these days? It's 2016 for God's sake. Come on, this isn't a Harry Porter world- but I was wrong. The rain poured heavily the next Sunday- just a day after the incident- with so much thunder and lightning. But before I left the market that Saturday evening, some market elders were called to the scene to take note of the incident. I heard one of them say the young man will be summoned for questioning because it is against the rules of the market for any man to put a curse on another. Some market women also suggested that the young man get a bucket of water to reverse the curse and everything will be back to normal since it was just a little prank. Yet, as I lay in bed that night, I couldn't wait to find out what would happen if the curse hadnt been reversed. I don't really believe in superstitions whatsoever so I needed to follow up on this one. The next day, I went over to the market again. After my rounds in town that Monday evening, I walked through the market, hoping the atmosphere could tell me anything but it didn't. Considering the busy nature of the traders at the time, I suspected nothing had happened so I decided to leave without being nosy. Fortunately on my way out, I met this jeans seller whom I noticed was the lead actor (guy who hid the phone). Alas! I was able to get the full details of what happened by playing a customer. Me: (Taking a trouser from him). This trouser looks nice. How much is it? Jeans Seller: it's only GHC20. How much will you give? Me: Well, I don't have money on me now. But wait, are you are one of the guys who were involved in last Monday's phone and curse issue? Jeans seller: (Smiling) Yes. In fact, what happened here last Monday was very unfortunate but we've all learnt from it. Me: Really? I was watching your little display from behind. So what happened afterwards? Did the guy reverse the curse? Jeans seller: Of course, we spent about GHC500 that day to buy some items demanded by the fetish priest. Me: Fetish priest? You mean five million old Ghana cedis? That's a lot of money. What did the priest demand and who paid for all that money? Jeans seller: Hmmm, the money was used to buy three fowls, a bottle of schnapps, a white cloth, gin and other items which I can't remember to reverse the curse. Me: Oh okay. So who paid for the money? You or the guy who cursed? Jeans Seller: I actually paid GHC50. The guy's brother also made a contribution while all the other boys were asked to pay an amount else we won't be allowed to trade here again. Me: Hmmm, that must really be a big lesson to all of you. I hope nothing like this ever happen again. Jeans Seller: Yea, we were all summoned by the elders and they warned us not to repeat such incident here in the market. The guy's phone has been given to him so there is no problem. Me: Are you sure he took back the phone to use or he went to sell it out? Jeans Seller: Yes he took it back. The fetish priest has already reversed the curse so nothing would happen to him if he uses it. Me: Which fetish priest did you consult? Jeans Seller: We have a fetish priest here in the market so our elders had to go and see him for the ritual. It was done that same day after the items were bought so I am sure everything is fine now. Me: I see. I remembered all about you when it started raining last Tuesday night. Tell me; were you scared then? Jeans Seller: (Smiling). Of course I was. I know the impact of some of these things but since we had already reversed it, I was sure nothing would happen to me. Me: Okay. Next time you should know who to poke. I think that young man is quite volatile and you people shouldn't have played that prank on him. Jeans Seller: Yes. Don't mind him. We are all traders here and he knows how we behave sometimes so we were actually taken aback when he went to that extent. However, I think it's a lesson for us all not to mess with other peoples stuff. I am happy steps were taken to dissolve the case immediately. Me: (Satisfied) Okay thank you. I will buy one of the jeans the next time I come over. Regard me as your customer now. Bye! Sigh! Some jokes can be expensive indeed. This one actually went for a whopping five million old Ghana cedis. That's a lot of money. It doesn't matter whether you live in the old or new Ghana. Just know who to tickle. You might just be denied that last laugh. By: Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana The writer is a Broadcast Journalist with Citi Fm Blogs at thinkperple.wordpress.com Email: [email protected] 27.05.2016 LISTEN From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi The Duke of Edinburgh International Award Scheme, His Royal Highness, Prince Edward, has lauded the Asantehene, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for his commitment to education and development of humanity. The Royal Prince says the contribution of the King of the Asante Kingdom to the development of education in Ghana had received recognition both locally and internationally and, therefore, be commended. The Prince Edward gave the commendation when he led a delegation to pay a courtesy call on the Asantehene at the Manhyia Palace on Wednesday. The Earl of Wessex, who is on a three day visit to Ghana to participate in the Head of State Awards to young Ghanaians who have successfully participated in the scheme, noted that education was the bedrock of the development of every society, stressing that the decision by the Asante King to set up the Educational Foundation to support Ghanaians schools was in the right direction. Prince Edward, who is the youngest son of Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, disclosed that the 2018 edition of the International Awards will be held in Ghana in recognition of the contribution of the Asante King as well as other distinguished Ghanaians to the success story of the scheme. The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme is associated with the Head of State Awards Scheme in Ghana. According to information, the scheme is available to youths across the globe between the ages of 14-24 and it is meant to equip all young people for life irrespective of ones background, culture, physical ability, skills and interests. On his part, the Asantehene, who spoke through the Paramount Chief of Juaben, Nana Otuo Siriboe, used the occasion to once again wish the Queen longer life on her 90th Anniversary Celebration and that the Asante Kingdom was honoured to host the Prince and his delegation. He said the Asantehenes commitment to education was not only limited to the people under his jurisdiction but to the entire country as several communities continue to benefit from his foundation. Nana Otuo Siriboe pointed out that education was a fundamental right of every Ghanaian and to this end, the Asantehene had resolved to invest much resources into supporting all Ghanaians irrespective of ones creed, religion or tribe, to develop their intellectual capacity. The delegation to the Manhyia Palace included the UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin and the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Alexander Ackon. Opposition political parties have shunned a suggestion by the police service to ban the use of social media on election day, stating it is an abuse of fundamental human rights. The main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Peoples' National Convention (PNC) and Progressive Peoples' Party (PPP) say the ban is archaic and retrogressive way to contian social media abuse. But the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has signaled it does not have any hard and definite stance on the proposal yet. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor last Thursday floated the idea that a ban on social media may be needed to forestall any possibility of misinformation leading to violence on voting day November 7. He said the ban could be from 7am to 5 p.m. when voting ends and picked out an example of Uganda where President Yoweri Museveni slapped a ban on election day. But NPP Deputy General Secretary, Obiri Boahen has condemned the suggestion as untenable and unacceptable. We are not in Uganda, we are not in Kenya he dismissed the idea as breaching the right to free speech. PNC General Secretary, Atik Mohammed called the measure, counter-productive. He called on the police service to monitor and punish users who abuse the worlds most influential communication tool. A policy advisor with the Progressive Peoples Party, Kofi Siaw recommended that the police service needs to develop the capacity to counter illegitimate use. But NDC Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyhidoho signaled it is too early to discount the suggestion. Heavy intelligence pointing to imminent danger could necessitate banning social media usage. He said the security of the state is a supreme interest which cannot be superseded by an interest to post and tweet. More soon.... Story by Ghana|myjoyonline.com|EA 27.05.2016 LISTEN i The Wenchi Municipal and Banda District assemblies in the Brong-Ahafo Region have expressed appreciation to Resource Link Foundation Netherlands and Ghana for contributing to the development of the water and sanitation sectors in schools in their various communities. The commendation came on the heels of an inspection tour of some completed projects executed by the organisation in the Wenchi Municipality and the Banda District. The team, led by the Country Director of Resource Link Foundation Ghana, Mr. Christopher Dapaah, interacted with officials of the two assemblies, including the Education Directorates in Wenchi and Banda Ahenkro. During the interaction with the officials of the Banda District Assembly, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Banda, Mr. Jacob Boateng, was full of praise for the organisation for contributing to the development of the district, especially, in the areas of water and sanitation, as well as education. The District Chief Executive charged the District Director of Education to ensure that the facilities are well maintained. The inspection tour took officials of the organisation to the Sanwa/Makala L/A Primary School, which has benefited from a mechanised borehole and six-seater toilet facility, Banda Ahenkro Presby, which had a borehole, hand washing materials and teaching and learning materials, African Faith Primary Schools and Dompofie, which also benefited from teaching and learning materials, all in the Banda District. The Banda Ahenkro Methodist and Dorbor L/A Primary schools are to be provided with boreholes and teaching and learning materials from the organisations next intervention. In the Wenchi Municipality, the beneficiary schools were Subinso M/A Primary School, which benefited from furniture, teaching and learning materials, as well as rain water harvesting facilities, while Branam Primary School benefited from a six-seater toilet facility, as well as teaching and learning materials. Other beneficiary schools are Asampo and Wenchi Model A, which had furniture, rain water harvesting materials, as well as teaching and learning materials. Mr. Jan Bras, Director of Resource Link Foundation Netherlands, expressed the organisations readiness to execute more projects in the water and sanitation sectors, especially, in schools, to make them environmentally-friendly for the pupils. He underscored the need for good water and sanitation services in schools to promote a healthy environment for both teachers and pupils. On his part, the Country Director of Resource Link Foundation Ghana, Mr. Christopher Dapaah, appealed to the Banda District Assembly to include the organisation in its activities, especially planning and budgeting, as well as meetings. This, he said, will ensure better collaboration between the assembly and the organisation for the speedy development of the area. The Ghana Police Service's decision to shut down social media platforms on election day has been described as an affront to the tenets of the 1992 constitution. This is according to Kinna Likimani, Project Lead of Ghana Decides, a social media platform dedicated to election coverage in Ghana. The Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor has said the Police is considering the decision in a move to ensure order on social media platforms. But Kinna Likimani believes the decision will not augur well for the development of Ghanas democracy. Speaking to Citi News, Kinna described the decision as a repressive tactic. We are not a country that subscribes to heavy handed repressive tactics otherwise we will not be in a democracy. What we need to do is that within our democratic dispensation, we educate our citizens. The Police needs to understand and come on and we all work together. There is a huge space that even the Police can occupy on social media. Ways by which we can inform Ghanaians, ways in which we can help them in their job. Not only the Police , including the EC who is now on social media. Kinna also added that the Peace Council, government and other key stakeholders should be on social media to deal with the challenges that will come up during the election. The last election, the EC released the results on Facebook. The Peace Council needs to be on social media, the government needs to be on social media. It is a platform for informing and together we can Police ourselves but to ascribe to heavy handed repressive tactics, I repeat it is not a democratic best practice and it doesnt suite the path we are on as Ghanaians. We close down social media and then what. What message do we send to ourselves as Ghanaians. That we can't handle ourselves. The last election, it was not as big enough but people were talking about things that Ghana decides was going to do. We were circumspect; they were pictures that we took that we felt because international news organisations follow us. We will not release them so we can train people. Citizens can be educated but to say you want to shut down social media is a repressive tactic and is not a democratic best practice. Ghana is not Uganda This is not a democratic best practice, we have to find ways within our laws to deal with the challenges that come up and not to shut down it, she added. By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @EfeAnsah Accra, May 26, GNA - Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Timothy Yosa Bonga, the Greater-Accra Regional Police Commander, has called on the men and women of the Baatsonaa Divisional Police Command to help maintain peace before, during and after the November 7 polls. ACP Bonga was speaking at an annual get-together dubbed; 'WASSA' organised for the newly established command after a year of hard work. He, therefore, urged the police to be proud of their work and be committed to it because policing was a good profession. ACP Bonga congratulated members of the command for maintaining law and order within the jurisdiction and living up to expectation. Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr Baba Adamu Saani, the Baatsonaa Divisional Police Commander, said the command was carved out of the Kpeshie Divisional Police Command last year which brought forth the Sakomono, Community 18, Okpoi-gonor and Baatsonaa police stations. He said the command had worked hard to curb crime and helped to keep the peace and expressed the hope that it would be maintained even after the impending election. The Nima Divisional Police Commander, ACP Nuhu Jango, urged the police to leave a good mark wherever they were posted to and endeavour to strive for excellence. Dr Asibi Abudu, a former Economist of the Bank of Ghana and the Arabian Bank, who was the Guest of Honour, gave a talk on health and appealed to the gathering to drink a lot of water to ensure healthy living. He said drinking water immediately after eating must be avoided since it did not enhance digestion. Dr Abudu, who has written about 18 books on health, advised the people to refrain from drinking iced-water since it shrunk the blood nerves leading to the development of other ailments. He said eating more fruits was important because it helped to cleanse the gastro-intestinal tract. 'Eating meat and meat products must be avoided as these result in actions that produce nitrogen which makes our armpits and feet to smell. Nitrogen also produces arthritis in the human skeletal joints,' he said and recommended that everyone exercised regularly. GNA The National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Weija-Gbawe, Obuobia Darko-Opoku has donated relief items to flood victims in the constituency. The relief items include mosquito nets, sugar, rice and cooking oil among others to the people of Mallam Borla Road and its environs. Some part of Mallam, a suburb of Accra got flooded after several hours of rain in the capital. Obuobia has been visible on the ground, helping to alleviate the plight of the constituents. Over the weekend, she appealed to a construction firm, Engineers and Planners (E&P), who came in with their heavy duty equipment to clear choked drainage systems in the constituency. The beneficiaries of the relief items expressed gratitude to the aspiring MP, who has embarked on numerous projects including the provision of boreholes and water reservoir to the communities and the main hospital as well as footing the medical and school bills of deprived persons. The former broadcaster appealed to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and corporate bodies to lend a helping hand to the victims. The Regional Security Council (REGSEC) is considering withdrawing security from Agogo and devising long-term plans of securing permanent lands for cattle rearing to solve the long-standing nomadic herdsmen issue. Lives have been lost, farms have been destroyed and the town has recorded series of citizen unrests due to the invasion of farms by nomadic herdsmen. A police-military force has since been maintaining order there. But Regional Minister and Chairman of REGSEC, John Alexander Ackon, says the Security Council is considering withdrawing the security force there and focus on getting a secured zone for the rearing of cattle to end the long-standing feud. He was speaking at a media encounter with journalists in Kumasi. "At our last Regional security meeting we were thinking of withdrawing the security at this time, but the next meeting will determine what we will finally do," Mr. Ackon said. He said there are two ideas they are considering if they should meet and get stakeholder, is to get a multisector approach with Ministry of Interior, Land and Natural Resources, Works and Housing as well as the Finance ministries to solving the issue. According to him, there is the need for government to secure land dedicated for the rearing of the cattle which should be accessible to water. Mr. Ackon explained that because the chieftaincy institution is in charge of the land they have to be engaged since the chiefs are owners of the land. The Ministry of Works and Housing should be involved so they provide water sources for the cattle. "We think if REGSEC should get all those things together, with the Agogo chiefs and the youth, we should be able to get a new land devoid of issues and try to do cages to keep the cattle in," he said. The Ashanti Regional Minister also condemned what he called the proliferation of election 2016 peace advocacy groups seeking sponsorship from government. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim | Email: [email protected] File Photo 27.05.2016 LISTEN Today heralds the 53rd anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/African Union (for the past 14years). It marks a great milestone in the lives of many Africans, who on this day 53 years ago, through representatives of their countries, made the decision to forge ahead in unity and brotherliness whilst promoting the total wellbeing of all Africans. How has the continent fed in more than a golden jubilee now? What concrete measurement could be made of key sectors of the continental growth? Healthcare delivery is an engine of growth and development of every continent. The health of the people depicts the life in every nation. Preventive, diagnostic and curative medicine are key to ensuring a healthy life of the people. Has Africa done much to ensure the total health of its people? Are there good looks for the public healthcare delivery? And whats left to be done? The Continent of Africa is bedeviled with a myriad of health problems. The past three years tested the total strengths of an existing public health system of the Continent. The outbreak of an Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in December, 2013 across the West Africa Subregion led to the loss of the lives of tens of thousands. The outbreak brought to the fore the absence of adequate disease surveillance, control and monitoring by the health systems of many nations. There was fear and panic across the continent. Similar outbreaks did occur in the past as well but it took an international outcry to put the situation under control. There are warnings and scares of other similar viral diseases with the Lassa fever virus and zika virus being the top list. The incidences of various neglected tropical diseases continue to be a worrying trend. Schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, filariasis and Chagas diseases continue to be present largely in the Sub-Saharan regions of the continent. Malaria continues to kill millions of children across the continent. Malnutrition exists in its full gear. Cholera devastates thousands of lives across the continent every year. Maternal and child health remains a challenge in many nations with over 360000 maternal deaths and 4million children under 5years losing their lives worldwide and Africa accounting for nearly 65% of them. HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis morbidity and mortality remain a major burden in the youth and working class. Adolescent reproductive health delivery is still a mirage with increasing numbers of teenage pregnancies and abortions in many nations continently. Typhoid and other amoebic infections still bedevil the lives of the young and old. Are we doing enough as a continent to stop these health challenges? What concrete steps are the continental leaders taking together with African health experts to reduce if not eliminate the disease burden and other public health concerns? The current state of public health systems of many African countries leaves us much to worry about. Majority of the Nations public health delivery systems are near collapse if not collapsed. The African public health system operates mainly based on wait till there is a disease outbreak; then we can mobilize ourselves; the public health systems are REACTIVE in nature. Many African countries continue to spend millions of dollars importing drugs and vaccines for treatment or management of the African diseases. At a submit in Abuja in 2001, a declaration by each nation of committing at least 15% of its annual budget to fighting Neglect Tropical Diseases has fallen apart with just about 5countries making the commitment. Whilst efforts are made by healthcare educators to bridge the health worker to patient ratio, Brain drain is still a top notch issue worth tackling by many a nation of Africa. Whats the way to go? How do we overcome the current health challenges? Africa needs a very robust public health delivery system capable of providing critical research into the numerous tropical disease, combating the spread of communicable diseases, developing innovative drug therapies and promoting the total health of every individual on the continent. Though there exists few public health structures in some countries, these do not function to the ultima they are created to or do not function at all. There is missing the existence and operation of continental public health policy system with a total commitment to implementing. The Ebola crisis of 2013 has exposed greatly the weakness of the public health diagnostic systems. Laboratory diagnostic service is an essential pillar in arresting epidemics outbreaks anywhere in the world. The turnaround time for getting accurate diagnosis was a major challenge so revealed. Initials samples were transported miles for diagnostic purposes that could take days to get the results out. Public health diagnostic laboratory needs to be built, strengthened and empowered with the capacity to provide prompt diagnosis. The public health research facilities have been just white elephants in some instances and others nonfunctional. At the outbreak of the yellow fever disease in the 1970s, public health laboratories in Nigeria were empowered to produce vaccines to the virus. They executed the mandate at a space which contributed to the successful fight of the disease. Today, those laboratories are no longer in operation. Where did we go wrong? Governments of many nations look to the West to import every antibiotic, vaccines and even painkillers. Whats stopping the public health laboratories and pharmacies across the continent be empowered to undertake this? Why do we wait for the Americas to find solutions for malaria parasite devastations on the Continent? Whilst billions of dollars are lost through corruption and mismanagement. The continent finds itself an excuse of poverty and inadequate of monetary capacity to establish such prompt systems. A continent rich in its natural and human resources has its fate hanging on the availability of loans and grants from other continents and China. The leadership of the continent needs to wake up to the call, eschew selfishness and greed and work assiduously for the total health of the African. With 7years to attain 60, an age of retirement of public sector workers in many nations, the OAU/AU must do more in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on health as outlined in the United Nations Charter 2015. Countries across the continent must commit themselves to strategies that would ensure the retention of healthcare workers on the continent whilst training more to meet the health worker-patient ratio. It is estimated that for each healthcare worker working home on the continent, thrice of that works outside the continent. Cases of political instabilities and low wages/enumeration have been key factors of brain drain in many nations; of which all are solvable if the African leaders commit themselves to it. As the African leaders gather to discuss issues and find solutions to better the lives of people, it is hoped that the health of the people on the continent would be key in their deliberations. We simply cannot make progress with the numerous threats of diseases and disease outbreaks. Leaders on the continent must stop the talk and walk the talk in ensuring the total wellbeing of the African. Happy 53rd anniversary to Africans across the globe. May Africa live to be a disease-free continent. Maxwell Akonde, MLS (AHPC-G) Medical Advocate; Cofounder, Patient Safety Advocacy Africa - PSA2 [email protected] Kyeremeh D. Evans, MLS (AHPC-G) Medical Advocate; President and Cofounder, @patientsafetyadvocacyafrica [email protected] Rome (AFP) - Dozens of migrants were missing Friday after an overloaded fishing boat sank off the coast of Libya, the third major tragedy in the Mediterranean in as many days, Italian rescuers said. Italian coastguards sent in rescue ships after a call for help that spoke of 350 people in the water, while the Italian navy said it had saved 130 people and was still searching for others. The coastguard, which coordinates rescue operations in the area, was not able to immediately provide further information about the latest incident. But it said about 1,900 people were saved on Friday from 16 vessels in distress, adding to an estimated 10,000 people already rescued near the Libyan coast in the past four days. A bout of good weather as summer arrives has kicked off a fresh stream of boats attempting to make the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy. About 40,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in the country's southern ports so far this year. But in one of the worst tragedies in the Mediterranean in recent months, a fishing trawler carrying some 650 people capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday. The Italian navy, which captured the tragedy in a horrifying video that shows the boat roll over and dump its passengers into the water, was able to rescue about 560 people. But five people died and 100 are still feared missing, according to many survivors who reported having lost a loved one or a close passenger. On Thursday, the EU's naval force said up to 30 migrants were believed to have died after another ship flipped over off Libya. "Three sinkings in three days, it's very worrying," said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency in Rome. In the single deadliest migrant boat sinking since the crisis began, some 700 people died in April last year, also off the coast of the troubled north African country. Having finished his grad school studies in China, Jonathan Garber had the chance to explore Southeast Asia, and that adventure climaxed with an unforgettable trip through the stunning terrain of northern Vietnam. And while the entire summer was amazing, nothing was quite like the motorbike trip I took over my last 10 days in Asia. Here's what it's like to experience offroad Vietnam. The trip began in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, and spanned the mountainous Northwest region of the country. The estimated location of the trip is highlighted by the red square on the map.I had never been on a motorcycle before, and had just one hour to learn the day before we left. Having never driven manual transmission before, I ended up with this scooter. It was less powerful so I struggled climbing mountains, but was faster on the straightaways. We arrived at the the Offroad Vietnam office at about 7am to load up the bikes. When we finally left, it was rush hour in Hanoi. This picture doesn't even show how crazy and chaotic the streets are. There are motorbikes everywhere. The views were breathtaking when we finally hit the open road. There was lush, green vegetation as far as the eye could see.As we began our climb into the mountains, Vietnam's famous rice fields came into view. It was common to see workers in the fields for most of the trip. Vietnam is one of the largest rice exporters in the world. One of the things that I noticed almost immediately was just how narrow the roads were. There was very little room for error, especially if a truck was coming around the bend. We came across a river that proved difficult to navigate, so we loaded our bikes onto a boat and ferried across. That's when we got our first taste of the off-road portion of the trip. We saw this bridge. Luckily we didn't have to ride our bikes across it. Soon after, that's when things started to get crazy. We found ourselves riding through roads that were washed out by water and mud.Since it was August in Vietnam it was rainy season, and that meant a storm could creep up at any time.The heavy rains usually didn't last long, but created more difficult conditions. Our tour guide got stuck in the mud Since I was a beginner, sometimes I had to hop on the back while a more experienced rider got me through the difficult terrain. Here, the water had completely washed out the road. As you can see it was pretty deep. We crossed carefully so our engines wouldn't stall. Several times over the course of the trip we were forced to wait for a bus or truck to navigate the difficult terrain.You never knew what you were going to see. With water buffalo crossing the road virtually anywhere, it made for dangerous conditions. Ronnie went around the bend too quickly and crashed into one. Luckily, both he and the water buffalo were ok. If a motorist kills a water buffalo they must pay the owner fair value. For the most part all of the locals were friendly. Along the way they would wave and even run along side us as we rode. A few times a day we would stop for Vietnamese coffee and other beverages to get some rest and fuel up. A few nights we stayed in tribal villages. The sleeping arrangement made for close quarters. Luckily, no one snored. A traditional Vietnamese meal consists of pork, spring rolls, and veggies. Sometimes, there is chicken too. Men and women eat separately. When we weren't staying in tribal villages we stopped in small cities along the way. Generally, the main strip was nothing more than a few blocks along the road. Sapa was the only city that was a tourist destination on our trip - a popular place for tourists who want to take a trek in the mountains. Unfortunately for us, a typhoon struck on our descent into the city and we didn't get to do any hiking. Water was pouring down the side of the mountain and through this restaurant.When the rain finally stopped, we had this stunning view. The typhoon caused mud and rock slides to block the roads.Notice how narrow the passage was. One wrong move, and you could easily fall of the side of the mountain. Luckily for us, we were on motorbikes so we could pass through. Other tourists had to pay the $100 to hop on the back of a local's motorbike to navigate the terrain.This shows the scope of how muddy it was in some places. After a day or riding we were back in Hanoi.Then we pulled into the Offroad Vietnam offices to end our trip. The trip was amazing and definitely the greatest adventure of my life. Photo by Jonathan Garber The United Nations commemorates the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on 29 May each year. On this day, we pay tribute to all the uniformed men and women in military and police service in United Nations peacekeeping operations. We thank them for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage. And we honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace. Very fittingly, the theme for the 2016 commemoration is Honouring Our Heroes. As a prominent contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, Ghana will commemorate the day with a flag-raising ceremony at the forecourt of the State House. The United Nations family in Ghana joins the rest of the world to salute the thousands of Ghanaian military troops, police and prisons officers, and civilians who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations all over the world. The United Nations peacekeeping has a long and proud history. Since its establishment in 1948, over one million UN peacekeepers have served in more than 70 operations in dozens of conflict-affected countries. UN Peacekeepers help countries gain independence, support historic elections, protect civilians, disarm ex-combatants, establish the rule of law, promote human rights and create the conditions for refugees and displaced persons to return home. Increasingly, these efforts are under volatile and insecure conditions. In 2015, the UN recorded 129 fatalities of Peacekeepers from 50 countries. Some died in malicious attacks, others in accidents, and others fell to disease. On the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, we honour these fallen heroes. We also honour the heroic efforts of UN Peacekeepers serving across the world in 2015. In particular, we honour the difference they are making in Africa. In South Sudan, UN Peacekeepers shelter more than 177,000 displaced persons. In the Central African Republic, they supported successful presidential and legislative elections. In Liberia, they provided security while medical experts combatted the Ebola outbreak. In these and in all operations, UN peacekeeping operations are guided by three basic principles: (1) Consent of the parties; (2) Impartiality, where the mandate of peacekeeping operations is implemented without favour or prejudice to any party; and (3) Non-use of force, except in self-defense and defense of the mandate. These principles give UN peacekeeping operations international legitimacy. UN peacekeepers are expected to act in ways that do not betray the trust of the people and community they serve. They are expected and trained to respect local laws, customs and practices; treat host country inhabitants with respect, courtesy and consideration; and act with impartiality, integrity and tact. The vast majority of UN Peacekeepers consistently maintain these high standards. There are currently 107,000 uniformed personnel from 124 troop- and police-contributing countries serving under the blue flag, up from 40,000 just 15 years ago. This is a sign of confidence in UN peacekeeping. However, 2015 saw serious breaches in this public trust. Across the entire United Nations, there were 99 allegations of sexual exploitation or abuse in 2015. Of these, 69 were lodged against UN personnel serving in peace operations. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has publically expressed his horror and disgust over deeply disturbing cases of sexual exploitation and abuse on the part of international forces deployed to troubled areas abuse against those they were sent to protect. He has led the UN in a decisive response, comprising four commitments: First, end impunity. Transparency is the first step: bringing abuse cases to light and tracking what happens after allegations are made will motivate Member States to take appropriate actions, including criminal charges, against perpetrators. Second, help the victims. The Secretary-General is establishing a trust fund, through voluntary funds from Member States, that will provide victims with medical, psychosocial and legal services. Member States must also consider how they will respond to claims from victims who pursue legal action to seek redress. Third, strengthen accountability. Member States must meet their responsibility to bring to justice those who have committed crimes while serving with the United Nations. In March this year the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2272 on the subject of sexual exploitation and abuse. It calls for the UN to repatriate troops, commanders, or whole contingents due to documented allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse. Fourth, prevent further abuses. This includes more strenuous vetting procedures for all uniformed personnel, increasing pre-deployment training, considering stricter rules on social activities of peacekeeping contingents, and increasing the deployment of women in uniform to help protect women in at-risk communities. Greater progress is needed to enhance the participation of women in peace operations and in mission leadership, and ensuring that the UN continues to advocate for women to be central in peace processes. These measures on enforcement, remedial action and prevention stem in part from the conclusions of the Independent Review Panel on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by International Peacekeeping Forces in the Central African Republic. They reinforce the UNs zero tolerance policy against sexual exploitation or abuse, zero complacency and zero impunity. And they will serve to strengthen the indispensable contributions of UN peacekeepers to world peace and security. Peacekeepers work in difficult missions where progress in peace and reconciliation is often way too slow. We honor our blue-helmeted peacekeepers by recognizing and thanking the many, the vast majority, who serve with distinction. And we protect their legacy by taking action against those few who abuse their positions of authority. As the Secretary-General said in his remarks at the wreath-laying ceremony honouring fallen peacekeepers at the UN Headquarters on 19th May, We mourn those who lost their lives and we also pay tribute to the scores of others who were injured. This wreath is for the peacekeepers who died so that others may live. Christine Evans-Klock UN Resident Coordinator for Ghana Donald Trump 27.05.2016 LISTEN Republican Party leaders have lost touch with their base, with Independents, and with the general electorates craving for equitable prosperity. That's odd. The economy consistently polls at the top of voter concerns. The single most important factor in the 2016 presidential election pithily was described by the New York Posts John Crudele in a column headlined Americans havent gotten a raise in 16 years : One last statistic, from Sentier Research. Median annual household income in the US reached $57,263 this past March, which was 4.5% higher than in March 2015. But and heres where the anger comes in this Marchs figure is still slightly below the $57,342 median annual income in January 2000. January 2000! Americans havent gotten a raise in more than 16 years. Both Republicans and Democrats alternately have been in control of or possessed shared influence over the federal government for a long, dreary, Little Dark Age. Both Republicans and Democrats have come up short in resolving this slow motion crisis. No wonder we voters are dissatisfied. No wonder the appeal of outsiders and party mavericks. The incumbents have failed us. Comes now Donald Trump as a wake up call. We enter an epic political era. It rather puts one in mind of the second verse of Genesis: And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Trumps rhetorical focus on worker prosperity promises light. But can he deliver? The Republican party now is waiting for Trump to prove himself an Agent of Light rather than just another political Lucifer. To what policies will Trump commit himself? On whose advice will he rely? Will he refine his disposition to display the kind of maturity required from the leader of the free world? Much now depends on Donald Trumps immediate next moves. While waiting for these moves let us spend a moment contemplating the darkness currently besetting the face of the political deep, both Democrat and Republican. Consider how brilliantly economic growth performed under President Bill Clintons neoliberal economic regime. We experienced massive job creation, upward income mobility, even a federal budget surplus. It is more than mildly bewildering as to why the Democrats are giving only a weak cheer for neoliberal economic growth policies. As for the Republicans: public intellectual Tevi Troy recently provided a profound and convincing autopsy in Politico: How GOP Intellectuals Feud With the Base Is Remaking U.S. Politics: Whathappens when the partnership that created the modern Republican Partyshatters . Whats really going on is that the ideas that the conservative intellectual community has been peddling for decades have failed to appeal to an angry blue-collar voter base. What worked in Reagans era just doesnt work anymore, and Trump is simply exploiting the divide. Mainstream conservative think tank positions on free trade, U.S.-led internationalism, lower personal income tax rates, Social Security reform and immigration regularization simply do not appear to speak to todays high-anxiety voters. Lower taxes, small government, free-trade, and more immigration appealed to blue-collar voters in Reagans day; they dont so much today. And so far, the elite has been reluctant to adapt. I, to the best of my knowledge, am the only capo of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy who also is a proud card-carrying member of the AFL-CIO. Heresy? My primal political influences, Jack Kemp, co-founder and second president of the AFL Players Association , and Ronald Reagan, president of the AFL-CIO affiliated Screen Actors Guild , both were union bosses. Reagan, as president, spoke to the nation of the basic right of free trade unions and to strike. Note also that the great John L. Lewis, leader of the United Mine Workers and prime founder of the CIO was a lifelong Republican. He was a supply-sider, willing to see the number of miners reduced by advanced mining technology so long as the remaining miners equitably participated in the associated productivity gains. The founder of the Republican Party, one rail-splitting Abraham Lincoln was deeply empathetic toward and supportive of laborers. Today's GOP has lost touch both with its roots and its rank-and-file. If Trump can reawaken the GOP that would be creative destruction at its best. The American Dream has two components: prosperity and economic justice. Realizing the Dream demands that labor and capital both thrive. The parties are polarized. Republicans champion prosperity (but a prosperity in practice largely inuring to the rich." Democrats champion fairness, but at the cost of thwarting the prosperity to which we workers aspire. The two values, economic prosperity and economic justice, are not antithetical. Trump, at least rhetorically, has fused the two. He is receiving an enthusiastic response and not just in the GOP. Trump is formidable yet something of an enigma. He rhetorically hits the nail equitable prosperity on the head. Yet Trumps proposed highest profile remedies -- high tariffs and mass deportations -- would take us out of the frying pan and into the fire. Herbert Hoover proved how toxic tariffs can be. Tariffs contributed to, some say even precipitated, the Great Depression. His tariffs caused immense misery to millions of workers. Hostility to undocumented workers is a proxy issue for stagnation. A policy to deport derives from the pressure from enough jobs to go around it causes an understandable grievance to allow illicit competitors for available jobs. To succeed in his aspirations Trump needs more than a a big beautiful door in his wall. He needs job creation. Trump surely wishes, if elected , to become the greatest jobs president that God ever created rather than the next Depression-inducing Herbert Hoover. Is Donald Trump able to offer up the kind of mechanisms that propelled America to create nearly 40 million new jobs under Presidents Reagan and Clinton. Trump shows some promise in his unequivocal praise of the gold standard as a crucial element in restoring equitable prosperity. Trump: Bringing back the gold standard would be very hard to do, but boy, would it be wonderful. Wed have a standard on which to base our money. There is plenty of evidence that the gold standard would let the djinn of equitable prosperity out of the bottle. Restoring it would be far less difficult than Trump suggests. Trump's propensity for tax rate cuts holds promise. Going into the general election, Trump need only double down on the gold standard and cutting marginal tax rates to unite the party and excite America. Will he? God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. Will Donald Trump credibly offer the voters a recipe to restore the daylight of the American Dream? Or will his recipe portend an even longer, darker, night? Originating at Forbes.com 27.05.2016 LISTEN Let me start by first wishing my Africa all the best as she celebrate her Unionization few days ago. It is good to be an African and the power of the world is from Africa. Yes, we feed the world, cloth the world and moves the world but the most unfortunate incident is that, we are still the poorest continent because our leaderships have one way or the other not performed as expected of them. Some are very greedy, selfish, and some even behaves sometimes as animals...yes! I learnt many Ghanaians and political figures are calling for the scrap of the AU day celebration. I think I am in support of this noble call. AU as an entity must even be scrapped. It has been a non-useful entity since its inception in the 1960s. I personally have not seen or felt the impact of this union in my country. Ghana have seen almost nothing from AU except that, this same AU have paid ways for other nationals to come to my motherland to kill and rape my innocent fellow contrymen and women. What a useless union? What has been the impact of AU on your life as a member citizen?....I have nothing to write about! That was just by the way, pardon me to share my thoughts about what the Ghana Police Service has planned about social media on election day, hopefully this November. I am a fun and lover of social media. I have made use of such platforms to make positive impacts unto people's life and I have also had much impacts from what others put on social media platforms. It is has been very good to others also. I recall that, through facebook I came across a long time friend ( Nana Yaw Osei). He had travelled to the UK ever since we parted in class five. We were good friends but destiny parted us for so many years. Facebook made it possible for me to reconnect with my old time mate and friend. It took only one day to reconnect. If for any reason(s), facebook was blocked that very day, this lovely friend would still be far away from me. This is even one of the little things facebook as a social media can do. I dont only make use of facebook; twitter, google+, yahoo chat, whatsApp, instagram, and a host of others are some of this social media platforms I do my things. Besides, apart from chatting and making friends on social media, it has become another powerful tool that most of the big companies in Ghana make use of. Some sell their products and services on social media platforms. Both public and private organizations makes profitable use of social media. I agree with the IGP's concern that, social media could spark some controversies during the election day by way of fear and panic. It can also lead to voilence and others but, is it a reason to shut down this system for a period of elctions? To a social media lover like me, the IGP goofed big time. Shutting social media on election day is childish and undemocratic. What might have let the Police Service to think of such a childish idea in this dispensation of ours? Blocking social media on Election day is by itself a way of causing voilence. The IGP must know that, his comments have given Ghanaians and opposition parties an avenue to think twice. To me, this plan is nothing but a way the police service is lacing up with government to do their own thing. Could it be that, you fear the power of social media, Mr IGP? I heard an NDC communicator defending such undemoceatic act on radio, praising the IGP for nursing such devilish idea. Mr IGP, have you also thought of the loss you will create for businesses and companies who uses various social media in selling their services? Who will take care of that losses? This is one of the police politicking that pops up every election year. But this time, a wrong approach has been used. The police ought to be an independent and neutral body? The worst is that, Mr Kudalor could not use any example than Uganda. Who doesn't know that President Yuweri Musaveni benefitted hugely from the blockage of social media during Uganda's election period? Who doesn't know Mr Musaveni did that to pave way for him to easily steal the verdict of the good people of Uganda? Mr Musaveni anticiapated the power of social media could lead to his failure to ascend the thrown he has taken as his personal property? What good example in Africa has Yuweri Musaveni set in African since he took office in 1986? I challenge Mr Kudalor and his police administration to tell us why it is only Uganda they cited? Ghana is ours and no amount of intimidation will be torelated. The opposition in Uganda and civil society organizations is Uganda challenged the credibility of Mr Musaveni's last victory when they went to polls, is situation that almost sparked violence in Uganda. This this what the IGP wants to visit on us in Ghana? Enough is enough! Shutting social media is not the core mandate of the ploice...the police must be up to task. The period to think of blocking social media on election day could have been used to plan a way of curbing the rising armed robbery and social vices. In my town, in less than 10days, we have recorded 3 robbery cases out of which 2 have lost their lives. Overcoming such incidents must be the headache of you, Mr IGP. Robbers are taking over our towns and cities! Move up to task and leave social media alone. Socail media is not stealing our moneis and properties; these are the things we need to prioritize as a country. Our security in Ghana is sinking but we have a police institution that should be protecting us. Mr IGP, going Mr Musaveni's way means stealing the verdict of the people because, he did same in Uganda. India, China, Nigeria and America have a big population cover than Ghana and yet, they organized a voilence-free elections without blocking social media. ....the IGP must listen. I am happy that, persons like Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo, dean of the school of communications (UG) and the Mr Jon Bejamine, Bristsh high commissioner to Ghana have atleast come out to show their distaste for the NDC cum Ghana Police plan to rig the forthcoming election. To Prof. Gadzekpo, "we will hit the streets" and to Mr Benjamine, "it is regressive" and also to Lawyer Ace Ankomah, " the police service risk lawsuit over ban of social media". My personal monitoring on facebook and twitter a day after the IGP's statement shows that many Ghanaians are not contempt with the plans of the Ghana Police. In conclusion, I want to tell the IGP that, the peace we are enjoying in Ghana today isn't fixed and we must take caution in certain actions we take. When law enforcement agencies take the law for granted, then, the the citizen are left to decide their fate. This action could be dangerous. We need peace in Ghana. The police must rescind their decision. I expect the Ghana Peace Council, the Christian Council of Ghana, the council of state and the Ghana Bar Association to also come out and condemn this rude plans of the police service; not forgetting the national house of chiefs too. Ghana is not a police state! God Bless My Homeland, Ghana. The writer: Richard Sarpong (An Agriculturalist and Enterprenuer? Email: [email protected] gmail.com Global Media Alliance has announced the list of award categories for the maiden edition of Ghana Beverage Awards (GBA). GBA is the newest Ghanaian award scheme designed to honour the beverage industry of Ghana. It is set to take off in September this year and is expected to gather all the big names in the industry. GBA, organized by Global Media Alliance (GMA), an integrated media and communications company in Ghana, is under the themeInspiring excellence in the beverage industry in Ghana. The Awards, which encompasses both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, has been categorized into product specific categories and general categories, affording beverage producers the opportunity to bag many awards at the event. Head of Creatives and Productions at Global Media Alliance Mr. J.O.T Agyeman said The organisers are looking at instituting a credible award scheme that helps standardise the practice of the beverage industry. We are also interested in engaging the media and all other stakeholders who enable the beverage industry thrive directly or indirectly. In all, 18 awards will be given out and these include; spirit of the year, wine of the year, beer of the year and bitters of the year while the general categories include; product of the year, manufacturer of the year, ad campaign of the year, innovative product of the year amongst others. All applicants may access entry forms and other information online at ghanabeverageawards.com. Rome (AFP) - The Italian navy has recovered the bodies of 45 migrants who drowned Friday in the latest Mediterranean shipwreck, while dozens of others are still feared missing, it said. "The vessel Vega rescued 135 migrants from a sinking vessel. Forty-five bodies were recovered and search efforts are ongoing," the navy said on Twitter. The latest tragedy struck just a day after up to 30 people were believed to have died in another shipwreck. And in one of the worst such incidents in the Mediterranean recently, a fishing trawler with some 650 people capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday. The Italian navy, which captured the tragedy in a horrifying video that shows the boat roll over and dump its passengers into the water, was able to rescue about 560 people. But at least five died and 100 are still feared missing, according to many survivors who reported having lost a loved one or a fellow passenger. "Three sinkings in three days, it's very worrying," said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency in Rome. 27.05.2016 LISTEN A GNA feature by Mohammed Nurudeen Issahaq 'Those who say that a continental government of Africa is illusory are deceiving themselves. They ignore the lessons of history. If the United States of America could do it, if the Soviet Union could do it, if India could do it, why not Africa?' [Dr Kwame Nkrumah]. Accra, May 27, GNA - As has become the tradition now, Ghana and the rest of Africa observed another anniversary of the birth of the African Union (AU) on Wednesday May 25 with formal ceremonies, speeches and verbal commitments to the unity and integration of the Continent. One can predict with a hundred percent certainty, however, that in the next week or two, all those fiery speeches and nostalgic pronouncements, like New Year resolutions, will recede into the dustbins of time and remain there forgotten until next year's anniversary catches up with us again. It is a huge contrast when our present lack-lustre attitude is pitched against the hope and euphoria that swept across the African continent, as well as among well-wishers and people of African descent throughout the world, when the birth of the AU was announced in Durban on July 9, 2002. To a large extent, the event was regarded as the Pan-Africanist dream come alive and a virtual reawakening to end Africa's nightmarish paradox of poverty and underdevelopment in the midst of plenty. But the realisation of that dream would depend on how long the momentum can be sustained in the midst of enormous challenges. The AU is yet to make its presence felt on the continent in concrete terms since its inauguration. Now, almost one and a half decades into the Union's existence, a vast majority of Africa's population is yet to have an appreciable knowledge about the AU and to feel its impact in their everyday lives. Obviously, the urgency that moved the founding fathers of the OAU into action seems to have eluded the present generation of the Continent's leaders who have resorted to lip service and half-hearted gestures of commitment - apparently unsure as to which end to hold on to and which to let go. But the path is a clear and straightforward one: 'As I have said time and time again, the salvation of Africa lies in Unity. Only a Union Government can safeguard the hard-won freedom of the various African States. Africa is rich, its resources are vast and yet African States are poor. It is only in a Union Government that we can find the capital to develop the immense economic resources of Africa . Only a unified economic planning for development can give Africa the economic security essential for the prosperity and wellbeing of all its peoples'. That was Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first post-independence President, in his broadcast to the nation on May 24, 1964 to commemorate the first anniversary of the signing in Addis Ababa, of the historic Charter of the Organization of African Unity, now African Union (AU). It is instructive to note that Nkrumah's clarion call 'Africa Must Unite' clearly articulates his vision and provides solid philosophical justification for that quest as well. By that slogan, he had set his sights beyond the mere winning of political independence in African countries. The discourse of freedom he engaged in meant much more than the mere overthrow of colonialism or the demise of apartheid. To him, freedom from colonial subjugation was one small part of a much larger idea of freedom - that of Africa's economic emancipation. With the benefit of that insight, it could be argued that the birth of the African Union was meant to be the beginning of a process that will ultimately lead to the creation of a single government for the African continent. Indeed the call for, and the movement towards the emergence of a continental government for Africa has always been a part of the ideological goal of the Pan-African idea which originated from the African Diaspora, specifically from individuals of African descent in the Caribbean region, notably Henry Sylvester Williams from Trinidad and Tobago, Martin R. Delany, Edward Wilmot Blyden, W.E.B. DuBois and George Padmore, among others. It became a dream shared by their local equivalents in West Africa, notably James Africanus Horton, S.R.B. Attoh Ahuma and J.E. Casely-Hayford. Those Diasporian thinkers who originated the idea dreamed of a united Africa that would use the continent's resources to generate prosperity for Africans and people of African descent everywhere. A prosperous Africa under the direction of a union government will reclaim for all peoples of African descent their dignity and respect. It is undeniable that centuries of the trans-Saharan slave trade, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism have impacted negatively on the dignity of peoples of African descent. From the 1945 Congress in Manchester onwards, continental Africans became more prominent in the Pan-Africanist movement, with the activities of Kwame Nkrumah gaining more attention in this respect. The Movement received its first institutional embodiment with the inauguration of the African Union's predecessor, the Organization of African Unity on May 25, 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in commemoration of which the AU Day is being celebrated today. Challenges: Quite evidently the momentum, the spark that is needed to set the flame of integration ablaze, has not happened yet this far. Apart from the routine elite conferences and annual official commemorations of AU Day, things are a bit too quiet on the African integration front. It is imperative, therefore, for all people of African descent, including those in the Diaspora, to embark on a self-auditing exercise and, in particular, to explore the most pertinent question the entire continent should be preoccupied with at this point - What are those impediments that are responsible for the AU's apparent stagnation, and what is the way forward? To pick but a few, mention can be made of the absence of strong functional institutions, the lack of industrial development, poor transport and communications infrastructure, intra-state armed conflicts weak economies, and the non-performance of the various sub-regional economic blocs on the continent.. There are also the huge foreign debts, the dependency syndrome, and other problems created by colonial/territorial boundaries. Travelling across the border from one African country to the next remains a nightmare, with numerous road checkpoints where ordinary travellers and traders routinely have to pay bribes before border officials on duty would allow them to get through. Dr Nkrumah observed: 'We were divided on our continent not by chance or by choice, but by force. We cannot cure that division by force among ourselves. We can only cure it by African unity, by coming together within a union government, not by perpetuating the artificial boundaries between us.' What is more, Africa has not been able to break loose from its colonial-era economic patterns, with countries on the continent still trapped in a long-standing legacy dominated by trade with the external world rather than trade amongst themselves. People-centred AU Currently, Africa's leaders and the AU Commission have adopted the 'Africa Vision 2063' project as a deadline for the Continent's integration process. More than anything else, the realization of the dream of a fully functional African Union would depend largely on the pursuit of people-centred policies that would bring on-board the masses who would provide the vital driving force to propel the integration process to its logical destination. In many parts of rural Africa, however, the populace are still ignorant about the AU and what it stands for. Now that is the magnitude of the hurdle ahead. Border officials and local government authorities from neighbouring countries in the ECOWAS, COSASS and SADC zones, in collaboration with their respective Ministries of Regional Integration could, for instance, initiate programmes regularly to converge at their common frontiers and hold open days with border communities for the purpose of sensitization to enable all stakeholders in the process to know the roles expected of them with regard to the removal of restrictions on cross-border movement. Policy makers in Africa have to empower/support businesses and expedite action on all the necessary protocols to facilitate cross border movement as well as cross border investments. The urgent need to address the infrastructure deficit that will facilitate mobility within the continent remains largely unfulfilled. Madam Cristina Duarte, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Republic of Cape Verde, resonated this point in an interaction with the media during her bid for the African Development Bank (ADB) top job. 'we have placed too much emphasis on treaties and protocols that are signed by the states but are not fully adhered. We have to place emphasis on people to people and business-to-business integration. It is the people and businesses that will integrate Africa. As now envisaged by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the focus now must be on building 'community of peoples and not simply of states'. We have to begin to see regional integration not only through the prism of accords and treaties'. Obviously, a successful integration process in Africa calls for a fundamental structural transformation of the continent's economic base from primary commodity export to the manufacture of goods, thereby evolving a new trade regime among African countries based on regional specialization. A joint action in agricultural production and agro-processing is one area that could provide a springboard for the much needed activation of the sub-regional economic blocs, and the heightened level of economic cooperation that has so far eluded the Continent. Moreover, committing more resources to agriculture would not only enable countries to attain food security, but would also generate jobs for the unemployed if pursued with the requisite commitment and consistency. Africa's public financial institutions like the AfDB and the various regional investment and development banks working in concert with the commercial banks must put in place special vehicles to promote and fund projects/businesses that will facilitate regional trade and integration, especially with respect to infrastructure and cross border investments. Intra-Africa trade has to be promoted with every zeal and vigour. From whichever angle one looks at the increasingly competitive world of today, one cannot but concede that regional integration is crucial for Africa. It is in the collective interest of African countries to ensure that all stakeholders, including state and non-state actors, are actively engaged in the process of promoting economic integration on the Continent. For fellows of the 'inky fraternity', here is the task Kwame Nkrumah left for us. Rather than remain passive recorders of history, he challenged African journalists to become active advocates with a sense of mission and help to create the new Africa for which the people have yearned over the centuries. 'With your brains and your pens, with the strength of your faith and the passion of your thoughts and words, you are the vanguard of the crusade for a United Africa. Never sell yourselves for a mess of pottage, never allow yourselves to be bought'. GNA The Inspector General of Police (IGP) got Ghana and Africa talking on Thursday with suggestions that the Ghana Police Service is considering blocking social media on the eve and during the November election. Blocking social media on the eve and during the elections. Is it even possible? Why will the police even contemplate blocking social media before and during the elections? Ghanaians home and abroad will connect to explore. Connecting in the studio was Nehemiah Attigah, a software engineer and an avid social media user. Also connecting in the studio was Ekow Essuman the social media manager for the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP)'s 2016 campaign. Sulemana Salisu is a telecom engineer and a member of the NDC social media team also connected with Ghanaians and Africa. Malaka Grant who blogs at mindofmalaka.com joined the discussion from Georgia in the United States. Talking about blocking social media, one superpower also comes to mind; China. As of September 2015, around 3,000 websites were blocked in mainland China including Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Instagram, Google among others. Kofi Brefa Bretuo, a Ghanaian student who has lived through a regime that actually blocks social media use so effectively connected to share his experience. Listen to the show: Rome (AFP) - The Italian navy has recovered the bodies of 45 migrants who drowned Friday in the latest shipwreck, while dozens of others are still missing in the third major tragedy in the Mediterranean in as many days. Italian coastguards sent in rescue ships after a call for help that spoke of 350 people in the water, just a day after another shipwreck had left up to 30 dead. With search efforts continuing late into the day, the navy saved 130 people and was still searching for others, it said. "The vessel Vega rescued 135 migrants from a sinking vessel. Forty-five bodies were recovered and search efforts are ongoing," the navy said on Twitter. While the European Union has pushed hard to limit the influx of people fleeing war and poverty, a bout of good weather as summer arrives has kicked off a fresh stream of boats trying to make the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy. The coastguard said about 1,900 people were saved on Friday from 16 vessels in distress, adding to an estimated 10,000 people already rescued near the Libyan coast in the past four days. - 'Astounding' - "It's astounding. We are almost at the level of the Greek islands last year," said Flavio di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, referring to a period when thousands arrived there from Turkey every day. About 40,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy's southern ports so far this year. But in one of the worst tragedies in the Mediterranean recently, a fishing trawler with some 650 people capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday. The Italian navy, which captured the tragedy in a horrifying video that shows the boat roll over and dump its passengers into the water, was able to rescue about 560 people. But at least five people died and 100 are still feared missing, according to many survivors who reported having lost a loved one or a fellow passenger. On Thursday, the EU's naval force said up to 30 migrants were believed to have died after another ship flipped over off Libya. "Three sinkings in three days, it's very worrying," said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency in Rome. A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team in Sicily who assisted the survivors of Wednesday's shipwreck could hardly fathom their patients' distress. "Nearly all of them lost one or several relatives," MSF head of mission Andrea Anselmi said, adding that it was "hard to believe" that tragedies at such a scale could be happening. - Perilous rush - French merchant navy officer Antoine Laurent, who has taken part in rescue operations in the Mediterranean, said the rush to get to safety often led vessels to sink. "On migrant boats, those in the hold act as a ballast but they try to get out as soon as possible. Yesterday they did exactly that and upset the boat's centre of gravity and it lost all stability," he told AFP. In the single deadliest migrant boat sinking since the crisis began, some 700 people died in April last year, also off the coast of the chaos-wracked north African country. The flow into Europe via Greece and the Balkans route, which hundreds of thousands of people used in 2015, has slowed to a trickle after countries shut their borders. But more than 26,000 migrants have already landed on Italy's shores so far this year after setting off from Libya. In France meanwhile, prosecutors said they had launched a probe into a massive brawl in the "Jungle" migrant camp in the northern port town of Calais -- from where the migrants try and sneak into Britain -- that left 40 people injured. A female aid worker was among those seriously hurt after the fight broke out between some 200 Afghans and Sudanese on Thursday. The brawl began as food was being distributed and one person was stabbed. Leaders of the G7 nations, meeting in Japan, Friday pledged more funds to tackle the migrant crisis. 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. Tomorrow, Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, will represent the Commission at the Energy Council meeting in Luxembourg. you are here: The people of the Lake Chad Basin have much to look forward to, said Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his recent visit to Nigeria. Their energy, their ingenuity-reflected in young people across the region-points the way towards a future for the Lake Chad Basin defined by growth, by opportunity, by dignity. Nonetheless, they must first rid themselves of a great, dangerous storm clouding that bright future. The fight against Boko Haram is a fight for this futureone that unlocks the potential of all people, the prosperity of nations, and peace for the entire region, said Deputy Secretary of State Blinken. Over the last year or so, the Lake Chad Basin countries have made considerable progress in degrading Boko Haram, and we commend all of them-- Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin--for standing up the Multinational Joint Task Force, which is, of course, tasked with ending the Boko Haram insurgency. The United States is deeply committed to supporting this fight, and will continue to provide to the task force advisors, training and necessary resources. But victory on the battlefield is not enough to ensure the lasting defeat of Boko Haram. For that, Boko Harams ideology must be nullified through government provision of civilian security and civil administration. Human rights abuses must be investigated and abusers held to account. Civilian-military relations must improve. And finally, communities suffering under Boko Harams heavy fist must be liberated and stabilized, the people provided with humanitarian assistance, basic services and economic opportunity. If we fail to adopt and pursue this comprehensive approach, we may well defeat Boko Haram on the battlefield, only to be confronted by Boko Haram 2.0 that rises from its ashes, said Deputy Secretary Blinken. As we look ahead to the future, Deputy Secretary Blinken said, The hard challenges of this moment are matched by the promise and potential of this region. We are confident that the Lake Chad Basin countrieswith support from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and other international partnerswill win this fight and set this region on a course to realize a better future. Let us now turn our unity of vision into sustained unity of action. May 27, 2016 New Turkish-U.S. Quarrels About Syria Some 300 U.S. special forces illegally invaded Syria to support the Syrian Kurds of the YPG organization. The Turks see the YPG as a sister organization to the Kurdish PKK guerrilla in Turkey which area designated terrorist organization while they are fighting for autonomy within Turkey. Only yesterday six Turkish security personal died during fights with the PKK. To Turks the YPG are terrorists. Yesterday the U.S. special forces screwed up mightily by displaying the insignia of the "terrorists" while combating the Islamic State. Leading U.S. media though try to calm the situation down by misleading their readers. To mollify Turkey over the cooperation with the YPG the U.S. attached some Syrian Arab mercenaries to the Kurdish units and designated the gang the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). A current operation, probably just a diversion, is to move these forces from the north-eastern Kurdish area of Kobani towards the Syrian capital of the Islamic State in Raqqa. The Kurds do not have any interest in taking Raqqa as they would be unable to hold it and the Arab attachment to them is way to small to give it a try. What the real target of this operation is, except the western public, is yet unknown. The U.S. special forces leading the YPG were caught on camera yesterday. They were obviously in combat even though the official Pentagon position is that these are just advisors and trainers. They also screwed up the U.S. relations with Turkey. Here from pictures taken by an AFP photographer. One U.S. special force soldier wears a green badge with a red star on his upper arm. A soldier on the other picture has a yellow badge with the red star and the letters YPG. Both are long known YPG insignia. You can buy them as lapel pins from Alibaba. But here is how the New York Times prefered to explain them: Several of the American troops were seen wearing patches with the United States flag, while others also wore the patches of the Syrian Kurdish and Arab units, a common practice among commandos as a sign of solidarity and partnership, Colonel Warren said. There were no patches of Arab units. There ain't any. These are purely long term YPG symbols. The Turks are not amused that U.S. special forces work with groups designated by Turkey as terrorists: It is unacceptable that an ally country is using the YPG insignia. We reacted to it. It is impossible to accept it. This is a double standard and hypocrisy, said [Foreign Minister] Cavusoglu on May 27. He advised the U.S. troops to also wear Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra/al-Qaeda badges. (He could have truthfully added: "That is what Turkish special forces do.") Another movement against Turkish plans is underway. In the north-west of Syria Turkish supported "rebels" are holding Azaz and several towns near the Turkish border against the Islamic State on the eastern side and Kurdish forces on the western and southern side. Last night the Islamic State took (map) several towns and villages from the "rebel" side in that enclave and might soon be able to eliminate all Turkish supported forces there. Turkey had big plans for the ragtag forces there including defeating the Islamic State and a renewed march towards Aleppo. Those illusions are now gone. Expect some crazy but serious Turkish reaction in response to this double whammy. Turkish relations with the U.S. are likely to further deteriorate. Some other recent developments: The Kurds moving towards Raqqa are now said to have reoriented to move north towards the Turkish border. This is unconfirmed and I doubt its veracity. "Moderate rebels" in Aleppo city have shelled government controlled areas throughout the last nights. Some reaction to this will be needed but the Russian imposed ceasefire seems to hold government forces and their allies back. Hizbullah as retracted some forces from Syria because it expects a rather imminent Israeli attack on south Lebanon. I do not see any signs for such an attack but the replacement of the Israeli defense minister by the radical Lieberman does point to a more aggressive Israeli stand. The current situation in Syria appears very unstable. The U.S. rejection of working with Russia against terrorists of al-Qaeda is endangering the current barely holding ceasefire. Everyone seems to wait for a big move by one of the other sides. Stay tuned for some explosive developments. Posted by b on May 27, 2016 at 12:29 UTC | Permalink Comments < Sweet, plump and in demand, Santa Clara Valley dried fruits continue to make taste buds tingle after all these years. < For discerning consumers, their taste and quality are second to none. < It used to be a commodity product, they would dry tons of it and ship it across the world, but now there is hardly any, said Andy Mariani, one of the valleys remaining orchardists and owner of the nationally acclaimed Andys Orchard in Morgan Hill. < Theres a few in Hollister that still dry Blenheim apricots and in the Central Valley, but for the most part, California Blenheim apricots are a specialty product. < The paving over of much of Santa Clara County to make way for the industrial parks and housing of Silicon Valley, along the international trade deals that flooded the domestic market with cheaper, Mediterranean dried apricots are just a couple reasons why Blenheim apricots, once so common in the valley are now a sought-after treat. < My parents always picked the ripest fruit to dry, said Mariani, who has carried on the family orcharding business at his 60-acre Morgan Hill farm. If you get something fresh that is outstanding, the dried product will be outstanding. < Marianis family farm produces artisanally grown tree-ripened stone fruits, including cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots, with a focus on heirloom varieties like Blenheim apricots and Elberta peaches. < Over the summer, Andys Orchard at 1615 Half Rd., hosts fruit tastings, tours and harvest walks where folks can savor the sweetest fruits, warmed and ripened by the California sun. < These are high-quality, flavorful fruit, and very nutritious, added Mariani, whose fresh and dried fruit have been covered by the likes of Sunset Magazine and the New York Times. < To get the biggest bang for his buck, Mariani sells at the farmers market in Santa Monica, where his heirloom varieties are best-sellers. < It is arguably the best farmers market in the nation, said Mariani, who received a special invitation by the organizers to sell there. < Understanding the market for dried fruit was changing, he had to switch up his portfolio if he wanted to remain in business. Mariani diversified in the 1980s and began to grow and sell a greater variety of fresh fruit. < I go look at the market, see what people want, and grow that, explained Mariani. Its a more modern approach. < Peter Van Dyke, owner of Van Dyke Ranch in Gilroy, can attest to the value of providing a niche product in todays highly competitive agricultural market. < One of the first certified organic growers in Santa Clara County, Van Dyke carried on his familys tradition of growing and drying stone fruits. < Van Dykes organic farm produces apricots, walnuts, cherries and, in a signal to the growing industry, wine grapes. < While labor-intensive, he dries a variety of pears, peaches, plums and nectarines. < Started by his grandfather in Cupertino and continued by Van Dyke in Gilroy, he said his organic certification and no-sulfur treatment have provided him a niche market, allowing him to continue in agriculture. < Citing climate change, which he says has shifted optimal growing conditions (cool nights and warm days) northward, the recent drought and trade deals like NAFTA and GATT, Van Dyke said its not easy to be a small farmer these days. < The big guys can bend and weave with this and they can outsource and do all that, us little guys are stuck on this land and are just getting hammered. < My organic niche has saved us, he said. < Transformation Once spread out across the Santa Clara Valley so widely, the stunning annual bloom of the regions orchards would draw tourists from miles around, with day trippers eager to eat their picnic lunches beneath trees filled with pink and white blossoms. < Before the business parks and companies selling computer hardware and software made Silicon Valley a household name, it was the regions prunes, peaches, plums and apricots that made Santa Clara Valley the envy of the world and made fortunes for its farmers. < Mariani saw first-hand the decades-long transformation of the valley from a fruit capital to the home of companies like Twitter, Facebook and Google. < The site of his familys former farm in Cupertino is across the street from Apple headquarters. < We were right in the middle of it, said Mariani of the late-50s Silicon Valley boom. After dividing the Cupertino property amongst relatives and selling up, Marianis family moved to Morgan Hill in 1957 to continue farming. < Before the valley was remade by progress, millions of trees were carefully tended year-round by tens of thousands of small, mostly family-run farms in a valley whose climate was destined to grow the sweetest, most luscious fruit. < Of all the fruits, it was the prune and apricot that became the top-sellers of their day, thanks to a pair of brothers who left France to seek riches in the Gold Rush and who, like many thwarted adventure-seekers, found their real treasure in the fertile soils of Californias coastal valleys and started a lucrative nursery business in San Jose. < Pierre and Louis Pellier introduced the French prune to the Santa Clara Valley in the late 1850s; its sweet and tender flesh was perfect for drying, a necessity in the time before refrigeration. < As it happened, the Mariani familys new Morgan Hill property, 30 miles from Cupertino, was once owned by a nephew of Louis Pellier who operated one of the first prune dehydrators on the farm. < Helping to make the Blenheim apricot a signature Santa Clara Valley crop, Henry W. Coe, a cattleman whose ranch would form the basis of the state park that bears his name, started drying apricots using sulfur, which protects the fruits flavor and color as it dries. < By the mid-20th century, the Santa Clara Valley was the largest fruit-producing region in the world, with the majority of the product being processedcanned, frozen, or driedbefore reaching customers. < When President Dwight Eisenhower signed the nations Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, authorizing the construction of the interstate highway system, 41,000 miles of paved roads opened up places like Santa Clara Valley to the world. < Then a pioneering firm, an off-shoot of a camera equipment company, developed the first commercially viable integrated circuit using silicon, an innovation that would eventually turn the agricultural region into what we know as Silicon Valley. < Soon, the factories and canneries that processed tons of fruit each year in the valley were replaced with countless buildings and new housing to support the regions booming semiconductor industry. < Wide-scale rezoning efforts across small towns like Cupertino and Mountain View meant families living on acres of land, sometimes for generations, would sell to a developer, and where orchards once grew, entire neighborhoods were built. < It was a beautiful valley, said Van Dyke, who has distant relatives in common with the Marianis; both families originated in Croatia. They were all farmers and fishermen and barrel makers and shipbuilders and they came out here, worked hard, got money and they got land to farm because it was a great business. < I go look at the market, see what people want, and grow that. Its a more modern approach. Ive adopted several phrases that I use when life gets rough: Someone out there has it way worse than me, and Im doing this for something bigger than myself. I used to tell myself these things when things were particularly bad in Afghanistan. I have continually referred to these lines in my time out of the service, however I never thought Id need to use them while having mascara put on my eyes. At the Gavilan College Veterans Club, weve been looking for ways to help out in our community. We want to change the conversation that has become the norm when discussing veterans, especially combat veterans. A couple of months ago at a party, when one of the revelers learned that a friend of mine had done several tours to Iraq he asked him, Are you alright? Up here? pointing to his head. He managed to brush it off but, its not an isolated incident. Most of us have had someone just assume that we arent alright after doing a tour. One of the goals that we at the club wanted to do was put ourselves out there so that we could show combat veterans in a new light. If we could find an opportunity to help our community and simultaneously display that we dont need to be taken seriously all the time, we win on all fronts. So when our club advisor Jillian Wilson came up with the idea of supporting Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, we all agreed it was a great idea. However, I wasnt that excited when the suggestion came about for a tiered system of donations. With every monetary goal reached wed make ourselves a little more feminine, and at $2,500 wed go full drag. Some of the club members were thrilled (it raised eyebrows, but we dont judge). I really enjoy being a guy. I grew a beard as soon as I got out of the Army. So the whole process wasnt thrilling me. The money we would raise would go to Monarch Services (formerly Womens Crisis Support Defensa de Mujeres), an organization that helps over 1,500 victims of sexual assault and domestic violence a year. So indeed this was something bigger than myself, thus it would be worth it. A couple of days away from the event it was clear that wed make the goal for full drag. To add to the uncomfortability, I recruited my mom to help buy me a dress. It was definitely fun for her. On April 28 about 10 combat hardened veterans showed up at the Cosmetology Department at Gavilan, ready to get dolled up. We were greeted by a very eager team of women who couldnt wait to get started on us. I was uncomfortable and they couldnt help but laugh. I think every one of them really enjoyed doing this to us, so Im not sure if I really need to thank them too much. A special thanks does need to go to Gilbert Ramirez and Michelle Terrano. (I know you did it just to get back at your brother.) By the time we got to Santa Cruz I think its safe to say we were all a bit nervous and we were right to be. All 10 of us were gawked at and even cat-called. So ladies, job well done. Our number one earner, Johnny Sandavol, who personally brought in over a grand in donations was probably the best looking out of all of us, if not the most revealing. Hopefully his lovely girlfriend Erika Linn Chesnutis will choose to dress him a little more conservatively next time. Ray Lopez, our team Captain, brought in over $700 just behind myself, although in my opinion he should redo the mile since he looked more like an 80s glam metal star. The biggest guy we got, Jake Hester, pulled in about a couple hundred. He ended up looking like a cross dressing Fred Flintstone. Jorge Gonzales was dubbed a cholo drag queen before we even left the campus. Thanks for giving me something to laugh at. Josh Santorro, with his waxed mustache and betty boop outfit, will forever haunt my dreams. Ben Sandavol went for a Marilyn Monroe look. Somebody described me as drag queen hippie Jesus; Ill take it. In total we all raised $4,757, nearly doubling our original goal to walk a mile dressed in drag. It also wouldnt be fair not to mention the women who joined us on this walk: Mayra Rios, Rays wife Elaine Estrada, Melissa Santorro, and of course my mother. The true title of queen of our group goes to Jillian Wilson as shes the one who encouraged us to do this. A very special thanks goes out to Leeann Luna the Monarch Services Administrative Manager who was responsible for putting on this years Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event. This was an eye opening experience. Im happy that I did it. Even if I did exaggerate how uncomfortable I was, Id still not like to do it again. Next year I think Ill just stick to the shoes. Gilroy resident and Live Oak High alumnus Connor Quinn is Region IX State Membership Coordinator for Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization that employs military veterans. He is also a VA work study at the Gavilan College Veterans Resource Center. Ancient Romans thought that jolting the temples of headache sufferers with electric shocks from live torpedo fish would make the pain vanish. Its not clear whether zapping a person with fishy electricity was helpful, or if it simply gave the victim another source of agony to focus on. It didnt take humans long to discover other sources of pain relief, notes Consumer Reports. Heres an overview of some common pain treatments and the conditions for which they work best. Acupuncture. Legend has it that in 200 B.C., a Chinese soldier shot with an arrow noticed a good side effect: His pain from a previous injury disappeared. But acupunctures exact origins remain a mystery. And theres still uncertainty about its ability to treat pain. Some evidence suggests that it can ease lower back, neck and knee pain, and it reduces the frequency of headaches and migraines. Multiple studies have compared real acupuncture, in which thin needles are inserted into specific points on the body, with sham acupuncture, in which the needles dont break the skin or are inserted in random spots on the body. A few studies have suggested that real acupuncture was sometimes slightly better, but many found that the sham procedure was just as effective, and both were more effective than no treatment at all. Treatment should be done only by a licensed practitioner who uses sterile needles. Biofeedback. The theory is that you can control pain by using such techniques as deep breathing or muscle relaxation to consciously control or monitor otherwise involuntary bodily functions such as heart rate, skin temperature, muscle tension or blood pressure. The jury is still out on whether biofeedback works, though experts think it might help people by simply teaching them how to relax. And several large reviews have found it works best for conditions sometimes brought on by stress, such as backaches, migraines and tension headaches. One advantage is that biofeedback is generally free of risks and side effects. Chiropractic care. This hands-on therapy, in which a persons spine and other parts of the body are manipulated to alleviate pain and promote healing, dates back to ancient China and Greece. Modern chiropractors perform adjustments, which use a strong, controlled force to manipulate the spine or joints to improve alignment and restore mobility. Theres good evidence that chiropractic care helps alleviate lower back pain, including some suggesting that it works as well as medication. In a 2011 online survey of more than 45,000 Consumer Reports subscribers, 65 percent of those who had chiropractic care said it helped. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Several large studies show that CBT can help prevent migraines and neck pain, and it eases chronic low back pain. This form of psychological counseling, or talk therapy combined with behavior changes helps ease pain by teaching coping and relaxation skills. Most important is instruction on how to short-circuit negative thoughts, which can intensify pain sensations. Negative emotions such as anxiety, depression and fear stimulate chemicals in the brain involved in pain perception, so reducing them not only helps you feel better mentally, it also helps you hurt less. TENS. A modern version of the Ancient Romans use of electric fish, TENS, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, is available without a prescription. A small battery-operated device sends electrical currents through electrodes placed on areas that hurt. It appears to be safe, but whether it reduces pain is still up in the air. Consumer Reports notes that some research suggests it helps, but others havent found a benefit. There are two schools of thought on whether those who make less money should assume more risk in their portfolios. In a recent video interview, Morningstars Laura Lutton argues for the affirmative. Those on a lower wage must do something different than their wealthier peers if they wish to attain equality in retirement, such as holding a higher stock weighting. Of course, there are many levers available to retirement plans besides assuming greater investment risk. Better levers, too. Saving more, retiring later, and cutting portfolio costs are superior options to boosting ones stock percentage. The first two actions guarantee higher retirement income, no matter how the markets perform. The third is not as ironclad, as pricey investments sometimes beat their cheaper rivals, but it is predictable. Whereas owning additional stocks is not. Unfortunately, those intentions can be unrealistic. Investing more to catch up sounds fine in principle, but in practice it means expecting the lowest-paid workers to have the highest savings rates. Good luck with that. Retiring later is a likelier hope, but no more than that. Health concerns, family issues, and redundancy send millions of people out of work, against their will, each year. So, yes, along with using the painless lever of lowering costs, lower earners might also wish to increase portfolio risk. That action comes neither without pain nor without real danger; there is a chance that poor stock market performance will leave the retiree with significantly fewer assets, and therefore less income, than if they had played it safer. However, the alternatives of saving more when more cannot be saved, retiring later when later will not be permitted, and of investing conservatively, thereby forgoing all hopes of ever catching up, are imperfect as well. But is More Portfolio Risk the Answer? Forbes contributor Frances Coppola disagrees. In No, Living Longer and Earning Less Are Not Good Reasons to Take More Risk, Coppola writes: Consider the case of a 40-year old single man on the median wage. Would any decent investment adviser tell him to take higher risks in his portfolio than a single man of the same age on a six-digit salary? I hope not. Because although higher risk may generate higher returns, there is greater chance that your investments will deliver less than the returns you expected. This looks to be a claim for asset-allocation equality. Lower-earning workers should not attempt to catch up by owning more stocks, because theres no free lunch in doing so. The potentially higher gains that could accrue from that tactic are more than offset by the potentially larger losses. The gains must be more than offset by the losses, rather than merely offset, because otherwise adding stocks would be a neutral move, not a mistake. The same logic would seem to apply to higher-earning workers. They, too, are subject to the law of risk and return. If they buy more stocks, they also may enjoy higher returns, but they also face greater potential losses. The correct retirement allocation, it would appear, is the correct retirement allocation. Income is not an issue. Coppola continues: For our man on a six-digit salary, higher volatility isnt too much of a disaster, since his investment portfolio should be large enough to deliver a decent income in retirement even if it doesnt return quite what he expected. But for our typical woman, whose portfolio will be much smaller, even a small underperformance could make a material difference to her standard of living in retirement. For her, increased volatility is bad news. Ostensibly, Lutton and Coppolas subject was how women should invest. However, this portion of their discussion, the relationship of income to portfolio risk, is gender-neutral, so I have treated it as such. So, Coppola does not advocate income equality. Rather, she suggests that higher income might permit higher portfolio risk. Those with means can afford to absorb losses that those without means cannot. A high-earner whose portfolio gets drubbed will still enjoy a comfortable, if not lavish, retirement, while a low-earner whose portfolio gets drubbed will land in the metaphorical and perhaps literal poorhouse. Conclusion? Lutton and Coppola stand at the same place, looking in opposite directions. For Lutton, the small chance that the relatively poor might become outright poor by investing too aggressively during the accumulation period is outweighed by the large possibility that they might achieve a reasonably comfortable retirement. Because the status quo is bad. For Coppola, the small chance that the relatively poor might become outright poor by investing too aggressively during the accumulation period outweighs the large possibility that they might achieve a reasonably comfortable retirement. The status quo isnt pretty, but it is better than disaster. They are both right. The level of income does affect a retirement portfolios asset allocation. However, the function is personal and unpredictable. For some lower-income workers, the prize is worth the risk; for others, it most certainly is not. Similarly, some high-earners chase technology stocks, while others retreat to the safety of municipal bonds to preserve what they have been fortunate enough to make. One size very much does not fit all. Laura was correct to raise the possibility that lower-earners might wish to assume more risk. Coppola was correct in her counter. Beyond that, I can say no more not without a conversation to understand the investors individual risk function. A version of article originally appeared on Morningstar.com. It has been edited for a UK audience. John Rekenthaler has been researching the fund industry since 1988. He is now a columnist for Morningstar.com and a member of Morningstar's investment research department. John is quick to point out that while Morningstar typically agrees with the views of the Rekenthaler Report, his views are his own. ELKO -- Great Basin College will be awarding another record number of certificates and degrees this spring. The college reported total bachelor's degree awards have increased 24 percent in the last year. That statistic coincides with the colleges recent feats to begin offering more baccalaureate level education to rural Nevada. In the last year, GBC has received approvals from the Board of Regents to begin offering four new bachelor degrees, including a Bachelor of Science in Biology, Bachelors of Arts in English, Social Science and Natural Resources. The ever growing number of bachelors degrees awarded by GBC confirms our belief that there is a need for additional four year degree options in rural Nevada, said GBC President Mark Curits. This year, the college has received applications for 611 certificates and degrees, up from 553 last year. The total number of students who applied to graduate is 483. Some students will have received dual credit and will be receiving a certificate and a degree, or multiple degrees. It is anticipated 250 students will walk across the stage to receive their diplomas at the Elko ceremony May 21. Based on applications, the college estimates this year it will award 73 bachelor degrees plus 4 post bachelor certificates (up from 59 in 2015), 333 associate degrees (up from 304) and 201 certificates (up from 190). Six out of the last seven years, GBC has graduated record number of students, said Curtis. Cutis explained the record numbers of graduates may also underscore the national honors GBC recently received for the affordability of its online offerings. The incredible dedication of our faculty and staff have proved year over year they can find ways to be very efficient while continuing to provide high quality postsecondary educational opportunities to the citizens of Nevada and beyond. Of the degrees to be awarded, 39 are Battle Mountain graduates, 21 Ely graduates, 45 Pahrump graduates, 97 Winnemucca graduates, and 410 from Elko and surrounding areas, including a number from out of state. GBC has a vision for growth has included more baccalaureate degrees, and more outreach to rural Nevada, said Curtis. Our next step is a push for state college status as we look forward to celebrating the colleges 50th anniversary next year and begin planning for the next fifty. Graduation dinner receptions in Battle Mountain, Pahrump, Ely and Winnemucca will begin early this week. The Elko graduation ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. May 21 in the Elko Convention Center. Great Basin College is a member of the Nevada System of Higher Education and governed by the Board of Regents. The college is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. 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. Any government intervention aimed at stemming foreign buyers may not deter such investment -- but it could impact Canadians, according to one leading economist.The Bank of Canada said Wednesday its concerned about inflated housing markets, and one leading economist believes a policy response is imminent.The policy response is likely to come, not so much from the Bank of Canada; the policy response will be in terms of enforcing money laundering regulations, Dr. Sherry Cooper, chief economist with Dominion Lending Centres , told REP. But I dont think thats going to have a big effect.The reason any policy change wont have an impact, according to Cooper, is because the foreign money flooding markets such as Toronto and Vancouver isnt being laundered.The definition of money laundering is money earned through illegal activity or money to support fund terrorism, Cooper said. I would guess that the bulk of Chinese investment in Canadian real estate is not garnered from illegal activity and its certainly not an effort to finance terrorism, so thats not going to do it.Cooper said she hopes the government avoids policy meant to curb foreign investment.We know the government is supporting the gathering of data so we learn more about the size of foreign inflow is, but that doesnt change anything either, Cooper said. Im hoping the government tiptoes around this because we dont want to curb the inflow of money entirely because it would lead to a collapse in house prices. Or it could at least lead to it.Cooling the housing market by minimizing foreign investment would result in lower prices, according to Cooper, who argues that would be a negative due to the fact that 70% of Canadians own homes and the vast majority of those rely on home ownership as their largest portion of personal wealth. The Canadian government should ensure that industry players are complying with existing legislation to address the growing problem of money laundering in the countrys real estate, according to analysts. In a report by The Canadian Press, an access-to-information request for FINTRAC data revealed that 47 companies have not been complying with regulations compelling them to flag questionable deals, while 38 entities have been doing so only on a partial basis. The significant number of violators, which was uncovered almost 15 years after the relevant laws have already been implemented, prompted various observers to put Canadas federal administration to task for neglecting their duty to enforce the policies. The government should not be taking a lax approach to these practices, federal NDP critic Brian Masse wrote in an email. Instead it needs to ensure that real estate markets aren't being used for money laundering and that money laundering isn't helping to drive rising real estate costs for Canadians. We can have the best rules possible around keeping laundered money out of our real estate market, but if no one is enforcing those rules, what good are they? B.C. NDP housing critic David Eby said. The realtors appear not to be taking the rules or the reporting obligations seriously, and [FINTRAC] seems to be not too concerned when they see mass non-compliance. I just wonder how many more audits with dismal results like this have to be returned to Fintrac and the federal government before they decide to really crack down, Eby added. Laundering of illicit funds has been tagged by several quarters as a crucial driving factor in the near-unstoppable price increases in leading metropolitan markets such as Vancouver. It's just [unreal] and it's not sustainable and it won't last. Unless people do something and do something quickly, it's going to blow the place up, U.S.-based hedge fund manager Marc Cohodes said. A recent study co-authored by The Asia Society and Rosen Consulting Group revealed that Chinese buyers have spent over US$93 billion on homes in the United States from 2010 to 2015, outstripping Canadian nationals as the largest foreign buying segment of U.S. residential real estate. As reported by Melody Hahm of Yahoo! Finance, this is part of a long-running trend of Chinese buyers and investors seeking out major metropolitan markets overseas like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the U.S., and Vancouver and Toronto in Canada. Foreign buyers are increasingly looking at markets around and outside of these hotspots, however, and it is this development that deserves further attention, the study added. As the Chinese get more sophisticated, as theyre here more often, and as they start looking for value, the real bargains are not in these cities any longer; theyre inland and theyre places you wouldnt normally expect to see it, The Asia Society VP of global programs Bruce Pickering explained. So the Chinese are moving out pretty fast into cities that frankly could use the investment, the executive said. In Canada, real estate activity and price growth have started spilling over to locales surrounding the highest-demand markets of Vancouver and Toronto. The joint report added that Chinese purchases and investment in the U.S. commercial real estate sector rose by around 70 per cent annually between 2010 and 2015, just right behind Canada, Singapore, and Norway. ELKO The Elko Justice of the Peace Department B candidates had pragmatic as well as idealistic viewpoints when discussing the handling of re-offenders and the necessity of a second court. A turning point came in Thursday nights conversation when businessman Dennis Parker said he didnt necessarily think the second court was warranted and the statistics didnt necessarily back up the decision. Other members of the panel were Elias Goicoechea, Will Lehmann, Anthony Leiker, David Loreman and Andrew Mierins. Parker brought up Pahrump having two justices of the peace with a slightly larger caseload than Judge Mason Simons handles in Elko. He said he couldnt argue for the need based on that fact. Lehmann thought the office was warranted, citing his law enforcement background and the dramatic increase in crime in Elko County over the past 15 years, he said. I cant remember the number of times I went back to the bulletin board at the police department to see what new posts were up and there was a note that said, No judges available, he said. Lehmann said there are times when a judge is needed after hours, but he also pointed out a positive and negative with visiting judges from other townships. The former allows two courts to run simultaneously due to a heavy caseload. However, this system takes those judges away from their duties in their own townships, such as signing off on search warrants. Mierins said the question was out of the panels hands. The real question was who was the most qualified to fill the judicial seat. Mierins looked to his own experience as an attorney in the county and the many occasions he would have to wait to be heard. Witnesses, victims, other litigates and law enforcement also had to wait for one judge to hear their cases. When you look to the cost of the county and the city, for all of those people that have to sit and wait, it is amazing to me that we wouldnt find that it is necessary to have a second justice of the peace, he said. Mierins said that burden would be relieved with a second judge as well as reduce the costs to those who must take time from work. Goicoechea agreed with Mierins on time, stating the second court would reduce the wait. Times cannot always be predetermined, he said. Sometimes it can be the course of the trial that negates that. The second Justice of the Peace would allow the court to move more fluently also, I think it would give time for the two justices of the peace to work on current programs and work on future programs to help the citizens and we can get out on different endeavors, said Goicoechea. Loreman said, when looking at the statistics, he understood the countys issue when questioning the need for a second justice of the peace as the number of filings have gone down. During his 2012 run, the filings were approximately 4,300 per year. Now, the dispositions almost equal the filings at approximately 3,600, he said, explaining the same is true for the municipal court. I think that the assistance that this position can be is broadening the spectrum of what the justice of the peace can do, because we are in need of mental health court as well as the misdemeanor DUI court, said Loreman. The attorney agreed with the problems caused by the case backlog, calling it a docking issue where the amount is not as much the problem as governing time. My kids are gone, he said, addressing Lehmanns point about working after-hours. I have no problem being there as long as it takes and thats what this position should require. Salary decrease? Moderator Matt McCarty questioned the candidates about continuing to run for the position if the Nevada Attorney General returns an opinion in favor of the county. The part-time pay would be $65,000 annually. The question was based on the Elko County Commission seeking an opinion from the AG regarding salary. The countys reasoning is based on the caseload being half the current Justice of the Peace, the salary should also be half. All of the candidates said they were not running for the money. Lehmann said he was running for the position because he believes the courts need a rock-solid person for cases to be heard and decided in a fair and timely manner. He said he did not know what the salary was until it was discussed before the forum. Mierins said he announced his candidacy before the commission set a salary for the second judge. I am committed to serving. I believe that, in my service as the family court master, I have the ability to affect the issues that there are in the community and I look to bring that to the justice court and continue to address many of the problems that plague Elko and the Elko township, he said. Goicoechea and Loreman both said they would be taking wage cuts. The county is really kind of hamstrung as to that opinion, Goicoechea said. I wish the AG would make a decision. I think its vital to the panel here tonight that we would have an idea of understanding of where the wage is going to be. Goicoechea said this would have to be decided when the time came and is something he thinks about. The reason I was looking at becoming the Justice of the Peace was something that goes back to that fact that when you go through law school there are three things that youre going to do teach law practice law or youre going to be a judge, said Loreman. Being elected to Department B would be the culmination of his career, he said. I think that I would rather see a part-time position than to have the county cut necessary services in some other area, said Parker. They say this is going to be a half-time position, but I guarantee you you may only get half the pay, but if youre going to do the job right, youre going to be there all day long, concluded Mierins. Offenders Re-Offending When asked about law enforcements suggestion that a small group of people are committing many of the crimes in the community, Mierins discussed his idea for a pretrial supervision program, noting he has heard the same concerns from the law enforcement community. Many people are released on bail, there are conditions to that bail but theres really no way to enforce those conditions, he said. The same can be said of sentencing conditions. There is no mechanism for local law enforcement to be able to find out if, in fact, that is the case with an individual thats found consuming alcohol or doing any other prohibited thing, said Mierins. Goicoechea said there are some measures in effect to get that information, which is vital to law enforcement, but it is not always expedient. This can result in not apprehending certain individuals. He suggested establishing a fluid, fast flow of communications from the court in working with all law enforcement agencies. With a second justice of the peace, I believe theres going to be valuable time in that area that we can minimize these areas where these fall through the cracks, said Goicoechea. We can work with local law enforcement and we can address these issues immediately. Loreman said pretrial supervision would not affect recidivism. All these people are all intertwined, he said, explaining public defenders and defense attorneys are presented with conflicts of interest. To handle the small group of people who are creating many issues, Loreman reemerged his idea to have specialty courts to monitor during the probationary period. Parker suggested closer supervision of offenders to the panel, such as daily reports and or random drug tests. Roughly 90 percent of the crime is committed by less than 10 percent of our population, said Lehmann. He gave the example of arresting three suspects from Walmart for shoplifting, burglary and drug possession. Their bail was set at $50,000 due to the amount of drugs. Within two days, they were arrested for the same offenses in another store. The offenders are seen within 72 hours and the judge sees the charges, but not as repeat offenses, he said. Instead of a $50,000 bail, maybe it should be $500,000 cash only, said Lehmann. Maybe we need to send a message to these people. Local hula group inspires global connections When the pandemic ushered everyone indoors, Moorpark resident and longtime dancer Lisa Rauschenberger decided to get people back outsidesocially distanced, of course. She began to hold weekly hula lessons at... Teens face high stakes in the Oval Office A press room befitting Americas commander in chief was set up inside the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Journalists and others gathered inside. Ladies and gentlemen, I need you all... Tigers soon to prowl in new enclosure The brand-new Bengal tiger exhibit at Americas Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College is nearly complete, and some other animals hangouts are getting a makeover, too. Mara Rodriguez, zoo development coordinator,... May 26 Daniel J Bajoneta, 41, of Elko was arrested at 1660 Mountain City Highway for violation of probation or condition of suspension and two counts of use or possession of drug paraphernalia. Bail: $1,280 Nataly C. Espino, 20, of Elko was arrested on Interstate 80 for three counts of failure to appear after bail on a misdemeanor. No bail listed. Anthony M. Frank, 30, of Sacramento, California, was arrested on Interstate 80 for failure to appear on a traffic citation. Bail: $805 Thomas E. Hallett, 34, of Elko was arrested at 920 Mountain City Highway for driving without a drivers license and five counts of duty to stop upon damaging an unattended vehicle or property. Bail: $5,895 James S. Henderson, 46, of Elko was arrested at the Elko County Jail on a warrant for battery by a prisoner or person on probation. Bail: $20,000 Loren V. Woods, 25, of Elko was arrested at the Elko County Jail for two counts of failure to appear after bail for a misdemeanor. Bail: $2,137 Chancy K. Yates, 22, of Spring Creek was arrested at the Elko County Jail on a warrant for battery by a prisoner or person on probation. Bail: $20,000 HSBC plans to file a $420 million lawsuit against Bank of America and Merrill Lynch over soured Countrywide mortgage loans.HSBC notified the state of New York of its intention to file the lawsuit this week, claiming that Merrill Lynch and Bank of America allowed Countrywide loans to be securitized despite knowing they were toxic, according to a HousingWire report.HSBC is planning to sue in its role as trustee of a residential mortgage-backed securities trust. The bank claims that Merrill Lynch and Bank of America failed to notify it of defective loans and refused to cure or repurchase the loans. HSBC claims it suffered no less than $420 million in damages when the loans soured.HSBC claims that Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and Countrywide all became aware of the defective loans through their own due diligence or through multiple government investigations relating to the origination and servicing of the loans, HousingWire reported. However, none of those entities notified HSBC.Defendants failure to give the required notice of breaches interfered with and delayed both Merrill Lynchs cure or repurchase of defective mortgage loans and the trustees exercise of its right to demand that Merrill Lynch cure or repurchase the mortgage loans, HSBC stated in a court filing. ELKO The Elko Justice of the Peace Department B race has been multifaceted in the inquiries facing the candidates, including whether or not a legal education and professional background is necessary. Thursday nights candidate forum at the Elko Convention Center looked to the candidates to clarify an array of topics, including their understanding of the law and how they would implement changes. Elias Goicoechea, Will Lehmann, David Loreman, Andrew Mierins and Dennis Parker either took a strong stance or, in a couple of instances, were not able to exhibit an opinion. Does the Justice of the Peace Need to be an Attorney? Three of the five candidates at the event did not have a formal degree in law, only Mierins and Loreman. The first question of the night looked to the most recent justices of the peace in Elko Township having been lawyers. Do you believe that the Elko Justice of the Peace needs to be an attorney and you would you support a legislative change to NRS (Nevada Revised Statutes) 4.010 that would require persons elected to be a juris doctorate? asked moderator Matt McCarty. Loreman, who was the first to answer the question, said he believed the holder of this office in Elko County should be a licensed attorney, because the local court should not be anything less than what Vegas or Washoe have for themselves. As to whether he would support legislative change, the attorney said yes, pointing to the statute stating five years of legal practice is required for a justice of the peace. However, he made a stipulation that the judge should be a full-time position for this to happen. Loreman drew attention to the fact that an attorney has to give up his or her legal practice to be a judge. This has been a problem in rural counties, he said. Both Parker and Lehmann did not feel that restriction should be in place, citing the founding fathers and the creation of justice courts as the peoples court. Parker, Lehmann and Goicoechea did not support the proposed change in law. They wanted the people to be judged by a peer, said Lehmann. I think what makes the Elko Justice Court unique in Elko County is it is the only court that handles all of the gross misdemeanor and felony preliminary hearings, said Mierins, explaining that seriousness of offenses filed in the court makes a case for an individual trained in the law. This training would include understanding of the rules of criminal procedure, evidence and complex issues that can arise. Mierins turned to Parkers earlier statement about the number of cases. Parker focused on civil cases, saying his background in business would be beneficial. However, the family court master told the audience 1,390 criminal cases were filed in the Elko Justice Court, many involving serious crimes. Mierins would also support the NRS change considering the size and scope of the cases heard in the justice court. Goicoechea also brought up the idea of the peoples court. He said as a member of the Nevada Highway Patrol he makes serious decisions on a daily basis. including being able to gather all the evidence in a speedy and fair manner. Background The creation of a second court was a political issue for approximately three years. Judge Mason Simons notified the county on Oct. 2 that the creation of a second, full-time justice of the peace position was warranted because of caseload, county population, voter accountability, the number of search warrant applications and more. The County agreed to notify state authorities of Simons request at the Oct. 21 commission meeting. The county has said the addition of the second court has created a financial burden. As of January, the Elko County Commission has gone as far as to ask the Nevada Attorney Generals Office for an opinion on the second judges salary and whether or not the position will be full-time. 1. Why I am running Nevada being an urban state, where the vast majority of the population lives within two metropolitan areas, we regularly see a city-based lack of understanding of the needs and nature of natural-resource-based County economies. As a single parent small businessman in the mining industry, my position in this race is to provide Elko County voters a replacement Commissioner having natural resource perspectives and experience who deeply understands family needs across our communities. The future of the County and the health of its cities depends on the economic viability of the natural resource industries of agriculture, mining, and energy. In recent years, all of these sectors, and the families they support, have been diminished by regulatory actions. Effectively, the cities have not joined the County in opposition to these regulatory actions, and I am concerned whether a city-centered Commission will implicitly recognize the need for County to question these regulatory actions. 2. Qualifications for this office A single parent natural resources professional who understands many needs facing families, the county and its communities. Volunteering successfully for years in family and county matters, while raising a family and running a business, provides a solid background for future service. The family-related participation included Scouting, church and elementary classroom activities, eventually leading to involvement with the Northern Nevada Autism Network and the Marine Family Network. My 2005 through 2011 papers on water supply, regarding the Southern Nevada Water Authority, outline alternatives which the SNWA now is investigating including effective abandonment of their original groundwater mining concept. In 2011 I was appointed to the Elko County Natural Resources Management Advisory Commission, with a second term through 2016, and two years as Chairman. My 2012 work on the proposed Spruce Mountain feral horse preserve showed the extent costs and risk would fall on taxpayers. Those writings were followed by the federal agencies abandoning support for the project. Across the years I have prepared more than 20 other pieces on land management and natural resource issues, primarily documented essays but also Congressional testimony. These accomplishments are foundational to taking this next step in County service. 3. Three priorities if elected Assist Elko County families and their jobs with leadership in natural resource decisions. Provide budget guidance and insight based on industrial economic development and planning experience across 40 years. Provide timely scientific insight and response to central plans promulgated by regulatory agencies. Please enable JavaScript to experience the functionality of this website. - MWEB "If it requires removing all cabinet ... Sonora High School logo View Photos Sonora, CA A student told a teacher he planned to bring a gun on campus at Sonora High School. The 16-year-old male student was taken into custody Wednesday after school officials called the Sonora Police Department regarding the threat. Upon arrival officers learned that he also made threats to harm the teacher as well as students. The teen was questioned and no weapons were found on him. He was arrested for making criminal threats and turned over to the probation department. Regarding whether this was the departments first contact with the student, Lt. Turu Vanderweil noted that there have been earlier incidents but not of this nature, stating, Just had general contact I cant say there have been significant problems with him. Weve had prior contact but not necessarily negative contacts. The student is in the countys special ed program which utilizes space at the school, according to Sonora High officials. Police have been called to the school in the past for a death threat. As previously reported, that incident involved a female student that last year received a note threatening her life, which stemmed from an assault of the student in 2014 where she was punched in the face in a girls locker room. The suspect has never been caught. Lt. Vanderweil indicates, We dont believe there is any link what so ever between the incidents. The earlier case remains under investigation. Plastic plant beds View Photos Copperopolis, CA A property owner discovered a 10,800 pot plant grow on his land in Copperopolis even though the cultivators tried to cover their tracks and a campsite. The Calaveras County Sheriffs Department was tipped off to the pot grow by the owner of the property on Rock Creek Road. While doing his cattle checks, he noticed a hose that the grower had tried to cover up by burying it with dirt, rocks, and grass leading to a pond. Upon the arrival of the Calaveras Narcotics Enforcement Unit, investigators found and eradicated the marijuana plant seedlings, which were growing in rows of plastic beds. A campsite with fresh groceries was also found hidden in the brush but the suspects were long gone. No surprise to Sheriff Rick DiBasilio who notes, Probably they heard the property owner on his quad and he got to close and they panicked and they bailed out of there. They dont want to have involvement with anybodythey typically want to avoid arrest. The street value is estimated to be in the millions, according to Sheriff DiBasilio. Virginia Barber hardly spoke any English when she came to Manhattan to indulge her passion for forensic psychology. Today she is the new director of the mental health department at Rikers Island, one of Americas most notorious jails, where she is tackling the cracks in the system. Virginia Barber is the new head of the mental health department at Rikers Island. Ana Nance With 10,000 inmates, Rikers Island is the second-biggest penitentiary in the United States, with more mentally ill people than in any other corner of New York. It is an island where prisoners wait to be sentenced while being watched by 9,000 prison wardens. Its the place where you would have found Mark David Chapman the man who shot John Lennon before he was sentenced. Or French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, or the rapper Lil Wayne. They all did time at this correctional center next to LaGuardia airport, voted number 10 in Mother Jones magazines 2013 list of Americas worst prisons. Virginia Barber, a 39-year-old forensic psychologist from Lanzarote, is about to become the centers mental health director. And shes well qualified for the job. Her resume includes processing court cases for the mentally ill across New York and working on the team of clinical forensics at Bellevue Hospital. Strolling in Brooklyn, New York. Ana Nance Now, besides teaching at New York University and helping New York Mayor Bill de Blasio identify the main problems of the citys criminal system, she will head a workforce of 250 psychologists, social workers, occupational and mental health therapists, besides 150 psychiatrists and nurses. Her goal is to reduce the levels of violence while managing the mental health issues that result in events such as the gruesome death of mentally ill inmate Bradley Ballard in 2014, and the subsequent media scrutiny. Sitting in a Brooklyn cafe, Barber is so calm that its hard to believe she has spent much of her life treating rapists and murderers, as well evaluating the mental health of vulnerable people trapped in a complex system. For her, evil has a painfully human face. People often ask me how I can work in this field and still sleep at night, she says. The truth is I dont always sleep well. Time doesnt desensitize you but it does help you to accept that almost everything is out of your control, and that the main thing is to do what you can as well as possible. Even so, there are always situations, miscarriages of justice After almost 20 years in New York, her vision of the city is brutally realistic while her compassion drives her constant struggle to improve a system desperately in need of change. How did you become a forensic psychologist? While I was studying psychology in Madrid, I became interested in the relationship between this discipline and law, and one of my professors told me about the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. But I think it really began with these heroin addicts I used to see on my way home from school. I wanted to know what was wrong with them. I did my internship during my degree at a drug dependence center and I could see that the people there were constantly in and out of jail and that a lot of them were mentally ill. A view of the notorious Rikers Island prison. Ana Nance You are about to apply your alternative programs to one of the most difficult prisons in America. Those programs belong to what we call therapeutic justice. The idea was developed by David Wexler and involves making the judicial process from arrest to conviction a therapeutic one. This involves setting up courts that specialize in drug dependency and mental health issues. Can anyone facing charges go through these special courts? No one charged with murder can be in these programs; nor prisoners known to have been suffering severe psychiatric problems when they committed their offense these cases are not subject to criminal liability and go down a different judicial route. How do these programs work? The accused pleads guilty and then has to agree to a course of treatment while being reintroduced into the community. This means taking medication, undergoing therapy and a series of medical checks. If they do all this in the required time, the case against them is dropped. If they fail to comply, they have to go to prison. Barber is often asked how she can have this job and still sleep at night. Ana Nance Can a rapist be released into society like this? We have to evaluate the risks of violence, whether general, sexual or domestic. If the prisoner in question is a rapist with paraphilia, he cant be in the program. Only prisoners with levels of violence that can be managed within the community can be in it. Its a balance between keeping people out of jail and maintaining public safety. Having said that, more than 90% of the mentally ill live all their lives without committing a violent act. Aggressive behavior is usually the result of other factors, such as drug addiction, trauma and personality disorders of an antisocial nature. Isnt that a mental illness? Its not considered a mental illness. Its more of a personality disorder, which means the person finds it hard to adapt. It starts in childhood or adolescence and if its not treated it can last a lifetime. It produces violent attitudes, criminal tendencies and antisocial behavior the type of conduct that prison culture or street gangs aggravate. The difference is that a mental illness is episodic; it can go into remission if treated. Antisocial personality disorders or psychopathic behavior are a way of being. In America, an estimated 40% of prisoners are mentally ill. That figure includes people who have a mental health condition like depression. Only 7% have a serious mental illness. Its still a much higher percentage than in society at large where it is around 3%. In Spain, according to Mercedes Gallizo, former director of the countrys penal institutions, prisoners with serious mental health issues make up 25% of the prison population. A bus leaving the penitentiary on Rikers Island. Ana Nance How has being Spanish helped you in your career in the US? Most of the prisoners are either African-American or Hispanic. Things are improving slowly but there are many people inside who dont need to be. For example, many years ago, a man was arrested for being drunk in the street. He was under arrest for three days. Fifteen years later then married with kids he was picked up by immigration and sent to jail for two years. A lot of people like him have no right to counsel. There is also a notable number of mentally ill among them. How accurate are your evaluations when it comes to risk of violence and repeat offending? Theres a margin of error because human behavior is hard to predict. In the past, when they only did one evaluation to determine whether the prisoner was dangerous or nor, the estimate was never more than 50% accurate. Now were at around 70%. Do you get scared when youre evaluating a prisoner? Not usually. I can quickly see what mental state the prisoner is in. I check the medical and criminal records and I see what triggers their aggression. Also, there may be a lot of security measures in place during evaluation, depending on the case. But if I get scared which can happen with psychopaths or highly manipulative prisoners, I trust my instincts and end the interview. 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 . Is it the case that the antidrug laws are partly responsible for such high rates of incarceration? In the so-called war against drugs, you used to get 15 years in jail for cocaine possession and the judges werent able to reduce the sentence. Right now, were at a critical moment in the reform of the criminal and judicial system. But so far the prison population remains high. Although alternative programs in New York are very advanced, the volume of prisoners is still huge. The public health service doesnt have the resources to deal with mentally ill detainees that we are trying to reintroduce into the community. The price of health insurance and housing complicates things. You can reduce the number of people going to jail all you like, but if there are not enough resources in the community, the system is doomed to fail. New York is a challenge because there is a lot of immigration and incredible cultural differences. How do you deal with that? There needs to be a budget for treating the inmates who are reintroduced into society and also for support programs. More people need to be trained to deal with people whose behavior can be impulsive, aggressive and suicidal, sometimes as a result of trauma or drug dependency and not through mental illness. When I started working in this field, I focused a lot on serious psychiatric disorders, but I have since realized that the problem has more to do with a lack of socialization. And thats where other factors, such as economic ones, come into play. Stabilizing the mentally ill is relatively easy if you have a good team. The problem is that many people fall outside this diagnosis while still being incredibly impulsive, having zero tolerance for frustration and no skills when it comes to anger management. This is often due to circumstances they have been exposed to since birth. More people need to be trained to deal with people whose behavior can be impulsive, aggressive and suicidal, sometimes as a result of trauma or drug dependency and not through mental illness How would these people be diagnosed? What theyre suffering is a kind of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. This was a common condition among veterans of the Vietnam War their symptoms included hyper-vigilance and flashbacks. Among the prison population, many wont fit this description exactly, but people who have suffered a recurring trauma growing up, such as being exposed to violence with no stable influence in their lives, will be more prone to aggression, hostility and impulsive behavior. This is a post-traumatic stress syndrome that is still not included in the Handbook of Diagnosis and Statistics of Mental Trauma. How is their condition being defined? There are very complex symptoms that mean you are very liable to commit crimes because you have a problem with authority, you yell at people, and if you are arrested you respond aggressively. Once inside the judicial system, its very difficult for these people to be admitted into the mental health courts or given bail. They have no emotional control over themselves. They go from 0 to 100 in no time, and dont have the tools to come back down. This is a common problem among prisoners. English version by Heather Galloway. President Barack Obama on Friday paid tribute to the "silent cry" of the 140,000 people killed by the world's first atomic bomb attack and sought to renew attention in his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons, as he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. Obama is 1st sitting US president to visit Hiroshima 140,000 died in Hiroshima atomic bombing Aug. 6, 1945 Bombings at Hiroshima, Nagasaki helped end World War II "Death fell from the sky and the world was changed," Obama said, after laying a wreath, closing his eyes and briefly bowing his head before an arched monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park that honors those killed Aug. 6, 1945, when U.S. forces dropped the bomb that ushered in the nuclear age. The bombing, Obama said, "demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself." Obama did not apologize, instead offering, in a carefully choreographed display, a reflection on the horrors of war and his hope that Hiroshima would be remembered as the beginning of a "moral awakening." As he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stood near an iconic bombed-out domed building, Obama acknowledged the devastating toll of war and urged the world to do better. "We stand here in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell ... we listen to a silent cry," Obama said. A second atomic bomb, dropped on Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima, killed 70,000 more. Obama also sought to look forward to the day when there was less danger of nuclear war. He received a Nobel Peace Prize early on in his presidency for his anti-nuclear agenda but has since seen uneven progress. "We must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them," Obama said of nuclear weapons. Following the remarks, Abe called Obama's visit courageous and long-awaited. He said it would help the suffering of survivors and echoed the anti-nuclear sentiments. "At any place in world, this tragedy must not be repeated again," Abe said. The visit presented a diplomatic tightrope for a U.S. president trying to make history without ripping open old wounds. Critics believe Obama's mere presence in Hiroshima will be viewed as an apology for what they see as a justified attack. But he has also drawn praise from those who see it as a long overdue gesture for two allies ready to bury a troubled past. Obama's remarks showed a careful awareness of the sensitivities. He included both South Koreans and American prisoners of war in recounting the death toll at Hiroshima a nod to advocates for both groups that publicly warned the president not to forget their dead. Obama spoke broadly of the brutality of the war that begat the bombing, but did not assign blame. After his remarks, he met with two survivors, but his remarks to the aging men were out of ear shot of reporters. At one point, Obama could be seen laughing and smiling with 91-year-old Sunao Tsuboi, and he embraced Shigeaki Mori, 79, in a hug. But mostly, Obama just listened the men as they spoke through an interpreter. The visit was meant to demonstrate the strength of the U.S.-Japanese alliance, and Obama and Abe took each step together. The men walked along a tree-lined path, past an eternal flame, toward a river that flows by the domed building that many associate with Hiroshima. They went to the lobby of the peace museum to sign the guest book: "?We have known the agony of war. Let us now find the courage, together, to spread peace, and pursue a world without nuclear weapons," Obama wrote, according to the White House. The president's call for a nuclear-free world was a far cry from the optimistic rallying cry he delivered as young, newly elected president. Obama did not employ his campaign slogan "Yes, we can" as he did in a speech in Prague in 2009. Instead, the president hoped for the "courage to escape the logic of fear" and spoke of diligent, incremental steps. "We may not realize this goal in my lifetime but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe," he said. "We can chart a course that leads to the destruction of these stockpiles." Obama touched down in Hiroshima after completing talks with world leaders at an international summit in Shima, Japan. Those who come to ground zero at Hiroshima speak of its emotional impact, of the searing imagery of the exposed steel beams on the iconic A-bomb dome. The skeletal remains of the exhibition hall have become an international symbol of peace and a place for prayer. Bomb survivor Kinuyo Ikegami, 82, paid her own respects at the cenotaph on Friday morning, well before Obama arrived, lighting incense and chanting a prayer. Tears ran down her face as she described the immediate aftermath of the bomb. "I could hear schoolchildren screaming: 'Help me! Help me!'" she said. "It was too pitiful, too horrible. Even now it fills me with emotion." Han Jeong-soon, the 58-year-old daughter of a Korean survivor, was also at the park Friday. "The suffering, such as illness, gets carried on over the generations that is what I want President Obama to know," she said. "I want him to understand our sufferings." Obama's visit is a moment 71 years in the making. Other American presidents considered coming, but the politics were still too sensitive, the emotions too raw. Jimmy Carter visited as a former president in 1984. A new $20 million data information center will soon be built along eastbound I-4 in Eatonville for a company thats already in town. Building will house HostDime.com corporate headquarters 5-acre property currently owned by Orange County School District Property is part of larger parcel school district also hopes to sell HostDime.com, Inc. plans to build their new seven-story corporate headquarters on five acres of the former Hungerford High School location in Eatonville. HostDime currently houses its data center at the former Costco location in town, while its corporate facility is near UCF. Thursday night the Eatonville Town Council, including interim Mayor Eddie Cole, voted unanimously to approve the land agreement with the developer. Its a project that was initially lead by former Eatonville Mayor Anthony Grant, who was recently indicted for voter fraud charges and removed from office. The land is part of 90 acres of property currently owned by the Orange County School District. The district agreed to sell a section of the parcel to HostDime. We are very proud of what we created here, but a lot of people dont know about us and we are trying to insure that technology is very vibrant in the area, says HostDime Founder and CEO Manny Vivar. The proposed $20 million architecturally modern building will be black and orange, and border Wymore Avenue just off I-4. As for the remaining 85 acres of school property, the school district looking to sell the rest and not split it up. The district made an exception for HostDime in part because of their established presence in Eatonville. HostDime says once the building is completed, they will offer free wi-fi to the residents of Eatonville. The company plans to break ground on the new complex in the Fall. Donald Trump has been considered the presumptive Republican nominee for president, but the race for the White House became a little clearer on Thursday after it was announced that he has reached the delegate threshold to officially become the party's nominee. RELATED: Donald Trump gets enough delegates to clinch GOP nomination Donald Trump gets enough delegates to clinch GOP nomination Donald Trump gets enough delegates to secure GOP presidential nod Some unbound delegates told AP they would support Trump at convention The news certainly got the attention of Republicans and Democrats in Central Florida. People on both sides of the political spectrum said Thursday was a defining moment in the long race for the White House. According to the Associated Press, Trump has reached the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination. The news had Trump supporters, like Michael Schuld, feeling confident about their candidate. "Everybody doubted him in the beginning, but he's done it," said Schuld, a Sanford resident from New York. "That was quite a challenge for him." Trump critics are still a bit surprised and worried. They see it as a political development pushing Trump closer to becoming President Trump. "He definitely got further than where I thought he would get," Kristin Broadway said. "I think it's pretty scary because I don't think he has, even just the basic morals and respect that a leader of this country needs to have." Trump reached the delegates required for the nomination by getting more Republican support behind him. Jim Stelling, the former chairman of the Seminole County Republican Party, said the country is "ready for Donald Trump." "I think we're ready for someone who is not politically correct," Stelling said. "The Washington Machine has ground to a halt." The GOP now seems to have its clear candidate. But on the Democratic side, the waters are still a bit muddled. "Assuming Hillary comes out of it as our nominee, which is highly likely at this point, I think everyone will solidify behind her," said Jeremiah Jaspon, a Democratic analyst for News 13. "There may be a few people who will back Trump from Bernie (Sanders') camp, but that could happen in any election." A demonstration in Bogota demanding the journalist's release. GUILLERMO LEGARIA (AFP) More information Colombia confirma que Salud Hernandez-Mora esta secuestrada por el ELN Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas has confirmed that one Spanish and two Colombian reporters who went missing a few days ago are in the hands of the guerrilla group Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN). The ELN is, with all certainty, behind the disappearance, said Villegas on Thursday afternoon. Salud Hernandez-Mora, a longtime correspondent for Spanish daily El Mundo, along with RCN Noticias journalists Diego DPablos and Carlos Melo, were last seen in the northeastern region of Catatumbo around a week ago. No peace talks can be initiated with the ELN if it retains people against their will Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas Just a few hours after this first official statement, Frank Pearl, head of the government delegation in the talks with ELN, confirmed that the disappearances constitute an act of kidnapping. Following the confirmation by the Defense Ministry of the journalists kidnapping, the government delegations in talks with ELN and FARC strongly reject this action and demand the immediate release of the journalists and of all kidnapped individuals. Twenty-four hours after President Juan Manuel Santos suggested that Hernandez-Mora might be simply working on a story in the jungle, intelligence services reported that she was, in fact, being held by the leftist guerrilla group. 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. But both the president and the defense minister avoided using terms such as kidnapped, disappeared or forcefully disappeared, all of which are included as crimes in local legislation even after the reporters have been missing for five days. What we can say is that the ELN committed a crime in this case, said Minister Villegas. The last time Hernandez-Mora was heard from was on Saturday, May 21. A nun from El Tarra, a town in the Catatumbo region where the Spanish reporter was working on a story about illegal coca crops, explained that she saw her get on a motorcycle and ride toward the small town of Filogringo. Two days later, on May 23, a group of Colombian reporters that included DPablos and Melo went looking for her, but were then held by civilians who identified themselves as ELN members, according to one journalist who was released the same day. In the governments view, more than a prudential time has elapsed for the return of the three journalists, said Villegas. From now on, responsibility for the personal integrity and freedom of these three citizens falls exclusively on the ELN. An investigation being carried out by the Colombian army and the police has concluded that the reporters are being held by the guerrilla groups northeastern front, which operates in the area. Villegas noted, as did Santos, that no peace talks can be initiated with the ELN if it holds people against their will. Early on Thursday the Colombian executive asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to act as a mediator to facilitate the journalists return, as it has in the past with kidnappings by various armed groups. We have confirmed today that security protocols are in place in case their intervention is required, said the defense minister. On Wednesday night, the army, with help from local authorities and the Catholic Church, created a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the release of the RCN Noticias reporters. English version by Susana Urra. A fire broke out at a movie theater being built at One Daytona on Friday morning. Fire started on roof of movie theater being built Construction workers tried to put out fire but couldnt No injuries were reported The fire started when some roofing insulation caught fire from welding activities, which were occurring below, Daytona Beach Fire officials said. The movie theater that is being built is at 1 Daytona Blvd. in Daytona Beach. Construction workers on the roof tried to put out the fire with extinguishers, but because of the 14 mph winds and the elevated height of the fire, they were unable to put the fire out, the fire department said. The Daytona Beach Fire Department had to set up their tower truck to battle the fire. No injuries were reported. The extent of the damage is unknown, and a structural engineer will be called in to inspect the structure. The International Speedway Corporation does not expect the fire to push back construction deadlines. Sky 13 captured these images of the roof fire at One Daytona on Friday morning. More than 30 homes in an Orlando neighborhood were evacuated after an armed man wanted in a deadly shooting barricaded himself inside a home and fired rounds at deputies. Man, 50, reportedly fatally shot a mother Friday at a home in Azalea Park neighborhood Suspected gunman fled the scene and was later located inside home on Annandale Avenue Deputies exchanged gunfire with suspect, who was barricaded inside home 2 victims: Woman, in her 40s, killed; Man, in his 30s, in critical condition The incident began after Orange County deputies were called to a home on Yucatan Drive for a shooting. A mother in her 40s was fatally shot around 5 p.m. Two children, ages 4 and 7, were inside the home at the time of the shooting, deputies said. The 7-year-old child called 911. Then, around 6:45 p.m., deputies were called to a home along Annandale Avenue for another shooting. Capt. Angelo Nieves, with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said the suspect in the Yucatan Drive shooting opened fire on a man in his 30s. That man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. At last check, he was listed in critical-but-stable condition, Nieves said. Deputies arrived at the home on Annandale Avenue, which is off Edgewater Drive, and the 50-year-old suspect in both shootings opened fire. Deputies took cover and returned fire. No deputies have been injured, Nieves said. The man remains barricaded inside the home. Nieves said about 30 to 40 homes in the immediate area have been evacuated. A roommate of the woman killed at the home on Yucatan Drive said she and her nephew took the woman and her young children in after a church meeting about a year ago. "She was practically homeless with the two kids, and my aunt felt bad and let her stay, you know, just because of the kids and she had nowhere else to go," said Luis Jimenez, the roommate of the woman fatally shot. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. The first shooting scene was at a home along Yucatan Drive in the Azalea Park neighborhood of Orlando. (Michael Wash, Staff) Orlando International Airport officials will have more employees at security checkpoints to speed up lines during what's expected to be a busy holiday weekend. OIA to add workers at security checkpoints to speed up long lines TSA: Travelers should arrive 2 hours early during busy weekend Early Friday morning, security wait times were less than 10 minutes for Memorial Day weekend travelers, but airport officials say they're expecting longer lines as the day progresses. It's been less than two weeks since the head of the Department of Homeland Security announced a plan to reduce wait times at airports across the country, and some airports are already seeing some relief. The head of the TSA is warning that despite some improvements, travelers should still arrive a couple of hours ahead of domestic and three hours ahead of international flights this holiday weekend. They also recommend allowing for extra time for parking, because airport parking garages can fill up quickly. A few things you can do to make your wait at the security checkpoint line quicker: Have your identification and boarding pass out and ready to show; Remove from your carry-on the quart-sized bag holding your 3-ounces-or-less bottles of liquids or gels; Take your laptop out of its bag; Remove your shoes and jackets. Orlando airport officials also said there has been an increase in the number of people signing up for TSA Pre-Check. I was really grateful to get through security quickly," said Barbara Monte, an OIA traveler. "But honestly, it doesnt really bother me if I have to wait two hours. Whatever it takes for them to safely do their job, I dont have a problem with. The TSA plans to hire almost 800 workers by mid-June to help with the long lines. Three landings in a row. A day after a scrubbed attempt, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Coast at 5:39 p.m. Friday after Thursday's attempt was scrubbed. A glitch was found in the rocket's upper stage, so the team decided to postpone the launch by 24 hours "out of an abundance of caution." The Falcon 9 rocket is carrying a 7,000-pound THAICOM-8 commercial communications satellite into orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 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. SpaceX then successfully landed the first stage of the rocket on the company's autonomous droneship about 680 kilometers off the Brevard County coast. It was the third successful ship landing and the fourth altogether. The company also landed the first stage on land. (SpaceX) This was 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. Then, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station on July 16. Replay our live chat below. The observance of Memorial Day is a big deal in Plainview as it should be. Its a time when the entire community comes together to pay tribute to the men and women who died while serving our country. On Thursday, the local 4-H Club, Keep Plainview Beautiful Committee, volunteers from Dulaneys and other community volunteers placed miniature flags on the graves of veterans in Plainview Cemetery and Memorial Park. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 260 distributed poppies to shoppers at Amigos and United Supermarket on Friday. Wearing poppies on Memorial Day is a tradition that dates back to 1919 and Flanders Field in France where many Americans that were killed in combat during World War I are buried. Today some of our local churches will have special Memorial Day services honoring those who gave their lives defending our country, those that have served, as well as those who are currently in the military. Monday at 10 a.m. Plainviews traditional Memorial Day ceremony will be held at the gazebo at Plainview Cemetery. Judge Pat Hernandez will be mistress of ceremonies with Kenneth Hooper the featured speaker. In December 2000, Congress passed and the president signed into law, The National Moment of Remembrance Act, to ensure the sacrifices of Americas fallen heroes are never forgotten. The White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to keep silent for one minute at exactly 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day to remember and honor those who have died in service to our nation. Why 3 p.m.? It is the time when most of us are enjoying our freedoms on the national holiday; freedoms that we can enjoy because of the sacrifices that our veterans have made. As I think about our war heroes those that lost their lives and those who returned home, I can only imagine the stress and battlefield fatigue they must have experienced. Saying their goodbyes to family and friends and traveling to a strange foreign country with not much more than the clothes on their backs surely created a tremendous amount of stress. And once on the battlefield, the rugged terrain, extreme weather conditions, intense danger, violent, unnerving sights and sounds, and the uncertainty of what the next moment held had to be both physically and mentally exhausting for the fittest of the fit! After going to battle, many veterans returned home experiencing combat and trauma-related stresses. Unfortunately, oftentimes they were misdiagnosed or even worse, completely left untreated. This was especially true for World War II veterans. Soldiers who were most likely experiencing a serious anxiety disorder were given naive and simplistic advice like, shake it off, youll be fine, or just snap out of it. That attitude reminds me of the story that weve all heard from World War II, when Gen. George Patton slapped around the soldier suffering from nervous exhaustion in a military hospital and ordered him back to the battlefield. Thank goodness the culture has changed since those days. Change has been slow, but at least there has been some progress. We have a better understanding of the mental stressors that are affecting our soldiers while they are on the battlefield, and when they return there are more resources and services available to help them. Many of these returning veterans suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder that can develop from seeing or experiencing an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury to which a person responds with intense fear, helplessness or horror, and it is not uncommon among war veterans. Research is ongoing and services like combat stress counseling, family counseling for military-related issues, and national call-in services where combat veterans or family members can call at any time to talk to another combat veteran regarding readjustment issues are available now. Alfonso Batres, combat-tested leader and psychologist, has been a driving force in creating these services and making them available to veterans. A disabled Vietnam veteran, Dr. Batres spent his career improving, expanding and shaping the quality of services for veterans. For nearly 30 years, he worked with the community-based Department of Veterans Affairs Readjustment Counseling Vet Centers, starting in the field offices and heading the national program from 1994 until his retirement in 2012. Under his leadership, the Vet Centers expanded to meet the growing needs of hundreds of thousands of combat veterans and their families and improved both the quality and quantity of services. There is still much to be learned about combat and trauma-related disorders and even more to be done to provide the needed services that our veterans deserve, but at least we are on the right track now. Lets take every opportunity to honor our veterans the fallen heroes, those that have served, and those that are currently serving. If you are in town tomorrow, I hope you will attend Plainviews Memorial Day ceremony to pay tribute to the men and women who died while serving our country. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing tomorrow at 3 p.m., I hope you will join me for a minute of silence to honor Americas fallen heroes. (Alice Sawayer is a Licensed Professional Counselor with Central Plains Centers Integrated Healthcare. She provides counseling at Covenant Health Care Center in Plainview. Contact her at alicesawayer@att.net.) Letter to the Editor, It would be hard to beat a police department like we have in Plainview. My youngest daughter and four of her five children came down from Montana for my retirement reception this past Tuesday. The two younger ones commented they wanted to meet a policeman and then the other two chimed in. I told them I bet we can arrange that. I called Chief Ken Coughlin and he said they can do more than just meet a cop. Bring them to the Police Station. He gave them a tour and then took them to the firing range where they were practicing. Those grandkids went around with their mouths open, their eyes bugged out, saying things like golly, oh my, gosh, wow and look at that, this is the neatest thing and many more phrases of wonder and joy. They even got to ride in the Chiefs car to and from the range. Chief Coughlin gave them (and me) a memento, kind of like a poker chip that has Plainview Police Department on it. Plus, he took down one of the targets they shot full of holes and gave it to the kids. You would have thought they had a prized treasure, which is to them. At the range the officers participating in the in service training were equally as gracious and polite to those kids. Most of them shook the kids hand, talked and showed things to them. I told my family about the Kids and Cops annual event held by the Police and Fire Departments. Personally, all our First Responders are tops in my view. Ron Trusler, CEO Emeritus, Central Plains Center Residents of the Gracia district inspect the damage caused by this week's violence. Albert Garcia After a fourth night of rioting by squatters who have been evicted from a former bank in the center of Barcelona, Mayor Ada Colau faces her most serious crisis since she was elected a year ago on a popular platform that aimed to address the citys chronic housing problem. The violence kicked off on Monday evening after police removed squatters from a former bank branch-turned-community center renamed Banc Expropiat (The Expropriated Bank) in the Gracia area in the center of the city. On Thursday evening, local people came out on to the streets to protest, banging saucepans. Journalists covering the disturbances were insulted and a television camera was damaged The squatters responded by erecting barricades and setting fire to trash containers. So far at least 33 people have been injured in the disturbances, and damage to property is estimated at 65,000. On Thursday evening, local people came out on to the streets to protest, banging saucepans. Journalists covering the disturbances were insulted and a television camera was damaged. Many residents of Gracia blame either outsiders or the police for much of the violence that has hit their neighborhood this week, with many defending the squatters. Those kids were very peaceful. They gave English classes, organized workshops, cooked said Maria Helena, who owns a stall in a nearby market. The US State Department has issued a warning to its citizens, telling them to avoid the area in the coming days. Colau finds herself under fire from all sides: she did not order the eviction, nor did she authorize the squatters to occupy the former bank. On Thursday, she admitted the difficulties she faced in intervening in the standoff, calling on local residents to help mediate, and later meeting with them. Barcelona has seen similar incidents over recent years: efforts to evict squatters from the Can Vies former labor union headquarters two years ago resulted in a negotiated settlement that allowed occupiers to remain. This time round, the building is privately owned and the squatters are not prepared to negotiate. Whats more, the crisis comes a week ahead of a plenary session at Barcelona City Hall. The conservative CiU Convergence and Union (CiU) party, which ran the city until last year under former mayor Xavier Trias, has called on Colau to condemn the disturbances and to express her public support for the local Mossos dEsquadra police force. In response, the CUP radical pro-independence party has demanded she speak out against the police violence that is being used. Mayor inherits difficult situation Asked about the polices actions, Colau said she had spoken to the interior minister of the regional government of Catalonia, expressing to him her confidence in the Mossos work and at the same time a certain concern related to some recent information and to a certain political formation [a reference to CUP] that have questioned [the polices] actions. She later added: We have every confidence, and I dont want to prejudge, but we ask for proportionality [from the police] and that they pursue the shared aim of protecting local residents. Colau insists that the squatters have refused repeated attempts by City Hall to mediate: If they dont want anything from the government, that makes it difficult for us to intervene. We dont have an interlocutor. A mayor who paid the rent The squatters have been in the former bank for five years, but in January 2015, in the run-up to elections, and faced with possible disturbances if evictions went ahead, former mayor Xavier Trias signed a secret deal with the bank, agreeing to pay the rent on the premises, along with other costs that amount to around 65,000 a year. An offer to mediate Toni Ramon, a long-standing activist in the area and a former head of the Gracia residents association has said he is prepared to mediate and that local people have worked with the Banc Expropriat on campaigns over the years, but that it will be difficult to find a solution to the squatters demands: Occupying the bank is part of the groups collective characteristic, which is to reject the direction the neighborhood is headed. Property prices in the run-down working class neighborhood are rising, and local people fear they will be forced out over time. Speaking to the Onda Cero radio station, Trias explained his decision to cover the costs of the squatters with taxpayers money. This has to be explained properly. That property belonged to a bank, Catalunya Caixa, and had been occupied by squatters since 2011. The bank did nothing, until in 2014 it sold the property and asked for the people in it to be evicted. The squatters had not caused trouble and were well integrated into the community. We were then told by the police that the building had to be vacated, said Trias. Given the situation, and not just because of the elections, but because an eviction could result in conflict, we decided to mediate. People can criticize what we decided to do, but our decision wasnt wrong. We needed time to mediate. Thats why we decided to pay the owner rent so as to put off the eviction until a better solution was found, he explained. Trias is now being investigated by the police over the deal. English version by Nick Lyne. Ester Quintana after learning of the court's ruling. J. Sanchez A Spanish court has acquitted two police officers accused of responsibility for an incident in which a woman lost an eye when security forces used rubber bullets to disperse crowds demonstrating during the general strike of November 2012. It is not possible to establish exactly what hit the victim, nor who fired, ran the ruling issued by a court in Barcelona, where the incident took place. I have waited four years to get justice and I have failed. All our work has been of no use in fighting impunity Esther Quintana In May 2014, a court ruled that Ester Quintana was hit by a projectile fired by members of the Mossos dEsquadra Catalan regional police force during a demonstration on November 14, 2012. At the time, Spain was in the grip of a worsening economic crisis, prompting hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country to take to the streets to protest Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys labor-reform package and austerity measures. During the trial of the two officers, their defense team focused on reasonable doubt as to whether Quintana was hit by a rubber bullet or another projectile. The officer accused of firing a shotgun at Quintana insisted during the hearing that he fired blanks while attempting to clear the area where Quintana was injured, suggesting, without naming names, that another officer was responsible. 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. Catalan police have always denied firing rubber bullets that day, and the case triggered a government ban on the use of rubber bullets. Instead, riot police now use rifles that fire visco-elastic foam pellets. It is impossible to establish whether the projectile that hit Ester Quintana was a rubber bullet or a 40mm foam pellet, reads the courts ruling. The judges were critical of the Mossos during the demonstration, noting: The officers carrying shotguns and launchers knew that they were breaching protocols. They added: These protocols are to avoid unfortunate events such as this, which has resulted in Ester Quintana suffering injuries and side effects that without doubt will continue to affect her for the rest of her life. Speaking from outside the court after the ruling was made public, Quintana said: I have waited four years to get justice and I have failed. All our work has been of no use in fighting impunity. Quintana was awarded 261,000 in compensation by the Catalan regional interior department shortly before the hearing She criticized the judges decision, saying there was sufficient evidence to show she was injured by a rubber bullet, saying that the regional governments interior department should have carried out a more careful investigation into what happened on November 14, 2012. Her lawyer, Laia Serra, also criticized the courts decision: The confusion among the police officers concerned should have responsibilities, if not criminal, then at least at the political level. It is obvious that not everything has come out in court and those responsible for what happened have not been identified. There can be no more impunity in this country. The whole of Catalonia wants to know the truth. Quintana was awarded 261,000 in compensation by the Catalan regional interior department shortly before the hearing. The courts ruling is not final, and can be appealed before the Catalan Supreme Court. The Catalan regional police force has been criticized in recent years following a series of high-profile cases involving allegations of unnecessary force. English version by Nick Lyne. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A seventh patient has tested positive for the Zika virus in San Antonio, just as state health officials are launching a $2 million advertising campaign urging Texans to protect themselves against mosquito bites. The latest local case was revealed by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District on Friday. The seven cases confirmed in San Antonio since Feb. 1 are among at least 40 cases diagnosed in a dozen counties across Texas. More than 600 Zika virus cases have been confirmed in 46 states across the country. None of those cases resulted from mosquito bites that occurred within the continental United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All the patients who have tested positive caught the virus from mosquito bites while traveling abroad or through sexual contact with a partner who had traveled outside the continental U.S. The Zika virus usually causes only mild symptoms and is rarely fatal. But it presents special risks to pregnant women and their unborn babies because it can be passed from mother to child. The virus is suspected of causing severe birth defects in babies in areas where Zika has been more prevalent, such as South America. Only one of the patients who tested positive in Texas was pregnant at the time of her diagnosis. She is in Fort Bend County, near Houston, according to a recent Houston Chronicle report. She became infected while traveling abroad, state health officials said. Twelve other pregnant women in Texas have shown laboratory evidence of Zika infection, but all their test results have come back inconclusive, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Nationwide, a total of 168 pregnant women in the continental U.S. have shown evidence of possible Zika virus infection as of May 19, the CDC said. The Texas Department of State Health Services launched a $2 million publicity campaign Thursday to remind all Texans, particularly travelers and pregnant women, to protect themselves as the warm summer months approach. Pregnant women are strongly advised to avoid traveling to areas outside the continental U.S. where the Zika virus has been more prevalent, such as Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. They also should protect themselves if they have sexual contact with partners who have traveled to those areas. Travelers going to these areas should protect themselves from mosquitoes while abroad and are advised to continue avoiding all mosquitoes for 21 days after returning to Texas. Metro Health is reminding all Bexar County and San Antonio residents to frequently remove standing water from any containers inside and outside their homes. These include buckets, birdbaths, vases, pet water bowls, tires, trash cans and swimming pool covers. All of these items should be emptied and scrubbed once a week so they dont attract mosquitoes laying eggs. Local residents, particularly pregnant women, should wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants and socks to protect their skin from mosquitoes, especially at dusk and at dawn, when mosquitoes are most active. People, excluding infants, should use insect repellent containing DEET when outdoors. Insect repellents should not be used on babies. Local residents also are advised to use air conditioning and to make sure they have screens on all their doors and windows to keep mosquitoes from entering their homes. pohare@express-news.net Morning talk show host Kelly Ripa appears to be hiding (or appears to no longer have) a prominent tattoo on her left ankle, which she had inked right here in San Antonio, reports the Daily Mail. Ripa said in a newspaper interview that she paid for the tattoo while in San Antonio back in her soap opera days. She had some time to kill and a limousine driver suggested that she get a tattoo to pass the time. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A San Antonio student decided to commemorate his high school career at the place where most of his teen years were spent eating and blessing others with the gift that is fresh, scrumptious burgers Whataburger. Mario Ramirez Bortolini is a 19-year-old James Madison High School senior set to graduate with Magna Cum Laude honors on June 4. He marked the occasion last Saturday with the traditional senior photo session. But, he skipped on the traditional faux bookcase background and instead used his favorite restaurant and workplace as the setting for his photo shoot. RELATED: Welcome to 'Weroburger,' Mexico's knock-off version of Whataburger The teen told mySA.com on Friday that he and his photographer, Dawn Thompson, were initially taking pictures around the high school campus when he joked about moving the shoot to Whataburger. A few minutes later, Bortolini was inside the location where he works, at 17311 Bulverde Road, getting side-eye from customers who watched as he confidently struck poses in the lobby, draped in an orange cap and gown (which perfectly complemented the restaurant decor, we might add.) RELATED: What a photo: Texas high school student takes Whataburger-themed senior portraits "I heard somebody say 'who would take their pictures at Whataburger?'" the soon-to-be grad said with a chuckle. Regardless of any naysayers, Bortolini continued working the camera, resulting in a series of shots his family, friends, teachers and fellow Texans who share in Whataburger's cult following are loving. His photos have been displayed at the Bulverde location and were featured in a Buzzfeed Community article. RELATED: Couple's 14-hour road trip to Whataburger inspires 'Whatababy' photo "Heck yeah," Bortolini said, without hesitation, when asked if he'll celebrate graduation by eating Whataburger. "With a Patty Melt, fries and a Dr Pepper." The totally Texas teen has a bright, yet Whataburger-barren future ahead of him in New York, where he will study theater and business at Marymount Manhattan College. He has learned to accept the Lone Star State delicacy will not fuel his all-nighters. "I've just gotta live with it, man," he quipped. "That's the struggle of life." mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye Donald Trump at a campaign event. J. SKIPPER (REUTERS) More information Donald Trump alcanza la cifra de delegados necesaria para ser el candidato republicano The New York businessman Donald Trump has crossed the threshold of 1,237 delegates a candidate needs in order to seize the Republican nomination. Though his nomination was no longer in doubt, few observers believed he would clinch that figure before the Republican National Convention in July. The fact that he has received such widespread support even before the end of the primary season has important ramifications for his own party as well as for the Democratic campaign, where the frontrunner Hillary Clinton has yet to consolidate her victory. The controversial rookie politician has rattled the Republican party and gradually defeated his 16 primary rivals The fact that Trump has received 1,238 delegate votes eliminates any other possible last-minute candidate, something that some party leaders were still hoping for. Such strong backing also puts pressure on Republican heavyweights such as Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives, to officially sponsor his partys presumptive nominee. The real estate mogul was able to reach the necessary number of delegates because several unpledged individuals the so-called superdelegates have promised to vote for him at the convention. Trump did not even need to wait for primaries in California and four other states on June 7 where, being the only candidate in the Republican race, he will likely take all 303 delegates on the table. Sign up for our newsletter EL PAIS English Edition has launched 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 controversial rookie politician has rattled the Republican party and gradually defeated his 16 primary rivals, including early favorites such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich were the last men standing. Several former contenders such as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson have sponsored Trump and joined him on the campaign trail. Trumps delegate win means he can now focus his efforts on the final battle against the Democratic Party, a fact that poses a serious challenge for his likely rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She must fight on two fronts as long as her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders continues to compete with her for their partys nomination. English version by Dyane Jean Francois. 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 OXON HILL, Md. Alex Iyer, the Boerne seventh-grader who reached the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, left the stage graciously this morning after getting tripped up on the word hypopus a mite larva that attaches itself to animals. Im really glad I got out on such an interesting word. And I wouldnt have done it without my dad. So thanks, dad, he said before leaving the neon-lit stage to applause. Hed spelled his word as hippopus, triggering the dreaded bell that signifies a blunder. Alex, 13, is the son of Rajesh and Reena Iyer. He had reached the final group of 45 spellers out of 284 elementary-school and middle-school students who arrived in suburban Washington D.C. as local champions. He was sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News. The finals were broadcast on ESPN2 with the event concluding tonight live on ESPN. From the start, it looked as though organizers were intent on winnowing the field swiftly. Three of the first four spellers stumbled on the words Cheltenham, psyllium and bouleuterion. By the time Alex walked to the microphone, 18 of 38 spellers were gone after misspelling an array of brutal words. It was really fun, but it was also intense and nerve-racking, Alex said afterward. Now I get to relax. Hed studied spelling words two or three hours every day and from two to five hours on Saturday and Sunday. But, he observed afterward, some kids studied more five hours on weekdays and nine hours each on Saturday and Sunday. In the competition and afterward, he maintained the winning smile carefree attitude that separated him from some of the ultra-serious competitors. I have another year, he said. I knew that if I didnt get it this year, its not a big deal. blambrecht@express-news.net After two years of redesign, a San Marcos boat finally got its groove back on May 20. The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State welcomed back Boat 1953, one of Spring Lake's glass-bottomed vessels, after being out of water for renovations, according to a university news release. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The latest and largest string of rocks being hurled onto cars driving on Interstate 35 in Austin brings the total number of incidents in the last 2 years to 83, police said Wednesday. Last week, at least five people were injured, including one person who got glass in their eye, in the string of 13 incidents, which took place Friday through Sunday along a nearly 10-mile span of Interstate 35 in Central Austin between 9 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., according to Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Chris McIlvain. MORE: Texas authorities ramp up patrols ahead of Memorial Day Weekend However, police decided against releasing more details about the crimes in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, which has been ongoing since June 2014. Previous incidents have included softball-sized rocks launched onto the lower deck of I-35 just minutes apart from each other late at night. In at least one incident in 2014, a person was severely injured after a rock hit a vehicle and caused it to crash. Authorities have not made any arrests or identified any suspects and a $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection to the incidents. RELATED: Austin police: 13 rock-throwing incidents on Interstate 35 McIlvain on Wednesday would not confirm whether witnesses saw people actually throwing rocks, but he did say evidence has allowed police to positively determine how the rocks are being deployed. McIlvain provided several tips for motorists who travel in the area, particularly Memorial Day Weekend travelers who are expected to jam-pack Texas highways. Drivers may wish to drive on the upper deck of I-35 in order to prevent being struck by the rocks and drivers who travel on the lower deck may wish to move through the outside lanes instead of the inside lanes, McIlvain said. RELATED: Police: 2 men threw bottles from balcony, yelled racial slurs at man near University of Texas campus If someones vehicle is struck by a rock, McIlvain said to stop safely and call 9-1-1 immediately. Its imperative, he said, so that investigators can potentially track down those responsible. He also said the department is in discussions with the Texas Department of Transportation to possibly add signage to warn drivers, particularly non-Austin residents, of falling rocks coming from the upper deck. McIlvain also said APD is not ruling out closing down the lower deck entirely until the alleged culprits are caught, but plans for both options have not been set in stone. Were not ruling everything out, McIlvain said. RELATED: Austin man, 23, in viral road rage video has been arrested more than 20 times twhite@mysa.com Twitter: @tylerlwhite This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Boerne Police Department Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Linkedin Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Investigators arrested a Boerne woman on Thursday suspected of using the credentials of a Chicago-based physician to write prescriptions and work as a doctor. Catharina Hunter, also known as Katinka Hunter, was taken into custody around 7 p.m. and charged with practicing medicine in violation of subtitle, a third-degree felony, and forgery, a class A misdemeanor, according to the Boerne Police Department. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two known gang members were arrested in a Corpus Christi raid Wednesday and a slew of guns and drugs were found at the residence, according to police. Longino Castillo, 26, and George Soto, 22, were arrested at the scene and face multiple felony charges including manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a prohibited weapon and tampering with evidence. Soto was also charged with felony in possession of a firearm and felon in possession of body armor, according to a news release issued Wednesday. RELATED: World's raddest police dog poses with drugs, guns Since the investigation included known gang members, law enforcement deployed SWAT members to enter the residence at about 5:40 a.m. Wednesday in the 1200 block of 17th Street, the news release said. Police at the scene seized an arsenal of legal and illegal firearms. There were semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, handguns and improvised firearms known as zip-guns. They also found more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, several homemade suppressors, five sets of body armor, breaching tools used for entering homes, ski masks and gas masks, according to the news release. RELATED: Sheriff's deputies seize several kilos of cocaine, heroin, meth in string of busts near San Antonio The investigators also found numerous forms of illicit drugs, including synthetic marijuana, as well as smaller amounts of marijuana, heroin and crack cocaine. Aside from drugs, more than $3,400 in U.S. currency was found along with suspected drug ledgers, cellphones, and weight scales. The news release said the various items found at the residence suggest involvement in possible robberies, drive-by shootings, home invasions, and drug distribution to smaller drug houses and street-level dealers. RELATED: Authorities raid more than 20 locations in Comal County with alleged ties to Texas Mexican Mafia Narcotics investigators believe the raid on this location will greatly reduce the distribution of synthetic marijuana in Corpus Christis west side, downtown and near City Hall. The investigators also anticipate more arrest of this size and nature in the future, according to the news release. CCPD spokesman Lt. John Hooper said this arrest was a "link" in a chain stemming from a previous arrest about a month ago. He said it was an important arrest and raid because of the synthetic cannabis seizure and the guns. They didn't seize as much synthetic cannabis as they wanted, but they expect to make another arrest in the future in connection to this distribution. "The guns were not reported stolen, but they were definitely in the wrong hands," Hooper said in an interview with mySA.com. "It was a good thing to get those guns out of the hands of those criminals." twhite@mysa.com Twitter: @tylerlwhite This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO Two San Antonio Police Department officers shot and killed a man Thursday night who allegedly ripped a gun from one of their belts during a struggle on the West Side. SAPD Chief William McManus said a sergeant who has served on the force for 23 years opened fire along with a 10-year veteran officer, striking the suspect multiple times in the torso while he had another officers service weapon in his hand. The incident marks the fifth officer-involved shooting for SAPD this year, according to department records. All but one resulted in death. RELATED: More than 30 people killed in Bexar County by law enforcement officers since 2010 Authorities have not yet released the names of the officers or victim, who is in his 40s. Officers had been searching for the man, who was wanted on felony and misdemeanor warrants, at the Economy Inn, 2434 SW Loop 410. Police staking out the area spotted the suspect around 10 p.m. and attempted to take him into custody. MORE: Murder case unfolds in San Antonio as man is arrested following shooting, standoff on East Side The individual fought them, and resisted arrest, McManus told reporters at the scene shortly after the shooting. Officers used a Taser on the man during the altercation, but it had no effect, according to police. He continued to fight and eventually ripped the gun of one of the officers belt, and at that point a sergeant and a police officer shot him multiple times in the torso, McManus said. He was taken to University Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after the incident. READ MORE: Video shows San Antonio man shot by sheriff's deputies while his hands are up McManus said the felony and misdemeanor warrants issued for the man included assault and drug-related offenses. About an hour prior to the fatal shooting, police responded to another, unrelated shooting at the same location. McManus said two men had been involved in a physical fight when one of them pulled out a gun and shot the other in the arm. Police were able to quickly take the shooter into custody, and transport the victim to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Police said that shooting was completely unrelated to the fatal encounter that occurred shortly after. Both officers have been placed on administrative duty while SAPD investigates the incident. mdwilson@express-news.net Twitter: @MDWilsonSA A former junior high mathematics teacher in South Texas accused of having sex twice last summer with a male student has been indicted, according to media reports. Brenda Pawelek, 44, was indicted this week on two counts of sexual assault of a minor in George West, which is about 63 miles northwest of Corpus Christi. Courtesy of the City of Seguin. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two people arrested Thursday are accused of killing a man whose body was found in his home at a Northeast Side complex last month. Jennifer Jennings, 37, and Arthur Villarreal, 44, each face a charge of murder in the April 4 shooting death of Ronald Lane Schubert, 35, according to the San Antonio Police Department. Both Jennings and Villarreal shook their heads and said no to questions from reporters as they were escorted to a police cruiser Thursday evening at the Public Safety Headquarters downtown. SAPD spokesman Sgt. Jesse Salame said Schubert was found dead from a gunshot wound when officers entered the apartment at The Parker Apartments in the 6600 block of Fairdale. Salame said police quickly identified Jennings as Schubert's girlfriend, who initially denied having been at the scene of the shooting. Jennings later told police she and Villarreal were trying to get Schubert to leave the apartment, Salame said At some point during the confrontation, Villarreal shot Schubert, Salame said. Police said they are still working to determine the exact relationship between Jennings and Villarreal. "They may have been romantically involved for all we know," Salame said After interviewing Villarreal, Salame said there may be other people involved in the incident who could face arrests. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two men have been arrested in connection to a body that was found near a hand-dug grave located atop a marijuana farm in North Texas. RELATED: 3 men charged in connection to woman's burned body in Wilson County after brutal slaying Adan Gaona, 32, was charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence Tuesday, according to a Johnson County Sheriff's Office news release. Russel Lutz, 60, was charged with tampering of evidence and is being held on a $50,000 bond. The body of Antonio Galvan, 45, Gaona's step-father, was found Monday morning by a hand-dug grave found in a "large marijuana operation" on Co Road 410 near Alvarado, just outside of Fort Worth. Galvan, who is from Arlington, had been missing since Sunday evening when the Sheriff's Office received a missing person's report from his family. RELATED: Sheriff: Woman killed at Kerrville radio station in 'random act of violence' Both Lutz and Gaona face multiple drug charges as a result of the body being found in a pot farm. Gaona is also facing unauthorized use of a motor vehicle charge. He is being held on a $200,000 bond in the Johnson County Jail. RELATED: Whataburger, Pizza Hut robberies on North Side leave SAPD searching for suspects kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Heavy storms that rocked Central and East Texas late Thursday into Friday morning may have ruined holiday weekend camping plans, as several state parks experienced flooding and subsequent damage. Four Texas state parks that allow overnight camping Lake Whitney, Lake Somervilles Nails Creek unit and Stephen F. Austin in East Texas, and Atlanta near Texarkana are closed until further notice, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. RELATED: Severe storms slam portions of Central Texas, leave others, including San Antonio, untouched TPWD spokesperson Stephanie Salinas said theres no telling if the parks will reopen ahead of the big weekend. Its really going to depend on how fast the water recedes and how much damage was done by the water, she said. Once the flooding settles, we can go in and access how long it will be closed. In Central Texas, Government Canyon State Natural Area and McKinney Falls, Bastrop and Buescher state parks are partially closed, as some trails, roads and campsites are flooded. RELATED: Storms, new fees not expected to slow river traffic in New Braunfels on Comal, Guadalupe Salinas added that 38 Texas parks including the Hill Countrys Garner, Enchanted Rock, Guadalupe River and Pedernales Falls are completely booked this weekend, while 30 others still have some openings. Go to texas.reserveworld.com to check availability. The Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, which does not allow overnight camping, is also closed until further notice. Storms rocked the state overnight, as up to 10 inches of rain fell around Bryan/College Station and Austin area, while Brenham received 18 inches, according to a previous report. The chance of showers remains in the forecast over the holiday weekend and into next week. rsalinas@mysa.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Internet hoaxes jumped the shark in 2015. The truth thanks in part to Donald Trump and his loyal followers no longer seemed to matter as much this year as just about anything ludicrous imaginable reached a viral audience. And sometimes even trying to debunk these legends did little to diminish mythmakers. (For the last time, a Sharia court does not have jurisdiction in Texas). Mark Zuckerberg will not share his millions with you. A naval officer did not use a raccoon to pass a breathalyzer test. Stanley Kubrick did not admit to helping fake the moon landings. And no, Ted Cruz does not want to Netflix and Chill with you. RELATED: R-rated hoax targeting Ted Cruz raises eyebrows Tragic events also proved breeding grounds for hoaxes. For example, the Memorial Day floods in Houston and the ISIS attacks in Paris spawned fake photos. Hoaxes grew so out of control in 2015 (and debunking them at times felt so fruitless) that the Washington Posts What Was Fake on the Internet columnist came to an end this year. See the worst hoaxes of 2015 in the gallery above. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Even the nation's biggest cheese heads will have to up their noshing talents to eat America's way out of its cheese surplus, according to the Wall Street Journal. The latest totals from March indicated an unprecedented 1.19 billion pounds of cheese are stock-piled in U.S. commercial freezers an 11 percent uptick since last year the report said. RELATED: San Antonio-area pizza business' Texas-sized pies cost $700 Getting out of the cheesy landslide would require every American to eat an additional 3 pounds on top of their average 36 pounds per year. Considering San Antonians are known for topping just about everything with cheese, we may be the heroes America needs. Click through the gallery above to see the best, cheesiest dishes in the Alamo City. Farmers expanding their livestock in 2014 when "prices were high and exports were hot," caused cheese amounts to snow or cheese ball into an overstock, according to the Wall Street Journal. Farmers have had every reason to expand because of strong global demand, Shayle Shagam, livestock analyst with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told the journal. But now we have a lot of products looking for a home in a smaller number of places. RELATED: 24 homegrown talents San Antonians proudly showcase Though dairy products like cheddar can be stored for years, others like feta can only be kept for months, the site said. The Wall Street Journal called the cheese overload a "dramatic turnaround" for the animal agricultural sector, which was "battling drought and disease" a few years back and skyrocketed prices. "Someone is going to eat all of this meat and dairy," Shagam told the Wall Street Journal. "How much room do you have in your stomach." RELATED: San Antonio's woman's extreme 300-pound weight loss featured on national television mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye By Shenandoah Sanchez for the San Antonio Express-News/By Shenandoah Sanchez, for the San Antonio Express-News This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO While some areas of South Central Texas received up to 10 inches of rain late Thursday into Friday morning, other portions of the region, including San Antonio, received little to no rainfall at all. San Antonio was among numerous cities that managed to stay out of the way of heavy showers and thunderstorms that were expected to spring up along the Interstate 35 corridor late Thursday. National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Lenz said severe storms around Bryan/College Station created an outflow boundary around Fayette, Lee and Bastrop counties, around which thunderstorms developed rather than continued to move toward San Antonio Thursday night. Lenz said that storms usually sweep across the region, but the phenomena created to the northeast of San Antonio kept downpours relatively isolated, and that storms kept redeveloping over the same territory. RELATED: Reports of hail skyrocket in 2016 in Texas, ranked first in U.S. for most hail damage last 2 years Its incredible how the gradient is, Lenz said. San Marcos had nothing but if you went from San Marcos to Bastrop County, they had between 7 to 9 inches of rain, he said. Lenz said Austin-Bergstrom International Airport received 8.79 inches of rainfall on Thursday night into Friday morning. Fewer than 20 miles to the west at Camp Mabry, however, a little more than a half of an inch was reported. Five people were rescued from the roof of a home by helicopter after flood waters surged in the area. Additionally, authorities are still searching for two people who went missing from a vehicle during the storms, according to the Associated Press. Latest National Weather Service Radar for Texas According to the National Weather Service, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport received about an inch of rain. Heavier totals fell in nearby cities of Comanche and Centerville, which received 5.19 and 3.21 inches respectively. The Houston area also saw heavy downpours. According to the NWS, Brenham received about 18 inches, and numerous roads and creeks flooded throughout the area. Houston-based NWS meteorologist Debra Helvy said around 1 inch of rainfall was recorded in Houston, and that the heaviest downpours in the area are developing to the north of the city. RELATED: Deadly storms spark flooding in Houston region The weather pattern that we are in is going to provide scattered showers and thunderstorms any day, Lenz said. What we really have to look for and focus on is where these boundaries set up. You tend to get more rainfall in those areas. According to the NWS the boundary that produced heavy storm on Thursday night moved across New Braunfels and is now in Bexar County. Whether any heavy downpours will develop into the weekend is still unclear, but they are possible. Isolated and scattered showers are expected to continue throughout the region through much, if not all, of next week as well. mdwilson@express-news.net Twitter: @MDWilsonSA This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Texas can't seem to catch a break. In the past two years, Texas has ranked first in the U.S. for most hail damage, seen its costliest hailstorm in history and reports of hail continue to rise. In the first five months of this year, 602 unofficial reports of hail in Texas have been made to the National Weather Service, an amount that has nearly surpassed the 783 reports from 2015 in just five months. RELATED: Photos show flooding, wind damage, baseball-size hail in Texas from May's extreme weather But that number is only based on what Texans have spotted and reported. "I'm sure there was more hail than that," said Cory Van Pelt, National Weather Service meteorologist, especially in areas like Dallas. But none of the hail that has fallen this year compares to the hail Winkler County saw more than 50 years ago. On May 31, 1960 near Odessa, the largest piece of hail ever recorded in the state fell at 8 inches in diameter, about the size of a volleyball, according to the Texas State Historical Association. RELATED: 10 inventive tips to battle hail ahead of San Antonio, South Central Texas storms Comparatively, the largest piece of hail recorded in the U.S. clocks in at a massive 1 lb. and 15 ounces, with 8 inches in diameter and 18.62 inches in circumference, Van Pelt said. Grapefruit-sized hail seen in the San Antonio area during the April 12, 2016 hailstorm, now considered the costliest in Texas history, was an anomaly, Van Pelt said. "It's pretty rare to see hail that big in that area," he said. RELATED: San Antonio hail storm called costliest in Texas history with nearly $1.4 billion in losses Hail is more likely in the northern part of the state, due to cold fronts that often don't make it to South Central Texas, he said. The April 2016 hailstorm produced almost $1.4 billion in estimated insured losses, making it the costliest of its kind. Previously, the May 5, 1995 Fort Worth hailstorm held the costliest title with an estimated $1.1 billion in damages. Texas is a melting pot of weather, Van Pelt said, which could be part of the reason why it was number one in the country for most hail damage reported with 394,572 claims from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. RELATED: Possible flooding, hail in forecast late Wednesday to Friday ahead of Memorial Day Weekend The state is more likely to see severe thunderstorms due to its unique conditions, Van Pelt said. Moisture comes in from the Gulf and dry air moves west during the springtime, he said, which can cause different weather events. "We're in a good location for the weather systems that produce hail occur," he said. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 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 As they celebrate commencement at colleges around the country, graduates can expect to get the same gift: plenty of unsolicited advice from their elders. Theyll have to separate the useful from the not-so-useful. Heres a tip: The former is most often heard from commencement speakers who recognize that they are there for the students. The latter most often comes from speakers who get it twisted and think the students are there for them. Some people use a commencement address to get political, as did Maria Elena Salinas when the Univision anchor told journalism graduates at California State University, Fullerton to utilize the media to confront divisive figures like Donald Trump. Ironically, Salinas remarks turned divisive when she seemed to dwell too long on Latino graduates and spoke a few phrases in Spanish, to the exclusion of non-Latinos and those who spoke English. After some in the audience booed and shouted obscenities, Salinas piled on the condescension when the journalist tweeted she was sad that racism is on the rise. Other commencement speakers lay out their blueprint for a better world, as did David Gergen when the CNN senior political analyst implored the graduates of Elon University in North Carolina to stand up and be counted against the forces of political extremism that produced the states House Bill 2. The so-called bathroom bill bans people from using restrooms that dont match the sex indicated on their birth certificate. Gergen, who grew up in North Carolina, urged the students to find common ground and work hard to respect the views of others but ultimately to push for the repeal of HB2. Having heard a few commencement speeches and delivered a couple myself, Im convinced that anyone with such a forum should remember in between telling students that their opportunities are limitless to work in a few lines about limitations. Graduates hear a lot about succeeding when what they could really use is a good sermon on failing. Ive had the blessings of good parenting and an education from one of the most prestigious universities in the world. And yet my most important lessons have come from pain, disappointment, mistakes, heartbreak and loss. Its when Ive been at my worst that Ive been served the best. Here are 25 things that I wish someone had told me at my own college graduation a quarter-century ago. Discover your passion and pursue it. Learn to say, I dont know. Be grateful for all you have. Study people so you know why they do what they do. Value your family, treasure your friends. Collect your parents stories while you can. Be thoughtful to others. When you get something wrong, acknowledge it. Listen more, talk less. Keep your integrity intact. Dont be afraid to change course. Question most of what you see, read or hear. Maintain your independence. When youre knocked down, get back up and persevere. Make sure you control money, not the other way around. Listen for the knock of opportunity. Use common sense. Treat people with respect and dignity. Shuffle the deck and take risks now and then. Dont think of yourself as being better, or worse, than anyone else. Dont be self-centered. Hustle for what you want. Be careful whom you marry. Work to impact positively the lives of others. Speak your truth with conviction and without fear. Heres some truth for todays graduates: Many people insist that this countrys best days are behind it. Those people are wrong. I hear television commentators talk about how many of the voters who flock to Trump, or Bernie Sanders, are the victims of globalization. America has betrayed these voters, the pundits say. Their own country has broken a promise that if they worked hard and played by the rules, theyd be happy and successful and their children even more so. What total rubbish. There was never any such promise. This is where immigrants could teach the native-born a thing or two. Like this: America offers opportunity, not guarantees. You lose your job, you get another one or start your own business. You suffer a setback, you pick yourself up and press ahead. You dont wallow in self-pity, and you never give up. Thats not always the easy way. But its something better, more lasting and more satisfying. Its called the American way. ruben@rubennavarrette.com With runoffs settled, candidates for the State Board of Education have been chosen, and now we look forward to the November election. Voters and candidates alike should work hard to see through the smoke produced by the inevitable electoral fires between now and November. The 15-member State Board of Education that I am privileged to lead has been and will remain focused on overseeing the education of the states school children. Texas enjoys economic success. To continue that success, the state will need to provide employers with a workforce that can compete in the modern and constantly changing economy. We are off to a good start, but there is plenty left to do. Since my appointment as chairwoman of the State Board of Education in June, I have traveled the state talking to parents, business leaders, administrators, teachers anyone who would talk to me, actually about assessments, accountability and the effective delivery of education to the young people who are often the last voices heard in policy discussions. We are still compiling the public feedback received at the SBOE Community Conversations, which finished at the end of March. However, when discussing assessments and accountability, the words that stand out in the feedback from parents, business leaders and educators are individual, growth, learning, readiness, measure, goals and needs. If we cant figure out a way to understand and meet individual student needs, we wont be able to prepare them for the future. It is the goal of the 15-member Next Generation Commission on Assessments and Accountability to make recommendations to the Legislature by Sept. 1. The recommendations will be both research- and community-based. The SBOE is contributing to this process by gathering community-based feedback for the commission. In addition, the SBOE hopes to make an even greater impact for our students by updating the Long-Range Plan for Public Education, or LRP, a duty assigned to the SBOE by law. The last LRP expired in 2006. At the SBOE meeting in April, we approved phase one of a two-phase effort to put an updated plan in place. The LRP will center on arriving at and articulating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges that currently exist and that will exist in Texas public education over the next five to seven years. Our LRP will include a considerable effort at partnering with the commissioner of education and gathering policy maker, post-secondary, K-12 educator, business community, parent and general public input. Finally, the SBOE is partnering with the commissioner of education in holding the second in our series of Learning Roundtables. The upcoming September Learning Roundtable will focus on Educating the Children of Poverty. We will invite national and state experts to discuss the various facets of poverty and how we can find greater success at helping our students overcome the many challenges to receiving the education they each deserve. If we succeed in our mission to help all children, we raise will generations of Texans who can sustain and grow the economic success we currently enjoy. We alone determine our success or failure. We literally cannot afford to fail. Strong debate will occur. With the SBOE affecting so many areas, the debate is certain to bring out strong passion on all sides. However, our board has worked through many issues over the last several years with professionalism and commitment. Our first and foremost focus has been on positively benefiting the education of the 5.2 million children of Texas. That commitment will most assuredly continue. We are off to a solid start. Our good intentions will be matched by the commitment and drive necessary to sustain that momentum. We owe that to students, their families and to Texas. We have the tools to forge a bright future. Lets put them to work. Donna Bahorich represents Houston-area District 6 on the State Board of Education. She was appointed chairwoman of the 15-member board by Gov. Greg Abbott. BRIDGEPORT A 15-year-old boy was in critical condition in Bridgeport Hospitals trauma unit and his alleged assailant was in custody Friday afternoon, following a reported stabbing in a parking lot at the YMCA on State Street. Police scanner reports indicated the stabbing occurred shortly after 4 p.m. and the alleged assailant, described as in his mid-30, was arrested in his fourth-floor room in the YMCA a short time later, after being identified by witnesses. The alleged assailant was taken by police to the police headquarters. Further details were unavailable. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Despite her rapidly tightening presidential primary battle in California, Hillary Clinton came out swinging Thursday against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump rather than Democratic rival Bernie Sanders at rallies in San Jose and San Francisco. What Trump is saying is dangerous and divisive, Clinton told a crowd of about 1,000 at her first stop, Parkside Hall in downtown San Jose, repeating President Obamas comment Thursday from the Group of Seven summit in Japan, saying that foreign leaders are rattled by what the New York businessman has said on the campaign trail. The former secretary of state barely mentioned her battle with Sanders, who recent polls show has a solid chance of winning the June 7 California primary. Later, during a 29-minute speech in San Francisco, Clinton ran through a litany of Trumps proposals, including withdrawing from NATO and banning Muslims from entering the United States, and said, Based on what we have already heard, Donald Trump is an unqualified loose cannon who cannot get near the most powerful job in the world. Instead, Clinton said she was proud of what she called the forward-looking, issues-oriented campaigns that she and the Vermont senator have run. All on the same page We are all on the same page, Clinton said in San Jose. We are going to come together as a unified Democratic Party to make the case against Donald Trump. There was more than a bit of wishful thinking in that part of Clintons half-hour address in San Jose. Win or lose in California, Sanders has promised to take his campaign all the way to the Democratic National Convention in July, where he would both fight for his progressive agenda and try to pull unpledged superdelegates away from Clinton. Clintons delegate count virtually guarantees she will exit Californias primary with the support she needs for a first-ballot nomination. Still, a loss here would send her limping into the national convention in Philadelphia. It also would give Sanders and his backers more fuel for the argument that he would be the stronger candidate in November. A Public Policy Institute of California poll released Wednesday showed Clinton with a 46 percent to 44 percent edge over Sanders, down from her seven-point lead in March. And with Sanders barnstorming through the state in such out-of-the-way spots as Riverside Countys Cathedral City, population 51,200, Clinton is being forced into an all-out California campaign she never really wanted. While she has rejected a one-on-one debate with Sanders in California, Clinton was forced to schedule a $1 million-plus TV ad campaign when the senator made his own $1.5 million buy. And shes traveling across California, trying to get an early start on her fall campaign against Trump, but unable to ignore Sanders and the millions of people who have flocked to his cause. In San Francisco, she was introduced by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and, before him, Mayor Ed Lee, who was booed as he walked onstage by many in the audience of 1,000. Their catcalls echoed off the marble walls inside the recently remodeled Hibernia Bank building in the gritty Tenderloin. Just a few hundred feet from the event, many homeless people lay sprawled on the sidewalk, and Clinton supporters walked past them to get to the event. Wheres Our Debate? Before Clintons San Jose speech, a half dozen Sanders supporters stood across the street from the hall, holding signs asking, Wheres Our Debate? and Say No to Unfair Trade Deals. But even Sanders and his backers couldnt complain about her verbal assault on Trump, saying the estimated $25 billion it could cost to build his proposed wall on the Mexican border could pay for 1,500 new elementary schools or the college costs for 300,000 military veterans. Heartbreak and despair Clinton also brought up Trumps comments in 2007 about how he was almost rooting for a housing downturn because of the money he could make as a real estate developer. Five million homes lost. Think of the heartbreak and despair, Clinton said. We know a lot about Donald Trump. He roots for himself ... and thats the type of person who should not be president of the United States. In San Francisco, she railed on Trump because he has refused to release his tax returns, a perfunctory disclosure for years for candidates from both parties. She wondered whether it was because he hasnt given many charitable donations or hadnt paid his fair share of taxes. If you have paid federal income tax, show us, she said. She closed with a call for help in the June primary, urging the audience to vote and bring their friends to the polls. If you will vote for me, California, I will work my heart out to give you the future you deserve, Clinton said. John Wildermuth and Joe Garofoli are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com, jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: jfwildermuth @joegarofoli Total Wine & More: Wine of the Week Martin Ray Sauvignon Blanc 750ml, California In 1990, winemaker Courtney Benham was walking through an old warehouse in San Jose, Ca. when he chanced upon a forgotten treasure 1,500 cases of wine, dating back nearly four decades, made by California wine pioneer Martin Ray. Exploring further, Benham found old wooden crates filled with letters, press clippings, winery brochures and price lists from Ray's 40 years as a winemaker. It was clear that Ray had quite a history, and that an intriguing opportunity was being presented. Before relaunching the Martin Ray brand, Benham delved into Ray's history and tasted through the extensive library of Martin Ray Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. He mined the history and wine for common threads and stylistic components he could use as inspiration for his own wines. For Courtney, the essence of Martin Ray is a no-compromise approach that requires two things: hillside vineyards and intuitive winemaking. These inspired the original Martin Ray, and inspire the wines that today bear his name. This juicy Sauvignon Blanc is refreshing, lively and persistent. Aromatic, with focused flavors of pear, peach, tangerine, nectarine, mango and melon. A bright acidity full of citrus peel notes throughout the mouth. Find the Wine of the Week at Total Wine & More's San Antonio locations: Del Norte 125 NW Loop 410 San Antonio, TX 78216 (210) 524-9300 The Rim 17530 La Cantera Parkway San Antonio, TX 78257 (210) 877-9155 You can also shop online at www.TotalWine.com. Editors Note: This content is made possible by Total Wine & More. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com. Posted on 05/27/2016, 11:00 am, by mySteinbach Race car driver and Niverville native David Richert, has arrived in Monaco for this weekends race at the Monaco Grand Prix. Richert will become one of the lucky few people to ever have the opportunity to drive a race car through the streets of Monte Carlo, in fact, more Canadians have been to outer space than have had the chance to race in Monaco. For almost my entire adult life I have been pursuing the crazy idea that a farm kid from the Canadian Prairies could one day drive a race car in Monaco, said David Richert. Six months ago we put everything on the line in an attempt to make it happen. Today my eyes finally saw Monaco for the first time and I am incredibly excited to race around the circuit shortly. A huge thank you to everyone who has helped to make this possible. The Monaco Grand Prix is considered to be the most glamorous and prestigious automobile race in the world. It is also one of the most luxurious and exclusive sporting events of any kind on the planet. During the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, the public streets are used for the racing circuit as cars scream past the famous Monte-Carlo Casino and down past the harbor filled with luxury yachts. Approximately 200,000 people cram themselves into the balconies of buildings surrounding the circuit or watch from boats in the harbor. The Eurocup Formula Renault race, which Richert will take part in, will be the curtain-raising event on Sunday morning just prior to the main Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix race. Richert, who recently announced a partnership with Casamigos (a tequila created by long-time friends George Clooney, Rande Gerber & Mike Meldman), will experience the famous street circuit for the first time during Friday mornings practice session. This will also be the first time that the newly designed car in Casamigos colors will appear on a race circuit. After growing up on a farm in Canada, Richert has spent the last 15 years of his life pursuing this seemingly impossible dream to drive race cars at the highest levels. Its through a lot of hard work and the support of many that Richert has advanced into the upper echelons or motorsport. Sargsyan's statement is a guideline for Republican MP (video) Republican Karine Achemyan has revealed Armenias interior enemy. That is corruption. All officials who squander the budget or block the way of foreign investments should be punished, he says. The lawmaker believes the statements of the Prime Minister and Serzh Sargsyan concerning the fight against corruption. We should all be guided by the thesis the president suggested in the fight against corruption, she said. Styopa Safaryan, founder and head of the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs, heard the pro-government representative with skepticism. I have never hoped this government will carry out reforms or fight against corruption, he said. Mr Safaryan was particularly suprised to hear that proposals about the fight against corruption and monopolies should been sent to the e-mail of the Minister-Chief of the Armenian Government Staff [Davit Harutyunyan]. I do not think that they do not know where to start the fight from and need our proposals for it, Mr Safaryan said. He believes that the authorities can fight against corruption without any support by public if they really have the will and desire . They are more informed of that mechanism of privileges and know how it works, they know how monopolies are gained and abused, how the competition is devastated and the economy is suffocated, he concluded. ALEXANDRIA, Va. NACS members continue to show interest in the status of the antitrust litigation against Visa, MasterCard and the major banks. NACS counsel, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, provided the following information and steps retailers should be taking. Numerous antitrust class actions were filed against Visa, MasterCard and their card-issuing banks in 2005. Those suits resulted in a class settlement agreement that received preliminary approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in November 2012. Following preliminary approval, notices regarding the settlement were sent to class members (merchants that accepted Visa or MasterCard payment cards between January 1, 2004, and November 30, 2012). At that time, class members had the opportunity to opt out of the monetary portion of the class settlement and to object to the settlement. Following the notice process, the District Court gave final approval to the settlement in December 2013. That approval is being challenged on appeal and arguments on the appeal were heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in September 2015. Merchants that Remain in the Class: If you did not opt-out of the monetary portion of the settlement in 2013, you remain part of the class. No merchant can claim funds from the settlement, however, until the appeals challenging the settlement have concluded. It is not clear when that will occur, but we are monitoring the litigation and will provide updates on the appeals as we get them. If the settlement survives the appeals, there will be a claims process through which class members can apply for part of the settlement funds. This process is designed to be easy such that small business owners can do this on their own without the assistance of settlement firms or lawyers. We would note that some questions have been raised about whether branded retailers or the refiner brand should apply for settlement funds. As we read the settlement and relevant law, the company that paid the interchange fees in question is entitled to recovery in the settlement. Our understanding is that retailers are the ones that paid the fees (at least, in every instance of which we have been informed). If refiners claim fees that they did not pay and do not transmit those fees to the retailers that paid them, then it will raise legal issues not only regarding the disposition of those fees but also with potential violations of the pricing terms of the contracts between retailers and those brands. After the appeals are concluded, claims forms will become available and there will be additional specificity regarding how to claim funds. Merchants that Opted Out of the Class: For merchants that opted out of the monetary portion of the class settlement by May 28, 2013, many have become part of lawsuits to press their monetary claims against the defendants in the case. Some of those cases have settled and many are proceeding through litigation. We have identified counsel willing to put together a case with merchants of all sizes (including small businesses) to allow merchants to protect the value of their legal claims in the case while they negotiate settlement of the claims. While that case has been filed, additional companies can still work with these lawyers to get their cases filed. Those lawyers have been negotiating settlements for their merchant clients that preserve each merchants right to benefit from any rule changes arising from the appeals or modifications to the class settlement. If you opted-out of the case and do not file an opt-out lawsuit, either individually or with other companies, you will not receive any money for your legal claims. In fact, if you opted-out and have not yet filed a suit, you are risking losing some of the value of your claims due to the statute of limitations with every day that passes. If you are interested in working with the lawyers we have identified, you can contact them directly: Jana Eisinger at (303) 597-4012; or Brent Hatch at (801) 363-6363. Or, reach out to Doug Kantor of Steptoe & Johnson LLP at (202) 429-3775. HARRISBURG, Pa. Governor Tom Wolf applauded the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for freeing the six-pack in gas stations and convenience stores by approving nine applications permitting businesses with appropriate protections to sell up to 192 ounces of malt or brewed beverages. Freeing the six-pack will make the commonwealth more inviting for customers and businesses, said Wolf. I applaud the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) for approving these applications and respectfully ask that they approve similar subsequent applications that otherwise meet PLCB standards in order to improve customer service and convenience for Pennsylvania. Currently, the Pennsylvania Liquor Code requires that the PLCB shall refuse any application for a new license [or] the transfer of any license to a location where the sale of liquid fuels or oil is conducted. The governor notes that a recent Commonwealth Court ruling affirmed PLCBs interpretation of this provision to permit the sale of malt and brewed beverages on the same property as liquid fuels, as long as points of sale are appropriately separated (i.e., separate registers). The Courts ruling in Water Street Beverage, Ltd. v. PLCB affirmed PLCBs decision to approve a license for Weis Cafe, when Weis had gas pumps on the same property as the proposed Cafe. The Courts decision sets [an] important precedent that both clarifies this provision of the Liquor Code and allows for the sale of malt or brewed beverages at gas stations and other businesses under appropriate circumstances, the governor wrote. Allowing malt or brewed beverages to be sold at gas stations under appropriate circumstances is an important step toward our shared goal of freeing the six-pack and increasing convenience and improving customer satisfaction for all Pennsylvanians, Wolf wrote. The York Daily Record reports that one of the applications approved by the PLCB is a Sheetz location in Huntingdon County. "Our hope is that Governor Wolf's letter will favorably advance our application for beer sales at our Huntingdon location and additional locations in the future," noted a statement from Sheetz. ATLANTA This summer, The Coca-Cola Company is launching special limited-edition patriotic packaging to honor and celebrate the nations service men and women and to commemorate Coca-Colas longstanding partnership with the United Service Organizations (USO) in honor of its 75th anniversary. The limited-edition Share a Coke and a Song packaging will feature the patriotic song lyric, Im Proud To Be An American. The custom designed red, white and blue 16-ounce Coca-Cola cans are available in select convenience and grocery stores nationwide now through July 4 while supplies last. Additionally, 20, 24 and 35 family packages of 12-ounce Coca-Cola cans will be wrapped with the patriotic design. As NASCARs top drivers prepare to rev their engines at the Coca-Cola 600the countrys largest Memorial Day celebrationthe Share a Coke and a Song fan activation at Coca-Cola 600 will feature kiosks where race fans can read about Coca-Colas 75-year partnership with the USO and join the Campaign to Connect, which encourages them to help the USO send one million thank you messages to service members globally. Coca-Cola and the USO will honor 75 service members and USO volunteers at the beginning of the race, and the Grand Marshal, General (Retired) George W. Casey Jr., Chairman, USO Board of Governors, will give the command to get the Coca-Cola 600 underway. Our partnership with the USO dates back to 1941 and we have worked together for 75 years to help keep service members refreshed all over the world, said Erika von Heiland Strader, director, Community Marketing, Coca-Cola North America. The custom patriotic packaging is Coca-Colas special way of commemorating and thanking the USO for its many years of impactful work to help keep the nations military men and women connected to family, home and country throughout their time of service. This Memorial Day weekend, Coca-Cola 600 attendees will also get a taste of the official Share a Coke and a Song experiential tour where they can listen to popular tunes while flaunting their lip syncing skills and staying refreshed with ice-cold Coca-Cola beverages. This is an exciting year for us and we are thrilled that our longtime partner Coca-Cola is playing a large role in the USOs 75th anniversary celebration, said Kymm Carlson, USO director of corporate alliances. Enduring support like Coca-Colas has a great impact on how the USO is able to deliver refreshments worldwide to our men and women in uniform that leaves them feeling connected to the country they serve. The patriotic celebration will continue through July 4th weekend as part of the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway. By Irina Slav, a writer for the U.S.-based Divergente LLC consulting firm with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. Originally published at OilPrice Leaked emails obtained by The Intercept reveal Hillary Clintons multiple stances on frackingwhich apparently differ depending on whether were talking about fracking on U.S. soil or abroad. At a debate with Bernie Sanders in New York in early April, Hillary Clinton said she doesnt support fracking, unless certain conditions are met, such as acceptance from the community and full disclosure of the chemicals that will be used in the process of releasing oil and gas from shale rock. Just four years ago, however, she was quick to point fingers at communities abroad who were fighting proposed fracking projects in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, as leaked emails obtained by The Intercept reveal. At that time, she promoted fracking more specifically gas fracking as a way for any country, especially those in Europe, to achieve energy independence (from Russia). Now, its a well-known fact that politicians care above all about their own votersand are less concerned with the voters of another politician in another country. Its also a well-known fact that people in their capacity as voters have notoriously short memories and tend to forget what this or that politician did four years ago. Still, its considered good manners, if nothing else, to avoid radically changing your stance on important political and economic issues such as energy. Yet, this is something that the most likely Democratic presidential candidate is either unable or unwilling to do. Bernie Sanders is very vocal about his anti-fossil fuels stance, a stance that has been one of the reasons he has achieved such success among liberals. Clinton is apparently ready to do anything to win these liberal votes, including making yet one more U-turn regarding her position on fracking. During her term as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton made no attempt to hide her international energy ambitions, which could be easily summed up as more locally produced gas for everyone, and more profits for the American companies that would pump that gas. Pretty much the usual run-of-the-mill approach to nurturing large corporate taxpayers and campaign supporters. Now, it seems, Clinton is ready to antagonize these same corporate campaign supporters in order to win more liberal votes. This approach risks alienating more than just the energy industry, as Jude Clemente rightly noted in an article for Forbes that offers a comprehensive summary of all the benefits the U.S. has reaped from fracking (although it fails to mention the risks). He warned that she might lose Ohio and Pennsylvania with her new anti-fracking position, but Clinton won both states, which are heavily dependent on gas fracking. In Ohio, she got the upper hand before declaring her new anti-fracking stance, but her Pennsylvania victory came after the New York debate. Apparently, the strategy of changing positions to suit the moment and the target audience is working, distasteful as it may seem to observers. But there could be more to Clintons shift from a pro-fracking to a (conditional) anti-fracking stance. Gas prices in the U.S. are at historic lows thanks to oversupply. The economic viability of LNG exports is still doubtful. Curbing production is the most direct way to stimulate prices and increase returns for energy companies. Whats more, to be fair, when Clinton talked about her conditions for fracking, she meant American communities and producers. She didnt say anything about gas fracking abroad. From that angle, her position could actually be seen as quite consistent, although its unlikely to win her many friends and fans. The Wall Street Journal has an important story tonight: Wall Street Crime: 7 Years, 156 Cases and Few Convictions. It does a fine job of assembling the facts. But as one might expect, it treats this crappy track record as defensible. First, the scorecard: One of the few successful government cases was overturned Monday. A federal appeals court tossed civil mortgage-fraud charges and a $1 million penalty against Rebecca Mairone, a former executive at Countrywide Financial Corp., now part of Bank of America Corp. The court also threw out a related $1.27 billion penalty against Bank of America. Representatives of Ms. Mairone and the bank this week welcomed the verdict, while the Justice Department, which brought the cases, declined to comment. Most of the bankers who were charged pleaded guilty to criminal counts or agreed to settle a civil case, with those facing civil charges paying a median penalty of $61,000. Of the 11 people who went to trial or a hearing and had a ruling on their case, six were found not liable or had the case dismissed. That left a total of five bank employees at any level against whom the government won a contested case. They include Mr. Heinz, the former UBS employee. The analysis shows not only the rarity of proceedings brought against individual bank employees, but also the difficulty authorities have had winning cases they do bring. The Wall Street Journal examined 156 criminal and civil cases brought by the Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission against 10 of the largest Wall Street banks since 2009. In 81% of those cases, individual employees were neither identified nor charged. A total of 47 bank employees were charged in relation to the cases. One was a boardroom-level executive, the Journals analysis found. We then get the standard defense: The typical scenario is not that the bank has this plan for world domination being cooked up by the chairman and CEO, said Adam Pritchard, a law professor at the University of Michigan. Its some midlevel employee trying to keep his job or his bonus, and as result the bank gets into trouble. There are plenty of possible explanations for the small number of successful cases. For starters, much of the institutional conduct during and after the financial crisis didnt break the law, said law-enforcement officials. Even when the government has been able to prove illegal activity, it has rarely been traced to the upper echelons of big banks. This is utter rubbish. In order to spare you a 10,000 word exegesis, lets stick to a few high points. The Obama Administration saw its job as protecting the legitimacy and profits of the banking sector. Remember how Obama whipped for the TARP? That he dumped Paul Volcker, who he dragged around during his campaign, with the implication being that Tall Paul would stare down the banks? And then Obama dropped him like a hot potato once elected and brought in Tim Geithner and the Clinton economics team? How Obama told the bankers he was the only thing standing between them and the pitchforks? How he failed to use the $75 billion of TARP money that Hank Paulson had courteously left aside for borrower relief? How Geithner told Neil Barofsky that hed never intended for the mortgage program to work (as in save borrowers); its real purpose was simply to foam the runway as in space out the foreclosures better over time? You are not going to succeed in any endeavor if you dont expend real effort. This signals from the top were very clear, not to pursue senior bankers since that would hurt the image and stock prices of banks, which the Administration was desperate to shore up. It falsely saw the survival of senior bankers and the banks themselves as identical. By contrast, the Bank of England forced out the top three executives of Barclays in what amounted to a power struggle over the Libor bid-rigging investigation. One proof is the histrionic reaction when Benjamin Lawsky, a former Federal prosecutor operating from the bank regulatory boonies of the New York Department of Financial Services, demonstrated how it wasnt all that hard to be effective. He was welcomed with a full bore media attack when he dared show up Federal officials in pursuing Standard Chartered over money laundering violations. His efforts eventually forced the resignation of its CEO, Peter Sands. In a later case, against Paribas, he secured the resignation of 13 individuals, one of them one of the most senior members of the bank. Mind you, Lawsky had very little in the way of staff attorneys, made it clear he intended to punish individuals, and scored real wins. The top execs knew nothing excuse is nonsense. Some of the abuses occurred in retail banking or lending operations. If youve ever worked in retail banks, you will know that they are factories. Everything is highly routinized, from the scripts in call centers, the procedures used for identifying and qualifying borrowers, the materials used to pitch, close, and document loans, and the post-closing activities (sale and transfer of loans; the processes used to service mortgages). Since everything is so highly standardized, which is necessary from a systems perspective, bad stuff cant happen with any frequency without at least pretty senior mid-level people obtaining internal waivers (and either lying about why or securing senior approval for the misconduct) or the process having been designed from the get-go to be abusive. Indeed, the article gives an example that confirms this observation: Going after junior staff can create its own difficulties. Judy Wolf was a compliance officer at Wells Fargo, which in 2014 paid the SEC $5 million to resolve civil charges it lacked adequate controls to prevent one of its brokers from insider trading. Soon after, the SEC charged Ms. Wolf with altering a document during the agencys investigation, to make a review she had done appear more thorough than it was. Dismissing the case last year, an SEC administrative law judge said Wells Fargo clearly had much deeper and more systemic problems than one employee who notably low-rankingrelatively low-paid, supervised no one, and worked in a cubicle. And on the wholesale banking/capital markets side, it is equally ridiculous to contend that the banks didnt break the law. There was no serious effort to use the law designed precisely to end the Im the CEO and I know nothing pretense. Sarbanes Oxley requires at a minimum for the CEO and CFO to certify personally the accuracy of financial statements and the adequacy of internal controls. Banks dropping multi-billion loss bombs and having to go on the government drip feed to survive is prima facie evidence of a massive failure to have adequate risk controls in place. We were writing before the crisis, based on no inside knowledge, that risk controls at capital markets firms, meaning then investment banks (save possibly Goldman, which did have a much better run risk management function than any other firm and thus would be more difficult to sue) and the big banks with international trading operations (JP Morgan, Citi), all had risk management functions that were designed to be weak. People like Nassim Nicholas Taleb would go further and say anyone who had the statistical chops to be the head of risk management would know that his job was an exercise in charlatanism. And thats before you get to issues that were widely known in the marketplace in the runup to the crisis (as in if yours truly was hearing about them, anyone who was anyone, including regulators, had to be aware), such as widespread mis-marking of illiquid positions (trading them in itty bitty sizes with friendly counterparties to establish phony high prices). It would have been relatively easy to bust a whole bunch of traders, trading desk heads, and risk managers on this issue alone just to make a point. And the Sarbanes Oxley violations also apply to the retail side of the house. If you have a bunch of wild stuff going on in the mortgage lending, and the senior exec swore up and down they knew nothing about it, thats a massive internal control failure. Again, the CEO and CFO are responsible. And Sarbanes Oxley is designed so that the civil and criminal provisions are parallel, so that an investigation could start out as a civil case, but if the government got strong enough evidence in discovery, it could easily flip it to criminal. The SEC and DoJ have been deliberately enfeebled. SEC whistleblower Jim Kidney pointed out that the SEC has been severely diminished by the 1996 decision to stop growing talent from within and instead relying heavily on the revolving door. The result is predictable: attorneys too inculcated to sympathizing with company executives, as opposed to the public at large, and too attentive to not alienating future meal tickets. Neil Barofsky is an object lesson. After his stint at SIGTARP, he should have gotten prominent private sector offers. He didnt. He landed reasonably well, but his payoff pales compared to the $4 million a year Mr. I lie awake at night worrying about banks ex DoJ Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer got when he returned to Covington & Burling. The highlight of just one tasting panel featured wines dating back to 1968, including the very last bottle of 1969 Cabernet Reserve at the winery. Some 150 special guests assembled for an extravagant celebration over the last three days to mark the 50th anniversary of Robert Mondavi Winery. Napaman was one of them. I was thrilled to be included as I have been a long-time friend of the winery, and of the man who kick-started the modern Napa Valley wine industry, Robert Mondavi. Or Bob, as he was known by his friends. Napaman was one of them, too. In fact, the very reason I live in Napa Valley is due to Bob. The iconic Robert Mondavi Winery In May, 1980, as food editor of the third largest newspaper in North America, the Toronto Star, I was asked by Bob to come to Napa Valley to cover an event at his winery the Great Chefs of France Cooking School. He was hosting Jean Troisgros, chef-owner of what was then, and still is now, a landmark, three-star, Michelin restaurant, which many food authorities then, and now, consider to be the best restaurant in the world. Bust of Bob outside the winery, bearing Bobs vision: Its only the beginning, in his handwriting. Bob had a notion that his Cabernet Sauvignon was as good as anything coming out of Bordeaux and to prove it, he brought a succession of three-star, French chefs to his winery to cook for paying guests. He wanted to pair his wines with their three-star food to prove that his wines were a) complementary, and b) every bit as good as Bordeaux wines. And they were. My friend, Robert Mondavi Bob was a showman, a marketing genius, a humble guy, a visionary. What the winery has been celebrating these last three days the 50th anniversary of the winery is really a celebration of Bob, because he and the winery are synonymous and inseparable. (Bob died in May, 2008 at the age of 94.) As a side note: My 1980 introduction to Napa Valley by Bob was so profound, that I decided the very weekend I met him that I would, one day, move to Napa Valley; it took 17 years to save up the funds and get our kids through college, but I never lost site of my dream to move to Napa Valley, to write about, and make, wine. Thank you for the introduction, Bob. Margrit and Bob Mondavi, photographed by napaman at a winery luncheon we enjoyed together in April, 2005. RMW, as the winery is known, is important to all of us in the wine industry and the wine-drinking world. Founded in 1966 by Bob, when he was 53, the winery was acquired by Constellation Brands in 2004. Today, it is the jewel in a crown of many wineries and brands owned by Constellation. Today, RMW has 1,300 planted acres and its wines are sold in 90 countries. Thems a lot of countries. Perhaps the most important single vineyard in America is the famed To Kalon vineyard, 450 acres of which are owned and farmed by Mondavi. Bob knew the importance of vineyard site; in fact, he chose to build his winery in the To Kalon Vineyard, an historic property regarded as one of Napa Valleys best. The vineyard had been planted with different grape varieties and named in the late 1880s by a vineyard visionary named Hamilton Walker Crabb. To Kalon, if youve forgotten your Greek, means the beautiful, which this vineyard certainly is. And the wines, which it produces, certainly are. Over the last three days, to celebrate 50 years of RMW winemaking, the by- invitation-only guests tasted half of the 50 vintages of Mondavi Cabernet Reserve, including the very first vintage, from 1966; we dined in the Vineyard Room, which I have earlier in my critiquing career called the best private dining room in Napa Valley, and traipsed through the To Kalon vineyard, oogling at 71-year-old Sauvignon Blanc vines, while drinking chilled examples of what these vines produced from the 2004 and 2013 vintages. Maybe the best way to recount the three-day wine orgy is in an orderly fashion: Day One Jason Wise, producer/director of Somm: In the Bottle, speaks to guests before the screening. On Sunday evening, a small cadre of 50 guests assembled for special wines and a screening of Somm: In The Bottle. Filmmaker, director, producer, and all-around nice guy, Jason Wise, was present to answer questions about his film. Not only is this a wonderful film I encourage you to see it in a neighborhood theater or rent it but as a thoughtful courtesy, the Mondavi hosts served guests legendary wines in the darkened Vineyard Room, many of them mentioned in the film. I thought the three WOW-ser wines were the 1997 Penfolds Grange, the 1990 Chateau Lafite Rothschild and the 1995 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve . You see the wines with which Mondavi wines can hob-nob? They have the required sophistication, elegance, balance and charm to do so... exactly what Bob was preaching 50 years ago. Day Two Mark de Vere MW and head wine educator at Mondavi, leads guests on a tour of the property, starting with a pit-stop in the barrel fermenting room, outfitted with 5,000-gallon French oak barrels in which the top Mondavi Cabernets are produced. From the barrel fermenting cellar, we descended to the barrel aging room where guests tasted through 16 vintages of Mondavi Cabernet Reserve. We tasted 16 vintages of Mondavi Cabernet Reserve going back to 1968. Highlights of the tasting for me were the 1968, 1971, 1991 and 1994 Cabernets. I even loved the often-maligned, Napa Valley vintage 1998. I thought the Mondavi effort was gracile, balanced, delicate, and focused. Hardly an ugly sibling, as the press would have had us think about a wine from this wet vintage. Tough vintages, when the weather sucks, are the test of a great winemakers skills; they nailed it in spades in 1998 at Mondavi. There was a tremendous consistency in flavor profile across all of these wines; tasting hallmarks included tea, soy, black olives, and wild Provencal herbs, often called garrigue in French. The emotional highlight of the tasting was that the winery opened for us its very last bottle of 1969 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve (called unfined on the label). THAT is a true demonstration of Hospitality with a capital H. Say buh-bye to the 69 at the winery... our group polished off the last bottle. Thank you, Mondavi Team! All 16 wines in the morning panel were aromatically similar, fresh on the palate; one of my tasting comrades noted that the wines were very much like older Italian Barbarescos, in that they were filled with dark cherry, and black olive flavors and coffee end-notes, all shaped by a spine of youthful, refreshing acidity. Mark de Vere, who led the morning retrospective, described Bobs style of wine making: Bob always said that a properly made Cabernet should have the power of Pavarotti singing an aria... and the softness of a babys bottom. Most of the wines we tasted throughout the three-day Mondavithon met this criterion. Megan Schofield, left, winemaker of Mondavis Burgundy varietals, Mark de Vere, MW, center, wine educator, and Joe Harden, right, winemaker of Mondavi Bordeaux varietals, led the morning tasting of 16 Mondavi Reserve Cabernets, dating back to 1968. The aftermath of the morning tasting. A delicious lunch was served in my favorite dining salon, the Vineyard Room. Afternoon Day Two Following lunch, the educator team at Mondavi led guests to the revered To Kalon block to examine, first hand, 71-year-old Sauvignon Blanc vines and treasured Cabernet vines. Sauvignon Blanc, used to make what Bob Mondavi called Fume Blanc, in the famous I Block of To Kalon vineyard. These vines were planted in 1945. Evening Day Two The gala dinner, commemorating 50 years of winemaking achievements, was a chance to invite illustrious alumni back to the place where their careers had blossomed. Monumental winemakers like Warren Winiarski, and Zelma Long, and a dozen vineyard managers/growers were present, too; the dinner, cooked by executive chef Jeff Mosher, was a canvas for exceptional wine pairings. The most important wine of the evening in fact of the three-day event -- was served right off the bat; it was the first wine ever produced at Mondavi, the 1966 unfined Cabernet Sauvignon, 90% estate Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% estate Cabernet Franc. The dinner menu, painted by Margrit Mondavi. How special, how good, was this very first-ever, 50-year-old Mondavi Cabernet? PLENTY SPECIAL if you rate a wine on importance, merit and, oh yeah, taste. Warren Winiarski The line of the night was delivered by Warren Winiarski, who stood up when the 1966 Mondavi Cabernet Reserve (in those days labeled unfined) was served and said: Good evening. Im Warren Winiarski ... AND I MADE THIS WINE! The room erupted in spontaneous joy, applauding his craftsmanship, for, indeed, Warren had made this wine 50 years ago and it is still delicious, lively, balanced! After leaving Mondavi in 1968 as winemaker, Warren went on to found his own winery, Stags Leap Wine Cellars, winning all sorts of recognition and accolades. The 1966 unfined Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon exhibited notes of tea, ripe berries, soy, and ended with prune and cold coffee notes. Mark de Vere, who acted as host of the dinner, shared that, after tonights tasting, there are only three bottles of this first vintage 1966 Cabernet left at the winery. Uniformity of profile, consistency of taste and a Mondavi-style were evident in all 30 wines we tasted on Day Two. Winemaking director Genevieve Janssens and all her predecessors, many who were present at the Gala Dinner, must recognize their achievement and be proud of their collective accomplishment. Margrit, the Grande Dame of Mondavi, on the left, Mark de Vere, in the center, and Warren Winiarski, on the left, at the Gala dinner. Phil Freese Former VP of winegrowing at Mondavi, Phil Freese, was invited to the Gala dinner with other field and cellar alumni. I loved what he had to say about Bob Mondavis work ethic: Bob was a man without a rear-view mirror. Even after the worst catastrophe in the cellar, or a failed vineyard experiment, he just kept crashing forward -- it was the only direction he knew! Bob was a relentless idea machine, a never-give-up-experimenting kind of a guy. He pushed his vineyard managers to plant different rootstocks, he got them to change row orientation, to change plant spacing; I remember when Tim Mondavi and his dad pushed the limits to see if overplanting vines could positively stress vines to compete for nutrients so they planted 4,000 vines per acre (usually under 2,000 vines per are). Bob also contracted with NASA to conduct satellite reconnaissance of his vines to determine which ones were healthy using infrared spectroscopy; in the process, they created a whole new field of agriculture now called Precision Farming, or Site Specific Crop Management (SSCM). Day Three Joe Harden, winemaker of Bordeaux varietal,s and Megan Schofield, winemaker of Burgundy varietals, led a morning panel of 15 contemporary wines from vintages 2009 through 2013. The day started off with an appreciation of recent vintage wines. We tasted through Reserve Chardonnays, Fume Blancs, Reserve Pinot Noirs and gorgeous Cabernet Sauvignons. My take away was that Ive mistakenly lumped Mondavi Chardonnay in with all those goofy Napa Valley Chardonnays that have so much oak they taste like theyve passed through the kidneys of a beaver. Id forgotten how delicate, ethereal, refreshing, and Burgundian-like, the Mondavi Reserve Chardonnays are, or can be. I fell head over heels in love with the 2012 Mondavi Chardonnay Reserve and as soon as this is story is posted, I intend to buy a case, as proof of my pleasure. I scored this wine 96 points, and loved the candied lemon top notes and creamy middle palate. Great length. Great wine. Nice work, Megan Schofield! If youve been staying away from Napa Valley Chardonnay because of Chardonnay palate fatigue and a dislike of over-oaked, over-alcoholized wine, it may be time to review Mondavis offering; I was gob-smacked by the beauty, fruit, balance and charm of these Chardonnays. A small, but significant, group of wine writers attended the three-day Mondavi celebration. Director of Winemaking at Mondavi, Genevieve Janssens. Long before Genevieve Janssens, Mondavis director of winemaking, said this to the assembled group, I was thinking it to myself: There is a Holy Grail of Winemaking at Mondavi, which spans decades; it is a desire to produce consistent, refreshing, food-friendly wines, which are pleasing to the palate. Wines here are never made to attain foolishly high, alcohol levels, or over-the-top levels of extraction in order to grab the attention and earn high scores -- from fatigued wine writers with numbed palates. I noted a stylistic consistency through ALL 50 YEARS of wines made at Mondavi. These harmonious wines are ready to drink upon release and continue to be drinkable for long windows of 10-, 20-, and as weve tasted, even 50-years. My favorite Cabernet of the morning panel was the 2012 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, which i scored 98 points. I thought this was a sensational wine, worthy of owning, worthy of cellaring. Nice work, Joe Harden! After the morning tasting, guests were served a sensational, casual wine-country lunch on the terrace of the Vineyard Room. For the occasion, Margrit Mondavi had created the menu artwork, as she had done for all dining menus presented to guests for all our meals. Nice work, Margrit! As a final gesture, Genevieve debuted a new wine, which the winery will launch to celebrate Bob Mondavis life and the winerys 50-year run; named after Bobs passion for music, the wine is a symphony of reds from two significant parcels To Kalon and Wappo Hill. Guests were served the first-ever vintage, the 2013 Robert Mondavi Maestro. Talk about delicious! Nice work, Genevieve! Before guests departed for their respective homes across the country, I felt a need to put the three-day session into context for assembled guests. I noted that only twice before in my life have I attended an event of such august, significance the 100th anniversary of BV, which I attended with Bob Mondavi himself, and the 20th anniversary of Opus One, again in the presence of Bob Mondavi. This three-day, 50-vintage span of Mondavi wines, many of them tasted in the presence of the former winemakers and vineyard managers who brought these wines into existence, made this once-in-a-lifetime, industry experience even more exotic. The event itself, like the wines tasted, will never happen again. This was a three-day taste of history, and a detailed study of how one persons passion to do the Right Thing can change the world. Nice work, Bob you really started something special. SHARE By Kristine Gill of the Naples Daily News It sounds like a theme song for a bad horror movie. All the flats are clashing with the sharps while chords from the brass section interrupt scales from the winds. It all sounds off and unpredictable as the youth and professional orchestra warms up. But then a single violist stands and pulls her bow across the strings until the dozens and dozens of musicians on stage in Hayes Hall are all playing the same note in tune. It sounds like butter. A similarly magical melding takes place when about 70 students from the Naples Philharmonic Youth Orchestra sit side by side with the pros from the Naples Philharmonic at ArtisNaples, especially when the standout students perform solos backed by more than 100 musicians. "When you perform with the real orchestra, it's just overwhelming," said Ming Gao, violinist and associate concertmaster for the Naples Philharmonic. "It's totally different." Sunday's performance will conclude a year's worth of weekly rehearsals with the two groups. Students who have auditioned from schools around Collier County perform in the youth orchestra then get to sit next to their professional counter parts. "You're pretty much learning by osmosis," said Yaniv Segal, assistant conductor for the pros and director for the youth orchestra "It might even be their teacher or people they've listened to before. That way they can hear how they play and they have to play together." Students competed for solos in the Summer Spectacular. Grand prize winner Iris Wu has been playing violin since the fifth grade. "I've wanted to play since kindergarten, said Wu, who will perform a solo for Concerto in D Minor for violin and orchestra by Jean Sibelius. Now at 17, she's about to graduate from Naples High School before heading to the University of Michigan for a full-tuition scholarship to study music. It was a close call between violin and something science-related, but Wu's teacher, Gao, was happy to see she chose the former. "She's made much progress very fast," Gao said. "I'm very proud of her." Segal said the annual show is not just beneficial for students, who are still learning their crafts. "It's the inspiration factor. We love what we do, but it also sometimes feels like work," Segal said. "This is such a refreshing kind of reminder of what we do and why we do it." --- If you go: Summer Spectacular When: 7 p.m. Sunday Where: ArtisNaples, Hayes Hall, 5833 Pelican Bay Blvd., North Naples Tickets: $15Heather King's mother Pam Truax, right, hugs one of King's best friends, Shaylynn See, after looking over a memorial poster for King at King's father Troy King's home in Bonita Springs on Friday, May 29, 2015. King, 21, went missing last Thursday night and her body was found on Tuesday by her father. (Scott McIntyre/Staff)
By Kristine Gill and Jessica Lipscomb of the Naples Daily News On Friday afternoon, family and friends of Heather King gathered at her fathers house in Bonita Springs, trying to stay busy. Shaylynn See, one of Kings childhood friends, had spent the whole night making a tri-fold poster commemorating her friend. She decorated it with butterflies and photographs and a quote from a Wiz Khalifa song: Its been a long day without you my friend, and Ill tell you all about it when I see you again. Kings mother, Pamela Truax, looked at the photos of her daughter, a girl who always insisted on wearing her hair in a ponytail in the highest possible position. Heather, my feather, Truax said, remembering an old nickname. Four days have passed since Kings father found her body in a field behind an East Naples hotel, and her friends and family are no closer to an answer as to how that happened. Friends told deputies King was under the influence of an unknown drug when she left the Days Inn on Tollgate Boulevard around 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The Medical Examiner has not released a cause of death. Toxicology tests are pending, according to Truax. Nothing makes sense, she said of the circumstances surrounding her daughters death. How did King end up so far into the woods without her phone or purse? Did she stumble there alone? Did someone take her? What do her friends know that they arent saying? To help make sense of things, Kings family starts at the beginning. Raised in Bonita Springs and New Hampshire, she spent lots of time outdoors as a child and was very much a tomboy. Witty, blunt, and vibrant, she had the kind of spark that drew people to her. She was quick to tell you her opinion and could be brutally honest. She had no fear, her grandfather Rick Fogelin said. In middle school, King and her two best friends, See and Meg Prentice, would sneak out of their houses and order hamburgers and sweet tea and McDonalds or go swimming in the fountains at Riverside Park. Prentice, the oldest, would keep them from getting in too much trouble. King rebelled, but she had a soft side, too. She could be tender and loving. She liked taking care of people. She always kept up with her hair and makeup. She had bright blue eyes, a ton of friends and a son she thought about daily but couldnt see. And she had her demons. Drug addiction had gotten a hold of her the past year, Truax said, as King grieved the loss of her son, who was taken from her by the state following a domestic dispute with the childs father. Shed spent time in jail and was on probation at the time of her death. But she had also just gotten a job as a dog groomer. She is a drug addict, but shes a recovering drug addict, Truax said, adding that her daughter had also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. But since January, something clicked and King seemed to be on track. She had checked herself into the womens shelter and was bonding well with her sponsor, a woman who had also overcome addiction to be reunited with her child. King hoped to do the same, Truax said. She was attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings and seemed to be doing well. Related stories: On Thursday, the night King disappeared, Truax said she picked her daughter up from the groomer and took her to the Days Inn, where a friend was having a birthday party. She said she worried that the people there might be using drugs but reluctantly dropped King off anyway. She was gonna go whether I took her or not, Truax said. This way, at least she knew where her daughter was and could pick her up later. King and her mother had been staying at a friends home recently, but were in between places to live. That night, Truax promised, they would stay in a hotel together so she could take King to work in the morning. Truax dropped her daughter off at the hotel and saw two friends come out of the building to greet her. Pulling away from the building, she dialed her daughter to make sure everything was OK, but there was no answer. She tried a few more times that evening, her panic reaching a fever pitch around 7:30 p.m. when hours had passed and she still hadnt heard from her daughter. At about 8 p.m., a Days Inn employee called to say he had retrieved Kings purse and cellphone from a garbage can where two people were seen discarding it. They told the employee they were throwing away garbage from Taco Bell, Truax said. Truax stopped at the hotel to get her daughters belongings and knew something was wrong. She never went anywhere without her purse, let alone her Fierce 2 smartphone, which she seemed glued to. If her phones dead, shell grab yours, Truax said. Frantic, Truax drove to a gas station near the hotel where she ran into two of her daughters friends. They too acted strangely, she said. Neither person said they had seen King and suggested her mother call rehab centers and the jail to look for her. Truax checked into the LaQuinta hotel nearby where she planned to stay for the night and dialed the jail, a rehab center and four hospitals. No one had King on their list. Truax called Kings father Troy King who recommended she notify authorities. She detailed her concerns in a 17-minute phone call to dispatchers at the Collier County Sheriffs Office, giving a timeline of the afternoon and describing her daughters physical appearance. They were not dress pants, probably baggy-looking pants, blue and white. I think she had a black shirt on, I cant be positive, she said. But her hair is very short in the back and its long in the front and its curly and its black and she has caramel highlights. Dispatchers sent a deputy out to the hotel to take a full report. I did everything I could for the night, she said. The rest of the weekend unfolded slowly as Truaxs anxiety mounted. Many of her calls to the Sheriffs Office were met with resistance, she said. King was labeled a missing person and a news release went out about her Friday. But Truax said calls she made Saturday and Sunday werent responded to in a way that satisfied her. Everyone kept telling her they would circle back on Tuesday, she said, after the long Memorial Day weekend. They kept saying wed have to wait until Tuesday, she said. Truax and a friend circulated fliers about King on Saturday morning. At first, Truax couldnt remember how she spent the day Sunday. You fell apart, her mother, Margie Fogelin, reminded her. I fell apart, Truax said, remembering. On Monday, a deputy went to the hotel with her, took Kings phone as evidence and promised he would rip surveillance cameras out of the buildings if thats what it took to review the footage. Thats when I felt like someone was doing something, she said. When Tuesday rolled around, Kings father, Troy King, said he felt like he needed to do something for his own peace of mind. He told Truax he was going to look for their daughter, and she agreed to meet him. Troy King said he drove to the hotel, parked his white van and checked behind an adjacent hotel, the Super 8, following a trail that led into the woods. He saw some buzzards and noticed they were circling a body. When he got closer, he recognized a tattoo on the person and knew it was his daughter. He called Truax. Oh my God, I found her Pam, he said. I have her. We have her. Truax was just getting to the hotel when he called. She drove in circles and over medians in the parking lot and stopped near the Super 8, where she could see deputies. He told me dont come over here, you dont need to see this, Truax said. Truax believes her daughter died of an overdose and that the people she was with know more than theyre saying. She suspects Kings death might have something to do with a synthetic street drug called flakka, which causes strong hallucinations and has been responsible for a handful of deaths in Florida the past year, according to various new outlets. Flakka produces a high similar to cocaine or bath salts and users can easily overdose. Kings family has planned a memorial service at the Barefoot Boat Club in Bonita Springs on Wednesday, June 3, from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. One of her friends is raising money for the family for funeral expenses on a GoFundMe page that can be found by visiting http://tinyurl.com/heatherking. While her daughters death was unexpected and the circumstances hard to bear, Truax said a part of her is relieved she at least has Kings body back and can focus on putting her to rest. I wanted her back, she said. I didnt want to worry she was in a suitcase somewhere. Now we can all grieve and remember her and, boy, shes something to remember. She was known as Marisol, the boss' girlfriend, a recruiter and minder of the women. When federal agents dismantled a sex trafficking ring from Florida to North Carolina last week, her name appeared throughout the court documents indicting her and 12 others. Federal investigators allege in an indictment unsealed in Georgia that Marisol and others shuttled the women victims between Southeastern cities and states for prostitution. Along with her boyfriend, Joaquin Mendez-Hernandez, and another man, the trio ran the prostitution ring, U.S. attorneys will argue before a federal judge in Georgia. Marisol, whose real name is Luisa Capilla-Lancho, also was a victim of the ring. Investigators documented how her boyfriend and other alleged members of the business drove her from Savannah, Ga., to meet clients in the area and neighboring states. Antonio Mendez-Lopez, 45, a Golden Gate man also indicted, had her working in Collier County as recently as Sunday, the government alleges in an affidavit. The confluence of victim and co-conspirator is a scenario familiar to human trafficking experts. It happens 'all of the time,' said Giselle Rodriguez, state outreach coordinator for the Tampa-based Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking. 'The guys are always going to find that go-to girl. She's going to become the most trusted.' They often start out as victims, she explained, before 'moving up' in the ranks. Getting close to the ringleader can be a way to avoid even the worst abuse. A hit with an open hand instead of a fist. A bed to sleep in. Fewer threats. And there are threats ? being sent back to their home country is a common one, especially with undocumented victims as seen in the new case. The johns, Rodriguez said, 'try to find different ways to control these women. Sometimes, if it's not physical or sexual, it's isolation that helps break that person's spirit down.' At least 11 victims of the ring, which was taken down by a Department of Homeland Security-led 2-year investigation called Operation Dark Night, were passed around every 7 to 10 days between the johns indicted in the case, authorities said. The victims in Operation Dark Night were seeing 25, 30, sometimes as many as 40 clients a day for at least a week straight. A different city every week for women, especially ones not originally from the U.S., is disorienting, said Yaro Garcia, a clinical therapist who works with trafficking and abuse victims in Lee County through Abuse Counseling and Treatment, or ACT. It's also strategic. 'It helps with the confusion too of being in a foreign country and not knowing your surroundings,' Garcia said. 'You're never in a place long enough to know where you are, where the store is, where the police are. It creates even more confusion, more vulnerability for the victim.' The nomadic sex trafficking scheme is common practice now; the crime has gone mobile to avoid detection from police and maximize profits by traveling to areas of high demand. By Marisol's account in court documents, she saw more clients than any of the other women ? most, if not all, undocumented ? as a network of johns sold them like produce, sometimes to five clients for one price, known as a mano, or a hand in Spanish. It's a term used in some Latin American countries to indicate a quantity of fruit or vegetables in the market. Una mano de platanos. A handful of bananas. Prostitution was the crime organization's business, according to federal investigators. The women were commodities. Like any business, there are overhead costs. The indictment in this case lists payments for hotel rooms, food, shelter, transportation and condoms. Sex traffickers are often hyper-vigilant about their prostitutes using protection. The women aren't valuable if they are sick or pregnant, Garcia explained matter-of-factly. Clients often will be given a condom and some prostitutes are trained to yell out if he refuses to use it.Her driver, who is generally nearby, then doubles as an enforcer. 'This is a business. They know how to run it. They know how to make it work. And they're careful,' Garcia said. As part of the federal investigation, agents arrested 44 potential clients of the ring on immigration offenses. They now face an immigration judge to determine if they will be deported. As an alleged leader in the sex trafficking ring as well as a victim, Marisol's fate is uncertain. She may catch a break from federal prosecutors for cooperation because she also was used as a prostitute. The sex trafficking charges against her, her boyfriend, and other alleged co-conspirators can carry a life sentence, if convicted. The other victims in Operation Dark Night are receiving assistance, said Carissa Cutrell, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Tampa. Investigators found one victim in Collier County. The rest were in other states. Since rescued from the ring, the victims are receiving emergency medical assistance, food, and shelter, Cutrell said. ICE refers them to non-governmental social service agencies for legal help and longer-term needs, like rehabilitation. Counseling is necessary for these women, Garcia said. To understand the trauma of sex trafficking, she encourages people to rethink the terminology: the women are being trafficked, yes, but that word isn't enough. The victims in Operation Dark Night were seeing 25, 30, sometimes as many as 40 clients a day for at least a week straight. They were being sexually assaulted with each one, Garcia said. 'Just to get a perspective, if you think of that in clinical terms, one sexual assault can be a life(-altering) situation, where that person struggles for a long period of time because of that sexual assault,' she explained. 'Here we're talking about repeated sexual assaults, multiple times a day.' FILE -- 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 Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News A new case of travel-related Zika has been confirmed in Collier County, one of two new cases reported Friday by the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee. The new local case is the second in Collier since tracking began in February. The other new case involves a pregnant women and is travel related, but the state does not disclose where pregnant women who test positive for the illness reside. The statewide volume of Zika is now 160 cases, which includes 37 pregnant women. RELATED: A travel related case is where an individual was out of the country, became infected and was diagnosed with the mosquito-borne virus after returning to the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant should postpone travel to Zika affected areas, such as South America. According to CDC guidance, medical providers should consider testing all pregnant women with a history of travel to Zika affected areas. 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. Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control are examining the link between Zika and 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. For more information, go to www.FloridaHealth.gov. Kamo Areyan: Our citizens will like the monument to Garegin Nzhdeh over time (video) Deputy Mayor of Yerevan City, Kamo Areyan, hardly is able to hide the fact that the Statue of Marshal Hamazasp Babajanyan is their revenge against Hungarians who set free Azeri soldier Ramil Safarov who murdered a fellow Armenian course participant in his sleep during a NATO-sponsored training session held in Budapest in 2004. I am proud and I advise you to be look at Babajanyan with equal pride, Mr Areyan advised journalists on Friday. Asked what advice he would give to the Hungarians, the deputy mayor said, I would advise them to call Safarov back. I would give as a gift another Ramil Safarov to the Hungarians. But let us not connect the sacred name of our marshal with that name. Kamo Areyan knows that the tanks led by the Chief Marshal of the USSR armored troops, who was nicknamed Iron Black General, suppressed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 against the Communist regime. Babajanyan is the pride of our nation. I am proud that our nation had a marshal like him, Aryan said. Speaking about the sharp criticism of the Statue of prominent statesman Garegin Nzhdeh, the deputy mayor said, As soon as a statue is erected, people begin to criticize it, they like it over time as it happened in case of Arno Babajanyan. It has become customary for sculptors to be criticized by their contemporaries, the official said adding that sometimes sculptors can use their fantasy and imagination at work. Mr Areyan does not agree that both monuments would look better in cemeteries. Never confuse art with craft, he said. Golden Gate High School students and JROTC cadets Jacob Roberts, left, and Hunter Gonzales smile as they walk off stage after they were awarded the U.S. Army's highest medal of honor bestowed to cadets in training- the Medal of Heroism Thursday at Golden Gate High School. (Luke Franke/Staff) SHARE First Sergeant Craig DeJager shakes JROTC cadet Jacob Roberts hand to wish him congratulations for being awarded the U.S. Army's highest medal of honor bestowed to cadets in training- the Medal of Heroism while Collier County Public Schools superintendent Kamela Patton Thursday at Golden Gate High School. (Luke Franke/Staff) Related Photos Medal of Heroism By Melhor Leonor of the Naples Daily News Jacob Roberts thinks everyone is making a big deal out of nothing. If he had to do it again, he wouldnt hesitate. In November, a camping trip with friends found Jacob sitting on the edge of a lake when a pair of boys in the water screamed for help. We thought they were joking around until one of them went under water, Jacob, 16, said. He and a friend jumped into the water and pulled out the boys, likely saving their lives. One was tangled in some seaweed, Jacob said. When Jacob reached him, he was scared and kind of in shock, exhausted. Jacob was one of two Golden Gate Junior ROTC students awarded a Medal of Heroism on Thursday for praiseworthy fortitude and courage, said Hipolito Medina, senior Army instructor at the school. Jacobs quick response and confidence greatly contributed to saving the boys life, Medina said. But if you ask Cadet Roberts if he is a hero, he will tell you that he is not. Next to Jacob was a fellow Junior ROTC cadet Hunter Gonzales, 18, who also was awarded a Medal of Heroism. Early in the school year, Hunter and friends were driving in Golden Gate Estates when a scene caused them to stop. I noticed there was a truck stuck there for a while. There was smoke coming out, Hunter said. Hunter and his friends approached the driver, whom they recognized as a classmate, and quickly inspected the pickup. The engine was overheated. The boys shifted the pickup into neutral and pushed it off the road so it was out the way of other drivers. Shortly afterward, the whole thing was engulfed in flames. All that was left was the frame of the truck. Hunter said the medal is a recognition for action he feels proud of. I remained calm. I took control and made sure we were all working together to make sure this vehicle wouldnt endanger anyone, Hunter said. He credits his actions to the training he has received as part of Golden Gates Junior ROTC program. I became more of a leader since I came in my freshman year, Hunter said. I was kind of a goofball. They made sure I completed my academics and that I was a good student, that I wasnt anybody that was messing up and goofing around. They showed me how to serve the community. Collier County Public Schools Superintendent Kamela Patton pinned the medals to their shirts Thursday during the short ceremony attended by relatives and friends at Golden Gate High School. We are proud. Actually, proud is an understatement, said Doug Roberts, Jacobs dad. Jacob, a junior, said he hopes to continue in the schools Junior ROTC program. For Hunter, the coming year will have him starting a new stage of military training. He enlisted in the Army shortly after his 18th birthday in October and soon will head to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri to train as a military police officer. SHARE Justice system By Liz Freeman of the Naples Daily News Sarasota officials have filed a complaint against The Willough at Naples for dropping off a former patient at a Salvation Army homeless shelter in that city against the patient's will, according to documents. Sarasota City Manager Thomas Barwin said the substance abuse treatment center's actions could be criminal and the city wants an investigation of the Willough by the state Agency for Health Care Administration which licenses hospitals, according to his complaint dated Thursday. "This appears to be a major breach of ethical treatment standards which could rise to a possible criminal incident if the patient was indeed transported to a distant community against his will," the Sarasota city official said in the complaint. Jim Ignelzi, administrator of the substance abuse treatment center located at 9001 E. Tamiami Trail, was not available for comment Friday. On May 17, Sarasota police responded to a call from a homeless man, Chad Stacy, 34, at a Wendy's restaurant who said he had been in treatment at the Willough for 28 days for alcohol and substance abuse, according to the police report. Willough officials had told him May 13 that his treatment was over and he was being discharged and it was time for him to pack his belongings. Three days later on May 16, Stacy was told by Willough staff he would be taken to Sarasota. He responded he did not want to go to Sarasota, but was going to be taken there anyway, according to the report. On the way to Sarasota, Stacy told the transport van driver he did not have all of his medications. He was dropped off at a Walgreens to get refills, the report states. A few hours later, another Willough driver arrived at the Walgreens and continued to drive him to the Salvation Army. The police report does not state which Walgreens store that Stacy was dropped at to get refills. Officials at the Salvation Army homeless shelter told Stacy he would not be given a bed because he is a registered sex offender, according to the police report. After leaving the shelter and getting lost, Stacy wound up three times in three days in the emergency room at Sarasota Memorial Hospital for anxiety. A police officer took Stacy to another homeless shelter while the Salvation Army contacted his family in Ohio. The Salvation Army purchased a Greyhound bus ticket for $168 so Stacy could return to Ohio. Sarasota police spoke with a Willough employee, identified in the report only as "Ciao," who said it is common practice for the Willough "to transport people to Sarasota, Miami or Orlando because that is where the programs are located," according to the police report. The Sarasota city manager called the Willough but his calls were not returned, according to his complaint. The city manager said he was not aware if the Willough tried to prearrange a bed at the Salvation Army for Stacy. In addition to asking for an investigation, the city manager said the Willough needs to be told Sarasota does not have beds or services to care for the Willough patients discharged into the streets. The city manager also said the Salvation Army is not a mental health center or hospital. The city manager wants the Willough to pay for Sarasota's expenses relating to Stacy, and said Sarasota Memorial should also be reimbursed. "If the investigation proves questionable practices or wrongdoing, heavy fines should be levied and license revocation review considered," he said in the complaint. The Willough, an investor-owned facility substance abuse treatment center with 87 beds, has been cited in the past by the state for infractions, with two recent cases in 2015 resulting in fines of $1,000 and $3,000, according to state documents. Regarding the latest complaint, health care spokeswoman Shelisha Coleman said the agency cannot discuss specific cases. Vann Ellison, president and chief executive officer of St. Matthew's House homeless shelter in Collier County, said there has been no working relationship with the Willough for four or five years. He said the Willough is not willing to be a partner to address issues. To be accepted at St. Matthew's House, someone must be substance free and capable of self care, Ellison said. That's not been the case with patients discharged from the Willough, or the homeless shelter is not the appropriate place for former Willough patients, he said. Ellison did not know the Willough was dropping discharged patients in Sarasota, Miami or Orlando. In one of the Willough's prior cases in 2015, the state found the Willough was not reporting patient incidents within the required three days, including sexual contact between patients, physical altercations or verbal confrontations between patients, according to the state report. The case resulting in the $3,000 fine stemmed from bedbugs and the Willough failing to maintain a sanitary condition, according to state documents. In this Oct. 3, 2015 file photo, Dillon Christ, front, and Kyle Barnell paddle their canoe down a flooded street in Charleston, S.C. The U.S. government released its forecast for how many hurricanes and tropical storms are expected to form over Atlantic and Caribbean waters in the next six months. It's an annual reminder from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that coastal living comes with significant risks. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File) By Eric Staats of the Naples Daily News Florida has not been hit by a hurricane since Wilma slammed ashore near Marco Island in 2005 with winds of more than 111 mph. The message Friday from hurricane forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Don't bet predictions of a "near-normal" hurricane season will keep the lucky streak alive. NOAA predicted the coming hurricane season, which begins Wednesday, will bring 10 to 16 tropical storms, with winds of at least 39 mph. Of those, between four and eight storms could grow into hurricanes, with winds of at least 74 mph, and between one and four of those could become major hurricanes, with at least 111 mph winds. Hurricane season ends Nov. 30. While "near-normal" might sound ho-hum, it actually would mean more storms will be brewing than in the past three years, which all were below-normal years. And it only takes one. " 'Near-normal' doesn't take South Florida off the map by any stretch of the imagination," Collier Emergency Management Director Dan Summers said. The National Hurricane Center already is keeping a close eye on a patch of bad weather north of the Bahamas that likely will swirl up into a tropical storm or even a hurricane this weekend and bring rain and gusty winds to the Carolinas. RELATED: It would be named Bonnie. That would boost the 2016 storm count to two, before the season even officially starts. Alex took the "A" spot in the alphabetical list of storm names when that hurricane blew up in the mid-Atlantic in January. It quickly petered out. So global are the factors influencing tropical storm formation that NOAA's seasonal outlooks are issued by its Climate Prediction Center. The task has been challenging this year, said Gerry Bell, the center's lead seasonal hurricane forecaster. Bell sees two influences that will bear on the season. The season activity will hinge on which one wins out, he said. For starters, the last three low-activity seasons have come with a shift to cooler Atlantic Ocean temperatures that make it more difficult for hurricanes to get revved up. It's part of something called the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation, or AMO. Bell said it's too soon to say whether this shift is a blip or a more permanent condition that could usher in a new era of low-activity hurricane seasons that could last for 25 to 40 years and hasn't been seen since between 1971 and 1994. During that time, there were only two above-normal seasons and half of them were below normal. With one eye on the AMO, Bell said he also is watching the dissipating El Nino, the name for the phenomenon of warmer waters in the Pacific Ocean. As the waters cool, moving to a La Nina, atmospheric conditions over the Atlantic become more favorable to hurricanes. NOAA predicts a 70 percent chance that La Nina will be here in time for the peak months of hurricane season in August, September and October, but climate models are not clear on the strength of La Nina. Friday's outlook does not make any forecasts about the chances of any storm actually making landfall in the U.S. because that is impossible to predict accurately, Bell said. It largely depends on whether high pressure or low pressure sets up over the eastern U.S., something that is predictable only a couple weeks out, he said. Low pressure tends to curve storms northward sooner out in the Atlantic; high pressure allows storms to move further west and closer to the U.S. NBC-2 meteorologist Jason Dunning said cooler temperatures in the Atlantic could mean fewer storms coming across from Africa but more storms popping up closer to Florida. "The fact that we've gone so long that we haven't seen a hurricane, the odds are getting higher and higher that we're going to get hit with something," Dunning said. Nobody needs to tell Steve Theriault, who sells whole-house generators in Naples. His Naples Generators is growing, mainly in high-end neighborhoods where homeowners can afford the $15,000 installation, but a dearth of storms lately has other customers questioning the need for the investment. "I tell them, 'It's not if, it's when,' " Theriault said. SHARE Marco Rubio meets with Florida reporters Thursday, May 26, 2016. (Photo by Ledge King) By Ledyard King - The News-Press WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday hes set on entering private life when his term ends in January, squelching mounting speculation that he might reconsider his decision not to seek re-election. The West Miami Republican also gave what amounted to an endorsement of Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a close friend and one of five prominent Republicans vying to win Rubios seat in November. My answer today is the same one that it was when we last spoke about in the past, Rubio said. I acknowledge that people have approached me but ... Carlos is in the race. Hes a good friend. Hes a good candidate. Hell be a great senator. So my answer today is no different than it was 24, 48, 72 hours ago. Rubio has until June 24 to change his mind and file for a second term. Several prominent Republicans, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee, would like him to do just that, mindful that Rubios seat is vulnerable and could help determine whether the GOP keeps control of the Senate next year. Marco Rubio is a very valuable member of the Senate especially in his role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he demonstrates a deep understanding of foreign policy and earlier this afternoon, I strongly encouraged him to reconsider his decision and seek re-election, Corker said in a statement released Thursday by his office. Thursdays interview was Rubios first with Florida reporters since he bowed out of the presidential race in March after losing his home-state primary to businessman Donald Trump. The interview in Rubios Capitol Hill office came just hours after the Associated Press said Trump had secured the 1,237 delegates needed to lock up the nomination. I understand the argument and the people who are coming forward and asking me to reconsider are people I respect and enjoy serving with, Rubio said. But Ive got a really good friend running for the Senate who I think is a good candidate, who I think gives us a really good chance to win if he were to be nominated. Lopez-Cantera is running against GOP Reps. Ron DeSantis and David Jolly, as well as businessmen Carlos Berruf and Todd Wilcox for the nomination. Floridas primary is Aug. 30. Rubio also touched on other topics, including: -- His loss to Trump in Floridas primary. Its very simple. I offered a clear vision of the future and the direction for our country, and the voters wanted something different. That happens in campaigns. It happens all the time. Its not like I feel we lost. Donald Trump won. He made his argument and as unconventional as (he was), voters chose that direction. It was not our year. It wasnt our time. -- His decision to back Trump, despite the harsh rhetoric the real estate mogul directed at him on the campaign trail. He happens to be substantially better than (Democratic presidential frontrunner) Hillary Clinton. I want Obamacare repealed. Donald Trump will sign the repeal of Obamacare. She wont. I want the successor to Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court to be a conservative. I believe thats the kind of judge that hell appoint. I know she wont. I want someone that will defend life. I know he will and she wont. So when you look at some of the issues I care about deeply, hes way better than she is. -- His active pace since returning to the Senate in March. Its not part of a rehabilitation (tour). If I wasnt doing this, people would say, Well, what are you doing in the last six months? Youre coasting. And Ive never coasted on anything, I came back to work and Im enjoying it. SHARE Lee Memorial Health System When Lee County's largest health care provider, one that controls 95 percent of the acute care hospital beds, receives a poor performance rating from the U.S. government and its largest health care customer, federally supported Medicare, there is reason for concern among patients and the community. When Lee Memorial Health System (LMHS) administrators voluntarily announced the one-star rating (out of five) from the first-of-its-kind government rating to its board and the public, Jim Nathan, president and CEO of LMHS, told The News-Press and Naples Daily News editorial boards recently he was "emotionally devastated" to be told by the system's largest payer that "you are toast." The ratings were a shock and disappointment for thousands who depend on the health system for the best patient care possible. The system was smart to get out ahead of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) public report of hospitals across the country, originally planned for April but now scheduled for July. It was important for transparency, but also for how the system plans to make improvements and LMHS appears to be doing that now. Proactive Despite whatever flaws this rating system might have how old the data used might have been, how it differs from other, more favorable reviews by other rating systems used by LMHS this is not a time for the health system to get defensive and make excuses. Nathan and his administrative leaders have not circled the wagons. Instead, they recognize there are areas where CMS was most critical through data collected from Medicare billing high number of readmissions, poor reports of patient experience and safety of care where they can focus and make improvements. LMHS, made up of its four acute care hospitals and many outpatient facilities, will never quiet all of its critics who believe any health entity, or for that matter any business, that has a monopoly in its community can jack up prices, produce enormous revenue numbers and allow customer service to slip. LMHS, one of the largest not-for-profit, public health systems in the country, also battles other issues not facing most health systems across the country. Florida ranks second in the country and Lee second in the state for the number of uninsured patients treated daily. Those costs can be transferred to those with private insurance. "You can complain or take inventory and find opportunities for improvement," Nathan told the editorial boards. This is a test, one of the biggest and most important the health system has faced. It must pass with flying colors to restore any lost trust among those fearful of what a rating system like this means. Other rating systems have been complimentary. For example, Healthgrades ranked Lee Memorial and HealthPark Medical Center among the 50 best in the country the top 1 percent for quality of care. But the CMS rating system is the benchmark because 70 percent of LMHS patients use Medicare. It's a high number, but the reality. The data used was consistent with data received from all other hospitals across the country, including NCH Healthcare System in Naples, which announced it received a three-star rating. Complex formula CMS uses a complicated system to rate hospitals, measuring 62 criteria. The rating system prompted complaints and it was reported CMS tweaked the formula as a result. Under the rating system, four areas each accounted for 22 percent of the total safety of care, patient experience, readmissions and mortality. For one, the patient experience score seems flawed. A hospital must receive the top score a 9 or 10 from surveyed patients; no points are awarded for an 8 or lower. LMHS had plenty of 9s and 10s, but many 8s, dropping its overall score below the necessary number to improve its star rating. LMHS and Nathan know top scores are within reach, and they must work with physicians and others who come in contact with a patient to improve that score. LMHS also knows it must be transparent in presenting those improvements. Health is its primary concern and the community needs to believe and trust in the system's mission. The News-Press SHARE Jane Forsthoff, Naples Marjory's legacy I have been rereading "The Everglades: River of Grass" by Marjory Stoneman Douglas and wishing that all Floridians and visitors here might have the same wonderful experience. Written in 1947, it describes "a river seventy miles wide flowing through saw grass to the sea, rich in wildlife." It also includes "a human history of the area spanning a millennium from ancient Indian cultures to modern times." The book ends with her comments on the present and threatened future of the Everglades. After she finished writing the book, her concerns deepened, and she became the country's leading advocate for caring for her beloved Everglades, founding "Friends of the Everglades" and working hard through good times and bad until she passed away at age 108. On May 14, I read in the Naples Daily News an article that I knew would have made her rejoice, and I rejoiced with her: "U.S. Senate bills: $126 million for Everglades, estuaries OK'd." A few seconds later in the same paper, I read that permission has been granted to a Texas oil company to look for oil in the Big Cypress National Preserve on the edge of the 'Glades. (They do have to agree to try to lessen environmental damage by having their trucks work around colonies of birds and nests of endangered species, etc.) How ironic! The juxtaposition of these two articles seems to be a clarion call to do all we can to enhance her legacy. SHARE John Delaroche, Naples What LGBT agenda? Joseph Doyle's recent letter "LGBT agenda" contained a lot of specific information about the U.S. Department of Education, about GLSEN and about President Obama's distortion of federal law Title IX. My retired gay husband and I hoped we were finally going to find out the details of exactly what the gay agenda is so it can be exposed for public safety. Whenever we meet with our gay friends who are also retired from professions such as medical doctors, executive VPs, clinical social workers and a vast array of other productive careers, we all ask one another if anyone has yet found the pamphlet we've all been looking for throughout our lives so we can make sure it's handed down to the next generation. One of our gay male friends is recently retired from a 35-year career as a kindergarten teacher in a small town in northern Vermont. We asked to see his lesson plan for promoting homosexuality. Surely if he missed pushing his agenda early in his career, he might at least have had a second chance when these now-grown adults brought their own children to his classroom. My daughter-in-law is also a career kindergarten teacher. She has yet to explain how she promotes homosexuality to her kids. She has hidden her fear of prosecution unless she promotes the gay "lifestyle." She endures as she is constantly (as stated in the letter) "intimidated into forcing students to accept perversity" "under the guise of the 'anti-bullying' campaign permeating our schools today." How else can we force students to accept a perverse lifestyle that leads students into sexually transmitted diseases and early death? Please, Mr. Doyle, the public looks to you to provide the facts. Submitted photo. SHARE Submitted photo. Submitted photo. By Patrick Riley of the Naples Daily News A crash involving a motorcyclist and another driver temporarily shut down all northbound lanes on U.S. 41 near Alico Road, according to the San Carlos Park fire district. The motorcyclist was injured and transported to a nearby hospital, said Alexis Rothring, public information officer with the fire district. The driver of the other vehicle was not hurt and refused treatment, she said. The accident happened around 9:20 a.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol. FHP shut down all northbound lanes on U.S. 41 northbound between Michael G. Rippe Parkway and Alico Road for about 30 or 45 minutes, Rothring said. All lanes opened back up shortly after 10 a.m., she said. Opinion: Should Armenians ever appear under Azerbaijani rule, they will kill them all (video) Over 660 000 Armenians lived in the Soviet Azerbaijan but today the Armenian authorities are not talking about their rights, Mariam Avagyan, a representative of Congress of refugees from the Azerbaijan SSR, said during a discussion organized at the Modus Vivendi Centre. Our authorities were subjected to external pressure from the first day and did everything to make the process natural. These people were deprived of their former passports and given RA citizenship instead. In this context, Mariam Avagyan also spoke about the Madrid Principles. There is no single word about the rights of Armenians living in the Soviet Azerbaijan in the document. Expert of Nakhichevan studies Argam Ayvazyan added in turn, More than 27 000 Armenian monuments, monasteries and churches were leveled to the ground but Armenia failed to condemn the vandalism committed by Azerbaijan. Armenians of Nakhichevan, I am speaking of the 3000 people of 1988, made part of Armenians in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan had the highest autonomy, it was a sovereign state. Today, they do not kill Armenians because there are no Armenians there. Should Armenians ever appear under Azerbaijani rule, they will kill all of them, said Ara Papian, Head of the Modus Vivendi Centre. The participants of the discussion agreed that the 660 000 Armenians who lived in Azerbaijan had both property and territorial rights, and Artsakh should raise the issue. Miami's crop of new condo towers, built with big deposits from Latin American buyers and lots of marketing glitz, are opening with many owners heading for the exits. A third of the units in some newly built high-rises are back on the market, though most are listed for more than their owners paid in the pre-construction phase. At the current sales pace, it would take 29 months to sell the 3,397 condominiums available in the downtown area, according to South Florida development tracker CraneSpotters.com. With the U.S. dollar strong, South American investors who piled into the downtown Miami market after the real estate crash are now trying to unload their recently built condos, adding inventory to an area where 8,000 units are under construction and nine towers were completed since the end of 2013. Some are offering homes at a loss as demand cools. Condo purchases from January through April slid 25% from a year earlier, while the average price fell 6% on a per-square-foot basis, CraneSpotters data show. "The problem is that investors are no longer buying, and now they're going to be looking to sell," said Jack McCabe, a housing consultant based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. "And what buyers are going to replace those other than vulture buyers looking for deals?" Investors have much more at stake than the speculators who walked away from deals in last decade's crash and left the market with thousands of unsold homes. In the latest construction boom, projects required cash deposits of as much as 60%, and contracts had stiff cancellation penalties. Because owners of condos in new towers signed contracts over the course of a couple years, it's difficult to know how many made purchases at prices above today's values, said William Hardin, a professor of finance and real estate at Florida International University in Miami. "The people who bought at the beginning are probably below where the market is today, but some bought later, at higher prices," he said. After several price cuts, one Brazilian owner at Related Group's new Icon Bay tower is offering his two-bedroom condo for $539,000, 7% less than he paid in July. It's now one of 100 listings in the 299-unit building. "We are now the most affordable unit in Icon," said listing agent Anthony Giuffrida of Elite International Realty. "To sell it quick, you have to put it at the right price." Sellers need to be patient because the worst time to sell is right after a building opens, especially in "decorator-ready" projects where owners must install flooring and finishes and "elevators are overused, there is construction traffic, etc.," said Jorge Perez, founder of Miami-based Related Group, one of South Florida's most prolific developers. So far, only a couple Icon Bay owners have sold units without making a profit -- probably due to personal financial circumstances, he said. "When this happens, pricing is affected, particularly in a market that is not booming," Perez wrote in an e-mail. "Miami's market has slowed down (but is definitely still active) and sellers need to have the necessary patience to let the project mature and the market to rebound as it has always done in the past." The strong rental market is giving many would-be sellers the opportunity to cover their costs. But there's also a flood of new, professionally managed apartments under construction. And apartment vacancies in the downtown Miami area rose to 11.8% in the first quarter, double the rate two years earlier, according to property-data provider Reis Inc. "The ticking time bomb is based on rental rates," said Peter Zalewski, owner of CraneSpotters. "When some of the foreign investors sitting on the sidelines have to dig into their pockets and subsidize renters, that's the fuse that will lead to a correction." At Faena House, the new Miami Beach tower known for its billionaire residents, those with units on the market include Apollo Global Management LLC founder Leon Black, investor Ken Griffin and former Saks Inc. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Sadove, who recently lowered his asking price by almost 11% to $12.95 million. Some sellers still will make a profit after cutting their prices, said Mark Zilbert, managing broker at the Miami office of Brown Harris Stevens. The exchange rate provides a buffer for some foreign investors. In the past three years, the Brazilian real has fallen 43% against the U.S. dollar, and the Venezuelan bolivar declined 37%. Many owners are viewing the new towers with a sense of disappointment because they may not look as fabulous as they did in renderings, and prices haven't risen as much as they expected, Zilbert said. "There's always a glitzy selling process that happens, and they believe it," he said. "They don't think about the economy -- they think about the building and how wonderful it will be." Manageable Inventory While some new towers have a large number of condos being flipped by their owners, an inventory glut will be mitigated by minimal competition from developers, who have a majority of their units under contract, data from Miami's Downtown Development Authority show. "The inventory under construction is manageably pre-sold, and the pipeline of new projects in reservations and contracts is shrinking," according to an authority report prepared by Integra Realty Resources Inc. analysts. "Investors, bankers and developers are rightfully approaching the market with caution, and a heightened sense of the need for better due diligence." Of 14 new Miami towers from downtown to Sunny Isles, the share of resale listings ranged from about 7% at MyBrickell tower to about 40% at 400 Sunny Isles, according to a report this month by Andrew Stearns, founder of StatFunding.com, which provides residential mortgages for foreign nationals. A healthy building should have no more than about 10% of its units up for resale at any given time, Zalewski said. "The concern is we're in a price-discovery phase, and the prices people are trying to get for their condos is a lot higher than the market will bear," Stearns said. "That may signal a coming price correction." CALIFORNIA IRVINE CoreLogic has named James Balas as chief financial officer. Balas, who has been the company's senior vice president finance, controller and principal accounting officer since September 2012, assumes the role from Frank Martell. Martell, the company's chief operating officer since June 2014, has also been chief financial officer since August 2011. Balas joined CoreLogic in March 2011 as senior vice president, controller and principal accounting officer. Martell, in his capacity as COO, will continue to lead CoreLogic's core operating segments as well as its enterprise data management, information technology and corporate development organizations. NEBRASKA OMAHA Terry Connealy has been named president of the newly formed Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, a joint venture of Mutual of Omaha Bank and Dallas-based residential mortgage lender PrimeLending. Connealy has more than 15 years of experience in the mortgage banking industry, most recently serving as executive vice president of mortgage banking at Mutual of Omaha Bank. NEW JERSEY MOUNT LAUREL PHH Home Loans, a joint venture between PHH Mortgage and Realogy Holdings Corp, appointed John Porath to the role of regional executive for the Southeast. Based in Clearwater, Fla., he will be responsible for the production, profitability and overall performance for the Southeast Region, encompassing seven states and the District of Columbia. In his most recent role as vice president, regional sales manager for Citizens Bank, he held direct oversight and responsibility for retail mortgage lending in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE MiMutual Mortgage has hired John Stevens as national vice president of business development. In his new role, Stevens will be responsible for advancing MiMutual's national retail growth. Having more than 12 years in the mortgage industry, he was previously with Mountain West Financial and Bank of England. TEXAS HOUSTON Envoy Mortgage has hired Joel Cambern and Joe Tako as regional vice presidents for the Northwest and Southwest retail lending regions, respectively. Cambern is based in the Seattle area and manages the Northwest region, which includes Envoy's Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana branches. He joins Envoy from Bank of America, where he served as vice president for home loans. Tako is based in Irvine, Calif., and is responsible for Envoy's presence in Southern California, Arizona and Hawaii. He has been in mortgage lending since 1991, when he joined Home Savings as a loan originator. VIRGINIA TYSONS CORNER First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. said that Van Evans has joined the company as regional sales manager in the correspondent division. Evans brings to the firm 17 years of mortgage industry experience. Prior to joining FGMC, he was the division vice president of correspondent sales at Finance of America Mortgage, and a correspondent rural housing account executive at Chase. Are you a mortgage professional who recently changed jobs? Let us know! Send your announcement and photo (if available) to Glenn McCullom at glenn.mccullom@sourcemedia.com. The largest banks are dumping their holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt, and it's contagious. It turns out small banks have been doing the same thing. GSE bonds at all U.S. banks (excluding mortgage-backed securities) fell from $213.5 billion, or 1.47% of total assets, in the third quarter of 2013, to $152.3 billion, or 0.93%, in this year's first quarter, according to data compiled by BankRegData.com. That is the lowest level in the past decade. Big banks' motivation is easy to pinpoint: the need to comply with recent federal liquidity regulations that are supposed to improve large financial institutions' odds of withstanding the next financial crisis. What's driving community banks to follow their lead is murkier since those rules do not apply to small players. Yet the impact on all banks is clear. Though the bond sales are lessening systemic risk in the eyes of regulators, they are cutting into profits at a time when banks are hard-pressed for growth. Meanwhile, Fannie and Freddie could see the cost of debt issuances rise if the drop in demand from banks remains pronounced. Fannie and Freddie debt traditionally has offered higher yields than other securities, but other factors have made them less desirable, said Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics. Since the passage of the liquidity coverage ratio requirement almost two years ago, many institutions have steadily unloaded ownership of debt obligations issued by Fannie, Freddie and other government-sponsored enterprises because of the way GSE debt is scored in the liquidity equation. The factors of concern to banks include how the quality of the obligations is judged, and their higher risk weighting, Petrou said. Those considerations, combined with other new rules meant to prevent banks from being overly leveraged, mean "the capital cost of [GSE] paper is generally higher," she said. GSE-issued obligations receive only 80% credit as high-quality liquid assets in the Fed's liquidity coverage ratio, said Marty Mosby, an analyst at Vining Sparks. U.S. Treasuries, on the other hand, get 100% credit. Regulators in September 2014 approved the LCR, which was designed to provide banks with enough liquid assets to cover a sudden funding crisis. The rule, written by federal regulators, is a tougher version of the LCR developed by the international Basel Committee. The rule applies only to banks and bank holding companies with at least $50 billion of assets; those above $250 billion of assets must adhere to an even tougher rule. Some of the biggest banks have therefore rushed to the exits. JPMorgan Chase held about $3.3 billion of GSE securities in the third quarter of 2013, but reduced its holdings to just $36 million in the first quarter. Bank of America and Capital One Financial hold no GSE debt. The same is true for at least 30 other large banks, including the Citizens Financial Group in Providence, R.I., and M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y. Among banks with at least $50 billion in assets, GSE-issued obligations made up about 0.36% of total assets at March 31. Smaller banks rely more heavily on GSE debt to generate yield. For banks with less than $50 million in assets, they were about 6.2% of total assets. For those with assets of $50 million to $99 million, they were about 5.8%. The shift out of GSE paper may have helped larger banks meet liquidity requirements, but in some cases they have hurt returns. Wells Fargo's return on assets "has been migrating downward since" the second quarter of 2014 for a number of reasons, including the liquidity coverage ratio, Scott Siefers, an analyst at Sandler O'Neill, said in a Wednesday research note. Wells Fargo's ROA has declined from 1.45% in the second quarter of 2014 to 1.16% in this year's first quarter. Even more surprising, some smaller banks have also unloaded GSE debt despite the potential to lower yields and returns. For example, during the first quarter the $1.6 billion-asset Moody Bancshares in Galveston, Texas, sold all of its $7.9 million in GSE bonds, and the $759 million-asset Wayne Bank in Honesdale, Pa., unloaded its $9.2 million holding. In the third quarter, the $814 million-asset First Federal Bank of Louisiana in Lake Charles sold its entire $24.9 million position. That may be a case of smaller institutions taking a copycat approach to what the larger banks are doing, said Bob Mahoney, chief executive of the $1.9 billion-asset Belmont Savings Bank in Massachusetts. "The asset thresholds don't mean that much," Mahoney said. Belmont has not owned GSE-issued paper since 2012. "Regulators start talking about these rules in examinations, even at smaller banks. And it starts evolving down to lower-asset banks as a type of best practice." If a small bank is struggling with liquidity requirements, such as having too small a portion of its securities portfolio in cash or cash equivalents, it might "shift to government bonds and out of Fannies and Freddies to win some Brownie points," Mahoney said. Then there are some banks that have seen their GSE holdings disappear for reasons beyond their control. The $1.7 billion-asset Union County Savings Bank in Elizabeth, N.J., sold its entire $1.1 billion portfolio of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities some time during the first quarter. Union County had held at least $1 billion of GSE debt in its securities portfolio since the first quarter of 2013. The Fannie and Freddie bonds were redeemable and the agencies called the bank's entire position during the quarter, said Donald Sims, the bank's CEO. "It was not something intentional on our part," Sims said. Incenter Mortgage Advisors is brokering the sale of a $1.4 billion Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bulk residential mortgage servicing rights portfolio. An unnamed independent mortgage banker is selling the portfolio. Bids for the portfolio are due by June 7. The portfolio has no delinquencies. Sixty percent of the loans are located in Texas. Nearly two-thirds of the portfolio's loans were originated through retail channels, and the loans are 24 months old, on average. The weighted average coupon for the package is 3.709%, slightly above prevailing market rates (30-year fixed rates averaged 3.64% in Freddie's most recent primary market survey). Last Bell: School leavers admit that they collected money On May 27, the Last Bell rang for school leavers in Armenia but more modestly than it was done in previous years. Ceremonies in schools started with a moment of silence for the soldiers killed on the Karabakh frontline during the April clashes. School leavers of Getashen village in Armavir province were very excited. Minister of Education and Science personally visited them to congratulate on the occasion. The problem of money collection at schools was again raised on the eve of the academic year. School leavers confess that they have collected money but on their own initiative. "We, Armenians, love luxuries, everyone wants their children to have a good look on this day. Our class has collected a small amount of money, says Mary Harutyunyan. The Ministry of Education and Science cannot forbid children from celebrating the occasion; it can only repeat that fundraising is forbidden at schools and urge parent to collect the minimum sum which is necessary for their children to be happy. This process resembles New Year's Eve parties when people lay abundant tables; we should be more modest. According to the Transparency International Anticorruption Centre, the fundraising is done for school principals, school-leaving parties or examinations. The Ministry has set up a special committee to study the issue. However, the minister believes they need time to solve the problem completely We cannot solve the problem by boasting that we have punished and whipped those who collect money. The minimum amount collected from each pupil amounts 60-70 thousand drams. Explosive remnants of war pose a significant threat to local populations in eastern Ukraine, and the authorities are making a great effort to defuse them. To help counter this growing threat, on behalf of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme and in close cooperation with the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, transferred valuable equipment to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU). As a result of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, explosive remnants of war (ERW), such as landmines, artillery, munitions and booby traps, have been left behind in communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Based on an urgent request for assistance by Ukraine, a fact-fining mission was organised by the SPS Programme in close cooperation with the NSPA. The experts concluded that the immediate requirement was to replace the equipment lost by the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams of the SESU in eastern Ukraine. In order to safeguard the civilian population and allow the return of displaced persons in the affected regions, the SPS Programme in 2015 initiated the project Support to Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine with a budget of approximately Euro 1 million. Through enhancing the capacity of the SESU in conducting demining operations in eastern Ukraine, a significant step will be taken in allowing more effective clearance and reducing the time needed to clear affected areas. A high-level ceremony attended by Ambassador Sorin Ducaru and Mr Mykola Chechotkin, Head of the SESU, marked the successful hand-over of valuable demining equipment to the SESU. Ambassador Ducaru stressed the importance of this project. In response to the conflict in Ukraine, cooperation between the SPS Programme and Ukraine has been enhanced significantly. The project in support of humanitarian demining in Ukraine has brought about tangible results, positively benefitting local populations and helping Ukraine to cope with the results of the ongoing conflict, he emphasised. Responding to immediate threats As a result of the conflict in Ukraine, significant territories in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, around 7,000 square kilometres (700,000 hectares), have been contaminated with explosive items and require humanitarian demining from mines and shells, Mr Chechotkin explained. The NATO SPS project will significantly improve the safety of deminers while performing the works on humanitarian demining, he continued. This SPS flagship project will train and equip the teams with modern technologies of detection and clearance as well as associated specialist training so that the SESU can cope with the challenges stemming from a high-threat environment. The goal is to provide four SESU EOD teams with an operational capability and mobility, explains Dr Eyup Turmus, SPS Advisor. We are providing the SESU with equipment such as dual sensor mine detectors, deep search and bomb locators as well as individual personal protection equipment and EOD suits, he elaborated. In order to familiarise the SESU EOD teams with the new equipment, additional equipment-specific operator training courses will be conducted. Twenty-two EOD personnel will also receive reconnaissance training, which includes the investigation, detection and reporting of explosive ordnance for effective clearance in a short period of time. Polysorbate 80, when injected into muscle tissue, causes anaphylactic shock Prevnar contains nearly 24 strains of pneumonia, diphtheria, and streptococcus infectious bacteria an unpredictable combination Both pneumonia vaccines used in the U.S. today contain over 12 live strains of pneumonia bacteria (NaturalNews) The "proper name" of the pneumonia vaccine is pneumococcal, as printed on the package insert by the manufacturer, along with the list of growth mediums and some very scary processing ingredients, which, for some reason, are not in order of quantity. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals' version of the super pneumonia jab is called Prevnar , and it is brewed in a broth you won't believe, which may just explain all those allergies you have, or your children have, so get ready.Start with a soy peptone broth, move on to ammonium sulfate, and always add some aluminum phosphate as an "adjuvant" (secret vaccine industry word for toxic bacteria and virus carrier ). Let's talk about this ammonium sulfate that the vaccine industry thinks everyone is too lazy to research. Ammonium sulfate is an inorganic salt that contains 21 percent nitrogen, and has commercial uses, such as a soil fertilizer, agricultural spray "adjuvant," and for spreading deadly glyphosate herbicide (namely Roundup) all over planet earth. Ammonium sulfate is flame retardant, and increases combustion temperature of material. It was once generally used as a wood preservative, but that was largely discontinued because of associated problems with metal fastener corrosion. Oh, but forget that, because it's used in most CDC-approved vaccines! The next vastly popular vaccine ingredient to be researched and synthesized is polysorbate 80. Again, get ready.Many vaccines contain polysorbate 80, which can cause anaphylactic shock. Add this to the long list of disastrous effects of immunizations. Polysorbate 80 is a chemical found in most flu shots and the highly controversial HPV vaccines where "coincidentally" there is a large statistical history of teenage girls going into anaphylactic shock, losing use of their limbs, and slipping into comas. Go figure. German researchers figured out why, but the CDC won't tell America. Here's why: Polysorbate 80 is a solubilizing agent able to cause severe nonimmunologic anaphylactoid reactions by suppressing your immune system while causing a severe allergic reaction and this combination of events can kill you Yes, this is the same polysorbate 80 that you find in creams, soaps, shampoos, medical preparations, vitamin oils, ice cream, yogurt and even "anti-cancer" agents. Since the early 1990s, scientists havethat injecting polysorbate 80 causes infertility in mammals. Baby female rats experienced accelerated maturation, hormonal changes, decreased weight of the uterus and ovaries, and degenerative follicles. If that's not enough for you to say no to the pneumonia vaccines, consider this: Theis actually developing a vaccine that deliberately damages fertilityas a method of contraception. Take one wild guess what "preferred" chemical ingredient they're using to help with this agenda? That's right ... polysorbate 80.The science trolls love to speak in terms that laymen won't understand but might appreciate, in hopes of the masses of "sheeple" taking all CDC-recommended toxic injections without objection. You'll hear science terms thrown around the internet to impress the questioning patients for example: antibody serum, ion-exchange chromatography, conjugates, or protein ratios but nothing else matters when your health safety is on the line, considering all the chemicals loaded into these shots.On the vaccine information statements page of the main CDC website, updated as of November 5, 2015, it says the following about pneumococcal vaccine PCV13:"Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine: What you need to know," and "Why get vaccinated?" They warn you that anyone with allergies to diphtheria toxoid should "not get PCV13." What about if you, your children, your parents or grandparents are allergic to injecting aluminum and polysorbate 80 inwith 20 combinations oftoxoid bacteria, whose toxicity has been "inactivated" or "suppressed" by chemical or heat treatment?Here's another little disclaimer, in case you haven't heard enough: "Young children who get PCV13 along with inactivated flu vaccine at the same time may be at increased risk for seizures caused by fever." Who knows this?Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV) is jabbed into adults, and contains 23 strains of live (dormant) bacteria. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) is jabbed into children as young as 2and contains 13 strains of live bacteria.The CDC wants you to jab your child three times with this concoction before six months of age. Reported reactions include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, asthma,, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Yes, pneumonia is listed as a side effect . That's how dumb they think we are.Then they throw in a little sales line for mothers: "Your body shielded your baby in the womb; vaccines help shield your baby by preventing disease." But we dug deeper and found that they admit the vaccine doesn't work for adults.Published under Pfizer's web page states : "In adults, an antipolysaccharide binding antibody IgG level to predict protection against invasive pneumococcal disease or non-bacteremic pneumonia has not been defined." Oops.Here's a personal horror story about the pneumonia vaccine : A major hospital in Virginia offered to give Prevnar to a 70-year-old woman during herof recovery from major surgery (three-hour upper-arm reconstruction surgery, including rods, pins, screws, wires and 50 staples to sew it all up). It could have killed her, but fortunately she said no.When you mix viruses, you lose complete control of toxicity factor. As noted byregarding toxic vaccines dating back to the Polio vaccine: "Most viruses, though, especially when combined in the same inoculation, are highly unpredictable, and the theory of vaccines being safe goes out the window from the start." GOP uses Zika to ease pesticide regulations for chemical companies More aerial spraying for mosquitoes could mean more autism (NaturalNews) While the rest of the world awakens to the damaging effects of pesticide pollution , officials in the U.S. are working to allow more pesticides into our water supplies. The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to loosen already weak pesticide regulations in a purported effort to combat the spread of the Zika virus. The latest version of the bill is called the Zika Control Act.Opponents of the legislation say it's being pushed for other reasons. Democrats, who largely voted against the legislation, have accused the GOP of passing the bill through deceptively, saying it's already been considered (and rejected) five times under four different "guises," according toThey argue it will remove important protections instated by the Clean Water Act . If the legislation becomes law, pesticide applicators will be allowed to dump pesticides into bodies of water without a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . They will not have to report the contamination, either.Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) said that adding more pesticides to water would threaten pregnant women the same group the GOP claims to be protecting from Zika."I am very concerned about the effect of these pesticides on the health of our rivers, on our streams, and especially the drinking water supplies of all our citizens, including pregnant women," said Napolitano.Researchers with U.S. Geological Survey recently reported that 90 percent of urban streams are contaminated with pesticides above the allowable limit for aquatic life, compared to only 50 percent in the decade prior.Also criticizing the GOP is Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who says conservatives are using Zika to pass legislation designed to benefit chemical companies.Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), the bill's sponsor, says it will remove "duplicative and unnecessary permitting regulation" that has restricted government's efforts to spray for mosquitoes.But opponents say it would not give regulators more flexibility for spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes, because vector control agencies already have the authority to do so in emergency situations. In the event of the spread of infectious disease, pesticide applicators do not need to apply for a permit."Rebranding legislation that removes important Clean Water Act protections for public health and water quality is not an appropriate avenue for addressing the serious threat to the Nation that the Zika virus poses," said White House officials.reports that for several years now, lawmakers have tried to use pest management as an excuse to ease permit requirements for pesticide applicators. Prior to Zika , lawmakers capitalized on the perceived threat of the West Nile virus to try and ease pesticide regulations."When we were having West Nile, they called it a West Nile bill. Then, when we were having a bad fire season, they called it a Fire Suppression Act," DeFazio said on the House floor.Regulators' decision to permit more aerial spraying for mosquitoes could have dire consequences, as new research has linked the practice to an increase in autism.Scientists said in April at the Pediatric Academic Societies that the effort to decrease birth-defects caused by mosquito-borne viruses may actually be causing more birth defects.Researchers observed a 25 percent increase in autism and developmental disorders among children living in areas where aerial spraying for mosquitoes has been used since 2003,reported. An appeals court on Thursday lifted a temporary restraining order that had prevented New York City from enforcing a rule that is intended to discourage servings of sodium-laden meals at restaurants. Under the rule, large restaurant chains must post on menus a salt shaker icon next to menu items containing more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium, the recommended daily limit for sodium intake. New Yorkers deserve to know a whole days worth of sodium could be in one menu item, and too much sodium could lead to detrimental health problems, like high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement in response to the ruling. I am pleased with the Appellate Divisions decision allowing enforcement of a common sense regulation that will help New Yorkers make better decisions and lead healthier lives." The National Restaurant Association (NRA) challenged the rule, contending the New York City Board of Health didnt have authority to impose the requirement. The association also argued the regulation was arbitrary and capricious" and filled with irrational exclusions and nonsensical loopholes." In February, a Manhattan judge upheld the rule. NRA appealed, and a judge with the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court granted a request for a temporary restraining order, which prohibited enforcement of the rule pending a decision on a request for a preliminary injunction. Michael Jacobson, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), lauded Thursdays ruling denying NRAs request for the injunction and called for the restaurant group to drop its case. The NRA shouldnt wait for strike three, but should drop its meritless lawsuit and start working with their New York City members to provide their customers with the health information they deserveand then get to work actually lowering sodium," he said in a statement. The NRA said it is continuing to appeal the case. Christin Fernandez, a spokesperson for the association, said in a Newsday article that the ruling will force the men and women that own New York Citys restaurants to start complying with this unlawful and unprecedented sodium mandate before the court has the chance to rule on the merits of our appeal." In 2014, NRA and other groups were successful in challenging a ban in New York City on large sugary drinks. NutraScience Labs, Inc. was recognized as a Stevie Awards winner in the 2016 American Business Awards (ABA) competition on Monday, May 2. This is the firms first set of awards since it acquired Nutricap Labs book of contract manufacturing business in February of 2015. More than 3,400 nominations for organizations across multiple industries were submitted for consideration. Stevie Award winners were selected by a panel of more than 250 executives and professionals from around the world, whose average scores determined the winners. NutraScience Labs took home honors in the Health Products and Service Company of the Year" and Management Team of the Year categories." 2016 Stevie winners will be presented with awards during a gala event on June 20 in New York. Also honored in May was Gnosis, which was awarded Finished Product of the Year" in the medical food category during NutraIngredients Awards 2016 at Vitafoods Europe in Geneva, May 10 to 12, for XaQuil XR by XYMOGEN. The independent 10-person judging panel evaluated innovation, research and the ability to recognize and fill a gap in the healthy product sector. XaQuil XR by XYMOGEN is a medical food formulated with Gnosis' Quatrefolic, and used as an adjunctive treatment for depression. XaQuil XR fulfills the emergent scientific demand that has compelled psychiatrists to consider augmenting traditional antidepressants with the medical food L-methylfolate. Quatrefolic in XaQuil XR is the glucosamine salt of the 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF), the metabolic active form of folate. After a massive factory fire in Revesby, New South Wales, two men received serious injuries. Neighbors near the factory heard explosions as the fire spread, more than 100 firefighters were called to Fitzpatrick St, Revesby, about 3.55 P.M. Two men were injured after battling the huge fire, which reportedly started at the rear of a car at 4:OO PM, later on, it consumed a car wrecking yard on Fitzpatrick Street, a gym, and 80m x 80m factory. When the firefighters arrived, the fire spread to two adjoining buildings, according to Fire and Rescue NSW spokeswoman. Within a minute the firefighter arrived, the blaze quickly became huge and there were "multiple explosions." "The firefighters' focus is on stopping the fire from spreading to other factories," the spokeswoman told News.com.au. Two fire crews got serious burns on their faces as they fight blaze, one of them also burnt on his arms. Both of them were taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with a police escort. The pair were reportedly carrying a gas cylinder when it exploded in their faces. Meanwhile, a witness saw one of the men run naked as his clothes burnt away. "The other man started to scream, 'Call two ambulance,' " the witness said in a report by SMH. People from the area were forced to evacuate as fire crews fought the blaze. As of writing this article, the main cause of the fire is not yet known. At 6:00 P.M., the fire had been contained, but was expected to continue burn for several hours, Daily Mail reports. Roads in Revesby and south-west Sydney have been heavily affected by the fire, thus causing large delays. EgyptAir flight 804 went missing and later on believed to crash into the Mediterranean sea for reasons still unknown. Rigorous search operations are being done to recover parts of the wreckage and bodies of passengers aboard the plane. Aside from investigating the cause of the crash, forensic experts need to deploy every means possibly to identify the remains of the passengers, Today, the only possible solution to help name the victims is by comparing their DNA to their relatives. An Australian News organization reported that an Egyptian forensic official said there were about 80 pieces of human remains recovered. Because the remains are missing some important body parts such as the heads, the only logical way to identify the victims is through DNA testing. "Body parts arrived at the morgue yesterday and other body parts arrived the day before yesterday," said EgyptAir head, Safwat Masalam in an interview. The remains arrived in Cairo where experts are currently performing DNA testing. The passengers' family members are also arriving in Cairo to give DNA samples where the results from the victims' tests will be compared. In DNA testing, the molecule DNA is examined to identify similar genetic code which dictates the traits of a person like an eye color. Most genetic markers of related individuals will match. Most of the recovered body parts have evident burn marks, according to a report by the New York Post. The report added, however, that it is too early to tell whether there was an explosion on board before the plane went missing, according to Egypt's Forensic Authority chief, Hisham Abdel-Hamid. Despite massive efforts geared towards finding out the cause of the plane crash, forensic experts are also dedicated a chunk of their workforce to identify the victims. The black box from the plane, which is an Airbus A320 model, hasn't been found yet. French and Egyptian authorities are committed to finding the black box which can give answers as to what transpired before the plane went missing. A report by the Associated Press said a large-scale search operation had been launched where ships and planes from Britain, Cyprus, France, Greece and the US will take part. The report also mentioned that a state-of-the-art French vessel joined the search last Monday which is equipped with sonar sensors which could identify signals from recorders underwater. Charles Dickens, the English author of his much-appreciated book, A Tale of Two Cities, said wine flowed in the streets of Paris. France is coming true to its descriptions when we look at La Cite du Vin (City of Wine) which took seven years into making. La Cite du Vin is located on the banks of the Garonne River in the Bassins a Flot district of Bordeaux wine country, which is a five-and-a-half-hour drive from the capital of Paris. Opening on 1st of June, it approaches its 20 themed areas and exhibits in a Disney Land way. In a true park fashion, there is a 250-seat auditorium for screenings, a simulator boat riding, and all. For hangovers, there's an enormous plush chair where you can sit, listening to famous stories of inebriation. And if your French is poor, there's a digital guide that will deliver needed information in real time, in any of the eight selected languages. Serious wine drinking accompanies Bordeaux, and there are expert wine tasting sessions using stock from over 80 countries. The tasting experience involves a multi-sensory space with 3D images, moving sets, and olfactory whiffs. The goal, says director Philippe Massol according to CN Traveler, is to make La Cite du Vin the world's largest cultural center of wine; a Guggenheim for grape lovers. For staying purposes, there's a six-room wine-themed mansion and restaurant which has 168 Grands Crus Classes in the cellar. The two-star Michelin restaurant, specializes in haute Bordelaise cuisine, can be overseen by Gagnaire. Bordeaux's chateaux culture can be experienced beyond La Cite du Vin. There are two wine bars that should be looked out for - are Aux Quatre Coins de Vin, an oddball hipster joint with card-operated wine automats, and the Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux, a wine school in name but is more of suited for pre-dinner dates. They fall in the glimpses of UNESCO World Heritage-listed old town, which is an area so pleasant for walking around and taking trams. A 38-year old man named Attaporn Boonmakchuay from Thailand was having a seemingly typical day when his world turned upside down. He was sitting on his restroom 'throne' to do his business when a python suddenly bites his genitalia. It took 30 minutes to remove the 10-foot snake's jaw from his man-part before he was brought to the hospital. Boonmakchuay managed to get rid of the snake after his wife and neighbor came to his rescue. The wife entangles the snake with a rope enabling the then weak man to pry open the snake's jaw before passing out probably due to blood loss. According to reports by local newspapers, the man uses a squat type toilet which had to be dismantled in order to recover the snake that almost deprived the man of his masculinity. A Snake Chomped On This Guy's Penis While He Sat On The Toilet https://t.co/UXXlr7eIai pic.twitter.com/kDAlnlic41 BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 26, 2016 Although images of snakes on the loo seldom emerge in news reports and social media, this incident proves that snakes passing through restoroom pipes really do happen. "I wouldn't say its common but it does happen," said Elliot Budd, a snake catcher in Northeastern Queensland, in an interview with CNN in 2015 after responding to a 'snake-in-toilet' situation. Boonmakchuay's unusual toilet dilemma happened May 25 and he is currently recovering at a hospital giving away awkward smiles to the media. He is now stable after losing a fair amount of blood due to his struggle to get his penis off of the snake. "He has a really good attitude ... even though his own wife and children were in shock. He's been smiling and giving interviews all day from his bed," hospital director Dr. Chutima Pincharoen said in an interview with New York Post. The local fire crew had to use hammers to free the snake from the pipe. Despite the heinous crime it has committed, the animal was pardoned and will be released back to the wild. In the recent years, discoveries concerning Mars have led people to believe that alien life could have existed on the red planet. Studies show that water once flowed on Mars and that the planet was devastated by humongous tsunamis. But recent findings suggest that iron and calcium-rich carbonates were found underneath the surface of the planet intensifying theories about the former existence of alien life on Mars. A recent study was conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life Institute (SETI). Researchers analyzed the data about the planet and found out that there are deposits of iron and calcium rich carbonates underneath the surface of Mars. This finding confirms that water once existed on the planet. Add warmer temperature to the equation, researchers believe that it can be a good recipe to harbor alien life on the planet billions of years ago. "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 Dr. Janice Bishop from SETI, in an interview with Express in the UK. The sightings of carbonate deposits on Mars were rare during the past, it is the new study which states that various sites are found to have deposits underneath the red planet including the Lucaya crater where '3 billion-year-old carbonates' were discovered buried under 5 km of lava and Martian rocks and the Huygens basin where iron and calcium-rich carbonate rocks were also found. "If carbonates were pervasive 4 billion years ago, it's possible that the environment was very microbe-friendly at that time," said Janice Bishop, an astrobiologist at SETI and co-author on the study, in an interview with Gizmodo. Although there are markers which suggest that water once flowed on Mars, scientists and researchers believe that in order to find out whether or not alien life existed on the planet, they will have to find out the minerals embedded underneath the rocky surface of the planet. According to the same report, the study focused on analyzing the data collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Researchers say that one of the most important findings of their study is the discovery of thick carbonate deposits across the popular Huygens basin than what was originally believed. Researchers are now suggesting that fossil hunting on the red planet will help answer the question everyone is asking if aliens did exist on Mars before. Researchers also admitted that the study is focused on 'historically' relevant alien life, recognizing the fact that there can never be any living thing on that planet today. Ginny is not your typical rescue dog. She basically had sixth sense for saving cats, having rescued at least 1,000 cats by sniffing them out in the most random places. Ginny would sniff cats out of dumpsters, glove compartments, pipes, and other places where they could easily be trapped. In carrying out her mission, this Schnauzer/Siberian Husky mix had a faithful assistant - her human companion Philip Gonzalez. But Ginny herself had been abused and abandoned. She was in such a bad shape that vets in the shelter thought of euthanasia. But Ginny showed signs of recovery and was soon up for adoption. This was when she met Philip. Philip, who was injured in a construction accident and suffered from depression, said that Ginny gave him a purpose. Look who posted about us! @uberfacts A photo posted by @theginnyfund_ on Dec 30, 2015 at 5:45pm PST As she had known what it was like to be abused and abandoned, Ginny sought to help other animals that are in need. "She always wanted to be out searching," Philip told AmazingTales. The first time Ginny got into rescue work, she broke off her leash, ran to a pipe, pawed at it and whimpered as she always did when she found a cat. Five kittens came out of the pipe. Ginny and Philip would drop by the local animal shelter every week to drop off the rescued cats. Ginny fell in love with her cats, mostly those with physical disability, and would visit them regularly. Unfortunately, Ginny had passed away at age 17 in August 2005. But her legacy has lived on through Philip and The Ginny Fund, a group of volunteers who were inspired by Ginny's story and vowed to carry on her noble mission of taking care of cats who are living on the streets of Long Island, New York. According to OneGreenPlanet, the group would wake up at 3 a.m. to make 19 stops around Long Island to get food and water to the cats. They also help promote and educate the public on the importance of their programs, finding homes for rescues and raising funds to build their dream sanctuary for unwanted animals. Investigators had discovered the journal of the dead hiker who had gone missing in 2013. The Maine Warden Service released more than 1,500 pages of documents last Wednesday as part of a public records request, and these documents were related to the search of Geraldine Largay, the hiker from Brentwood, Texas who got lost during a hike on the Appalachian Trail. According to the report, 66-year-old Largay had written final messages to her loved ones. In a journal entry dated August 6, 2013, 15 days after she went missing, Largay had written: "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." Largay's body was found more than two years later, in a sleeping bag inside a zipped-up tent, according to CNN. Largay's writings were personal letters to her family, said a Maine warden who compiled the documents. There were journal entries through August 10, and the last entry was on the 18th. Largay, who was a retired air force nurse, disappeared on July 22, 2013 after leaving the trail to look for a bathroom, the report said. She sent a text message to her husband saying that she was lost, but were never delivered. Report said the message was retrieved from her phone after her body was found. The message read: "in somm trouble. Got off trail to go to br. now lost. can you call AMC to c if a trail maintainer can help me. somewhere north of woods road." She tried to send another message the next day, but failed to send. It read: "Lost since yesterday. Off trail 3 or 4 miles. Call police for what to do pls. xox." Largay's husband reported her missing on July 24, 2013, setting off a massive search by the Maine Warden Service. It was only in October 2015 that her remains were found in a U.S. Navy property used for survival training skills. Largay's tent has collapsed and her body was inside a sleeping bag. Medical examiners said she died of starvation and exposure, according to a report in Chicago Tribune. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be headed back to the East Bay this week, making a stop at a church in Oakland. The senator, who has been canvassing the Bay Area in hopes of snagging a victory in California's June 7 primary, will be at the Allen Temple Baptist Church on International Boulevard at 2 p.m. Monday, along with actor Danny Glover. Both will honor Dr. J Alfred Smiths 85th birthday. This event is open to the public, although space is expected to fill up quickly. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor and current University of California, Berkeley professor Robert Reich posted on Facebook that he would be introducing Sanders at an event on Tuesday, but that event has not yet been confirmed by the campaign. Both Sanders and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton have been to the Bay Area several times in the past month, whipping up support. Clinton held several rallies throughout the Bay Area this week, while Sanders has been holding his characteristically "huge" rallies in several Bay Area locales. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Bernie Sanders would be at the Church Sunday and Monday. He will only be at the church on Monday, although Glover will be at the church both days. Backers of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders are filing an emergency federal injunction, demanding all so-called unaffiliated voters who already voted be allowed to re-vote if they want to. San Francisco's city attorney said he was warned by Sanders backers of the injunction, which is expected to be filed Friday and comes just weeks before California's primary election on June 7. The injunction seeks to force counties across the state to allow voter registration up until Election Day -- a move opponents said would create chaos in the state primary process. "It does because it means the information you have at the polling place as to who is actually supposed to be there does come into play," said Virginia Bloom, Santa Clara County's Assistant Registrar of Voters. The injunction could also mean ballot shortages at some polling places. Sanders supporters said the change may be painful, but is necessary. "I know there have been some voter issues and misinformation, so it gives more people time to get involved," voter Hilda Arakelian said. The Secretary of State's Office in Sacramento is keeping a close eye on the legal challenge. A first grade classroom in Los Altos travels around the world every Friday without ever leaving their classroom. On Facetime Fridays, an international visitor speaks to 24 students at Montclaire Elementary School thanks to Skype, Google Hangout and other technology. We have spoken to people in almost every continent by now, said teacher Kendall Robowski, who started the weekly event last year. Now two of her classes have spoken to people as close as Southern California and as far away as China. Our favorite one so far as probably been talking to someone in Ireland about their leprechauns and learning about St. Patricks day, Robowski said. Mrs. Robowski announces the guest on Monday to give students a week to research the topic and prepare questions. Sometimes parents use their network to help find visitors, and other times the teacher schedules the guests. After the talk, students create a multimedia report about what they learned. The report is shared online with parents and fellow students. I want the students to understand they have access to get any answer they are searching for. Facetime Fridays and Mrs. Robowski were recognized in April by the Cupertino Education Endowment Foundation with a 2016 Innovative Technology Educator Award. A firefighter was injured putting out a two-alarm house fire early Friday morning in Alameda, fire officials said. As of 9:15 a.m. the injured firefighter had not been released from Kaiser Permanente San Leandro Medical Center in San Leandro, fire Capt. James Colburn said. Firefighters responded at 12:25 a.m. to a two-story home in the 1500 block of Fountain Street near Lincoln Park and San Leandro Bay where a fire was consuming the home and its contents, Colburn said. The captain could not say how much damage in dollars the fire did, but the home sustained severe damage throughout. The cause and origin of the fire is still being investigated. Firefighters had trouble getting into the home because flames were so strong, partly because the resident had many possessions, Colburn said. The occupant of the home escaped before suffering any injuries and no one else was injured. Firefighters extinguished the fire at 1:35 a.m. and contained the fire to one home. The American Red Cross assisted the displaced person. A day after Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton held raucous rallies in San Francisco and San Jose, the former Secretary of State stopped by an Oakland-based Home of Chicken and Waffles for a quaint community meeting. Fridays discussion revolved around breaking barriers and increasing opportunity in Oakland. The former secretary of state, who has had a tough week following the release of a state department report on her emails, sat next to the city's mayor, Libby Schaaf, and restaurant owners for the sobering chat. No one dined on the local spot's famous food, instead delving immediately into some key issues facing the Oakland community. The conversation lingered on helping people of color start small businesses. Clinton also advocated for second-start programs, which help incarcerated men and women learn job-training and business skills. "I think we need more of these programs," she said, referencing one that she claims has been successful in Reno, Nevada. She said philanthropists, businesses owners and politicians need to work together to come up with a solution to "increasing the breadth of knowledge and understanding" about job training programs. Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have been barnstorming through the Bay Area ahead of California's June 7 primary, making the East Bay ground zero in their efforts to get out the vote. Both candidates have campaign offices in Oakland, where Clinton has appeared twice this month, and Sanders has recently held his characteristically huge rallies in Vallejo and the South Bay. Police escorted an 18-year-old merit scholar out of his Elk Grove, California, high school graduation Tuesday for refusing to remove his Kente cloth, a traditional Ghanaian silk and cotton fabric. Nyree Holmes, now a graduate of Cosumnes Oaks High School, explained on Twitter that he was approached by Matt Mason, the school's director of student activities, just before he walked on stage, the Atlanta Black Star reported. Mason demanded that Holmes hand over his Kente cloth. When the student declined, Mason sought police assistance. "I get to the stage and I think Im home clear," Holmes tweeted. "I go through shaking all the hands and smiling feeling as if I won, then when I get to the stairs I see 3 sheriffs." Holmes was escorted out of the Sleep Train Arena by three Sacramento County sheriffs deputies before he could received his diploma. "I wanted to wear my kente cloth as a representation of my pride in my ancestors, to display my cultural and religious heritage," Holmes told the Atlanta Black Star. Elk Grove Unified School District officials released a statement Friday, which expressed "regret" about "how events unfolded in this instance," but also pointed out that Holmes ignored "repeated requests to remove unauthorized non-school award regalia." The statement also countered that school officials' actions were prompted by guidelines about "appropriate graduation ceremony attire," which had been communicated to students and their families. "It is within the Districts discretion and prerogative to impose rules for graduation ceremony dress code and attire which apply generally to all students, and which do not discriminate against any specific student viewpoint," a statement said in part. It continued: "That rule and standard has been in place for decades." Holmes was later able to get his diploma and take a photograph with the school's principal. The Atlanta Black Star reported that Holmes plans to attend California State University, Fullerton starting this fall. He will major in cinema arts so as to fulfill his "dream of becoming an impactful film director." San Francisco is home to the fifth best public parks system in the country, according to the Trust for Public Land. Perhaps even more impressive, 99 percent of the 830,000 people living in San Francisco are within a 10-minute walk to a park. The ranking is also a reminder of the controversies surrounding the citys iconic parks. Residents and some lawmakers are currently battling over legislation that would impose restrictions on the citys dog-friendly parks and beaches. Hundreds marched with their pups in April to protest against the proposed law. The Recreation and Parks department is also in hot water after it rolled out a much-derided pilot program that allows people to pay to reserve premium sections of grass at Dolores Park, one of the citys most frequented and iconic spots. After intense community backlash, however, the department announced that it would no longer continue with the program after its scheduled July end-date. Longtime locals said the plan disadvantages poor communities in the city. The Trust for Public Land also ranked Oakland (no. 14) and San Jose parks (No. 31) high on the list for its community access to kid and dog friendly parks. A U.S. airstrike has killed a local leader of the terror group ISIS in Iraq, a spokesman for an American-led coalition fighting the group said, NBC News reported. The Wednesday strike on ISIS headquarters in Fallujah killed local commander Maer al-Bilawi, according to U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren. Warren said the attack was one of more than 20 airstrikes that killed 57 ISIS fighters over the past few days. Thousands of Iraqi military, police and Sunni tribal fighters are poised to launch an assault on Fallujah to retake the largely Sunni city from ISIS control. Fallujah was the first Iraqi city to fall to ISIS. Retaking it promises to be a major challenge for the country's beleaguered security forces. Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer and his wife Karen Spencer are opening the Althorp family home for guests to stay a couple of nights in order to raise money for orphanages around the world, NBC News reported. Diana grew up in the 500-year-old mansion with a priceless art collection, 88 fireplaces and bedrooms named for the royalty who slept there, and Althorp also serves as her final resting place. [[381092671, C]] Wannabe aristocrats willing to pay between $25,000 and $40,000 to stay in the 100,000-square-foot home about 75 miles north of London. For $250,000, a group of up to 18 people can take over the stately spread. Proceeds will benefit the Whole Child organization, which worked with or advised 85 orphanages in Nicaragua and is undertaking a new project in El Salvador that will involve 365 children's centers. [[204973801, C]] Investigators said signals have been picked up from an emergency transmitter on EgyptAir Flight MS804, NBC News reported. The Egyptian investigative team said at a news conference in Cairo that signals from one of the three pieces of locator equipment on the plane allowed them to narrow the primary search to about a three-mile area. The head of the investigation team said a French ship was moved to that location to search for the planes black box data recorders. He said search teams are racing to find the black boxes, whose batteries last for only 30 days. Officials still dont know what caused the flight to disappear. It was flying from Paris to Cairo when it fell off the radar on the night of May 19. Just as tourists are expected to flock to the Statue of Liberty over the Memorial Day weekend, a new report warns of the threat from climate change to the symbol of freedom and other landmarks across the world. The report focuses on the risks to 31 World Heritage sites, such as rising seas, drought, wildfires, coastal erosion and other results of a changing climate. Among the sites at risk: Yellowstone National Park and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, which are both facing more frequent and more severe wildfires. "From Venice and its lagoon to the Galapagos Islands, some of the worlds most iconic World Heritage sites are vulnerable to climate change," cautions the report "World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate." It was written by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO, the United Nations Environmental Program and the Union of Concerned Scientists, and covers 29 countries. More than 1,000 properties have been designated World Heritage sites, many of them important tourism destinations, according to the report. Earlier studies evaluated the danger to other World Heritage sites. The Statue of Liberty was closed to visitors after Hurricane Sandy flooded 75 percent of Liberty Island in October 2012, the report noted. It did not reopen until July 4, 2013. Nearby Ellis Island was also damaged for a total of $77 million in costs at both sites and Ellis Island remained shut until October of last year. A later analysis by the U.S. Park Service found that the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were at high risk because of their vulnerability to storms. The report warned that "the intangible cost of future damage to this international symbol of freedom and democracy is incalculable." Other places highlighted are among the world's most iconic places, such as Venice and its lagoon, Stonehenge in the United Kingdom, Komodo National Park in Indonesia, the only place where the Komodo dragon is found, and Rapa Nui or Easter Island, Chile, famous for its enormous moai statues. Tourism is one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing economic areas, providing one in 11 jobs, the report noted. Missing from the report was a section on damage to the Great Barrier Reef after the Australian government asked that it be removed so as not to drive away tourists, Australian and other media reported. Terry Hughes, the director of the Center for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at the Australian Research Council, told The New York Times that it was astonishing that the reef had been excluded. There is an unprecedented bleaching event underway, Hughes said. Climate change and coral bleaching is the single biggest threat to the tourism industry, and the reef itself. An historic accord reached in Paris in December by 195 countries commits them to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. "The need to act is both urgent and clear," the report said. "We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement while providing the financial resources, support and expertise necessary to ensure the resilience of World Heritage properties over the long term." Fresno and San Diego geared up for protests at Donald Trump campaign events Friday, following similar events around the country that led to violence and arrests. Demonstrators chanted and held signs outside a downtown Fresno arena where the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was to speak at midmorning before traveling to San Diego. Trump is campaigning ahead of California's June 7 primary. The Fresno protesters chanted "keep hate out of our state" and held signs with slogans such as "Trump needs to be dumped." A fence separated demonstrators from the arena entrance, which was also guarded by a very visible police presence. Ticket-holders arriving for the event took pictures of the protesters with their phones and fellow Trump supporters urged them to not respond to demonstrators. "We need to put up a wall to keep them out," said Trump supporter Christine Kinyoun, 44, of Hanford. Fresno police said they did not expect trouble because violence is more likely in the dark of night. Fresno resident Eddie Mejia, leader of a Facebook group opposing Trump's visit to the heavily Latino Central Valley, earlier urged peaceful protest and said demonstrators should bring U.S. rather than Mexican flags to avoid sparking conflict. Mejia feared protesters from outside Fresno would bring violence to his town. "We want people to know we're from here," he said. "We're not the ones that want to start a riot." San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said her department prepared by speaking with police agencies in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Anaheim. Officers in uniforms and plain clothes will surround the San Diego event, she said. "For anyone who comes to disrupt, to do illegal activities, we will take swift and decisive action to make sure we have a peaceful event," Zimmerman said. Trump's appearances have brought together large numbers of supporters and protesters, often divided over his comments about immigrants and Muslims and his plan to build a wall on the Mexican border. At least eight people were arrested outside a Trump rally this week in Anaheim, a day after anti-Trump demonstrators in Albuquerque clashed with police. Demonstrators in the Orange County city of Costa Mesa last month damaged police cars and threw bottles, leading to 17 arrests. A Republican political committee has released a stream of online attack ads focused on Illinois House Democrats running for re-election who voted in favor of House Speaker Michael Madigans recent budget proposal. Over the past two days, House Democrats have decided to put their allegiance to Mike Madigan over the financial health of Illinois, voting twice for a disastrous budget that would create a $7 billion deficit and necessitate a $1,000 tax hike on Illinois families, an Illinois Republican Party press release reads. This is a clear signal that they would rather jump off the fiscal cliff than stand up to Mike Madigan. The campaign, launched by the House Republican Organization, consists of robocalls in seven districts and digital ads specifically targeting candidates seeking reelection in November. The ads target a group of Illinois House Democrats, including Rep. Andy Skoog, Rep. Brandon Phelps, Rep. Dan Beiser, Rep. John Bradley, Rep. Kate Cloonen, Rep. Michelle Mossman, Rep. Sam Yingling. House Democrats, led by Speaker Mike Madigan, pushed through an out-of-balance budget proposal Wednesday that would give extra aid to beleaguered school districts, like Chicago Public Schools. The bill will now be sent to the Illinois Senate. Republicans claim the budget plan, which excludes any element of Rauners Turnaround Agenda, is out of balance by about $7 billion. The governors office has said Rauner plans to veto the measure. A well-known Chicago-area animal shelter is coming under fire by former employees who allege some of the animals are malnourished, neglected and left in inhumane conditions to die. It became normal for me to see an animal die and just throw it in the back in a pile in the back and that was it, said Zachary White, who worked at Settlers Pond in Beecher, Illinois, for two years. White said he was fired after complaining to staff about the lack of food and poor conditions that he says resulted in animal deaths. Pinky has just neglected them until they died, said Tyler Yates, who also worked there for two years and still works at Settlers Pond during the holidays and studies zoology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Yates contacted NBC 5 Investigates over concerns about how some of the animals were being treated. While owner Airocolina Janota, known as Pinky, has a number of supporters who commend her work, we spoke with at least a dozen people, including current and former employees as well as volunteers, customers and animal control employees, who raised similar concerns about abuse and neglect. Settlers Pond takes in many exotic animals, from camels and monkeys to zebras and alpacas. Some of the animals they take in are sick, while others are abandoned. For two weeks she left her entire farm and 150 animals to two 18-year-old high schoolers with absolutely no hay, White said. We watched animals start to dramatically lose weight. Both men say the animals were neglected. Some of these animals, their hooves were curling upwards, Yates said. They were walking in just a gruesome way. In August 2015 state inspector Joel Aschermann made an unscheduled visit to the farm and found donkeys that were underweight and needed their hooves trimmed and a potbellied pig that was thin. The inspector issued a humane care violation and recommended a vet examine the equine and pigs. Janota says that same pig is now fat. And all the hooves and tusks on the animals have already been trimmed this year. She passed an inspection later that year. This March a complaint of hoarding and neglect triggered another inspection which she also passed. We spoke with Janotas vet, who tells us she visits the farm at least once a month and she has never seen abuse. The shelter was fined in 2012, 2013 and 2015 for operating without a license. We dont know how these investigations are really carried out, said Attorney Anna Morrison-Ricordati who specializes in animal law. Illinois has some of the best laws on the books for animal protection, she said. The problem is theyre not enforced. NBC 5 Investigates discovered there are six inspectors to cover more than 500 animal shelters and horse rescues across the state. And the Department of Agriculture only inspects these when there is a complaint. NBC 5 Investigates went undercover at Settlers Pond. Undercover cameras captured an unusual sight: dead animals stored in a freezer. Its not the type of thing you would normally find at an animal shelter, but its where NBCs investigation began. You have to, Janota later told NBC 5 Investigates, when asked about the dead animals in the freezer. If something dies I want to know why it died, or if we need a necropsy done or whatever. Janota has run Settlers Pond for 18 years and said she takes in the worst. When asked about allegations that there had been a lot of animals that had passed away over the years, Janota told us that there havent been that many that have passed away, and everything passes away like it does in any shelter. The ones that are abused the most and are the sickest, Janota added.. I dont just take in the ones that are pretty because I can get them adopted. I try to take in as much as possible thats a problem case that I know is going to be euthanized so I can at least give them a chance. NBC 5 Investigates cameras also captured monkeys in baby clothing, locked in a barn. We were told the monkeys go inside Janotas house in the evening. Online we found plenty of pictures of her monkeys, in highchairs, baby clothes, on a leash, a swing set and at their own birthday party. Its shockingly inappropriate for an animal-care facility to be treating monkeys as pets or as surrogates for human babies, said Julia Gallucci, a primatologist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). No reputable animal-care facility would ever dress monkeys in clothing, keep them on leashes, and treat them like playthings or human children. Janota agreed to speak with us about the allegations against her shelter. She took us around the farm with a group of passionate supporters recording and following our every move. The farm looked different from our undercover visit. There was fresh hay where there had been none. Jonota told us that the animals are given fresh hay on a daily basis. The piles of feces had been cleaned out. After it freezes in the winter we cant muck all the stalls out, Janota said. So after it comes spring thats when the guys just start getting out there and shoveling. Many of the animals that we had seen on our first visit were nowhere to be found. When asked about the monkeys, she told us she had moved them to Florida because she felt it was better for them. We asked her why she dresses up the monkeys. I dress them up and I put onesies on them so they keep their diapers on, cuz they do wear diapers. We teach them sign language, she added. We spend as much time as possible for their mental enrichment, which is a major thing for primates. We discovered she does not have a permit to exhibit animals, as required. Her federal license was canceled three years ago. PETA also filed a complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Care division in June of 2015 notifying them of the unlicensed exhibition of primates at Settlers Pond. According to spokesperson Tanya Espinosa of the USDA, they did look into the PETA complaint and Settlers Pond was told that they needed to get a license in order to operate. Settlers Pond application of a new license is currently under reviewed by the USDA. I just havent had time to go get it, she told us. According to her Facebook page, she did solicit donations. We discovered her non-profit status had been revoked by the IRS three years prior. She told us she was aware of that and working on getting it back. We arent making a profit on these animals, she said. We asked her how she disposed of dead animals. Usually we have a burial in the back, she said. In the fall we dig a hole. Sometimes the winter gets so brutal you cant dig the ground to bury them. So we put them out there and we cover them with bedding or with straw or whatever we can do and then comes spring once it dries up a little, we are able to get a machine in there and bury them properly. The state requires that shelters report the animals coming in and going out. And Pinky told us she keeps track of the animal deaths. But refused to provide us with the documents. She did eventually give us some other documents that include a Florida veterinary inspection needed to transport livestock, several foster applications and an adoption form, as well as a foster and adoption list. But many of the handwritten documents were missing dates and difficult to decipher. Who has better moves- Chicago police or Detroit police? That question could soon be answered if Chicago police accept a Running Man Challenge from the Detroit Police Department. The Michigan city officers posted video to their Facebook page earlier this week showing them doing the viral dance that has taken over social media. They then targeted Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Chicago police departments, challenging them to do it better. Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Chicago Police Departments, you've been challenged, they wrote in the caption for the video, which has since been viewed more than 6.6 million times. While Cincinnati police have already accepted, saying theyre going to bring it, it appears Chicago officers may not be showing off their moves anytime soon. "After seeing the fancy footwork of our friends in Detroit, we were certainly impressed, but we have some work to do to dust off our dancing shoes," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. "For now, we'll leave the title to them. But let's not lose sight. We're in if they want a deep dish pizza throwdown. The viral dance was invented by two New Jersey high schoolers, who came up with the move while bored in a finance class. It quickly spread on social media after Terrapins players challenged fellow athletes to do the dance. Players at Virginia Tech, Villanova University and the University of Miami all accepted the challenge, posting videos of themselves in what quickly became the Running Man Challenge. Even Jimmy Fallon and Carmelo Anthony gave the craze a try. Illinois House Democrats pushed through a budget proposal Wednesday that looks to give extra aid to Chicago Public Schools, but the governor has threatened to veto the measure, further prolonging the nearly 11-month impasse. The bill, which covers fiscal year 2017, passed the House 63-53 in the midst of a raucous debate Wednesday evening. The bill will now be sent to the Illinois Senate. The governor's office said Rauner planned to veto the measure before it was even brought for a vote Wednesday. Republicans claim the budget plan, which excludes any element of Rauners Turnaround Agenda, is out of balance by about $7 billion. This is a slap in the face to the hardworking men and women whove been working on this, but also, more importantly, a slap in the face to every Illinoisan who wants honest government, House Minority Leader Jim Durkin said during a press conference Wednesday. As an Illinoisan, as a taxpayer and also as a member of the legislature, I am deeply embarrassed. I guess I want to be angry, but this is an absolute joke, Durkin added. Under Speaker Mike Madigans proposal, schools would receive a $700 million equity grant to help CPS and other high poverty districts. All told, CPS would receive roughly $287 million, as well as $100 million for pension payments. Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded favorably to the news Wednesday. "While we recognize that we are far from solving all of the challenges at CPS, we see todays actions as an important first step and look forward to working closely with Chicago legislators to minimize the impacts of the budget crisis in the classroom and to our CPS students, Emanuel said in a statement. The plan also calls for $13.5 billion from the state's general revenue fund, which comes from tax money. While operating without a budget over the course of the year, Illinois has relied on court orders and consent decrees for funding. Under the plan, early childhood programs would get $75 million more in funding, while an additional $4.6 billion would be spent on social service agencies dedicated to aiding the poor and elderly. Illinois has been without a budget since July of last year. The impasse has largely hinged on a battle between Rauner and the Democrat-controlled legislature over the governors pro-business, union-weakening Turnaround Agenda. The deadline for the General Assembly to pass a budget with a simple majority is at the end of the month. With no real compromise in sight, it seems the stalemate will continue to linger on. I am, of course, always hopeful that there still is time for us to work cooperatively, but I dont think we can afford to count on compromise, Rep Barbara Flynn Currie said during a Wednesday press conference. It didnt work in the current fiscal year and theres no guarantee that it will in the next. A north suburban man running a race in Grant Park died after collapsing during the Thursday night event. Emergency crews responded at 7:36 p.m. to the first block of South Columbus Drive, according to Chicago Police. The man suffered from cardiac arrest and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m., police and fire officials said. He was identified as 43-year-old Cao Bing, of the 2300 block of Iroquois Road in Wilmette, according to the Cook County medical examiners office. An autopsy to determine his cause of death was scheduled for Friday. The J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, a 3.5-mile race, was scheduled to start in Grant Park at 7 p.m. We are aware of the fatality of a race participant and express our sincere condolences to their family, friends and coworkers, JPMorgan Chase spokeswoman Christine Holevas said in an email Thursday night. The search for a suspect in a bank robbery that forced two west suburban schools into a lockdown ended Thursday afternoon when the suspect shot and killed himself outside a high school, police said. At approximately 4:30 p.m., a Hillside Police officer observed a man fitting the description of the bank robbery suspect walking down the street in the 200 block of N Wolf Road, near Proviso West High School. The officer approached the man, who then pointed a gun at himself and fired one shot into his head, police said. The man was later identified as Christopher Stephen, of Villa Park. Authorities said Stephen robbed an Inland Bank on in Elmhurst Two west suburban schools were placed on lockdown while police searched for a bank robbery suspect in the Elmhurst area Wednesday. Police began searching the area around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday after a man robbed an Inland Bank at 539 S. Spring Rd. Lincoln Elementary School and Madison Early Childhood Center were placed on lock down while police searched the area, authorities said. The perimeter was released just before 3 p.m. and the lockdowns were lifted. Authorities said the Elmhurst and Hillside Police Departments are involved, as are the FBI and U.S. Marshals, and the investigation is ongoing. A man and a woman have been charged in the brutal attack on a college student riding the Blue Line in April. Dwayne Mills, 25, of the 4900 block of W. Congress Pkwy, and Chitonia Shorter, 18, of the 220 block of W 54th Pl are each charged with one felony count of robbery, according to the Chicago Police Department. Police said the two suspects approached 19-year-old Jessica Hughes on the Blue Line near the Kedzie stop, and attempted to take her cell phone by punching her. Police said Mills also bit the victim in the hand during the assault, which occurred on April 28 around 10:15 a.m. A 19-year-old college student in Chicago was returning home from a morning class Thursday when she says she was attacked by two people on a Chicago Blue Line train, all while witnesses sat and watched. A 19-year-old freshman at DePaul University, Hughes said she was simply returning home from a morning class when the two people attacked her for her iPhone, all while witnesses sat and watched. She said she suffered a black eye, a broken nose and bite marks in the attack. He grabs me, pushes me to the floor, and he started beating on my head repeatedly, she said. He grabs my hand, looks me in the eye and bites my hand. According to Hughes, the woman joined the attack, breaking her nose. Two men were also in the train car with her, she said, but they simply watched the attack happen. He kept beating me, she said. I yelled for help and no one came. As the long holiday weekend gets underway, thousands of Chicago police officers are taking to city streets in an effort to prevent violence during the unofficial kickoff to summer. Memorial Day Weekend has historically been met with an uptick in violence and with shootings already on the rise this year, Chicago and Illinois State Police are promising extra patrols on foot, bike and air. Beginning now, several thousand Chicago police officers will be deployed in uniform throughout neighborhood, parks, roadways and lakefront to make sure everyone has safe and enjoyable holiday weekend, Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said during a press conference Thursday. So far this year, shootings are up more than 50 percent in Chicago compared to 2015. Last years Memorial Day weekend saw 12 people killed and another 56 shot. Earlier this week, police were asking officers to come to work on their days off and work overtime over the long weekend. But in addition to city violence, commuters have been concerned about the rise in expressway shootings throughout the area. There have been 20 so far this year, up eight from this time last year. With a spike in travelers expected on area roadways, state police say they plan to step up patrols as well. This weekend well have extra crews out here, covert cars out here and well have air support, said ISP Director Leo Schmitz, who noted many of the expressway shootings are the result of gang conflict. Well be watching and working with partners hand in hand. In addition to attempting to prevent expressway shootings, state police will also be cracking down on drunk drivers over the holiday weekend. Roadside safety checks and speed enforcement patrols will be scattered along expressways. 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." A lawyer for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman said he will sue television networks if they air a new series on the imprisoned Mexican drug lord's life without paying him. Netflix and Univision announced on May 17 that they will co-produce the drama series "El Chapo," set to air in 2017. The announcement used only the nickname "El Chapo," and said the series is "based on the life story of one of the world's most notorious criminals." Lawyer Andres Granados told The Associated Press on Wednesday the two networks have to pay for the right to use Guzman's name and nickname, which can be translated as "Shorty." Granados said that at the right price, Guzman "could supply more information to make it a better project for them." "If they air this, they are immediately going to be sued," Granados said. "They, by necessity, need the authorization of Mr. Guzman, because he is not dead." "With great pleasure, we have the greatest willingness to negotiate with them," he added. Guzman earlier gave rights to his life story to Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, and Granados said she could also negotiate with the networks. A spokesman for Univision's Fusion unit said the company had no comment on the issue. Netflix did not respond to requests for comment. Granados was at the headquarters of Mexico's National Human Rights Commission to present a complaint against the Mexican government, saying it was trying to interfere with Guzman's defense by denying it copies of a Friday ruling that his extradition to the United States can proceed. Guzman's lawyers need a copy of the document in order to file an appeal, but officials have said they sent the document directly to the drug lord in prison, where lawyers have limited access to him. Granados said it was an intentional delaying tactic on the part of the government. Earlier this month, Guzman was transferred from Mexico's top-security Altiplano prison west of Mexico City to a lower-security prison in Ciudad Juarez, on the border with Texas. Guzman had escaped the Altilpano prison in 2015 and was returned there after he was recaptured in January. The attorney said that he met with Guzman after the transfer and that his client would have preferred to stay at the Altiplano prison. Describing conditions in Ciudad Juarez, Granados said Guzman had told of being kept in an area that is "isolated, segregated" from other inmates. "He told me his cell is very dirty. He is a little down, he is a little sad, but he is at peace. He knows there are things we can do to keep him from being sent away," Granados said, referring to the extradition effort. While another of Guzman's main lawyers had suggested the accused drug lord wanted to negotiate with U.S. officials in return for waiving his appeals and accepting extradition, Granados said there are no current negotiations. "He would have to be in the United States first" for any deal to be negotiated, Granados said. "The person who would have to do that negotiating is the U.S. lawyer" for Guzman, who he refused to identify. Guzman faces charges from seven federal prosecutors in the U.S., including in Chicago, New York, Miami and San Diego. Amtrak said it is experiencing heavy delays for trains between New Haven and Boston following a fire. An Amtrak transformer in Branford exploded and burst into flames on Meadow Street. The fire spread to a boat and dump truck below it but no injuries were reported. According to Twitter, power was out from Shore Line to Old Saybrook because of a fire but crews are working on repairing damage now. Amtrak trains along the shoreline were experiencing congestion. One Acela train traveling from Boston to New York, carrying more than 200 people, was disabled and lost power near Guilford. Passengers were transferred to another train. A funeral Mass is planned today for an Auburn, Massachusetts police officer who was shot and killed during a traffic stop and police from departments in Connecticut will be attending the service. Auburn Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr., a 42-year-old son of a police officer, left a wife and three children. The funeral Mass will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Charlton, followed by a burial at Greenville Baptist Church Cemetery in Tarentino's hometown of Leicester. Tarentino was shot in the back by Jorge Zambrano during a traffic stop early Sunday, authorities said. Zambrano was later killed after he fired at police from a bedroom closet inside a duplex apartment, injuring a state trooper, state officials said. Zambrano had a long criminal history, and some have criticized the judicial system for allowing him to be free after a string of recent arrests and repeated probation violations, according to officials. Residents near the landfill in Manchester said the smell is also impossible to ignore and its become such a nuisance to some that they are now asking the state for help. The stench started a few years ago, but neighbors said this year has been worse than ever, with the smell coming around every few days. Denis MacLeod lives on Mckee Street, more than a mile away from the landfill, and said she cannot even enjoy her backyard. We started to barbecue last night and we were really excited about a rack of ribs, and we had to actually move into the house and put it in the oven because it was just overwhelming, MacLeod said. Town officials are still trying to identify the source. Cheri Eckbreth, who is on the Manchester board of directors, lives in the area affected by the stench and said they are trying to get to the bottom of it. To us, its a quality of life issue, Eckbreth said. Its not a health issue, but its definitely a quality of life issue in Manchester. The smell could be coming from the sewage plant behind the landfill. It could also be from the sludge dropped off at the landfill. They do have to cover up the sludge within half an hour of delivery, but some said that is not fast enough. If it is coming from that and we can get that under control, then fine, Eckbreth said. If not, were going to have to look at not taking those deliveries anymore. MacLeod said until then, she is keeping her windows shut and she wrote a letter to the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection asking the state to look into it. Officials from DEEP said they are aware of the odor, but are not investigating just yet. It is currently in the hands of town officials, who are working on several remedies and doing several tests to try and stop the stench. Seven people in Connecticut have contracted the Zika virus and the state Department of Health has put is sharing information with the public online to provide local statistics and other information about the virus. The website, which will be updated every Wednesday, includes testing results for the Zika tests and Flaviviruses, including Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika, as well as where the patients traveled. Health officials said patients who test positive for a Flavivirus could have been exposed to Zika, but the test results were unable to distinguish between Zika and the other Flaviviruses. As of May 24, one person who traveled to Colombia, four people who traveled to the Dominican Republic, one person who traveled to Honduras and one person who traveled to Puerto Rico have tested positive for Zika virus. Two of the patients are pregnant. One person who traveled to Aruba, one person who traveled to Brazil, one person who traveled to Colombia, one person who traveled to El Salvador, two people who traveled to Haiti and one person who traveled to Mexico tested positivefor possible flavivirus. Five of the seven people who tested positive are pregnant. A commission approved a $22 million loan and grant package on Friday to help the world's largest hedge fund upgrade and expand its offices despite questions about whether the deal makes financial sense for a state facing continued budget problems. Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he wished Connecticut didn't have to compete with other states like Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island by offering money to keep or attract companies, but that was today's reality. He said this agreement with Bridgewater Associates will ultimately be a good investment for the state. I think the idea that were going to be able to maintain levels of expenditure without growing the economy is false and unfortunately, to grow the economy, you have to realize youre in a competition to do that, Malloy said. Last year Malloy was unsuccessful in trying to persuade General Electric to keep its longtime corporate headquarters in Fairfield. The corporate giant is moving to Boston, where it will receive more than $150 million in grants and other incentives from the state and city. "Let me assure you, people would be critical if Bridgewater was adding 750 jobs to Westchester County and not Fairfield County, Malloy said. Under Connecticut's agreement with Bridgewater, which manages approximately $150 billion in investments for institutional clients, the hedge fund will receive $5 million in training and energy assistance grants and a $17 million low-interest loan that will be forgiven if it keeps its promises for new and retained jobs in Connecticut. Bridgewater pledged to create 750 jobs by the end of 2021 while keeping an existing 1,402 in the state. Bridgewater is planning to spend $527 million to expand its facilities in Westport, Wilton and Norwalk. Malloy said Connecticut's investment in the expansion project is relatively small, noting that the state was competing with its neighbors for those new jobs. The State Bond Commission, which Malloy's oversees, approved the deal on a 7-2 vote. State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, a Democrat, voted no. Im not saying we should stop handing out economic development money but if this was $22 million manufacturing grants today, I would vote in favor of it. The state has been dogged by declining state revenues and a series of stubborn state budget deficits, with more projected in future years. The General Assembly recently passed a revised $19.7 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 that attempts to cover a projected $960 million deficit by making deep cuts across state government, including social service programs. Nearly 1,000 state employees have received layoff notices in recent months. In voting no, Lembo sided with fellow State Bond Commission member Chris Davis, a Republican state representative from Ellington. They argued that Connecticut should work with companies on ways to improve the state's overall business climate and make investments that help all state businesses rather than narrowly targeting state resources to one company. From what I heard today there was not threat that Bridgewater is threatening to leave the State of Connecticut," Lembo said. Malloy, however, stood by the deal. "I think leadership requires a willingness to do things that aren't necessarily popular," he said. Based in Westport, Bridgewater was founded by Ray Dalio in 1975. It serves clients that include central banks and foreign governments. Dalio, a billionaire, lives in Greenwich. Malloy also referenced the importance of keeping him in the state, noting the effect on New Jersey when billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper moved from there to Florida. That resulted in a decrease in tax revenue for New Jersey, which, like Connecticut, is the biggest share of cash in its coffers. "We see what happens in places like New Jersey when some of the wealthiest people move out of states," Malloy said. Max Reiss contributed to this report. Denton just scored what may be their biggest entry into the comic book world yet. The owners of More Fun Comics and Games on the Denton Courthouse Square revealed this week cover art for an upcoming issue of Batman that features the Dark Knight standing guard over the historic courthouse. Tim Stoltzfus, who last year got issues of Doctor Who and Spider-Man issued with Denton collector's covers, said this special variant will go on the June 15 issue, an important one for fans of the comic. "Its the DC rebirth. DC has decided to take a fresh take on their characters, said Stoltzfus. This is only the third Batman number one printed in the 100 year history of the character." Stoltzfus used connections within the comic book industry to get the special editions inked, but he said really, its the response theyve received for the Denton covers that keeps them seeking out more. The Doctor Who and Spider-Man issues sold in big numbers and generated buzz throughout the community and beyond with people familiar to the city. "We shipped copies of Spider-Man as far away as Finland to people who had been through Denton, went to school in Denton, loved the town and wanted the cover, said Stoltzfus. The new Batman cover was designed by DC artist Scott Williams who Stoltzfus said penned a more old-school, detective-era look to the hero; and one that he said has gone over well with customers previewing the image so far. The comic will be released only at More Fun on June 15. Stoltzfus and community members are working on some sort of celebration to mark the occasion. Private mosquito control companies are enjoying big business in North Texas this spring. Michael Bosco with Safe Haven Pest Control said customers are concerned about the chance for mosquito carried diseases and the prevalence of bugs already biting this year. We cant keep up with our mosquito sprays at all. The weather is not helping us, but the demand for mosquito applications has sky rocketed, Bosco said. Bosco uses Mosquito Steve products that claim to be safe for people and pets. Steve Moore who runs Mosquito Steve said his products are selling earlier than normal this year. Ive been doing radio interviews all over the country because people are worried about Zika virus, Moore said. Heres the important thing, though, West Nile virus is probably going to be more prevalent this year. After recent rain, theres plenty of standing water to breed disease carrying mosquitoes in North Texas. This years fourth Tarrant County human case of Zika virus, reported Friday, highlighted the threat. That person recently traveled to Puerto Rico. No North Texas mosquitoes have been found testing positive for Zika. But the disease thats linked to birth defects is expected to show up in North Texas mosquitoes eventually. Zika could spread in North Texas if mosquitoes that bite an infected person transmit the disease to other people. Deadly West Nile Virus has been found in North Texas mosquitoes again this year. Its definitely a big concern for me, said Safe Haven customer Lori Bannon. Im immune suppressed, so theres a big concern for me with Zika or West Nile. And then I have my elderly parents living here with me, so its a big concern for them. Bannon has her yard sprayed twice a month and also has a misting system around the house that uses Mosquito Steve insect repellent. We want to be able to use our yard. We have this gorgeous yard and patio, she said. The variety of mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus is most active at dawn and dusk. The variety of mosquitoes known to carry Zika virus is active around the clock and more likely to be found close to homes and buildings. If youre getting bitten by mosquitoes, then basically, there is a breeding opportunity somewhere, Dallas County Health Director Zachary Thompson said. Professional pest control people can be helpful, but Thompson said residents can fight on their own by removing standing water where mosquitoes breed. Definitely do an assessment around your home, Thompson said. Were talking about breeding opportunities that cannot be identified unless you as a homeowner do an assessment. Flower pots and bird baths are examples of routine household fixtures that can foster disease. Anything that gives a chance for mosquitoes to breed around your home needs to be eliminated, Thompson said. Ever wonder if the toll charges you get billed for are accurate? A North Texas man did, so he tried an experiment. Brad Ferguson noticed a toll road sign with a charge that seemed high, so he snapped a picture of it with his cell phone. He later found out he was charged more than the amount on the sign, but the people who run the toll road say there's a good reason for that. Brad Ferguson said he commutes 45 miles to and from work each day, so he often takes toll roads to shorten his drive. One day, while driving home on the 183 Express lane, he saw the toll was $5.40. "I hadn't seen it that high, so I thought, 'You know what? Let me take a picture so that I can actually compare it to my bill just to see if it is higher or if it's the same,'" he said. "It was definitely not the same." When Ferguson received a bill, it showed a charge of $7.57. We reached out to the North Tarrant Express and a spokesman told us there's a simple reason Ferguson was charged more: He doesn't have a toll tag. The spokesman also said the toll signs say "higher rates for no tag." "Rates are higher if the driver has no toll tag of any kind," the spokesman continued. "ZipCash customers pay approximately 50 percent more than customers with a TollTag or TXtag." Ferguson said that makes it hard to know exactly what you should be charged if you don't have a TollTag. "This should be an eye-opener for what they're actually charging you for," he said. So how can you find out if you're being billed correctly? North Tarrant Express officials stated: "Since a ZipCash customer can be charged at least 50 percent more, they would need to contact NTTA to find out how much of their charge was for the toll and how much was applied for the administrative/ZipCash rate. If they are using LBJ or NTE TEXpress lanes, they can also use the check past rates function on the websites ntetexpress.com or lbjtexpress.com." The TEXpress website states that ZipCash customers pay about 50 to 90 percent higher rates. The North Texas Tollway Authority does have an ombudsman program for people who have an issue with their bill. We have information about that and other toll road rates here. A Dallas ISD teacher was arrested Friday morning for an improper relationship between an educator and student, according to the Dallas Police Department. Police arrested 50-year-old Darryl Johnson, a teacher at Skyline High School, on May 27. Investigations are still underway. Johnson was placed in Lew Sterrett Jail with bail set at $50,000 for this offense. Anyone with any information regarding this offense or any other victims should contact Detective Valentine at 214-275-1300. The family of Dallas dog attack victim Antoinette Brown is threatening to sue the city of Dallas for $5 million, Acting City Attorney Chris Bowers said Thursday. Bowers made the announcement at a meeting of the Dallas Animal Shelter Advisory Commission which is reviewing Brown's death. Relatives said the 52-year-old woman was bitten more than 100 times by a pack on stray dogs on May 2. "I think an important fact to keep in mind, the city did not own these dogs or control them," Bowers said. "We do not believe that the city has any liability here." But officials realize people are watching how City Hall responds after many years of complaints about stray dogs in Dallas. "We fully know and understand that our primary responsibility at the city here is to keep our residents safe," Assistant City Manager Joey Zapata said. Dallas Animal Services had launched an improved program to respond to loose dog complaints just before Brown's death. Afterward, a deputy police chief was been assigned to help oversee improved cooperation between Dallas Animal Services and police. And Thursday, an outside consultant study of the entire operation was announced. Boston Consulting Group has been hired with outside donations to conduct the review. Animal Shelter Advisory Commission Chairman Peter Brodsky said the business consulting firm would provide "a fresh set of eyes," including comparison of Dallas methods with other cities. "I don't think anything bad can come of that, and my hope is they can make a convincing case for a strategy that can be tried," he said. Brodsky is a businessman and also the new owner of Southwest Center Mall, where he hopes to make extensive improvements to attract new business. He's said before that volunteering as leader of the Animal Shelter Commission is a step to help Southern Dallas thrive. Brodsky was critical Thursday of progress Dallas Animal Services has made with the current operation. He asked why stray dog intake at the Animal Shelter has fallen by 12 percent while citizen complaints about stray dogs remain high. "I'd analogize aggressive picking up of dogs as a finger in the dam. There's a hole. You've got to plug it. It's not a long term solution, but you've got to prevent the water from coming through. Then you've got to find a long term solution," Brodsky said. Commission Member Jean-Paul Bonnelly said the long-term solution requires education and enforcement for irresponsible pet owners. "We can go sweep and kill every dog on the streets of Dallas. In six months to a year, we're going to have the same damn problem we have today," Bonnelly said. Zapata said Dallas Animal Services has added staff and boosted the number of citations issued to code violators, but the assistant city manager agreed much more work is needed. "This loose dog crisis requires the full organization's response," Zapata said. Dallas City Councilwoman Tiffinni Young, who represents the area where Brown was attacked, said action is needed and not a study. "We do need a group of bodies that are solely focused on picking up the dogs so the rest of our staff can focus on education, they can focus on the enforcement piece of it," Young said. "I do not need a study to understand what the current issues are here in the city." Brodsky said the consultant work will be completed in time for city budget discussions this fall. "And then the City Council and the city manager will have a decision about whether to accept those recommendations," Brodsky said. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says he was "deeply hurt" by recent anti-LGBT comments by First Baptist Church Pastor Robert Jeffress. Rawlings acknowledged the growing chorus of voices that are asking Dallas Police Chief David Brown to say something. "I think that what they want is for the relationship to be clarified, and thats what is going to be done," Rawlings said, adding that he has full confidence that Brown will do what's best for both "his officers, and for the citizens of Dallas." Several political groups and community organizations say the city needs to clarify its new-found partnership with the church following a pro-police support rally last month. At that "Back the Blue" event in April, Jeffress said he was proud to enter into a "partnership" with Dallas police and help support the officers' well-being however he could. The partnership is clearly informal, but Jeffress said he would offer free counseling and support services for DPD officers and their families. He also said he would let officer's children attend bible camps and go on church excursions for free. Rawlings was also in attendance at the "Back the Blue" event and offered up a prayer that DPD officers serve the city in peace and safety. Over the last few weeks, the police department hasn't clarified the nature of the "partnership" or the offer of free counseling and events, perhaps because there's been little need to. But a few days ago in a radio interview, Jeffress made a rough comparison between laws protecting LGBT rights and ISIS. "The greatest threat to freedom of religion in America is not ISIS," Jeffress said, saying the greatest threat are the "chambers of commerce" who don't pass or vocally support religious freedom laws because of the concern that detractors will "interpret religious freedom as being anti-gay, and we'll lose business." The chorus of groups saying Brown needs to speak up has grown steadily since. The LGBT-support organization Resource Center asked DPD to "reassess" its partnership with First Baptist, and it's been trying for days, unsuccessfully, to set up an in-person interview with Brown. The grassroots group "Take Back Oak Lawn" said in a statement that it is making a "formal request that the Dallas Police Department clarify their relationship with First Baptist Dallas." The Stonewall Democrats of Dallas and the Dallas Stonewall Young Democrats issued a joint statement late Thursday evening, saying in part: "We ask [DPD] to sever any formal ties it may have with the churchThe LGBT community has serious concerns about officers receiving counseling from a church whose leader uses such language, especially as our community continues to grapple with on-going attacks in the Oak Lawn area that have yet to lead to any arrests. Cece Cox, the Executive Director of the Resource Center, spoke with NBC5 Friday. "DPD and First Baptist Church are in an unholy alliance of partnering with an institution thats on record as being against the LGBT community," she said. "The city and the police department, as part of the city, made a bad choice." The police department on Friday told NBC 5 it "respectfully declines" to comment at all about the issue. Cox said she's been in close contact with the Dallas Police Department's Media Relations Unit this week, and is working to schedule a meeting with Brown and others. "It would be great if he would have a conversation with us now, with someone from the LGBT community, about why this doesnt sit well with us," she said. "We have this decision with the partnership, on top of 18 unsolved assaults in Oak Lawn since September. Whats going on?" NBC 5 asked Rawlings about that comment Friday morning. "Do you think the nature of this partnership, however informal, should be re-examined? asked NBC 5 reporter Jeff Smith. "Well, I think Chief Brown will really make that decision, and do whats best for his police officers and the city," the Mayor said. "Those statements that were made hurt me deeply for Dallas. Thats not how Dallas is." NBC 5 reached out to the Dallas Police Association and Fraternal Order of Police, but they didn't comment today. Dallas Police Chief David Brown said on May 28, As Chief, one of my greatest worries is the physical and emotional well-being of officers as they put their lives on the line every day to protect the citizens of Dallas. We encourage and support all of our officers who seek out services offered to maintain their physical, emotional, and spiritual health regardless of their religious affiliation. Jeffress' brother is a long-time officer in the Dallas Police Department, and he has spoken out forcefully about the need to support and encourage the morale of police officers. Jeffress is out of town right now, helping minister to 1,000 new preachers at a conference in Germany. He'll be back next week. But another pastor, Executive Pastor Ben Lovvorn, agreed to speak with NBC 5. He said he doesn't understand what's so controversial about offering to send officer's kids to church camps for free. He argued it's a genuine and sincere show of support for police. "We havent asked that the Dallas Police Department or the city of Dallas necessarily support First Baptist Dallas, but we certainly support the Dallas Police Department," Lovvorn said. "Theres no formal tie to sever here. We, as a church, have offered our ministers to individual Dallas Police officers because we recognize that they have needs, and we want to minister them." It's a point even Rawlings seemed to acknowledge, the church is trying to show its support for officers the best way it can, especially those officers suffering from low-morale or in need of spiritual counseling. "This is a tricky thing. You know, there are a lot of restaurants that give a free hamburger to police officers," he said. "Sometimes those restaurants might then do things that are wacky, too. So, I think Chief Brown will look at this issue and do whats best." Cox doesn't think it's an appropriate analogy, saying the longer the police department remains silent about Jeffress' anti-LGBT views, the more it is seen as a support of those viewpoints. "I'm sure First Baptist probably offered free counseling in a gracious way," she said. "But the city and DPD are choosing to go to an institution that speaks out against the LGBT community." First Baptist Church says it welcomes LGBT community members to pray with them. "Jesus Christ had a message of hope, and a message of love, and that is the message of First Baptist Dallas. Whether you are talking about individual Dallas police officers, or members of the LGBT community," Lovvorn said. "Were open to ministering to everybody." The Resource Center says it's trying to stay "optimistic" that Brown understands their concerns. Cox said this issue is not going away. "We have made a request. Weve been told Ill have an answer next week. If I dont have an answer next week, then Ill have another story next week," she said. Police said they arrested five high school students Thursday for their involvement in spray painting "disturbing" words and images at Arlington Martin High School. Arlington Independent School District officials reported to police at about 8 a.m. Wednesday that hate speech was spray painted at Martin High School. District staff quickly removed the graphics and text that contained what police called "disturbing racial and gender overtones." Lt. Christopher Cook of the Arlington Police Department addressed the students who vandalized the school, saying "you're doing hateful messages that really case community harm and alarm." "Whites Only" was written above a water fountian, while "Trans Only" was written on the bathroom entrance. According to the arrest warrants and police, other images painted around the school contained sexual content. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage, interviewed students and faculty and monitored social media and identified several Arlington ISD students thought to be responsible. Police said detectives arrested 18-year-old Cameron Bodenstab, 18-year-old Ethan Sigmond, 17-year-old Christian Joeckel, 17-year-old Hayden Honolka and 17-year-old Ryan Westbrook, all Arlington High School students, for their involvement in painting grafetti of their cross-town rival. Lt. Christopher Cook of the Arlington Police Department told NBC 5, "Unfortunately, you just cannot engage in this kind of criminal activity. They all admitted to this. It looks like from our interviews, they claim it was a senior prank. I dont think they gave a lot of thought to the ramifications." According to the arrest warrants, Westbrook admitted to police that he and some friends painted the jungle gym as part of a "senior prank." Sigmond said "he and his friends wore rubber gloves and dipped their hands in paint and used their hands to paint the jungle gym" according to the warrant. Joeckel and Honolka both told police that most of the graffiti was present when they arrived, but admitted to contributing, according to the warrant. Police said the five boys currently face criminal charges and up to two years in jail, but they believe other students may be involved. Arlington police asked anyone with information about the incident to contact Sgt. Kyrus Branch at 817-459-5327 or Tarrant County Crime Stoppers at 817-469-8477 (TIPS). NBC 5's Kevin Cokely and Jamie Weiss contributed to this report. You'll smell Kolaches baking and hear the organ-like sounds of the accordion this weekend in Ennis. It's polka time! The National Polka Festival returns Friday night for three days of Czech traditions and fun. The festival celebrates its 50th year in 2016. "If you've never polka'd, you need to polka," Ennis Convention and Visitors Bureau tourism director Gina Roka said. "You do not have to know how to polka. People here will be glad to teach you. Just come and have a great time." Some of the best polka dancers around will compete in the 30th annual King and Queen Dance contest. This year, past winners will dance for the title of All-Star King and Queen Friday night. The hometown favorites are David and Diane Liska. "In 2011, we were lucky enough to win the contest," David said. "You just had to dance until you almost dropped." It was polka that brought David and Diane together nine years ago. They both lived in Ennis -- he on a farm and she in the city -- and go to the same Catholic church, but they had never met until they were part of a group that traveled to the Czech Republic. The story of their first dance on that trip depends on who you ask. "I'm going to say I asked her," David said. "She'll say she asked me." "I kept waiting and waiting," Diane said. "I went up to him and I said, 'Are you going to ask me to dance or not?' And, we've been dancing ever since." The couple married seven years ago, took the title of National Polka Festival Queen and King in 2011 and hope they have the stamina and the steps to earn the All-Star title this year. Saturday's festival highlights include the Polka Fest Run at 7 a.m., the parade at 10 a.m. in downtown Ennis and a Kolache eating contest at 1 p.m. "That is so much fun to watch. Everybody trying to eat the fastest on the kolache," said Roka. Sunday's big draw will be the street dance from noon to 4 p.m. in downtown. Brave Combo, the Denton-based quintet, plays Saturday and Sunday nights. Roka said 19 polka bands will be there through the weekend. Yet at its heart and soul, the National Polka Festival is about celebrating Ennis' proud Czech heritage. "Ennis was settled by Czechs back in 1872," Roka said. "They came because of the farmland, and this is a way to celebrate their heritage and culture. And this is also the way everyone can come to celebrate the happiest music there is." A woman charged in connection to the death of a former co-worker who was beaten, bound, strangled and set afire has been found guilty. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that 27-year-old Carter Carol Cervantez was convicted of capital murder Thursday and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors say Cervantez and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Clarence David Mallory, killed 31-year-old Ashlea Harris, whose body was found in November 2014 in her apartment. All three of them had worked at an American Eagle store inside a mall. Police had said at the time that it was unclear whether Harris was targeted in retaliation for identifying the couple as potential suspects in a theft at the American Eagle store or if she was targeted in an attempt to gain access to the store again. A New Hampshire man has been sentenced after pleading guilty in court Thursday to charges of kidnapping, imprisoning and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl over the course of nine months. Nathaniel Kibby, 35, changed his plea nearly two years after he was charged with kidnapping the teenage girl and raping her repeatedly during her a nine-month captivity. A judge sentenced Kibby to a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 90 years in prison, as the state had recommended. Kibby was scheduled to go on trial next month on nearly 200 felony charges related to the girl's October 2013 disappearance and the months that followed. He had pleaded not guilty. Kibby changed his tune Thursday, after Jane Young of the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office described the mental, physical and sexual abuse in excrutiating detail. He told a judge that he was guilty of the seven charges levied against him following a plea bargain. "I take responsibility and apologize for the decisions I made. I know people want answers, and some closure. I don't have the words," Kibby said. "There's a lot going on inside my head right now." Kibby gagged the girl, put a shirt over her head and face, then put a motorcycle helmet over her, the indictment said. During her confinement, he used a stun gun to control her, made her wear a shock collar, bound her wrists with zip ties and taped her eyes shut. The zip ties and tape left scars on her nose and wrists, prosecutors said Thursday. According to Young, Kibby gave the child diapers, kitty litter, bleach and a camping toilet while she was in captivity. She was left with a tub of water. He allegedly told the girl he would only release her if she lied to police about what had happened and what he looked like. The teen returned to her North Conway home in July 2014 according to prosecutors, Kibby returned his victim to her home when he learned police were investigating him for using counterfeit bills to pay a prostitute. Kibby was arrested soon after and initially charged with kidnapping the girl Oct. 9, 2013, in the White Mountains town of Conway. Despite a massive search and widespread public outreach, there was no trace of her except for a letter she wrote to her mother that November. According to the indictments, Kibby threatened to kill the girl, her family and her pets, and used a "Taser-like" device to punish her when she "carved" information about his identity in a letter to her mother. Striking Verizon employees may be back to work next week after the company and its unions reached an agreement in principle for a four-year contract. About 39,000 landline and cable employees in nine Eastern states and Washington, D.C., have been on strike since mid-April, one of the largest strikes in the U.S. in recent years. Verizon had trained other workers to step in but there were still delays in installations for Fios customers. Verizon said that it had high health care costs for its unionized workers, which have shrunk as it sold off large chunks of its wireline unit and focused on its mobile business, which was not unionized. It also wanted the union workers, just over one-fifth of its U.S. workforce, to agree to move around to different regions when needed, which the union opposed. The union and Verizon are not giving details of the contract, so it's not clear yet what the agreement entails for workers. As the number of organized workers shrinks, union fights in recent years have tended to be defensive, aimed at holding the line for their members rather than winning new benefits, said Jake Rosenfeld, sociology professor at Washington University, in an interview before the agreement was announced. The president of the Communications Workers of America union, Chris Shelton, did say in a statement that the agreement is a "victory for working families" and that there will be new union jobs at Verizon. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Verizon released a statement saying it's pleased with the agreement, which has "meaningful changes and enhancements" that will make its wireline business more competitive. The deal does include a first contract for Verizon wireless employees, says the CWA. It applies to about 165 workers in six wireless stores in Brooklyn, New York, and one store in Massachusetts. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said Friday that the agreement is being written and will be submitted for approval by union members, and he expects workers back on the job next week. The workers had been working without a contract since last August. New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. and the unions have been negotiating at the Department of Labor for the past 13 days, Perez said. Verizon Communications Inc. shares rose 46 cents to $50.62. They are up 2 percent over the past year. Donald Trump will not be debating Bernie Sanders after all, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee announced Friday, but he was nothing but complimentary to the senator from Vermont at a rally in San Diego. Trump had provisionally agreed to debate Sanders, but announced Friday afternoon in a news release that it would be inappropriate to debate the second-place candidate in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. It prompted a quick retort from Sanders, who was also in California ahead of the state's June 7 primary. Trump didn't mention the debate at the rally an hour later, but said Sanders is great and decried political pundits for counting him out after he wins Democratic primaries. "He doesn't have a chance and what he's doing to [Hillary Clinton] is incredible," Trump exclaimed. While he showered praises on San Diego for its good weather and love for veterans, outside the San Diego Convention Center some in a crowd of about 1,000 people appeared to clash with police. At least 35 people were arrested, and police broke up the assembly. Sanders was in the Los Angeles area Friday the June 7 primary in California could make or break the Democratic primary and when he was told of Trump's announcement, NBC News reported he said, "Well, Mr. Trump what are you afraid of?" "Why do you not want to see a debate here in California and obviously all across this country on why you think it is a good idea to be trying to divide up our people, to be scapegoating Mexicans, and Latinos, and Muslims, and women, and veterans, and African Americans?" Sanders said at the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. In provisionally accepting Sanders' proposed debate, Trump had required that the hosting TV network put up millions of dollars for charity. But Trump said Friday that networks "are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes," and that "it seems inappropriate" to debate the Democrats' second-place finisher, since Hillary Clinton has all but locked up enough delegates to win her party's nomination as well. Trump laid Sanders' likely loss in the primaries at the feet of a "totally rigged" Democratic primary process. "Our system was rigged too, except for one thing if you win by massive landslides every week, it's no longer rigged," Trump said at the rally. Trump's statement in full: Based on the fact that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and Crooked Hillary Clinton and Deborah Wasserman Schultz will not allow Bernie Sanders to win, and now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher. Likewise, the networks want to make a killing on these events and are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes, in this case, womens health issues. Therefore, as much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders - and it would be an easy payday - I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton, or whoever it may be. Representatives for Fox News, ABC News and CBS News had said the networks were interested in hosting a Trump-Sanders showdown but would not comment on whether they'd be willing to put up the $10 million Trump is demanding for women's health causes. Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 26, 2016 Sanders' Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver told NBC News' Andrea Mitchell Thursday there were "back channel discussion" starting for a debate with Trump, and hoped "that his handlers don't dissuade him or that he doesn't sort of chicken out on this." A 28-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with a hit-and-run crash that left a beloved school teacher dead in Santa Clarita, authorities said. Lucas James Guidroz turned himself in to authorities early Friday morning, shortly after officers found his vehicle in Canyon Country, according to the California Highway Patrol. Guidroz is accused of driving off after fatally striking Roderick Bennett, of Valencia, who was riding his bicycle on Placerita Canyon Road, just east of the 14 Freeway, Wednesday after school. "Just to leave and not doing anything... it's completely inhumane," said one of Bennett's friends. The 53-year-old was a well-regarded math teacher and band director at Arroyo Seco Junior High School in Valencia. "He was the kind of teacher that would open his doors at lunchtime," said Mike Kuhlman, the assistant superintendent of the William S. Hart Union High School District. "The kids would come in and have a jam session.. loving to hang out with Mr. Bennett." Guidroz was booked at the Los Angeles County Santa Clarita Sheriff Station and is facing felony charges in connection with the fatal collision. Authorities had previously released surveillance image of the suspected vehicle, a late-model, dark gray Lexus sedan with damage, on social media. The cause of the crash was under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Newhall CHP Office at 661-294-5540. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders rallied in San Pedro Friday on the sixth day of his Southland campaign ahead of California's June 7 primary election. "I tell you it is too late for establishment politics and establishment economics,'' Sanders told the union-dominated crowd of about 1,000 people at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. "We need a political revolution.'' Sanders used the speech to again criticize presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and criticize corporate greed. "A moral economy is not an economy where CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year, ship our jobs abroad and take away health care from their workers,'' he said. He added later, "Our ideas are the future of this country. Let's stand up. Let's fight for them." Sanders was also scheduled to be interviewed on the HBO talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday. The 74-year-old Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who would be the nation's first Jewish president, spoke at a rally Thursday at Ganesha High School in Pomona and appeared on the ABC late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live.'' Sanders' opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was in Oakland Friday in what her campaign describes as "a community discussion on breaking barriers and increasing opportunity.'' Following last week's Kentucky and Oregon primaries, Sanders holds 1,539 delegates, trailing behind front-runner Hillary Clinton, who is only 78 delegates short of the 2,383 needed to win the nomination. City News Service contributed to this report. Family and friends of 15-year-old Pearl Pinson are asking their community to keep looking for a teen missing from Northern California, a day after the man thought to have kidnapped her at gunpoint was killed. Investigators believe the teenager was kidnapped Wednesday morning as she walked to a school bus stop in Vallejo. Her suspected abductor, a 19-year-old whom she knew, was killed in a shootout 300 miles away in Santa Barbara County Thursday, authorities said. "Pearl if you're out there fight your way home, find a way. Do whatever you can to get out of wherever you are," sister Rose Pinson said in an interview with NBC Bay Area on Friday. "I love you so much Pearl, we're here praying for you." Pearl Pinson's sister has a message for the missing 15 year old Vallejo girl. pic.twitter.com/rE5B2CXTp5 Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandezTV) May 27, 2016 Officials on Friday afternoon said the search for Pinson was concentrated in Sonoma County, about 1 hours north of San Francisco. A rescue helicopter covered roughly four square miles of rough terrain outside the small coastal town of Jenner, scouring the area for Pinson. The search was suspended late Friday, but is expected to be resumed early Saturday. Solano County and Sonoma County sheriff's deputies searched the Willow Creek Road area of Jenner. The search was prompted by new information the Solano County Sheriff's Office received during its investigation, but did not publicize. Christine Castillo, with the Solano County Sheriff's Department, promised to answer the question of "Why Jenner?" in the "very near future." For their part, Jenner residents were overwhelmed by the influx of law enforcement officials and search-and-rescue teams. Robert McShea said the city is a "retirement area" that doesn't often see "this much action." "We're used to kayaks and stuff, not choppers and news cameras," he admitted. Although two-plus days have passed since Pinson was last seen or heard from, officials continue to deploy boats, dogs and rescue teams with the hope of finding her. "Our number one priority is bringing Pearl home safely to her family and we do believe that is possible," Castillo said. Santa Barbara Co Coroner confirms man killed in shootout is Fernando Castro. No indication Pearl in Santa Barbara Co pic.twitter.com/MBOQS7rRGZ Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandezTV) May 27, 2016 Family and friends searched for Pinson in Vallejo Friday afternoon and plan to be in Jenner Saturday morning to be close to investigators. The Solano County Sheriff's Office is working with Pinson's family to determine the areas where the searches will be held. Pinson has green hair and was last seen wearing a gray sweater, black leggings and had a black and turquoise backpack. Her family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with their search. The sheriff's office set up a tip line at 707-784-1963 but anyone with urgent information is asked to call 707-421-7090. Investigators have also spent time searching the area of Sir Frances Drake Boulevard near the San Rafael Bridge in Marin County after officials said Castro was seen on surveillance cameras in the area at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Coroner's Office identified the man killed in the police shootout as 19-year-old Fernando Castro, and authorities identified the Vallejo resident as a suspect in Pinson's disappearance. Officials also said there is no indication Pinson is in Santa Barbara County. The Solano County Sheriff's Office, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office and FBI are working together to examine crime scenes in the city of Solvang, where the shootout occurred following a pursuit on Thursday. laurenskids.org The search for Pinson started Wednesday morning when the Solano County Sheriff's Office said they received reports of shots fired near the Interstate Highway 780 pedestrian over-crossing in the area of Home Acres and Taylor avenues in Vallejo. A witness reported seeing a man with a gun pulling a female, who was bleeding and yelling for help, on the over-crossing. The witness heard a gunshot while running for help, and responding deputies found blood on the ground, sheriff's officials said. "I heard screaming, panicking screaming, and then after that, I heard two gunshots and the car went off really fast," said witness Leslie Caro. The sheriff's office has not confirmed Pinson was shot or the extent of her injuries. As of Friday evening, the overpass is the site of a growing memorial where people have placed pearls for Pearl Pinson. Castro was spotted in San Luis Obispo County on Thursday after the California Highway Patrol had issued an Amber Alert for Pinson. CHP officers pursued him into Santa Barbara County, over 300 miles south of the scene of the suspected abduction in Vallejo. Shannon Fosgett showed no emotion Thursday as she pleaded guilty to seven charges against her, five of them felonies, including having sex with a 16-year-old male student. The former Murrieta Valley High School teacher also admitted that she bothered another underage male student. In the plea bargain, Fosgett must serve two years and register as a sex offender. "Justice was not served completely," said Tasha, the victim's mother. "But I think we are making strides." Tasha said the experience has taken an emotional toll on her son. "He was extremely despondent and depressed, quit everything he loved," she said. "Quit life." Outside the courthouse Fosgett and her attorney declined to talk. But the victim's father said two years in state prison isn't enough time. "There is no justice," he said. A man accused of gunning down another man during a street brawl in 2012 has been charged with murder, prosecutors said. Cedric Car Burton Jr, 30, was charged Thursday in the slaying of 21-year-old Brandy "Brandon" Houston in Lancaster, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. The murder charge includes special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and murder to further the activities of a criminal street gang. The allegations open Burton to a possible death sentence, but prosecutors will decide later whether to seek capital punishment. He was set to be arraigned Thursday, but a confrontation in court led to a postponement. Shortly before court was set to begin, the suspect's family began yelling at the victim's family, prompting sheriff's deputies to intervene. Three other men were convicted in 2014 for their role in the same incident. The Houston's family said they always held out hope that the gunman would be caught. "It's justice, but you know everybody wants to know why," said Chrishonda Coulter, Houston's sister. On the morning of Nov. 29, 2012, Houston's live-in girlfriend called her sister for a ride after the couple got into a fight, prosecutors said. The sister instead sent three men, who got into an argument with Houston and his family. The three men left, but promised to return, sheriff's officials said. The men came back a few hours later, this time with Burton, and a brawl broke out involving about a dozen people, prosecutors said. That's when Burton is accused to have walked through the crowd, go directly to Houston and open fire. Houston, who was a new father, was struck a dozen times and died, prosecutors said. Burton, who prosecutors say also goes by Dirty Devil and Lil Ced, was arrested Wednesday when he attended a hearing on an unrelated case at the Antelope Valley Courthouse. The three other men Terrell Henderson, 24, Randy "Bam" Sullivan, 38, and Joshua Lockett, 23 were later arrested, tried and convicted of second-degree murder. All three were sentenced in 2014 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton is due back in court June 9. He is charged with murder with special circumstances of lying in wait and in the commission of gang activity, which makes him eligible for the death penalty. City News Service contributed to this report. The 19-year-old man suspected of abducting a teenage girl Wednesday in Northern California has died following a shootout, authorities said Thursday afternoon, but the girl remains missing. The California Highway Patrol had issued an Amber Alert for 15-year-old Pearl Pinson, whom investigators believe was kidnapped at gunpoint about 7 a.m.Wednesday as she walked to a school bus stop on Taylor Avenue in Vallejo. Officials said the teen never arrived at school that day. Authorities said the suspect, identified as Fernando Castro of Vallejo, was involved Thursday afternoon in a pursuit and shootout in Santa Barbara County, about 300 miles from the scene of the suspected abduction. Castro was first spotted in San Luis Obispo County, where CHP officers pursued him into Santa Barbara County. The Solano County Sheriff's Office late Thursday said investigators are searching area of Sir Frances Drake Boulevard near the San Rafael Bridge in Marin County after officials said Castro was seen on surveillance cameras in the area at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. laurenskids.org A vigil for the missing teen was held Thursday night at 1001 Taylor Ave., in Vallejo. Family and friends prayed for Pearl's safe return. "Pearl, you need to come home," said her sister, Rose Pinson. "Find a way. I know you can." Sheriff's officials said they believe Pinson and Castro are acquaintances and the incident is not a stranger abduction, but that Pinson did not willingly go with Castro. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department said the suspect was first spotted Thursday heading southbound on Highway 101, just north of Los Alamos. The suspect exited in Bulleton and was pursued by deputies through Solvang, where the pursuit ended after the suspect crashed in front of a mobile home park. The pursuit was followed by a shootout, which left the suspect dead, sheriff's officials said. Video from the Santa Maria Times appears to show the shootout involving police and the suspect in Solvang. SBC on scene/staged if needed on Fjord Dr. in Solvang following law enforcement pursuit. Contact SBSO for details pic.twitter.com/1op3Di3WHh SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) May 26, 2016 Thursday's Amber Alert said Castro may be driving a gold 1997 Saturn with a California license plate of 5XZD385, the same car that was seen in Santa Barbara County Fire pictures of the pursuit. The information on the shootout came after a search prompted by the sound of a gunshot and cries for help Wednesday morning. The sheriff's office said they received reports Wednesday morning of shots fired near the Interstate Highway 780 pedestrian over-crossing in the area of Home Acres and Taylor avenues in Vallejo. A witness reported seeing a man with a gun pulling a female, who was bleeding and yelling for help, on the over-crossing. The witness heard a gunshot while running for help, and responding deputies found blood on the ground, sheriff's officials said. "I heard screaming, panicking screaming, and then after that, I heard two gunshots and the car went off really fast," said witness Leslie Caro. The sheriff's office has not confirmed Pinson was shot or the extent of her injuries. Pinson has green hair and was last seen wearing a gray sweater, black leggings and had a black and turquoise backpack. The sheriff's office set up a tip line at 707-784-1963 but anyone with urgent information is asked to call 707-421-7090. Bay City News contributed to this report. Memorial Day: The three-day weekend that traditionally starts the summer season -- if not summer itself -- is full of meaning and memory for those seeking to honor those who have serve and have served. One of Southern California's biggest expressions of the day is Canoga Park's Memorial Day Parade, which tops off a weekend full of activities. The 2016 theme? "Saluting the Price of Freedom." The annual Flower Drop at the Palm Springs Air Museum is another major happening, and the Blue Star Museums program officially opens on Memorial Day. Queen Mary's 80th: The big boat in Long Beach isn't marking the anniversary of when it first came together, bolt by frame; rather, the occasion is the ocean-liner's maiden voyage. Sir Winston Churchill's great-grandson is visiting the WWII icon for a special unveiling of the prime minister's paintings on May 26, and other to-dos are grandly afoot, including free admission from 1 p.m. to close on Friday, May 27. A Jacaranda Celebration: Anyone who is a fan of the purple bloom that visits Southern California each May knows that the jacaranda tree is a pleasure to be enjoyed in the moment. But what if you could view the flowers in a fresh way, in an art-interesting, industrial setting? An anonymous collective of artists will be presenting the petals in an offbeat fashion, at a too-be-revealed site, on Sunday, May 29. Details on how to get the 411? Find them here. Topanga Days: As strum-nice jamborees go, this Memorial Day Weekend treat is one of the most venerable and vibrant. The three-dayer is all about a bevy of bands -- think banjos, story-weaving tunes, and such -- and there are kidly activities and other small-town sweetnesses, too. Do you need a ticket? You do, so start here before heading into one of SoCal's come-together-iest villages. Fiesta Hermosa: If starting off summer at the beach, with inexpensive eats and crafts to browse, is important to you, you've likely been calling up this free (and huge) festival for the last 44 years. It also bookends the summer on the other end -- Labor Day Weekend -- and it is, for many SoCalers, the easiest, breeziest way to get this warm-weather, ocean-lovely, no-worry-no-hurry party going. Dates? The easy-breezy reigns from May 28 through 30. 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. A campaign rally for presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in San Diego Friday turned violent after protesters clashed with police outside the San Diego Convention Center, yielding three arrests. Protesters, supporters and law enforcement officials filled the heart of downtown San Diego for the high-profile political event. Trump took the podium inside the convention center just before 2:30 p.m. About a half-hour into Trump's speech, protesters filled the intersection outside the convention center on Harbor Drive where San Diego Police Department (SDPD) officers had established a "free speech zone" for demonstrators designed to prevent violent encounters between protesters and supporters. That area in front of the San Diego Convention Center is typically very busy with both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's (MTS) trolley also runs through the area. In that zone, a protester tried to jump the police barricade and that's when things turned violent. Several arrests followed and at approximately 4:40 p.m., police declared the gathering an "unlawful assembly." Hours later, police said 35 people had been arrested in the aftermath of the rally. WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE: Video submitted to NBC 7 by Parissa shows what happened outside the San Diego Convention Center as Donald Trump was speaking on Friday. One encounter was captured on cellphone video obtained by NBC 7. In the video, a young man holding a Mexican flag is standing on a railing near SDPD officers. Officers approach the man and pull him off the barricade. As the officers are pulling the man, other men jump onto the railing and confront police. Officers pull out their batons and begin swinging at the protesters while deputies, outffited in helmets and riot gear, move in on the crowd. As the video shows, at least one man was hit in the head by an officer. As tensions boiled, some people in the crowd threw water, shoes and other objects at the officers. A man could be heard chanting, "Shame! Shame! Shame!" People try to jump gate. Officers beat with a stick and deputies move in with helmets on.#NBC7 pic.twitter.com/Rjr5tP3pi5 Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) May 27, 2016 Watch: Protesters outside Trump rally start to attack SD police officers, who hit back. pic.twitter.com/4bSZHVQAck Jacob Rascon (@KPRC2Jacob) May 27, 2016 Minutes later, SWAT officials were called in to help control the crowd. One-by-one, officials lined up on the other side of the barricade. Many protesters could be heard shouting at officials, the heated moment coming to a head. One man was arrested for trying to breech the security area, SDPD officials confirmed. **Situational Update** Several protestors tried to breech a secured area. One arrest has been made. San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) May 27, 2016 By 4:30 p.m., the number of arrests had climbed to three, police said. Just an hour before the violent clash between protesters and police, SDPD Lt. Scott Wahl held a media briefing and said no arrests had been made at the demonstrations outside the political rally. At that point, he said protesters had behaved peacefully in and around the convention center. Wahl said several groups of protesters had come through the area and assured things were "going well" in terms of security and safety. Again, Wahl emphasized the importance of "peaceful protests." He said that if someone gets arrested, they would be in custody until next week due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend. **Situational Update** crowd size is approximately 1,000. No arrests have been made. All protests have been peaceful. San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) May 27, 2016 As of 4:10 p.m., SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman again confirmed there had been one arrest. She said officers issued a few other citations at the rally but said the majority of attendees had complied with police orders and safety measures. Zimmerman said plastic bottles were among the objects hurled at police by protesters, but no officers were hurt. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD) Assistant Chief Colin Stowell said his crews had received a low number of medical calls in the rally area. Of those eight medical calls, one person was taken to the hospital, Stowell said. SDPD and SDFD officials planned to remain in the rally area for several hours until crowds dissipated. The preparations for Trump's San Diego rally began long before he took the stage in front of supporters. As early as 5 a.m., SDPD officers and other law enforcement agencies began staging security preparations downtown. Trump supporters, many decked out in Trump shirts and hats, also began filing into downtown early, securing their spots in line. Protesters, signs in hand, swarmed into the area early as well. [G] Donald Trump Rallies in San Diego In an effort to keep this rally peaceful, SDPD officials had designated certain zones around the convention center as areas for Trump supporters and areas for protesters. This move by SDPD came on the heels of violence earlier this week at Trump's rally in Anaheim, California, where shouting matches erupted between opponents and supporters. Still, some San Diego protesters told NBC 7 they were planning to demonstrate outside the designated zones Friday. At least three separate groups planned to hold marches against Trump near his rally venue, including one group planning to stage a peaceful protest at Fifth Avenue and Harbor Drive across the street from the convention center. That group said they wanted their voices heard but were not looking for a fight. Here we go. Anti Trump protesters converging on Convention Center. #nbc7 pic.twitter.com/4wLzTAyi2Z Artie Ojeda (@ArtieNBCSD) May 27, 2016 Earlier this week, SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman said swift and decisive action would be taken by police against anyone planning violence during Trumps visit to San Diego. We are not going to tolerate violence or disobedience to the law during this event," said Zimmerman. "We will take swift and decisive action for anyone who causes an unsafe environment by engaging in illegal activity." The police department reminded protesters that its illegal to block sidewalks or interfere with vehicular or 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. The chief said there would be uniformed and plainclothes officers out in full force at the rally. As SDPD officers set up barricades in front of the convention center Friday morning, an enthusiastic crowd applauded the officers, one man chanting, Blue lives matter! Many Trump supporters rolled out the welcome mat for the Republican, including Solana Beach congressional candidate Reagan Allvord who woke up very early to line up for the rally hours before Trump was set to speak. Americans need to stand up for America and I want to stand 24 hours to do it prior to the Trump rally because thats what its taking, Allvord told NBC 7. We want to make sure we dont repeat the mistakes of the last two elections where Republicans stayed home and didnt vote. Trump supporter Cynthia Bevins lined up for the rally with her son. They both wore hats with the Trump slogan, Make America Great Again. We just need him for our country, said Bevins. Two 18-year-old supporters felt the same way about Trump. I like how he puts America first, one of them told NBC 7. A Trump supporter who was attacked by protesters in Costa Mesa, California, last month was one of the first supporters in line for the San Diego rally Friday, NBC's Jacob Racon reported. Trump supporter attacked by protesters at Costa Mesa rally in April is one of the first in line for San Diego event. pic.twitter.com/d11aRLuflz Jacob Rascon (@KPRC2Jacob) May 27, 2016 Vendors lined up outside the convention center to sell merchandise to Trump supporters, too. Vendors selling Trump stuff outside of Conventiom Center. #nbc7 pic.twitter.com/NZCQ2xVAxC Artie Ojeda (@ArtieNBCSD) May 27, 2016 Meanwhile, those against Trump sang a very different tune. Supporters and protesters wait for @realDonaldTrump to arrive in San Diego around 2pm #SDTrumpRally #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/3Hgx3DPkPn Tom Jones (@TomJonesNBC) May 27, 2016 San Diego is not supporting a Trump presidency, one Trump opponent told NBC 7. The dangers of such a presidency, is really, to inflame racial issues across this country and [cause] havoc abroad. In the anti-Trump zone, opponents held up signs that read "NOPE" and "#DumpTrump" as a pinata resembling Trump swayed above the crowd. Just before 10 a.m., dozens of SDPD officers outfitted themselves with protective riot gear in anticipation of the crowds at the rally. Dozens of @SanDiegoPD officers w riot gear suit up outside of convention center ahead of #DonaldTrump's rally #NBC7 pic.twitter.com/gBuhopoGfP Liberty Zabala (@LibertyNBC7SD) May 27, 2016 Zimmerman told news media there was significant presence of SDPD personnel, as well as crews from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department (SDFD). She said officers had been in contact with groups protesting the event, and the groups planned to organize peacefully. Thats the emphasis, Zimmerman added. The chief said the SDPD was working closely with other state, local and federal agencies to protect public safety at the rally. She said SDPD officials had been monitoring previous Trump rallies in anticipation for Trumps appearance in San Diego. At 12:40 p.m., Zimmerman was seen keeping a watchful eye over the convention center from a rooftop at a nearby downtown hotel. Around 1 p.m., politicians began speaking inside the rally in support of Trump in front of an enthusiastic crowd. "Build a wall! Build a wall!" the supporters chanted. This included Congressman Duncan Hunter and Congressman Darrell Issa. A few minutes later, Sarah Palin took the podium. "Papa" Doug Manchester also spoke in support of Trump. At 1:30 p.m., Trump's private airplane landed at Lindbergh Field. He stepped off the plane a few minutes later. Raw footage of Donald Trumps plane landing at Lindbergh Field ahead of Trumps rally in downtown San Diego on May 27, 2016. Friday's rally caused delays for public transit, including trolleys runing along Orange and UC San Diego Blue lines. Due to the heavy police presence and large crowds, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) said riders should expect at least 10-minute delays near the Fifth Avenue transit station near the convention center as the rally unfolded. Walh said Harbor Drive would remain closed until rally crowds left the area. Trump took the stage just before 2 p.m. He touched on a variety of topics, including helping U.S. veterans, fighting ISIS, illegal immigration and "building a wall." "We're going to build it. And if I don't build it, I'll get Papa Doug to build it," Trump said, pointing at Manchester in the crowd. The room erupted into cheers. Trump also talked about his disdain for the media. The presidential hopeful also discussed Trump University and a class-action lawsuit filed in San Diego. "It's a disgrace the way the federal court is acting," he said. "There should be no trial." Trump spoke for about an hour, wrapping up just before 3:30 p.m. Authorities are still investigating the death of a 2-year-old girl who was strangled by a window blind cord at her Oakland Park Home. Broward Sheriff's Office officials say the girl, Mary Molina, died Wednesday after she became entangled in the cord at the home in the 4500 block of Northeast 15th Way. Molina had been put down for a nap by her mother, Jenna Holland, who went to another part of the home with her other child, officials said. When Holland returned to check on Molina, she found her nonresponsive and tried to give CPR, officials said. Deputies arrived and were unable to revive the child. Oakland Park Fire Rescue rushed Molina to Holy Cross Hospital where she later died. Molina's father, Rena Molina, wasn't home at the time of the incident but arrived shortly after first responders. The death investigation is ongoing. A man was rushed to the hospital after he was rescued from the water in Miami Beach Friday. Miami Beach Fire Rescue confirmed they took a man in his 40s to Mt. Sinai Medical Center. His condition was unknown. The incident was reported in the water behind the Loews Hotel. Officials said they're investigating whether it was a near drowning or the man went into cardiac arrest. No other information was immediately known. Check back with NBC 6 for updates. Authorities are looking for a suspect who sexually assaulted two sisters during a home invasion robbery in northeast Miami-Dade. The crime happened the morning of May 21 when the armed suspect forced his way into a home in the area of Northeast 195th Street and 2nd Avenue, police said. Once inside, he robbed two women and a man and sexually assaulted the female victims before fleeing the home. "He grabbed my head and he put the gun to my head and said 'oh you got a problem?' I was like 'no,' he said 'I said take off all your clothes,'" said one of the victims, who didn't want to be identified. The sisters said they were held prisoner for about an hour and forced to take off their clothes. One of the sisters had just returned home from prom. "I'm terrified, I've been living here 20 years and this is typically a nice neighborhood," one neighbor said. "I'm disturbed to hear something like that would happen." Police released a sketch and surveillance images of the suspect, who is described as a black male, 18-22 years old, 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8, with a thin build and gold teeth caps. Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Sheriff William Snyder said Friday that most of missing Florida mom Tricia Todd's remains have not been found, and it appears she was dismembered by a chainsaw. NBC affiliate WPTV in West Palm Beach reports that crews will continue to search the Hungryland Preserve in Martin County for her body after some remains were located Thursday night. Investigators haven't found the chainsaw or any other weapon involved in the case. "We will not be satisfied until all of Tricia Todd's remains are recovered," said Snyder. "It's going to be a long day." Crews on Thursday night located partial remains buried about three miles inside Hungryland Preserve in Martin County. Snyder said the remains were in a large plastic container about 3 feet in the ground and in the advanced stages of decomposition. The container was full of liquid that was some type of acid. "It's a very difficult time obviously for the family but they're relying on their faith and each other to get through this difficult time," family spokesman Shaun Plymale said. There's nothing conclusive to tell where Todd was killed. The medical examiner is now working on an autopsy of the remains to confirm if they are Todd. On Thursday night, detectives said Todd's former husband, Steven Williams, directed them to the location after pleading no contest to second-degree murder in exchange for a 35-year prison sentence. Snyder said the Todd family agreed to the plea deal so they could gain closure. The sheriff said personally he would have done the same. "I made a deal with the devil," says the prosecutor. Regarding the plea deal, Asst. State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl said Friday that justice is not often times perfect, but sometimes we have to take what we get. Bakkedahl said if a court determines Williams broke the terms of the plea deal, the case could go to trial. "This was premeditated murder, and I made a deal with the devil," said Bakkedahl. "I will put this man on a slow bus to death row." The state attorney said Friday that Williams has been attempting to manipulate law enforcement and attorneys with lies the entire time and has shown no remorse. "In my opinion, Williams broke the plea deal," said Bakkedahl. The deal had stated that Williams would be sentenced June 24 if he met the agreed terms. Williams said he and his ex-wife got into an argument over money and he pushed her, causing her to fall and fatally hit her head. Williams said he then put her body in her car and drove to her house. However, he said he turned around when he saw lights on at the home. Williams said he then drove along Bridge Road, turned on a dirt road and dumped her body. Snyder said Williams did not disclose a second location of Todds remains, putting the plea deal in jeopardy. WPTV legal analyst Michelle Suskauer said there are three options in the case. Another plea offer can be negotiated with the state, Williams could enter a plea in court and be sentenced by a judge or Williams could go to trial. Clearly were not satisfied with what we have tonight, this is a wrinkle or a hurdle that we could not have anticipated, and the family with our agreement entered a negotiated plea, so we could recover Tricia Todds remains, said Snyder. Without the plea of no contest, the sheriff maintains that they would have never found the remains. Snyder said a fresh team of detectives and a forensic anthropologist are continuing the search Friday morning. Crews are now looking in another area of Hungryland Preserve for more remains. A tropical storm warning has been issued for the South Carolina coast after forecasters say the second tropical cyclone of the Atlantic season formed. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says the warning issued Friday extends across the entire South Carolina coast. The warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere in the warning area within 36 hours. Tropical storm conditions are expected to first reach the coast Saturday night. About 2 to 4 inches of rain is expected to fall over parts of coastal Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Florida was not expected to be threatened by the system. The depression has maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph) and is centered about 435 miles (695 kilometers) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. Another high-ranking NYPD officer has filed for retirement amid the ongoing FBI investigation into whether officers accepted gifts in return for working as police escorts to influential businessmen. Deputy Chief Michael Harrington put in his papers for retirement on Friday, a senior law enforcement source told NBC 4 New York. The move comes days after Deputy Chief of Housing David Colon and Deputy Inspector James Grant also filed for retirement. The three officers, along with Deputy Chief Eric Rodriguez were among the first NYPD officers disciplined by the department amid the widening federal inquiry. Harrington and Grant had been on modified duty since early April. Colon and Rodriguez were transferred amid the investigation. The investigation was launched by the NYPD at the end of 2013. The FBI and Justice Department joined the ongoing inquiry in early 2014, Bratton said. "The police commissioner does not have the authority to prevent any officer from filing for retirement, thats their right," Bratton said Wednesday. Earlier this month, NYPD Inspector Michael Ameri was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound a short distance from his home in West Babylon. He had been questioned at his home by federal investigators and NYPD Internal Affairs officers about police escorts. There has been no evidence that he was involved in any wrongdoing. A police officer trying to clear a tree branch from a New Jersey road was caught on his own dashcam running from a tree Friday as it toppled into the road and knocked him to the ground. Officer Douglas Faber broke his wrist and had to get 13 stitches after he tried to move a fallen tree branch on Greenwood Lake Turnpike in Ringwood about 5:30 a.m., according to The Bergen Record. Footage from the officers dash cam shows Faber, who was working the overnight shift, walking into the road and attempting to move the large fallen branch, which was blocking about half of the roadway. As Faber pushes the branches out of the two-lane road, the tree comes toppling down. He attempts to run away, but a branch catches him on the head and knocks him to the ground. A second officer can be seen rushing to help Faber, who grabs his head. The pair then walk out of the frame. Police Chief Joseph Walker said that Faber should pull through just fine. "I'm just glad he's OK and had a reaction to run as good as he did," Walker said. It's not clear how much the tree weighed. It was moved by the middle of the day. Family members of a missing Delta flight attendant from Queens say they're still on the search for the woman who hasn't been seen since January, when she apparently quit her job ahead of a flight and walked out of LaGuardia Airport. The family of Sierra Shields, 30, who was last seen leaving the airport, believe she is still alive. "Right now, we have more questions than we do answers," said her father, Chris Shields, who flew in from Chicago with Sierra's mother to try to find anyone who can shed light on her disappearance. Sierra's mother, Donna Shields, said she spoke with her daughter the morning of Jan. 14, but felt something was off. Sierra ended the call quickly. She left her apartment in Queens, and like she always did, walked nearly two miles to LaGuardia Airport, where she was scheduled to work a flight originating there. Hours before her scheduled shift, she asked her supervisor if she could speak to her union representative, but the union representative wasn't there. Sierra wouldn't tell her supervisor why she wanted to speak to her -- which was out of character for her because the two were close. Sierra then left her work pass on her supervisor's desk and walked out of the terminal. She hasn't been seen since. Surveillance video shows Sierra walking out of Marine Terminal, but it's not clear which direction she goes. Police have not released the video, but her family says it only shows about three seconds of her walking. She was wearing her flight attendant dress, but not her full uniform. Her family says she does not have a history of depression, and describe her as a person who would go out of her way to help others. They fear it was her generosity that may have gotten her into trouble. "My gut tells me she was helping someone," said her mother, Donna Shields. "We don't know who she may have met. She is just... We just don't know. It's hard not knowing," she said. Sierra's parents said police told them they believe Sierra is in or around Astoria but wouldn't say why they think that. Donna Shields said the lead detective in the case has since told the family "not to call and not to expect updates." Now the family is in New York, stopping and talking to people and posting flyers. Police would only tell NBC 4 New York the investigation is active and ongoing. "If she's on her own free will, great," said Chris Shields. "We say we love you, come back home. If someone has her... I can't speak to that." Despite all the questions they have, Sierra's parents believe they have one answer. "She is here someplace," Chris said. "We will find her." The airline workers union Sierra belonged to is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who has information that helps find her. Police say a Queens man has been arrested in connection with a bias attack on a gay couple at a Manhattan bodega. Thomas Clabough was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault and attempted assault as a hate crime in the attack in the store in SoHo on Aug. 2. The victims were Daniel Lennox-Choate and his husband, Larry, the first gay couple to be married at West Point. A woman who died in an Ohio jail last month is heard on video asking for medical attention after a fight. Chris Tye reports. The married couple was attacked after suspect entered the Prince Street shop to purchase a beer. They say he shouted anti-gay slurs at the two men and then punched Daniel Lennox-Choate in the face. The suspect then fled on a bike. The 30-year-old victim suffered minor injuries to his mouth and refused medical attention. Daniel Lennox-Choate graduated from West Point in 2007, and his husband graduated two years later. They married in 2013. A puppy missing from a Texas home since last week showed up in 900 miles away in Florida. Attorney information for Clabough wasn't immediately available. [NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More A male nurse from Long Island has been arrested for taking illicit photos of a 17-year-old girl who was being treated in an emergency room, police said. An employee at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center allegedly saw 35-year-old Nicholas Petrella take the girl's photo while she was unconscious on May 20, authorities said. "It's obviously against the law," said Det. Sgt. John Diffley. It's not clear whether police had pulled any photos from the phone, but investigators said they're examining the mobile device. He was charged with unlawful surveillance and pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday. His attorney, Matt Touhy, said his client denies the allegations. "He's saying he handled his duties as a nurse and that this didn't happen," he said. "It's absolutely not true." Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center said it contacted police, but wouldn't comment on Petrella's job status. Police said Friday that he's been suspended from all work as a nurse. Police arrested a 24-year-old man in the shooting death of Carey Gabay, a lawyer and aide to Gov. Cuomo slain hours before the 2015 West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. The alleged gunman, Micah Alleyne, was arrested and charged with murder, reckless endangerment, and weapons charges, police said. Alleyne's lawyer, Edward Friedman, declined to comment. Gabay, a first deputy general counsel at the Empire State Development Corporation, was caught in the crossfire between two gangs around 3:40 a.m. Sept. 7, near the parade route in Brooklyn as more than two dozen shots from up to three guns were fired, authorities have said. The shooting came during the J'Ouvert festival leading up to the parade. Court papers say Alleyne and "numerous others" fired guns and one of the bullets struck Gabay. "As I have said from the beginning, we are determined to get justice for Mr. Gabay and his family," Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson said. "And we will continue to press forward until we hold everyone responsible for his death accountable." The 43-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer and Bronx native was shot in the head; he died after being hospitalized for more than a week while in a coma. Police have said Gabay was an unintended victim. "Carey Gabay was an exemplary public servant who lost his life in a senseless tragedy. Today's arrest is a major step forward in the pursuit of justice for Carey's family and loved ones," Cuomo said in a statement. The festival and the parade that follows attract hundreds of thousands of revelers to Brooklyn every Labor Day but have been marred by several shootings in recent years. Police and neighbors say a man shot and killed his two young children before turning the gun on himself in their Orange County home. The man's wife returned home in Wallkill just before 5:30 p.m. to find her husband and their two children dead in their beds, authorities and neighbors said. Each had been shot in the head. Neighbor Jean Stevens, who lives across the street, said she heard the wife screaming as she was on the phone with police outside the home. "I ran across the street and said, 'What's going on?' She said, 'He killed them, he killed them, he killed himself," said Stevens. "She was hysterical, she was screaming, she was yelling." "She told me she had tried calling him all day, she couldn't get through," Stevens said. "She felt there was something wrong, so when she got home, she tried to get into the house and the door was locked. She tried to break in, and when she got in the house, she found them." The ages of the children were not immediately clear. Neighbors said the man was a stay-at-home father and a retired police officer. The family was "very quiet" and kept to themselves. "We never saw them," said Stevens. "You'd never know there were kids in the house. They were never outside the house, you never saw them. They would come home and the kids would be snuck in the back door." Mary Bertone said the family has lived there for over 20 years and that the father, while friendly enough to offer a wave and say hello when he saw her, never engaged with neighbors. "I've never seen anything that would indicate that was going on," she said. "They were very quiet. John was a quiet man. He was there for the children, took them to school, brought them home." But Bertone added that the children were never outside. "He would pick them up from school, they'd come home and that was it, they'd stay indoors," she said. "Their blinds were never open in the house. That's just the way John was. What was going on behind closed doors, I don't think anyone will ever know." She said his wife was "very pleasant, very quiet." "Everybody is shocked that this happened," she said. Wallkill and state police are investigating. Police are looking into the possibility that a knife-wielding man wanted in more than a dozen robberies in Suffolk and Nassau counties may have hit three businesses in Queens this month. Robberies in Forest Hills, Flushing and Howard Beach may be connected to Long Island's long-sought-after knife-wielding robber, who has targeted Dunkin' Donuts, 7-Eleven, Subway, and other businesses over the past few months. Police said there aren't any indications that the three reported Queens robberies are related, but have confirmed that they are investigating a possible link. A man with a knife robbed a Carvel in Forest Hills on the night of May 11. He ordered an employee at the Metropolitan Avenue location to open a register and stole $500 in cash. Then on Monday night, a knife-wielding man entered a Dunkin' Donuts on 45th Avenue in Flushing and had an employee open two cash registers. He got away with $600 in cash from the shop, police said. On Wednesday night, a Dunkin' Donuts in Howard Beach was targeted. Police said a man with a knife walked into the Cross Bay Boulevard business and had an employee open a register. He stole $776 in cash. No one has been arrested in either the Queens or Long Island robberies. A woman died after she was stabbed by two men who knocked on the door of her Bronx apartment, police said. Nothing was taken from the womans Concourse home after the stabbing and police are questioning her husband as a person of interest. The two men knocked on the 38-year-old womans apartment door on East 164th Street sometime before 10 p.m. Thursday. She or her husband answered the door, and thats when the men forced their way in and stabbed the woman before taking off, according to police. Police responded to a call about the stabbing at 10:04 p.m. Officers found the woman unconscious, with multiple stab wounds to her torso. She was taken to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police investigating the stabbing said that nothing was stolen from the apartment and that the womans husband is being questioned as a person of interest. There have been no arrests reported. Menabe Andargachew, a 9-year-old American girl, is suing the British government for not pushing Ethiopia to release her father, a British citizen and an outspoken critic of Ethiopia's regime, NBC News reported. Andargachew "Andy" Tsege disappeared while catching a connecting flight through Yemen in June 2014. The political activist was snatched and forcibly taken to Ethiopia, where he had been sentenced to death for opposition work. So far, the U.K. government hasn't demanded his release. Now Menabe and her family are trying to force their hand. They filed a legal challenge alleging that approach is "unlawful." Both the U.N. Human Rights Council and the European Parliament have called for Tsege's release. The British government has expressed "deep concern" over his case. But thus far, it hasn't followed suit in demanding Tsege be freed instead focusing on getting him "due process." Tsege's Maryland-born partner Yemi Hailemariam, family and lawyers say he was kidnapped a victim of rendition carried out by Ethiopia, which has labeled him a terrorist and enemy of the state. Ethiopia says he was "extradited." A judge granted a restraining order requested Friday by actress Amber Heard against her actor husband, Johnny Depp, saying she has been the victim of domestic violence. The order, requested Friday morning in Los Angeles County Superior Court, was issued on the same day Los Angeles police confirmed officers responded to a "domestic incident" report at the couple's home, but later determined "a crime did not occur." Heard filed to divorce the actor, citing irreconcilable differences after 15 months of marriage, earlier this week. Depp was ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from his estranged wife, according to The Associated Press. The judge also ruled that Depp shouldn't try to contact Heard. NBC4 is attempting to obtain a copy of the order. Heard said in a sworn declaration that Depp threw her cellphone at her during a fight Saturday, striking her cheek and eye, the AP reported. The Los Angeles Police Department released a statement Friday regarding the investigation. "The person reporting did not insist on a report nor was there any evidence provided by the victim that warranted a report," the statement continued. "Officers' investigation determined that a crime did not occur. Officers cleared the scene and left a business card." People, E! and other outlets reported that Heard and her attorney submitted as evidence a photo of her eye with red bruising. Depp's attorney, Laura Wasser, declined to comment to the AP, but wrote in a court filing that Depp was out of the country and would agree to a mutual stay-away order. She contended that Heard's filing, along with requests for financial assistance from the actor "appears to be in response to the negative media attention she received earlier this week after filing for divorce." Depp is in Portugal for a performance with his band Hollywood Vampires. A representative for Depp was not immediately available to comment to NBC. A representative gave this statement to People on Thursday, before Heard applied for the restraining order: Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of his mother, Johnny will not respond to any of the salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life. Hopefully the dissolution of this short marriage will be resolved quickly. Heard listed the couple's date of separation as Sunday in her divorce filing, which sought spousal support from the Oscar-nominated actor, whose latest film, "Alice Through the Looking Glass," is due to be released on Friday. Johnny Depp responded to Heard's request for spousal support on Wednesday, asking a court to determine that he should not pay it. Depp, a father of two, and Heard met while co-starring in the 2011 film "The Rum Diary." They have no children together. Depp was previously married to make-up artist Lori Anne Allison in 1983. The pair divorced two years later. He was in a long relationship with French actress and model Vanessa Paradis before he began dating Heard. was in a long relationship with French actress and model Vanessa Paradis before he began dating Heard.He was in a long relationship with French actress and model Vanessa Paradis before he began dating Heard. Depp and Heard have been embroiled in a dispute with Australia's deputy prime minister, who last year threatened to euthanize their dogs, Boo and Pistol, after they were illegally smuggled into the country. Heard pleaded guilty 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 pair videotaped an apology as part of a deal that allowed Heard to avoid a conviction. But the actors have been derided because of their wooden deliveries in the tape. NBC4's Nyree Arabian contributed to this report. "Roots" arrived on Jan. 23, 1977, three days after the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter, a white, liberal Southern Democrat elected in the turbulent wakes of Vietnam and Watergate. The divided country came together around TV sets to watch the story of an enslaved American family. Just under 80 million votes were cast in the relatively close 1976 presidential race, but some 100 million people (about 45 percent of the population at the time) tuned in for the final chapter of the 12-hour miniseries, broadcast over eight nights on ABC. The latest chapter in the "Roots" saga unfolds Monday with the start of a remake, via the History Channel. The current take on the television landmark comes as a new identity crisis faces the country, still struggling to come to terms with its origins. The retelling of Roots unfolds across political and media landscapes both familiar and vastly altered from four decades ago, when author Alex Haley's at least partially fictionalized account of his family's epic journey hit bookstores. The country is in the midst of a hard-fought election season brimming with ideological clashes, confusion and uncertainty perhaps not seen since the post-Nixon years. Yet the first African-American president, who was in high school when "Roots" debuted, is winding down his second term, and it appears a woman is on the verge of heading a major-party presidential ticket for the first time. People are inhaling more media than ever but from many more sources. When "Roots" premiered in 1977, three networks drew the vast majority of TV viewers. Now seemingly endless television channels are in a pitched battle with online outlets for attention, making for few mass viewing opportunities beyond the Super Bowl, which pulls in "Roots"-like numbers. The "Roots" reboot will be simulcast on History, Lifetime and A&E in hopes of reaching a wide audience during four installments spanning eight hours. But while the success of the 1977 edition grew night by night thanks to the water-cooler effect, the new version could sink or swim via social media the same fickle force that's helped propel everything from the Kardashians to Donald Trump. The biggest question remains whether trying to match or exceed the quality and sterling collective memory of a classic is worth the gamble. The new "Roots" appears to be in good hands with producers Mark Wolper (the son of original producer David L. Wolper) and LeVar Burton (who played the young Kunta Kinte in the first "Roots"). Media reports and previews suggest viewers can expect an even more unvarnished look at the horrors of slavery with a top-notch cast that includes Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker and Aniki Noni Rose. Still, the Roots revival faces a steep challenge in gripping the nation again with a powerful story that still vies to help us to view our present and future through the defining chapter of the country's past. Jere Hester is Director of News Products and Projects at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter. Officials are reporting the first U.S. human case of bacteria resistant to an antibiotic used as a last resort drug. The 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman has recovered. But officials fear that if the resistance spreads to other bacteria, the country may soon see germs impervious to all antibiotics. The woman had gone to a military clinic in Pennsylvania for a urinary tract infection. Tests found she had E. coli bacteria resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort. She was successfully treated for the superbug with other antibiotics. Bacteria resistant to the colistin have been found in other countries but not in people in the U.S. The woman had not traveled recently outside the country. Military officials reported the case Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health acknowledged the case, but would not release any details. "The Department of Health is aware of the human case of MCR-1 in Pennsylvania," the department said in a statement. "We are part of a coordinated investigation involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Defense." Bank of America wants to help give you one less thing to lose, and make your wallet a bit less cumbersome in the process. That's the word out of a Silicon Valley digital conference this week, with Bank of America announcing plans to roll out "cardless ATM technology" at 5,000 branches, including 13 locations in the Philadelphia region. The bank will install technology that lets customers withdraw cash, make transfers, and check balances using their smart phone. Consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices to manage their daily lives, and were committed to delivering solutions that give them convenient and secure options when it comes to managing their money, said Michelle Moore, head of digital banking at Bank of America. Now in addition to using digital wallets for purchases, customers can use them to get cash at the ATM. The bank is the first to begin a broad rollout of cardless ATMs. For users, the experience goes like this: - Identify cardless-enabled ATMs by the contactless symbol Universal_Contactless_Card_Symbol_svg.png near the card reader. - When ready to perform a transaction, the customer will select their Bank of America debit card in their digital wallet and hold their device over the ATMs contactless card reader to activate the ATM. Bank of America customers can begin the experiment in June at the following locations: - 650 ROCK HILL DR., BENSALEM, PA 19020 - 1050 WESTLAKES DR., BERWYN, PA 19312 - 243 ROUTE 130, BORDENTOWN, NJ 08505 - 807 E BALTIMORE PIKE, KENNETT SQUARE, PA 19348 - 222 BRIDGETON PIKE, MANTUA, NJ 08051 - 351 W ROUTE 70, MARLTON, NJ 08053 - 212 SOUTH ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA 19147 - 920 SOUTH ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA 19147 - 3801 ARAMINGO AVE., PHILADELPHIA, PA 19137 - 5215 CONCORD PIKE, WILMINGTON, DE 19803 - 2213 HESSLER BLVD., WILMINGTON, DE 19709 - 655 PAPER MILL RD., NEWARK, DE 19711 - 148 E MAIN ST., NEWARK, DE 19711 A neighborhood in Springfield Township was locked down for about four hours Thursday evening after a man believed to be armed with a firearm barricaded himself inside a home. The lockdown ended shortly before 11 p.m., but it remained unclear if a suspect was in custody and if anyone was injured. Police initially surrounded the house on Hillview Drive in the Delaware County suburb about 6:30 p.m., according to reports. A three-block radius around the house was blocked off. It is unknown who was in the house other than a man allegedly threatening to shoot police. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders says his campaign accepts primary results in Kentucky, handing front-runner Hillary Clinton another victory. A review of election results Thursday yielded no change in the outcome of Kentucky's May 17 primary. Both candidates earned 27 delegates. But one delegate in the 6th Congressional District has not been awarded yet. Clinton leads Sanders by about 500 votes in that district. "We are very pleased that we split," Sanders said in a statement Thursday. Sanders sent a letter requesting a recanvassing of the results on Tuesday. He could have asked a judge to order a recount, but he would have to pay for it himself. Clinton leads Sanders by a margin of 271 pledged delegates. But Sanders has vowed to stay in the race. A new memorial honoring the nearly 7,000 military service members killed in action since 9/11 is set to be unveiled in Long Beach on Memorial Day. A 1,200 foot long section of a pre-existing wall at Rosie the Riveter Park will hold ten granite slabs engraved with the names of the fallen. The Honoring Our Fallen Memorial Wall will list the names of those 6,864 who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, including Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, of Temecula, who was killed by rocket fire in an attack in Iraq on March 19. The names will appear in order of the date each service member was lost, beginning Sept. 2001. Laura Herzog, founder of Honoring Our Fallen, a nonprofit that provides support to families of slain service members and who set up a fundraising campaign for the wall, says it's taken a few years for this memorial to come to life. "I have been full of emotion and tears more so than ever," said Herzog. "We have supported five fallen hero funerals in the last two months all while preparing and watching this wall that has been my vision for many years." Herzog says the total cost for the memorial will be close to $70,000. About $17,000 was donated by the family of a young Marine killed in combat, while an online fundraising campaign has raised over $14,000. "I have always told each family I have served, 'We will do all we can to ensure your family's sacrifice is not forgotten' and this wall is one way we will do that," Herzog said. Honoring Our Fallen has set up a GoFundMe page where donations can be made here. An unveiling ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. at Rosie the Riveter Park located at Clark Avenue and Conant Street on Memorial Day. Its a mirage. Its smoke and mirrors, nothing more, nothing less. Thats how one former FBI agent, who specialized in investigating diploma mills, summed up a website for Stamford Hill University. The school doesnt exist, said Allen Ezell. NBC 7 asked Allen Ezell to look into the school after three teachers at Serra High School questioned whether their principals Ph.D. was from a legitimate school. They have filed a complaint with the San Diego Unified School Districts Office of Quality Assurance. According to his resume found online, Vincent Mays says he received his Ph.D. from Stamford Hill University. Ezell also discovered what NBC 7 found: there was no record of the school from the U.S. Department of Education, no record of the school from the Florida State Department of Education and no business licenses, now or in the past. The San Diego Unified School District released this statement about its vetting process: San Diego Unified fully investigates the teaching and instructional credentials of all our teachers and principals. Our policy is to verify only those aspects of an applicants background that relate directly to their qualifications to teach or serve as an administrator time in the classroom, state certifications, etc. We do not research additional academic credentials that are not related to their eligibility to hold the position for which they have applied. It stressed Doctor Mays has a bachelors degree from Seton Hall, a Masters Degree from Montclair State University, more than 25 years in the classroom and as an administrator, and a certification to serve as a teacher/administrator in the state of California. Since last week, NBC 7 has been asking Mays for comment. The district has said Mays will not talk about this, because he feels it is the doing of disgruntled employees. Numerous comments have been posted to NBC 7's Facebook page regarding our stories. To me, it's kind of like cheating, said Kim Nguyen, a parent of a student at Serra High. Another parent, who says he thinks the principal is doing a good job, said he wants the district to get to the bottom of this sooner, rather than later. They hired him. It's their job to take care of it, and they need to set an example for our kids, other parents, staff, said Dan Sehlhorst. Get in on the discussion here. A former Uber driver accused of raping a passenger is facing 19 new charges in San Diego County after El Cajon police found other alleged victims, including a 13-year-old. John David Sanchez, 52, is accused of raping a vomiting, intoxicated female passenger in February and sexually assaulting five other victims between 2011 and 2014. A spokesman for the district attorney's office said there are a total of seven victims in the case. Four have been identified by police, but three remain unidentified. Prosecutor Kerry Conway said Sanchez is accused of being a serial rapist, with his youngest alleged victim only 13 years old. The charging documents indicate Sanchez may have recorded his alleged crimes and saved the videos. The new charges include a count of performing lewd acts on a child under the age of 14, trying to prevent a witness from reporting a crime and employment of a minor to perform prohibited acts. A deputy district attorney told NBC 7 the final count pertains to the production of child pornography. "Anytime we see charges like this, even if it's one victim, we take it very seriously," Conway said. "When we see cases where there are multiple victims over this type of time frame, that is something that is taken very, very seriously by our office." NBC 7 has learned Sanchez worked as a DJ and ran a "video production and distribution" company. Sanchez pleaded not guilty to the new charges. He is being held on $1 million bail. He faces a maximum of 37 years and four months in prison, if convicted on all the charges. Sanchez's attorney, Peter Blair, said his client denied all charges. Blair said he couldn't comment further until he reviewed the discovery materials in the case. Sanchez was first arrested March 29 and was terminated from Uber immediately. He pleaded not guilty and posted bail. The ride-hailing company issued a statement after Sanchez's initial arrest, saying "Uber takes safety incidents like this very seriously" and has "been working closely with law enforcement." San Diego will honor U.S. military heroes this weekend with a host of special remembrance ceremonies for fallen service members and veterans. Here's a guide to those events. The Veterans Museum at Balboa Park The Veterans Village of San Diego museum admission is free to the general public on Memorial Day. Legacy Week at USS Midway The USS Midway's Legacy Week sends appreciation to our military members with several events. On Monday, pilots will be stationed by each aircraft on the ship, ready to answer everyones questions about the planes they once flew. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Band Arizona will perform at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. There will also be a Blood Drive at 3 p.m., and participants will receive a free museum pass. Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery A ceremony will be held in tribute of fallen soldiers at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. The grave sites are open to visitors from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Memorial Day. Come at 10 a.m. to listen to Major General Daniel J. ODonojue, a service member with 30 years of experience, speak at the event. Another time to visit is 3 p.m., when the national moment of remembrance takes place. Memorial Day Ceremony at Mount Soledad On Monday there's a Memorial Day Ceremony at Mount Soledad. A special plaque presentation honors the history of President Theodore Roosevelt and his contributions to the military. Captain Craig Clapperton, the Commanding Officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), is a keynote speaker who will give a speech in tribute of service members at 2 p.m. American Legion San Dieguito Post 416 There's a special ceremony held by the American Legion San Dieguito Post 416 on Monday to honor service members running from 11 a.m to noon. Live music will play throughout the day at 210 W. F St. in Encinitas. Nashville recording artist Amy Scruggs will sing the national anthem and perform. This event also features Cub Scout Troop 772 and other musicians from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Food and refreshments will be offered at an outside barbecue with burgers and brews. Veterans' Memorial Service at Miramar National Cemetery Graves are open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A Southern California school district knew a student might bring a gun to school but failed to notify the boy's parents, possibly preventing the situation, NBC 7 San Diego has learned. San Ysidro School District held its first expulsion hearing in years Thursday night regarding a March incident at San Ysidro Middle School. County education officials listened to arguments from the students father and the school district. They needed to decide whether to uphold the district's decision to expel the student. The district argued it was doing what it thought was best to keep all the students at the school safe. Officials also said legally and according to its policies, district administrators followed protocol. However, the student's father said the district did not act when officials apparently knew his son was being bullied. He said administrators knew the student may bring something to school to defend himself and again did nothing. Kevin Washington is a single father of the student involved in the incident. He said he is heartbroken. "I'm afraid I could lose him where he is right now. He needs to be in school," Washington told NBC 7 in an exclusive interview. He said his son was severely bullied at San Ysidro Middle School and brought an unloaded gun to campus in March. He did not dispute that was poor decision by his son. Washington appealed his son's expulsion because, he said, the night before the incident, the school district had information his son might bring a gun, and did not call him or the boy's mother. "If you were concerned about the safety of the children, what about the safety of my child when you knew something was going to happen," he asked the school district officials at the hearing. At a meeting with County Office of Education, county board members had the same questions for the San Ysidro School District. An attorney for the district responded. "In an ideal situation a call would have been placed," said attorney Michael Wolfsohn. "I don't know the exact reason why the call wasn't made." "The initial action was to see if there was a firearm and then call the parent," he added. Ultimately, board members upheld the district's decision to expel Washington's son in a 3-2 vote. Their main objective was to decide "did the district act within the scope of its authority." However, they still had strong words and requests that the district review its policy and procedures. "I only have 10 minutes to fight for my son's education life when these people had almost 24 hours to contact me. It's not fair," Washington said. An armed Muslim mob stripped an elderly Christian woman and paraded her naked on the streets in an attack last week in which seven Christian homes were also looted and torched in a province south of the Egyptian capital. According to the local Orthodox Coptic church and security officials, the assault in the Minya province village of Karma on Friday began after rumors spread that the elderly woman's son had an affair with a Muslim woman a taboo in conservative Egypt. Police have arrested six men suspected of taking part in the violence and are looking for 12 more, the security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called for the culprits to be held accountable and gave the military a month to restore property damaged during the violence, at no cost to the owners. In a statement issued Thursday by his office, el-Sissi said Egypt appreciates the role of "glorious Egyptian women" and that "the rights and the protection of their dignity are a humanitarian and patriotic commitment before being a legal and constitutional one." Anba Makarios, Minya's top Christian cleric, told a talk show host on the private Dream TV network that the 70-year-old woman was dragged out of her home by the mob who beat her and insulted her before they stripped her off her clothes and forced her to walk through the streets as they chanted Allahu Akbar, or "God is great." The woman reported the incident to the police five days later, said Makarios, adding that she had initially found it too difficult to "swallow the humiliation" she suffered and go to the police. Attiyah Ayad, a 58-year-old farmer from a nearby village who witnessed the attack, described how the mob chanted "we must drive the infidels out" as they looted and burned the Christian homes, one of which belonged to his relatives. He said they were armed with firearms, knifes and sticks. "They emptied magazine after magazine, firing in the air to terrorize us," said Ayad, who suffered a head injury from being hit by a rifle butt and his son Ayad, 30, sustained a deep knife wound in his left shoulder. The incident, intensely publicized since Wednesday night, has unleashed a flurry of condemnations on social media networks where users blamed the influence of ultraconservative Salafi Muslims for the attacks and derided authorities for not reacting quickly. The hashtag "Egypt stripped naked" on Twitter gained traction shortly after it was introduced. Extramarital affairs or sex between unmarried couples are taboo among Muslims and Christians in Egypt. They often attract violent reactions in rural areas, where questions of honor can lead to deadly family feuds that endure for years or result in ostracizing the perpetrators. Christian men cannot marry Muslim women in Egypt unless they convert to Islam first, but Muslim men can marry Christian women. An affair between a Christian man and a Muslim woman takes such sectarian sensitivities to a much higher and dangerous level and often lead to violence if found out. According to a statement Wednesday by Makarios, police arrived at the scene of Friday's violence two hours after the attack began. The family of the Christian man had notified the police of threats against them by Muslim villagers the day before the attack, he added. "No one did anything and the police took no pre-emptive or security measures in anticipation of the attacks," the cleric said, speaking in another TV interview, also Wednesday night. "We are not living in a jungle or a tribal society," he told Ahmed Moussa, a prominent, pro-government talk show host on the private Sada el-Balad television. Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of more than 90 million people, have long complained of discrimination in the mostly Muslim nation. El-Sissi, in office since 2014, has sought to address some of their grievances, changing election laws to allow more Christians into the national legislature and easing restrictions on building new churches and renovating old ones. But many Christians say they are still treated unfairly and are often the victims when in disputes with Muslims. Discrimination against Christians is somewhat subtle in big cities like Cairo or Alexandria on the Mediterranean, but becomes much more pronounced in provinces where they are a sizable minority like Minya, where they make up about 35 percent of the population, the largest in any of Egypt's 27 provinces. Minya, like Assiut province farther south, is a traditional stronghold of militant Muslims. Makarios, in unusually candid comments, said he predicted the crisis in the Minya village will most likely be handled through a government-sponsored meeting of the two sides in which the Christians will be forced to accept "humiliating" conditions for reconciliation. A North Carolina man has pleaded guilty to receiving and selling misbranded silicone for buttock injections that led to a woman's death in Maryland. Federal prosecutors announced Friday that 44-year-old Vinnie Taylor of Wilmington, North Carolina, admitted that he gave women injections to enhance their buttocks. Taylor, who isn't a medical practitioner, told clients that he used medical grade silicone and the procedure performed in hotel rooms in several states was safe. The plea estimates Taylor made nearly $1.6 million. Prosecutors say Taylor injected at least seven women in Prince George's County with the silicone between September 2013 and September 2014. In March 2014, Taylor met the victim at a hotel room in Capitol Heights and gave her injections in her buttocks, prosecutors said. Investigators say the woman became ill after the injections and checked herself into a local hospital, where she later died. Taylor is expected to plead guilty to a criminal information, admitting that his actions resulted in the woman's death. In exchange, Prince George's County prosecutors dismissed first-degree murder charges. What to Know Nine-month-old Savannah Wright was rushed to a hospital Dec. 2, 2015, and placed on life support. In March, Wright's death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force injury to the head, police said. Beatrice Manning faces charges of murder and first-degree child abuse. A woman who ran an unlicensed Maryland day care was indicted in the death of 9-month-old child in her care, according to the Prince George's County state's attorney. Beatrice Manning of Oxon Hill faces charges of murder and first-degree child abuse in the death of nine-month-old Savannah Wright. Savannah Wright's mother dropped her off at Manning's home day care, Little Giggles, the morning of Dec. 2, police said. About four hours later, Manning called 911, saying Savannah was lethargic and had become unresponsive. The girl was rushed to Children's National Medical Center, where she was placed on life support. Showing no signs of life, she was taken off life support two days later. Tests found her injuries -- brain swelling and bleeding, and retinal hemorrhaging -- were the result of non-accidental trauma, according to the state's attorney. In March, the child's death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force injury to the head, police said. Manning remains free on $250,000 bond. A 26-year-old taxi driver from Virginia was indicted Thursday on charges he tried to help a friend join ISIS fighters, the U.S. attorney's office said. Prosecutors said Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, 26, of Woodbridge, conspired with Joseph Hassan Farrokh to provide material support or resources to ISIS. Elhassan's attorney, however, has accused the FBI of creating cases against young Muslim men. Both men were arrested earlier this year after Farrokh tried to board a flight to Chicago at Richmond International Airport, investigators said. Officials said Farrokh intended to board a flight to the Middle East once he reached Chicago. Elhassan drove Farrokh to Richmond and later lied about where Farrokh was going, court documents said. But Elhassan's lawyer, Ashraf Nubani, has claimed his client is a victim of prejudice against Islam or Muslims. "The issue is the way the government goes about these cases," Nubani said. "They had three informants in this case who were looking for people that they can get in trouble. They thought that they found someone, and my client is only charged with aiding and abetting that someone." Elhassan has been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS, aiding and abetting the provision of material support to ISIS, and false statements. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 48 years in prison. According to criminal complaints, Farrokh had been trying to leave the U.S. and join ISIS in Syria since Nov. 20, 2015. Elhassan allegedly introduced Farrokh to a person whom Elhassan believed had connections to individuals engaged in jihad overseas. That person was an FBI informant cooperating with law enforcement as part of a plea deal for a reduced sentence in a criminal case, according to the complaint. Elhassan's next court appearance is scheduled for June 3. Farrokh pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS and admitted he had planned for months to join the terror group in Syria, The Washington Post reports. A former fire investigator who worked for the Fairfax County Fire Department for 20 years has filed a lawsuit against 17 of her ex-colleagues, accusing them of bullying, sexual harassment and conspiring to get her to quit. Patricia Tomasello said the harassment and discrimination started when she joined the department in 1996. "Their goal was to continue a twenty-year-long vendetta instigated by Chief [Michael] Reilly and directed at her by senior officials and line-duty firefighters. This vendetta was encouraged by a number of fire chiefs and other subordinates located in the Fairfax County Fire Department," the lawsuit states. The lawsuit said employees and fire chiefs, including current fire chief Richard Bowers, went to great lengths to have Tomasello removed from the department, including planting marijuana in her vehicle and accusing her of unprofessional conduct. In 2006, Tomasello was the first African-American woman to be promoted to fire investigator in the department. Two of the employees named in the lawsuit resented her because she repeatedly denied their requests for "sexual favors," the lawsuit said. She said the sexual harassment continued at a conference. "On a number of occasions, I had a couple of firefighters come to my room at 3 o'clock in the morning, just constantly harassing me about sex," Tomasello said. When Tomasello was diagnosed with cancer, the department granted her request for light duty, but she said her colleagues continued to make her life miserable. "I was made to go run a call in the hot scalding sun and anybody knows when you're dealing with chemotherapy, sun burns your skin," Tomasello said. The alleged "conspiracy" to get her out of the department was successful, the lawsuit said, because Tomasello was transferred out of the fire investigations unit, stripped of her position and forced into another job that pays significantly less. Tomasello filed a discrimination lawsuit against the department two years ago. A judge dismissed that case. A spokesperson for the department gave the following statement to News4: "We cannot comment on a pending lawsuit. However, we want to assure our community that harassment of any kind is not tolerated by Fairfax County. Fairfax County has written policies that prohibit harassment, and all county employees are required to participate in training regarding sexual harassment and hostile work environments. Allegations of harassment are taken seriously and fully investigated. Anyone who is proven to have participated in this type of unacceptable behavior is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination." The lawsuit is the latest accusation against the department, which has been accused of having a hostile work environment for female firefighters. Last month, Fairfax firefighter Nicole Mittendorff killed herself in Shenandoah National Park, and lewd comments about the young woman were later found on a blog. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors said it is employing a third-party consultant to investigate the professional environment of the fire department. A man charged in connection with the death of a 5-month-old baby boy he was babysitting in Manchester admits to shaking the infant, according to arrest documents. Police officers and paramedics responded to an apartment on Channing Drive in the Squire Village Complex around 9 p.m. on Sunday when they received a medical call for a choking infant, Manchester Police said. Joshua Maldonado, 23, is accused of killing the 5-month-old and he turned himself in to police on Wednesday. The child died at Manchester Memorial Hospital and the autopsy revealed that the baby died from a blunt trauma to the head and the death was ruled a homicide, police said. After changing his story several times, according to the police affadavit, Maldonado admitted to becoming "annoyed" when the crying baby woke him up from a nap and then shaking the infant, but said it was not on purpose. Police said Maldonado is not related to the infant and family members said he and the child's mother were dating and he'd babysat before. "I know my son is innocent. I just feel sorry for him and the baby's family," Maldonado's mother told NBC Connecticut. Maldonado, of Hartford, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor. His bond was initially set at $350,000, but was raised to $4000,000. Firefighters in Coventry, Rhode Island, say they're being asked to remove U.S. flags and decals from the district's fire trucks. Firefighters say it started last year when Central Coventry Fire District Chairman Fred Gralinski likened their display of the flags on the back of the trucks to something ISIS would do. Gralinski apologized Thursday, saying he used a poor choice of words. Coventry Fire Union President David Gorman says the district board adopted a policy saying that permission must be sought from the fire chief before stickers or decals can be put on the trucks. But Gorman says he's still being asked in private to remove the items. Gralinski says orders of removing the flags aren't true. A Massachusetts 8-year-old is recovering after a massive light post fell on him during recess at Downey Elementary School in Brockton Wednesday morning. "It still makes me upset to talk about it," said Melissa Rivera, the mother of Lamont Collins. "He could have been seriously hurt." She says her son was simply leaning on a lamp post with a rusty base. Several teachers rushed to help the young boy who was taken to the hospital as a precaution. No one from Brockton Public Schools would answer necn's questions. But a statement says some of the light poles at Downey date back to the 1970s, and 15 lamp posts with rusty bases have been removed. "We don't want our kids to be playing around dangerous materials," said parent Roxanne Mather. Mather says there is even more unsafe aging infrastructure at the school. "I just feel like it shouldn't have happened, and I hope it doesn't happen again. the problem just needs to be resolved," said Rivera, who is keeping her son out of school for the time being. She hopes more changes are on the way. The school district says new lamp posts have been ordered and will be replaced shortly. Massachusetts is reviewing a probation officer in connection to Jorge Zambrano, who allegedly murdered Auburn Police officer Ronald Tarentino. Ashley Losapio, an associate probation officer in the state, is under review. According to her attorney, Losapio has been dating Zambrano's twin brother, Giancarlo Zambrano, since 2015. In a 2010 investigation into political corruption and patronage at the Probation Department, a state report says Losapio was investigated for using her job to tip off friends. The report says that Worcester Police repeatedly complained to the probation commissioner that Losapio, the step-daughter of a now-retired judge, had compromised an investigation by "=leaking information to criminals." Losapio's attorney says she's been dragged into this case unnecessarily and that she's never had any association with Jorge Zambrano, who has a lengthy history with the courts. "She never met with, talked to, or had any involvement whatsoever with his brother, Jorge," said attorney Edward P. Ryan, Jr. "They didn't socialize, they didn't have business transactions, nothing. She has had no contact with him while dating Giancarlo." The report also says Losapio had been "a known associate of several drug and gun dealers." Ryan says the state never interviewed Losapio for her position for the report. "There was no finding ever that she leaked information about any investigation to anyone," Ryan said. "The only thing that she was found culpable for doing, was confirming an address for someone who wanted to repossess a car, and for that she received a two week suspension." Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker says he's still waiting for more information. "It's my hope and my expectation that there will be a full vetting of the facts, and if there are situations and circumstances that require changes either administratively or statutorily we'll pursue them," Baker said. Losapio currently works out of Dudley District Court. A Massachusetts State Police trooper has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman he met on an online dating site. According to necn affiliate WWLP, Christopher Kennedy of West Springfield was convicted Friday of assault and battery, indecent assault and battery and indecent exposure. Kennedy had pleaded not guilty to the charges. The victim testified that after meeting Kennedy online, she invited him over because she believed she could trust a police officer. The department had suspended Kennedy without pay during the investigation. Kennedy is scheduled to be sentenced June 13. The Massachusetts State Police Special tactical operations trooper wounded in a shootout with alleged cop killer Jorge Zambrano on Sunday has been released from the hospital. The trooper suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder when Zambrano opened fire on him and two other tactical operations team members inside the Oxford duplex where he was hiding. The two other troopers returned fire and killed Zambrano. Zambrano was wanted for the fatal shooting of Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. early Sunday morning. Tarentino was laid to rest on Friday. The injured trooper - whose name is not being released - was released from UMass Hospital-Lakeside on Thursday and continues to recuperate. He will eventually undergo a rehabilitation program. The trooper is an 18-year veteran of the department and a former Navy SEAL. Hundreds of people gathered Friday for the funeral of an Auburn, Massachusetts, police officer killed in the line of duty while fellow officers from across the region stood in vigil outside. A funeral Mass for Auburn Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. was held Friday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Charlton, followed by burial at Greenville Baptist Church Cemetery in Tarentino's hometown of Leicester. The 42-year-old Tarentino, whose father was also a police officer, is survived by his wife and three sons. He was shot in the back during a traffic stop early Sunday. Tarentino's wife, Tricia, spoke briefly outside the church before the funeral, thanking police departments and community members for the outpouring of support. "It's amazing to see how many lives he has touched and how each of you has shown and expressed your love for him," she said. "Our communities have been so amazing to rally behind our family, to show their love and pay respect to Ron and their police officers in so many ways," she added. "We have been blessed by all the thoughts and prayers, meals, flowers, signs, services donated, and vigils that were so moving to watch. The letter Tarentino wrote in applying to the Leicester Police Department was read aloud during the funeral service. "I know it can be dangerous, but so is crossing the street or driving to the bank," Tarentino wrote in the letter. "That's why I'm trained by the best and will be able to use that knowledge to stay safe out on the streets." "I can only hope that the road ahead is as good as the last couple years have been," he continued, "but I will take it one day at a time, as I always have." Tarentino's uncle, Larry James, said his nephew was "just a great kid" who "was always smiling and laughing." He described Tarentino's laugh as "infectious" and said those who knew Tarentino will never forget it. "Ronnie is now my hero, and I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity and hte honor of having him in my life," James said. "Our world is turned upside down now, and it makes no sense. I love you Ron, and I will never be able to fill the hole that is left in my heart." Tarentino's youngest sister, Caitlin Tarentino, delivered the eulogy, remembering him for his sense of humor and his willingness to help anyone. She made the mourners laugh when she remembered the place of privilege her big brother had as the first-born child in an Italian family. She said it made him "kind of a big deal," and earned him the nickname "the Prince." She was followed by Auburn Chief Andrew Sluckis, who said he never heard a single complaint about Tarentino, who had earned his deepest respect and trust. Tarentino's son, Spenser, urged people to be more respectful of police officers. The driver who shot Tarentino, Jorge Zambrano, was killed after he fired at police from a bedroom closet inside a duplex apartment, injuring a state trooper, state officials said. Zambrano had a long criminal history, and some have criticized the judicial system for allowing him to be free after a string of recent arrests and repeated probation violations. Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey said in a statement Wednesday that court officials are reviewing all of Zambrano's interactions with the court system, including the probation department. Carey said a preliminary review shows no violation of court rules, laws or procedures. She said a thorough review of Zambrano's court cases is a "major priority" for the trial court. The suspect involved in an East Hartford murder has been arrested, police said. Michael Gaston, 27, of Hartford, is wanted for his involvement in the murder of Marshall Wiggins on May 16. He was arrested by warrant early on Thursday morning in Clinton, Massachusetts, East Hartford Police said. Police responded to Rector Street at 11:16 p.m. to investigate reports of gunshots and found Wiggins, a resident of the street, inside a car and suffering from gunshots. Wiggins was brought to Hartford Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Gaston is accused of murder, felony murder, first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a pistol/firearm and carrying a pistol/revolver without a permit. He is being held without bail as a fugitive for justice in Clinton pending extradition. Bernie Sanders would like nothing more than to debate Donald Trump, one-on-one, on national television. And his campaign manager says there have already been discussions with every TV network. It all began when Trump was asked on a late night talk show if he was prepared to debate Sanders before the California primary. "Yes I am. How much is he going to pay me?" Trump asked on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "If I debated him, we would have such high ratings, I should take that money and give it to some worthy charity." It didn't take long for Sanders to respond on Twitter. "Game on," he tweeted. "I look forward to debating Donald Trump." "I'll certainly watch it," said Democratic analyst Kevin Franck. "I might even throw a little party and have friends over. I think it would be really entertaining." Franck says while the debate would undoubtedly draw enormous viewership, it may not make much sense for either candidate. Trump, he says, should be focused on his likely general election opponent, Hillary Clinton, and Sanders should beware of the risks involved given Trump's record of taking down his opponents. "If Bernie Sanders has a terrible debate with Donald Trump, this is how the world will remember him," Franck said. Sanders supporter Phil Johnston says it all makes for very odd dynamic. He's is confident Sanders would come out a winner, given that he's tied with Clinton in the latest California poll and he beats Trump by a greater margin in every state poll. And Johnston says he would have the viewers on his side when it came to policy and substance. "See whether or not Trump knows anything about any of the issues that Bernie's been talking about," Johnston said. As the debate buzz grew Thursday, the Trump campaign seemed to backtrack, saying Trump had been joking. But by late afternoon, Trump was doubling down on his position, saying the 10 or 15 million dollars raised by the networks could go toward women's health issues. "I'd love to debate Bernie, he's a dream," Trump said. "It should be in a big arena somewhere and we could have a lot of fun with it. I'd love to debate Bernie actually, I mean, the problem with debating Bernie is he's going to lose." Sanders sees it differently. He said today that if he can win in California and the other five states up for grabs on June 7th, he will win the Democratic nomination. Not the words of a candidate looking to help unite the party anytime soon. A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training. A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training. Emilys art boosts growing Yarmouth foodbank A pupil at a primary school in Bradwell has been selling her pictures in order to raise money for the Yarmouth and Magdalen Foodbank, which is expanding its capacity and is seeking more volunteers. Read more Patrick Regan helps Norwich to bounce forwards On Saturday St Stephens in Norwich hosted Bouncing Forwards as part of a national tour by the mental health charity Kintsugi Hope. Read more Painting and biblical feasting in Overstrand There will be opportunities to improve your painting skills and indulge in some biblical feasting next month at the Pleasaunce in Overstrand in North Norfolk. Read more Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more National award for Dereham Christian bookshop The Green Pastures Christian bookshop in Dereham has won a national award for providing boxes of Christian books to 21 local schools. Read more Norma's care home jigsaw challenge complete A resident at Norwich-based care home Corton House has completed an incredible 70 jigsaw puzzles in celebration of the homes 70th anniversary this year. Read more Norwich charity's appeal to support Palestinian students A Norwich educational charity, set up in memory of a Norwich Anglican priest, to support students from a Palestinian refugee camp, is inviting people to support its Christmas appeal to be launched on November 29. Read more Norfolk drug and alcohol charity pays tribute to its founder Andy Sexton, CEO of the Matthew Project, introduces a series of tributes from the charity to its founder, Peter Farley. Read more Cliff look alike at Cromer Church breakfast Cliff Richard tribute performer Will Chandler will be the speaker at a special Mens Breakfast at Cromer Parish Hall next month, and all men are welcome to come along. Read more Heartsease Lane Methodist church to close As part of a reorganisation of the Norwich Methodist Circuit, Heartsease Lane Methodist Church will be closing towards the end of the year. Read more Free Julian of Norwich reflection and prayer day The Friends of Julian of Norwich present a free Quiet Half-Day with Robert Fruehwirth, author and former Priest Director of the Julian Centre, on Saturday November 12, 10.30am-2pm. Read more What it means for us to repent Nigel Fox believes that now is the time for a tide of repentance, and shares his thoughts about what that actually means for our society. Read more Christmas card shop opens in Norwich church Thousands of Christmas cards from around 30 local Norfolk charities have gone on sale today (October 19) at the Original Norwich Charity Christmas Card Shop inside St Peter Mancroft church in Norwich city centre. Read more Revelation Christian Resource Centre and Cafe Revelation in Norwich is a Christian resource centre, offering a bookshop, a meeting place and a welcoming refuge for refreshment open to visitors of any faith or none. Read more Farewell as Yarmouth church leader moves on Captain Marie Burr, the Salvation Army leader in Great Yarmouth, has paid tribute to everyone at the church and charity after she left her post at the end of last month to move to a new role. Read more Norwich Cathedral chorister in BBC final Norwich Cathedral chorister Alice Platten has her sights set on being crowned BBC Young Chorister of the Year after reaching the final stages of the prestigious nationwide competition. Read more Norwich to hear pastor, Policeman and tramp tale Essex Baptist Pastor Dave McDowell has been a Policeman, fed orphans in India and lived under a boat as a tramp. He will tell his remarkable story at the October dinner of Norwich FGB on Wednesday October 26. Read more Norwich Christian set for long term Tanzanian mission Norwich Christian set for long term Tanzanian mission New Costessey Christian Joy McCann will head out to Tanzania on Sunday as a long term missionary, after visiting Africa for the first time in April, when she realised a vision God had given her during her 13 years of ill health with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In April Joy McCann (25) from New Costessey embarked on a three week trip to visit the Christian organisation Tanzania Bridge of Hope. On Sunday, May 29 Joy will head back to East Africa to serve as a long-term missionary. Joys journey to Africa began in 2002 when she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME. It was during this time that she had visions from God of a place in Africa where she was to go to when she was better. Last year after suffering with the illness for 13 years Joy was healed, through a lot of prayer at her church, Gateway Vineyard, in Norwich. Here Joy describes her experience of visiting rural Mwanza in April and how it has led to her exciting decision to become a full time missionary with the organisation Tanzania Bridge of Hope. Big data leaders at large companies are confident their big data strategies are headed in the right direction, but most also feel that they're struggling to operationalize them, according to a new survey. "Big data is not going away. It's increasing in momentum. People are starting to understand the different types of use cases and move things from prototyping into production," says Stephen Baker, CEO of Attivio, a company that helps customers catalog and leverage all the data at their disposal. "But there are challenges for sure: Challenges in terms of hiring the right kinds of resources, challenges around organizationally changing the way people behave. There's this concept of Shadow BI." [Related: CIO.com and Drexel to honor 50 analytics innovators ] In April and May, Attivio surveyed 150 executives at large companies (with at least 5,000 employees) that influence their company's decisions to leverage big data to inform company business decisions and that have influence over their company's decision to partner with business intelligence and big data vendors. On the road to data efficiency The survey found that these big data leaders overwhelmingly believe their corporate big data strategies are headed in the right direction (94 percent). Fully 98 percent said their company encourages its employees to ground business decisions in data and evidence (60 percent said their company 'strongly encouraged' the practice; 38 percent said their company 'somewhat encouraged' it). [ Related: CIO Quick Takes: How to make big data count ] Additionally, 81 percent of respondents said their company will increase their investment in talent, tools and technologies to help leverage big data over the next five years. Still, only 23 percent of respondents felt their company was extremely successful at leveraging big data to make decisions (and 39 percent felt their company was very successful). Despite the optimism and some success, Attivio found that data leaders face numerous challenges. Data in all the wrong places While 78 percent of respondents reported that a member of their C-suite was driving the effort to compete on analytics, 41 percent said that data was too siloed within functions to be accessible when they needed it. In fact, only 23 percent of respondents said their companies utilize more than three-quarters of their available big data. Even when data is accessible, it takes a long time to access disparate data sources: 37 percent of respondents said it takes a day or more to access big data sources for analysis at the extreme end it can take weeks or more. Other challenges include the following: Fifty-nine percent of respondents said their legacy data storage systems require too much processing to meet today's business requirements. The perception of a dearth of data scientists is real; 66 percent of respondents said finding and hiring big data analytics talent is difficult. There is an ongoing struggle between IT and BI, as evidenced by the fact that 59 percent of respondents said "shadow analytics" leads to data governance problems. "This survey underscores exactly why chief data officers now have a seat at the executive table," Baker says. "Enterprises are competing on an incomplete view of their data; they cannot adequately see or unify data across their silos. The need for immediate visibility into the right information continues to be the last mile in establishing these organizations as true data-driven companies." This story, "IT wants (but struggles) to operationalize big data " was originally published by CIO . A jury in San Francisco on Thursday cleared Google of copyright infringement in a case brought by Oracle over Googles use of Java in Android. The jury of eight women and two men took three days of deliberation to reach its verdict. Oracle was seeking up to $9 billion in damages, making it a huge victory for Google and its legal team. "Your work is done," Judge William Alsup told the jury after the verdict was read. Oracle's lawyers sat stoney faced after the verdict was read, but shortly afterward the company said it would continue the battle. + BACKGROUND: Oracle cries foul over expert in Java case against Google + We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal and we plan to bring this case back to the Federal Circuit on appeal, Oracle General Counsel Dorian Daley said in a written statement, referring to the U.S. appeals court in Washington, D.C. The reaction from Google's legal team was also muted at first, though they stood smiling and embraced after the jury was led out of the room. "We're grateful for the jury's verdict," lead Google attorney Robert Van Nest said later. Judge Alsup said he wished to thank the jurors personally in the jury room. They announced they had reached their verdict just moments before they were due to break for the day. A previous jury failed to reach an agreement on the fair use question, and there was a chance this jury might have done the same. At issue was Googles decision to copy 37 Java application programming interfaces, including thousands of lines of "declaring" code, into its Android operating system. Since the trial began on May 10, the jury has heard evidence from a parade of Silicon Valley bigwigs including Google's Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, and former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz. Google's message to the jury was that Sun intended Java to be free for anyone to use, which is why it made the Java language open source in the first place. It cited a blog post from Schwartz, congratulating Google on Android's release, as evidence that Sun had no problem with Google's use of Java. Oracle's lawyers painted a very different picture. Google was desperate to get its mobile operating system to market quickly, they told the jury, and after failing to secure a licensing deal with Sun, Google went ahead and used Java anyway. They dismissed Schwartz's blog post as a way to make Android look like a win for Sun. They knew they were breaking the rules, they knew they were taking shortcuts, and they knew it was wrong, Peter Bicks, an attorney for Oracle, told the jury in his closing statement. But the jury didn't buy Oracles argument. The outcome is a small victory for software developers, who were alarmed by an earlier decision in the case that application programming interfaces can be protected under U.S. copyright law. Many developers had assumed APIs werent eligible for protection, viewing them as functional elements of software that are required to make two programs interoperate. The earlier decision that APIs are protected still stands, meaning some developers may be wary of using another companys APIs without permission. But the fact that Googles fair use defense prevailed could make large vendors like Oracle think twice about bringing similar lawsuits in future. The company stood by its allegations in a statement following the verdict. "We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market," Oracle counsel Daley said. "Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Googles illegal behavior. In the trial, Oracle accused Google of infringing its copyright when it decided to use 37 Java application programming interfaces in its Android OS. Android has gone on to dominate the smartphone market, netting Google billions of dollars in profit. Google originally argued that APIs like those in Java arent eligible for protection. The federal district court judge in the case agreed, but an appeals court overturned his ruling. Google asked the US Supreme Court to reconsider the matter, but it declined. Googles defense turned next to the legal doctrine of fair use, which allows copying of creative works under limited circumstances, most commonly for things like criticism, satire and educational use. The jury had to consider four factors in deciding whether Googles use was fair. They included whether its use of Java was transformative, or whether it created something new and different from the original copyright work, which in this case was Java Standard Edition. They also had to consider the extent to which Android harmed Java in the marketplace. Google's lawyers argued that Sun never succeeded in the smartphone market because it never built a decent smartphone OS - not because of Android. It's a civil case, which means Google had to prove by a "preponderance of the evidence" that its use of Java was fair. That's a lower burden than in a criminal trial, when Google would have had to prove its case "beyond reasonable doubt." The jury was required to reach a unanimous decision. A previous trial over the same issue ended with a hung jury, so the case had to be retried. In the earlier case, a majority of jurors concluded Google's use of Java was fair. Six technology companies, including Google, are working on trial projects in multiple U.S. cities to test out shared 3.5GHz spectrum wireless communications under an innovative model adopted recently by the Federal Communications Commission. The companies are working in an coalition that is tentatively being called the CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) Alliance, which borrows the CBRS terminology from the FCC. Some of the companies in the alliance have already demonstrated what they call OpenG technology, which uses 3.5GHz shared spectrum to improve indoor wireless communications. In April, Kansas City, Mo., approved a Google test of 3.5GHz shared wireless in more than eight locations in that area for up to 18 months. Ruckus Wireless, one of the other six alliance members with Google, is in talks to join with Google in the KC tests, said Steve Martin, general manager of emerging technology at Ruckus, in an interview. He said there will be "multiple" trials of the technology in other U.S. cities by the end of 2016, but would not disclose the cities involved. The other members of the alliance are Qualcomm, Nokia, Intel and Federated Wireless. Both Google and Federated Wireless are working on the Spectrum Allocation Server (SAS) portion of the CBRS service. SAS machines will use algorithms to detect when a priority transmission by the U.S. Navy is on a certain channel, then divert other users already on that channel to another. The U.S. Navy uses narrow channels in the 3.5Ghz spectrum to communicate -- via radar flight guidance -- with jets launched from aircraft carriers along U.S. coastal areas. Federated Wireless is installing radio sensors up and down U.S. coast lines that can instantly detect the Navy's communications, then transit that information to the SAS devices to automatically require potentially hundreds of thousands of end-user cell phones to switch to a different channel. The alliance is also working with various U.S. carriers that would connect their cellular service to the free, public 3.5GHz spectrum. Ruckus plans to provide a family of 3.5GHz products that enterprises could buy to improve cellular connections in-building, including antennas to snap onto Wi-Fi access points. The purpose of the trial projects will be to make sure products from various vendors interoperate and to ensure that the SAS devices reliably switch channels away from the priority Navy signals. "With the FCC's act, the U.S. is the first country to promote and develop and formalize the dynamic sharing of spectrum and it's quite revolutionary," Ruckus' Martin said in an interview. "The expectation by the FCC is very bullish." Once sharing of the 3.5GHz spectrum is proven, the FCC is expected to look to allow sharing on other portions of wireless spectrum. Spectrum regulators in other countries are watching the results of the trials. In order to use the 3.5GHz spectrum, smartphones and other wireless devices will have to be updated. By 2018, Martin predicted, the technology will become "fairly widely available." This story, "Multiple U.S. trials underway for shared 3.5GHz wireless spectrum" was originally published by Computerworld . Some 40,000 striking Verizon workers are poised to resume their regular job duties next week after their unions and the company reached a tentative contract agreement today. The strike has caused widespread service and installation delays, concerns among corporate customers that their needs would be neglected, as well as violent confrontations and allegations of vandalism and sabotage. Though the details of the pact have yet to be made public, it reportedly will run for four years and for the first time cover Verizon Wireless workers. A statement from the Communications Workers of America contends that its members have achieved our major goals of improving working families standard of living, creating good union jobs in our communities and achieving a first contract for wireless retail store workers. The strike that began on April 13 is now in its 44th day. It would appear as though a major breakthrough in the strike was the involvement of a federal mediation agency. From a CWA press release: CWA appreciates the persistence and dedication of (Labor Secretary Thomas) Perez, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director Allison Beck and their entire teams. The addition of new, middle-class jobs at Verizon is a huge win not just for striking workers, but for our communities and our country as a whole, said Chris Shelton, President of the Communications Workers of America. In another statement, Perez says: Throughout the past 13 days of negotiations at the Department of Labor, I have observed firsthand the parties good faith commitment to narrowing differences and forging an agreement that helps workers and the company. The parties have a shared interest in the success of Verizon and its dedicated workforce. Indeed, these two interests are inextricably intertwined. Verizon has yet to issue a public statement though the company did tweet Perezs comments. Local MPs and former UK representative to the EU discuss 'momentous decision' WEST Berkshire residents yet to decide if Britain will be stronger in or out of the European Union will hear from a leading Vote Leave campaigner and a Stronger In representative at a debate next week. Open to residents from Burghfield, Mortimer, Sulhamstead, Englefield and surrounding areas, the talk will hear from John Redwood MP, supporting the UKs exit from the EU and former UK deputy permanent representative to the EU Andrew Lebrecht, who will be speaking on behalf of the Stronger In campaign. The free event will be held at The Willink School, Burghfield Common, on Thursday, June 2, from 7pm. Those interested in attending can email ianmorrin@outlook.com or call 07900 606 495 or email carolijackson@aol.com or call 07973893772. For details visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ european-referendum-debate-tickets-25584617279 And with Britain to go to the polls on June 23 to decide whether its future remains inside or out of the European Union, Newbury MP Richard Benyon will be hosting a Q&A session ahead of the crucial vote. Mr Benyon said: This is a momentous decision for all of us and will affect the future of this country, and the future of our children and grandchildren. There is so much at stake and I am pleased that so many people are keen to engage in the debate and find out more. People interested in the debate, or wanting to find out more about the issues, can attend the session at Newbury Rugby Club on Friday, June 10. Doors open at the Monks Lane venue at 6.45pm and the evening will start with a short talk at 7pm, followed by questions from the floor. Entry and parking are free.